WWE TV - 4/14 - 4/20/2025 - Can't Find A Better Mania

[Dolfan in NYC]

 Waitin', watchin' the clock, It's four o'clock, it's got to stop.  Tell him, "Take no more"...

I don't know about you, but whatever cocktail of creatine, HGH, and cocaine Bron is on, it's ... correct.

Carlito better be wearing a neck brace for the rest of the year.

...She practices her speech.  As he opens the door, she rolls over... Pretends to sleep as he looks her over.

Over on Smackdown... LONG~ TERM~ STORYTELLING~

 

  She lies and says she's in love with him. Can't find a better man... She dreams in color, she dreams in red. Can't find a better man...

Before the festivities really kick off on Friday though... one last time to set the table! Raw tonight:

You know Mania is right around the corner if both Roman and Cena are going to be on free tv.  Or streaming. Or cable... look whatever.

 

 

("She lies and says she's in love with him." God damn, Eddie wrote some fucking devastating lines back in the day.)

Enjoy your Mania Week!

[hammerva]

I guess the first question this week will be what is the Wrestlemania Pre Show known as Smackdown going to look like.  We know there is going to be the Andre the Giant battle royal.   I would be really surprised if the Street Profits doesn't defend the title on Smackdown.  There should be a Lyra and/or Chelsea title match on the show but I wouldn't be shocked if even both get screwed.    It is 3 hours now.  

[DreamBroken]

4 hours ago, hammerva said:

I guess the first question this week will be what is the Wrestlemania Pre Show known as Smackdown going to look like.  We know there is going to be the Andre the Giant battle royal.   I would be really surprised if the Street Profits doesn't defend the title on Smackdown.  There should be a Lyra and/or Chelsea title match on the show but I wouldn't be shocked if even both get screwed.    It is 3 hours now.  

they announced Profits vs MCMG, and Chelsea/Piper/Alba vs Zelina/Kayden/Katana, plus a Cena appearance.   Lyra's challenging for the tags at WM so no IC defense.

[Sex Machine Gun]

It really is a riot how they bothered to make a women’s IC belt and then not even have the champ have a defense, when you have about fifteen thousand hours of content to produce.

[Dolfan in NYC]

Seth's outfit looked like someone with CTE was trying to recreate his Shield look from memory

[Niners Fan in CT]

1 minute ago, Dolfan in NYC said:

Seth's outfit looked like someone with CTE was trying to recreate his Shield look from memory

I was thinking he joined a mid 90's R&B group. 

Anyway, this Mania build has been pretty lackluster.  Some okay stuff here and there but not great. 

[Eivion]

Dug Gunther's opening promo. It still pushes just a bit how shook Günther is after last week's Jey promo while still giving Gunther that dangerous feeling. Honestly, I wish they didn't have Jey showing up later in the night. It was unnecessary and didn't add anything. Should have just left it as a fun moment for the crowd off camera.

Bayley/Liv was damn good. Was expecting a short shenanigans match, but it was nice that the match had time to breathe and let both women show off. Its a shame Liv didn;t really get to impress like this during her actual title run though she is making the most of it every match she gets a chance to shine.

Julius/Rey had its rougher aspects, but built up a pretty nice match with Julius really impressing the crowd despite the loss. The post match attack by Americano went as expected and wa snice heel moment for him.

I saw parts of Kross/AJ. Kross is still so much a "and then the bell rang" type of wrestler. He isn't bad, but nothing he does really draws you in. Its a shame since the dude seems cool in interviews.

Balor/Penta was nice while it lasted. Was cool to see Penta get the standing tall moment post match.

Final segment with Roman/Heyman/Seth/Punk was solid and a decent final bit before WM. I do kind of like how Seth comes across a bit delusional mentioning his reason for why Roman and Punk can't be the future while leaning more and more toward the old mindset and actions that kept him from getting that same level of reverence from the audience.

Mostly good wrestling and solid build for Wrestlemania. Particularly dug Bayley/Liv & the promo vids for Io, Rhea, and Bianca. Solid-good show.

[Bustronaut]

17 hours ago, Sex Machine Gun said:

It really is a riot how they bothered to make a women’s IC belt and then not even have the champ have a defense, when you have about fifteen thousand hours of content to produce.

Lyra's done an IC title defense on most of the Raws I've watched.  Bayley often looks super sloppy in them, it's shocking.

[DragonZombie]

WWE/Triple H released the Backlash poster. Orton is on it.

Edited April 15 by DragonZombie

[Curt McGirt]

I saw the Punk cereal thing and thought: Muffins. Cereal (and that didn't look like Wheaties). Ice cream bars. Pepsi. 

Is he secretly a sugar junkie? Is that what he uses instead of the hard stuff? 

[DragonZombie]

Well he is missing lot of teeth and the ones he have left are yellow.

[username]

9 hours ago, Bustronaut said:

Bayley often looks super sloppy in them, it's shocking.

No one wants to say it but Bayley has not been the worker she used to be for a while now. I don't know if it is wear and tear, a cold streak or something else entirely but it's getting hard to ignore.

[DragonZombie]

https://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainment/article/bill-goldberg-wwe-comeback-training-20275732.php

[Curt McGirt]

56 minutes ago, username said:

No one wants to say it but Bayley has not been the worker she used to be for a while now. I don't know if it is wear and tear, a cold streak or something else entirely but it's getting hard to ignore.

That match she had in Japan with Meiko Satomura was frankly embarrassing. With MEIKO. Of all people. 

[Eivion]

Page vs. King vs. Thorpe vs. Lee was exactly what it needed to be with it focusing mostly on action and just a bit of character work from Page and King. Good match.

Tatum/Lola was solid. Wish it was Tatum who won, but it is what it is.

The Gauntlet tag was good with Hank & Tank running the distance and just barely coming out of it with all the punishment they took. Feels like they have to be the guys to beat Fraxiom though it still somehow feels like it can easily go the other way.

The brawl between the D'Angelo Family and Darkstate was good while it lasted. Interesting that Darkstate is getting such a big match at S&D considering how new the group still is. Guess it says how much they trust the Family to be able to carry them through if DS can't deliver on their own.

Karmen/Thea was basically just a squash for Thea to show off in her return. Its good to see Thea back. I only wish they didn;t ruin her return for the viewers at home with the graphic right before commercial. Someone clearly fucked up there.

The final segment with the NXT title participants was fine until Je'Von got to speak. Like Evans, but this showed he really isn't on Trick or Oba's level despite his talent. He really does feel unnecessary in this match. Still he at least got a standing tall moment at the end I suppose.

Solid wrestling tonight with the gauntlet or 4-way easily being the highlights. The final build for S&D was good with everything fully set. Solid go home show.

10 hours ago, Bustronaut said:

Bayley often looks super sloppy in them, it's shocking.

 

1 hour ago, username said:

No one wants to say it but Bayley has not been the worker she used to be for a while now. I don't know if it is wear and tear, a cold streak or something else entirely but it's getting hard to ignore.

 

26 minutes ago, Curt McGirt said:

That match she had in Japan with Meiko Satomura was frankly embarrassing. With MEIKO. Of all people. 

Eh, Bayley looks the same as always. She has always had the worst execution among the 4HW. I think she is about par for course for her usual though there is stuff like the dropkick through the corner outside and the sunset flip buckle bomb that I think she should drop. She just can't do the former all that well anymore as she is bigger now and the buckle bomb was always a bit 50/50. 

[Ramo2653]

1 hour ago, Eivion said:

Eh, Bayley looks the same as always. She has always had the worst execution among the 4HW. I think she is about par for course for her usual though there is stuff like the dropkick through the corner outside and the sunset flip buckle bomb that I think she should drop. She just can't do the former all that well anymore as she is bigger now and the buckle bomb was always a bit 50/50. 

Glad I'm not the only person that's always felt this way. 

As for NXT, I liked the show overall. The segments with the 4 women competing in the title match were cool. I'm glad they shot the parking lot brawl like a fight from a CW drama instead of the way. 

I don't understand why Ricky left ringside after the ref told him to leave. It's a fatal 4 way in WWE so it's no DQ and he's not anyone manager so he can't cost them the match.

Not sure how they got Eddie Edwards old TNA theme as Thea's theme but it took me a second to figure out where I had heard it before. Also good to see her back and moving on from Chase U. 

It would be cool to have Je'von win, but I assume Oba retains.

[Sex Machine Gun]

18 hours ago, Bustronaut said:

Lyra's done an IC title defense on most of the Raws I've watched.  Bayley often looks super sloppy in them, it's shocking.

I meant more she didn't have a Mania defense and is trying to win another belt instead.

Edited April 16 by Sex Machine Gun

[RazorbladeKiss87]

Not a great episode of NXT, for me, but the tag gauntlet was AWESOME! I love Hank and Tank. They remind me of guys I'd have partied with in college. Should they beat Fraxiom? I don't know.  They're probably better as the loveable losers who keep falling short but I think the time has come for Fraxiom to move up. 

Glad to see Thea back with some aggression (that actually paid off!) 

I won't harp on the negatives too much but Saints isn't it. To steal a saying from my servers, he has negative aura.  The Family/Dark State stuff sucked and pushed the limits of how much disbelief I can suspend. A multi minute beat down with crowbars involved? Come on. That was trash. 

[RazorbladeKiss87]

Also, the booking of Roxanne is interesting to me. She's on the pre-show? 

I guess if she's moving up they wouldn't want her to do too much but that seemed to get lost in the shuffle.  

[Dolfan in NYC]

I demand Sade play Penta to the ring on Saturday (or Sunday, whatever)

 

[hammerva]

It is nice that they have provided an exhibit for all the marks who walk around with replica belts.   The line for that would be outside the building 

 

[RazorbladeKiss87]

Hopefully someone snaps a pic presenting the wax figure with a wax fruit basket. 

[Dolfan in NYC]

54 minutes ago, RazorbladeKiss87 said:

Hopefully someone snaps a pic presenting the wax figure with a wax fruit basket. 

THAT'S who that reminds me of:

 

[Curt McGirt]

Take your pick 

Spoiler

Personally, I go with the Vault Keeper, though I tried to find a better Old Witch and none of the photos would link properly

Edited April 18 by Curt McGirt

[Curt McGirt]

Oh no. Someone on Facebook put THIS next to the photo of Wax HHH

Spoiler