TheVileOne

It didn't feel right because they were struggling to figure out what his niche was post-WWE when he couldn't do Rusev Day anymore and there were no fans in the arena. Then they pivoted to the Redeemer and that worked much better for a while. At first, they tried to make him the Best Man and be a cool big guy who likes anime and video games and stuff.

Here you all go. Some new footage.

Same for CM Punk, and look how that turned out. Did the short-term gains with CM Punk outweigh the long-term damage? I think you can make an argument they did. I mean I think with the proper promotion and support Miro could've been a phenomenal asset for AEW, and he does when he was operating on full cylinders as the Redeemer. But he had no idea what to do with Miro after he lost the TNT title. I think a lot of guys have that potential. But they also need that sustained creative push.

IMHO Rampage was a solid B-show last night. B-shows can be good too, and we need B-shows. I hope they continue going somewhere with Saraya and Ruby Soho's feud. Saraya's segment was one of her more effective heel promos, and I got a kick out of setting her feral brother on hapless bystanders. I also had a drink going up my nostrils moment when Ruby said, "You and your inbred family are going to get what's coming to you!" Ideally, this should lead to some sort of mixed tag match with Saraya and Zak Knight vs. Ruby and Ang on PPV or some such.

We will see how Mercedes does in AEW. The key is not the debut. The key is the follow-up. Tony Khan got way too comfortable signing as many former WWE guys as he could so he could say, "Look who we have now!" Only to promptly forget about them or stop booking them for weeks if not months, or guys will fuck off to ROH after a notable win or loss. Not bringing in any of the guys cut by WWE last year was smart, even though the rumor was that people were pushing for AEW to sign Nic Nemeth. Nic Nemeth brings nothing of actual value to AEW right now that they don't have with a dozen other people. Not to mention he's 43. Meanwhile, Nemeth is someone New Japan and TNA can actually use at the moment. Same with Mustafa Ali. AEW's roster is bloated enough as it is and could stand to lose more guys.

"I f'n told them to fire me! They refused!" https://youtu.be/cPnXvt7PceQ

IMHO if you are running with Roman vs. Cody again, I genuinely don't think you can have Roman retain or do shenanigans again. I think you could get away with it last year because many people were shocked by it and were just automatically assuming Cody would get the win. But a part of me still believes Triple H won't be able to resist Roman surpassing Hogan's title reign. The only way Roman retaining would make sense at this point is if he beats The Rock. Secondly, what else can you really do with The Bloodline anymore? You already did Sami Zayn rebelling and breaking away. You did the Usos breaking away. Roman has beaten everyone else. The last challenge was really The Rock, and the fans rejected it and they pivoted back to Cody. At some point, you have to pull the trigger. Cody isn't getting any younger either. If you want him to have his title run it pretty much has to happen now.

The Benoit story was done in two parts. So they could do two-parters if they deem it necessary.

Meltzer is reporting that it's Cody and Seth vs. Rock and Roman on Night 1.

But why would you do that? Whoever beats Gunther can become a made man. I don't think you can have him end his epic title run like this without an emphatic victory.

Collision was a solid show overall last Saturday. The main event angle between Danielson, Akiyama, and Kingston I thought was executed perfectly. You can't watch a segment like that and say there was no storytelling or character work.

I'm assuming all these challengers for the IC title popping up tonight means there's either going to be some big scramble or cluster to produce a contender for Gunther, there's going to be a multi-man ladder match at WrestleMania 40. Something of that sort. I liked Rhea and Becky's segment tonight. It definitely gives me hope that their match will get the build this year that Charlotte/Rhea last year did not. Frankly, got to give it up to Drew McIntyre. The way he's evolved and just made slight tweaks to his character have been utterly fantastic. As a babyface he was OK, but as a heel who speaks the truth and rationally, he's doing the best work of his career. Now, if there's any likelihood of Priest cashing in on someone, it's in the outcome of McIntyre/Rollins. McIntyre seems like the logical choice to win this one, but then you have all this business with Seth and the Bloodline. Is this meant to be a tag team match at WrestleMania? Are you going to have the Bloodline tag team match on Night 1 and Night 2? That basically eliminates anyone else from getting the main event slot on Night 1. But if you have the opportunity for The Rock to wrestle at WrestleMania you have to take it for box office and the PR alone. Raw is far too long, and my hope is that when they transition to Netflix they return to a two-hour format. There's no reason they need to be three hours every week. I don't really feel like three hours showcases more talent. It just kills the show's pacing. What they should do is add a secondary show to SmackDown. Make Main Event the B show for Raw and something like Superstars or some other unused name the B show for SmackDown.

Matt Taven, Dalton Castle, Cody Rhodes. Pre-AEW, they did a lot of crossover between New Japan and the Bullet Club, which played out a lot over NJPW and ROH. And they did basically produce the original All In event. The formation of AEW and then the pandemic were huge blows to any type of chance of ROH had of becoming a challenger brand.

I'm not gutted because this was for an animated feature. Which is fine and all, but I see no point to that, especially not with Bruce Timm and Paul Dini involved. If it was live action, that's another matter, but that's not what they were going for here.

Here's what he wrote:

https://twitter.com/davidbix/status/1757229608452145274

I quite like Moana, and I think Rock did a good job singing as Maui. https://youtu.be/79DijItQXMM

I recall rumors from Dave Meltzer that Charlotte Flair was promised that slot or something, and considering many of Vince's broken promises and failed favors over the years, I wonder why he was so adamant about supposed promises to Charlotte about main eventing WrestleMania. So maybe there was a genuine fear she'd leave or some such. Also, I think if you look at history, she's clearly Vince's type.

https://youtu.be/eQ28T2Wa1To

Charlotte shouldn't have even been in the WrestleMania 35 main event. That was Becky and Ronda's match, and we never got the opportunity to see Ronda vs. Becky one-on-one again after that.

I would like to see a one-on-one women's singles match at WrestleMania without a title involved, but I very much want a women's title bout between Rhea and Becky. That's a potential classic, generational match. They are already giving it the build worthy of a WrestleMania match that Ripley vs. Charlotte never had, and they wrestled each other at WrestleMania twice.

While Triple H and Nick Khan were at least self-aware enough to not allow Brock Lesnar to be out into the stadium and be put on TV last night, Triple H should've been better prepared for questions like that. It was a bad, lose-lose situation but he still answered the questions in the worst possible way. He should've had a PR team better prepare him for that. I like Cody and I believe Cody is a well-intentioned guy, but his comments were also tone-deaf.

PWInsider is reporting that WWE/TKO wants Stephanie McMahon back in the company.

I look forward to the reaction of The Rock winning the Rumble and closing the show tonight.

Yes (via WON) https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/january-29-2024-observer-newsletter-vince-mcmahon-allegations-wwe-raw?