Ultimo Necro Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 Wrestling should always be the angles and storylines sell the tickets to make people want to see the match. Instead WWE races through a years worth of matches in 4 weeks between PPV's. When TV is hot it was always because it was unpredictable, you always wondered what was going to happen next. Raw is so formulaic we could almost write next weeks show here. TV is dull because nothing really changes week to week and PPV's are bland because the builds have been poor. WWE is literally giving fans no reason to attend live events. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niners Fan in CT Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 I think Braun could recover well from a Brock loss (I still thought it was stupid) but certainly not the way they've been using him since the PPV.. Now he's heading into a match where 4 on 3, I think Braun's team probably should be the favorites even thought it's THE SHIELD but they definitely aren't winning... Braun probably will not take the fall but fuck, he's just spinning tires out here. It won't be long before he's a JAG. You could argue he's already there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 4 hours ago, Overly Critical Man said: The Shield is back. We all love Roman again. *sticks fingers into ears* lalalalalala.... Haven't we always loved Reigns, but just thought he's not "#1 babyface in the company" material? Because that's where I am. Has some hellacious matches, really good worker, could use some work on the microphone still, but overall I like him. I just don't want him pushed to be the reincarnation of John Cena or Hulk Hogan or whatever. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fowler Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 They just fucked up with Roman over and over. He's the one that should've sold out (bought in) and let him run as a bad ass heel years ago. And even now, why didn't they have the Shield reunite by helping Roman steal the belt at SummerSlam? Put some actual heat on him and Brock, see how the crowd reacts to it, etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted October 15, 2017 Author Share Posted October 15, 2017 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgundy LaRue Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 1 hour ago, Brian Fowler said: They just fucked up with Roman over and over. He's the one that should've sold out (bought in) and let him run as a bad ass heel years ago. And even now, why didn't they have the Shield reunite by helping Roman steal the belt at SummerSlam? Put some actual heat on him and Brock, see how the crowd reacts to it, etc They're not going to have anyone helping Roman win a belt. How's he supposed to be a badass if he needs backup to win a title? I agree that Roman as the corporate guy would have been good. But Rollins is the bigger HHH guy in the group, and I imagine that factored heavily into the decision. Plus, Rollins turning was an actual surprise. As for Braun being champ, it would have been fine. Except the guys who could best guide him in matches--Sheamus, Cesaro, Ambrose, Rollins--are currently tied into the tag division. Samoa Joe is hurt. Finn Balor is not viable when he's giving up a legit 200 lbs to Strowman. I still say some problems could have been avoided by sending Roman to SmackDown after WM, but then we wouldn't have the current Shield reunion. So who really knows. The Shield reunion isn't so much about getting Roman loved, he brags about retiring the Undertaker too much for that to be the goal. It's a means to give Raw a story for the fall TV season. Maybe it helps with ratings and sells a few tickets. Since WWE will be negotiating a new TV deal with USA sometime next year, they'll want to show something they have that can get fans excited. Personally, I think Raw is doing pretty well. There's some stuff that doesn't work, but I feel like effort is being made for it. SmackDown is dumpster-fire awful outside of the Usos/New Day. If anything, how the Shield break up this time could be good. Not that he'll turn heel for it nor should he, but Roman keeps side-eyeing Dean/Seth as if being around them bothers him. They're happy as clams and Reigns is like "Whatever, mofos. Let's hurry up, I've got shit to do." Roman didn't go looking for Dean and Seth, they came for him. It's an interesting dynamic, if play into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spritenaut 32 Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 4 hours ago, Brian Fowler said: They just fucked up with Roman over and over. He's the one that should've sold out (bought in) and let him run as a bad ass heel years ago. And even now, why didn't they have the Shield reunite by helping Roman steal the belt at SummerSlam? Put some actual heat on him and Brock, see how the crowd reacts to it, etc Meltzer said recently that he doesn't think the company will consider depushing Roman - or even turning him heel - until they have another hot young babyface they can slide into the ace babyface slot. Emphasis on "young." Meltzer doesn't think they'd ever run with AJ or Nakamura in that spot because both are around 40. It will have to be a new, younger guy. There doesn't seem to be anyone fitting that description on the horizon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 30 minutes ago, Keep Calm, Akira Hokuto On said: Meltzer said recently that he doesn't think the company will consider depushing Roman - or even turning him heel - until they have another hot young babyface they can slide into the ace babyface slot. Emphasis on "young." Meltzer doesn't think they'd ever run with AJ or Nakamura in that spot because both are around 40. It will have to be a new, younger guy. There doesn't seem to be anyone fitting that description on the horizon. They don't even need to split up New Day short term. He can be the singles worker and the other two tag. Just let him retain some of his humour and attributes that make him so cool and likeable instead of super serious stern IC champ Big E. I know most people have given up on Wyatt too and that's fair. He is pretty much damaged goods at this point but I think there's big money in both a Bray vs. The Machine storyline (and Roman is The Machine) and Rusev as the USA loving foreigner. All of this goes back to them pretty much cannibalizing their entire roster in hopes of getting Roman over. They had huge chances in both Dean during his initial run after the shield breakup and Seth upon his return from injury. Dean has been in coast mode since his depush and Rollins never got that big babyface turn moment. The excuse that's often trotted out is that they don't know how to book babyfaces. Partially true but I think the fact they've invested in Roman at the cost of every other potential top face is far more damaging. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Web Conn Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 I serious Big E singles push I think could work, once they are done with the AJ and Corbin feud, I think Big E should get a run with the US title. And he can do some sort of new day invitational challenge and elevate himself and the US title and he could have like a year plus run taking on all comers and beating them all until some NXT call up comes up (Gargano maybe) beats E and then they feud and then Big E starts a main event run and gets the WWE Championship. And I also like the idea of The New Day applying the New Day rule to a singles championship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 It's not S Series, it's /s Series. ...what? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victator Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 4 hours ago, RIPPA said: Braun burst out the side eating corn. "Found a shortcut!!!!" 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nate Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 6 hours ago, RIPPA said: Titus looks like Big Show, in this preview pic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fowler Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 4 hours ago, Keep Calm, Akira Hokuto On said: Meltzer said recently that he doesn't think the company will consider depushing Roman - or even turning him heel - until they have another hot young babyface they can slide into the ace babyface slot. Emphasis on "young." Meltzer doesn't think they'd ever run with AJ or Nakamura in that spot because both are around 40. It will have to be a new, younger guy. There doesn't seem to be anyone fitting that description on the horizon. They've already turned him half heel. Keep that, let the Shield just be agents of chaos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victator Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 2 minutes ago, Brian Fowler said: until they have another hot young babyface they can slide into the ace babyface slot. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HumanChessgame Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 11 hours ago, Casey said: Haven't we always loved Reigns, but just thought he's not "#1 babyface in the company" material? Because that's where I am. Has some hellacious matches, really good worker, could use some work on the microphone still, but overall I like him. I just don't want him pushed to be the reincarnation of John Cena or Hulk Hogan or whatever. Pretty much this. The initial backlash was him getting pushed too much before he was ready, but in that time he's improved drastically. It's pretty similar to what happened with The Rock years ago however Roman doesn't have anywhere near the same charisma or mic skills Rock had which makes it unlikely he'll be able to overcome his past overpushes to be accepted by the crowd as a whole. The Shield reunion is a great chance to cool him off in the main event scene. Let The Shield run roughshod around Raw like they did previously without getting involved in any title feuds while other people go after the belt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 How credible is Joe Lanza? He's saying the guys on 205 Live that are in the WWE 2K18 game aren't getting a cut of the sales for the game, but rather just a flat fee to appear in the game. Which might explain a little bit of Neville's ongoing story. He was supposedly promised a "real push" on RAW, but then Enzo came along and, yeah. What's an actual fact is that 205 Live started to get into the Top 10 most watched on the Network after he won the title. He's also talking about how several people inside WWE that are waiting to be free agents are contacting Cody Rhodes and asking him for advice on how to make the most money on the indies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tromatagon Posted October 16, 2017 Share Posted October 16, 2017 It's not just the 205 guys because Foley openly complained about this in the past Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nice Guy Eddie Posted October 16, 2017 Share Posted October 16, 2017 I'd like to know whose contract is close to expiring. The return of Aries, Pac (whenever he'll be free) and Jimmy Jacobs to the indies is an exciting start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niners Fan in CT Posted October 16, 2017 Share Posted October 16, 2017 Hopefully Neville and Aries and these guys start replacing the Joey Ryan's and Marty Scurl's of the world who make it impossible for me to enjoy indy wrestling. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted October 16, 2017 Share Posted October 16, 2017 Marty Scurll is going nowhere except maybe WWE eventually. He's ridiculously popular and the large majority of indie fans love him, so ignore him or learn to tolerate him. I don't think he's nearly as terrible as some here make him out to be but he does too many cutesy spots. He's actually pretty good at general match layout most of the time and is very charismatic. I think he's capable of being pretty damn great with a few tweaks here and there. I do wonder if ROH will be the destination for most of the guys should a decent chunk leave. TNA is a shit show and can't help but tripping over itself. New Japan is pretty much maxed out on foreigners and has the strong Japanese sense of loyalty to older natives and foreigners that perhaps should be let go at this point. Where else do they go? Is there a new bigger indie promotion created that works more frequent shows like an ROH alternative? I really wouldn't be surprised if there's a great exodus from WWE and the indie workers return to their familiar territory with bigger names and higher booking costs. Between shirt sales and the indie boom, I'm guessing most of them would make more on the indies than in NXT at least. I would've thought Zayn would be the kind of guy to leave seeming as he's been killed off but then they did the big turn so I hope he runs with it and makes it work because he was way, way too fucking talented to be curtain jerking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgundy LaRue Posted October 16, 2017 Share Posted October 16, 2017 The payment situation was inevitable. PPV royalty money is gone with the network in place. They don't get paid for re-runs of shows on the network, as I recall. WWE has been careful with royalty points based on WWEN. And while the DVD/Blu-ray money has also decreased, there's still some payment involved with that. So if your preshow match gets left off the WM disc like Neville/Aries, it's a sore point. Guarantees are lower for the smaller stars, too. Top-tier guys will be fine, Vince will take care of them. But the lower-card crowd doesn't have much leverage and there are too many in NXT to take their spot for Vince to care too much. That's rough, but here we are. While having freshly-pressed WWE guys on the indie scene will be great, it can easily tip in the other direction in a variety of ways. For every Cody or Drew Galloway/McIntyre who succeeded on the indies, we have Damien Sandow and Jack Swagger who didn't. We have Ryback who probably could have done pretty well, but overestimated his value. Neville has the talent and likely the smarts to do well for himself. Most 205 Live guys would probably be OK. But how many guys may try to bet on themselves only to get caught in the lurch? I'm not saying don't take the risk, just that a few won't fare well. Plus guys asking for a release will now probably have to sign a no-compete clause to keep them out of New Japan/ROH for at least 90-180 days. Not to mention that an influx of new talent is exciting until they have to compete for spots, just like in WWE. Which likely impacts performance fees. And if it's already out that guys are calling Cody, someone is running off at the mouth and likely to get someone caught or in trouble. I'm not suggesting that guys shouldn't go if they feel mistreated. Just that it doesn't seem as cut and dry. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niners Fan in CT Posted October 16, 2017 Share Posted October 16, 2017 I think the women are in the worst position. If one day WWE decides they don't want to push you anymore (which seems to be the case with Bayley) that's your whole career down the drain. She went from being a clear star of the division for years to come and probably selling million of t-shirts and other merch to where she is now... in a very short time.. and there is nowhere for her to go. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgundy LaRue Posted October 16, 2017 Share Posted October 16, 2017 Yep. WWE is the pinnacle if you're a woman. You can certainly get some bookings and sell a decent amount of merch on your own. But WWE offers greater career opportunities, both in and out the ring. If they love you, that is. If they don't, OOF. Unless you've got good non-wrestling connections and can parlay those into a non-wrestling career, you're stuck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Sweetser Posted October 16, 2017 Share Posted October 16, 2017 What was the saying? WWE workers are Vince McMahon playing with toys in a toybox? He'll play with his favorite toy till he gets bored with it and tosses it back in the box, and if you're REALLY lucky, he'll pull you out of the toybox and play with you again someday. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuerrillaMonsoon Posted October 16, 2017 Share Posted October 16, 2017 I'd totally be up for a redux of Wolfpac vs Goldberg with the Shield as the Wolfpac and Lesnar as Goldberg. Makes the most sense - Lesnar has to go through all 3 members of the Shield to get his title back, one by one, the occasional multi-man tag that elevates guys along the way (uneasy alliance with Braun, Big E, etc) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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