TravJ1979 Posted April 23, 2019 Report Share Posted April 23, 2019 13 hours ago, SirEdger said: Alicia Fox was absolutely horrible in that match. What does she have against Vince to remain employed? She's the new Jacqueline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted April 23, 2019 Report Share Posted April 23, 2019 45 minutes ago, DMJ said: The reception to the new Bray Wyatt has been positive on every board/site I've visited. Personally speaking, I thought it was wrestlecrap. Could it potentially turn into something cool? Well, it's Bray Wyatt & WWE, so also no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FMKK Posted April 23, 2019 Report Share Posted April 23, 2019 Yet another week of TV seems to be drifting by without a single hot angle or programme emerging. The Sami promos have been the most interesting parts of the recent shows and the Bray thing was interesting but both are character reintroductions that aren't currently leading to matches. Where are the fucking feuds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted April 23, 2019 Report Share Posted April 23, 2019 I think it's safe to say that Becky Lynch, the next Stone Cold and the hottest star in the industry, has cooled off quite a bit the past few weeks. Feuding with Lacey Evans is obviously doing her no favors, but I think a bigger issue is that we're in the You Deserve It era. WWE storytelling is so wretched that the fans take it upon themselves to invent their own stories, which invariably leads to them getting behind someone because they're being unfairly held back or they have an inspirational life story or they've been around forever, so why not? But when they actually reach the top, it's not as fun to rally behind them because they're no longer the underdog. So the fans lose interest and move on to the next shiny new toy. I thought last year that Daniel Bryan cooling off to the point where he had to turn heel to remain a top guy was a reflection of WWE's incompetence, but I'm starting to think that such a cycle is inevitable with the current fanbase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted April 23, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2019 6 minutes ago, FMKK said: Yet another week of TV seems to be drifting by without a single hot angle or programme emerging. The Sami promos have been the most interesting parts of the recent shows and the Bray thing was interesting but both are character reintroductions that aren't currently leading to matches. Where are the fucking feuds? The Usos are going to feud with The Revival. Lacey Evans has been feuding with Becky and she's actually pretty damn good in those segments. Roberto Rudo is apparently feuding with Ricochet, as their singles match was a direct consequence of their last encounter (Black/Rico vs Gable/Roode).  While it isn't much, the roster went through its 2nd change in two weeks, plus they still have 4 more weeks of TV before MitB. I am expecting more developments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FMKK Posted April 23, 2019 Report Share Posted April 23, 2019 1 minute ago, KawadaSmile said: The Usos are going to feud with The Revival. Lacey Evans has been feuding with Becky and she's actually pretty damn good in those segments. Roberto Rudo is apparently feuding with Ricochet, as their singles match was a direct consequence of their last encounter (Black/Rico vs Gable/Roode).  While it isn't much, the roster went through its 2nd change in two weeks, plus they still have 4 more weeks of TV before MitB. I am expecting more developments. The Lacey vs Becky feud is the only one that's actually been going on longer than a minute and it's basically been the exact same promo three weeks running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted April 23, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2019 I've enjoyed it so far, except for the parts where they alluded Evans was having sex with management in exchange for a push. The Lady vs The Man, on paper, seems like an easy feud to write without that sort of cheap shit, but alas. At least it seems that the Sassy Southern Belle is getting better reactions each week. When that face turn comes, Lacey is going to be huge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted April 23, 2019 Report Share Posted April 23, 2019 32 minutes ago, NintendoLogic said: I think it's safe to say that Becky Lynch, the next Stone Cold and the hottest star in the industry, has cooled off quite a bit the past few weeks.  Because she hasn't been treated like a main eventer since WM. Her segments have all been in the middle of the show, and against a "rookie" in Evans (who I agree is doing a fantastic job, but still). Would Stone Cold's first feud post-WM14 have been against Gangrel (or insert your favorite non-main eventer) with segments slotted in the middle of the card? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirEdger Posted April 23, 2019 Report Share Posted April 23, 2019 I was flabbergasted when I saw this live but after the second viewing, I think I fully appreciate what they're trying to do now. It's pretty much the "wolf in sheep's clothing" approach they're taking here. Preying into parent's biggest fear of having their children manipulated by someone they love and admire. Only guys who are masters at psychology in wrestling like Bray and Jake Roberts could pull off stuff like that. Hell, I've seen the Waylon Mercy analogy and I'd say this is something quite similar. I've done a complete turnaround in the span of 12 hours about that vignette. I'm also intrigued to see where it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted April 23, 2019 Report Share Posted April 23, 2019 6 hours ago, Matt D said: I don't want to see Rollins wrestle anyone I get that people hate Seth's singles work, character, catchphrases (BURN...IT...DOWN...!!! Seth Freakin' Rollins! King Slayer! Beast Slayer because Seth couldn't consult his thesaurus to come up with a different word!), etc. Yet, when Seth is in trios matches with The Shield (like the one a couple of months back at Elimination Chamber or FastLane, whichever b-level PPV it was), everything about him seems special again and I'm reminded why we all fell in love with him in the first place. Where's the disconnect? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirEdger Posted April 23, 2019 Report Share Posted April 23, 2019 Perhaps it's that Seth's style is more suited to multi-men matches better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted April 23, 2019 Report Share Posted April 23, 2019 I'm definitely, totally here for Usos Vs. Revival. I hope that shit lasts for six months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted April 23, 2019 Report Share Posted April 23, 2019 1 hour ago, NintendoLogic said: I think it's safe to say that Becky Lynch, the next Stone Cold and the hottest star in the industry, has cooled off quite a bit the past few weeks. Considering the audience of the TV is 1/4 less than last year, I think it's safe to put the "Becky Lynch is Stone Cold" narrative to rest for good. She's the hottest star of a slowly freezing promotion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Migs Posted April 23, 2019 Report Share Posted April 23, 2019 1 hour ago, C.S. said: I get that people hate Seth's singles work, character, catchphrases (BURN...IT...DOWN...!!! Seth Freakin' Rollins! King Slayer! Beast Slayer because Seth couldn't consult his thesaurus to come up with a different word!), etc. Yet, when Seth is in trios matches with The Shield (like the one a couple of months back at Elimination Chamber or FastLane, whichever b-level PPV it was), everything about him seems special again and I'm reminded why we all fell in love with him in the first place. Where's the disconnect? Multi-man matches provide a structure where Seth's strengths can shine. In a singles match, you need to build your own structure, and Seth's is basically just the standard 2010 indy template. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Migs Posted April 23, 2019 Report Share Posted April 23, 2019 1 hour ago, NintendoLogic said: I think it's safe to say that Becky Lynch, the next Stone Cold and the hottest star in the industry, has cooled off quite a bit the past few weeks. Feuding with Lacey Evans is obviously doing her no favors, but I think a bigger issue is that we're in the You Deserve It era. WWE storytelling is so wretched that the fans take it upon themselves to invent their own stories, which invariably leads to them getting behind someone because they're being unfairly held back or they have an inspirational life story or they've been around forever, so why not? But when they actually reach the top, it's not as fun to rally behind them because they're no longer the underdog. So the fans lose interest and move on to the next shiny new toy. I thought last year that Daniel Bryan cooling off to the point where he had to turn heel to remain a top guy was a reflection of WWE's incompetence, but I'm starting to think that such a cycle is inevitable with the current fanbase. To be fair, and use the Austin analogy - Austin was immediately put into position after he won the title to be an underdog again. He was going up against the owner of the company, having the deck stacked against him (the classics against Dude Love, the handicap match against the Brothers of Destruction, etc.). That story started the night after Austin won the title. Now they wait so long to actually decide on who's going to win the main event of their biggest show that they have nothing prepped for after. So the crowned champions afterwards get to... do whatever? So it's a bit of chicken and egg here - yes the "you deserve it" era is a problem, but it's also that they don't really book to maintain momentum, so it sort of begs the fans to lose interest and find the next "you deserve it" moment, since that's the only thing they can properly book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted April 23, 2019 Report Share Posted April 23, 2019 The Bray skit was a great WTF moment, but I can't shake the feeling that it's all a set up for him ending up the same character as before. As cool as I thought it was, I just don't see "creepy kid show host" sticking around long in a company with toy companies as their largest sponsor. Also maybe it's just me, but between the new buff physique and him talking in a somewhat normal voice for a change (normal for him at least) he really looked like Bo Dallas on HGH and acid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted April 23, 2019 Report Share Posted April 23, 2019 1 hour ago, C.S. said: I get that people hate Seth's singles work, character, catchphrases (BURN...IT...DOWN...!!! Seth Freakin' Rollins! King Slayer! Beast Slayer because Seth couldn't consult his thesaurus to come up with a different word!), etc. Yet, when Seth is in trios matches with The Shield (like the one a couple of months back at Elimination Chamber or FastLane, whichever b-level PPV it was), everything about him seems special again and I'm reminded why we all fell in love with him in the first place. Where's the disconnect? I have no real use for Seth Rollins as a singles wrestler and I felt the same way (except even stronger) about Dean Ambrose, but I really liked their work as a Tag Team. Hell, I thought their match for the Tag Team Championships at Hell in a Cell last year was excellent, and they were fighting Drew McIntyre and Dolph Freaking Ziggler of all people. So really, I had no time for 3 out of the 4 guys in that match as singles, but they had a hell of a Tag Title Match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomethingSavage Posted April 23, 2019 Report Share Posted April 23, 2019 23 minutes ago, The Thread Killer said: I have no real use for Seth Rollins as a singles wrestler and I felt the same way (except even stronger) about Dean Ambrose, but I really liked their work as a Tag Team. Hell, I thought their match for the Tag Team Championships at Hell in a Cell last year was excellent, and they were fighting Drew McIntyre and Dolph Freaking Ziggler of all people. So really, I had no time for 3 out of the 4 guys in that match as singles, but they had a hell of a Tag Title Match. This. To be fair, I also thought he did fairly well as the mid-card gatekeeper. IC Champion should be his ceiling as a singles worker though, as he's perfectly passable in working the all-action, go-go-go style somewhere in the middle of a card. But yes. Tag teams or trios allow him to shine. He can contribute, get his shit in, and then hang back. The problems arise when Seth attempts to drive a narrative or serve as a focal point of... Well, anything. 2 hours ago, C.S. said: I get that people hate Seth's singles work, character, catchphrases (BURN...IT...DOWN...!!! Seth Freakin' Rollins! King Slayer! Beast Slayer because Seth couldn't consult his thesaurus to come up with a different word!), etc. Yet, when Seth is in trios matches with The Shield (like the one a couple of months back at Elimination Chamber or FastLane, whichever b-level PPV it was), everything about him seems special again and I'm reminded why we all fell in love with him in the first place. Where's the disconnect? You're not wrong. The disconnect is that nobody bothers to recognize the difference between being good at one thing & that never necessarily translating to another field. Seth can be good in one setting and absolute dogshit in another. Some workers excel in teams & never quite find their stride in singles. It happens. And, truth be told, that's always been the case with Seth. Even his best ROH stuff was in a team setting. Despite the hype he got at one time, I thought the dude was constantly outshined in solo stuff. The disconnect is that he has zero connection to the crowd & seemingly even less incentive to establish any connection. He's very much a product of the modern style, in that he seems to place a greater importance on popping the crowd with movez and impressing his peers in the back. Seth isn't concerned with hooking the audience. He isn't concerned with psychology. He isn't about progressing the story or the conflict or the narrative. Seth, as a worker, is all about "proving" himself or flexing his athleticism or whateverthefuck. It's like a whole generation of guys took all the wrong lessons away from workers like Shawn Michael's, basically - while simultaneously ignoring some very critical lessons they SHOULD have paid attention to. Seth is all motion, zero emotion. And pro wrestling is only ever great when it taps into emotion. Period. End of story. Yes, it can be good when it's strictly movez and high spots and stunt shows. But it never approaches great without that connection - that raw nerve feeling - that emotion. Seth has never once shown any indication that he grasps that idea. The closest he's ever come, as noted, is by being brought along for the ride in some solid team stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomethingSavage Posted April 23, 2019 Report Share Posted April 23, 2019 8 hours ago, Matt D said: I don't want to see Rollins wrestle anyone, but if I had to see Rollins wrestle someone on the roster, Roode is probably up there. He'd base and stooge for him and prevent him from doing too many stupid things. I'm not saying it'd be a great match but it'd probably be solid and not annoy me. I saw Rude have a pretty excellent house show style match with Cedric at an NXT show a few years back. Sometimes I wonder if he's just not a good TV wrestler or what. You know, I actually wouldn't be surprised if Roode was able to drag something decent out of Seth. He got good matches out of Jeff Hardy by serving a similar role, albeit more than 6 years ago. Also, Miz and Elias gave Seth his best matches during that IC Title run. We had to endure a slew of shitty, nonstop gymnastics from Seth and Dolph - so it's easy to forget. But both Miz and Elias were able to actually be heels and slow Seth the fuck down enough to hold my attention and hold things together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMJ Posted April 23, 2019 Report Share Posted April 23, 2019 I mentioned it in my Mania review, but I'll repeat it here because I agree with SomethingSavage... I don't think you'd find many people who would argue Kofi Kingston is a better wrestler than Seth Rollins, but at WrestleMania, Kofi/Bryan wasn't the best match of the night because of any single move or sequence, it was the best match of the night because, for 15 minutes, people cared. You know what didn't happen during Kofi/Bryan? A "This is Awesome" chant. Not once. People were too busy booing Daniel Bryan and cheering on Kofi because they cared about who was going to win and who was going to lose. Now, obviously, Daniel Bryan is an amazing worker and put on a great performance. Kofi held his own too. But that match worked because of the emotion (as SomethingSavage said). Rollins has yet to have a singles match that good or even in the same zip code (hell, not even the same planet). And he's had chances - against Ambrose, against Reigns, against HHH - to tell emotion-driven stories. So I don't personally rate Seth Rollins very high no matter how many matches he's had where people chanted "This Is Awesome" a half-dozen times. Some of those matches were great fun, no doubt. But what's really awesome to me is a match like Kofi/Bryan or Bayley/Sasha or those Revival/#DIY matches or even the (admittedly maudlin) Flair/HBK Retirement match. Those matches were awesome because it mattered to me, and to the audience, who won and who lost. With Seth Rollins, the finish never matters, its always the same match with the same "spectacular moves" with interchangeable, meaningless endings that I'm never invested in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted April 23, 2019 Report Share Posted April 23, 2019 Well said, brother Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted April 23, 2019 Report Share Posted April 23, 2019 Does being a compelling promo matter less in a tag setting, not necessary because of the ability to hide or lean on someone else but because the innate narrative structure inherent in tag matches that can be more easily tossed aside in singles matches? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted April 23, 2019 Report Share Posted April 23, 2019 I would argue the only time there was any crowd investment in a Seth match was against Brock, and that was because WWE was largely successful at getting fans to buy Brock was holding the title hostage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted April 24, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2019 Give the big dog those pops, fellas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted April 24, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2019 SmackDown loves Roman. Shane/Elias is such a douchebag pairing, this can work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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