Pro Wrestling Discussion Number IV

[Reaper G]

Crappy ending to a great pay per view.

[Henry88]

what was with all the goldberg chanting?

[jellydonut25]

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

Plus Goldberg was in town over the weekend to promote the new WWE game.

[Reaper G]

Nobody remembers how Lesnar and Goldberg were booed out of the building at WrestleMania XX?

[Henry88]

[jellydonut25]

[GhostMachine]

R.I.P., Mr. Fuji.

My second favorite heel manager, after Bobby Heenan.

[jellydonut25]

Stellar end to tonight's show. Made me wish the crowd had been that up all night. Unfortunately, WWE has little idea how to properly book a show (and the three hour time is even more of a burden with the roster effectively sliced in half). I personally loved seeing Neville tap to Jericho to kick off the night's matches, not because I particularly like Jericho, but it's just nice to see a face that isn't a complete jobber tap once in a while; gives a little credence to the heel's ability to make people submit (by far my least favorite thing about Cena is that he will never EVER submit, and so any time he's in a submission hold, or God forbid a submission match, there's NO drama).

Anyway most of the crowd hated seeing the heel win to start the night and they were just dead for most of the show. New Day and Bayley got a little pop, but that was it.
Raw is starved for upper-mid-card stuff (ie: John Cena's current incarnation where he's not in a title scene but he still feels like a major player). There's just nobody that fulfills that role. It's ALL titles (except the US title for some reason, seriously, there are only like 10 superstars and a 3 hour show. You can't feature your "second biggest" title?), or stuff nobody cares about because we've already seen too much of it (Cesaro-Sheamus, Darren Young-Titus) we're over it already and sadly none of these midcard non-title feuds have a person in them we really care about (I like Cesaro but the crowd was just DEAD for him. It was sad, honestly)


Anyway, I'm rambling. I hope they commit to the Rollins face turn and let Owens and Rollins carry the show. Instead, I fully expect to see Roman Reigns parading around, being a dick to Owens at every turn, and for some reason, we're supposed to cheer for him.

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

Reigns is supposed to be going heel from what I read. Inn fact they wanted to do a double turn with Reigns going heel and Rollins going face I'm suprised they didn't do that tonight they had the perfect opportunity. Maybe they'll save it for Raw's PPV because you know damn well Rollins is going to get a title shot at the next PPV.

[GhostMachine]

My big gripe about Jericho is that they've made him less special. Ever since he switched submissions from the Liontamer to a Boston Crab, he's had a lot more opponents break out of the submission than tap out. Which is fine when he's a heel, but not when he's a face. And I was disappointed when the Codebreaker debuted, because its just Carlito's Backstabber done from the front.

(Was his submission move changed because the Liontamer is hard to get out of without assistance, or because they thought it could lead to neck injuries?)

Reigns should be a heel, period. He's bland as a face, and Vince McMahon handling his promos does him no favors.

[EricDent]

Well with the recent "Brand split" (again) now we are back to 2 of everything.
2 Tag Champs
2 Women's Champs
2 World Champs (or in the case of RAW, a "Universal" champ).

The only difference is the IC title is on SD, and the US title is on RAW.
RAW will also get the Cruiserweight title as well.

So Roman turning "heel" isn't gonna happen.
Seth isn't really a face either.

Just in case the current champs (Spoilers just in case):

SD World Champ: AJ Styles (the first man to win the TNA & WWE titles (along with many other titles including the IWGP).
SD Tag Champs: Heath Slater & Rhyno
SD Women's Champ: Becky Lynch
IC Champ: The Miz

Raw Universal Champ: Kevin Owens
Raw Tag Champs: The New Day
Raw Women's Champ: Charlotte
US Champ: Rusev

Cruiserweight Champ: TJ Perkins (he was Manik & Suicide in TNA)

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

[GhostMachine]

Having not watched the Cruiserweight Classic (I don't get the WWE Network) and not watched RAW or Smackdown lately, how is the Cruiserweight title going to be worked? Is the champ exclusive to a show, defending on both, or is it going to be a Network event only belt?

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

Cruiserweight is exclusive to Raw. My guess is they'll bring either the Hardcore or TV Title to Smackdown.

[GhostMachine]

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

Agreed on the 24/7 rule. My guess is it is going to be the hardcore title because WWE just put out a DVD set for it so maybe they're testing the waters to see how well it's recieved and they'll bring it back. Guys like Ambrose and Bray Wyatt scream hardcore title.

[jellydonut25]

I doubt another title is going to SmackDown.

Raw is a three-hour show and the Cruiserweight portion is being treated almost like a separate show within the show. With three hours to fill, Raw can support another title, especially since it's guys who won't ever be in the mix for anything else, honestly. SmackDown doesn't have that luxury and God help them if they bring back the Hardcore title in the current landscape of WWE. Nothing could be further from hardcore than the "hardcore" matches WWE puts on these days.

[The Great MM]

[EricDent]

I guess I meant a guy that was (mostly) from TNA winning the WWE Belt.
Yes I know Kurt wom the TNA Title, but he did it after being in WWE.

Anyhow, I might be going to my first WWE PPV since WM 19.
Royal Rumble is in San Antonio on Jan. 29, 2017.
Since that's pretty close to Austin, I asked for a ticket for Christmas.
I haven't really asked for anything in particular in a few years, so chances are really good.

[Henry88]

Goldberg Squashes Brock Lesnar at WWE Survivor Series
http://www.lordsofpain.net/news/wwe/Gol ... Photo.html

[Shin_Edda_Robo!!!!!]

SO THEN.

Who saw, Wrestle Kingdom 11?

Because the main event was easily Match of The Year material.

[Reaper G]

I think AXS TV, which already airs NJPW, will be showing Wrestle Kingdom next Friday. Very much looking forward to it. Dave Meltzer gave Okada-Omega six(!) stars.

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

Royal Rumble was tonight/last night and honestly I was kind of dissapointed by it. No suprise entrants really, John Cena won the belt AGAIN and Brock was made to look weak again. I was kind of happy about the winner of the match I really wish it had gone to Bray instead of Orton but oh well.

[jellydonut25]

So, the pre-show stuff started even earlier than I had anticipated but here's my grades:
Sasha Banks vs Nia Jax: D. Saved from an F by having the right finish given where the two characters are but a huge waste of talent with no flow and horrible in-ring storytelling.

Bayley vs Charlotte: B+. The match itself could be an A- but the ending is a little confusing. What's next for Charlotte? Bayley lost too cleanly.

Kevin Owens vs Roman Reigns: A-. Quibbles. I have 'em. Like Reigns shrugging off brass knuckles to the face like a regular punch, and a bit of under use of Jericho, but overall a great match.

Neville vs Rich Swann: C+. Competent but seemed a little slow paced and the crowd didn't care even a little.

Cena vs Styles: A+. You could say this one was...phenomenal. Badum ching.

The Royal Rumble: B+. Great early and thank God Reigns didn't win but he's now been final 2 four years in a row and the only thing the crowd could have hated more at 30 spot would have been...I dunno, Michael Cole maybe. I get that Balor might not be 100% yet but the booking at the end of this was just confusing and not exciting. Were people surprised Reigns didn't pull off an "upset"? Yes, but they also didn't get enough time with the three biggest stars or the final four and JUST having a surprising ending isn't really enough. That's how things like Sheamus happen. But the ending seemingly railroading several potential stories shouldn't make people forget Jack Gallagher and Braun Strowman and Cesaro and Kofi and The New Day all getting some great moments and the match itself was good overall.

It feels odd to think/say that John Cena "stole the show" but when you get a match of the year candidate, you gotta give it up.