Dolfan in NYC Posted April 7 Author Posted April 7 16 hours ago, odessasteps said: I mean I hate Phil, but “MAGA-Fee” is on the nose. McAfee's response after 12 hours of trying to get a comeback was so weak sauce, it would call ketchup too spicy Stunning. I thought this guy was supposed to be a good trash talker.
Peck Posted April 7 Posted April 7 You can see why he (allegedly) turned down this whole angle in the first place before finally agreeing. His heart isn't in it.
hammerva Posted April 7 Posted April 7 what was the phrase Roddy Piper used to say about throwing rocks at a man with a machine gun. Yeah Pat isnt built for this shit
odessasteps Posted April 7 Posted April 7 Yeah, I can’t see Brock retiring on a two match losing streak.
Dolfan in NYC Posted April 8 Author Posted April 8 I don't think Oba is winning, but that may not matter. He needs to look like he can. Brock is already scared (shown by sucker punching him this week) and he can sell well enough to make Oba look like a billion dollars. I really want Femi to win, but I can see them doing a finish where they've both killed each other for 10 minutes and Brock collapses on him in exhaustion (or better yet goes to a double KO draw).
username Posted April 8 Posted April 8 3 hours ago, odessasteps said: Yeah, I can’t see Brock retiring on a two match losing streak. If Brock is leaving I doubt he cares that much. He's a guy who would seemingly mail-in matchups he wasn't particularly interested in but I don't recall a time post-comeback where he seemed to care if he went over or not.
odessasteps Posted April 8 Posted April 8 It might not be Brock that cares, but “others” in the company.
Cliff Hanger Posted April 8 Posted April 8 As I said in the indie wrestling area, they're clearly high on Starboy, as they fucking should be. Kid gets an Evolve title shot and a live NXT appearance (even if it was a 90 second Speed loss) within a week of his TV debut, they have plans. He's been through here enough times for me to take a shine to him, and I really hope they don't drop the ball. Not that much to say about NXT. It was very much a breather episode after SAD, and that's okay. I was briefly confused as to why they brought back the "two week special event" format that mostly disappeared after the jump to CW, then I realized that it's because they're taping the 4/21 show to have some downtime after Mania.
Eivion Posted April 8 Posted April 8 Opening segment was nothing super interesting, but it did its job in setting up DarkState vs. the S&D main event. I do wish they hadn't wasted a picture-in-picture on this and the entrances to said match. Those really should be saved for actual matches. Sol/Izzi was pretty nice even with expected Zaria attack late in. Carver vs. Jasper vs. Briggs was fine. Thought it had some decent explosive from all three guys, but it also felt like they were holding back a bit too much. Feels like they should have let loose a little more. Briggs might be a known quantity, but Jasper and Carver are still new that they need bigger showcases if they want to impress the NXT audience long term. DarkState vs. Tony/Hendry/Page/Saints was good. I thought they did a good job balancing out the action, character bits, & animosity between the for NXT champ crew while still showing DarkState to be a legit threat. Interestingly enough I think this is easily the best Cutler has looked. He has been DarkState's big weak link the past year so it was nice to see him finally fit in perfectly as far a team chemistry goes. Lexis/Starboy was too short to give Starboy the proper showcase he probably needed though you could see potential at least. I don't like Lexis being in this Speed tournament. Its not where his strong talents lie, especially when Connors is right there in Birthright. I do think the new entrance for the group seems decent. Tatum/Shiloh vs. Blake/Drake was exactly the dumb fun it needed to be. Feels like Tatum is bringing the best out of Blake so far. Final segment with Lola and Fatal Influence was alright. I was happy to see Lola take down and scare off the group on her own since it s almost certainly coming to an end soon. The wrestling was decent tonight with Sol/Izzi probably being the highlight for me though I think the 8-man tag is worth a catch as well. Story wise much of this was a quick follow up to Stand & Deliver to do a quick setup for NXT Revenge. I'm happy to see them pushing specials again though Revenge is pretty blatantly a last hurrah for a few people in NXT. I'll be shocked if Sol, Jacy, Hendry, or Page are still around for more than a month after these shows. Anyways decent show overall. 1
HumanChessgame Posted April 8 Posted April 8 12 hours ago, Cliff Hanger said: As I said in the indie wrestling area, they're clearly high on Starboy, as they fucking should be. Kid gets an Evolve title shot and a live NXT appearance (even if it was a 90 second Speed loss) within a week of his TV debut, they have plans. He's been through here enough times for me to take a shine to him, and I really hope they don't drop the ball. I haven't watched this episode, but good for Charlie. I was surprised AEW didn't try and pick him up when they signed Nick Wayne and Billie Starks, but maybe he held out for a WWE position and it looks like that worked out for him. 1
Dolfan in NYC Posted April 8 Author Posted April 8 Randy has the chance to do the funniest god damned thing ever on Friday.
NoFistsJustFlips Posted April 9 Posted April 9 On 4/7/2026 at 8:23 PM, Dolfan in NYC said: I don't think Oba is winning, but that may not matter. He needs to look like he can. Brock is already scared (shown by sucker punching him this week) and he can sell well enough to make Oba look like a billion dollars. I really want Femi to win, but I can see them doing a finish where they've both killed each other for 10 minutes and Brock collapses on him in exhaustion (or better yet goes to a double KO draw). I posted in a previous thread that Oba has *it* and even if he loses here, he's going to find a way to the top regardless. But why give him a loss and ruin his trajectory? But also we know that Brock's people don't want him losing until he retires. So this is where creativity comes into place. Here's how I would get out of this corner and keep everyone strong. (Note Id prefer Oba over clean as a sheet tho). They've done the ring breaking spot before. But have they done one mid show? Id book them breaking the ring (in a way that is fixable, WWE's magic department can figure that part out). You have them throw bombs for 10 mins, big spot that breaks the ring. Tons of chaos. Oh no, how do we finish Mania. Well WWE always has a practice ring setup in the back. You have Triple H "scramble" to find two wrestlers not booked on the show and he sends them to the practice ring to work an unscheduled match as the crew "fix" the ring. Oba doesn't lose. Brock doesn't lose. It's a retread of something they've done in the past but in a new memorable way where they make you watch a match in the practice ring, empty arena style, for 10 mins then the ring is fixed in time for the last 2 or 3 matches. Just spit balling here. But that's what I think is missing from current WWE. Unpredictability. There's probably a dozen viable ideas that get you out of either guy losing, you just have to be willing to think outside of the box and find them.
tbarrie Posted April 9 Posted April 9 1 hour ago, NoFistsJustFlips said: They've done the ring breaking spot before. But have they done one mid show? Yes - I forget what PPV, but it was in a match before the main event, which I believe was Cena vs Del Rio. More importantly, the main event was a Falls Count Anywhere or Last Man Standing or some other stipulation where the lack of an intact ring wasn't a dealbreaker. 2
Dolfan in NYC Posted April 9 Author Posted April 9 57 minutes ago, NoFistsJustFlips said: I posted in a previous thread that Oba has *it* and even if he loses here, he's going to find a way to the top regardless. But why give him a loss and ruin his trajectory? But also we know that Brock's people don't want him losing until he retires. So this is where creativity comes into place. Here's how I would get out of this corner and keep everyone strong. (Note Id prefer Oba over clean as a sheet tho). They've done the ring breaking spot before. But have they done one mid show? Id book them breaking the ring (in a way that is fixable, WWE's magic department can figure that part out). You have them throw bombs for 10 mins, big spot that breaks the ring. Tons of chaos. Oh no, how do we finish Mania. Well WWE always has a practice ring setup in the back. You have Triple H "scramble" to find two wrestlers not booked on the show and he sends them to the practice ring to work an unscheduled match as the crew "fix" the ring. Oba doesn't lose. Brock doesn't lose. It's a retread of something they've done in the past but in a new memorable way where they make you watch a match in the practice ring, empty arena style, for 10 mins then the ring is fixed in time for the last 2 or 3 matches. Just spit balling here. But that's what I think is missing from current WWE. Unpredictability. There's probably a dozen viable ideas that get you out of either guy losing, you just have to be willing to think outside of the box and find them. Your idea may have some merit. Oba/Brock is on ESPN as a free match. Break the ring, and then you've got a solid 20-30 minutes to fix it before the next match with all the fireworks and promos and singing and all that shit. 1
Steventon Posted April 9 Posted April 9 It was Big Show vs Mark Henry that had the ring break before Cena vs Del rio. enough time has passed they could re-do it.
hammerva Posted April 10 Posted April 10 They sure are doing a lot to make you think that they are going to do a 180 on the McAfee thing for Smackdown tonight. I just hope that whatever Pat has to say it is scripted by WWE writer or a different writer if it wasn't Pat talking off the top of his head 1
Dolfan in NYC Posted April 10 Author Posted April 10 There is a solid storyline there about a low/mid-card heel deliberately trying to get CURSED~ and doing everything humanly possible to get uncursed and become super lucky... maybe even winning one of the mid-card belts in the process. (Kofi, I'm looking in your direction.)
hammerva Posted April 11 Posted April 11 (edited) So the person who tells you that tickets for Night 1 is 25% off is the same person telling you the product sucked? Why do I have a feeling that RAW will have Punk says "oh yeah well Night 2 is 30% off. beat that" But hey if the point was to cheer Cody and boo Randy then it worked perfectly. The problem is that it ONLY works when McAfee is around. And now you have him holding the fucking title. Hell even Triple H let Randy hold the belt during the Authority. So is Randy winning the title even relevant now Edited April 11 by hammerva 1
Curt McGirt Posted April 11 Posted April 11 That Jacob Fatu/Solo match was a hoot. There's a lot of faces that I just don't know who the hell they are nowadays. Damn you kids, get off my lawn
The Natural Posted April 11 Posted April 11 (edited) WWE killed my interest in Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton at WrestleMania 42 on last week's Smackdown with Pat McAfee inclusion. Now we've got Jelly Roll as well this week. I shouldn't be surprised WWE can fuck something up but they've really fucked up here, a WrestleMania main event. It's the two men's history together, their Dad's history and it's for the top title in WWE. That's all it needed to be. Not this bullshit additions with McAfee and Roll. FFS. Edited April 11 by The Natural
Eivion Posted April 11 Posted April 11 Alexa/Bayley was solid. Keys/Berto was an alright debut for Keys. Was surprised to see them hint towards Solo & Keys knowing each other later backstage. Skipped all the Rhodes/Orton stuff. I just don't give a shit about Jelly Roll or Pat. And I still think they took the entirely wrong direction with this feud by not turning Cody. Fuck, could have easily made this about Orton getting so dangerous that Rhodes turns to the darkside to survive. Jacob/Tama was fine. The post match beatdown by Drew was solid but could have easily cut out a few minutes and been better for it. WWE has a n issue where they let shit linger too long at times like this. Its particular issue I have seen with HHH's timing. Sami's promo was fine. I liked how it bled into Trick vs. Cardona. Said match was fine, but Cardona just doesn't feel like a great fit with current day WWE. He is another like Rusev I continue to think should not have been brought back. One thing I have to say while I think Lil Yachty works ok with Trick, he also feels completely unnecessary to it. Trick is frankly just too good of a talker on his own. Hopefully he is gone post Mania. Danhausen/Kit was the type of dumbassery I enjoy in my wrestling on occasion. Its been surprising seeing how well over Danhausen has gotten. Jade/Io was good for the short time it lasted. I dug Rhea taking out B-Fab and Mia backstage earlier in the night though I wish we properly saw the beatings. Wrestling and story wise this was a decent-solid show though nothing quite stood out strong here. Feels like the weak booking prior to the last week or two has completely kept down most of the ongoing stories from feeling as important as they probably should. In particular I think some of these main event segments probably should have happened 4-7 weeks ago opposed to only getting the spot in the last week or two before Mania. I think both main events for Mania have frankly lost their steam because they overbooked them instead of keeping things simple and going in directions that would have kept the crowd more interested in proper heel turns for both Cody & Punk. So far the only feud that feels like its gain steam from the Rumble & Chamber winners is Stephanie/Liv. 1
Eivion Posted April 11 Posted April 11 (edited) 1 hour ago, The Natural said: WWE killed my interest in Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton at WrestleMania 42 on last week's Smackdown with Pat McAfee inclusion. Now we've got Jelly Roll as well this week. I shouldn't be surprised WWE can fuck something up but they've really fucked up here, a WrestleMania main event. It's the two men's history together, their Dad's history and it's for the top title in WWE. That's all it needed to be. Not this bullshit additions with McAfee and Roll. FFS. I mean they fucked it up from the beginning. Times like this shows how much worse it can get, especially if TKO feels the need to get involved despite having no fucking clue what they are doing. 1 hour ago, Curt McGirt said: That Jacob Fatu/Solo match was a hoot. There's a lot of faces that I just don't know who the hell they are nowadays. Damn you kids, get off my lawn That was Tama Tonga. Jacob and Solo haven't wrestled each other in nearly a year. Edited April 11 by Eivion 1
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