BEN! Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 I know everyone's upset right now. Nobody worry though. The Big Dog's still the guy, babygirl. He's going to be back just in time to win back his WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Battleground! In the meantime, you can all look forward to the impending return of "The Viper" Randy Orton! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Go2Sleep Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 3 hours ago, NickMD said: Heel Roman going all "Fuck your indy dudes!" would be great to see. Pair him with Baron and they could go on an indy-crushing crusade which would be fun TV. I actually think this has become a pretty nonviable gimmick over the last couple of years. It has some inherent worked-shootiness that is always a bad thing plus it has developed a stigma because it has been used as a bail-out for guys crowds were already shitting on or, at the risk of sounding too smarky, guys who just aren't as talented as the high-end ex-indy wrestlers they rail against. Batista probably got as much mileage as anyone could with that gimmick and he only had about a 3-month run with it that consisted entirely of putting indy guys (and Roman ironically) over. Baron Corbin couldn't get over with it in NXT despite his ring-work improving tremendously and it has left him dead in the water on the main roster. Sheamus is trying it out to the same degree of success as Baron (a win over Apollo Crews if he's lucky). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eivion Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 What are you talking about? Baron was pretty over in NXT with the gimmick. He is dead in the water on the main roster because they haven't thought do anything with him outside of feud with Ziggler. That will screw up anyone's direction (see Rusev & Tyler Breeze). 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyld Samurai Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 They're already rehashing WCW's New Blood vs Millionaires Club (?) Angle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Go2Sleep Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 49 minutes ago, Eivion said: What are you talking about? Baron was pretty over in NXT with the gimmick. He is dead in the water on the main roster because they haven't thought do anything with him outside of feud with Ziggler. That will screw up anyone's direction (see Rusev & Tyler Breeze). Baron didn't get a ton of heat in NXT. Outside of maybe Respect, he routinely had the least heated matches on Takeover shows. He was decent enough in the ring that he wasn't a net negative or anything (someone's gotta put the top guys over), but charisma was never his strong suit. He got the "indy hater" gimmick to compensate since that's like "make fun of the local sports team" level cheap heat in NXT, but I don't see how you could look at the results for him and think that it would be a good idea to give that gimmick to someone you want to rehab down the line like Roman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eivion Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 I think you're underselling Corbin a bit, but I don't disagree about it not being the gimmick for Roman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(BP) Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 I think Baron and Roman would actually make a hell of a team. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 Only one place for Roman to turn now. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgundy LaRue Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 7 hours ago, Go2Sleep said: I'm not sure about that since everyone is wildly speculating about what other reasons precipitated the failed drug test. I doubt anything short of Cena or Lesnar getting busted would get people to even remotely consider that WWE's testing isn't as much of a work as anything that happens on Raw. I can see why someone would have the question of the situation being something of a work. I'm 99% sure it isn't, but this is WWE we're talking about. It has to be asked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 The latest Observer says that this was a recent violation. It goes on to explain that their usual policy is to wrap up whatever storylines the guy is involved in before suspending him and that they sometimes go months between positive test results and announcing suspensions. In other words, there was no pressing need to take the belt off Reigns right away. That would seem to lend further credence to the "this is a convenient excuse to demote him" theory. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 Two what ifs? If Roman Reigns failed during his program with AJ Styles, might AJ Styles right now be the WWE World Heavyweight Champion? Possibility. If Roman Reigns didn’t fail, would he still be WWE World Heavyweight Champion? I’d say so but I only found out on Monday how bad the pre Money in the Bank 2016 RAW rating was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muhammedboehm Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 5 hours ago, The Natural said: Two what ifs? If Roman Reigns failed during his program with AJ Styles, might AJ Styles right now be the WWE World Heavyweight Champion? Possibility. If Roman Reigns didn’t fail, would he still be WWE World Heavyweight Champion? I’d say so but I only found out on Monday how bad the pre Money in the Bank 2016 RAW rating was. 1) No I don't think AJ wins if they knew during that feud for the reason stated earlier in that they often hold the suspensions till a story is done and I fell the story was built to include Seths return. 2) No I think he still loses to Seth but it might not have been so clean. I think they still wanted the triple threat and you can't really build that unless there's a reason for a Seth rematch with Roman as champ and Dean saying he wants to cash in on both guys which is stupid. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brysynner Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 5 hours ago, The Natural said: If Roman Reigns didn’t fail, would he still be WWE World Heavyweight Champion? I’d say so but I only found out on Monday how bad the pre Money in the Bank 2016 RAW rating was. I wonder how much emphasis is placed on ratings by WWE. I feel that looking at the ratings a holdover many people can't get past from the Monday Night Wars. The show is still doing very well compared to other cable shows and is doing extremely well in the 18-49 demo. The RAW rating looks bad, but when you consider it's the #2 show in the 18-49 demo for all cable shows only behind Game of Thrones, that's not that bad. Also RAW was going head-to-head with the NBA Finals Game 5 when it looked like the Warriors were going to repeat as NBA Champions. So I really do not think ratings played a part of the timing of Roman's suspension. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clintthecrippler Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 1 hour ago, Brysynner said: I wonder how much emphasis is placed on ratings by WWE. I feel that looking at the ratings a holdover many people can't get past from the Monday Night Wars. The show is still doing very well compared to other cable shows and is doing extremely well in the 18-49 demo. The RAW rating looks bad, but when you consider it's the #2 show in the 18-49 demo for all cable shows only behind Game of Thrones, that's not that bad. Also RAW was going head-to-head with the NBA Finals Game 5 when it looked like the Warriors were going to repeat as NBA Champions. So I really do not think ratings played a part of the timing of Roman's suspension. I never understand why so many people think "ratings are a thing of the past, why worry?" I don't see how people fail to grasp the millions of dollars the USA deal is worth to the company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bink_winkleman Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 USA also fully expects them to compete with major sporting events. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Angel Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 He didn't take the bad drugs. He didn't take the good drugs. He just took THE drugs. That's all I got right now. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Sugar Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 3 hours ago, clintthecrippler said: I never understand why so many people think "ratings are a thing of the past, why worry?" Because that's the only thing from TNA that's ever caught on in the world of wrestling: "ratings, shmatings!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie M. Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 4 hours ago, Brysynner said: I wonder how much emphasis is placed on ratings by WWE. I feel that looking at the ratings a holdover many people can't get past from the Monday Night Wars. The show is still doing very well compared to other cable shows and is doing extremely well in the 18-49 demo. The RAW rating looks bad, but when you consider it's the #2 show in the 18-49 demo for all cable shows only behind Game of Thrones, that's not that bad. Also RAW was going head-to-head with the NBA Finals Game 5 when it looked like the Warriors were going to repeat as NBA Champions. So I really do not think ratings played a part of the timing of Roman's suspension. If ratings weren't still very important to WWE's business, there would be no live Smackdown on Tuesday and no brand split. Both are happening because USA is unhappy with Smackdown's ratings. WWE also gets something like less than 1/10th of the ad rates that another show with comparable ratings will get which is important to remember when comparing them to other shows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glfpunk Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 I don't think the suspension says in any way that they're moving away from Roman's push as the top guy. If that were the case they wouldn't have him returning in 30 days immediately into a title match. That's a conscious decision they made knowing that the suspension was coming that same week. I do think it's a great opportunity to regroup on what direction they want to go with Roman. Whether they make the most of it I have no idea. But if ever there was a time to easily turn Roman heel, it's right after a suspension that was plastered all over the internet and ESPN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nate Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 This seems weird to say, but I think that - regardless of the truth behind it - if they revealed that Reigns was busted for the sticky icky, instead of a PED, that might actually win him some fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranesi Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 2 hours ago, nate said: This seems weird to say, but I think that - regardless of the truth behind it - if they revealed that Reigns was busted for the sticky icky, instead of a PED, that might actually win him some fans. Perfect. They can rebrand him as a sullen suburban teen. They can actually keep the hair and most of the clothes, they just need to change his promo style. "I don't care about their stupid championship. The championship mentality is what's wrong with their whole generation. Let me recite you some lyrics I wrote. I'm still working on the music so I can only sing the chorus part but this will probably open your eyes up to some stuff baby girl. Then we can borrow your dad's car and go get some taco bell." 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PetrolCB Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 No way you just came up with that. You just thumbed through your Ambrose story archive and found something applicable. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyLaw Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 That sounds more like unused Batista Fashion Report material than Ambrose True Life stories. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig H Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 Given that this is WWE, I'm guesing they don't mention Roman's absence at all and fans will be even more pissed when he returns. Given that Vince and creative are on a death spiral of shitty booking, I wouldn't be surprised if Roman then wins the title. If that's the course of events, would it rival the fingerpoke of doom? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyld Samurai Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 No... the fingerpoke of doom killed a World Championship and can be directly correlated to killing the conpany. I honestly don't think people will notice he's gone for 30 days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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