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

[Mods Help]

NXT Takeover London

[bork]

It was a great Raw and a good main event match (and aftermath). Good for Roman.

I don't know about it being a "great" RAW, but it was almost like they redid the PPV from Sunday and did a better of the repeat matches on cable than on the PPV.


I suspect after what happened post-match that Reigns will wind up either stripped of the title, 'fired', or dirty cheating tactics will be used by the League Of Nations (lol) to get the title back on Sheamus.

I was listening to some commentary from Brian Alvarez and he pointed out what's been pretty obvious to everyone but the WWE- that Roman should be presented as a no-nonsense bad-ass who doesn't talk much and just beats the shit out of his opponents in a dominating fashion.  I.E. Brock Lesnar 2.0.  Which is kind of what happened at the end of the PPV and on RAW.  Instead he's been presented as John Cena 2.0 for the past year, with goofy, stupid promos that he's horrible at delivering.

[archie4208]

You mean people don't want to see a badass Samoan talk about tater tots? 

[Mods Help]

Pretty sure Roman figured it out after the tater tot promo from what people say.

[nachobro]

Here's hoping I'm able to get some decent NXT tickets tomorrow. Ticketmaster is such a shitpile. 

[nachobro]

[chronovore]

While you guys prattle on about wwe, here's for the wrestling fans

We should totally be deploying Luchadores agains ISIL/Daesh. Why has no-one thought of this?!

[Mods Help]

That shot with the punching bag is amazing

[archie4208]

AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura signed to WWE. 

spoiler (click to show/hide)

This is going to be a disaster. :'(

[close]

[Mods Help]

Haven't watched WK10 yet. Hoping to dedicate time tonight.

And that's going to be a disaster, except NXT is going to be continuing to be GOAT level wrestling.

[Trent Dole]

Luke Gallows is coming back too! Also one other person. The Rumble being for the WHC isn't even mentioned in the thread, shit Rumble confirmed. I'm going to go see a performance of The Book of Mormon on that day and don't feel too bummed about missing it live since the last few were kind of shit anyway. Recently learned that Gangrel is part of a regional indie league that is on local tv and he was their champ for a bit. Need to check their stuff out. Oh and somebody point me towards where I can see me some Lucha Undergound, wanna check that shit out too.

[nachobro]

Hey Rumble for the WHC worked in 92

[Trent Dole]

Indeed, but that was for a vacated title not the 'can roman overcome the odds of 29 other men GOTTA MAKE ROMAN LOOK STRONG' bullshit this is.

[Mods Help]

Luke Gallows is coming back too! Also one other person. The Rumble being for the WHC isn't even mentioned in the thread, shit Rumble confirmed. I'm going to go see a performance of The Book of Mormon on that day and don't feel too bummed about missing it live since the last few were kind of shit anyway. Recently learned that Gangrel is part of a regional indie league that is on local tv and he was their champ for a bit. Need to check their stuff out. Oh and somebody point me towards where I can see me some Lucha Undergound, wanna check that shit out too.

catch up on lucha via watchwrestling.

Watch every episode in order starting from episode 1.

Lucha is a serial based plot focused wrestling show that has seasons like any other tv series.

[nachobro]

Indeed, but that was for a vacated title not the 'can roman overcome the odds of 29 other men GOTTA MAKE ROMAN LOOK STRONG' bullshit this is.

well in my dream world hhh fucks with roman and gets him eliminated. then aj styles wins the rumble and reforms the bullet club nwo with his boys. 

[nachobro]

Cena out: http://www.wwe.com/inside/john-cena-surgery-january-2016-28503697

wtf are they going to do for wrestlemania lol

[bork]

Don't worry, they still have Roman! 

.....

 

[Mods Help]

They're fucked unless they bring up Owens and some other people up and give them the chance to steal the show.

Hey, three of the Four Horsewomen are free and uninjured. Give them the main event. They deserve it.  You want me to watch Wrestlemania (still haven't watched 31), that's what you're gonna be doing, bb.

[El Babua]

Bring up the Bullet Club like the Radicalz back in the day.

They filled the holes that the attitude era roster had, and improved the wrestling by a shit-ton as a result. But knowing WWE now, it'll be another group that gets whacked right after they start getting good heat.

[Mods Help]

Bring up the Bullet Club like the Radicalz back in the day.

They filled the holes that the attitude era roster had, and improved the wrestling by a shit-ton as a result. But knowing WWE now, it'll be another group that gets whacked right after they start getting good heat.

That won't happen because they have to have the Bullet Club adjust to WWE style first. Plus we already had a Radicalz invasion like angle recently with the four horsewomen and it bombed, because WWE can't write for shit.

[Mods Help]

Here's what I'm predicting with Bullet Club.

Balor gets demoted to main roster.

They have Bullet Club guys + Shinsuke wreck havok in NXT. Six months to a year passes. They have those four guys move up to main roster and form a stable with Balor. It'll be a rehash of the Bullet Club, with Balor as the leader - again. It won't be the NWO-esque version, but the Devitt version, except WWE style.

I fully expect them to do Bullet Club vs Shield and have Shield go over to prove WWE's original stable as "better", or some petty shit like that happen.

In two years, go back to this post, quote it, and tell me I was right.

I also expect Balor to move up to the main roster sooner rather than later. Oh, and they'll give Shinsuke some gimmick that is obviously Japanese oriented and not SWAGGA oriented. But he'll pull through anyways.

[El Babua]

Lol, sounds about right.

Haven't really paid much attention to WWE other than Roman, Cena, and now Bullet Club signings. But I don't have much hope on them developing anyone once they make it to the main roster.

[Human Snorenado]

Forget about developing anyone, they had someone come to the main roster from NXT (Owens) and on the strength of his own work in the ring and on the mic get VERY over, then couldn't figure out what to do with him cause I guess he's fat or whatever.

Vince

[Mods Help]

I think Balor has a 50-50 chance of being a new breakout star. It may be 75-25 in his favor, because NXT and HHH are fucking hype over him and his aesthetic. It could go either way.

Anderson and Gallows could make a badass tag team. Probably the best tag team in the company aside from New Day. As for success, their success hinges on the aforementioned stable they'll (obviously) be a part of. 70-30 in WWE's favor and that's not because they're not talented. Today's WWE tag team division is booming, so maybe it'll help them stand out and get over as fuck. Who knows.

Aj Styles is interesting. He's a known brand because he's THE TNA home grown star, which raises his WWE ability quite a bit because you know they petty and may want to not give him a chance just because of that alone. On the other hand, AJ is arguably the best wrestler in the world right now - no joke - and he has about 3-5 years left in his tank. If WWE is smart, he could make it. He's such a great wrestler and not that bad of a talker I think he'll make it anyways. 50-50 he gets developed. Depends on how petty they are during that time period.

Shinsuke is the most interesting recruit. He has absolute swagger, and that crosses language barriers. His strong style, if they allow him to bring it to WWE, could develop a STRONG (lol) following because it's rough and fucking RAW. But I think he'll be fine with Kana, Daniel Bryan, and Sasha Bank's movesets. But will be see running knees like this?



Who knows. As for his potential. like the others, he could sink or swim. He has a lot going against him. 1. He's not white, 2. I'm not sure of his language capabilities but I think I read him talking to JR before WK9, 3. His style is raw and vicious and could be heavily tone downed. 60 - 40 in WWE's favor.

Honestly, I think all of them will do alright.

What's more worrying is New Japan Pro Wrestling. The recent acquisition strikes a HUGE blow to the company. Now the only person worth challenging Okada is Tanahashi and that feud is about cooked (I haven't finished WK10 yet don't spoil). AJ Styles had a great feud with Okada, now he's gone. Shinsuke was a great IWGP belt gate keeper, now he's gone. Anderson and Gallows were a huge part of the tag team but diviision but their tag division is fine so I'm not worried. I'm worried because 1. Naito and Shibata have not been built up properly and now they have a gap. 2. They've only got Makabe, Ibushi, and Tana for possibly legitimate contenders to the Rain Maker. NJPW needs to build stars right now with this talent departure. I know they do it, but it's still worrying about the future of Japanese wrestling. This could be a temporary big blow, especially if even more people sign on to WWE.

[Mods Help]

Forget about developing anyone, they had someone come to the main roster from NXT (Owens) and on the strength of his own work in the ring and on the mic get VERY over, then couldn't figure out what to do with him cause I guess he's fat or whatever.

Vince

The Cena feud started out white hot. It's hard to say he's not being taken care of when he's the IC champ, but having him lose repeatedly. I dunno. I don't even know how over Owens is now because I haven't watched non-NXT WWE programming in months. I refuse to watch them destroy my image of my favorite wrestler of all time (Sasha Banks).

The real test on whether WWE is completely incompetent is to see what they do with Owens for Mania. If it's for the WHC, they're doing alright. If it's a feud against Zayn, they're doing it PERFECTLY. If it's anything else? LOL.

[nachobro]

Owens is doing quite well on Raw these days imo. Dude is easily 3rd best on the mic in the company, getting good face time, and looking like a real brutish asshole heel in his feud with Ambrose.

[Mods Help]

The funny thing about making Roman Superman is that he's more of a Batman: the lonesome, dark, mysterious figure who doesn't really talk much.

[Mods Help]

Owens is doing quite well on Raw these days imo. Dude is easily 3rd best on the mic in the company, getting good face time, and looking like a real brutish asshole heel in his feud with Ambrose.

I hear he absolutely protects his character on the regular so his character is actually fine compared to others but I don't watch so I don't know.

[nachobro]

Owens is extremely protected, it's a good thing to see.

Sasha is doing well right now too. She doesn't get a ton of matches yet, maybe two a month on Raw but that makes sense since they only ever want to have one Divas storyline going at a time. She's doing well so far, has a clique of ladies that help her win if needed but still has enough chops to get victories on her own.

[Mods Help]

The guys up stairs are protecting his character? I heard it was Owens. He does it by actually playing a heel, and not the "I'm heel but I totally want people to cheer for me!" crap other heels do. Many think they're protecting the NXT 5 in general, but then there's...Neville.

[nachobro]

Oh I dunno who's doing it. I just know that you can tell he's protected from how he's portrayed on TV. One of the few characters who are consistent week to week.

[Mods Help]

It's both.

He's protected, but he's also protecting his character.

Most modern WWE wrestlers don't do that. They're too interested in getting cheers rather than doing their job. The fans don't help, and rather than buying into the show, and pretending it's real so they can boo the heels, they're very much "in the know" and cheer for who they want to even if the story doesn't call for it (Zayn vs Owens is a great example, and that's why NXT crowds are hell on Earth). It doesn't help that WWE is always willing to scream at you,"THIS IS A WORK! THIS IS NOT REAL!" so it's WWE's own undoing.

Owens is a classic heel in the sense that he knows his role, and that's to be the adversary that you want to see get beat up. That makes the business money. Pay attention to any other heel and how they portray themselves. Always smiling, always laughing. I'm going to say a catch phrase even though that's a face thing. I'm going to do acrobatic moves even though that's a face thing. I'm sure a lot of writers feed Owens dog shit. Owens is probably like CM Punk and sticks to his own character and maintains that's how his character will be presented. At the same time, it's pretty clear his bosses have taken a shining to him.

Watch any other wrestling fed. All the fans are in on it. NJPW, PWG, ROH, Lucha, doesn't matter. We all know it's fake. But we still have the sense to go along with the show. In pro wrestling you boo heels, you cheer for faces. WWE fans are a unique breed and fuck up the dynamic of the shows. WWE fuck ups are a combination of wrestlers who don't give a shit enough to do their jobs, management who can't fucking write or develop characters or feuds, and a fanbase that ruins its own product. Owens, and by extension Rollins, CM Punk;etc are just some of the few that get it.

I blame the NWO for this btw.

[nachobro]

Well when you spend years telling the fans "It's about you, WWE Universe" they are going to make it all about them. WWE's own stupid fault there.

ADR is another heel that definitely gets it (minus the weird MexAmerica thing that they had him doing for a minute). He knows his character, but he just doesn't always have that fire behind him. When he does, he's amazing. When he doesn't, he just seems bored. It's a real bummer.

[Mods Help]

Yeah, WWE is fucking moronic.

Sasha gets it too. I fucking love her, but if I went to a show with her there as heel, I would boo the shit out of her out of sheer respect for what she's doing. When you take a little girls headband and throw it away in the crowd? Next level shit. If you cheer for that, you should really revoke your wrestling fan card. I'M SORRY. DO IT.

[nachobro]

Oddly, the Wyatt's thing with people holding up their phones is a clever way to get around the penchant for WWE fans to cheer for heels. Just turn them into "converts" to his evil plans...whatever they are.

[Mods Help]

I think the Wyatt's put an interesting twist on it for sure.

[nachobro]

Helps that they rarely get a full intro with them walking down the ramp too. They mainly only do it at PPVs now. On TV they just black out the lights and have them appear in the ring.

[Mods Help]

That gives me hope that when balor moves up they won't have him do his body paint every week.

[nachobro]

yes please! protect THE FUCK out of Demon Balor!

[archie4208]

Here's what I'm predicting for the Balor Club

Roman wins lol.

[Mods Help]

That's a given.

But people can still be developed and still lose. What we're talking about isn't people losing to Roman but how viable their characters are and whether or not WWE will get behind them. WWE is behind Rollins and Ambrose, for example, even if they're not Roman. Will the new recruits get the same treatment? That's the real question.

[Mods Help]

http://www.jrsbarbq.com/blog/ariel-helwani-ross-report-podcast-raw-tna-impact-wrestling-feedback-hobdallas-njpw-talents-wwe

From JR's blog:

If WWE signs the NJPW talents that they are rumored to be romancing, it can be a HUGE development for WWE if they handle it efficiently and position these talents as top hands from the get go. Impactful debuts should be the order of the day. AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura can both be major, singles stars for WWE. WWE does not have two, better singles wrestlers currently on their roster than AJ and Nakamura.

I shared my take on these talents with WWE management after I broadcast Wrestle Kingdom 9 last year. I raved about all four of the men that WWE is allegedly recruiting. I hope that this deal comes to fruition for WWE fans sake.

He's right. WWE doesn't have anyone as good as Shinsuke or AJ.

But talent doesn't matter with WWE.

[bork]

What would be awesome: All four guys join with Finn Balor and debut on RAW as a faction with a name reminiscent of the bullet club and wreck shit.  Turn shit upside down.  Destroy Reigns.  Destroy Sheamus and that stupid-ass "League Of Nations" faction.  You now have a stable with at least three main eventers and a tag team (Gallows and Anderson) and can shift around the rest of the roster and do other face/heel turns as needed.  Plenty of new blood to feud with.

What will happen: All of these guys get lost in the shuffle/don't get pushed/get buried/lol HHH/lol Vice McMannnn/lol fuck you, you actually thought something good would come of this?

What I wish would happen: All the RAW and Smackdown guys get dumped onto Smackdown and Vice gets to do his stupid shit on that show.  RAW then just becomes NXT.  No change in the formula or people behind NXT.  Just a bigger budget.   

[archie4208]

Big Dave said the WM main event right now is going to be

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Roman Reigns vs Triple H

[close]

[Trent Dole]

[nachobro]

That's a fine main event, all considered.

[bork]

The Rumble is tonight.  Wonder if any of the recently-signed guys will pop up.

[archie4208]

I watched the 1992 Rumble today and it was fucking awesome.

Pretty sure tonight won't be as good.   

[bork]

Was watching that match earlier today, too.     Heenan

[bork]

AJ STYLES IS AT THE RUMBLE!  Entrant #3!  The crowd woke up and went nuts.

[bork]

Eliminated by Kevin Owens.  The crowd continues to chant for AJ. 

Idiotic decision to focus on Roman getting beaten up ringside instead of the rumble match aside, this is a much better rumble than the last few years.

And Owens just got eliminated by...SAMI ZAYN.  And now the crowd is chanting for him.

[Mods Help]

zami and ko feud continuation?

how is the charlotte vs becky match?

[bork]

HHH ELIMINATED REIGNS 

[bork]

HHH wins the Rumble.  Won after eliminating Ambrose.

Which means the Mania main event is gonna be HHH vs. Reigns. 

 

Mods, I didn't really watch anything but the Rumble match itself.

[archie4208]

That was a fun show

Owens/Ambrose was brutal and worth watching
Tag team match was fine
US match was fine
Women's match was good and

spoiler (click to show/hide)

based Sasha showed up and kicked ass

[close]

RR was predictable but much better than last year's disaster.

[Mods Help]

My GOAT isn't injured anymore? I want to watch KO vs Zami and what AJ does. I also want to see the women's ongoing feud. But I don't want to watch Raw.

[seagrams hotsauce]

Owens Ambrose was dope. That ending was hilarious and completely on par with the dashing of hopes WWE has so artfully mastered in recent years

[bork]

RR musings:

-They had a pre-show tag team brawl where the winners got rumble slots.  This was Mark Henry and Jack Swagger.  The WWE even had some build-up going on for Henry, saying this was his last rumble.

MARK HENRY AND SWAGGER DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IN THE RUMBLE AND GOT THROWN OUT IN SECONDS. 

-Kallisto is Rey Mysterio 2.0.  He even looks like him a little bit.  Never noticed that before.

-Divas match: Didn't really watch this, but at the end...Sasha Banks came out and took out Becky.  Then took out Charlotte too.  I marked out. 

-AJ's debut was awesome, but then he was just sort of there in the rumble and didn't stand out too much.  The WWE was smart to have Kevin Owens throw him out.  If it had been someone like Kane, Big Show, or Reigns...lol.  The crowd loved him though.

-New Day continues to be amazing.  Usos were boring as hell out there.

-Truth's comedy spot was awesome.  It's still time to put the gimmick to rest though.

-The rumble showed that there are plenty of actual good wrasslers in the 'E right now, but they just aren't being used right or at all.  It should be guys like Nevile, Owens, Kofi, Zayn, Ziggler, etc. getting all the attention.  Not all the slow, limited big men.  Vince will never learn.

-The rumble itself started off great and then went downhill when they focused on the league of nations beating up Reigns outside the ring.  We didn't even see Kofi get eliminated until a replay later on.  It got bad and then picked up again at the end.  It's clearly gonna be HHH/Reigns and Brock vs. the Wyatts at Mania as the two big matches, I guess.

[Mods Help]

kaliso is their replacement for rey to appeal to latino demo.

heard great things about becky and charlotte build up.

WWE having actually good wrestlers is nothing new. But their writing is so shit they'll never learn how to properly use them or allow them to tell a proper story.

I'm surprised AJ got into the main roster so fast as opposed to going through NXT. Maybe he'll still go through NXT?

[archie4208]

My GOAT isn't injured anymore? I want to watch KO vs Zami and what AJ does. I also want to see the women's ongoing feud. But I don't want to watch Raw.

It feels like they're building towards Owens/Sami at WM.