WWE TV 12/31 - 1/7 Hey if they are taping shit today I can post the weekly thread now too

[KawadaSmile]

Hey guys how's it going hope you've had some nice holidays and I hope you have an even better Réveillon.

 

Interesting tidbit I've seen on twitter regarding a particular match. 

SPOILER WARNING.

Yiiiikes.

[Strummer]

also several announcements made tonight for the Jan 7 Raw where the show starts to "count" again:

 

Spoiler

Cena, Braun and Brock are all returning.  Alexa is getting her own talk show, "Moment of Bliss" with first guest Ronda (man they are terrified of Alexa missing any TV I guess) and Revival v Gable and Roode for titles.

Also according to live reports Seth was back to being incredibly over tonight.  For his sake maybe they should keep him away from Dean who is struggling now (I still think he can turn it around but this character is clearly not working now)

 

[SomethingSavage]

The constant cloning of Piper's Pit is one of those tropes that needs to die & go away completely for a long, long time - until another super special, once in a lifetime talker comes along and demands a need for it.

I like Alexa well enough and all, but she ain't that.

And folks are delusional if they truly believe the issue with Seth is who he's programmed with at any given time. It never matters. The guy's been paired with every meaningful act in the company, and he's never really any more over in one instance than the next.

Reactions to his entrance do not mean he's over. Because that's quickly outweighed by ALLLL that silence when he's actually, ya know, performing in front of people.

Seth's problem isn't his feud of the day. Seth's problem is Seth. His matches are all the same, regardless of who he wrestles. He never allows the story or the opponent to dictate the story or the match. Everything Seth does is evergreen, to his detriment. He's the king of white noise wrestling.

As a result, it looks & feels like he's always on autopilot - regardless of the athleticism or physical effort involved. It's all devoid of intensity or urgency. And people pick up on that.

Seth will wrestle the opening match on Raw - against a debuting opponent with no history - exactly like he will wrestle a blood feud, grudge-ending match against Dean Ambrose or Kevin Owens or Triple H. He makes no effort to tell a different story at any point.

It's impossible to distinguish a "big" Seth Rollins match from a weekly Rollins match on Raw. There's always a bunch of his "hissing and reaching for the knee" selling, but he's always going to get his shit in and run through the same stuff over & over again.

If there ever comes a day where the guy is actually over, I'd gladly admit it. But it baffles me that anyone would claim the dude is over now. He isn't. The people feel NOTHING for him. He has zero character or personality to speak of, and the audience couldn't care any less for what he does after they get to shout at his entrance for five seconds.

[WingedEagle]

12 hours ago, KawadaSmile said:

Hey guys how's it going hope you've had some nice holidays and I hope you have an even better Réveillon.

 

Interesting tidbit I've seen on twitter regarding a particular match. 

SPOILER WARNING.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

Yiiiikes.

 

They ran the exact same angle at the MSG show on Wednesday.  Curious if Raw is the payoff or they'll remember it the next time they swing into tonw.

[Strummer]

Question:

 

Was this "new direction" forced on them by USA network or was it 100% Vince? I guess we won't be able to really tell till holidays are over but I'm starting to think this was a USA/NBC universal/Bonnie Hammer initiative

[sek69]

I would say 100% Vince, USA is still at or near the top of the ratings and despite it being at record lows it's still probably the highest rated show on USA by far.

 

[sek69]

God dammit, the local ads a few weeks back  didn't make it clear that tonight was an actual Smackown taping instead of a throw away house show and now I'm at work while Becky is in my town doing awesome Becky things. 

[artDDP]

Nodding my head at everything SomethingSavage said about Seth.

As for the comment about the talk show segments: Are we still paying the price for the "This is Your Life, Rock" segment getting a big number in 1999? After all these years does WWE think their fans will stay tuned in on the edge of their seats for these never-ending promo segments?

[SomethingSavage]

The talk show segments have become problematic on so many levels. I mean, yeah. They're overdone and exhausted, but that's the least of it.

WWE has adopted the idea that the segment is not a vehicle intended for the host to "get themselves over." It's baffling to hear someone like Bruce Prichard bash a guy like Christian for attempting to "get himself over" when hosting the Peep Show.

Somebody go watch a classic, MEMORABLE Piper's Pit and tell me that wasn't the exact design & purpose of the whole thing. It was a platform used to get the host over, first & foremost. Otherwise, why make such a big deal out of selecting a skilled talker to steer the thing in the first place?

Instead, they've created a scenario where the host is now effectively just a mic stand. Since it isn't the host's place to get over, they're basically trotted out there like neutered mediators. And they usually come off looking pretty stupid as a result.

The guests aren't protected any better either. Because this talk show style segment only further highlights the AWFUL pro wrestling trope of two hated rivals standing directly across from each other - and just talking to one another. Slowly, deliberately speaking their dialogue. And happily waiting their turn in line to do so, too. It's the shits.

And so everyone - host & guests included - often come out of these things looking worse. There are rare occurrences where the Miz can elevate a scene or two on MizTV, but he's also smart enough to make sure he's getting himself over there as well.

Outside of those instances though, there's nothing there. Name the last great Peep Show segment. Or Cutting Edge segment. Or Carlito's Cabana. Or whateverthefuck.

What was the last memorable angle launched on one of these things? The Jericho turn on Shawn? I mean, if there's no big angle to shoot or some PURPOSE in doing these things, I just don't get it. Bringing Alexa Bliss out to get all catty & bitchy with two women who happen to be feuding this month is really just any other segment on any other week of Raw, right?

I just wish they put more thought & care into how they present their performers. I realize that's a pipedream in a world where sheer content output comes first, but Christ. Everything they do feels like it's filling time to get them onto the next week. It's practically all placeholders holding together more placeholders at this point.

[Jmare007]

Cena is back on SD and had an interesting segment with

Spoiler

Becky.

"* John Cena comes to the ring for a promo. Cena issues an open challenge but Becky Lynch interrupts and tells him that she’s the new man around WWE, and she’s taking his place. Andrade “Cien” Almas and Zelina Vega interrupt. Vega talks trash to Becky and Cena. Cena challenges Vega and Almas to a tag team match, and they accept

* Becky Lynch and John Cena defeated Zelina Vega and Andrade “Cien” Almas. Cena hit his signature moves on Almas but Becky tossed Cena out of the ring and made Vega submit to the Dis-Arm-Her for the win."
 

Also, D-Bry's challenger for the Rumble is

Spoiler

AJ Styles, I wonder were the "real AJ" angle with Vince is gonna lead to. Taking the belt from Bryan right now seems like a big mistake. Maybe this whole "inner animal" shit is to set up a Batista match? lol.

 

[Badlittlekitten]

As pig thick as initially trying to turn her was they're clearly all in on Lynch, for now at least. I fucking love it.

[NintendoLogic]

Bryan defended the title against Cena a few days ago at a house show in Long Island. Apparently, the crowd was completely behind Cena. Imagine how you would have reacted if someone had told you that a year ago. My guess is that the plan for Mania is Cena beating Bryan for #17 to go along with WWE's plans to promote him as the GOAT.

[SirEdger]

That's if Cena will even be allowed to work Mania, depending on his filming schedule.

[DMJ]

I'd be okay with that. I loved their SummerSlam match. Cena getting #17 doesn't bother me and shouldn't bother anyone else. Since he'd likely only be coming back for the short-term, I expect he'd drop the title within a couple months back to Bryan or to AJ or to Almas. Any of those three matches, on a Network special, given time, sounds great. I don't see them doing the Lesnar thing and putting the title on Cena and letting him take it to Hollywood for 6 months at a time, so, who cares? Its Mania. 

I'm hoping the AJ/Vince thing is to heat him up for a Rumble win and to challenge Lesnar, but with him in a title match on that show, I'd be surprised to see him then win the Rumble. 

On the topic of talk show segments (and Alexa Bliss's in particular), it's a minor grievance but Raw should take a "paige" from SD and mix up the way the genders interact too. For example, Edge doing a Cutting Edge with Becky Lynch some months ago may not have produced gold, but its a small way to cement the idea that Women's Division isn't this separate, lower-tier novelty that only the women care about. By having former World Champion "name" talents like Edge and Foley coming out and interacting with Becky, Charlotte, Asuka, etc., its a not-so-subtle nudge that these are the must-see acts on the show. Having Alexa Bliss hosting a segment with Rousey and Nia (or whoever) not only makes no sense (in kayfabe terms), but also isn't fresh when its essentially going to lead to the same name-calling and diss-trading they did when they feuded last spring and had your typical  in-ring segment.

Sadly, I can't think of any males on Raw that could pull off a talk show segment right now either because the Raw roster lacks over talent in general and great promos specifically. Maybe Titus? I can't see a kayfabe reason for Heyman doing a talk show segment that doesn't involve Lesnar. But, yeah, in theory, a MizTV segment or Highlight Reel or something of that ilk where a heel host was stirring shit between Rousey and Nattie just to see the sparks fly would, to me, make sense. Just like having Bliss host a segment interviewing the returning Owens and Zayn would work if Alexa promoted it as her "one-upping" the McMahons and personally welcoming back two stars as a way to pad her own ego. In summation, talk show segments can work, but (1) throwing them on a show nonchalantly with no purpose and hoping for the best is a recipe for disaster and (2) they're far more intriguing when the characters interacting have not interacted countless times before.

[Stiva]

Bryan/Cena II seems like a solid choice for a Mania Main Event, even if I would actually love to see Miz/Bryan with quasi-babyface Miz going after the hypocritical heel Bryan, with them tapping into their history together but I have absolutely no faith in them pulling off that kind of story nowadays. It's interesting that Miz' fantastic Talking Smack promo would be a perfect example of a hot angle to start it all off. Despite the roles being reversed, the actual content of it wouldn't need to change.

[Matt D]

This is annoyingly filmed but the most complete version online.

 

[sek69]

On 12/30/2018 at 1:38 AM, artDDP said:

 

As for the comment about the talk show segments: Are we still paying the price for the "This is Your Life, Rock" segment getting a big number in 1999? After all these years does WWE think their fans will stay tuned in on the edge of their seats for these never-ending promo segments?

 

As great as the Rock was/is, one of the legacies he left is that he's largely the reason why WWE thinks 50/50 booking doesn't hurt people and that long promo segments are good. Because Rock was able to spin whatever shit he was given into gold, the company thinks anyone can do it. Just like they think it's fine that they can job half the roster every week and it won't damage anyone's heat because the Rock would put over damn near everyone and it never hurt him because he's THE ROCK.

[NintendoLogic]

WWE has made a habit in recent years of drawing the wrong lessons from their top stars. The Rock taught them that babyfaces have to inject comedy into their promos. Cena taught them that audience reaction doesn't matter. Bryan taught them that you can get someone over by jobbing them out repeatedly.

[FMKK]

Seth cutting a promo bragging about having 'classics' with Dolph Ziggler and Mojo Rawley is the worst shit imaginable. If you want me to believe that he's the guy to take out Brock, then emphasising that he struggled to beat those two geeks is not a good idea.

[WingedEagle]

Anything on last night's show worth going out of my way to watch?

[Badlittlekitten]

The cage match was decent and did a good job of heating up Drew. Shane dancing circles around HHH in the parking lot was hilarious. Apollo Crews got some shine if you’re into him. Not much to see otherwise.

[cad]

On 12/31/2018 at 5:44 PM, NintendoLogic said:

WWE has made a habit in recent years of drawing the wrong lessons from their top stars. The Rock taught them that babyfaces have to inject comedy into their promos. Cena taught them that audience reaction doesn't matter. Bryan taught them that you can get someone over by jobbing them out repeatedly.

I want to play.

Austin taught them that they need to have a heel making the matches and acting as the top face's enemy, even for guys it doesn't fit (Rock, Cena).
Hogan taught them that being the good guy means whatever you do is by definition right and fair. Fifteen years later he taught them that fans want to see the stars of the past treated like they're just as good as if not better than the stars of today.
Mysterio taught them that you gotta have a Mexican around, all times.

[ZThomas]

On 12/30/2018 at 7:04 PM, Badlittlekitten said:

As pig thick as initially trying to turn her was they're clearly all in on Lynch, for now at least. I fucking love it.

Even though she is a babyface, she's not being forced to be classic WWE babyface. I believe she'll eventually be moved to Raw because she is obviously being pegged to feud with Ronda goining into Mania. 

This was a good edition of SD tonight, I rarely get to catch WWE tv. 

Samoa Joe has always been a great talker, I wish he came into the company around the same time as Punk when he was physically in his prime. He's not bad in the ring at all, he's just alot slower in this faster pace of current WWE.

I been behind Almas since he turned heel in NXT but I feel like Zalina is who they see as the star. She's so good at her role that I hope Almas doesn't just caring and let's her overshadow him. There's still so many good match ups on SD for him to have it's just a matter of if they choose to  push him.

[Strummer]

On 12/31/2018 at 5:44 PM, NintendoLogic said:

WWE has made a habit in recent years of drawing the wrong lessons from their top stars. The Rock taught them that babyfaces have to inject comedy into their promos. Cena taught them that audience reaction doesn't matter. Bryan taught them that you can get someone over by jobbing them out repeatedly.

 

On your 3rd point to think there were lots of people defending the booking of Bryan in 2013/2014.  Yeah hindsight has not been kind to that. Ask Bayley

[sek69]

Watching this Naomi/Usos/Mandy Rose storyline I keep thinking of Lance Storm saying after he got married Randy Savage gave him some advice:  "I did an angle with my wife one time and now I aint got no wife no more"