THE AFTERMATH - WWE TV - 4/3 - 4/9/2023

[HarryArchieGus]

56 minutes ago, LF2 said:

Honestly I thought the opening everyone should rise and kiss my ass while I cut a twenty minute, pointless promo from Triple H was worse than the non match main event. God that went on forever, and had absolutely nothing to do with anything. Plus the stupid ending with “acknowledge Roman”. I was honestly hoping by about minute five that they’d cue Romans music just to shut him up, and Roman would walk out and demand that Triple H acknowledge him. That would have been a better way to set up the main event, plus it would have cut down on the long winded BS from “our hero” who in all honesty wasn’t booking things “better than Vince” despite what some posters claimed. 

Agreed. Fully reminded of Helmsley's reign of terror in ring and especially on the mic that led me to future endavour WWE programming for 20 plus years. 

I believe my running time for Raw minus all the skimming was about 25 minutes, maybe. I liked the 25 I saw minus even the skimming I did of the above. Fuck On-Camera-Helmsley. Fuck Seth Rollins promos. An Omos match, nah. An Austin Theory match (even if it's with Rey), nah. No need for recap packages. Didn't have the Women's Tag match in me. Where's Bayley? Oh, please please let me get what I want. Bayley on Wednesday Night for the first time! I liked the Paul-Cody jousting that led to Brock's appearance. I dug seeing Dom and Priest beat the shit out of Bad Bunny, and the aftermatch promo with Pearce. Street Profits v Owens/Zayn was fine. Babyface v Babyface didn't seem to work for either - particularly the Profits who just lost (at least my perceived) momentum from Mania. That's a bummer. I did dig the Rhea-Bianca confrontation. Looking forward to that bout. And I absolutely loved seeing Brock beat the ever-loving-shit out of the American Nightmare. I had a feeling and was prepared to FFWD the match anyway, so no complaints for the no-go. I wasn't an AEW-Cody-hater and (mildly) resent all those who led to his departure (probably they had nothing to with it). Where are all those haters? How did they not enjoy seeing Cody lose in the big match? Where are they for this huge assbeating? Where are all those ppl who filled long threads shitting all over him for jumping ship? Again, I wasn't one of them. He's always seemed a better fit in WWE to me. But still, I absolutely LOVED THAT ASSKICKING! Good work Mr. Heyman. What a fun heel turn!

Edited April 4, 2023 by HarryArchieGus

[EVA]

5 hours ago, Eivion said:

This is something they actually cut down on a lot in recent years. They try not do this anymore since the post mania Raw pop while nice doesn't really amount to much afterwards. People will debut when WWE is ready to try something with them or they need bodies.

You’re right on the timetable but wrong on the reasoning, I think. It seemed like they got frustrated by a run of raucous Euro-heavy crowds hijacking the show in the mid-2010’s. There was maybe a year or two where they tried to play into it, even having the announcers call the post-Mania Raw “Bizarro World” (or something to that effect), before they finally seemed to throw their hands up and de-emphasize the show to avoid having big moments “spoiled” by the crowd going a different way. Sheamus getting the “You Look Stupid” chants on his big return as a heel comes to mind.

[w. josh]

In that crowd's defense, Sheamus looked stupid. 

[EVA]

We could all benefit from the honesty of a room full of drunken Euros from time to time.

[The Natural]

12 minutes ago, EVA said:

You’re right on the timetable but wrong on the reasoning, I think. It seemed like they got frustrated by a run of raucous Euro-heavy crowds hijacking the show in the mid-2010’s. There was maybe a year or two where they tried to play into it, even having the announcers call the post-Mania Raw “Bizarro World” (or something to that effect), before they finally seemed to throw their hands up and de-emphasize the show to avoid having big moments “spoiled” by the crowd going a different way. Sheamus getting the “You Look Stupid” chants on his big return as a heel comes to mind.

 

10 minutes ago, w. josh said:

In that crowd's defense, Sheamus looked stupid. 

 

4 minutes ago, EVA said:

We could all benefit from the honesty of a room full of drunken Euros from time to time.

Still remember that. Funny story to tell you. At my first live wrestling event ever, a WWE house show in April 2015, Sheamus got the "You look stupid" chants. Sheamus took the mike and started taunting Leeds United which popped me as a Bradford City fan. Sorry, @AxB. I got lucky seeing Daniel Bryan as he was pulled from the tour three days later. Meant the world as y'all know what I think about Bryan Danielson.

Edited April 4, 2023 by The Natural

[For Great Justice]

I’ve always thought Fandango-ing is when the post WM show jumped the shark. A beautiful, sequined shark.

Edited April 4, 2023 by For Great Justice

[NikoBaltimore]

First of all, if I was a mod I would have locked this thread for at least 24 hours after seeing that ending.  Way too much bickering going on here from generally civil people.  Sometimes it's okay to close everything and do literally anything else instead of worrying about what people online say.

1 hour ago, The Natural said:

Quote

Dave Meltzer confirmed a PWInsider report from Monday night saying that Vince McMahon was in charge of much of Raw on Monday.

"He was running TV tonight," Meltzer said. “He's back. It's what it was. It will be what it was before. And if people think that was bad, it will be bad. And that's just the way it is."

Meltzer said that the show was changed when McMahon arrived and also while the show was going on.

"Levesque will be head of creative and will be doing the busywork and all that stuff. Vince is going to have the final say in everything."

No shit, Sherlock. This fucking sucks.

I think this needs to be pinned to the top of this thread.  I'm not saying it's doom and gloom just yet (though I'll be a bit more wary while still watching)  But this should be something to remember when seeing the shows play out.

[hammerva]

Matt Riddle coming back means we are getting months and months of bad weed jokes until he does something stupid again and is out for more months. Yeah Vince is 100% in control of the product

 

[AxB]

29 minutes ago, The Natural said:

 

 

Still remember that. Funny story to tell you. At my first live wrestling event ever, a WWE house show in April 2015, Sheamus got the "You look stupid" chants. Sheamus took the mike and started taunting Leeds United which popped me as a Bradford City fan. Sorry, @AxB. I got lucky seeing Daniel Bryan as he was pulled from the tour three days later. Meant the world as y'all know what I think about Bryan Danielson.

I remember on a TNA UK tour, Bully Ray tried to get heel heat in Manchester by shouting about how Man United suck. Obviously the majority of fans in the building cheered and applauded. 

A year later, he wore a Liverpool shirt, which worked a little better. Although if he'd bought it for heel heat, he would have BULLY 69 on the back, and he didn't. He had GERRARD 8. So most likely, he bought it because he's a Liverpool fan and wanted it.

Edited April 4, 2023 by AxB

[AxB]

Double post. I don't actually have anything to say about WWE Raw or even Wrestlemania, I didn't watch either one.

HOODFOOT won the North American Deathmatch Championship from Brandon Kirk, following lots of sports entertainment bullshit. He's a deserving champion but did we really need Casey Kirk interfering, then getting dragged into hell by a returning Krule, Kirk winning by ref stoppage due to threatening to slit Hootfoot's throat, Danny Demanto restarting the match for no apparent reason, the referee breaking a bunch of tubes over the Champion's head and then Hoodfoot hitting the PSYCHODRIVERFUCKYOURLIFE for the win? I don't think so.

Edited April 4, 2023 by AxB

[Tarheel Moneghetti]

3 hours ago, Andrew POE! said:

So I guess I'm supposed to enjoy the shit sandwich the WWE is serving and calling it filet mignon.

Please stop whining.  Watch something else, go outside, read a book, go to work, whatever.  If you don’t enjoy the show, don’t watch it.  Or do watch it and just treat it like it is: disposable entertainment meant to be watched and forgotten about after it ends.  It’s not meant to be a religion.  And it’s not something you should feel compelled to keep talking about even though you profess to hate it.

I’m not thrilled Vince is back, but it was expected.  Supposedly, the reason he wanted to broker the sale personally was to find someone who would let him run it.  Meltzer even said last night that Endeavor wants Vince in charge.

I’m going to stick with it for the time being, but, I don’t have a problem turning off AEW or WWE when I’m not enjoying it.

If Bloodline stays as interesting as it has been the last six to 12 months, Roman can keep the belt five more years if he wants.  Been a long time since anyone tried to do a run this long.  Fans are conditioned to get bored after six-nine moths. 

[Just Adam Bay Bay]

3 hours ago, Andrew POE! said:

Really? Is that even necessary? I get attacked for saying fans should have beaten up Roman Reigns on the Raw after WrestleMania yet this is acceptable?

So I guess I'm supposed to enjoy the shit sandwich the WWE is serving and calling it filet mignon.

So where were you last night? I thought you were going to show up, and give Roman his comeuppance for winning Sunday night? You deserved to get attacked for being such a jackass, and then saying “wait let me explain”. You knew you were wrong when you posted it, yet you thought you could be a fake tough guy, and we’d all cheer you on. Just admit you’d shit your pants if you were ever within two feet of Roman, and you tried to mouth off to him. 

And either enjoy it, or don’t watch. There’s how many other programs or movies you could enjoy. Clearly WWE isn’t for you, and it’s not healthy for you based on your awful posts from Sunday night.

[jaedmc]

[Dolfan in NYC]

To quote the inimitable CRZ.... ladies and gentlemen, we have a heel turn.  

[jaedmc]

Here's the deal.

We're all here because we're passionate about pro wrestling.

Sometimes that passion can be expressed in ways that bothers others. Sometimes that expression can be interpreted incorrectly in the heat of the moment. It happens.

Some people are very upset about the direction of this company. It's okay for them to be upset. It is not something that can simply be solved by saying "well stop watching." Because they know they can stop watching. What they're upset about is that they invested their time in something that went to shit. They can't get that time back. And for many of us, myself included, this is one of many times that we've gotten hooked only to get rug pulled. It doesn't stop sucking. So have some patience.

For those that are upset, realize there's some people who aren't. This incongruity in opinions can feel alienating, and you may feel compelled to make everyone else feel as bad as you feel. Fight that urge.

More importantly do not make these things personal. We're all going to have differences in opinion. And that's cool. That person that is disagreeing with you on the internet can only have as much impact on your life as you allow them. I suggest not giving any anonymous person with a silly avatar and a goofy name that power over you.

Keep your criticisms about what you saw, not about other people. If you disagree with someone take a minute to really decide if it's worth engaging them. Take more than a minute. What is your motivation for engaging them? Do you think you're going to help them or fix their opinion for them? Or do you actually want to learn more about their perspective? Think about it. 9 times out of 10, you'll probably come to the conclusion that you shouldn't respond at all. If you don't think about it, you'll end up 10 posts deep in some bullshit and then me or Rippa or Dolfan or whoever will have to give you a vacation.

Keep this in mind: we love wrestling. People are drawn to this place because they want to share that love with others. It's a positive communal experience for them that they may not be able to get anywhere else. Remember that when you want to complain. Remember that when someone is complaining. Everyone here is posting because they want to share.

Try to be kind. Don't wish ill on people.

And if you find yourself about to rage I advise you to do the following:

1. Open up a New Tab.

2. Find a Wrestling Match that you enjoy.

3. Watch it.

4. Come back and tell us about it.

Okay thread open.

[For Great Justice]

Hey so NXT had two great matches and Bron is probably a few weeks away from dying his hair platinum and giving a shout out to all his freaks out there. So there IS that.

[DEAN]

Being an admin, I can post here even though it's locked!  Hopefully, NXT won't rip the fabric of the board apart!  PRETTY DEADLY! YES! PD starts off all Fabulous Ones by beating the shit out of Stacks.  They then bump all over the ring for Tony D'Angelo.  WE DO LOVE YOU, KIT!  Tony and Stacks ARE the new Fantastics!  Stacks goes back to being our face in peril!  Stacks is Steamboatesque!  Tony makes the HOT TAG and he is FUCKING AWESOME on offense!  GREAT SPINEBUSTER!  Goofy finish, but it is Pretty Deadly so it definitely works.  I didn't notice the EXPOSED TURNBUCKLE!  Slightly less goofy then.  It's Odyssey Jones versus Dijak!  Dijak takes an unnecessary wacky bump, channeling his inner Ray Stevens.  Dijak hits a mighty DEATH VALLEY DRIVER!  FOR TWO!  Dijak hits a Moonsault for the win.  That was quick.  It's Dragon Lee!  Nathan Frazer!  I await the Dragon Lee Lunatic Tope.  This is fun- as they do a Tiger Mask/Dynamite Kid mirror sequence.  Frazer goes Armdrag Crazee in picture in picture.  Dragon Lee bumps big to the floor.  This match is fucking GREAT.  Lee does the Corner Dropkick like his brother!  He goes for RUSH's finsher but Frazer hits a Superkick!  GREAT Tiger Driver by Dragon Lee!  BOO!  No lunatic tope!  YAY!  Dragon Lee wins with a V-TRIGGER!  That was great.  Indi Hartwell has her first title defense against Zoey Stark.  Stark is truly awesome.  She makes Hartwell's pedestrian offense look deadly.  Stark locks in the CRAVATE!  Hartwell's clotheslines are Luger-esque.  Toprope Elbow to Stark's back for two!  Hartwell with a perfectly fine Spinebuster!  Stark hits her crazy finisher!  Hartwell rolls to the floor!  Stark throws her back into the ring!  Indi counters into a roll-up for the win!  That was good!  Zoey Stark is awesome!  Cora Jaye returns and they are setting up a TRIPLE THREAT with Tiffany Stratton!  Yeesh!  It's PAXLEY TATUM!  TATUM PAXLEY!  It's Ivy Nile!  Paxley looks pretty good in this.  Nice CHINLOCK!  Nile with the Keralin Lift!  Nile wins with a DRAGON SLEEPER!  That was good!  Wes Lee vs Axiom!  This is just CHOCKFULL of wrestling.  It is the Anti-RAW!  I miss fast forwarding through 40 minutes of crap per hour.  NXT is for the HARDCORE!  I am HARDCORE!  NXT is the ROH of the WWE!  AXIOM LAYS IT IN!  The UK contingent is what makes NXT so HARDCORE!  NICE MICHINOKU DRIVER by LEE!  Fun nearfalls!  Wes Lee hits his unlikely Finisher.  That was great!  MEANWHILE!  BRON BREAKKER TAKES AFTER HIS FATHER AND TURNS HEEL!  That was a fucking great episode!  HARDCORE!

[Iron Moose]

@DEAN, your recap posts make literally every show better. Thank you for being you.

[EVA]

Bron turning heel feels really smart. Dude was NOT getting it as a babyface character, and he has too much potential to be thrown onto the main roster before he’s even figured out who he is as a performer, where he’d get chewed up and spit out. Keep him in developmental and let him try something different for a while.

Edited April 5, 2023 by EVA

[Eivion]

14 hours ago, EVA said:

You’re right on the timetable but wrong on the reasoning, I think. It seemed like they got frustrated by a run of raucous Euro-heavy crowds hijacking the show in the mid-2010’s. There was maybe a year or two where they tried to play into it, even having the announcers call the post-Mania Raw “Bizarro World” (or something to that effect), before they finally seemed to throw their hands up and de-emphasize the show to avoid having big moments “spoiled” by the crowd going a different way. Sheamus getting the “You Look Stupid” chants on his big return as a heel comes to mind.

I don't think I'm wrong on the reasoning. I mentioned the crowds. I just forgot I mentioned it back in my general post on the show itself. It was pretty much a case fo all of it that led them trying to turn the Raw after mania back into a normal Raw. Its always weird though since WWE wants to have their cake and eat it too by still selling it as something different from the norm despite active efforts to make take it back to the norm.

[Niners Fan in CT]

I thought RAW was a bad, chaotic show and I'm concerned that Vince is here to ruin the entire thing but I'm also not ready to pull my hair out just yet. Maybe it's because I've been enjoying the shows and especially the PLE's for the last 9 months, maybe there's some goodwill left and I'm willing to give it a chance. 

There wasn't any clear direction they took that killed it for me, it was just simply a really bad show.  Bigger picture, I think a Cody vs. Lesnar feud can be enjoyable if there's some good bit of storytelling to go with it.  Lesnar's turn was really random.  I don't remember any seeds being planted at all so they really need to sell this to me.  

The Bad Bunny stuff was ok, I'm looking forward to him and what they'll do for the Puerto Rico show. 

Bianca-Rhea was weird but if those seeds were planted for a real reason, like a title unification match down the road, then hell yeah sign me the fuck up. 

So that's my positive spin on these things.  Rest of the show wasn't really worth mentioning.   It looks like Smackdown! will probably focus more on The Usos and their relationship with Roman after suffering defeat. 

[EVA]

The Brock turn was the most Vince-brained thing. It definitely feels like the sort of thing that would’ve played out over at least a couple weeks under the HHH regime, but Vince got in the room and it’s suddenly FUCK IT WE’RE DOING IT NOW, PAL.

The old man 100% would’ve blown off Sami’s story 6 months ago.

Edited April 5, 2023 by EVA

[Dolfan in NYC]

23 minutes ago, EVA said:

The Brock turn was the most Vince-brained thing. It definitely feels like the sort of thing that would’ve played out over at least a couple weeks under the HHH regime, but Vince got in the room and it’s suddenly FUCK IT WE’RE DOING IT NOW, PAL.

The old man 100% would’ve blown off Sami’s story 6 months ago.

Just a note -- Meltzer reported that Brock's turn was *not* one of the things Vince changed.   

[Eivion]

Pretty Deadly Deadly vs. Tony D & Stacks was nice. The finish was something different, a little goofy, but it worked.

Dragon Lee vs. Frazier was damn good. So happy to see Noam Dar make his return here. Also happy to see he brought along the Heritage Cup. Hopefully we get people like Gulak and Walker going for it at some point. 

Indi/Stark built into a good match. Dug Indi on the defensive so much and the crowd getting behind her a good deal throughout. The post match with Cora's return and Stratton was decent. Hopefully we aren't getting a triple threat.

Ivy/Tatum was shockingly good. Tatum bumped around well, and I really dug the attitude and new moves Ivy brought to the table. She clearly holds back going off of how she was here. Hopefully they give her more singles opportunities this year. Also dug the post match with Ivy and the Creeds celebrating while Tatum looked on so sad. That was a woman who knew she fucked up. Kind of curious if they continue on with the heel turn and do something else with her. 

Wes/Axiom was another fine match as expected with plenty of great action as expected.

The final segment with Melo's celebration was fine, and then Bron's turn made it good. Not sure there is really much Bron can learn sticking around in NXT that he couldn;t on the main roster character wise, but I can't complain a nice heel turn the audience is digging. 

[DEAN]

2 minutes ago, Eivion said:

Ivy/Tatum was shockingly good. Tatum bumped around well, and I really dug the attitude and new moves Ivy brought to the table. She clearly holds back going off of how she was here. Hopefully they give her more singles opportunities this year. Also dug the post match with Ivy and the Creeds celebrating while Tatum looked on so sad. That was a woman who knew she fucked up. Kind of curious if they continue on with the heel turn and do something else with her.

Paxley looked great.  That was weird.