WWE TV Megathread

[Stiva]

I take great umbrage with that original Graves tweet because he has never been “fucking awesome” at commentary 

[C.S.]

13 hours ago, El-P said:

No. Simply jumping from AEW to a red hot WWE, which is a much bigger promotion anyway, makes Penta seem like more of a big deal. Let's not pretend the Lucha Brothers were not presented as big time stars the first (and best) years of the company. Also, there's a reason why Penta was never pushed as a single star, he said it countless times : he did not want it, he really only wanted to tag with his brother.

Same thing will happen when Ricky Starks jumps. By sheer scale effect, and the fact you're jumping from one place to another (and to the bigger and hotter place), you de facto become a bigger deal (unless WWE treats you like an afterthought of course, but they would be stupid to do so). What they do after that point is another matter, although Ricky Starks always struck me as more of a WWE type guy anyway (that being said, now that Rock is back, it may be tricky because he always had that second rate Rock thing to him).

And all of that, despite having some generic as fuck theme song too.

Anywoo. It was the right move for Penta. He's 39. I'm guessing in current WWE he can spam taunt to death like the other guy says "Yeah !" a lot and that would be enough anyway. Fénix will be another matter though. They have done jackshit with Dragon Lee (and before someone goes "but AEW", yeah, yeah, AEW's booking of Komander and Beast Mortos is depressing as well).

Is this board wigging out or was there a second reply from you that I can't find?

Anyway...

AEW is so inconsistent.

Sometimes it feels like they can only present ready-made acts as stars. Keith Lee looked like a killer in his first AEW match, Swerve has obviously been a huge success, Moxley, etc. 

But they've also struck gold with undeniably homegrown wrestlers like MJF, Britt Baker, Darby, Orange, Sammy off and on, etc. I wonder if that's down to the talent of those individuals being undeniable. 

Both Ethan Page and Pillman Jr. Lex King having varying degrees of success in NXT is proof that AEW has no real system for pushing people who may need a little extra guidance, boost, whatever it is. Either you're a red hot ready-made act or you're someone who can immediately slide into that space. Everyone in-between struggles in AEW.

The Lucha Bros. were presented well and had some good moments in AEW, for sure, but they also felt like "just another team" a lot of the time too. That's true of the Bucks and FTR as well, so tag team booking is obviously not AEW's strong suit, besides putting the right duos together to have bangers.

Ricky Starks will be a bigger star in WWE by default because AEW ain't using him at all. Starks being shelved is baffling to me. One day we'll get the story there. I wonder what the hell happened. Going to the Rumble to support Cody can't be the reason, or maybe it can? Who knows if Tony Khan is that petty? I would hope not. But something happened. Ditto for Miro.

If Malakai/Aleister Black returns to WWE, it will be another waste of time - just like Andrade. Just another overrated guy who adds another body to the midcard that fans don't care about. Black seemingly has everything going for him, but like Bam Bam Bigelow, some intangible is missing. Miro was also badly exposed in AEW, but I wouldn't mind him coming back, because he's certainly the best and most interesting of those three.

I hope this response isn't as rambling and incoherent as I fear it is, but I wrote too much already and don't have the energy to edit it, so...my apologies. 

16 hours ago, sek69 said:

This is pretty much the pro wres equivalent of getting sent to the minors, and if it isn't some kind of storyline going from calling Wrestlemanias to calling matches in front of a couple hundred folks on a campus in Florida because your boss is a mark for celebrity commentators has to sting a little.

I'm torn though. Part of me hopes it is a work so he doesn't seem like such a whiny baby, but if it is I don't really care to see him wrestling since he was becoming one of my favorite announcers in terms of how seemed like he was really hitting his stride. If it's just something he wants to do because he didn't get to end his in ring career on his terms, I get it, but it's not something anyone is really hankering to see.

I will say I enjoyed how half his commentary on NXT was asking Booker wtf he just said. At one point he seemed legit exasperated and was like "you have to deal with this every week?" to Vic.

It's definitely a demotion in terms of optics, but if he's making the same money for less travel, it's a sweet gig IMO. 

No one is clamoring for his in-ring return, but I remember thinking there was definitely something there the one time I saw him wrestle in NXT, so if he wants to go back to his original dream, I can't say I blame him.

With that said, there's all sorts of shit flying around about how he won't be on NXT tonight (we'll find out shortly) and was seen leaving the Orlando airport (I guess you can't fake going through TSA), so who knows what the hell is happening.

[strobogo]

Penta I feel can make a ton of money in WWE with merch, but his very schtick heavy performances and WWE's absolutely terrible record of pushing lucha guys that aren't Rey Jr. leads me to conclude he'll have a similar big early push like Nakamura and then be very, very firmly IC/US title level at best the rest of his run except he'll probably be doing Speed matches by the week after WM. 

He has the look and La Parka esque charisma that can get him over with the crowds no matter what but like La Parka in WCW, I don't see him getting much of a push beyond the lowest level title and then go into a waiting period for Fenix and then the same thing but with tag titles. But he'll probably make a lot of money from shirts and masks.

[sek69]

I suppose WWE must have forgot CW doesn't do overruns like USA did, as the Bayley/Roxanne angle got cut off at the end of the show tonight.

[El-P]

9 hours ago, C.S. said:

Is this board wigging out or was there a second reply from you that I can't find?

Nah, I wanted to edit my post, and I deleted it instead. 😅 So I basically requoted you as I re-wrote it.

9 hours ago, C.S. said:

AEW is so inconsistent.

Well, to say the fucking least.

9 hours ago, C.S. said:

Sometimes it feels like they can only present ready-made acts as stars. Keith Lee looked like a killer in his first AEW match, Swerve has obviously been a huge success, Moxley, etc. 

But they've also struck gold with undeniably homegrown wrestlers like MJF, Britt Baker, Darby, Orange, Sammy off and on, etc. I wonder if that's down to the talent of those individuals being undeniable. 

I'd say it's a mix of context, timing, and of course the talent itself and their mindset. BUT of course, AEW's presentation also played a part. Andrade's debut, which could have been awesome, was marred by being paired with Vickie Guerrero (it almost seems absurd she was even in AEW when you think back at it). Miro I thought they had a super clever idea, and obviously they dit not, before they redeemed (see what I did ?) themselves with the presentation for a while (until it got obvious Miro was just a pain in the ass to deal with).

9 hours ago, C.S. said:

If Malakai/Aleister Black returns to WWE, it will be another waste of time - just like Andrade. Just another overrated guy who adds another body to the midcard that fans don't care about. Black seemingly has everything going for him, but like Bam Bam Bigelow, some intangible is missing. Miro was also badly exposed in AEW, but I wouldn't mind him coming back, because he's certainly the best and most interesting of those three.

As far as talent goes, I disagree for both. Miro was terrific as the Redeemer, but when you don't want to do a job for fucking Hangman Page... Malakai's issue is pretty much the same it has been with every spooky gimmick since Bray Wyatt. All aesthetic, no depth at all. In the ring, he was a terrific and unique kind of worker with a great presence. But apart from the fact he's also one of those guy who was hard to deal with apparently (and look at his track record in term of single matches), he also got badly injured and his back is gone. He's not the same guy now he was in NXT a few years back. Andrade, well. Awesome worker, but he peaked in NXT (again) when he was paired with Miss Unionization. I think for the three of them, the mindset played a big part in why it did not work. Although Andrade obviously went on his way gracefully at the end (and honestly, Malakai too).

9 hours ago, C.S. said:

I hope this response isn't as rambling and incoherent as I fear it is, but I wrote too much already and don't have the energy to edit it, so...my apologies. 

Like *I* of all people would criticize anyone else for rambling. 🙂

[El-P]

So Masha Slamovitch, TNA women's champ, was at NXT in the crowd. Really, in term of adding something fresh and exciting about their product, this TNA deal, on WWE's side, as been really smart. It would be nice if that was reflected in what TNA actually gets on their side (because apart from a Rascalz reunion, which was really cool, TNA got low-tier names and talents only while NXT featured Joe Hendry and Jordynne Grace, and the Rascalz, in big matches. TNA got Wendy Choo in a tag match at BFG...).

Wait until Joe Hendry gets one of the biggest reaction at the Rumble too (again, because of the dynamics at hand).

Speaking about why AEW's existence has benefited WWE in the long run, well, WWE would never do that kind of stuff if AEW had not opened the so-called Forbidden Door and made it part of their appeal (which really had been closed by WWE itself, remember back in the late 90's where you could have a MPro show headlined by Taker vs Hakushi or Vader working the AJPW dome show, and of course sending workers to SMW and ECW).

[DMJ]

I hope this Corey Graves stuff is legit because while this absolutely sucks for him and he seems like an okay guy and I think he's a decent enough commentator, I absolutely hate "announcer storylines." The fact that this one is also "worked shoot" territory playing out on X is just...not my thing. I have no interest in Pat McAfee vs. Corey Graves at WrestleMania just like I had no interest in Michael Cole vs. Jerry Lawler or in the various times JR was pulled into storylines or turned heel (once for the Fake Deisel and Fake Razor storyline and I believe a second time when he was briefly managing "Dr. Death"?).