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WWE Superstar Shake-Up (RAW/SDL 4/16-4/17/18)


The Natural

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16 hours ago, hammerva said:

I look forward to Becky just doing run in while eating quinoa the whole time.  I mean if the New Day can do pancakes why not 

 

I'm hoping a shirt comes out that has "Watch my quinoa!" on it.

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11 hours ago, SorceressKnight said:

4- The Miz traded for Dolph Ziggler

This is the kind of trade that would get a GM blackballed from running any sports team ever again.

As it is, Angle’s trades/draft picks prove that CTE is real.

That said, when Bryan finally gets his hands on Miz, it is going to be nuclear hot.

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5 minutes ago, Cristobal said:

Roode will make a solid IC/US mainstay once they let him go heel again.

I'm baffled how attached they are to him as a babyface. I get the whole "NXT guys always get cheered on call up and his theme will get him cheered" ideas but it's been like 8 months for fuck's sake.

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When you factor in that Kevin and Sami were actually signed by Steph after Kurt explicitly rejected them, his performance here was worse than Shane/DB's inaugural draft. The only guy he got with a high ceiling was Drew, and he's strapped to Dolph for some reason. Raw's roster is still loaded from previous years and helped greatly by Braun breaking out, but it's gonna be pretty hard to paint a HHH/Steph firing of Kurt Angle as unjustified after that showing.

Meanwhile, Paige has found her true calling as an executive and scout. I would've rather seen Rollins go with the IC belt than Jeff right back with the US, but otherwise SD knocked this one out of the park. Making Asuka official, getting Joe, Almas, Dain, and The Bar, while keeping all their good pieces was incredible. Feels like SD actually has depth for the first time since the 2nd split.

Overall, this was the best handled draft in ages. It's funny to mock kayfabe Kurt's terrible GM-ing, but the reality is both shows got better as far as talent distribution goes. Obviously the writing is still going to be an issue on Raw if they keep going with the "Feed everyone to Roman so we can feed Roman to Brock" approach, but in theory, the top talent rotation of Roman, Seth, Finn, KO, Sami, Lashley, and Braun isn't much worse off than SD's god-tier lineup.

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16 hours ago, The Natural said:

There's:

Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles.

Daniel Bryan vs. Samoa Joe.

Daniel Bryan vs. Andrade Almas.

Daniel Bryan vs. Shinsuke Nakamura.

Daniel Bryan vs. Jeff Hardy.

Daniel Bryan vs. Cesaro.

Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus

Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles.

Samoa Joe vs. Cesaro.

Samoa Joe vs. Andrade Almas.

AJ Styles vs. Cesaro.

AJ Styles vs. Andrade Almas.

Image result for homer mmmm

It’s crazy when you look at it that way. On the Raw side who does Roman go up against? Do Seth and Finn keep a rivalry going? A returning heel Ambrose can make things interesting but looking at SDLs potential against Raws there’s only one winner. 

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Well, yeah, but the fans are going to come around on Roman any time now.  Really.  The fans are almost there.  It's happening this time.  No question.  Really, this time for sure.

Or maybe not.

I'm really baffled by the Rusev love.  His actual wrestling resume is kinda thin.  I don't dislike him, but i kinda feel like the time to push him passed a few years ago with the Cena feud and he hasn't done a whole lot to change my mind about him since.  I kinda feel like he's well regarded because he's amusing on social media more than anything he's done in front of the camera.  I keep seeing people - here and elsewhere - talking about Smackdown's awesome roster - Bryan, AJ, Joe, Nakamura, Rusev? - and all I can think is this:

He's a decent hand, but, I dunno, if NJ called up and offered to trade Yano or Ishii for Rusev, I'd beg Vince to take that deal in a heartbeat.  Like I said, I don't dislike him - he's an ok worker, has a decent bit of physical charisma, a decent look, etc.  - but i definitely feel like the praise for him on the internet is overheated.

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"What does The Bar mean?"
"It means that we don't just set the bar, we are the bar"
"Right, but what does that mean?"
"It's....please, Michael?"
"..did I make myself.. clear?"
"Coach, they've been saying it for a year though"

Definitely a better shakeup than last year, pretty fun shows both nights. Loved R Truth's comedy bit on SDL and Drew showing up on Raw ruled as did Mickie's Eclipse bump. Though surprised to see Drew come up heel again out of nowhere. I still enjoy Dolph so looking forward to he and Drew having the tag run that Drew & Cody should've had in 2010. Jeff back on SDL brings back memories of his epic 2008-2009 run, as mentioned before wish he could have the No More Words theme back. Hope Shelton doesn't get lost in the shuffle on his own but probably will. Glad to see Billie Kay get some time with Charlotte, always one of my favorites and she hadn't done much as of late. Still kind of wish Asuka just won at WM to get to SDL since she was going there anyways. SDL getting Joe and the Bar probably surprised me the most. Everything is in that odd period with matches already booked for Greatest Rumble and Backlash in the middle of the Shakeup, but the new co-brand PPVs commercial was hysterical.

 

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6 hours ago, Super Ape said:

This is the kind of trade that would get a GM blackballed from running any sports team ever again.

As it is, Angle’s trades/draft picks prove that CTE is real.

That said, when Bryan finally gets his hands on Miz, it is going to be nuclear hot.

In defense, it makes some sense as a Billy King Special.

For the kayfabe-to-real sports comparison, Dolph Ziggler would be like the Dwight Howard or Derrick Rose of the WWE: His time as a true SUPERSTAR is over, everyone knows it's over, everyone knows you're not getting the 2009-2012 version of them ever again...but there's still just enough there that a GM could think "Well, we may not get a superstar, but if he has JUST A LITTLE BIT left in the tank, we're in clover!"- and combined with "Angle probably wanted Miz gone" factor, that makes sense for that trade in kayfabe.

Same goes for Baron Corbin for Big Cass- the definition of "your prospect failed? So did ours. Let's swap them and see if they can do better with a change of scenery!"

3 hours ago, Niners Fan in CT said:

Asuka for Bobby Roode is another Billy King special. Nothing against Roode but.. c'mon.

It would be a Billy King special, but I would, in kayfabe, chalk that up to buyer's remorse. 

In the NXT transfer season post-Summerslam, Raw blew their transfer money on Asuka, Smackdown blew their transfer money on Bobby Roode. Roode had devolved from surefire main eventer to US Title contender, Asuka had her first loss and was flirting with Smackdown anyways...so it's not unlikely that the trade boiled down to "You're unhappy with your Summerslam big transfer signing? So are we. Wanna swap them straight up for each other?"

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4 hours ago, Keep Calm, Akira Hokuto On said:

.  I keep seeing people - here and elsewhere - talking about Smackdown's awesome roster - Bryan, AJ, Joe, Nakamura, Rusev? - and all I can think is this:

 

I mean, up until 10 or so days ago I'd have pointed to Nak as the one who didn't fit.

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11 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

What happens when Roman still isn't what the people want after depleting the Raw roster? Vince really is going to die on the Roman hill.

“HE’S THE ONLY ONE LEFT TO CHEER,PAL!”

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The two most exciting things out of this for me are the 10 minute Bryan tv matches we're going to get and the house show footage that's going to pop up over the next few months. Usually we get what? A couple of matches a week and at least a few a month. 

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15 hours ago, Go2Sleep said:

The only guy he got with a high ceiling was Drew, and he's strapped to Dolph for some reason. 

I believe the reason is within Sheamus on SDL, there’s no one to kick Ziggler’s head off his neck. So when Drew turns on Ziggler, we will get months of Ziggler getting his head kicked off by the Claymore Kick.

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I don't think Drew well ever go that far beyond where he is now, in the same way that I don't see Sheamus  being world champion again. They're going to be The New Bar. I wish that wasn't the case, because I think him vs. Roman would be fucking AWESOME. I think he would have been a better replacement for Joe near the top, but that's me being a dork. The Old Chosen One vs. The Not Chosen One. 

23 hours ago, bink_winkleman said:

I guess those who were concerned by "No Speak English" becoming Nak's catchphrase were right, but I think it will all have been worth it for Corey's, "WELL THAT'S AN EVEN BIGGER TRAGEDY, IMAGINE FORGETTING A WHOLE LANGUAGE!"

Echoing all who mention how great and theatrical his heeling is, though. I'm so glad the two hour show is the required television for me again.

His mannerisms as a heel are amazing, but being the sneaky japanese guy who has to hit dudes in their American Peepees is crap. Next thing you know he'll be yelling Choppy Choppy. At least Corey sees it and is trying to figure out away to not make it fucking awful.

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They've essentially just put the pieces back in place for the plan before Bryan had to retire: Smackdown is the Daniel Bryan Show and Raw is the Roman Reigns Show. That's fine. There were plenty of times when the John Cena Show was embarassing and abysmal while Smackdown was the silver lining. 

I'm so hyped for this Nak heel run, with the caveat being the problematic stuff may possibly derail it. He might have the best sleazy heel mannerisms in a major American promotion since Eddie.

Drew will definitely do better this go around. Between Hunter probably being high on him to begin with, him being an NXT kid now, and the fact that if Drew's comeback doesn't eclipse Jinder's then we live in a godless vacuum. 

 

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I think they basically gave Daniel Bryan almost everyone he wanted on one roster.

I think the heel run for Nak will salvage his WWE career big time, the shitty stuff aside. When he was a face, the general American Wrestling Fan was supposed to love him because....why? All they knew was that he did really well for a company they never watched. Nothing about him connected besides his entrance. They call him "The Artist" but why? Why should that connect to a fan in Kansas and make them go "I want to see the Weird Artist, who has difficulty speaking my language, Win!" Even the Dream Match hype felt bogus. Why was this a dream match? The WWE Universe didn't see the original. Outside of Sami Zayn on NXT(which agian, many fans didn't see), Nakamura had zero big matches with Ziggler, Corbin or Jinder. He didn't wow people against Kevin Owens either.

Making him a heel, a role that he looks like RELISHES, instantly makes him something people can relate to at a very base level. Oh he's a bastard who hates losing and he acts weird to fuck with people. I think they went about it backwards the first time trying to give fans a finished building without a foundation. It was like when Emma came in with the dance.

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1 hour ago, jaedmc said:

Even the Dream Match hype felt bogus. Why was this a dream match? Outside of Sami Zayn on NXT(which agian, many fans didn't see), Nakamura had zero big matches with Ziggler, Corbin or Jinder. He didn't wow people against Kevin Owens either.

He had matches with and Orton and beat both. I still hate them a little for rushing those. Cena/Nakamura especially should have been given a bigger backdrop.

1 hour ago, jaedmc said:

I think the heel run for Nak will salvage his WWE career big time, the shitty stuff aside. When he was a face, the general American Wrestling Fan was supposed to love him because....why? All they knew was that he did really well for a company they never watched. Nothing about him connected besides his entrance. They call him "The Artist" but why? Why should that connect to a fan in Kansas and make them go "I want to see the Weird Artist, who has difficulty speaking my language, Win!"

Making him a heel, a role that he looks like RELISHES, instantly makes him something people can relate to at a very base level. Oh he's a bastard who hates losing and he acts weird to fuck with people. I think they went about it backwards the first time trying to give fans a finished building without a foundation. It was like when Emma came in with the dance.

Except Emma wasn't super over when she debuted. You're right in that they failed to really give him a character for fans to sink their teeth into long term (Cena actually talked about it himself somewhere), but at the same time he was getting big enough reactions that it was likely hard to question what they could really add to him w/o screwing things up. I mean yeah people didn't see his NJPW work and likely only saw so much of his NXT work, but they still knew/felt he was a star.

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17 hours ago, Keep Calm, Akira Hokuto On said:

 

 

Thank you for reminding me that this video was actually a real thing!

 

The BTK'version of One of These Things at the 1:01 mark of this video is FUCKING AWESOME~!

Oh, yeah, wrasslin.  I disagree that Rusev vs. Joe is a desirable thing.  They need to form a monster tag team and make a run at the belts. 

Maybe they get to that point after a feud where they beat the shit out of each other and somehow gain mutual respect.

 

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3 hours ago, jaedmc said:

His mannerisms as a heel are amazing, but being the sneaky japanese guy who has to hit dudes in their American Peepees is crap. Next thing you know he'll be yelling Choppy Choppy. At least Corey sees it and is trying to figure out away to not make it fucking awful.

Small blessings: Nobody's referred to his sneak-attack low blows as a "Pearl Harbour." 

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