I did like Gargano's feud with Ciampa, although that was mainly due to Ciampa being a Godly heel.
The matches were a let down though.
I did like Gargano's feud with Ciampa, although that was mainly due to Ciampa being a Godly heel.
The matches were a let down though.
Yeah!
Oh and Justice for Carlito:
Make Mania a fatal-fourway.
Last edited by Sir Andy Mahowry; 10-02-2024 at 04:14 PM.
Sorry for the Twitter/X spam but this is stunning.
Holy shit, that was actually nice.
Also:
https://youtu.be/6aFgLHrMBuY?si=w3Gk6tzqN9niCDL6
I like that they're having Rollins involved. Because love him or hate him he really should be.
Rollins’ promo. Sue Perb.
He's going to screw Cody so hard and I'm here for it.
Not sure. Think they’re setting it up for some type of Attitude Era Civil War shenanigans.
Can see the main event being an absolute clusterfuck and Rhodes wins Mankind esque
Fuck that. WrestleMania is a season finale, the one event where everything should be settled without shenanigans to give the losers an out and/or to extend a feud.
Not saying they won't, but fuck that. I'll be booing this thread off the board.
And it wasn't a great match, even ignoring the winner. Roman has been a geek ever since (I was a fan of his reign up until last summer) and while a lot of his problems are that he's never there, he might have got a lot more grace with the fans had he had great matches and won decisively when he does turn up (you build him as unstoppable as possible then his comeuppance, presumably this Mania, will be bigger and even more meaningful). At the moment in kayfabe you think he's incapable of winning without multiple shenanigans so he doesn't even look strong. Cody didn't need protecting last year because they'd already pencilled him to go clean over Lesnar at Summerslam.
I was really hoping they might have Cody explain why he initially gave the Rock his main event but given he seemed to try and make like it was only at the Vegas presser that he took against Rick maybe they're just gonna try and pretend that bit didn't happen in the first place. Good promo though and I enjoyed Rollins' part in it two, his motivations for getting involved and also just asking Cody what his plan is to make sure this Mania doesn't go down the same as the last one.
Anyway, I am off today so I actually watched (or at least skimmed) most of Raw.
- Enjoyed the opening six-man and, like Zayn on Friday, New Day really came into this looking energised. Liked that they built Jey / Gunther throughout as well, and I'm loving Gunther becoming a bit more snarky too. What the fuck is with Kofi's new ring gear though? When he wore that at the Rumble I assumed something had gone wrong and that was his backup gear or something.
- Lashley / Reed was solid enough, when it occurred to me this was for an Australia show I just assumed Kross would cost Lashley to get Reed on the show but apparently not. Wasn't sure Bobbo was really working with him here though. Looked to me like he sandbagged Reed on at least one move.
- Not entirely against Sami / Nakamura, even if it won't be a patch on their NXT feud, but Nakamura's current gimmick being "wants to stop people achieving anything and then losing to them after a series of okay matches" has already worn thin. Curious as to what the Drew/Sami stuff is building to. If Drew is winning the Chamber, as I expect he is, when does that match even happen? Unless they're just doing the very un-WWE thing (before HHH at least) of just generally laying the groundwork for some future stuff.
- The Becky/Nia/Rhea stuff was fine but they've got a job on to make it seem like anybody other than Becky is gonna win the chamber. And Rhea's got a job on getting a proper good match out of Jax.
- The Drew backstage promo was excellent, as per. "I'm the underdog!"
- Ivar is fun but there was zero chance he was winning that qualifier. And rightly so, but it did make this match feel a bit of a waste of time. I guess Knight will be getting Paul at Mania and that'll be set up in the Chamber.
LA Knight is one that unfortunately got lost in the bloodline shuffle. It would have been great to get a title on him last summer but obviously Roman wasn't there and you can't take it off Rollins after just creating the new belt.
I would have had him dethrone Walter but it seems they're not going that way, so the US title will do him alright.
I suspect we're going into a no DQ match at Mania of some sort for all of THE STORY. That or they're going to have to have the ref bump to end all ref bumps to get this interference in. Good to paint Cody as the honest guy whose only plan is to 'just win' but Rollins the more wise 'architect' along side him to make him think. Maybe they go recruiting allies now along the way.
Tbf I fully expected Knight to be screwed over by AJ Styles to set up their match but maybe that’s not happening
The US title is a bit of a double-edged sword. Either it'll propel LA Knight to a World title in the next 12 months or it'll hold him back and he'll fall into the midcard as the boat gets missed. Bit of a risky one for me if they go for him vs. Paul.
Babyface Rick hasn’t stood the test of time but it’s looking like Heel Rick has. A few cringey insults still but he’ll never get away from that, however otherwise he wasn’t holding back and it was a good segment last night. Get that 2003 Hollywood Rick theme music loaded back up and we’re onto a winner.
I thought after all the hype that segment had big "could've been an email" energy. Could live without Rick being sweating his balls off after a promo and flubbing a bunch of his lines but he is at least clearing the very low bar of being much better than on his returns when he's just rolling out the catchphrases.
Lots of promos could be an email. Especially Rollins, so we don't have to listen to it in that stupid cackling cadence, although I'll be fair to him he's been pretty good recently when he's been serious.
He’s obviously better at being a heel but I can’t take Rick seriously at all. He’s too old
Mans out of breath after talking about shoving nuggets and fruity pebbles up peoples asses and he thinks he can main event?
Steroids do nothing for cardio then, if that needed to be confirmed.
Rick is definitely Trunks. Cody is our Son Gohan taking on Perfect Cell who has absorbed all power before him and seems unstoppable?
I don't get any of those references but I'll agree wholeheartedly.
Young Bucks are mighty mask
I'm a twit
Why does Solo take his hood off every time like we’re supposed to be surprised it’s him
They presented him with such an aura early on and he was protected for a long time (never getting pinned etc.) but now he's just another guy and he actually doesn't have much in the way of charisma or wrestling ability. It's a shame Jacob Fatu had a load of legal trouble because in hindsight he'd have been much better in that role.
The best part was how he left Jimmy hanging for that high five/handshake at the top of the ramp. He wanted that for a good minute+
I assume this is where we now see Cody accept that Rollins was right and he needs a plan. Then he goes and gets his own team for backup.
I'm making my AEW comeback at Revolution next weekend, there's no way I'm missing this:
Meat Madness Match
Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Wardlow vs. ??? vs. ???
Im completely out the loop but if it’s not Jake Hager and Satnam Singh then I consider it progress.
I'm a twit
I know it’s against Rhea but Nia Jax should not main event a PPV. Ever
I get that the fans are turning up for Rhea in the main event so burning a good opponent would be idiotic but at least go with someone who can have a decent and SAFE match. Rhea is just amazing in every sense of the word but this has a more than zero percent chance of going tits up, which they don’t need to risk right now.
Elimination Chamber live at 10am tomorrow? Might stick it on.
I'm a twit
I'm getting up for it like a fucking geek cunt.
I think the matches should all be at least decent but it does seem a particularly predictable set of results.
Also I'm all for Trips' shorter shows but four matches feels a little stingy when you're taking the show to Australia and you haven't even found space for Bronson Reed on the card. I know they want Paul in the chamber to a) jump off a pod and b) maybe set up his 'Mania feud but I feel like given he ain't winning the match I'd have been tempted to have him vs. Reed for the US title. I think that'd be a perfect match of Reed getting to be the de facto babyface while Paul bumps like a mofo for him but then Paul gets some good heat when he wins. And then a think five matches would just be a nicer number for taking the show to Aus.
I wouldn't be surprised if we get a Grayson Waller effect which leads to a match between him and someone.
I think they've already confirmed Grayson Waller Effect with.... I want to say Cody?
EDIT: Cody and Seth Google tells me.
Will be interesting to see who they have win the mens Elimination Chamber. I'd like LA Knight but I bet it'll be someone boring like Orton or Lashley.
I think Bronson Reed has time off because his missus has or is about to give birth. Only reason I can think as to why he’s not on the card. They’ve even put the other Aussie lassie on the pre show to get her big day out.
Think both Chamber matches should be v decent and will both have to last near enough an hour as there’s no danger Nia Jax is doing near 20 mins in the ring.
Not sure how that Grayson Waller segment will go down. You’d imagine he would be cheered heavily but so will the other two so a bit of an odd dynamic
Surely Drew is nailed on here?
Logan feels like he's there to set up a Mania match with likely KO but maybe LA. Bobby I don't think so. He in WWE always falls into this weird spot where he's not enough for the big belts but too big for the US/Intercontinental belts.
Outside shot Randy wins, but most likely Drew.
Orton will be facing Solo at Wrestlemania if I had to guess, which is a massive shame.
I have no idea why Bobby Lashley is in the match. Utterly pointless. Not like he’s in there for a big spot. Will probably have him spear Logan Paul through a pod
Not that fussed about Drew winning the Chamber. The way the last few weeks have gone on tv, it would make sense for Drew to be Cody's first feud as champion after Mania.
I could see the talk show thing end up having Austin Theory getting involved and they turn it into a tag team match
Playa