The WWE Discussion Thread

[MD_91]

Last night was a lot more enjoyable, really weird booking tonight ruined it for me.

 

I like Bianca but who's left for her at this point, I've never really cared about Balor but he needed the win a lot more (also what was the deal with the coloured weapons lol) and I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt with how good the bloodline story has been but tonight felt like the perfect time for Roman to lose the title.

Edited April 3, 2023 by MD_91

[Infected Elite]

23 minutes ago, MD_91 said:

Last night was a lot more enjoyable, really weird booking tonight ruined it for me.

 

I like Bianca but who's left for her at this point, I've never really cared about Balor but he needed the win a lot more (also what was the deal with the coloured weapons lol) and I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt with how good the bloodline story has been but tonight felt like the perfect time for Roman to lose the title.

 

Bloodline story ran its course a long time ago

[Dauersack]

I decided to only bother to watch the matches I followed the build up for, which weren't too many when looking at the total number, pretty short Wrestlemania for me compared to the last few years, and I was certain about almost all of the outcomes of these matches, and was right in most cases.

 

Night 1, 3 matches I bothered to watch.

 

1. Mysterio family match. This one went exactly like I thought it would. Why? Well, because A, the WWE seems obsessed with making Dominik look like a complete clown, and B, because Rey talked about Eddie a lot in his HoF speech the day before, last time he did that they gave this tiny man a world title called "World HEAVYWEIGHT Championship" in a triple threat against a third generation prodigy and perhaps the single best technical wrestler in the history of the industry, after letting Rey win the Rumble back then, so it seemed very obvious that Rey would go over here. The wrestling part of it was good, Dominik dominating during the technical part, Rey building up momentum via high flying moves, and the predictable family participation that led to the loss of Reys patience. They will most likely keep this going and humiliate Dom further in the next few months now that Rhea will be too busy to do her part in it all the time, or hell, likely humiliate the other Judgement Day members as well given that only one of them did not have a crappy night.

 

2. Rhea Ripley vs Charlotte Flair. It should be known by now that I tend to have little respect and very little interest in womens wrestling in general for various reasons, but these are the two women I actually respect a lot for their wrestling abilities and in ring intensity, not to mention how they already had a good match with each other at a past Wrestlemania, so it seemed like a no brainer to watch it even when the build up since the Rumble was crap, Charlotte being the most unnatural babyface in recent memory, and it being in the "toilet break before the main event" spot on the card. Well it was a very predictable outcome, Charlotte is famously weak when it comes to defending titles, and above Super Cena level when it comes to winning new titles due to the companies obsession to let her overtake her father in number of title reigns, she lost because she was the champion and it means she can soon get another belt, otherwise she would have been allowed to win. Despite the outcome being clear from the start, the match was amazing, easily the best match of the night for the pure spectacle and selling on display, the lack of a fleshed out storyline did not hurt the match in the slightest, this time the women actually would have deserved the main event spot of a WWE PPV they so often got for seemingly no good reason, as they undeniably stole the show together.

 

3. Usos vs Owens and Zayn. With the months of careful build up for this I would have bet a lot of money on the Usos finally losing their belts, and they did, can't send the crowd home pissed off after the first night after all, would kill the second night before it can get started. The match was great in terms of the wrestling on display, but obviously the whole dynamic and history between the wrestlers in the match was the real selling point, also bonus points for having the often neglected tag team division in the main event spot, even if they had the bad luck to being the follow up spot to an even better match.

 

Night 2, 4 matches I bothered to watch.

 

1. Lesnar vs Omos. I went into this match with no expectations aside from watching a very big man getting thrown around a few times before getting pinned, the match delivered just that, and nothing more. It was obvious that they would not let Omos go over freaking Lesnar after he already came up short against both Strowman and Lashley in basically the exact same match, this was a match with basic freak show appeal, some wasted opportunities perhaps but very well within expectations, it is clear by now that the company has no real clue what to do with Omos long term.

 

2. Walter vs Sheamus vs Drew. This is the one match I was unsure of who would win. I knew it would not be Sheamus, but both Walter and Drew had realistic chances in my mind, and either of them would have been a good and deserving choice. Walter is the wrestler whos craft I currently have the highest respect for, so seeing him win what I consider to be THE best match of this years Wrestlemania, against two other hard hitting and gifted wrestlers, and without his grunts having to do a bloodline serial interference, was the highlight of the event for me. I loved every moment of this match, so many near falls, so many hard hits, even unlikely high flying maneuvers as a bonus, continuing an amazing and prestigious title reign full of amazing matches the likes of Roman Reigns wishes he could have.

 

3. Edge vs Balor. Well technically the "demon" Balor vs Edge. Since the demon is no longer undefeated, it no longer packs the same punch as before, so it seemed obvious that Edge would win this one. I watched it anyway because I am a sucker for Hell In A Cell matches, and to see if Edge would once again make the Judgement Day look like they are in over their heads against the old fella. It came true just like that, Edge won, but the never ending rivalry will likely go on, and it is obvious how it will turn out after 2 Judgement Day members lost clean to old timers, 1 did not even have a match on the card or his own storyline, and the 1 member who had a great Wrestlemania is a woman who can usually only partake in Group business with cheap shots and never get attacked back by the opponents for it. Match itself was satisfying, brutal looking enough to justify the HIAC setting, enough history behind the opponents, a certified holy shit moment. Seemed a bit longer than it needed to be in my eyes though.

 

4. Reigns vs Rhodes. There it is, the match that my prediction was dead wrong on. I fully expected that all the build up and tension between the bloodline members would finally lead to the titles being freed from this part timer so that the bloodline group could enter a new chapter, but they keep dragging it on. The bloodline already far overstayed its welcome in my book, staying watchable only due to the monumental efforts of the workhorses while Reigns enjoyed the easiest of schedules cosplaying as a samoan parrot having only memorized the same few lines for the most part. To think that they let the perfect opportunity to end it slip past, meaning they will most likely let this go on for at least another 6 months, maybe even another full year unless Reigns gets seriously injured or his illness makes a return, already makes me want to not even bother with this story anymore and just act like the IC title is the promotions world title from now on, because who is supposed to dethrone him? Either reheated opponents like Cody who'd have their second once in a lifetime opportunity, or they have to build up someone who Reigns has not beaten yet.

The match itself was great, only barely below Ripley vs Flair from the night before, losing mainly due to the overreliance on interferences and the shitty ending, which had obvious marks of Vince McMahons wrinkly alzheimer paws smeared all over it.

 

 

Edited April 3, 2023 by Dauersack

[willmill97]

As I predicted, the Usos lost and Roman retained, they weren't going to completely dismantle the bloodline in 1 night. Sure you could argue they only had roman win so that he can hit the 1,000 day milestone, but I feel the story can be even more interesting going forward than it already has been, by having the Bloodline slowly crumble until Summerslam where Cody wins it.

[R123Rob]

@Infected Elite

@Rozalia1

 

The GOAT ? ☝️☝️☝️☝️Acknowledge him! 

 

 

[Infected Elite]

37 minutes ago, R123Rob said:

@Infected Elite

@Rozalia1

 

The GOAT Acknowledge him! 

 

 

 

He's losing to Cody at Summerslam. 

 

i refuse to acknowledge a forcefed champ ...His promos suck, his catchphrase is stupid and once again we have a part time champion who can't win without help from his stupid garbage family. There is the chance Roman gets hurt or gets sick again or something else. Who knows. Wouldn't shock me.  I dont care what it is, He's gonna lose those titles, and until he does or its Cody vs Roman 2, I'm done following this shit. 

 

So out of all of Mania, only 2 matches were worth watching, and a 3rd was okay.

- Ripley vs Flair (5stars)

- Gunther vs McInshit vs Sheamus (5 stars but not as good as Ripley vs Flair)

- Usos vs KOZayn was decent. (3.5 stars)

 

i will say in regards to Cody vs Roman, Cody made Roman work and gave him his best match ever. Reigns still sucks and always will. If it wasnt for talent like Cody or Seth, Reigns wouldn't be able to ever have a good match. Overrated. 

 

 

When Cody vs Roman II gets announced, hit me up. Fuck Wrestling. 

Edited April 3, 2023 by Infected Elite

[wafflestomper810]

I was super angry when they had Roman win last night.  I wish I hadn't stayed up to watch it because it has only killed what little interest I had left in watching WWE.  I haven't watched regularly in years, but this makes me want to stop all over again.  If it wasn't for Rhea I wouldn't pay any attention at all.

[Akimitsu782]

Yeah, Night 2 had a bunch of weird decisions.

 

- Lesnar vs Omos: I'm not surprised the match was so short, but I'm a little surprised that Omos went down after like three German Suplexes and a SINGLE F5. They could've made it take like 2-3 of them before he got pinned, especially considering the monster they made him out to be and all of the other false finishes throughout both nights. Also, Lesnar didn't need the win at all, so Omos could've kicked out of like 2 F5s, then eventually won.

 

- Asuka vs Bianca: I feel like the wrong person won here. Bianca didn't need another win, even though we all know she's super athletic and quite strong, in terms of women wrestlers. I would've had Asuka win, then Bianca turn heel after the match, since her character definitely needs a shake up. It's gotten boring as hell.

 

- Roman vs Cody: I think a lot of people wanted Cody to win and finally take the belts off of Roman. I do agree that having the Bloodline completely crumble in one night might have been too much, and it'll be interesting to see a bit of a slower burn to that story, since the Usos are no longer tag champs and to see how Roman reacts to that. However, all of Roman's matches are about the same here, with his family interfering in some way to help him win.

[Rozalia1]

2 hours ago, R123Rob said:

@Infected Elite

@Rozalia1

 

The GOAT Acknowledge him! 

 

I've always acknowledged Roman as being good, but I simply can't stand these neverending heel reigns at the top (Gunther is fine).

 

38 minutes ago, Akimitsu782 said:

- Roman vs Cody: I think a lot of people wanted Cody to win and finally take the belts off of Roman. I do agree that having the Bloodline completely crumble in one night might have been too much, and it'll be interesting to see a bit of a slower burn to that story, since the Usos are no longer tag champs and to see how Roman reacts to that. However, all of Roman's matches are about the same here, with his family interfering in some way to help him win.

 

The finish was the exact same one as Clash at the Castle with Drew. Solo comes out in a hoodie, interferes, and Roman wins. Really makes me pine for the days of Super Cena who'd have beat Roman even if Roman's entire stable were to interfere. The wrestling world desperately needs that calibre of babyface back in the main event. I get the Cena and Roman pushbacks has likely made them wary of that but the people who'd cause problems are now over in AEW and won't be back as long as that doesn't go up in smoke (not impossible granted). Babyfaces are also called fan favourites for a reason, people like them and want to see them win.

[Infected Elite]

Endeavor bought WWE. 

 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/03/business/wwe-sale/index.html

Edited April 3, 2023 by Infected Elite

[Peaches]

Best Wrestlemania in a long time. Night 2 was weaker overall than night 1, but still enjoyable. The Brock match and women's tag matches were the only bad matches of the weekend IMO. The Brock match was at least a cool spot, but the women's tag was useless and I like a lot of the women in the match. But the tag division is dead for them, just bring in a women's midcard title and forget about the tag titles.

 

Asuka should've won. I love Belair too, but Asuka needed a big win to solidify her new character. Bianca needs a break too, she's been on top for a year and in the title picture for at least 2 years.

 

Roman winning was shocking. Legit haven't reacted that way to an event since Brock broke the streak. But I'm on board for whatever HHH has planned for Roman. I can see him holding at least the Universal title until WM40. 

 

I feel like he's going to lose the WWE title to Cody via Money in the Bank. Maybe Seth takes the Universal next year? He is the one guy Roman hasn't beat and is Triple H's favorite.

[Infected Elite]

5 hours ago, Rozalia1 said:

 

I've always acknowledged Roman as being good, but I simply can't stand these neverending heel reigns at the top (Gunther is fine).

 The reason Gunther is fine and Roman isn't, is because Gunther can have a good match with just about anybody, and win clean. Roman needs to be carried to his moves of doom spots. Cody carried Roman to a good match with a WCW style finish. 

 

Roman is only losing at a Mania or Summerslam. Hopefully to Cody. Originally the plan was for a new title until Black Adam backed out cause "he can't get in shape". For a Reigns match? you just flop from superman punches and take a spear.

 

Either way, ive said it before and I'll say it again, Roman Reigns is a cancer to the industry. 

2 hours ago, PeachesPK said:

 

I feel like he's going to lose the WWE title to Cody via Money in the Bank. Maybe Seth takes the Universal next year? He is the one guy Roman hasn't beat and is Triple H's favorite.

Only way a Cody MITB makes sense is if he wins and then next night on Raw calls his shot like RVD did. Challenges Roman at SSlam. Where Roman can lose the title via count out or DQ and all bloodline and wwe roster are banned from ringside including Heyman.

Edited April 3, 2023 by Infected Elite

[Dauersack]

19 hours ago, willmill97 said:

As I predicted, the Usos lost and Roman retained, they weren't going to completely dismantle the bloodline in 1 night. Sure you could argue they only had roman win so that he can hit the 1,000 day milestone, but I feel the story can be even more interesting going forward than it already has been, by having the Bloodline slowly crumble until Summerslam where Cody wins it.

They were going for the slow erosion of the bloodline for months by now, the culmination should have been them losing all the titles, which would not have had to be the instant death of the bloodline, it would have just increased the cracks between Reigns and Jey specifically and finally changed the same old boring dynamic we have seen for years by now. They could have kept going with the feud, only that then the bloodline would have been on the hunt instead of just casually swatting away the challengers with the boss sitting around on a part time schedule, would have opened the belts up to finally be included in other rivalries too, just imagine the unlimited potential of a third party getting involved to fight for the belts.

They already did all the backstabbings, the internal conflicts, the boosting up an underdog into a fan favorite who may actually be able to do it, several of the mighty challenger comes to dethrone them with Lesnar, Drew or Cody. They did not pull the trigger with Zayn or Rhodes despite getting people to crave it rabidly, so now people are deflated and feel like it is a wasted effort to even care about any of it until the Summerslam caliber PPV, good luck keeping the ratings up with half a year of what everyone knows will be filler, and the same 3-4 Reigns lines most people got tired of many months ago, only to get the Roman Reigns loss on a much smaller stage. It also means many months more of both world title belts being hogged by a lazy ass part timer who defends them once every few months as if they were one single championship.

 

 

11 hours ago, Infected Elite said:

Either way, ive said it before and I'll say it again, Roman Reigns is a cancer to the industry.

One of several, yet certainly the worst, and it is so frustrating because after almost a decade of the company biting itself in the ass trying to shove this guy into everyones face and getting nothing bot loud boos back for the most part, they had everything they wanted, the people were on board during a historic title reign, they cheered him as a champion for years, like WWE always wanted, and just recently they finally said "enough, time for something else already, give it a rest at least" and even offered the company two superstars to replace Reigns as a pay off for the long story. Just imagine the fan reactions to a big PPV Zayn vs Rhodes match had either of them dethroned Reigns. Instead we are back where we were several years ago, Reigns is champion with go away heat, nothing he does will make people excited unless it involves him leaving.

I always think of CM Punks "But Vince McMahon is gonna make money despite himself" line and appreciate how true it actually was whenever they do something this stupid.

 

Speaking of stupid. What I originally missed was the beyond embarrassing Shane McMahon stunt of him unintionally paying tribute to his fathers greatest performance, doing so by attempting to follow in his old mans footsteps and tearing his quad during a very easy and harmless maneuver. Now granted, this is Shane, the perpetual McMahon family disappointment, so he only managed to tear one of his quads during the opening of a match instead of tearing both quads during a non match segment like his daddy famously managed to do, but with such big shoes to fill we should still give him an A for effort and laugh about it all the same, especially given how it is just perfectly visualizing the current McMahon mentality and impact on the industry going back from the casual harmless ineptitude it was on like last years "worst stunner of all time" to the "legit causing actual injury and harm" levels of ineptitude.

Edited April 4, 2023 by Dauersack

[Infected Elite]

14 minutes ago, Dauersack said:

They were going for the slow erosion of the bloodline for months by now, the culmination should have been them losing all the titles, which would not have had to be the instant death of the bloodline, it would have just increased the cracks between Reigns and Jey specifically and finally changed the same old boring dynamic we have seen for years by now. They could have kept going with the feud, only that then the bloodline would have been on the hunt instead of just casually swatting away the challengers with the boss sitting around on a part time schedule, would have opened the belts up to finally be included in other rivalries too, just imagine the unlimited potential of a third party getting involved to fight for the belts.

They already did all the backstabbings, the internal conflicts, the boosting up an underdog into a fan favorite who may actually be able to do it, several of the mighty challenger comes to dethrone them with Lesnar, Drew or Cody. They did not pull the trigger with Zayn or Rhodes despite getting people to crave it rabidly, so now people are deflated and feel like it is a wasted effort to even care about any of it until the Summerslam caliber PPV, good luck keeping the ratings up with half a year of what everyone knows will be filler, and the same 3-4 Reigns lines most people got tired of many months ago, only to get the Roman Reigns loss on a much smaller stage. It also means many months more of both world title belts being hogged by a lazy ass part timer who defends them once every few months as if they were one single championship.

Exactly. Sure, Cody missed time due to injury. Roman missed weeks cause he doesn't want a full schedule. That to me makes it sad that his eventual 1000+ day reign is going to be.... considered legendary? the fuck why? missed tons of events, cheated in 95% of his title defences? Absolutely dominant.... yep. Totally... 

i laughed that almost all the Rhodes vs Roman highlights are more thumbs down than thumbs up. Fans are clearly pissed. As we should be. I knew Zayn wasnt winning but it had that small "can you imagine hes so white hot they pull it just for shock?" then we realize, its WWE. its dumb. Then along comes Cody, AEW aside, it was the perfect comeback story. No physicality between Cody and Roman. I expected when Roman asked Solo for help at Mania, he would refuse and walk away to thunderous cheers. But nope.... chair shot. Etc. Garbage. They had it and like usual they fucked it up. Ill check results but until its Cody vs Roman 2, im not watching a PLE and if Cody loses a 2nd time or there is a cash in, my god. Plus Lesnar vs Cody, why? who cares about 5min Brock. Guess they need a main event while Roman takes another vacation cause hes a lazy sack of shit.

 

Sick of Roman and as you said, no matter when he drops the belts, that moment is ruined. SummerSlam seems to be the stage, only because they seem hellbent on orgasming over Dwayne vs Roman which i have 0 interest in. Plus this isn't like Cena vs Rock, actually it kind of is. Nobody wants to wait a year of Cody scratching his way back, winning the rumble etc

and beating Roman at Mania 40. It NEEDED to happen last night. Without shenanigans. So i fully expect Cody to fall back on the AEW title program with Jericho in a sense that, Cody will put his championship aspirations on the line vs Roman 1 more time, for nobody from bloodline including Heyman allowed at ringside and Roman loses title via countout or DQ. Then Cody finally wins.  But who's going to watch and wait for the build to what we already should have had happen last night? 

 

Yes ill watch Roman vs Cody 2. No i dont give a rats ass about anything until then.

 

14 minutes ago, Dauersack said:

 

 

One of several, yet certainly the worst, and it is so frustrating because after almost a decade of the company biting itself in the ass trying to shove this guy into everyones face and getting nothing bot loud boos back for the most part, they had everything they wanted, the people were on board during a historic title reign, they cheered him as a champion for years, like WWE always wanted, and just recently they finally said "enough, time for something else already, give it a rest at least" and even offered the company two superstars to replace Reigns as a pay off for the long story.

The reason fans had enough, simply, the interference. Roman can't win clean. Sure, typical heel. But give him SOME clean wins. But nope. 

 

14 minutes ago, Dauersack said:

 

 

Just imagine the fan reactions to a big PPV Zayn vs Rhodes match had either of them dethroned Reigns. Instead we are back where we were several years ago, Reigns is champion with go away heat, nothing he does will make people excited unless it involves him leaving.

i will never forget after he beat Taker, he was booed and had nuclear heat with "fuck you Roman", and "Go away" chants. Even when he left during the pandemic. Nobody missed him. When he comes back, he instantly shows up.at the end of a match and wins the title and hes held it since? what the fuck. I dont doubt people want to boo loudly still, but now its more like... why bother?

 

14 minutes ago, Dauersack said:

I always think of CM Punks "But Vince McMahon is gonna make money despite himself" line and appreciate how true it actually was whenever they do something this stupid.

Punk was always an asshole but his AEW run i lost all respect for him since he just acted like the biggest bitch. However, his "pipebomb" is spot on all these years later. Same shit at every mania, insert random legend, Vince doesnt care what fans want. New stars never get made. Yeah they have a career but the main event scene is shit. Its always Roman, before him was Cena and Orton, before them was Triple H and Brock (kind of, 2yrs), Austin and Rock (they had short careers at the top by comparison), and before that Hogan. Problem is Vince has always had a vision of 1 guy at the top. It just blows my mind how there is SO MUCH TALENT, with no direction. The title doesnt need to change every month or every 3 months etc, but year long reigns should be extremely rare. 

 

14 minutes ago, Dauersack said:

 

Speaking of stupid. What I originally missed was the beyond embarrassing Shane McMahon stunt of him unintionally paying tribute to his fathers greatest performance, doing so by attempting to follow in his old mans footsteps and tearing his quad during a very easy and harmless maneuver. Now granted, this is Shane, the perpetual McMahon family disappointment, so he only managed to tear one of his quads during the opening of a match instead of tearing both quads during a non match segment like his daddy famously managed to do, but with such big shoes to fill we should still give him an A for effort and laugh about it all the same, especially given how it is just perfectly visualizing the current McMahon mentality and impact on the industry going back from the casual harmless ineptitude it was on like last years "worst stunner of all time" to the "legit causing actual injury and harm" levels of ineptitude.

 

When Shane got hurt, i laughed at the tv and said good, now get the fuck out of the ring. Think of what you want for Wyatt, but due to his health issues or whatever, Lashley didnt get a match. He wins a battle royal, stands with a stupid fucking trophy and waves.... I would have rather had Lashley come to the ring and call out anybody and have a match with ANYBODY, LA Knight, a returning AJ, Nakamura, Elias, idk, idc. But Lashley open challenge even if a squash would have been better than Shane dancing around like a fucking clown. 

 

Also that HIAC. WTF was that? seriously, Bossman vs Taker is a better HIAC than that.

[Infected Elite]

Vince was fully in charge of Raw yesterday. Yep. RIP talent. Be ready for the same dumb shit until this dumb old man croaks.

[sk_lp_him]

Vince will be eternal. With the advancement of technology it's only a matter of time before he'd be able to transfer his brain to an AI and he'll book wrestling forever. ?

[Infected Elite]

7 minutes ago, sk_lp_him said:

Vince will be eternal. With the advancement of technology it's only a matter of time before he'd be able to transfer his brain to an AI and he'll book wrestling forever.

god no. lol

[Infected Elite]

https://www.wrestlezone.com/news/1363408-report-more-details-on-vince-mcmahons-involvement-at-wwe-raw

 

ugh so it begins. Under contract or independent contractors or not, I'd walk out. Vince gonna be Vince. The same stupid old out of touch fuck that can't make an entertaining show to save his life. WWE will be better when Vince is dead. So optimistically, it is a one time thing, otherwise expect major releases again, Roman continually being shoved down our throats, Dakota Kai being released, Kross being released, Wyatt being released, and much more of Brock vs Roman non title matches.

 

CM Punk is right about one thing: WWE will be better after Vince McMahon is dead. Can't wait.

[Rozalia1]

On 03/04/2023 at 6:20 PM, Infected Elite said:

 The reason Gunther is fine and Roman isn't, is because Gunther can have a good match with just about anybody, and win clean. Roman needs to be carried to his moves of doom spots. Cody carried Roman to a good match with a WCW style finish. 

 

Would you really rather have Roman simply crush all of his opponents? I don't see how that would improve things as the faces would only look like even bigger losers.

 

While Gunther is a special heel wrestler, my reason for being fine with having a long reign with the IC title is more because it is the mid card belt. Traditionally in WWE before they went crazy the IC title was the one for the heels to win (who often main evented the house shows) while the faces held the top title. That balanced things out and yeah, career heels will be a lot less likely to ever get the "big one", but that is whatever to me. These days being a face is harder than being a heel anyway so they should get better chances at the big one anyway.

 

While obviously everyone is too scared to ever do such a thing... I wonder what would happen if anyone ever asked Vince why the WWE emulates southern wrestling now with all the heel domination. Considering Vince apparently hates southern wrestling I wonder if him realising what he has been doing would cause him to mandate that every heel on the roster needs to lose and lose often for the next year so no one can make such a claim about him ever again.

 

2 minutes ago, Infected Elite said:

https://www.wrestlezone.com/news/1363408-report-more-details-on-vince-mcmahons-involvement-at-wwe-raw

 

ugh so it begins. Under contract or independent contractors or not, I'd walk out. Vince gonna be Vince. The same stupid old out of touch fuck that can't make an entertaining show to save his life. WWE will be better when Vince is dead. So optimistically, it is a one time thing, otherwise expect major releases again, Roman continually being shoved down our throats, Dakota Kai being released, Kross being released, Wyatt being released, and much more of Brock vs Roman non title matches.

 

CM Punk is right about one thing: WWE will be better after Vince McMahon is dead. Can't wait.

 

Yeah I saw the news and was about to post about it. Vince couldn't even go 24 hours before he proved himself a liar with that "I won't be in the weeds" comment. Everyone knew he was lying but that is some speed.

 

As you know I've defended Vince in the past. He is an excellent character coach, legitimately one of the best. When he doesn't have a million people in between him and the talent he can actually do good work as 205 Live under him showed. Him taking one look at HHH's NXT and ripping it apart to start NXT 2.0 was also completely the correct move as we've seen so much great talent be unearthed instead of rotting away at the PC (if they'd even get signed) so HHH's aging undersized Indy darlings can jerk themselves off in the ring. 

 

There is however no defence of what he has been doing recently which is him being petty and disgraceful. Vince at the moment strikes me as someone who will ruin things just because he can and it'll be amusing for him, so him ruining things by being "out of touch" would be a defence of him in a way. I get that Vince likely believes that story that those who make their job their life once torn away from their job die soon after, so he wants to keep working so he can keep going... but no. He has been at it so long and it certainly is time to hand it over to the next generation, like his father ultimately did for him. Sure, his father did put conditions on Vince taking over, but that likely only happened because Vince's ideas for wrestling were so counter to his father's that his father had to put some conditions in place so he could be assured that Vince's ideas wouldn't instantly destroy the company.

[Infected Elite]

1 minute ago, Rozalia1 said:

 

Would you really rather have Roman simply crush all of his opponents? I don't see how that would improve things as the faces would only look like even bigger losers.

 

While Gunther is a special heel wrestler, my reason for being fine with having a long reign with the IC title is more because it is the mid card belt. Traditionally in WWE before they went crazy the IC title was the one for the heels to win (who often main evented the house shows) while the faces held the top title. That balanced things out and yeah, career heels will be a lot less likely to ever get the "big one", but that is whatever to me. These days being a face is harder than being a heel anyway so they should get better chances at the big one anyway.

 

While obviously everyone is too scared to ever do such a thing... I wonder what would happen if anyone ever asked Vince why the WWE emulates southern wrestling now with all the heel domination. Considering Vince apparently hates southern wrestling I wonder if him realising what he has been doing would cause him to mandate that every heel on the roster needs to lose and lose often for the next year so no one can make such a claim about him ever again.

 

 

Yeah I saw the news and was about to post about it. Vince couldn't even go 24 hours before he proved himself a liar with that "I won't be in the weeds" comment. Everyone knew he was lying but that is some speed.

 

As you know I've defended Vince in the past. He is an excellent character coach, legitimately one of the best. When he doesn't have a million people in between him and the talent he can actually do good work as 205 Live under him showed. Him taking one look at HHH's NXT and ripping it apart to start NXT 2.0 was also completely the correct move as we've seen so much great talent be unearthed instead of rotting away at the PC (if they'd even get signed) so HHH's aging undersized Indy darlings can jerk themselves off in the ring. 

 

There is however no defence of what he has been doing recently which is him being petty and disgraceful. Vince at the moment strikes me as someone who will ruin things just because he can and it'll be amusing for him, so him ruining things by being "out of touch" would be a defence of him in a way. I get that Vince likely believes that story that those who make their job their life once torn away from their job die soon after, so he wants to keep working so he can keep going... but no. He has been at it so long and it certainly is time to hand it over to the next generation, like his father ultimately did for him. Sure, his father did put conditions on Vince taking over, but that likely only happened because Vince's ideas for wrestling were so counter to his father's that his father had to put some conditions in place so he could be assured that Vince's ideas wouldn't instantly destroy the company.

 

NXT 2.0 is very hit and miss. While some talent grew on me, some still are just very green and may never be ready but I'd vote to move Shotzi to nxt. Every match shes had on smackdown or PLE she has 1 to 3 botches. Basic timing and fundamentals she fails at.... yet they kept her over someone like Dakota Kai who is beyond athletic? (Dakota is back thankfully.... for now)

 

Vince yeah YEARS ago knew what he was doing. Now he doesn't. Hes basically as reports said "The people don't know what they want. Fuck em". Forget when that was said but it was recent. As for Roman, year and a half reign, fine. Win some with bloodline interference but also beat some guys clean. It's tiring. Now only reason I'm not too concerned for Cody is Vince was in charge until SSlam and Cody was booked strong, so i expect and hope it continues but who knows. That raw was bad and i regret watching after sayin fuck it until Cody vs Roman 2. I have nothing good to say about current Vince. Thanks for the past, but WWE needed a shakeup and Hunter was just that.

 

Based off Bayley and Dakota tweets, and some other stars, it seems something is about to happen. Hopefully it is a mass walkout. I don't think many would care if ANYONE quit WWE. They've made a big enough name that they'd get hired elsewhere regardless of why they quit/walked out.

 

This is fucking bullshit. My issue with Roman is the booking. Cody should have challenged for JUST the wwe title. Won..Cody gets the title his family never had, Roman keeps his 1000+ reign coming, Vince keeps his hard on for big sweaty men. Everybody wins.

 

Whats worse, is this basically confirms, nobody cares that Vince paid women hush money for affairs and probably forced sex because he's back in power now. What kind of example does that make? It's okay to abuse women? He's a fuckin sack of shit. 

[Rozalia1]

Just now, Infected Elite said:

NXT 2.0 is very hit and miss. While some talent grew on me, some still are just very green and may never be ready but I'd vote to move Shotzi to nxt. Every match shes had on smackdown or PLE she has 1 to 3 botches. Basic timing and fundamentals she fails at.... yet they kept her over someone like Dakota Kai who is beyond athletic? (Dakota is back thankfully.... for now)

 

Vince yeah YEARS ago knew what he was doing. Now he doesn't. Hes basically as reports said "The people don't know what they want. Fuck em". Forget when that was said but it was recent. As for Roman, year and a half reign, fine. Win some with bloodline interference but also beat some guys clean. It's tiring. Now only reason I'm not too concerned for Cody is Vince was in charge until SSlam and Cody was booked strong, so i expect and hope it continues but who knows. That raw was bad and i regret watching after sayin fuck it until Cody vs Roman 2. I have nothing good to say about current Vince. Thanks for the past, but WWE needed a shakeup and Hunter was just that.

 

Based off Bayley and Dakota tweets, and some other stars, it seems something is about to happen. Hopefully it is a mass walkout. I don't think many would care if ANYONE quit WWE. They've made a big enough name that they'd get hired elsewhere regardless of why they quit/walked out.

 

This is fucking bullshit. My issue with Roman is the booking. Cody should have challenged for JUST the wwe title. Won..Cody gets the title his family never had, Roman keeps his 1000+ reign coming, Vince keeps his hard on for big sweaty men. Everybody wins.

 

Whats worse, is this basically confirms, nobody cares that Vince paid women hush money for affairs and probably forced sex because he's back in power now. What kind of example does that make? It's okay to abuse women? He's a fuckin sack of shit. 

 

HHH's NXT was entirely miss so even hit and miss is an improvement. Vince's change once again made it developmental and they're developing younger wrestlers once again, who with WWE's top tier coaches we often see develop extremely quickly. As for Shotzi... uh... pretty sure she is a lost cause sorry. Having seen enough of her she simply doesn't have the ability and I'm pretty sure she knows it hence why she goes for all the crazy dives that have several times almost killed her which while common in AEW/Indies, isn't in the WWE as people are well trained and don't need to do that stuff.

 

What he said was that people are unfairly negative, as in negative just to be negative, so he doesn't listen to them because in essence it doesn't matter what he does as they'll always find. He wasn't wrong in that. As for Hunter... as you know, not a fan. I'd rather have Shawn or Shane in charge.

 

Asuka as well I've heard. I don't think the women would manage such a thing alone and need the men to join in, especially the top guys. If most of the roster pulls out unless this sale is halted and Vince once again steps back then it would I think end all of this pretty quickly. Not impossible Vince simply freezes all of their contracts (even red hot with anger he surely wouldn't dare firing all of them) and throws whoever he can find on TV, but such an action would draw massive attention that would get him in big trouble that would get him removed regardless.

 

The rape thing comes from the case in the... 90s was it? With the referee. That case was a long time ago and largely pushed by a guy who utterly despises Vince so it never got any real traction. The recent ones weren't rape. He paid women, who worked for him, some money to keep their relationship secret. While obviously it can be said that him being their boss pressured them into getting into a relationship with him, him paying women to not talk about their relationship is nothing strange. Famous people even if they have a normal relationship with someone often get the other person to sign an NDA and pay them some money to sweeten the pot, so Vince doing that isn't a sign of guilt that he abused people or anything.

[Infected Elite]

20 minutes ago, Rozalia1 said:

As for Shotzi... uh... pretty sure she is a lost cause sorry. Having seen enough of her she simply doesn't have the ability and I'm pretty sure she knows it hence why she goes for all the crazy dives that have several times almost killed her which while common in AEW/Indies, isn't in the WWE as people are well trained and don't need to do that stuff.

Aside from Martins injury at ROH, Shotzi cant even do a basic roll-up. I think she's honestly employed because she has a different look that isnt the generic barbie doll look WWE is accustomed too. But yeah if i ran WWE, she'd be released. Same with Hit Row. 

 

20 minutes ago, Rozalia1 said:

 

What he said was that people are unfairly negative, as in negative just to be negative, so he doesn't listen to them because in essence it doesn't matter what he does as they'll always find. He wasn't wrong in that. As for Hunter... as you know, not a fan. I'd rather have Shawn or Shane in charge.

Yeah i know, Shawn is not bad. I hate Waller, like HATE him. But he's athletic and I hate him because his character work. So to me thats good because Waller does his job well..He's the heel you want to see knocked out. Know what i mean? Whereas Roman for me has go away, yawn, im tired of this shit, kind of heat. 

 

Shane getting injured was one of the best moments at Mania not gonna lie. I laughed. 

 

20 minutes ago, Rozalia1 said:

 

Asuka as well I've heard. I don't think the women would manage such a thing alone and need the men to join in, especially the top guys. If most of the roster pulls out unless this sale is halted and Vince once again steps back then it would I think end all of this pretty quickly. Not impossible Vince simply freezes all of their contracts (even red hot with anger he surely wouldn't dare firing all of them) and throws whoever he can find on TV, but such an action would draw massive attention that would get him in big trouble that would get him removed regardless.

Oh yeah Asuka was fuming on twitter. I think either a few things happens.... Vince did the sale and is going to release a few stars who arent happy, to gain more $ before everything is signed and done to paper. Then kind of go back to being just office. Or he's going to fuck it up and cause such a big walkout/issue that Endeavor decides Vince should not be involved in creative at all and steps in. Whether HHH or someone else fills that role, who knows. But i cant see Endeavor being happy with people walking out of their newly aquired company. 

 

20 minutes ago, Rozalia1 said:

 

The rape thing comes from the case in the... 90s was it? With the referee. That case was a long time ago and largely pushed by a guy who utterly despises Vince so it never got any real traction. The recent ones weren't rape. He paid women, who worked for him, some money to keep their relationship secret. While obviously it can be said that him being their boss pressured them into getting into a relationship with him, him paying women to not talk about their relationship is nothing strange. Famous people even if they have a normal relationship with someone often get the other person to sign an NDA and pay them some money to sweeten the pot, so Vince doing that isn't a sign of guilt that he abused people or anything.

The rape was 90s. But even the recent scandal thing. It was enough for him to step down once, so what else is he hiding? lol

[Dauersack]

20 hours ago, Infected Elite said:

Yes ill watch Roman vs Cody 2. No i dont give a rats ass about anything until then.

That will be the most common approach. Cody will never be as red hot as he was for Wrestlemania after his heroic return following his insane Hell In A Cell match performed with a serious injury, Royal Rumble win and him being the one to help Owens and Zayn battle the bloodline as all is coming together after months of preparing. Whatever victory he will have, if he wins at all, will be nowhere near as big, certainly does not help that he looked like a chump for trusting Brock Lesnar of all people and staring at the lights two nights in a row. Raw really was a return to the worst form of Vince, Triple H being there rubbing the audiences balls likely was an attempt to soften the blow. Also one has to remember that this is the Raw after Wrestlemania, one of the most exciting shows of the year, and the audience was super quiet compared to how they usually are on that show, which is not surprising given what they were delivered, this was as good as its going to get, most Raws and Smackdowns are bound to get worse.

 

4 hours ago, Rozalia1 said:

Would you really rather have Roman simply crush all of his opponents? I don't see how that would improve things as the faces would only look like even bigger losers.

What we see has to match what we hear and how people act. Reigns is being presented as having a Bruno Sammartino or Hulk Hogan type reign with all the talk about how he is the best, how he beat everyone, how he is on god mode, how the opponents talk about him and how the commentators are wanking him off, when in fact he has a Honky Tonk man or JBL type of reign having to cheat against literally every opponent in the last few months. It makes the opponents look much worse when they have to know what will happen, but they demand no stipulations from management, they demand no matches without rules bringing their buddies, they do not take out the bloodline members before a big ppv match, they allow themselves to get distracted in full sight of the referee, looking like dimwits is worse to me than simply being outclassed by someone who is supposed to be the best at the moment. Reigns should get zero respect from the commentators or the opponents given that he seems incapable to beat anyone these days without cheating. Absolutely does not help that Reigns is on a part time schedule too, every other wrestler and the commentators as well as most fans were shitting down Lesnars neck when he did that, and he was not holding a belt hostage for this long.

 

4 hours ago, Infected Elite said:

Whats worse, is this basically confirms, nobody cares that Vince paid women hush money for affairs and probably forced sex because he's back in power now. What kind of example does that make? It's okay to abuse women? He's a fuckin sack of shit. 

Vince deserves to die for many reasons, this being just one of them, he is a lowlife through and through who self admittedly gets off on ruining life, at least he did when he could still remember long term schemes. But yes, nobody cares, the US had several former presidents doing that kind of thing, one openly stating things like "they let you to whatever you want", plenty of ties to a pedo ring for many high ranking politicians but nothing happening, if you are rich in that country you can do what you want and no real consequences will reach you, probably helped that Vince was scripting himself as a rapey old man on live television and was cheered for it. Even the likes of Shawn Michaels and other legends basically admitted rape and gangrape of groupies they drugged until they didn't even know where they were anymore, does not seem to bother anyone really, unless you are Ric Flair and you showed your dick to someone on a flight, then its suddenly bad for about 6 months before you are back holding Hall Of Fame ceremony speeches while everyone cheers for you, weird world.

 

3 hours ago, Rozalia1 said:

Asuka as well I've heard. I don't think the women would manage such a thing alone and need the men to join in, especially the top guys. If most of the roster pulls out unless this sale is halted and Vince once again steps back then it would I think end all of this pretty quickly. Not impossible Vince simply freezes all of their contracts (even red hot with anger he surely wouldn't dare firing all of them) and throws whoever he can find on TV, but such an action would draw massive attention that would get him in big trouble that would get him removed regardless.

Asuka being mad would make sense. Vince has a tendency to not "get" asian women wrestlers, if he lets a Gail Kim get released twice without ever properly utilizing her, then Asuka has no chance at the moment, especially not given that she has already reached her expiration date to him with being over 40, Vince does not usually book older women as champions outside of some legend type reign, or the undeniably worthless new tag championships. I mean I can only really think of Moolah, who was as vile as a human being as Vince basically forcefully prostituting her women so thats likely why they got along so well, top 10 list of oldest womens champions starts with entries in their early to mid 30s, and the only one to ever have a main roster single womens championship in WWE despite being 40+ really seems to be Moolah unless I have forgotten someone, from the 30s to the 70s is quite a massive jump. If you are not a roided up gal like Rhea or Bianca or you are not married to people he pushes to the moon all the time like Becky with Rollins then you will have an insanely hard time ever getting any real spotlight against a Charlotte Flair or a (under Vince) likely returning Nia Jax.

Edited April 5, 2023 by Dauersack

[Infected Elite]

1 minute ago, Dauersack said:

That will be the most common approach. Cody will never be as red hot as he was for Wrestlemania after his heroic return following his insane Hell In A Cell match performed with a serious injury, Royal Rumble win and him being the one to help Owens and Zayn battle the bloodline as all is coming together after months of preparing. Whatever victory he will have, if he wins at all, will be nowhere near as big, certainly does not help that he looked like a chump for trusting Brock Lesnar of all people and staring at the lights two nights in a row. Raw really was a return to the worst form of Vince, Triple H being there rubbing the audiences balls likely was an attempt to soften the blow.

HHH shaking Romans hand immediately gave me a bad bad vibe about it. At the end when Cody was getting out of the ring, there was 2 comments from fans: "HHH doesn't forget" and "MJF". It always makes me think how MJF would do. I think he'd be midcard jobber and basically have his mic cut off. Same reason i never saw Jay White being a possible signing in WWE.

 

What really bugs me, is how Vince has constantly relied on a few guys for main event scene for last few years, Roman and Brock. Anytime someone new gets a chance its only.a brief spell. Even Rollins. He is never champ very long.

 

1 minute ago, Dauersack said:

 

Also one has to remember that this is the Raw after Wrestlemania, one of the most exciting shows of the year, and the audience was super quiet compared to how they usually are on that show. which is not surprising given what they were delivered, this was as good as its going to get, most Raws and Smackdowns are bound to get worse.

The Raw with no surprises. If people count Brock.... he wrestled the night before. If people count Riddle.... LOL he's hardly a star worth celebrating.

 

1 minute ago, Dauersack said:

 

What we see has to match what we hear and how people act. Reigns is being presented as having a Bruno Sammartino or Hulk Hogan type reign with all the talk about how he is the best, how he beat everyone, how he is on god mode, how the opponents talk about him and how the commentators are wanking him off, when in fact he has a Honky Tonk man or JBL type of reign having to cheat against literally every opponent in the last few months. It makes the opponents look much worse when they have to know what will happen, but they demand no stipulations from management, they demand no matches without rules bringing their buddies, they do not take out the bloodline members before a big ppv match, they allow themselves to get distracted in full sight of the referee, looking like dimwits is worse to me than simply being outclassed by someone who is supposed to be the best at the moment. Reigns should get zero respect from the commentators or the opponents given that he seems incapable to beat anyone these days without cheating. Absolutely does not help that Reigns is on a part time schedule too, every other wrestler and the commentators as well as most fans were shitting down Lesnars neck when he did that, and he was not holding a belt hostage for this long.

Thing with those long reigns back then was the fact they didnt defend them often. It was a different era. Now these reigns aren't welcomed. Its different if there are 2 titles but remember, Vince wanted 1 title unification thinking Brock vs Roman 20 was the "biggest match in Mania.history"..... like OSW often makes fun of Vince for his promo on Balor: 

 

1 minute ago, Dauersack said:

 

Vince deserves to die for many reasons, this being just one of them, he is a lowlife through and through who self admittedly gets off on ruining life, at least he did when he could still remember long term schemes. But yes, nobody cares, the US had several former presidents doing that kind of thing, one openly stating things like "they let you to whatever you want", plenty of ties to a pedo ring for many high ranking politicians but nothing happening, if you are rich in that country you can do what you want and no real consequences will reach you, probably helped that Vince was scripting himself as a rapey old man on live television and was cheered for it. Even the likes of Shawn Michaels and other legends basically admitted rape and gangrape of groupies they drugged until they didn't even know where they were anymore, does not seem to bother anyone really, unless you are Ric Flair and you showed your dick to someone on a flight, then its suddenly bad for about 6 months before you are back holding Hall Of Fame ceremony speeches while everyone cheers for you, weird world.

that just makes me want to see Dark Side of the Ring more. But yeah, wrestling, showbiz, always has scandals but its insane how they all get away with it. Sure money means some level of power but hell, they could almost kill someone and just say "here's 100k to say it never happened". Its messed. 

 

Remember, Vince originally wanted an incest angle with..... Stephanie..... his IRL daughter. She turned out down for obviously reasons but what kind of idiot thinks "Ah yes, this is must see tv!".... If i want to see incest stories, ill watch The Whittakers of West Virginia. God damn.

 

WWE is in the worst shape and hands its been after looking so good. Vince should die..i always hated PG era. Does not need blood but could still be edgy... but nope...but when i really lost respect for him was the entire hush money thing. Just so much wrong there. He doesn't deserve to be praised but i guess Endeavor likes abusers: Vince, and Dana who beats his wife. 

[RT_THE_KING_05]

Can not believe how Bayley and the rest of Damage CTRL are being treated they are all amazing wrestlers and they can not even get a win for some bloody reason and Dakota Kai always takes the pin. I can not believe Bayley was cut from RAW she should of been on it. So weird what is going on with Bayley and the whole women's division.