WWE TV 09/28 - 10/04 Roman Reigns is the Tribal Chief of the World Wrestling Federation

[KawadaSmile]

6 hours ago, NintendoLogic said:

Why does she keep trying to kill herself on free TV every week? And why do the producers let her?

Shotzi has that Sasha Banks energy. Willing to just neck herself in every spot, while not suffering from the impact at all.

Love her.

 

Still, an insanely and needlessley dangerous spot.

[Coffey]

6 hours ago, NintendoLogic said:

Why does she keep trying to kill herself on free TV every week? And why do the producers let her?

I think it's more just that she's not very good & keeps fucking up. She seems green as shit, not just her hair color. And it's not going to end well. 

[SirEdger]

This should be most interesting. And perhaps indicating that KO will be on Smackdown going forward.

[Robert S]

7 hours ago, NintendoLogic said:

Why does she keep trying to kill herself on free TV every week? And why do the producers let her?

Is that the official Twitter account of USA Network? If so, I guess it is a coincidende that they are using Gabe Sapolsky's commentating catchphrase here?

[southofheavy]

11 hours ago, Coffey said:

I think it's more just that she's not very good & keeps fucking up. She seems green as shit, not just her hair color. And it's not going to end well. 

Man, I thought I was the only one. I'm just not seeing it. And I HATE the tank. 

[NintendoLogic]

I think it's safe to say that Smackdown is going to get slaughtered in the ratings tonight.

[cm funk]

WWE talent en mass need to tell Vince to pound sand on the Twitch stuff

[SirEdger]

Well, Paige seems to be the one that will take that route and she looks like she gives zero fucks at this point.

[Rah]

On 9/30/2020 at 5:30 AM, C.S. said:

Any large group who uses "brother" and "daddy" in sentences unironically cannot possibly be intellectual.

Mamma Mia!

[FMKK]

13 hours ago, SirEdger said:

Well, Paige seems to be the one that will take that route and she looks like she gives zero fucks at this point.

It's not like she can wrestle anymore so she could probably make more money from the streaming than with sporadic WWE appearances.

Also, what's the storyline justification for Jey USO to get another title match when he lost comprehensively the last time?

[SirEdger]

It's Roman feeling disrespected by the fact that Jey didn't acknowledge him as the Tribal Chief like he wanted him to. Very likely that Jey's beatdown at Hell in a Cell will be that much bigger to make a point for Roman's next feud.

[Burgundy LaRue]

Roman manipulated Jey into accepting the HIAC match. Roman is determined to break Jey because he didn't bend the knee.

[TheDuke]

I loved that opening between Roman and Jey. Since Omega and Hangman split up, this High Chief stuff has become my favorite angle in wrestling currently. I think it's because the high chief and family rivalry promos are so different from most of the interviews we hear these days.

[ButchReedMark]

There's only one large American corporation in the world worth watching. 

 

Up the shagging Town. 

[Stiva]

10 hours ago, ButchReedMark said:

There's only one large American corporation in the world worth watching. 

 

Up the shagging Town. 

My friend has just bought a Wrexham home shirt and we’re from Newcastle so already the money is flowing into the club 

[Superstar Sleeze]

Fuckkkkkkk there’s a draft coming up?!? All year Smackdown has been a million times better than RAW. It is as good or better than Dynamite every week.

AJ Styles ever since Daniel Bryan Match went on an absolute tear against Gulak, Riddle and Hardy. Zayn is one of their best heels in a decade. I’m super excited for the Big E push and against my boy Sheamus! Sign me up, brutha! It has been great so far and hopefully the Street Fight is killer. 

Smackdown’s Women’s Division is thin but Sasha/Bayley carried it well. I thought they pulled the trigger too soon BUT when they did it, Bayley went full tilt and it was glorious. Bayley kicked her ass and Sasha threw herself into every bump. Great heel turn angle. Nikki Cross is a tremendous character actor wrestler. A great ball of energy so charismatic and likeable! My moms favorite wrestler! Alexa Bliss is the best actor they have pretty much the only person that can take WWE drivel and make it sound natural. The Alexa/Fiend story is at least interesting because they don’t do many male/female storylines so I’m not sure which way they will go. 

Speaking of male/female angles, I’m so bummed they dropped Otis/Mandy. So disappointing that story had legs for days. We need more Soap Opera not less in WWE. The more connections a wrestler makes the more options you have for future storytelling. It is Soap Opera 101. Miz sending Mandy to RAW should have been put over huge. WWE sucks. I do like the lawyer angle with Otis I think that’s an interesting angle. 

Braun vs Bray was the worst thing about WWE for a while but it has been replaced by the best pro wrestling storyline in WWE or AEW Roman Reigns vs Jey USO! Hell Yeah Brutha! Everything about the story up until Clash was perfect. Uso’s Being hyped for the opportunity against his cuz. Roman big timing him but still showing the family love so still playing in that gray zone. I loved the ballshot. I love how uncomfortable it was to watch Roman bark that Jey submit to his superiority and recognize him as his Chief. I wished the violence was a little more, if there was ever an angle that needed blood it was this one! Loved the towel throw in by Jimmy such a smart finish. We need more family angles in pro wrestling and more people should be kayfabe related to give the angles more oomph. Happy they aren’t going one and done with this angle. Once Roman goes full tilt heel it is gonna be BITCHIN, brutha.

Point is I love Smackdown and there are some holes. They could use some more female talent. Aleister Black and Angel Garza would be great pick ups. If they could unload Corbin and Braun that be great. Hopefully Smackdown is not ravaged and pillaged.

[Strummer]

Today is the one year anniversary of Smackdown debuting on FOX

[cm funk]

This takeover card looks really good to me on paper.  I'm more excited for O'Reilly and Balor than any NXT match so far this year.  Io/Candace, Gargano/Priest and Escobar/Swerve all have the potential to be really good as well.  Dream is hit and miss but Kushida is great and I'm loving the fact they're finally doing something with him

[SirEdger]

19 hours ago, TheDuke said:

I loved that opening between Roman and Jey. Since Omega and Hangman split up, this High Chief stuff has become my favorite angle in wrestling currently. I think it's because the high chief and family rivalry promos are so different from most of the interviews we hear these days.

I think most importantly, if you look at the praise that Roman Reigns is getting right now - and also Alexa Bliss for her current angle in The Fiend -, they both have something in common; they truly grasp what their character is all about. They fully understand the motivation behind their character's actions at a specific moment in a storyline and they're able to convey that naturally. I think the same could've been said for Becky Lynch when "The Man" was born as well. It's very easy to relate and get invested in a character when you can understand yourself from a psychological standpoint why they act the way they do and say the things they say. It was horrifying and yet compelling to hear Alexa explain her interactions with the Fiend, juggling between sheer terror and despair and enthrallment 5 seconds later. It was as easy to understand Roman's motivations behind the Tribal Chief thing, especially knowing everything the bloodline of the Anoa'i family. I can definitely share your sentiment about the Omega/Hangman split because it tells the same type of story that we can relate to; pretty much taking a friendship for granted and being negligent about it until it blows up in your face and you try to patch things up but realize down the road that it might be too late and you push somebody over the edge. It's in fact quite interesting that Hangman Page finds himself in the same situation that Nikki Cross finds herself in in the current Alexa/Fiend storyline; it was her actions of shoving Alexa in frustration after losing to Bayley that triggered a whole sequence of events that led to the alliance between them. If everything falls into place for the Draft, we might get to see that story of redemption for Nikki and Alexa.

As you said, when WWE commits themselves to long-term storytelling and doing stuff outside their usual settings, they are capable of great stuff. They just need to be more consistent and fight the right performers to pull it off. On the Smackdown side, they sure have found them.

[Badlittlekitten]

The praise and deep analyse of The Fiend stuff is so strange to me. Alexa's 'acting' is hilariously bad.

[FMKK]

17 minutes ago, Badlittlekitten said:

The praise and deep analyse of The Fiend stuff is so strange to me. Alexa's 'acting' is hilariously bad.

Everything The Fiend touches is absolute shit

[Superstar Sleeze]

20 minutes ago, Badlittlekitten said:

The praise and deep analyse of The Fiend stuff is so strange to me. Alexa's 'acting' is hilariously bad.

This is a very odd take. Different strokes and all that, I think Alexa is by far and away the best actor, male or female, they have by a country mile. I cant help but think about how horrid Lana is as an actress. I did not know emotionless screaming was a thing until Lana tried screaming in the Lashley angle. Talk about wooden, Lana has to be the worst ever. Alexa was awesome before The Fiend angle and I think she does a great job flipping between Alexa and entranced Alexa. We will see where it goes. This is the WWE which decided to drop the gold mine that was Otis/Mandy because they laid off the writer for it and had no idea what to do after it. I could easily see this going nowhere.

I feel like in the 2000s wrestling fans started becoming allergic to whenever wrestling deviated from workrate, which is a shame. Pro wrestling can be and should be so much more than that. There's plenty of shit like Fiend/Rollins and Lana/Lashley that could have been great but are some of the worst shit I have ever seen, BUT at least they tried. They didn't just do a random run-in week followed by one zillion 20 minute promos & 20 minute rematches for the sake of workrate with inter-match storytelling. I always appreciate the attempts at trying to spice things up. I think the family drama for Samoan has been great, I am optimistic about Alexa/Fiend, but could lead to a whole lot of nothing too. Like I said I will always appreciate effort. 

[FMKK]

Bray Wyatt's emo community theatre fake-deep bullshit being bad has nothing to do with modern fans being allergic to anything that isn't workrate. It's the sort of thing that you hope no one would catch you watching.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Yeah to be honest I almost deleted that paragraph. I really should start my own thread about it. It has been something I have been kicking in my head a lot lately is how much I have grown as a wrestling fan once I started thinking for myself when I joined this forum. I used to be anti-resthold, but now I don't see the world in black and white. A chinlock or an armbar or what have you is NOT always a resthold. Yes sometimes it is  a negative and grinds the match to a halt. Other times it can be effective, perhaps a means for a heel to stop a fast break that the babyface has been on and a means to catch his breath. That's just an example. Another thing was overbooking and run-ins, that's something about wrestling I have always liked. I was torn because so many are against run-ins/overbooking in the finish that's what makes wrestling wrestling in my eyes. Are there times when it is a crutch, or does not make sense of course! I think it can be really fun and exciting to see a ref bump and then have shit hit the fan. The third thing is I love the soap opera aspect of pro wrestling, always have and always will. I watched Soaps with my grandma before I started watching wrestling and still do to this day. I want to see more angles and more craziness. I feel like the community at large sticks their nose up at that. 

I admit my posting habits on here are strange. I usually stick to my match reviews and anyone who has read them knows they are looooooonnnng. That's my problem. I have a lot of thoughts and nuances. I have a lot of trouble distilling it down into digestible chunks. It also takes a lot of effort for me to do just that, organize them into a coherent, cogent fashion. That paragraph above is not even half-baked more like quarter-baked. I should not have tacked it on but rather stuck to praising Alexa. Maybe, I will get around to writing the thread maybe I wont to be honest. It is a lot of time and effort and I dont know if I have it. I didn't just want to leave it hanging. 

[sek69]

A counterpoint, a lot of the wackiness and angles of olden times is seen through the rose colored glasses of nostalgia. Yes a lot of it was great, but there was a lot of shit back then too. 

I think a lot of it comes from everyone being used to the strictly scripted promo style where 80% of the people come off looking like wooden robots struggling to read verbiage no human being would use. Then you watch tapes of old stuff where folks who were considered third rate promos at the time come off sounding like the Rock since they are real people putting emotions into it.