WWE TV Megathread

[strobogo]

I legit hope the angle ends up being Pat has been trying to convince Orton to bring back the punt. Because Pat was a kicker. And then everyone groans.

[sek69]

So I thought Raw was pretty good in-ring wise, but lol at CM Punk having to do another Pipe Bomb calling out Ari Emmanuel to lower the Mania ticket prices due to the absolute clusterfuck they created. On top of *gestures at everything*, TKO thinking they can treat WWE like UFC because they both (sorta) are combat sports is one of the greatest audience misreads I've ever seen. WWE has long strives to be a family friendly enterprise (again, sorta), so their big brain idea was to make tickets unaffordable to families just because it works for the chuds who go to UFC shows. 

Also I thought Gunther was moved to a program with Seth because Rey was hurt when they were building a feud when he was murdering Dragon Lee. Now Rey just comes out and adds himself to the IC title ladder match because reasons? I mean it's probably going to be awesome in the ring on both counts but it had me "wtf?"-ing at the TV. 

[El-P]

Wow. When you think CM Punk can't sink any lower. The most embarrassing part of it, if you put aside the level of Russo-ism of the booking, is that the audience is still buying this shit. Of the entire brain-dead crowd, the CM Punk fans must be the most cultish of all to still support that clown.

Also, this : 

 

So, this is where WWE is ? Actually *putting over* the old rapist and TV ? Wow. This is insane. 

And really now, even if you put aside WWE being tied at the hip with American fascism, the MAGA pseudo celebrity galore (Logan Paul, McAfee, JerryRoll, not to mention IshowSpeed which at one time had been banned from Twitch for sexual intimidation), this Mania season absolutely comes off like absolute dogshit from the looks of it on the pure pro-wrestling only (see what I did here ?) standpoint. I mean, people still paying (a fuck lot) for this shit deserves all they get, really...

[sek69]

So Liv showed off the egg she's sporting from her and Roxanne clonking heads on Raw.

 

[The Thread Killer]

Apparently the reason they haven’t announced Asuka vs Iyo for Wrestlemania yet is because they are waiting to see if Nikki Bella’s sprained ankle will heal in time for the show.

If Bella can’t go by Wrestlemania, they will substitute Asuka & Kairi for the Bellas in the Fatal 4 Way for the Women’s Tag Titles. Not sure what that would mean for Iyo. I can’t imagine Iyo being left off the show, there is a legit argument to be made that she is the best Women’s Wrestler active in the business today.

After that atrocity of a match Stratton and Giulia put on a couple of weeks ago, I can definitely see why they didn’t make the cut. Which is weird, because I think both of them are great, but that match was…yeesh. Giulia looked terrible.

[DMJ]

I don't watch the week-to-week so I could be totally off-base here, but aside from Rhea/Jade, which does feel like a Mania match, the rest of the women's division stuff seems really weak and thrown together. (I also have less than zero interest in AJ vs. Becky despite loving the Becky-as-Trump tweets.)

I wouldn't consider myself a Liv stan, but the decision to bring her back and re-align her with Dominik Mysterio when you could've had her comeback as a babyface (when she left, she was already halfway there with the audience), feuding with her former stablemates, Raquel and Roxanne, in February/March after winning the Rumble and then going on to challenge a strong Women's World Champion like IYO...I just don't get it. I know Liv isn't a world-beater in the ring, but give her and IYO a few weeks to plan and rehearse a 15-minute match and I think you've got a show-stealer on your hands.

Hammy as it sounds, a "boyhood dream" story with Liv in the role of Shawn Michaels is really easy to sell. Sure, she's been champion before, but never "on her own" or in non-fluke fashion. Meanwhile, she's also suffered some serious injuries that make her sympathetic and the story was RIGHT THERE for Dom, Raquel, and Roxanne to betray her when she was out. 

Again, I don't watch anymore and haven't for about 9 months or so and I could be wrong on all this, but if casual fans is what the WWE is catering to and I now count as a casual fan - someone who barely watches but checks in for the Rumble and Mania - I'm definitely puzzled as to why Liv Morgan has been put back on a character hamster wheel with a stable that I didn't even know were still a thing when it seemed like, before she got injured, the trajectory was a big babyface run. And, also, no casual fan has any idea who Stephanie Vaquer is (while IYO at least had a relatively high profile run in 2025-26).

[Coffey]

On 4/8/2026 at 10:58 AM, The Thread Killer said:

Giulia looked terrible.

Honestly, she hasn't impressed me during her entire run so far in the United States. She wasn't even really anything special in NXT & I feel like she's been outperformed by, of all people, Roxanne Perez. Certainly Stephanie Vaquer. There's so much female talent in pro-wrestling nowadays, if you miss a step & lull behind, you get leap-frogged pretty quickly.

[The Thread Killer]

That spot where Stratton totally whiffed and missed the dropkick but Giulia comically oversold it was cringeworthy. Actually Giulia’s selling that entire match was comical. It was starting to remind me of Michaels/Hogan. Like I said, it’s a small wonder both of them got left off Wrestlemania after that trainwreck.

[El-P]

So I've seen the Pat McAfee clips...

Oh yeah. I recognize that product. This is WCW 2000. 

In another life (like, ten years ago), I would absolutely have reviewed this shit.

[sek69]

What jumped out to me was Pat calling out CM Punk's hypocrisy on Saudi Arabia. which by implication meant he was right in calling them out. Say what you will but I'd be willing to believe Ari Emmanuel is enough of a worker to go along with getting heeled on in a promo, can't say I'd say the same about MBS. 

[El-P]

2 hours ago, sek69 said:

What jumped out to me was Pat calling out CM Punk's hypocrisy on Saudi Arabia. which by implication meant he was right in calling them out. 

Also, the fact the heel is actually telling like it is, both kayfabe-wise and IRL : CM Punk is a performative hypocrite and his fans are either hypocrites too and plain idiots (and idiots for buying high price tickets to see this show). Like someone once infamously said : "I mean, where is the lie ?"

As far as MBS goes, sure. But also, he probably has way more serious stuff on his plate right now (in between executing people of course) with the middle-east going into complete hell thanks to Trump and his genocidal war-crime buddy. Also, the fact Trump basically insulted him a few weeks ago, talking about how he should kiss his ass to thank him. With WWE being tied at the hips with Trump, that sure sounds pretty good. Aren't they supposed to go to Saudi in late June again ? Sure. Enjoy this particular ride, ya clowns.

And going back to this promo and angle, this is only the beginning and getting worse. WWE is only gonna get more and more TKO-fied and with years passing by, the more it will get controlled by people who don't give a flying fuck about pro-wrestling. Watch it happen. The fact people really though Levesque was gonna "save" WWE because he's that great booker dating back from his overrated NXT run (which BTW, ended by him getting offed for not being able to stop AEW from happening, which is a part of history that is seemingly never being talked about anymore for... reasons) has already been debunked by his two godawful Mania builds. Already you hear some noise about people being nostalgic for Vince (the smell of this fandom, really). 

[tcg91]

5 hours ago, El-P said:

So I've seen the Pat McAfee clips...

Oh yeah. I recognize that product. This is WCW 2000. 

In another life (like, ten years ago), I would absolutely have reviewed this shit.

I actually miss WCW 2000. It was a bad wrestling company with a bad product and horrible creative, but at least I had no reason to *hate* it. WCW 2000 never sided with a certain president, never had someone like McMahon in power, never did business with a certain country, never killed the indies for the sake of it, never got so greedy with fans, never asked people for money to unlock moves in a wrestling videogame, never rewrote history this way...

April is usually that time of the year, I check the 'Mania card and I might decide to watch a match or two for good time's sakes (after they killed the Rumble many years ago). Maybe the go home show if I have enough spare time. This year it's all free on Netflix and I don't want anything to do with it. Cody and Orton was so easy to build and they messed it up. Let's have Cody win and side with the Authority in 2026, that would certainly be good. I lost all interest in Punk when he became everything he hated and preached against, a greedy part-timer. I keep hearing Oba Femi is supposed to be good, but I don't want to watch Lesnar, as allegations keeps on piling and he's still on the card. There arecelebrities on the show and I have no idea who they are, WWE claims to be a global company and yet if you're not American and/or a influencers simp you have no idea who these stars are. Cena is back to 'host the show' because they are not selling tickets, while he retired like a minute ago and there's no reason for him to be there. Stephanie is headlining the hall of fame, need I say more. The main eventers are at least 40 years old and a few of them are pushing 50. It's sad.

[El-P]

27 minutes ago, tcg91 said:

I actually miss WCW 2000. It was a bad wrestling company with a bad product and horrible creative, but at least I had no reason to *hate* it. WCW 2000 never sided with a certain president, never had someone like McMahon in power, never did business with a certain country, never killed the indies for the sake of it, never got so greedy with fans, never asked people for money to unlock moves in a wrestling videogame, never rewrote history this way...

Oh yeah, I agree. I miss stupidly bad pro-wrestling I can just make fun of for being stupidly bad. I would shitpost nonstop about WWE but the political/social underlying is just too damn important to stay on the surface. Also, that would mean I'd have to watch it, and, no fucking way. On so many regards. 

The last really simply stupidly bad show I saw that fit the bill was really this Halloween NWA show. Even bad TNA these day is just mostly dull and boring. Although really, Carlos Silva is bringing back some really strong LOLTNA aspects these days, but more in his dealings than in the actual product. 

WWE is a cancer, that's all there is to it. People consume it like they consume Starbuck coffee. It's the known logo. And will probably remain the known logo anyway. Although really this -25% shit put in promos reeks of desperation. They know the peak is behind them. And since the only thing that matters to Ari Emmanuel, Nick Khan and such is the bottom line, be prepared for some serious shit to hit the fan whenever the peak is way far in the rearview mirror.

[Boss Rock]

This year's Mania build feels like Triple H took a look at last year's underwhelming build and took it as a personal challenge to make it worse.

[sek69]

It was such an easy card to build too. Besides the 20 years of Cody/Orton history, you have Roman as Punk's former young boy (which he did touch on in a promo briefly but that was all). and the whole Iyo/Kairi/Asuka triangle where there's a race to see who will beat their mentor's ass first. Instead they have to overthink everything and make shit more complicated than it needed to be.

You'd think they'd notice that the build that got over the most is Oba/Brock because it's two meaty men slapping meat and you don't need to make it anything more than that. 

[Coffey]

As dumb as I think the El Grande Americano shit is, they seem to be doing pretty well in AAA. The crowd is going fuckin' nuts.

 

[Ricky Jackson]

No major observation, but having so many hours of TV to fill in a post squash TV era often means overexposing programs before the big match just because of the mindset that you can't dare not have "meaningful" segments with big stars each and every week, week after week, starting months before Mania

[El-P]

Way to put over your roster and admit you're complete shit at making new stars in one swoop. This guy is *really* dumb as bricks. 😂

[Blehschmidt]

For a guy who claims to be a fan of the territories, he certainly doesn't have a fucking clue how they worked. 

[Timbo Slice]

So, to recap:

-Dude who basically got carnied into being the brown-nosing bag carrier for the Kliq

-Dude who let Flair carny him into what the territories were REALLY like while failing as cosplaying him while both Batista and Orton got more over than he did in Evolution

-Dude who was openly contempted by Dusty, got essentially shot on with his wife in his final televised angle, only to take over his brand after Dusty’s passing to aura farm said brand’s ascent with the talent Dusty cultivated

…has now both pissed away NXT’s glory days handing it off to the dude whose bags he carried AND can’t carry the ball without creative that was helmed by his antichrist of a father in law and one of the actual best minds (carny or not) in the business in Heyman, AND doesn’t understand how to hand the baton off BECAUSE he can’t take it himself. 
 

I mean, it checks out. 
 

 

[sek69]

It also shows how little he knows about sports when teams have their seasons crater due to a star player getting hurt all the time. Yeah an NFL team has a backup QB but 90% of the time there's a reason that guy wasn't starting. Ask the Chiefs how it worked out for them when Pat Mahomes' knee exploded last year. 

[DMJ]

Its all a bizarre comment because it seems fairly obvious to me that this year's Mania *did* require a pivot and the use of a 2nd stringer in the form of Randy Orton.

The truth is, Randy Orton hasn't main evented a WrestleMania since 2014. I'm not saying he's not a huge star, but last year, coming out of WrestleMania, the big storylines were Cena's Heel Retirement Tour and the partnership between Rollins and Heyman. Rollins was headed to a Mania main event this year, but I think its worth shitting on The Vision for a second...

Rollins and Heyman had no chemistry and the reasoning behind their alliance was hazy at best. The addition of Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed didn't help things gel either. It was a stable of disparate parts. Put Heyman with Punk, Lesnar, or Roman, and it just feels right. Heyman didn't get there with any member of the Vision. 

[Coffey]

18 hours ago, Timbo Slice said:

So, to recap:

-Dude who basically got carnied into being the brown-nosing bag carrier for the Kliq

-Dude who let Flair carny him into what the territories were REALLY like while failing as cosplaying him while both Batista and Orton got more over than he did in Evolution

-Dude who was openly contempted by Dusty, got essentially shot on with his wife in his final televised angle, only to take over his brand after Dusty’s passing to aura farm said brand’s ascent with the talent Dusty cultivated

…has now both pissed away NXT’s glory days handing it off to the dude whose bags he carried AND can’t carry the ball without creative that was helmed by his antichrist of a father in law and one of the actual best minds (carny or not) in the business in Heyman, AND doesn’t understand how to hand the baton off BECAUSE he can’t take it himself. 

I mean, it checks out. 

Don't forget his multiple attempts to get the 'standing ovation after a loss pop' & the crowd, every time, didn't give a shit. Even helped with HBK to carry Taker out once to feel like a part of the team... what a schmuck.

[El-P]

I feel that there's an entire generation now who has been totally gaslit into thinking Triple H was this awesome worker and huge star and miracle booker when infact he always was a tool who got where he got thanks to politics.

He took forever before eventually getting over after everyone and their brothers put him over, he never was close to the most over guy in the company when the company was hot, his reign of terror was unbearable, his wife was unbearable, he stayed overpushed for years because he was the son-in-law of the rapist fuck, he always was an insecure little bitch whom you could not have in a position of weakness in *video games commercials*, booking NXT black & gold was the easiest shit ever since they basically were rampaging indie darlings and putting them in big matches with no pressure of ratings or whatnot while the main roster product was fucking atrocious.

He's been exposed over and over again, yet people still thought he was this "savior of wrestling" for WWE. I mean, they got what they deserve.