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Run Kofi Run - SDL - 3/19/2019


Dolfan in NYC

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I could have bought Big E lasting the gauntlet and beating everybody in the process (including Bryan). Kofi? I dunno man. My suspension of disbelief can only last so long.

Would not be surprised if Big E's twitter address is leading to some sort of 'Vince is racist' angle. You know it's coming.

If I were fantasy booking this...

I say, sure, let this lead to a Vince is racist angle. Everyone begins to use coded language to not outright say it, but various wrestlers on Twitter and during the broadcast give Vince heat for it.

This leads to Vince eventually cutting a promo saying it's his company and "you people" can't take it from him or he won't let "your kind" ruin it.

Cut to HHH, Stephanie, and Shane saying that there was a meeting with the board of directors and its strongly urged that Vince step down, that his behavior is unbecoming of the position he holds, it's bad for the brand, and this can't be representative of WWE. Now you may say, "but Shane is a heel in his feud with Miz" and I'll say back, when the fuck has heel or face alignment stopped creative from writing one of the McMahons or HHH to be aligned differently?

So Vince reluctantly steps down, leaves, and then we get THE Papa HHH promo. HHH brings up how before there was NXT, there was FCW, which would later become NXT. Since his time down there all Kofi has done is prove himself to be the best example of someone who has done anything and everything to move up to being a main eventer and even though he didn't reach the spot on the card, he still responded with grace and professionalism. If there's anyone in NXT now that he wants them to look up to, it's Kofi. It's Kofi's time and at WrestleMania it will be Kofi vs Daniel Bryan for the WWE Title. I was wrong about Daniel Bryan before and he's not a B+ player, but neither is Kofi. He wishes Kofi the best of luck. There's much rejoicing and many of us get what we want. 

Vince is written off of TV, Kofi is granted his title shot, and WWE makes it known that the color of your skin won't be a barrier to contending for titles.

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I don't really care for the racial direction just because it discounts some important moments in history, while at the same time not acknowledging the current state of the titles.

Mark Henry and Booker T were world champions. But I guess those don't count because it wasn't the WWE title. So from this perspective we're acknowledging the truth that the world heavyweight title was lesser than the RAW title. Which is fine, I guess, but sucks for those guys who felt like they did something special.

But if we DO acknowledge that, then we'd also have to acknowledge that the WWE title is currently what the World Heavyweight title was then. AJ Styles as WWE champion couldn't main event a single co-branded card, even when the Universal Champion wasn't on the show. The IC champs even wrestled on top of the WWE champion. If anything the WWE title means less now than it ever has.

I would have loved for Kofi to win the title, just because he seems like a genuine good guy and I thought he could have been bigger than he was. He also happened to put in the right performances at the right time to make me feel excited about a Wrestlemania moment that wasn't being manufactured for me.  

Beating Daniel Bryan for the B title is not going to make me feel like Kofi Kingston and the racial experience they want him to represent has "overcome". The Smackdown Title has generally had more people of color vying for it than the Raw's "A" title. Eddie, Rey, Batista, Booker, Jinder, Mark Henry, Khali, Del Rio.

If this goes into race, then it feels like they're just exploiting a very real problem to look good, without actually changing anything. It's better than nothing, I guess, but in the end the act is just as much a "work" as the actual wrestling. 

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So, which “us” is he referring to in this instance? 

Guys that work hard? Black folk? Something else?

I see a triple meaning in the "us" but they're all related. Black, most certainly (and unfortunately, because it's such a difficult and risky path to tread.) I also think that there's a sense that being "like" them is being "New School": not partying, into video games, the internet, all of that. Things that Daniel Bryan and others that "get the rub" aren't - this of course ignoring that Joe, Orton, and others have been on UpUpDownDown repeatedly for storyline purposes. The third is that goofiness that New Day brings to the table and part of their charm (and partly why this B+ player stuff works well) - in kayfabe terms it's hard to take them seriously because of the pancakes, the trombone, their entrance, etc. But also in storyline terms they're 5x champs, Kofi's got his accolades, they do everything that the company wants, and still don't get "respect". Because they're not "serious" like Orton, Bryan, Joe and others, they don't get rewarded, unlike others on the roster.

Of course, the race is what is going to stand out because it's the strongest and most negative overtone, which is what makes it so risky and why they shouldn't even bother going in that direction.

Unless they use this to get to Vince going full Trump to get him off TV after 'Mania, in which case I'm totally here for it.

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Beating Daniel Bryan for the B title is not going to make me feel like Kofi Kingston and the racial experience they want him to represent has "overcome". The Smackdown Title has generally had more people of color vying for it than the Raw's "A" title. Eddie, Rey, Batista, Booker, Jinder, Mark Henry, Khali, Del Rio.

The title may mean less than it has in recent memory but it is technically still the same title that people have been fighting for for as long as WWF/E has been around.  The Universal title to me is the B title since it was created after the brand split even if they treat it like the A title.  So if we're looking at the lineage of the title then Kofi winning it would be a pretty big deal.  If I'm technically wrong then so be it but that's how I view it.

As for the gauntlet it was pretty good but lacked the organic nature of the previous one.  In the previous one it was very much Kofi doing that Ali was going to do.  But with his intensity at the end especially he ended up getting the people fully on board with him.  With this one it was obvious he was going to run through them all and I wasn't surprised with the twist.  They'll certainly find a way to get him into the match but it has to be next week.

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I’ve always thought whichever belt is on Raw is the A title and SD has the B title, regardless of the name of the strap on that show at the time. 

In that case, having a B+ guy as champion of the B title makes sense. 

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 Beating Daniel Bryan for the B title is not going to make me feel like Kofi Kingston and the racial experience they want him to represent has "overcome". The Smackdown Title has generally had more people of color vying for it than the Raw's "A" title. Eddie, Rey, Batista, Booker, Jinder, Mark Henry, Khali, Del Rio.

But how many of those people have been Black and given the chance to pursue the title with Bruno, Hogan and Austin in its lineage?

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But how many of those people have been Black and given the chance to pursue the title with Bruno, Hogan and Austin in its lineage?

Well this current title is the unification of the WWE and World Heavyweight title, so technically they're ALL in that lineage, right?

But I get what you're saying. I understand the idea of it. I'm Japanese, we've had zero top champions on any brand. Even with everything I said it still appeals to me. I just think it's shit that Kofi is getting a shot at a belt that has not been a main event belt on any PPVs for at least the last year. If they want to go this route it should be bigger than a match that'll probably be midcard, while Brock Lesnar and a guy who's move was named after a moment in a movie where a White Supremicist murdered a black guy probably go on last.

 

 

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Well I mean, there is this one guy.

There is a lot of genetic variation within the African-American admixture. Pure blood sub-Saharan African-American's are a rarity. Most of the genetic make-up of African-Americans consist of sub-Saharan, European and Native Indian ancestry. The average African-American is mixed by default.

The Rock is black. He identifies as a black man. He is arguably the biggest success story in pro-wrestling history. We can discuss admixture and mixed-races but is it really worth it when The Rock fits the criteria and is clearly proud to represent his African heritage, who are we to take that away from him? 

Edited by Rick
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IIconics have never had anything in NXT or main roster that approaches a quality in-ring performance. I get that's part of the gimmick but simple spots have been a struggle with them. It's interesting to see some revisionist history going on concerning them and their opponents. 

 

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About that IIconics in-ring resume.  I asked what their good matches were.  I received a couple passable performances from time before WWE.  On the other end,  Sasha and Bayley have had many great matches even if you yourself don't believe that, it's the general consensus. You are free to be an outlier. 

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Kofi winning the five matches has turned me on him. I hope he never gets the title now.

His blood sweat and tears will be absorbed by The Fallen Oak, and amplify the power Daniel Bryan's reign. 

That his belt is made from an oak that fell over naturally is one of my favourite The New Daniel Bryan character details.

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Simple spots you say? You would think savvy ring generals like Sasha and Bayley would be capable of executing an assisted drop kick.

Personally never been a fan of the IIconics but Sasha and Bayley aren't much better. 

just saw the finish and I feel like the road agent didn't do them any favors.  Sasha had to go out of her way to put her arm where Billie could hold it, and Peyton had such superior leverage from how she was holding Sasha that she didn't look like it helped her any.  Nothing wrong with staying close to the ropes and putting your feet on them.  "Original" isn't inherently "better"

[Lacey Evens distracting everyone but not affecting the outcome is another headscratcher.  That one's probably out of the individual road agent's hands though.]

props to Bayley selling the mafia kick like it was a Memphis Piledriver but that feels doomed to hurt her more than help Billie (or is that actually her finisher?).

Anyway, yeah, pretty rough (and disappointed to see the midcard belt curse of Dropping Clean(ish) Falls In Non-Title Bouts strike again), but I want to like all 4 of them so I'm hoping some of this was First Time Working Each Other Jitters and they'll be better at Mania.

 

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I’ve always thought whichever belt is on Raw is the A title and SD has the B title, regardless of the name of the strap on that show at the time. 

In that case, having a B+ guy as champion of the B title makes sense. 

Have to disagree here. To me, the WWE Championship is always THE world title to have for it's history over the World Heavyweight Championship from 2002-2013 and the WWE Universal Championship. WWE Universal Championship is still a world title but doesn't compare to either I've mentioned.

Edited by The Natural
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On 3/20/2019 at 3:16 PM, Craig H said:

If I were fantasy booking this...

I say, sure, let this lead to a Vince is racist angle. Everyone begins to use coded language to not outright say it, but various wrestlers on Twitter and during the broadcast give Vince heat for it.

This leads to Vince eventually cutting a promo saying it's his company and "you people" can't take it from him or he won't let "your kind" ruin it.

Cut to HHH, Stephanie, and Shane saying that there was a meeting with the board of directors and its strongly urged that Vince step down, that his behavior is unbecoming of the position he holds, it's bad for the brand, and this can't be representative of WWE. Now you may say, "but Shane is a heel in his feud with Miz" and I'll say back, when the fuck has heel or face alignment stopped creative from writing one of the McMahons or HHH to be aligned differently?

So Vince reluctantly steps down, leaves, and then we get THE Papa HHH promo. HHH brings up how before there was NXT, there was FCW, which would later become NXT. Since his time down there all Kofi has done is prove himself to be the best example of someone who has done anything and everything to move up to being a main eventer and even though he didn't reach the spot on the card, he still responded with grace and professionalism. If there's anyone in NXT now that he wants them to look up to, it's Kofi. It's Kofi's time and at WrestleMania it will be Kofi vs Daniel Bryan for the WWE Title. I was wrong about Daniel Bryan before and he's not a B+ player, but neither is Kofi. He wishes Kofi the best of luck. There's much rejoicing and many of us get what we want. 

Vince is written off of TV, Kofi is granted his title shot, and WWE makes it known that the color of your skin won't be a barrier to contending for titles.

I'd also add in that Vince brought in Batista and had him attack Flair in order to distract HHH.

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This angle would be so much better received if they didn't shoehorn Vince in for no particular reason. Kofi getting over so hard had a hint of being organic before then.

 

 

Edited by Ace
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20 hours ago, BobbyWhioux said:

That tweet is just about The Most Babyface Thing Anyone Has Ever Written.  Never turn this dude heel.  Ever.

If Daniel Bryan is Ric Flair then Mustafa Ali should be his Steamboat.

Also;

Harper as his Luger.
Ricochet as his Sting
Owens as his Dusty
Strowman as his Vader

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