Russellmania

IF they keep him then they better finally wise up and start using him to elevate guys. I've been saying all along that he should be defending against more than just Cena because even guys losing to Brock will look strong if it's a competitive match. Rollins at the Rumble is proof positive. He looks like a million bucks after that match. Hopefully that's the start of a trend. If WM is indeed Brock's last match then his whole run will feel like a huge wasted opportunity.

Keller on the Austin podcast today floated an interesting idea. It was kind if done in passing and they didn't talk about it that much, but I liked it. The point made was that if this were UFC, then Brock would be the interim champ and Bryan would be getting a title shot automatically since he never lost the title. If they were so inclined they could easily run Bryan/Brock at Fast Lane and go with Bryan vs. a heel Reigns at WM for the title. That would free up Brock for something else and probably make the fans happier.

oh man I hope they try and turn him heel so bad. Fans will only cheer him more since I imagine most people can sympathize with those comments. The last time he was a heel, they had no choice but to turn him babyface again. He got over huge following the 18 second loss to Sheamus and that stint tagging with Kane. exactly. And for them to turn him heel with the turn predicated on the exact reasons the fans are pissed in the first place will only fuel the fire. And it will also seem incredibly transparent.

oh man I hope they try and turn him heel so bad. Fans will only cheer him more since I imagine most people can sympathize with those comments.

that Ambrose promo was something special

what match are you talking about?

Bryan/Lesnar basically would have been a super saiyan version of Bryan/Sheamus. More than anything I'm just fucking livid that we are not likely to ever see that match. It would have been like Eddie vs. Brock with a Battlarts twist.

the fact that we're even discussing options for Bryan other than the title match against Brock is fucking absurd. Fuck WWE

I gotta believe it's the suit unless he went on a severe binge recently... Yeah, for a while he looked pretty good in TNA. But, we've seen Chris Hero very quickly going from in shape to out of shape. Yep, it doesn't take much to blow up in a bad way if you're sucking in massive amounts carbs/sugar right and left even with a hardcore weightlifting regiment behind it... I bet for a lot of guys it's way easier to stay in shape in TNA where you're not constantly on the road vs. WWE or Indies where you're always traveling.

I guess they figured that if they announced Bryan wouldn't be in the Rumble, it would hurt buys. There's also the whole wrestling thing where saying something isn't going to happen usually means that it is, in fact, going to happen. If they don't say anything, people would probably figure that Bryan would be a surprise entrant, guaranteeing that the #30 entrant would get the Rey Mysterio treatment. From their perspective, it was a no-win situation. These are the kind of problems you run into when you're hellbent on not giving the fans what they want. that's the biggest mindfuck about this whole thing. for them to acknowledge that not advertising Bryan would hurt buys implies that they see him as a draw. Which of course begs the question: if he's a draw then why the fuck do you bury him?

They couldn't wait one year with Reigns? Why the rush? Give Bryan is actually run and then next year give it to Reigns. He's young and has room to grow, SLOW THE FUCK DOWN! you know what really fucking kills me? Bryan's 2006 ROH title run is the perfect template for a WWE title run. He started as a babyface and gradually got more arrogant and dastardly with each title defense. If they are so concerned about Bryan's longevity and making Reigns the top guy then why not go with that format? Have Bryan slowly turn heel to the point that eventually fans will be begging for someone to beat him? I have absolute faith that Bryan could turn the fans on him too. I think he's a natural heel anyway. Just because that makes so much sense and means that they'd be lifting an idea from ROH they won't do it. They can't acknowledge anything out of their walled garden - even if it means lifting a 10 year old title run storyline from another promotion... I mean it's not like they have to copy it exactly. And it's not like they haven't done it before either. Punk was a face at the start of his WWE title run and a heel by the end of it. It has probably been done multiple times in various wrestling promotions. My point is just that it would have made way more sense to give the fans what they want with Bryan and at the same time allow him to be the transitional guy between Cena and Reigns.

They couldn't wait one year with Reigns? Why the rush? Give Bryan is actually run and then next year give it to Reigns. He's young and has room to grow, SLOW THE FUCK DOWN! you know what really fucking kills me? Bryan's 2006 ROH title run is the perfect template for a WWE title run. He started as a babyface and gradually got more arrogant and dastardly with each title defense. If they are so concerned about Bryan's longevity and making Reigns the top guy then why not go with that format? Have Bryan slowly turn heel to the point that eventually fans will be begging for someone to beat him? I have absolute faith that Bryan could turn the fans on him too. I think he's a natural heel anyway.

I don't know that location even matters for Wrestlemania at this point. It's always going to be the most dedicated, hardcore fans at WM. This "problem" isn't going to go away for them just by moving to different cities.

claiming that Cena's offense consisted of only the AA in a match where he did a powerbomb and a Michinoku Driver is a surefire way to get me to immediately dismiss everything else that you say.

I was sort of debating this with Loss on Twitter. I don't think HHH and Steph are perfect or total fan advocates or anything, but they come off as way more in touch than Vince. Total speculation on my part but I have to assume Vince insisted on Reigns winning and couldn't be talked out of it. I imagine HHH and Steph (and probably others) saw what a bad idea that was and did all they could to soften the blow for both Bryan and Reigns. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that bringing in the Rock was HHH or Steph's idea to try and keep things from getting too out of hand knowing that if they couldn't talk Vince off the ledge the could at least soften the landing.

Well I guess we still don't know what the gimmick to Fast Lane is. Presumably there's no Elimination Chamber match. I can't imagine Brock working that show. Maybe Bryan and Reigns have a babyface heart to heart and Reigns does the right thing and gives Bryan a shot at the WM Main Event shot because it's what "the people want" or something? No convoluted BS, just a straightforward approach.

the title match was soooo fucking good. imagine how satisfying this PPV would have been with that title match combined with a Bryan victory and the anticipation of a Brock/Bryan WM match. Such a fucking shame.

I think Bryan, Reigns, and Ziggler will be in the final 4. Not sure about the 4th guy. I don't see Ziggler winning, but I have a feeling he starts early and has a long run since they might want to throw him a bone.

the thing that makes the Rumble so hard to read this year is the apparent face turn for Brock.

I would love to see them at #1 and #2 and then be the final two at the end. The crowd would be something else. oh damn that would be awesome actually

Yeah, weren't a lot of those assumptions about drawing power kind of loaded? Like Cena and Bryan were on separate tours a lot right? And Cena got to headline the shows on the "A" tour (in the traditionally bigger markets), whereas Bryan was working the "B" tour. In other words, the shows Bryan was on were going to draw less no matter what. At least that's what I remember reading. As for merch sales, Bryan's merch has mostly sucked and it wasn't until he started getting a real push that they came out with one or two decent shirts for him IIRC. And people have always talked about how Cena has a hold on the merch situation because his stuff is so prominently featured at arenas.

Yes and no. No I didnt watch the entire PPV but yes I watched the Rumble match in full because Kofi did some crazy spot on the outside. The only reason they rejected him that I noticed was because he wasent in a condition to wrestle. Ie the Scott Steiner way as in very winded in the match. The stuff that happenned on Twitter was a bit over the top. Could you imagine how it would have been a decade and a half ago had we had Twitter then? The fans would of complained no end over HHH going over at mania 2000. if you think that the reason the fans shit on the Rumble last year was because Batista was gassed (and had nothing to do with Bryan) then you really don't understand the current state of WWE at all and should probably stop posting about it

cool bro thanks for telling us that there was no finish

if Reigns doesn't turn heel then I think the best use of him at WM would be to have him be the guy to finally topple Rusev. Then I'd let Reigns unite the IC and US titles in the summer and give him a nice long run as the secondary champ. I think he's got promise, but it's way too early to have him going after the world title.

That would produce some nuclear heat but not in the way WWE would want. They have conditioned most of the fans to believe that WM is the culmination of things and generally follows a send the fans home happy booking strategy. To me having Rollins cash in at WM and take the belt would be akin to a "Finger-Poke-Of-Doom" moment. The other thing as well is the best opportunity for him to cash in would be at the Rumble. If it was me booking - and just me alone - I'd have Cena knock Lesnar out of the ring, Rollins eat a weak pin so Cena gets the belt, have Brock realize he got fucked and go King Kong Apeshit on Cena afterwards, then have Seth cash in to win the strap after Cena is basically dead, and go on to RAW the next night to explain he intentionally took the pin because he figured Brock would do all the dirty work for him. Again, I get the intent of generating nuclear style heat but I honestly believe that would backfire so badly on WWE as a whole like the Rey Jr nuke that went off last year at the Rumble. I could not disagree more with literally everything you're saying. The fact that people are so conditioned to expect a "happy ending" at WM is *exactly* why they should have Rollins cash in there. WWE fans are way too conditioned to expect certain things and WWE always follows the same old formula. I strongly disagree with the idea that fans would "turn on it" ala Rey at the Rumble. Saying that betrays a total lack of understanding as to why fans shit on the Rumble in the first place. People were pissed at the company for being so tone-deaf that they didn't even understand that people wanted Bryan in the Rumble. The fans just wanted the company to get behind the guy. Having him main event WM 2 years in a row and win the title in both cases should put that to rest. I don't think Bryan needs to hold the title in order for fans to be satisfied, I just think he needs to be used as the top babyface. Rollins (and the company as a whole) gets way more out of a dastardly Rollins cash-in and subsequent title reign than Bryan gets out of holding the title for the summer. Bryan is better off chasing the chickenshit heel champion anyway. We already have seen the big elaborate WM celebration for Bryan. I think this WM would be infinitely more interesting if that celebration got cut off by the most ambitious heel in years. I just can't understand people complaining about WWE never doing anything different but then squashing the idea that they break from the big "happy ending" WM formula.