Go2Sleep
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Posts posted by Go2Sleep
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"Ok let's make this sporting, Kalisto. If you can explain why I shouldn't fire you without using the letter "R" you can keep your job."
"Because I'm a good lucha... thing."
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So now that I'm not super-tired, let me go over everything that was wrong with the draft from a kayfabe perspective.
SpoilerRound No. 1
1. Seth Rollins - Raw
2. WWE Champion Dean Ambrose - SmackDown Live
3. WWE Women's Champion Charlotte - Raw
4. AJ Styles - SmackDown Live
5. Finn Bálor - Raw from NXTThe first 4 are actually good picks. Raw being the "established brand" taking Finn at #5 makes little sense especially since they don't have the WWE champ. Roman would've made more sense here because at least they can say they have a 66% chance of getting the belt on Sunday (but when you consider that Seth knows he can't beat Roman, and Roman has a 75% chance of beating Dean at worst, Raw really has a 141% chance of getting the belt).
Round No. 2
6. Roman Reigns - Raw
7. John Cena - SmackDown Live
8. Brock Lesnar - Raw
9. Randy Orton - SmackDown Live
10. WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day - RawAt least Raw did take Roman here, even though they screwed SD (the "land of opportunity") by taking Finn. SD's picks are indefensible here. The hip new show where guys who wouldn't normally get a chance takes the two mainstays of the last 15 years. Terrible. It also allows Raw to scoop another champion that consists of two guys who could really use a fresh singles start if/when the time is appropriate. How do you not go New Day/Owens if you're SD, and force Raw's hand into taking Cena and/or Orton in the next round, which would keep your options open for the next round? Brock is a fine pick at this level, and ends up complementing their roster nicely.
Round No. 3
11. Sami Zayn - Raw
12. Bray Wyatt - SmackDown Live
13. Sasha Banks - Raw
14. Becky Lynch - SmackDown Live
15. Chris Jericho - Raw2/3 Raw picks in this round are wrestlers that fit right into SD's supposed identity. I mean, they can't get all the new guys, but whiffing on Zayn after taking Cena and Orton looks so inconsistent with their ideology. They also got totally clowned in the women's department. First, you don't say "I think you missed the best woman wrestler" in a smug tone right after the other team just picked Sasha fucking Banks. Second, if you do say that, the only acceptable pick is Bayley. For the record, I love Becky and think she's been horribly underused, but this spot is arguably the most "second rate" SD looked all night, and there are quite a few candidates for that.
Round No. 4
16. United States Champion Rusev (with Lana) - Raw
17. Intercontinental Champion The Miz (with Maryse) - SmackDown Live
18. Kevin Owens - Raw
19. Baron Corbin - SmackDown Live
20. Enzo & Big Cass - RawSD gets owned again by being forced to waste one of their limited picks on The Miz "because they need a champ." Maybe you should've thought about New Day and Rusev when you were picking Cena, Orton, and Bray Wyatt. Then Raw really punches them in the balls by taking Owens who was one of the most ideal SD guys. SD pretty much throws in the towel by taking Corbin when Cesaro, The Club, Neville, any number of NXT guys, and oh yeah... The guys taken right after this pick were still on the board.
Round No. 5
21. Gallows and Anderson - Raw
22. American Alpha - SmackDown Live from NXT
23. Big Show - Raw
24. Dolph Ziggler - SmackDown Live
25. Nia Jax - Raw from NXTSD finally makes a good pick with American Alpha. Raw finally makes a bad pick (possibly the worst in the draft) with Show at 23, who would've probably been available in the 30s and maybe the 40s. SD still has a chance at Cesaro, Neville, Kalisto, and all of NXT... So of course they take Dolph who's like the worst guy left with a "workrate" gimmick. Nia was probably a reach for Raw, but it fills a need, and they'veso thoroughly owned SD to this point that it doesn't really matter if they start reaching.
Round No. 6
26. Neville - Raw
27. Natalya - SmackDown Live
28. Cesaro - Raw
29. Alberto Del Rio - SmackDown Live
30. Sheamus - RawMore absolute soul-ownage from Raw. SD misses the last two main roster guys that fit their vision with Neville and Cesaro, the latter being passed over for Natalya who is possibly the worst main roster woman remaining. At this point both teams start swapping garbage, but at least SD can say they got the best of the garbage heap with ADR.
Round No. 7 (announced during WWE Draft Center Live on WWE Network)
31. Golden Truth - Raw
32. The Usos - SmackDown Live
33. Titus O'Neil - Raw
34. Demon Kane - SmackDown Live
35. Paige - RawYou know Raw's been killing it when Golden Truth at 31 looks like a good pick. Gotta start bolstering the jobber division. The Usos are a solid pick for SD, but what do they do after putting Alpha over? Kane is yet another antithetical pick to SD's narrative. SD could've also really used Paige, but nope, gotta have Nattie and Kane.
Round No. 8 (announced during WWE Draft Center Live on WWE Network)
36. Darren Young (with Bob Backlund) - Raw
37. Kalisto - SmackDown Live
38. Sin Cara - Raw
39. Naomi - SmackDown Live
40. Jack Swagger - Raw
41. The Ascension - SmackDown LiveWhy does anyone want the Ascension? Naomi is a solid value at this stage for SD. Raw definitely shores up the jobber division.
Round No. 9 (announced during WWE Draft Center Live on WWE Network)
42. The Dudley Boyz - Raw
43. Zack Ryder - SmackDown Live
44. Summer Rae - Raw
45. Apollo Crews - SmackDown Live
46. Mark Henry - Raw
47. Alexa Bliss - SmackDown Live from NXTI guess with 75% of the draft behind them, it's time for SD to start understanding their own goals and the concept of value. 3 good picks here for them, Raw's just picking names out of a hat at this point because they're set.
Round No. 10 Picks (announced during WWE Draft Center Live on WWE Network)
48. Braun Strowman - Raw
49. Breezango - SmackDown Live
50. Bo Dallas - Raw
51. Eva Marie - SmackDown Live
52. Shining Stars - Raw
53. The Vaudevillains - SmackDown LiveVaudevillains behind Eva and the Colones? Ouch. Eva on the main roster is going to be a disaster, but 2/3 good picks for SD... It looks like they've got the hang of this now.
Round No. 11 (announced during WWE Draft Center Live on WWE Network)
54. Alicia Fox - Raw
55. Erick Rowan - SmackDown Live
56. Dana Brooke - Raw
57. Mojo Rawley - SmackDown Live from NXT
58. Curtis Axel - Raw
59. Carmella - SmackDown Live from NXTMore names out of a hat. SD gets bailed out from their own incompetence by getting Mojo when they should've just taken him with Ryder 20 picks ago.
TL;DR - Bryan and Shane are the most kayfabe incompetent authority figures ever.
Raw could actually survive for a year or more without help if they managed their roster right. If SD doesn't raid NXT after Brooklyn, they're unwatchable by the end of the year. With each brand doing ppvs every month, this is gonna get old real fast. Get ready for 50/50 feuds that last 3-4 months up and down the card.
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I just had a horrifying thought... What if Lawler replaces Graves on NXT?
Also, the draft was stupid and made no sense.
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That lawsuit seems doomed because all of those guys worked for multiple promotions. WWE should have more than enough plausible deniability. Also, plaintiff credibility might be an issue.
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Hopefully he gets his finisher back from CM Punk too.
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55 minutes ago, Sammo~! said:
Someone should go back and put an asterisk next to every result where one or both participants of the pro wrestling match was taking steroids. If they start now they might finish by 2019 or so.
I think if you used the super-strict guidelines that the athletic commissions do, it would look like:
WWE 1963-Present*
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On 7/16/2016 at 1:50 AM, PetrolCB said:
We all know it, so it's not an off-the-cuff, but he was a real asshole. He gets praise, and deservedly so for being a great performer. But he's like the musician who says they always give 100%, but in actuality, they do until they get a gig that doesn't have a large crowd and they tank every song and claim it's art or that the crowd wasn't appreciative.
That Shawn/Hogan match was actually art, though.
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I counted Ryck. Matanza and Lotus are still alive for now, though.
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“The Wives of Flair,” would be a reality show on the lives of Ric Flair’s four ex-wives.
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The second installment of UL was a lot better than the first.
The GotG match was pretty fun even though Sexy Star's execution was bad most of the match. That finish was written perfectly, but the delivery couldn't be much worse. She's over and needed a big win, though, so I'm not upset with the booking. At least Ivelisse will always be able to say she was the first woman to get a LU title shot. Night Claw got a decent showcase in his debut. That's Octagon Jr, right? Killshot has grown on me over the course of this season. Granted, I never hated him as much as some people, but he seems to have put his indytastic offense together in a way that's been really good for the crash and burn LU style. I loved Melissa Santos disgustedly pushing Marty off her after one of the floor sequences.
Mil/Cuerno was amazing, and my front runner for match of the season. Great pace throughout, and I loved the weird dynamic where moves-wise, Cuerno was the babyface, but character-wise, Mil was the babyface. Mil was like the fucking Terminator in this match, and Cuerno got to show a lot more range not being confined to methodical pace of his character. The opening ruled, the bandstand part ruled, the window part ruled, and that finishing stretch is exactly how you should finish a damn death match. The limp tombstone was perfect.
And then the ending segment... I was wondering when we were gonna see more patented LU insanity backstage, and boy did we ever. Dario Cueto henchman now is atop the list of most dangerous jobs with a 50% fatality rate.
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1 hour ago, Kropotkin's Beard said:
It's almost as if there is some middle ground between "split a team up who've been on the main roster less than 6 months" & "keep a team together forever".
That's why I said in my first post that it would be terrible to split up Enzo and Cass right now. In a couple years, things could be different.
Also holy shit, John Cena speaks Mandarin.
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1 hour ago, Kropotkin's Beard said:
Can we not just have tag teams who are tag teams? I mean do people feel "gosh, we really missed out by not having Hawk & Animal split up & going solo? Is the end of the Rock & Roll Express something kids in the 80s were desperate to see? The WWE's general ambivalence to tag team wrestling bewilders me.
Much like everything else, the "but it was like this when I was a kid" argument doesn't work here. Everyone today gets more exposure and there's no territories to rotate through to keep everyone fresh. Tag teams especially run out of things to do faster today. Since each team by definition has to include two people on a finite roster, they burn through possible story combos 4 times faster than singles mathematically speaking, even before you get into all the extra tv time that needs to be filled. If the Rock and Roll Express were on national tv 2-3 times a week for years on end, people would tire of them faster no matter how nostalgic they seem now. Even a team like Breezango is getting more exposure today than RnRE got in a similar time frame.
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I liked the presentation and arena setup. Less is usually more in that area. Mauro and Bryan were stepping on each others toes a lot, but both guys sound so professional and enthusiastic that it didn't matter. I'd love it if those two stuck together and got to work the main shows at some point.
The only thing I didn't like was how every match was a standard WWE-style face/heel setup, except for the main which was a standard WWE-style face/face setup. I was hoping to see more back and forth and the letting the crowd reactions happen organically and more of an indy feel to the matches.
The vast skill differences between the competitors adds a lot of charm to it, I think. It's like a big poker tournament where you have some world-class pros and several guys who have no business being there. Of the unknowns, Petiot impressed me the most.
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Gotta agree that Shinsuke was the weak link in that match. Finn did a good job mixing up his offense and trying to build a story, but Nak was in signature spot mode all the way and it made the middle of the match completely meaningless. The first left-knee exclusive offensive flurry after the leg work was as eye-rolling as Jordan's run last week, but what really killed me was that he didn't sell the leg in the most obvious spot--The first Kinshasa kickout. Come on man, it validates the story, gives the match a reason for an epic finishing stretch, and protects your own move. The match worked fine as a standard "strong style" match, but if that's all they were gonna do, why bother with the attempted story around the leg that never goes anywhere?
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21 hours ago, Marty Sugar said:
FWIW, I'm way behind on live TV and just watched the March 10th episode of SmackDown: ten punches in the corner, backdrop, and a few others mentioned here.
To be clear, I wasn't trying to imply that the 10-punch spot isn't used, just that it's a super easy way to generate crowd interaction. WWE actually went through a weird phase a a couple years back where lots of people had 10-count spots at the same time (Ziggler's elbow drops, Sheamus' apron forearms, Del Rio's forearms to the kidneys + backstabber off the ropes, Roman's clubbing blows in the corner). Might have had something to do with Bryan getting the crowd to chant 'yes' on every strike.
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If they don't do Bayley or Asuka, they better announce the partner on Raw or SD so fans have time to calibrate their expectations. You definitely don't wanna be Paige or Nikki standing at gorilla hearing loud "Heeeeey we want some Baaaayley" chants in DC. In fact, you probably don't wanna be any of the other 3 in that situation either.
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I don't necessarily disagree with the idea of splitting teams for singles pushes. If a tag team is highly successful, odds are at least one of the guys in it is supremely talented and a singles push is a way to make more money off him. There are definitely cases where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, but several high end singles guys have come from firmly established teams (Bret, Shawn, Scott Steiner, Booker T, and Edge all come to mind).
I think it's clear that Enzo/Cass is a prime candidate for a future break-up, but I agree it would be terrible to do it now. They haven't even scratched the surface of their potential as a unit, and I think they could they could be the most over team since the New Age Outlaws. If they Roman-ize Cassady's career by force-pushing him while leaving Enzo in the dust, I'll be pretty upset.
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I think Asuka is a better fit for the mystery partner role, but Bayley might get the bigger pop which is an important consideration for a debut.
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Linda stepped down when she ran for the senate.
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9 hours ago, Technico Support said:
You don't see stuff like this in WWE anymore due to Vince's edict that the ref shouldn't be made to look foolish. Which is dumb because "blind ref" is a fucking staple of pro wrestling. Can it be abused to the point of absurdity? Of course but so can anything else.
Yeah, I wouldn't wanna see that spot all the time or anything, but it would be cool if someone like Miz pulled it out on occasion. It's an easy way to get the crowd involved in an otherwise forgettable match, just like the good old 10-count punch in the corner.
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5 hours ago, SorceressKnight said:
"I saw that guy wrestle in front of 25 people in a VFW hall, and now he's WWE World Champion! I LIKED HIM BEFORE HE WAS COOL! I am officially a BETTER FAN than YOU ARE! WORSHIP ME!"
Isn't it more likely that wrestlers who go from 100-seat indies to getting noticed by WWE just have a lot of talent and/or charisma that translates into getting over in front of bigger and bigger audiences? WWE isn't selling 30,000+ tickets a week to hipsters.
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Roman Reigns should film a scene with the Hardys. That'll revive his career.
Edit: Lol @ that Torch story. We just haven't pushed Roman hard enough, yes, that's the problem.
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Does anyone use the ropes for leverage in submissions anymore (even if it doesn't make sense most of the time)? That was a great old-school heat spot where the heel would would have his hands/feet on the ropes while the ref was checking the babyface, then let go as soon as the ref went around to look. The ropes would still be shaking, but the heel vehemently denied it and the ref had no proof so he would sternly warn the heel, who would of course do it again as soon as the ref couldn't see. Then it got it a pop when the ref would catch him and kick the heel to break the hold.
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WWE BATTLEGROUND 2016
in WWE PROGRAMMING
Posted
There's gotta be a fairly decent chance that Gallows and Anderson turn on AJ (after he takes the fall from Cena of course) and unite with Finn on Raw.