Tables, Ladders, and Chairs VII

[nate]

I loathe the Dudleys' act at this point. It's almost like they're the "most dominant tag team" only because we're told they are. I'd even make the statement that Sabu and RVD were more dominant in ECW. "Most decorated," I'll give 'em that.

The way the WWE is using the Dudleys right now is probably the best they've ever been used. They're over as faces, so feed them to heels, then... feed them to more heels. Perfect.

I accept this.

Also, on the Big E appreciation topic, the enthusiasm that he puts into the "Rrrrocks!" part of "New! Day rocks!" is my favoritest of things.

[Trocar Slush Weasel]

 

You can't be that dominant if you keep losing your titles and having to win them back.

The Public Enemy were more dominant sure, but the Dudleys were still pretty significant.

 

Public Enemy was nowhere near as dominant, ever, as the Dudley Boyz. 

 

As for the PPV, it was better than I thought it had any right to be.  The tag title ladder match was the highlight but I thought every match had something to offer.  Except Rusev/Ryback, I skipped thru that.

[The Natural]

[Brysynner]

I wonder if Steph is going to go scorched Earth tonight on RAW. Look at the way she snaps at Rusev while going with her husband to the ambulance. I could see tonight promising a title shot to anyone who brings her Roman Reigns unconscious body while punishing Rusev/Del Rio/Sheamus for not taking out Reigns during the TLC match.

[nate]

Reigns v HHH at the Rumble. HHH "punishes" Reigns by keeping him out of the Rumble itself, and thus away from a title shot at Mania. Reigns agrees with the stip that if HHH loses, The Authority is done. Reigns wins. No more Authority or heel in charge of RAW and we go back to the good old days of an invisible behind the scenes authority running the show.

... which is ultimately revealed to be Hornswoggle.

[hammerva]

Alvarez on everything wrong with last night and he isn't wrong.

https://youtu.be/52Pc4Ywlb-c

I find him to be annoying and overly negative too, and perhaps this would carry more weight if he weren't always pissed about everything, but he nails this and echoes what a bunch of us were saying on here and Twitter last night.

 

That might have been the first time he has had a rant that didn't include "I was watching RAW (or Nitro) from 1996" .  

[Patrick B.]

I wonder if Steph is going to go scorched Earth tonight on RAW. Look at the way she snaps at Rusev while going with her husband to the ambulance. I could see tonight promising a title shot to anyone who brings her Roman Reigns unconscious body while punishing Rusev/Del Rio/Sheamus for not taking out Reigns during the TLC match.

 

[Raziel]

Best way to follow through is for Steph to not fire Reigns because that way, she can extract more revenge.

 

They stick a $100,000 bounty on him.

[RIPPA]

Side Tangent

Someone on Twitter was claiming (like within 10 minutes of the match finish so grains of salt, etc...) that the 8 man tag match finish was botched as supposedly Bubba was supposed to light the table on fire before Strowman showed up.

 

Again - who knows

[Burgundy LaRue]

Best way to follow through is for Steph to not fire Reigns because that way, she can extract more revenge.

 

They stick a $100,000 bounty on him.

 

Agreed about not firing him--because once that happens, it's finished.  Reigns has to stay in Steph's orbit for her to get her pound of flesh.

 

But make the bounty a million dollars and include an automatic WHC match to punish Sheamus and his buddies for not finishing off Reigns when they had the chance.

[RIPPA]

And I haven't done this awhile but since I do love me some me

 

DVDVR ‏@D_V_D_V_R  16h16 hours ago

I could have lived without the shucky ducky shit

 

DVDVR ‏@D_V_D_V_R  16h16 hours ago

Has Cole ever watched a Sasha Banks match before?

 

DVDVR ‏@D_V_D_V_R  16h16 hours ago

So this is the best preshow match ever, right?

 

(Editor's Note: folks responded that there was an Usos/Shield match that was really good too)

 

DVDVR ‏@D_V_D_V_R  16h16 hours ago

Poor poor friendless Becky Lynch

 

DVDVR ‏@D_V_D_V_R  16h16 hours ago

I would be scared of Swagger beating me because that means I am probably main eventing Superstars tomorrow.

 

DVDVR ‏@D_V_D_V_R  15h15 hours ago

I am Bad New Barrett! And I don't have a match tonight!

 

DVDVR ‏@D_V_D_V_R  15h15 hours ago

That is one shitty ass burrito if it takes 5 minutes to warmup

 

DVDVR ‏@D_V_D_V_R  15h15 hours ago

Definitely saw the Hustle Loyalty and Booty sign

 

DVDVR ‏@D_V_D_V_R  15h15 hours ago

Just a reminder - I was all about Big E before any of you fuckers

 

DVDVR ‏@D_V_D_V_R  15h15 hours ago

God Big E is going to do something fucking insane, isn't he?

 

DVDVR ‏@D_V_D_V_R  15h15 hours ago

I love all the strength spots they are doing with E

 

DVDVR ‏@D_V_D_V_R  15h15 hours ago

So apparently the new thing is to shit on ladder matches for being spotfests. Fuck all of you god damn hipsters.

 

(Editor's Note: This was in response to specifically Wade Keller bitching (though there were others))

 

DVDVR ‏@D_V_D_V_R  15h15 hours ago

Y'all can bitch about Xavier's commentary but he at least can tell the difference between the Lucha Dragons

 

DVDVR ‏@D_V_D_V_R  15h15 hours ago

"THAT LADDER MATCH HAD TOO MANY BUMPS!!! IT NEEDED MORE CHINLOCKS!!!" - the Internet

 

(Editor's Note: Yeah - I was irritated by the joyless fucks)

 

DVDVR ‏@D_V_D_V_R  15h15 hours ago

Have fun toping that rest of the card

 

DVDVR ‏@D_V_D_V_R  15h15 hours ago

I am now convinced that they are running this angle just so Lawler could get all his anti-marriage jokes in

 

DVDVR ‏@D_V_D_V_R  15h15 hours ago

Cole is more terrible than normal tonight

 

DVDVR ‏@D_V_D_V_R  15h15 hours ago

I always forget about Swagger's lisp until he cuts a promo and then I giggle. I am a terrible person.

 

DVDVR ‏@D_V_D_V_R  14h14 hours ago

Maybe that match will at least get Swagger into the Rumble for 45 seconds

 

DVDVR ‏@D_V_D_V_R  14h14 hours ago

"THIS TABLE MATCH HAD TOO MANY SPOTS!!! IT NEEDED MORE CHINLOCKS" - what the internet will eventual say

 

(Editor's Note: Still bitter...)

 

DVDVR ‏@D_V_D_V_R  14h14 hours ago

Rowan is the Wyatts Bad News Barrett

 

DVDVR ‏@D_V_D_V_R  14h14 hours ago

Oh no - those tables are so so heavy. How will Strowman ever get out from underneath them?

 

DVDVR ‏@D_V_D_V_R  14h14 hours ago

If they are going to have Owens try and win every watch by countout they probably should actual have him win by countout once

 

DVDVR ‏@D_V_D_V_R  14h14 hours ago

Remember when this was going to be a ladder match? Good times...

 

DVDVR ‏@D_V_D_V_R  14h14 hours ago

So basically Charlotte just has to do the corner flip to complete Flair bingo

 

DVDVR ‏@D_V_D_V_R  13h13 hours ago

Basically if anything notable happens in this match, you won't see it because Kevin Dunn

 

DVDVR ‏@D_V_D_V_R  13h13 hours ago

Poor poor dumb friendless Becky

 

(Editor's Note: I fell asleep right as the main event started)

 

[Brysynner]

 

Best way to follow through is for Steph to not fire Reigns because that way, she can extract more revenge.

 

They stick a $100,000 bounty on him.

 

Make it a million and include an automatic WHC bid to punish Sheamus and his buddies for not finishing off Reigns when they had the chance.

 

 

If this happens I would do two things.

 

1. Have a "fan" attack Reigns during his entrance, which would then stop Reigns from making that entrance again

 

2. Have Lesnar be the hired gun who takes out Reigns

 

(Plan C would be have Reigns defy the odds and survive until Hunter comes back and beats him down with the Sledgehammer of Doom.)

 

Whoever takes out Reigns should be allowed to leave Reigns laying in a pool of his own blood.

[Burgundy LaRue]

Lesnar: Reigns Killer would definitely work.  He MDKs Sheamus at Rumble, Reigns has to take out Triple H to get back into the WHC picture.  Not sure what you do with the Rumble winner, though.

[John from Cincinnati]

I wonder if Steph is going to go scorched Earth tonight on RAW. Look at the way she snaps at Rusev while going with her husband to the ambulance. I could see tonight promising a title shot to anyone who brings her Roman Reigns unconscious body while punishing Rusev/Del Rio/Sheamus for not taking out Reigns during the TLC match.

 

Roman silently plowing through bounty hunters all night sounds like it could be fun. 

 

Of course Steph going "scorched Earth" normally amounts to a twenty minute talkfest where Roman smiles dumbly as Steph chops his nuts off and carries them off in a mason jar. 

[EVA]

Bounties are probably too RASSLIN for this creative team.

[Death From Above]

I live posted this show over on PWO but I'll try and condense those thoughts here.

 

tl;dr, this was actually a show that went about as well as can realistically be expected, delivered some good action, and maybe even more importantly they have a really clear path from point A to point B for Roman now that not only makes sense but that the crowd can get with it and enjoy themselves.

 

Three Way Ladder Match

This was the craziest WWE spotfest of the year and I absolutely loved it. There was a great moment during New Day's entrance where they stopped on the way to the ring to do the wiggle, and there was a fan right behind them doing it to that completely cracked me up. Anyway, Kalisto and Uso doing that Solina Del Sol off a ladder is your spot of the year, nothing else can surely be close. There was lots of other crazy and chaotic stuff that happened. Nobody really fucked anything up in this match that I could see which is sort of amazing. Xavier was hilarious as a guest commentator. The finish was MAN THROWS A TROMBONE. Everyone pulls their weight in this, nobody died. This was fucking awesome. Million billion stars.

 

Rusev vs. Ryback

Probably the right choice to go on after the crazy excitement before it. Not an exceptional match but it was never really going to be. It was fine, but nothing special. Curious where they are going with this Lana Fakes Injuries angle. During the match Lawler on commentary (who seemed to be having a blast all night) worked in two or three shoot jokes where he warned Rusev about the dangers of marriage which was really funny.

 

Del Rio vs .Swagger

I couldn't possibly care less about this match, probably the thing I was least interested in. I don't get that whole ankle lock sequence. It looked like Del Rio was looking under the ring for a prop but it wasn't where he expected it to be so they just did something else instead. This was not very good and the crowd didn't care. I actually like a lot of Del Rio's mannerisms and his general heel-ish attitude he brings but his matches aren't doing anything for me right now. Some people seemed to dig this, it did nothing for me, but I also had no interest in it to begin with.

 

ECW vs. The Wyatts

I watched a lot of IWA-Japan back in the late 1990's in my VHS tape trading days, and this was perfectly fine as the IWA-Japan match between a bunch of random people trying not to die that kills time until Tarzan Goto wrestles in the main event. This was nothing you need to see but it didn't, like, offend me or anything. This was sloppy as fuck but I sort of enjoyed it anyway as filler. Strowman should be the guy that eats 10 dudes in the Royal Rumble then gets eliminated by the winner this year.

 

Ambrose vs. Owens

I was surprised how sprint-y this was, but the crowd seemed to get into it for the finish at least. Not as long as I expected, but a good end stretch. I like Ambrose but stop that rebound clothesline. Please. Ambrose having the IC belt actually gives them an out for "what to do with Sheamus" if you want to run Roman vs HHH and keep Sheamus away from Roman. SInce Roman is being given a you're fired angle, have Ambrose come out, "hey you screwed my friend well I have a belt too let's punch each other" etc. you have a tailor made match at the Rumble if you want one. This is what they should do. If they do not, they're doing it wrong.

 

Paige vs. Charlotte

This was the weirdest match of the night and the hardest to critique. I'm conflicted in that Charlotte seems fairly comfortable as a heel, but her Flair Cosplay stuff is fucking terrible. I realize fully this isn't going to happen but they have to let her branch out on her own more or this will get old really fast. But the problem is the match is over specifically BECAUSE of the Flair Cosplay angle, even though it's all wrong for Charlotte who is bigger than most of the other women and really a totally different kind of athlete than Ric was. So... it got over, but it did so in a way that was bad and won't work long term. Does it matter? I guess probably not? I mean, it worked, let's just move on. Head scratcher.

 

Roman vs. Sheamus

The work was good. TLC as a PPV format is flawed because you've had a night of dudes doing crazy shit with tables ladders and chairs all night already so the fist half of this is bound to be dead. That's nothing against either guy. Work was fine, lots of good stuff here. What's really important and what was all along was how do they work a finish that is actually interesting and they pulled it off in spades. Crowd absolutely went nuts for Roman finally snapping and saying NO MORE and just laying waste to everything like Godzilla. I rip Triple H a lot but he really puts this segment over the top, taking an ass beating. Then they worked a really cool sequence you don't see much where the doctors come out, they are hauling him off, then Roman comes back and just obliterates Triple H with what might be the best spear on a WWE program in forever. They finally turned Roman loose and the crowd 100% got with it. On top of that you now have a really clear path from point A to point B for Roman's character that makes sense and can be entertaining.

 

I know I get into fantasy booking a fair amount which isn't everyone's cup of tea but IF THEY ARE SMART it's easy.

 

Raw #1: Stephanie opens the show with the big promo. Roman you're fired, you'll never work here again, if you set foot in this building I'll have you arrested etc. HHH shouldn't even be in the show because he's "in the hospital". Main event can be anything involving Sheamus, it really doesn't matter. League of Nations vs the FBI. Anyway, Sheamus is in the ring setting up for the finish, Roman (with no music/fanfare) jumps the guardrail, spears Sheamus, spears Rusev, spears whoever. DQ. Stephanie comes out with like 20 cops who all hit the ring, Roman takes off into the crowd, Show goes off the air with Roman posing with fans.

 

Raw #2: Stephanie cuts another similar promo, Triple H comes out, released from hospital and (since we know he has to look strong) says, you know what Steph, Roman's not fired. I want Roman at the Rumble, I'm gonna beat his ass, I'm using my authority to reinstate him at the Royal Rumble, if I win he's FIRRRRRED etc etc.

 

Again, I'm not stupid, I know this company can still mess this up, but I really think last night's show went about as well as can be expected in terms of giving them a really clearly laid out path that if thiey follow both makes sense in wrestling logic and can be pretty entertaining as your lead to Wrestlemania.

 

Anyway, overall this show exceeded expectations. I'm actually giving it a big thumbs up mainly for them working their way out of a jam.

[Brysynner]

Lesnar: Reigns Killer would definitely work.  He MDKs Sheamus at Rumble, Reigns has to take out Triple H to get back into the WHC picture.  Not sure what you do with the Rumble winner, though.

 

That's easy. Let the Rumble winner be someone outside the box (so not Ambrose, Bryan, Owens. I would go with Kofi) then due to the stipulations of Roman/Hunter the Mania match is set up as Lesner vs. Roman vs. Rumble Winner at Mania. Roman goads the Rumble Winner to put up their shot against Roman's shot so the match at Mania will be a 1 on 1 match.

[Jiji]

Big E needs to be champion of the world. Compare this to restrained, over-scripted IC champion Big E. 

[evilwaldo]

I wonder if Steph is going to go scorched Earth tonight on RAW. Look at the way she snaps at Rusev while going with her husband to the ambulance. I could see tonight promising a title shot to anyone who brings her Roman Reigns unconscious body while punishing Rusev/Del Rio/Sheamus for not taking out Reigns during the TLC match.

 

 

Clearly this is what they need to get themselves over.  More Authority.  Cannot wait for the 25 minute promo tonight with Steph screeching like a bird telling us how terrible it is that her husband got beat up last night.

 

That should help my insomnia.

 

Who gets more time tonight?  The Divas or the Authority?  #divasrevolution

[piranesi]

At the rumble, the last three remaining should be the New Day.  They should then filibuster and agree that none of them will leave.  The ring crew will have to carry them out on the ring mat and we will all presume they will be driven from town to town like that and if necessary set up on the ramp while a "secondary" ring is used for matches and stuff.

 

This will go on until the Mania preshow when finally they will square off to determine who will be in the main event that night. 

[Vincey Greene]

I FULLY disagree with Lesnar/Reigns happening. Ever. Keep them as far apart as possible. Nothing good can come of it. Lesnar loses and you just beat Lesnar. Reigns loses and Reigns has lost again. If they're really trying to phase Cena out, have Cena be a surprise entrant and win the Rumble, have Roman win the title at some point between now and then, and do Cena/Reigns. People will likely root for Reigns, Cena can put him over and you haven't beaten Lesnar at the hands of somebody who is still pretty questionable. Boom. 

 

 

Have Lesnar/Owens or something, KO would go over just by having a good showing even in losing, and you didn't kill Lesnar for Roman Frickin Reigns.

 

 

All that said, completely not sold on Reigns. He still seems like someone playing wrestler to me. It all rings false, all of it.

[Curt McGirt]

So when are we getting .gifs of the good stuff already? 

[goc]

I expect Raw to end tonight with HHH calling out Roman Reigns "man to man" only for Roman to get jumped by League of Nations and held back while HHH screams in his face and slaps him.

 

And count me in as one of the people that thinks they should definitely do Lesnar/Reigns II at Mania. Whether that means Reigns wins the belt before then and Lesnar wins the Rumble or vice versa. Somebody has to beat Lesnar so they can at least get SOMETHING out of the insane amount of money they've been paying him, might as well be the guy they are hitching their wagon to.

[Trocar Slush Weasel]

 

DVDVR ‏@D_V_D_V_R  15h15 hours ago

Y'all can bitch about Xavier's commentary but he at least can tell the difference between the Lucha Dragons

 

A. Nobody better bitch about Woods' commentary, and B. For some reason, the funniest part of his commentary for me was when the Lucha Dragons did the monkey flip onto the ladder spot and he's just sitting there dumbfounded going "WHY?!?"

[RIPPA]

Well that was also in my continuing bitterness of people bitching during the ladder match since there was a lot of WOODS BEING FUNNY IS TAKING AWAY FROM THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE BUMPS!!!!