WWE Royal Rumble

[lessthanluke]

7 hours ago, Joe Pesci said:

Did anyone catch that final deletion match between the hardys that has the internet "abuzz"? I did, and man was it ridiculous. 

Ridiculously awesome you mean. It's ovaaahhh

[Manhole Eunuchsbane]

 I imagine some of you longtime wrasslin' fans are familiar with this story/video, but I just came across this last night. This is going to be the retelling of a failed WCW promo. (I know this is a WWE thread, but there's no other wrasslin' thread on this board I can put this in.  I was listening to some old Opie and Anthony radio show compilations featuring Bill Burr when they started talking about bad wrestling promos. Patrice O'Neal then brought up the Shockmaster. 

 Let me take you back to 1993 for a "A Flair for the Gold" interview segment with Sting and Davey Boy Smith at Clash of the Champions I give you the Shockmaster in all his bedazzled Stormtrooper masked glory...Start video at about 3:35 as mass hilarity ensues.

 

 

 

 And a quick writeup of the event...

https://ringthedamnbell.wordpress.com/2013/05/10/well-that-didnt-work-the-debut-of-shockmaster/

  

[Joe Pesci]

7 hours ago, Manhole Eunuchsbane said:

 I imagine some of you longtime wrasslin' fans are familiar with this story/video, but I just came across this last night. This is going to be the retelling of a failed WCW promo. (I know this is a WWE thread, but there's no other wrasslin' thread on this board I can put this in.  I was listening to some old Opie and Anthony radio show compilations featuring Bill Burr when they started talking about bad wrestling promos. Patrice O'Neal then brought up the Shockmaster. 

 Let me take you back to 1993 for a "A Flair for the Gold" interview segment with Sting and Davey Boy Smith at Clash of the Champions I give you the Shockmaster in all his bedazzled Stormtrooper masked glory...Start video at about 3:35 as mass hilarity ensues.

 

 

 

 And a quick writeup of the event...

https://ringthedamnbell.wordpress.com/2013/05/10/well-that-didnt-work-the-debut-of-shockmaster/

  

A stormtrooper helmet and glitter are always a recipe for disaster, add in a fat guy busting through a wall like the Kool-Aid Man, and you've set yourself up for failure. 

[Manhole Eunuchsbane]

1 hour ago, Joe Pesci said:

A stormtrooper helmet and glitter are always a recipe for disaster, add in a fat guy busting through a wall like the Kool-Aid Man, and you've set yourself up for failure. 

 An absolutely glorious comedy of errors. 

[Manhole Eunuchsbane]

 Sports Illustrated Top 101 Wrestlers of All-Time...

  http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2016/07/26/wwe-wcw-ecw-100-best-wrestlers-all-time

 

/What? No Shockmaster?

[Joe Pesci]

Anyone watch any of the cruiserweight classic on the network? I've caught the first two episodes, and it's really good. No bullshit skits, just straight high quality wrestling. Pretty impressive event thus far.

[briantw]

5 hours ago, Joe Pesci said:

Anyone watch any of the cruiserweight classic on the network? I've caught the first two episodes, and it's really good. No bullshit skits, just straight high quality wrestling. Pretty impressive event thus far.

I'm on the same page as you.  I've seen the first two and the first match (the Zach Sabre one) of episode three.  I've heard that the Gargano/Ciampo round one match (I assume that is episode four) is amazing, as is the round two match with Ibushi.

With Raw bringing back the Cruiserweight belt, my guess would be the winner of this tournament will be the first Cruiserweight Champion of the new brand split era.

As far as the event itself goes, you can tell Triple H is running it.  The wrestling is front and center, the booking is smart, the production is slick, and it's just generally no nonsense like NXT tends to be.  The WWE is going to be so much better once Vince finally dies and Triple H takes control of everything.

[briantw]

Damn the Gallagher/Aichner match was fantastic.  Already love Jack Gallagher, and Aichner was really impressive too.

And the Gargano/Ciampo match definitely did not disappoint.  Those two looked like they were trying to kill each other.  Great stuff.

[Joe Pesci]

10 minutes ago, briantw said:

Damn the Gallagher/Aichner match was fantastic.  Already love Jack Gallagher, and Aichner was really impressive too.

And the Gargano/Ciampo match definitely did not disappoint.  Those two looked like they were trying to kill each other.  Great stuff.

I watched this episode earlier today, high quality across the board.

[briantw]

Just now, Joe Pesci said:

I watched this episode earlier today, high quality across the board.

Apparently the WWE has signed Ibushi, which is a great get for them.  Along with Nakamura, that gives them two of the best Japanese wrestlers in the world.  I hope they sign Cedric Alexander as well.  He looked great.  

I hope they sign Mendoza too.  That dude was awesome.

[briantw]

Holy shit that Alexander/Ibushi match was incredible.

[Joe Pesci]

On 8/12/2016 at 4:59 PM, briantw said:

Holy shit that Alexander/Ibushi match was incredible.

Finally got a chance to check out this episode today. Amazing match. I continue to be impressed each week with this.

[briantw]

16 hours ago, Joe Pesci said:

Finally got a chance to check out this episode today. Amazing match. I continue to be impressed each week with this.

The bit after the match where the crowd chanted "please sign Cedric" and then Triple H came out and gave them the thumbs up was awesome.

[KingintheNorth4]

A nicely stacked for this year's Summerslam (though Sami Zayn not being on there is a travesty). I'm predicting that Enzo and Cass win, Rusev retains, Sasha retains, Ambrose retains, The Bullet Club become new tag champs, Apollo Crews becomes new I.C. champs, Styles beats Cena clean, Brock wins, and I'm having a tough time who to pick between Rollins and Balor, but I am finding myself towards Balor  winning.

[briantw]

16 hours ago, KingintheNorth4 said:

A nicely stacked for this year's Summerslam (though Sami Zayn not being on there is a travesty). I'm predicting that Enzo and Cass win, Rusev retains, Sasha retains, Ambrose retains, The Bullet Club become new tag champs, Apollo Crews becomes new I.C. champs, Styles beats Cena clean, Brock wins, and I'm having a tough time who to pick between Rollins and Balor, but I am finding myself towards Balor  winning.

I think you have to have Balor win his first big match or risk him looking like he doesn't matter.  They've hyped the hell out of him on the main roster since his debut a few weeks ago.  The natural progression of that is to have him win the title.  I wonder if and when they'll have him team up with Gallows and Anderson.

[briantw]

Another great NXT Takeover last night.  

Ember Moon was incredibly impressive in her debut.  That spinning stunner finisher is awesome.

Also, Bobby Roode's entrance is absolutely glorious.

[Manhole Eunuchsbane]

 Mr Fuji Throws Last Handful of Salt at a Babyface...

 http://www.wwe.com/article/mr-fuji-passes-away?sf34531924=1&utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark

[SerPaladin]

It was a shame to see Balor go on the shelf so soon, but I've got a little hope for how the shows are shaping up.

Miz can single-handedly keep the mid-card interesting on SD. He's Jericho on the mic, and has his own Miss Elizabeth backing him up. That's a strong pedigree. It's perfect for the "wrestling" show, as many of the up and coming faces are rookies or are poor on the mic, or both like Apollo Crews. He will be great for the younger talent.

Once AJ finished beating up John Cena, his entry into the World title picture puts the SD title above the Raw title. That was not the case as recently as Summerslam, so the tables have turned. Dean, AJ, Bray, and Orton can all legitimately take a turn chasing, Cena will be back after filming and Ziggler could get a character reboot/ infusion of gravitas to fill another program in that picture. If Del Rio wasn't on the outs, he could play in that range.

The U Title... let me digress. The WWE needs to christen a new top title. It's on a show where a Cruiserweight division is coming soon. You have a retired top belt called the Heavyweight Championship. How do you not resurrect that name? I know, it's the WWE Universe, for branding, so call it the Universal Champion. I know I'll be watching when Roman Reigns defends the Universal title against the new Junk Yard Dog, hailing from the Sirius system.

The U title picture depresses me a little, especially for the show that "won the draft". Balor out, Lesnar part time. Cass is 5 years from being a main even threat. So we've got Rollins and Reigns again for the title, and Kevin Owens as the dark horse. Could Vince, famously enamored of the bodybuilder types, allow his champions to be a greasy smart-ass on SD and the Bubba-Ray-esque Owens on Raw? I hope so, the guy is gold, but I doubt. Giving the strap to Rollins means there are no good faces to chase him, unless Big E gets his long awaited Singles push, or Cesaro gets out of the doghouse.

The Raw mid-card looks pretty good. Hopefully the Cesaro-Seamus best of seven gets booked well. Feeding local jobbers to Braun Strowman is entertaining, and I hope they let it roll for a long long time. Never give that guy a mic (or let the camera linger on his face too long). 

Bayley makes the women's division entertaining in a very Daniel Bryan sort of way, and the booking with Charlotte writes itself for a very long time. When Paige and Sasha return, it will be rock solid.

 

[briantw]

2 hours ago, SerPaladin said:

The U Title... let me digress. The WWE needs to christen a new top title. It's on a show where a Cruiserweight division is coming soon. You have a retired top belt called the Heavyweight Championship. How do you not resurrect that name? I know, it's the WWE Universe, for branding, so call it the Universal Champion. I know I'll be watching when Roman Reigns defends the Universal title against the new Junk Yard Dog, hailing from the Sirius system.

The U title picture depresses me a little, especially for the show that "won the draft". Balor out, Lesnar part time. Cass is 5 years from being a main even threat. So we've got Rollins and Reigns again for the title, and Kevin Owens as the dark horse. Could Vince, famously enamored of the bodybuilder types, allow his champions to be a greasy smart-ass on SD and the Bubba-Ray-esque Owens on Raw? I hope so, the guy is gold, but I doubt. Giving the strap to Rollins means there are no good faces to chase him, unless Big E gets his long awaited Singles push, or Cesaro gets out of the doghouse.

 

Supposedly Balor was going to feud with Owens after securing the title, so I think it's at least possible that Owens wins the belt.  Rollins probably deserves a bit of punishment for the way his dangerous style keeps hurting other wrestlers, so I don't think he should be gifted the world title again so soon tonight.  Cass is nowhere near ready for a singles run, and really he shouldn't even be in this damn match to begin with.  It feels like another very Vince-like move of pushing a big guy years before he's ready for the push.  Cass can hold his own on the mic, to be sure, but does anyone really want to see him wrestling twenty minute singles matches on a PPV?  I sure as hell don't.  He's not good enough to do that.  And Reigns is just not going to get over as the champ, or as a face at all, and it's time for the WWE to realize that and stop shoving him into a main event picture where he's not welcome.  Also, he shouldn't win the world title a month after being suspended thirty days for failing a drug test while he was the champ.  I feel like fucking up to that point should mean at least a year of holding no titles.

Owens seems to be the most deserving of the guys in the match tonight.  He's been an iron man since his debut in NXT, and he has yet to miss a PPV on the main roster.  He's appeared in every single PPV since his main roster debut against John Cena over a year ago.  That's a pretty incredible accomplishment.  He's also one of the best five WWE guys in the ring and a top mic guy as well.  The only thing he doesn't have is the look, but fans love him and his t-shirts consistently sell well despite ho-hum booking since he lost the IC title.  He'd be a great heel champ, and the idea of him eventually dropping the belt to Sami Zayn at Wrestlemania after Zayn wins the Rumble seems to write itself.

Owens also has a ready-made feud with Chris Jericho, who would presumably be jealous that Owens stole the title shot that he felt belonged to him, and a potential Cesaro feud would be great as well if Cesaro wins his best of seven series and is given a title shot as a reward.

[SerPaladin]

Had the Cesaro and Zayn feuds in my head for Owens, but of course no payoff for Zayn. Can't be the underdog from the underground if you're wearing gold. Maybe in a year and a half or 2 and a half, where a WM payoff would be less abrupt. It's crazy to say that some guys need build-up after the energy Balor was bringing after only a month, but the Zayn story is different.

Why is Cesaro not breaking through? I feel like he's been "imminent" for a couple years. He's only above average on the mic, and he's super stiff, which history suggests is not something management wants, but his persona and moveset make me wonder. I feel like he's a small step down from Cena and Lesnar in power, but at least as strong as everyone else, and he's more athletic than any of the 10-12 biggest guys, except Jordan when he finally moves to a singles career (that guy is the next Rock, not Reigns, but it's a long way off, IMO).

I have loved "it" from Owens and Jericho so much I completely forgot that this feud is destined to happen. But who goes "face"? If Owens is the champ, and Jericho is jealous, it ends up a heel-heel matchup. How do you turn Jericho's sneering and scarves back into a crowd favorite?