DMJ

I'm not sure I quite understand the full meaning behind what TJP said about "writing" Ricochet's match or having the WWE take the "bat that [he] carved" and giving it to someone else. I didn't see the Ricochet main roster debut, but is he implying that he had the original idea to debut the way Ricochet did? As part of a 205 Live call-up? Or is he talking about a specific move sequence? His comments are too "inside baseball" for me and I fashion myself a pretty knowledgeable fan. Maybe someone can clue me in that saw the segment/match. For comparison, in Bret's book, he talks about pitching the ladder match concept a couple times to Vince before WrestleMania X and actually having ladder matches on house shows (against Shawn no less, IIRC) and being miffed that Shawn and Razor get the credit for "inventing" the match. I get that. But stealing a move? I don't know. Its 2019. Springboard missile dropkicks (which is the gif that TJP put on his Twitter above his comment) don't belong to anyone.

Not to be that guy, but if Nia Jax had done the same thing, I could see many jumping on it as proof that she's sloppy and unprofessional. My guess is that these three, like Sasha Banks with her crazy high spots a few years ago, are thinking they need to lay everything in and push the limit to prove a point. I'm not sure they're wrong either. With Nia, there's a history of unsafe work, but then again, Becky Lynch having her nose broken was also a character-defining moment and now she's going to main event WrestleMania. I don't want to see people getting hurt needlessly, but it ain't ballet.

I highly doubt they're going go with Wyatt. I think they want a strong babyface in that spot and Wyatt isn't a strong anything right now. My dark horse pick is Cena. The few reports I read said that his schedule makes it unlikely that they would feature him so prominently - as he won't be able to do weekly TV - but I also just can't believe they're going to do this Mania without him when, in terms of star power, they are probably at the lowest point they've been since what? Maybe 09' or '06? Maybe even the pre-Attitude Era 90s? Granted, this is a company with Lesnar, Rousey, Bryan, Becky, Mysterio, Orton, AJ, Jeff Hardy, Seth, and Braun - so its not like they don't have popular stars - but it still feels light because the past 10 Manias have been so centered on what Cena is doing, what Reigns is doing, what Triple H is doing, what Taker is doing, and what Brock is doing (but only if he's working one of the other guys on this list because his feud/match with Ambrose was treated like an after thought).

I was surprised by the reactions on here for this show. I have it as one of the worst in recent memory with only the main event delivering. - The Women's Chamber Match is like that "Young Woman/Old Woman" optical illusion as it seems you either thought this was awful or you thought it was great. I didn't like it. I went in hopeful, but it just didn't hook me at any point. I like the Iiconics as an act, but they didn't back up their taunts with anything special in terms of double-teams (which should kind of be their thing). I've seen some praise the work of Sonya and Liv's bumping, but I found it to be just okay - nothing star-making. Nia Jax running into the pod didn't look good to me, like (out of safety) Bayley wasn't positioned in front of the pod wall (so Nia basically just ran into the thing despite Bayley being closer to the ring post and barely having to sidestep). Did Naomi, Carmella, or Sarah Logan do anything cool? I don't recall. I liked the finishing stretch, but I didn't think any of the sequences/stretches in this match made me go "I can't wait till we see these two teams square off again!" I mean, Sasha and Bayley kind of dominated the whole division in one night. This match would've been better with some of the more established personalities and workers involved (Alexa, Mickie James, Alicia Fox) or even Kairi Sane and Io Shirai. My wife was watching with me and she called it boring and too long. I had to agree. - If I had tickets to this event, I'd have been disappointed with the Rousey/Riot non-match. Was the post-match angle great? For sure...but if I'm paying $50 for a ticket to a show, I kind of want to see the major stars actually, y'know, wrestle. No Brock. No Cena. No Asuka. No Seth or Dean. Becky and Charlotte aren't wrestling. Then Ronda Rousey squashes her opponent in under 3 minutes. This card was really thin to begin with and she's been so dependable (and Riot has also excelled in the rare spotlight matches she's had) that even 6-7 minute match would've helped this show tremendously. - I know complaining about bad booking in WWE is like complaining about cold temperatures in Juneau, but jesus, the Balor match and Braun matches were practically neck-and-neck in the What Storyline Is Hurting Which Guy Worse competition. With Balor, coming off the Lesnar match, they had the opportunity to either get behind him or not, and they opted to half-step. I don't think he came out of last night's match stronger than he went in and Lashley certainly didn't gain anything either (and why again are we breaking up Rush and Lashley?). Meanwhile, in what should've been the sole squash of the night, Strowman struggles to beat a lower midcard guy in a no DQ match and then Lashley and McIntyre come out as lackeys - because being the lackey to a lower midcard guy is definitely going to get you over. Is this building towards Strowman beating all three in a handicap match at Mania? Maybe he'll team back up with the 7 year old from last year? Whatever comes of this, I'm not interested. I was a little on the fence about buying tickets for Fastlane, which is happening like 15 minutes from my house. Last night's show made that decision much easier. I'm staying home.

Just came here to self-promote a little bit. Almost 10 years ago, I recorded an album of songs inspired by the Hart Family and Chris Benoit called Sheer Hart Attack. Its self-made, lo-fi punk weirdness - an aural battle royal of Guided By Voices, They Might Be Giants, and Husker Du - and it is available on Bandcamp for the first time ever now. You can check it out here. Originally released under the band name Double Murder Suicide, I've finally re-branded as Double Moonsault as the original DMS name certainly pushed away a lot of potential listeners with the offensiveness of it. In 2017 I released my last album Razor's Edge Suitcase, but this one, from 2009, is probably my favorite album that I've done and I hope you give it a listen. The full download comes with 21 bonus tracks too and you can read about those on the Bandcamp site. Check it out, PWOites!

Bayley was a tough one. I wasn't watching for the full Bayley origin story in NXT but wasn't the idea that she rose the ranks over a lengthy period of time? That it was a slow, gradual process where the underdog eventually became the Champ after, like, 2 years of just showing strong effort but not beating Charlotte, Sasha, etc.? When she got called up, they had two options - restart the entire storyline and have her lose immediately, basically showing that she was a big fish in a small pond that couldn't compete with the Alicia Foxes and Nikki Bellas of the world. She plays the underdog for 6-8 months and you hope the wider audience rallies like the NXT one did. Or you push her as a legit threat from the jump and hope that the niche NXT audience would be vocal enough for a "monkey see/monkey do" reaction to happen when she was in front of the wider audience (in other words, if those guys sitting in my row are cheering for her, I'll cheer for her too even though I don't know who she is). I'd say they went more with the latter than the former and it didn't really work...but if they had done the reverse, I don't think that would've been 100% guaranteed to work. I'm curious what they do with Gargano and Ciampa as they're in a similar position. They too are in this weird position where it feels like their career-defining angle happened already. What do you do when you call them up? Repeat the original angle verbatim with #DIY and everything? They should try something fresh, obviously, but in doing that, there's no guarantee you're creating characters that can carry shows/connect with the audience the way they do now.

On the Bryan/Creative Control thing, I agree that its a team effort. Bryan's got a good rep backstage as a creative thinker and is well-liked (meaning collaboration with the producers/agents/writers is likely more fruitful). He's proven he can get over. The company also invested in him with what was probably a lucrative deal so there is incentive in keeping him happy. Plus, he's on SmackDown - the show Vince cares less about and has historically been less controlling over - and his heel turn came at the exact right time when the title scene needed freshening up (after AJ/Nak and AJ/Joe). But does this same run happen on Raw? With all the "trimmings" like Ali and Almas getting more exposure? I don't think it would. I like the phrases "loosening the reins" and "more creative input," but Vince has the pencil. We know bigger stars do have more input than others about who they want to work with and even sometimes who they want to put over (Austin's beef w/ Jarrett, the Cena/Nexus SummerSlam thing, Brock and Braun seeming to clash), but ultimately, Vince is in charge. If Vince wakes up tomorrow and decides Bryan is going to drop the title to Corbin, its going to happen - even if it would be the dumbest booking ever and Bryan presented his case against it. Isn't that essentially what happened with Austin and Brock? Vince wanted one thing, wouldn't budge about his plans, and his top star disagreed so vehemently that he breached his contract. Neither side wants to get to that point so, hey, why not let Bryan wrestle some 205 guy on the B-show if that keeps him happy?

- I don't think people have to bend over all the way backwards to explain it. While I agree that Lynch/Rousey would be preferred (much like Bryan/Batista or Bryan/Orton would've been better at WM30 or Benoit/HHH would've been better at WM20), I don't think its that far a step down. Its obvious the company views Charlotte as their top female talent - not just in 2019, but for the past few years and for the foreseeable future. They want her to be able to say she was the first woman to headline WrestleMania. Rousey is not long for the WWE and, right or wrong, I think they believe Becky will flame out. Its not fair. Its not right. Its not as good as what you or I might fantasy book. But Becky Lynch is winning the big one in the main event of WrestleMania and I'm okay with Charlotte being there too. Maybe its just me, but I also like Charlotte's work and, if she goes full-blown heel now by aligning with the McMahons, I'm even more likely to enjoy this. - What's crazy to me about Braun is, last year, when they had nothing for him, they teamed him up with a child and had him win the tag titles in a "feel good" moment slotted before the main event to cool down the crowd. It was widely criticized. Here we are 9 1/2 months later and its clear to me that they have nothing for him again. I predict we're getting Strowman vs. McIntyre, which is a pre-show match to me. You can put it on the main card, but, at best, its a RAW main event when Brock isn't there to be in the last segment. Its a feud that's been orbiting the RAW scene for months too, so its not exactly fresh even if they've yet to have a definitive 1-on-1 match. Its two mid-carders squaring off in a match for no stakes. I understand the "Creative Has Nothing For You" trope when it involves guys like Crews and Ziggler and Ryder, but goddamn, how is a 6'8'' 350+ pound strongman not a top priority in booking meetings?

I watched two episodes today. I think the nostalgia factor helps, but these are really watchable shows. I know the average WWE fan is aged like 50 or whatever, but it does kind of confuse me as to why, with the PG rating and all, they haven't actively tried to produce a syndicated kid-friendly show to air on Saturday/Sunday mornings. These shows were probably pretty cheap to produce in the early 90s and in 2019 I'd assume they'd be even cheaper. Like, they invest money and time to producing Network-only shows like 205 Live but that isn't bringing in a single new viewer. Why not produce a syndicated show for kids with the chief goal of bringing in viewers aged 7-10? The "next generation" of fans, if you will?

Fair enough. I think one could still argue that any of this stuff is inexcusable and they wouldn't be wrong. But from what you have both added, I think we're in agreement that, in 2019, in the current context of what the WWE promotes itself as, this sort of stuff just doesn't work as well. You could point to the Rumble and say, "Hey, Nia taking all those dudes finishers was the biggest pop of that match!" and you might even be right - but I'd counter that this being true has more to do with the Rumble being pretty lackluster more than 40k fans desiring to see Nia take an RKO because there's been a huge build towards that moment.

Yuck at that news about Nia/Dean. I'm not opposed to some sort of mixed tag at Mania, but this all seems like its building to an inter-gender match where the woman is a heel and that just doesn't sit right. Like the end of the Rumble this year, it doesn't matter how much heat Nia has, watching her get RKO'd and hit with a 619 isn't "fun" for me as a viewer. 20 years ago it wasn't right either in retrospect...and I know I will get eaten alive (deservedly) for this comment, but a key difference is that when Austin was giving Stunners to Chyna (and Linda McMahon at some point?), we were talking about the most wildly popular character in WWE history delivering the Stunner to a woman at the crescendo of a show filled with sex, violence, and boundary-pushing storylines. It doesn't make it any better and actually makes it worse because the whole show was filled with misogyny and exploitation, but it also meant that when the "good guy" Steve Austin gave his finishing move to one of the villainous women, the show was so far down in the gutter of tastelessness that blatant man-on-woman violence was the only "topper" left. So, in 97/98'' when he stunned Chyna, I cheered for it. (By 01' I was barely watching, but would imagine, if I was still a fan at the time, I would've liked him delivering one to Steph too.) But today's show is different and this week's RAW segment, where Dean teased Nia by claiming she has lust for him, was awkward and gross. And, actually, it made me want to see Nia beat the shit out of him because "Cool Handsome Guy" mocking the "fat girl" for having a crush on him (which we, the audience, had ZERO reason to believe was true) is all sorts of disgusting to me. And this segment was also Dean's face turn because Cool Handsome Guy mocking fat girl is funny? So, yeah, at least 20 years ago, when they did man-on-woman violence they had characters that were over enough, in a context that was tasteless enough, with storylines that positioned the hero as being justified enough to pull it off.

Just watched the segment and its some fun stuff. A Van Hammer that can actually wrestle? Ain't nothing wrong with that. Its one-note, but I like that one note more than No Way Jose and that "Get Me To The Greek" guy from a few years ago. Just don't add groupies. There's nothing funny about a rock star surrounded by people who treat him like a rock star. The comedy comes from the fish being out of the water, not in it. The Gulak/Riddle match was the best Riddle match I've seen - though, I'm pretty limited to what I've seen (read: only his NXT matches and probably not every one of those). After seeing this match, I definitely get why he's a big deal more than I did before it. That deadlift powerbomb? My god. Then a knee to the jaw? I think that should've been the finish instead of having Gulak tap a few seconds later. I know Riddle said he was going to tap him out before the match, but that combo was fierce.

I'm fully in support of the Becky push but, in my post in the last page, made sure to note that the booking of it hasn't been perfect. To me, the clean loss to Asuka (and decision not to challenge her at Mania) is the one thing that is really hard to defend. I understand that Asuka needed the win, but considering they ended the Women's Rumble with a knee injury angle, they could've had Becky injure her knee against Asuka and lose by ref's decision that she can no longer compete (or count-out). Later in the show, you cut backstage and maybe have Rousey walk by Becky as she is being checked by a doctor and Finlay. Ronda doesn't need to say anything. Just a smirk in Becky's direction would be enough to get over the idea that these two still have beef and Becky is furious, wants into the Rumble, and has more personal animosity against Rousey than Asuka*. Having Finlay there to witness the interaction would subtly imply his respect for the fighting spirit of Becky and foreshadow his decision to let her into the Rumble later. * In this scenario, Asuka doesn't injure Lynch's knee intentionally with repeated strikes or submissions. Its more like Lynch lands badly out of the ring - the kind of injury that isn't meant to lead to a revenge storyline and is sold more like an occupational hazard that could've happened to anyone regardless of opponent.

- I was really hoping not to see this "Stephanie is right!" stuff here. I saw on a Facebook post someone said "Stephanie is just looking out for her employee like a good boss would" and a few posts above someone argued Becky shouldn't have even been in the Rumble anyway. Jeez. If some of you had the pencil, Vince McMahon would've went out of business in 98'. I get that in real life, if your boss came to you and said you needed to take a sick day to see a doctor, it would be seen as caring. And, yes, Becky forced her way into a Rumble she wasn't originally entered in (which is some sort of egregious crime because the fucking Royal Rumble is sacrosanct? Like every Royal Rumble ever has been 100% on the level?). But this is a scripted drama and I don't think bootlickers and goody-two-shoes are characters fans are getting behind in 2019. I'm not saying this storyline is flawless - it isn't and the dots could be connected better - but it was clear enough to me when Stephanie McMahon, the most absolute heel of all the McMahon Family, tried to tell "The Man" Becky Lynch what to do that Stephanie should be booed and Becky should be cheered. Its like that "80s Hogan was a heel" stuff. Yeah, we get it. He broke rules and did multiple asshole/bully things. Its a funny thing to talk about - but anybody that truly believes the audience somehow "got it wrong" or was "dumb" in cheering the Hulkster is just being purposefully dense. Hogan was a babyface. Austin was a babyface after WM13. Becky Lynch is a babyface now. - I'd be curious to hear more about the female viewership numbers. I didn't hear the full context, but I'm not sure if this is a trend or just a one-week slump or what. It may also be a that a particularly popular show with women restarted on Monday? I don't know. I just hope that it doesn't steer them away from Lynch/Rousey in the main event. I mean, RAW was doing its historically worst ratings ever with Seth Rollins wrestling on top every week and he's still likely winning the Universal Championship at Mania.

Rusev and Lana were on Lillian Garcia's podcast and while I didn't hear the full context, the bits I read sounded just heartbreaking. You can google it but here's some lowlights: "It feels like I'm the only one who cares about [the US] title and I wanted to make it bigger. I wanted to make it what it was back when we wrestled John Cena for it. But it seems like every time someone else has it, nothing happens and now they're lost. The title is probably going to get lost again and I'm going to get lost too." "I always want to see myself on the card...But I feel like, the more you hang around, the more you're forgotten. It doesn't matter how good you are...It doesn't matter what I do, I kinda end up with the same thing." "I do want to look my best...I do want to be on top. I don't want to be forgotten...I do all these things but nothing changes...What am I supposed to do?...I'm just trying to do something to catch Vince McMahon's eye...We go, we pitch, we talk, he just never comes to anything." "...when the whole Rusev Day [thing] started and everything. I thought it was my time...I keep talking to everybody, but nobody wanted to do anything. It's very frustrating. But still, as frustrating as it is, I'm like, alright, let's go to the gym. Let's get better, let's do whatever he can." (He goes on to joke that he's even begun Crossfit!) I know Jericho tweeted that AEW isn't interested in every disgruntled talent in the WWE lockerroom, but man, Rusev is so good. And, at one point, he was one of the most over acts in the company. Those Rusev Day Chants, at various times in 2018, were louder or as loud than I've ever heard a crowd sound for Rollins. Its a shame that, for whatever reason, they don't see him as a top guy because I'm not sure what box he didn't check.

I'm not sure I'm in total agreement that Vince isn't a fan of tag teams. They may have not been the focal point of the WWE at any time, but they've at least been on the periphery all along. Its not like they ever just dropped the Tag Team Championships the way they dropped the Light Heavyweight Title and Women's Championships in the 90s. I do agree that Vince does look at tag teams as a launching pad for a singles star. Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Edge, Jeff Hardy, even Martel and Santana to a lesser extent, are all examples - and I think its hard to argue he was wrong in those assessments. The Rockers and Hart Foundation were great teams and I know its a "hot take" talking point around here that MIchaels best work was at a tag guy, but the reality is, when you look at what they did as singles, they were essential to the WWE in that role more than they were as tag guys. I think Vince sees tags as a way to break up the show and offer some variety on the card. Does that mean they're relegated to a "sub-main event" level and always will be? For sure. But there's also a little chicken-or-the-egg going on. Has Vince ever had a tag team more over than the ace? I don't think so. The Road Warriors and Rock n' Roll Express, at their peak, were over enough to deserve to be in the main event. But what was the most over team in WWE history? The Road Warriors in 92'? The New Age Outlaws? The Hardys? Team Hell No or New Day? Were any of these teams really popular enough to headline a SummerSlam let alone a WrestleMania? Again, maybe if they were pushed that way - but, for one example, I'm not sure even the strongest marketing push would've made Team Hell No a stronger act in 2012-13 than the names they had at the top of the card (Cena, Lesnar, and, in the build to WM29, The Rock too). In AEW, to that core audience of fans, the Young Bucks are main eventers. Their matches are going to be centerpieces - but that doesn't mean the division itself is going to be pushed as strong unless there are teams worthy of that position on the card. I don't know enough about indie wrestling, but right now, it looks like they're setting up some Young Bucks dream matches. Once those run out (which could be years from now), does a Young Bucks vs. Joe Schmo and Hank Nobody still merit top-of-the-card placement? Or worse - what about a tag match pitting Schmo & Nobody vs. The Bland Brothers? Its easy to say "We're going to push tag team wrestling" when the mega-popularity of the Young Bucks is one of the driving causes of the whole endeavor. What I hope for - but don't expect to happen - is that the WWE at least allows for the opportunity for the tag division to reach that level. The best example is NXT, where, when #DIY/Revival/AOP were putting on the best matches on the card, Triple H knew the audience would accept them main eventing a Takeover show. Of course, the minute those teams left, the tag division no longer warranted that kind of spotlight.

This company. Last week it was HHH thrusting himself into the Seth Rollins/Lesnar build for no apparent reason. Now, Steph's gonna do it too. As Shane McMahon has wrestled about as many matches this year as Lesnar, he's practically a regular wrestler - plus, with Miz, at least he's involved in his own angle rather than just glomming onto a storyline that he has nothing to do with. Things I think we'll see: - Stephanie will shoehorn the phrase "Women's Revolution" into her opening monologue . The pronoun "I" will be so dangerously close to the phrase it will almost seem like she's taking credit for it. - Stephanie will make a snarky comment about Becky Lynch that subtly undermines her. Maybe mention she lost to Asuka at the Rumble? People will say this is just "getting heat" - forgetting that Stephanie is not wrestling Becky Lynch at WrestleMania or any other time so Stephanie getting heat serves no purpose. - Despite getting beat down at Mania last year and ostensibly shown her place, non-wrestler Steph will somehow have a face-to-face with Ronda again where it is implied Stephanie is not afraid of a former UFC Champion. - Stephanie will also get in the face of Becky Lynch, implying she's not afraid of her either. This is because Stephanie McMahon is a trained wrestler who has stood toe-to-toe with the best women in the business and is an established bad ass in her own right. Oops, I meant the exact opposite. She's the exact opposite of that. She's a 40 year old mother of three who works as an top executive in her father's company. - Stephanie McMahon will somehow stand tall at the end of this segment that she has no business even being in.

Watched most of Raw... - Opening segment was fine, I guess. I don't like HHH. I don't like Rollins. - Nia in the Rumble. Nia knocking Ambrose out of the ring. Are we building towards some sort of intergender match at Mania? I really, really hope not. - A bad idea poorly executed with bad commentary is a recipe for awfulness. Corbin/Angle was atrocious. Why is Angle even wrestling? And, if he is going to wrestle, the best thing they can do with him is have him job to Corbin as filler? - No problem with Lashley/Balor. Lashley doing chokeslams and powerbombs with such ease is impressive and Balor earned some respect with the effort against Brock. I've been cold on Balor for awhile, but I'm coming around a bit as I'll take Balor getting more opportunities than Rollins and Ziggler getting them. - Anyone else bored with Elias? - Mojo Rawley screaming into a mirror works for me. I don't know how it will transfer into the ring as far as Mojo showing us something we haven't seen before, but it was an eerie, short-but-good little segment that kinda reminded me of the early Mankind vignettes. - So, Rousey's working with Heyman, right? Did he let her know that starting your promo with a stupid cliche like "If you can't dream big, what's the point of dreaming?" was an intentional way to get her heat? Like, surely Heyman knew the verbiage of this promo was designed to get her booed, but she seemed noticeably shaken up at first, confused at the reaction. Like, did someone forget to tell her that she's going to be a heel? - As much as I thought Bayley shined a little at the Rumble, her match with Rousey wasn't great - maybe even Rousey's worst. More than the imperfect, disjointed sequences, I think it just goes to show how important "setting the table" is. Rousey's matches have benefitted from strong set-ups and anticipation, which have made her matches - even against someone like Nikki Bella - a "big fight feel." The same can even be said for Bayley, who, devoid of the character-building that made her so sympathetic and likable in NXT, is just not dazzling enough of a worker to have me invested. Granted, this was still the best match I saw on the show...or, to be more exact, the best of the few I didn't just fast forward through. - A poster above commented that Becky Lynch is a good-not-great promo, but I thought she was fire in this segment. She also looks badass these days. I don't think Lynch has nailed every in-ring segment she's had to carry over the past few months, but if you hit home runs when the game is on the line, like it is now, that's good enough. - Am I crazy but is 80% of the WWE male roster bearded? I'd love to actually see the statistic, but I'm willing to wager it is more than half - which is crazy. More than half of the men in the WWE have facial hair.

^ Eesh. No Bryan/AJ? That was my favorite match. As someone else said, I think AJ/Bryan suffered from a deadish crowd - but really, I've seen deader. Like, a whole lot deader. It also may have been more of the stadium's fault than the crowd actually not being into it. Not dissimilar to the previous night's Takeover where, to me, it felt like the crowd was dead from beginning to end. Also, just to shit on Rollins a bit, a key difference between the reception AJ/Bryan got and what Rollins/Ambrose and Rollins/Ziggler got on their big PPV matches a few months ago is that, during AJ/Bryan, the crowd (in a baseball stadium) seemed to only pop for the big spots and were arguably burnt out after Lynch's victory...but with Rollins/Ambrose and Rollins/Ziggler, it wasn't a volume issue, it wasn't that they had some big cathartic moment before their match, it was fans actively doing smart-ass "countdowns" and "boring" chants. Also, just to add this - even if you watch a show in chunks, a good match is a good match. I watched the show in chunks. Bryan/AJ was great. Ronda/Banks was great. Becky/Asuka was great (though, I don't understand the booking there). Balor/Brock was great. I was fresh for the Women's Rumble and the first half was not great. I was plenty fresh for the Men's Royal Rumble and I found it tedious and, at times, very poor. Didn't Ziggler tweet that he wasn't working it? The final four being four guys that are so cold (or a relatively new heel like Andrade) and the crowd doesn't even bother to get behind any of them? The poor taste of the Nia segment? I don't care how fresh you are going into watching that Rumble, it wasn't one I'd consider good.

I thought this show was good, not great. The crowd seemed a bit dead at times, too. To me, one of the most glaring issues with some of these Takeover shows is the lack of variety. Starting with the tag match and then having 4 consecutive singles matches is just not how I would lay out the show. I think the WWE logic is that the Women's Match is "variety," but I no longer feel that it actually is when the Women's Matches on these Takeover shows are every bit as hard-hitting, suspenseful, etc. as anything the men do. And the same is true on the main roster. I also think this show would've benefited with some sort of in-ring segment with Velveteen Dream. A tease for the Rumble? Maybe a face-to-face with some new NXT guy? I think it was maybe 2 years ago when Seth Rollins showed up on an NXT Takeover show to go after Triple H and while I dislike Rollins tremendously, I did think it was a good angle to break up the show. This show could've used a similar moment.

I don't want to re-open the discussion but I'm gonna kinda re-open the discussion. I've been going through the WCW PPVs from 92' to the end and I'm in the final 4-5 months. Bill Demott - as General Rection - is consistently not good. He has matches against Lance Storm and Shane Douglas around this time and its just clear that "Rection" is just as generic and milquetoast and lazy as they come. Just not good at all. And, in 95'/96', when he first came on the scene in WCW, he was a worker that made me, as a kid, turn my head. The No Laughing Matter was great. I liked the Chris Farley-as-the-Riddler-on-mushrooms bizarreness of his Dungeon of Doom gimmick. It was unique and, in ring, he was doing some cool stuff for a big guy. But a few years later, as his "gimmickless self," basically just Bill Demott with a goofy name, his promos are unremarkable and unhip. His in-ring work is bad. He is unable to garner any sort of crowd reaction and is considerably slower and less fun to watch. So, why again was this dude a head trainer? What friends did he have in high places? Is it also one of those things where, because he was doing good work for like 18 months in the mid-90s, he had a reputation as being a "good hand" despite him becoming utter shit by 99'?

I definitely was under the impression that Cena was going to be in the Rumble. I don't watch the weekly shows, so did they announce him as being in it a few weeks back and then, when the Lars angle fell through, come up with some other reason why he wouldn't be in the Rumble? Or was he never officially announced? I think I saw a clip where he was attacked by Drew McIntyre - was that the replacement angle? Not that there's going to be a full on mutiny or anything, but there will be some unhappy fans and kids (especially) in attendance who believe he's going to be there and when he's not in at #29 and then at #30, will be upset about it. I'm hearing the news for the first time today that he's not going to be on the show and I'm upset about it just because I assumed we'd get a hint as to what his Mania match would be on Sunday. Nothing I've heard necessarily excites me aside from a potential rematch with Bryan.

On paper, this looks like it might be the best Rumble ever? In terms of title matches, Styles/Bryan, Lesnar/Balor, Banks/Rousey, and Becky/Asuka are all intriguing. It will be interesting to see the match order on the show as I could see Styles/Bryan opening, which just goes to show how stacked this card is. Its one thing if that feud didn't have heat (like Ambrose/Rollins last month or Styles/Nakamura from last spring), but its plenty over. Unless Becky pulls double-duty, I'm thinking Charlotte is the favorite for the Women's Rumble and makes her intentions clear that she's going for Rousey soon after. I'm not sure how Becky gets inserted, but she will be. I envision them basically doing the WM30 build with Becky as Bryan. Then, on the SD side of things, the challenge for Asuka will come from the Elimination Chamber - which is kind of a great problem to have. Between now and Mania, there is plenty of time for a Ruby Riot, Lacey Evans, or Nikki Cross to score a fluke win in the Chamber and play mind games with Asuka. Rousey/Lynch/Charlotte at Mania is going to be your "big name" spectacle match - but what an opportunity you're left with to make the SD match something really fresh and different. In the Men's Rumble, I'm picking Braun...but tomorrow I might say Rollins. Its 50/50 between them IMO, with Cena likely surviving until the final 3-4 before exiting. Despite it being a two-horse race, its still intriguing to me. If you go with Braun, I"m not sure what Rollins does at Mania unless they move him over to SmackDown and challenge Bryan - an idea I hate to even put out there as possibly happening. If Rollins wins, you can build another opponent for Braun - maybe McIntyre? - but Strowman's credibility will have taken yet another big hit.

I didn't get through all of SD, but I did see the opening segment. I don't think Lynch "nailed" any of it - her and Asuka had some pretty cheesy/corny lines and its not like either could be confused with Austin or The Rock in the charisma department. But I do think, as others have said before, when you're over and the fans want to cheer you and want to love you, you can get away with imperfect segments and not-so-hot delivery. Compare that to guys like Reigns, where part of the audience was just dying to say "What?" at every stop or come online and disparage him, and its clear as day. Is he really that much worse of a promo than AJ Styles? I don't think so. But AJ is over with strong fan support but I nary hear a bad word about his mic skills - which aren't terrible or anything, but as a babyface, he's kinda babyface Bret Hart-level in that he's delivering a to-the-point message, no frills, no comedy, just a clear message of intent. If anything, its that "clear message of intent" that WWE would be wise to instruct more performers to pull from. For example, Dean Ambrose doing comedy has made him a guy that fans wanted to cheer (even as a heel) into someone no one gives a shit about, but Dean Ambrose just coached to go out there and be threatening? I think he could pull that off.

It's an interesting development. Its definitely a bit of a risky move for The Revival. Sure, they're being wasted - but to be the first defection is a bit of a political statement, especially when I'm guessing that Triple H will be involved in trying to negotiate with them. I think he values them, saw what they meant to NXT, and knows that, even now, with their stock so low, they're still what? At the very least the 4th best team on the roster behind Usos, New Day, and Sheamus/Cesaro? The shocker, to me, is that the easy answer is in front of them and they chose to ignore it when, had they done it months ago, the Revival would probably be plenty content. Move them to SmackDown yesterday and put them in the ring with The New Day, who are desperate need of some new opponents but are still the most over babyface team on either brand. I'm a Revival fan, but they're not flashy/over/established enough to be guys who make money. In the words of (I think) Cornette referencing HHH, The Revival are "the guys who work with the guys who make money."