goc Posted March 29, 2017 Report Share Posted March 29, 2017 How would you book Roman/Taker? I think Roman needs to completely annihilate him. If they want a "star making moment" I think that's the way to go. Then sit back and watch the internet explode. I don't think Taker really has enough left in the tank to have some kind of "epic" match, it's why I'm not even slightly upset they aren't doing Cena vs. Taker. I don't think that match can possibly live up to the hype. So if it were up to me I would also have Roman just run right over Taker. People are going to bitch and moan even if he wins a close match so just go all the way with way it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted March 29, 2017 Report Share Posted March 29, 2017 If you MUST have a competitive match between those two, make it so the two exchange bombs from the start with little downtime. I don't want Taker to have anything over 12 minutes and I don't think he himself wants that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted March 29, 2017 Report Share Posted March 29, 2017 How would you book Roman/Taker? I think Roman needs to completely annihilate him. If they want a "star making moment" I think that's the way to go. Then sit back and watch the internet explode. Reigns should go over after a competitive match. Ideally he hits his big moves cleanly, fails to put Taker away and resorts to heel tactics for the win to cement a turn. Whether that's Shield assistance, a call back to Austin's chair shots at 17 or something similar, I believe that's the most effective outcome here. But apparently the plan is to maintain him as a face in building towards next year. At least as things are penciled in now. I'm hoping Kane comes out and joins with Roman as his new manager as a heel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stro Posted March 29, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2017 I skipped Raw, but I did see the Taker/Roman segment. Roman's promo was dope. Taker's on tron promo was hilariously bad, made sure to get in the WM tag line, and he looked like he was the shrunken head guy from Beetlejuice. I haven't seen the show, but I don't know that I could ever confuse Taker for the shrunken head guy. The Deadman's got a forehead the size of a mini-fridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted March 29, 2017 Report Share Posted March 29, 2017 It's funny during the attitude era Taker was only in his early/mid 30s but he looked like he was pushing 50. Yeah nearly 20 years later he looks like an extra in "A Nightmare Before Christmas" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordan Posted March 29, 2017 Report Share Posted March 29, 2017 Add me in as just wanting Reigns/Taker to be a demolition by Roman. Fairly interested in the show and think it'll be good, and if not there's stil a few matches that I wouldn't be surprised tilt into "so bad it's good" territory so I should be entertained anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Redman Posted March 31, 2017 Report Share Posted March 31, 2017 The funny thing in all this is that in 2011, Miz and Cena had a Wrestlemania main event, where the build consisted of Cena and Rock cutting megastar promos on each other while Miz stood around looking like a child, and then they whiffed on the match. Now in 2017, Miz and Cena are having a midcard mixed tag match at Wrestlemania, where the build has consisted of Miz and Cena cutting main event level promos on each other and Miz looking like he belongs on top more than any point in his career up until now. Like, just from watching what's happening on SD, it just boggles the mind that all of this isn't building towards the SD main event WWE Title match at Mania. These promos are killer, straight up murderous, and it's all in aid of a midcard mixed tag that in itself is just window dressing for a post-match Wrestlemania Moment proposal. When Miz got serious at the end of Total Bullshit I thought Cena was dead. Like, he had literally killed him remotely via a promo and Mania weekend became about John Cena's tragic passing. Miz and Maryse's whole deal has just annihilated Cena and Nikki, almost to the point of permanently damaging their characters I think. And then, Cena comes out and gets real and pours gasoline on Miz and Maryse, lights them on fire and burns them to a fucking crisp where they sit. He didn't just kill them he fucking immolated them. Holy fucking shit. That's the great thing about Cena, he's such a great promo when it counts that he's perfectly happy for heels to cut the most brutal promos possible on him in aid of a feud. He's an easy target and you watch the heel go nuts and think "man he just destroyed Cena with that promo" and just when you think that it's over, Cena makes his response and gets all serious and gangster and takes them to school, and you remember that he's John Fucking Cena. It's the promo equivalent of a wrestler being willing to sell and sell and sell his ass off during the heat because he knows once he makes his comeback he can give it all back and then some. So yeah. Why is this not the main event. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artDDP Posted March 31, 2017 Report Share Posted March 31, 2017 Because Dave said it's Roman-Undertaker this year. Of course, last year he said it would be Shane-Undertaker despite it being clear it was the Roman coronation 3.0. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stro Posted March 31, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2017 Taker/Roman SHOULD be the main event. For various reasons. 1 being this is probably (hopefully) Taker's last match. 2 being it has the most heat of anything in arenas and online. When you look at the hits from all the main feuds on just Youtube, the Roman/Taker segment from Raw has 1-3 million more hits than all the other main feuds. By pretty much all metrics, Roman vs Taker is the match that has the most interest, so it should end the show, imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted March 31, 2017 Report Share Posted March 31, 2017 Come on. You know Taker vs Cena happens next year. It has to. No, really. Roman Reigns coronation N°4 ? That's a new kind of streak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted March 31, 2017 Report Share Posted March 31, 2017 Am I missing something? I get WM32 being one coronation, but what are the other two? The Rumble win and? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stro Posted March 31, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2017 Coronation at 31 by...getting pinned in the main event and not getting the title until November. Duh. I don't think people understand what the word means. If he already had his coronation, he can't get another one. And then another one. And then another one. He's already there. It's just being a main eventer once it happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted March 31, 2017 Report Share Posted March 31, 2017 The Rumble win, WM 32, presumably this year's WM, and plans already in place for next year's WM. And despite him oozing heel charisma, they won't turn him heel because he sells more merch than anyone not John Cena. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted March 31, 2017 Report Share Posted March 31, 2017 I mean, at this point they might as well have Will Smith appear for next year's WM to ask Roman "why don't they love you, man?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stro Posted March 31, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2017 Okay well that's not a coronation. He's already had that. Main eventing WM again just means he's a main eventer. You know, because he already had his coronation as a top guy. That's like saying Hogan was still having coronations up to WM 9. Top guys tend to headline a lot. At the top of the cards. Also sometimes known as the main event. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted March 31, 2017 Report Share Posted March 31, 2017 They weren't trying to convince fans 3-4 years in Hogan was the top guy though. They didn't have to of course because he's Hulk Fucking Hogan and was over at the level he was pushed at. Bottom line is Roman's not over at the level they want him to be, despite the fact he's improved greatly the last few years. Call it pushback against what the company wants, or butthurt over Daniel Bryan, but the harsh reality is he's just not THE GUY no matter how hard Vince's boner for him is. It's even more exasperating when there's a clear opportunity to change direction with a heel turn that might end up making them even more money than they are now with the guy, but they keep fucking that chicken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stro Posted March 31, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2017 They aren't trying to convince people that Roman is a top guy either. Because he's BEEN a top guy for 3 years. You can't argue that he's not a top guy while also arguing that he's over pushed as a top guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted March 31, 2017 Report Share Posted March 31, 2017 They're trying to convince people that Roman is a top BABYFACE and he hasn't been (except for houseshows I guess). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stro Posted March 31, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2017 They definitely aren't and you have HHH and Roman doing interviews in the media about this over and over saying as much. By this logic, John Cena was never over as a babyface or main eventer. I don't know why smart fans refuse to understand that he's booked just like Cena but with more of an edge and intentionally trolling that specific part of the audience. This is why they constantly put him in situations where they know he's going to get booed and then talk about how great the crowds are for speaking their mind about him. Yet people think they're standing up to the man by booing him not realizing WWE encourages it just like they do with Cena. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted March 31, 2017 Report Share Posted March 31, 2017 They definitely aren't and you have HHH and Roman doing interviews in the media about this over and over saying as much. By this logic, John Cena was never over as a babyface or main eventer. I don't know why smart fans refuse to understand that he's booked just like Cena but with more of an edge and intentionally trolling that specific part of the audience. This is why they constantly put him in situations where they know he's going to get booed and then talk about how great the crowds are for speaking their mind about him. Yet people think they're standing up to the man by booing him not realizing WWE encourages it just like they do with Cena. Because generally the fans that go out of their way to proudly wear that "smart fan" label and shit on "casuals" who go to house shows and buy Cena & Reigns merchandise are generally the dumbest fans of all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted April 1, 2017 Report Share Posted April 1, 2017 interview with Dave posted today where he says the long term goal is still Reigns as a top babyface 10:00 in and another fantastic article from the great Brandon Howard about Reign's drawing ability: https://www.fightful.com/is-roman-reigns-a-draw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted April 1, 2017 Report Share Posted April 1, 2017 The good voters of Pro Wrestling Illustrated voted Reigns Most Hated of 2016, so he must already be a heel. No need for a turn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FMKK Posted April 1, 2017 Report Share Posted April 1, 2017 I understand what people mean by the repeated coronations in the sense that he's never had that dominant championship run that most top guys get at one point or another. However, it's pretty clear that his booking is designed to get the reaction it receives and he's been really great on TV over the last few months. It is a hilarious irony that the segment of fans who think they're so much smarter than the average are the easiest portion of the audience to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Redman Posted April 1, 2017 Report Share Posted April 1, 2017 Anyway, to continue my stream of consciousness about the Cena thing, my other main thought about it is...what is this really leading to? Yes, the proposal. And we know in real life that the two of them have worked this out already and this is just a way of doing it publicly, but if you don't know any better and just follow along with the TV, it will look for all the world as though Cena is only proposing to his girlfriend because The Miz has goaded him into it. I think the idea of having this moment at Mania is nice, I guess, but in reality it will either come across as a boring foregone conclusion for those in the know, or as Cena being worn down into being tied down. The problem is that Cena and Nikki just aren't likeable as a couple, and there's really nothing they can do on TV to make them likeable, because we know from Total Divas that this is just how they are. Cena is a robot. Nikki is plastic. And together, their relationship is fascinating as reality show bait, but they're not a couple that you want to root for. They do nothing to help this on TV by having Cena hog the mic time, slap her ass and give her those weird head kisses. When he's treating her like an accessory while they're standing across from a clearly genuine couple in Miz and Maryse, it doesn't paint them in the best light. A part of me keeps thinking that the better pro wrestling angle would be for Cena to finally relent and propose only for Nikki to kick him in the balls and dump him and ride off into the sunset as a megaheel, Trish at WMXX style. But the problem with that (apart from them being a real couple with their own show and nobody would believe it) is that...would Nikki be the heel? The Mania crowd would sure as shit cheer the hell out of her turning on Cena. And I'm not far behind. I know feminist isn't a huge wrestling crowd demographic unless actual women's wrestling is involved, but like...Miz is right. From everything we've seen about their lives, Cena treats her super strangely. He made her sign a contract to move in on the off chance she turned into a gold digger, he makes her follow strict house rules like she's a tenant, he appears almost inhumanly indifferent when she flirts with other guys or talks about leaving him. He has always steadfastly refused to consider her dearest wishes of getting married and having kids. Nikki has given up or compromised her own goals and wishes to conform to his life at every turn, and at every turn he does all he can to protect himself and not have to move an inch in her direction. Again, it's a fascinating look at how a super rich famous guy approaches dating when his no. 1 priority is total self preservation, but it doesn't seem like the most healthy relationship. It's certainly not an equal one. And so the idea of Nikki kicking him to the curb really isn't all that unreasonable, come to think of it. If it was a pure pro wrestling angle and not a real life thing, it's exactly the finish I'd book, just totally redo Trish and Jericho. But alas, this is a real life thing, real life relationships are weird, and we're going to have our weird, unlikeable "babyface" couple getting engaged and probably getting booed out of the building. And I mean, they're not going to get any more likeable once they get engaged. I guess it's good that at least one match on this card is making me think, even if all I'm doing is judging these people's semi fake relationship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted April 1, 2017 Report Share Posted April 1, 2017 I like the Cena/Miz two man power trip idea more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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