WWE TV 04/15 - 04/21: Superstar Shakeup but the real Shakeup is a country who arrests and beats up its teachers

[SomethingSavage]

14 minutes ago, El Dragon said:

You can say the same thing about Wyatt in the same feud, sadly. The main difference between them is Wyatt was a better talker and Harper fit into the intimidating lackey role better then almost anyone ever. But really, they botched just the entire Wyatt family thing from everything post Elimination Chamber against he Shield on. It’s so easy to write the Wyatts as a creepy cult. Have them run of with guys and have them come back as more Wyatt members. If a guy is leaving the company have the Wyatts assault him and have him never be seen again. Then have a member gain a conscious and turn leading to a Wyatt war. 

But, yeah, the end point for Harper and Wyatt was the Orton feud. Harper should have been in the Triple Threat, and Wyatt should have pinned Orton, and continued into Wyatt/Harper singles after that. Instead we got an Orton title run just for him to lose to mother fucking Mihal.

The problem with that scenario is that it doesn't take into account the issue of Orton's promised title win at Mania.

The whole premise behind Wyatt getting the belt in the first place was a lazy design to transition to Orton getting a big win (for the belt) on WrestleMania. That was the deal to get him to go through with the "Brock SummerSlam worked shoot" shit.

But you're right. An extended Wyatt/Harper program could've still happened on the under-cards for months. And Luke absolutely should have been inserted into the title match, once it was plainly evident that the crowd was into him AND he was showing up in those matches on Smackdown every week during the buildup.

[KawadaSmile]

12 minutes ago, SomethingSavage said:

@KawadaSmile, I love your positivity and eternal optimism at times, brutha. I really do. But defending shit like the unnecessary renaming of Rowe/Hanson & blaming Bray for the terrible booking of Luke is not a good look on anybody, man.

I was digging the War Raiders in NXT. But just like that - boom. They're the Viking Experience - suddenly looking a lot less like a Demolition 2k19 act and a lot more like a Bushwhackers 2k19 act.

Looking forward to Brodie Lee peacocking around the super indies for awhile. Here's hoping they get him for this year's BOLA. That'd be the bee's tits.

As I've said above, bubba, I don't really blame Wyatt. It was more as a comical misblamer than anything. I don't like the guy but even I wouldn't go as far as to put the blame on him when it's clearly WWE just not seeing anything in Harper. I truly wish he and Bray were cast in reverse, but alas. It is what it is.

May he have a killer Hero-like indies run.

 

But it's all cool. While I'm not a fan of "The Viking Experience", I think both Rowe/Hanson (or however you wanna call them) surely can get over regardless of their names. Two huge fucking dudes who can do impressive feats of strenght and agility AND have a cool look? They are safe, and WWE seems to be pretty high on them, much like they are with Black/Ricochet. They ain't the Bushwackers 2k19 - this spot is reserved to Heavy Machinery (and that's cool too)

[FMKK]

No problems with people like Harper moving on and clearing out the huge glut of the talent they have. Hopefully AEW or someone can give him reasonably good exposure. Or even a New Japan run.

[SomethingSavage]

In retrospect, it's really too bad Harper didn't get an extensive run with the IC belt at the very least.

I was overjoyed to see him win it and get launched into the singles mid-card anyhow, and that Ladder Match with Dolph was fucking aces. Sucks that we didn't see more opportunities for him to tear it up like that.

The Sheamus/Cesaro series was fun in its own time, but imagine a world where we got the Harper/Cesaro series instead.

... And now I want to check & see if their Chikara stuff is still up on the Tubes.

[Blehschmidt]

The mystery has been heightened by Mr. McMahon, who will be revealing the biggest acquisition in SmackDown LIVE history tonight. Who has the WWE Chairman secured for the blue brand?

Gimme a hundred bucks on Lesnar squashing Kofi then disappearing with the WWE Title until Summerslam. 

[C.S.]

1 hour ago, KawadaSmile said:

I don't understand giving Bray fucking Wyatt a championship run, many segments with top tier players and not giving Harper who's by far the best worker of the Wyatt Family anything above the IC title. Is it because of his look? Swap his clothes with Bray's and boom, there you go.

In fact the roles were reversed from the beggining. Harper should've been the cult leader, and Wyatt the follower. One's a dude who can talk and has a nice voice and the other is Duke Rotunda. It's a no brainer. Plus Wyatt is a semi-decent brute so he could tag with Rowan without issue.

 Fuckin' nepotism, man.  

To be fair to Wyatt (and trust me, I am no fan), I believe the gimmick was his brainchild. 

I wonder how the hell Rowan got back on TV before Harper though. Bryan must have specifically requested Rowan because no other explanation makes any sense (and I don't hate Rowan by any means - but Harper was always the better of the two).

[C.S.]

Calling it now: Vince is promising SD's biggest acquisition ever, so cue...

WELLLLLLLLLLLLL IT'S THE BIG SHOW!

[sek69]

Opening with KO was a smart choice.

[KawadaSmile]

Did he say that being in his hometown with his family on the first row is HIS Wrestlemania? If so, pretty sweet.

[C.S.]

This is what it looks like when Vince writes your segment. *Groan*

[Jmare007]

Xavier going off about UpUpDownDown getting decimated due to the Shakeup and the crowd not know what the fuck he was talking about was something else

 

I've never cared about Balor, not even during his New Japan run. But if Roman is not an option, I'd be down for a Balor/Bryan feud.

[El Dragon]

Smack down loses Joe, Usos, Mysterio, and Miz and so far added Finn is a bad start for my Smackdown watching.

[C.S.]

1 minute ago, El Dragon said:

Smack down loses Joe, Usos, Mysterious, and Miz and so far added Finn is a bad start for my Smackdown watching.

When was it confirmed that Smackdown lost Joe?

[sek69]

2 minutes ago, Jmare007 said:

Xavier going off about UpUpDownDown getting decimated due to the Shakeup and the crowd not know what the fuck he was talking about was something else

 

Sasha was a frequent guest too so it's been a rough week for his side hustle!

[KawadaSmile]

So... Either this confirms Joe is going to RAW, as he's the US Champ, or they'll have some work to do to get those titles in different brands

[Jmare007]

2 minutes ago, C.S. said:

When was it confirmed that Smackdown lost Joe?

Finn is on SD. Unless Joe loses the belt or is stripped, he's going to RAW. They'll come up with a random reason for it.

[sek69]

Joe was scratched off Raw due to being sick, so considering he had a segment to scratch that would assume he was supposed to be included yesterday.

[Jmare007]

4 minutes ago, El Dragon said:

Smack down loses Joe, Usos, Mysterio, and Miz and so far added Finn is a bad start for my Smackdown watching.

Smackdown's roster was insane for a whole year. Last year's shakeup was the biggest upset with SD winning by a landslide. Big Cass was literally the only bad get and dude lasted 2 months.

[sek69]

It would actually be cool for Joe to randomly take a dude out on Raw next week all "surprise, mothafucka" after missing last week. I'm going to be sad now when they end up not doing that. 

[C.S.]

I mean, yeah, Joe is likely headed to Raw, but "reports said" isn't confirmation of anything.

In past cases like this, they've run brand vs. brand matches at the following PPV after the Superstar Shakeup to get the titles on whichever show they need it to be on. I could see that happening again.

[Jmare007]

Ali is fucking insane.

[C.S.]

Ali is at the point where he really needs to win a major match though.

[Jmare007]

The Owens turn is so evident it's pretty awesome tbh.

[sek69]

2 minutes ago, Jmare007 said:

The Owens turn is so evident it's pretty awesome tbh.

It is, yet the whole trope of turning someone in their hometown seems done to death at this point.

[KawadaSmile]

Please don't turn KO. I'm enjoying him as Mick Foley.