WWE TV 03/21 - 03/27 Omos is the true heir to Andre the Giant

[Sweet Brown Koko]

Here is some of what HHH said:

 

"I had viral pneumonia. My lungs were inflamed, and as the next couple of days went on and I got home, it got increasingly worse. My wife [WWE executive Stephanie McMahon] saw some blood and stuff that I was coughing up, and I went and got checked, and it was coming from the viral pneumonia, but I had fluid in my lungs. I had some fluid around my heart so they followed up on it and did an EKG and Echo and everything. Basically, the way your heart pumps out 55-60 percent of your ejection fraction is a good number. I was at 30 percent. I got a quick text message saying don't take time, pack a bag real quick and head to the emergency room and I'll fill you in on the way. So, by the time I got to the emergency room, my ejection fraction had gone down to 22 percent, which, ya know, I was in heart failure."

[SirEdger]

23 minutes ago, El-P said:

It was way worse than it appeared. The guy is lucky to be alive. Probably gotta take care of his condition in term of not going through too much stress also. 

What would have been is last match then ?

His last match is from a House show in Japan

He tagged with Shinsuke Nakamura vs Bobby Roode & Samoa Joe, June 2019 I believe.

[El-P]

That's pretty random. I would have bet it was a Mania or a Saudi show. Life...

[Johnny Sorrow]

SD was really fun tonight, but boy did they Fumblefuck Xavier Wood's surprise return as far as the production went pre-match.  
 

[sek69]

Watching SD now, and Brock being impressed with Roman's dressing room cracked me up. He's been amazing on this run, no fucks given Brock is the best.

[sek69]

I hope to one day love something as much as WWE loves counting the days in people's title reigns.

[sek69]

Roman-Brock has been built up pretty good, but I don't think anyone believes for a second the titles will stay unified very long.

[SirEdger]

It's gonna be 2002 all over again where someone is gonna be handed a title like Triple H did.

 

Besides, I doubt FOX will wanna share Roman with USA Network too often.

[El-P]

As I'm following from afar, tell me if I'm wrong. But the feeling I get is that Ronda Rousey big time comeback has taken a pretty big backseat to Austin showing up, celebrity matches and the Cody incoming debut in term of hype (Lesnar vs Roman being the obvious big focus, that's been established for ever anyway). It's like, from where I am (and granted, I'm still in the niche), I don't get this feel of excitement around Ronda's involvement like there was a few years back. 

[NintendoLogic]

I had legitimately forgotten that Ronda had returned and was wrestling at Mania.

[sek69]

The crowds still react huge for her, so she's clearly seen as a big deal, but yeah the buzz of "OMG RONDA IN WWE" is not really there. It's probably not helping that they are basically doing the same angle with Charlotte that they did the last time. 

[Coffey]

This is the most cold I can remember WWE ever being heading into Wrestlemania. There's like... zero buzz. It's almost like they damn near don't even exist anymore. 

Triple H almost died & did an interview with Stephen A. Smith. Stone Cold Steve Austin is coming back. The Undertaker is going into the Hall of Fame. Ronda Rousey is back. Brock Lesnar Vs. Roman Reigns...

...and it's like no one even blinks.

[SirEdger]

On 3/26/2022 at 3:06 PM, sek69 said:

The crowds still react huge for her, so she's clearly seen as a big deal, but yeah the buzz of "OMG RONDA IN WWE" is not really there. It's probably not helping that they are basically doing the same angle with Charlotte that they did the last time. 

I think the fact it's against Charlotte kills all the buzz. People are so over Charlotte as Women's champion that they couldn't care less what happens. Especially if we're headed towards a Roman-like run for Ronda as Smackdown Women's Champion, so there's hardly anything to be excited about this match.

[Dale Wolfe]

I get the impression that the fanbase has dwindled a bit now whereas a few years ago the mainstream crossover of both Ronda & WWE was a lot wider

Rousey is yesterday's news in terms of MMA now, too. If she came back she'd draw but the last couple of fights hurt her mystique a lot, so the WWE stint would only really work once unless there was a compelling angle. I think Charlotte has had some great moments in-ring but does she make a storyline bang? No

If Amanda Nunes or Pena turned up, maybe 

I'm amazed they haven't shelled out for Cyborg but i think Bellator still have three fights on the deal

[DMJ]

Re: How "cold" the WWE seems right now:


* Here's what I wrote on February 13th: "Ronda's return isn't quite as out of touch as bringing Goldberg out for the umpteenth time, but it certainly lacks the same oomph that her initial debut had...The die-hard wrestling fans who went gaga over Punk's return, Danielson's arrival in AEW, and now Keith Lee's debut collectively shrugged and moved on from Rousey's return within a week."

Ronda just isn't the same level of star as she was 5 years ago and though her first run had great matches in it, it ended on a sour note at Mania and then an extended hiatus where she came across as quite bitter about her experience, specifically the fan response to her. Whether its the reality or not, its hard not to view Ronda's decision to return as being a business-first decision after her Hollywood career fizzled and it became clear that save for a very unlikely UFC return, a big WWE contract is her last best option. In 2018, Ronda was the badass MMA star who seemed genuinely excited to be in WWE, a longtime fan coming in sporting Roddy Piper leather and a contagious grin. In 2022, Ronda has none of that infectious energy. Who could blame her if she is, in fact, jaded about what being a WWE Superstar is? The problem is, its just not very fun to watch her or Charlotte these days (another performer who is clearly a little bit "over" the business, whatever fun she once had performing now only coming through a handful of times a year if at all).

* Steve Austin coming back would be the biggest story of the year...if he hadn't come back and done these same sort of angles/segments once a year for the past decade and it was actually leading to a match. I rank it up there with CM Punk coming back a few years ago and co-hosting that WWE talk show. The initial buzz was there, but as it became clear that Austin was (a) not actually coming back to wrestle a real match and (b) was, as of press time, not going to be appearing on Raw to do any sort of real build, that buzz wore off. When CM Punk co-hosted Backstage, the question of whether this could lead to an in-ring return garnered real hype, but it didn't take long for Punk to nip that discussion in the bud and, unsurprisingly, the buzz of having him in a semi-commentary role on FOX wore off too. Seeing Austin again is going to make for a great segment and the Dallas crowd is in for that treat, but what really makes this segment different than the ones we've got on various RAW anniversary shows over the years? Nothing.

* Lesnar and Reigns are arguably doing the best work of their careers, but it doesn't change the fact that this is the 3rd time they've headlined a WrestleMania against each other and while the first battle was excellent, their subsequent matches have not been able to recapture that magic and, in some cases (like their last Mania encounter), been outright bad. There's also that pesky subset of fans, even if they're a small percentage, that are sick of the "same ol' shit" booking that has essentially turned the WWE's main event into a 2-horse race for the past 3 years with guys like Lashley, Big E, and McIntyre (not to mention a guy like Bray Wyatt, who had considerable fan support) getting squashed left and right just so that Lesnar and Reigns can go into their sixth PPV match looking as unbeatable as possible. And don't get us long-time fans started on whether or not Vince really has the guts to piss off USA and/or FOX by keeping the WWE and Universal Championships unified for more than a couple weeks...

* The Undertaker spent most of his career hidden by his gimmick, comfortable letting his work speak for him. Then he retired and started doing interviews and letting the WWE produce a documentary about him and, lo and behold, some of us are no longer as quick to idolize him. That toxic locker room culture that guys like Mox and Jericho and others wrote about in their books? That toxic locker room culture that's been exposed a bit in a whole bunch of documentaries and TV shows about 90s wrestling? Undertaker was the leader of it. And now every other week he seems to be on a radio show spouting nonsense about how "the new generation" doesn't know how to get over, or isn't tough enough, or isn't "masculine" enough or whatever. They say don't meet your heroes and we've now met the Undertaker and he's, well, not great.

But even if he was awesome on Twitter or wasn't sporting Blue Lives Matter shit, Taker also tarnished some of his legacy with one needless "last ride" after another over the past 5 years. This induction feels like just another send-off after his last big send-off (Survivor Series 2020) after his last big send off (the Last Ride documentary) after his last big send off (against Reigns at WrestleMania 33). Oh, but also he tagged with Reigns in 2019 and had a whole slew of "non-cannon" matches in Saudi Arabia in the past 5 years. But this time he's really saying goodbye...At a certain point, the WWE's hype machine went so far into making The Undertaker seem like this mythical hero that its become sillier and sillier to view him this way with a straight face and appreciate what he accomplished. At this point, I and probably many other fans are kinda over the Undertaker worship. 

* The rest of the card is just kinda there because the company has made it clear over the past few years that nothing really matters aside from Reigns, Lesnar, and whatever legend is returning next. Even the celebrities involved this year seem to be miscast. Like, wouldn't it have been better for Knoxville to be feuding with some monster - like Omos or Lashley - who would theoretically launch him effortlessly around the ring? Like, this is a guy who took a punch from Butterbean. This is a guy whose been gored by a bull. This is a guy whose taken all sorts of painful shots to his private parts. I'm not sure I get why wrestling a match with a very well-trained, very professional worker like Sami Zayn would even rank in the top 100 riskiest things Johnny Knoxville has ever done or be particularly suspenseful. If you're gonna bring a stuntman in, he should do a fucking stunt. But Johnny Knoxville having to eat a whole bunch of powerbombs or release germans or table bumps from Lashley? That would've been more interesting, if actually less fun, to me. Fortunately, Zayn is so great I think the comedy aspect of their pairing has been good enough so far to make for a decent segment at Mania, but y'know, again, as far as being a "spectacle," there's none of that. 

[KawadaSmile]

People are excited for *some* things, specially Roman/Brock.

But holy shit, when one of your best built matches is SAMI ZAYN VS JOHNNY KNOXVILLE, something went super wrong. Nothing against those two guys, and personally I love Sami, but a celebrity guest match should never be better built than basically everything except for your main event.

They could have perfectly fine US Title match, yet decided to put Balor and Priest on the ARMBAR. No idea if Ricochet is even doing something there, too.

Bianca vs Becky is nice, decently built, but Rousey/Charlotte has zero heat. Both are huge marks for themselves and neither are likeable. This is nearly heel/heel AND a rehash of their feud

[sek69]

39 minutes ago, KawadaSmile said:

Both are huge marks for themselves and neither are likeable.

You hit the nail, bubba. At least Charlotte's gimmick is to be unlikable, Ronda's such a mark for herself when she came back this time she was still salty about how the fans treated her the last time. Vince had to tell her to get the fuck over herself for her to even act like a babyface. She's s just not a likable person IRL or on TV, if she was a heel maybe it would work better, but in this role it's not.

[Coffey]

 

[Al]

There’s some intriguing stuff. But good lord I have no desire to sit through eight hours over two nights to see it.

[sek69]

Vince is scrambling to the phone to book Will Smith vs Chris Rock for Mania.

[KawadaSmile]

2 hours ago, sek69 said:

You hit the nail, bubba. At least Charlotte's gimmick is to be unlikable, Ronda's such a mark for herself when she came back this time she was still salty about how the fans treated her the last time. Vince had to tell her to get the fuck over herself for her to even act like a babyface. She's s just not a likable person IRL or on TV, if she was a heel maybe it would work better, but in this role it's not.

What's more annoying is that her UFC story is basically the PERFECT hero to villain tale. She was, and still is, an important figure in Women's MMA, had an Olympic bronze medal, inspired many, many people, and had the media backing her. Fucking Joe Rogan crying during a post-fight interview and people still care about what the fuck he has to say about serious issues.

Then, she slowly started showing her more arrogant side, not shaking people's hands, being overconfident about her striking skills, which never really were her forte, a consequence of media overinflating her as a total package. Loses to more humble opponent, never really stops being an asshole. Then, during her return to the octagon, the champion and ACTUAL GOAT OF WOMEN'S MMA was an afterthought. We all saw how that turned out.

 

You really couldn't write a better story than that. 

[Alucard]

On 3/25/2022 at 1:41 PM, El-P said:

That's pretty random. I would have bet it was a Mania or a Saudi show. Life...

His last televised match was indeed Saudimania vs. Orton in 2019. A few weeks later he worked the 2 Japan house shows where he joined the Bullet Club for a night and tagged with Nakamura.

8 hours ago, KawadaSmile said:

They could have perfectly fine US Title match, yet decided to put Balor and Priest on the ARMBAR. No idea if Ricochet is even doing something there, too.

Ricochet is defending the IC against Humberto & Garza on SD alongside the Andre. 

[El-P]

Well, that's quite a bunch of answers here ! So I'm not totally off-based, ok.

Last year I only watched parts of Day 1 I think (or the whole show, I don't remember ?). Actually, I only remember two things about Mania last year : Alexa Bliss vomiting black goo and the terrific Sasha performance against Bianca.

With my pro-wrestling mind pretty much saturated already with too much product, I must say my desire to even watch some bits of Mania this year is exactly zero. If I don't, it will be the first time in years I don't even watch like the main event or something (even in the lockdown year I watched Taker vs AJ Styles).

[Jmare007]

I'll catch Austin's segment later, Saturday has two great Final Four games. Only match I wanna see live is Brock vs Roman and thankfully that's on night 2.

I hope they do it like last year and both nights don't go long.

 

PS: I'm confident in saying the "this Wrestlemania has no buzz/the least buzz ever" talking point has been posted on this forum for at least the last 4 years.

[Strummer]

I'm surprised how little attention Ronda is getting despite her decline in popularity. And the Austin buzz has cooled off but they still have a week. If Austin was building and wrestling a proper match it would be a different story for sure.