KawadaSmile

Braun winning the Rumble would be great, really. People are into him and into his matches, and he's proven he can go for long matches if needed.

Gallagher interacting with main roster people is something I really wasn't expecting, even more that it was the New Day. Anderson/Cesaro was also a solid little match. Some segments are really really weird, like the Titus/New Day thing, and the subsequent Woods/Titus match. It seems that there will be no Sasha/Nia this week, unless I missed something.

I just can't deal with Rollins/KO wrestling anymore, and KO himself is looking like the stupidest guy ever with that finish.

Goldberg is in this week's RAW! Strowman vs Zayn: Last Man Standing! Dolph vs Corbin! Miz vs Ambrose for the IC Title! When is Emmalina going to show up?

Not feeling the Nia hate either. For someone who is wrestling as long as she is, she is doing very well by herself, and she does have some nice little matches - her match against Bayley in a RAW episode a while ago was miles better than their Takeover match, and the 1st match against Asuka was pretty dope too. She has lots of room to grow and turn into a very capable wrestler. It might've been too early for her - and Dana - to go to the main roster, but she can have some interesting matches with Sasha, who delivered a lot in-ring, and maybe even Charlotte, if they decide to go that route.

Yep. Amazing stuff for a match that short.

His match against Goldberg sometime around 1998 is one of my favorite short matches ever, and I legit think it's one of the best sub 10 minutes ever.

From all accounts, SmackDown/205/Talking Smack was an A+ episode of an already great show. I really wouldn't say AJ was "lucky". Motherfucker was wrestling at the highest level in the whole world for two years, and was a much more recognizable name than other indy/japanese signings. No reason to not feature him in the main roster from the get-go.

Owens is just so bad, seriously. But, overall, a very enjoyable show. Gallagher and Strowman are getting more and more over, and that warms my heart. Braun charging to the ring carrying a god damn tree is quite possibly the best image the show could have had in its last episode of the year. Reigns again is just so much better than KO, Jericho and Rollins, it's not even funny. Shame he gets shit for all the other 3.

He might be in the best shape of his career since his WCW debut. Hitting them 'roids for that last run, gotta love that commitment.

Wanna let us know what happened? Show started with Steph coming down to the ring, with loud CM Punk chants. She said "If you can keep this for more 2 minutes and 15 seconds, you are going to last longer than he did" They instantly stopped.

Welp. Steph just killed the CM Punk chants in a way I don't think it will recover.

Last WWE TV of the year. Will they end 2016 in a high note? What sort of impact will Cena's return have on Smackdown? Will Braun's rampage go on this week as well?

Which is why they actually had him doing "nice" things, like looking after a hurt Alicia, carrying her to the medical room etc. He was still 100% in creepy fuck mode, but it was an interesting progression. And he got heat with the crowd, which is the desired reaction.

Otunga is a subpar commentator at times, but I really struggle to think why someone would say Byron is actually bad. Him with his jovial, sometimes naive persona, alongside two snarky bastards like Cole and Graves works very well to me.

Haven't read the whole thread yet, but what my - somewhat limited - perception of this matter tells me that puro gives more of a "violent" vibe to it. Spots like people headbutting each other with loud thuds, clubbing lariats to the chest and neck, very loud kicks and gross looking head drops attract people in a way that smooth, fluid matwrestling doesn't. I watched Blue Panther vs Atlantis the other day: it was absolutely amazing. Guys changing holds with immense fluidity, never spending more than 5 seconds in each hold, and going back and forth, while also giving the impression of an actual contest and not just a choreographed stunt show. However, I can understand someone wanting to watch Hashimoto and Tenryu beating the absolute fuck out of each other for 10 minute, as it seems a bit more "unpredictable" and "wild". I'm not sure if this metaphor is a correct one, but Lucha would be something like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; and puro would be something like that hallway scene from Oldboy.

205 Live was a pretty solid show too, specially that main event tag. Heel Neville looks like a badass and carries himself much better than when he was a face. He looks like a proper star and a "final boss" in the division. Also, credit where credit is due, Noam Dar was made to be this sort of creepy sex offender cunt. This angle is getting more reactions, which is good when you have a bunch of new guys introduced. I fear a bit for Gulak and Nese, who don't quite have flashy looks (specially Drew) and don't have a proper program yet.

The Enzo sensitivity training segment was pretty bad too, but I feel like Enzo tried to make the best of a terrible storyline whereas JeriKO flubbed a pretty basic wrestling angle. I thought it got better with each segment. Jinder Mahal looked semi legit there and Enzo got another beatdown, which is good.

Not surprised that the worst segments so far had KO and Jericho. Also, I actually found Nia's segment against Sasha to be fairly good. Short and efficient. Supervillain Neville also looks promising enough.

I would add to that list: Neville vs Harper - 21/02/2013 Cesaro vs Sami Zayn - 13/06/2013

After 2016's final PPV, what is going to happen on RAW? Furthermore, how is SD going to deal with the #1 contendership for the Tag Titles, since Ryder is out? Is JeriKO a thing again? What's left for Charlotte/Sasha? Can Sheamus/Cesaro keep it together after beating New Day? How is Strowman going to deal with his loss to Sami Zayn? Are we finally going to watch AJ vs Ellsworth for the WWE Title? Which gentlemanly behavior is Gallagher having next?

Really don't think this is a good idea. Think about how many guys would end up doing double duty?

I don't know why "Headlock Master" Kevin Owens is still a thing but it needs to go away quickly. It's actively killing his matches.

Can you elaborate on what you mean by this? From the 4 main guys RAW has right now - Roman, Jericho, Rollins and Owens - Reigns is the only one who is actually having constant good to very good matches, and when he does have to be against any of the other three, he pretty much needs to compensate for the others' faults, working twice as hard to get the best result possible. Today was an exception because Owens' performance was just shit, which is a shame because they had way better matches against each other. It was like this against Jericho and Owens a few weeks, and against Rollins at MitB. I could argue that he also brought more than anyone else did from Balor, too.

I know I would be hyped for Shaq/Big Show. Show's been losing lots of weight for that last run, gotta give us one more spectacle match.