The Thread Killer

https://www.tvline.com/2142725/sylvester-stallone-bodyguard-bigfoot-tulsa-king-actor-mike-walden/

That spot where Stratton totally whiffed and missed the dropkick but Giulia comically oversold it was cringeworthy. Actually Giulia’s selling that entire match was comical. It was starting to remind me of Michaels/Hogan. Like I said, it’s a small wonder both of them got left off Wrestlemania after that trainwreck.

Apparently the reason they haven’t announced Asuka vs Iyo for Wrestlemania yet is because they are waiting to see if Nikki Bella’s sprained ankle will heal in time for the show. If Bella can’t go by Wrestlemania, they will substitute Asuka & Kairi for the Bellas in the Fatal 4 Way for the Women’s Tag Titles. Not sure what that would mean for Iyo. I can’t imagine Iyo being left off the show, there is a legit argument to be made that she is the best Women’s Wrestler active in the business today. After that atrocity of a match Stratton and Giulia put on a couple of weeks ago, I can definitely see why they didn’t make the cut. Which is weird, because I think both of them are great, but that match was…yeesh. Giulia looked terrible.

As a Football fan, I knew who Pat McAfee was before he showed up in NXT, as most (even casual) NFL fans probably did. And full credit to him, his show on ESPN is pretty popular. I’d say he qualifies as a mainstream star. But I still find him annoying, and don’t see the point of shoe-horning him into this Cody/Orton angle. But at least he won’t be wrestling, unlike “IShowSpeed” whoever the fuck he is.

Meltzer was saying it was pretty much the opposite. He apparently had talks with WWE, and they told him they were good. And honestly…why wouldn’t they? Whatever problems WWE has, the answer is definitely not a 55 year old Chris Jericho.

Raw is by far and away the best of the 3 shows. More often than not, it’s a fairly easy watch, with at least a couple decent matches every week. The problem is, they are so stubbornly reliant on an incredibly stale formula. Face-to-face promos in the ring, which get broken up by security, referees, and Adam Pearce. Backstage segments. Distraction finishes. Contract signings. It’s the same shit every week. SmackDown is so much worse because that show is 3 hours, plus the SD roster is significantly weaker than the Raw roster. For example, Solo and his crew and the Wyatts get tons of TV time and nobody cares about them, because most of them suck. The SD Tag Division is a joke. Thank gawd they finally sent Gargano back to NXT. @sek69 pretty much summed up the problems with NXT. I don’t know who is writing the TV there, but they need to be fired. That show is at the point where I won’t even watch it, unless a match has been announced ahead of time that I want to see. When Oba, Trick and Je’Von all got called up, that roster took a huge hit. I actually find myself enjoying the AAA show on YouTube on Saturday Nights. The crowds are always insanely hot, there’s usually a good match or two and it’s only an hour long. Plus I actually enjoy the commentary team of Graves, JBL and Rey Mysterio.

That whole organization badly needs a creative shakeup, but I don’t see it happening.

I appreciate the fact that WWE has been scrambling to cover for the injuries to a number of their best performers, that’s why we are not getting Gunther vs Mysterio, Knight vs Reed and Rollins vs Breakker at Wrestlemania, which is clearly where they were heading with all of those guys. Having said that, if one of their solutions is to book The Usos & LA Knight vs Logan Paul, Austin Theory and fucking IShowSpeed, I swear…

Yeah, at some point between now and Wrestlemania, Brock is going to have to throw Oba a beating, for sure. This whole deal has been pretty one sided so far.

You certainly can’t fault the way that Lesnar has been building Femi up. They went toe-to-toe in the Rumble, and during the confrontation last week you could actually see Lesnar telling Femi to put his foot on Lesnar’s chest when he pointed at the sign. And again last night, Lesnar’s facial expression when Oba fought his way out of the F5 and sent Lesnar over the top rope certainly portrayed fear. It’s pretty obvious Lesnar must like Oba Femi. Just ask Jon Moxley and Braun Strowman what happens if he doesn’t like you. If Lesnar doesn’t put Femi over clean at Wrestlemania, it should at least be a double DQ or a countout or something like that. I agree that Femi losing to Lesnar isn’t going to do much for either guy. Lesnar doesn’t need that win.

According to Cornette, Dusty getting fired killed the Midnights vs Midnights feud. Cornette brought the idea to Dusty, who loved it, but after Dusty got fired Jim Crockett took over the booking, and for some reason, whatever that was, he did not like Randy Rose and pretty much put the kibosh on the whole thing. So dumb.

Yeah this is a sad loss. Although in a way, it’s great that Condrey was able to hang on and live a full life, considering what a rough battle he had with cancer years back. He was obviously a tough and resilient man, in and outside the Pro Wrestling business. It’s funny, for years I preferred the Eaton/Lane iteration of the MX, but over the years I grew to appreciate what a great heel Dennis Condrey really was. He was a master of stooging and selling, as well as getting the right kind of heel heat. He really was a consummate pro, and for a long time I didn’t understand the nuances of what he did. Not to sound maudlin, but they really don’t make em like Dennis Condrey anymore. RIP.

Agreed. I don’t know what they’re trying to do with this angle, but if it is to make Orton unlikable to the fans…it’s not working. Cody is getting stale as a generic white meat “good guy” and for whatever reason the fans just don’t want to boo Orton. It doesn’t help that Orton’s big explanation for his attack was “I love Cody, but I want the title and I hear voices and oh yeah I really don’t like the fans anyway.” Orton and Rhodes are supposed to face off next week and I fear Cody is going to get booed out of the building. They clearly need to pivot here, but sadly the SmackDown creative team might be incapable of that. These are the same people who have brought us the “depressed Johnny Gargano” story and the never ending saga of the MFT stealing Bray Wyatt’s lantern. Their storytelling abilities don’t exactly fill me with confidence. I suspect Cody is getting thrown to the wolves next week.

I wasn’t expecting Samoa Joe to get name dropped on RAW during the main segment leading up to the Main Event of Wrestlemania…but there you have it.

Could be wrong but I kind of get the feeling they are leading up to a double turn with Trick and Sami. They seem to be building to something between those two, and with the fans cheering Trick (and his Lemon Peppa Steppas) and Sami acting like he’s about to snap, having all these backstage tantrums, I figured that was the direction they were headed.

I think (hope) they have finally pulled the pin on the Jey Uso singles push/experiment. He’s popular as hell, and the kids love him, but once the bell rings? Yikes. I don’t know how you can literally grow up in the business, be surrounded by family members in the business, have a 18 year career…and despite all that, STILL not be able to throw a halfway decent looking working punch. Plus that dude is just so damn sloppy and all over the place. Jey Uso can move all the merch in the world and fans can Yeet until the cows come home, but he just don’t wrestle so good.

Apparently, on the post show, Nick Aldis announced that McIntyre has to defend the title against Cody on Friday at SmackDown. Which could lead to Cody vs Orton and maybe Fatu vs McIntyre at WM?

I did not see that coming.

One of the things that I like about the newer stage set up WWE has been using is the interactions between the talent and the kids on the way to the ring. There have been some really cute visuals. Some talent are even stopping to sign autographs, it reminds me of classic World Class.

Yeah that was surreal. And Cole got the teeth!

Punk vs Balor was pretty much what I was expecting, a decent solid wrestling match. No surprises, but no complaints from me.

I’ve seen a couple of people on Twitter saying it was a good match as well. I just don’t see that, but to each their own, I guess.

The best thing I can say about that match is that it’s over. And I am quite happy that Becky’s reign is, as well.

This is going to be rough I think. AJ hasn’t wrestled in 10 years, and Becky is not exactly setting the world on fire lately.