Burgundy LaRue
-
Posts
7,668 -
Joined
-
Days Won
2
Posts posted by Burgundy LaRue
-
-
9 minutes ago, HumanChessgame said:
I thought they would stretch out the Pearce/Roman angle another week or two before the eventual swerve. The match with Owens will be good, but I'm still kinda bummed we got screwed out of a Nakamura/Roman match.
I'm hoping Nakamura takes Pearce to task for that. Yeah, KO got screwed on both matches, but that's not Nak's problem. He got screwed too, and should want a shot at Roman. That's if Roman doesn't send Pearce to an early grave first.
Apollo getting counsel from Roman was a great touch and makes Talking Smack canon.
All the matches were good tonight. Liv Morgan has improved a lot.
Ding Dong, Hello! was hilarious. Bayley was a combo of Sally Jessy Raphael and Ricki Lake, and I love it. The obstacle course with Bianca is going to be awesome.
Billie continues to be fantastic.
Interested in seeing if they do a Sasha-Reginald match.
Cool to see the 8K camera being used for entrances. It adds another layer to Smackdown being taken seriously by FOX.
Good show. Smackdown has its stories lined up well.
-
4
-
-
I remember seeing an estimate of a 4-day road trip, with hotel and car rental/gas, being roughly $600/week. So 50 weeks on the road = $30,000 per year. Not sure if that's dependent on splitting costs with another wrestler. It didn't account for food and incidentals.
As mentioned, it's not an one-size-fits-all deal. But gotta figure that many are saving $45-50,000 per year with no house shows.
Seeing that Ricochet's contract goes through 2024, I wonder if Aleister Black has a similar deal, since they both went to RAW at the same time.
-
2
-
-
15 hours ago, AxB said:
And Nash Carter for Zachary Wentz... isn't there already a Carter in WWE? Other than Ben Carter because I can buy that NXT-UK and the American brands are separate.
There's Kayden Carter, who's also in NXT.
You'd think they used an online fantasy name generator. Whatever weird monikers they'd get would be more interesting than what they come up with on their own.
-
1
-
-
12 minutes ago, odessasteps said:
How many cross-promotion couples are there at the moment? Any other than Cole and Baker?
Cole-Britt
Alexander-Swole
Morrison-Taya
Janela-Story (fka Brandi Lauren)
Spears-Peyton
Miro-Lana
-
1
-
-
16 minutes ago, Hagan said:
On the bright side, Drew should more than likely be good to for the Rumble match.
Regarding the SRS report - well, it's a few weeks after NYE and the holidays so not surprising. As always, hope everyone isn't hit too hard and hopefully everyone had the good sense to not visit grandma.
Per his own IG, Ricochet threw a NYE party that had Rich Swan, Su Yung and Marty Scrull there. Ricochet is dating Kacy Catanzaro, so that's NXT in thick of it.
So much wrong is going on there, good grief.
-
-
What they're doing with Roman continues to be great. He wants to beat Pearce, but Heyman wisely tells him to do so within the rules. So pull strings to get Pearce into the gauntlet match, beat down whoever is left so Pearce wins and now Roman has a free pass to send Pearce to the maker of his choice in a legal match.
We'll see if Pearce tries to give someone else his spot. Nakamura deserves it and KO will be back. But the ongoing descent of Roman into madness is fantastic.
I like what they're doing with Sonya, too. She can't return to the ring just yet in story and probably wants some more time to readjust in real life. So making her a WWE official allows her to ease back into things at a more comfortable pace.
Not keen on Street Profits losing, but the match was really good.
Billie with the Riott Squad is going to be hilarious.
Really good show, IMO.
-
2
-
-
I didn't say that to make anyone feel bad. Rather, just pointing out how this is an open forum for all fans.
I don't think Dynamite is nearly as good as many here. I've enjoyed some of what they've done, and thought some stuff was pretty awful. I may call what I see on my TV stupid. But I wouldn't say that of anyone over a wrestling show.
And that's the point. There's room to agree and disagree, to have a dialogue. But if we have to validate our opinion by invalidating someone else, it's a problem. Wrestling isn't real life, where being on a certain side shows legitimately bad intentions.
It's just play fighting. Enjoy what you like, take recommendations to watch something new from your friends, and have a few laughs along the way.
-
6
-
-
On 1/6/2021 at 6:24 PM, Nice Guy Eddie said:
I thought the hate watching of WWE has mostly died around here. I notice the Raw and Smackdown threads aren't as long as they used to be.
Because many of us who talked about WWE regularly were called sheeple who stay on our knees for Vince. And constantly questioned if we know any other wrestling exists. At some point, someone like me had to take a break from the berating.
It's improved based on what I've seen lately, and that's great. But some around here were all in on questioning others' viewing habits and opinions for a while. It's all wresting. And 95% of it is stupid and geeky.
-
8 hours ago, Edwin said:
It was a kayfabe promo.
It was on RAW. So that was a given.
-
1
-
-
McIntyre-Lee apparently went long. Drew was supposed to cut a promo with Goldberg giving a response. Goldberg was rushed to the ring. So that's why his promo didn't make sense, as well as the American feed cutting off just as Goldberg pushed Drew.
-
1
-
-
The Cardi B moment is a textbook example of how WWE fails to capitalize on pop culture.
Cardi watched WWE around the Ruthless Aggression era. She doesn't watch now. The only current wrestler she's familiar with is Sasha. Someone apparently asked her about Sasha, and Cardi said she was a fan. That may be due to the Snoop connection, but no matter. it's a start. Plus her husband did "Ric Flair Drip" with Ric in the video. Maybe have Charlotte say something to Cardi, too.
Instead, Lacey goes heel, calling Cardi nasty. Cardi sees it and reacts accordingly. Because it comes across as some random White woman being vaguely racist.
Pro tip: White women should not call Black women 'nasty'. It rarely ends well.
Apparently Trish Stratus also said something to Cardi that was well received. So it's not a question of big-upping wrestling. She'd probably work with WWE under the right circumstances. But bringing Lacey into the mix does nothing for anyone.
It's funny to watch wrestlers try to do their gimmick to a celebrity who has no clue what's happening. And then see it go wrong.
-
11
-
-
Drew is stale. They tried to make him into a hero with the legends being part of the Ambulance match at CoC, but it didn't work. The promo they had him doing with HH last night was pandering. Having HH say Drew reminded HH of himself was a choice. Who wants to compare your big babyface to a racist jerk with a bad sex tape? I thought they made Drew look like a goof.
-
Also, the Randy-Alexa angle went nowhere. Geez. Whether one liked it or not, at least it was an attempt at something different. So instead of starting the show with it, we get 30 minutes of Miz TV and a New Day-Miz & Morrison tag match.
We finally get Orton, who says he showed Alexa mercy and didn't burn her. Which--OK, whatever. But where's Alexa? A bad story horrendously handled to be even worse.
-
2
-
-
Maybe I'm looking for something that isn't there. But I can see Goldberg beating McIntyre to set up champ vs champ with Goldberg/Reigns at WM. Maybe we get the Universal Heavyweight Championship as unification.
Goldberg has been one of the few who moves the needle, so it makes sense for him to be on RAW with its shaky ratings. Still, they'll want to get Goldberg back in Roman's orbit.
Also, Goldberg likely won't want to take back-to-back world title losses, having dropped the Universal title to Strowman last April.
The obvious million-dollar question is what happens with the Rumble winner. The easiest thing is have Bryan win and face Roman at WM. But both Rumble matches feel like they're up in the air right now. With no live crowds to disrupt, Vince can do something out of left field.
Would they have Goldberg beat Drew? They've done a good job of protecting McIntyre and beating Goldberg would be a big win on his resume. But who knows if Drew is being internally blamed for RAW's ratings. The head wearing the crown may get the axe, fair or not.
There's also Miz having MITB again to consider
If USA is breathing down his neck for something big, Vince belting Goldberg to then make Roman double champ is a possibility.
-
1
-
-
I suppose I've reached the closed-in recluse portion of my life. Which would have happened with or without a pandemic.
I wish I could say I'm looking forward to something. It's not cynicism. It's not indifference. Resignation? I guess so.
It doesn't help that my health isn't great these days. Not much I can do about that until I'm working again, though.
I'm glad DVDVR is still a sanctuary for so many. I'm not as down on the place as I was several months ago, but a few around here left a bad mark. Even some who I got along with for years.
I dipped my toe back into the wrestling section. It's much better than it was, thankfully.
I don't hate it here, and I hope I don't come across that way. I have good memories. Maybe I'll have more one day.
Wishing everyone a happy 2021.
-
11
-
-
I'll expand more on what I said over at PWO:
To @Eoae's point--and they're right--characters are often written to be isolated from anyone beyond who they're currently feuding with. Still, the nonchalant attitude to Fiend/Alexa/Orton bothers me. Orton burned the Fiend like firewood and taunted an emotionally/mentally abused Alexa. She's obviously suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, dousing herself in gasoline and begging to join the Fiend wherever he may be.
I will say that Orton is being true to character. He's always been a sadist with a taste for arson. He'd normally burn Alexa to a crisp, but he enjoys tormenting her more. If nothing else, Orton's overall narrative is correct.
But how is it that one and potentially two wrestlers are being set on fire and no one besides commentary is even offering a "Hey, stop that!" toward the situation? Why isn't Adam Pearce doing anything in his role as WWE official? Why isn't brave warrior babyface Drew McIntyre, who just feuded with Orton, not coming to the rescue? He can stand up for legends who help him in an ambulance match, but can't be bothered to say Orton should leave Alexa alone? At least spend a few minutes talking about it on RAW Talk, as Alexa should have been screaming still, either for Orton to toast her or as she was engulfed in flames. The isolation of a story that big doesn't work for me. The roster should be talking about it backstage, if nothing else.
We're 16-17 years removed from Kane/Lita. Even then, we knew that story was weird at best, criminally psychotic at worst, and unbelievable in reality. We were just a couple of years removed the Attitude Era of crash TV wrestling, so it got a pass when it shouldn't have. A LOT of stuff that was brushed off back then wouldn't work today, and thank goodness for that. Hopefully it's a sign that we've somewhat matured as an audience.
For the record, I think Orton and Alexa in particular are doing good jobs with the material they're given. But the whole thing is uncomfortable. Trying to present The Fiend as a babyface is like saying Freddy Krueger is a great guy. Sure, there's a certain charm that can pull you in. But he's still scum. Not only is Alexa a shell of herself, they have her swinging around like a child. I think it's supposed to come across as the Devil's playground, but it's missing the mark. Emotionally broken to where she acts like an 8-year-old? Strange as all out.
There's a way to tell the story if there are a couple of layers to it, even with the creepy overtones. I watch a lot of horror movies, so I don't get weirded out easily. And I've followed enough soap operas to where I can easily go along with a WTF premise. Present it with some semblance of plausibility and I'm fine. But this isn't plausible. You can't cheer for either Orton or the Fiend. You feel sorry for Alexa. It's twisted for the sake of being twisted with no logical conclusion in sight. And they're showcasing abuse, be it for sick love or sick thrills. It's a big no for me.
-
5
-
1
-
-
As for ratings, Alexa-Fiend were pulling in big YouTube numbers. The Fiend still moves a lot of merch. And I think they do pretty well with social media interaction. It's the only story RAW has that anyone cares about. Take that as you will.
-
2
-
-
Overall, it was OK. Nothing great, nothing too questionable besides the Orton-Alexa stuff.
But RAW is on autopilot. They're slow-burning Asuka vs Charlotte. The matches will be great. But we've seen them wrestle a lot already. Having both women's titles in the same feud takes away time for other talent to be on TV. Drew vs Lee next week will be good, as will Drew vs Sheamus. But there's no spark. Putting MITB back on Miz is redundant. They aren't moving the Ricochet-Retribution angle forward, though Ricochet's matches with Ali are fantastic. Lashley has been the most protected person on RAW for weeks. But he rarely defends the US title and he'll likely drop to it to Riddle, who is being met with indifference. The big story is how will Bray return, and that may be an all-time train wreck. Brock or Braun returning won't move the needle.
Compare that to Smackdown, where nearly everything moves forward in some measure and they try to create new stories for more of its roster (Otis/Gable, for example).
It's a lackluster show. Bad can be entertaining in the right context. More than anything, though, RAW feels dull.
-
5
-
-
I don't have a problem with them trying a cliffhanger. Regular TV shows do it all the time. But don't have Charly and R-Truth being ho-hum about it on RAW Talk. A co-worker was potentially set on fire 25 feet from where they sat. They couldn't be even half-inclined to care. It totally devalues the moment.
-
3
-
-
1 hour ago, Flair’s Shadow said:
Has Moxley made a statement yet on this heartbreaking death of Brodie Lee?
I know the two men were pretty close.
I haven't seen anything publicly from any former Shield member just yet.
-
TBF, WWE has made several posts on their Twitter account and they have a more in-depth story on their website. They apparently had a collection of Luke Harper matches loaded onto the network quickly. Considering how coldly corporate they can be, they've done a pretty good job acknowledging this.
-
6
-
-
-
Hour 2 had 2.574 million viewers on average. That's about 20% more than Smackdown normally has. So they were able to keep around 400,000 football fans for the entire show.
The show was set up perfectly. Open with the world champ in an easily recognized stipulation match. Go into a tag match showcasing your top women. Follow with match setting up a potential opponent for the world champ. End on a high note with a face winning a title as confetti drops.
Whether they keep any of the new viewers, we'll have to wait and see. But WWE capitalized on the NFL lead-in big time.
-
1
-
Raw is The Hollow Man - 1/18/2021
in WWE PROGRAMMING
Posted · Edited by Burgundy LaRue
THE GOOD:
THE BAD:
THE FLAT-OUT AWFUL:
I think they're trying with RAW. A few hits and a lot of misses, but there's effort. However, the Fiend is swallowing the show whole.