{"id":11104,"date":"2016-02-17T14:59:38","date_gmt":"2016-02-17T20:59:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=11104"},"modified":"2016-02-17T15:01:21","modified_gmt":"2016-02-17T21:01:21","slug":"february17torchtoday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2016\/02\/17\/february17torchtoday\/","title":{"rendered":"Wednesday 2\/17 Torch Today &#8211; WWE giving audience false Fast Lane hope?, Ranallo ill, WWE PC &#038; DVD futures, Nowinski on WWE changing &#8220;concussion culture,&#8221; Marvel begins &#8220;Guardians&#8221; filming, Corgan interview, ROH adds three dates, Joey Ryan talks Lucha Season 2, Video &#8211; Cabana talks CWE tour"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-1734095753\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p><strong>TORCH TODAY &#8211; Wednesday, February 17, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Credit WWE for trying to make Fast Lane feel like\u00a0something other than the inevitable will happen &#8211;\u00a0<strong>Roman Reigns<\/strong> winning the #1 contender match. But, is giving the audience false hope of <strong>Dean Ambrose<\/strong> or <strong>Brock Lesnar<\/strong> winning only going to make the audience more resentful of Reigns winning to advance to WrestleMania? International oddsmakers are not taking the bait, as <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wweleaks.org\/2016\/02\/roman-reigns-fastlane-2016-odds-february-17-am.html\" target=\"_blank\">Reigns has strengthened in the favorite position to win the #1 contender match<\/a>. Ambrose vs. Lesnar one-on-one at Mania seems like a nice consolation prize after their heated segments the past three weeks on Raw.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pwpodcasts.com\/wp-admin\/edit.php\" target=\"_blank\">At PWPodcasts.com<\/a>: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pwpodcasts.com\/2016\/02\/17\/923\/\" target=\"_blank\">Full Recap<\/a> of Wade Keller on the <strong>Steve Austin Show<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/podcastone.com\/pg\/jsp\/program\/episode.jsp?programID=542&amp;pid=1632582\" target=\"_blank\">podcast<\/a> discussing hot topics, including the one getting a lot of attention of how WWE handled <strong>Titus O&#8217;Neil&#8217;s<\/strong> suspension.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/mmatorch.com\/2016\/02\/17\/wanderlei-silva-receives-three-year-suspension-from-nevada-athletic-commission-after-re-hearing\/\" target=\"_blank\">At MMATorch.com<\/a>: MMA\u00a0fighter <strong>Wanderlei Silva<\/strong> received a three-year suspension from the Nevada Athletic Commission.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; New Smackdown announcer <strong>Mauro Ranallo<\/strong> says he left Tuesday night&#8217;s\u00a0Smackdown taping due to illness. <strong>Michael Cole<\/strong> has the call Thursday night leading into Fast Lane.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/mauroranallo\/status\/700035042844618752<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Two interesting WWE business items seem to be moving in the opposite direction. With the rise of App\/Mobile gaming, it&#8217;s interesting that &#8220;WWE 2K16&#8221; will be released on the PC on March 11, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/wwe-2k16-pc-release-date\/\" target=\"_blank\">reports PC Gamer<\/a>. Meanwhile, WWE is shortening their supply of DVD products with the market moving toward digital downloads, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wrestlingdvdnetwork.com\/no-more-wwe-dvds-on-wweshop-eric-bischoff-documentary\/110083\/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WDNcom+%28Wrestling+DVD+Network%29\" target=\"_blank\">reports WrestlingDVDNews.com<\/a>. This follows WWE&#8217;s Home Entertainment business segment cut in half\u00a0in 2015, only drawing $13.4 million, compared to $27.3 million in 2014.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Former WWE star <strong>Chris Nowinski<\/strong>, now a concussion researcher and advocate, talked to Fox Sports about <strong>Daniel Bryan&#8217;s<\/strong> retirement and changes in how WWE wrestlers report concussions instead of trying to hide them. The issue brought up by reporter Alex Marvez is whether Nowinski&#8217;s independence as a concussion researcher is affected by WWE\/<strong>Triple H<\/strong> donating $1.2 million to the Sports Legacy Institute. Nowinski disagreed, saying he&#8217;s seen for himself an &#8220;improved concussion culture&#8221; in WWE.\u00a0\u201cSuperstars are more likely to report concussions. That\u2019s big,\u201d said Nowinski, who noted he talks\u00a0regularly with Hunter\u00a0and WWE\u2019s medical staff about the topic. (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.foxsports.com\/wwe\/story\/daniel-bryan-retirement-chris-nowinski-concussions-wwe-wrestling-021616\" target=\"_blank\">Full Interview at FoxSports.com<\/a>)<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1031356070\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2016\/02\/DraxBatistashadow.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-11105\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-11105\" src=\"http:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2016\/02\/DraxBatistashadow-300x153.jpg\" alt=\"DraxBatistashadow\" width=\"300\" height=\"153\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2016\/02\/DraxBatistashadow-300x153.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2016\/02\/DraxBatistashadow-678x349.jpg 678w, https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2016\/02\/DraxBatistashadow.jpg 684w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>&#8211; Marvel Studios announced Wednesday they have begun principal photography for &#8220;Guardians of the Galaxy 2,&#8221; which features <strong>Dave Bautista<\/strong> in his role of Drax. The movie is being filmed in Atlanta and is scheduled for release in May 2017. (<a href=\"http:\/\/files.ctctcdn.com\/9890ed4c001\/ae063bf9-18d0-40a0-8f30-82db9bbaddd1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Full Press Release<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The big TNA item of the day is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/sports\/videos\/billy-corgan-on-loving-pro-wrestling-turning-heel-and-joining-tna-20160217\" target=\"_blank\">Rolling Stone releasing\u00a0a wrestling-centric interview<\/a> with &#8220;Smashing Pumpkin&#8221; lead singer <strong>Billy Corgan<\/strong>, who contributes to TNA Creative.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Ring of Honor has rolled out three new dates on the other side of\u00a0WrestleMania. ROH will return to <strong>San Antonio<\/strong> on April 23 after touring Dallas on April 1. Then, April 30 in <strong>West Warwick, Rhode Island<\/strong>. After the ROH vs. New Japan tour in May, ROH returns to <strong>Milwaukee<\/strong> on June 12. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rohwrestling.com\/catalog\/tickets\" target=\"_blank\">Tickets for all three shows go on-sale this week<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Independent wrestler <strong>Joey Ryan<\/strong> talked about deciding to join Lucha Underground for Season 2 after initially balking at the show despite being taped\u00a0in his home area of Southern California.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;My perception changed in between Season 1 and Season 2,&#8221; Joey told <a href=\"http:\/\/www.blogtalkradio.com\/ringrustradio\/2016\/02\/16\/ring-rust-radio-feb-16-w-wwe-fastlane-preview-joey-ryan-interview--part-1\" target=\"_blank\">Donald Wood of Ring Rust Radio<\/a>. &#8220;They had approached me about joining Season 1, but I had some reservations given the fact that the product was unknown. I have seen companies with similar model plans come before like Wrestling Society X. So a lot of things did look similar at the time and the contract terms I was a little unsure about. I passed on the first season, but the second season they approached me with another idea. This was after I talked to some of my friends like <strong>Brian Cage, Jack Evans, and Ricochet<\/strong>. They told me my reservations were unfounded, and it\u2019s not the same thing I would have dealt with before. They are a straight-up company and not trying to restrict you or hold anyone back. They are trying to put out a great product and the product itself is really great. They really connected with the wrestling audience, so I was all gung-ho about them wanting me for Season 2.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Ahead of Canadian Wrestling&#8217;s Elite (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.cwecanada.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\">CWE<\/a>) kicking off a big tour this weekend, <strong>Colt Cabana<\/strong> talked about his &#8220;Canadian Loop&#8221; with <strong>Marty DeRosa<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Colt Cabana &amp; Marty DeRosa&#039;s WORST PROMO EVER S2 Ep4 &quot;CANADIAN LOOP&quot;\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PxFLVOf6FrY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-367380107\"><div id=\"pwtor-734093271\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>TORCH TODAY &#8211; Wednesday, February 17, 2016 &#8211; Credit WWE for trying to make Fast Lane feel like\u00a0something other than the inevitable will happen &#8211;\u00a0Roman Reigns winning the #1 contender match. But, is giving the <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2016\/02\/17\/february17torchtoday\/\" title=\"Wednesday 2\/17 Torch Today &#8211; WWE giving audience false Fast Lane hope?, Ranallo ill, WWE PC &#038; DVD futures, Nowinski on WWE changing &#8220;concussion culture,&#8221; Marvel begins &#8220;Guardians&#8221; filming, Corgan interview, ROH adds three dates, Joey Ryan talks Lucha Season 2, Video &#8211; Cabana talks CWE tour\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1333,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[601],"class_list":["post-11104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-quicknews","tag-torch-today"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/BatistaHinx_3x2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11104"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11108,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11104\/revisions\/11108"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}