Go2Sleep

I kinda find myself in the middle on Dean Ambrose. I don't think he's a viable long-term ace in his current form, but he desperately needs a moment before he becomes as non-viable as Ziggler. What if Dean beat HHH at WM, Roman turned the next night, then demolished Ambrose at Extreme Rules? Dean gets something to hang his hat on and can stay afloat for another year or two, and they finally get Roman at the top in a situation that takes the pressure off him somewhat. This would probably play better at a non-WM ppv, but with the roster in the shape it's in, it wouldn't be the worst play.

Least improved NXT wrestlers is pointless, because it's just gonna be the guys who were already really good. Like and Finn and Sami would be my top two picks but they don't need to change much because they're already great in their roles. And yes, I'll defend Finn as being great in the stoic ace role. He's been top-notch since the Dusty Classic. I'm kind of surprised Blake and Murphy are getting any kind of love, especially after Dash and Dawson stepped in and filled the "stability heel team" role better in every way the second they got the chance.

Jordan, Gable, Dash, and Dawson all come to mind. If you consider going from horrible to pretty good in a specific role, Mojo. If you consider going from solid to elite, Bayley.

Cole: Why do you think the WWE Universe likes AJ Styles so much? Jericho: Because he's new...

I'd like to see this match, but I don't think it's worth Cena rushing back from injury. Styles will be around past Mania, and AJ vs. Cena could be a featured match on any ppv. Plus AJ vs. anyone besides Jericho or Miz is a fresh, worthwhile matchup at this point. I'm kinda hoping for Styles/Owens myself.

The sad thing is that there is virtually nothing Cena can do to "save" or even marginally improve WM this year. The tickets are already sold, and there isn't any type of dream match for him to do either, unless you think Cena/Taker 5 years after it should've happened with no streak is still a dream match. Coming back early would be bad for so many reasons.

I guess I can start my list. Hopefully more good stuff comes along. Zayn vs. Nakamura (Dallas) American Alpha vs. Revival (The End) Revival vs. DIY (Toronto) Owens vs. Zayn (Battleground) Ibushi vs. Alexander (CWC 8/10) Sasha vs. Charlotte (Raw 11/28) Owens vs. Zayn (Payback) Aries vs. Nakamura (The End) Ibushi vs. Perkins (CWC 9/14) Revival vs. DIY (Brooklyn) Sasha vs. Charlotte (Raw 7/25) Gulak vs. ZSJ (CWC 8/24) Balor vs. Neville (NXT 3/2) Asuka vs. Nia (The End) Balor vs. Swann (NXT 3/23) Sasha vs. Charlotte (HIAC) Gargano vs. Perkins (CWC 8/24) Owens vs. Styles (Raw 5/23) Owens vs. Rollins (HIAC) Bayley vs. Asuka (Brooklyn) Kendrick vs. Mendoza (CWC 7/27) Bayley vs. Asuka (Dallas) Balor vs. Crews (NXT 2/3) Owens vs. Jericho vs. Rollins vs. Roman vs. Braun (Raw 11/7) Owens vs. Ziggler (Main Event 4/12) New Day vs. Jericho/Styles (Raw 3/7)

They were over and also sucked. The two aren't mutually exclusive. I think their only chance on main roster was going hard with faux-Road Warriors gimmick. Have them squash local jobbers most weeks and brag about how great they are, but then have them cheat like crazy to hang with real teams. I think that could've gotten somewhat over as a heel act. They don't have nearly enough talent to be "just another tag team."

Arlington and about 20 other indistinguishable neighboring cities all combine to form the singular hellhole that is "Dallas."

The Rams' new stadium LA is gonna be absolutely perfect for Mania. They can't open that soon enough. If the Raiders could get a similar state-of-the-art facility in Vegas... Oh my. I know it'll never happen with the time zone issue and it's bit smaller than the venues they've run the past several years, but Aloha Stadium would be boss. Basically I want Mania in places where there's shit to do and see. Not fucking Dallas.

"Ok, tiramisu" = Best part of the show Actually, the main event was quite good too. Most of the credit has to go to Bayley, but Carmella did execute better than normal and they did a good job working in what appeared to be legit nervousness (because I've never seen her act that well) on her part. The structure was good with Bayley not eating too much offense until the brand new tope which would definitely catch someone off guard. Reminded me of the first time Sasha busted it out at R-Evolution. Bayley also won without having to hit any big moves. Much like Balor/Crews last week, both wrestlers come out looking better when they work within their rank. Whoever is behind Bayley winning with multiple finishes is a genius and is setting her up for some real epics down the line. The post-match stuff got great heat, and there isn't a match in WWE I've been anticipating more than Bayley/Asuka.

How is anyone supposed to take Naomi's finisher seriously in a post-buttfumble world? In addition to all the other legitimate complaints mentioned, it just looks stupid. A jumping kick or knee would accomplish the same thing without all the negatives. I'm not really as high on Naomi as everyone else, but her finisher is the first and most obvious fix if you want to push her. The next thing would be ditching Tamina. Naomi looks like a good athlete who can handle her own business, and a bodyguard gimmick needs to be an order of magnitude more intimidating. There's not a big enough gap between Naomi and Tamina for that dynamic to work, and (though I'm sure this won't endear me to some) Tamina doesn't really bring much else to the table. Naomi would be better off with Cameron as a weasely heel manager that doesn't wrestle as a second.

Ha, as I was reading this thread, I kept thinking "I kinda wanna say Bray lost at some throwaway ppv, but I'm not sure and it really isn't even worth opening a new tab to find out." One could make the case though, that it is more damning that most people can't remember even the broadest details of the feud, but can remember that Bray did in fact lose to Jericho one time.

They should've let Tyler Breeze get a win over Titus to make an example of him instead. Guarantee you no one would get out of line for a while after seeing that.

There's no big enough for that main event. Come on, not even a Miz distraction to protect him a little?

I'd be willing to bet they'd all fair poorly in modern concussion/post-mortem CTE testing as well. I mean Bret had to retire from a concussion in 2000, so you know he had to have a lot before then.

I guarantee you that only speaks to better diagnostics. The 80s and 90s don't have a stellar track record for wrestler health either.

After going to WM 30, I thought to myself "Even if Bryan retires tomorrow, I'll always have this." Unfortunately, he might as well have retired that very next night, but I still feel the same way. If there was one show I could re-live over and over, it will always be WM 30. Even though I will miss his matches and presence, I'm happy that he's getting out with his health after seeing so many other favorites suffer fates substantially worse. I am grateful that he was a part of my wrestling life for the last 15 years. He was one of my all-time favorites and I wish him nothing but the best going forward.

The League of Nations needs some reserves right now...

I'll be damned. I forgot Simmons went in a couple years back.

All the HOF Survivor Series teams have been named, but there are several teams that are very likely to have that distinction in the future. I've only included the slam dunks that are on good terms with WWE now, there are a few others that are just about as likely (The Hardys and Angle being the biggest hangups) Dudleys/APA (99) Rock/Jericho/Taker/Kane/Show (01) Shawn/Booker/RVD/Dudleys (03) Eddie/Show/RVD/Cena (04) Flair/Slaughter/Dusty/Simmons (06) Most dead team is 1988's Andre/Rude/Bravo/Perfect/Race team at 80%

Yeah, someone said there were more names that hadn't been confirmed yet, and those two were the first names to come to mind. Not official at all. I think Blake and Murphy need to split and see if either guy has something in singles or with a different partner. Right now they're like the Ascension, but with ring skill and overness being switched. Murphy looks like he might have something as a singles guy and Blake at least knows how to dress like a heel even if he's pretty boring otherwise. They would also presumably get their first names back because I can't imagine anyone wrestling as just "Blake." I'd say the same thing about Murphy, but well, TNA...

For some reason, I thought Marcus Louis had already been let go. Louis and Lefort were low points back in 2014 when NXT was just pretty good instead of juggernaut it's been since R-Evolution. No loss there. Bull is a little surprising because he seemed like a good designated jobber, but I suppose NXT can find any number of indy guys who can take bigger bumps and sell better than Bull. He'll probably do alright on the indies or in TNA, though. Re: More to come - Angelo Dawkins and Sawyer Fulton are pretty likely candidates.

I'm trying to think of Miz partners over the years, and Riley is the only one that jumps out as an abject failure. Bryan - Future main eventer Big Show - Future main eventer (for better or worse) Morrison - Future main eventer (in Lucha Underground) Mizdow - Midcard was actually a big step up Not that I really want that for Nakamura, but it's not pure death or anything.

I liked Finn/Apollo quite a bit. Both guys did a good job establishing a clear hierarchy and both guys came out looking better as a result. Finn worked on top a lot, as he should being the champ, and Apollo looked good stunning him a few times and fighting back from underneath. The only minor complaint was Finn kicking out of the press slam moonsault combo, but I guess that's pretty minimal finisher spam by modern WWE standards. Otherwise they did a good job avoiding that with not using Apollo's blue thunder, and not doing a pin between the coup de grace and the impaler DDT. I'm not sure what people see in Carmella. She's not over unless she's leeching off Enzo/Cass and she's really awkward in the ring. I trust Bayley to be able to do a decent carry like she's done with Nia and Eva, but I'm keeping expectations low. That Asuka/Santana match was really fun. NXT always seems to find good jobbers. I do hope that this week's "Asuka lock" was just a slip up or weird positioning, and she'll resume using the full chickenwing in the future. The Vaudevillains beating the Hype Bros was weird at this point. It looked like the Vaudevillains were on the way to doing something different, but this match was just them treading water like they have since losing the belts. On the other hand, the Hype Bros would be a perfect filler team for Dash and Dawson to maul before the inevitable showdown with Aα.