Dolfan in NYC Posted March 16 Posted March 16 Dreamed about a reefer five feet long, mighty mint but not too strong... You'll be high but not for long... If you a viper Well, it's almost spring and snakes come out of their state of rest, so you know what that means... the real Randy Orton finally appeared again! Yay! Cody getting kicked in the balls is always fantastic television. I'm the queen of everything, I've got to be high before I can swing.... Light a T and let it be, if you a viper... Let's keep this short and sweet... (also, I have actual work to do today!). Here's what's on Netflix tonight! I mean, I would've saved this for Mania, but why not. (I vaguely remembered there being a jazz song about a viper. I didn't *quite* remember it being this... blatant about it's, well, it's not even subtext, just text.) Enjoy the week!
odessasteps Posted March 16 Posted March 16 Could be a schmozz to lead to the mask match at Mania. Although I guess if that’s the stop of Roy/Penta, maybe not.
Swift Posted March 17 Posted March 17 Damn, not sure I've seen Lesnar take a powerbomb before. That was a great moment in front of a really hot crowd. First hour+ of the show flew by with a good women's match and a great lucha sprint, again helped along by the excellent crowd. Things slowed down after that but still a pretty good show overall. Surprised by only 4 matches though and unusually 3 of those were women's.
username Posted March 17 Posted March 17 The crowd finally figured out which Americano is the one worth supporting, that was a pleasant surprise. For all the... let's be overly polite and say baggage that accompanies him Brock and Oba may be the first thing that has felt like an actual road to Wrestlemania deal this entire build. That crowd was all the way with Oba, put him over at Mania and lets head to the races.
username Posted March 17 Posted March 17 1 minute ago, Swift said: Surprised by only 4 matches though and unusually 3 of those were women's. ...There were 5 matches, right? Americanos, Penta/Lee, Maxxine/Nattie, AJ/Bayley and Vaquer/Rodriguez sounds right in me head. 1 1
Swift Posted March 17 Posted March 17 Yep you're right. Forgot the Americanos (which was also a decent match) 1
Eivion Posted March 17 Posted March 17 I skipped the opening segment till I saw Oba. That was well executed and exactly how it needed to go down. The Battle of El Grande Americanos was pretty nice though maybe a bit rushed. Was neat to see the crowd into it and specifically behind the Kaiser version. Makes sense though since its Texas. Once again I hope we get a proper mask match in Mexico. Bayley/AJ built into something pretty solid even with some off aspects in the match. Was pleased to see thing end clean with the Becky beatdown coming post AJ's celebration. Penta/Dragon was good. Always nice to see Dragon Lee get a showcase and the finish was nice and snappy. Maxxine/Nattie was short and nice while it lasted. This felt like what we should have gotten in the first match if they actually wanted to put Nattie over as threat while still showcasing Maxxine's growth. Raquel/Stephanie was good once again. The final segment with Punk and Roman felt a bit more loose, but I liked how it ended. It was simple but nice and did a decent job showing what the actual story has been. Roman has kind of had Punk's number since the verbal sparring began. Punk has basically been desperate to take advantage with the mind games because he knows Roman is the younger, stronger, more athletic, and has reached the mountain top at a higher level than him as well. Punk didn't do the bury Afa line because he thought it was clever. He did it because he was shook and had nothing better at the time. The crowd still loves him, but they love Roman more and showed it tonight. Tonight Roman finally made him break with the punch. Will be interesting to see if they try to give Punk the verbal advantage or just have him go violent and heelish from here on. I feel like the latter would be more entertaining though I also suspect they want Punk to stay a face post Mania regardless of how things end. 5 matches tonight with some breathing room for most of them and only two longer segments with plenty of story getting told in shorter in between segments. This felt like like the best balanced episode in a long while. Hopefully they keep adjusting and realize they can make better use of the time Netflix gives them than the strict 4 match formula they have been stuck on for most of the past 16 months. Anyways the wrestling here was solid with Penta/Dragon & Raquel/Stephanie being the standouts. Story wise I liked a lot of what we saw with Wrestlemania beyond the 4 big title matches continuing gradually take shape. Pretty solid show, maybe even good, overall. 2
peterien Posted March 17 Posted March 17 Following up on what @Eivionsaid about the main segment- everyone was probably expecting Roman to say something brutal in retaliation to Punks line from 2 weeks ago but what we got was so much better. Roman brushing off the “you probably wanna punch me” line and slowly chipping away at Punk until he brings up what obviously Punk is insecure about- he’s old, he can’t go in the ring like he used too, he’s taking spots from younger talent something he used to complain about. Punk reacts like he wanted Roman to react and then realised he got suckered in to it, people will see “you’re old” as a soft ending and a bad retort but dig deeper and it works so well. We still have a long way to go. Not exactly “CINEMA” but damn good stuff. 1
hammerva Posted March 17 Posted March 17 (edited) The problem with the "you're old" angle is that Roman Reigns is 40. Yes he is younger than Punk but he really isn't the "new generation" either. The problem is that almost everyone of any stature in the WWE is over 40. Also when someone says they are going to bury you next to your dad and that is your response, it gives off "I know you are but what am I" vibes Just feels like Punk and Reigns are having a competition to who can be the actual heel in this match and not sure either of them is winning. while who is the face and heel is probably wrong, you know who the bad guy in the Orton/Cody WM match is Edited March 17 by hammerva
worldcupfever Posted March 17 Posted March 17 I don't think Reigns being 40 is as big a deal in this case since the issue isn't as much Punk's age but Punk not being able to adjust to getting older in the ring. Him snapping at that line shows that the (perceived?) decline is in his head and he's going to grow more and more sensitive to it as we get closer to Mania. It has the possibility of being a really fun storyline. 1
Peck Posted March 17 Posted March 17 Saw the "easter egg" of Paul/Theory consoling Maxxine after her match in the background during the Bayley/Lyra(I think) stuff. Wonder where they go with that.
Hamhock Posted March 17 Posted March 17 Generally, I'm not a fan of shooty-mcshooter promo references; calling Punk "Phil" again and again is annoying (should Punk just start calling Roman "Joe" now? Please no). The "you're old!" thing is good only if it leads to Punk becoming a desperate/delusional heel trying to grimly hang on, which would be a terrific final career year storyline for him- not so much otherwise. Other things I'm tired of hearing: Cody opponents bringing up Dusty to get heat
Dolfan in NYC Posted March 17 Author Posted March 17 37 minutes ago, Hamhock said: Generally, I'm not a fan of shooty-mcshooter promo references; calling Punk "Phil" again and again is annoying (should Punk just start calling Roman "Joe" now? Please no). 1 2
Pete Posted March 17 Posted March 17 Quote Becky Lynch attacks AJ Lee AJ Lee continued to celebrate during commercials. As they returned from break, Becky Lynch attacked her from behind. Lynch tossed her into the barricades and booted her repeatedly. The highlight of this was a young fan trying to reason with Lynch, and Lynch screaming at her in response. The little girl held her hand up as if to tell Lynch to calm down. As officials checked on Lee, Lynch decked her with the IC title belt. I know what the WON recapper dude was trying to say, but Becky punching out the little girl would've been an UNREAL heel move. 1 4
Craig H Posted March 17 Posted March 17 Because YouTube really, really wanted me to see them, I watched the Oba Femi/Brock clip and the Punk/Roman "promo." Last time I watched any full WWE show was the Cena retirement show where I saw Oba Femi for the first time against Cody and thought he should have outright beat Cody to just make an instant star. Dude looks like a fucking action figure come to life. He's awesome. So even though I already knew he was coming out, when he did come out and started talking shit to Brock saying I don't care who you are or whatever he said, that had me sold. That he hit a pop up last ride power bomb on Brock and put his foot on Brock (even though Brock was louder than Cena telling him to do it) was ridiculously cool. That alone almost makes me want to watch WM, but I'm worried he'll just lose to Brock because he's not a 40+ year dude and he hasn't been a WWE lifer. Then the Punk/Roman promo. This is the second one of these I've seen and they have both sucked. Punk sounds completely toothless. It feels like a younger Punk could have buried Roman 6 feet under and with the position Roman is in, it wouldn't have mattered because he could have just stuck with the same, tired, lame you aren't nothing to me "Phil" shit. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised to see Punk say, "I'm going to do to you what cancer couldn't" because so much of what he says feels scripted and I could see a writer thinking that would be a good way to make the crowd go "OHHHHH!" I mean, that segment lasted 12 or 13 minutes. 5 or 6 of it felt like promo work and it was lazy promo work complete with Punk getting like three cheap pops. I know Punk isn't that toothless. That dude has better shit to say than going for cheap pops. I get the whole point is Roman making Punk realize just how close he is to the end of his career, but man, that doesn't work for me brother. 2
Hamhock Posted March 17 Posted March 17 36 minutes ago, Dolfan in NYC said: Hah - I didn’t even notice that!
Dolfan in NYC Posted March 17 Author Posted March 17 Reports are that Roman's response to Punk naming his father was "something darker" about Larry (Punk's recently deceased dog).
odessasteps Posted March 17 Posted March 17 Talking about Larry would def turn him heel to many people.
Pete Posted March 17 Posted March 17 5 minutes ago, odessasteps said: Talking about Larry would def turn him heel to many people. He would've fucked with Punk's wife and his dog. Only thing left to finish the trifecta would be his car.
Eivion Posted March 18 Posted March 18 (edited) Sol vs. Zaria vs. Jacy was good. Good action and moments from all involved, and I dug Jacy constantly getting in the way of Sol vs. Zaria. A part of me wishes this had been the main event though just because it being the first match in made it obvious Jacy was retaining. I have mixed feelings on that, but I also get wanting to give Jacy her props and letting her go to Stand & Deliver as champ. That type of thing won't happen for her on the main roster unless something goes very wrong for them or right for her. With this it seems we are getting Jacy vs. Lola or Kendal for S&D. I'm hoping its the former as it would be nice to see Lola take the belt for a bit. Thought the segment with Ricky and co. was solid. Dug the dissension being sown between him and Page without fully breaking up. And it wa snice to see Tony show up to attack everyone and stake his claim. Seems obvious the title match for Stand & Deliver will be a 4-way between Saints, Page, Tony, & Hendry. I'm just curious if its the main event. Los Americanos vs. Vanity Project was damn good fun all around. Loved the action, and I loved the crowd treating Los Americanos as heroes. Was nice to see them play fully into that here. Kind of hope we get Rayo & Bravo in the tag tournament. The Booker T Appreciation segment was a lot more legit than I was expecting considering it was done mostly to set up the Carver vs. Jasper feud. Like despite that being the point its clear they legit wanted to show their love to the man. It was neat to see considering how much he has done for the wrestlers developing in NXT. Wren/Fallon was pretty solid as a Speed match. Was nice to see Wren take home the gold. Hank & Tank vs. Connors/Stacks was nice while it lasted. Kind of dug the finish with Birthright just scraping by via trickery and flash pins. Tatum/Izzi had a dueling cage smash segment that slowed the match down way too much but was otherwise pretty darn good. Dug Izzi attacking before Tatum entered the cage and talking shit to Tatum's mom. The action inside was pretty nice with it flowing pretty well outside of that earlier mentioned segment. Really the only thing that missing that could have made it better was blood. Blake dragging a celebrating Tatum down the hole post match was kind of neat. Still, its hard for me to be excited for any Blake feud right now when she has failed to deliver in the ring every chance so far. Thought this was a good show. The matches mostly delivered and there was a lot of solid build towards Stand & Deliver. MOTN for was between Los Americano vs. Vanity Project & Tatum/Izzi. Both were damn good and fun to watch. The 3-way was quite nice as well though I also kind of feel like they could have done better given what we have seen from all three the past six months. Edited March 18 by Eivion 1
Dolfan in NYC Posted March 18 Author Posted March 18 Evil Gay Aaron Rourke is your NEW Men's Evolve Champion 1
Peck Posted March 19 Posted March 19 For added context, I believe Tyler Bate and Sol Ruca are still an item. 1
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