WWE TV 01/23 - 01/27

[KawadaSmile]

Last week of television before the most unpredictable Rumble since '08 at least, and the most boring looking TakeOver card.

 

Let's hope BRAUN murders people.

[Flyin' Brian]

I really like Cass, Enzo, and Rusev. Fun segment that kind of lost its way at the end with Titus and the random team up with Strowman. Glad they are still keeping Strowman strong, even if he did back down from Big Show. He's improved a lot since the Wyatt Family days.

[KawadaSmile]

This Royal Rumble lineup is looking fucking incredible, really.

[cm funk]

Thought that was a really strong go home show and agreed, this is a really good looking Rumble card with a lot of star power

 

Thought the angle with Rollins was strong but really surprised he's not in the Rumble. Him and Sami had a fun, intrigue filled match there too. Now I'm expecting HHH as a surprise entrant and Rollins running in to take him out of the match

[Parties]

Interesting that at a time where the company has more small dudes on top than ever, this is practically an all-Hoss Rumble of giant heavyweights. Outliers like Zayn and Kofi aside, there's Goldberg, Brock, Big E, Braun, Corbin, Taker, Cesaro, Sheamus, Bray, Harper, Big Show, Cass, and Rusev all announced, plus the rumored Joe appearance and possibly Crews, Rhyno, or Rawley from SD.

[stro]

Sad how low the bar for a HOSS is now if guys like Cesaro/Sheamus/Crews/Rhyno/Mojo are included. Like how the "big guy" from the UK tournament wasn't even 6 feet tall.

[goc]

Mojo (6'4, 265) & Sheamus (6'4, 267) should both qualify as hosses. The rest probably not.

[stro]

I could maybe count Sheamus as a hoss based on his bruising style, but Mojo could be 400lb and not come off as a hoss.

[Jmare007]

According to Meltzer "Road Dogg is now the head writer of Smackdown and is continuing to "pick up power". It seems Ward is still heavily involved with the show too, I guess it's the best of both worlds?

[Strummer]

Yes, James seemed to confirm on twitter that he has taken over for Ward as head writer of Smackown.

 

 

 

Brian G. James ‏@WWERoadDogg Jan 23

@Pires691 @Tanyamac0906 it's a team effort and I am circled by a group of talented writers that do all the work lol

1 reply 0 retweets

 

 

 

Brian G. James ‏@WWERoadDogg Jan 23

@Tanyamac0906 it's a team effort for sure. I have an incredible team and don't forget about the incredible talent SDLive has.

1 reply 0 retweets 2 likes

[goc]

According to Meltzer "Road Dogg is now the head writer of Smackdown and is continuing to "pick up power". It seems Ward is still heavily involved with the show too, I guess it's the best of both worlds?

I'm 100% on board with an Armstrong gaining power in WWE.

[sek69]

It made for a really good angle and back and forth promo on SD, but man was Cena referring to AJ as a "guy from Atlanta he's fighting at the Rumble" a burial to non-fans and/or casual fans. It was a noticeable flat note on a show that has been running circles around Raw's stories for months. Either they telegraph an AJ win, or Cena beats a guy he considered such a geek he couldn't be bothered to inform the hosts of the show he guested on what the guy's name is.

[cm funk]

I didn't see the whole segment but I'm sure Cena said he was wrestling the WWE champion AJ Styles and the host was like "who's that" and he said "some guy from Atlanta" tying into the NE-ATL super bowl and they cut the clip for the angle

[sek69]

Maybe he mentioned his name on the Today show, but what we saw on Smackdown was John Cena not even acknowledging the name of his opponent. Doing that reminded me of the old wrestling trope of build up your opponent so when you beat him it doesn't come off like you just beat some unimpressive geek. Actually they way they presented it made Cena look like a dick so it didn't really do anyone any favors.

[goc]

If Tye Dillinger isn't going to be in the Rumble then I hope they have Sami Zayn come out at #10. I would be very amused at the crowd having a moment of crisis trying to decide if crying about Dillinger not coming out at #10 is worth booing Sami Zayn. And laugh even harder if they decide that, yes it is worth it, and Zayn gets booed.

[Stiva]

Maybe he mentioned his name on the Today show, but what we saw on Smackdown was John Cena not even acknowledging the name of his opponent. Doing that reminded me of the old wrestling trope of build up your opponent so when you beat him it doesn't come off like you just beat some unimpressive geek. Actually they way they presented it made Cena look like a dick so it didn't really do anyone any favors.

 

I can see Styles retaining at the Rumble to build some kind of lead-in to Elimination Chamber. It's impressive how they've left a lot of threads dangling going into Mania but have booked themselves into a corner for a lot of their featured workers. Nobody knows who could win the Rumble but basically none of it is interesting. I'd laugh if Styles lost the belt before the Rumble match, entered the Rumble and won his title shot back though

[sek69]

I'd like to see Styles win. It kind of sucks that he basically carries Smackdown since day one of the brand split, only to have the Cena Express roll in just in time for the march to Mania and get all the glory. It's another thing that makes this storyline so weird since AJ is basically 100% correct in his heel promos. It's also the kind of shit that encourages the "you deserve it" chants that a lot of people here hate when companies like WWE kick guys to the curb who carried the ball for them just to reward their security blanket guys.

[Jimmy James]

According to Meltzer "Road Dogg is now the head writer of Smackdown and is continuing to "pick up power". It seems Ward is still heavily involved with the show too, I guess it's the best of both worlds?

This is a misquoting, Road Dogg is continuing to be the effective co-writer of SmackDown with Ward, which has always been the case, but he's gotten a promotion and a raise.

[Johnny Sorrow]

WWE.com keeps playing up the whole "Cena is disrespecting AJ" thing, so it's part of the angle. They need to have AJ bring out the WWE Year end special magazine they just released that named AJ the "Superstar of the Year" and work that into it.

[sek69]

WWE.com keeps playing up the whole "Cena is disrespecting AJ" thing, so it's part of the angle. They need to have AJ bring out the WWE Year end special magazine they just released that named AJ the "Superstar of the Year" and work that into it.

 

True, but again on WWE TV where 95% of their fans get storyline info from, you have your supposed top babyface acting like a dick and your top heel completely justified in his behavior. So either Cena wins and validates his opinion that AJ is a zero, or AJ wins and comes off as a valiant babyface overcoming the odds of the oppressive heel Cena and his sort of brother-in-law GM plotting against him. It's a weird dynamic to have where two characters seem to be written as the complete opposite of how they're supposed to be pushed as.

[WingedEagle]

I'm at a point now where Styles losing on Sunday would be an incredible upset. Cena's been strongly put over him in angles and on the mic in recent weeks with AJ getting almost no shine at all. Just can't see taking that approach and having him drop it at the PPV.

[goc]

I actually think they're gonna do some kind of DQ or countout finish where Cena wins but AJ retains.

[DMJ]

Yeah. I'm thinking AJ somehow retains and Taker accidentally costs Cena the title at Elimination Chamber. Then, we'll get Cena/Taker at Mania (even though various outlets reported that its off the table). I just don't see them going into Mania with HHH, Lesnar, Goldberg, and Taker (and likely Shaq) all making somewhat steady appearances on RAW and SD buoyed by only AJ and Cena. At least, in my mind, that'd be silly.

 

The key piece (again, in my mind) is Nakamura, even moreso than Samoa Joe. Joe coming up would be cool, but he's not ready from Day 1 to be a top SD attraction (especially when the brand is already full of really strong heels - AJ, Miz, and Corbin all being positioned rather well over the past few months and Ziggler freshly turned). Nakamura, meanwhile, can come in and from Day 1 feel like a legitimate main event babyface that is credible enough to challenge for the WWE Championship as long as he makes a strong showing at Elimination Chamber. And you won't get a better pop for his debut than on Sunday. If they don't bring him up this weekend, they may as well friggin' wait another 12 months because this is the time for him. AJ/Nakamura at Mania would be your "IWC pleaser" too and set up the main event card decently:

 

Reigns/Braun (Universal Title probably)

Owens/Jericho

Rollins/HHH

Styles/Nak

Cena/Taker

Goldberg/Lesnar

Clusterfuck for IC or US Title

Fourway for RAW Women's

etc. etc.