WWE TV Week April 20 - 26

[Loss]

I just came here to ask what the point is in doing a match as short as Fandango vs Curtis Axel was, and on top of that, putting Fandango over. It's not that Curtis Axel is hot right now, but he is moreso than Fandango.

 

I am still not sure I understand why they don't put a 20+ minute match on RAW every week between good workers so people like us will shut up at least a little. They struggle to fill time, so why are so many of the matches so short?

[Parties]

Current thinking seems to be that they want a lot of workers on the show every week. But yes, a 15 minute six-man tag would almost always be better than three 5 minute singles. Fandango's win seems residual after his big UK response. Face turn? I could see him as the new Santino.

 

Naomi asking aloud if wins and losses still matter anymore is some expert trolling.

[Wade Garrett]

I'm actually back to not watchin much. I gotta have Brock Lesnar a little bit more. Lesnar, Harper, Bryan, Rusev, Ambrose, Dustin, Sheamus, and Barrett are who I'm invested in. Lesnar at home, Bryan injured, and Dustin gone. That leaves me with 5 guys. Bullshit.

 

I'm so fuckin sick of lookin at Cena too. I'm at the Elvis Presley point where I wanna shoot my idiot box when he's on. There has never been a more stale pro wrestler and that's coverin a lot of ground. He was also an asshole to my Cousin a few days after WM when he and Nikki were up in Yountville, CA goofin off. If ya ain't under 13 I guess that's his MO? Don't know. I don't wish harm on the guy but wish he couldn't wrestle fulltime anymore. FU Cena.

[Zoo Enthusiast]

 

So Wyatt seems to be talking about Ryback in his promos. Well looks like Bray is officially dead as an upper tier type guy

 

I'd push Ryback over Wyatt 100 times out of 100.

Amen to that.

[Bierschwale]

Lesnar at home, Bryan injured, and Dustin gone.

 

Dustin is just sitting on his ass on the back it seems; he's only had three matches on TV since Fastlane but hasn't stopped jobbing to his brother on house shows.

[Stiva]

I have no idea why you wouldn't throw Dustin in a team with someone. Though he may just want to wind down for good, who knows?

[goc]

I kept hoping Goldust would be one of the guys to answer Cena's open challenge but I don't know if that is even going to continue after Extreme Rules.

[Coffey]

Current thinking seems to be that they want a lot of workers on the show every week. But yes, a 15 minute six-man tag would almost always be better than three 5 minute singles.

 

I could really get on board with some of those multiman tags if they feature different characters too, instead of just the same old stuff with Kane/Orton/Show/Rollins/Cena

 

I'm thinking like Neville/Goldust/Mark Henry Vs. Sheamus/Kidd/Harper or something. So we just get fresh interactions.

 

Maybe expecting something like that on RAW is reaching too far though.

 

At this point, I would love to see a final Goldust run as Dustin in WWE.

[(BP)]

Dustin seems to be about done. There were references to the Europe tour being his last one there, he had the Cena birthday singalong last week, and he wrestled in classic Goldust paint in Zurich. I think he's quietly going back to being an agent or trainer.

[Goodear]

Superstars and Main Event didn't really pass the 'I have this on in the background and let us see if this captures my attention' test this week with a Heath Slater-Zach Ryder pairing on Superstars being okay and a Lucha Dragons match against the Ascension being a good showcase for Kalisto. NXT was pretty JTTS centric with Balor and Itami going over guys with their usual sequences and Rhyno running through a guy in under a minute. The Ladies' Triple Threat was probably the best match although Kevin Owens probably had the best performance but suffered from a middle of the road opponent with Alex Riley.

[Strummer]

so Dana White says that Rousey will not work a match in WWE. He was pretty emphatic. This should get interesting. Unless WWE has gotten Dana in on some sort of work

[Coffey]

 

So Wyatt seems to be talking about Ryback in his promos. Well looks like Bray is officially dead as an upper tier type guy

I'd push Ryback over Wyatt 100 times out of 100.

 

 

Everything good about Bray Wyatt stops when he gets to the ring... and that was all WWE produced & could have been given to anyone. His theme song & entrance are great. As a promo, he's boring & long-winded. As a worker, he's kinda sloppy & boring. He's also been booked to look directionless & as not a real threat to any "real" stars.

 

Ryback is as generic as they come. Maybe a little underrated at talking but he doesn't get a lot of opportunities. His gear stinks. His entrance stinks. His music stinks. He's like a big, jacked-up, Create-A-Wrestler from the 80's. Like The Warlord. He doesn't even really have a gimmick. None of his moves are really impressive. He has some physical charisma, admittedly, but compare him to someone like Goldberg or Brock Lesnar. He's always going to come off as second rate. He gets blown up super quick & is not very strong for his impressive physical. He fucked up picking up Paul Heyman, in example, where Goldberg was Jackhammering The Giant. Maybe an unfair comparison. Ryback reminds me more of like a Bobby Lashley, which is not really a compliment.

 

Both Ryback & Wyatt need convincing wins and some tweaks to their presentation. Ryback doesn't even really have a gimmick. He's "The Big Guy" that chants "Feed Me More." Um, OK..? He's not an unstoppable asskicker or anything. We've seen him win, we've seen him lose. He's just a middle of the road guy with an impressive physique. We need to see more. Even during his jobber squashes that were trying to build him up, he needed to bring a lot more intensity. He needs to do things that make the crowd go "ohh!" or "damn!" like Goldberg & Brock did. He's never going to be a 20-minute plodding main event style worker & he shouldn't be. WWE needs to get out of that mentality of trying to make everyone work the same.

 

100/100 times? I don't think either one is doing a whole lot of much, honestly. Now if we could have given the Bray Wyatt presentation to Ryback... they might have had something. I still don't understand why they ever broke up the Wyatt Family. Now Rowan barely makes TV, Harper is trading wins in meaningless midcard matches & Wyatt just rambles backstage in vignettes.

 

At the end of the day, those things do matter. Moves, themes, gear, entrance, etc. It's all a big part of the show. Especially in WWE. Swamp Cult Leader could have worked. I think it could still be salvaged but they need to go a different direction. Wyatt Vs. Ryback doesn't do anything for either wrestler. They would just trade wins for three months & be forgotten about.

[sek69]

so Dana White says that Rousey will not work a match in WWE. He was pretty emphatic. This should get interesting. Unless WWE has gotten Dana in on some sort of work

 

I don't see what Dana and/or UFC get out of it really. They are the ones with all the risk of one of their top draws maybe getting hurt, and WWE gets all the reward having a UFC star on their big shows.

[goc]

Yea quite frankly Dana is an idiot if he lets anyone under UFC contract work a match for WWE. It's not worth the injury risk, especially when it's one of the few big draws they have left.

[dawho5]

Bray is a three or four spot guy for me. He has those nice spots where he really throws his momentum into it and they look real explosive, but everything else is middle of the road at best. Ryback is yet another failed WWE big man who is almost all physique with little to no in-ring skill. At this point my big question is what sort of attribute does Triple H and/or Steph value that will define future WWE failures in the way that Vince's physique obsession has for the 80s, 90s, 0s and 10s?

[Jimmy Redman]

I thought Ryback and Rusev actually had a hell of a big man battle on SD this week.

[Strummer]

if the Rousey deal isn't happening there is really no reason why Stephanie and Triple H need to be pushed so hard going forward. HAAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

 

 

also Meltz says the company was apparently caught off guard (shocked) by Dana's comments and are going to try and do everything in their power to change his mind

[goc]

If they honestly thought that Dana White was going to let one of his contracted fighters come and work a match in WWE without them even having to talk to him, they are complete idiots. This is the same company that doesn't even want it's wrestlers seen at UFC events. Dana should say "hey yea sure but you gotta give me X percentage of the total gate for Mania 32"

[Russellmania]

so Dana White says that Rousey will not work a match in WWE. He was pretty emphatic. This should get interesting. Unless WWE has gotten Dana in on some sort of work

Dana also emphatically stated that UFC would never work with EA Sports on a UFC game and then a couple years later it happened. I don't really trust anything that guy says. I have no doubt he believes what he's saying about Rousey/WWE, but I think given the right deal he'd let it happen.

[WingedEagle]

There is zero reason for Dana to say anything other than what he did. If that's his position, he makes it clear right away. If not, he ensures a great position to negotiate from ensure UFC is compensated as much as possible for loaning out one of their top drawing cards for a payday during her prime. There's just advantage to saying anything else at this time.