Slasher

He has never really been a workrate kinda guy unless he just clicked with his opponents...like with Vader, Flair and Foley. But then when he started the Crow gimmick he went a year without wrestling at all and when he did start wrestling again they were with such ring luminaries as Hulk Hogan and Kevin Nash. Getting older and kinda sliding by with a limited moveset that was reliant on him playing to crowds more instead of focusing on the ringwork. I don't know if Shawn would have given him a good match in the late 90s because at the time he might not have wanted to play along well with the painted freak and possibly get shown up as a star in the match. However if he was game he definitely had the skills to do it. Just look at the Foley match.

I agree with that. I am a guy who is invested in the modern product and I care about what they do on the main roster more than anything else really but I also think ever since around 2013 or so when NXT started rising and when Daniel Bryan was picked by the fans to be their appointed star there has been more of a pushback on the company to start catering more to them and stop forcing their chosen ones on us. I think it has created a scenario where it really is the WWE vs a growing portion of the audience and part of that audience is reflected here in people unhappy with the "same old shit" and resent being forcefed people. I do give this board credit in understanding there are values in the guys being rejected at large like Roman Reigns but it feels like he still isn't the preferred pick...at least not how he is currently presented. So Mania is something that people are kind of trying to reject and make remarks about NXT being better and how stupid they are pushing Shane vs Taker the way they are and rejecting Triple H vs Roman Reigns either because they don't want to see Triple H book himself into the position he has been or because they don't want to see Roman Reigns in that spot. So just expecting people to anticipate surprises like Austin and Shawn after possibly being the ones to leak that they turned down offers in midst of all the injuries stripping the show bare seems kinda highly stupid and counterproductive IMO.

Well this was one of the most injury ravaged Manias of all time with lots of guys out. Don't you think advertising more guys being there would have been the better move? I am not sure people should just assume because its in Jerryworld and that it involves a batshit main event (mean that in a good way) like Shane/Taker that people will be hyped. This board is not indicative of the public interest as a whole but I think there is a bit of something in people here talking about NXT as the real show and not realizing tonight was the go home show for freakin' Wrestlemania.

They should just have everyone who's a name and alive and able bodied to rush the cage to take a side and devolve in a clusterfuck of epic proportions that you just don't know what the fuck just happened to end the show. Clear it up on Raw the next night. People might be unhappy but they could get away with creating total confusion that people want to see what comes next.

I realize it could be red herrings but I thought Austin, HBK and Batista turned down appearances for Mania? Austin and Shawn seem like eye raisers when it comes to that due to where the show is but I really don't think the company had real good ideas for them to appear. Austin gives Vince a stunner? Ok sure. Then what? Shane wins? Why would Austin want that either? Shane is a McMahon too so he'd be one of his mortal enemies too. Say Austin comes, attacks Shane because we really need Authority around, then turns around and stuns Vince as he's celebrating? How does this make this any better for the fans? He just helped heels remain in power. HBK would make more sense getting involved to ensure his best friend doesn't gotta get removed but Shawn isn't really interested in doing anything that could be seen as heelish anymore. He learned his lesson with the Daniel Bryan thing. I don't remember if he got involved with the Sting match but that was revealed to be a wink wink big circle jerk for nostalgia that no one took seriously...even Sting. So that wouldn't count.

Not that it really matters since they also featured a Brock Lesnar piece and he sure ain't in any main events but on ESPN they made a point to post a video of Shane leaping on Taker. No acknowledgment for the "main event" whatsoever.

They probably are but you do know they believe in multiple main events for Wrestlemania right? They only simply chose to highlight the kinda flagging program tonight to heat it up a bit more.

Me in the Mania thread: Well either they are the stupidest bunch of idiots running around back there, the bookers, or perhaps there is really a hit on the guy. But why? Why put him in the main event at Wrestlemania the second year in a row with designs of failing him? That crowd booed Reigns. Partly because they don't like him but they never had a chance with them reminding them why Triple H is so "great" and even as a devil, he's a guy we can trust to be booked like a badass and goddamn it we love winners like that especially against posers like Reigns. I don't think having the Dudleys involved was something that put a nail in the coffin but having Triple H running around mostly dominating Reigns certainly was. Wow they had Reigns leap out. Big deal. He's cooked.

Dunno. He wasn't phenomenally over as a Harlem Heat member but the team did have their moments and to me he had some comic value as the delusional self appointed leader of the nWo C-squad.

Giving Charles Wright a gimmick like Papa Shango in the 90s and committing to a certain kind of push is like giving a minor leaguer t-ball at bats in the MLB but I still give him credit for doing reasonably well until they cooled off on him. Not a HoF guy though.

I don't know where to put this comment but after watching a few segments of the build for Reigns vs Triple H, the go home show has to have Triple H extend Reigns the same courtesy he did Daniel Bryan. He has to offer himself up on the altar again for slaughter if they want to get Reigns going. I don't know if it is really sticking but they have to keep it going like Reigns finally snapped and he is a man on a mission. They can't have Triple H standing tall ever again for this.

I am actually surprised WWE hasn't named it the Shawn Michaels Legend Ladder Match or some bullshit like that. Jeff Hardy doesn't exist in WWE world right now, so HBK is still known as the "King of the Ladder Match". I hope it doesn't come to pass, but this isn't the first time the WWE IC title has been defended at Mania in a clusterfuck match. Wouldn't be surprised if that eventually gets designated the Daniel Bryan classic despite a ladder match not really being his deal just because he's won a MITB and won the IC title in a ladder match at Mania in his last "major" match before retirement.

Well I didn't know that. I don't know what the point was at all then...both for him to say that and for the fan to shout that.

Nah Owens actually cares that he is making that money doing what he loves to do for his family. He isn't such a mark to think he's better off working in front of 500 people a night as a main eventer for a few thousands of dollars compared to his WWE contract.

To be fair look at how WWE utilizes male managers nowadays. Is that ever an enviable position to be in compared to the heyday of the 70s and 80s?

I can't really imagine Shane winning his match but it would definitely be weird if his winning led to Triple H guys from NXT showing up on WWE TV as part of the post Mania roster infusion under the guise of being Shane guys.

It was a joke.

Eva Marie.

You can't be a heel without resorting to cheap heat? I am not saying there is no place for it but I just think it is extra lazy to do it on a local card because you don't want to put extra effort in garnering boos from fans that either knows you and respects you or doesn't understand from the get go that you are a heel that night.

I think the way their pay structure is worked is that guys like Samoa Joe who understands hes there for NXT and not to expect a move up unless plan changes are getting paid more as NXT performers than the developmental types they might call up because that is it for them. They are not seeing much of a bump in pay over the life of the contract whereas developmental guys make less with the understanding that if they do well enough to get called up they get raises.

I don't think she is really. I think if she is, it is that she's been good about saving her money and NXT does offer less expenses so she might have found a happy balance that she gets to have a decent enough living while having a blast being the top female name that she knows would be less attainable when she moved up but there will be a time she will want that money and a challenge.

Was he not telling the truth? Cheap heat is a dumb tactic to do when in the indies. Does it even work half of the time? Those guys showing up are people who are more sensitive to what the workers do to get what they want and generally more aware of it. Resorting to cheap heat for people paying 20 bucks to watch their favorite indy wrestlers aren't gonna go along with that crap I would think.

They are actually paid less than TNA or RoH guys apparently. Going up to the main roster gets the bump in pay and that is still a carrot most of them are chasing. It is why Styles had not shown up in NXT because the pay wasn't where he was at as the king of indies. They had to give him the kinda contract that required him to be on the main roster to make money off.

They are also guys with clearly stated gimmicks. Kevin Owens is just Kevin Owens so showing up in prison guard outfits or IRS shirt and slacks serves less of a purpose. He still needs a better getup though, no argument from me about it.

If they aren't really giving Sasha Banks, a woman who looked like an absolute star in NXT, really much of a better opportunity on the main roster, Bayley who we just know Vince isn't gonna be enamored with, is gonna be DOA.