The Natural Posted March 14, 2023 Posted March 14, 2023 2 hours ago, LF2 said: Who would you pair with Charlotte then? I like the matches they gave us, because Bianca vs Asuka is less predictable than Rhea vs Bianca too (Rhea would obviously win). My biggest issue with both women’s title matches is it feels like neither are anywhere near main event worthy, and none of the four have any real momentum. Asuka hasn’t wrestled recently, Rhea has beat Liv (once), and Charlotte and Bianca are beating jobbers of the week. Which is fine if you’re telling a good story (Roman vs Cody comes to mind), but neither match has a strong storyline (despite Rhea getting screwed out of the NXT title before). Bayley. Criminal WWE's treatment of Bayley carrying the pandemic era as part of the Golden Role Models with Sasha Banks since then. Unforgivable she was WrestleMania XXXVIII host with fucking Hulk Hogan. Bayley vs. Charlotte gets the story that Bayley has never main events WrestleMania. I should stress that shouldn't main event nor the two women's matches for the reasons you say. I'd go with The Usos vs. Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens for the WWE Undisputed Tag Team Championship by far. Second choice would be the WWE Intercontinental Championship match as Triple H and GUNTHER has made it prestigious again even though there's two WWE Women's World Titles. 3 1
Just Adam Bay Bay Posted March 14, 2023 Posted March 14, 2023 1 minute ago, The Natural said: Bayley. Criminal WWE's treatment of Bayley carrying the pandemic era as part of the Golden Role Models with Sasha Banks since then. Unforgivable she was WrestleMania XXXVIII host with fucking Hulk Hogan. Bayley vs. Charlotte gets the story that Bayley has never main events WrestleMania. I should stress that shouldn't main event nor the two women's matches for the reasons you say. I'd go with The Usos vs. Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens for the WWE Undisputed Tag Team Championship by far. Second choice would be the WWE Intercontinental Championship match as Triple H and GUNTHER has made it prestigious again even though there's two WWE Women's World Titles. I wish I could give your post a million likes. Apparently we have very similar tastes. Bayley was exactly who I was thinking of too. As for what should you’re 100% right that it should be Usos vs Sami/KO and if not your second choice is a perfect one. Honestly crowd investment wise I wouldn’t be totally against Logan Paul vs Seth either. Especially if they make a huge deal out of it being Logan’s birthday only to have Seth stomp him repeatedly and win. 1
The Natural Posted March 14, 2023 Posted March 14, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, Belgian_Waffle said: Dave now saying Bray will be back for WM. Darn. I kind of feel at this point that he's at the bottom of the list of people like Warrior and Chyna in that he's not only difficult to deal with as a co-worker/employee he's also excruciating to watch as a fan unless you're part of an extremely radicalized subset. I liked Wyatt Family Bray Wyatt and very unpopular opinion here Firefly Funhouse/The Fiend but his return has done bugger all for me. Edited March 14, 2023 by The Natural 3
The Natural Posted March 14, 2023 Posted March 14, 2023 1 minute ago, LF2 said: I wish I could give your post a million likes. Apparently we have very similar tastes. Bayley was exactly who I was thinking of too. As for what should you’re 100% right that it should be Usos vs Sami/KO and if not your second choice is a perfect one. Honestly crowd investment wise I wouldn’t be totally against Logan Paul vs Seth either. Especially if they make a huge deal out of it being Logan’s birthday only to have Seth stomp him repeatedly and win. Cheers, pal! 1
DMJ Posted March 14, 2023 Posted March 14, 2023 - I know she's not everyone's cup of tea but Ronda Rousey is still on the roster and seemingly making good money. To me, if you're going to have an expensive asset on your roster like her, she should be in the mix. Didn't Nia Jax also return at the Rumble? I know she's another unpopular worker but the visual of seeing Bianca Belair bodyslamming her or whatever would be a good moment. - Last night I practically wrote a 5-paragraph essay about how disappointing and shitty this version of Bray Wyatt has been, but decided to delete it rather than post it. In summation, since returning, this has basically been a painfully slow Shockmaster scenario. Like, the Shockmaster fiasco was a total embarrassment - but at least it lasted less than 10 seconds. Whatever the fuck we can call the last 3+ months of Bray Wyatt content has been equally as terrible and far less entertaining, somehow boring and repetitive while simultaneously perpetually finding new ways to be uninteresting. It somehow lacks any substance while being also full of uncreative bullshit. Empty and overstuffed at the same time. Its not funny. Its not scary. Its not imaginative. Its not cool. This is definitely the worst run of Wyatt's career as even that dull tag pairing with Matt Hardy was inoffensive and benign. The Firefly Funhouse stuff was originally fun in that Tim and Eric way. The original Bayou-bred creepiness of the Wyatt Family was kinda cool for awhile. Bray had moments, like his feud with Orton, that were ridiculous and absurd but at least kinda "so bad-it's good" campy. This latest version has not even a single morsel of any of that charm. 5
John from Cincinnati Posted March 14, 2023 Posted March 14, 2023 For all the handwringing about the women's title matches at WrestleMania, isn't it somewhat clear that they're trying to position the top two women of the current generation (Bianca, Rhea) as champions simultaneously coming out of Mania? Can't get that result if the match is Bianca vs Rhea. As for Bayley, they just did a bunch of her vs Bianca so a fresh challenger was called for there. And Bayley gets plenty of TV and talking time in a big match against big names at Mania... so maybe her treatment isn't all that criminal. Now watch Charlotte go and retain... 1
Niners Fan in CT Posted March 14, 2023 Posted March 14, 2023 Give me Ultimate Warrior (1988-1992) over any version of Bray Wyatt post-cult leader. 2
Just Adam Bay Bay Posted March 14, 2023 Posted March 14, 2023 18 minutes ago, John from Cincinnati said: For all the handwringing about the women's title matches at WrestleMania, isn't it somewhat clear that they're trying to position the top two women of the current generation (Bianca, Rhea) as champions simultaneously coming out of Mania? Can't get that result if the match is Bianca vs Rhea. As for Bayley, they just did a bunch of her vs Bianca so a fresh challenger was called for there. And Bayley gets plenty of TV and talking time in a big match against big names at Mania... so maybe her treatment isn't all that criminal. Now watch Charlotte go and retain... Honestly at this point (and with her winning her third high profile Mania match in a row) Bianca is turning into the Monday version of Charlotte. Only with longer title reigns that don’t mean much. I like Bianca as a performer but it’s way past time to give somebody else an opportunity. I’m over the fun loving and goofy EST schtick. I’d much prefer she act more like she did in NXT (even with the current push). Plus as I already stated to me Rhea is more just Chyna 2.0 at the moment. A tall, muscular woman that’s doing spots against men while being aligned with a group and a Latino performer (I’ll take Judgment Day over the later DX, but Dom can’t even begin to carry Eddie’s jock). I really don’t get why people think Rhea is special at the moment. Can she be? Hell yeah. She’s just not being positioned that way. Hell her feud with Charlotte is more Dom vs Charlotte at the moment.
John from Cincinnati Posted March 14, 2023 Posted March 14, 2023 Maybe if I'd been watching religiously all this time I'd feel differently, but I've been impressed with how strongly they've committed to Bianca. Such pushes have normally been reserved for the Horsewomen and their contemporaries or Rousey, so it's nice to see the next generation get their shot. If she's a Monday night version of Charlotte because she's got a strong push and they're sticking with it, that's a good thing. People have whined forever about 50/50 booking. This is the opposite, and it's how they make stars. And Dom-Eddie comparisons aside (few can carry Eddie's jock, this story is fun and over, let's all calm down), this stuff is clearly working and she's better in ring than I recall Chyna being. You're welcome to your own preferences, but they've seemingly solidified new cornerstones for the women's divisions very effectively over the last twelve months. Now if only they would actually go ahead and unify some of these belts, that'd be the time for Bianca vs Rhea. But that's probably still expecting too much of even a marginally improved WWE. 2
Just Adam Bay Bay Posted March 14, 2023 Posted March 14, 2023 41 minutes ago, John from Cincinnati said: Maybe if I'd been watching religiously all this time I'd feel differently, but I've been impressed with how strongly they've committed to Bianca. Such pushes have normally been reserved for the Horsewomen and their contemporaries or Rousey, so it's nice to see the next generation get their shot. If she's a Monday night version of Charlotte because she's got a strong push and they're sticking with it, that's a good thing. People have whined forever about 50/50 booking. This is the opposite, and it's how they make stars. And Dom-Eddie comparisons aside (few can carry Eddie's jock, this story is fun and over, let's all calm down), this stuff is clearly working and she's better in ring than I recall Chyna being. You're welcome to your own preferences, but they've seemingly solidified new cornerstones for the women's divisions very effectively over the last twelve months. Now if only they would actually go ahead and unify some of these belts, that'd be the time for Bianca vs Rhea. But that's probably still expecting too much of even a marginally improved WWE. What you’re saying about Bianca is certainly accurate. My issue is with the way they’re going about it she’s the only one that feels like a star. Asuka before winning the Elimination Chamber hadn’t been given a meaningful push in ages, Io is stuck in a tag team doing nothing at the moment, Carmella is a jobber of the week, and even Becky and Bayley don’t feel like anything special whether it’s because one of them jobbed to Bianca way more than she should have (Bayley) or because the writing team has no clue what to do with her if she’s not the champion (Becky). My criticism I just applied to Becky is where I’m afraid things are headed once they finally take the belt off Roman. They’ll have no idea what to do with him, and that’s not a good spot to be in either. Then again that’s also an issue with building up only one person as a star (Roman, Bianca, Becky before she took time off, Cena, Charlotte). They’ve had multiple opportunities to make other stars, but it’s always about that one singular star instead. Hopefully your guy can break that trend at Mania, and as someone that’s seen him live multiple times this last year I’m damn sure rooting for Cody.
Dolfan in NYC Posted March 14, 2023 Author Posted March 14, 2023 God, Dom has been right this whole time. Rey's a literal monster.
Greggulator Posted March 15, 2023 Posted March 15, 2023 Rhea has a career in the WWE as long as she wants one. She is really similar to Kevin Owens in that she can completely commit to the ridiculous like Prison Dom and also look like a complete and total badass. She also stands out as she is one of a handful of women to not just have to perform with other women but she can also be a part of a gang. She has that great spot where she can slot in anywhere from World Champion to absurdity in the same way KO, New Day and a few others have. 1
For Great Justice Posted March 15, 2023 Posted March 15, 2023 Stand and Deliver looks like a keeper. Bron / Melo feels like a big deal for this show and Lee / Lee will be ridiculous. 1
DEAN Posted March 15, 2023 Posted March 15, 2023 FUCK YEAH! Gallus vs Pretty Deadly! FOR THE TITLES! What's better than Pretty Deadly? NOTHING. Elton is so fucking GREAT. Kit tags in and does many roll-ups! Meanwhile, Wolfgang is fucking AWESOME. Kit and Elton are fucking AWESOME taking an ass beating. During picture in picture, Pretty Deadly switch over from Ass Boys bumping chickenshit heels to Fabulous Ones goodlookin ass stompers. Wolfgang and Kit are MAGIC in the ring. Mike Coffey hits a harrowing shoulder block off the second rope onto Kit. Kit counters with a Front Chancellery! Kit is the all star of the match. Pretty Deadly are so fucking complete as a heel tagteam. Kit is slightly more vicious than Elton and when Pretty Deadly become vicous, it is sublime. Wolfgang makes the hot tag and BOY! is he fun! PD take the belts and hits Coffey! FOR TWO! Gallus finisher is fucking AWESOME. That was great. Pretty Deadly are so fucking great. Zoey Stark and Sol Ruca continues their mini-feud. Ruca is getting better. Stark is really good at putting the match together. Nice Powerslam by Sol Ruca. NICE Orihara Moonsault by Ruca! Stark hits her finisher and that was really good. Ah crap. A triple threat. Ivy Nile tries to tag Tatum Paxley but Paxley turns on her! At least Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre win. Hey! It's Dragon Lee! Apollo Crews takes on Dabba-Kato who I don't think I've seen wrestle before. Kato can bump for big dude. He does a lot of clubbing forearms. That was pretty good. Kiana James and Gigi Dolin have a match. This is the best Gigi has looked in a while. Maybe ever. GREAT finisher. PUT THE BELT ON GIGI! Contract signing! PRETTY DEADLY! Will the table survive? PRETTY DEADLY THROUGH THE TABLE! Absolutely beautiful. 1
Eivion Posted March 15, 2023 Posted March 15, 2023 Gallus vs. Pretty Deadly was good. Sol/Zoey was probably their best match with each other so far. Sol's athletic ability is so damn impressive and she seems to get better each week, knowing her role and where/when to show off a new trick. Alba/Isla vs. Ivy/Tatum vs. KC2 was surprisingly nice. All action from beginning to end with them finally making a choice on whether Tatum was Diamond Mine or not. The turn wa snot quite expected but was at the same time. Don't really see Tatum as ready to be on her won, but I am curious to see how the eventual match with Ivy goes down. Apollo/Dabba-Kato was pretty solid. Dug how aggressive Apollo was from beginning to to end. Kiana/Gigi was pretty decent while it lasted. Definitely the best Gigi has looked so far. The post match attack by Isla and Alba was well done. The final segment with Bron and Melo was decent enough. Felt like more of what we should have gotten last week. Pretty Deadly added some fun to it. Lee's open challenge getting turned into a fatal five way for S&D somehow makes sense with the chaos that was being created. Not fond of Roxanne not getting to defend at S&D or having her title taken away for a cluserfuck ladder match. Just a weird batch of choices that feel so unnecessary. Roxanne is already arguably ready to leave NXT so it feels weird to stretch out her stay like this instead of letting her have a real run with the belt and leaving after putting the next champ over.
nofuture Posted March 15, 2023 Posted March 15, 2023 5 hours ago, Eivion said: Not fond of Roxanne not getting to defend at S&D or having her title taken away for a cluserfuck ladder match. Just a weird batch of choices that feel so unnecessary. Roxanne is already arguably ready to leave NXT so it feels weird to stretch out her stay like this instead of letting her have a real run with the belt and leaving after putting the next champ over. She hasn't been stripped of the title yet. I get the feeling Roxy miraculously recovers from whatever she has and defends her title in the ladder match at S&D. 2
Dolfan in NYC Posted March 15, 2023 Author Posted March 15, 2023 At multiple points during the broadcast they referred to the match as for the "vacant" Women's title. Though, we know that this is WWE and words don't have meaning. Like when "abeyance" came up in Vince's word of the day calendar.
Iron Moose Posted March 15, 2023 Posted March 15, 2023 (edited) Yeah. It feels like it's a ladder match to have a ladder match, which is ... capricious, at best. We've had Lyra and Tiff both gathering momentum and both were absent yesterday, and Kiana having a qualifier and possibly wrestling twice also feels slipshod. Maybe there's another covid outbreak? 12 hours ago, Eivion said: Not fond of Roxanne not getting to defend at S&D or having her title taken away for a cluserfuck ladder match. Just a weird batch of choices that feel so unnecessary. Roxanne is already arguably ready to leave NXT so it feels weird to stretch out her stay like this instead of letting her have a real run with the belt and leaving after putting the next champ over. Possibilities: a. she's back ahead of the match, it's a title match b. she's back right before the match and in it c. she's back late in the match and wins, but slimy d. she's back immediately after the match and we get a two-belts unification thing e. she's back on a show after the match and we get a unification f. she's back on a show after the match and we get a match g. she's gone to the main roster a makes Michaels et al out to be heartless, vicious goons of match-makers. b is kind of the middle of the road. c is the first step to a heel turn, which could be interesting but makes the dynamics in the division really weird. d makes sense if she's speedrunning HBK-Razor 1993-1994. e and f are kind of flat; g strikes me as a really bad idea at this point. Edited March 15, 2023 by Iron Moose 1
DragonZombie Posted March 17, 2023 Posted March 17, 2023 Wrestling News Co reporting cuts to WWE talent roster and staff soon. I dunno how reliable they are, best to wait for PWInsider to sorta confrim.
DragonZombie Posted March 18, 2023 Posted March 18, 2023 Liv's ass is distracting That was a good ending for Smackdown.
DEAN Posted March 18, 2023 Posted March 18, 2023 Zelina looks great. She is tiny though and Rhea Ripley crushes her with a Powerbomb. Rey Rey ALMOST makes the match with Dominik. Raquel Rodriguez is awesome! Emma looks good in this. Tegan looks okay. Raquel hits a Spinning Vader Bomb! Liv Morgan hits her finisher and that was quick. The Rhea/Charlotte pull apart was better than the two wrestling matches they've trotted out so far. Charlotte was more of the Wardlow by beating on security and referees! That was awesome. Xavier Woods and LA Knight have a match. For a minute? What is up with the sub five minute matches? Oh! I guess they are giving Sheamus and Drew Mcintyre a lot of time. They hint at beating the crap out of each other but don't really get there for a while. Nice Superplex by McIntyre! They start beating the crud out of each other and it is giant wads of clubbing forearms! Imperium hits the ring and I guess we are looking at a TRIPLE THREAT! Yeesh. Way to ruin a good match. Strange episode. 3
Niners Fan in CT Posted March 18, 2023 Posted March 18, 2023 Huge pop there at the end. They are still planting the Jey Uso turns seeds as well.
StarChief EagleDemon Posted March 18, 2023 Posted March 18, 2023 Sami didn't need to appeal to Kevin's better angels or use a logical argument. All he had to say was "I love you" to break through. Love always wins! 4
For Great Justice Posted March 18, 2023 Posted March 18, 2023 Doing my man LA Knight dirty. This show kind of stunk but had a great ending. 9 minutes ago, Niners Fan in CT said: Huge pop there at the end. They are still planting the Jey Uso turns seeds as well. Makes a ton of sense to come back to a Roman/Jay match on a major PPV at some point after Roman drops the title. Keep that warm on the back burner. 1
Greggulator Posted March 18, 2023 Posted March 18, 2023 That was one of the all-time best endings to a wrestling show. The whole arc of the night just ruled — KO’s explanation, Sami apologizing and saying the right things but KO still leaving, Jey trying to make his explanation while Sami rightfully pointed out what Jey really things and then the happy reunion all while Cody looks on proudly. The best storyline ever just continues going forward. 3
Recommended Posts