Godfrey Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 God damn, Rock killed it in both promos. Roman is so going to turn on him and I hope we get a special board authorized blade job. Rock/Roman at Summerslam? More signs in the crowd too, that's a healthy augury (as they said one time in Deadwood and I never forgot) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eivion Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 That Rock promo was great, even better than the first one he did a few weeks back and set up the Night 1 tag perfectly. Happy they gave the match some stakes as well. Roman's part at the end was perfect in both aligning the Rock fully yet also setting a good breaking point for both if/when things go wrong at Wrestlemania and Cody wins. Naomi/Tiffany was fun and a nice showcase for Naomi. Bayley/Dakota vs. Kabuki Warriors was the setup everyone knew was coming but was also completely necessary and well done. DC needed a win over Bayley to get some extra cred going into Wrestlemania. This was the biggest and best response the group has had in months. The backstage staredown with Jade was interesting. Curious to see if that is a post Wrestlemania thing or if Jade maybe teams with some other Smackdown women to take on Asuka, Kairi, and Dakota at Wrestlemania. Carlito/Santos was decent and a good return for Rey. The win over Santos makes sense though I have to admit I was hoping Santos would win to set up a Wrestlemania match between him and Rey. Who knows, maybe we get a big mixed tag though that feels more like where things are heading Final Testament and Lashley/Profits/B-Fab. Orton/Theory was fun, especially with Owen's reactions on commentary and how everyone played with them. Nothing special match wise though nothing bad either. This felt more like a show for building angles for Wrestlemania and maybe even post-Mania. As much as I wish there was a standout match it was still pretty fun. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig H Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 I think the Rock just setup Austin saving the day and clearing house so Cody can finish the story. There was way, way, WAY too much setup with the Rock saying that there's no one in the back that could stop him from doing whatever he wants to do to Cody, how he's the boss, etc., etc. I predicted that weeks ago, but with each week that goes by, it feels like it will happen. Add to that Austin uploading the Disturbed version of his theme to his Instagram a week ago with no comment or explanation for it and, yeah... Look, I can't possibly get more pants free than the thought of WM night 2 ending with the Rock and the Bloodline thinking they can do whatever they want, Seth gets taken out, Sami gets taken out, there's no one left, and the motherfucking glass shatters and Austin comes out calling everyone a motherfucker, talking trash, the Rock's eyes bug out, Austin beats the shit out of the Rock, the playing field has been leveled, Cody hits one Crossroads, hits another, and then beats Roman 1-2-3. Confetti falls down, Cody completes the story, and Austin toasts Cody with some Broken Skull IPAs. That crowd would be fucking molten. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew POE! Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 The Rock's promo essentially killed Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes as far as being over and giving anyone a reason to want to watch WM40 this year. It came close to killing the always mediocre and boring Roman Reigns from being over too. I halfway expected a response to Reigns' "Rock acknowledge me" to be "Roman Reigns, I acknowledge you....as the biggest piece of monkey crap The Rock has ever seen!"Then The Rock telling Reigns that before Cody Rhodes wanted to 'finish his stupid story,' they were going to fight and The Rock wanted to be "the head of the table." It's fine they went the way they did, but I have a hard time believing that Cody Rhodes & Seth Rollins will win at Night 1, much less Rhodes winning at Night 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RazorbladeKiss87 Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 Not surprised Dakota turned on Bailey but I am disappointed. I hope Bailey gets the win at Mania. I'm thinking at night one Rock/Roman win, probably through hijinks (otherwise you run the risk of making Seth and Cody look like jokes which the Rock's promo kinda did already) but night two is Cody's night. Roman blames Rock. SummerSlam is their singles and if it's in Cleveland, I'm figuring out a way to go. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
For Great Justice Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 Oh yeah, Rock/Roman are totally winning night one and then the night two main event is the biggest sports entertainment spectacle you’ll ever see (and I mean that in the best way). Austin is definitely going to show up to clean house WCW Babyface Turn style and it all sets up so much shit for later on. WWE is at its best doing this kind of shit (Jackass match, Austin/Owens last year) and it’s going to rule. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorman Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 Even though he got squished, I was happy to see Xyon Quinn make it to Smackdown. We met him on vacation, and he was very cool. I was able to give him some advice and told him he would be in one of my WWE history books someday. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iron Moose Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 (edited) Meanwhile, on LVL UP Generally high floor this week. Stacks d. a returning Kale Dixon with a curb stomp with the knee. Dixon doesn't get too much, but has some good strikes and makes a flatliner look reasonable, but pauses a bit much in the finisher setup. Stacks' character work comes through better than in his tags. Lola Vice d. Wren Sinclair with a backfist. This has surprising chemistry. It starts with Wren holding up a hand for a test of strength and Lola just punching it instead. Wren's attire says "completely new at this" but some sequences in her ringwork show a measure of genre-savvy that I think the audience appreciates: Lola blocks what would be a pinfall reversal sequence, Wren catches the the upward kick and turns it into a cradle. Wren has really good follow-through with her shoulderblocks and clotheslines - it feels like a number of other people would be doing the move in a vacuum; she slows down for a sec after each to better express the impacts. Lola does a bit more grappling than usual, reacts with indignation that's a bit more realistic than she usually does. Good stuff. J'Evon Evans d. Javier Bernal. Bernal has a new, somewhat goofy 80s rock outfit and entrance. Evans has a ton of potential and the crowd is really into him, some Wes Lee vibes. A few of their bits seem a bit forced, but both do well overall. Edited March 3 by Iron Moose 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolfan in NYC Posted March 2 Author Share Posted March 2 Here's the Rock's promo: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greggulator Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 One thing I loved in The Rock/Roman promo was Solo lurking behind Roman once Roman snatched the mic. Crowd is going to pop so huge when Solo ends up spiking either The Rock or Roman at the first Raw after WM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godfrey Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 I got caught up on the rest of Smackdown Stratton/Naomi was decent. I'm not a huge fan of Tiffany because I find her presentation to be boring and regressive but she's definitely taken to wrestling well Everyone could see the DmgCtrl turn coming on the horizon and they pulled it off great anyway. I love that they laugh maniacally like witches on a CW show. Bayley getting backed up by Jade Cargill is a good way to ease her into a storyline Wardlow should be watching how they book Breakker I didn't have the sound on for the Street Fight. It looked kind of silly tbh and Carlito won? Pass Never forget, Pete Dunne got a big ass head Main event was your standard TV crowd pleaser. I don't have much of an opinion about Theory but some people love him which leads me to believe he's the next Randy Orton. Kevin Owens was having a ball blaming a near botch on Theory's criminal amount of body oil and untying Waller's shoe. Fun stuff 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaedmc Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 6 hours ago, Andrew POE! said: The Rock's promo essentially killed Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes as far as being over and giving anyone a reason to want to watch WM40 this year. Hahaha. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infinit Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 Has the usage of the term "Samoan Dynasty" been a regular thing? Really stuck out to me when Barrett said it a few times last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blitzkrieg Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 The Instagram video that actually took the time to explain why Logan Paul wasn't removed from the Chamber after his elimination was such a nice touch. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig H Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 So I watched that 20 minute Rock promo. I thought it was a little long and it did bury the fuck out of Seth, again, but my biggest complaint is the inclusion of what’s his name from Busted Radio. I fucking hate his voice. And after all these years, I don’t even know if it’s a shtick that he does where he’s such a dork. I think he really is just a huge dork. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godfrey Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 This is why I think Seth has to get the pin on Rock on Night 1. Otherwise wow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godfrey Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 Fightful says Rock went more than 10 minutes over and other people had their time cut, notably Naomi and Tiff. The new boss is really ingratiating himself with the workers 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaedmc Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 I don't think Seth has to get the win, when Drew Mac can be the spoiler, and siphon some of this heat for his match on Night 2. I mean I guess you could go either way on Night 1, but logic would dictate that the bad guys don't get pinned until Night 2. So Drew and the Bloodline fuck Cody and Seth on Night 1. The good guys couldn't get it done on Night 1 together, what hope do they have on Night 2? Tune in to find out. On the other hand, I feel like there's got to be some kind of reward for Seth Rollins somewhere. Something more than beating Drew Mac(again). He's done a lot of great work recently on the microphone trying to make all of these stories work, and it feels like he's getting done dirty with this angle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew POE! Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 10 minutes ago, jaedmc said: I don't think Seth has to get the win, when Drew Mac can be the spoiler, and siphon some of this heat for his match on Night 2. I mean I guess you could go either way on Night 1, but logic would dictate that the bad guys don't get pinned until Night 2. So Drew and the Bloodline fuck Cody and Seth on Night 1. The good guys couldn't get it done on Night 1 together, what hope do they have on Night 2? Tune in to find out. On the other hand, I feel like there's got to be some kind of reward for Seth Rollins somewhere. Something more than beating Drew Mac(again). He's done a lot of great work recently on the microphone trying to make all of these stories work, and it feels like he's getting done dirty with this angle. That's my point about it killing Seth Rollins being able to be over. Yes, Rollins is a 'fighting champion,' but as Roman Reigns points out, the title is a second place prize to his titles. The Rock completely destroyed his character last night. All of that should lead to a heel (Reigns/Rock) comeuppance and Rollins getting rewarded, but I'm not holding my breath. What's to stop Rollins from going completely off script next week on Smackdown and say, "You know what? Fck this. Since you (Rock) said you'll give my title to someone else, here take it. I quit. I'll call Dean Ambrose and go to AEW." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaedmc Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 I guess it depends on how you look at it. Roman says Seth's title is Second Place, which one could say is true particularly when they unveiled it a year ago. Seth says Roman's title reign is padded by Roman sitting at home for months on end, and when he does show up it's one fight with lots of interference from his cousins. Which is true, but it also similarly undermines the historic nature of Roman's title reign. So it's almost a wash as both guys are trying to shit on the other to build up their own legacy. HOWEVER. One guy has shown up to work every week and defended his belt not just on Premium Live Events, but on TV. A year of Seth's Title Reign does not equal a Year of Roman's. And for me that's the difference. Rock and Roman can shit on Seth, but Seth can always say - he's working every week until his body won't let him. And he can say they've built WWE to something special again and Rock is just trying to leech off of younger stars success. And he wouldn't be wrong. Rock can say the suits at Netflix don't know who Rollins is. But are fans supposed to get excited about Ted Sarandos' favorite wrestlers instead? Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes will most likely never ever ever be as famous as Dwayne The Rock Johnson. That's just reality. But I don't think that means folks should give up on them because they can't be transcendental generational ultra super mega stars. That being said.... Rollins has been getting the worst barbs during every exchange. I feel like he's gotta be getting something out of this at some point. But wrestling history is littered with guys who didn't get theirs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew POE! Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 11 minutes ago, jaedmc said: I guess it depends on how you look at it. Roman says Seth's title is Second Place, which one could say is true particularly when they unveiled it a year ago. Seth says Roman's title reign is padded by Roman sitting at home for months on end, and when he does show up it's one fight with lots of interference from his cousins. Which is true, but it also similarly undermines the historic nature of Roman's title reign. So it's almost a wash as both guys are trying to shit on the other to build up their own legacy. HOWEVER. One guy has shown up to work every week and defended his belt not just on Premium Live Events, but on TV. A year of Seth's Title Reign does not equal a Year of Roman's. And for me that's the difference. Rock and Roman can shit on Seth, but Seth can always say - he's working every week until his body won't let him. And he can say they've built WWE to something special again and Rock is just trying to leech off of younger stars success. And he wouldn't be wrong. Rock can say the suits at Netflix don't know who Rollins is. But are fans supposed to get excited about Ted Sarandos' favorite wrestlers instead? Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes will most likely never ever ever be as famous as Dwayne The Rock Johnson. That's just reality. But I don't think that means folks should give up on them because they can't be transcendental generational ultra super mega stars. That being said.... Rollins has been getting the worst barbs during every exchange. I feel like he's gotta be getting something out of this at some point. But wrestling history is littered with guys who didn't get theirs. I agree. The problem is....building up two of the most over faces in the company this way is almost insurmountable. Even if Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins win at WM40 and Rhodes wins against Reigns, how am I as a fan supposed to buy into it? Even a casual/lapsed fan won't see Rollins/Rhodes on the same level as The Rock. In a few months, The Rock will be away doing whatever and not on TV and it'll be back to Reigns pulling the football away for the next challenger to try to kick it. (Unless Rhodes finally win the titles at WM40, then it'll be something different) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 To be fair, how many people are at Rock's level? In moden history of the business, maybe a handful? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zendragon Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaedmc Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 16 minutes ago, odessasteps said: To be fair, how many people are at Rock's level? In moden history of the business, maybe a handful? That's really my point. It's almost irrelevant that he makes fun of people for not being as famous as him. It's like no shit bro, no one here has a million dollar gym that travels with them where ever they go. Rock is in rarefied air in terms of the entire entertainment business. No one in wrestling compares to him. He could tap out to every guy and gal on the roster and it wouldn't get them closer to his level. Despite him shitting on Rollins, I think Rock is actually helping the show. He's the bright and shiny frame around the potential master piece that is the Roman/Cody Saga. I can't tell others how to be fans, but I can say I buy into Cody Rhodes as a guy who really really cares about pro-wrestling. Even though the company has put the machine behind him, he doesn't feel like a guy who was hand picked and manufactured from the beginning. He feels more like product of his own hard work than purely the choices of a promoter. And anyone can say whatever they want about the dude, but it doesn't change the fact that I'll continue to fuck with him, because he clearly loves doing this and wants to tell cool stories. I relate to that. And honestly, I don't really care much for Seth Rollins in the ring, but over the last year I can't help but respect the dude the same way. Roman and Rock dumping on them doesn't mean much to me. It doesn't make me respect or support Cody and Seth less, it makes me, as a fan, want to justify why they deserve our support even more. In that respect, Rock and Roman are doing exactly what they're supposed to do. They're making me want to cheer the other guy. Like I'm not going to root for the guy who made Black Adam, just because he's went back to referring himself in the third person. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 I don’t like Cody, but I do believe he sees this as the family business, and he’s proud to try and follow in his fathers footsteps even if he will never be the star that Dusty was, WWE PR machine or not. I see him as part of the problem of people that discuss wrestling in terms or stories and narrative and that other stuff. That makes see Cory more as “failed actor/entertainer” Cody and less wrestler Cody. I think that mentality has hurt the businesss almost as much as “hot moves” becoming the dominant style of in ring style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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