Professional Wrestling: Irish War Painting II

[Rhom]

That was a quick turn for Edge... I kinda liked where he was going with Judgment Day.  Didn't see them turning on him so quickly.  

[Rhom]

I’ll be damned if that Logan Paul vs The Miz match wasn’t far better than it had any business being.

When Paul set him up on the announce table, I figured there would be some interference that let them both off the hook.  Never expected a frog splash from the top of the turnbuckle straight onto Miz!  

[lmanion]

Heard Logan on a couple of pods (flagrant and true Geordie) talking about signing with WWE he sounds pretty serious about it which has showed in his appearances so far. He was a wrestler in college so I think he will suprise a lot of people

[Tywin et al.]

I don't watch wrestling and haven't for a long time, but I had the TV on mute, a football game ended and when I randomly looked up 10 women were fighting each other. Then I went away for a while and a small guy was fighting a giant, three goons cheated the big dude and attacked him. The small guy ran back to save them and now I'm sure they'll become a tag team. 

Some things don't change.

[lmanion]

Hadn't watched for a while but thought I would check out Raws 30th anniversary show and I may have to keep watching. There are things happening on the main roster that are better than anything they have managed in the last decade. For the love of god keep Vince away from creative. They actually fairly neatly integrated the old stars with the current wrestlers for the most part and they seem to be saving the everyone throws each other over the top rope bit until at least smackdown. Even better if they can leave it until the rumble itself.

I'm in for at least the next few days of WWE programming which is I suppose all they could hope for with Raw 30

[Rhom]

8 hours ago, lmanion said:

Hadn't watched for a while but thought I would check out Raws 30th anniversary show and I may have to keep watching. There are things happening on the main roster that are better than anything they have managed in the last decade. For the love of god keep Vince away from creative. They actually fairly neatly integrated the old stars with the current wrestlers for the most part and they seem to be saving the everyone throws each other over the top rope bit until at least smackdown. Even better if they can leave it until the rumble itself.

I'm in for at least the next few days of WWE programming which is I suppose all they could hope for with Raw 30

The DX bit was a lot of fun.  I agree that the booking has been much better since HHH took over that side of things.  It is a legit concern that Vince may mess things up.  I don't think he can help himself.  But until he does, I'll keep enjoying things.

[DMC]

I think the biggest concern right now with Vince is how his sale will affect the on-screen product, roster development, talent relations, etc.  As criminal as Vince has been in terms of labor relations the past 35 some-odd years, from a purely fan perspective I'd much rather ownership stay with people that actually care about the product rather than a major media conglomerate.  We saw how that destroyed WCW.  And it seems pretty clear Triple H, at least, is adamantly against a sale.  I suspect many in the locker room are as well.

[briantw]

56 minutes ago, DMC said:

I think the biggest concern right now with Vince is how his sale will affect the on-screen product, roster development, talent relations, etc.  As criminal as Vince has been in terms of labor relations the past 35 some-odd years, from a purely fan perspective I'd much rather ownership stay with people that actually care about the product rather than a major media conglomerate.  We saw how that destroyed WCW.  And it seems pretty clear Triple H, at least, is adamantly against a sale.  I suspect many in the locker room are as well.

Triple H seems like the guy who should be running the company because he actually cares about the product and, more importantly, knows how to book good wrestling.  I've only followed it off and on the past few years, as I stopped watching wrestling pretty much entirely during covid (the lack of crowds was a killer for me), but all accounts seem to be that WWE's on screen product has improved immensely since Vince stepped aside.  And given how much better NXT was than the main roster for years with Triple H in charge of that, it's not surprising.

[DMC]

1 minute ago, briantw said:

Triple H seems like the guy who should be running the company because he actually cares about the product and, more importantly, knows how to book good wrestling.

Of course, wasn't arguing that.  It seems like Vince's return - at least thus far - is not to usurp Triple H's role as head of creative but rather to lead negotiations in selling the company.  As far as I can tell Vince hasn't gotten involved with creative yet again or even shown up backstage.  Hell, it was news that he showed to his old office in Titan Towers.

[Rhom]

I’m totally lost about what happens tonight at Elimination Chamber.

I  mean there’s no way they have Roman drop the belt at a secondary PPV… and there’s REALLY no way they set up Sami Zayn vs Cody Rhodes for Wrestlemania…

BUT… I don’t know the last time I heard the crowd react the way they did on Smackdown last night, and that was just for Sami to stand there looking embarrassed in the middle of the ring alone.

Roman has certainly never been over like this at any point in his career.

How do you waste that?!!? But can you really have Sami Zayn be the guy to end the historic run?!!?

[briantw]

25 minutes ago, Rhom said:

I’m totally lost about what happens tonight at Elimination Chamber.

I  mean there’s no way they have Roman drop the belt at a secondary PPV… and there’s REALLY no way they set up Sami Zayn vs Cody Rhodes for Wrestlemania…

BUT… I don’t know the last time I heard the crowd react the way they did on Smackdown last night, and that was just for Sami to stand there looking embarrassed in the middle of the ring alone.

Roman has certainly never been over like this at any point in his career.

How do you waste that?!!? But can you really have Sami Zayn be the guy to end the historic run?!!?

I don't know how you can't have Sami win.  He's the guy right now.  No one in WWE has been this over since Daniel Bryan, and that was like a decade ago.

[Rhom]

23 minutes ago, briantw said:

I don't know how you can't have Sami win.  He's the guy right now.  No one in WWE has been this over since Daniel Bryan, and that was like a decade ago.

I agree… but Sami’s rise hasn’t come with in ring success.  He’s not had any wins to build it; it’s 100% based on his mic skills and some good set up from the Usos and to a lesser extent, Roman himself.

[Rhom]

This EC match has been pretty awesome.  Some great spots.

I think the biggest positive to come from Roman’s extended reign with both major belts has been the elevation by necessity of the US and Intercontinental titles.  It has made them much more significant.

ETA:  Okay.  A lame ending.  But obviously setting up Logan Paul vs Seth Rollins at WM.

Edited February 19 by Rhom

[briantw]

An early "fuck you Roman" chant.

[briantw]

The crowd for this show has been tremendous.  Reminds me of NXT crowds from before the pandemic. 

[Rhom]

16 minutes ago, briantw said:

An early "fuck you Roman" chant.

17k people belting that out at the top of their lungs is probably the best heel reaction that Roman has gotten these last two years.  This story with Sami has been the best thing WWE has done for a long time and has really breathed life into the part time wrestler they have made champ.

[Rhom]

Thinking on this Sami situation some more and the WM match up that must involve Roman vs Cody.

1.  I have felt that having both major titles tied up on one guy for this long has definitely had mixed results.  On the plus side, it has necessitated the elevation of the IC and US titles.  On the other hand, you've got essentially zero upper card.  So for me, splitting the belts would be a great thing.

2.  Sami is as over as anyone I can remember in a long time.  This shouldn't be squandered by having him and KO wrestle the Usos for the tag belts.  (Seriously, talk about mismanaging the story about split loyalties between Jimmy and Jay.)

3.  Cody has won the Royal Rumble.  So whether he really "deserves" a spot in the main event after being out for almost an entire year, he gets one anyways.

So here's my thoughts.  Triple threat.  Two falls.  First fall is for the Heavyweight title.  Second fall is for the Universal title.  Have Cody pin Sami for the WWE Championship.  Then have Sami pin Roman for the Universal title.  

Sami gets a title reign and puts the Universal title back in play for guys who have been sidelined from the main scene for a while.

Cody gets a storyline where he has finally achieved something no one in his family has ever had... but no one respects him because he didn't pin Roman for it.  So you can start a queue where he has to prove he's worth the title with a succession of challengers every week.  (Since Cody wouldn't be a part time champ like Roman.  )

[DMC]

Gotta say I love how Ari Gold Emanuel is about to be CEO of WWE's parent company.  Looks like a good deal for Vince - reports say they're valuing WWE at $9.3 billion.  That seems...far too high.  WWE shareholders also get 49% to Endeavor/UFC's 51%.  That's still a pretty good split as far as I can tell. 

Still, historic.  And while UFC doesn't have any competition I'm aware of, WWE does.  We'll see how it goes.  If I were Triple H or Stephanie, I would not be too enthused about relinquishing control to UFC.

[Rhom]

1 hour ago, DMC said:

Gotta say I love how Ari Gold Emanuel is about to be CEO of WWE's parent company.  Looks like a good deal for Vince - reports say they're valuing WWE at $9.3 billion.  That seems...far too high.  WWE shareholders also get 49% to Endeavor/UFC's 51%.  That's still a pretty good split as far as I can tell. 

Still, historic.  And while UFC doesn't have any competition I'm aware of, WWE does.  We'll see how it goes.  If I were Triple H or Stephanie, I would not be too enthused about relinquishing control to UFC.

I always wonder in moments like this if the new parent company realizes that they bought something and should therefore let it do what made it so valuable and desirable to begin with, or can they just not help themselves to go in and F it up?

[Rhom]

Night one of Wrestlemania was some of the best stuff I've seen in a while.  Night two was crap.  Up to and including Roman retaining for the forseeable future.  

At this point, theres no way he even wrestles at Backlash.  So the earliest he could drop the belt would be at Sumemerslam most likely.  Just taking a story with a ton of heat and dragging it on until theres nothing in the tank.