Strummer Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 Stephanie cut a promo on Bryan on the post show saying he'll never be a Wrestlemania main eventer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjh Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 WWE never advertised Punk would be there and Heyman told everyone that Punk wasn't there but they still believed it. The only person to mention Punk by name on the air was Lawler. Wasn't it WWE lawyer Jerry McDevitt who argued that in professional wrestling storylines, if you say something isn't going to happen it means that it will? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 After watching the nuance and incredible manipulative skills they used to navigate the Chicago crowd tonight, I will never doubt them again on conditioning an audience, so I wouldn't worry too much about the Dome crowd. I think Pittsburgh and the Rumble was a wake-up call, subsequent towns proved the crowd reactions weren't a fluke and tonight proved that WWE is on the ball now. They are back to being the puppeteers, which is exactly how it should be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 that Pittsburgh crowd changed everything. That really was a horrible night. Maybe they turn it into a positive. To quote Steve Austin talking to Vince about it at the LA show "What the fuck were you thinking with that shit?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cross Face Chicken Wing Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 I never thought I would say this, but I'm really looking forward to HHH/Bryan at Mania. HHH was great tonight. Shit, I never thought I would say that, either... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 I would look forward to it until about the time HHH takes over and I have to see him control a match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmare007 Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 I would look forward to it until about the time HHH takes over and I have to see him control a match. Eh, the last time he did that with a hot crowd it resulted in a pretty great match against Cena at NOC 08'. Or at least that's how I remember it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 The Bryan v. HHH match does not "work" as a match unless HHH is willing to show a ton of ass, and lose in a virtual squash. Bryan winning an "epic" against HHH is not likely to have the desired effect for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that no one is ever better off after working HHH on his terms Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DR Ackermann Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 Does anyone think there's a chance that HHH goes on to defeat Bryan at Wrestlemania? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DR Ackermann Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 Let me rephrase that. What do you think are the chances that HHH actually ends up beating Bryan at Wrestlemania? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 I would never say it isn't a possibility but if they book that they deserve all the backlash they will get. Maybe they don't care but they sure seemed to care about the last couple of months of fans revolting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 There's plenty of precedent for HHH going over at the big PPV and returning the job at the next PPV where it means far less. It's happened to his last three non-Undertaker Mania opponents. It also happened to Goldberg in 2003. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cm funk Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 I don't think with all the layers of people in the company that they would decide on having HHH pin Bryan HHH isn't a dumb guy. He knows that that finish would hurt him more than anything. He'll put Bryan over in clean fashion, I would think. If he didn't the live crowds would revolt and completely turn on him. He's doing a good job in this "new Vince McMahon role" in my opinion, and Vince never had a problem putting guys over in matches This seems like a total setup for Bryan to hit the flying knee on HHH, and maybe make both Steph and HHH tap out for good measure. I'd be surprised if it didn't happen. They seem completely aware that they need to give the crowd a big payoff for Bryan at WM now. I've been saying for a while now that they are trolling and manipulating the crowds re: Bryan, the shit eating grins on Steph and HHH's faces tonight only further convinced me of that All of that said, I can't completely put it past them to overstep and thing they can string all of this along a bit further. It's possible. I don't believe it's likely, but it's possible. And that makes this whole thing fun and interesting to me. So kudos to WWE on all of this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Redman Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 I'm pretty sure Hunter is going to lose to Bryan. My question/fear is how bad Hunter will make Bryan look before that happens, both in promos and then in the body of the match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cm funk Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 As long as the crowd is as strong for Bryan as they are I don't think HHH/Steph can say anything that would "bury" him no matter what it is they actually say. It's been trolling from day 1, and now they're all just enjoying it and playing off of the crowd. Either of them can say anything and Bryan can smirk and look out into the audience and they will be in the palm of his hand. And he's not even a good or great promo guy IMO. His talking is over because of how geniune he is, but he doesn't have great mic skills, he just has authentic charisma Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 The biggest problem for WWE the last few years is their inability to give the fans any satisfying payoff when it comes to elevating the next big talent. They did it with Punk, Ziggler, Mark Henry, Ryback. Bryan was booked like a complete chump until the Wyatt feud forced them to rewrite the entire story they were going for. I hope this is a case of Bryan getting his moment but I don't have faith that the company will actually deliver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cross Face Chicken Wing Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 These are all valid criticisms of the way Bryan's been booked and the many pitfalls that come with wrestling HHH at Mania. But enjoy the moment. The HHH/Bryan stuff was REALLY good last night. Maybe it's because my bar for HHH is set as low as it can go, but I can't believe how I've done a complete 180 on the whole Byran/HHH angle. HHH was perfect in his role last night. I'm trying to just be a fan as I watch and judge the Mania build. That's probably easier for me than some others on the board since I haven't been invested in the modern product much over the last 12 years. I don't think I could watch RAW any more if worries about future booking clouded my enjoyment of the entertaining as hell angle that was happening in the ring, in the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 We are also in a bit of a transition time for Hunter. Last year at this time, he was Bill Watts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 I might have thought HHH would win at one point, but now I think he will want to make the match as big as possible and put over Bryan as convincingly as possible simply because he'll want to throw it in Punk's face that he made a mistake. I don't think much of HHH's professionalism, but I don't underestimate his ability to be driven by something like that. The spot where Bryan kicked him in the face told me he's going to put him over, simply because a typical HHH beatdown would have him doing the promo without that little moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stiva Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 I might have thought HHH would win at one point, but now I think he will want to make the match as big as possible and put over Bryan as convincingly as possible simply because he'll want to throw it in Punk's face that he made a mistake. I don't think much of HHH's professionalism, but I don't underestimate his ability to be driven by something like that. The spot where Bryan kicked him in the face told me he's going to put him over, simply because a typical HHH beatdown would have him doing the promo without that little moment. I also love how, the Wyatt stuff aside, he's been made to look like this unstoppable super wrestler for a while now. He's beat Cena clean, keeps beating Orton, had Batista on the ropes last night, had the better of Kane last night, looked like a wrecking ball in the Chamber and outsmarted HHH with the kick until they all had to put him down. I mean, I have no doubt that won't be reflected in the HHH match when Hunter wants to have his 10-15 minute control segment where he knees Bryan a lot but still, it's clear that he's being shown as a guy to fear. Not that HHH will show that fear. As an aside, they really are pushing Bray Wyatt as this unbeatable psychopath. I think he takes the belt off Bryan in the summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chief Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 Does anybody else think that they will put Orton vs Batista on last with no bells and whistles, no third man, just a straight up match? They've openly acknowledged "hijack raw" on air, so it's not like they're blind to this stuff. I honestly think they want to something crazy to happen so they can " highlight how fun and interactive it is to be part of the WWE universe." They're totally troll baiting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 They've managed to make their creative failures of the past and fan outrage work for them as a positive, which is a very good thing. They have people convinced that they are revolting when cheering Daniel Bryan and booing HHH. As has been said many times, WWE is scripting a revolution against itself. It's fascinating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 I think Dylan is right... DB should squash Trips.... in 18 seconds. HHH leans over to kiss Steph, turns around and gets the knee to the face... 1-2-3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammerva Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 Like the idea except you know that will lead to a Steph and Triple H feud and nobody needs that in our lives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidebottom Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 Great Raw I thought, lots of logical storyline development. Interested to see what Hulk's announcement next week is. Surely it's something which puts the title picture in clearer light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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