The Ultimate WWE Thread

[Browning]

I truly hope that something didn't work as expected, as opposed to that being what was planned.

Seems to be the case because Khan was answering questions from the media about it afterwards. I mean, he could be working them and they could have planned it to be shit, but I doubt it.

[Ian]

Look, sparklers are scary okay?

[Baz]

What an anticlimax :roflol:

[Baz]

1368915439456247808

[Disco]

It was a very weedy little spooter wasn't it.

Surely the play there is to make a hoax played by the heels, same payoff but without having to admit you're pyro was wank.

[Ian]

The problem there is Kingston sold it like the world was ending around him and didn't the announcers go mental.too as if the thing they were meant to be seeing was in fact happening?

Just move on and don't say anything too specific about it ever again.

[phonics]

The entire sport revolves around improvising in the moment. And they fucked it. Total shit.

There were so many weird moments where they showed absolutely no ability to improv.

1368739986984505344

[Queenslander]

Was that Marco?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

:D

That's brilliant.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

A no DQ match having no actual finish, played WWE.

[Ian]

Pretending it was Omega's fault does seem to be the direction AEW are taking with it. Deciding the best route is just to make your characters look incompetent has very WWE energy.

Speaking of which, yeah, this no contest in no DQ settings is becoming a bit of a gimmick in its own right. As is having Drew and Sheamus wrestle every week when they're presumably heading to a match at Fastlane.

This Orton/Fiend/Alexa stuff sounds like the absolute worst as well.

[Baz]

I can overlook the absolutely massacred ending because things go wrong, and I won't have a bad word said against Evil Uno cos he's ace, but one thing that I literally keep thinking about is the first One Winged Angel. The NOBODY HAS EVER KICKED OUT angle has been built up for years and years and is legendary in wrestling. Then not only does Jon Moxley finally kick out of it by managing to flick his foot onto the barbed wire and setting off an explosion OMG NOBODY SAW THAT COMING and it could have been a great part of the story. But just as quick as Kenny falls down, blinded by the C4, Moxley is up and absolutely fine. This is a finishing move that NOBODY has ever kicked out of. And usually when Kenny's celebrating the win, his opponent is all-but dead in the ring. Yet Moxley's up as quick as a flash and ready to win. Absolutely bollocks.

And cinematic matches are the biggest waste of time in anyones life. Fair enough it looked nice, and the drone through the car was pretty impressive, but to pretend its live and surprising is just dumb. I can just about forgive the one from this Sunday, and the stadium brawl one was a bit of fun but I'll never forgive the Matt Hardy staged chair shot to Sammy Guevara. If you're gonna fake something like that, at least fake it from a few angles to make it look realistic. :nono:

At least the tag team match was great, but how could a tag match between the Young Bucks, Jericho and MJF be anything else? So good.

[Disco]

He didn't kick out, he got a foot on the rope. Which has also been done before so nothing to see here really.

The cinematic stuff I can take or leave, for me it works better when it's utterly ridiculous because I find it very difficult to take as seriously as it gets presented. I did have a laugh near the end when everyone had gone through the big final table/board/thing Sting looks at the camera as if to say 'well I think we won' and then saunters back to the ring to have a little bit of a wrestling match to finish with.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1369673164318474241

Deserved.

[wullie]

Are they skipping last year's set or doing them as well?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Doing them on the same night, so don't worry the Bella's will be in the HOF.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Finished up NXT tonight.

Good quality again but the women's tag match finish was horseshit, although it seems they did it to set up NXT women's tag titles which will surely go straight onto Kai/Raquel for winning the Dusty Classic and getting fucked in their title match.

[Ian]

So..... the womens Dusty Cup winners get screwed over so you can introduce your own NXT womens tag belts (fine, they have the roster for it), you then put the belts on Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez (still fine) and then have them drop them at the first time of asking (wat.)

Other than that decision it sounds like it was a really good episode of NXT last night. Ciampa / Thatcher talking about WALTER hopefully means we get to see him make an appearance on main NXT soon even if he still won't move over full time.

[Browning]

I say this as someone who has watched basically zero AEW (beyond big moments here and there in clips)- if their creative direction going forward is going to be big stable Vs big stable while random ex-WWE mid carder who has had zero matches so far (in the place where "wins and losses actually matter!) challenges for the World Title, they may as well shut down now and merge fully with TNA.

[Disco]

Part of the problem is how ubiquitous WWE have been for the last 20 years, if you want to sign people with established names/followings to raise the profile of your relatively new company then that's basically the only place to look. I'm not mad keen on Christian coming in and going to the top of the card but on the other hand he was a fairly prominent part of the Rumble very recently and it would be equally silly to have him wasting his time wrestling squashes before doing anything with him.

[Queenslander]

Dont know how to post from Instagram but it looks like Sammy Guevara v Shaun Spears is going to be a stiff one.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CMSV_2MJwxv/?igshid=1e6o43bgtnizu

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1369906516292165632

DEADLY mic shots.

[Queenslander]

:D

Jesus they need to take the female book away from Kenny.

Tattling to Cornette will kill him this time.

[Disco]

Cornette makes his money from ragging on modern wrestling, do these people think he doesn't watch it?

[Queenslander]

They want to be in on the dunking on AEW I guess.

[Disco]

I hope they never see any Gatoh Move.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Apparently Andrade has requested his release as he hasn't been on TV since October.

Can't believe how shit they've treated him and it's especially baffling considering he's boning Charlotte.

[Disco]

Possibly Chad Gable too. :drool:

[Browning]

Behind Charlotte's back?

[wullie]

Aleister Black's another, I thought he was injured but they've just stopped bothering. There was something about Bo Dallas running a farm because they can't be arsed giving him anything to do as well.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Aleister Black's another, I thought he was injured but they've just stopped bothering. There was something about Bo Dallas running a farm because they can't be arsed giving him anything to do as well.

Aleister Black is another brilliant wrestler. Apparently, they don't want to release him but they're happy to let his contract run down.

[Disco]

I think I've said it before but Aleister Black (or Tommy End for the ring announcers sake) would be awesome in the G1.

[Queenslander]

Apparently Andrade has requested his release as he hasn't been on TV since October.

Can't believe how shit they've treated him and it's especially baffling considering he's boning Charlotte.

Andrade joining Los Ingobernables de Japon would be perfect.

[Queenslander]

I think I've said it before but Aleister Black (or Tommy End for the ring announcers sake) would be awesome in the G1.

:drool:

Him and Andrade would add some serious depth to the US title division.

They also could get away with Both wrestling in the Jr's as well I reckon.

[Queenslander]

Lol

https://i.ibb.co/YyRQYf2/FB-IMG-1615593790995.jpg (https://ibb.co/SdsyWVN)

[Ian]

Gosh. That'll get people interested.

[Queenslander]

gosh. That'll get people interested.

pay per view

[phonics]

I’ve been thinking about it. I would have preferred Carlito to Christian.

[Queenslander]

I’ve been thinking about it. I would have preferred Carlito to Christian.

By far a better character than mr 'out work everybody'.

[Queenslander]

Finn-Juice winning the Impact titles is a pleasant surprise.

[wullie]

I thought Chris Masters was getting pretty good just before they let him go, didn't even realise he was still going though. The NWA show was great but as a free Youtube video, hope it makes enough to keep going on whatever service they're moving to.

[phonics]

Finn-Juice winning the Impact titles is a pleasant surprise.

He’s fighting Kenny in a title v title match. They’re just doing it to give him more belts.

[Queenslander]

He’s fighting Kenny in a title v title match. They’re just doing it to give him more belts.
Belt collecter like Ibushi

[Ian]

Four nights of Takeovers and Mania is going to be a slog. Hoping the two Takeover days are quite short and punchy, 4 or 5 matches each, tops. May just have to cherry pick matches I give a shit about then check reviews and go back for anything good I missed.

[Baz]

Christian Cage is basically Gary Barlow.

[Queenslander]

Jay White going after the NEVER belt is interesting.




https://www.instagram.com/tv/CMgKcdmHPsi/?igshid=h89yuq7fh4tc

[Queenslander]

This bloke is the best.


https://youtu.be/hY2qMf7m8JI

[Ian]

When I was out of episodes of podcasts I stuck some of his stuff on the other day. I initially started with his very first video but his delivery was putting me to sleep so I watched some more recent ones instead and they're not bad.

[Queenslander]

Is it the accent?

[Lofty]

WWE announcing an intergender match :D

[Ian]

Not gonna happen anyway, Lofty. Or not as an actual match. It'll be an angle to get Bray Wyatt back.


Is it the accent?

He just speaks very slowly and, particularly in that very early one, without much apparent enthusiasm.

[Queenslander]

Ahh fair enough.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Charlotte in a Wrestlemania poster on Thursday:

1372559296693735436

Charlotte not in the same Wrestlemania poster yesterday:

1373016430313099267

:sherlock:

[Queenslander]

Andrade?

[Shindig]

Drew has a sword in that. I know what his finisher's called but that creates unrealistic expectations.

[Gray Fox]

His finisher is the Claymore which is a kick. That looks like a Claymore sword. I for one am happy with the upgrade.

[Shindig]

Even if he goes full Triple H and uses the hilt. The most dangerous part of any weapon.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

It's part of his entrance these days:

https://media.comicbook.com/2020/11/drew-mcintyre-sword-wwe-raw-new-entrance-1245220-1280x0.jpeg

It's Vince's sword.

[Shindig]

There's two behind him. That's an open invitation to dual-wield down the ramp and they're not taking it.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1373769397102387208

Killing off Retribution on a pre-show. It ended as it started, covered in shit...

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

https://411mania.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Alexa-Bliss-The-Fiend-WWE-Fastlane-645x370.png

:lol:

It's so shit.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Reigns/Bryan was brilliant until the finish where they completely fucked it all.

Why does there always have to be so much interference?

[Gray Fox]

Andrade finally has what he wanted.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Can't believe they didn't use him on the main roster.

[Disco]

Come on Naito, get on the LIJ branded phone and get him in.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I can't see him going to NJPW because of Charlotte.

It's much more likely he stays in America or joins a Mexican promotion.

[Disco]

He doesn't have to join them forever to do a tour or two, Kenta manages and once travel normalises a bit more then it would be even easier.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Charlotte has the Rona.

[Ian]

Can she beat Asuka remotely at Mania?


Reigns/Bryan was brilliant until the finish where they completely fucked it all.

Why does there always have to be so much interference?

The ending didn't bother me that much because it was obvious it was ending in some sort of shenanigans as soon as an enforcer is announced, I didn't feel it was obvious exactly how it was gonna play out until nearer the end and assuming it's going to a triple threat and with Edge maybe as a heel I think it opens up more possibilities for what happens at Mania. The match was ace before that though and the only good thing on a whole show of meh.

[wullie]

If it gets Daniel Bryan in the match I'm all for the nonsense, he's effortlessly the best even with the Peaky haircut.

[Ian]

Yeah I did think last night especially during the opening bit of that match that he's just far and away the best they've got.

[Ian]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O5wwgBNVRo

The fucking sound effects when he gallops around the ring. :D

[Shindig]

Jesus. Also, he's gassed immediately.

[wullie]

I don't get why Braun Strowman's got himself in great shape so now they put a t-shirt on him that makes him look a sweaty bollock.

[Shindig]

Roid nips.

[Ian]

Jesus. Also, he's gassed immediately.

He's always been a bit like that though, hasn't he? Even during his brief peak run with the series where he and Reigns beat the shit out of each other my recollection is that he was sweaty and pink pretty much from the get-go.

It's a good thing anyway, two men who're soaked in sweat two minutes into the match will give him vs. Shane some thematic consistency.

[wullie]

Heart medication on a pole match, book it book it

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Can she beat Asuka remotely at Mania?
Plenty of time for her to recover and them to make it a triple threat.

[Ian]

Tapping both out simultaneously.

[Shindig]

Heart medication on a pole match, book it book it

Mike Rotunda as a guest ref. That ring will be drenched.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Lorcan and Burch have had to vacate the tag titles due to Burch suffering a separated shoulder :(

Surely has to be time for a Grizzled Young Veterans reign now.

[Ian]

Yeah you'd think GYV win them to set up MSK taking them further down the line.

[Baz]

Britt Baker just keeps getting better huh?

Was a rough start for her in AEW (let’s forget that weird brawl in the dentist) but she’s great on the mic, camera loves her and how she’s got this under her belt:

1372392277696479235

The table bump finish was brilliant too.

They need to drop the ongoing “who’ll get a figure before her” meme and get her a damn wrestling figure.

AEW Dynamite often feels like a PPV too, with all the themed shows. Really good. Just need to send all the TNA mugs packing.

[Disco]

And if you tune into their new Youtube show you get to hear a rap song about periods.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Watching NXT now and the chop WALTER hits Ciampa with sounds deadly.

1372361053846319106

[Queenslander]

:drool:

[Browning]

HOF class is filling up with Kane, Khali and RVD all going in...

[Baz]

And if you tune into their new Youtube show you get to hear a rap song about periods.

Wait what

[Disco]

Max Caster in his entrance on Elevation.

He's really good by the way, has everything you need to be extremely successful in wrestling.

[Queenslander]

Ospraey leaving with the IC title in heelish fashion would be good.

[Ian]

It's a pity I'm really not much interested in how good a match Balor can drag out of Kross because the rest of the Takeover card is shaping up nicely.

Although I still don't care much for Devlin either and his Balor-but-scrunchier face.

[Queenslander]

I would also like to try Japanese supplements.

https://i.ibb.co/yV9hSdx/Screenshot-20210328-132059-Instagram.jpg (https://ibb.co/TrfKLYN)

[Disco]

Amazing what a healthy diet and fresh air will do for the body.

[Ian]

Sounds like even by it's own low/high standards Raw curled out a hot, steamy turd for the The Road to Wrestlemania (sign-point) last night. I hope MVP and Lashley get some new lads for the Hurt Business rather than it just being split up altogether. Less sure how I feel about that being Jezza but he could probably do a solid turn as a mook instead of constantly collecting new sets of uber-jobbers. Where did the 'Knights of the Lone Wolf' go with their amazing 'dudes in hoodies' look?

[Queenslander]

Yikes

https://i.ibb.co/ZVDCXtf/FB-IMG-1617100783927.jpg (https://imgbb.com/)

[Ian]

Oh no, I don't like that at all.

[Disco]

I was told it was bad but that is particularly horrid. Especially given how good the IWGP belt was.

[Browning]

Spray painted the Divas title?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

So Andrade has revealed that Charlotte was pulled from Mania not because of Rona but because a WWE doctor was sure she was pregnant due to elevated HCG levels so she was medically suspended. Charlotte then took three pregnancy tests at home which all said negative but it took the WWE doctors a few days to run additional blood work and an ultrasound to confirm there's no Latino Flair.

[Ian]

Andrade saying there are only 3 or 4 women in WWE who can work longer matches. :cab:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Lisa/Victoria fucking loves a story.

Also, I cringed hard at "Dixie Carter with Downs Syndrome", fucking hell.

[Ian]

Yeah I think she's giving Blampied the anxiety because she won't stop telling anecdotes but they're also on a schedule for her.

Also I'm not a huge fan of 'Name that Jam' other than the fact that SRS shows more shyness/nervousness in that than at any other time.

[Ian]

I enjoyed Victoria's anecdotes but I can't believe she's done us out of a round of Whose Nips Are These.

EDIT: Oh they're doing them anyway. :drool: Good lad, Tempest.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

While I do love a round of Nips I don't think it should be the last round in a game.

Survival or the guess the wrestler round should end it.

[Ian]

I would slightly agree were it not for WNAT being so much less frequent these days.

[Queenslander]

Best Friends with Kris Statlander is so lovely.

[Ian]

Dunne vs. Kushida next week. :drool:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I'm not ready for that.

[Queenslander]

Winner of the New Japan US Cup wins the Strong Openweight Championship.

I guess the Heavyweight Title and Intercontinetal Title are both retired for good.

https://i.ibb.co/HpgcdXd/FB-IMG-1617419793017.jpg (https://ibb.co/Fq7QVnV)

[Queenslander]

Moxley v Nagata for the IWGP US Title is a weird one.

[Queenslander]

Im still pretty meh on Ospreay as IWGP World Champion....

[Ian]

I'm glad the Andre Battle Royal is on Smackdown rather than Mania because a) Mania is already long enough both nights and b) really who cares but just looking down the list of entrants this year you could have a whole extra card of proper bangers.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B2a6l6wM2k

Night 1 tonight.

Really looking forward to Ciampa/WALTER and Pete Dunne/Kushida.

I also think that tonight's card looks a little more solid than night 2.

[Disco]

Im still pretty meh on Ospreay as IWGP World Champion....

I know what you mean (and I'm not sure why he needed to boot his missus quite like that) but if you're going to do something with him he can't keep losing to high profile guys. I do worry for the top of that card though because Ibushi, Ospreay, and Okada all look thrashed.

[7om]

I think I read on Reddit that Okada is working with a couple of slipped discs, the poor sod.

[Ian]

I also think that tonight's card looks a little more solid than night 2.

100% agree.

I can't get excited for a Kross match. I assume Gargano will be facing Lumis which, again, meh. The tag match will probably be fine but LaRae / Hartwell don't do a lot for me. Devlin and Escobar will probably be decent and Cole / O'Reilly really depends on what they deliver. If it's akin to the end of the Ciampa / Gargano feud then I just don't want that.

Night 1 looks ace.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Devlin/Escobar could be be MOTN tomorrow.

It's the one I'm most excited about as a pure match.

[Ian]

I just hate Devlin's scrunchy little face and the fact that he looks like Balor with stunted growth.

[Disco]

Aldi Balor

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Changing Pete's theme :nono:

[phonics]

JD Drake just had a breakout match. The next Vader.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

The big boot by WALTER was monstrous.

What a match that was.

[Queenslander]

Lol

https://i.ibb.co/jVCy7qc/Screenshot-20210408-151901-Instagram.jpg (https://ibb.co/DGB93mx)

[Ian]

Night 1 of Takeover was.... fine?

Ciampa / Walter was good but the weakest of the Walter ones I've seen (I liked that it didn't just follow the usual formula but I think Walter gave Ciampa a little too much), womens title match and the tag match were good, Dunne/Kushida was good while it lasted but felt like the first half of the match they'd have liked to have had and the gauntlet was fine, I guess, once it picked up the pace toward the end.

There's nothing on tomorrow's card I'm actively looking forward to. I really wish O'Reilly and Cole was just a singles match because unsanctioned matches are invariably bullshit.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

The Ciampa/Gargano one at New Orleans was good although a little too long. Their empty arena match however was horseshit.

Also, I think Night One's biggest problem for me was timing. Especially the Dunne/Kushida match which could have done with at least 5 more minutes.

It would have been better if the gauntlet (which was quick for a match of it's type) was just a 6-way elimination match and a few minutes was cut from that.

[Ian]

The second-last Ciampa / Gargano bored the arse off me and I didn't even bother with the last one when I saw the length and reviews of it. Sounded a load of overwrought bollocks.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

The unsanctioned was their first match which was great.

They they did a street fight, then a LMS and then finally it was the shitty empty arena one.

[Ian]

I lose track. Basically I think they got worse as they went along. If it was the unsanctioned match I liked then it's probably the exception to the rule. Walk 'n' brawls do nothing for me.

I really liked that after Shirai jumped off the set they didn't spend ages lying around. Same as with the Ripley / Gonzalez LMS. Didn't have loads of downtime. That's what tends to annoy me with these things.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Poppy covering Adam Ant.

Not something I ever thought I'd hear.

Devlin took some insane bumps.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Night 2 was alright but night 1 was superior by far.

Ladder match was my MOTN and one of my favourites across both nights, I also really like Johnny against Bronson Reed (who looked brilliant) but other than that it was a bit meh.

Women's tag was alright but Shotzi tried to kill herself again with an awkward dive. Kross/Balor was probably Kross' second best match in NXT but it was still far too slow and he really doesn't come across as imposing as they think he does, Balor did a lot of good work which helped.

Finally the unsanctioned match. It had some good bits to it and I loved the finish but it was overbooked and far too long. I also think it was missing something and didn't feel as personal as it should have done, I think a regular but stiff match would have done much better.

Also, the crowd were really shit tonight especially in the main event. It really annoyed me when they did a "sit down and talk" spot and the crowd decided it would be the perfect time to be as loud as possible so you couldn't hear them and there were a lot of shit chants at the wrong time, maybe because they weren't feeling the main event.

Edit: I also think there should have been less pins in the ME (mainly near the beginning), it's unsanctioned and these guys supposedly hate each other why are they trying to end the match so quickly and not fuck the other over?

[Ian]

"Overbooked and far too long", pretty much exactly what the first review I read said and exactly what I was expecting. I dunno if I'll bother with anything other than the ladder match.

I'd probably just watch it all anywhere if there weren't so much other middling wrestling to sift through this weekend.

[Ian]

Aldi Balor

Also it's taken me nearly a day to think of this but surely given his relative size it should be Lidl Balor?

[phonics]

Where's Keith Lee? I swear I've not seen him since that rumble where Brock called him big boy.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Hasn't had a match since since February where he pinned Matt Riddle.

He was advertised to be in a triple threat for the US Championship at Elimination Chamber (according to news outlets he was scheduled to win) but apparently wasn't medically cleared.

I think he's fine though and has been for at least a couple of weeks.

[Ian]

The way they're going to fail to find a way to make the most of him is so criminal I'm already pre-emptively seething about it.

[wullie]

A massive storm currently hitting Tampa, should just do it in the warehouse every year now.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

The way they're going to fail to find a way to make the most of him is so criminal I'm already pre-emptively seething about it.

He's the only recent call up that I thought there is no way they can fuck it up.

The man was absolutely red hot and social media would bust their collective nut any time he had a match.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

So many not even pretending to wear a mask at Mania.

[Pleb]

This weather delay is incredible.

[Waffdon]

Why is this on a Saturday

[Pleb]

Vince wants a TWO PARTER

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Why is this on a Saturday

It's TOO BIG for just one night.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Camera cut EVERY. SINGLE. SECOND.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

This women's tag turmoil match is horrendous.

This is peak-diva crap.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

And people are going mad over Bad Bunny but are completely glossing over the fact that Miz and Morrison were doing so much to make him look decent.

The Canadian destroyer was all Morrison.

[Disco]

JD Drake just had a breakout match. The next Vader.

He did look good, shame Dynamite feels like it's being booked by a crackhead at the moment.

[Disco]

What show was Walter / Ciampa? I feel like that's something I should see.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Stand & Deliver night 1.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Oh and Sasha/Bianca was by far the best match on the card.

[Ian]

WWE title: Fun and I'm delighted with the result but I suspect that give it a few weeks and I'll forget very little about it. I really felt like they were cutting Bobbo's legs from under him to set up a Drew win. I was pretty convinced especially with it opening the show and then thought he was going to fight out of that lengthy submission at the end and totally kill its credibility but fair play.

Womens tag: An absolutely atrocious match and I wish I'd trusted my initial instinct and skipped it. Such a mess and I won't be making the mistake of watching Taminamania night 2's tag match. Natalya, Nia and Tamina in one match is too much. Poor Shayne.

Cesaro / Rollins: Fun match, right result. Possibly would have made more sense as the opener and I wish some time had been shaved off some of the shit to give this a bit more time. It was pretty enjoyable though.

Raw tag: Was.... decent? Having it building to a hot tag for the more obviously heel team gave it an odd dynamic as New Day did a bit of heeling to put that whole side of it over. The AJ / New Day stuff was fun, Omos is presumably very bad but he served his purpose I guess.

Cage match: Don't care. Skipped it. Fair play for the bump from Shane at his age, I assumed he'd go through another pile of bean bags masquerading as a table.

Bad Bunny tag: Don't care. Skipped it. I saw a Canadian Destroyer when jumping through and decided I had 100% made the right decision. A celebrity jumping off things doesn't make a match.

Banks / Belair was the match of the night. I liked that they made it a bit of a showcase for Belair's physical abilities and that Banks had to keep chipping away at her before she could take advantage for a spell before the end. I dunno if the picture of Sasha's bruise I've seen is related to that hair whip near the end but it sounded brutal. Really good match though, I enjoyed it a lot.

Overall the stuff I watched was pretty decent.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

It was due to the hair whip.

Sasha took it fully.

[Ian]

In which case: ooft. It looked sore and I rewound to see if there was a thigh slap (I know they're 'banned') but couldn't see it so it did look legit.

[Browning]

I wasn’t crazy about Sasha/Bianca, especially the early parts. Everything felt like it was half a second off and didn’t look right. It picked up towards the end but I feel like they’ll have a better rematch next month if they let them.

Opener was alright but the finish was bollocks. I guess Drew dominated the pandemic era because his weakness is loud noises.

Not a terrible show, but nothing special so far.

[Ian]

Nah there's nothing that people are gonna be talking about for ages to come other than the "moment" of Belair winning.

I've enjoyed the main event more than you but on the whole it's like a B- sort of a show.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

In which case: ooft. It looked sore and I rewound to see if there was a thigh slap (I know they're 'banned') but couldn't see it so it did look legit.

I think the hair whip is one of those actually legit actions. Although I'm sure the noise is exaggerated somehow as it legit sounds like a whip.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

The red lighting is back...

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

:lol:

That was horrendous.

[Browning]

That is one of the worst matches I've ever seen. Bray Wyatt has always been and always will be fucking shite.

[Lewis]

Yes mate. And we were the first people in the world to say it. :cool:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Tonight has been rough.

We've ranged from horseshit to (barely) alright.

Pacing has been a big issue and a lot of matches felt like they ended a little early.

I was expecting big things from Asuka/Rhea but it was slow as hell and there wasn't much good there other than the apron to floor DDT. Finish was flat as hell too.

I did like the main event a lot though.

[wullie]

I admire Tamina still giving it a go after all these years but I don't understand how she's still employed by anyone.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I don't understand why she was so over last night.

[wullie]

Is Matt Riddle doing some kind of Truman Show thing in reverse where he's the only one who knows he's on a scripted show? He seems half a second away from looking at the camera and winking every time he speaks

[phonics]

He declared that 'Ive forgot my lines' and just scooted off a scene the other day

[Shindig]

Is it possible he's just constantly high? It's Matt Riddle.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I'd imagine that Vince thinks it's a great way to bring in some of the 18-30's.

[Shindig]

"Look how funny he is. He has an addiction!"

[Gray Fox]

"This is SUCH GOOD SHIT!"

[Ian]

We've ranged from horseshit to (barely) alright.

Pacing has been a big issue and a lot of matches felt like they ended a little early.

I was expecting big things from Asuka/Rhea but it was slow as hell and there wasn't much good there other than the apron to floor DDT. Finish was flat as hell too.

I did like the main event a lot though.

I agree and disagree with this in bits and pieces but the big thing I do agree on is that a lot of the matches felt a little undercooked and like they just suddenly ended.

Orton/Fiend - Didn't watch but lol at that fucking ending.The Fiend just never gets to win, does he?

Womens tag - Like fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck am I watching another Tamina match. Glad Baszler got the finish though.

Owens/ Zayn - Just felt like a series of moves and then a finish. About the only bit of real story/psychology was the Battleground callback but it didn't really feel earned. It felt like they were expecting to get 15+ minutes, got 10 and so they just cut out all the stuff between moves out. Both are capable of much better than this, as we know. And Logan Paul is up there with the all time worst sellers of a Stunner.

Sheamus / Riddle - In some ways the best match of the night on its own terms. It's probably not even as good as their recent Raw match but I wasn't expecting a five star classic, just for the two of them to go for it and smack the shit out of each other.

Crews / Big E - Fuck off with new mates appearing out of nowhere to end matches, especially after six fucking minutes. Just let them have a proper match. Why are so many of these matches short bit Nia and cunting Tamina's tag shitshow get 15 bastard minutes?

Ripley / Asuka - Probably the best match of the night for me (Clive) but it was still just decent. I was breezy and well worked but again, I'd have liked them to have another couple of minutes to build up to a proper crescendo.

Blueniversal - A massive letdown to me. Barely any tension built because there were bugger all real false finishes in a match where going in I genuinely had no idea who was going to win. I don't hate the result as a long-term thing but as the end of two nights with a lot of heel triumphs in title matches this felt the flattest option as a, ugh, "moment."

Can't speak for the first two matches but yeah, just a great big pile of fine but unmemorable matches.

And I've just checked, of 14 matches Tamina was in the 5th and 6th longest. :moop:

I wish the nights were the other way around because I came out of yesterday feeling pretty positive.

[Browning]

The finish to the Women's Tag match really confused me. Shayna stole a blind tag and Nattie full on reacts to it. She watches it happen and then goes over and attacks Shayna. Then it's like she forgot about it 5 seconds later and went back to attacking Nia so Shayna could "steal one". Proper weird.

It was a weekend of mostly shit finishes though. Drew losing to a loud shout, Fiend losing to some goo and Sheamus's finish being over shadowed by his huge botch about 30 seconds earlier were the stand outs. The Triple Threat was..... alright, but even as the biggest Edge mark going, I never doubt Roman was going to win.

The sad part was listening to Jericho on Broken Skull afterwards was 1) more entertaining than all of Mania put together and 2) reminded me, from the clips they showed, that wrestling used to have finishes that weren't based around over used finishers. In fact, I don't think the whole of the 2 nights had one good false finish, primarily because it just feels like they will never let anything other than the established finisher end a match these days.

[Ian]

I'm more annoyed by the fact that while we're getting a few more submission finishers nobody of any importance ever taps. They always have to PASS OUT to protect them.

EDIT: Also forgot that Maggle got at least two move names totally wrong. Not like where he calls a suplex SOME SORT OF MODIFIED SLAM or whatever but actual named 'signature' moves, such as calling the Michinoku Driver a Blue Thunder Bomb and there was another really glaring one on night 2 as well.

He's actually getting worse, which is impress in a way.

[Ian]

I see Backlash is now called "WrestleMania Backlash", because apparently WWE's contempt for their own customers extends to not being able to put that one together for themselves.

[Browning]

“Box like structure” was Cole’s mania highlight.

[Ian]

Yeah thankfully I'd skipped that but I gather he and Saxton were generally failing to even just identify it as a box, let alone a jack in the box.

Raw also appears to have been commentated on last night not by Phillips but by some sports broadcaster man who didn't know anything about wrestling.

[Browning]

I read the results this morning and thought it sounded like a steaming pile of shite but figured it was probably better than it sounded as I only skimmed over it. Now the video reviews are in and consensus seems to be it was a new level of shit, even for RAW. Good stuff.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Yeah thankfully I'd skipped that but I gather he and Saxton were generally failing to even just identify it as a box, let alone a jack in the box.

Raw also appears to have been commentated on last night not by Phillips but by some sports broadcaster man who didn't know anything about wrestling.

They've also put Corey on RAW replacing Joe.

All they've said regarding Joe is "Samoa Joe remains part of the WWE talent roster."

I'd assume he's not moving to SD as they'd have surely just said so but surely it can't mean he's fit to wrestle again, can it?

[Ian]

I read the results this morning and thought it sounded like a steaming pile of shite but figured it was probably better than it sounded as I only skimmed over it. Now the video reviews are in and consensus seems to be it was a new level of shit, even for RAW. Good stuff.

Yeah, Wrestletalk and Going In Raw are both usually more positive than me and both haaaaaated it.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/476466012024340483/831637389956743168/Ey3etW-WQAIdcGh.png

[Ian]

That was one of the highlights of the show, to be fair.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Mickie James, Billie Kay, Tucker, Kalisto, Wesley Blake and Chelsea Green have been fired. Shame about Billie as I think she's good at comedy within wrestling.

Rick O'Shea, Aleister Black and Murphy are also rumoured to be getting fired today. How they managed to fuck those 3 up I have no idea.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Samoa Joe has gone :cab:

[Gray Fox]

Samoa Joe also given the boot.

What's with the clearout?

[Ian]

Sigh.

[Shindig]

Joe deserved better. WWE's gorge and purge approach to hiring has been one of my least favourite things about them.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Joe really should have been given a World title. He was so damn good and I never even saw his NXT run which I assume was brilliant.

[Ian]

They waste such a ridiculous amount of talent.

[wullie]

Peyton Royce and Bo Dallas on the list now too

[Queenslander]

That is some top shelf talent for the AEW/NJPW/IMPACT cartel.

[Ian]

I know they're ex-WWE but they're surely not old and past it enough for AEW to be hoovering up?

Now if they'd fired Road Dogg they'd have been all over that shit.

[Queenslander]

Joe back to Impact so we can get Omega v Joe would be nice.

O'Shea to NJPW and hopefully black follows.

[wullie]

AEW could get at least three more factions out of that lot, really fill up their seventh show exclusive to Tout

[Ian]

You could pick almost any Joe promo but this is still the one that stays in my mind.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dM6U_PusAI

[wullie]

This is great too, not seen it before now

https://twitter.com/WrestlingTravel/status/1383000015522705411

[Ian]

Oh yeah I remember that. He's just the best.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Pat McAfee to Smackdown as their new commentator which I think is a good move. He knows the business well and is very good on the mic.

[Lewis]

Tonga Jeff never cut a decent promo in his life.

[Ian]

I'm really enjoying Rollins' endless array of properly hideous suits.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/654064837432967198/834533554699501598/FB_IMG_1619038678789.jpg

:D

[Queenslander]

DDT in Japan would be perfect for him.

[Ian]

Charlotte's kayfabe 'indefinite suspension' is apparently to write her off so she can have an "undisclosed dental procedure."

Is this gonna be like that time she went for 'bicep surgery' and came back and her chest had ballooned?

[Ian]

Charlotte's kayfabe 'indefinite suspension' is apparently to write her off so she can have an "undisclosed dental procedure."

Is this gonna be like that time she went for 'bicep surgery' and came back and her chest had ballooned?

So apparently Uncle Dave's mind went to the same place but, because he's an idiot when it comes to this stuff, thought it worth voicing on Wrestling Observer radio.

You'd have thought he'd have learned his lesson by now.

[Queenslander]

That Mickey James firing is the most carny thing from WWE I can remember in quite a while.

[Ian]

Firing her in general or the bin bags thing?

[Shindig]

https://ringthedamnbell.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/duke-the-dumpster-droese.jpg?w=330&h=371

[Queenslander]

Firing her in general or the bin bags thing?

Bin bags

[Shindig]

At least Randy didn't shit in them this time.

[Queenslander]

https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/n07bpk/danny_cage_on_twitter_a_crazy_twitter_thread/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share


Ring of Honour being called out as a sesspit..

[Queenslander]

Moxley v Nagata on Dynamite is genuinely exciting.
Disco

[Ian]

https://www.postwrestling.com/2021/04/28/report-drake-wuertz-was-suspended-by-nxt-earlier-this-year/

:cab:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Yeah he's completely mental. I read about some of his views last year.

He's a QAnon guy who loves Trump and thinks that the Proud Boys speak sense.

[Ian]

One too many bumps to the head in all those deathmatches, perhaps.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1388304271142174723

I think it's brilliant.

Suits his character so much and as someone in the comments said, gives off final boss vibes.

Shame they didn't debut it at Mania though.

[Queenslander]

That is a cracker!

[Ian]

Yeah I like that. About fucking time they didn't have him using the Shield theme but yeah, Mania would have been the time to debut it.

[Ian]

Just finished NXT and while it wasn't a classic episode it did a lot of things I liked.

- Just going into the match between Kai and Martinez at the start and trusting the audience to remember why this is happening, not prefacing it with 5 minutes of flash backs of stuff that happened last week.
- Them mixing up how promos and interviews are presented with Cole and Swerve's stuff not just being the usual backstage fare.
- Cameron Grimes. That's all. Love him.
- Reed and Gargano feuding not by having them wrestle endlessly as the main roster would but by having Reed wrestle the mook instead.
- Drake Maverick calling out the tropes of an impending tag team split rather than just being the usual idiot babyface.
- The whole finish to the MSK/Kushida vs. LDF match looking after everybody. Including the bit where Nash Carter gets jumped because he goes to check on Kushida after he goes through the announce table. because y'know, he's meant to be a good guy so he's doing good guy stuff.
- And lastly but most importantly:
https://i.ibb.co/HxJrW2f/image.png

Kyle O'Reilly sitting and watching TV like a normal human being, not standing around backstage with his neck craned at a weird angle to see the screen to his side.

EDIT: Meanwhile I've started skipping through Smackdown and Baszler has just been pinned clean by fucking Tamina. :sick:

[Ian]

The result of that Bryan / Reigns match (which was decent) was inevitable but I am curious to see what they do with Bryan. Whether he just gets written off for ages or, alternatively, they totally take the sting out of it and he's back in a fortnight via some loophole.

I'd love it if he just did a mini-tour of the other shows, including NXT, checking some dream matches off his list.

[Queenslander]

Bryan as NXT champ would be good.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Get him facing Pete Dunne as well as WALTER :drool:

[Ian]

I think Walter would definitely be my dream match for him.

[Queenslander]

:drool:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

He'd probably allow WALTER to chop him half to death.

[Queenslander]

Didn't the Big Show light up Bryan's chest?

Blokes a pervert.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

989991029485928448

It was Roddy.

[Queenslander]

That is mental behaviour

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

You can tell he fucking loves it.

[Queenslander]

Needs to go up against Suzuki

[Browning]

Part 1 of the Pillman Dark Side of the Ring is now on YouTube.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

This Grimes/DiBiase story is amazing.

[Baz]

Part 1 of the Pillman Dark Side of the Ring is now on YouTube.

I recently watched the Benoit ones for the first time, after buying a Woman shirt cos Sammy Guevara wore it. Sad, man. But damn Jericho is a good guy.

Will probably watch the rest [of the wrestlers I’ve actually watched] cos it seems great series.

[igor_balis]

I found it pretty boring but it's probably my fault for being a wrestling obsessed ghoul who's read and listened to dozens of hours worth of stuff about it already.

[igor_balis]

I do like chavo though. Underrated run as the unflashy heel in the cruiserweight division in 2003ish.

[Ian]

Incredible end to Quizzlemania this week.

I'd actually ruled Mae Young out as I thought she'd have won an equivalent of the top women's title in some part of that lineage for WWE but apparently not.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I thought Sully had it.

Sean won because people didn't challenge him enough on hesitation during the golden minute round thing.

[phonics]

Cody Rhodes deciding that a 10 minute America First promo is the best way to sell his match against the rather boring English boxer was so fucking weird.

[Ian]

I didn't even realise Anthony Ogogo was a wrestler now, let alone in AEW. Is he shit?

[wullie]

The one match I've seen of his would be covered by a single gif, he hit someone in the gut and the ref called it so logically he should be able to punch the entire roster in the face and win every title in seconds now.

[Ian]

Oh god are they actually leaning into him as a boxer then?

[wullie]

Yeah he's just playing himself which could end up good as he looks the part, but if someone's got a killer punch surely they're painting themselves in a corner a bit. They need to somehow ban his fist like with Leg Luger's deadly metal elbow.

[Ian]

A really hard punch to the gut as a finish to the match might be the lamest I've seen in a while, and I watch WWE so that's a very strong field.

I just find punch (and elbow strike) type finishes to be a bit dull.

[Shindig]

They book all boxers like Virgil and leaning into 'he an punch good' means he has absolutely no other offense.

[wullie]

Having Big Show do it was the weirdest one, if there's ever a wrestler that doesn't need something like that it's your 7ft giant. William Regal's was great because it was at least limited to when he could get away from swiping the brass knuckles from his pants when the ref was knocked out.

[Ian]

Well you see they'd already taken Big Show's amazing entrance music and made it into the boring lounge version, so the next obvious step was to take away his chokeslam as well and make it a terrible, slow punch.

[Queenslander]

Fuck yeah




https://youtu.be/KSvEm2kn7as

[wullie]

All dives outside the ring should either look like this or not be done in the first place

https://twitter.com/tde_gif/status/1392658534458855424

[Ian]

Pfft, he's no Ahmed Johnson.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Shotzi has a great "suicide" dive, in that she always looks like she's going to seriously hurt herself whenever she does it.

[Ian]

Yeah she's got very Ahmed energy on that front.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhYMIleBV-Y

This is also a potential neck breaker she does.

[Ian]

Big E's apron spear thing often looks like he's nearly brained himself too.

[Ian]

I thought NXT was pretty good this week. I dunno if they're setting up Kross to defend against a bunch of people or just making sure enough people are kept warm so the next few challengers are ready but I think they're doing a pretty good job. Really enjoyed Kushida vs. Escobar (though I don't see why it was a 2/3 falls, I don't think that added much to the match) and I liked Swerve's new stable and their whole segment too, though I'd be curious to know the thoughts of the actual target audience of that stable.

I also ended up watching a chunk of Dynamite too as I wanted to watch the Miro match. He looked a proper beast, as he should. It was... fine? Obviously Cassidy/PAC got affected by the former getting knocked out or whatever happened but I thought Moxley's US title defence didn't really go anywhere and that sometimes his strikes, etc. look every bit as piss and wind as they did in WWE (also his finisher varies wildly between looking absolutely killer and total arse, on Dynamite it was the latter.) Wild Thing is a decent entrance tune for him though.

EDIT: Oh and that Cody promo was lol. Proper cringeworthy.