CONTRECOUP XIX - 4 Mai 2024

[NoFistsJustFlips]

The crowd was feisty but in a lot of ways detracted from the matches. If you watched Ospreay vs Danielson, you saw the crowd lose it based on what they were seeing in real time and really elevate and already great match. Here you had the crowd breaking out into song over the word phenomenal regardless of what was happening before their eyes. The only time in the main they lose it for what they were seeing was after the burning hammer kicked out. It didn't elevate anything. It was loud and fun and all that. But I wish it was harnessed into the story they were watching.

[Ziggy]

2 hours ago, NoFistsJustFlips said:

The crowd was feisty but in a lot of ways detracted from the matches. If you watched Ospreay vs Danielson, you saw the crowd lose it based on what they were seeing in real time and really elevate and already great match. Here you had the crowd breaking out into song over the word phenomenal regardless of what was happening before their eyes. The only time in the main they lose it for what they were seeing was after the burning hammer kicked out. It didn't elevate anything. It was loud and fun and all that. But I wish it was harnessed into the story they were watching.

But that’s what happens when they don’t have any televised events. And WWE doesn’t make it any better by acknowledging it and now we’ll have a situations where a lot of these international markets are going to out do each other especially if they feel the more vocal they are they more they believe they can politic for a WrestleMania or another big 4

 

 

 

[username]

4 hours ago, NoFistsJustFlips said:

The crowd was feisty but in a lot of ways detracted from the matches. If you watched Ospreay vs Danielson, you saw the crowd lose it based on what they were seeing in real time and really elevate and already great match.

FWIW I've seen people whose wrestling opinions I respect a great deal (glances towards segunda caida) mention how the over the top crowd response took away from Ospreay/Danielson as well, so I'd say that latter bit is up for debate.

[Steventon]

The opener was probably my favourite match of the show. Super simple, two fired up charismatic babyfaces pummelling the heels in front of a super hot crowd. Was it me or was it more violent than most WWE prop fests? There were several shots to the head and I thought that was a no no in WWE. Maybe they are being more lax about that under the Hunter regime. Tonga is mediocre but he at least took that wild avalanche fisherman buster on the chairs. The finish was typical Bloodline guff and no one could possibly care about the other Tama coming in but until then it was fun.

It's a shame they had those few minutes of calamity in the womens tag because everything either side was a blast. Belair and Cargill are an awesome powerhouse team and the heels had tonnes of fun double team stuff, both teams just felt like cohesive units. Smart to have Belair do most of the work as she is more well rounded than Jade, who isn't very good at taking stuff, but got to shine in her big moments. No idea what happened in the middle, looked like they were doing a relatively intricate sequence, Jade flubbed something, then Kairi got lost for like 2 minutes when thrown off track. Oh well, I still thought it was a thumbs up regardless because the stuff either side was shockingly good. Belair is a god pairing for Jade and I am down for this tag team, and the eventual rivalry once one of them turns on the other.

Main event was good but unremarkable. It feels like all modern WWE main events (maybe not specific to WWE actually) are just constant back and forth with no prolonged heat section or one guy having the advantage. There were several moments where Cody took a big spill or sold something like it was going to be important, then the next move was him evening it up against AJ. Would it kill wrestlers to let their opponent string a few pieces of offence or have a few minutes of sustained heat? I came away feeling it was all well executed but lacking in drama, which is a shame because the video they put out of AJ training and talking about not being done yet made me really want this to be a barnburner. But Cody, as much as I like him, just ain't that guy.

Edited May 6 by Steventon

[Stefanie Sparkleface]

Man, whole lot of fun cops in this thread. Don't have fun in an unapproved way around here or else you're going to get busted by people who get distracted by rope colors.

[DMJ]

I liked the atmosphere for the first two hours...by hour 3, it had veered into "crowd popping for themselves" territory. At a certain point, breaking into a chant for every 2 count became obnoxious. Then again, as a middle school teacher, my mileage may vary when it comes to things that are funny for a few minutes but then become interminable.

I thought nearly every match on the card needed to shave off at least 3 minutes (the Women's Tag even more), which would've given them time to add either another match or an in-ring segment. Maybe find a reason to bring Miz and Maryse out? I know she's French-Canadian and not French-French, but I assume the crowd would've popped huge for her. 

[Raziel]

Maryse is either about to have or just had major surgery so she's not traveling.

[EVA]

I think it’s fine for crowds to be enthusiastic in any way that they want, but they definitely flummoxed AJ and Cody in the main event. AJ couldn’t get any heat going because of the phenomenal song, and they seemed really lost on what to do otherwise. Just kind of ended up trading moves without any real escalation, even with Cody trying REALLY hard with the burning hammer kick out.

[blitzkrieg]

While I don't think the Phenomenal song is getting imported anytime soon, it does look like the Yeeting Fireflies probably is going catch on:

 

Edited May 6 by blitzkrieg

[NikoBaltimore]

It'd be neat if that catches on but that just felt forced and there seemed to confused faces in the crowd.  But they tried.

The main and even the face-to-face on SD did throw off AJ and Cody so that wasn't ideal.  But I thought the crowd was into everything and added a lot to it.  I think we heard enough crowds in the past that just wanted it to be about themselves to see they weren't intending to take away from anything.  It was good fun with their first PPV so I'm down for it.  Plus you could tell the wrestlers were having tons of fun especially those like KO and Randy who were having the time of their lives.

[Greggulator]

I follow zero Japanese wrestling except in bits and drabs. The one thing I know about Guerillas of Destiny is that their entrances are so fucking cool and they have an absolute menacing presence. The one brother that took out Jimmy Uso looks like an absolute unhinged maniac in the best way possible. I don’t need those dudes to have five star matches. I need them to look like lunatics that, along with Solo and I am guessing Jacob Fatu, no one can control. I did not see the match from the PPV yet but they are hitting the uncontrollable psychos stuff pretty well.

[EVA]

38 minutes ago, Greggulator said:

I follow zero Japanese wrestling except in bits and drabs. The one thing I know about Guerillas of Destiny is that their entrances are so fucking cool and they have an absolute menacing presence. The one brother that took out Jimmy Uso looks like an absolute unhinged maniac in the best way possible.

I went back and found this little blurb I wrote about Tama after a match he had with Juice Robinson in the 2018 G1. I think it’s still pretty much true, for both good and ill.

”Tama Tonga continues to display everything you could want in a pro wrestler...except the ability to put a decent match together or cut a promo. ”

As long as they don’t ask him to do those two things consistently, he’ll be a fine role player in just the way you described.

Tanga Loa still has zero redeeming qualities, though.

Edited May 6 by EVA

[Raziel]

Tonga's showed glimpses of being decent when he decides to actually try.  The thing is, the moments he decides he wants to try are few and VERY far between.  He's good as a character guy and  yeah, just doing brawls.  But expecting a banger out of him is a fool's errand.  Loa is amazing in how someone sired by Haku can be that utterly shit at everything.

[Eivion]

I liked the few bigger matches I caught of Tama the past few years in NJPW. They went longer than needed but were good. I think he will be alright as he likely will positioned for shorter stuff in WWE. 

[Greggulator]

I am finally watching this now. Man, this opening tag match is a platonic ideal of an opening match. This is how you star a show in front of a crowd this scorching hot. Hot brawl with two legends (KO has hit that level), general chaos, rule change so it’s a brawl, and just beat the hell out each other with plunder and tables until the shock ending. Just keep it simple and wild. This feels like ECW Arena circa 1996 and I mean that as the biggest of compliments.

[Greggulator]

Correction: That match actually felt like a tribute band version of Midnights/Fantastics from the first Clash of Champions. It was not nearly as good as that match, but that’s possibly a Top 10 US Tag match and Top 10 opening match. No shame in not being at that level because it was still a really great hate-filled brawl but with a lot of ECW plunder. 

Also: Are people really hating on that crowd? Man, that was so much fun to watch. The first PPV after WrestleMania is usually something really forgettable. This was really memorable because of the atmosphere. I bet the performers had an absolute blast in front of that crowd. You could tell Randy was just shocked at the massive theme song singalong. 

[Dolfan in NYC]

29 minutes ago, Greggulator said:

Also: Are people really hating on that crowd? Man, that was so much fun to watch. The first PPV after WrestleMania is usually something really forgettable. This was really memorable because of the atmosphere. I bet the performers had an absolute blast in front of that crowd. You could tell Randy was just shocked at the massive theme song singalong. 

Some people hate fun.  

And if you want to see confused, during his match, AJ Styles looks like he's looking at a globe for the first time ever the entire time. 

[NikoBaltimore]

So Backlash last year was in Puerto Rico and this year was in France.  Both had really awesome crowds (Bad Bunny's entrance with the crowd singing along still gives me chills) and I can't help but wonder where it will be next year.  I know HHH heard Italy was really great on the European trip so I wonder if that might be it.  They would certainly be a fun crowd to wrestle in front of.

[The Natural]

19 hours ago, NikoBaltimore said:

So Backlash last year was in Puerto Rico and this year was in France.  Both had really awesome crowds (Bad Bunny's entrance with the crowd singing along still gives me chills) and I can't help but wonder where it will be next year.  I know HHH heard Italy was really great on the European trip so I wonder if that might be it.  They would certainly be a fun crowd to wrestle in front of.

Backlash has become a stand out for those reasons, you beat me to it, my friend. I'd say the biggest yearly PPV/PLE are:

• Royal Rumble.
• WrestleMania.
• Backlash.
• Money in the Bank.
• SummerSlam.
• Survivor Series.

Edited May 8 by The Natural

[The Old-Fashioned Gamer]

On 5/6/2024 at 8:51 AM, Stefanie Sparkleface said:

Man, whole lot of fun cops in this thread. Don't have fun in an unapproved way around here or else you're going to get busted by people who get distracted by rope colors.

Your post count indicates you’re not new here, but you’ve got to be new if you’re surprised this group hates to see peopleenjoying WWE. It took me a lot less than 42 posts to learn that.

Edited May 9 by The Old-Fashioned Gamer

[The Natural]

***** for Cody Rhodes vs. AJ Styles from Dave Meltzer. Surprised by that.