The Natural Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 You can buy Drew McIntyre's shirt: 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
For Great Justice Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 Drew is on the run of a lifetime. He’s one of the best things in wrestling TV so far this year. It’s great because he has yet to tell a lie this entire time. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 1 hour ago, For Great Justice said: Drew is on the run of a lifetime. He’s one of the best things in wrestling TV so far this year. It’s great because he has yet to tell a lie this entire time. What a run Drew is on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig H Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 There is part of me that feels like WWE co-opting a fan movement to make it artificial is pretty cynical. The other part of me says, fuck it, whatever delivers us Cody vs Roman at WM is fine as long as that happens and Roman vs Rock happens. But it looks like Cody vs Drew vs Seth? Or not because there was that Sami promo? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 Wow, they printed up a shirt just for Colt Cabana. That's awful nice of them. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolfan in NYC Posted February 6 Author Share Posted February 6 10 hours ago, Kang said: Liv Morgan is so pretty. For the record. . . I'd really prefer you not do this. I hope I'm making myself clear. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 Adrenaline, In my soul. The Rock overshadowed Cody Rhodes. Oh no. Grief and pain. In my soul. Dwayne Johnson just stole my role. Oh no. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godfrey Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 Some fun wrestling action but the commercials got the better of me on this one, I found it hard to concentrate and kept missing stuff Raw Opening Promo felt like a pivot to Drew/Seth for that belt. Rock got booed and Seth's title got booed. Word is they handed out #savethecodyverse signs so they are definitely leaning in to that. It reminds me of the old school booking philosophy of 'tell the audience what you want them to want and then deliver it', who knows how much of it is them flying by the seat of their pants at this point I liked Baszler/Lynch but they didn't gel until the second half. Shayna as the arm wrecking monster is rad Was it me or did the crowd not know how to react to babyface Rhea? Imperium's jubilee was fantastic. If Jey wants to cement himself at the top of the card, surviving a feud with Gunther is a good way to do it Kayden Carter stinks and always seems like she's either going through the motions or still in rehearsal mode. Catazanro is capable some wild highspots and I think could use a better partner (I'm a fan of the big/small teams) Sami's interview was well done and throws some intrigue into Mania plans. I think it's just to build him for the Chamber because I refuse to get my hopes up New theory: Nakamura has red mist because it's as visually close as Cody can get to blading on regular TV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobra Commander Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 (edited) Putting this on the record before tonight’s NXT: I have absolutely no confidence in the NXT arena mutants not being mutants if Ava appears on screen tonight. So I’m guessing they’ll just mute the crowd if she’s in a backstage segment so everybody can save face. Edited February 6 by Cobra Commander 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RazorbladeKiss87 Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 I think they thought the crowd would be louder during the opening. Maybe I'm misremembering but the Daniel Bryan stuff seemed way more nuclear in 2014. The tag 4 way was good and I liked Becky/Bazler. I'm over the R Truth/Judgment Day stuff though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 3 hours ago, Godfrey said: Word is they handed out #savethecodyverse signs so they are definitely leaning in to that. There were two things I noticed while Raw was on in the background last night, and one was this. Absolutely lame. They might as well have "CHEER" and "BOO" signs as if this were a studio sitcom. The other thing was their insistence on the Pat Patterson IC tournament win in Puerto Rico being real which is a hilarious rib at this point. Oh, and I saw Truth giving out shirts from a box hung on him by a bullet belt?! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godfrey Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 Despite the signs, PWInsider says Rock/Roman is a lock https://pwinsider.com/article/180042/latest-on-the-rock-at-wrestlemania-the-cascade-on-cody-and-more.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamhock Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 They should have Priest get laid out backstage at the beginning of Wrestlemania Night 1, and his MITB briefcase gets stolen, though we don't see by who. Then: A half-unconscious Drew beats Seth at the end of Night 1 to win the title. Sami immediately appears with the briefcase, cashes in and wins the title. Drew chases him for a few months before obliterating Sami at some future Premium Live Event of Doom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobra Commander Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 The WWE probably wouldn't intentionally do something like this for a few reasons, but Ava being the NXT GM sorta reminds me of Malia Obama writing/directing on movies/Amazon. In the whole sense that even if they're good at these things, there'll be people thinking they got the job because of who their dad is. But yeah, the whole online harassment thing is way too much in character for some people. The fun part of this entire thing is that if it was a giant work, it involves people who will loudly insist that they can't be worked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon Bones Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 (edited) That shirt is amazing. So how much of this show is left now that the overall motivation to tune is “disaster watching”? Is there anything to enjoy? Is Ricochet still there? I’m currently watching the meltdown on Busted Open. So this WWE shit, that I don’t make much time for, is finding a way to penetrate my AEW force field. It’s got me thinking. But that’s because wrestling fans are a particular bunch as far as how they fit into the overall culture. There is boatloads of overlap there regardless of what brand you spend your time on. But there is little to no overlap in mainstream media. It’s always been that way but for a few notable exceptions (like say Hogan/Andre on NBC at 8pm). Years of following McMahon style decisions not only suggests but SCREAMS an absolute thirst for that kind of acceptance. ROCK/Roman IS the biggest match any company anywhere has to offer the world and they’ve been chasing it for years. For Rock it’s a chance to get back in there one more time. For Roman, it’s his bridge out of the company and on to bigger and better things. They have their claws dug in and the power to not have to let go. And just like that. Cody and WRESTLING FANS are betrayed. We have seen shows where the crowd populating the arena are a bunch of nonfans (Mania 4/5). It’s a suck show. Thankfully the tickets got sold largely before a certain Board Member cut in front of the line at Dunks and bought all the donuts. As a fucking geek I find it offensive that this company I spent decades watching commit artistic suicide. Again. Let’s face it. ROCK is going to go out there and injure himself on a kip up. His legacy as a wrestler will preclude him from doing what HE SHOULD be doing. Which is an upper card celebrity bullshit Vince match with all the smoke and mirrors it requires. It’s not like ROCK is going to wow us with a goddamn moonsault or any new moves at all. They flinched last time when it FINALLY got figured out that not putting Bryan over at 30 would have led to embarrassing the company on its biggest day of the year. But this may have gone too far to turn back. Bully Ray is saying doing Cody/Roman at the Garden one the first Netflix show could end the story correctly. But I think that’s too far away. Fuck it. Put ROCK/Roman on earlier in the show and let Rollins/Cody close the show. They’ve already committed. Maybe that can give the fans a chance to make this right. Or Rollins and Cody should call Steamboat to show them how to steal the show from the two biggest stars in the industry. Edited February 6 by Brandon Bones 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 2 hours ago, Brandon Bones said: Is Ricochet still there? He was last seen at the Rumble attempting to destroy his spine while exiting the ring to lose the match. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godfrey Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 3 hours ago, Brandon Bones said: So how much of this show is left now that the overall motivation to tune is “disaster watching”? Is there anything to enjoy? YMMV but Gunther's IC reign has been great, Rhea has been great, the undercard has a lot of talented juniors and tag teams, and the top of the card has guys like Drew and Sami doing some of their best work. There's also been a shift to a more *gasp* realistic sports-like presentation, not huge but enough that it made a noticeable difference to me. I'd say it's more consistent in terms of quality now more than ever (for better or worse), BUT sometimes the angles move at a snail's pace and all the matches on TV are so chopped up by ads that they can be tough to watch sometimes 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RazorbladeKiss87 Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 Something I really liked were the walking promos or the little promos with no interviewer like the one Shayna did. If it had been an insect promo it would have been even better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 Only things I caught involved the main, oddly. Dijak's knuckle punch to open up Ilja was as if Harley himself manifested in corporeal form to hit him. It wasn't just the nose, the knuckle clearly hit right in the middle of the forehead to open him up hardway. The match itself I didn't see all of and need to go back to, but it looked good as usual from the Russian. He holds such a pace in his matches. Shame about the finish though. I'm... not sure... that a Looney Tunes gag was the right move there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worldcupfever Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 11 hours ago, Curt McGirt said: Shame about the finish though. I'm... not sure... that a Looney Tunes gag was the right move there. That was very much my buddy's reaction. He said it was a main event match with a finish from the Sami/Johnny Knoxville match. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 At least those spots might've hurt, or looked it. This was someone getting tapped in the face with a boxing glove on a stick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolfan in NYC Posted February 7 Author Share Posted February 7 Like I said on the Discord... Dijak is such an odd figure in wrestling. He's got the look, moveset, and personality to be an upper mid-card, secondary champ. Like I could see him and GUNTHER or Roman beating the unholy fuck out of each other til they both couldn't stand. But there's zero chance I'd put him over almost anyone higher than him on the card. Almost like, I dunno, he does everything excellently but he has a 100% impermeable ceiling. I like the guy, I really do, and I think he's a good fit in WWE. But it's one of those cases where I cannot see him taking the next step up. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worldcupfever Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 I did feel bad about the T-Bar chants last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eivion Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 (edited) Watched all of this while a bit sick so I could be off on some of it save the first match. Axiom/Frazer vs. Blade/Enofe was fucking awesome. Everyone just went for broke and looked amazing. King/Riley was solid. Dug Hayes's promo. The content was predictable, but he stated it all pretty well and was so easy to hate for it. Roxanne/Lola was pretty nice, probably the best Lola has looked so far. I'm continuing to dig this far more aggressive Roxanne. It feels like she finally has caught the missing piece she needed. Tatum's interruption was surprising. Curious what the aim there is as she has been Lyra focused for months now until this. Lash/Jakara vs. Fallon/Wren was solid. If the Women's Dusty Cup happens I hope it goes to Lash and Jakara. They feel like a real team and work well together in and out of the ring. Was nice to see them finally moving forward a bit with Jensen via that wakeup call from Briggs. The setup for Dijak/Ilja was decent though Dijak maybe went a bit far with that punch. The actual match was pretty good as expected though that finish was strange. The post match beatdown was another nice heek move from Melo. Matches and segments were both solid-good. Axiom/Frazer vs. Blade/Enofe tag is must see and elevates an already pretty solid episode into a good one. Edited February 8 by Eivion 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts