Strummer Posted January 30, 2019 Report Share Posted January 30, 2019 from all the tweets coming out Itami seemed to be incredibly well liked backstage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted January 30, 2019 Report Share Posted January 30, 2019 2 hours ago, KawadaSmile said: It's not just that he had bad luck with injuries. He just didn't show up in the ring when the spotlight was on him. NXT Title match against Roode: flopped. Looked lethargic and missed some of his signature spots. Tag Team match on Raw with Finn Balor, which was made a big deal: flopped. Looked sloppy more than once. He just was a flop. Be it due to injuries, be it through bad showings in the ring and looking sawft, his run was bad. Both did the right thing now. It was clearly not working. You can't hold a bad match against Bobby Roode against him. His match with Black at Takeover was really good in 2017. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted January 30, 2019 Report Share Posted January 30, 2019 2 hours ago, KawadaSmile said: It's not just that he had bad luck with injuries. He just didn't show up in the ring when the spotlight was on him. NXT Title match against Roode: flopped. Looked lethargic and missed some of his signature spots. Tag Team match on Raw with Finn Balor, which was made a big deal: flopped. Looked sloppy more than once. While all of that is true, being in the ring with the dull Roode and the robotic Balor probably didn't help. With that said, yeah, Hideo Itami showed me absolutely nothing. For as much as I bag on Asuka and Hero at times, at least Asuka brings it in the ring and Hero is decent enough in his "trainer" role or whatever it is - Itami in NXT/205 was a bland bore both in the ring and as a personality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirEdger Posted January 30, 2019 Report Share Posted January 30, 2019 9 hours ago, sek69 said: I wonder if WWE will have the self awareness to ponder why so many people are getting sick of their creative direction and asking for their release. You would think that it would raise a red flag for WWE and yet, Vince acts like creative has never been the problem in WWE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted January 30, 2019 Report Share Posted January 30, 2019 I have a confession to make, and this is as good a place as any to put it. I don't really get Becky Lynch. I have nothing against her, but I don't understand how she's become the most popular wrestler in the company. And it's not like she just caught fire out of nowhere. Even when she was toiling in the midcard, she was always more over than her push. The question is why when she doesn't really excel at anything. She's decent in the ring, but she's not a best bout machine by any means. She's pretty good on the mic but nowhere near the best. She's attractive enough (and like it or not, appearance is a major part of the equation for WWE women), but she's hardly a stereotypical bombshell, nor does she have that AJ Lee hot-but-attainable vibe. Maybe being solid across the board is better in WWE than being outstanding in some areas and subpar in others since any weaknesses get put under a magnifying glass. But regardless of why she's so over, she unquestionably is. It doesn't matter much to me either way since I don't watch main roster WWE outside of the PPVs, so I have no emotional investment in anyone on the roster. But I can't think of any compelling reason not to go full steam ahead with her, so they might as well do it. And that means facing Ronda one-on-one at Mania. Adding Charlotte to the equation would only confuse the issue and dilute the heat. Even if you think that Charlotte would improve the quality of the match, there's no reason to think that Becky and Ronda would stink out the joint without her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted January 30, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2019 1 hour ago, Mad Dog said: You can't hold a bad match against Bobby Roode against him. But that's the thing: it's not that Roode was dragging him down. Itami was OUTPERFORMED by Roode. He was looking very, very bad, and it's not because of his opponent. Sometimes things just don't work 26 minutes ago, NintendoLogic said: I have a confession to make, and this is as good a place as any to put it. I don't really get Becky Lynch. I have nothing against her, but I don't understand how she's become the most popular wrestler in the company. And it's not like she just caught fire out of nowhere. Even when she was toiling in the midcard, she was always more over than her push. The question is why when she doesn't really excel at anything. She's decent in the ring, but she's not a best bout machine by any means. She's pretty good on the mic but nowhere near the best. She's attractive enough (and like it or not, appearance is a major part of the equation for WWE women), but she's hardly a stereotypical bombshell, nor does she have that AJ Lee hot-but-attainable vibe. Maybe being solid across the board is better in WWE than being outstanding in some areas and subpar in others since any weaknesses get put under a magnifying glass. She's the "cool girl". When she wasn't getting pushed, people were behind her because well, she wasn't getting pushed as much as she could've been, and she was usually treated as an afterthought. When she was champion for the first time, it was almost like she was just a stepping stone for Bliss. This is the first time they've went 100% with her, and after years of getting behind her without much reward, the fact that they are really doing it feels cathartic. Plus her story of nearly quitting wrestling is very good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alucard Posted January 30, 2019 Report Share Posted January 30, 2019 Roode's matches with Nakamura were excellent and my favorite of Nakamura's WWE matches. Itami's match with Roderick Strong last year was incredible, his best here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted January 30, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2019 It's such, such a shame that Joe threw his physical integrity away by doing that dumb stairway dropkick spot, because holy shit, he's the best talker in the company by a mile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Enthusiast Posted January 30, 2019 Report Share Posted January 30, 2019 5 hours ago, El-P said: KENTA is banged up as all hell, probably peaked ten years ago after a grueling decade in NOAH. It's not like he's Kota Ibushi in 2019 (both are the same age more or less I believe). He's got to work as a veteran in a friendly environment. As far as his status go, well, let's see if by virtue of having worked in WWE alone, he's a "bigger star" now than he was before in Japan (the answer is, probably not). Yeah, he was cooked when they signed him. It was just good timing for them to sign him because they were just having the Network come available in Canada and Japan (they signed Owens at the same time). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FMKK Posted January 30, 2019 Report Share Posted January 30, 2019 4 hours ago, NintendoLogic said: I have a confession to make, and this is as good a place as any to put it. I don't really get Becky Lynch. I have nothing against her, but I don't understand how she's become the most popular wrestler in the company. And it's not like she just caught fire out of nowhere. Even when she was toiling in the midcard, she was always more over than her push. The question is why when she doesn't really excel at anything. She's decent in the ring, but she's not a best bout machine by any means. She's pretty good on the mic but nowhere near the best. She's attractive enough (and like it or not, appearance is a major part of the equation for WWE women), but she's hardly a stereotypical bombshell, nor does she have that AJ Lee hot-but-attainable vibe. Maybe being solid across the board is better in WWE than being outstanding in some areas and subpar in others since any weaknesses get put under a magnifying glass. But regardless of why she's so over, she unquestionably is. It doesn't matter much to me either way since I don't watch main roster WWE outside of the PPVs, so I have no emotional investment in anyone on the roster. But I can't think of any compelling reason not to go full steam ahead with her, so they might as well do it. And that means facing Ronda one-on-one at Mania. Adding Charlotte to the equation would only confuse the issue and dilute the heat. Even if you think that Charlotte would improve the quality of the match, there's no reason to think that Becky and Ronda would stink out the joint without her. To me it's because her character is believable as an extension of her personality. It fits with her real life story and it comes across as pretty genuine, though exaggerated. So to a degree, she's someone fans can believe in on multiple levels. Further from that, she's been able to harness the idea of not being favoured by WWE, which is a sure fire way to get over in the modern era. But, in this case, WWE have actually identified that pretty early on and decided to run with her. So she gets the combination of the outsider credibility with the reality of the office being behind her and letting her come across like a badass etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMJ Posted January 30, 2019 Report Share Posted January 30, 2019 Watched most of Raw... - Opening segment was fine, I guess. I don't like HHH. I don't like Rollins. - Nia in the Rumble. Nia knocking Ambrose out of the ring. Are we building towards some sort of intergender match at Mania? I really, really hope not. - A bad idea poorly executed with bad commentary is a recipe for awfulness. Corbin/Angle was atrocious. Why is Angle even wrestling? And, if he is going to wrestle, the best thing they can do with him is have him job to Corbin as filler? - No problem with Lashley/Balor. Lashley doing chokeslams and powerbombs with such ease is impressive and Balor earned some respect with the effort against Brock. I've been cold on Balor for awhile, but I'm coming around a bit as I'll take Balor getting more opportunities than Rollins and Ziggler getting them. - Anyone else bored with Elias? - Mojo Rawley screaming into a mirror works for me. I don't know how it will transfer into the ring as far as Mojo showing us something we haven't seen before, but it was an eerie, short-but-good little segment that kinda reminded me of the early Mankind vignettes. - So, Rousey's working with Heyman, right? Did he let her know that starting your promo with a stupid cliche like "If you can't dream big, what's the point of dreaming?" was an intentional way to get her heat? Like, surely Heyman knew the verbiage of this promo was designed to get her booed, but she seemed noticeably shaken up at first, confused at the reaction. Like, did someone forget to tell her that she's going to be a heel? - As much as I thought Bayley shined a little at the Rumble, her match with Rousey wasn't great - maybe even Rousey's worst. More than the imperfect, disjointed sequences, I think it just goes to show how important "setting the table" is. Rousey's matches have benefitted from strong set-ups and anticipation, which have made her matches - even against someone like Nikki Bella - a "big fight feel." The same can even be said for Bayley, who, devoid of the character-building that made her so sympathetic and likable in NXT, is just not dazzling enough of a worker to have me invested. Granted, this was still the best match I saw on the show...or, to be more exact, the best of the few I didn't just fast forward through. - A poster above commented that Becky Lynch is a good-not-great promo, but I thought she was fire in this segment. She also looks badass these days. I don't think Lynch has nailed every in-ring segment she's had to carry over the past few months, but if you hit home runs when the game is on the line, like it is now, that's good enough. - Am I crazy but is 80% of the WWE male roster bearded? I'd love to actually see the statistic, but I'm willing to wager it is more than half - which is crazy. More than half of the men in the WWE have facial hair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeCampbell Posted January 30, 2019 Report Share Posted January 30, 2019 18 hours ago, C.S. said: He was also the victim of bad luck (multiple injuries) and bad timing. When he was called down to 205 Live, I knew he was dead in the water. My initial reaction to him being sent to 205 Live was "I wonder who he pissed off?" Does anyone think he'll go to AEW rather than New Japan? I don't know if he and Cody would be tight at all from being in WWE together. But, certainly Omega vs KENTA, or even KENTA/Someone vs. The Bucks would be something of a dream match. Edit: After talking about things with a friend, KENTA/Pac vs. The Bucks would be a helluva dream match for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childs Posted January 31, 2019 Report Share Posted January 31, 2019 I was not a KENTA fan before WWE, but he was a physically impressive worker at his peak in Japan. I saw him live a few times in ROH, and his talent stood out. He never seemed to have his old athletic snap in WWE. I'm not sure if he was out of sorts with the style or just broken down physically. But he was not the same guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomethingSavage Posted January 31, 2019 Report Share Posted January 31, 2019 1 hour ago, DMJ said: Am I crazy but is 80% of the WWE male roster bearded? I'd love to actually see the statistic, but I'm willing to wager it is more than half - which is crazy. More than half of the men in the WWE have facial hair. It's trendy. The beard is over with the boys the same way the high & tight/tribal tat combo was over with the boys in the mid-2000s. 1 hour ago, DMJ said: No problem with Lashley/Balor. Lashley doing chokeslams and powerbombs with such ease is impressive and Balor earned some respect with the effort against Brock. I've been cold on Balor for awhile, but I'm coming around a bit as I'll take Balor getting more opportunities than Rollins and Ziggler getting them. I actually like this match-up a lot. Lashley had some fucking BANGERS with smaller dudes in TNA - Aries and Edwards specifically. So I'm certainly interested enough to check out a bout with Balor. This is a decent way to capitalize on Finn's big match with Brock right away. The issue I have with what they did here is that it's just another example of why I can't watch modern WWE regularly. The whole setup for this rivalry is so weak. Lashley just trots out, insults Finn, and the champion basically challenges the challenger. Because reasons. No subtlety. No rationale. No logic. No actual effort in setting things up. Like a lot of their creative ideas, it feels like something ASSIGNED TO these guys, rather than a genuine situation. Nothing feels authentic in their little universe. Nothing. And that is a huge problem for me. I just can't invest in any of it. I can cherry pick & select certain matches from their big shows, consume them without ANY context, and just move on until the next thing catches my eye. So there's that. But they do absolutely nothing to convince me that their weekly shows are worth watching. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted January 31, 2019 Report Share Posted January 31, 2019 Orton doesn't even recycle! Take that, hippies! Destroying the planet to own the libs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZThomas Posted January 31, 2019 Report Share Posted January 31, 2019 9 hours ago, SirEdger said: You would think that it would raise a red flag for WWE and yet, Vince acts like creative has never been the problem in WWE. I think It's leverage more than anything now, Creative is a factor yes, but 4-5 years ago most guys didn't have many other options. In KENAs case he's been on the WWE payroll for a few years and he hasn't made it to the main roster TV yet. My only regret is that Daniel Bryan didn't request to work him during his current heel run because that's the only way I see WWE Finally using him meaningfully. I hope NOAH can get a buzz back going under new management and him returning hopefully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted January 31, 2019 Report Share Posted January 31, 2019 9 hours ago, SomethingSavage said: It's trendy. The beard is over with the boys the same way the high & tight/tribal tat combo was over with the boys in the mid-2000s. It's trendy but not hip anymore. Five, ten years ago, it was stuff for people working in graphic design office, hipster tatoo parlors and vegan food store. Now every douchebag on the street (or soccer player, which is essentialy the definition of a douchebag) is sporting the same beard and haircut (you know the one). 11 hours ago, DMJ said: - Nia in the Rumble. Nia knocking Ambrose out of the ring. Are we building towards some sort of intergender match at Mania? I really, really hope not. Rene is gonna love announcing her husband jobbing to that waste of space that is Nia. And maybe get punched in the face and concussed in the process. Am I the only one shocked by the fact Jeff Jarrett has actually been signed (sources : Meltz) full time for a backstage job ? I guess really *anyone* can come back. It's been 20 years since Jarrett left on very bad terms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted February 1, 2019 Report Share Posted February 1, 2019 I know no one likes seeing Shane do matches, but I really liked the whole storyline with him and Miz. It was really undersold how Shane wanted nothing to do with Miz, until he poured his heart out about only wanting his dad to be proud of him. Then Miz showed he was for real by throwing himself on Shane's carcass after the Bar destroyed them on Smackdown, and of course anything that gives us more MIZ DAD on TV is tops in my book. WWE rightly gets a lot of shit for their angles, it's only fair they should get props for a good one. 13 hours ago, El-P said: Am I the only one shocked by the fact Jeff Jarrett has actually been signed (sources : Meltz) full time for a backstage job ? I guess really *anyone* can come back. It's been 20 years since Jarrett left on very bad terms. Kinda...once he went to WWE sponsored rehab, I figured that this would be the next step if he stayed clean. His only crimes were demanding to get paid to drop a title after his deal expired. WWE canon makes it sound like he was holding Vince at gunpoint before the show. I'm glad to see it for somewhat selfish reasons, as he was appearing in AAA as a main eventer which was....not good...even by their extremely loose standards of good. Plus Mexico is probably not the best place for someone to be when they are newly out of rehab. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted February 1, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2019 12 minutes ago, sek69 said: I know no one likes seeing Shane do matches, but I really liked the whole storyline with him and Miz. It was really undersold how Shane wanted nothing to do with Miz, until he poured his heart out about only wanting his dad to be proud of him. Then Miz showed he was for real by throwing himself on Shane's carcass after the Bar destroyed them on Smackdown, and of course anything that gives us more MIZ DAD on TV is tops in my book. WWE rightly gets a lot of shit for their angles, it's only fair they should get props for a good one. I'm with you on this one. Babyface Miz usually gets a bad rep, but he was aces in this angle, and he never once stopped being that self-absorbed dude we grew to love. It gave us a legit feel good moment, with a father saying he loved and was proud of his son, while Shane hyped it up. Seriously, it was well executed. Sheamus and Cesaro don't really lose face, as they are two of the absolute best workers in the company, and Miz and Shane had such great motivations going into the match. Bonus points for actually addressing the (maybe) real life drama of Vince not really loving Shane as his son, instead considering Hunter as his one true heir. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomethingSavage Posted February 1, 2019 Report Share Posted February 1, 2019 39 minutes ago, sek69 said: Kinda...once he went to WWE sponsored rehab, I figured that this would be the next step if he stayed clean. His only crimes were demanding to get paid to drop a title after his deal expired. WWE canon makes it sound like he was holding Vince at gunpoint before the show. I'm glad to see it for somewhat selfish reasons, as he was appearing in AAA as a main eventer which was....not good...even by their extremely loose standards of good. Plus Mexico is probably not the best place for someone to be when they are newly out of rehab. Jeff didn't really even "hold them up" for money. It was a case of Jeff demanding payouts ALREADY OWED to him. It takes months for wrestlers to receive some of their big money payouts off pay-per-views, etc. Jeff was afraid they would stiff him on his pay or just outright not pay him if he jumped right behind Russo the way he did. Whether or not he was justified in that fear is perhaps debatable, but the whole deal about him "holding them up" like he's Warrior circa '91 is horseshit. It's fake. It's revisionist history. It's their truth; not the truth. Dude demanded what he was owed upfront in one lump sum, instead of waiting for months & months on end, wondering whether he'd ever see any of it at all. You can absolutely still frame it as a dick move, but I ain't mad at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted February 1, 2019 Report Share Posted February 1, 2019 I've always been of the belief that Vince was mad because it was one of the few times a wrestler got one over on him, and a non main eventer to boot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted February 1, 2019 Report Share Posted February 1, 2019 Something I've been thinking about recently is the lack of good guys in WWE. There are plenty of babyfaces, but that only means that they're in conflict with the heels. You hardly ever see them doing something heroic that doesn't align with their self-interest. When was the last time one of them objected to the actions of a heel they weren't already feuding with? The only recent example I can think of is Dakota Kai and Io Shirai during the 2/3 falls match between Kairi and Shayna. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted February 1, 2019 Report Share Posted February 1, 2019 Stop me if you've heard this one: Nia Jax has injured someone. She hurt R-Truth's ankle and face when she laid him out at the Rumble. This is seriously getting absurd. Mabel was fired for far less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted February 1, 2019 Report Share Posted February 1, 2019 27 minutes ago, NintendoLogic said: Stop me if you've heard this one: Nia Jax has injured someone. She hurt R-Truth's ankle and face when she laid him out at the Rumble. This is seriously getting absurd. No shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted February 1, 2019 Report Share Posted February 1, 2019 Nia being bad at her job. I am shocked! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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