WWE TV - 1/30 - 2/5/2023

[Dolfan in NYC]

One thing I never noticed til now, in the Feeling Ucey promo is that Jimmy is clearly the guy who fed Sami the money line.  You can see him getting fucking giddy that Sami's gonna go through with it.  AND he's positioned in a way to hide his face and get a good view of Roman. 

God what a brilliant moment.  I still don't think Sami knows what 'ucey' actually means. 

 

[For Great Justice]

Man, that’s good shit. I know physical media is dead but when this is all said and done they need to release a Bloodline comp just so I can have it. 

EDIT: Just finished the entire thing. Just tremendous! Everyone needs to watch this.

Edited February 3, 2023 by For Great Justice

[DJ Hero Morganti]

I said it in another thread but that super cut basically shows that this is the continuation of the main energy Jey story even more than Sami.  I want Roman/Jey redux at to start at backlash into summer slam.

[DEAN]

I'm still in the hospital, but now it's morphed into a hilarious hostage situation that began as a medical emergency, so once again, I must watch WWE in real time, without the ability to fast forward through the ratings bonanza that tantalizes the rest of the wrestling world!  Braun Strowman and Ricochet take on Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci for a tital shot.  I love the Strowman/GUNTHER staredown where Strowman walks arounf staring at Gunther, catches Kaiser, walks more staring at GUNTHER and FINALLY is knocked over after Vinci connects on  plancha.  That's fun wrestling, my dudes!  We come back from commercial, and Strowman is face in peril making the hot tag!  Ricochet does the great spot where he ducks a double sliding dropkick into the corner and Kaiser and Vinci dropkick the ringpost!  Try not to think about it, it looked cool.  Strowman Beels Ricochet onto Imperium and Richochet baits GUNTHER into pushing him, getting GUNTHER sent from ringside.  As GUNTHER is walking away, Strowman jaw jacks with him, setting up perfect opportunity for Imperium to double team Richochet and get the win!  FOR TWO!  GREAT BRAINBUSTER BY VINCI on Ricochet.  Ricochet survives and makes the hot tag and Strowman CRUSHES Imperium, hitting a totally GNARLY Powerbomb to set up a Senton of Strowman's shoulders for the win!  That was GREAT!  Giovanni Vinci is secretly AWESOME.  I'm going to say it out loud- Asuka's new make-up looks a LOT like Rosemary of the Death Dollz.  I had to do things during the Flair/Deville match but it was good!  I love Charlotte's fruity embellishments before she would hit a move.  Charlotte Flair IS Rob Van Dam!  Sonya Deville is deeply moving into the Natalya area of Great Wrestler Who Will Never Win Again.  Oh MAN!  The Brawling Brutes versus the Viking Raiders!  Well, this should be good.  So many deer antlers in wrestling introductions these days.  Butch manipulates the chunky digits of the bald one.  Max the Impersonator distracts Butch and we go to commercial.  Ridge Holland goes total Steiner, which I don't know if we are ready for yet.  Toprope Hurricanrana by Butch!  The finish falls apart but that was good enough, considering the money is with the Viking Raiders versus Sheamus and Drew McIntyre match. And look who it is!  That was fine.  It's Bray Wyatt!  So they had a Jeff Hardy cosplay match?  A FOUR-WAY!  Man, I really hate a four way match.  We'll watch anyway.  It's Natalya!  She's great!  I assume she loses here.  It's ZELINA!  She should wrestle more.  She's fun.  Shayna Baszler takes advantage of the tininess of Zelina!  Baszler knees Natalya right in the face!  Shotzi shows up and Zelina hits a very nice Asai Moonsault. HEY! NATALYA WINS!  WHAT THE FUDGE?  HHH! HHH! HHH!  YAAAAY!  NATALYA RULES!  I think we are in for a long bout of the Bloodline.  Others in this thread will analyze the minutiae of all this.  That was a good little episode of SMACKDOWN.  I learned this week that RAW is a hour to long.  If you watch it in realtime, there is no way you aren't fried by 2:15 mark.  And then they keep going.  So that was good.  HHH! HHH! HHH!  

[For Great Justice]

Well, the scene in Montreal is going to be Canadian Stampede / One Night Stand / Money in the Bank level. This is going to be something. 

[Niners Fan in CT]

5 minutes ago, For Great Justice said:

Well, the scene in Montreal is going to be Canadian Stampede / One Night Stand / Money in the Bank level. This is going to be something. 

Yeah that was Greenville...   Montreal gonna be nuclear. 

[NikoBaltimore]

When I see Roman sometimes he's in such a God-tier mode that part me wants him to keep the belts forever.  But while they have this cool factor that fans cheered the Rumble ending was a massive success.  It was the culmination of the story they've been telling so far but not only are they back to booing the fuck out of Roman but this may finally be the beginning of the end of his reign.  I'll be kind of sad yet also happy to see Sami rise up towards the championship and also with Cody winning it at WM.  I just hope after all this they have a follow up for The Bloodline that doesn't suck.

Also, I know some were talking Emmy consideration for the Rumble ending which I respectfully don't agree with (I explained it in the Rumble thread)  But that compilation video is all WWE needs is if they're ever crazy enough to send a "For Your Consideration" deal to the Emmys.  Not saying it would come even close to making it but I'm sure somebody from the committee watching would go "Hmm...all things considering that was pretty damn good."

[nofuture]

Who would have figured that the guy who got pinned by a giant mouse trap not even one year ago is the biggest babyface in the company now.

[Greggulator]

This is just a masterpiece.

The final segment tonight was beautiful in its simplicity but just heightened by the incredible performances. Roman played a perfect asshole. Sami had one of the all-time best "wronged man returns as a hero getting his licks in." Jimmy and Solo are the perfect henchmen. 

There's no way you can ever truly predict how a crowd will react. But they did a great job in the segments building up to the final of making it about how they don't know where Jey is. Definitely fed the "We Want Jey!" chants that Roman got to masterfully use in his rant about why he would give Sami his shot in Montreal -- the cruelty in saying he was going to break Sami in front of his own family. 

And also looming in the background was the tag title defense with the fantastic Braun/Richochet tag team, and the legnth of the streak, and Wade referencing how every tag team has to be licking their chops right now at a chance to take down the greatest tag team of all-time having the greatest run in their career.

A+.

[The Natural]

 

[Eivion]

Braun/Ricochet vs. Imperium was damn good stuff all around. Braun & Ricochet work far better together than one would think. The title match with the Usos will be interesting at the very least. 

Charlotte/Sonya was solid. Glad to see Sonya get so much offense and have some close moments to victory. 

Brutes/Raiders was solid with Holland continuing to improve and work well with Dunne. The post match fight between the Raiders and Sheamus/Drew was neat.

The women's 4-way was fun. Wish Shotzi or Shayna won, but Nattie is fine. 

The final segment was great. Love Sami's attack. Love Jimmy and Solo being the perfect henchmen. And I absolutely loved Roman's speech to Sami. That was magnificent and such a tremendous bastard moment letting Sami know he is getting his shot purely so Roman can basically murder him in formnt of his family and friends. 

Now I definitely feel sorry for Cody as the crowd did not give a fuck about him vs. Roman when asked. 

[Ziggy]

1 hour ago, Eivion said:

 

Now I definitely feel sorry for Cody as the crowd did not give a fuck about him vs. Roman when asked. 

That's how you can tell it's a different regime because they would've already begun to make sure Sami didn't overshadow Cody but maybe they are thinking after Montreal the fans will be ready to move towards Cody.

[Johnny Sorrow]

I think they're going exactly where Alvarez of all people predicted. Roman faces Sami in Montreal in a great match with a molten crowd. Jay gets involved with his drama of where his loyalty is, but he chooses The Bloodline and Sami loses. The Bloodline continue to attack Sami and almost cripple him, until Owens returns in Montreal to a monster pop to save him and then the Tag Title match at Mania is the most important tag title match at Mania ever?

[peterien]

If that’s the route they are going and it certainly looks that way, does that tag main event night 1? 

[odessasteps]

No, because you probably “ have” to have the women main event one of the nights. 

[Matt D]

This is a bit of me channeling the guy in the post above me, but I'm just not feeling it. Even in this weird post-but-not-post Vince era, it's such a high bar to watch any WWE at all. The VQ is almost too good that it's jarring. The camera cuts are ridiculous. You either get the overproduced catch-phrase-y commentary or McAfee's beloved village idiot routine that I've got no time for. I like Sami. I think performances have been good. I also think they took the most cowardly choice at almost every point in the last two months. Look at the revenue, look at the stock prices, etc. It's working. It's certainly good enough for what they're trying to do. It's not nearly as good as it could be and I can't watch this stuff without thinking that and it just sours the whole thing for me to the point that there's no way it gets over the bar. I'm glad you guys are into it but you take all that and add in the gross business practices and the whole Vince thing and the Saudi thing and everything else, I think I'm more or less sitting this Mania season out. As good as the performances may be, this whole Bloodline thing is only half as good as it should be. As much as I appreciate how much of a worker Cody is all the time the stars are out of alignment.

*if they put Sami over in Montreal, I can't promise that doesn't draw me back in even despite the bullshit though.

[Steventon]

Roman vs Sami in Montreal should be good, though this era of Reigns's career is probably the low point in terms of ring work and it seems almost certain that Sami doesn't have a chance. They really should have had him Standing Tall on the first Smackdown after the Rumble turn, I have a feeling we are going to get the WWE trope of the babyface being beaten down every week now until he loses the big match. I hope I am proven wrong.

 

I am ready for the Uso's to lose the belts, and Braun/Ricochet are a cool team, though I think they are a filler match until the Usos vs Sami/Owens at WM.

I'd like to see Drew get his payback on Solo on a big show. Maybe that is the trifecta of the Bloodline payoffs at Wrestlemania - Reigns, Usos and Solo all losing their streaks.

[Niners Fan in CT]

5 hours ago, odessasteps said:

No, because you probably “ have” to have the women main event one of the nights. 

Charlotte vs. Rhea?  No way...  can't see that 

[The Natural]

1 minute ago, Niners Fan in CT said:

Charlotte vs. Rhea?  No way...  can't see that 

Same here, mate.

WrestleMania XXXVI:

Night 1: The Undertaker vs. AJ Styles.

Night 2: Brock Lesnar vs. Drew McIntyre.

WrestleMania XXXVII:

Night 1: Sasha Banks vs. Bianca Belair.

Night 2: Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Edge.

WrestleMania XXXVIII:

Night 1: Steve Austin vs. Kevin Owens.

Night 2: Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar.

[John from Cincinnati]

5 hours ago, odessasteps said:

No, because you probably “ have” to have the women main event one of the nights. 

They've done three two-night Manias and two have been been main evented by dudes on both nights, last year included. 

[Niners Fan in CT]

26 minutes ago, The Natural said:

Same here, mate.

I think most would agree that Bianca Belair vs. Becky Lynch was a bigger match last year than Charlotte vs. Rhea and that wasn't a main event match for either night. 

As for the Sami/Cody argument, I can see both sides of it. There's no question that Sami is more over than Cody but it's not that Cody isn't over.. Cody is getting some great reactions. 

I believe the Sami story was always supposed to be about Owens and the tag titles vs. The Usos, the thing was just done so incredibly well it got even more over organically than they thought. Cody has also been positioned as a top face since he came back, his story about winning the one title Dusty never did was a story that has been building since day one of Cody's return.. 

So I have to disagree with people who think Triple H has messed something up here.. both stories have been done well and in my eyes both men are deserving of a match with Roman. 

[Doc Townsend]

Quote

 

Edited February 4, 2023 by Doc Townsend
Grammar

[Greggulator]

I am absolutely fine if Sami does not best Roman. I actually think it might be an awesome story if Roman devastates Sami like he did Jey at the start of the Bloodline. Then Cody upending Roman makes Cody look like a superhero. I say this even though I think Cody is a church.

But I think the most likely scenario is we see over the next few weeks Jey defending the belts with Jimmy but under conflict and turmoil. At Montreal, Roman survives Sami and then Jimmy and Solo devastate Sami. KO comes to save the day and then a still conflicted Jey comes out and falls back in line and rejoins The Bloodline. That would be a fantastic way to tell his story — Sami was man enough to stand up to Roman, but Jey wasn’t able to. 

Sami/KO vs The Usos would be the most anticipated tag team match in the WWE in ages. Like, probably dating back to Hogan/Macho tagging together? Maybe even ever? They have done a great job building up The Usos at the greatest tag team of all time, and, yeah, they are. And can these reunited best friends after their years of a chaotic history being them down? Hell yeah I want to see that.

[DreamBroken]

IMO  Owens just beating the Usos with Rollins on Raw a month or two ago kinda kills whatever 'anticipation of the moment'  to me

[username]

Someone pointed this out to me but with Elimination Chamber being in Canada... can either Uso even work the show? I recall their prior DUIs keeping them out of the country as recently as last year so unless something has changed that seems like it'd limit some of the options for Sami/Roman.