Go2Sleep
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Posts posted by Go2Sleep
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I wish there was no rehearsal and she introduced Randy Orton from Los Angeles on live tv, just to see Orton's reaction.
Forgetting Jinder almost had to be a work to rib on him or 3MB. You'd think they'd at least tell Eva the day of what match she's announcing so she can run through her lines a hundred times. At the very least, they were trolling Eva by telling her to memorize the entire roster then throwing a bunch of obscure low-carders at her. If 3MB wasn't a collection of failed singles guys, they'd probably forget their names too. I imagine the plan was to get funny backstage segment out of any member of 3MB, either Uso, or Gabriel.
Bring on the "Ginger Mahal" signs at the next few tv shows, though.
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Bobby Lashley definitely used the dominator as his first finisher.
Speaking of Big E, though, even if it's only used a couple times a month, the big ending is way overused in my book. What a terrible move. The face turn is the perfect opportunity to give the guy a new finisher. There's plenty of time-tested power moves he could use like a running powerslam, powerbomb, or jackhammer (although you probably don't want him to get the label "black Goldberg"). He's also strong and athletic enough to do something a little fancier like a military press or pumphandle into a powerslam or some kind of sit-out power move. Or they could just give him the pounce after he busted Ambrose (and himself) up at the last ppv. Just change it to a side impact he doesn't crack heads. Anything would be better than the big ending, though.
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How many singles matches has Reigns had this year?
I can only think of 3 off the top of my head. Two with Bryan, one with Orton. The Orton one was pretty bad. The first Bryan match was mediocre, and the second one was quite good.
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Ariane's mom really made the most of her screen time. On a show where all the extras ham it up to the max, she really stood out. How many seconds into her heart-to-heart with Ariane did she start crying?
I also wish I lived in the Total Divas alternate universe where Summer Slam ended after Bryan won the title.
There's no way the episode where Nattie gets drunk and calls Steph ends up as good as sounds, but I can't wait to see it.
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I've said it before, but Wade Barrett's biggest problem is that he really hasn't gotten a lot better since 2011. I mean, he was pretty good right out of the gate in NXT/Nexus, so he's far from bad, but a bunch of other guys have passed him over the last couple years. In 2010, being just above average was good enough for a somewhat interesting main event push. At the end of 2013, being just above average is the new being a bland midcarder with no future prospects. I don't think anyone could make the case that Wade is a top 10 guy right now, and top 15 might even be pushing it. Where does that leave him except midcard hell?
I agree his best hope is a face turn in an APA type brawling tag team. If the Wyatts get out of the Punk/Bryan program with some credibility left, that could be a good program for Wade/Partner. I think Sheamus might actually be the best choice for that spot.
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Daniel Bryan not helping Show is one thing the writers actually got right (by accident due to his monstrous de-push). Why should Bryan be out there for him? He screwed Bryan at Battleground and was nowhere to be found when Bryan was getting hosed by the Authority at HIAC. He only showed up to help when it would it benefit him. Then he stole Bryan's chant for extra heat. I'd be like "fuck you, enjoy fighting the Shield and Orton by yourself, you self-serving crybaby" too.
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Kinda surprised more people here aren't high on Luke Harper. He seems like a total southern-style brawling throwback that everyone would love. He needs to expand his mid-match filler a bit, but those strikes were vicious. I'd be down for a Punk/Bryan vs. Wyatt Family No DQ brawl at Survivor Series. It is a bit sad to see Bryan plummet down the card like this, but I guess I'll take my Bryan/Harper match and be happy.
6-man was pretty decent. Loved the finishing stretch a bunch, but the early stages didn't seem on par with The Shield's best work. Maybe it was just because the commentary was so distracting. It was hilarious to hear Del Rio get clowned by Cole on the mic, in a HHH-burial sort of way. Doesn't help ADR in the slightest, but I laughed out loud a few times, so it was entertainment I guess.
Most of the rest of the show was fast forward material. Were they reading different parts of the deposition each time it was on screen or did they really play the same promo 100 times?
The HHH/Show segment was so incredibly terribly written. At least you know the writers weren't holding back on any potential gems for Bryan, they really just have nothing for the supposed top faces. I don't even like the fact that Show is the center point of this angle, but at least let him have his one moment in the sun. The crowd was so hot him owning HHH, but then they killed all the heat as soon as it began. That beatdown should've been saved for next week. Way too much too soon and for no reason. You can't have your top face make a triumphant return, then get beat down minutes later. That's just stupid. The worst part is they obviously didn't learn from the Bryan program and have already written themselves into a corner where Show is going to look even worse if he doesn't win the title now. And I don't think he has a very good chance.That said, it was good effort performance-wise from just about everyone involved. Show and HHH were good on the mic, and The Shield and Orton were great with the action. Corporate Kane would make a great comedy character, but he was so out of place here. Scary music hits that's supposed to be a game-changer, then he just walks to ringside and just throws a chair in the ring (nice catch by Rollins btw)? That's it? That's his big turn moment? Oh wait, I'm back to ragging on the terrible writing again, sorry.
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Exactly - how could he not singlehandedly overcome Triple H, Randy Orton and Shawn Michaels?
The same way Austin overcame Triple H,
Randy OrtonMike Tyson, and Shawn Michaels to win his first title?I'm getting tired of all the cliches about how "the money's in the chase" and all that BS. WWE's most over faces weren't over because they came up short repeatedly but had excuses. They were over because they kicked lots of ass and won lots of matches/titles, even when the odds were stacked against them.
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I am sad it looks like they are going to break up the Shield. It seems like the only group they've booked well in a year. I really hope they have someone in mind to put Reigns with to make him look great as a single. He needs a Fit Finlay type program to work around the horn like they did with Batista.
Well, Goldust is right there, and I think Christian is available (or at least will be soon). If you want to turn him face, though, it gets a little tougher, since The Shield have been THE consistent upper midcard heels you're looking for with something like this. I think your only choice is Del Rio. Orton and Cesaro are too high/low on the card for a first program despite probably being better match-ups.
As far as The Shield splitting goes, I have mixed feelings. On one hand, they're awesome and still have some mileage left as a group. On the other hand, stable break-ups are part of the natural cycle of wrestling and it's probably better for a group to leave you wanting more than to overstay its welcome and become a burden like the NWO. I think they missed a big opportunity for a proper break-up by not having one of them win MITB back in July (especially seeing how they wasted it on Sandow and cheapened the entire MITB gimmick in the process). The logical way to break up the "ultimate team" would've been to have one be tempted by individual glory. You could've had the tension building for months while they were still having great matches together to keep it from feeling like stalling or indecisive writing. A proper slow-burn, if you will.
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The shoulder to the ringpost spot is still horribly overused, but not as bad as it was a few years ago. I swear I remember an episode of SD where it was in literally every match.
Underused is definitely good old knife-edge chops. No reason a few guys couldn't be dishing those out as signature strikes.
Under WWE ordenence wrestlers are not allowed to do the knifehand chops anymore. Yes one of the "banned" moves as per Vince.
I'm pretty sure I've seen Punk and Ambrose use them recently, but not with any regularity. Had no idea they were banned.
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The shoulder to the ringpost spot is still horribly overused, but not as bad as it was a few years ago. I swear I remember an episode of SD where it was in literally every match.
Underused is definitely good old knife-edge chops. No reason a few guys couldn't be dishing those out as signature strikes.
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If you had to choose right now, I'm curious who everyone thinks is going to win the Royal Rumble in January?
Bryan looks like the obvious choice after HIAC. I could see it being Punk too, since he's the other big name currently that hasn't won it. No way Cena gets it again. It's a chamber year for him.
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WWE can book Bryan however they want - NOTHING can hurt the guy. He's like Foley in '99 in the sense that the fans care about him. Not just his character, but him - they want him to do well and will make sure that happens.
That does not bode well for Bryan's impending feud with HHH.
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Any idea what the price is expected to be? I wonder if it's low enough that we could get some people from this board to pool money and buy it.
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That sure was a show.
Really liked the tag title match. All 6 guys are just on fire right now, and I wouldn't mind if they dragged this out to a ladder match at TLC. Goldust is basically Christian with a back story people care about, and he's tearing it up in the "grizzled vet getting one last run" role, and he's way over. Normally when WWE guys tease the superplex to the outside, I don't flinch, but when I saw Rollins in that position, I figured he'd actually take it. All the guys on the floor were in good position, though, and it ended up looking relatively safe in addition to being visually impressive, so good job to everyone there. Super hot finishing stretch, too.
Unfortunately, it was all downhill after the great opener. Has anyone mentioned Kane coming back yet? That seems to have been completely forgotten. Loved Lawler acting shocked that Kane would chokeslam Miz too. Yeah, when does Kane ever go around attacking everyone? That's so unlike him.
Glad Punk finally got his revenge on Heyman, so hopefully that feud is over. Punk badly needs something new.
Cena/ADR was fine for what it was, a totally predictable match that wouldn't have looked out of place on Raw. Whoever compared it to Hogan coming back in WCW was spot on. The one ray of hope here is that maybe Cena can make the World title the important belt for a while, and set up a much-needed unification match with the WWE title.
Going into the show, I was expecting a touching ending with Bryan and Brie celebrating with their titles to close the show, so needless to say when Brie lost, it took the wind out of my sails going into the main. And who the fuck is asking for a Bella feud? For the love of god, don't turn one of them, please.
The main was pretty blah. I mean, the match itself was pretty nice, probably Bryan and Orton's best work together since their No DQ on Raw, but that ending was all kinds of terrible. I gave the benefit of the doubt at NOC. I gave them the benefit of the doubt at Battleground. But now we've reached the end of our 3 ppv in 2 months stretch, and this is the blowoff? Yikes. The only redeeming quality was that there was no heat at all for the SCM (that missed by a mile) or any of the subsequent HHH/Orton celebrating. I'm sure no one can wait for an angle built around the Kliq in 2013.
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Team Bischoff (Orton, Jericho, Christian, Steiner, Henry) vs. Team Austin (Michaels, RVD, Booker T, Dudleys) from 2003 is generally considered one of the best I think.
I also remember the Alliance (Austin, RVD, Angle, Booker T, Shane) vs. Team WWF (Rock, Jericho, Taker, Kane, Show) being pretty fun, but I haven't seen that match in forever.
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I loved Rowan's awkward spin kick on Miz. The dude is a swamp monster just throwing himself at his opponent. It shouldn't look pretty.
Eh, wrestling is still a performance art to some degree. I mean, Rowan doesn't need to have Evan-Bourne-like grace, but there's a difference between have rugged-looking offense that fits a character and a 6'8 guy getting his leg up to Miz's chest then falling on his ass. Harper manages to convey the exact same character just fine while hitting all his stuff clean.
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From the "things I never thought I would be posting" department, I would really like to see a singles match with Kofi and Luke Harper. They've had some great chemistry in their recent tags. I'm not sold on Rowan at all (wtf was that kick thing he tried on Miz), but Harper is quickly moving up my list of guys I wanna see more. He's like a cross between JBL and Necro Butcher.
I like what they're doing with Big E. He's getting a nice rub from Punk and making the most of his time in the ring. Not sure why they didn't use his turn as an opportunity to get him a new finisher, but I still hope he ends the Curtis Axel experiment on Sunday.
As far as the main angle goes, I can't see Bryan losing on Sunday, especially with the teaser for a HHH match. This story has been written pretty coherently, and the next logical step is Bryan decisively wins the title and HHH gets desperate and tries to go after Bryan himself. No idea where that leaves Show, though, who still has to officially get his job back somehow. Might just have to deus ex machina that one with Vince or something, because it would be a huge mistake to give the heat of slaying corporate HHH to Show instead of Bryan.
My early guess at some Survivor Series Matches:
HHH vs. Bryan
Shield/Orton/Ryback vs. Punk/Big E/Show/Rhodes Bros
Cena vs. Sandow (vs. Del Rio?)
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What was the problem with Swagger's title run? Badly booked, or did the crowd just not take to Swagger?
Both.
I don't think he was ever really that over. Big guy that doesn't wrestle big, no physical charisma to speak of, mediocre promo skills even without the lisp... He had some decent to good matches in ECW, but there weren't too many reasons for fans to get into him. Even less so when he was jobbing to the likes of Santino heading into MITB. Winning that match was a total WTF moment which could've gone either way, but they rushed the title onto him that same week when everyone still didn't take him seriously. Then his title run was the standard wishy-washy "Yeah, we're pushing this guy, but we're not 100% sure about him" affair that lasted about 4 months total including the re-match phase. Afterwards he was sent on a jobber run so bad he eventually had to be taken off tv.
So definitely poorly-booked, but I think his ceiling was about Miz level anyway. No way he was escaping the midcard forever, even with a strong push.
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Crowd sucked. Looked like Bryan got the weakest reaction I've seen in months, and poor Miz couldn't even get the 10 punches in the corner over.
This is true, disappointing turn out in KC, which is normally a lot better. The entire upper deck of the Sprint Center was blacked out, as well as everything between the stage and hard cameras. I'd be surprised if there were even 7500 in attendance. It should be noted that this was originally supposed to be a Raw, but they switched it around for some reason in mid-July. I'm guessing that was a big part of the poor attendance since everyone at the last Raw in May probably bought their tickets that same week using the arena-only password. I knew a guy who had to sell off his front row seats due to the schedule change.
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Obviously everyone here gets the big ones out of the way quick, but one I haven't seen yet that should absolutely be in the discussion is Mick Foley. Outside of his famous death matches in Japan, he did most of his work in the US for the entire decade, and contributed to each of the 3 major promotions of the 90s. He was never the top guy, but he was key to WCW's depth, ECW's extreme image, and defining both the physical and comedic qualities of the attitude era. I don't know if anyone in the history of wrestling could put an opponent over as strong as Foley, and he put over some great ones in the 90s.
My top 5 based on US Work (no order):Mick Foley
Eddie Guerrero
Rey Mysterio Jr.
Steve Austin
Vader
Michaels, Hart, Dustin, and he who shall not be named are also strong contenders.
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Opening dark match was Los Locales, not Los Matadores. One of the Locales was definitely Ricardo, the other one looked like Tyler Breeze, but I wasn't 100% sure.
Before Heyman sent Axel and Ryback to attack Punk, he made some snarky comments about Punk's moderately impressive win over a "mediocre NXT-division" talent like Langston, which helped spur the turn. Cool moment that wasn't expected.
Main event had another awesome finishing run. The dark main was Bryan and Orton, then Bryan did the "we love you all" go home promo.
If anyone cares about the Main Event spoilers, here's those:
Ambrose d. Ziggler to retain the US title.
Santino and Tons of Funk d. 3MB
Khali d. Fandango
Sandow d. R-Truth.
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Honestly, I didn't think the match was all that amazing outside of the last five minutes when they finally started to incorporate the no DQ aspect. Before then it was just a solid tag with a somewhat shitty crowd. Its good, but I'm not sure its better than the Battleground tag.
Pretty much. If the entire match was like that last 5 minutes, yeah, serious MOTYC. That first 10 minutes was the epitome of "filler," though. Plus it's hard to take any No DQ tag seriously when guys are tagging in and out. It goes back all the way to those Dudley table matches (except the one against the Hardys which was not surprisingly the best by miles), and it is without a doubt one of my biggest WWE pet peeves. The ref ordering one member from each team to the apron at the start of this match made me wince. In that moment, I would've given an absurd amount of money for either Shield guy to say "Or what? You'll disqualify us?" Then both of them attack the Rhodes brothers so a proper tornado No DQ tag could begin.
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I don't know, over-the-top gimmicks really fell off post MNW/Attitude era. Taker and Kane have been grandfathered in as the only "really out there" gimmicks that have survived the past 10 years. The Wyatts can probably get over today because (a) their over-the-top gimmick is really dark, reminiscent of early Mankind or Kane and (b) they have some decent talent behind the gimmick. The environment's not in their favor though, and it's compounded by the bad break of the unrelentingly talented Shield already having an unstoppable trio gimmick.
Also, back to the main topic, I saw Umaga mentioned tangentially during the Sting/Cena discussion, but has anyone mentioned how crazy Umaga would've been in an 80s Wild Samoan gimmick? It's a testament to Eddie Fatu that he got Umaga over as much as he did in the late 2000s, but he would've been a monster in the Rock 'N Wrestling days.
The WWE Total Divas Thread
in WWE PROGRAMMING
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Also wondering if the part where Eva asked if she could write on her hand was a dig at The Rock.