Wrestling Thread Vol. 3

[axlslash]

1 hour ago, PsychoKiss344 said:

Can't believe I get to see it!

I didn't realize that the Philly show was WOTW when it was first announced, and opted to use the money for a cheaper NEW show being main evented by Cody vs Dijak. Philly now sold out. Suffice it to say, I fucking hate myself right now. 

[PsychoKiss344]

4 hours ago, axlslash said:

I didn't realize that the Philly show was WOTW when it was first announced, and opted to use the money for a cheaper NEW show being main evented by Cody vs Dijak. Philly now sold out. Suffice it to say, I fucking hate myself right now. 

45 dollar tickets on Stubhub for the Philly show, only 4 left.

[axlslash]

2 hours ago, PsychoKiss344 said:

45 dollar tickets on Stubhub for the Philly show, only 4 left.

And knowing that I could probably end up seeing The ELITE, I may well do it. It's tough schedule-wise at this point, but I have to give it some thought...

[PsychoKiss344]

1 hour ago, axlslash said:

And knowing that I could probably end up seeing The ELITE, I may well do it. It's tough schedule-wise at this point, but I have to give it some thought...

Apparently Kenny might only be at the Toronto show, just read that on the ROH website.

[AtariLegend]

Would not be surprised if this is the last year of the relationship. Even if WWE don't make a move on ROH, NJPW probably aren't going to have much use for using ROH shows to have their talent tour the US in future given the ticket sales to the July shows.

It'd put The Young Bucks in a difficult situation since they have contracts with both, but I'm sure NJPW would be okay without the other ROH talent that infrequently do NJPW shows.

Edited April 21, 2017 by AtariLegend

[axlslash]

9 hours ago, AtariLegend said:

Would not be surprised if this is the last year of the relationship. Even if WWE don't make a move on ROH, NJPW probably aren't going to have much use for using ROH shows to have their talent tour the US in future given the ticket sales to the July shows.

It'd put The Young Bucks in a difficult situation since they have contracts with both, but I'm sure NJPW would be okay without the other ROH talent that infrequently do NJPW shows.

The ROH connection, IMHO, is only as valuable as Bullet Club. If the rumors are true that Cole is jumping to the E, then ROH BC might well just be over. The guys with separate deals - Cody, the Bucks - aren't going back and forth through ROH, they're just structuring the 2 contracts to work together, and they and the NJPW guys can keep BC going when they're over there and just do their thing in ROH. Especially with NJPW dipping their toes into independent US shows, why bother with a middle man?

[Bono]

On 4/19/2017 at 8:39 AM, AtariLegend said:

R.I.P.

...In other news, WWE is doing Jinder Mahal vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Championship in Chicago? I'm sure that'll be better than Shibata vs. Okada!

I won't be watching, but do they realize had they put something on like A.J. vs. Orton then maybe the crowd wouldn't spend the match chanting C.M. Punk?

I guess Jinder's being pushed because WWE want to reach out to that all important Canadian demographic.

Jinder has never been pushed a representative of Canada so trust me when I say this they are not reaching out the the Canadian demographic. It's more likely they're reaching out to the fans in India. 

As for Jiner vs Orton, I'm dead serious Jinder would be a million times more interesting as champion than Randy fucking Orton aka one of the all time most boring characters. 

[AtariLegend]

2 minutes ago, Bono said:

Jinder has never been pushed a representative of Canada so trust me when I say this they are not reaching out the the Canadian demographic. It's more likely they're reaching out to the fans in India. 

As for Jiner vs Orton, I'm dead serious Jinder would be a million times more interesting as champion than Randy fucking Orton aka one of the all time most boring characters. 

I was being sarcastic. Just pointing out that both Jinder and the Bollywood Boyz are Canadian, yet being pushed as Indian... because of their skin color.

They're obviously doing this, because of their attempts to make money in India (as per their new Indian executive) and the fact that Randy supposedly likes Jinder. Really preposterous idea. Big Boss Man in 1999 wasn't this much of a geek and JBL (who was one of the worst drawing champions ever for the company) in 04 at least could cut a promo.

 

[luciusfunk]

To be fair, Jinder and The Bollywood Boys are all Sikhs of Punjabi heritage. 

[Bono]

Jinder > Orton

[axlslash]

I would rather watch 3hrs of Braun Strowman pushing other superstars off of platforms in things on wheels than 3hrs of Raw. This shit is gold, and his timing - periodically walking away from the dumpster - is the exact right balance of intimidation and hilarious. Fucking love this build. Just don't remind me that it's all to make Roman's win this Sunday that much "better."

[PsychoKiss344]

5 minutes ago, axlslash said:

I would rather watch 3hrs of Braun Strowman pushing other superstars off of platforms in things on wheels than 3hrs of Raw. This shit is gold, and his timing - periodically walking away from the dumpster - is the exact right balance of intimidation and hilarious. Fucking love this build. Just don't remind me that it's all to make Roman's win this Sunday that much "better."

I see Braun winning on Sunday.

[Bono]

Holy fuck Sasha Banks and Bayley suck ass. Absolutely horrible listen to those two on the mic. Bayley is one of the all time worst characters and Sasha is so beyond overrated it's embarrassing.  Alexa Bliss > all the women on the RAW roster combined and it's not even close. It's too bad Charlotte went to Smackdown, then again the Smackdown women's rosters sucks too outside of Charlotte. WWE desperately needs Paige back in their women's division but unfortunately that doesn't seem like it will ever happen.

[axlslash]

12 hours ago, PsychoKiss344 said:

I see Braun winning on Sunday.

I think the best case scenario is Braun dominating until Show and Kalisto interfere. I want to be wrong, but I just don't see Reigns' first appearance post-beat down being a loss. It makes him look weak, or at the very least mortal, and I can't see WWE doing that. I want to be wrong. I hope I'm wrong. 

9 hours ago, Bono said:

Holy fuck Sasha Banks and Bayley suck ass. Absolutely horrible listen to those two on the mic. Bayley is one of the all time worst characters and Sasha is so beyond overrated it's embarrassing.  Alexa Bliss > all the women on the RAW roster combined and it's not even close. It's too bad Charlotte went to Smackdown, then again the Smackdown women's rosters sucks too outside of Charlotte. WWE desperately needs Paige back in their women's division but unfortunately that doesn't seem like it will ever happen.

The last several months have made one thing abundantly clear: Alexa Bliss is the crown jewel in the women's division. Charlotte is great too, Sasha is great if you keep the stick out of her hand, and there are a nice handful of workers on both brands, but Alexa is the total package. Her promo work is top notch. That "Alexa is the best says what" bit last night was excellent and all of her little unscripted responses to Sasha and Bayley were perfect. Her in-ring workrate is top-shelf, and her look is harsh enough to play the heel but cute enough to play face eventually. I can't wait to see where they take her. 

I've really soured on bayley. She and Enzo are two workers that I really liked in NXT, was excited to see on the big show, and now just can't stand. And it isn't just the booking, it's that in NXT you assume a level of limitation, and the main roster has exposed them as one-trick ponies. Enzo's promos are now repeating old insults and hacky local references for cheap pops, and every Bayley match is the same beatdown-followed-by-ponytail-adjustment-rally repetitive nonsense. Just stop it. 

How Bayley is the face of Raw's women's division while Deonna Purazzo is still grinding on the indies will never make sense to me. 

Edited April 25, 2017 by axlslash

[PsychoKiss344]

8 minutes ago, axlslash said:

I think the best case scenario is Braun dominating until Show and Kalisto interfere. I want to be wrong, but I just don't see Reigns' first appearance post-beat down being a loss. It makes him look weak, or at the very least mortal, and I can't see WWE doing that. I want to be wrong. I hope I'm wrong. 

The last several months have made one thing abundantly clear: Alexa Bliss is the crown jewel in the women's division. Charlotte is great too, Sasha is great if you keep the stick out of her hand, and there are a nice handful of workers on both brands, but Alexa is the total package. Her promo work is top notch. That "Alexa is the best says what" bit last night was excellent and all of her little unscripted responses to Sasha and Bayley were perfect. Her in-ring workrate is top-shelf, and her look is harsh enough to play the heel but cute enough to play face eventually. I can't wait to see where they take her. 

I've really soured on bayley. She and Enzo are two workers that I really liked in NXT, was excited to see on the big show, and now just can't stand. And it isn't just the booking, it's that in NXT you assume a level of limitation, and the main roster has exposed them as one-trick ponies. Enzo's promos are now repeating old insults and hacky local references for cheap pops, and every Bayley match is the same beatdown-followed-by-ponytail-adjustment-rally repetitive nonsense. Just stop it. 

How Bayley is the face of Raw's women's division while Deonna Purazzo is still grinding on the indies will never make sense to me. 

Bayley is even getting boo'd during some of her promos now, its cringeworthy to watch.

[AtariLegend]

I'll just point out, she doesn't write her own material or have a say over her character. 

Vince has the final say over RAW and now SmackDown! both of which have different writers/production than NXT. People who produce NXT are different. NXT isn't a Vince show.

So that's my only defense of Bayley and Sasha. 

Edited April 25, 2017 by AtariLegend

[axlslash]

Yehehehehes!

 

[PsychoKiss344]

3 hours ago, AtariLegend said:

I'll just point out, she doesn't write her own material or have a say over her character. 

Vince has the final say over RAW and now SmackDown! both of which have different writers/production than NXT. People who produce NXT are different. NXT isn't a Vince show.

So that's my only defense of Bayley and Sasha. 

With that being said I don't see Bayley lasting very long, Sasha can become a dominant heel.

[axlslash]

38 minutes ago, PsychoKiss344 said:

With that being said I don't see Bayley lasting very long, Sasha can become a dominant heel.

Bayley is boring in the ring. That's her problem. It isn't the writing with her.

When they got called up, people were skeptical of Charlotte playing heel and Sasha playing face. Charlotte has gotten her end figured out (probably because playing heel is easier), Sasha has struggled more. But Sasha has a great move set and workrate, so her writing can be fixed. Bayley will be headlining indy shows sooner than the rest, I expect. 

[AtariLegend]

2 hours ago, PsychoKiss344 said:

With that being said I don't see Bayley lasting very long, Sasha can become a dominant heel.

Nah man, she'll last. Ratings years ago during the segements said like 300,000 would change the channel when Naomi apearred. She lasted.

Supposedly don't get segement numbers now, but the bar is pretty low.

Fyi It also said ratings popped when Rock, Cena or Lesnar were on screen.. the same couldn't be said for Orton. Orton never done good numbers, but was still pushed as a star.

Edited April 25, 2017 by AtariLegend

[AtariLegend]

Not watching SmackDown!, but read a report...

For further defense of Bayley, watch them turn one of the best of his generation Nakamura into someone who people resent and only has the entrance thing. Those big 30+ minute 5 star G-1 matches won't be happening in WWE. The entrance was a great side thing he also had, it's was not the only thing.

Edited April 26, 2017 by AtariLegend

[PsychoKiss344]

12 minutes ago, AtariLegend said:

Not watching SmackDown!, but read a report...

For further defense of Bayley, watch them turn one of the best of his generation Nakamura into someone who people resent and only has the entrance thing. Those big 30+ minute 5 star G-1 matches won't be happening in WWE. The entrance was a great side thing he also had, it's was not the only thing.

Nakamura hasn't had one match on tv since debuting like three weeks ago, makes no sense to me!

[axlslash]

12 hours ago, AtariLegend said:

Not watching SmackDown!, but read a report...

For further defense of Bayley, watch them turn one of the best of his generation Nakamura into someone who people resent and only has the entrance thing. Those big 30+ minute 5 star G-1 matches won't be happening in WWE. The entrance was a great side thing he also had, it's was not the only thing.

 

12 hours ago, PsychoKiss344 said:

Nakamura hasn't had one match on tv since debuting like three weeks ago, makes no sense to me!

WWE think Nakamura doesn't need to "get over" with the SmackDown crowd, they already know who he is. So they're trying to have him on TV and make you wait for the PPV for his in-ring debut. They did the same thing with some of AJ's moveset, waiting weeks for him to hit the Styles Clash (admittedly blowing it on a random pre-taped non-story SD match instead of waiting for the next week's PPV like they should have). It's an odd choice, especially since they've written Dolph's promos for absolute shit since his heel turn, but I see what they're going for at least. When you know what the crowd wants - in this case, to see The King work "strongstyle" in a WWE ring (and I'll concede that he'll be doing a diluted version of strongstyle when he gets there) - you make them wait to build anticipation.

[moreblack]

On 4/25/2017 at 1:03 AM, Bono said:

WWE desperately needs Paige back in their women's division but unfortunately that doesn't seem like it will ever happen.

It might take a miracle at this point for her to have anything more to do with the company looks like. She shouldn't be realistically factored into any future women's division discussions going forward.

[AtariLegend]

Wasn't she buried for months the last time she actually had a spell on TV? I don't think she's even been on TV for a year.

They probably would have released her, if The Rock wasn't making a film about her life.