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

[Stro]

Did they seriously just end the first ever women's MiTB match by having James Ellsworth get the briefcase and give it to Carmella? 


Garbage.

All to set up...a Daniel Bryan promo on SD. Lmao. I hope the announcement is that Ellsworth actually won it and he's the one that has to cash in.

[bork]

I would love it if it meant Ellsworth had to cash it in. 

So I guess Orton will lose this match because something will be done to the legends at ringside to distract him.

[Stro]

Baron Von Raschke gonna put him in the claw, imo

How fucking lame is it that Randy Orton, noted legend killer, is now at a stage in his career where he's inviting legends to ringside to pay respect?

[archie4208]

That MITB match was AWESOME

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Until Snorbin won. 

[close]

[Human Snorenado]

Booking throughout the show was suspect AF, imo.

-The goddamn women's match was just a travesty. It was a little too short, for one, and while I'm fine with Carmella winning, and even fine with her winning with Ellsworth's AID, having him climb the ladder and toss the briefcase down to her in the first ever (as hyped by WWE) women's MitB match was tone deaf at best, and insulting at worst. It would probably have caused less of a stir if this had been like, the 3rd or 4th women's MitB match. But that was stupid.
-Randy Orton was a nominal babyface in his home town, and his dad was getting attacked by the heel's goons, and I still just wanted him to go the fuck away. He was over in that a certain segment of the crowd reflexively hates furriners and Mahal (to his credit) is playing that up. Do we have a blow off match in this "feud" where the Singhs are barred from ringside now? Oh boy. Because that's what the world wants more of. Randy Orton and Jinder Mahal feuding.
-Booking the title match BEFORE the MitB match was stupid. Even if you're not going to have the winner run in, it's good to at least make people think there's the possibility of that.
-I ended up being fine with Nakamura's role in the main event, because he came back in and destroyed everyone. That said, selfishly I would have liked to have seen him in the entire match. I feel like the WWE doesn't really know wtf they're doing with him, although now he's set up pretty well to feud with Corbin, which I guess could be good.
-Someone needs to protect Kevin Owens from what I can only guess is his insane desire to take a lot of bumps in a match or he's gonna be eating through a tube one day.

Pluses:

+The tag title match was awesome, I thought. There were a couple busted spots but overall it did what it needed to do: entertain and keep the belts on the Usos in a semi-cowardly heel way. Keeping the titles off the New Day for as long as possible is good for the division, I feel.
+The actual MitB match was awesome. No complaints aside from wanting more of Nakamura (although I'm cautiously optimistic with how he came out of the match) and for KO to take fewer insane bumps. Like, maybe 1 per match instead of 3 or whatever, Kevin.

[Stro]

I want to say this thing with Ellsworth DOES make some sense (all of the women hating Carmella for ruining it for all of them, everyone hates Ellsworth for existing), and might be part of the long term build to Ellsworth vs Becky. Still, the optics ( ) were lmao as hell.

Jinder retaining is great, but obviously he is not a 20 minute match type of worker, so hopefully they don't do that again. I did lol that the last 5 minutes of the match had Jinder or Randy out on the floor the entire time and the ref never counted once.

Usos/New Day was a good ass match, even with the unsatisfying finish, but that was the point.

Corbin's booking is perfect. He's still getting lukewarm reactions most shows, so to interrupt Nak's entrance AND push AJ/Nak off the ladder to win is excellent for him and hopefully gets him to really start feeling he's at the level he's booked at. The Lone Wolf What's really bad is that I actually forgot Nak was even in the match after he got taken away. Not that he got taken out, but that he was even in it to begin with. Which says a lot about how his WWE run has been, I guess. He put more into his exchange with AJ than he has anything outside of the Sami match.

[FunSlower]

Loved the frustrating as shit Usos countout loss. Loved that. Real good.

Jinder's good too, Randy worked great with him.

Corbin interrupting Nak America's entrance was 5* heel move, loved that. Fine with him winning.

Problem with Ellsworth 'winning' MITB is that it was the first-ever, historic women's MITB match, etc. Like stro said...

BAD OPTICS

[seagrams hotsauce]

Just heard about Elsworth and the womens MITB match lmao. I was disappointed to hear that he was even around at all still since his schtick was past due months ago, but that ending is really something else

[fistfulofmetal]

Actually watched Raw last night. Joe/Lesnar stuff I'm super looking forward to.

The Enzo/Cass segment at the end was fucking garbage. I don't know how anyone can claim Cass is good in the mic. He sucks. His delivery sucks, he's awkward, he stumbles over his words. He repeats himself constantly. Dude's reading from a script. The whole thing was stupid and boring.

[FunSlower]

It's okay, you get to see him fail on his own. He's a lot better than he was, but breaking up Enzo and Cass is like poison to the both of them.

Now what's lil Enzo gonna do?

[Human Snorenado]

It's okay, you get to see him fail on his own. He's a lot better than he was, but breaking up Enzo and Cass is like poison to the both of them.

Now what's lil Enzo gonna do?

Get his ass kicked by Cass for about a month or two then probably go away

[FunSlower]

lmao just now thinking if Cass jumps to SD somehow, and beats the shit out of Ellsworth and Carm is like "my BOYFRIEND is here" and turns Ellsworth sympy babbyface again. Won't happen, but would be neat.

[bork]

It hit me last night that Braun Strowman sounds eerily like Hulk Hogan.    Cannot un-hear it now.

The Enzo/Cass segment at the end was fucking garbage. I don't know how anyone can claim Cass is good in the mic. He sucks. His delivery sucks, he's awkward, he stumbles over his words. He repeats himself constantly. Dude's reading from a script. The whole thing was stupid and boring.

I think someone said "he's good on the mic for a big man."   

But yeah, I don't like breaking them up, but it was bound to happen.  They had a good dynamic and I don't understand why they couldn't have just pushed Cass and have Enzo do whatever on their own, but still essentially be together as a group and have Enzo be his mouthpiece.

Hell, I didn't like them not having Carmella come up with them.  The three of them were great in NXT.

[FunSlower]

I felt the other way about Carmella - she always felt tacked on to me with that trio.

But hey, Strowman's back and absolutely ridiculous.

[Human Snorenado]

Also: I hate that anyone can just issue an open challenge for the title months away from a ppv. Seems dumb and the sort of thing a GM/commish wouldn't like, good thing Kurt addressed it last night.

[Human Snorenado]

So, they're doing the Women's MitB match over again next week.

 

[nachobro]

What a mess. Bring out Carmella in the beginning to trash on DBryan and smarks addicted to Twitter in the most interesting and engaging promo of her career and then squash all that to nothing by the end of the show by redoing the MITB match next week

[FunSlower]

So did they take the briefcase from her? Watch her win it again.

[nachobro]

technically dbryan grabbed it out of the hands of ellsworth. she actually did follow it up with a solid promo on talking smack that involved squeezing out a few tears, it wasn't bad at all. but yeah, at this point the only way to salvage this is to have her win it again.

if it was up to me i would have said that ellsworth won it so he has to defend it in an elimination match with the entire women's roster. then just start that match with every woman getting a move/finisher off on him, him being pinned and tossed out of the ring, and then continue the rest of the match as normal.

[bork]

How did this air?  And why did they do it at someone's house? 

[archie4208]

Lavar Ball can cut a better promo than everyone on the WWE roster. 

[nachobro]

 

[Stro]

How did this air?  And why did they do it at someone's house? 

Man, there's a LOD promo from I believe 1986 or 1987 JCP where Hawk straight up says he's going to rape Ric Flair. I'm more struck by how fucking brutal Vince was to not only take Mean Gene from the AWA, but then took Ken Resnick, his fucking replacement, shortly after as well. I didn't realize Ken was from AWA as well.

[nachobro]

And Carmella won again

[Stro]

Is it wrong that I love when smarks get mad at heels they don't like winning? That to me seems like WWE doing it's job with heels, and smarks won't ever admit it. Decades long hateboner for Haitch being the prime example here.

I don't understand why they can't allow themselves to be invested in the characters, instead putting the heat on the writers for feeling the way they're supposed to feel about the bad guys. The fear of getting called a mark even with other wrestling fans runs deep, I guess. I don't know why they can't treat it like just another TV show. No one is watching The Young And The Restless and furiously typing comments about how the writers are giving X more screen time when he's clearly on PEDs to get in shape.

[Trent Dole]

Rasslin is like a live action comic book, it's just dumb fun. That said it's frustrating when someone you think is talented in ring/has an interesting persona doesn't get much screen time while they continue to try to push rock's not really cousin down everyone's throats.

[archie4208]

Is anyone hyped for the G1 special at Long Beach?  I won't have to get up at 4 AM to watch Kenny Omega wrestle. 

Tanahashi vs. Billy Gunn, though. 

[Stro]

Nah, G1 USA is going to be barely above a Road To... show. Cody Rhodes and Billy Gunn main eventing. 

[TVC15]

Is anyone hyped for the G1 special at Long Beach?  I won't have to get up at 4 AM to watch Kenny Omega wrestle. 

Tanahashi vs. Billy Gunn, though. 

Meeeeeeee. Been really liking NJPW since I finally got AXS.

[nachobro]

I'm just happy to not have to stay up late to watch it like I do for those Road To X shows

[Stro]

I'm just happy to not have to stay up late to watch it like I do for those Road To X shows

You actually watch those? 

[nachobro]

not all of them, but if they are on a saturday/sunday morning i will sometimes

[Stro]

You must be a better fan than I. I can't even handle the pre-intermission matches on big shows.

[nachobro]

or just a fan who with less to do

[Arbys Roast Beef Sandwich]

Is anyone hyped for the G1 special at Long Beach?  I won't have to get up at 4 AM to watch Kenny Omega wrestle. 

Tanahashi vs. Billy Gunn, though. 

I'm going with my brother and dad. My dad's gonna be fucking stoked to see Billy Gunn in 2017 

[seagrams hotsauce]

Is anyone hyped for the G1 special at Long Beach?  I won't have to get up at 4 AM to watch Kenny Omega wrestle. 

Tanahashi vs. Billy Gunn, though. 

Meeeeeeee. Been really liking NJPW since I finally got AXS.

i guess i'm the ultimate smark but I got really fed up with wrestling last mania and just recently discovered my cable package has NJPW and it's great

[Stro]

https://legitshook.squarespace.com/starrcade/1985/11/28/nwa-starrcade-1985

Starrcade 1985 is the most comically bloody show. 12 matches, 9 of which had one or all members of the match bleeding, and a show that featured people doing blade jobs AFTER the finishes and on run ins.



 


Tully vs Magnum still the GOAT. Dusty/Flair best match, imo. Blood every where.

[archie4208]

Last night's G1 show was pretty good, but not amazing.

The undercard is mostly skippable, although War Machine vs. GOD was pretty fun to watch.  (Demi would love War Machine if he watched rasslin )
Naito vs. Ishii was good
Omega vs. Elgin was awesome
Cody vs. Okada was probably the best you could hope for in a Cody match.

[Stro]

Yeah it was okay. Above the generally trash ROH/NJPW joint shows, but below a normal semi-big NJPW show. Guys were going 80% as opposed to the 50% for ROH shows and 60% for Road To Shows. I watched the Japanese version because I didn't want to hear JR and Barnett, but the few times they did show JR and Barnett, they both sounded so confused about everything.

Cody Rhodes is so confused. Can't decide if he's a cool heel, a Memphis heel, workrate darling, or cartoony WWE performer. And he bounces back and forth between all of them, but he can still really only have a WWE match, so Okada had to headline the first NJPW show in the US by having a WWE main event so as to make his American opponent look competent. Cody's entrance was the most  thing I've seen in a long time. I can't believe they let him do that.

[Human Snorenado]

Man, nobody bladed quite like 80's era Flair and Dusty

[Stro]

https://legitshook.squarespace.com/strobogos-wrasslin-potpourri-reviews/2017/7/1/njpw-g1-special-in-usa-night-1

From night 1





The lariat stays my GOAT wrestling move


The Elgin/Kenny lariat is violent as fuck. Haven't seen one that gross since Hansen murdered Tenryu with one in '88,







 

[FunSlower]

That Hansen lariato is probably the very best.

[Stro]

Sunday July 2nd, 2017 will forever be known as a night where Billy Gunn headlined a NJPW event, and Konnan and Jeff Jarrett delivered promos on PPV. America was never able to recover from our national embarrassment.


https://legitshook.squarespace.com/strobogos-wrasslin-potpourri-reviews/2017/7/2/impact-wrestling-slammiversary-xv

With the Hardys no longer broken, Josh Matthews and JB had to go out and put on the fuckery match of the year, and they get all the stars. Thumbtacks, sharks, sinister ministers, Scott Steiner chasing fat asses in golf carts, pool dives. All the makings of a 7000 star classic.

[nachobro]

WWE released Aries. Good riddance.
http://www.wwe.com/article/austin-aries-released?sf96303750=1

[Stro]

That piece of shit should never have been hired in the first place. Austin Aries has been a plague on wrestling since 2003 and I hold him responsible for the like of Davey Richards and his ilk of trash.

[TVC15]

What's the story on Austin Aries? Why is he not liked?

[nachobro]

for me i'm more annoyed with his behavior towards christy hemme. she announced his tag team with the wrong names on tna so to "get back" at her he backed her into the ring corner and shoved his dick in her face to make her say the correct names

[Stro]

What's the story on Austin Aries? Why is he not liked?

Obnoxious asshole with a Napoleon complex who gets fired from every where he goes, which is why he's been in and out of TNA/ROH 4-5 times a piece.

[Stro]

I see the nerds are upset that AJ won the US title at a MSG house show because

1. WHERE'S THE MONEY IN THAT (obviously my first thought when watching wrestling, how much money is being made)
2. THEY CLEARLY HATE KO AND HE'S PROBABLY ABOUT TO GET FIRED
3. HOUSE SHOWS ARE MEANINGLESS, WHY DO A TITLE CHANGE ON A MEANINGLESS SHOW (to make them meaningful? idk)
4. AJ SHOULD HAVE WON IT ON A MEANINGLESS PPV INSTEAD
5. Etc etc

Leave it to the people who should understand wrestling the most to be utterly baffled at WWE doing something cool on a house show in their hometown market.

[Human Snorenado]

They'll probably hotshot the title back to KO on Tuesday. Maybe even have a series of title switches in a short period of time. I think it's cool, regardless of what happens going forward. Smarks, I swear.

[TVC15]

What's the story on Austin Aries? Why is he not liked?

Obnoxious asshole with a Napoleon complex who gets fired from every where he goes, which is why he's been in and out of TNA/ROH 4-5 times a piece.

That's a bummer. I thought he was pretty much the only interesting dude in the cruiserweight division. And WWE knew it since he was a part of like every televised CW match I saw.

[Stro]

[bork]

Aries wasn't fired- he quit.  Didn't want to be branded a cruiserweight or whatever.  Can't say I miss him being gone...because I never watched 205 Live. 

Anyone watching Great Balls Of FIRE? ()  It's been kind of a yawner.  They spent way to much time focusing on the stupid ambulance spot with Reigns/Strowman and then made the odd decision to have Slater/Hawkins in a match, which they cut away from to go back to the ambulance shit. 

So the Brock/Joe match is probably going to be like five minutes.

[archie4208]

Roman tried to murder Braun.    And he's a babyface? 

The Joe/Lesnar match was better than what I expected, although I was pessimistically expecting a 3 minute squash.

[nachobro]

https://twitter.com/wresnocontext/status/884240521065091072

 

[Stro]

Aries wasn't fired- he quit.  Didn't want to be branded a cruiserweight or whatever.  Can't say I miss him being gone...because I never watched 205 Live. 

Anyone watching Great Balls Of FIRE? ()  It's been kind of a yawner.  They spent way to much time focusing on the stupid ambulance spot with Reigns/Strowman and then made the odd decision to have Slater/Hawkins in a match, which they cut away from to go back to the ambulance shit. 

So the Brock/Joe match is probably going to be like five minutes.

Actually, he was fired. The amended report said that the writing staff hated working with him so WWE just straight up cut him since they didn't see much value in him anyway. People read Aries' tweets as if it was confirmation that he asked to be released, but he did not.

GBOF: Roman/Stroman with another classic The finish was lmaoooooo as hell. I don't really see Roman's post-match attack as some OMG WHAT A SHITTY FACE and more that these dudes have both been trying to kill each other all year, and even if it was a shitty face thing, since Stroman walking off on his own power was clearly something to have him get sympathy, people should be happy that Roman is leaning into heel shit. Isn't that what everyone has wanted? That seemed pretty close to a double turn to me, with the announcers shitting on Roman for his actions right after. Also I love the idea of using a stand by match on PPV in 2017.

A bit disappointed Joe/Brock didn't have some more big bombs thrown by Joe, but it was nice to see Brock have a real match and there's no way a match with the story of "Brock gets dominated and barely survives" doesn't have a rematch. Joe looked like an absolute killer, and the crowd reacted to him as such, so I see no way plans don't change and he gets to stay in the main event for a while.

Unusually bloody show. Seemed like someone got busted open in nearly every match. That shit on Matt's eye was disgusting.
 

[Stro]

Roman tried to murder Braun.    And he's a babyface? 

I don't like roman but I kinda always hated this logic. People long for the days of a Stone Cold and Rock yet when it starts happening suddenly "babayfaces can't act like that!".

That and immediately after the announcers were like wtf that shouldn't have happened, and Talking Smack was also like wtf is wrong with Roman. As well as everyone backstage. It's not like it was portrayed as "Wow Roman is so bad ass, by gawd".

[FunSlower]

Laughing @ Austin Aries not wanting to be seen as a Cruiserweight

He's 5'5" and barely breaks 200. You are what you are

Enjoyed some of GBOF.  WTF were they thinking with Hawkins though...

Strowman was a delight and I burst into laughter with the spear dodge into the amberlamps. Loved it.

Wish Joe vs Lesnar would have gone on for five more minutes, but I can't complain. Was really pulling for Joey Samoey, because I am a mark and by god I loved it.

[nachobro]

That match was exactly what Joe needed. Dude looks like a monster with how he treated Brock.

[fistfulofmetal]

I've seen some people complain that Joe has to *cheat* a lot and still lost. I have no problem with Joe playing dirty, it fits his character. He'll play dirty but he'll also genuinely fuck you up regardless.

But yeah, he came off looking pretty good. Dominating Lesnar several times and withstanding his offense. I don't think he's out of the picture, not with the way he looked on as Lesnar left the ring.

Everyone thinks it'll be Roman vs. Lesnar at Summerslam and while I think it's still likely - I can also see either: Joe vs. Lesnar vs. Reigns OR Reigns vs. Strowman in a last man standing match or something and a Joe vs. Lesnar rematch.