NotJayTabb

It's the same "stealing the show" nonsense that made Ziggler such a terrible character. Actually, that's one of the best things about Owens: his goal has always been to win titles and earn more money. It's an easily understandable character trait.

I'd not really considered how misleading the name of our ground is, but the Ricoh Arena is the stadium. Though I think by the time I'm trying to sell Mason Ryan-headlined Wrestlemanias to the public, I'd probably be able to run it at the conference hall next door.

I'm thoroughly enjoying this, realism be damned. It also wouldn't feel like a JvK project if he wasn't dragging a load of 50yr olds out of retirement to put on stinking matches. He did it with the Blond Bombers in 83, so I'm glad the tradition has been kept up with Watts and Wahoo. This has also inspired me to shell out for TEW for the first time since 2005. so when I'm reaping the glories of my "Mason Ryan wins the WWE title at Wrestlemania at the Ricoh Arena" push, I'll be sure to thank you

I don't think it's inaccurate to trim that to just AJ and Sheamus. Roman had one of the best matches of 2015 against the Big Show. He's had the only good Brock match since the return vs Cena. He had MoTN 3 PPV's in a row last year. I think he's at the stage where I can't think of anyone in the company he couldn't have a decent match with.

I'd argue Owens DOES have an aura around him. He's a guy that's managed to remain over, despite spending the past 12 months in the most 50/50 booking period of the WWE. For better or worse, Owens always gets a reaction coming out - it may be booing or it may be cheering, but he gets a reaction. Some of that may be due to his "indy darling" background, but he's over in a way than Sami Zayn isn't, or Cesaro and Crews never will be. Everyone has their own opinion, but I'd also argue he's one of the better promo guys in the company. He's naturally witty, his motivations are always clear and it's obvious that people in power feel the same way - very few wrestlers get put on guest commentary as much as Owens.

In fairness to Owens, by all accounts his backstage reputation is impeccable. He's one of those guys who's learning about production, asking questions about improvement and showing real interest in how things are run. I can imagine that kind of attitude really endearing him to Vince and HHH, reaching for the brass ring and all that bollocks. I actually thought the segment came across as a face turn for HHH, and by proxy Owens. Firstly because the crowd were clearly on his side all night, but also the way they let the "You deserve it" chants play out on TV. Also, they've put a video on the YouTube channel of Rollins lambasting Stephanie and Foley after the match, where he doesn't come off as a face. I can see them running with Owens as tweener-face, with Jericho turning on him eventually to cement the turn.

In all the excitement about Owens, people are overlooking how ice cold the Strowman squash was. Poor litle Americo, dressed up like a kid attending a fancy-dress party, looks absolutely terrified as Braun comesout, gets obliterated and then demasked as Strowman stands over him and laughs.

Well, Dar is under contract and appearing on videos on Raw to promote the division, whilst ZSJ is very much not signing a contract at this time, so a Dar win isn't unlikely. I still think ZSJ will win, but don't rule Dar out. I also think Dar has been unlucky in that he's fought two very poor guys so far in the tournament, and fighting someone as good as ZSJ will hopefully give him a chance to prove what he can do.

I think watching 1-on-1 combat sports after the event is different to watching other sports. You can notice clever little tactical moments on rewatch or spot the turning point when the momentum starts to shift in a way you can't really do with team sports. I know from personal experience that I've watched my DVD of Calzaghe vs Lacy numerous times, whilst my copy of the 1987 FA Cup final has been watched once in the background.

Given that Nikki Bella returned as a heel on Sunday, I wonder if they'll mention that she's the sister-in-law of the face GM

I'm looking forward to a big push for the Z-Man

It's interesting that the guys on the video - Noam, Swann, Kendrick and Perkins - are bypassing NXT TV almost entirely. I think Swann was a job guy on one episode (vs Balor?) and Kendrick is obviously TV experienced, but the other two will only have had the CWC to get used to the WWE way of filming.

I've been critical of Dean Ambrose before, but I give him all the credit possible for making the world title match somewhat watchable. Thought he heeled it up nicely, and was actually convincing as the champion who knows he's better than his challenger, but is sometimes caught offguard. Loved his condescending slaps to the face and his mock Sweet Chin Music warm up (followed by a poke to the eye). For his part, Ziggler did have one nice moment (the headbutt used to set up a superkick), but that aside...wretched. Really awkward looking roll-ups, the "hold me up until I slap your back" DDT, some utterly terrible elbows where he was clearly just punching the floor, his corner headbutts where he was just flinging wet hair at Ambrose....just abysmal.

Kendrick was highlighted on the "Cruiserweights coming soon to RAW" video, so there's a good chance he's sticking around.

Between putting it on Smackdown, putting the title match in the middle of the card at Summerslam and having a loser like Zigger as #1 contender, they've managed to make the world title seem pretty unimportant.

I got as far as the end of the women's title match last night (due to the time difference, I'd decided to stay up until the first match I didn't care about, and thankfully Apollo Crews turned up to get me to go to sleep), and it felt kind of odd. It was incredibly sloppy, yet also really exciting. The drop from the corner has already been discussed, but Sasha almost landing on her head during the splash mountain reversal was equally dicey (to the extent that Will Ospreay tweeted her advice on how to do it safely out of legitimate concern. At the same time, it felt like a really fun match to watch, really felt like they were both laying it on the line for the title. I also liked the pre-match panel dropping hints that Sasha might lose, wondering if she was a bit too cocky in the build up to the match. It also suggested as possible heel turn for Sasha, especially if Bayley goes to Raw. Sasha is much better as a heel than face, and Bayley should be over enough for a heel turn to stick. The only issue is that the face side of the Raw women is pretty lacking, with Charlotte, Jax, Summer, Lana and Dana all heels, with Alicia Fox pretty much a tweener. Actually feels like the balance and depth is greater with the Smackdown women

This may be more appropriate for the "against the grain" thread, but I'm still not totally on board yet with Nakamura. Just too much twatting about and pulling funny faces to the extent that I kinda wanted to see Joe kick his head off. Match felt underwhelming too, the build up had suggested this big war, especially with Joe raging about Nak the past few shows, but the first half of the match contained none of that hate and was more about working holds. It seemed to kill the crowd, who didn't really pick up until the end. Loved the women's title match. One or two flubs, like the power bomb spot, but I thought Bayley looked more convincing as a fighter than I'd seen before. The end was really good too, with Bayley knowing she had to escape the Asuka Lock, but this leaving her prone to getting blasted in the head. With Asuka not going full blown heel, and the face show of respect at the end, I can't work out her next challenger. Too soon for Ember Moon or Nikki Storm, Billie Kay not on her level...be interesting to see. The Ember Moon debut was fun, though I'm not sure what Moon's character is supposed to be. She had all the supernatural promos and a mysterious entrance, but she just came across as an excited face when the mask came off. Good showing, and it's nice that Kay got some shine before losing. Thought Kay looked as good as Moon, would like to see her do more on the TV shows

Just had a Google - looks like it was August 2014

I think Marty's pretty good. I liked him as "Party" Marty, even if the character was a little bland, and saw him have some decent matches with Robbie X and MK McKinnon, but he needed to add something extra to the overall package. His reinvention as the Villain has breathed new life into his career. It's a little over-the-top in places, but he's still a fun wrestler to watch live, feel that's where the gimmick really clicks.

Phantasio. As a 13yr old catching his debut (only) televised match on an episode of Wrestling Challenge, he was instantly fascinating. A wrestling magician using tricks to confuse and humiliate his opponents seemed like a great idea to me, and I thought his gimmick of taking off a mask and giving it to a ringside child would make him as big as Bret Hart*. I had a little book I kept of matches I really wanted to see, and I immediately wrote in "Phantasio vs Skip". which I maintain to this day would have been terrific (just for Candido stooging around for silly string and phantom wedgies). As the weeks went by, I kept waiting for my new favourite wrestler to have a second match, but it never happened. *I also thought Jesse Sorenson's TNA schtick of signing a miniature American football and passing it to a lucky kid at ringside would make him a star. I totally overestimate the starmaking power of giving kids gifts.

I know, it was really bizarre, nothing about it made any sense. After Conners beat Jannetty, Masters' music and video came on, and out came comedy wrestler Flex Buffington (gimmick: out of shape guy who thinks he's an Adonis), who Conners destroyed. Then, the video played again and Masters emerged to take on Conners. Bear in mind Conners is the top heel in the promotion, so they had him cleanly beat an aging legend, beat up someone who challenged him post match, then wrestle to a draw with a big name ex-WWE star who hadn't just fought 2 people. Really baffling. The only thing I can assume is that Masters was already in the country for a PCW show, and made himself available too late for them to advertise.

I went to a show featuring Tatanka a few years back, and I'm almost positive Tatanka started a "You've still got it" chant then as well. The bulk of the match was Tatanka hitting chops and no-selling any offence. As I recall, this was the same show where Joseph Conners was tasked with getting something watchable out of papier-mache-ankled Marty Jannetty, then after winning had another match with a non-advertised Chris Masters.

WCW 92 - This was the first promotion I ever watched, my first exposure to pro-wrestling, and it was the best possible way to get into wrestling. Great wrestlers, great angles, one of the best heel stables of all time in the Dangerous Alliance. CZW 2002-2004 - CZW was the first indy promotion I started watching in my final years of uni, and I've still got a soft spot for that period of it. I was a big fan of the Messiah and Trent Acid, and generally enjoyed the chaotic ramshackle approach of the promotion over the too-serious RoH. Even now, I'll happily dig out an old CZW tape, not knowing which random name might come out to wrestle Nick Berk or GQ Triple X Wrestling 2013- now - TXW is easily my favourite current promotion in the UK. The first company to give exposure to the likes of Zack Sabre Jr, the Dunne Brothers and Tyler Bate, they've got a real eye for emerging talent, but more importantly, a real talent for just putting on fun shows. Massively inventive, genuinely funny in places, but still able to put on really great bouts (ZSJ vs Pete Dunne is still the best match I've seen in person). Was gutted to miss the comeback show last Saturday due to holidaying.

Quoted for truth. Watching Pete's evolution the past few years has been great. He's always been a really good wrestler, but his change from mild-mannered Brummie blue-eye to meat-headed Bruiserweight brawler has really helped him stand out. There's a great photo from the RevPro show of Vader and Pete Dunne in the ring, Vader sat down catching his breath and Dunne right behind him looking hard as nails. Using the Vader match to build up a big Dunne/Ospreay match and put the heat onto the regularly-booked heel makes perfect sense to me.

Yes! I bloody loved NXT Redemption. Johnny Curtis being the most entertaining guy in the company, action figure on a pole matches, the excellent Kidd/McGillicutty feud, gangsta Jacob Novak. Just a great series