WWE

[jump]

5 minutes ago, pink_triangle said:

I haven't watched for a couple of years and even then he didn't have much of a role. I remember his wwe debut and you have to give anyone credit who manages 20 plus years in the WWE. 

I personally preferred him in his late wcw years and feel if he had got into the shape of his later wwe years earlier then he could have achieved more. However he had a pretty good run.

Technically he headlined the last 'mania which was then shown on Raw, as if the two nights delayed tapings wasn't confusing enough that year. As a main eventer he's done for but he still has his uses as a mid-card gatekeeper for guys on the way up like his last few matches with Bruan which were fucking great.

I just find it such an odd move though as he seemed like a WWE lifer. Apparently WWE offered him a low contract thinking he would say yes to it as he didn't want to leave so he said sod it and went to AEW to piss them off.

[kingbadger]

On 2/25/2021 at 1:19 PM, jump said:

I just find it such an odd move though as he seemed like a WWE lifer. Apparently WWE offered him a low contract thinking he would say yes to it as he didn't want to leave so he said sod it and went to AEW to piss them off.

I feel whilst he potentially was a WWE lifer, I also can't see him being too happy with recent developments in terms of the way WWE is abusing the talent they have. Seems like he's going to be a brand ambassador for AEW as much as anything. He's not an Austin or The Rock but he's a huge WWE name and has transcended the wrestling world somewhat with his own sitcom etc. It's a huge get for AEW in terms of a huge long standing name jumping from WWE, albeit one who isn't going to be very active in ring. Given he's made the move it makes the path easier for others, especially those who made their way to WWE by working the indies with the likes of Omega, Bucks, Excalibur etc. Makes it much more likely for an underappreciated talent like Ricochet, Sami Zayn, even Kevin Owens to make the transition. Would throw Claudio Castagnoli into the mix too as he's possibly the biggest waste of talent, though I think he's resigned given his singles push and the likely fact he would make a killing as a head trainer. Shame as I feel he would absolute nail it as Negative One's new muscle over in AEW, especially given the connection with Brodie from Chikara etc. 

[jump]

So was AEW's exploding ring meant to be serious or a fake out/joke? The way Mox and Kingston were selling it made me think that it was actually meant to be a big real looking explosion.

[DareToDibble]

Since the Rumble I've tried to get back into WWE. As expected there is a lot of dross but there are some great performances currently, too.

The most recent Orton/Bliss/Fiend promo was absolutely nuts but I love it. Reigns is great as a heel, too. He's killing it!

[jump]

WWE really has gone down the shitter, it's less than a week before 'mania and I really can't be bothered with it. I suppose Ortons vs Fiend and Edge, Roman vs Bryan could be good. There's doesn't seem to be enough to warrant two nights, I will just have to skip the Bad Bunny (who?) vs Miz and Shane vs Braun.

[DareToDibble]

Yeah, 2 nights is definitely pushing it when people barely care for 1 at the moment. Half of the matches are terrible, more like the kind of matches you'd see on the lower PPV's, certainly not Mania.

Orton & Bliss have been great the last month or 2 so the Fiend match will be great. I'm not sure why he's been off tv for so long? I mean it fit the story quite well that he was away but it seemed a pretty long time.

Edge v Reigns (who is so good as heel still) v Bryan will be great, genuinely can't wait for that. 

The vast majority of the card though will be skipped I imagine.

[Andre91]

WWE is the worst it has ever been. EVER. 
 

Only this morning, after seeing the stage unveiling, am I feeling any kind of anticipation for tonight at all. Even then, my anticipation isn’t for any of the matches, it’s more for the return to a massive, Mania worthy production and for there to be a load of fans back in. That’s more exciting to me than anything on the card.
 

I don’t watch weekly WWE TV anymore but I do check what’s happened after every RAW, SD and PPV and the build for this Mania has been atrocious. 
 

Match wise, I think the following: 

Rhea Ripley must win. 

Bianca Belair must win.

Roman Reigns must win.

Orton vs. The Fiend cannot be a regular match. 

Shane will jump off the cage through the announce table (yawn). 

Kevin Owens will somehow fall/jump from the giant pirate ship. 

Wtf is a Nigerian Drum Fight? 

Paige or Becky Lynch will return. 
 

Like I’ve said, I’m looking forward to the prospect of WrestleMania, not the card itself. 

 

[pink_triangle]

I only follow online now. Hate the idea of a 2 night mania. They managed to keep it down to 4 hours when the product was at it's peak 20 years ago, don't see why that formula can't work now. The HOF class looked interesting, would have liked to see the ceremony.

 

 

[Andre91]

Well, egg on my face or what. 
 

That was a fantastic PPV. I really, really enjoyed it. Bad Bunny absolutely killed it! By far the best ever performed by a celebrity in a WWE match, he was excellent. Damien Priest looked great too; he’s a future world champion, I think.
 

Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair had one of the best main events of the last decade. It was thoroughly brilliant. 
 

I am now very much excited for Night 2. I love the 2 night format.  

[jump]

I've watched Sasha vs Belair which fucking was great and Drew vs Lashley was decent but I'm not gonna bother with the rest of night one. I will probably watch most night two though.

Also I assumed it was gonna be another videodome thing, it's weird seeing a crowd now.

Edited April 11, 2021 by jump

[pink_triangle]

9 hours ago, Andre91 said:

Well, egg on my face or what. 
 

That was a fantastic PPV. I really, really enjoyed it. Bad Bunny absolutely killed it! By far the best ever performed by a celebrity in a WWE match, he was excellent. Damien Priest looked great too; he’s a future world champion, I think.
 

Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair had one of the best main events of the last decade. It was thoroughly brilliant. 
 

I am now very much excited for Night 2. I love the 2 night format.  

When I stopped watching they were doing the 7 hour Manias which just burned the crowd out, so splitting into 2 is definitely an improvement on that. 

My preference would still be a 3-4 hour one off show, but I wonder from their perspective it's all about the brand rather than particular individuals on top such as austin, Rock, Hogan etc. So the fans don't feel like they miss out seeing only half the talent.

[jump]

So 'mania opened up with a skit where Titus O'Neil is telling Hulk Hogan he shouldn't call people scallywags...I hope that is a meta joke.

The Fiend vs Orton was bit of a dud, I know they are building the story and all but you can have matches and story.

Rhea Ripley's band entrance was awful, the sound wasn't right at all. Decent match. Now turn Asuka heel so she can be good again.

The triple threat was good, Reigns should have always been heel. It is odd seeing a guy who had to retire from neck injuries and a guy who had to retire from concussions headbutt each other.

 

 

Edited April 12, 2021 by jump

[Andre91]

Stop with The Fiend shit. It’s embarrassing at this point. What a colossal downer. 
 

Rhea Ripley getting the W was great but Ash Costello’s singing for her entrance... Jesus. 
 

The main event was decent. Reigns continuing his reign was definitely the right decision. He’s unmatched at the moment. 
 

Overall, for me, Night 1 was superior to Night 2.

[kingbadger]

Tried getting back into it in recent weeks but absolutely nothing has grabbed my interest. The Fiend can get in the bin with cheap knock off Harley Quinn. Sought out the Bad Bunny match based on recommendation and yeah, that's the best I've ever seen in ring from a non-wrestler. 

None of the booking makes any sense and just the complete vileness of WWE as a company in general is such a huge turn off. Glad Hogan got booed out of the building even though they tried to pipe in cheers over the coverage. When there's much better alternatives put there it's really hard to stick with a shit product for the sake of it.

Unfortunately it's all about the brand, and now they have the Peacock money they simply won't have to care again. Guarantee we'll see them piping in noise and editing over the crowd etc now as standard.

[DareToDibble]

I still haven't finished Mania. I finished night 1 and have seen the first match of night 2. As much as WWE tends to make a shitshow of most of their storylines I've heard that Bray Wyatt has a lot of creative control over The Fiend storyline so I'm hoping that it will actually turn out great. I guess it depends on how much WWE creative are getting involved.

[Andre91]

51 minutes ago, DareToDibble said:

I still haven't finished Mania. I finished night 1 and have seen the first match of night 2. As much as WWE tends to make a shitshow of most of their storylines I've heard that Bray Wyatt has a lot of creative control over The Fiend storyline so I'm hoping that it will actually turn out great. I guess it depends on how much WWE creative are getting involved.

Out of interest, what do you think is actually any good about The Fiend storyline? It’s a nonsensical mess. Gets burned alive, gets belted in the head with a sledgehammer, gets curb stomped 200 times to no effect but he then loses to one RKO after Alexa Bliss pours some black paint over her head? It’s nonsense. 
 

People have said for a while what a ‘genius’ Bray is but the longer this Fiend stuff goes on, I just don’t see it. He’s an elite tier promo and a great wrestler but this ‘long term storytelling’ stuff is absolutely crap. 
 

Thank god for AEW. 

[kingbadger]

2 hours ago, Andre91 said:

Out of interest, what do you think is actually any good about The Fiend storyline? It’s a nonsensical mess. Gets burned alive, gets belted in the head with a sledgehammer, gets curb stomped 200 times to no effect but he then loses to one RKO after Alexa Bliss pours some black paint over her head? It’s nonsense. 
 

People have said for a while what a ‘genius’ Bray is but the longer this Fiend stuff goes on, I just don’t see it. He’s an elite tier promo and a great wrestler but this ‘long term storytelling’ stuff is absolutely crap. 
 

Thank god for AEW. 

Spot on. It's just being made up on the fly, all aesthetic and no substance. It makes absolutely zero sense in terms of the product. It's not like Wyatt is presenting himself as someone playing mind games, buy as an actual evil, magical zombie. It's not layered or anything, it's just hokey crap that doesn't work in any context as it actually tries to take itself seriously.

If you're gonna go out on a limb and do that sort of mad character shit, you need to frame it properly. That's why Broken Matt Hardy worked so damn well, it was self-referential and worked in context of an actual wrestler gone mad. Similar to how Bray Wyatt, Cape Fear version worked brilliantly until they jobbed him out and ruined all the mystique. 

Bray is a talented performer, but people have fooled themselves into thinking he's some sort of creative genius when I really don't think there is much evidence of that. The Fiend shtick just takes all his charisma and ability to connect with the audience away. 

[jump]

My take is it's less about Bray and more about Alexa and the goal is to make her a strong monster/star, Bray has always ended up being used to put others over without worrying about what happens to him next.

[DareToDibble]

13 hours ago, Andre91 said:

Out of interest, what do you think is actually any good about The Fiend storyline? It’s a nonsensical mess. Gets burned alive, gets belted in the head with a sledgehammer, gets curb stomped 200 times to no effect but he then loses to one RKO after Alexa Bliss pours some black paint over her head? It’s nonsense. 
 

People have said for a while what a ‘genius’ Bray is but the longer this Fiend stuff goes on, I just don’t see it. He’s an elite tier promo and a great wrestler but this ‘long term storytelling’ stuff is absolutely crap. 
 

Thank god for AEW. 

The first time around I am confident in saying he was the hottest thing in wrestling when he started off as that Firefly Fun House host and then it started to get a bit darker before The Fiend was actually introduced. At that stage there was such a buzz around the whole character/storyline. 
I agree since Alexa became involved the storyline has gone a bit mad, I guess the question is who is to blame with that. I am willing to give Bray the benefit of the doubt this time around that he might actually be going somewhere with it off the back of how well he slowly introduced The Fiend character the first time around. But then this is WWE, it'll probably turn out to be a nonsense.

[kingbadger]

The Fiend character as a mind games thing had real potential, then as soon as they went hokey 90s supernatural with it, it was dead in the water. It's not like Hardy's broken universe where everything is meant to be daft and the rantings of an insane man, we're actually meant to believe The Fiend can be burnt alive and then change back etc. It went from having such good potential to being another quack aesthetic presentation for children, including Bliss and her Harley Quinn impression. 

[jump]

A bunch of releases have been made.
 

Samoa Joe who is one of the best commentators they have and should have been the champ, he looked every bit the equal of Brock in their matches, literally the only real women’s tag team they had The Iconics and Tucker who as part of Heavy Machinery was over only to split the team up and move Mandy Rose away from Otis and did fuck all with all three. WWE is a bizarre place.

[pink_triangle]

8 hours ago, kingbadger said:

. It went from having such good potential to being another quack aesthetic presentation for children, including Bliss and her Harley Quinn impression. 

I think to get the most out of that character you would need to move away from the PG TV and that won't happen anytime soon. Bray would be amazing 25 years ago, but have never been convinced they could work where the character fits in a PG world. I always thought the reasons his promos could be a bit rambling was because he was being forced to hold back 

[Andre91]

Samoa Joe to AEW please. Whether it’s as a wrestler (preferably), a commentator or in a backstage role. Whatever. They need to snap him up. 

[kingbadger]

Samoa Joe to just go freelance and hop about everywhere. Whoever books Cobb v Joe can have all of the money.

[jump]

So CM Punk is back 🙂

I'm glad they didn't try to make it into a shit angle where he gets attacked mid-speech or something like that and just let it feel real.