The Ultimate WWE Thread

[phonics]

New Jack died.

[Disco]

Hit by a bus?

[Queenslander]

Excessive blading?

[Shindig]

Heart attack. Y'know, from all the drugs.

[Queenslander]

Good riddance.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

WWE using zombies as lumberjacks in a match to promote Batista's new film...

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Lashley/Braun/Drew was absolutely brilliant.

That was a near perfect way to use those three.

Props on Braun almost dying too with a fucking dive.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Skip the Miz/Priest zombie match/advert and that PPV is the best they've done in some time.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1394098168283942913

:drool:

1394196881291481091

That would have been really bad for Boatman had Drew not slowed the fall.

[Ian]

That PPV was quite fun on the whole, with the obvious exception of the zombie bollocks which I didn't watch. (Yeah, let's belittle our own talent to promote a movie starring a guy who's never going to wrestle for us again.)

I thought the end of Reigns / Cesaro was a little flat because a) I think the 'passing out to the guillotine' thing is less effective if it's happening so often and b) I just feel like for Cesaro the method to beat him shouldn't be to wear him down given he's one of the fittest men on the roster but brute force. The men's triple threat was pretty formulaic and the 'explosion' that Bobbles was thrown into was laughable but they kept the pace up and kept it fun. Solid show, albeit entirely throwaway and I'll probably remember little about it.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Miz tore an ACL during the zombie match.

[Queenslander]

Omega v Andrade should be good I can't see Andrade losing at this stage.

[Ian]

So apparently Raw had five matches with three of this having dirty finishes, two of which were Kofi getting distraction/interference roll-ups on Orton and Bobbles. I also like that we have a feud on each show fuelled by the theft of headwear, assuming O'Shea and Sheamus has more to come. That was a decent match though, as you'd expect, as was Charlotte vs. Asuka. Though the former spent most of her time trying not to pop out of her top from what I could see.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

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

:cab:

1395079320289357824

Finally gone.

[Ian]

Thank goodness I'll never have to set eyes on his ludicrous tan ever again.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

More matches for Darryl the don:

1392277482624233472

:cool:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1395100136708222977

Alexander Wolfe also gone, they could put Timothy Thatcher into Imperium now.

Edit: Ezra Judge and Skyler Story (not heard of either before) also gone.

[wullie]

Drake can now use his time finding the edge of flat earth, hopefully fall off when he does

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Velveteen Dream has been fired.

I'm still entirely sure he actually was a nonce as the evidence I saw was circumstantial although there was quite a bit of it. He did however go from being one of my favourite wrestlers to one that I just couldn't cheer for mind.

He was never going to live it all down though because the internet went full guns blazing and decided he was properly guilty.

Hard to see what he does from here unless he can somehow clear his name entirely but even then people will heckle him with it.

[Ian]

I'm surprised it took them so long, it was very clear they won't going to commit to him. As you say, the amount of reports about it and stuff that came out around him really seemed to make it clear that even if he wasn't an actual nonce his behaviour seemed veeeeery sketchy.

It's a real shame as a fan because he could have been so good. I still don't imagine Vince buying into him on Raw or SmackDown but we certainly could have got some more excellent years out of him on NXT.

I loved his matches against Black and Riddle in particular.

[Baz]

Miro (Rusev) is one of the best things about AEW at the moment. He’s so good.

Brian Cage is the best though, with Max Caster close second.

[wullie]

It's nice that they don't mess about too much with names, but now there's both Brian and Christian Cage as well as Adam and Ethan Page maybe they should start. Darby Allin's the best person on it that I'd not seen before, whereas what the fuck has happened to Cody Rhodes?

[Baz]

There’s also Orange Cassidy and Isiah Kassidy, who are both OGs but I’m less surprised as more time passes and more duplicate names appear. Looking forward to them hiring Kenny Roads and Darby Omega.

Yeah Darby is great. They need to stick a title on Sammy Guevara and have those 2 have some six star matches.

[Queenslander]

Best friends is hot.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Adnan Virk is gone.

One of the worst commentators they've used. He had 0 knowledge and was really annoying, especially in the final few moments of a match.

[Ian]

He was very, very shit but it's not really his fault. I don't understand why he was dropped into that job in the first place. Joseph, Phillips, etc. are mighty boring but they do a competent job while Vince is screaming obscenities in their ears. Graves was doing all the heavy lifting paired with Virk.

[Ian]

Riddles / Woods was really fucking good. Just a brilliant pacey TV match of the sort that with the roster they have they COULD be filling Raw with instead of having a story featuring Tamina, Nia Jax and Reginald in the main event.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

There is no such thing as race to Oli.

[Ian]

I did enjoy him doing that all over again.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I thought Steve and Larson had fucked that.

[Queenslander]

ZSJ v Shingo is a cracker.

[Ian]

Kross/Balor from Tuesday is by a wide margin my favourite Kross match so far. Really enjoyed it. I'll be curious to see who wins the #1 contendership next week. I'm assuming O'Reilly but there's an argument for any of them.

[Disco]

ZSJ v Shingo is a cracker.

Did you see Willu Osupureay posting pictures of his knackered neck on twitter? He doesn't seem thrilled with how NJ have handled it.

[Queenslander]

Off twitter ATM what did he say?

[Ian]

Did you see Willu Osupureay posting pictures of his knackered neck on twitter? He doesn't seem thrilled with how NJ have handled it.

Is this where the NXT UK rumours I saw the other day have come from? Because I find it lol enough that he'd want to go to WWE in the first place but the idea of him going to their bottom rung brand is laughable.

[Disco]

Probably, as I understand it NJ wanted him to do another tour and have been housing their foreign wrestlers at the dojo rather than hotels etc which was rather unpopular. I think he must have flown back here to get his neck and back looked at which is where the NXT rumours have come from (plus his girlfriend came back from Japan recently and signed with them) but I can't see it myself. He has a long contract and has been a long term project of theirs and as you say, there could hardly be a bigger step down.

[Ian]

You'd think if he decided to take the WWE money he'd insist on an AJ Styles type deal where he swerves NXT and just goes straight to Raw or Smackdown. Unless he took the presumably lower earnings but less of a shit time of NXT, but NXT UK? Not a chance.

And as you say this is all predicated on the possibility of NJPW releasing him from his deal in the first place.

[Disco]

*Turns up in the Impact Zone*

He's a bit of an idiot so you can't rule out him tanking his relationship with NJ but I've seen nothing to suggest this hasn't been done with their approval, it just wasn't what they initially wanted him to do. Fuck knows who they put the belt on now, they even dragged Okada off his Covid-bed to reassure people that he would still be around.

[Queenslander]

I like the idea of ZSJ or Shingo carrying it untill WK then drop it to this year's G1 winner Jay White.

[Queenslander]

Lol out loud




https://youtu.be/R2X999dTPNM

[phonics]

AEW have clearly paid someone to fix their production problems before the pay per view. The audio balance that’s been dog shit for 2 years is perfect.

[Ian]

1398484445766823939

I assume NJPW are just gagging to have some of their stars commentated by Maggle, seen here giving Bianca Belair her own portmanteau name.

Right before that he'd also failed to use the name of her finisher, calling it a 'face plant.'

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Put Bayley next to him full time. That's brilliant.

[phonics]

If anyone needs a stream for tomorrow me and my mates will be doing one. Just send a PM.

[Queenslander]

Brutal.

https://i.ibb.co/SBgK0gq/FB-IMG-1622347992363.jpg (https://imgbb.com/)

[phonics]

The ted scale is out of 3.

AEW World Championship -- Kenny Omega (c) vs. Orange Cassidy vs. PAC - 3 teds
AEW Women's Championship -- Hikaru Shida (c) vs. Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. - 0.5 teds
Cody Rhodes vs. Anthony Ogogo - 1 teds
Adam "Hangman" Page vs. Brian Cage 2 teds
TNT Championship -- Miro (c) vs. Lance Archer 2 teds
Inner Circle vs. The Pinnacle (Stadium Stampede) 2.5 teds
Sting & Darby Allin vs. Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky 3 teds
AEW Tag Team Championship -- The Young Bucks (c) vs. Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston 3 teds
Casino Battle Royale - 2 teds
NWA Women's Championship -- Serena Deeb (c) vs. Riho (Buy-In pre-show match) 2.5 teds

[Queenslander]

Best show of the year by far.

[Ian]

Meanwhile, WWE booked Shayna Baszler to lose to Reginald. Everybody involved in that decision should be immediately fired.

[Browning]

Following on from Styles losing to Ryker the week before. This has to be the worst RAW has ever been right now.

[Ian]

Yeah from the reviews I read and the half an hour I watch of it a week it doesn't seem to have any one consistent redeeming feature right now. The RKBro stuff maybe as that's still fun at the moment. But that's it. Other than "occasionally they let some talented people have a good match" it's all so, so bad. Smackdown's not a lot better it's just that the Reigns/Usos stuff is good and tends to dominate the shows but everything else is much the same as Raw. Did anybody here endure the Raw guest GM run? I gather that was consistently horrendous so I'd be curious to know where it stands next to current Raw.

What's amazing is that it's finally bad enough that a lot of wrestling Youtube/podcast channels seem to be just stopping reviewing it altogether. I watch/listen to Wrestletalk, Going in Raw and Wrestling with Wregret. Wrestletalk are still cracking on, GIR are gonna start rolling it in with their news brief on Tuesday because they can't face reviewing it after sitting through three hours of it and Zane on WWW has got his mate doing it.

Thankfully NXT's on a decent run at the moment (though I still think they have the same roster issues I've probably already waffled about at length previously.)

[Browning]

I did watch the guest GM run, or most of it, and it was a mixed bag. Some of the hosts were actually really great, like Bob Barker as an example, but some of them just didn't seem to know where they were. Ironically, 2 of the worst for me were actual wrestling people- Bret Hart and Ted DiBiase. I seem to remember the Bret Hart episode he came out, cut a shit promo, and they showed it again about 30 times, after which I turned off. The Ted episode was the first time I can remember falling asleep during RAW even though I used to stay up half the night watching it.

Like most things WWE, it was an idea that could have been done right, but they dragged it on way too long, and by the end it got unbearable.

[Ian]

A triple threat ending in a no contest? How very main roster of you, NXT.

[Browning]

Holy shit this wave of releases.... Strowman and Black included.

Edit- Add Lana, Murphy, Ruby and Santana.

[Ian]

Fucking hell.

Black and Murphy were so wasted but how have they spent weeks building up Black's return just to bin him?

I know they haven't booked him properly since about 2016 but I just thought Boatman would be there for life.

[Ian]

1400117584855547909

[Disco]

Aleister Black?

Fuck yeah, that just leaves Rich O'Shea and Gable to be liberated.

[Ian]

Nakamura vs. Gable turning into a 2 minute match on Smackdown was a proper letdown.

Black and Murphy will be brilliant wherever they end up.

[phonics]

Strowman should head to Japan. He'll look massive and no-one will want to hear him speak so you don't have to worry about the fact that he's boring as shit.

Btw, the more I think about it, I think the Omega, Pac, Cassidy match might be the best triple threat of all time. Always had 3 people involved rather than just 2 blokes fighting then one disappears.

[Ian]

There are plenty of triple threats like that if you look outside the WWE main roster go-to formula of them taking it in turns to go for a kip. Which has of course been mastered by Lesnar so he can get paid for lying down.

I am tempted to watch that match though. Might watch the Sting one too as I've heard he looked in remarkably good nick.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I'm still stunned they fucked Black as hard as they did.

The guy was absolutely solid on NXT.

[Ian]

Yeah but he's foreign and a freakishly midgety 6 foot tall.

[Browning]

Despite the naps, no Triple Threat is ever touching mania 20.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1400112081060478979

:(

[Ian]

Yeah I should stress that naps don't necessarily stop a triple threat being good or great. Manias 20, 30 had great ones with naps, Cena/Bork/Rollings too.

I feel like I'm forgetting another Lesnar one as well but I may be thinking of the fatal four-way. He definitely took a nap in that one. Backstage to boot.

[phonics]

There are plenty of triple threats like that if you look outside the WWE main roster go-to formula of them taking it in turns to go for a kip. Which has of course been mastered by Lesnar so he can get paid for lying down.

I am tempted to watch that match though. Might watch the Sting one too as I've heard he looked in remarkably good nick.

They were both fantastic, I don't give a shit about Sting but I thought it worked well. Ethan Page looked good for once too.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Boatman/Lashley/Drew was also a banger and that had a massive nap.

[Mike]

Apparently the releases have 90 day no compete clauses. There’s an AEW PPV in 95 days….

[Queenslander]

Fingers crossed Nakamura is next.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1400164352204886017

So vignettes for weeks after making a new character for him, putting him in a feud last week, putting some new merch available for pre-order (https://shop.wwe.com/collections/aleister-black/products/aleister-black-tales-of-the-dark-father-authentic-t-shirt) and a brand new theme all down the toilet...

[Baz]

Just watched Double Or Nothing. Very good.

Sammy Guevara vs Jungle Boy will be a ten star title match when it finally happens.

[Ian]

According to Uncle Dave Vince 'didn't understand' Murphy or Black's wrestling styles. :moop:

[Queenslander]

I wonder if Andrade will start LIJ AEW/NJPW Strong faction?

[phonics]

Vickie Guerrero being so unbearable that no-one could understand who she was intro'ing was very on brand.

[Ian]

Kofi vs. Riddle was really fun. Also the only bit of Raw which sounded worth watching, so I didn't.

Baszler feuding with a fucking doll. :moop:

[phonics]

I thought the AEW womens division had gotten better, I realised that it's just Nyla Rose was injured.

[Baz]

Watching Smackdown while waiting for UFC and Jesus why does the camera cut around so much?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Kevin Dunn.

He thinks he's a movie director.

[Baz]

Someone just took a very decent powerbomb over top rope off Roman Reigns though.

[Ian]

Walter Jr took a very decent if entirely staged powerbomb over the top rope. Wouldn't have been hard to make it look even a touch more legit.

Enjoying the Reigns / Usos stuff still but Reigns / Mysterio being in the cell, while probably fun, is everything that's wrong with having HIAC as a scheduled PPV.

[Baz]

Ahh. To be fair I had a pissed-up missus mithering me when it was on.

[Gray Fox]

My biggest gripe with the camera work is the one where we now have a situation where someone is being hit with say a chair repeatedly. The camera jumps up and down following the chair.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

My biggest gripe with the camera work is the one where we now have a situation where someone is being hit with say a chair repeatedly. The camera jumps up and down following the chair.

The camera will follow punches now sometimes.

When Roman Reigns is in full mount and punching the camera will go from left to right following him, it's disgusting.

[Ian]

Kevin Dunn is a blight.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Caught up with NXT tonight.

Please let anyone other than Karrion Kross win the title tomorrow night.

[Ian]

It feels a little like they're pairing the other four off to feud each other so I expect it'll be Kross.

I also don't really want more Cole or Gargano title runs yet, don't see them giving it to Dunne yet and find Cool Kyle kind of annoying so I'm not even sure which I'd want to take it.

[Shindig]

Enjoying the Reigns / Usos stuff still but Reigns / Mysterio being in the cell, while probably fun, is everything that's wrong with having HIAC as a scheduled PPV.

Yeah, it's a shame that match type isn't protected more. It used to have such a mystique.

[Ian]

Yeah, I can maybe accept the chamber as a "this is how we determine who challenges for the OTHER belt" post-Rumble tradition because multi-man feuds tend not to be enough to justify that sort of thing on storyline alone, but the Cell was better when it was the nuclear option for a really hot feud to be ended. Not I WANT TO DO A FIGHTING AT YOU AND IT'S JUNE SO LET'S DO IT IN A CELL I GUESS?

[Shindig]

Do we get many cage matches these days? That'd do.

[Ian]

Yeah but they're pretty throwaway and usually have shonky endings. Though that goes for about 40% of WWE matches.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

It feels a little like they're pairing the other four off to feud each other so I expect it'll be Kross.

I also don't really want more Cole or Gargano title runs yet, don't see them giving it to Dunne yet and find Cool Kyle kind of annoying so I'm not even sure which I'd want to take it.

I feel like they've made it a multi-man match so Kross can lose without being pinned and then he moves to the main roster.

Could even have him debut at HIAC by taking someone out perhaps.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Sigh.

That main event was brilliant when Kross needed a nap. When he was in it, it was just the same old shit from him.

They really should have given it to Dunne.

[Queenslander]

Dunne would be a memorable champion.

[Ian]

I didn't mind the bits with Kross in, I think this (so much as you can tell from a four/five-way) and his last Takeover he's looked a lot better. I'm still not massively enthused about him but he's getting better and it didn't feel like they were gonna end his reign yet.

The show on the whole was fine but all the matches (bar maybe the ladder match) felt easy to predict going in which robbed it of some jeopardy. I'm enjoying Bronson Reed a lot at the moment.

I wonder what's gonna happen with Regal after that closing bit. I hope they're not moving him to an off-screen role and this is just going to lead to some other sort of change.

[Ian]

1404222183195484168

The dog as Hunter Hearst Helmsley. :D

[wullie]

While I'd be living the dream to look anywhere near as good in my mid 50s, this still makes me a bit sad

https://i.imgur.com/TLK7jlr.png

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I wonder what's gonna happen with Regal after that closing bit. I hope they're not moving him to an off-screen role and this is just going to lead to some other sort of change.
Apparently JOE! JOE! JOE! JOE! JOE! is taking over.

NXT has apparently signed him to a contract but they couldn't get medical clearance for him.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Wont be watching NXT until tomorrow but I've just seen this on Twitter:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E39sSSrVIAA6paJ?format=jpg

:drool:

[Ian]

Tonga Jeff. :drool:

I've not watched it yet but they seem to have teased Joe with about five different future opponents.

Have to question what the fuck they're actually doing though between this and a bunch of stuff I've seen suggested they're interested in re-signing Black.

[Shindig]

The Tongan Tangle Contraption. :cool:

[Ian]

The Tongan Tangle Contraption. :cool:

:D

I like that.

I watched the clip on Youtube of his initial appearance with Regal and Kross because I'm too impatient to wait for whenever I get to the show, and it's a real pity it wasn't a proper full NXT crowd there just to give it that proper molten pop. I wonder how long the "I can't let you be a competitor" thing will last.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Tonga Jeff. :drool:

I've not watched it yet but they seem to have teased Joe with about five different future opponents.

Have to question what the fuck they're actually doing though between this and a bunch of stuff I've seen suggested they're interested in re-signing Black.
Yeah apparently a lot of people in WWE think Black was let go too early and were trying to get him back. Word is that he's going to choose AEW though.

[Disco]

Unless it's still silly money he'd be a fool to go back, they literally just demonstrated how little they think of him professionally. Plus sacking someone then offering them a new (lower) deal is the biggest of dick moves.

[Ian]

1405699583607455750

:cab:

[Shindig]

Stop ruining it. :( You don't give that shit away on weekly TV.

[Ian]

"It's Hell in a Cell season!"

[Queenslander]

Dusty finish?

[Ian]

Non-finishes in "no DQ" stips is practically tradition at this point.

[Queenslander]

Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson are booked for New Japan Strong. :drool:

Elite v Bullet Club for Wrestle Kingdom?

Jay White v Kenny Omega for the Never Openweight title?

[phonics]

Dyanmite dog shit again.

Arn Ander son son + Cody Rhodes vs Greasy Latino and QT Marshall might have been the most 1980s tag match of all time. Fuck me.

[Ian]

I was so unenthused about Hell in a Cell I've just read a review, not even going through it for the few things I'm interested in first. Sounds like a wise decision.

Sounds like Bobbo and Drew will still be fucking feuding despite having had a cell match, Alexa and Baszler I just feel sorry for the latter, Rollins / Cesaro I guess Rollins was due a win but it undoes what they'd done with Cesaro (and that also sounds like the feud isn't over), Zayn / Owens fuck off with yet another Mania rematch, Charlotte/Ripley well.... at least Ripley kept the title but thanks to their booking they've made her character basically impossible to root for.

It feels like it did at the start of lockdown where they're just in a holding pattern and not actually progressing much because they want crowds back.

[Ian]

Sounds like Bobbo and Drew will still be fucking feuding despite having had a cell match

Just been reminded by a podcast that the stipulation to this was if McIntyre loses he can't challenge Lashley again so fingers crossed they stick with it.

[Browning]

So they battled for about 14 years for it all to end with a distraction roll up?

[Ian]

Of course. It's the WWE way.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I watched it.

There was some very good wrestling on the show (bar Alexa/Shayna which was horseshit) but outside of Bianca/Bayley and Zayn/Owens the finishes were absolutely shit.

Bobby Drew was a brilliant fight and they could have kept the distraction but made it so Lashley put in the hurt lock on Drew. It wouldn't have been great but it would have been a lot better than a fucking roll up.

[Ian]

When I looked at the card there were a few matches I thought could objectively be pretty decent but man I just don't care. Mania rematches, Belair/Bayley feuding over a laugh, Drew in his 78th WWE title match since Mania last year. Barrel-scraping levels of booking/writing and very little expectation of anything changing hands.

And yeah the finishes in general do sound pretty shit.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

This was beautiful though:

1406772652761661443

[Ian]

That is a solid finish.

[Ian]

I've just seen that if "Custody of Dominik" was a linear championship from that Eddie/Rey match onwards then Reigns/Rey on Smackdown was Reigns defending custody of Dom against Rey. :D

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Huge congrats to Papa Reigns.

Dom will have some stability for a while now you feel.

[Ian]

Sounds like Raw might actually not have been terrible, though giving away another HIAC is pretty lol and presumably driven by USA asking why the fuck Fox got one but they don't.

EDIT: Hang on, Piper Niven is now "Doudrop"? I thought I was just hearing an American pronunciation of Dew Drop which would have been awful but this is somehow even worse.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1407152761439932416

Wtf?

[Ian]

Well the last "real life superhero!" they had on Raw was O'Shea and we all saw how that worked out.

[Ian]

So NXT now has a fourth heel stable. They probably need to turn The Way face, which it sounds like they might be anyway if we're getting Gargano/Kross (though that's not a nailed on indicator of anything.)

[wullie]

Have they got Bobby Fish doing anything? He always seemed the most background character of the four anyway.

[Ian]

He turned up to SETTLE SOME SCORES and got filled in by Dunne and Lorcan so the answer right now is 'not much.'

Strong is part of the Diamond Mine and it sounds like he's gonna be going for Kushida at some point which I am here for.

[Disco]

I love reading the WWE bits of this thread because out of context wrestling is hilarious, just seeing that there's a faction called The Diamond Mine I find deeply pleasing.

[Ian]

I'm just looking forward to them being dressed up like actual miners on their main roster call-up.

[Disco]

My imagination is way ahead of you, I also thought they could be a DDP tribute stable.

[Ian]

...AND dressed as miners, right??

[Ian]

A podcast has made me aware of this:
https://www.ringsidenews.com/2021/06/19/karrion-kross-bronson-reed-didnt-wrestle-each-other-in-tryout-matches-before-wwe-smackdown/

Tryout matches for Kross and Reed, eh?

If only they had some sort of third brand for those guys to wrestle on to show what they're capable of!

[Disco]

...AND dressed as miners, right??

The mining would take a .....different form perhaps, so maybe sexy miners (spell that one carefully).

[Ian]

This is all coming together as possible the best stable of all time.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

A podcast has made me aware of this:
https://www.ringsidenews.com/2021/06/19/karrion-kross-bronson-reed-didnt-wrestle-each-other-in-tryout-matches-before-wwe-smackdown/

Tryout matches for Kross and Reed, eh?

If only they had some sort of third brand for those guys to wrestle on to show what they're capable of!

It's not like Vince watches it though.

[Ian]

It's not like he watches Smackdown either, and yet that's where they had them do the tryouts as dark matches.

[Ian]

So Raw was in fact actually pretty good.

Skipped some of it because there was still a bit of shite in there but the MITB qualifiers and Bobbo/Woods were all good. I loved how much Drew sold his match from the night before.

[Browning]

I see they fucked Eva’s return after 2 weeks. Good stuff.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

The ending to Quizzlemania this week :D

Tempest was screwed though and his reaction was incredible.

[Lewis]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U37e91EFrk

[Ian]

Well that's unsettling.


The ending to Quizzlemania this week :D

Tempest was screwed though and his reaction was incredible.

He could have clarified that really easily but he was muddying the water as much as Blampied was. Sid though. :cool:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

So NXT now has a fourth heel stable. They probably need to turn The Way face, which it sounds like they might be anyway if we're getting Gargano/Kross (though that's not a nailed on indicator of anything.)

I haven't finished NXT yet (just watched The Way v Dunne/Lorcan) but it does feel like they're going to be turning face.

Quite a few hot tags in the match, Johnny and Austin seemingly happy following the rules, Theory playing hurt etc etc.

Crowd were cheering them on a lot and Vic was highlighting too.

[Ian]

This Kross/Scarlett getting split on the main roster chat is such a typically dim WWE thing to do.

[Browning]

In before Scarlett becomes the new Lana so they can just re-run that same tag match for another 8 weeks in a row.

[Ian]

It just seems such a waste of another brilliant cucking storyline.

Kross and Scarlett come up, do the obligatory 7 month feud with Jezza, of course, then right into Scarlett ditching Kross for.... I dunno, Commander Azeez.

Once he's lost clean twenty times in a row to the Commander Kross goes on to tag with R-Truth, Scarlett is Mandy's next tag partner because that would make Vince feel things, both released before next Wrestlemania.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1408506717860626432

RIP Breezango :(

Also, I'm gutted about Ever-Rise. I thought they were really starting to find a place in NXT the last few weeks. WWE apparently gave them a new Youtube channel yesterday too which is strange.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Breeze now gone too :(

[Ian]

Ever-Rise have genuinely been really entertaining recently.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Ever-Rise have genuinely been really entertaining recently.
The beginning to their feud with Hit Row was great.

[phonics]

The writers not watching wrestling does start to make me understand why everyone in WWE fights each other 9 times. The new writer just didn’t know that Big E and Apollo have fought 9 times in the last 13 weeks.

[Queenslander]

This should a be a cracker!


https://i.ibb.co/1f3V91v/FB-IMG-1624763480782.jpg (https://imgbb.com/)

[phonics]

The guy on the right is retired which might be an issue.

[Queenslander]

I thought that as well but he has committed to this card so I assume he eats a pin.

[Disco]

NJ has felt very sparse this year, pandemic related of course but once all the AEW bods left and then Okada went down followed by Ospreay (and Tanahashi, Naito etc being pretty wrecked by now) I've struggled to get into the events between Super Juniors/NJCup and the G1 later in the year.

[Queenslander]

I agree I don't watch it at all apart from Jay White. The Golden age is definitely in the past now.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

The guy on the right is retired which might be an issue.
He's still going to do any dates that he agreed to before announcing his retirement.

[phonics]

This camera shot from yesterday is so good.

https://i.imgur.com/1vUS4AX.png

[Queenslander]

That is a cracker and Omega is a very good champion.

[phonics]

I thought he'd been crap for ages but Don Callis coming in has been a revolution for him.

[7om]

Shota Umino in that picture :drool: The guy hasn’t been seen in over a year

[Queenslander]

I see Buddy Murphy has been in contact with Will Ospreay

https://i.ibb.co/ncCHD3q/RDT-20210628-2024301870927684862030357.png (https://ibb.co/PhQ75Ts)

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Decided I'd go back and start watching some NXT UK and I decided to go back to October 1st 2020.

This has allowed me to watch the Heritage Cup (first round has been a bit crap really with only Trent Seven/Kenny Williams being good) and more importantly, the build up to Ilja Dragunov v WALTER.

The tag match between Pete Dunne/Ilja v WALTER/Wolfe was an absolute banger and the contract signing between WALTER and Ilja was absolutely fucking brutal. WALTER genuinely looked like he wanted to murder the prick and Ilja's chest after looked like minced meat.

Their match is the next episode which I'll watch tomorrow and I cannot wait.

[Queenslander]

I wonder if Nick Kahn is aware of NXT UK. It feels like something he would cut to increase the bottom line.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I'm sure he's looked into it but has realised that if he cuts NXT UK then WALTER walks and they must know how huge he is.

[Queenslander]

Yeah fair enough.

[wullie]

Nick's the only Khan with actual authority by the looks of it.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Ilja Dragunov v WALTER was fucking brilliant.

Just pure violence.

Can't wait for the rematch.

[Disco]

The NXT feud is a re-tread of what they did in WXW, so if you can find that I think you may enjoy it.

[Ian]

Walter also has a load of good matches against people a third his weight for OTT which are available on Youtube / Dailymotion if you need more Walter in your life.

Which you do, obviously.

[Ian]

1409689024575414274

Double countouts are obviously bollocks but you may as well do that spot to make it happen.

Also the Kofi/MVP segment was great, I'm genuinely really enjoying the RKBro stuff and Riddle / McIntyre/ AJ was a lot of fun.

[Baz]

Not watched AEW for ages - since the last PPV I think - and struggling to find time to catch up. :(

[phonics]

Not watched AEW for ages - since the last PPV I think - and struggling to find time to catch up. :(

Its been b-shows due to the NBA playoffs. You havent missed anything.

[Disco]

You could skip to this week's without missing very much (whichever episode has Omega/Boy).

[Ian]

Bit sad that Reed has already lost the NA title but I guess it's good for Swerve/Hit Row to give them a boost just now.

[Queenslander]

Omega is the best at putting people over while winning clean. I have no idea how they will get Hangman to win without it being predictable?

[phonics]

I dont think it matters, AEW has had genuinely very few swerve/surprise wins.

[Disco]

If you're promotion knows it's doing then the outcome of feuds should almost never be in doubt (spoiler, the good guy wins). During the match is where the suspense should be.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

lol at MJF doing an avalanche Tombstone (from the second rope) and it only resulting in a two count.

[Queenslander]

lol at MJF doing an avalanche Tombstone (from the second rope) and it only resulting in a two count.

What a way to bury an iconic finisher.

[Ian]

I hate that shit. It's like Rey and Andrade were spamming the Canadian Destroyer as a transition move on Smackdown.

Now the Canadian Destroyer is shit anyway but still, it's meant to be a big deal.

[Ian]

JR called it "WWE Dynamite" last night. :rosebud:

[Disco]

I'm still enjoying Mark Henry saying 'Tony very much' instead of thank you and that was a couple of weeks ago now.

[Ian]

Listening to an NXT review and it reminded me: Watching NXT this week all I could think was that once this Cole feud is done they need to find a way to get O'Reilly a heel again pronto. I simply cannot root for his babyface character.

[phonics]

JR is an absolute abomination these days. Tony, Taz and Excalibur should be the team.

It’s wild that I can guess how much Big Show is earning at AEW and I haven’t seen him once because I only watch Dynamite and PPVs.

[Ian]

The bits I've watched of AEW JR is very bad indeed. I mean he was bad when he came back do the.... second Mae Young Classic, was it? Or a CWC? Something like that. He was admittedly paired with Lita who's not very charismatic but it was still "they made them re-record commentary" bad.

[Shindig]

I only hope he's doing it because he wants to and not because he has to.

[phonics]

I don’t think he has to. He made good money. He admitted to being incredibly lonely and suicidal after his wife died and he’s moved down there.

[Queenslander]

JR was awful when did the English commentary for NJPW on AXIS.

[phonics]

That’s understandable, he’s been commentating once a week on these guys for months now and he forgets their names constantly.

PAC was a proud Welshman the other week.

The worst is still them advertising the fan group for women and JR immediately making a, ‘can’t wait for the bake sale’ joke and then the whole of AEW being forced to tweet that anyone who thought it was distasteful ‘didn’t know comedy’.

[Disco]

The dream team would be Tony, Don Callis, and Excalibur but Taz would be fine too.

[phonics]

The dream team would be Tony, Don Callis, and Excalibur but Taz would be fine too.

I don’t think Don Callis should be overexposed. He’s great when he’s being the heel commentator repping his guys and calling Excalibur a mark.

[Ian]

The worst is still them advertising the fan group for women and JR immediately making a, ‘can’t wait for the bake sale’ joke and then the whole of AEW being forced to tweet that anyone who thought it was distasteful ‘didn’t know comedy’.

Fucking hell. :D :facepalm:

So wank themselves dry when they win in the 18-whatever demographic, then berate said demographic when they don't appreciate "comedy" that would have been outdated 15 years ago? Outstanding.

[Shindig]

If Lawler was on the mic, they'd have been able to pull that off. :D

[Ian]

The Patriot has passed away. This makes me a little sad because him and Bagwell as Stars and Stripes are the first wrestling I can specifically remember watching with my grandma as a kid. Like obviously I knew who Hulk Hogan was but the first actual matches I can recall are Stars and Stripes in WCW.

[Baz]

You could skip to this week's without missing very much (whichever episode has Omega/Boy).Just started it. Whoa woah woah when did they change the angle to be more like WWE, with the crowd behind the ring rather than the entrance?

No sir I don’t like it.

[Shindig]

The Patriot has passed away. This makes me a little sad because him and Bagwell as Stars and Stripes are the first wrestling I can specifically remember watching with my grandma as a kid. Like obviously I knew who Hulk Hogan was but the first actual matches I can recall are Stars and Stripes in WCW.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kpEj5FHKKw

[Ian]

"Marcus Bagley."

[Shindig]

That single mishap sent him spiralling into roids.

[Disco]

Buff had considerably less stuff after his neck injury.

[Ian]

Zelina Vega returns on Smackdown. Loses by rollup inside 3 minutes. How very WWE.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1411239089806798849

:sick:

[Shindig]

Edge should be doing better with those punches.

[Ian]

I just can't buy Edge as a brutish attacker type.

I also, assuming he's meant to be the big babyface, thought his promo was pretty whiny.

Reigns to smash 'im, hopefully.

[Shindig]

Yeah, he's always seemed too slight for me. His spears are so careful. He leaves nowt in.

[Ian]

I'm not convinced by anybody's Spears in WWE, at least not consistently, and there are at least four people who do one.

it might be the one and only thing Goldberg is still best at because he properly runs through it like a tackle rather than just floating in the air.

[Baz]

Jesus, those camera switches. Is that legit how it aired? :sick:

[Ian]

Oh yes. That's peak Kevin Dunn. Happens far too often. It's rare you go more than two or three seconds without a camera cut I would say.

[Baz]

Kinda makes me rethink moaning about AEW changing the viewing/entrance angle.

[Ian]

I'd file that under "jarring because I don't like change but give it three shows and I won't care."

[Disco]

They're about to go back on the road so I would guess that will be slightly different every week anyway.

[Ian]

Jimmy Uso's been caught DUI.

Was he suspended (by WWE I mean) when he did that previously?

[Gray Fox]

Legal limit .08 and he blew .205. Can't really get away with saying he just had the one...

[phonics]

Fan run in at AEW:

https://streamable.com/yqwhlc

(https://streamable.com/yqwhlc)Fan crawl out at AEW

https://streamable.com/i5xolw

[Queenslander]

Jon Moxley v Karl Anderson should be a good match.

[Ian]

Three questions / observations from what I've read about last night's AEW show.

1) Road Rager is a WWE-level terrible show name.
2) Constantly taking on-air shots at a company who don't even acknowledge your existence makes you look like somebody's bitter kid brother. Most of what they say is correct but it's still not a flattering look. Let it go.
3) Going back to Tommy End would have been a better name than Malakai Black.

[phonics]

1) the graphic for it was a publicly available photoshop you can download and change the text
2) can’t remember this happening yesterday.
3) yep total wank. Tommy end is fucking wank too.

[Ian]

I thought I saw Britt Baker made some comment about blood money and Saudi Arabia?

I think Tommy End is alright.

[Disco]

There's a decent case to be made for ignoring the first gimmick of all new AEW wrestlers. Rusev had that terrible gaming stuff, Ethan Page got something and nothing, Christian is ok but being nice to Jungle Boy is hardly stellar.

Agreed on the WWE jabs (even Jericho referred to it as 'the other place'). Either never mention it or just say where people worked before without having a sly pop. It makes them look childish and suuuuuper small time.

[wullie]

There was some early thing Jericho said about 'bad creative' that was a shot at WWE and quickly rendered ridiculous by most of the things that Jericho is allowed to do without someone telling him his ideas are bad.

[phonics]

I do t particularly care for or against that stuff. Would love Michael Cole to point out that the AEW ring announcer is a nonce.

[Ian]

Damo was fun on Quizzlemania. Down to once a month though. :(

[Baz]

I thought I saw Britt Baker made some comment about blood money and Saudi Arabia?


She could call my dad and nonce and I’d still marry her.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Damo was fun on Quizzlemania. Down to once a month though. :(

Yes and :(

Tempest's Pentagon drawing was one of the worst we've had (although the one he drew just after having had time to think was not). I thought the weird hand sign was mist and it was Tajiri.

Sully getting 16 points for Nikki Cross :cool:

[Gray Fox]

Bayley out for 9+ months due to a "freak injury" at the Performance Centre.

Could be pregnancy but they could easily have faked a distraction roll up on the PPV.

[Disco]

I give Juice Robinson stick for his clothes but Kenny Omega may have worn the worst pair of trousers in the history of trousers on this weeks' dynamite.

[phonics]

I give Juice Robinson stick for his clothes but Kenny Omega may have worn the worst pair of trousers in the history of trousers on this weeks' dynamite.

The shoes are even more offensive.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/270326079648956433/863173520271081532/unknown.png

[Gray Fox]

Look like they're the same worn by The Twins in Breaking Bad.

[Disco]

That and the facial hair are top heel work. I sort of hope that Cody Rhodes is going in the same direction because if not then what a fall from grace. I forgot crowds were back that was how little anyone cared about his match with the hair plug chap.

[Ian]

Is his suit game as strong as Rollins'?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

No more Shotzi or Toni Storm on NXT :(

[Ian]

I saw that Shotzi Blackheart and Tegan Nox have been Snackdownified and are now just Shotzi and Nox.

[Baz]

The shoes are even more offensive.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/270326079648956433/863173520271081532/unknown.png

I like them. Deffo about 5 sizes too big though.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I saw that Shotzi Blackheart and Tegan Nox have been Snackdownified and are now just Shotzi and Nox.

I think it makes sense with Shotzi tbf.

Making Tegan Nox just "Nox" is shit.

Also, I think it's a bit strange that they've called Tegan up straight after her NXT return after the charging promos for weeks.

[Ian]

1414631061854822404

That hair.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I've been hammering NXT UK and I really think it's brilliant.

There are a lot on the brand that I don't care at all about (Joseph Conners, Tyson T-Bone, Saxon Huxley, Sam Gradwell, Jinny, Nina Samuels) but there is a serious amount of talent there.

The "Unhinged" Ilja Dragunov following his loss to WALTER has been brilliant.

[Ian]

Uncle Dave apparently saying that at one point Aleister Black was in the running for Drew's spot of winning last year's Rumble and taking the belt off Bork.

That doesn't sound likely, however with WWE it IS entirely plausible that they went from "push of a lifetime" to "we have nothing for you."

[Queenslander]

https://i.ibb.co/rx7SCS8/Screenshot-20210715-181034.png (https://ibb.co/Cb1ZkZC)

Righto then.

[Queenslander]

I'm all in for the Omega V Page frd after seeing their segment.

[Disco]

Does John Mockerserley now come out to Dressed for Success by Roxette? I know he doesn't, but it sounds more like that than Wild Thing.

[Ian]

I'm not having a guy who's meant to be a legit hardman coming out to the Lion bar advert.

[Ian]

I'm actually going into Smackdown spoiler-free for the first time in fucking ages (not to say I won't still skip stuff) and I'm glad I did because the show opening with "No Chance" put a big stupid grin on my face.

EDIT: I already don't trust these pops though. So I'm fairly sure what they've learned from the Thunderdome era is "hey we can do whatever crowd noise we like!" I know they'd been guilty of it in the past but I reckon it is / will be more blatant.

[Ian]

And the new Smackdown set is just.... a really big screen? Meh.

[Ian]

Fightful reporting that WWE want Lashley vs. Goldberg at Summerslam. Uggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

[Lewis]

What has happened to Vince McMahon's head?

[Ian]

Probably a side effect of never sleeping and doing endless roids when you're 307 years old.

[Disco]

What has happened to Vince McMahon's head?

Physically (pic please) or mentally?

[Lewis]

1416394011070304258

And that's a good picture. If can't be what Welby said unless it's on a thirty year delay, so one facelift too far seems the most likely.

[Lewis]

Webly, sorry.

[Ian]

To be fair I've no idea if roids do anything like that to ones face, it was just the first response that came to mind.

[Shindig]

I think he's always been a weird looking bloke. I remember when he shaved his head and it was like a shrunken cone.

[Disco]

He's looked like that for years hasn't he?

[Baz]

Nevermind his head, what is that tie.