WrestleMania 32

[Coffey]

Honestly, The Miz feels like a dude that is pretty well rounded. He's a good talker, he's gotten a lot better in-ring, he has heat... he was even good on commentary. I don't have any problems with him & wouldn't mind if they wanted to try him as a top heel again. He seems to put in more effort than Del Rio anyway.

 

I'll always be one of those people that thinks that "go away heat" or "X-Pac heat" or "change the channel heat" or "the wrong kind of heat" or whatever the fuck anyone wants to call it is bullshit. Heat is heat. Especially in this day and age of everyone breaking kayfabe and playing cool/funny heels or shades of gray tweeners that wanna move more merch & not look like bad guys on social media. The biggest babyfaces in the company get booed out of the building. The biggest heels WWE have get cheered & do a lot of crowd-cheering spots (like Seth Rollins). Ain't no one in the damn company got the "right kind" of heat.

[Sidebottom]

That's what I like about Baron Corbin - I legitamently think the guy is a cock. Thus, he has probably worked me good and proper, so have WWE in their presentation of him. The bastards.

[Loss]

The problem with Miz is part of the problem with wrestling in 2015 in general, in the sense that WWE seems to have one foot in the past and one foot in the present. In other words, does Miz not seeming like a tough guy prevent him from having a main event run? How important is it that casual fans think WWE stars are tough now anyway? I don't know that it is important when we're hit over the head all the time with how fake it all is, but on the opposite side, you see the value even now when fans really buy into someone like Undertaker or Brock Lesnar. I'd say that Miz would probably do just fine in a top role as long as they didn't make the mistake of trying to make him credible. He's a natural heat seeker and he'd probably get more over as a guy anathema to the whole idea of credible heels than someone who goes along with it. The key is that I think in order for it to work, he'd have to be the only guy pushed like that in a land of tough guys.

 

As for the booking of Rock, I've felt for a long time that there was absolutely nothing about how Rock was booked that got him over, other than that they responded when the crowd dictated him being moved up. But Rock lost a lot of TV matches to a lot of guys he had no business losing to at all. His programs were usually presented as secondary to those of Austin or HHH, whether he was champion or not. But Rock's appeal I think was not so much investment in his character as it was singing along with his catchphrases and popping for his signature moves. I never got the feeling WWF fans cared when Rock won or lost as long as he did his routine. It's not the type of push that really works as a blueprint for everything, because Rock's exceptional charisma ensured he could withstand just about anything. But the way Rock was booked seems to be how most guys are booked now, with the key difference being that they are more tone deaf in responding when the crowd is into someone than they used to be.

[Matt D]

That's what I like about Baron Corbin - I legitamently think the guy is a cock. Thus, he has probably worked me good and proper, so have WWE in their presentation of him. The bastards.

 

Unless Podcast Naylor is in on the work, which seems unlikely....

[Childs]

My problem with Miz is that I just don't want to see him wrestle in main events. Lawler was an exception, but that was because of how invested I was in Lawler. Though Miz fit that feud, he was fairly incidental to my interest in it. I agree he has value as a performer, but for me, it would be more as a midcard heel or as the aforementioned Michael Hayes-style mouthpiece for a faction.

[MoS]

I disagree that fans did not care if Rock lost or not. Fans were pelting the ring with garbage after WM 2000 ended, something which happened rarely in WWF. The pop he received for everything he did at Backlash one month after was also incredible, especially when Austin's music hit and they realised Rock was going to win.

 

Rock had a weird trajectory. Only man in 1998 apart from Austin and Taker to pin Kane. However, in December 1999, he jobbed to Big Bossman and Al fucking Snow. I think that what is more important, however, is his Corporate heel run, where he was ruthless against Mankind and others. It gave the impression that he might talk trash a lot, but in the big matches, he got shit done.

[Migs]

Interestingly, went to the WWE show at MSG on Saturday night with my wife, and seeing the Miz's reaction, she was surprised he's not further up the card. And I tend to agree.

 

On the mouthpiece concept, I think Miz could be brilliant in a role sort of like Kevin Sullivan in the Varsity Club - where he's manipulating and leading the gang of credible guys, acting as the mouthpiece, and the guy that the face gets to in the end.

[bradhindsight]

Miz having "go away heat" when holding the briefcase and winning the title is false. He was definitely over in 2010, a refreshing heel act during a stale time, but yeah, certainly in over his head with The Rock and Cena then and booking in general was questionable.

[Jmare007]

Rock just confirmed on instagram he'll be at Wrestlemania 32 https://www.instagram.com/p/_2bOsFIh3N/?taken-by=therock It reads like he'll do more than just make an appearance but who knows.

 

Would love to see him work Roman just to see what would Rock be willing to do to put Roman over. But I guess the rumored Rock vs Brock match would be the most likely scenario? With Cena winning the Rumble and facing Reigns?

 

 

edit: fuck, completely forgot they were supposedly building to Rock vs HHH after Mania 31.

[fakeplastictrees]

 

I'll always be one of those people that thinks that "go away heat" or "X-Pac heat" or "change the channel heat" or "the wrong kind of heat" or whatever the fuck anyone wants to call it is bullshit. Heat is heat. Especially in this day and age of everyone breaking kayfabe and playing cool/funny heels or shades of gray tweeners that wanna move more merch & not look like bad guys on social media. The biggest babyfaces in the company get booed out of the building. The biggest heels WWE have get cheered & do a lot of crowd-cheering spots (like Seth Rollins). Ain't no one in the damn company got the "right kind" of heat.

 

I don't know how you can say its bullshit when its true. There are people on this board and elsewhere that actively do not like certain wrestlers and it causes them to turn the channel, take a bathroom break, fast forward through that person or persons segment(s), etc. I do not like Randy Orton. When Orton is on TV, I fast forward through it. I am not interested in anything he does and I haven't been in a very long time. I might sit through an Orton match if it looks good on paper, but I have no vested interest in the outcome. Its apathy. So my question is when did apathy become a 'good' form of heat. People want to see the babyface win and the heel lose. If someone is NOT invested either way- how is that a good thing? That means that that person will spend no money, sit on his/her hands, and overall not pay attention. The crickets that Sheamus has been met with when he was champion this last go around cannot be spun a something good.

 

At the end of the day the good heat is what draws money and not what makes people push the fast-forward button on Hulu. The reason this is all mixed I believe is because in the mid 2000's WWE really began pushing people HARD that were getting no-to-very-little reaction. I think of Michelle McCool and JBL as the big ones. Fast forward today and we have the un-over Charlotte getting very little response and yet getting tons of TV time and is currently positioned as the number two woman in the company (because we all know Stephanie is number one). Apathy is not heat.

 

 

Re: Rock

 

WWE has made Rock's last Mania appearance pretty uninteresting. I am not looking forward to an HHH match and I am also not looking forward to Rock coming out to cut a promo about 'getting goosebumps'. If Sting were heathly, I'd want to see a Rock/Sting match as it would be fresh for both guys.

[Slasher]

Rock just confirmed on instagram he'll be at Wrestlemania 32 https://www.instagram.com/p/_2bOsFIh3N/?taken-by=therock It reads like he'll do more than just make an appearance but who knows.

 

Would love to see him work Roman just to see what would Rock be willing to do to put Roman. But I guess the rumored Rock vs Brock match would be the most likely scenario? With Cena winning the Rumble and facing Reigns?

 

 

edit: fuck, completely forgot they were supposedly building to Rock vs HHH after Mania 31.

Roman Reigns? The same guy the Rock got booed for endorsing after the Rumble victory? The last thing Reigns needs in his precarious position is to face the guy that not a single soul would get cheered over him. And if anything, barring a heel turn (which won't happen because you can't turn the Rock heel and Reigns is meant to be their new franchise ace) you want Rock's endorsement to mean something in the long run. Having him face Reigns at Wrestlemania with the intent of taking the belt off him is really incredibly counterproductive for so many reasons.

[WingedEagle]

Glad Rock will be part of the show. If it turns out he's wrestling and part of a match I don't look forward to, or one that takes an appealing match off the table, I suppose I may feel differently about it but on a 4 hour show 15 minutes of him is good fun in my book.

[Strummer]

Can't say I'm excited about Rock at mania. Maybe Hunter v Rock is back on. Really not excited about that possibility

[Coffey]

 

 

I'll always be one of those people that thinks that "go away heat" or "X-Pac heat" or "change the channel heat" or "the wrong kind of heat" or whatever the fuck anyone wants to call it is bullshit. Heat is heat. Especially in this day and age of everyone breaking kayfabe and playing cool/funny heels or shades of gray tweeners that wanna move more merch & not look like bad guys on social media. The biggest babyfaces in the company get booed out of the building. The biggest heels WWE have get cheered & do a lot of crowd-cheering spots (like Seth Rollins). Ain't no one in the damn company got the "right kind" of heat.

 

I don't know how you can say its bullshit when its true.

 

Simple: I don't think it's true. I think it's something that people on the internet say when they don't like a wrestler 'cause they don't wanna look like a mark. I don't like Dolph Ziggler, that doesn't mean he has go away heat. It means I don't like Dolph Ziggler. I'm not trying to put my disinterest for him as the majority opinion & start speaking for everyone else.

[Loss]

In fairness, "X-Pac heat" is not apathy, and I'm with Coffey on that one. The issue is being confused.

[Jmare007]

 

Rock just confirmed on instagram he'll be at Wrestlemania 32 https://www.instagram.com/p/_2bOsFIh3N/?taken-by=therock It reads like he'll do more than just make an appearance but who knows.

 

Would love to see him work Roman just to see what would Rock be willing to do to put Roman. But I guess the rumored Rock vs Brock match would be the most likely scenario? With Cena winning the Rumble and facing Reigns?

 

 

edit: fuck, completely forgot they were supposedly building to Rock vs HHH after Mania 31.

Roman Reigns? The same guy the Rock got booed for endorsing after the Rumble victory? The last thing Reigns needs in his precarious position is to face the guy that not a single soul would get cheered over him. And if anything, barring a heel turn (which won't happen because you can't turn the Rock heel and Reigns is meant to be their new franchise ace) you want Rock's endorsement to mean something in the long run. Having him face Reigns at Wrestlemania with the intent of taking the belt off him is really incredibly counterproductive for so many reasons.

 

 

Oh, no doubt. I just wanna see it for selfish reasons, I'd be really interested in the clusterfuck that might ensue and how Rock tries to save it.

[Slasher]

Glad Rock will be part of the show. If it turns out he's wrestling and part of a match I don't look forward to, or one that takes an appealing match off the table, I suppose I may feel differently about it but on a 4 hour show 15 minutes of him is good fun in my book.

I used to think the same way until Mania 31 where he spent a good 20 minutes standing there without speaking and just milking the crowd, cutting a nonsensical promo that had very little to do with what he was disputing in the first place (that they don't own anyone) talking aboit how they fail to realize Rock is an East Bay boy...like what? You're billed from Miami/Los Angeles for God'a sake. Getting slapped and milking that by staring for a long time before faking leaving then sauntering around for Rousey. Pretty much the day I completely lost interest in the Rock.

 

Edit- Don't get me wrong. I totally get why people would be entertained by that but not me. I hate extended sequences of milking crowds. At least when Jericho did it he was completely trolling the fans. That was awesome.

[hammerva]

If it means working with Triple H then great cause it means he isn't facing Reigns for the title which is idiotic to me. After that I cant see anything important for him then a celebrity. I would hate to see Brock vs Rock but I'm sure it would get a huge reaction

[Parties]

If HHH has to have his self-indulgent match, Rock is a great candidate. i don't see Hunter losing to someone who'd benefit from it (upper midcard type like Ambrose who could transcend to the next level). It'd be a step backward for Reigns and pointlessly redundant for Cena/Taker/Lesnar/Orton/etc. With Rock he can have a gimmicked out match that'll probably go too long but will keep them away from other guys who should be developing their own feuds and arch rivals. It's also the kind of Legend vs. Legend match that can go on third-from-the-top and feel like a really huge third-from-the-top match, rather than wedging two mediocre part-timers into main events. Rock vs. Lesnar would be a nightmare compared to Rock vs. HHH doing their shtick for twenty minutes.

[Death From Above]

That's basically my thinking on it too.

 

I mean, we know Triple H is going to wrestle. We know exactly what that match will be. Isn't it really the lesser possible evil to have that match be against Rock?

 

Frankly I'd rather see Taker vs. Austin than anything else with Taker now too though I will take Austin at his word and say that seems awfully doubtful.

[Sidebottom]

The biggest money match is Rock vs Brock, by a large margin to anything else. I'd be excited for the match to see how it goes down, I'd be excited to see Rock and Heyman go at it on the mic... The whole concept excites me greatly to be honest. I'd say pull the trigger...

 

With Reigns vs HHH and Undertaker vs Cena as the other marquee matches, I envision a sell out.

[Childs]

I don't get the allure of Rock vs. Brock. Rock sure didn't look great in the Cena matches, and with all the movie stuff going on, is he going to take the kind of ass kicking required for a major Brock match? I know they've been holding on to that one for a big show, but it just feels like something that sounds better on paper.

 

I will be disappointed if they don't run Brock-Reigns II. Still strikes me as the best potential mix of story, spectacle and match.

[Slasher]

Rock vs Brock is such a terrible idea. Brock's appeal is as a destroyer of the worlds. Rock's appeal is as the supernova megastar. There is nothing to connect the two people. They already had the sports build at Summerslam 2002. The only way the match works is if Brock went back to being an ultimate heel as opposed to the tweener he is now and drew the Rock out to save someone from a terrible fate...maybe Nia Jax? Or if the Rock managed to turn himself into the douchebag heel that people wanted Brock to destroy. Neither scenario is likely or even workable.

[C.S.]

Cena vs. Undertaker would've meant infinitely more if the Streak were involved, but if Taker announces ahead of time that this will be his final match, I think it will still create enough doubt over the outcome and feel like an "epic" last ride.

 

Am I the only one who would want to see Reigns vs. Rock? Rock would have to play the asshole Hollywood heel who resents Reigns for getting him booed at the Rumble last year, and I'm not sure that's something he'd go for at this stage of the game, but it would be fun. Even better if Nia Jax comes in as Rock's badass female bodyguard. Miz as Rock's supporting actor lackey would be cool too.

 

But all of that negates the Rock-Trips build we got last year, so it won't happen.

 

I don't see why Trips has to wrestle at Mania. I think the show would be just fine if he sat it out and concentrated on his executive duties.

[Loss]

I think it's a match where if it did well, the storyline would be largely arbitrary. WWE, as they usually do in the build to Wrestlemania, would bank more on the dream match between big names factor than trying to make a compelling story that makes sense for both of their characters. In this case, though, I think the reason it doesn't hold much appeal is because their characters don't really mesh well.

 

In spite of all that, I still think the odds of a financially successful match are strong. Debra managing The Rock in the build to Wrestlemania X-7 and Hogan attempting to murder Rock with a semi always come to mind when I think of these huge matches with a terrible storyline going in.