Wednesday’s Torch Today – Afternoon Update: Should Dolph turn heel? Foley weighs in, plus Taker Poll Result


SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...

– The latest results from our poll on whether Dolph Ziggler should turn heel have established a majority opinion. 51 percent say “Yes, it would be a spark for his stale character.” The rest of the vote is split 25/24 on “maybe” it being a good idea and “no,” WWE should just address Ziggler’s babyface character.

– Count in Mick Foley with the majority opinion. Foley posted on his Facebook page: “MONEY! Properly executed, a Dolph Ziggler/John Cena feud could be HUGE! The MOMENT I saw the teaser for the ‪#‎TotalDivas‬ finale – with Dolph, the very real-life former boyfriend of Nicki(sic) Bella, telling his former flame he could be a husband and a father – I literally yelled “THAT’S THE ANGLE! THIS IS WHAT ZIGGLER NEEDS!” into my living room. There’s no doubt in my mind that a vicious (as opposed to cool) Ziggler with Nicki(sic) Bella by his side could be THE man in ‪#‎WWE‬. Tell me what you think. Will this dream scenario see the light of day?”

– In our other ongoing poll, readers most want to see The Undertaker face Sting or John Cena at WrestleMania 32. Sting is the legacy match, while Cena is the mega-encounter of mega-stars that has been held off for years. Finn Balor and Kevin Owens are also receiving some votes to see some fresh blood in the Mania mix with Taker.

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-Former ECW Champion Taz was asked for his take on the Ryback vs. Rusev match on Raw on his call-in show last week and provided a wrestler’s perspective on selling a bodypart when that’s a central theem of a match. Our correspondent at PWPodcasts.com reports this was Taz’s answers: pointed out that Rusev worked on Ryback’s arm the whole match. During the finish, Ryback stopped selling the arm. Taz compared Ryback to Goldberg and said Goldberg wouldn’t always sell, either. Taz said it is tough to sell for an entire match especially if you need the “injured” body part for your offense. Noah thinks the Rusev and Ryback match was passable, but doesn’t think it would work as a long-term feud. Read the full written recap of “The Taz Show” which included guest Jim Ross at our sister website, PWPodcasts.com HERE.

-Jim Ross told Taz that he met with James Storm after a recent J.R. one man show and talked at length with him about his career. He has high hopes for him in WWE. He also said he thinks Robert Roode would be a good fit in NXT as a veteran wrestler to work with younger wrestlers. I agree. I think Roode could be a main roster candidate at some point, even if the idea is for him to be in NXT full time, but visit the main roster for a top level feud where, say, he comes in as a heel and works against Cena or Reigns, loses, and then returns to NXT. WWE can utilize NXT as a way to rotate some talent in and out of the main roster, especially if they’re not long-term projects like Roode but are Main Roster Ready. [-WK]

-Justin Credible (@pjpolaco) joins Pat McNeill later today at 5 ET on the PWTorch Livecast. Your calls are welcome, so join them live at www.PWTorchLivecast.com. You can also download or stream yesterday’s show with me, Wade Keller, and Jason Powell with a lot of frustrated callers regarding Monday night’s Raw program.

-Paul Heyman talked about the pressure C.M. Punk (Phil Brooks) faces as he trains for his UFC debut. In an interview with Fox Sports, Heyman said: “Phil Brooks is not in his mid-30s, he’s cruising rapidly into his late-30s. He doesn’t have a documentable athletic background. Do I know that he has been in the gym with the best Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners in the world for several years? Sure I do, but he’s never been in a competition. I don’t know of any sports he played in high school. He went straight from high school into the wrestling world so there’s no college background there. Brock Lesnar was an NCAA Division I champion, who was a champion in junior college, he was a bad ass wrestling in high school and he was wrestling since he was five years old. He was a competitive athlete so that’s a different jump to make. Phillip Brooks does not have that background. It makes it all the more improbable, which is exactly why he’s so driven to do it. Because he looks in the mirror and he sees not only a rebel and an uncompromising spokesman for the beliefs that are near and dear to him, but he sees someone that will defy conventional wisdom and pull off miracles if that’s what it takes because he has one shot in life and he wants to do something quite special with it.” Read the full interview HERE.

-Speaking of UFC, you might be interested in a story over at our sister site, MMATorch.com, on George St. Pierre. He says he is getting itchy to come back. Exact quote: “I’m starting to get the feeling, more and more, to come back. I watch the fights to see what’s going on in my division, and I’m staying in shape. It’s like a knife that I have to keep sharp just in case I ever decide to jump back in the mix. It’s not for sure that it won’t happen in 2015, but I’m not sure yet.” He also spoke out about transparency in drug testing, something he has strong feelings on. Check out the full quote along with MMATorch editor Jamie Penick’s analysis of whether GSP is likely to return HERE.

-Hulk Hogan Tweeted, “I think I am going to be the Iron Sheik for Halloween.” Okay…

-Mick Foley announced on Twitter that he has added a new show in Galway, Ireland on Nov. 9.

-When asked how many heavyweight titles he has won outside of WWE, Jerry Lawler said on Twitter “168.” I’m not sure he’s exaggerating.

-Check back later for an Afternoon Update and perhaps more updates in the mean time. And of course, with the new format of this site, check out the three main columns of News, TV/PPV/Arena Results, and Opinion & Features on the main page. Thanks to everyone for visiting PWTorch.com!

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