Payback 2020 Roman is The Guy

[KawadaSmile]

YES

[KawadaSmile]

ROMAN IS THE CHAMP

BRAUN DEFEATED

WYATT BALL CRUSHED

NATURE IS HEALING

[cactus]

Underwhelming match, but I'm very happy with the result. Reigns is the most interesting character in all of WWE at the moment. 

Average show. Women's tag match and Orton vs Lee were the only matches I'd recommend checking out. 

[KawadaSmile]

I thought this was a delightful little show. There was nothing stupid, the right people won, and we had great little matches like Lee vs Orton, Bayley/Sasha vs Miracle Violence Connection, and Apollo vs Lashley. Mysterios vs Rollins and Murphy was very good too.

[MoS]

2 hours ago, WingedEagle said:

Why is Randy Orton the agent for Big E/Sheamus?  I didn't ask for this.

Going through the thread while catching up on the show and this deserves more love

[NintendoLogic]

2 minutes ago, KawadaSmile said:

I thought this was a delightful little show. There was nothing stupid, the right people won, and we had great little matches like Lee vs Orton, Bayley/Sasha vs Miracle Violence Connection, and Apollo vs Lashley. Mysterios vs Rollins and Murphy was very good too.

I didn't watch obviously, but I can't imagine Nia and Shayna sucking enough to warrant being compared to the MVC.

[KawadaSmile]

Nah they were really good out there 

[sek69]

The women's tag match was well worked by all parties. Shanya as the one person wrecking machine to the point even Nia was like "wtf just happened?" was the perfect way to end the match. Shayna came off as the badass to end all by choking out a motherfucker with another motherfucker, and Nia got to show some likability during their celebration. Plus it sowed seeds for the eventual Bayley/Sasha breakup so well done all around. 

[NintendoLogic]

You owe them an apology then. Gordy and Williams were the total shits as a tag team and comparing a team to them is just about the gravest insult I can think of.

[peachchaos]

The point is Miracle Violence Connection is an awesome name for a team and Shayna and Nia are fucking awesome.

[MoS]

Of all ways to book Roman, they choose the 2001 heel Austin way. It was fine here cuz fuck both Fiend and Strowman, but I hope they don't fuck him again. 

Somebody could actually do a side-by-side comparison of the superplex spot with the original Brock-Show spot that started this off, to check the difference un time. I was convinced time had stood still as soon as Strowman started attempting to climb the ropes. And it's not as if 2003 Big Show was particularly fast.

[peachchaos]

Nia and Shayna should be The Know-Your-Role-Models

[C.S.]

22 minutes ago, NintendoLogic said:

 Gordy and Williams were the total shits as a tag team  

Wha...? They're only one of the best tag teams ever.

[KawadaSmile]

15 minutes ago, MoS said:

Of all ways to book Roman, they choose the 2001 heel Austin way. It was fine here cuz fuck both Fiend and Strowman, but I hope they don't fuck him again. 

Hey, he's a heel and a kick to the nards was legal!

[sek69]

So I don't know if anyone saw it, but they did a piece on Strowman for the Network where he talked about his mental issues and how it got to the point he was feeling suicidal until he talked to Vince. It was supposed to be a heartwarming tale of him getting his mental health under control, but it came off as a company run like a cult where everyone lives and dies on the approval of Daddy Vince.

It honestly reminded me of when they show people in North Korea giving praise/praying to images of the Kim family as if they were Gods. People like to do what-ifs in terms of who will run WWE when Vince isn't around, I'm wondering what will happen to the cult when the leader isn't around.

[NintendoLogic]

1 hour ago, C.S. said:

Wha...? They're only one of the best tag teams ever.

The only thing they were one of the best at was providing a cure for insomnia.

[PeteF3]

As someone who couldn't possibly be compelled to comment on modern-day WWE, I'll only add that after going through the '90s Yearbooks my opinion on the MVCs lies much, much closer to NintendoLogic's than anyone else's here. Along with Ultimo Dragon and Koji Kanemoto they were the biggest disappointments of the set.

[Johnny Sorrow]

3 hours ago, KawadaSmile said:

JUST. 

LIKE.

THAT.

But, but... his new music and clothes!  I was under the impression that Lee was RUINED! Wasted! 

[NotJayTabb]

5 hours ago, C.S. said:

Rey's gear is on point tonight.

It's possible Murphy was 205 or close enough at one point, but he has obviously bulked up since then.

I think I'm right in remembering that Murphy shed a bunch of weight in order to get down to a cruiserweight body because he was doing nothing after the Wesley Blake team split. Now he's used that run to get himself back in the spotlight, i guess he's building mass back up

[sek69]

2 hours ago, Johnny Sorrow said:

But, but... his new music and clothes!  I was under the impression that Lee was RUINED! Wasted! 

It wasn't a great first impression, what happened on Payback doesn't change that.  In fact, they should have had him come out on Raw and do this exact same thing against someone else and it would have been a much better debut.

But yes, this was a much better second step. 

[cm funk]

Didn't watch the show but glad to hear Lee got a convincing win, I would guess setting up a triple threat with Drew and Orton for the next PPV

Also glad that they didn't mess around and put the belt back on Roman immediately.  Wyatt and Stroman do nothing for me these days and Reigns was sorely missed.

As to the earlier conversation about why this show happened:  I think it's partly trying something different to juice interest, partly because they knew when Roman was going to be back, and partly the deal with Amway Center and trying to do as many shows there as possible.  We don't know the exact details of the contract but Meltzer reported that they're essentially renting the building for the next few months and have a contracted number of dates, that could be part of it.  It'll be interesting to see how long they stay there.  The Magic won't be playing there anytime soon and we're not anywhere close to concerts coming back

[sek69]

The contract runs to the end of October, and WWE has the right to extend it if they want afterwards. As stated before the primary tenants are the Magic and they won't be using it anytime soon, and I don't see any other shows running until 2021 at the soonest so I would expect them sticking around for the near future. 

[Dale Wolfe]

Miracle Violence Connection do certainly have a lot of dreary matches in their catalogue (there is one against Hansen & Spivey that may be the biggest disappointment ever) but there is a match from 1990 against Misawa & Kawada that is just fucking brutal and does redeem them as a concept.

Probably the best tag team name ever though, regardless. 

Glad Keith Lee beat the shit out of Orton. Hope they don't stick him against Drew straight away, would be much better to have him just annihilate the mid card first I think, build him up as a concept. Him & E are probably the only two people I have any investment in these days, so they'll probably fuck them both up. 

*

Edit, 1991, I know they had a few but this is the one I meant-

 

 

 

[NotJayTabb]

I almost felt sorry for Strowman and Wyatt for taking some big bumps out there, especially that stage dive, but I couldn't shake the feeling I was watching Bugsy McGraw vs Doink in a hard-core match, waiting for an actual main eventer to come out and save it.

[Dale Wolfe]

Bugsy Mcgraw! Great reference