The WWE Discussion Thread

[itachi-destroyer]

I really liked Smackdown this week, a bunch of decent to good matches, some good promos and good storylines. I can't ask for more  

 

AJ Styles showed some intensity in his promo and he managed to make me look forward to his match with Bryan at TLC even though I didn't really care about their feud in the first place.

Samoa Joe proved once again that he is one of the best WWE superstars in WWE today and he shines even brighter when he has a mic. His feud with Jeff Hardy could be really interesting if done right. 

I'm also glad that Randy's feud with Rey isn't over. The difference in their style, size and strenght is something that we don't see regularly in WWE anymore so I can't wait to see how their rivalry turns out.

 

Concerning the main event I can't express how happy I am to see Asuka back where she belongs (even though it's probably going to be for this match only...) at the top of the women division. This match will have the three best women in WWE right now and it will be a TLC match (A stipulation that I really like) so it can only be an awesome match. This match should definitely be the main event considering the superstar that are involved in it, the fact that it's a TLC match and the fact that it's the best storyline on Smackdown and RAW doesn't even have a storyline other than Baron Corbin going crazy  

 

All in all, a good show that leaves me satisfied but also curious to know what's coming next. 

Edited November 28, 2018 by itachi-destroyer

[skidmarkgn]

Take two guys who currently aren't main eventers (even though one of them should be), create a moment that feels important, have the heel interrupt said moment and not be afraid to bring up something personal, that's how you build a midcard feud that feels like it matters.  Well done.

 

Now, on to the bad.  I'm 99% sure Asuka's been inserted into the TLC match just to take the pin then be cast aside again, which is an absolute crime... kind of.  The main issue with Asuka is she can't really build a feud in the way that works best.  Her in-ring work is second to none but those brilliant promo's we're seeing between Becky and Charlotte, that's not something Asuka's capable of.  I mean, let's face the facts, her promo's are painfully bad and it's really holding her back.  If she's ever gonna be on top she needs a mouthpiece.  Unfortunately, Heyman, Leo Rush and what's-his-face, the little guy with AOP are all on RAW.

Edited November 28, 2018 by skidmarkgn

[Jesaya815]

After a Smackdown like this I wish TLC would be a Brand-exclusive PPV. There is so much going on in less than two hours compared to the boring three hours of Monday Night Raw every week.

 

AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan will be great. Same goes for the Women's Triple Threat Match. Samoa Joe vs Jeff Hardy had a good start (although Jeff had his WWE debut 24 years ago as a jobber in 1994). Randy Orton and Rey continues. The Usos are back in the title picture and there is also a feud for the US Championship with Rusev vs Nakamura.

 

The only thing I don't like is The Miz/Shane story. Mizanin keeps losing, Shane acts like a dick, and this whole "Best in the world" stuff is just stupid.

[jackmadrox]

I didn't even watch SD Live last night. After the huge dumpster fire that was RAW this past monday, I had my fill of WWE for a week. There needs to be an alternative to WWE. That has never been more clear than it is right now.

[GoodbyeBread]

2 minutes ago, jackmadrox said:

I didn't even watch SD Live last night. After the huge dumpster fire that was RAW this past monday, I had my fill of WWE for a week. There needs to be an alternative to WWE. That has never been more clear than it is right now.

 

Have you considered watching Ring of Honor, New Japan Pro Wrestling, Impact Wrestling or Lucha Underground? There are a few other independent shows, but these would be a few to start off with. 

 

If I may ask, What do you watch pro wrestling for or rather what pulls you in? Story lines? Matches? Characters? Gimmicks? Promos?

[MySenkai]

Sometimes I wonder how WWE's creative staff works: Is it three teams with Vince micro-managing (RAW), Shane loosely managing (SD), and Triple H supportive managing (NXT/205 Live)? Is it single team of writers? If so, why are they so bad one on one show (RAW is just terrible now), but SD stays relatively decent. I wonder because here's what's going on (injuries aside) on RAW:

Universal Title scene (might as well not exist)

Intercontinental Title scene (mostly forgotten and Dean vs Seth has lost its steam)

WWE RAW Tag Tiltes scene (at an all-time low)

Raw Women's Title scene (so dull it has to involve the SD women to try to be relevent)

And the other storylines are barely mentionable (Nattie vs Riot Squad, Corbin's nonsense, and whatever way we waste Finn, Bailey, Mickey, and Sasha these days)

 

but over on SD:

 

WWE Title scene (on point-- heel Bryan vs Styles. I may hate Bryan, but the build is near perfect.)

US Title scene (mostly forgotten but reviving with Rusev v Nakamura)

WWE SD Tag Tiltes scene (The Bar v The Usos- a bit jarring and repetitive, but the PPV matches are consistent highlights)

SD Women's Title scene (was hot before with just heel-ish 'The Champ' Becky, but now has 'Genetical Superior' Charlotte with absolute over face Asuka. Now it's more or less 'The Match' at TLC)

 

And the other storylines: Orton v Rey is doing really good (because psychopath Orton is always good), Joe will build Jeff v Joe into excellence (cuz c'mon, it's Joe), The Miz v Shane is spreading seeds and The New Day doesn't even need to wrestle; just appear for giggles (or rival Sanity... please). If they could squeeze Almas back in somewhere (like revive the Euro or TV [low card] title or a rivalry or something), it'd be sweet... but there's only so much you can squeeze into two hours.

Heck, even the announce team is better.

 

And NXT and 205 are perfectly fine because... well Vince doesn't care about them.

 

Side note: Am I the only one who easily pictures Vince screaming into the Raw announcer's head phone "TALK ABOUT THE PEE! THE PEE IS TV GOLD! TALK ABOUT THE PEE, DA--IT!"

[itachi-destroyer]

1 hour ago, jackmadrox said:

I didn't even watch SD Live last night. After the huge dumpster fire that was RAW this past monday, I had my fill of WWE for a week. There needs to be an alternative to WWE. That has never been more clear than it is right now.

 

Too bad because smackdown is always the better show. Maybe you should try consider skipping Raw instead of smackdown and just read the Raw spoilers on a wrestling site. Personally when I found a show annoying I don't waste my time and just skip the segments I don't like,sometimes I watch all the segments I feel worthy in 20-30 minutes and I just skip the rest and I have never felt like I was missing something.

WWE's youtube channel is also a "decent" alternative to resume the importants part of a show if you don't feel like reading spoilers. 

A few months ago I felt so disappointed that I didn't watch any show for a few weeks (still reading the results online though) and when I came back it felt good so you could also try that.

If you really want something else GoodbyeBread just gave you what most "indy" fans consider the best wrestling shows so you could give it a go. I never watched any indy show because storylines are a huge part of why I enjoy wrestling but I did found myself enjoying All In and Wrestle kingdom so you should definitely watch the big PPVs of the indy shows you won't be disappointed. 

One show I would also recommend is NXT, I know it's still "WWE" but it feels so different that if you didn't know that NXT is a WWE brand you could think it's an indy show. On top of that the NXT takeover shows are on a whole other level and easily beat the main roster PPVs whether it's storyline wise or in ring wise so there is absolutely no excuse to not watch the Takeover  

 

30 minutes ago, MySenkai said:

Sometimes I wonder how WWE's creative staff works: Is it three teams with Vince micro-managing (RAW), Shane loosely managing (SD), and Triple H supportive managing (NXT/205 Live)? Is it single team of writers? If so, why are they so bad one on one show (RAW is just terrible now), but SD stays relatively decent. I wonder because here's what's going on (injuries aside) on RAW:

Universal Title scene (might as well not exist)

Intercontinental Title scene (mostly forgotten and Dean vs Seth has lost its steam)

WWE RAW Tag Tiltes scene (at an all-time low)

Raw Women's Title scene (so dull it has to involve the SD women to try to be relevent)

And the other storylines are barely mentionable (Nattie vs Riot Squad, Corbin's nonsense, and whatever way we waste Finn, Bailey, Mickey, and Sasha these days)

 

but over on SD:

 

WWE Title scene (on point-- heel Bryan vs Styles. I may hate Bryan, but the build is near perfect.)

US Title scene (mostly forgotten but reviving with Rusev v Nakamura)

WWE SD Tag Tiltes scene (The Bar v The Usos- a bit jarring and repetitive, but the PPV matches are consistent highlights)

SD Women's Title scene (was hot before with just heel-ish 'The Champ' Becky, but now has 'Genetical Superior' Charlotte with absolute over face Asuka. Now it's more or less 'The Match' at TLC)

 

And the other storylines: Orton v Rey is doing really good (because psychopath Orton is always good), Joe will build Jeff v Joe into excellence (cuz c'mon, it's Joe), The Miz v Shane is spreading seeds and The New Day doesn't even need to wrestle; just appear for giggles (or rival Sanity... please). If they could squeeze Almas back in somewhere (like revive the Euro or TV [low card] title or a rivalry or something), it'd be sweet... but there's only so much you can squeeze into two hours.

Heck, even the announce team is better.

 

And NXT and 205 are perfectly fine because... well Vince doesn't care about them.

 

Side note: Am I the only one who easily pictures Vince screaming into the Raw announcer's head phone "TALK ABOUT THE PEE! THE PEE IS TV GOLD! TALK ABOUT THE PEE, DA--IT!"

 

Yes it's three entirely different teams which is why each show are different. RAW is basically Vince's show and you need his approval for every single thing, Smackdown has a different team of writers and they can do whatever they want with the show BUT they have to obtain Vince's approval when it comes to the WWE Championship (which is why Nakamura never won the title and the same goes for the reverse, Jinder Mahal being WWE champion was all because of Vince) and then you have NXT with another team of writers for the men and the women with Triple H in charge with some ideas given by Shawn Micheals (and Dusty Rhodes when he was still alive. He played a huge part on NXT)

 

Other than that, I think you summed up exactly how I feel about each shows  

Edited November 28, 2018 by itachi-destroyer

[Maxximum]

I believe TLC (one of my favorite PPVs ever) is going to be another good PPV (at least better than last year which only featured one title being defended), especially after watching SmackDown. I was badly afraid that TLC was going to be cancelled this year (after announcing Super Show Down and Evolution in the same month). I'm glad to see whoever made the changes were smart enough to keep TLC active this year and remove Clash of Champions instead. 

 

The godly mic skills of Samoa Joe got his rivalry with Jeff Hardy kick-started with fire on the stove. Even though Joe hasn't gotten himself the WWE championship after opportunities in the past few months, this feud is already interesting than tapping out or losing to AJ Styles numerous times, despite being so despicable during his feud with Styles. Bryan and Styles will have a good match. He's not WWE champion anymore but you have to admit his promo was good and looked ready for the rematch. I'm glad Randy Orton wasn't done with Rey Mysterio and I was actually expecting him to leave the arena with another mask in hand. This could be another great match on the TLC card (let's say, Chairs match or something). This whole Miz/Shane "Best in the World" story is getting really boring. The rumors of Miz turning face kinda looked not real by judging his actions during his match with Kofi Kingston. 

 

The Usos are back, but I'm afraid we're gonna see Big Show turn face yet again. That beard cut looks like a sign in the works. I'm glad the US title is back and hopefully Rusev will keep it going. The SD Women's Championship Triple Threat could be the main event, but I think we'll have to wait for Vince's "approval" first. While Asuka could be used as the pin bait in this match (wait, it's a TLC match. Shouldn't the winner capture the title by climbing the ladder?), she could as well be used to turn heel here. If Vince has a problem with her mic skills (which are of course a huge obstacle to her success), she could easily avoid the talking by turning heel, just like Nakamura, don't you think? Only this time, she becomes an absolute demon with maybe a face paint or something. Io Shirai had Funaki to talk on her behalf during interview sessions at Mae Young Classic, which I think was great.  

 

2 hours ago, MySenkai said:

Sometimes I wonder how WWE's creative staff works: Is it three teams with Vince micro-managing (RAW), Shane loosely managing (SD), and Triple H supportive managing (NXT/205 Live)? Is it single team of writers? If so, why are they so bad one on one show (RAW is just terrible now), but SD stays relatively decent. I wonder because here's what's going on (injuries aside) on RAW:

Universal Title scene (might as well not exist)

Intercontinental Title scene (mostly forgotten and Dean vs Seth has lost its steam)

WWE RAW Tag Tiltes scene (at an all-time low)

Raw Women's Title scene (so dull it has to involve the SD women to try to be relevent)

And the other storylines are barely mentionable (Nattie vs Riot Squad, Corbin's nonsense, and whatever way we waste Finn, Bailey, Mickey, and Sasha these days)

 

but over on SD:

 

WWE Title scene (on point-- heel Bryan vs Styles. I may hate Bryan, but the build is near perfect.)

US Title scene (mostly forgotten but reviving with Rusev v Nakamura)

WWE SD Tag Tiltes scene (The Bar v The Usos- a bit jarring and repetitive, but the PPV matches are consistent highlights)

SD Women's Title scene (was hot before with just heel-ish 'The Champ' Becky, but now has 'Genetical Superior' Charlotte with absolute over face Asuka. Now it's more or less 'The Match' at TLC)

 

And the other storylines: Orton v Rey is doing really good (because psychopath Orton is always good), Joe will build Jeff v Joe into excellence (cuz c'mon, it's Joe), The Miz v Shane is spreading seeds and The New Day doesn't even need to wrestle; just appear for giggles (or rival Sanity... please). If they could squeeze Almas back in somewhere (like revive the Euro or TV [low card] title or a rivalry or something), it'd be sweet... but there's only so much you can squeeze into two hours.

Heck, even the announce team is better.

 

And NXT and 205 are perfectly fine because... well Vince doesn't care about them.

 

Side note: Am I the only one who easily pictures Vince screaming into the Raw announcer's head phone "TALK ABOUT THE PEE! THE PEE IS TV GOLD! TALK ABOUT THE PEE, DA--IT!"

 

Everything there is correct regarding the creative team's objectives across the brands. With some superstars not on RAW, everything loses its touches. Brock Lesnar not available (actually making it two years in a row that the Universal title isn't defended at TLC), people don't seem to yell and complain about this anymore. I never hated Brock Lesnar at all, I just didn't care about the title. 3 hours of pain and 2 hours of gain every week. RAW adds more repetition matches to use up the time, everyone's aware of this behavior. NXT and 205 Live are amazing, I watch them every week and I do have to agree with @itachi-destroyer that they do feel like indie shows, especially NXT. I recommend it to any wrestling fan who needs more better entertainment. 

 

I want to ask you guys. So let's say any team in the MMC in which one of the teammates are already booked in the PPV get to the finals - will they have to perform twice or what? I've seen something like this before (actually this year when Adam Cole won the inaugural North American title at TakeOver New Orleans, and then later that night he was in the Dusty Rhodes Classic final for his team) and it kinda makes the whole tournament more or less predictable. Do you also think the number 30 for Royal Rumble would actually work? I'm very curious. 

Edited November 28, 2018 by ee28max

[jackmadrox]

4 hours ago, GoodbyeBread said:

 

Have you considered watching Ring of Honor, New Japan Pro Wrestling, Impact Wrestling or Lucha Underground? There are a few other independent shows, but these would be a few to start off with. 

 

If I may ask, What do you watch pro wrestling for or rather what pulls you in? Story lines? Matches? Characters? Gimmicks? Promos?

I'm going to do what  itachi destroyer recommended: Skip RAW entirely, watch Smackdown and NXT only. Because this past RAW was just the most awful thing I've ever seen in professional wrestling and I do mean that whole heartedly. I've been to local wrestling shows in my hometown, some which took place in backyards, that were better than that bullshit on Monday night. 

[GoodbyeBread]

Thoughts on Raw? (to those who watched it)

[itachi-destroyer]

Almost as good as last week  

 

The only think I "liked" is that they somehow remembered that they had to close the relationship between Drew and Dolph. I'm quite surprised that they managed to end a storyline in a logical way for once. However that's the only good thing that was good about this segment because Drew losing to Dolph Ziggler is pathetic even if it was because of the help of Finn Balor. I would have understand it if he was distracted by someone like Braun Strowman but Finn Balor ? No disrespect to him or those that like him but he is totally irrelevant in today's WWE (like 99% of the RAW roster anyway) so I just don't understand why they are making Drew feud with him. Not having ANY believable face (other than Rollins which is in a feud with Ambrose that keeps getting worse somehow) doesn't help though. 

 

And speaking of Rollins and Ambrose I find it quite sad that the feud that fans were waiting for years is being ruined like that. I wasn't one of those particularly awaiting another rivalry between them but I'm still disappointed.

 

RAW is probably going to suck until the Royal Rumble anyway so I don't think anyone should expect good shows before the end of January unless Lesnar decides to show his ass before the RR.

[Maxximum]

Not much to say about this week's RAW as I'm not sure if it resembled last week's episode, but I guess this week's episode improved.

 

Finally a team/friendship ending in a logical way like it was mentioned above. I'm now not sure if Dolph Ziggler has turned face and perhaps become a helping hand of Finn Balor and Elias or become the underdog again. Two new matches added on the TLC turn out to be a little pointless, so I guess we'll just have to see them. 

 

The Dean Ambrose/Seth Rollins feud gets worse by the week as all we're seeing are just attacks. For the past 2 weeks or so Corey Graves badly looked like he wanted to expose what Renee Young could possibly be hiding and maybe being a protected subject in the story, which I doubt. 

 

Obviously RAW will be the same until the year ends and hopefully 2019 will give us huge improvements. The only thing I enjoy on RAW is Corey Graves' commentary. That joke he made about Charly Carusso being a Jedi killed it honestly.  

[skidmarkgn]

3 hours ago, itachi-destroyer said:

 unless Lesnar decides to show his ass before the RR.

 

Nah, then he'd be taking Lashley's schtick (sorry, couldn't help myself).

 

Anyways, I tried turning it to RAW 5 separate times last night, and all 5 times either Baron Corbin or Nia Jax was on the screen so I immediately turned it back to football.  Seriously, f--k RAW.

[jackmadrox]

7 hours ago, skidmarkgn said:

 

Seriously, f--k RAW.

Yeah that's where I'm at with it. 

[Jesaya815]

Smackdown was fun. The opening segment with Becky, Charlotte, and Asuka, was a good way to start the show. I wanted to see Asuka vs Flair tonight, but the Tag Match against Deville/Rose was alright, since it helped building up some excitement for the big WrestleMania Rematch next week.

 

Miz TV with Daniel Bryan was great too. After hearing Daniel quote Alexander Hamilton and rant about pollution, I'm convinced that he writes his own promos. The writing team would never come up with such a creative idea.

 

I gotta say though, I don't want to see Orton vs Hardy anymore. Why didn't they give Andrade Cien Almas the spot and a victory over Jeff? Man, the matches Almas could still have in NXT against the likes of Matt Riddle, Velveteen Dream, EC3, Ricochet…

[Maxximum]

SmackDown was alright. Great way for Sonya & Mandy to win over Charlotte and Asuka, so I believe their WrestleMania rematch will probably be good but may end in a chaos, so I'm not excited much about it. 

 

The new Daniel Bryan is amazing to watch every week, including his actions, behavior and attitude. From having a custom plateless title, to insulting Byron Saxton, to adding fuel to the fire on AJ Styles' leg as the show was going off air was pure fire. I'm glad they included Miz in the story, never say never about getting himself involved at TLC as well. 

 

Excited for next week's rap battle. Would just be as crazy as last year when they brought up Xavier Woods leaked sex tape. It will be triple threat this time around, so I'm positive it will be just as good. Wale as the host would even be appreciated.  

[JonAutomates]

13 hours ago, Jesaya815 said:

Smackdown was fun. The opening segment with Becky, Charlotte, and Asuka, was a good way to start the show. I wanted to see Asuka vs Flair tonight, but the Tag Match against Deville/Rose was alright, since it helped building up some excitement for the big WrestleMania Rematch next week.

 

Miz TV with Daniel Bryan was great too. After hearing Daniel quote Alexander Hamilton and rant about pollution, I'm convinced that he writes his own promos. The writing team would never come up with such a creative idea.

 

I gotta say though, I don't want to see Orton vs Hardy anymore. Why didn't they give Andrade Cien Almas the spot and a victory over Jeff? Man, the matches Almas could still have in NXT against the likes of Matt Riddle, Velveteen Dream, EC3, Ricochet…

 

Miz's reaction to Daniel Bryan talking about pollution was gold though. Those two are still one of the best things going in WWE. 

[itachi-destroyer]

I enjoyed Smackdown. Not a great show but good enough to entertain me and make me want to watch it next week  

 

They are doing a decent/good job with the Women's division on Smackdown and I like how they are trying to make every woman involved at TLC relevant. I will admit that if they wanted to make me doubt about Becky continuing her title reign after TLC they succeeded. I could see Charlotte leaving with the championship and Becky winning the rumble since she has unfinished business with Ronda. 

 

I'm a little bit tired of seeing Jeff and Randy once again, the matches are fine but they just ended their feud a few months ago so there is no need to make them have another match unless Rey Mysterio or Samoa Joe interrupted the match physically. Samoa Joe's promo was fine though so I'm more being picky than really complaining. 

 

Miz TV was good and Daniel Bryan is more bearable to watch for me than when he was a bland babyface so I will at least be able to enjoy is title run even though I hope it doesn't last too long since there are a lot of wrestlers on Smackdown I would rather see as WWE champion.

[Dr_Mayus]

2 hours ago, ee28max said:

The new Daniel Bryan is amazing to watch every week, including his actions, behavior and attitude. From having a custom plateless title, t

Did you see the video showcasing WWE stealing that idea from Taz though

 

 

[locutus442]

Father of "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig, Larry "The Axe" Hennig, has passed away at the age of 82.

 

https://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe/2018/12/6/18129352/larry-the-axe-hennig-dead-age-82-wwe

[Maxximum]

6 minutes ago, locutus442 said:

Father of "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig, Larry "The Axe" Hennig, has passed away at the age of 82.

 

https://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe/2018/12/6/18129352/larry-the-axe-hennig-dead-age-82-wwe

 

Got a notification about that. I knew that name was familiar and kept thinking, until I ran into this. 

 

RIP Larry Hennig.

[GoodbyeBread]

2018: the death of legends

[skidmarkgn]

So it's sounding like the plan's leaning towards Rock winning the Rumble and challenging Lesnar at WM.  Remember when WM season used to be the best time of the year?  Just freakin' kill me now.

[Dr_Mayus]

10 minutes ago, skidmarkgn said:

So it's sounding like the plan's leaning towards Rock winning the Rumble and challenging Lesnar at WM.  Remember when WM season used to be the best time of the year?  Just freakin' kill me now.

where  did you hear that? So was Vince like "GODDAMMIT we were supposed to have Roman in the main event for the 5th year in a row to help get him over...well get me his cousin, I bet we can get Roman over with the help of the Rock"

 

 

 

 

[skidmarkgn]

28 minutes ago, Dr_Mayus said:

where  did you hear that? So was Vince like "GODDAMMIT we were supposed to have Roman in the main event for the 5th year in a row to help get him over...well get me his cousin, I bet we can get Roman over with the help of the Rock"

 

 

 

 

 

I guess the original plan (again, this is all just early rumors) was for Rock to win the Rumble and challenge Roman, but, after what happened happened Vince went back under his security blanket and got as not creative as possible.

 

Anyways, the link:

https://www.wrestlingnewsworld.com/wwe/rock-plans-mania