SelectiveGamer Posted August 16, 2022 Share Posted August 16, 2022 Well everyone... be f-ing glad that Vince is gone. Reportedly after the July 4 Raw... 'those in power at the time' (Vince and his yes men) were planning on burying Gunther (Walter) with the IC titleDODGED A BULLET ON THAT ONE ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dauersack Posted August 17, 2022 Share Posted August 17, 2022 WWE Raw. Opens with a Judgement Day promo, them hilariously acting like they run the place when all they have done so far is fighting a small old man and his son with a numbers advantage, and not always coming out on top. Rhea is good at shit talking I give her that, I definitely long for Dominik to be the first to break this bs rule of not being allowed to hit women, or what counts as women these days anyway, so Rhea is doing a good job as a heel. The group that claims to run the place then gets beaten up by Rey, the smallest man on the roster, who still does not dare to hit the woman who keeps attacking him and his son despite her being far bigger than he is. After the two tough guys get beaten up by old Rey, Rhea has to interfere to save their sorry asses. I already went on a rant about how bad this whole thing makes Dominik look, someone young they should push, but getting embarrassed by Rey is not exactly doing anything for Balor or Priest either so not sure who is supposed to get over here. Next up is a womens tag match. I am really not interested in most womens matches, even less so in womens tag matches, especially if I do not care much for any of the women involved, but I watched it anyway. Okayish match aside from one of the dumbest and softest looking turnbuckle bumps ever to protect frail Alexas little body from the big mass that is Doudrop. Go a bit harder will you big girl? If Alexa physically survived feuds with that clumsy oaf Nia Jax then she survives yours too. Next we have Austin Theory who should be on his path towards the top of the world as Mr Money In The Bag. Since Reigns is still supposed to be untouchable that means Austin Theory has nothing to do after getting clearly beaten by Lashley a few times. What did they do to boost him? Let him feud with a returning has been like Ziggler who somehow has a problem with him despite Theory being a rather good reminder of what Ziggler used to be like 15 years ago. Doubt this will go anywhere good. Next we have Tommaso Ciampa who is very skilled in the ring wasting his talents in a tag team with The Miz, who does not need a partner to do what he does best. They fight against two failing singles stars who were thrown together in a tag team. Match had good back and forth, even a believable near fall or two, better than these random tag teams usually perform. Winners are no surprise, Miz getting his most punchable of mugs bloodied was a nice bonus. Next we get another dull as dirt Drew promo. I like the guy, but he should not be trusted with a microphone because that just takes away from him. Thankfully Owens, who is a blast with a mic, came out and saved the segment, seemingly inspiring Drew to amp up the intensity a bit himself and drop the goody two shoes act. They had a good match like everyone knew they would, before ultimately ending with another bs Uso run in. Quite why Drew does not just take a chair and breaks their legs or starts to interfere in their matches to cost them their belts is starting to look like a plothole. With this match looking pretty competetive, hopefully Owens is actually done playing the clown and goes back to being a serious and hard hitting wrestler. Sure he won't go over someone like Drew anytime soon, just like Drew will likely not go over Reigns anytime soon, but just having more people that can be taken seriously would already be an improvement. Seth and Riddle going at it next. One is an annoying stoner, the other one is obviously consuming far harder stuff in the morning when he chooses his outfits. Don't care much for neither character but they are capable to produce good matches so lets just hope for the best. Next up was Indian guy vs jobber guy, which went about as expected. Lashley vs Styles was another good showing for the US belt. Glad to see that with the main champion being a lazy tit they at least make the secondary champions perform in good weekly matches. Someone as powerful as Lashley does his best work when making someone like Styles bounce off of him, both are good at selling the moves and making it possible to believe that a title change may happen. I skipped the whole 24/7 women thing. Despite me wanting to go about the product more open minded and giving even the ones who don't interest me some chances there are depths that I simply refuse to sink down to, and this was one such situation. Skipping through it made me realize that it was around 3 minutes, you can't have a good match in 3 minutes anyway so if not even the bookers believe in them, why should I? Austin Theory and Dolph Ziggler went on last. As much as I do not like Ziggler, I can say without a doubt that the one thing he is incredibly good at is to oversell even the lowest impact moves to an almost comical degree, and he sold like a madman here, from the elbow hit to getting smashed into obstacles over the clothesline all the way to the finisher. Bonus points for actually making Austin Theory win, and making him win clean, also a good move to threaten the roll up victory, I was already rolling my eyes when Theory turned it around for the win. This weeks Raw was an improvement over last weeks. I care precious little for the whole womens tag team thing but it might develop into something decent, and I wish they would either just abandon this whole Judgement Day vs Mysterios deal or take it to the next level, but as long as they build up Lashley as the champion and a few more wrestlers like Theory or Owens as credible challengers that we can take seriously, I am pretty happy with the whole thing at the moment. I mean I would be a lot happier if Reigns retired so the two main championship belts go to wrestlers who are actually willing to work for that spot, but I know thats expecting too much. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rozalia1 Posted August 18, 2022 Share Posted August 18, 2022 NXT 2.0 Interesting how Strong got attacked alongside the rest of Diamond mine (minus Big Iv). It might mean that they've dropped Strong being a heel and that he'll be staying with Diamond Mine. Strong is someone who I would imagine is much happier with HHH now being in charge as he can trust he'll be used better. Tony Khan booking the rest of Undisputed Era horribly helps too. Happy that Tony D got the big win. His business at the docks is going to be booming with Elektra Lopez back at the helm. What is Tony D going to do with all of his businessmen though? Fight the British? I liked Mandy putting on the knee brace to do a super version of her finisher. I'm glad Zoey didn't win as it wouldn't be right to give her this win and she should be on the main roster anyway. The camerawork is noticeable on NXT in the matches as you get shots like the one of JD McDonagh rising up bloodied behind Bron to taunt him. It is noticable in the backstage stuff with the Tony D/Santos stuff. Heatwave was a really good show. Did really well in the ratings too. I feared the fact the British were coming but it turns out that this should be a temporary thing as HHH is back to trying to dominate the world. I'm laughing at all of this honestly. Be careful what you wish for. Vince went national and crushed the territories in America, but he was content to stop there. HHH is not content to stopping at America, he wishes to crush other wrestling companies worldwide. On 16/08/2022 at 10:02 PM, SelectiveGamer said: Well everyone... be f-ing glad that Vince is gone. Reportedly after the July 4 Raw... 'those in power at the time' (Vince and his yes men) were planning on burying Gunther (Walter) with the IC titleDODGED A BULLET ON THAT ONE Need to smarten up mate because that is as obvious newz as it gets. Newz loved to make up all manner of things about Vince and his boys because they'd never comment on such things publicly, but it is real low to be putting out a story like this with Vince gone. If that story is true then why wasn't it put out while Vince was still around? Because if they did and then Gunther wasn't buried then they'd be found out. With Vince gone they can basically claim whatever they want, Vince certainly isn't going to come out and call them liars. On 17/08/2022 at 1:11 AM, Dauersack said: WWE Raw. Opens with a Judgement Day promo, them hilariously acting like they run the place when all they have done so far is fighting a small old man and his son with a numbers advantage, and not always coming out on top. Rhea is good at shit talking I give her that, I definitely long for Dominik to be the first to break this bs rule of not being allowed to hit women, or what counts as women these days anyway, so Rhea is doing a good job as a heel. The group that claims to run the place then gets beaten up by Rey, the smallest man on the roster, who still does not dare to hit the woman who keeps attacking him and his son despite her being far bigger than he is. After the two tough guys get beaten up by old Rey, Rhea has to interfere to save their sorry asses. I already went on a rant about how bad this whole thing makes Dominik look, someone young they should push, but getting embarrassed by Rey is not exactly doing anything for Balor or Priest either so not sure who is supposed to get over here. Next we have Austin Theory who should be on his path towards the top of the world as Mr Money In The Bag. Since Reigns is still supposed to be untouchable that means Austin Theory has nothing to do after getting clearly beaten by Lashley a few times. What did they do to boost him? Let him feud with a returning has been like Ziggler who somehow has a problem with him despite Theory being a rather good reminder of what Ziggler used to be like 15 years ago. Doubt this will go anywhere good. Austin Theory and Dolph Ziggler went on last. As much as I do not like Ziggler, I can say without a doubt that the one thing he is incredibly good at is to oversell even the lowest impact moves to an almost comical degree, and he sold like a madman here, from the elbow hit to getting smashed into obstacles over the clothesline all the way to the finisher. Bonus points for actually making Austin Theory win, and making him win clean, also a good move to threaten the roll up victory, I was already rolling my eyes when Theory turned it around for the win. WWE has actually had two cases of male on female violence relatively recently. Corbin hitting his finisher on Lynch and a whole lot of people (including Rey if I recall correctly) hitting a whole lot of stuff on Nia Jax (who is bigger than most men on the roster). So I wouldn't rule out Rhea eventually getting a smack from Dominik or whatever. Hitting the heel woman doing this stuff back in the day would actually get a massive pop and I'd expect it would get one even today. The better option though would be to allow women like Rhea to actually wrestle the men. Obviously an Alexa Bliss should never get in there with the men, but if a woman is as big/bigger than a guy then I don't see much of a problem. Wouldn't make them wrestling women later odd either as functionally Rhea for example would be a normal heel if against men, and a monster heel if against a woman. As for Dominik... I think he is simply dead as a babyface currently and needs turning heel badly. Joining the Judgement Day would however be stupid and likely not help him considering their gimmick. For me the best move would be to use Santos Escobar who'll be coming to the main roster soon. Santos has just lost his faction to Tony D so will be needing new minions and what better minion to get than the son of the man called the greatest ever Luchador, something Santos would naturally take exception to considering he calls himself the Emperor of Lucha Libre. Run X amount of weeks of Santos getting into Dominik's ear and then you run the heel turn, with Dominik getting masked up by either taking his father's mask or being bestowed a mask by Santos. I really liked how Austin looked early into that match, just smashing Ziggler. Needs more of that so he looks a threat because as Zigglers promo put it, he has been getting smashed out there (even if Brock and Roman smash everybody, Theory has been getting smashed by them constantly). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infected Elite Posted August 18, 2022 Share Posted August 18, 2022 4 minutes ago, Rozalia1 said: NXT 2.0 Interesting how Strong got attacked alongside the rest of Diamond mine (minus Big Iv). It might mean that they've dropped Strong being a heel and that he'll be staying with Diamond Mine. Strong is someone who I would imagine is much happier with HHH now being in charge as he can trust he'll be used better. Tony Khan booking the rest of Undisputed Era horribly helps too. Happy that Tony D got the big win. His business at the docks is going to be booming with Elektra Lopez back at the helm. What is Tony D going to do with all of his businessmen though? Fight the British? I liked Mandy putting on the knee brace to do a super version of her finisher. I'm glad Zoey didn't win as it wouldn't be right to give her this win and she should be on the main roster anyway. The camerawork is noticeable on NXT in the matches as you get shots like the one of JD McDonagh rising up bloodied behind Bron to taunt him. It is noticable in the backstage stuff with the Tony D/Santos stuff. Heatwave was a really good show. Did really well in the ratings too. I feared the fact the British were coming but it turns out that this should be a temporary thing as HHH is back to trying to dominate the world. I'm laughing at all of this honestly. Be careful what you wish for. Vince went national and crushed the territories in America, but he was content to stop there. HHH is not content to stopping at America, he wishes to crush other wrestling companies worldwide. Need to smarten up mate because that is as obvious newz as it gets. Newz loved to make up all manner of things about Vince and his boys because they'd never comment on such things publicly, but it is real low to be putting out a story like this with Vince gone. If that story is true then why wasn't it put out while Vince was still around? Because if they did and then Gunther wasn't buried then they'd be found out. With Vince gone they can basically claim whatever they want, Vince certainly isn't going to come out and call them liars. WWE has actually had two cases of male on female violence relatively recently. Corbin hitting his finisher on Lynch and a whole lot of people (including Rey if I recall correctly) hitting a whole lot of stuff on Nia Jax (who is bigger than most men on the roster). So I wouldn't rule out Rhea eventually getting a smack from Dominik or whatever. Hitting the heel woman doing this stuff back in the day would actually get a massive pop and I'd expect it would get one even today. The better option though would be to allow women like Rhea to actually wrestle the men. Obviously an Alexa Bliss should never get in there with the men, but if a woman is as big/bigger than a guy then I don't see much of a problem. Wouldn't make them wrestling women later odd either as functionally Rhea for example would be a normal heel if against men, and a monster heel if against a woman. As for Dominik... I think he is simply dead as a babyface currently and needs turning heel badly. Joining the Judgement Day would however be stupid and likely not help him considering their gimmick. For me the best move would be to use Santos Escobar who'll be coming to the main roster soon. Santos has just lost his faction to Tony D so will be needing new minions and what better minion to get than the son of the man called the greatest ever Luchador, something Santos would naturally take exception to considering he calls himself the Emperor of Lucha Libre. Run X amount of weeks of Santos getting into Dominik's ear and then you run the heel turn, with Dominik getting masked up by either taking his father's mask or being bestowed a mask by Santos. I really liked how Austin looked early into that match, just smashing Ziggler. Needs more of that so he looks a threat because as Zigglers promo put it, he has been getting smashed out there (even if Brock and Roman smash everybody, Theory has been getting smashed by them constantly). i wouldn't say the Corbin on Lynch, and Rey/Orton etc on Nia was recent. But hopefully we get a hardcore division. Either way I'm liking what every show is doing right now EXCEPT, im not a fan of Roman, McInshit, or Moxley. Those 3 are boooooring. Anyways yeah, JD name is annoying, shoulda stayed Jordin Devlin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dauersack Posted August 19, 2022 Share Posted August 19, 2022 (edited) 4 hours ago, Rozalia1 said: WWE has actually had two cases of male on female violence relatively recently. Corbin hitting his finisher on Lynch and a whole lot of people (including Rey if I recall correctly) hitting a whole lot of stuff on Nia Jax (who is bigger than most men on the roster). So I wouldn't rule out Rhea eventually getting a smack from Dominik or whatever. Hitting the heel woman doing this stuff back in the day would actually get a massive pop and I'd expect it would get one even today. The better option though would be to allow women like Rhea to actually wrestle the men. Obviously an Alexa Bliss should never get in there with the men, but if a woman is as big/bigger than a guy then I don't see much of a problem. Wouldn't make them wrestling women later odd either as functionally Rhea for example would be a normal heel if against men, and a monster heel if against a woman. That was a few years ago already and within matches both were partaking in, what I mean is a Dominik Mysterio losing his shit after yet another Rhea attack on him, his father or his sister, beating her ass up outside the ring way beyond one simple move and then rolling with it depending on the crowd reaction. There are so many ways they could go from there, from just letting it be a one off that shows he is not someone to casually mess with, to a full on heel turn because he beat a (heel but still) woman and does not plan on stopping, all the way to it being a regular thing of Rhea and Dominik duking it out weekly with all kinds of stories they could turn that into. The main thing is that they do something other than just letting him take it, because currently he just looks like a complete pushover whenever his almost 50 year old father who is half his size has to try and protect him. I agree that Rhea is maybe one of two women, the other being Raquel, who could somewhat believably have matches with some of the smaller to medium sized guys, not sure there is a need for that but if it has to happen then these two are the best choices for it due to their size and strength. These kinds of matches were rare in the mid to late 2000s, the women interfered but they acted with caution because getting a receipt was not unusual, which is how it should be. 4 hours ago, Rozalia1 said: As for Dominik... I think he is simply dead as a babyface currently and needs turning heel badly. Joining the Judgement Day would however be stupid and likely not help him considering their gimmick. For me the best move would be to use Santos Escobar who'll be coming to the main roster soon. Santos has just lost his faction to Tony D so will be needing new minions and what better minion to get than the son of the man called the greatest ever Luchador, something Santos would naturally take exception to considering he calls himself the Emperor of Lucha Libre. Run X amount of weeks of Santos getting into Dominik's ear and then you run the heel turn, with Dominik getting masked up by either taking his father's mask or being bestowed a mask by Santos. I mean heel or babyface it is really hard to get anywhere when you are stuck in an unsuccessful tag team, you are the least respected member of that team, and you are the one who gets beaten up by a smaller guy like Balor and a woman. Dominik joining would have been great when Edge was still part of it, currently the group has no real credibility though, as Balor and Priest are not exactly having great success themselves so what would they teach Dominik. Someone else coming along to be a real mentor to Dominik on screen would be a solution, or he could just really lose his shit and severely brutalize someone, Priest for turning into a tougher face and Rhea for a mixed or heel turn if the crowd is a bit too uncomfortable, and then do a promo seperating from his father to make his own mark. If someone like Owens who played the clown for the better part of 5 years can be redeemed, then Dominik can be too, they just need to set things in motion. 4 hours ago, Rozalia1 said: I really liked how Austin looked early into that match, just smashing Ziggler. Needs more of that so he looks a threat because as Zigglers promo put it, he has been getting smashed out there (even if Brock and Roman smash everybody, Theory has been getting smashed by them constantly). Yeah even a cowardly heel needs to have some credibility, and Theory was made to look completely out of his element against the big guys, so it was a nice change of pace to see him fight aggressively and actually overpower and outperform someone. The guy is better than he has any right to be at his age, so I hope they do not mess it up with him, because Lesnar and Lashley are not getting any younger and Reigns is always at risk of his health condition coming back. Edited August 19, 2022 by Dauersack 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rozalia1 Posted August 19, 2022 Share Posted August 19, 2022 (edited) https://411mania.com/wrestling/zoey-stark-reportedly-injured-her-team-may-be-replaced-on-smackdown-possible-spoilers/ Not sure I buy it as legitimate. Fitting they paired her up with Lyons because Lyons herself got what seemed to be a kayfabe injury to write her out of a tournament. The replacement in the case of Lyons went to the final and was a finalist that made sense. In this case it also makes sense. Sonya has a history with Mandy and now is facing Mandy's girls. Previously you'd have thought Kai & Sky would be in the final but perhaps not, though it could always be heel vs heel of course and there would be a possible story there as in kayfabe Mandy drove Kai & Sky out of NXT (can be claimed of Raquel too which would be the second round opponent). Ultimately I'm pleased in the swap as having Toxic Attraction added is more fitting and an improvement, though Gigi will really need to step it back up because the main roster is going to be much less forgiving of her current slump. I'd give them the titles to establish that people beyond the usual suspects are actually a threat too. No point in bringing up people from NXT if you're just going to have established people beat them endlessly. 23 hours ago, Infected Elite said: i wouldn't say the Corbin on Lynch, and Rey/Orton etc on Nia was recent. But hopefully we get a hardcore division. Either way I'm liking what every show is doing right now EXCEPT, im not a fan of Roman, McInshit, or Moxley. Those 3 are boooooring. Anyways yeah, JD name is annoying, shoulda stayed Jordin Devlin. Relatively speaking I'd say they are, but some years back yeah. At least he technically still has the Jordin Devlin which is better than how it is for most. I doubt they'll change the name back but having people refer to him as Jordin now and then would be nice. 18 hours ago, Dauersack said: That was a few years ago already and within matches both were partaking in, what I mean is a Dominik Mysterio losing his shit after yet another Rhea attack on him, his father or his sister, beating her ass up outside the ring way beyond one simple move and then rolling with it depending on the crowd reaction. There are so many ways they could go from there, from just letting it be a one off that shows he is not someone to casually mess with, to a full on heel turn because he beat a (heel but still) woman and does not plan on stopping, all the way to it being a regular thing of Rhea and Dominik duking it out weekly with all kinds of stories they could turn that into. The main thing is that they do something other than just letting him take it, because currently he just looks like a complete pushover whenever his almost 50 year old father who is half his size has to try and protect him. I agree that Rhea is maybe one of two women, the other being Raquel, who could somewhat believably have matches with some of the smaller to medium sized guys, not sure there is a need for that but if it has to happen then these two are the best choices for it due to their size and strength. These kinds of matches were rare in the mid to late 2000s, the women interfered but they acted with caution because getting a receipt was not unusual, which is how it should be. I mean heel or babyface it is really hard to get anywhere when you are stuck in an unsuccessful tag team, you are the least respected member of that team, and you are the one who gets beaten up by a smaller guy like Balor and a woman. Dominik joining would have been great when Edge was still part of it, currently the group has no real credibility though, as Balor and Priest are not exactly having great success themselves so what would they teach Dominik. Someone else coming along to be a real mentor to Dominik on screen would be a solution, or he could just really lose his shit and severely brutalize someone, Priest for turning into a tougher face and Rhea for a mixed or heel turn if the crowd is a bit too uncomfortable, and then do a promo seperating from his father to make his own mark. If someone like Owens who played the clown for the better part of 5 years can be redeemed, then Dominik can be too, they just need to set things in motion. Yeah even a cowardly heel needs to have some credibility, and Theory was made to look completely out of his element against the big guys, so it was a nice change of pace to see him fight aggressively and actually overpower and outperform someone. The guy is better than he has any right to be at his age, so I hope they do not mess it up with him, because Lesnar and Lashley are not getting any younger and Reigns is always at risk of his health condition coming back. His father is proclaimed by WWE as the greatest Luchador in history and can very much still go in the ring so I wouldn't say that by itself is an issue. Him getting punked out constantly and looking like a joke is bad though yeah. I don't think people would buy Dominik as a brutalising heel if he went straight into it, even off Rhea beating him down every week. Need to build up to it which I think the Santos connection could help achieve. I completely agree on the subject of Theory. He has all the tools and is a prodigy, just needs to be booked stronger than he has been which the Ziggler match was a nice step towards. Edited August 19, 2022 by Rozalia1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dauersack Posted August 23, 2022 Share Posted August 23, 2022 Did not get to watch Smackdown last week, and from the summary I have seen it did not look like a lot happened there anyway so no post for that. WWE Raw Trist Stratus return. Seeing some old legends return is either an eye roller or a blast depending on whether I used to like that legend or not. I was always more of a Lita guy but I respected Trish so it was good to see her back. Of course they needed to have Bayley come in with her nobody grunts to interrupt and trash talk. Typical heel stuff I get it, its just so unoriginal because it was obvious that Trish would not fight or take a bump, so of course they have miss goody two shoes Belair come out and suck up to Trish so much that it almost looked like a smarmy heel move, and then the opponents of the grunts came in too. The two teams have a match that was far longer than it needed to be, and the teams looked like they rip each other off in terms of looks which was pretty hilarious to me. Nothing too bad about the match aside from Asukas terrible, TERRIBLE noodle arm swings that sometimes just missed the opponents head and hit the air when they were clearly not supposed to yet, nothing amazing either though. The ending was a bit surprising given that the two whos names I did not bother to remember won over established names like Alexa and Asuka despite looking like low budget versions of them, but if it leads to that weird trio doing something more down the line then why not. Next we have Ziggler and Balor. Balor despite being in his 40s referring to himself and the Judgement Day as "young talent" when Priest is also turning 40 this year and Rhea is basically just the group mascot/ringside grunt so Edge could hardly latch on to her for relevancy, was pretty stupid, he then called Ziggler, a man who is also in his 40s, a kid, before getting bitchslapped and dropping to the floor, making him look like a joke as well as an idiot. The two then had a match, and while I never liked Ziggler at least I could respect his overselling ability. Balor does not quite have that unique trait so he is just all around midcard meh, and I was unsure who I even wanted to win. Balor ultimately won what turned out to be an ok match, he needed to get help from Rhea to win though, making him look like a joke given that even Austin Theory who was booked like a loser for weeks managed a clean win over Ziggler. I said it before and I say it again, I have absolutely no clue who is supposed to get over with this Judgement Day debacle, because currently all of their credibility just slowly goes downhill. Let's see how the Priest vs Edge match turns out later. Owens vs Gable was next. Pretty good match, Owens going over clean was the right call, bonus points for winning the aftermath fight. A bit of a shame that someone who looks as deadly as Otis gets to look so weak that he can't overcome someone even in a 2vs1 scenario, but you have to fix the wrestlers one at the time and at the moment Owens really needs this push. Hopefully they come back to do something worthwhile with Otis later though, he could be so much more than the sidekick of an undercard comedy character like Gable. "Insert annoyed long rant that I want to spare you from about super cringy Judgement Day backstage promo here" Next was Bayley vs Aliyah. This match was a good reminder why women should not use some of the moves that the men use, like ducking away from an incoming clothesline or anything that requires good timing to look great, because they often look like they move in slow motion when compared to the guys so it just looks goofy if between the dodge and the slow incoming move is so much time and the attacker does not use all the time thats left to readjust. I do not buy Bayley as a heel either, few people have ever been as natural of a face as she was, and holy hell were the commentators annoying during this match. Aside from that, the match told a good story, Bayley was on point with the heel antics and won clean due to her veteran status and the fact that she has to be booked strong so early after he return, no problem with that, little tribute move for Trish in there too, but did Aliyah have to cry like a little girl after clean losing what was a rather competetive match with no stakes involved? Tag Match Styles and Lashley vs Ciampa and Miz. This one missed the mark for me. Chaotic and weird, a good spot with Lashley smashing Ciampa into the ring post but overall I would have preferred it if Lashley had another good singles match, title or no title match, seemed like a bit of a waste to put several good singles wrestlers into a tag team for one mediocre match instead of several good singles matches. Also the random attacker thingy, no clue where this is headed but if it shortended the match then it did a good deed. Next Austin Theory gets kicked in the face by someone I don't know to be the butt of a joke after he got a clean win last week. If this happens occasionally its fine, but he would profit from not being humiliated for a while so that he has time to actually rebuild his reputation first, because there definitely is still some work to do on that end. Damien Priest vs Edge. How does a wrestler who is supposed to get over and who gets referred to as a young man despite turning 40 in a month fare against an old wrestler with a lot of ring rust and whos body is so broken and surgically repaired that its a miracle he can even have a match in this day and age? Badly. Edge was presented as superior, he outsmarted him, he outperformed him, he outwrestled him, countered more moves, smashed his ass outside the ring (later took a bump through the chair himself so it was at least somewhat even in the end), it looked like a veteran fighting a green guy for a lot of the match, Priest had to actually do cheap shots to get the upper hand for a short while, lost despite getting a weapon shot in. They went with the whole "Edge vs his own creation" bs that would have made this match better if everyone didn't know that they were together for such a short time that Edge hardly taught anything to anyone, and it showed, Priests general moveset seemed to be the same as every match, no adjustment for what is supposed to be a special fight between two people who we are told know each other in and out. The match itself was good for what it was, it did not really get the point across that it wanted to make though. They want to get the Judgement Day over supposedly, instead Edge looked like he can handle Priest rather convincingly. They made this big deal about Priest threatening to end Edges career as well as cripple him, Priest failed to do that or to cause any real damage at all. The entire Judgement Day attacks and tries to do it as a group after their big guy failed, and then Edges wife comes in with a chair, against 3 people who are all stronger than her, and they cower in fear before retreating from a single woman with a chair. Never mind the dumb mentality of heels not daring to attack someone, but Rhea Ripley fleeing from Beth, her first real chance of actually fighting someone since Liv, was just the icing on the cake. The group that claims to run the show was chased away by a single woman in her 40s, I can't think of many better ways to make a group look like a joke. I said it before and I say it again, nobody in this group gets over in any way, and its a tragedy given what Priest and Ripley could be if given some better material. If they had brought out the mysterios so it is a 3vs3, make it a bit of a standoff, and then Edge gets back up with the other chair to make it a 4vs3 situation with 2 of the 4 being armed, then retreating from that would have been smart, but the Mysterios did not bother to try and get some revenge, guess they knew Beth chasing them away by herself caused them more harm than anything they could have done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxximum Posted August 24, 2022 Share Posted August 24, 2022 (edited) On 8/14/2022 at 2:11 AM, Maxximum said: Idk man, but with all these previously released superstars coming back, I'd say the returns of Braun Strowman, Johnny Gargano (with or without) Candice LeRae, Bray Wyatt, etc, aren't unlikely. I'd like to see The Way on the main roster too, if possible. Theory looks so lost with the MITB case at the moment (Roman Reigns was right). Wow, I was right. I've seen some memes around, saying Triple H has an infinity gauntlet and so far has collected 5/6 stones, of which the 5th stone was Johnny Gargano. Who's the next superstar wrestler to return? Trips is so goated for this, and what he's done since taking the lead of creative role. Also like where the Dexter Lumis attack/kidnap Miz thing is going, and sending a letter to Indi on NXT, acknowledging their marriage and it being picked up where it was left off before he was released. I'd like to see Candice LeRae too, but maybe later if not possible right away. The Way as a faction as well, or not, idk. Edited August 24, 2022 by Maxximum 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rozalia1 Posted August 24, 2022 Share Posted August 24, 2022 (edited) NXT 2.0 Surprised they didn't simply shift the titles on Gallus for the coming event. I'm happy to see Pretty Deadly & Lash Legend being a team and think they might have found finally a good spot for Lash. They're a good fit. Something many forget is guys with the type of gimmick that Pretty Deadly have often had women with them as it enhances the act if the effeminate men have a... rougher? woman around them. Charlie Dempsey, Regal's son showed up and... is Regal secretly Butch's father too? Quite the resemblance. Character wise I saw no problems and I assume he can go in the ring so one to watch I'm sure. The Grayson Waller Effect debuted as the 1st in ring talk show of NXT 2.0 (Lash had one but it came in pretape form) and... it was great. Grayson has so much confidence and is excellent in his role. The set looks good, the adjusted low chair was nice, and I loved how obnoxious it is to have a picture in picture on at all times of himself at a different angle. As he said, other talk shows are about the guests, but the Grayson Waller Effect is all about Grayson Waller. The Instagram thing we'll have to see how it goes but was it right that the comments and questions (outside his own ones) came from other heel wrestlers? Nice touch if so. Apollo Crews for his part did what I would say is likely his best promo work ever. Vile of him to try and use the Miz as an attack here though considering for all we know the Miz has been killed. NXT joins AEW in using Miz as an insult. Can you imagine if the Miz teamed up with his children? Miz/MJF/Grayson Waller, oh what a faction that would be. I've been enjoying Javier Bernal. He has been taunting Grimes for weeks now and got beat here for his trouble. I like the addition of him calling himself "Big Body" when he is actually one of the smaller guys on the roster. Blair Davenport seems good. Was it intentional that a woman going for this serious Goth woman vibe was later having a tantrum and being all "pay attention to me"? If so then good. I liked JD McDonagh's promo. Something different and the close ups make good use of his big head. Use what you've got. I love Tony D's heckling of guys on the outside that he was once again doing here. As shown before with Santos, he'll berate guys to not do flips and stick to wrestling, but if they actually do stick to wrestling then he'll shout boring at them and tell them to do something different which if they try naturally leads to them losing control, which makes Tony D angry at them more. Speaking of Santos... is he the most dishonest man in wrestling? Mexican wrestlers are supposed to take these stipulations seriously are they not? Yet twice now he has broken the stipulations with Tony D after getting beat. The main event was silly in places but they worked hard out there and it certainly felt like a feud ender. Wendy got the win but Tiffany won every other encounter. Both I think come out of it better I'd say. Wendy shows that even with the gimmick, she can get serious. Tiffany meanwhile has been improving at a rapid rate. 20 hours ago, Dauersack said: The two teams have a match that was far longer than it needed to be Normally I would agree with you in this sort of comment. Matches don't all have to be 15 minute back and forth affairs, and often a shorter match is better and makes more sense. However, main roster WWE has for so long devalued matches as those pointless things that happen between promos and backstage segments that WWE need these bigger matches (even better if more of them have a finish and it ain't DQ city) to ingrain into people that the matches matter again. That is the way I see it. 20 hours ago, Dauersack said: Next we have Ziggler and Balor. Balor despite being in his 40s referring to himself and the Judgement Day as "young talent" when Priest is also turning 40 this year and Rhea is basically just the group mascot/ringside grunt so Edge could hardly latch on to her for relevancy, was pretty stupid, he then called Ziggler, a man who is also in his 40s, a kid, before getting bitchslapped and dropping to the floor, making him look like a joke as well as an idiot. My thoughts were that while Balor may have won the match Ziggler was who came out better from that due to the interaction before the match. A face smacking the heel down in front of his I suppose enforcer and then taunting him to stop laying around and get out there is good for their face credibility. 20 hours ago, Dauersack said: Next was Bayley vs Aliyah. This match was a good reminder why women should not use some of the moves that the men use, like ducking away from an incoming clothesline or anything that requires good timing to look great, because they often look like they move in slow motion when compared to the guys so it just looks goofy if between the dodge and the slow incoming move is so much time and the attacker does not use all the time thats left to readjust. I do not buy Bayley as a heel either, few people have ever been as natural of a face as she was, and holy hell were the commentators annoying during this match. Aside from that, the match told a good story, Bayley was on point with the heel antics and won clean due to her veteran status and the fact that she has to be booked strong so early after he return, no problem with that, little tribute move for Trish in there too, but did Aliyah have to cry like a little girl after clean losing what was a rather competetive match with no stakes involved? I don't think that is a fair statement as Aliyah was involved. Vince for whatever reason kept her employed but seemed to fear having her out there for any period of time. HHH booked her out there is a long match which she isn't at the level to do and isn't even ready for anyway as she got gassed out there as her career has largely been 3 min tops matches up to this point. To briefly mention AEW, very damning for their women's division that WWE will give the lowest woman on their roster more time on a show than AEW gives all their women. As for the crying, I doubt it was booked. Aliyah has cried before and even threw up for her first match on the main roster. The emotions get to her and honestly I think the crying fits anyway. The lowest woman on the roster who is suddenly more confident because she is in a tag team that only wins because of her monster face partner challenged a heel to a match in her home town and was shown that she is still a loser. What I found odd about her on the show was they showed her backstage hanging out with a heel team backstage watching the monitor which is not normal. 20 hours ago, Dauersack said: Next Austin Theory gets kicked in the face by someone I don't know to be the butt of a joke after he got a clean win last week. If this happens occasionally its fine, but he would profit from not being humiliated for a while so that he has time to actually rebuild his reputation first, because there definitely is still some work to do on that end. Gargano is a natural feud for Theory. The problem comes if HHH jobs Theory out to Gargano (a favourite of his) which would be insanity considering Theory is a massive prospect and Gargano is a decade older and midcard at best. 20 hours ago, Dauersack said: Damien Priest vs Edge. For the young man thing for Priest, like with Balor, it is a matter of "TV years" rather than actual years. Priest is close in age to Ziggler for example, 3 years difference, but while Priest has been on the main roster for 2 years, Ziggler has been on main roster TV for... 15? For a fan who has been watching long term there is no getting away from Ziggler being older because you've been seeing him for over a decade. Priest has only been seen for a short period so the fact that he is 39 doesn't just instantly pop out at most people. As for Rhea and Beth. I didn't see it as Rhea fleeing from Beth as she was doing the motions to go at her but Balor and Priest were holding her back (for whatever reason). Thank you for all your comments. Don't agree with all of them but good to see your thoughts. 18 hours ago, Maxximum said: Wow, I was right. I've seen some memes around, saying Triple H has an infinity gauntlet and so far has collected 5/6 stones, of which the 5th stone was Johnny Gargano. Who's the next superstar wrestler to return? Trips is so goated for this, and what he's done since taking the lead of creative role. Also like where the Dexter Lumis attack/kidnap Miz thing is going, and sending a letter to Indi on NXT, acknowledging their marriage and it being picked up where it was left off before he was released. I'd like to see Candice LeRae too, but maybe later if not possible right away. The Way as a faction as well, or not, idk. Lumis in the span of a day got from Canada to Florida with the feds on his tail all to say goodbye to his wife. What a babyface this serial killer is. 18 hours ago, Maxximum said: Also like where the Dexter Lumis attack/kidnap Miz thing is going, and sending a letter to Indi on NXT, acknowledging their marriage and it being picked up where it was left off before he was released. I'd like to see Candice LeRae too, but maybe later if not possible right away. The Way as a faction as well, or not, idk. Hopefully The Way won't return, but acknowledging stuff between shows is so refreshing. Rewarding people for paying attention. Edited August 24, 2022 by Rozalia1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dauersack Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 5 hours ago, Rozalia1 said: Normally I would agree with you in this sort of comment. Matches don't all have to be 15 minute back and forth affairs, and often a shorter match is better and makes more sense. However, main roster WWE has for so long devalued matches as those pointless things that happen between promos and backstage segments that WWE need these bigger matches (even better if more of them have a finish and it ain't DQ city) to ingrain into people that the matches matter again. That is the way I see it. I am inclined to agree, though if you ask me the way to make matches matter more is not necessarily to make them all longer, it is by them having more stakes, by the general win loss ratio actually mattering when choosing the next number one contender. A match can't be 2-3 minutes if it is supposed to be good, but a match does not have to be overly long either, especially not if it already is a tournament match so it has stakes involved. I would have admittedly complained about that less if the match had actually been better though. 5 hours ago, Rozalia1 said: My thoughts were that while Balor may have won the match Ziggler was who came out better from that due to the interaction before the match. A face smacking the heel down in front of his I suppose enforcer and then taunting him to stop laying around and get out there is good for their face credibility. Balor needed help to win, and yes Rhea being shown as a useless enforcer or protector as well as Balor just being bitchslapped to the ground and mocked after speaking nonsense, by Ziggler of all people, does not exactly give off major player vibes. When Ziggler is taking the piss out of you while you have backup, then you are a bit of a joke. 5 hours ago, Rozalia1 said: I don't think that is a fair statement as Aliyah was involved. Vince for whatever reason kept her employed but seemed to fear having her out there for any period of time. HHH booked her out there is a long match which she isn't at the level to do and isn't even ready for anyway as she got gassed out there as her career has largely been 3 min tops matches up to this point. To briefly mention AEW, very damning for their women's division that WWE will give the lowest woman on their roster more time on a show than AEW gives all their women. You are a bit harsh on Aliyah. I do not view her as a lowest woman on the roster, that would be Dana Brooke for me by a lot, I don't even think Aliyahs matches are bad, it is just that this match in particular looked a bit goofy because it had evasion spots in it and both just moved so slow, that was on much as Bayley as it was on Aliyah, which is why I called it a womans match problem in general, because Bayley is one of the best wrestlers in this division. Just watching any fast paced match between cruiserweights who are technically still heavier than most of the women makes it abundantly clear that the women just physically can't move nearly as fast, so my recommendation would just be to stay away from these kinds of evasion spots as they just look weird. 5 hours ago, Rozalia1 said: As for the crying, I doubt it was booked. Aliyah has cried before and even threw up for her first match on the main roster. The emotions get to her and honestly I think the crying fits anyway. The lowest woman on the roster who is suddenly more confident because she is in a tag team that only wins because of her monster face partner challenged a heel to a match in her home town and was shown that she is still a loser. What I found odd about her on the show was they showed her backstage hanging out with a heel team backstage watching the monitor which is not normal. I don't think losing to one of the most accomplished women the company has produced in the last 10 years after having a competetive match with her makes one a loser, if you can hang with someone the caliber of Bayley then you have the potential to be champion one day. The dislike with crying is a personal thing for me, I hate it when adults cry in public over small stuff, makes me lose a lot of respect for them and definitely not view them like the company wants me to. There are exceptions, I don't mind people crying in retirement events, or if they fulfill their life long dreams and just lose it in the ring while celebrating, thats one thing, but for losing a match? 5 hours ago, Rozalia1 said: Gargano is a natural feud for Theory. The problem comes if HHH jobs Theory out to Gargano (a favourite of his) which would be insanity considering Theory is a massive prospect and Gargano is a decade older and midcard at best. Theory could have good feuds with plenty of people, but yeah Gargano is one of them. I also hope Triple H does not get the "he is really young, he can job for a decade before we push him properly" mentality that Vince seemed to have with some wrestlers who then were unwilling to job for years on end and just left for other companies. It is said that Triple H is also high on Theory though, so maybe he surprises us here. 5 hours ago, Rozalia1 said: For the young man thing for Priest, like with Balor, it is a matter of "TV years" rather than actual years. Priest is close in age to Ziggler for example, 3 years difference, but while Priest has been on the main roster for 2 years, Ziggler has been on main roster TV for... 15? For a fan who has been watching long term there is no getting away from Ziggler being older because you've been seeing him for over a decade. Priest has only been seen for a short period so the fact that he is 39 doesn't just instantly pop out at most people. As for Rhea and Beth. I didn't see it as Rhea fleeing from Beth as she was doing the motions to go at her but Balor and Priest were holding her back (for whatever reason). Yeah I know that is how they view that at times, but they even made Ziggler comment on that so it just made Balor sound like a goof, just like it made Cena sound like a goof when he wanted to gave "young Kevin Owens" some "veteran advice" back then and Owens went to town on his ass about how he is technically more experienced than Cena. It is hard for me to tell what Rhea was doing there with her awkward fumbling around, but whether she fled by herself or was dragged back by her partners does not really change the fact that the entire faction ended up retreating from a single older woman threatening them with a chair when they are supposed to be hells vile enough to try and intentionally cripple someone, which is even more pathetic than fleeing or getting beat up by Rey Mysterio if you ask me. 6 hours ago, Rozalia1 said: Thank you for all your comments. Don't agree with all of them but good to see your thoughts. Thank you too, exchanging some thoughts with someone around here in a civil manner is a welcome change of pace, and we do not have to agree on everything, I can see where you are coming from too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dauersack Posted August 29, 2022 Share Posted August 29, 2022 (edited) WWE Smackdown The only entertaining thing about a Corbin match these days is Pat constantly crapping on him with his commentary, even when someone as talented as Ricochet is involved in the match I do not care for the match itself at all, but for as long as Pat is on a roll I don't mind letting a Corbin match run in the background for some laughs. Not that the match was bad, I just feel the go away kind of heat for Corbin that only gets kept in check by Pat constantly shitting on him in entertaining ways, so that is what I focus on more than the action in the ring. After a Drew and then a Kross segment we get a womens tag match. As the division is currently rather injury prone we get the to watch the loser teams fight each other to replace one of the injured teams. The match was alright for what it was, but these teams make no sense to me. Why team up someone as promising as Sonya with Natalya? Sonya is not a newbie who needs a mentor figure, Nikki and Piper make for a weird team, Shotzi and Tia seem completely random and Tamina&Dana do not need to be there at all. Sonya winning something for a change is good, even if it drags Natalya along instead of someone who actually still has potential left to unlock. Walter and Sheamus. Now this is a match and potential rivalry I can really get behind. Sheamus is pretty underrated, and Walter is a machine, these two having a few hard hitting matches is very promising. Walter talking reminded me a bit William Regal, especially with the usage of the word "bloody", even if it is meant literally here instead of how british people use the word. There was not really a need for the cronies to divert from the main point, especially not poor Pete Dunne with this total garbage Butch gimmick having to act like a chihuahua with a caffeine overdose and the guy whos name I keep forgetting acting like the dog sitter, but the goofy shit aside I expect this to be a great match. Speaking of weird teams, Raquel and Aliyah makes as little sense to me as most other womens teams. Aliyah is probably supposed to be the anchor and stop Raquel from tearing through the division, but it is a bit of a shame given how deadly she could be if teamed with another badass instead of little Aliyah. The match told us as much, Aliyah took most of the beating, Raquel was shown as very much capable to handle both opponents by herself, even Bayley on commentary made fun of Aliyah reappearing just as Raquel finished the match by herself against both opponents. Match was ok, Bayleys commentary made it a bit more entertaining because she is so obnoxious that she pretty much comes full circle, and even if it is acted the thought of anyone giving Michael Cole a rough time is rather satisfying, even if I actually enjoy his commentary work with Pat these days. Next the Viking Raiders get to be the butt of the joke again. Nothing new here, this rivalry is poison for them. Goofy segments like the viking funeral for a few boxes of booty cereal and unicorn dildos, dumb jokes, New Day dressing up and painting themselves to mock viking culture (imagine the outcry if the raiders ever put on some costumes, dreadlocks and blackface to mock their rivals culture), getting fooled by two goofballs who then beat them up, all while the commentary endlessly makes fun about how bad people dressing up as tribal vikings must smell. Whatever chance these two had to become a feared tag team like the Bludgeon Brothers were a few years ago will likely die as this rivalry gets more cartoonish and stupid while it endlessly keeps going on to give both teams something to do that does not involve going for the tag team belts, as the champions are already busy with other shit anyway. Speaking of which... For the finale, Sami still being reduced to a grunt that is below the two spineless clone brothers. At least he is in the main event I guess, having good matches with the number one contender, could be worse. I should also consider this an up for the sole reason that Reigns actually bothered to show up, didn't do much of anything, but the lazy oaf even being there outside of PPVs is above expectations these days. Drew gets beaten up again, more of the same, he will not take any real revenge for it, more of the same, he will most likely lose so the absent champion keeps both belts, more of the same. I expect these two to have a passable match, perhaps even a good match, Reigns does deliver when he can actually be bothered, pretty much like Lesnar with less spectacle, I still would very much prefer to have at least one of the big belts on someone who is not a part timing heel being presented and saved by other people most of the time. Overall a rather entertaining show, not really any bad matches, some crap segments (wtf is up with these fashion twats? their stuff flies right past my head) but not a lot, pretty good buildup towards the next ppv. Smackdown profits a lot from the shorter running time, no match that overstays its welcome by 10 minutes and not as many segments that are stupid, perhaps Raw would profit from that as well because it sometimes feels that some of the more negative stuff on Raw is merely the result of having that bit of extra time that just needs to be filled with something. Edited August 29, 2022 by Dauersack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SelectiveGamer Posted September 1, 2022 Share Posted September 1, 2022 Braun Strowman is reportedly coming back to WWE as soon as this next upcoming Monday and AEW has refused to renew the contract of Bobby Fish. Undisputed Era dead AGAIN... this time in AEW Where am I getting this from? Same place as always really. CageSideSeats. Believe it or don't. Up to you in the end. At the end of the day... time will tell. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willmill97 Posted September 2, 2022 Share Posted September 2, 2022 Is anyone here going to be at Clash at the Castle tomorrow? Tickets all booked, so stoked as there hasn't been a ppv in the UK for as long as I've been a fan. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dauersack Posted September 4, 2022 Share Posted September 4, 2022 (edited) It was a great show for the most part, only a few matches that did nothing for me, and I already knew beforehand which ones that would be so I question my decision to still watch them. Ups of the show - Overall great moves. Spears through the ropes, top rope action, brutal chops and clotheslines done by some, few botches. - Bianca getting pinned. I don't like Bianca as she is now, she is the most natural heel and often acts like one too yet I am supposed to view her as a babyface, and absurdly enough Bayley, who is a natural face, is a heel now and tries to act like one, nobody in the crowd was buying into it. Bianca obviously can only ever get pinned by one of the horsewomen, and even with Bayley being one it still took a 3 woman effort to put her down so I should still consider this a down, but does not matter, Bayley won and that will set things in motion for a big match between them. - Walter vs Sheamus was everything I wanted it to be. Both men looked like badasses, nobody got buried, Walter was put over, they made good use of Sheamus being so pale that the chops adding up would look gruesome, good storytelling of the damage adding up making the later moves look different and finally Sheamus breaking. The crowd was really on fire during the match and so was I, especially as the finish came with a clothesline/lariat instead of a typical big finisher. - Rey and Edge vs Judgement Day. The match had its ups and downs, downs for the weird selling Priest did and Dom once again getting smacked around by Rhea having to get saved by his small papi, not to mention how this group we are supposed to buy as a big deal kinda just lost to a really old tag team, but overall I consider it a good thing. Rhea finally took a bump, not by Dom like I would have preferred, and Dom going apeshit on her causing Rey to stop him would have made that later heel turn all the more effective and logical, but still it was time for that to happen. Dom turned heel after the match by kicking Edge in the dick, then delivering a really brutal looking clothesline to his father, this was what I wanted to happen for a while. Could have done some more but after Dom getting repeatedly humiliated for weeks on end only to then get pushed to the sidelines it was really time for him to change things up, I just hope they plan the next steps very carefully, because this situation has the potential to be either good or bad. I try to ignore the fact that our supposed heel faction did not make use of the golden opportunity to avenge the loss or hurt Edge, would have made too much sense, at least Dom did not leave with them so there is some intrigue how they will act towards each other, though I have some suspicion after the Dom and Rhea interaction last week on Raw. - Seth vs Matt was the spectacle I hoped it would be, continuing the personal beef and showing a more brutal side to the tired old goofball stoner Matt Riddle was presented as so far. Seth Rollins is great at making me hate his characters guts and he did it without burying Matt Riddle, which is what I expected to happen so I am glad that I was wrong with that. Pretty clear where they will go from here. - Drew video package was a no brainer given the events location, and they did a good job with it. Downs of the show - Champions not defending, mainly talking about tag team belts, also Bianca and Lashley, bit of a shame, but at least we got Reigns defending for once I guess, even if his cousins once again did not bother to defend their 4 belts. - The crowd nearly fell asleep in the Morgan vs Baszler match, and I share that sentiment. Given that the result was 100% obvious given that Morgan already was allowed to retain against Rousey, there was never any reason to get invested in the first place, I doubt poor Baszler will win anything of note for the rest of her career. - Not having New Day vs Viking Raiders on this show. No clue why their big, and stupid, gimmick match happened on Smackdown when it had the feel of a ppv car crash. - Reigns getting another clone soldier. What is the point of that? Reigns only needed one grunt for a long title reign, then he got a second one, and Heyman, and Sami as catamite for an even longer one, and now too closely related island dweller with blonde hair, whos name I did not bother remembering because to me he is just Uso three, also joined. He went to a historic reign without this guy, and he does not face some big opposition that needs reinforcements either, just rolling my eyes at this point, Drew losing was also expected. - Tyson Fury. I rooted against this guy when he fought Klitschko, and I do not care for him now either, just another guy from another sport joining in at the top. - Another Austin Theory humiliation. I have a hard time remembering any Money In The Bank winner being made to look like such a loser so often, at this point I would not be surprised if he just cashes in one day and loses. Definitely excited for how some storylines will continue. Not really worth putting in the effort to summarize and giving thoughts on each show here anymore though, as the thread seems more or less dead, so I will perhaps just do it for PPVs from now on, or not at all and just briefly mention some really good or really terrible news and developments every once in a while. Edited September 4, 2022 by Dauersack 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth_Krid Posted September 4, 2022 Share Posted September 4, 2022 I loved the show. Our crowds are just different than US ones and bring so much energy. Sheamus and Gunther was simply brilliant, we knew what we'd get and it still exceeded expectations. Main event was never in doubt but the false finish almost got a few, and Fury decking Theory popped me, that was brilliant. Best part of the night was at the end though when the production truck on a few seconds delay somehow missed the guy with an "I'm a better dad than Chris Benoit" t-shirt being front and centre for a while ? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious Fury Posted September 4, 2022 Share Posted September 4, 2022 (edited) Like others thought the show was very enjoyable. First WWE PPV I've watched since Royal Rumble, which was complete trash and made switch off to the product for several months. I've only been loosely following the results since the creative changes, which the company was desperate for, and have been intending to watch a show since then. This was a significant improvement and certainly peaked my interest to make me consider watching more future PPV's on the regular. Gunther/Sheamus was easily MOTN. Only thing that I thought was poor was the Drew/Fury post match event. Promos and vignettes prior was basically alluding to this being a huge deal to Drew, for him after beating beaten by Reigns to only go 'never mind, lets party' and join in with some some sing-song. I know they have to send the crowd home happy, but just was a really bizarre segment. Edited September 4, 2022 by Glorious Fury 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dauersack Posted September 7, 2022 Share Posted September 7, 2022 (edited) Big Braun is back and destroyed the vast majority of the tag team division. Can't really harm whats already rotting in the ground with all belts sitting on mostly inactive champions I guess so why not, the man is an absolute unit and this was a good reminder, even if he fell flat on his ass during his charge towards the barricade, though the reaction of the announcers to this botch was a bit different when compared to Titus. I just hope they don't bring Wyatt back, I am so done with that guys stupid gimmicks. Let's hope they do something good with Braun Strowman. Edited September 7, 2022 by Dauersack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valzentia Posted September 11, 2022 Share Posted September 11, 2022 Seems that NXT UK talent is getting cut, starting with Jinny. Good riddance to her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rozalia1 Posted September 15, 2022 Share Posted September 15, 2022 NXT 2.0 ? What a year it has been. Last year Vince finally got a look at HHH's travesty and dismantled it, putting in charge Shawn Michaels (booker of the year easily) and others with the clear command to book it how Vince himself would do it. As 205 Live showed, Vince directly booking stuff is in this sort of style (character heavy, wrestling secondary). RAW was a lot of writers and others putting it together and Vince at the end saying it sucks and for them to redo it with barely any time left, which Vince will still think sucks but they need to do something so it'll have to do. Another Vince thing in NXT that people hate is people getting gimmicks and details added to them so they stand out more. For example, it is silly that Andre Chase is a school professor and wrestles in the gear he does. Yes. Does it make him standout and due to him putting his all into it made it be over? Also yes. The response to NXT 2.0 at first was a lot of hate, but from people who didn't matter as HHH's NXT had already bored them out of their minds to AEW, or they considered themselves "rebels" or whatever and AEW certainly is more rebel than something owned by the evil empire. Hence why the ratings didn't really change as all the haters had largely already stopped watching HHH's NXT anyway (2.0 since then has been growing slowly but surely). Very quickly for the people who remained and gave NXT 2.0 a chance it got interesting and for many it quickly became the best wrestling show. NXT 2.0 had life. It wasn't scared to try things and it also wasn't scared to keep giving things a chance if they didn't quickly work out. It risked a lot of green talent on TV and in the process unearthed numerous gems that HHH would have kept rotting in the PC for years so he could have largely boring small Indy guys who simply don't have it all over the show (there is a reason everyone laughs when you say you're a wrestler Cole). NXT 2.0 at least went out with a bang as it was a solid final show. I don't recall anything I didn't enjoy but if I had to point out some things. Wrestling match wise you had the tag team match opener which was great. For a big Debut you had QUINCY who has actual gear now and oh does he stand out. In terms of promos you had a great JD which was very smartly done, not going to spoil it but for you to get the point of that promo fully you need to look at the barber's hands, great stuff. The video package going through 2.0's year was stupendous to use a Vince word. There is hope however. The logo changed to what appeared to be White & Gold, not Black & Gold. I hope that means that this has simply been done to get rid of the 2.0 label which perhaps yeah, needed to go at some point, and to get the Vince stigma off NXT. The show will in fact continue to be as 2.0 was. I hope that HHH has learned from his failure with both 205 Live and NXT that this Indy style stuff doesn't work and Vince's philosophy is what WWE needs to continue with. By all means increase the wrestling yes, but never forget that characters is what builds the interest for people having the matches. Don't be like the supposed smart marks who mistake the main roster being so badly ran (hence it sucking for ages) as Vince's philosophy not working. We'll likely never hear about it, but I hope that Vince in his retirement can actually sit down and enjoy himself some professional wrestling. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SelectiveGamer Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 (edited) Spoiler Bray Wyatt? I don't see how it could be anyone else honestly. HHH likes Kross and his portrayal so there's literally no reason to change it already. Or at all. It's not for some random either. This is the only thing that makes sense. It also doesn't make sense to do it on some random SmackDown either. I think there will keep being teases until Extreme Rules maybe? I have no idea. Time will tell. Clearly feed your head Edited September 20, 2022 by SelectiveGamer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rozalia1 Posted September 23, 2022 Share Posted September 23, 2022 NXT They taped a bunch of shows after the previous to give them time to change whatever they need to change for the future so the set is still 2.0's, for those unaware. NXT UK people were really all over the show but that could just be a consequence of them taping all those shows. Opener was two UK people though both came over a bit before the rest. Axiom getting a mask was a good move but he needs to wear some gear on his upper body to help cover up the fact he is so small. Gallus I need more time before I can judge them. JD I've liked as he really does a good job with the creep gimmick and has a nice finisher too with the Devil Inside Suplex. Dragunov is back from injury and... I'm not sure it is exactly the best time for him to return considering current events (at least as a babyface). I've enjoyed the Damon Kemp stuff. Funny that the guy WWE likely hired to sweeten the pot for his more famous brother is likely going to end up the guy who makes it while said more famous brother likely goes nowhere. His brother as far as I know is doing part time training at home basically which... is not good. His brother in what we've seen of him had no charisma or talking ability and he likely ain't going to develop that at home. I've enjoyed Damon's "I'm behind every bad thing that has ever happened to Diamond Mine" bit (did he talk Pretty Deadly into attacking the Dojo too?) and I have to assume that going forward he'll be getting some form of backup because currently the heel in the feud is outnumbered. Though the Creeds go hard for faces considering Julius told Brutus to forget the match and just end Damon's career. Speaking of Diamond Mine, silly that tag match or not Ivy Nile got pinned for the first time on NXT. At least cushion it with Damon Kemp doing a distraction or something (I suppose we're supposed to take it as Ivy being off her game hence that promo behand where she was mad at Damon, but such a small detail is easy for people to miss). Still undefeated in singles at least, but senseless to hand her losses considering she has been undefeated for so long. Such a record means she can very easily serve a nice filler challenger role for the Woman's title as while you'd expect her to not win it, her being undefeated for so long (even has a win over Alba Fyre) means that there is always that chance that they might give her the belt. Tatum Paxley meanwhile should keep the mask going forward. Stands out and she looks good in it. NXT's best bout machine Andre Chase pinned Carmelo Hayes. Incredible. It is deceptive due to the gimmick but Andre has actually gotten quite credible since he became a face. Something the announcers I think should mention more is make use of that pretape of some weeks back that appeared to put forward that Andre is a teacher of wrestling, hence why as silly as he might look you should never underestimate him as he is highly skilled. I'll be very interested in seeing if the gimmick can get over on the main roster. If it does then he'll have a rare quality as you imagine he'll be a manager on top of a competitor, so he'll be a manager who is a bigger threat than his charges. There was also a Shawn Michaels appearance which makes me wonder if he'll be the on screen GM going forward. If he is then I'm sure they'll do a good job with it as NXT GMs unlike those on the main roster tend to have little in the way of screen time, only showing up when a story calls for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEI2EK Posted October 1, 2022 Share Posted October 1, 2022 Japanese pro wrestling legend and former WWF champion Antonio Inoki has passed away today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dauersack Posted October 10, 2022 Share Posted October 10, 2022 Ugh. Bray Wyatt of all people returning already makes me consider no longer watching the product if he gets featured too much. Between Reigns as a boring and inactive part timer hogging both world titles only to soon defend it in a mockery match against some Youtube twat I never heard about outside of wrestling aside from him filming corpses somewhere, tag team titles being hogged by the inactive part timers cousins and therefore being irrelevant by now, young wrestlers getting regularly humiliated and now this dumbass Wyatt likely soon being back to spamming his shitty gimmick segments and having worst match of the year contenders against some of the best wrestlers in the world, things are looking pretty grim. As for the PPV, most matches were terribly predictable and despite most of them being entertaining thats still dragging it down a lot, though I enjoyed the overall show until the end killed the mood. What I liked - Good quality matches for the most part. Except one bad match I felt like the matches were all good when it comes to the wrestling part, despite that part not exactly being on the forefront on a ppv called Extreme Rules. - SOME good brutality going on. The likes of Liv Morgan and Rousey made their weapons seem like they were made out of paper, the others managed to deliver and sell it well though. - Only the expected amount of defying common sense. Yeah you get the overpushed super Cena likes of this generation like Belair who can never really lose and even wins in a 1vs3 scenario, but thankfully its down to a managable level by now, with only about 3 wrestlers committing this offense with any sort of frequency. What I disliked - Judgement Day still looking like weak clowns, especially Dominik. They got whooped by a woman, a middle aged woman, I repeat, the supposed top heels got whooped by a single middle aged woman, the two veterans beaten up and the upcoming star, a grown man physically twice as strong as her, backing away in fear to let Rhea get whooped in his stead, before they ultimately managed to barely get the upper hand over the middle aged woman, the middle aged semi crippled man in handcuffs, and the middle aged smallest man on the roster. God forbid if they ever fight a group of people with somewhat similar numbers who are not retired or close to being retired, the thought of Judgement Day fighting the Bloodline or any of the two groups involved in the bar brawl is downright absurd at this point. - Women keep getting away scott free with violent interference, insulting the intelligence of every fan and making many wrestlers look like clowns for just accepting this as a fact of life. There aren't many men alive who would not have headbutted or kicked away the blow up doll who kept interfering in the strap match, and the same goes for Rhea and Beth, two women who keep attacking guys and they never take a single hit, because the guys they attack do not even try, they just allow themselves to get beaten up no matter the consequences, or they run away, as if being a woman is some kind of invincibility super power. All this does is making me respect the women FAR less, because even the small model background divas of old were capable to take bumps from the big 300lbs monsters, but the roided up Rhea or Beth can't take anything from people the size of Rey or Balor? Either limit them to distractions or make them fair game to get a receit every once in a while, everything else just makes everyone involved look bad. What I hated - Bray Wyatt returning. The guy is a known prima donna, he is hard to work with, he has a few screws loose, he is all gimmick and no substance, can't have a good match with anyone it seems, even the likes of Orton or Rollins, interacting with his gimmick drags everyone down, poor Alexa needed months for her career to recover somewhat. The guys return bs already felt like cringe overdose to me so I just hope they limit him to one show, preferably to one segment per show so that I can easily avoid him, because I don't see any chance of him being any better than he was before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rozalia1 Posted October 11, 2022 Share Posted October 11, 2022 (edited) I was surprised and pleased that Bianca retained. As I've made clear many times there are far too many dominant heels so it is refreshing to have a face who just demolishes everyone for a change. Not a fan of putting Zelina with Legato as that was Elektra's spot. Just shows that Tony D was correct all along. The Don valued Elektra's fine work at the docks, which were up 14% under Elektra's management, but Legato? Drops her the moment they feel there is someone better. Disgraceful. I hope Elektra joins the D'Angelo family so she can get revenge on the Legatos down the line. She isn't Italian yes, but as Tony D has shown he has a good heart. Theory... what is HHH doing continuing to beat him into powder? What I knew was going to happen happened, a new low for Theory, jobbing to Gargano. Some people think this is some insane meta thing from HHH where he is punishing Theory like HHH was himself and that in a year suddenly Theory will shoot up the card and be a top guy. Okay... but why? Theory didn't do anything to get punished like this. HHH I'm sure didn't like what he had to go through so why do it to others? Perhaps the reason they're beating him down now is they believe there is no space at the top right now so they need to faff about... okay, does Theory need to be beaten to a pulp until then? Literally do anything else. Make him Stephanie's handsome young man she keeps around to fawn over or something. Anything is better than this. On 10/10/2022 at 10:43 PM, Dauersack said: - Women keep getting away scott free with violent interference, insulting the intelligence of every fan and making many wrestlers look like clowns for just accepting this as a fact of life. There aren't many men alive who would not have headbutted or kicked away the blow up doll who kept interfering in the strap match, and the same goes for Rhea and Beth, two women who keep attacking guys and they never take a single hit, because the guys they attack do not even try, they just allow themselves to get beaten up no matter the consequences, or they run away, as if being a woman is some kind of invincibility super power. All this does is making me respect the women FAR less, because even the small model background divas of old were capable to take bumps from the big 300lbs monsters, but the roided up Rhea or Beth can't take anything from people the size of Rey or Balor? Either limit them to distractions or make them fair game to get a receit every once in a while, everything else just makes everyone involved look bad. What I hated - Bray Wyatt returning. The guy is a known prima donna, he is hard to work with, he has a few screws loose, he is all gimmick and no substance, can't have a good match with anyone it seems, even the likes of Orton or Rollins, interacting with his gimmick drags everyone down, poor Alexa needed months for her career to recover somewhat. The guys return bs already felt like cringe overdose to me so I just hope they limit him to one show, preferably to one segment per show so that I can easily avoid him, because I don't see any chance of him being any better than he was before. Everyone knows the why, but it'd be nice if the announcers could mention the trouble that hitting a woman would bring because of the network and sponsors. I'd not respect the women less over it. You think Rhea wouldn't be willing to take a spear or whatever? I'm sure she'd be more then up for it but the company ain't going to sign off on that... except that one time they did randomly when Corbin hit the End of Days on Becky. As I've said before. For all the talk of us being in our "enlightened age" I doubt there would be outrage among fans if Edge, Drew, or whatever hard done babyface just gave the heel woman one good smack (after having warned her). Some people will badmouth 'em for it, but it'll just be the usual characters who attack wrestling as being low class/stupid/whatever. Just don't AEW it up and have a woman getting smacked on every show and the heel woman getting punished will stay a big pop. I'd be careful with believing he is a "prima donna". That newz got out there post his sacking in WWE because he'd so often tell management that their stuff sucked, which according to most people did indeed suck. Standing up for yourself is a positive quality if you're doing it justly, which many would say he was. Edited October 12, 2022 by Rozalia1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dauersack Posted October 12, 2022 Share Posted October 12, 2022 8 hours ago, Rozalia1 said: I was surprised and pleased that Bianca retained. As I've made clear many times there are far too many dominant heels so it is refreshing to have a face who just demolishes everyone for a change. I feel reminded of the ultra boring face era of Super Cena and Mega Reigns, only that Bianca is even more ridiculously overpushed. I mean they let her beat the entire opposing Survival Series team by herself a while ago, they let her overcome 1vs3 despite one of the 3 being one of the four horsewomen, it is just really damn stupid at this point, even for a monster like Raquel it would be a bit much. Not saying that it is not also annoying with heels like Reigns at the moment, though he at least needs help from others regularly, and surprisingly enough he comes off as far less arrogant than Bianca, a face, despite intentionally going for an arrogant character. 8 hours ago, Rozalia1 said: Theory... what is HHH doing continuing to beat him into powder? Perhaps he thinks that no matter how much they beat him down and make him look like a joke, he has the briefcase so he will be champion soon anyway. Obviously a stupid mentality but aside from "well he is young so we can stop treating him like a joke in 5 years and still have a lot of time" it is the only one I can come up with that makes at least some sense. 8 hours ago, Rozalia1 said: Everyone knows the why, but it'd be nice if the announcers could mention the trouble that hitting a woman would bring because of the network and sponsors. I'd not respect the women less over it. You think Rhea wouldn't be willing to take a spear or whatever? I'm sure she'd be more then up for it but the company ain't going to sign off on that... except that one time they did randomly when Corbin hit the End of Days on Becky. As I've said before. For all the talk of us being in our "enlightened age" I doubt there would be outrage among fans if Edge, Drew, or whatever hard done babyface just gave the heel woman one good smack (after having warned her). Some people will badmouth 'em for it, but it'll just be the usual characters who attack wrestling as being low class/stupid/whatever. Just don't AEW it up and have a woman getting smacked on every show and the heel woman getting punished will stay a big pop. Well I am not suggesting to go around and randomly beat up the women, but if a roided up gal like Ripley keeps kicking you in the balls or smashing you in the back every other week, then giving her a beating when she is caught red handed should be the norm. Hell after what she did to his wife, Edge would come off as a total pussy to not send her to the hospital, but thats exactly what Edge will be doing, nothing, until Beth returns and tries to do it herself. If a small guy kept doing what they are doing, he would be flying into the barricade almost instantly. If we can't do that in a PG14, not even in a fight situation, if they still need to send the message that women are second class in this business, then don't let them physically interfere at all, because it just makes them look bad and it makes the ones who keep letting them get away with it even worse for not doing anything, and not bringing an untouchable citizen of their own to guarantee success. As you mentioned though, they have done it to Stephanie and Becky even during the PG era, so they do not rule it out categorically, which leads to me believing that it might indeed be the women themselves who don't want their characters to get some equal treatment. 8 hours ago, Rozalia1 said: I'd be careful with believing he is a "prima donna". That newz got out there post his sacking in WWE because he'd so often tell management that their stuff sucked, which according to most people did indeed suck. Standing up for yourself is a positive quality if you're doing it justly, which many would say he was. A few months ago I would have agreed painting WWE as the evil and incapable machine that suppresses all creativity from the brilliant minds of people like Wyatt and Moxley, holding them back from being good. By now we actually got to witness what these people being unfiltered looks like with Moxley, and what Moxley did to himself and the business as a whole was more atrocious than anything WWE could have ever come up with. We still do not know which version comes back, or if they all come back, I just know that, for whatever reason, his last run produced nothing but downright terrible matches, mostly stupid segments, and it damaged everyone who came into contact with it. If the best thing about a gimmick are the entrances, then yeah I am not too excited about a return and I hope they just keep that guy away from any titles at least. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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