The WWE Discussion Thread

[Rozalia1]

5 minutes ago, Glorious Fury said:

Woods over Lesnar, that's an insane take. I can't see another New Day member getting a world title run. Big E, who is the best candidate out of New Day to be World Champion didn't deliver. Big E needed that serious edge to compliment his personality, which he didn't bring. He was far too goofy in that top guy role, although you could place some of the blame on creative. It was always worth the shot with Big E as champ, as he always had potential as a good face champion.

 

Lesnar winning the belt is the right move imo. He's been good since his return. Lesnar/Lashey should happen at Wrestlemania, or at the very least a major PPV. However like you said, where does this leave Roman going forward. Who can challenge him? Rollins/Drew are basically the only candidates and Drew is hurt, unless The Rock comes back. Will the titles potentially be unified?

 

Still need to catch up with this. Seems you are enjoying the product a fair amount which is a good sign. 

 

I was just musing on how Lesnar beating both of the other two New Day members means there is an easy story there to get a Woods vs Lesnar match set up, which as Woods obviously is nowhere near credible to beat Lesnar (few are) would require him to have heavy interference. Thinking on it, considering the Sami Zayn story Lesnar had, you could also pull an Undertaker on him and have all the heels on the roster coming out to take Lesnar out. You even have justification for the faces to not make the save as Lesnar is simply not a good dude.

 

Big E was failed because he is a face, and thus a loser. He had to cash in on Lashley who had just wrestled Orton to beat him and they even gave Lashley an injury to further devalue Big E's win. Later on they had Lashley beat Big E after beating Owens and Rollings on the same night. Out of the people you mentioned, I'll add Owens as he was in that match too, Owens/Rollings are out. It has been very clear that those two are just not on that sort of level as even combined they'd not be able to win. Drew is currently messing around in the midcard and I don't think has really had his credibility hurt so you could do something with him. Lashley is very credible as he has been Lesnar like in how he has been booked, but the problem with that is Lashley beating Lesnar just moves the title from one unbeatable champion to another. WWE really likes these unbeatable heels these last few years. Sheamus on this show beat Cesaro and Ricochet in what was in essence a handicap match too. The Fiend was also an unbeatable heel, well, until he suddenly wasn't and then got fired. WWE is so heel dominated that at some point faces will have to be the ones who cheat in matches (and still lose) because the heels are so overwhelmingly powerful.

 

I don't see them doing a unification match due to the networks. I doubt USA/Fox want their show to not have a champion and even if you put the champion on both brands, they then better always be both shows or one of the networks will get annoyed that they're getting less appearances. They might do a title vs title match where whoever wins becomes double champions and then loses one of the titles at the next PPV where they have to defend both titles in one night... though considering we're talking Roman and Brock here... it might be more likely that they're double champions for 300+ days. 

 

I have enjoyed NXT yes, though I'm not blind to the fact that it being developmental, actual developmental and not that fake developmental it used to be, means I do take it easy on it. Hard to rag too much on someone being bad in their first match or promo. On the other hand when a guy like Bron or Tony who have matches in the single digits shows good stuff so early on it really does make you high on them. They tend to make matches shorter (still have more wrestling than Smackdown/RAW) but have more of them so you get a good amount of people on the show, and those not on the show will be in interviews/pretapes (promoting their gimmick or feud if in one) of which there are a good deal of, so guys not on the show aren't just MIA like what happens on so many shows. The booker apparently is Shawn Michaels, who in an interview a week or so ago, said he only came in originally to help out and really didn't expect to be given such a role so suddenly. Gives me some worry though. Not that Michaels has been doing a bad job, but what happens when HHH's health is deemed okay and he comes back and starts getting involved in the booking (unless Vince has some mandate in place to where he can't). As I've said, I do not like HHH's booking which like Vince in the modern day is all about heel domination. 

[Glorious Fury]

23 hours ago, Rozalia1 said:

Big E was failed because he is a face, and thus a loser. He had to cash in on Lashley who had just wrestled Orton to beat him and they even gave Lashley an injury to further devalue Big E's win. Later on they had Lashley beat Big E after beating Owens and Rollings on the same night. Out of the people you mentioned, I'll add Owens as he was in that match too, Owens/Rollings are out. It has been very clear that those two are just not on that sort of level as even combined they'd not be able to win. Drew is currently messing around in the midcard and I don't think has really had his credibility hurt so you could do something with him. Lashley is very credible as he has been Lesnar like in how he has been booked, but the problem with that is Lashley beating Lesnar just moves the title from one unbeatable champion to another. WWE really likes these unbeatable heels these last few years. Sheamus on this show beat Cesaro and Ricochet in what was in essence a handicap match too. The Fiend was also an unbeatable heel, well, until he suddenly wasn't and then got fired. WWE is so heel dominated that at some point faces will have to be the ones who cheat in matches (and still lose) because the heels are so overwhelmingly powerful.

 

I don't see them doing a unification match due to the networks. I doubt USA/Fox want their show to not have a champion and even if you put the champion on both brands, they then better always be both shows or one of the networks will get annoyed that they're getting less appearances. They might do a title vs title match where whoever wins becomes double champions and then loses one of the titles at the next PPV where they have to defend both titles in one night... though considering we're talking Roman and Brock here... it might be more likely that they're double champions for 300+ days. 

 

I have enjoyed NXT yes, though I'm not blind to the fact that it being developmental, actual developmental and not that fake developmental it used to be, means I do take it easy on it. Hard to rag too much on someone being bad in their first match or promo. On the other hand when a guy like Bron or Tony who have matches in the single digits shows good stuff so early on it really does make you high on them. They tend to make matches shorter (still have more wrestling than Smackdown/RAW) but have more of them so you get a good amount of people on the show, and those not on the show will be in interviews/pretapes (promoting their gimmick or feud if in one) of which there are a good deal of, so guys not on the show aren't just MIA like what happens on so many shows. The booker apparently is Shawn Michaels, who in an interview a week or so ago, said he only came in originally to help out and really didn't expect to be given such a role so suddenly. Gives me some worry though. Not that Michaels has been doing a bad job, but what happens when HHH's health is deemed okay and he comes back and starts getting involved in the booking (unless Vince has some mandate in place to where he can't). As I've said, I do not like HHH's booking which like Vince in the modern day is all about heel domination. 

 

It is quite true. The top heels are way too powerful. It almost locks the title away from anybody who isn't the 4 outlined in your post. How will WWE build a legitimate contender to Roman in that time with who is remaining on the main roster. Do you think they may turn Reigns face in the end and make him the strong face of the company? Ultimately, would fans still boo Roman if he now changes like alligence like before. He's still the top guy in Vince's mind. 

 

Yeah, I've seen mixed reviews on it, but from I've seen I've liked it and is doing what NXT should be set out to do. Most negative are the people who loved the Black and Gold NXT and aren't embracing change. I was aware that HBK was doing the booking, as Michaels feels he owes HHH for when he was going through his issues in the 90's and HHH helped him. I wouldn't be shocked if it becomes a spilt thing to take some strain off HHH. 

[Rozalia1]

23 minutes ago, Glorious Fury said:

It is quite true. The top heels are way too powerful. It almost locks the title away from anybody who isn't the 4 outlined in your post. How will WWE build a legitimate contender to Roman in that time with who is remaining on the main roster. Do you think they may turn Reigns face in the end and make him the strong face of the company? Ultimately, would fans still boo Roman if he now changes like alligence like before. He's still the top guy in Vince's mind. 

 

Yeah, I've seen mixed reviews on it, but from I've seen I've liked it and is doing what NXT should be set out to do. Most negative are the people who loved the Black and Gold NXT and aren't embracing change. I was aware that HBK was doing the booking, as Michaels feels he owes HHH for when he was going through his issues in the 90's and HHH helped him. I wouldn't be shocked if it becomes a spilt thing to take some strain off HHH. 

 

Turning Roman face would be the absolutely wrong move, so as this is WWE, it could happen. Roman would start getting rejected again I'd imagine, and as Roman would then be a face, he'd be booked terribly and start losing his credibility. Face Roman let us not forget, someone who was supposed to be "the guy", got obliterated by Lesnar several times before they finally allowed him to get a win... which if I remember correctly had a Strowman distraction because even Roman couldn't beat a top heel without any nonsense. 

 

Honestly, most of the people talking negatively about it I've found don't actually watch it or wish to give it a chance. I've seen a good number who after giving it a chance after initially being against it began to like it.

[Rozalia1]

NXT New Year's Evil

 

Melo vs Strong - Two guys going at it and it was fine. Melo made sense to win but it wasn't obvious as Strong being the only Undisputed Era member left remaining might have been signed on the idea he'd be a big deal. The most notable part of the match was Strong hitting Melo with the rarely seen Nothingplex off the top. A move so frighteningly powerful that Melo literally shit himself after taking it. Though it ended with Melo on top of Strong so Strong was who had to kick out off a pin attempt. The match could and really should have ended there, you'd buy that ending it. It continued a bit longer so Melo could do a scissor kick off the top which... the standard scissor kick can be dangerous and you're doing one off the top? Not so sure on that. 

I'm going to continue to give Melo time to see if I come around on him. Not feeling him thus far. He is technically above much of NXT sure, but professional wrestling is just so much more than that which many so called smart fans miss. 

 

AJ Styles-Grayson Waller confrontation - Seemingly this might have signified that AJ Styles is actually getting a NXT run which might be good for him at this point. They could have easily had the match here but Waller refused as he'd prefer the main event next week. I'm interested in where this goes match wise. Waller really shouldn't be losing... at the same time they have brought up Omos a bunch who needs a lot of work... Waller winning after an Omos interruption would be an out for AJ and give Waller a win. Omos can then be Waller's bodyguard which is a step backwards for him yes, but it is unlikely being alone at this time will do him any good.

 

Riddle/MSK vs Imperium - Fun match and one of the few tag team matches I've watched in a long time due to the absolute embarrassment that is tag team wrestling in AEW. Both teams worked effectively and having the big time guys in Riddle and WALTER there added to the affair. The 6 man felt like a bigger match than the standard tag where often it actually the reverse. MSK returned and showed that it was wise to take them off TV, matchwise anyway, for a period so the dislike that was building up against them could be dispelled. Having Riddle get the pin might seem odd as they whole idea was to promote MSK, but who can argue with Riddle hitting a RKO? The segment later where the Creed Brothers told MSK that regardless of you know, beating the tag team champions (+WALTER), MSK would need to win the Dusty cup to get another shot at the titles. Also the Creeds were lying as the tag division did not "step it up". They all beat and lost to each other evenly and thus if we're talking "rankings" no team would have raised their stock. Talking tag teams though... NXT oddly is sort of in a golden era if you can believe it. You could argue that the tag teams aren't exactly great yes, but NXT certainly has never had this many, not even close. 

 

Women's triple threat - Numerous problems throughout it. Mandy Rose is overall improved, though on her regressed state as she actually got worse after her team with Sonya ended, but she ain't a ring general. Raquel needs someone who can make her shine. Cora Jade meanwhile is as green as you can be. You add it being a triple threat into the mix and... not a great result. Raquel doing some odd stuff like last week too which just makes her look stupid though I suppose the idea is that the anger takes hold of her. It is a triple threat and Mandy Rose, the champion, is running away... just let her. Pin Jade who has been wiped out. The finish was a reversed roll up which normally might be questionable but... it actually had a story. Cora Jade's finish is the surprise roll up. Yes. That devastating move that seemingly can pin everyone in WWE. She spams roll ups to try and get quick pins and win that way, so it is fitting that when she has an advantage against Rose, rather than hit some big move that would put Rose down, she tries to just go for another roll up which obviously Rose knows is coming and counters for the win. 

 

Andre Chase segment - Seemingly Chase is now a face as he has such a lame heel gimmick that fans didn't want to boo him. Still doing heel lines though which is a bit of fun (I'm glad Harland didn't kill my student. It'd be terrible for enrolment"). Von Wagner came out and gave a both weird and generic heel promo. There was nothing good there but... Wagner I think is building up a guilty pleasure of sorts with some people. The car crashed on the side of the road and all that. 

 

Bron Breakker vs Tommaso Ciampa - Both men swapped colours for this match which... is odd. They justified Ciampa as mind games but didn't note anything for Breakker... I suppose considering he kicked in half a Styrofoam old NXT symbol, him wearing black which is an old NXT colour would be signifying that Bron is the now of NXT. Or maybe someone in the back told Bron that as he was winning the title he should wear black to be more serious? More likely reason. The story through out the match was built on how due to how he lost his last match with Ciampa, Bron would become unsure of himself on the second rope. At the climax however he gets past this and hits the diving bulldog, his father's finisher. He then cinches in his uncle's finisher and gets a rare tap from Ciampa. Ciampa gives the nod to Bron that he earned it and the babyface celebrates to the happiness of everyone. What a novel idea.

 

Something of interest is that Bron is the first homegrown NXT champion since Bo Dallas which is a long time. The third homegrown NXT champion too. NXT has been a around a good while now so that tells you quick enough that NXT was simply not ran correctly. The NXT Woman's champion is also homegrown so both titles are now held by homegrown talents which has not been the case since... ever?

 

As for the matches announced for next week. We got ourselves an X on a pole match, in this case a crowbar. Should be a good match. We also got a "if you beat this guy I'll have sex with you" match, where whole lotta woman has vowed to have sex with Xyon if he can overcome the heel stable she is a part of. After all, nothing gets a woman hotter then a babyface smashing a heel stable by himself. If we didn't know that Michaels was the booker, we'd think Russo was back in WWE's employ. 

 

EDIT: Literally after I made this post I saw the news that Road Dogg plus a number of other HHH boys got cut from the backstage staff (trainers, producers, writers). This even included William Regal which I saw as I typed this... just no mercy on HHH from if not Vince directly, not whatever Vince stooge is in charge of cutting HHH down to size which... would be unclear. Nick Khan is getting a lot of play these days but would he really go after HHH this much? Khan is all about business, not creative. Kevin Dunn is an enemy of HHH and certainly would have the malice to do this but... is Dunn legitimately so powerful he is now even calling the shots in NXT? None of the changes come off as something Dunn would push. Johnny Ace is the guy Vince and the other stooges use as a messenger and seems to have no actual power these days even if NXT's new direction might imply he has some influence. That leaves Bruce Prichard who seems the most likely to me. Bruce is a legendary ass kisser, even more so than Dunn, as while Dunn by all accounts possesses his own ideas on what should be done and is good (most thinking he is completely incompetent yes, but he has his own thoughts seemingly), Prichard apparently operates completely in the realm of "what does Vince like done and thinks is good". Being fair, if Prichard is ultimately behind all this... he wouldn't be wrong. NXT as it is being built is to what Vince would like which... makes you wonder why the main roster is so wretched then. I suppose because his influence there would be split with all the other stooges. Too many cooks and all that.

 

Unless there is a reconciliation before Vince dies this should be the final nail in HHH's aspiration to take over WWE. They've been cutting his talent in large numbers and now have moved on to cutting backers of him backstage.  Out of the ones released Regal is the obvious stand out and would be an old guy that AEW would be smart to pick up. Wealth of knowledge and on someone who is known to share it. An excellent commentator. Could serve as a manager for Ogogo and really add to his act. 

 

"Fun" note, obviously not fun that someone got fired, but Scott Armstrong, who served as the Authority's (HHH) crooked referee got let go also. Something he said are ominous though as he said the term "on screen talent" was used with him so this may mean there are more cuts coming which will include wrestlers... we'll have to see. It tells you just how massively bloated WWE was that they can cut massive amounts of people and still have such a large roster.  

Edited January 5, 2022 by Rozalia1

[SelectiveGamer]

Hmm... Royal Rumble is on a Saturday this year apparently. Well... that makes it easier for me to watch I suppose.

[Valzentia]

Bron Breakker is a future star.

On 1/5/2022 at 4:29 PM, Rozalia1 said:

Unless there is a reconciliation before Vince dies this should be the final nail in HHH's aspiration to take over WWE. They've been cutting his talent in large numbers and now have moved on to cutting backers of him backstage.

I think its more of Vince's way of getting as many "fuck you"s he possibly can out of the way to the viewers before he croaks

Edited January 7, 2022 by Valzentia

[Rozalia1]

18 hours ago, Valzentia said:

Bron Breakker is a future star.

I think its more of Vince's way of getting as many "fuck you"s he possibly can out of the way to the viewers before he croaks

 

Ummm... I've said before that I could see the total heel domination in WWE being Vince getting back at people for rejecting top face Roman and trying to mess with Cena... but, well, maybe, but before Roman even got the spot the Authority was running around and dominating the main roster for years. On the other hand, it could be that he honestly believes now that modern fans actually want heels dominating. Sure, heel domination have utterly cratered WWE's numbers... but the people around him likely tell him that such a thing was always going to happen and if they hadn't done shows as they have it would have been even worse. 

[SelectiveGamer]

Can someone please explain to me how the hell WWE convinced Mickie James to be in the Women's Royal Rumble after the way they treated her after her release? Not only that... why is the company she working for allowing this? Every company out there is pretty much full anti-WWE and wants them gone entirely at this point.

I don't understand what's going on in the slightest.

[Rozalia1]

2 hours ago, SelectiveGamer said:

Can someone please explain to me how the hell WWE convinced Mickie James to be in the Women's Royal Rumble after the way they treated her after her release? Not only that... why is the company she working for allowing this? Every company out there is pretty much full anti-WWE and wants them gone entirely at this point.

I don't understand what's going on in the slightest.

 

Money. Beyond that WWE fired a guy over that and Vince McMahon contacted her and apologised. Vince for all the hate many internet fans have of him is actually very adept at not getting hated by the talent. He treats them well and any issues they have will always get marked off as being the fault of one of his stooges, so you'll get guys coming out of WWE saying stuff like "Vince was great and loved me, but that damn Kevin Dunn hated me and kept burying me backstage", or perhaps "I kept getting messed around in WWE by that damn Johnny Ace who was always lying to me and could never give me a straight answer. Vince of course had nothing to do with this and Ace was just acting on his own". 

 

As for your talk that every company is full anti-WWE... that is heavily inaccurate. They want their marks to think that sure, but in reality they ain't for a number of reasons. The biggest reason would be that if WWE were to fall apart then they'd likely take the American professional wrestling industry with them. Like it or not but WWE continues to be wrestling in the mind of the public so if they're eliminated then to the public wrestling is finished. WWE out of all the companies also creates the most amount of fans (yes really, even as poor as their fan creation is these days). These fans might then become hardcore and seek out other wrestling, or they start hating WWE (but like the concept of wrestling) and thus seek out other companies. WWE is also good for your big shows hence why loads of companies will run shows wherever Wrestlemania is as they'll know that area will have a lot of people interested in wrestling around that time. So believe me when I say no serious promoter actually wants the downfall of WWE, in fact unless they have dreams of taking their spot (AEW) they'll be wanting WWE to do better because if WWE does better then that will lead to them doing better too.

 

HHH's attempt at an NXT expansion + his American superindy NXT which hoovered up a lot of talent (hiring loads of guys Vince doesn't want with Vince's money) was building up some hate among the other companies and could have led to a real anti-WWE vibe in the other companies... but with HHH getting castrated by Vince's inner circle that ain't going to develop.

[SelectiveGamer]

I'm just going to assume that the Mickie James thing is a one-off. Unless Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows show up at RAW tonight to help AJ Styles against Omos, Heath Slater shows up on SmackDown because he's mad what Corbin and Moss did to McIntyre or some other random really crazy thing (which I would be shocked as hell by tbh).

 

I suppose the other possibility is someone else being a surprise shocking entrant in the Men's Rumble but the only ones that might make sense is Heath Slater, Rhino, Big Cass, or Zack Ryder. But I severely doubt that as well.

 

TL;DR it's a one-off until proven otherwise.

[Rozalia1]

Had to quickly check through RAW as Waller was on it and damn, yet another heel dominated show. Disgusting. Waller being on RAW again is surprising and going by a promo he had on NXT... he going to show up on Smackdown too? Would be interesting I think if every main roster guy who shows up on NXT does so because they want to smack Waller in the mouth.

 

There are going to be some changes with NXT 2.0 going forward that are now getting finalised. Creative of NXT has been merged with RAW/Smackdown so NXT is no longer it's own thing on that front. On one hand this is scary news due to how completely heel dominated RAW/Smackdown is, but on the other hand this should have been the case since the start of NXT so I can't fault the change. There can be no complaints from anybody when a guy gets sent up now, they are in charge of NXT's creative also. Will Vince get reports on NXT? I'd imagine Prichard who is in charge will give him some because not doing so will be bad juju. If Vince is angry at NXT guys sent to the main roster Prichard won't be able to blame HHH anymore and he'll be the one taking the heat. Fun note. The head writer for NXT now is a guy called Johnny Russo, no relation to Vince Russo. People made jokes about this week about Russo being back in charge of writing due to the on the pole match and the win a woman match... well, there certainly is a Russo in charge now. 

 

Anyway, the show. Bron was on the show to tell us how great he was and how he respects the former champion and all that good stuff. Escobar coming out after his promo might be a clue to Escobar being who will be challenging him first. As for Escobar's match... was a bit odd. Xyon dominated him for a large stretch of time and felt heelish in how he was doing it too. Sadly, Elektra nutshotted him at the end to give Escobar the win, so Xyon will not be having sex with Elektra. I was pulling for Xyon to still win so this dastardly heel woman, this jezebel as JR would say, had to have sex with Xyon. She'd have no choice, it was the (implied) stipulation of the match. With this either the feud is over or I suppose Xyon gets himself some people, as commentary put over him needing to, to counter the heel interference... though considering how Xyon was wrestling. Just have him obliterate the heels in monster heel fashion and win Elektra over that way.

 

Cameron Grimes I was happy to see is back in action and will challenging for the North American Title. Melo, the champion, seems to be growing in confidence so the result so it could really go either way.

 

Gacy and Harland failed to qualify for the Dusty Cup after Harland kicked too much arse in the corner. A shame, though they might take someone out to get a spot, we'll see. I do enjoy Gacy's telling of opponents to not worry, because the ring is a safe space when you're in there with Gacy and Harland. Gacy is very Wyattish, though something very different between the two is that while Wyatt would let his monsters do all the work, Gacy instead does the majority of the work and only has his monster do minimal work. Seems a bit off to get involved so much if you have a monster like Harland but hey, it has meant that Harland basically hasn't sold any offense thus far while the Wyatt family members lost endlessly.

 

The Crowbar on a pole match... I have serious issues with all these pole matches. First off the pole gimmick means half/more than half of the match is guys going to the corner and trying to get the thing on the pole, getting stopped, then the other guy does it, stopped, repeat. Am I really going to get the weapon off the pole after hitting a guy with a few punches? No, so why waste everyone's time. Secondly whoever actually gets the weapon on the pole which is supposed to be big deal... 95% of the time will instantly lose the weapon, which would be somewhat fine if you know, my third reason with it, getting the weapon on the pole actually gives you no special right to the weapon. Once off the pole the other guy can use it too. If it become the exclusive weapon of the guy who got it then the gimmick would be a stronger one. With that said, Tony and Pete had a solid match. Tony winning with the crowbar shot was the right result but I imagine this ain't over and the two will be having a long series of matches together.

 

On the women's end both Mandy and her tag team got separate promo slots which had Mandy in a bikini photoshoot. Kay Lee Ray trashes a set to presumably show that she is the next challenger to Mandy. The women's 6 woman tag had the debut of Wendy Choo, the woman that has for weeks been in the background asleep during backstage segments and even in some matches. As I thought the gimmick in the ring would translate to her being all high energy in the ring with sleep related taunts but... her size and gear. She is a very short woman wearing pyjamas which makes her look like a child out there. Is it because she is both short and got some extra pounds on her (not saying she looks bad)? Her partners were also Persia and Indy who are some of the taller women on the roster, and who she primarily faced in the ring was Amari who is also one of the taller women. Impressive to do all that in that gear though.

 

Sikoa and Boa went at it and Boa showed off how fast he can put face paint on. Admirable that they continue to keep trying with Boa. Were it the main roster he'd have been dropped in the third week tops and then released. 

 

AJ and Waller had a solid match though I think having AJ kick out of Waller's finisher was really unneeded. That stunner looks so good that no one should be kicking out of it if he lands it. The top heel getting beat by someone from outside NXT is questionable... but in the context of the main roster being completely heel dominated I'll take it. AJ promoed afterwards to announce the return of LA Knight which Waller had previously laid out and sent to whatever a hospital is. Waller then took a second beating from a fired up LA Knight which goes to show how wrong it was for 1.0 to have LA Knight as a heel when he seems so much better as a face. What does this mean for Waller though? He clearly needs a bodyguard... ummm. Earlier in the show it was stated that Von Wagner had his suspension lifted and his fine paid. Most people assume this was Robert Stone, and previous events on the show would point to that likely being the case... but I wonder if perhaps it was actually Waller, wanting himself a bodyguard in the form of Von Wagner, who like Waller, is hated by everybody... but I'm putting a damper on things. A heel got beat in a match and then had his arse kicked by the face post match too and sent fleeing. INCREDIBLE! 

 

On 10/01/2022 at 10:50 PM, SelectiveGamer said:

I'm just going to assume that the Mickie James thing is a one-off. Unless Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows show up at RAW tonight to help AJ Styles against Omos, Heath Slater shows up on SmackDown because he's mad what Corbin and Moss did to McIntyre or some other random really crazy thing (which I would be shocked as hell by tbh).

 

I suppose the other possibility is someone else being a surprise shocking entrant in the Men's Rumble but the only ones that might make sense is Heath Slater, Rhino, Big Cass, or Zack Ryder. But I severely doubt that as well.

 

TL;DR it's a one-off until proven otherwise.

 

If Anderson and Gallows showed up (please no) to help AJ against Omos it'd just mean 3 people getting squashed rather than 1. You've been looking far too much into all this and yes, it is likely a one off. As I told you, Vince fired the guy who caused trouble for her and phoned her up to apologise. This rumble appearance is likely part of the apology as he is giving her an extra payday. Vince has always been known as the type to "make good" when he feels that someone was unfairly treated. Just look at Zelina who WWE took off the 9/11 show. Up to that point she had lost a million matches in a row and then she wins Queen of the Ring and becomes women's tag champion after Vince apologised to her. 

 

On a somewhat related matter as we're talking WWE and other companies. MLW suing WWE has entered the next stage and... indy wrestlers are siding with WWE!!! MLW's Court Bauer reportedly has been quite something with the contracts he has been putting young talent in. Really low pay which apparently he has stiffed people on anyway, and they can't work with any promotion Court doesn't want, with it also being in the contracts that the disallowed list is something he can add to at any time. It is thought that MLW is desperate to get some money out of WWE because they're near collapsing. Their claims on WWE are also... questionable. Would WWE really threaten to rip up the Fox deal because of MLW? Additionally how are they going to prove that Vince made that call? 

[Rozalia1]

Opening segment and match was good stuff. L.A Knight is massively over and being very impressive as a face, crazy that HHH booked him as a heel. They're really building up Waller as the top heel as everyone absolutely hates him and the crowd is really into it too. Waller manages to weasel his way out of match with L.A Knight, but had to face Dexter Lumis who he beat after his enforcer debuted and interfered. I had said I thought he'd be getting one though I thought it might have been Von Wagner, but this guy they got seems large enough to fit the part. Hopefully they explain how the loathed Waller managed to recruit this guy next week.

 

I did not expect the Creed Brothers and Briggs and Jenson to be a war of a match. Both teams impressed me with this match. The Creeds were noticeably more over than the faces, though the Creeds along with the rest of Diamand mine appear to be tweeners.

 

Duke Hudson is back, angry, and beat up job guys. Is he going to have a program with Dante Chen and beating him? After they showed a pretape of Dante talking about his father who recently died?

 

I liked the interactions over the North American title, even Melo has been growing on me. Grimes got the best of it all by smashing the funny Dunn portrait over Tony D's head. Next week will be a big match to decide who'll face Melo for the title. My guess would be that Dunn returns and costs Tony the match. Grimes I think has good odds to take the title from Melo.

 

Ivy Nile continuing to be unbeaten and beating Mandy Rose's challenger (KLR) is quite something, granted, after a Mandy Rose distraction. Liked the leg DDT she did. 

 

Blade and Enofe seem like they'll be going to the final considering the consistent story that they're lucking into wins. I was expecting Xyon to get involved to cost Legato the match but instead it was Bron who didn't appreciate Escobar's trash talk earlier. I found it strange that their interaction was Bron pulling Escobar off the apron, catching him, and hitting his head on the mat, knocking his future challenger out, and then just... carrying him away. I mean obviously no one believes Escobar has any chance of taking the title, but talk about looking weak out there... no, this is fine. Overwhelming heel dominance has been so horrible that I will happily take Bron making heels look weak. 

 

The two new women have accents which can be a hinderance, but they have good backgrounds and have a good shot. I'd like to get a better look at them in future. That fallaway slam pin with a bridge was impressive. As for Sarray it appears that she is going to return with a magical girl gimmick which is a popular one over in Japan. Of course, the usual suspects are stating that once again it is WWE being racist, yet it is fine in AEW or in Japan, it is just if WWE does it that makes it become racist apparently. 

 

Speaking of WWE and racism, they had another change on the show that has people calling them out on. WALTER has gotten a name change into Gunther which yeah, no one is a fan of that but this is WWE so this is predictable. What has people attacking them is that WWE trademarked Gunther Stark who was... a WW2 German U-Boat captain. One that was a captain for a month, killed no-one, and only lasted that month as he was killed real quick. Do people have any idea how many captains and other such positions there were in the German army during WW2? Many having common first and last names? Are these people attacking really putting forward that the names of those guys can no longer be used in anything? I don't agree with it as I find this cursed name business ridiculous, but I can understand with Hitler, his top guys, and some other famous underlings... but a random captain no one has ever heard of before that achieved nothing, killed no one, and died quickly. Come now. As for the actual match, it was solid stuff as you'd expect considering the talent in the ring. It is quite something to see Strong here in NXT 2.0 being a serious wrestler and then seeing the rest of his former stable in AEW acting like goofs. Many people think WWE trapped Strong in a contract or something but... looking at the guys in AEW, perhaps Strong knew what was going to go down and thought better to remain where he was.

 

Edited January 19, 2022 by Rozalia1

[SelectiveGamer]

I will not be doing my Royal Rumble predictions/'who I want to win' lists this year. Because there are no good choices. At all. Due to all of the releases WWE did. The only thing that makes logical sense to me for the winners is Brock Lesnar for the Men (to continue Reigns feud) and either Bianca Belair (again) to rehash Becky Lynch feud or Alexa Bliss to continue Charlotte Flair feud. Unless they give it to someone like Lita since she suggested when she was on SmackDown that she wants a few more matches but I doubt they would give her a Rumble win and that probably would go over well. So yeah. It is what it is. I guess.

[SelectiveGamer]

My final thoughts before Royal Rumble 2022:

 

Spoiler

The chances of Ronda Rousey winning the Women's Rumble is most likely around 90-95%. People seriously need to take their heads out of their asses and regain their god damn common sense and stop putting out AEW names as possible surprise entrants. The chances of that happening is -100000000000000000000000%

 

[Glorious Fury]

Hopefully they'll go with a interesting winner, but I doubt that highly. It'll probably be some part-timer to boost the Wrestlemania card again.  

[Rozalia1]

When it comes to the Royal Rumble like many I'm at the point where there isn't really any particular person I care to want to win... and outside Brock/Roman losing their titles and then entering the rumble and absolutely crushing everybody in it... I'm not all too fussed good or bad whoever wins.

 

NXT

 

Bron Breakker is doing good as champion. Takes no crap from the heels, shuts them down, beats up multiple heels if they try to sneak attack him, and even if 3 on 1 he welcomes the fight. There are people who think that they're going to do Bron vs the newly christened Gunther as the big money match down the line... I suppose that ain't something to complain about, it is big and I'm sure would be good... but in no world should Bron actually lose to him. 

Grayson Waller cut a nice promo where he introduced his new bodyguard as being called "Sanga". The name is Indian but interestingly Sanga is also Australian lingo for a sandwich. Grayson is Australian. Now granted, this could just be WWE renaming nonsense. However, having Sanga actually not be the guy's name (his other WWE name is Saurav) would be a nice detail. That Grayson lowkey keeps mocking his bodyguard every time he mentions him. 

 

Edris Enofe and Malik Blade. Had a promo on the show to help establish their character going forward. Malik seems the less sure of themselves guy, which contrasts with Edris who is heavily confident. I liked Edris telling Malik he had to ask out Mandy if they win the cup. No worries Malik, Edris will ask out both of the women's tag champions out at the same time for a threesome to give Malik some confidence in asking Mandy out.

[Infected Elite]

Can't wait till Ronda snaps Becky's arm at mania. Personally with the shit Becky has said, I'd shoot and leave her with a legitimate broken arm and bloody her face big time. Fuck Becky. 

Edited January 30, 2022 by Infected Elite

[Infected Elite]

Most likely Lesnar winning Rumble and ending Roman's reign at Mania. So sick of Roman. Can't he go back off tv for his health shit again please?

[Glorious Fury]

Fuck me, I had low expectations going in but wow, that sucked.

 

At least the WWE Network has some decent documentaries so I can get something enjoyable out of the money I paid ?

Edited January 30, 2022 by Glorious Fury

[sk_lp_him]

DQ, Lesnar, Rousey, Charlotte with the most eliminations. Typical old senile Vince booking. Can't wait for the arab blood money premium live event.

[SelectiveGamer]

WOW. IT'S ALMOST LIKE I'M PSYCHIC OR SOMETHING.

 

 

 

 

 

see you all when WWE goes kaput and I get to scream I TOLD YOU SO in all of your faces I guess

[Rozalia1]

Of course. The one thing that would actually annoy me if it happened had to of course happen. That is WWE for you. The only thing that can make this result even more miserable is if Brock actually beats Roman at Wrestlemania. Imagine spending 2 years having super heel Roman running over faces just so the payoff is transferring the title to another super heel. Brock is it should be said nominally a face at the moment yes, but that ends the moment he is no longer feuding with Roman. I actually wasn't having that bad a time overall with the show, Roman vs Seth was great stuff for example, but the ending just sours it all.

 

On a side note. It is reported that Shane arrived at the arena with... the budget cutter himself, Nick Khan. Likely means nothing of course... but maybe, hopefully, it means Shane is taking over soon. Vince still has something to offer if it working with talent and helping them with their character and teaching them details few people can teach. He is however completely incapable of running a show at this point and has been for some time. 

Edited January 31, 2022 by Rozalia1

[Martain2]

Aged like milk
 

 

[Rozalia1]

Well, that is shocking. I suppose Khan got Shane back so he could assassinate him. All this talk of Shane being to blame for Royal Rumble being seen as terrible is nonsense. Shane just cared about making himself look good? What? He got the usual RR flurry which was oddly absent for a bunch of people this year, but I doubt Shane had anything to do with that. On top of that... talk is they "wanted" to book Shane against BOBBY LASHLEY!!!, one of WWE's invincible super heels (except against other super heels), so if Shane knows that then obviously he has to look strong as Lashley has been booked as being able to casually destroy entire factions by himself. It all really smells of a set up to me. Talk right before the rumble was things being tough due to Vince, so not Shane, being heavily involved and constantly changing things. Now after the disaster magically the stuff being fed to the clueless dirtsheetz is that it was all Shane who I suppose Vince apparently decided to give full authority to out of nowhere? Come now.

 

I wasn't so sure on WWE getting sold up to this point. HHH getting wasted was something I felt didn't show that as Dunn and company has wanted him out for ages and replaced with Shane... but if even Shane is gone then... there is no one, which would mean Vince intends to sell at some point, if not when he is alive, then when he dies.

[Rozalia1]

WWE is reporting record profits for the 7th year running. As for the product becomes more miserable and terrible they seemingly only get richer. In terms of firing they usually came before these reports but it seems there hasn't been any thus far... perhaps Shane, who had a generous contract, getting assassinated meant they didn't need to let anyone go at this time. Of course this is WWE, so they might decide to let people go tomorrow just because. I can no longer entertain the idea of WWE falling apart at this point no matter how bad their main roster gets. Every year for ages now people predict the downfall of WWE as just around the corner and then WWE goes on to do even better than ever before.

 

Oh, Brian Kendrick got destroyed this week too. He caused trouble in NXT 2.0 and wanted out, refusing to do the job for Harland. WWE kept him waiting for a while, released him, he goes to AEW, and then all this past comments stuff appears and Tony Khan condemns him and pulls out of the deal. It was some wrestling reporter guy who brought it up so possibly he didn't before because he believes WWE to be an entity that would no sell it, while Khan can be pressured... or it could be WWE's farewell gift to Kendrick. Either way, man might well be done. If it was WWE who did it then he might have avoided this if he at least had done the job of getting squashed by Harland. Wouldn't have hurt him going forward because everyone who leaves the evil heel empire is over with the AEW crowd for it, and plus... just look at Harland. Man is a beast. A cruiserweight getting squashed by a monster heel ain't having their credibility hurt. 

 

NXT

 

I'm pleased that the new direction hasn't meant the focus women get on it being dropped. The women got matches, backstage segments, and even the hook across the show for themselves which if you compare NXT 2.0 to Dynamite meant that this 1 week of NXT had a month's worth of women's content on AEW. 

 

In regards to the episode this week. I still think Trick is the money in the team, but Melo is going up in my estimation too. I do think Melo should drop it to Grimes though, who had a VERY WWE promo, but I felt he made it work. Even when the content ain't great, if you can deliver it well enough it can be passable. Side note, somebody on the writing team absolutely loves the "I didn't understand a word you said" bit. Happens very often on shows, usually on heels speaking a foreign language, but I recall one time Legato speaking in clear English to MSK and them doing "I didn't understand a word you said", which you don't do unless the whole thing is a gag.

 

We got a possible team name for Blade and Enofe. Bold, Brave, and Confident. I'm liking these segments, perhaps I shouldn't, but bloody hell... they are just supposed to be fun. WWE as an entity is so damn miserable that these things just come off as relieving to see. The idea seems to be that they are going to be a "hot young babyfaces" team. Vince or Prichard perhaps saw the Instagram pictures (actually shown on the show some weeks back) of Enofe and told him that they can go with that. On a side note, Doudrop recently let people know of Vince telling her "I see you shaking your ass back here all the time so why can't you do that out there", something like that. People as people do take that very negatively, Vince trying to make a big wrestler be a dancing fool as usual and all that stuff. Except... why is that such a negative thing really? Vince's point would be that Doudrop is such a fun person while not performing so why can't she bring that to her performance and be more "her" out there. There isn't anything particular wrong with that. You can give Vince a lot of crap on wrestling, his total inability to manage the main roster being the biggest, but when it comes to helping people out with character he is unrivalled, though of course, everyone has misses. 

 

Bron and Tomaso had a nice tag match where the result was never in doubt. That elevated table can certainly lead to some nice looking spots though it may well be a bit more dangerous than a standard table... ummm... The business between L.A Knight and Waller continued with Waller actually costing Knight a match against Joe Gacy who got a big win here. I enjoyed Waller doing a dark souls roll from offscreen to hit Knight. Next week though... Knight against Sanga? Sanga shouldn't really be getting beat so... what happens? I'll be interested to see. Speaking of Sanga, man looks massive in that suit.