WWE wrestling thread

[MtlJeff]

Fans went nuts for Nakamura

[blaird]

Fans went nuts for Nakamura

 

I did too.

 

I used to love Goldberg and his entrance in 98 or so when he was really exploding. This may be my fav now. Love the music and how he gets into it and the crowd singing along is awesome. Finn's aint to bad neither.

[MtlJeff]

So the re-org this week won't be a full redraft. More like 4-5 guys switching from each brand at least in terms of big names. From what i have heard there's more guys headed to Smackdown than back the other way which would make sense since RAW got Joe, Revival and Balor back now. As we discussed last year RAW's midcard is so packed they could barely find time for some well known guys and Smackdowns was pretty weak

 

Also Smackdown is losing Cena for a bit due to his other obligations.

 

The well publicized rumor is that Styles is going to RAW and New Day headed to Smackdown. I've heard that so much i think it's true. I like both moves since Styles going to RAW leads to many Bullet Club possibilities. New Day will also benefit from Smackdown's more lax promo restrictions

 

I have heard 3 names going to Smackdown that i can't repeat yet, but if true would be really cool.

[devinh821]

Jeff come on. You gotta tell us!

[blaird]

I guess we will find out tonight...I have heard Styles to Raw and New Day to SD as well. Also a little shake up with the women with Becky or Alexis going to Raw and the crazier one is Charlotte going to SD

[devinh821]

Im ready for 8!! I hope the first thing on raw is AJ music. I'm just pumped!!!

[blaird]

Both brands need a shakeup...SD is limited mid card and on top talent. Dont know how many times we will get Orton/Wyatt, Cena/Wyatt, Ambrose/Wyatt, Ambrose/Cena and maybe throw Corbin in there. They need some top level talent to fight for the Championship, maybe Nakamura will be a boost too. I would give Miz a shot too. SD also needs midcard and tag teams. AA has fallen kinda flat and there is no more Vaudevillians. I would like to see New Day and Cesaro/Shamus end up on SD as well. Raw is solid at the top especially if AJ shows up there and could use a little help in the midcard. I see Zayn going to SD as well.

 

SO with the way the championships are in NXT right now... when and where does Asuka, Authors of Pain,and Roode show up?? I think Asuka has longest NXT womens title reign then comes up after Summerslam, no telling on AOP but I like them especially with the manager, and Roode maybe at Survivor Series.

[MtlJeff]

Miz going to RAW is atrocious.....Miz is all promos....that's all he can do.

 

RAW's writing has been terrible for like, pretty much the last decade. Hopefully they let him do his own thing like the New Day ended up being given the leeway to do.

[MtlJeff]

Definitely more names moving than anticipated. Wyatt, Miz and Ambrose all headed to RAW. The well publicized rumor of Styles i am assuming is still true

 

There's some names going to SD that we know. But given the above, i am thinking there's maybe one more big name that has not been dropped yet going the other way. Maybe a Braun Strowman for example, someone like that. Cesaro and Sheamus would seem to make sense too as there's tag teams coming to RAW

 

I wonder when some of these guys found out. There'd been no rumors about Wyatt....i wonder if they only told him yesterday or today

[shakey]

I applaud WWE for making Strowman looking like a monster in the segment....

BUT AT LEAST GET THE STRETCHER IN THE SAME AREA. OMG THAT WAS HORRIBLE.

 

Rant over.

[blaird]

Great beatdown of Reigns. They have to write him off for a bit after that, no way he comes back next week. It would be too much for me to believe if he isnt gone for a month at least, but hey, maybe they want you to believe he really is superman. Tonight should be interesting to see the final rosters. I had read about AJ but hopefully he stays on SD. I just dont see them giving him the belt over Reigns, Strowman, or Lesnar. On SD, there could be some good matches with him and either Zayn, KO, and Nakamura.

 

They had better bring over something good Women wise or that division is going to be awful. Naomi, Natalya, and Becky is all they really have now. Charlotte needs to move over and at least another, or bring Asuka up. I am in favor of The Club coming over and reuniting with AJ, or if AJ does go to Raw re unite him with the Club and Finn and have a Bullet Club/Shield match at Survior Series.

[shakey]

Just read that Finn got a concussion during his match Monday night. Out of action for the time being.

[MtlJeff]

It looked like jinder clobbered him!

[blaird]

Yea it did...I saw the slo mo replay and it looked bad...I cant believe he finished the match the way he did. Hopefully he heals up fine and only misses a couple weeks. That kid cant catch a break.

 

So the after shakeup picture...

 

SD gets KO, New Day, and Charlotte as the big names along with Zayn, Sin Cara, Jinder and Tamina. Cant believe the Shining Stars came over too. SD tag division needs the boost. For some reason I actually like the Shining Stars. Their timeshare thing was funny and as much as they are hated, they could get real good heat if they could get on a winning streak. New Day should become champs right away along with Charlotte. They are by far the best thing in their divisions. Tag division could get a boost when Ryder comes back.

 

Looking forward to the KO/AJ matchup, that should be a good one.

 

Not sure what they will do with Miz on Raw. Just too many big names ahead of him. I thought it would have been better for him to stay on SD.

[MtlJeff]

I don't think RAW will be good for the Miz. Their promos have largely been terrible and more of a "written by Vince" feel. I fully expect Miz to start using references that having been used since 1995 and saying things like "tater tots".....sigh

 

If Smackdown keeps AJ Styles (it looks like it?), gets Charlotte, KO, Zayn and New Day with their better writing....i think the show will be even better this year.

 

I find the Shining Stars amusing too! I want to see more of that Timeshare stuff LOL. I also like Breezango a lot with their fashion police gimmick. I hope they also find a good way to use Luke Harper who is very under-utilized. I like Harper more than Wyatt sometimes since Harper is better in the ring. He should definitely be involved in the US belt stuff

 

Smackdown could be really good this year

[devinh821]

Kinda disappointed in the shake up. I think raw got a lot more talent that smackdown. I'm just not sold on KO.

 

Wyatt just getting a push and then he's switched. Wonder if the whole Wyatt family is gonna come back.

 

The shield has a chance to come back. Maybe even Finn and the Anderson gallows losers can get the bullet club

 

Miz should have stayed on smackdown and got a title push.

[MtlJeff]

I think it really depends on the writing. If we can say one thing regarding the past year, it's that Smackdown was written as the "real" show and RAW was written as the Kayfabe show. RAW's feuds were traditional wrestling feuds, some guys attacks someone else backstage, and then they hate each other for 3 months. The promos were very generic, and you had to rely on in-ring action for entertainment.

 

Smackdown was written as kayfabe breaking and "real". Miz saying that Ziggler has underperformed in his career, basically taken right off wrestling blogs. Miz saying that Cena and Nikki's relationship was fake and contrived for TV. Miz accusing Daniel Bryan of being a reckless wrestler which led to his letting his fans down over and over (man , the Miz had a great year). Cena's promos were better, Ambrose's promos were waaaaayyy better. You could tell on "talking smack" that Corbin and Alexa Bliss, newcomers, were given a lot of free reign to say what they wanted

 

If Smackdown continues to be written like that , they will do amazing again. There is still a ton that can be done with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn if you are going to bring real world stuff into it (Zayn getting signed first and KO supplanting him), Rusev/Lana could be really interesting. The New Day with relatively free reign, Charlotte's potential too.

 

So much of it comes down to the writing, because the best parts of Smackdown the past year were not in the ring

[devinh821]

They should let us run smackdown for a year. Give the people what they want for once in your life Vince and HHH.

 

I still hold a grudge over HHH beating sting at his one wrestlemania. HHH was a great wrestler no doubt but he wouldn't have been half the wrestler if he didn't marry Stephanie. I wonder how many people really hated every thing about that when he wrestled full time

[Neverfadeaway86]

They should let us run smackdown for a year. Give the people what they want for once in your life Vince and HHH.

 

I still hold a grudge over HHH beating sting at his one wrestlemania. HHH was a great wrestler no doubt but he wouldn't have been half the wrestler if he didn't marry Stephanie. I wonder how many people really hated every thing about that when he wrestled full time

 

 

HHH was already a proven commodity before he married Stephanie. It's totally possible that he may have not had as many title runs but I'd be hard pressed to say half of his accomplishments were because of who he married. He worked hard and came back from multiple injuries to stay on top. Also he had the ability to go baby or heel and be believable

 

although I do agree that sting should have went over HHH at wrestlemania

[devinh821]

He was a top name in the business no doubt but if not for the heart break kid and Stephanie I still don't think he's in the position he is today.

 

I feel like DX was more micheals than it was HHH. Just have lost a lot of respect for HHH over the years. I'm still in shock that he lost to Rollins at mania.

 

I was loving some smackdown Tuesday night. Charlotte and Glow. Loved it. In a bunch of ways

[Neverfadeaway86]

He was a top name in the business no doubt but if not for the heart break kid and Stephanie I still don't think he's in the position he is today.

 

I feel like DX was more micheals than it was HHH.

 

using that logic you could say Austin wouldn't be there if it weren't for McMahon... which IMO may be true as alot of what got steve over was sticking it to vince and the blue collar crowds/fans loving it.

 

I can say that I think HHH may have not ended up in the position of power he is in on camera or behind the scenes without steph and certainly would have lost a few title runs as well but in no way do I think thats what made him. His heel work is what made him IMO

[devinh821]

The difference between HHH and austin was, austin wasn't banging Vince lol well hopefully not.

 

And he was good don't get me wrong but a lot of guys in the locker room have said the same.

[MtlJeff]

I have mixed feelings on HHH, on the one hand it's kind of ummm...interesting(?) that a guy who was part of a group known for backstage politics ended up marrying the boss's daughter and becoming corporate.

 

However on the other hand, the other "clique" guys pretty much have said they picked HHH to be their buddy because he was clean and sober, and they viewed him more as a designated driver than a partner in crime.

 

I think HHH really cares about the business. The guys who have come up through NXT absolutely love him. And he has done a lot to get women more involved too, i remember Charlotte talking about how he picked her, Alexa Bliss and Sasha to be part of his "mania entrance before they were on the roster so they could get a taste of it. It was a small gesture, but she felt he did to show them they'd be a part of it one day. He still talks to a lot of the guys that came up through NXT regularly. Of course there's always going to be some politics....People felt Sheamus got preferential booking because he was friends with HHH, and people will maybe say the same thing one day about Finn Balor, who is very close with him , more so that the other young guys. Remember Balor won the title his first month on the main roster

[blaird]

I know its not WWE related but saw where Scott Steiner was on Impact and is going to be with them for a bit I guess. I may have to tune in for a little while.

[MtlJeff]

It's kind of fun to see Tyler Breeze doing well with the Breezango gimmick. He was really one of those guys that really was never a chosen one, was almost released from NXT multiple times, was one of the longest serving guys there before finally getting over with the Zoolander style gimmick, and even then wasn't really main eventing even in NXT

 

When he was called up, he debut'd on Smackdown when it was still a taped show, and was given pretty much no push. I don't know that he ever really had a match on RAW

 

The pairing with Fandango at first, was if i recall simply a way to get R-Truth and Goldust some heat when they were still in their "should we be a tag team" storyline. They were joke partners of Truth and Goldust in a tag match.

 

But they stuck together and eventually worked this new "fashion police" angle which has had some funny moments (like throwing tickets at people at survivor series) that have made them memorable even when doing very short work. Now they are #1 contenders for a PPV match and just released a really, really funny Law&Order style vignette that made me LOL a few times

 

Just a really good example of guys who really have gotten no help lately but have made themselves interesting

[shakey]

Breezango got over when they gave Cena a fashion ticket for wearing jorts. Lol.

[blaird]

I fastforwarded thru that segment bc I thought it would be lame...guess Ill have to go back and watch it.

 

Its weird to me they are keeping Nakamura out until the PPV. I would have liked to have seen him wrestle a couple matches on tv but no big deal Ill catch the ppv.

 

KO/AJ has the potential to be a great match...Im looking forward to this one.

[devinh821]

Charlotte is the latest leaked wwe diva. I wonder if wwe is doing it to them to get a little more publicity.

 

Like the 3rd one in a month or two.

 

And I'm ready for Nakamura as well. Only watched him a couple times on NXT and he was amazing. And I'm a ziggler fan. I think he should get more credit than what he does.

 

And AJ better destroy KO. But like you said they will have some amazing matches I'm sure

[blaird]

Im hoping KO picks up a couple wins and AJ grabs the belt from Orton at Summerslam

[shakey]

Jinder Mahal sucks. He must have incriminating pics of Vince or something.

 

(I know it's more to do with reaching the audience in India)