WWE TV 03/22 - 03/28 Roman never tapped

[KawadaSmile]

4 hours ago, Blehschmidt said:

There has to be some other Hall of Famer or guy who was some semblance of a name 15 to 20 years ago being held together by paper clips and bubble gum that they can trot out to win the belt from Roman instead of trying something new.

Maybe Booker T? What's Matt Morgan doing these days? Is Bull Buchannon available?

I wish Monty Brown still wrestled

[MoS]

2 hours ago, Loss said:

That Bryan is even headlining this WM just confirms his living legend status in my eyes. He didn't need this WM to get there I suppose, but this is a real accomplishment in his favor. The guy has somehow been a generally unwanted headliner in WWE for nearly a decade because fans love him so much. He's probably the most unlikely major star in the history of the company despite almost never being booked at that level. As it stands, he has been in the title match of four WMs over the course of 10 shows. I also think with wrestling shifting away from being an industry about creating shows to attract fans and toward an industry designed to just produce as much content as possible and sell distribution rights to the highest bidder, Bryan's 2013-14 ascension will probably be remembered over time as the last "classic" pro wrestling build on the national stage.

Since GWE season is starting and we are beginning to think about the beginning, how comfortable would you be with the idea of Bryan as the GOAT? I really feel he is a contender for number one for me 

[RingoPlaysDrums]

He's getting closer and closer to that top spot for me personally. I see there's been talk of him winding down this year so I hope he can have a great final couple of years to really cement things. He's given a number of interviews over the last year or so where he's listed wrestlers he wants to have matches with before he retires (amongst them WALTER, Gran Metalik, Riddle, Keith Lee, Regal's son Bailey). I'd love nothing more than him getting to have a little farewell tour of the company so that he can tick those names off his wishlist before he finally calls it a day. Seems unlikely though. 

[KawadaSmile]

I think what really cements Bryan's place as a contender for the #1 spot is not how high are his highs, but how low are his lows.

Since he came back, I can think of only two matches that are below his average, and they are still good - both being against Big Cass. That's it. He's had a run of nothing but great match after great match against a variety of opponents and stipulations and gimmick changes.

[Jmare007]

Yeah, I think his work has been consistently good-to-great during his whole comeback. He's had high profile matches (AJ, Brock, Kofi, Roman, EC 2019 and 2021), he's had a ton of really good TV matches with like 80% of the male talent that has worked on Smackdown, at this point Bryan gotta be in the conversation of best WWE TV wrestler ever. Would love to see that argument be discussed in PWO tbh.

He elevated people like Ali, Drew Gulak and Kofi -and helped with people like Jey Uso and Cesaro- AND he became one of the best promos in the biz.

I think his biggest flaws are his return match and angle with Owens & Zayn (sure, Shane was involved, but it wasn't very good regardless) and the short lived Cass program. The Rumble match against AJ flopped too.

 

Also, let's not forget he gave The Fiend a good match...in a fucking strap match.

[RingoPlaysDrums]

I was going to say, the return match at WM 34 was definitely disappointing, although at the time I was just so pleased to see him back and looking healthy. I recently saw one of his PPV matches with Cass for the first time and found it to be pretty damn good, further proving what a miracle worker he can be. This discussion makes me want to go back and watch more of his current run that I've missed. Looking at cagematch, he's had TV matches with the likes of Andrade, Ali, Sheamus and Harper that I haven't seen and don't think I've even read about. 

[KawadaSmile]

His return match at WM34 was incredible for the sole fact that he dropkicked someone and immediatly started selling his head like he got concussed again. The crowd was visibly concerned until he did a kip-up, making the crowd roar. After that incredible display of crowd control the rest of the match didn't feel as important. Dude was back.

[kas]

I'd say his match with AJ at the rumble was his worst, it wasn't good at all, but one bad match in a three year run is incredible. He's my number 1 US wrestler for sure and top 5 overall.

[Jmare007]

1 hour ago, kas said:

I'd say his match with AJ at the rumble was his worst, it wasn't good at all, but one bad match in a three year run is incredible. He's my number 1 US wrestler for sure and top 5 overall.

I haven't seen it since it happened but I remember being puzzled at them having such a nothing match and being unable to wake the crowd up. If there's two guys who could do it, it was them. Even more so when we take into consideration that every other match they've had in WWE has ranged from "really fucking good" to "classic".

[Matt D]

I wasn't at all a fan of his 2015 comeback, which (along with a few other things) kept him towards the bottom of my top 20 last time. His current comeback will definitely offset that. I think he's been one of the more interesting and effective empty arena workers (as in one of the only guys to really make it work, to be honest), which helps him in a huge way too, plus we've gotten a few bits of new footage which helps his case too like this:

Spoiler

MD: Absolutely tremendous. When I saw the word "expo," I half wondered what we were going to get. It hearkened back to some of those lucha performances at other "expos" that end up being as streamlined and straightforward as possible, in front of game but unfamiliar crowds. In that regard, this didn't disappoint. This is 2008 Collyer and Danielson, under hoods, wrestling their version of a high-energy 1989 American match. Danielson completely gives himself over to the role, complaining about the crowd not cheering for him at the start, bumping, stooging, feeding, clowning, and stalling throughout, taking over on an unclean break, playing hide the object with a rope from the turnbuckle, and yes, twice doing the Rick Rude hip swivel and probably having the time of his life in the process. Yet, they show that they understand what works and why it works. The crowd completely comes along with Collyer as he fights his way out of a chinlock. Danielson hits an axehandle off the second rope mid-way through to set up a bit transition as he leaps off the top into a Collyer dropkick later. They had to switch cameras towards the end and you got the sense that the person had technical difficulties and had to be selective in what was captured, but you get the broad idea of it. Towards the end, they cycle into Steamboat/Savage pin attempts, and some very believable 1989 power move near falls, before Danielson reverses a flying body press and grabbing the tights for the win. Full commitment, total patience and restraint, great understanding of what works and why. I'm sure they had a blast doing it. It's a great performance from both guys and another feather in Danielson's cap.

 

 

[Jmare007]

Well shit, talk about a hidden gem.

[El-P]

Except the best guy here is the announcer. Don't get me wrong, the match is good (very fun, but nothing special, really), but the live announcer whom the crowd can hear is absolutely directing the traffic in term of making this crowd care about two guys they probably have never seen (the Japan Expo is a big convention about anime, cosplay, J-pop and the likes). He's Christophe Agius, the WWE French announcer for two decades now and he's *awesome*. He can make chicken salad out of chicken shit any day (not that he had to here because it was obviously a very good match) as demonstrated by the years I've went through watching WWE PPV's without wanting to cut my wrist open by the sheer virtue of this guy's announcing (teaming with his usual partner Philippe Chéreau, they have the greatest chemistry ever). The crowd reacts to the work, yes, but they do also react big time to Agius voice and super dynamic live announcing. I'm not convinced the match would get half the reaction without Agius here. Basically I watch this match and although it's good, the one thing that just hits me in the face is the greatness of Agius.  

Fun fact, during the big wave of Cenamania, my nephews were watching WWE and they ended up going to a show while WWE was touring France. And they were kinda disappointed by the show, one reason being : it was missing the announcing.