SummerSlam XXXVI - 8/5/2023

[The Natural]

Man, Asuka's never had a memorable main roster run as women's world champion.

[EVA]

36 minutes ago, StarChief EagleDemon said:

After hearing the "bottom of the third" reference in regard to this storyline, I'm wondering if there are any other baseball references that can be made.

Should the umps call curfew on the game?

Do we add someone from NXT in as a September call up?

End it now via the 10 run mercy rule, Roman wins again.

 

If I was Heyman, I don’t know that I would be inviting comparisons to baseball, a sport that featured more action than the Summerslam main event last night.

 

[The Natural]

12 minutes ago, EVA said:

If I was Heyman, I don’t know that I would be inviting comparisons to baseball, a sport that featured more action than the Summerslam main event last night.

 

Is that unusual for Baseball?

I should say Rounders .

[Jamal]

2 hours ago, StretchMediatedHypertrophy said:

Slight pivot, but while elsewhere on this board ppl are complaining about how AEW book/feature women.....there really ought to be a Dark Side of the Ring about the failure of Rousey in WWE, and let's face it, she had a good look in NXT but Baszler is the Queen of Spades of a busted flush; she's not rehabilitatable at this stage IMHO....Shafir might yet turn out to be the best of them.

I agree. I loved Shayna in NXT but they have messed both her and Ronda up so badly that this win, which should be a huge deal, does nothing for her. 

[TheVileOne]

The reason this whole angle is dumb is because Jimmy was the one who turned on Roman in the first place. He needed to fight for his brother to side with him and turn on Roman as well. And now Jimmy has gone right back and turned on Jey? It's ridiculous. We are getting into nWo-lite territory the constant, convoluted, and contrived babyface and heel turns.

We know that Jey Uso can't beat Roman, but you literally could not have done anything else to facilitate that? It's bad creative.

We know WWE is going to milk The Bloodline cow until it's dry. Well it's dried up now, and they don't know what to do next. That much is clear. And it will take the audience a while to figure it out.

 

[odessasteps]

Will they milk it until they finally get Dwayne to do a match? 

[blitzkrieg]

Jimmy thinks that Jey is always going be his screwup brother, so unable to accept that Jey actually might have changed, he cost him the match because he thinks that Jey will just screw up being the Tribal Chief. I think the foundation for that has already being laid out for that and think if the "We out" speech from Jey was any sign that it's a good angle to go with. Jey is over with the crowd and as a result The Usos were over with the crowd but it didn't take them any time to turn on Jimmy. It's a good chance to let Jimmy develop and I think Jey comes out stronger when he eventually wins the fued. Plus it keeps them away from the tag team division.

If you want to put Jimmy back in The Bloodline, just make it as simple as that it was a decision by the Elders. If you don't want to put Jimmy back in The Bloodline then Jimmy still wants Roman gone but he doesn't believe that Jey should be the one to do it. 

[odessasteps]

During the entire Bloodline saga, have they ever mentioned the DUI issue? 

[Stefanie Sparkleface]

12 minutes ago, blitzkrieg said:

Jimmy thinks that Jey is always going be his screwup brother, so unable to accept that Jey actually might have changed, he cost him the match because he thinks that Jey will just screw up being the Tribal Chief. I think the foundation for that has already being laid out for that and think if the "We out" speech from Jey was any sign that it's a good angle to go with. Jey is over with the crowd and as a result The Usos were over with the crowd but it didn't take them any time to turn on Jimmy. It's a good chance to let Jimmy develop and I think Jey comes out stronger when he eventually wins the fued. Plus it keeps them away from the tag team division.

If you want to put Jimmy back in The Bloodline, just make it as simple as that it was a decision by the Elders. If you don't want to put Jimmy back in The Bloodline then Jimmy still wants Roman gone but he doesn't believe that Jey should be the one to do it. 

I read the Jimmy interference, plus Solo being annoyed with Roman spearing him, as "we're going to end up with a Jimmy vs. Jey vs. Solo vs. Roman four-way down the road", personally.

[Just Dave]

One thing I learned this weekend is that there is a segment of wwe fans who can talk themselves into thinking anything is “cinema.” Not here, but in other circles. I checked out SS on a whim, and that’s 4 hrs I can’t have back. Do people really get this into the Bloodline stuff, some two years after it started?

Also, you got a lot of dudes in this Slim Jim battle Royal who look exactly the same. I don’t watch regularly, but I couldn’t tell McDonagh from Grimes or Theory from Waller. Ridge Holland is as generic as it gets. Karrion Kross is just a guy now. Is AJ Styles really this big an afterthought at this point? Dude could’ve been All Elite and instead he’s midcard surfing with Nakamura and Otis. LA Knight winning was the right call, but I’ve seen enough fan anointed acts in wwe to know that hes about to be shat upon from great heights. No real thoughts on the rest of the show, other than I think you’re lying to yourself if you still believe wwe’s women are booked better than aew’s.

[John from Cincinnati]

9 minutes ago, just drew said:

One thing I learned this weekend is that there is a segment of wwe fans who can talk themselves into thinking anything is “cinema.”

If Heyman is to be believed (insert joke here), that seems to be what they’re going for. For better or worse depending on who you ask. 

[DJ Hero Morganti]

I enjoy the bloodline stuff.  I can absolutely understand why others might not.  But it helps that only the bloodline stuff is worked that way and only roughly once a month.   

WWE does a reasonable job of providing a broad swath within their house style.  I would absolutely hate the bloodline stuff if every match was worked to milk each story beat without any pacey or spotty or meat slappin matches to break up the shows.

[colonial]

3 hours ago, just drew said:

One thing I learned this weekend is that there is a segment of wwe fans who can talk themselves into thinking anything is “cinema.” Not here, but in other circles. I checked out SS on a whim, and that’s 4 hrs I can’t have back. Do people really get this into the Bloodline stuff, some two years after it started?

Also, you got a lot of dudes in this Slim Jim battle Royal who look exactly the same. I don’t watch regularly, but I couldn’t tell McDonagh from Grimes or Theory from Waller. Ridge Holland is as generic as it gets. Karrion Kross is just a guy now. Is AJ Styles really this big an afterthought at this point? Dude could’ve been All Elite and instead he’s midcard surfing with Nakamura and Otis. LA Knight winning was the right call, but I’ve seen enough fan anointed acts in wwe to know that hes about to be shat upon from great heights. No real thoughts on the rest of the show, other than I think you’re lying to yourself if you still believe wwe’s women are booked better than aew’s.

It would have helped if we saw more than 3-4 introductions. L.A. Knight seemed to have vanished from the match until slightly before the Omos elimination. With all these new names and faces that are part of the WWE Universe, it wouldn't have hurt to show every intro so you'd know who is who.

[TheVileOne]

4 hours ago, blitzkrieg said:

Jimmy thinks that Jey is always going be his screwup brother, so unable to accept that Jey actually might have changed, he cost him the match because he thinks that Jey will just screw up being the Tribal Chief. I think the foundation for that has already being laid out for that and think if the "We out" speech from Jey was any sign that it's a good angle to go with. Jey is over with the crowd and as a result The Usos were over with the crowd but it didn't take them any time to turn on Jimmy. It's a good chance to let Jimmy develop and I think Jey comes out stronger when he eventually wins the fued. Plus it keeps them away from the tag team division.

If you want to put Jimmy back in The Bloodline, just make it as simple as that it was a decision by the Elders. If you don't want to put Jimmy back in The Bloodline then Jimmy still wants Roman gone but he doesn't believe that Jey should be the one to do it. 

Now it just feels like we're getting into Fast X Justice4Han territory. 

[NoFistsJustFlips]

10 hours ago, StarChief EagleDemon said:

After hearing the "bottom of the third" reference in regard to this storyline....

 

Heyman is literally telling everyone we're 3 years deep in a 9 year story. I may be reading too much into a throw away metaphor. But this def fits my narrative so Imma run with it lol. Breaking Bruno's record confirmed.

I do think there's a bit of over reacting going on here. This is not nWo lite. When the focus of the story shifts to Horace / Virgil / Steevie Ray level guys fighting over being in charge of Hogan's half of the nWo when he's away we can talk. This is still really strong story telling with the core characters that started the whole thing. Lets put things back into a realistic perspective.

I might have a slightly more rational view point here because I don't watch any of the weekly TV shows. I just watch the PPVs. That's the best way to follow the story in my opinion. Instead of the character and motivations getting over exposed for me, I get 8-12 story beats spread out a month apart. 8-12 story beats vs 52 story beats is a big difference. So The Bloodline hasn't jumped the shark for me. The highs of the Sami story beat haven't been reached again, but we got 6 more years to get some.

[Casey]

Good to see Cody went back to WWE for nothing if that’s the case. Or I guess he can wait 8 more years to finish his story (but everyone will have moved on to another story by then).

[John from Cincinnati]

57 minutes ago, NoFistsJustFlips said:

I do think there's a bit of over reacting going on here.

Please don’t take this as disrespectful or particularly serious, but rather what strikes me as an amusing thought: I think this line is hilarious coming from someone who thinks they have Bruno’s reign in their crosshairs.

[TheVileOne]

"If this is baseball, we're just in the third inning here man."

Six more years of Reigns as champion.

[NoFistsJustFlips]

7 minutes ago, John from Cincinnati said:

Please don’t take this as disrespectful or particularly serious, but rather what strikes me as an amusing thought: I think this line is hilarious coming from someone who thinks they have Bruno’s reign in their crosshairs.

I don't get the correlation lol. I don't have strong opinions on what I think they should be doing either way. So if they aren't in the process of breaking that record it's fine. I don't have a personal attachment to them doing it. I just have a pretty strong feeling that's what the intent has always been since Roman came back and started this character.

On the other hand people in this thread are big mad and have personal attachment to when and where Roman has to drop the belt (or should have already done so). Multiple uses of jump the shark and nWo lite. I mean if people have found their personal jump off point to where they aren't enjoying it anymore I get it. It's the hyperbolic comparing their personal lack of enjoyment to this being compared to one of the worst & most damaging to business metrics story conclusion in wrestling history. It's not at all close to that point. Can it still get there? Sure. But it's not even close yet.

[username]

13 hours ago, StretchMediatedHypertrophy said:

Slight pivot, but while elsewhere on this board ppl are complaining about how AEW book/feature women.....there really ought to be a Dark Side of the Ring about the failure of Rousey in WWE, and let's face it, she had a good look in NXT but Baszler is the Queen of Spades of a busted flush; she's not rehabilitatable at this stage IMHO....Shafir might yet turn out to be the best of them.

I would say that Rousey's first run/year in WWE actually went surprisingly well. She was much better in-ring than I think anyone anticipated (mostly on the back of remarkably solid selling of all things), it paired up well with the ascension of Becky Lynch leading to the ladies legitimately main eventing Wrestlemania (and no, Charlotte shouldn't have been in the match).

 

This second run has been an abject disaster though, it feels like literally nothing in it has gone right.

 

FWIW I think it is possible for the Roman/Jey main event to have been a disappointing mess and the Bloodline angle to still survive and be fine. It might not, but I recall a lot of people freaking out after Mania and it turns out it stayed red hot and over as hell. I'm of the opinion they all likely have to end up on the same page somehow before Mania (I think Roman drops it at 40, and after all this time it should be someone overcoming all the numbers and not just winning because Roman is now alone) and yet... well let's just say I need to be sold on the deal with Jimmy making any sense.

[DreamBroken]

Very lackluster inconsequential show that felt like nothing really happened for a big event.

Thought it started surprisingly strong with Logan/Ricochet as a solid opener and I'm not generally a Ricochet guy. Then the show peaked early with Brock/Cody and just kinda went downhill.

There was absolutely no need for yet another Seth/Finn match going exactly the same, Finn made to look like a dumbass, Seth fights off the entire judgment day with ease, etc.

 

So much for "the champ has to be on their feet first" in the dumb as hell cash in rules. Thought the 3 way turned in to a near showstealer despite a slow start and some rough spots, the last portion was electric and genuinely surprised me with Bianca's win but it was all for nothing. MITB is so tired.

WM was the end of me caring about the wwe title stuff, just rolled my eyes at the nonsensical silly Jimmy turn.

[AxB]

Perhaps they're building to a Roman vs Jimmy vs Jey vs Solo 4 Corners match. Which Roman will win when he stacks all 3 of them on top of each other and pins them simultaneously.

[EVA]

4-way definitely seems to be the next permutation of this, given the Solo/Roman tension and Jimmy not giving a clear indication that he’s back with Roman, despite turning on Jey.

[Brandon Bones]

Having watched so little WWE in the last few years.  It was immediately apparent putting this show on my pupils narrowing to regulate the amount of light trying to penetrate the back of my skull.  AEW is practically moonlit by comparison.

All my smarky hypocrisy aside.  I heard Vince was on the shelf and that Ford Field wasn’t located in Saudi Arabia so I gave this show a shot.

Keep in mind I’m lacking a lot of the week to week context.  But we know most of the time in the E that shit don’t matter.

Kid Rock… nope.

Ricochet and Paul was excellent.  LP illustrates for me the contrast between a guy the trains exclusively for BODY and an actual athlete.  There’s a reason Arnold never did a match though you’d think he’d be perfectly suited. Paul is factory installed with everything you need for someone willing to go longer term than your average one-and-done celebrity match.  And it’s more than just the moves.  The in betweens, he’s making faces/talking shit.  Very punchable face too.  He works.

Poor Ricochet.  He could’ve (should’ve) been a modern day Tiger Mask.  And his girl WAS wearing the other dudes colors.

Cody/Brock was very excellent pro wrestling.  Cody going over Brock and getting passed a torch is certainly not the credit card WWE spends money on.  So for those still ill’n over Cody not going over at Mania.  Maybe perhaps (but still probably not) there’s some hope for this finished story hullabaloo.  
 

It had somehow made it into my orbit this LA Knight fellow is quite the jolly chap.  I smell a Zach Ryder situation here.  Fun Battle Royal with some great visuals of Omas being enormous.  
 

I liked Shayna in NXT a lot.  Can’t stand Ronda.  Hopefully this gets Bazler a shot to elevate.  I can see some matches with Rhea getting her there.  
 

Fuck the Titantron.  Didn’t miss it.  It made the stadium look so much more impressive.  I get that they use the staging sometimes to mask the appearance of open seats by pushing it forward and giving a more impression of fullness.  But if you’re doing a football stadium let it be big.  Ford Field I thought looked amazing.

Gunther is something of an anomaly.  Not that kind of guy I’d figure would get past Vince’s nose.  But here we are.  Kinda wish JR could’ve called this hoss battle.  This might have been the thing to get him out of his slump.

 

Seth Rollins match.  Skip.

 

I think so highly of Charlotte in the ring.  I’d like a match with her and Omega.  I think that match would fucking rule ass.  

It’s been said that a MITB cash in after a match is reductive to the person you’ve just put over in the prior match.   But color me surprised to see Iyo be where she is.  Like Gunther I’d have thought “a square peg”.  But that was a crowd that loved her for the win.  
 

I’m glad to see that the Usos getting not only a solid run.  But a long term run at the top.  I really felt they were underserved in those early years.  Now they’re doing drama based angles in stadiums.  Not bad.  
 

I used to bitch all the time about announce table spots, destroying it, and then they spend the rest of the sitting in the wreck and doing nothing about it for the rest of the show.  This show they DID put it back together for a later announce table spot and now I’m all “Why did they do that?” other than to set up and signal another table spot later in the show.  I cannot be satisfied.  
 

Again lacking context of just how well the Jimmy turn was executed.  Me in a vacuum thought it was pretty good.  
 

When was the last time we ever saw the champ, the guy, the whoever franchise player, squash somebody so the announcers could say “And that’s why that motherfucker is the champ”?  Setting up the darkest of doom days that by the time Cody steps up again, he’ll be an impossible underdog.

[Brandon Bones]

18 hours ago, just drew said:

 

Also, you got a lot of dudes in this Slim Jim battle Royal who look exactly the same. I don’t watch regularly, but I couldn’t tell McDonagh from Grimes or Theory from Waller. Ridge Holland is as generic as it gets. Karrion Kross is just a guy now. Is AJ Styles really this big an afterthought at this point? Dude could’ve been All Elite and instead he’s midcard surfing with Nakamura and Otis. LA Knight winning was the right call, but I’ve seen enough fan anointed acts in wwe to know that hes about to be shat upon from great heights. No real thoughts on the rest of the show, other than I think you’re lying to yourself if you still believe wwe’s women are booked better than aew’s.

I thought so too.  Too many black trunk black boots combos.  Made me glad to see Gunther go full DBry maroon color scheme.