Kadaveri Posted April 10, 2021 Report Share Posted April 10, 2021 Banger of a promo from the 2026 GWE winner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RingoPlaysDrums Posted April 10, 2021 Report Share Posted April 10, 2021 I for one loved Sami Zayn interrupting the Pauls' sparring session before being locked out, as well as Reigns' music hitting immediately after Uso won the battle royal. Smackdown was actually more than watchable and served as a nice pre-show of sorts to Mania. Good promo work from Bryan, Edge & Reigns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted April 10, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2021 10 hours ago, Kadaveri said: Banger of a promo from the 2026 GWE winner. I agree. Roman Reigns is just the best! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted April 10, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2021 wwe got this BIG DOG, this hunk of a man to cut promos about beanstalks, tater tots and sufferin' succotash fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted April 10, 2021 Report Share Posted April 10, 2021 They really should have Bianca win on night 1 (which she will) and Bryan win on night 2 (which he most probably won't) to let the people have a real happy moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmare007 Posted April 10, 2021 Report Share Posted April 10, 2021 I don't think people will be unhappy with any of the three winning in night 2 to be honest. I guess if Edge wins by being "the ultimate opportunist" with a bullshit finish then there's going to be boos because the (most likely very fucking good) main event was cut by heel fuckery. But I don't know, I don't picture the crowd being upset about Roman retaining -that's actually the best outcome, imo- or Edge winning somewhat cleanly. I mean sure, Bryan getting the belt would get the biggest reaction of the three but it's not a WM 30 scenario were him not winning was inconceivably stupid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strobogo Posted April 10, 2021 Report Share Posted April 10, 2021 I think the most interesting things to come out of this weekend is to see if the live crowd reacts to how the TV booking as been. Are they going to cheer Roman because he's a good heel now? Are they going to rage at Edge like Batista? Will Lashley get cheered over Drew because THB was cool and Drew is giving some serious 1996 corny HBK vibes anytime I've seen him in the past 6 months? I'm just imagining how live audiences would have reacted to the atrocious, unbelievably embarrassing Fiend/Orton/Bliss segments and I'm hoping they feel like they can do it with a live crowd and they completely shit on it. Should be a lot of energy from the crowd and talent, at least, which is a lot more exciting that what I've seen of read about the lead up to...well, everything. Real quick Takeover thoughts: Ciampa/Walter was great, for sure going to be the match of the week for WWE. Night 2 in general was real bleh, Karrion Kross needs to tighten up his game if they're going to play up his MMA and heavy strikes because they have no impact at all, Cole/KOR was not at all what it needed to be and was a huge disappointment. Somehow KOR vs Balor seemed like a more violent and hateful match than what is supposed to be this super intense bloodfeud match that featured just a ton of overwrought and overthought "epic" spots. If any match needed some blood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RingoPlaysDrums Posted April 10, 2021 Report Share Posted April 10, 2021 Don't a lot of people like the Orton/Fiend stuff? I haven't really been paying attention personally but I saw some positive comments on Reddit, heard a podcast where they said it was one of the matches they were most into and I just stumbled over this Ringer article: Is WWE finally telling a good horror story? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strobogo Posted April 10, 2021 Report Share Posted April 10, 2021 I don't know how anyone could like that stuff. It's TL Hopper tier or the worst Russo stuff you could imagine someone walking in on you watching. It also simply can not be done in front of a live crowd so they're going to have to have an actual match unless they do another pre-taped cinematic match. I have watched and enjoyed a lot of completely dogshit horror movies in my life (also a lot of completely dogshit pro wrestling tbh), and nothing has been as bad and embarrassing as even the recaps of the Fiend/Orton/Bliss stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted April 10, 2021 Report Share Posted April 10, 2021 16 minutes ago, RingoPlaysDrums said: Don't a lot of people like the Orton/Fiend stuff? I haven't really been paying attention personally but I saw some positive comments on Reddit, heard a podcast where they said it was one of the matches they were most into and I just stumbled over this Ringer article: Is WWE finally telling a good horror story? Redditors have awful tastes in general so I wouldn't take anything said seriously over there in regards to WWE stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted April 10, 2021 Report Share Posted April 10, 2021 Wrestling inc reporting that Adnan Virk will be replacing Tom Phillips as lead Raw announcer starting this Monday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirEdger Posted April 10, 2021 Report Share Posted April 10, 2021 44 minutes ago, strobogo said: I don't know how anyone could like that stuff. It's TL Hopper tier or the worst Russo stuff you could imagine someone walking in on you watching. It also simply can not be done in front of a live crowd so they're going to have to have an actual match unless they do another pre-taped cinematic match. I have watched and enjoyed a lot of completely dogshit horror movies in my life (also a lot of completely dogshit pro wrestling tbh), and nothing has been as bad and embarrassing as even the recaps of the Fiend/Orton/Bliss stuff. You would be surprised at the number of pics I see on Twitter of parents tweeting pictures of their little girl dressed like Firefly Alexa. As much as you guys can hate it, that character is over with that part of the audience. At the end of the day, everyone is free to enjoy what they want out of their product and shouldn't be that bothered about people who loves what you hate. That's one thing that I just can't wrap my head around; why does it bother some people that they love something you viscerally hate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strobogo Posted April 10, 2021 Report Share Posted April 10, 2021 Sure I could see little kids being into some of it I guess, but the audience is 50 year old dudes. It doesn't bother me if some people love it, I love a lot of objectively bad entertainment myself. I don't understand anyone enjoying this particular set of angles/promos/matches, which is not the same thing as being bothered or upset by it. In the same way I don't understand why my 4 year old nephew loves to watch toy unboxing videos more than playing with the toys himself, but it doesn't bother me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted April 10, 2021 Report Share Posted April 10, 2021 With no Mania last year, the audience should love everything, at least for those two nights, unless WWE does something really stupid, and no, I don't even mean having Das Racist hosting a show headlined by two black women, because whitewashing has its limits you see (Titus really should come out to the sound of "True to the Game" by Ice Cube and look depressed about it). I hope Orton vs Fiend reaches the pinnacle of so stupid and dumb it's actually good (ie Taker vs HHH Hell in the Cell). Like a lot of oppressive companies and governments, WWE had benefited from COVID in term of controlling people. Part of me really believe that if they could stay in the Thunderdome for ever, they would rather do it at this stage. Still, for these two nights of Mania in this context, I expect the crowd to be super positive for everything (plus the shows aren't gonna be those long-ass nights of the last few years) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirEdger Posted April 10, 2021 Report Share Posted April 10, 2021 26 minutes ago, strobogo said: Sure I could see little kids being into some of it I guess, but the audience is 50 year old dudes. It doesn't bother me if some people love it, I love a lot of objectively bad entertainment myself. I don't understand anyone enjoying this particular set of angles/promos/matches, which is not the same thing as being bothered or upset by it. In the same way I don't understand why my 4 year old nephew loves to watch toy unboxing videos more than playing with the toys himself, but it doesn't bother me. I wasn't targeting anyone here in general but that was just something that I noticed a lot lately, especially when it applies to that specific storyline. I'll never subscribe to the theory of "If you love wrestler X or storyline X, you're a moron"....at the end of the day, everyone should be able to enjoy anything or anyone they see on TV every week without feeling guilty about it. Honestly, as for the crowd general reaction, I agree with @El-P that people will generally be thrilled to attend live Manias this weekend so I don't necessarily expect a hijacking like we've seen in recent years. As it pertains to the specific Fiend/Orton match, I actually expect kind of a 50/50 crowd reaction (Orton has always been popular, no matter what so I'm expecting people to cheer for him more than flatout booing The Fiend) but it should make for quite the atmosphere. Also looking forward to some special entrances as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoS Posted April 10, 2021 Report Share Posted April 10, 2021 The Fiend thing is something that might have a section of fans defending it online, but it's exactly the kind of thing that would completely die live in front of the crowds. Most of the men audible on the show would almost certainly hate it, and would drown out everyone else overwhelmingly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strobogo Posted April 10, 2021 Report Share Posted April 10, 2021 16 minutes ago, El-P said: With no Mania last year, the audience should love everything, at least for those two nights, unless WWE does something really stupid, and no, I don't even mean having Das Racist hosting a show headlined by two black women, because whitewashing has its limits you see (Titus really should come out to the sound of "True to the Game" by Ice Cube and look depressed about it). I hope Orton vs Fiend reaches the pinnacle of so stupid and dumb it's actually good (ie Taker vs HHH Hell in the Cell). Like a lot of oppressive companies and governments, WWE had benefited from COVID in term of controlling people. Part of me really believe that if they could stay in the Thunderdome for ever, they would rather do it at this stage. Still, for these two nights of Mania in this context, I expect the crowd to be super positive for everything (plus the shows aren't gonna be those long-ass nights of the last few years) I can definitely see the production team/crew/up through Vince wanting to stay at the Thunderdome forever as everything can be completely controlled and not having to haul shit around and set up all across the country I'm sure has been a blessing for them. I'm also sure the talent loves not having to travel and not having the wear and tear from house shows, but I can't imagine too many aren't dying to get back in front of real crowds again. Probably a couple prefer the Thunderdome, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted April 10, 2021 Report Share Posted April 10, 2021 5 minutes ago, strobogo said: I'm also sure the talent loves not having to travel and not having the wear and tear from house shows, but I can't imagine too many aren't dying to get back in front of real crowds again. Oh yeah I was thinking about that too and forgot it when I wrote my post, they must be elated to work in front of a real crowd finally. It must be such a breath of air for them, and hopefully it will show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted April 10, 2021 Report Share Posted April 10, 2021 32 minutes ago, El-P said: With no Mania last year, the audience should love everything, at least for those two nights, unless WWE does something really stupid, and no, I don't even mean having Das Racist hosting a show headlined by two black women, because whitewashing has its limits you see (Titus really should come out to the sound of "True to the Game" by Ice Cube and look depressed about it). I hope Orton vs Fiend reaches the pinnacle of so stupid and dumb it's actually good (ie Taker vs HHH Hell in the Cell). Like a lot of oppressive companies and governments, WWE had benefited from COVID in term of controlling people. Part of me really believe that if they could stay in the Thunderdome for ever, they would rather do it at this stage. Still, for these two nights of Mania in this context, I expect the crowd to be super positive for everything (plus the shows aren't gonna be those long-ass nights of the last few years) Yeah, I think they learned some hard lessons at Takeover from having fans again. They won't learn anything but I don't think the expected the fans to not give a shit about the unsanctioned match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted April 10, 2021 Report Share Posted April 10, 2021 The Observer reported a few months ago that talent was being told the old way of touring wasn't coming back even post-COVID. From a company perspective, why should it? House shows had become a money loser in recent years, and they've set record profits running in empty arenas. The main value of house shows is additional ring time for those who need it, but that's the kind of thing a multimillion-dollar developmental facility should be able to address. Maybe they can have them do something other than forward rolls and Olympic lifts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted April 10, 2021 Report Share Posted April 10, 2021 Yeah but they signed 200 people to collection dust down there. No one has time to actually teach them things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmare007 Posted April 10, 2021 Report Share Posted April 10, 2021 15 minutes ago, NintendoLogic said: The Observer reported a few months ago that talent was being told the old way of touring wasn't coming back even post-COVID. From a company perspective, why should it? House shows had become a money loser in recent years, and they've set record profits running in empty arenas. The main value of house shows is additional ring time for those who need it, but that's the kind of thing a multimillion-dollar developmental facility should be able to address. Maybe they can have them do something other than forward rolls and Olympic lifts. Interesting. Are international tours losing money too? I'd guess a couple of european, south american and australian tours would do well post COVID and if done yearly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirEdger Posted April 10, 2021 Report Share Posted April 10, 2021 I would assume that the European & Australian tours are probably the only ones that are gonna stay. For the rest, they'll probably strictly do TVs and PPVs and that's it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted April 10, 2021 Report Share Posted April 10, 2021 Do we seriously as a wrestling message forum not have an official Wrestlemania thread? The biggest wrestling show on earth, a 2-day event, with the first live fans in over a year? No? I don't know if that says more about the state of wrestling or the state of forums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted April 10, 2021 Report Share Posted April 10, 2021 Start one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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