Wrestlemania

[jcmmnx]

From the WWE that I've seen in 2017 Stroman is the guy that has stood out most to me. After all the shitty big men Vince has pushed over the years he finally gets one who is awesome, and doesn't give him anything for Mania. I'm pretty dumbfounded at that.

[Strummer]

Brock is wrestling on the April 30 Raw PPV. Don't think they are going to go to Strowman yet so that leaves the Balor, Rollins types. I think Rollins is going to be with Joe so I think we are getting Brock v Balor. Balor never lost the title in the ring so they have that story to tell.

 

On sd they are already teasing AJ v Orton

[goc]

 

 

i kind of admire Vince's hard-headedness at this point. This is a man on a mission that is never going to succeed. Anyone else would have put down the sail a while ago, but not Vince.

The year was 2006. People were saying this exact same thing about John Cena. He went on to become the biggest star in pro wrestling.

 

The year was 2007. People were saying this exact same thing about John Cena. He went on to become the biggest star in pro wrestling.

 

The year was 2008. People were...ahh you get the point I hope.

 

Cena's booking was absolutely atrocious. So bad that I wrote about it:http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/36821-wwes-awful-booking-of-cena-from-2005-2006/

 

Cena was and is a much bigger star than Reigns. He drew better and more people were watching each week, but his longterm forced push also did cause WWE to lose 25% of it's audience during its time: https://staticseekingalpha.a.ssl.fastly.net/uploads/2015/12/2/36229206-1449098933444331-Wayne-Duggan.png

 

Rather dubious to claim Cena's push was responsible for a downward ratings trend that had already been in place for years before he ever got a big push.

[Herodes]

Can we never mention ratings ever again? The world, business models, revenue streams etc have changed a lot in the 20 years since 1997 so using these kinds of metrics for comparison is redundant.

[WingedEagle]

Brock is wrestling on the April 30 Raw PPV. Don't think they are going to go to Strowman yet so that leaves the Balor, Rollins types. I think Rollins is going to be with Joe so I think we are getting Brock v Balor. Balor never lost the title in the ring so they have that story to tell.

 

On sd they are already teasing AJ v Orton

 

Balor & Rollins are possible. Have to think they're keeping him & Reigns apart for now. Strowman is possible but unlikely. Perhaps debut Nakamura in a high profile manner?

[rzombie1988]

 

 

 

i kind of admire Vince's hard-headedness at this point. This is a man on a mission that is never going to succeed. Anyone else would have put down the sail a while ago, but not Vince.

The year was 2006. People were saying this exact same thing about John Cena. He went on to become the biggest star in pro wrestling.

 

The year was 2007. People were saying this exact same thing about John Cena. He went on to become the biggest star in pro wrestling.

 

The year was 2008. People were...ahh you get the point I hope.

 

Cena's booking was absolutely atrocious. So bad that I wrote about it:http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/36821-wwes-awful-booking-of-cena-from-2005-2006/

 

Cena was and is a much bigger star than Reigns. He drew better and more people were watching each week, but his longterm forced push also did cause WWE to lose 25% of it's audience during its time: https://staticseekingalpha.a.ssl.fastly.net/uploads/2015/12/2/36229206-1449098933444331-Wayne-Duggan.png

 

Rather dubious to claim Cena's push was responsible for a downward ratings trend that had already been in place for years before he ever got a big push.

 

It's not all him, but he was the face of the company and if you want the glory, you gotta take the blame as well. Cena helped cultivate and run off decent portions of the audience and the people he ran off were likely hardcore fans.

[Mad Dog]

Reigns really reminds me of how they treated Randy Orton. Constantly pushed but a fairly consistent failure as the guy. I know Vince wants to make his last star but this is the third Mania Reigns has headlined and it doesn't feel like they've made much progress with him.

[Mad Dog]

I will defend Reigns slightly and say he isn't the failure that Seth Rollins is.

[FMKK]

The idea of Balor getting offence on Lesnar fills me with dread. I hope they just mix him in with HHH, Rollins etc and keep that shit self-contained.

 

If that Taker ve Reigns match had been taking place at the end of a three hour show the crowd would have been a lot hotter. As it was, people in the stadium had been there for over six hours and sat through a massive amount of stuff so it was a bit heatless but I can't imagine anything that wouldn't have suffered from crowd burn-out given that scenario.

[KawadaSmile]

All things considered, the crowd gave Taker and Reigns all they had left. It did look like they wanted to have more energy to spend, and it was more due to burnout from the long event than flat out lack of interest.

 

Orton/Bray and HHH/Rollins were major crowd killers.

[Cap]

Orton beating Bray like that killed everything momentum wise for me. I went back and watched Brock/Goldberg this morning and liked it a lot more in a vacuum than I did after Orton deflated the room.

[goc]

Reigns really reminds me of how they treated Randy Orton. Constantly pushed but a fairly consistent failure as the guy. I know Vince wants to make his last star but this is the third Mania Reigns has headlined and it doesn't feel like they've made much progress with him.

Orton was such a bad house show draw when they moved him over to Smackdown to be the top guy there that they had to give up on him and MARK HENRY's run on top was a bigger draw. Reigns sells more merchandise than anyone in WWE not named John Cena and his house show numbers are around the average if not slightly above. Nowhere near Orton on 2011 Smackdown level bad.

[jcmmnx]

I will defend Reigns slightly and say he isn't the failure that Seth Rollins is.

Reigns is the best ex Shield guy by many miles that's for sure.

[Matt D]

 

 

 

i kind of admire Vince's hard-headedness at this point. This is a man on a mission that is never going to succeed. Anyone else would have put down the sail a while ago, but not Vince.

The year was 2006. People were saying this exact same thing about John Cena. He went on to become the biggest star in pro wrestling.

 

The year was 2007. People were saying this exact same thing about John Cena. He went on to become the biggest star in pro wrestling.

 

The year was 2008. People were...ahh you get the point I hope.

 

Cena's booking was absolutely atrocious. So bad that I wrote about it:http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/36821-wwes-awful-booking-of-cena-from-2005-2006/

 

Cena was and is a much bigger star than Reigns. He drew better and more people were watching each week, but his longterm forced push also did cause WWE to lose 25% of it's audience during its time: https://staticseekingalpha.a.ssl.fastly.net/uploads/2015/12/2/36229206-1449098933444331-Wayne-Duggan.png

 

Rather dubious to claim Cena's push was responsible for a downward ratings trend that had already been in place for years before he ever got a big push.

 

It's a bit of the Sting argument. How much worse would have things been without Cena?

[Mad Dog]

 

 

I will defend Reigns slightly and say he isn't the failure that Seth Rollins is.

Reigns is the best ex Shield by by many miles that's for sure.

I would still say Ambrose. He just isn't protected like the other two.

[Stiva]

Shit, that pop for The Hardys was ridiculous. McIntyre and The Hardys are two A+ picks to throw out over Mania weekend.

[FMKK]

 

 

I will defend Reigns slightly and say he isn't the failure that Seth Rollins is.

Reigns is the best ex Shield by by many miles that's for sure.

I would still say Ambrose. He just isn't protected like the other two.

 

Ambrose is so patchy though. When he's really trying and being booked as the right type of character he's good and he gets over well but way too often he's in goof mode and works matches like he doesn't give a shit. Some of his performances can be almost embarrassing tbh.

[Mad Dog]

I agree that he has his ups and downs. But they've done a lot to damage him. He's probably still more over than Reigns or Rollins despite the damage they've done to him with bad booking.

[cm funk]

My WM story is my internet blows chunks and WWE Network sucks so it was an evening of repeated pausing and buffering which really ruined it for me. That combined with the length of the show (and having been awake since 5am) caused me to quit and go to bed. I woke up at like 3am and went back to watch the Lesnar-Goldburg match. I really liked that match. Also caught Orton and Wyutt and liked that too, but I've seen a lot of hate on it. I would not have taken the belt off of Wyatt, but I thought the match itself was entertaining, and you know they will rematch.

 

I actually enjoyed the Pittbull & friends performance too, and I am not a Pitbull fan

 

I actually really liked this show but again refer to my initial statement, it ruined it for me. I need to watch it in full, some of the booking was strange. Huge Jericho mark, him losing was the right call. I liked Mojo winning and Gronk getting in there. Leading off the show with AJ and Shane was a surprise but made it seem special.

 

I might post more thoughts but I need a beer

[Strummer]

Ambrose obviously has flaws but he was way over in summer of 2014 after the turn but then lost decisively to Rollins and then went into a never ending feud with Wyatt. The fact that's he remained over the last 3 years despite shitty booking is a testament to his talent and ability to connect with the crowds IMO

[jcmmnx]

Ambrose needs a heel turn. He's done all he can with this wacky lunatic crap.

[KawadaSmile]

 

 

 

I will defend Reigns slightly and say he isn't the failure that Seth Rollins is.

Reigns is the best ex Shield by by many miles that's for sure.

I would still say Ambrose. He just isn't protected like the other two.

 

Ambrose is so patchy though. When he's really trying and being booked as the right type of character he's good and he gets over well but way too often he's in goof mode and works matches like he doesn't give a shit. Some of his performances can be almost embarrassing tbh.

 

Case in point: last night's IC title match. It wasn't only a bad performance by him, but it seemed like he intended to put on a bad showing. After bitching on SCSA's podcast about pitching ideas to Lesnar and he not giving a fuck, surely he looks even worse by putting on a very lazy performance.

 

Reigns, even when he is in a dire situation like his match against Taker, or being punished like his losing streak after his suspension, will always put on a very good effort and usually is the better performer in his match.

[FMKK]

 

 

 

 

I will defend Reigns slightly and say he isn't the failure that Seth Rollins is.

Reigns is the best ex Shield by by many miles that's for sure.

I would still say Ambrose. He just isn't protected like the other two.

 

Ambrose is so patchy though. When he's really trying and being booked as the right type of character he's good and he gets over well but way too often he's in goof mode and works matches like he doesn't give a shit. Some of his performances can be almost embarrassing tbh.

 

Case in point: last night's IC title match. It wasn't only a bad performance by him, but it seemed like he intended to put on a bad showing. After bitching on SCSA's podcast about pitching ideas to Lesnar and he not giving a fuck, surely he looks even worse by putting on a very lazy performance.

 

Reigns, even when he is in a dire situation like his match against Taker, or being punished like his losing streak after his suspension, will always put on a very good effort and usually is the better performer in his match.

 

Could you imagine the state of that match if he was booked with Undertaker?

[Peppercorn Bing Bong]

If there's anything that is abundantly clear from last night it's that Seth Rollins is waaaaay too high up on the card. How are you gonna have a match where the narrative is that your leg is fucked up but then do shit like phoenix splashes and superplex/falcon arrow combos? Dude would be fine on 205 Live, but man he cannot do the heavyweight style. He is just not believable at all going against people like Triple H. Also I wish Triple H would figure out he isn't the superworker he thinks he is. Every time he does one of these Wrestlemania matches it reeks of self-conscious epic. Keep it in your pants H.

 

Best matches of the show were AJ/Shane, the Raw women's 4 way, and the ladder match in that order.

[goc]

I hope they never turn Roman because as a man who enjoys reading very bad wrestling takes, he brings out the best of the worst.