sports WWE Discussion Thread

[Admin]

I would be surprised if they let anything on the air about Renallo.

 

In the recent past, they've demonstrated a very focused awareness of potential issues.  This is one of those things.  And Vince and others are actually in the ears of all the commentators, and feed them lines, telling them what to say and what not to say.  The panel my look like 3 people, but there're actually a lot more people there.

 

I would be really surprised if JBL tried to bring it up on the air.  And even more surprised if that attempt wasn't immediately slapped down by McMahon or one of the others on the feed.

[Admin]

put it this way:  JBL is in the WWE Old Boys Club. 

 

If he keeps his trap shut, he'll be alright, they'll try to let it blow over.

 

If he goes to war over this, he'll be out on his ass.  The more he pushes back, the more people will push WWE about their bullying policies etc.  Good Ol Boys Club or not, WWE is not above tossing anyone under the bus to save themselves.  JBL is no exception.

[BUU8800]

I moreso meant a passing reference without naming him like mocking a catchphrase of his or something. Either way, you have waaaaaaay more faith in WWE than I do.

[Admin]

basically I don't think anything will happen.

 

BUT

 

I think if it becomes a big enough thing in the press and on WWE social media, they'll do something.

 

It's not that I have faith that WWE will "do the right thing".  It's that I have faith that WWE will protect its stock. 

[BUU8800]

I'm reading posts from (thankfully only a few)people on this wrestling forum I lurk defending JBL and saying Mauro should be fired for not taking the abuse and missing work and my reaction is just...really? What happened to empathy? What kind of heartless fucking monster do you hafta be to think that way? I mean nobody will agree on everything I know, but Jesus fucking Christ people are awful. And not even in a trollish contrarians for the sake of it sense. I just....I'm baffled.

[BUU8800]

Welp, SDL gutted already.

[BUU8800]

Meh, Bray can go to RAW...but still has an Orton match? wtf? : o

[BUU8800]

Still, SDL needs 3 big names to even this out. Owens will definitely be one. And the others...?

[BUU8800]

Meh, Raw can have those 3.

 

So far: Miz, Ambrose, Wyatt, Crews, Kalisto, Heath and Rhyno, Hawkins

[BUU8800]

Okay, these crowd reactions to Braun murdering Roman are great.

[BUU8800]

Strowman...tipped the ambulance....I'm....I'm dyin' :D :D

[BUU8800]

Bliss...AND Mickie? Hmmmmm....

[BUU8800]

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[BUU8800]

Ok good. I only wish Orton left over Dean.

 

And now, to recap the greatest Raw moment so far this year:

 

Hopefully next week:

 

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

[Houdini Splicer]

Strowman...tipped the ambulance....I'm....I'm dyin' :D :D

That was a lot of fun to watch.

"I'm not done with you yet!!!"  >

After they loaded Roman into the van, I was hoping Braun would show back up and drive off with it.

 

It was definitely shades of Attitude Era/ Ruthless Aggression Era. It made me feel all warm and nostalgic. 

[Admin]

I'm jussst got around to watching it:

 

Miz and Maryse make a ton of sense.  I think essentially this is sort of a promotion.  I think the boss sees Miz as a big element of SD's success and wants him on Raw (which he still considers to be the flagship).  I really think Miz is one of those guys who will thrive no matter where he is, which makes Raw the best brand for him, because he's less likely to get bulldozed than other talent that would stand a better chance of getting made on SD than they would on Raw.

 

Ambrose w/Intercontinental Championship to Raw must mean that the other title will end up on SD.  I like Ambrose on Raw.  I like Owens on SD. 

 

so far so good.

 

 

[Admin]

curt hawkins:  don't even remember which show he was on to begin with.  apparently it was SD.  One of those guys that takes up space that I have no idea why he's there.

[BUU8800]

That was a lot of fun to watch.

"I'm not done with you yet!!!"  >

After they loaded Roman into the van, I was hoping Braun would show back up and drive off with it.

 

It was definitely shades of Attitude Era/ Ruthless Aggression Era. It made me feel all warm and nostalgic. 

 

Exactly! And those audience cheers/chants everytime he came back! I definitely wish he came back one last time. Maybe driving the second ambulance Undertaker style.

 

Also:

 

[Ginguy]

I'm glad AJ didn't move to Raw.  Stroman was hysterical. Reigns interview was awful and Cole knew it.

I'm betting on a big dose of talent moving up from NXT to SD, which is good news. SD does more creatively, fresh faces will have a better fit.

 

[Admin]

still watching it (keep having to pause it to do stuff).

 

though in my news surfing today I noticed Byron Saxton is going to SD, which I think is fucking stupid, because he and Graves have great chemistry.  And David Otunga is moving to Raw, which pisses me off because David Otunga has literally zero business to conduct on he mic.  He's just a mindless husk that sits there - kind of reminds me of Reigns in that he seems to have no idea how to emote in any way, nor does he seem particularly comfortable speaking.  He shouldn't be on any announce team.

 

so don't like that.

[Admin]

bray wyatt moving to Raw is okay I guess.  clearly Orton is planned to retain the title after Payback then.  Not sure what it accomplishes.  they're not going to put him in a program against Lesnar.  He's still feuding with Orton up through Payback (because they still have a match scheduled) and he just hooked up with Rowan again.  So - doesn't seem particularly optimal on a number of levels.  Another thing it does is take away that stepping stone for Harper, it seemed fairly natural for him to go through Wyatt to become a contender for the title, now he doesn't have that storyline legup.  Orton isn't particularly set up for anybody else right now.  so - seems like kind of another bad move to me.

 

 

[Admin]

I don't see Crews or Kalisto getting any further on Raw than they would have on SD.  Not sure those are good moves either.  But as was mentioned earlier, I don't mind a little SD housecleaning if it means a few NXT jumps.

[Admin]

Heath and Rhyno - glad they're keeping them a team.  They work really well together.

 

They too I think work better on SD.

 

It bodes kind of ill to me that Crews, Kalisto and Heath and Rhyno just got these little mentions, with no real on air match/event or even promo.  It's already tough for people to get anywhere on Raw. so to start with so little momentum seems to defeat the whole purpose of even having a "superstar shakeup".

[Admin]

the strowman thing was pretty awesome.

 

Elias Sampson is funny.  I hope they keep that bit going, maybe even across all 3 brands.  I'd read somewhere that he'd tried to sneak back into NXT using a different name.  I like the angle, it reminds me of Sandow's stuff in a way.

 

Also Jericho - wasn't he going on tour with his band after WM33?  No he's in for another 3 weeks at least?  And this after already extending his contract past the first time he was scheduled to leave.  Not complaining, I like him.  The crowd seems to like him a lot, and the WWE brass seems to like him.  Those things so rarely line up these days - I guess as long as he's willing to hang around, everybody wins.

[BUU8800]

Honestly hope this keeps snowballing so they hafta address it eventually.

[BUU8800]

Owens/Zayn so far, no shock. More excited for Corbin!

[BUU8800]

So if Owens loses to Jericho at Payback he goes back to Raw? : o

[Admin]

I just thought of a cool angle for Orton/Wyatt headed into Payback.

 

This whole thing was set up to make look as though perhaps Wyatt has the advantage by picking the type of match.  to be honest, I really don't like Orton.  I think he's boring as shit.  The biggest difference between Orton and Reigns is that Orton knows to keep his mouth shut and go minimalist on the mic, and actually looks confident.

 

But so anyhow - it might be (and this won't happen, but just sayin) neat if Orton were to be so focused on utterly destroying Wyatt that he vacated the SD title to chase after him.  Basically - in WWE the title is everything to everyone, it would pour some gas on the fire of that storyline if suddenly Orton were revealed to be more obsessed with ending Wyatt than even keeping the belt.

 

That frees up SD to maybe do an elimination series for the belts, allowing them to start new storylines and rivalries on the way, which after the shakeup and WM33, is something they seem to need.  Also if they were to embroil their singles division in an elimination series over the course of weeks, they could focus mainly on that singles-wise and actually have some breathing room to work on their tag team division, storylines, etc.

 

It would solve a ton of problems, but I think WWE will be focused instead on keeping Orton on SD, as there aren't that many of what Vince himself considers the top guys on that brand.  Honestly, I say - stick everybody Vince likes on Raw.  Shift SD to more of a NXT stepping stone and leave it more to Triple H and that crew.

 

If Rollins, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, not sure how long Jericho is in for, but he could go to SD (in fact, I think he'd be perfect for SD), The New Day (were they all to switch) would be plenty I think.  And maybe when Rusev returns, he could go to SD.  edit - And Harper, fuck can't believe I forgot him.

 

Another thing is - like Nakamura Vs Orton would be like mixing oil and water.  Orton is old school slow/WWE style spears and clotheslines.  Nakamura is the antithesis of that.  Removing Orton from the title hunt in SD would pave the way for some amazing matches.  That batch of Rollins, Nakamura, Zayn, Owens, with Rusev and Jericho tossed in and then toss in the New Day performers maybe competing as singles players (without breaking up the faction), I think that's a ton of fuel for SD's fire for the entire year or more.  They don't even really need Orton.

 

 

[Admin]

Honestly hope this keeps snowballing so they hafta address it eventually.

 

not quite the same level but it's something

https://sports.vice.com/en_us/article/firejbl-wrestling-fans-denounce-wwe-amid-allegations-of-announcer-bullying

[BUU8800]

I'm pretty much over Orton AND Wyatt by now. Anyway women time, still assuming Charlotte.

[BUU8800]

YES! RUSEV!

[Ginguy]

I think SD is winning, but I don't think Zayne is going to really do well.

 

Ziggler and Nakamura would be awesome, though really just having Nakamura enter is enough.

[BUU8800]

Zayne was literally given nothing on Raw so the bar is pretty low.

 

Still love Corbin, and of course AJ.

[Kudasai]

What are your final thoughts on the Superstar Shakeup?

[Admin]

the JBL thing I still think isn't going to have an effect.  BUT - I did notice tonight that it effects my ability to listen to him on the announce table a little bit.  He used to make me smile, now when he talks, it's kinda the opposite, it sucks the smile off my face.

 

Owens I expected.  I think he'll be awesome on SD.

 

Zayn I kind of expected.  Owens and Zayn - never seen a bad match from either one.

 

That opening, with Owens, Zayn, Corbin and AJ Styles all in the same ring is freakin amazing.  Just the idea of all four of those guys, not only on the same show, but on the same show with Nakamura.  On the flipside of that, with all that talent, plus Luke Harper, plus Rusev  - and with all that who does WWE have the title on?  zzzzzzzortonzzzzzz.

 

Orton bugs the crap out of me in that - like the crowd cheers him for doing nothing.  Just kind of walking around and having super slow matches.  His style is slow-slow-slow-QUICKMOVE-slow-slow-slow-RKO.  It's fucking boring.  Just like - guys like Zayn and Owens and Styles never seem to have a bad match, and they know how to work with somebody - Orton rarely has a good match to me.  Like he gives zero to whoever he's in the ring with.  Either he doesn't sell, or he's slowing the match down.

 

Good to see Rowan rack up a "sort of" win, especially over Orton.  But just - like Orton is not a guy to help somebody else period.  If you're looking to advance Rowan, Orton is not your man. 

 

I like Rowan, but he's best as a flunky.  And with Wyatt on Raw, and Harper kind of being pushed to the singles scene, not a lot of space for Rowan on SD.  I think he'd work best in this role, as a sort of SD agent of Wyatt.  It might be nice at some point to see he and Harper with a significant run as tag champs.  But I'd hate to see Harper's half-hearted singles push get interrupted by a tag run.

 

I kind of like Mojo Rawley.  This Gronk thing is kind of irritating though.  Makes me just not care if Mojo is on or not.

 

Jinder Mahal - don't really care.  Don't hate him or anything.  But just - don't care.  I guess I sort of liked him with Rusev.  But as with Harper, don't like to see Rusev weighed down with a partner.

 

Women's division:  There's not one person in that division that doesn't deserve the title.  .... oh correction... until Tamina arrived.  I don't hate her or anything, she's okay.  Just - not smooth in the ring and not great on the mic.  Every other performer in the SD Women's division is straight up perfect.  That's an embarrassingly talented roster.

 

Nice to see guys like Aiden English and Rowan getting some air time.  Dillinger/English isn't a bad idea for a match.  Both of these dudes are good, but just not great.

 

It's a whole new ballgame with the insane amount of genuine well-rounded talent.  Both of these dudes I think are solid enough mid-carders, but on a show with all of the aforementioned talent, "solid" isn't going to get you noticed.  having said that, happy to see both of these guys get some air time.

 

Ziggler/Nakamura is a great idea for a match.  Especially with Ziggler being shifted to heel.  At one time, I think this would have been a dream match.  I think Ziggler's been really badly handled over the last year, leading people to maybe sell a match like this a little short.

 

oh wow New Day only gets a taped promo.  That's a missed opportunity there. 

 

But a lot to sqeeze into one show.  It was a good episode.

 

 

 

[Admin]

usually when they do something like this Superstar Shakeup, I feel like I'm less satisfied/have more complaints than I do this time around.

 

I feel like, at a glacial pace, the booking is improving in general on WWE.

 

Certainly the talent is insane.

 

And people hype the women's revolution a lot this past couple years, but - it's literally upped the bar across the board.  And it's shown that - you can actually have an entire division of top-tier talent and still make it all work.  The matches are better, everything is better.

 

There's no reason the men's divisions couldn't have that.  There's no reason the tag division shouldn't have that.  The Cruiserweight division. 

 

If the Women's division is a blueprint to success, the Cruiserweight division is a roadmap to failure.  205 LIve has some of the best in all of WWE and they're just treated like they have the plague because, isolated not just to their own division, but their own separate show that seems less an incubator for talent (like NXT) and more just an afterthought (well, what do we do with all these dudes now?) situation.

 

wow sidetracked.

 

thought the trade went really well this time around.  Almost every single one I thought was a good choice as to which brand then ended up on, or at the very least was sort of indifferent.  There were a few holes (things like the Rowan loose end, the Wyatt/Orton match, Jericho/Owens) due to a ripple effect.  But most of the time when WWE does an event like this, I come away supremely/universally disappointed, but liking one or two things.  This time was the reverse of that.  Liked almost everything, with maybe one or two small disappointments.

[Admin]

here's a couple of vids of Nakamura's final goodbye to NXT this last week.  couldn't find the whole segment, but it was pretty cool.

 

 

[Houdini Splicer]

How 'bout that ending to RAW, eh?

[Kudasai]

Got somead news to report, Rosey of Three Minute Warning and Roman Reigns' older brother passed away. He was 47

 

 

http://www.foxsports.com/wwe/gallery/wwe-rosey-matt-anoai-roman-reigns-041817

[Kudasai]

This made me laugh

 

 

[Kudasai]

Jinder Mahal is the no. 1 contender for the WWE title. They weren't kidding when they said Smackdown is the land of oppurtunity

[Ginguy]

RAW this week was a little better, but Meth Hardy continues to be annoying and honesly I felt like Caesaro was holding back because Jeff has lost a step.

Strowman and Big Show was great. Dumb push for Reign at the end but Cole though, which just really detracted from the genuinely great performance both turned in.

Womens division is a little better, but I feel that Bliss is just annoying and they push Jax too much.

 

[BUU8800]

whut...how did Smackdown become this awful in literally a week? I just....whut

[Kudasai]

That was not good. Not good at all

[Admin]

Jinder Mahal is the no. 1 contender for the WWE title. They weren't kidding when they said Smackdown is the land of oppurtunity

 

they need to up Vince's meds and keep him the fuck out of the writers room.

[Admin]

Raw was a little better this week.

 

but again, it almost feels like Vince is doing his Vince thing by actively steering Smackdown into a ditch so that Raw remains the flagship show.

 

It's irritating sometimes when he pulls this crap because it could all be good.

 

so add Jinder Mahal to the endless list of names Vince is utterly destroying.  not that he had that far to fall (he's probably not even mid-card talent-wise).  But - basically another jacked up idiot that can't deliver a decent promo and can barely function in the ring without injuring somebody. 

 

actually eh, his promo wasn't too bad.  I still think it's ridiculous that - with the insane amount of talent at WWE's disposal, they're tossing a push to fucking Jinder Mahal. 

 

[Admin]

At least Roman Reigns has that.  At least Roman Reigns is smooth in the ring.  He's boring as dishwater otherwise.  But he's responsible, professional, and moves well in the ring.

[Admin]

and American Alpha going down to fucking Primo and Epico?

 

wtf smackdown.  seriously.  fuck you smackdown.

[Admin]

not only do they win the match, but they win it with a fumbled move.  so totally ridiculous.

[Ginguy]

I think some of SDL's fail was an effort to push the people that got transferred over. Certainly that was the case with Primo and Epico, but those two clowns could have done that with Ascension honestly.

Mahal is a catastrophe, unless there is some kind of effort to get a triple threat match or some such nonsense established after Orton retains against Wyatt. Dude brags about speaking many languages and sounds like a Visa call support operator.

SDL is best when they are showcasing the new talent, not the RAW cast-offs. If they would focus more on Nakamura/Styles/Dillenger and Corbin they would easily be the best product.

Instead it is almost like they have to sabotage themselves just enough to keep a stale RAW slightly above.