Pro Wrasslin' Thread: I don't know what I just saw

[FunSlower]

hey Stro, Guess the Gaffer:
"but what did everyone think of Braun Strowman vs Big Show? It's the match of the year so far for me in WWE"

match of the year

in a year that had Styles/Cena at EC

[nachobro]

i'm liking the look of both stroman and big show this year but that match. please.

[El Babua]

Yo, for a hot minute I thought Corbyn was a repackaged Bo Dallas.

Turns out they're not the same person. 

[FunSlower]

Yo, for a hot minute I thought Corbyn was a repackaged Bo Dallas.

Turns out they're not the same person. 

There's good reason for you to think that though

[El Babua]

Can't believe it was 12 years ago. Great match, remember streaming it off some now long dead video site (or Dailymotion, same thing).

[archie4208]

Looks like Fast Lane was a dud.  I checked out after the Sasha/Nia Jax match.

[FunSlower]

I enjoyed Fastlane more than most folks. LOL @ the people upset with the main event. That shit should have been telegraphed ages ago. Cmon now.

Kind of enjoyed Sasha/Nia, the trick rollup looked fine to me.
Strowman/Reigns was good. What's funny is the internet dumbfucks calling it "two inexperienced wrestlers" when Reigns is more than capable, and puts on good matches regularly. Motherfuckers upset at his boots. That's how far they gotta scrape. It's ridiculous and so transparent.
Liked Zayn getting killed by Joey Samoey. He's quite the jobber right now. He can get out of it if booking lets him.

Surprised they broke Charlotte's streak like that instead of waiting for Mania. Bayley wins at Mania is my prediction, vs Charlotte. Then Asuka comes out night after Mania and lays out Bayley, works heel while she can. Bayley is a fuckin' mess though. She's missing something important that isn't booking, and I'm not sure what it is.

[bork]

Looks like Fast Lane was a dud.  I checked out after the Sasha/Nia Jax match.

Yup, another Sunday Night RAW.  I guess this pretty much just cements it that Goldberg can't go and his remaining matches will all be five minute squashes.

Strowman/Reigns was good. What's funny is the internet dumbfucks calling it "two inexperienced wrestlers" when Reigns is more than capable, and puts on good matches regularly.

[FunSlower]

It put you to sleep? Strowman is exciting!

[FunSlower]

I don't trust Bayley to headline anything yet. She may have connected with the NXT audience (Ascension did too, that should tell you how worthless of a metric that is) but isn't there yet on main WWE. Charlotte is A+. Sasha continues to make no sense from a character standpoint. Becky's doing fine on SD, as is Alexa Bliss. Naomi having to bow out due to injury is BRUTAL. Nia Jax is doing better but that's also because of how she's booked.

[nachobro]

Cruiserweight match was excellent. Both Neville and Jack are fantastic. Easily the two breakouts of that division.

[seagrams hotsauce]

So WM is
Taker vs Roman
Bayley vs Charlotte vs Sasha
Gallows and Anderson vs Cesaro and Sheamus
Brock vs Goldberg
Jericho vs Owens

What is raw gonna do for a month? Drag out replacing Seth with Finn against HHH?

[bork]

Did you guys hear what Brian Alvarez thought about Fastlane?  Man, that was BRUTAL. 

I think it's this (at work, have everything muted):

So WM is
Taker vs Roman
Bayley vs Charlotte vs Sasha
Gallows and Anderson vs Cesaro and Sheamus
Brock vs Goldberg
Jericho vs Owens

What is raw gonna do for a month? Drag out replacing Seth with Finn against HHH?

Finn return
Samoa Joe vs. whoever feud (Zayn?  Finn?)
Roman continuing to fight Strowman because lol Taker won't do anything but stand around if he bothers to show up

What are they going to do with Strowman, I wonder?  I'd say put him back with Big Show, but the Shaq match may be back on.

I find myself bored with the women's matches now.  The brand split killed it for me since it's basically the same few match-ups over and over again.  I've seen way too much of Charlotte especially and I almost feel bad that Dana Brooke is just sort of there, doing nothing.

[bork]

There's no way for all of those to get a meaty, substantial match even with a 2 hour preshow.

Well, it is WWE we're talking about here.  They won't all be meaty, substantial matches even with what amounts to six hours of time to use. 

[bork]

That's true, but time wise that show is going to be a nightmare. You know Seth/HHH and Taker/Roman will be 40 minutes each with entrances and post match stuff. AJ/Shane will likely be twice as long as it needs to be as well.

Maybe we're not going to see any super-long matches this time around.  One thing for sure is that I expect Brock/Goldberg to be another 30 second "that's it?!" match.

[FunSlower]

Takeover the night before, then Mania, and it's a long one. Jesus.

[archie4208]

I knew what the finish would be, but I'm still disappointed. 

Great fake out by AJ with the forearm though.  Otherwise the match was pretty boring.

[FunSlower]

What happened with SD that has you guys upset?

[archie4208]

Everything other than the AJ and Orton match was bad and my husbando lost.

Also the AJ and Orton match wasn't very good since they had only 20 minutes, including a commercial break.  That match could have easily been the SummerSlam main event and they gave it away free. 

[archie4208]

https://twitter.com/wwe/status/839311219181895681

Can't Shane bring in Nakamura as his advocate or something? 

[Trent Dole]

Haha wtf is Vince paying attention to Smackdown now and shitting it up?

[archie4208]

Shane/AJ has been planned for months.  It's not surprising, but it's a terrible waste of talent for the best worker on the roster.

[FunSlower]

Well, I'd be pissed off too if I had to watch Austin Aries. He's fucking awful.

[bork]

Austin Aries is awful...but Roman Reigns is good?

[FunSlower]

Yeah, Roman is good. I'd even say he's very good. He's not my favorite by a long shot, but the internet digs their heels in and is continuing the feelings of #notmychampion and probably will forever. It's a shame. These are the same child baby fans that let Batista know that they're really not worth his time anymore, even though he loves the business.

[fistfulofmetal]

Roman is fine in a very specific role. He's hasn't been in that role since leaving the Shield and since then he's completely floundered trying to be the various kind of Face characters the booking expects him to be.

So you got this guy who's OK in the ring and excels when he's matched with the right people. But when you put the stick in his hand he falls apart. He looks like a goof ball trying to be a badass.

[FunSlower]

Speaking of people who were handed the stick, how about Strowman? I didn't expect him to excel at the level they dropped him in at all. He's been a great result.

[fistfulofmetal]

He's definitely surpassed a lot of expectations. It's got a little annoying when literally all he says is "GIVE ME COMPETITION, I WANT COMPETITION" but I get his character. They aren't trying to make him something he's not and he's doing well in his role.

He shouldn't have lost at Fastlane.

[FunSlower]

I'm not sure I understand the anger of putting AJ with Shane for Mania. Shane and Taker were the biggest draws of Mania, which sad as it is, is true. AJ can work with him and definitely make it a hell of a lot better. AJ's a made man.

[FunSlower]

Yeah, it shows that they have the utmost faith in him and are giving him the biggest thing they possibly can on the show. But it's still a gigantic waste of AJ. You have literally the best guy in the world on the biggest show in the world and it's with a 47 year old whose giant bump will be the focus of the match.

Don't get me wrong, no doubt he could have a wonderful match with someone else, and we're missing that to do a Shane match. But I see the business behind the decision.

[seagrams hotsauce]

the internet digs their heels in and is continuing the feelings of #notmychampion and probably will forever. It's a shame.

God forbid people resent having something that isn't working shoved down their throat for three plus years. Surely the best way to fix the issue of the top babyface getting loudly booed any time he's on TV is by having him beat Taker at Mania

[FunSlower]

the internet digs their heels in and is continuing the feelings of #notmychampion and probably will forever. It's a shame.

God forbid people resent having something that isn't working shoved down their throat for three plus years. Surely the best way to fix the issue of the top babyface getting loudly booed any time he's on TV is by having him beat Taker at Mania

but it is working, that's the thing. Reigns is top 5 merch sellers. Whether you want to believe it or not...that shit's working and a lot of people like him.

[seagrams hotsauce]

They encourage you to boo Roman

crowds are clearly dying for a reason to cheer for Roman

🤔

[Trent Dole]

Oh is it time for more Ramen?

[FunSlower]

That's the evolution of the Daniel Bryan stan. Their hero taken from him, they turned their attention to a polar opposite of that little earth muffin. A swarthy, strong, handsome man.





And this was peak mass Bryan.

[FunSlower]

I don't have a good answer for that, and neither does he

Bryan on TD was a treat. Asked Nikki and Brie's parents to shit in the yard.

[archie4208]

According to Meltzer, Reigns winning the galactic championship off Lesnar is likely happening.

That will be his 3rd coronation. 

[FunSlower]

According to Meltzer, Reigns winning the galactic championship off Lesnar is likely happening.

That will be his 3rd coronation. 

Makes sense, they could probably have a pretty hot feud culminating on Summerslam. Should be good.

[bork]

Kairi Hojo has signed with WWE and should be heading to NXT in April.  Are we gonna get a joshipuroresu feud going with her and Asuka? 

[FunSlower]

Kairi Hojo has signed with WWE and should be heading to NXT in April.  Are we gonna get a joshipuroresu feud going with her and Asuka?

No shit. Dope!

I would hope they won't sit on Asuka a day later than the night after Mania. They have that Takeover setup with Peyton Royce and Billie Kay and Asuka, so Asuka doesn't have to get pinned. Keeps her unpinnable mystique.

Asuka has been in NXT way too long.

[bork]

OK, yeah, this might be better than Bork Laser.

[nachobro]

 

[Momo]

[Trent Dole]

OK, yeah, this might be better than Bork Laser.

(Image removed from quote.)
(Image removed from quote.)

omg

[Momo]

I think you guys would like this more than our dead mma thread

[archie4208]

He's gonna pull a Randy the Ram in 2019 against Shibata. 

Meltzer will give it 5 stars. 

[seagrams hotsauce]

https://twitter.com/cagesideseats/status/839931789816836099




And Bryan insists his brain is okay (Image removed from quote.)

lmao Jesus christ

[archie4208]

Apparently TNA threatened to sue Matt and Jeff for using the broken gimmick outside of their company.

I'm no lawyer so I can't determine the legality, but it's still assholish.

[bork]

Matt filed a patent for the "broken" trademark in retaliation. 

[FunSlower]

TNA's crazy. They managed to cost some folks at the Fight Network their jobs too. Just by existing.

[archie4208]

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/841340447658254336

Announce a marquee match on Twitter instead of your TV show, brehs.

[fistfulofmetal]

Well I imagine more people are going to see the announcement on Twitter than on the actual show 

[FunSlower]

It'll be fun to figure out if WWE will finally turn Roman heel (as beating Taker is a great way to get legit heat, not just upsetting Bryan stans) or if they're going to continue to stay the course. I get the feeling they're gonna stay the course.

[seagrams hotsauce]

Saw this in my youtube sidebar and had to click to see if it was as distinguished mentally-challenged as the title made it out to be, and lo and behold it was

[Trent Dole]

Ryback - still dumb as fuck.

[archie4208]

Lucha Underground seasons 1 and 2 are on Netflix now.

Also AJ vs Shane is now confirmed. 

[FunSlower]

Ryback - still dumb as fuck.

hah, I remember that reference. good podcast.

[archie4208]

The Wrestlemania 34 main event is penciled in.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Reigns vs. Lesnar II

A lot of times people talk about how there’s no long-term planning but the WrestleMania 34 main event for April 8, 2018, which obviously could change, is set for Lesnar vs. Reigns for the Universal title.

That doesn’t necessarily mean Reigns is beating Undertaker or that Lesnar will have a full one year run as champion, although both could happen. I have no idea of what the finish will be of Undertaker vs. Reigns. The goal is very much to make Reigns the next Cena, which was the plan for Santa Clara two years ago, until they decided to delay it based on fan reaction.

The plan is to once again build for a year and have the big coronation at WrestleMania. The idea between now and then is for Reigns to be the face, not just when he wins the title, but to fully replace John Cena as the lead babyface of the company. How they’ll make that work is uncertain. They may just go with the idea that the fans that attend TVs and PPVs that boo Reigns are a minority of their worldwide audience and ignore the obvious crowd reaction. It’s hard to believe that in one year, considering it’s been more than two years since they’ve tried to change things, that the Santa Clara reaction of Lesnar being far and away the most popular wrestler on the show as the heel, and Reigns being even more far and away the most hated, even positioned as main event babyface, will change much with another year of attempting to convince fans Reigns is the guy.

[close]

[FunSlower]

So WWE will continue on course. Makes sense. I mean, it's WWE. They should have woken up ages ago and realized it's not going to work as well as they want, but them's the bricks. Hey, if I had my druthers, Mr. Perfect would have had a couple world title runs, etc. There's so much more going on outside of the main event you have to really stretch to not watch Mania due to the main event.

Speaking of, good for AJ Styles on getting a match with Shane. That's a big payday. He really is a one of a kind talent.

[Arbys Roast Beef Sandwich]

Paige nudes leaked... Not bad