Dolfan in NYC Posted February 27, 2023 Posted February 27, 2023 We're on the ROAD~! TONIGHT! WOMENS! WRESTLING! Candice LaRae vs. Piper Niven! Also, Asuka murders Carmella! (I'll bet Corey's going to be very annoying during that!)
For Great Justice Posted February 28, 2023 Posted February 28, 2023 I don’t know if it was my sound mix, but this was one of the quietest crowds I’ve ever heard on a major TV wrestling show, much less in the leadup to Mania. Just three hours of near dead silence, with a small pop at the main event title change. Dreadful show, too. 2
Craig H Posted February 28, 2023 Posted February 28, 2023 3 minutes ago, For Great Justice said: I don’t know if it was my sound mix, but this was one of the quietest crowds I’ve ever heard on a major TV wrestling show, much less in the leadup to Mania. Just three hours of near dead silence, with a small pop at the main event title change. Dreadful show, too. I watch a little bit of it and thought the same thing. They were so freaking quiet barely mustering chants for Sami or Cody.
DEAN Posted February 28, 2023 Posted February 28, 2023 Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa take on Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford! Dawkins immediately becomes the victim of the Samoan brothers. Montez Ford showboats his vertical leap in the double dropkick. Street Profits are all about great dropkicks tonight. Nice Lariat by Sikoa. Solo Sikoa hits a Flying Hip Attack! Ford is fun after the hot tag! Love Machine Splash for TWO! Ford flies off the ends of the earth! Solo Sikoa with the SAMOAN SPIKE for the win! POSTMATCH- Kevin Owens saves the Street Profits! That was good. Cody Rhodes takes on Chad Gable! INVERTED SUPERPLEX! COMMERCIAL! Gnarly Dragonscrew by Gable. 1/4 Dustin Powerslam. Figure Four by Cody! Gable makes the ropes! Moonsault by Gacle FOR TWO! They start laying it in! Rhodes hip tosses Gable over the toprope and hits a SWEET TOPE! Otis distracted! Rhodes CRUSHES Gable with a Cross Rhodes after a BEAUTIFUL Cody Cutter! That was really good. Asuka and Carmella wrestle a match. This is good. Asuka OPTS to beat the living shit out of Carmella. Carmella ducks a Missile Dropkick! Asuka Lock and the win! That was good if a bit short! Piper Niven and Candace LeRae have a match! Back to back ladies matches! HHH! HHH! HHH! When did Niven turn heel? I dig it. Nikki Cross makes a cameo! It allows LaRae to get the flashpin! That was a wee wisp of a match. Elias and Bobby Lashley face off. Elias is only 217? He looks bigger. Nice knee by Elias. That's all he gets in. Squashtasm! Otis is adjacent to MMM! Johnny Gargano! O-TEES~! Dexter Lumis! O-Tees gets nothing in and Johnny Gargano pins him. That was strange. Hey! Lita is wrestling! That's awesome. With Big Time BEX! IYO SKY is awesome. Kai and SKY feed Lita lots of low impact spots. BEX is wrestling for two and she can. SKY with an Asai Moonsault onto BEX~ SKY and Kai beat on BEX. Bayley pulls Lita off the apron! TRISH STRATUS takes on Bayley! LITA with the Twist of Fate and... and.... and.... A MOONSAULT FOR THE WIN! That was great! LITA! LITA! LITA! OMEGA! OMEGA! OMEGA! 4
Niners Fan in CT Posted February 28, 2023 Posted February 28, 2023 Your TVs were fine. Cody got a few chants, Owens received an ok pop and the ending with Trish got a decent reaction but for the most part that crowd didn't give two shits.. Speaking of not giving two shits... we sure Vince isn't back creeping around in creative meetings? Brock vs. Omos out of nowhere.. huh? Oh and Bray.. enough. We've seen the muscle man thing. Poor Lashley. Bray is stealing money right now. Cool to see Trish. Most of the show was background noise. Think I will fire up some early 80s Mid-Atlantic 2
Ramo2653 Posted February 28, 2023 Posted February 28, 2023 Yeah, Grand Rapids was not interested in the show tonight, I know the weather stunk out there but there had to be another factor. Lita was uh, not great in the match, one of the rope spots Iyo had a wait for a good chunk of time because Lita was so slow, it was kinda funny. Guess we're getting a 6 man at WM? LOL at the weight for Elias, wonder who he ticked off to get the low weight or was it to goose up the difference with Lashley? For those of you thinking Vince is back, you're always going to get elements of Vince, HHH worked under him his entire creative career and Pritchard is still in charge of the writers, his DNA is still over creative no matter what. Similar to guys who coached under the Shanahan coaching tree and keep elements while making their own mark. 1
Eivion Posted February 28, 2023 Posted February 28, 2023 (edited) Crowd was pretty weak throughout the show though I thought a few of the matches and segments pulled them in a decent enough amount. Still disappointing. Jimmy/Solo vs. Street Profits was good. They probably did the best pulling in the audience and getting them to think the Profits had something of a chance. Cody/Gable was good stuff and probably way more competitive than it should have been given Cody their different spots on the roster. Still I do love that Gable is probably loved well enough that people want to make him look as good as he is. If Otis runs off with MMM, hopefully we get Gable finally getting a solo push. Asuka/Carmella was pretty solid.Dug the later backstage segment with Chelsea and Mella becoming instant best friends. They feed off of each other well as characters. Piper/Candice was short but with how dead things were that was probably for the best. Seemed like more of an angle anyways to build up the Candice/Nikki relationship. Gargano/Otis was alright but another match that was more of an angle. Io/Dakota vs. Becky/Lita built into a solid match despite Lita clearly being too slow for this. Honestly, not sure why they went with Lita as Becky's partner when Trish is right there. She is the better wrestler and keeps in athletic shape/condition. Just an odd choice. Kind of feel sorry for Dakota and Io, but their reign hasn't been that great with the booking giving them no real feuds of their own aside from maybe Asuka/Alexa and cutting them off with the original tournament loss and short back and forth title switch with Asuka/Alexa. With how things are going they seem to be slowly building up teams on Raw and Smackdown. Hopefully they try to build something resembling an actual women's tag division instead of trying to have every woman on her own. That said, I would like to see Io get a singles push be that in Damage Control or otherwise. Feels weird to hide her in a tag team when its not really been her thing in WWE, even back when she was NXT tag champs with Stark. Edited February 28, 2023 by Eivion 1
username Posted February 28, 2023 Posted February 28, 2023 I think Meltz said that the plans for Brock would have been changed if they went with the Omos match, but not from the Gunther match as that was never really considered. That lead to me trying to figure out who the heck Brock was actually booked to face and the funniest option to me was Vince having to put his foot down and tell HHH that he can't put Kross against Lesnar at Mania, you have the book but there are limits. 4
The Natural Posted February 28, 2023 Posted February 28, 2023 (edited) https://twitter.com/THENEXTBlGTHlNG/status/1630417850304462849 Lita 3-0 in RAW main events and winning championships: 2000, 2004 and 2023. Edited February 28, 2023 by The Natural 2
Tarheel Moneghetti Posted February 28, 2023 Posted February 28, 2023 2 minutes ago, username said: I think Meltz said that the plans for Brock would have been changed if they went with the Omos match, but not from the Gunther match as that was never really considered. That lead to me trying to figure out who the heck Brock was actually booked to face and the funniest option to me was Vince having to put his foot down and tell HHH that he can't put Kross against Lesnar at Mania, you have the book but there are limits. I figured they were going back to Brock/Lashley since the last match didn’t have a strong finish. My nightmare scenario was Brock/Lashley teaming and jobbing to Bray/Uncle Howdy.
The Natural Posted February 28, 2023 Posted February 28, 2023 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FqBlCGRWwAYfwAd?format=jpg&name=small
Octopus Posted February 28, 2023 Posted February 28, 2023 I want to see an awkward F-5 on Omos. I am pro this weird decision. Omos is big and scary and him trash talking Brock and maybe getting thrown around for hopefully 5 minutes will be a wonderful visual. Sadly, if Brock faced Gunther it could possibly be a great fight but I’d be surprised if Brock lost. Keep Gunther strong until you’re ready to bump him up to a championship feud. I liked the dq finish to Bobby v Brock. But I don’t like it as a feud ender. Maybe the awkwardly pick it back up after beating their Wrestlemania jabronis. 2
just drew Posted February 28, 2023 Posted February 28, 2023 This wasn't a very good show, and the dogshit crowd didn't help. It's crazy to me how poorly Bayley & DMG CTL have been booked. To bring them back with all that fanfare and now this? Bad. No other way to say it. I think either a)Triple H just isn't very good at this, and he's getting a pass from fans because he isn't Vince, or b) there's just a lot of hesitance to veer too much from what they see as a tried and true formula. I know which one I think it is, but I'd be willing to listen to the argument that there's some of both... 1
porksweats Posted February 28, 2023 Posted February 28, 2023 I had the opportunity to go to this last night but sold my tickets the day of because I felt horribly sick. I didn't miss much I see. The Gable/Cody match was all worth talking about.
username Posted March 1, 2023 Posted March 1, 2023 I think sometimes with even decent bookers when a big plan/feud gets knocked off track immediately there is a chance they struggle to ever get it back on track, and I do wonder what DMG CTRL's initial run looks like if Becky never got hurt. They clearly didn't want to take the belt off of Bianca then, which was fair, but I assume there is a much higher chance that Becky loses initially then as a buffer before Bayley gets to Bianca as opposed what actually happened, which is Bayley going against champ Bianca followed by a returning from injury Becky. Also to be fair... I wouldn't say that Kai and Io have been all that impressive since the call up and would probably be met with indifference if they got disconnected from Bayley. It'd be too much to say they've been bad but they've rarely had much in the way of standout performances either.
DEAN Posted March 1, 2023 Posted March 1, 2023 Sorry I'm late. Had to watch VCU win the Atlantic 10! RUNrunrun V-C-U! Nathan Frazer is back! Wes Lee! This should be good. Frazer was trained by Seth Rollins but he has that polish that all the British/Irish/Scottish folks have. So this isn't really an NXT match because neither of these dudes need any development. Great double dives to NOWHERE! Collision in the middle of the ring! Good nearfall on Frazer's Scorpion Death Drop. GREAT Superplex by Frazer FOR TWO! Frazer Springboards to ANNOUNCE TABLE! TOPE CON HILO over the turnbuckle by Wes Lee! A crazy embellishment kick to the head for the win! That was good. It's Briggs and Jenson! Veer and Sanga are the opponents! Veer and Sanga are the NXT Viking Raiders. They are awesome. GREAT LARIAT to slaughter Jensen! Move these dudes up. Meiko Satomura! Zoey Stark! Meiko Satomura is so fucking great. Zoey Stark leans into Satomura's hellish kicks like a CHAMP! Nice Kneedrop by Stark. Satomura CRUSHES Stark with kicks to the chest! Death Valley Driver into a convoluted Axe Kick for the win. That was good! Zoey Stark is really good. It's Elektra Lopez and Sol Ruca! Sol bumps big to the floor! Sol wins because Elektra can't cheat. Valentina hits Elektra with the brass knuckles postmatch. Pretty Deadly are awash in pink. Tiffany Stratton and Katana Chance have a match! Katana is spectacular! Nice Moonsault by Stratton. Hank Walker and Axiom have a clash of styles! Axiom is really good. Nice Lariat by Walker. GOLDEN RATIO for the win! Axiom is a tiny ass kicker. WHO KNEW? It's Tyler Bate! Carmello Hayes! Bate goes all Johnny Saint and it's fun! Bate goes all World of Sport and Hayes is hanging with him. GREAT Tope Con Hilo by Bate. FUN Suplex into the ring by Hayes! EXPLOIDER by Bate! AIRPLANE SPIN by BATE! They start laying it in! This is good. Exploider off the top by Bate! Trick Williams distracts Bate! Carmello hits a BEAUTIFUL Booker T Toprope Guillotine! That was a good little batch of wrestling. 1 1
Eivion Posted March 1, 2023 Posted March 1, 2023 Dug the chaotic brawl for the spot in Lee's NA open challenge. Frazier was a welcome surprise. He and Lee worked unsurprisingly well together. Kind of dug Frazier working with a bit of a chip on his shoulder but never going so hard he went heel or anything. Good match to start the show off. Briggs/Jensen vs. Indus Sher was more of an angle though the match was decent enough. The lariat finish from Veer was nice. Gigi's promo was decent. Looking forward to the match with Jacy. Meiko/Stark took a while to get going,but I really dug the last half post commercial break. Didn't catch all of Sol/Elektra though I dug the finish with things finally moving forward in Elektra's story with Feroz. The NXT parking lot continuing to be one of the most dangerous places in WWE is a story I love. Curious if Choo is actually out or if this is to push the story they started with Lyons's attacker on without having to wait a year for Nikkita to come back. Stratton/Katana was good fun with the size difference coming into play and both being such athletic beasts. I only wish Stratton's moonsault was more on point during the finish. Axiom/Waker was a nice power vs. speed battle with both guys so fired up. Bate/Hayes was damn good as expected. Loved the back and forth chains early on. Hayes played into Bate's style so well. Looking forward to Road Block. Meiko/Roxanne should be good, but I think I'm more excited for Bron/Creeds vs. Indus Sher. So damn happy with have baby Steiner teaming with faux Steiners finally. 1
HarryArchieGus Posted March 1, 2023 Posted March 1, 2023 (edited) Re: RAW I enjoyed what I saw, but this show only took me 20 minutes to a half hour to watch. Well worth it for Cody and Gable. Great snap on the closing spots. Gable made Cody look like a world beater. The Otis spot near the end was a welcome bit of classic Codyverse silliness. Chad Gable is so fucking good! Has Gable ever worked Danielson? And does anybody know when his contract expires? Haha, Cody's WWE style heavy enunciation promos are both cornball and awesome. Has anybody seen a GIF floating around, that they could possibly share, of Cody's hammy reaction to Heyman's interview last week? Edited March 1, 2023 by HarryArchieGus
Iron Moose Posted March 1, 2023 Posted March 1, 2023 8 hours ago, username said: Also to be fair... I wouldn't say that Kai and Io have been all that impressive since the call up and would probably be met with indifference if they got disconnected from Bayley. It'd be too much to say they've been bad but they've rarely had much in the way of standout performances either. There's a good and important insight here into a challenge that the NXT model imposes on the main roster -- when you run a good story for someone that the crowd buys into (Bayley's chase for the title, Jason Jordan's search for a tag team partner culminating in the super-wrestling weirdo that was Ready, Willing and Gable, or in this case, very face Dakota's shocking betrayal of Rhea and Tegan and descent into twitchiness), you're giving them a very uphill intro to the main roster by calling them up fully formed, where the majority of the crowd won't have seen the journey, only the destination. (IMO this is also hurting Gargano) 2
Tarheel Moneghetti Posted March 1, 2023 Posted March 1, 2023 Given the build, it’s probably going to be disappointing if HBK doesn’t come out of retirement to wrestle Waller. I don’t think HBK is going to unretire, but I dunno that there’s another satisfying payoff. I’ve heard the theory that Shawn will sic Drwgon Lee on Waller, but last I heard Lee still has visa issues. Also, “you’ve made me so mad, I’m going to let this really tiny man wrestle you” is a weak babyface move. if he does come back for one more match, I hope bald 50-something Shawn Michaels has the good sense to retire the “sexy boy” entrance, but he probably won’t.
just drew Posted March 1, 2023 Posted March 1, 2023 I feel like cinematic street fight is the only possible way out.
Ramo2653 Posted March 1, 2023 Posted March 1, 2023 This was a good episode of NXT and all of the wrestling was top notch for the group. I liked that Stark/Satomoura was a struggle which is a nice contrast to some of the modern stuff. Of course the opener and the main event were bangers. I still think Waller ends up fighting Dragon Lee at the PLE next month.
DragonZombie Posted March 2, 2023 Posted March 2, 2023 Looks like Brock didn't want to face Bray, and rumors sez Vince books Brock stuff and pitched the Brock vs Omos thing. Vince does own the company after all. https://www.forbes.com/sites/alfredkonuwa/2023/03/01/is-vince-mcmahon-secretly-booking-wrestlemania-wwe-insider-says-yes/
DragonZombie Posted March 2, 2023 Posted March 2, 2023 More on what Regal does for WWE https://www.wrestlinginc.com/1215492/details-on-william-regals-behind-the-scenes-role-in-wwe/ 1
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