The Ultimate WWE Thread

[Ben]

And Laurinaitis. Glad-handed, nonsensical, douchbag yes man.

[Ian]

https://wrestletalk.com/news/full-lawsuit-alleged-sex-trafficking-abuse-more-vince-mcmahon-wwe/

There isn't half some grim stuff in here.

[Shindig]

When Moolah's stuff came out, I was surprised Vince wasn't linked to it more explicitly.

[Ben]

Lesnar isn’t involved in the lawsuit apparently. WSJ put two and two together and seemingly got five.

Gunther match back on. :cool:

[7om]

https://wrestletalk.com/news/full-lawsuit-alleged-sex-trafficking-abuse-more-vince-mcmahon-wwe/

There isn't half some grim stuff in here.

Just spent the last hour reading that. My word. I think everybody knew Vince was a nutcase but if these claims are true he is a monster and deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison.

[Spikey M]

This feels a bit like Russell Brand being "found out".

A big "wel duuurrrr" from me.

[Ben]

David Walliams next up.

[Ian]

Lesnar isn’t involved in the lawsuit apparently. WSJ put two and two together and seemingly got five.

Gunther match back on. :cool:

So who's the 'former UFC champion' it refers to?


This feels a bit like Russell Brand being "found out".

A big "wel duuurrrr" from me.

I haven't found a bit of it surprising but I think some have found the extent of it (the defecation stuff, etc.) worse than they thought but even that I'm just like "Yeah that sounds about right."

[Waffdon]

Cain Velasquez?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Ken Shamrock?!?!?

Matt Riddle too and while I do think he's a creep who would do that, I can't see him and Vince being buds.

[Spikey M]

It might be time to switch from everything is shit, to everyone is a deviant.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

In shocking news, Vince has stepped away again:

1751058407031808405

[Dark Soldier]

Am I reading right in that the Rumble has the two rumbles and literally two other matches booked? That's it?

[wullie]

Definitely Lesnar isn't it? He's big pals with him and temporarily walked out when he first left.

Another heartwarming part of the tale is when it first came out, some wrestling blogger both leaked the name of the woman and included a photo of a completely different woman with the same name who instantly found herself a target of abuse. Lovely stuff

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Am I reading right in that the Rumble has the two rumbles and literally two other matches booked? That's it?

That's it.

The Rumbles usually last for just over an hour and Reigns/Orton/Styles/Knight will probably go for 30-45.

[Dark Soldier]

Fecking hell, thought it was a four hour proper PPV. Can't remember there being so fre matches. I'll still get on it though.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I imagine it will still push 4 hours and you might see another match added at some point but ultimately there's always not much outside of the Rumbles.

[Ben]

Am I reading right in that the Rumble has the two rumbles and literally two other matches booked? That's it?

That’s the sweet spot for me. I’ve been enjoying their B level PPVs more than I thought I would, 3 hours in and out. I have to watch WrestleMania in parts otherwise I’m zoned out by the main event.

[Dark Soldier]

Cheers both. I only watch the occasional PPV so four hours is grand for me. Bring it on. Let's go Gunther.

[Ian]

Definitely Lesnar isn't it? He's big pals with him and temporarily walked out when he first left.

Another heartwarming part of the tale is when it first came out, some wrestling blogger both leaked the name of the woman and included a photo of a completely different woman with the same name who instantly found herself a target of abuse. Lovely stuff

People should do time for that shit.

[Waffdon]

I’m not even bothered about the female RR. Arguably better than the men’s last year and the woman’s War Games match was also pretty fkn great.

Doubt they even need to fill it up with gimps like Kelly Kelly either

[Ben]

I get why they do it, and now they’ve got genuine big names on the women’s side it’s not a complete bag of shite. But there’s definitely a big whiff of it being having a steak dinner after having a steak dinner. So especially when the men’s one opens the show, by the time it’s the women’s turn, you’re like “fuck sake I can’t be arsed with another hour of this, get me to the main event.”

[phonics]

I like to support womens wrestling but I can't lie and say it wasn't a massive relief when the mens rumble was on first last year so I could go to bed at a reasonable hour.

[Ian]

The womens rumbles have been mostly solid with one or two really good ones but some of the eliminations do feel a lot more contrived when you've got some of them basically having to climb over the top rope.

[phonics]

It's not so much the execution of them as not caring about 98% of the people competing in it.

[Ian]

Oh it's higher than that for me but yeah, a Rumble full of people you're not bothered with is a no-go.

[wullie]

I like that 50-man Saudi one they did once which was 90% full of absolute nobodies.

[Ben]

I watched the Rumble across three viewings last year (men’s, women’s and then the rest) and the women’s match was technically better to be fair but wrestling is about the stars creating defining moments so outside of Rhea Ripley it was massively lacking in that regard and ultimately the next day I couldn’t remember a thing about it apart from the winner and the lol #30, whereas I can still remember a lot more about the men’s despite it being an inferior match in a vacuum.

And that’s why I believe a match like Hogan vs. Rock is better than anything Okada and Omega ever did.

[phonics]

Yeah I can't see how you can't have nostalgia for the Racist vs The Instragram Dweeb organised by the murder-accomplice turned sex trafficker. Really gets the feelings going. Did you ever consider you were just younger?

[Ben]

You’re fucking strange sometimes.

[phonics]

Sometimes would be a compliment. Thank you.

[Ian]

I like that 50-man Saudi one they did once which was 90% full of absolute nobodies.

I think you'll find it had Yokozuna and the Ultimate Warrior in it.

[Disco]

It's Babatunde!

[Ben]

One of the journos reckons the order of play is:

Women’s -> 4-way -> US -> Men’s

[phonics]

One of the journos reckons the order of play is:

Women’s -> 4-way -> US -> Men’s

9PM nap it is.

[Ian]

Surely Roman's either opening or closing?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1751010708618133888

I don't even :D

[Waffdon]

Surely Roman's either opening or closing?

Aye, bit random but then they were never going to do 2 Rumbles near enough back to back I guess. US match will last 20 tops

[Ben]

What’s everyone’s guess for the nostalgia cameo this year? I’m going X-Pac.

[Gray Fox]

New upcoming star Hull Kogan.

[phonics]

Jeff Hardy, not because it's planned but he just turns up pissed as a fart and goes into business for himself.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

As always I am hoping for another Stone Cold Rumble.

Surely there's a higher chance seeing as he came back recently.

[Dark Soldier]

Time for Tatanka to shine.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

They should get Tall Paul back for a night.

Have him turn between heel and face every 10 seconds.

[phonics]

If the rumours are true, I can't believe they've lost their entire PR cycle to scat sex trafficking stories and are going to open/MC the show with the wrestler so famously racist they had to pair him with Titus 'Nicest Man in Wrestling' O'Neil last time.

[Gray Fox]

Hull Kogan would never. Brother.

[Shindig]

Daniel Bryan as part of his retirement world tour.

[phonics]

Daniel Bryan as part of his retirement world tour.

Daniel Bryan won't even feature in their '40 years of Wrestlemania' themed video game.

Meanwhile, I was talking wrasslin with a few friends that haven't watched since they were a kid and somehow the Stone Cold Empty Arena promo popped to mind. What a bizarre time capsule it is.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTMEK2On_Lo

Just after the announcment of '316 day'. The commentator saying "Alright!" in the most laissez faire, trying to sound excited voice is perfection.

[Dark Soldier]

I know it's all bullshit but Twitter is awash with MJF surprise at the Rumble. Is this actually possible? Thought he was AEW's top boy?

[Gray Fox]

Assuming Small Time Tony does the bog standard 90 day no compete, then no.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

90 day no competes only occur of someone was fired, no?

It can't be enforced if a contract expired.

[Baz]

No chance

[Dark Soldier]

Cheers lads. Of all I've seen of AEW, aka not mich, MJF seems like the future so be class if he did show.

[phonics]

I know it's all bullshit but Twitter is awash with MJF surprise at the Rumble. Is this actually possible? Thought he was AEW's top boy?

Even if he wasn't injured, no.

[phonics]

Hoping Triple H being in charge means we get a Karrion Kross appearance. Not that I want to see Karrion Kross but a good 30-60 seconds of Scarlett will keep me going.

[Gray Fox]

90 day no competes only occur of someone was fired, no?

It can't be enforced if a contract expired.

I thought he was still in contract?

Either way I don't quite think it's the right time for MJF in WWE. He'd get immediately lost in the shuffle of THE STORY or THE BLOODLINE or the cackling man. Or be made to do NXT or some shite as a punishment for daring to work for AEW.

He's also still only 27. For a talent to be as good as he is that young, with that experience, is rare. He could take 5 years before he makes the jump and still only be approaching his prime.

[Pleb]

Someone find McAfee and put him on comms.

[Pleb]

:D

Incredible.

[Waffdon]

Are WWE and TNA proper partners now? Their champion just turned up lol

[Dark Soldier]

She looks a beast tbf

[Waffdon]

Chelsea Green is life. Chelsea Green is love.

[Pleb]

Finally business has picked up.

[Pleb]

Oh fuck :D

[Waffdon]

Jade Cargill should be on Gladiators

[Waffdon]

Are they trying to milk this for 4 hours? The intros in this fatal four way has been a good 15 mins :D

[Waffdon]

Reigns is a disgrace. Finally has a match and he’s literally done fuck all

[Dark Soldier]

Shit PPV so far tbh really

[Waffdon]

Yeah, it was proper meh. The men’s Rumble was utter toss once again. At least the woman had some storytelling and moments in it.

I didn’t expect Rhodes to win but that being the huge shock for the night is quite funny. I was expecting something huge

[phonics]

So that was largely awful from start to finish but it's raised a more important question for me. When did the theme tunes become so unidentifiable and generic. There's little to no pop for 90% of the entrants anyway but I do think its partly because no-one knows who the fuck is coming out when their music plays.

Regal, Blackman, Takamichinoku, Road Dogg, fucking Essa Rios.... They were absolute mid carders but when their song popped you were like 'Oh that guys coming'.

But overall the lack of surprises meeting a mediocre series of spots meant it was boresville. Swap a couple of these NXT dweebs for like Steve Blackman, Blue Meanie and Gangrel and I can ignore everything else being shitty.

Bron Breakker looked good though. And I might have missed Liv Morgans costume becoming so slutty its almost softcore porn but I appreciated that.

[Ben]

Women's match was the only real highlight of that. Glad I didn't stay up.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Watching it now.

Andrade :drool:

Popped so hard to see him return, YES!

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Pretty shit all told.

WALTER should have won.

Also, give me Bron v WALTER.

[phonics]

Watching it now.

Andrade :drool:

Popped so hard to see him return, YES!

This has always confused me. Every match in AEW when he could be bothered to show up was the most basic 'big man that can do a hurricanrana' moveset shit.

I don't get the hype.

[phonics]

Also lol at that entire Bron Breaker spot being what they'd written for Brock only for him to pull out when Vince got sacked.

It's almost like you can get anyone over if you actually want to.

Also this is the closest thing Cody will ever get to shooting on someone

'Cody in recapping his WWE return calls Seth Rollins "The best bell to bell wrestler of my generation." Cody calls Punk the most popular wrestler of his era'

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

This has always confused me. Every match in AEW when he could be bothered to show up was the most basic 'big man that can do a hurricanrana' moveset shit.

I don't get the hype.

He was brilliant in NXT. Especially his Takeover Philadelphia match with Gargano.

[phonics]

He was brilliant in NXT. Especially his Takeover Philadelphia match with Gargano.

Fitting that his landmark match is against another massively overrated opponent.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1751335611460370695

I'd say it aged like fine wine.

[Ian]

Well they were some very okay Rumbles, the mens worsened by Cody and Punk wading through treacle for their final stretch.

Enjoyed the finish of the women's though and was happy for Bayley.

[phonics]

I think 'very okay' is being kind but I'm willing to give a slight benefit of the doubt to putting it in a baseball stadium and having spoken to an american friend of mine, notoriously the worst atmosphere of all baseball stadiums. Everyone that was mic'd up was paying 1200-1500 for a ticket so you're never going to get atmosphere from them and then the cheap seats are $400 and about six miles away from the ring so it was always a bit doomed.

The womans rumble was legitimately abysmal. It had about 12 spots throughout and they gave half of them to green as fuck NXT participants so they naturally botched it and then the actual experienced ones tried to join in on spots and botched those as well. All to absolute silence. Cargill was the only thing that got the crowd going over the course of 70 minutes. Star Power. Shame shes a bad wrestler.

[phonics]

Having thought about it some more, I think the perfect summation of that Rumble was last years surpise being Carlito on massive amount of roids and this years surprise was also Carlito but he's wearing a shirt.

[Ben]

This has always confused me. Every match in AEW when he could be bothered to show up was the most basic 'big man that can do a hurricanrana' moveset shit.

I don't get the hype.

Putting the irony of you just describing 90% of AEW to one side, I completely agree.

[phonics]

Which is exactly why he blends into the background of AEW. He does the same thing as half the roster but significantly worse.

[wullie]

I liked how his original gimmick in NXT was 'can't be arsed'

[Ben]

Don’t think it’s a gimmick. Apart from punching Sammy Guevara in the face (probably completely justified), I can imagine he’s never really give a shit about anything.

[phonics]

I liked how his original gimmick in NXT was 'can't be arsed'

He really evolved his character in AEW by changing it to "Won't turn up unless I'm going to win" and then "Can't be arsed" to victory.

[phonics]

Don’t think it’s a gimmick. Apart from punching Sammy Guevara in the face (probably completely justified), I can imagine he’s never really give a shit about anything.

Andrade being so desperate to go back to WWE that he tried every possible angle to get his contract revoked only for Punk to debut in WWE months before him by doing the exact same thing was very funny.

[Gray Fox]

Just caught up before the game after managing to stay almost spoiler free.

Womens Rumble - Way too much people standing still in the background looking at the spot. Cargill coming out to pick up Jax was too obvious to not do. The only surprise is she didn't do the same to 'Doudrop.' The correct winner here as Bayley deserves it. Should lead to some good "you wouldn't choose to face me, would you?" I reckon she gets ganged up on and ends up not choosing Ripley.
Special mention to Liv Morgan. She's fucking stunning and she knows it. Could genuinely make herself a millionaire when she opens an onlyfans. The best thing Enzo Amore ever did.

4 way - Absolute shite. It was obvious by its spot on the card Reigns was retaining, so you need to build it, maybe a few false finishes, at least it can be an entertaining match. Apparently not. This is a very Jinder title reign and has been for a while. The formulaic bloodline interference followed by 1 spear to win needs to shift.

US title - Had absolutely zero interest in this as it's obvious Logan Paul will retain so he can get his Mania match. I like the playing up to it being the same referee who is now more aware of the cheating, but seeing some knuckles on a hand after getting to 3 on the count is bollocks. Do better.

Mens rumble - No surprises really. Andrade was shit in WWE, shit in AEW and will be shit again, but he bangs a Flair so he can stay, but I don't care for it. Jimmy v Jey at the start because bloodline must be everything. They did nothing with it. You have the time at the start to get something set up, but that was meh. Bronn Breaker looked very good in his cameo.
I think the finish would have worked better as Gunther v Cody. You could feel the crowd being split and you don't want that. I suppose then you risk it being literally the same as last year though.
I'm not sure we have the right winner this time. But at least there's no Dwayne.

[Ian]

I thought Andrade was solid but not great in WWE first time but that NXT match vs. Gargano really wasn't my cup of tea at all.

[wullie]

Pat McAfee's entry was weird, they already had a comedy thing covered with R-Truth so not sure what the point was. Should have got Gable in there to chuck Omos around instead

[Gray Fox]

I forgot about that too. I do like the shock commentator is in the rumble thing as they don't tend to over use it. But it was literally nothing but a wasted minute or two.

[phonics]

Pat McAfee's entry was weird, they already had a comedy thing covered with R-Truth so not sure what the point was. Should have got Gable in there to chuck Omos around instead

While sure, how about instead of Gable it's Steve Blackman or Takamichinoku

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Having thought about it some more, I think the perfect summation of that Rumble was last years surpise being Carlito on massive amount of roids and this years surprise was also Carlito but he's wearing a shirt.

Carlito wasn't the surprise this year, he's petty much full time now and wrestled yesterday on SD.

[phonics]

Even more perfectly summised.

[Gray Fox]

This one's for Phonics.


https://youtu.be/2j3dOhfTyYU?si=s9n2j7MhTzrFFYlK

[Ian]

I wondered if Lesnar was meant to be in that McAfee spot but they pulled him because of the lawsuit.

[phonics]

Absolute banger of a theme tune. Takamichinoku still has the same theme tune in Japan but he just says motherfucker on it occasionally.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iSweE-qVsk

Occasionally Funaki would come out to it and you'd be disapointed cause you had to watch Funaki but at least you got the song.

[wullie]

Apparently Bron played Brock Lesnar's planned role to the letter, which if true means we were denied the sight of Lesnar being eliminated by Dominik Mysterio which would have made it an 8 star classic.

[7om]

Thought the show was okay.

We had some real stinkers in the final years that Vince was running things, and it was better than those. But safe and middle of the road. Fatal 4 way could’ve been booked better to raise a bit of the excitement but I kind of get why they didn’t. You just simply cannot risk an injury to Reigns under any circumstances. It would kill WM if he was injured and couldn’t main event, so I understand them not putting him through too much in this match. But I agree that the formula of Bloodline interference and Roman wins should’ve been switched up by now.

Rumble match itself was okay. Again nothing stand out but the right bloke won. This WM was always going to be Reigns - Cody. Does Haitch dare to let Roman leave as champion again? I dunno, I think Roman has to drop it now but I said that last year.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

If Cody doesn't win his story will never end.

[Ben]

I thought Andrade was solid but not great in WWE first time but that NXT match vs. Gargano really wasn't my cup of tea at all.

That match (and Gargano in general around that time) brought the indie “kick out of everything” match formula to the big leagues.

The cunt.

[Gray Fox]

I'm 100% behind the decision for Roman winning again.
It's happening and we all need to support it.

[phonics]

My favourite part of the 4 way was when the match ground to a standstill as everyone but Reigns was lying on the ground and Michael Cole broke the silence with "This is just the pace Roman wants it"

The storyline worked when you surround him with charisma but now we just have to watch him talk really slowly while Solo stares at the ground. Then when it comes time to perform it's slow as fuck and then Solo unleashes his finisher 'Punch man in face'.

The issue with last nights event wasn't that the story was bad, it's just the actual wrestling was largely poor and the crowd was dead.

[Ben]

If they finally follow through on Cody then it’ll all be grand.

The alternative is the crowd turn on the Bloodline shit and also cool massively on Cody so there’s no winner. I questioned Cody losing last year but it quickly became apparent it was the correct decision. I don’t see how they justify it a second go around.

[Gray Fox]

So that was largely awful from start to finish but it's raised a more important question for me. When did the theme tunes become so unidentifiable and generic. There's little to no pop for 90% of the entrants anyway but I do think its partly because no-one knows who the fuck is coming out when their music plays.

This was also a problem for me. It stems from the problem of having to secure rights for songs from various places. They used to have Jim Johnston do the themes and it'd take into account the style of the wrestler or he'd work with them to get it done. He did Austins glass shattering by looking at how he caused chaos whenever he entered a room.

He left around 2016 and a duo called CFO$ took over and did a similar thing. They did Nakamuras theme as an example. However this came around the time of being able to buy single songs on iTunes. They got into a dispute over earnings after having multiple #1 hits from writing themes. Rather then get into the legal battle with them, WWE just booted them and now it's all in house.

I believe themes are now created and then later assigned to talent, unless it's a veteran with previous music. It's been this way since 2020 and its a bit shit.

[Ben]

UFC aren’t averse to getting licensed music on board for entrances so maybe there’s a chance that could change in the future.

Like when Mike Perry asked for the Halo theme song but the production team pranked him or just fucked up and played Halo by Beyoncé. :D

[Ian]

CFO$ were hit and miss but they did have some belters. I miss Asuka's good theme.

[phonics]

I know the whole My Way thing is played out and 80% of this threads particpants don't like AEW but this is a banger 1750876077906399304

[Gray Fox]

Pepsi Phil rumoured to have torn a triceps and is out of any Mania match.

Just lol.

[Ian]

:D

If true that's good news for one of Priest, Gunther or McIntyre you'd think.

[Gray Fox]

I would hope Gunther challenges and then Priest inserts himself into the match.

[Waffdon]

I don’t mind Priest but he should not be near a title picture or a main event. Hopefully he fails a cash in soon

[wullie]

I always wondered whether you could tear a muscle if you wheezed hard enough.

[Gray Fox]

I don’t mind Priest but he should not be near a title picture or a main event. Hopefully he fails a cash in soon

I think he's fine. Doesn't get a lot of time to shine, but then that is the point of the briefcase. Fast track macguffin to the top of the card.

Gives you the person to eat the pin too, should you decide he's not winning.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Punk :harold:

[Waffdon]

I think he's fine. Doesn't get a lot of time to shine, but then that is the point of the briefcase. Fast track macguffin to the top of the card.

Gives you the person to eat the pin too, should you decide he's not winning.

Not sure I agree. He’s the main guy in Judgement Day who have been in the main event picture on Raw for ages. Gets more screen time than most.

[Gray Fox]

Not sure I agree. He’s the main guy in Judgement Day who have been in the main event picture on Raw for ages. Gets more screen time than most.

What I mean more is, you don't get just Priest. He may be the 'leader' but the others still follow him about. He at least deserves a shot in any case. Doesn't necessarily have to win.

If he doesn't, I'm not sure what you do with the briefcase at this point.

[Ben]

Rollins still has a torn MCL and meniscus so they might as well scrap the whole deal.

[Gray Fox]

Hasn't he been quoted as saying he'll be back in around a month?

[Waffdon]

Gunther v McIntyre yes pls

[wullie]

Just stick to the original plan as is but make it a last tendon snapping match.

[Ben]

Hasn't he been quoted as saying he'll be back in around a month?

It was just wishful thinking on my part. My dislike of Rollins is well documented in this thread so now Punk is out, I have no desire watching him at all, let alone a makeshift main event. And just to make it even worse, I bet it’s going to be a shitty three-way.

[Ben]

Hang on, aren’t they going down the Becky vs. Rhea route? There’s your main event.

[Ian]

I like Priest but if they're now going to be considering having him doing something notable at Mania they need to get building him properly and pronto.

[Waffdon]

Hang on, aren’t they going down the Becky vs. Rhea route? There’s your main event.

I think Bayley is main eventing night one based on it saying ‘winner main events WM’ at the start of the woman’s rumble

[Ben]

I think Bayley is main eventing night one based on it saying ‘winner main events WM’ at the start of the woman’s rumble

Hmmm I’m not sure they’ll follow through with that. They’ve teased Damage CTRL breaking up and Bayley has turned herself face so her vs. Iyo Sky makes a lot of sense but it’s not main event material.

[Gray Fox]

Yeah they've really got to do Bayley v Sky. There story is there and has pretty much written itself. Even had her say something like "why didnt you guys stick to my plan" during the Rumble when they got dumped out too. Bayley v Ripley wouldn't make too much sense to me.

More words coming out that Pepsi Phil might need up to 6 months off post surgery. Now the conspiracy theorist in me starts to wonder if they maybe changed it mid match from Punk winning to Cody.

[Waffdon]

It’ll definitely be Iyo v Bayley. The latters eventual face turn will be amazing - she’s been great for a while now. Hope she doesn’t go back to the original happy go lucky version though.

[Ben]

Yeah they've really got to do Bayley v Sky. There story is there and has pretty much written itself. Even had her say something like "why didnt you guys stick to my plan" during the Rumble when they got dumped out too. Bayley v Ripley wouldn't make too much sense to me.

More words coming out that Pepsi Phil might need up to 6 months off post surgery. Now the conspiracy theorist in me starts to wonder if they maybe changed it mid match from Punk winning to Cody.

No way, it was always Cody. You can’t get to Cody vs. Roman without Cody winning the Rumble, Heyman has made that pretty explicit. Fighting babyface Rollins can always accept Punk’s challenge off the cuff to prove he’s the people’s world champ.

[Ian]

If they'd wanted Punk to win the Rumble they'd have just had Cody win the chamber instead and said it was more ADVERSITY for him to get through. I actually wondered of they wouldn't do that anyway and have Heyman rig it so Solo and Jimmy were in there to try and stack the deck, etc.

I was happier with Cody anyway if the alternative was Punk who doesn't need it anyway but also as Ben said there were other ways to get there.

[Ben]

Confirmed out anyway.

Looks like Drew is taking his spot but then Sami Zayn came to Punk's rescue. A three way. :sick:

[Waffdon]

McIntyre’s little promo on Punk. Full blown heel :drool:

[Waffdon]

Can’t believe they’re going to Australia and have no world title fight. Reigns is a lazy cunt.

[Gray Fox]

I see they've bought themselves a little time to fix things up.

[Waffdon]

Barrett and Graves on Smackdown and Cole/McAfee on Raw. Suppose it makes sense having 2 heel commentators on Smackdown since every Champion is a heel lol

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

McIntyre’s little promo on Punk. Full blown heel :drool:

1752348666495451243

:D

dots

[Ian]

:D

I thought the stuff with him and McIntyre was great.

I also really liked the Cody / Rollins promo. Won't amount to Cody changing his mind, but it makes sense that Rollins (given his current arc) would want to convince Cody that his is the belt.

[Ben]

Drew :cool:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1752838168930382212

He's still at it :D

[Ben]

He better be winning. Cackling Jesus needs to fuck off for a bit.

[Waffdon]

1752887976722395557[/url]


Faf

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

He's really filling out that shirt/jacket.

[Gray Fox]

I am not sure if my eyes or ears are more offended.

[Waffdon]

He better be winning. Cackling Jesus needs to fuck off for a bit.

We just need Broken Dreams back and no skirt and sword

[Ian]

Rollins ain't winning, whoever he faces.

[Ben]

:drool:

[Ian]

You not a Rollins guy, Ben? You might've mentioned it.

[Ben]

I've worked myself into a shoot with him. He needs to go away for a while so I can reset.

[Ian]

:D

I reckon and hope he will get a break after Mania. I doubt he'd want to / they'd let him be off this long but if it's Drew or Gunther taking the belt off him they should be shown to properly fuck him up(maybe in a rematch in May or June) then just let him have six months off and come back at the Rumble.

Won't happen though but give the guy a rest until Sunmerslam at least hopefully.

[phonics]

I'm not even trying to be contrarian but I quite like him. I dont have to watch him week to week but he always pulls off a great big match.

[Ben]

I'm saying this because I think it would be good booking and not because I want him gone ASAP: he should absolutely go out on his back at WrestleMania. If you want to make a legit heel out of Drew (which lets face it, WWE doesn't have many of) then have him fuck up Seth and leave him laying at the end of Night 1. If they seriously want to get Drew over as a/the top heel then that will give him the best chance. Carrying it to Backlash or whatever B-PPV it is after that is weak and de-legitimises Drew.

Seth will be over as fuck on his return and will have had chance to rehab a knee that is obviously dodgy, and he can take the title back at Summerslam or whatever.

EDIT: I guess that was the Punk plan actually. Maybe just hint at a heel turn at Mania because that crowd ain't booing him, then have him go full knobhead over the summer.

[phonics]

then have him go full knobhead over the summer.

Living the gimmick but in reverse.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I'm saying this because I think it would be good booking and not because I want him gone ASAP: he should absolutely go out on his back at WrestleMania. If you want to make a legit heel out of Drew (which lets face it, WWE doesn't have many of) then have him fuck up Seth and leave him laying at the end of Night 1. If they seriously want to get Drew over as a/the top heel then that will give him the best chance. Carrying it to Backlash or whatever B-PPV it is after that is weak and de-legitimises Drew.

Seth will be over as fuck on his return and will have had chance to rehab a knee that is obviously dodgy, and he can take the title back at Summerslam or whatever.

EDIT: I guess that was the Punk plan actually. Maybe just hint at a heel turn at Mania because that crowd ain't booing him, then have him go full knobhead over the summer.

*Wrestlemania Backlash.

[Ian]

I'm not even trying to be contrarian but I quite like him. I dont have to watch him week to week but he always pulls off a great big match.

The annoying thing with him is that when he's not doing the "heh heh hehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" thing he can do a good promo too, such as the one on Raw this week. He's never gonna be a top tier guy at it but he can do it. And as you say I always think he'll very reliably turn in a really good big match.

[Ian]

Johnny Ace, fucking worm rhat he is, claiming to be a victim of Vince too.

That's presumably much worse news for Vince though than if Laurinitas had just denied it all.

[Ben]

Just covering his own arse there. Guaranteed he's part of the gang.

You know he's a wrongun when all sides of the spectrum from Cornette to Teddy Long to Naomi calling him out for being a scumbag.

[Ian]

Oh 100%, I didn't on anyway mean to suggest I think he wasn't up to his bedk in it. He'd have been gleefully doing whatever Vince said so long as he thought he was in favour.

Like you say, I literally don't think I've ever heard anybody with a good word to say about him.

[Gray Fox]

Johnny Ace was 100% the person still smashing away at this poor girl while Vinces shit was dripping down her. There is zero doubt in my mind.

[wullie]

Still can't fathom that he was the brother of one of the Road Warriors.

[Ben]

Animal's son was a great linebacker in NFL too before his body shut down.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I didn't realise he was Animal's son, never clicked.

[Ben]

Oh we got some bullshit on Smackdown.

[wullie]

Go get em Hulk!

[Ben]

Punk was spot on when he said Cody was about to get the Punk 2013 treatment.

[Ben]

When I stop facepalming the Rock segment I’ve got to go and watch the full show. New commentary team is Graves and Barrett with Graves doing play-by-play. Interesting.

[Ben]

And I'd like to think that maybe this company will be better after Vince McMahon is dead, but the fact is, it's gonna be taken over by his idiotic daughter and his doofus son-in-law and the rest of his stupid family.

Punk is a prophet.

I just don’t get this. This is WCW shit. When The Rock and Reigns have disappeared in a couple of months and the world’s hottest babyface is ice cold, where do they go?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

It's one of the worst decisions anyone has ever made.

[Ian]

Oh dear, that really doesn't do anybody any good.

- Cody looks like he has to do what The Rock says
- Cody now presumably going for a belt he's already just said he wants less than Roman's
- Literally just admitting on-air that the WHC is a B prize
- Rollins is now going to have lost to Cody four times straight
- Wrestlemania Night 2 main event is gonna suuuuuuck and leave us with probably another year of Roman on that title, and tie Solo and Jimmy to him doing nothing. Because Roman isn't losing it to The Rock surely?
- Cody and Rollins left trying to salvage something from this whole thing, genuinely feel a little sorry for them.

Ugh. What a mess.

[Waffdon]

Wrestlemania went from looking godlike to an absolute mess.

Nobody wants to see Rollins/Rhodes once again never mind Reigns/Rock. Jesus.

[Gray Fox]

I'm 100% behind the decision for Roman winning again.
It's happening and we all need to support it.

They made it clear much, much faster than expected.

[Waffdon]

I thought we were past WM main events getting shit on but that second night could be a shit fest.

Sounds like The Rock ego’d himself into it. Shock.

[Shindig]

Man, he's going to do this every time he gets a dry spell from Hollywood.

[Dark Soldier]

As an absolute non-neckbeard casual im well looking forward to Roman v Rock. Its a fucking stupid business decision but bring it on.

[Gray Fox]

They've gone relatively early with it too. This gives the fans a chance to shit on it. Do we think they would?

Saddest thing about it was Codys face after the shit hug they had.

[Ben]

Mania is in Philly as well. This might go in the Brock-Goldberg direction if they’re not careful.

[Waffdon]

Raw and Smackdown will be worse (assuming both in Philly) but probably be too many casuals in the arena on the Sunday.

Maybe Rhodes beats Reigns at EC with a Rock interference and he gets his moment then? Wishful thinking :lol:

[Waffdon]

The Rock/Reigns segment is already their most disliked video of all time. This feels like when Batista came back.

[Ian]

I wonder at what point they'd be forced to consider swapping something? Or if they'd just ride it out?

They don't want fans giving it the treatment that Reigns/Bork main event got and you absolutely don't want fans chanting for Cody during it.

Though maybe as has been said a Mania crowd are likely to just be cheering the Rock regardless.

[Ben]

Short term thinking though. They might well get away with it at Mania but come Summerslam when crowds are down, Cody is ice cold and The Rock and Reigns are nowhere to be seen, how can it still be seen as good business?

[Ian]

History would suggest unless they take Cody out of notable storylines altogether he won't be cold, but it still won't be the same and they'll still have fucked it.

Also given they've set up that Cody wants Roman anyway are they gonna have to keep the WHC on Cody for a whole fucking year and do title vs. title at Mania 41? Or have Cody FINISH THE STORY not at Mania?

It's a proper fucking mess they've made for themselves and it was entirely avoidable.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Surely this is all because they've panicked after Punk's injury.

But you could have just had WALTER face Rollins at Mania.

[Ian]

I really don't think Punk's injury has much to do with this, but I could be wrong.

I think it's purely that The Rock has said he can actually do it this year so they (whether that's TKO mandating it, or if HHH would have done it himself, whoever) just makes that the priority.

If Punk had been fit you'd probably have seen him win in the Chamber and also pick Rollins to make that one of Ben's beloved triple threats.

[Ben]

They obviously don't think Gunther is a big enough name. But they've already sold all the tickets. I don't get it either.

[Ian]

On Gunther, do we reckon he's losing the belt to somebody at Mania as that would be an obvious point to give somebody the win over him or is he holding that until the Germany show now?

[Gray Fox]

THE PLAN was apparently Cody v Roman, Brock v Gunther and Rollins v Punk.

This is still fixable. Have Cody go over Dwayne at the Chamber after playing the words Punk said. Cody decides enough with this shit I'm actually the peoples champion.

Though word is Dwayne has pushed himself into this. I wonder how he'll feel if the crowds do reject him over it.

A shame because Rollins v Cody could have been money if they'd pushed it right. Now Cody feels like a side character in his own STORY and Rollins and his title are devalued.
You could have easily done Dwayne v Roman without a title, but here we are.

[Ian]

I reckon The Rock feeling iffy about getting booed is literally the only thing liable to make them change course because I don't think his ego would let him go out and have fans booing the house down when he's meant to be a face.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I really don't think Punk's injury has much to do with this, but I could be wrong.

I think it's purely that The Rock has said he can actually do it this year so they (whether that's TKO mandating it, or if HHH would have done it himself, whoever) just makes that the priority.

If Punk had been fit you'd probably have seen him win in the Chamber and also pick Rollins to make that one of Ben's beloved triple threats.
Then why have Cody win the Rumble?

Which has also been devalued with this bullshit.

[Ian]

Don't mistake me saying what I think has happened for me thinking it makes any sense.

[Ben]

I reckon The Rock feeling iffy about getting booed is literally the only thing liable to make them change course because I don't think his ego would let him go out and have fans booing the house down when he's meant to be a face.

Ironic because his heel Hollywood Rock run in 2003 was incredible.

[Ian]

Surely this is all because they've panicked after Punk's injury.


I really don't think Punk's injury has much to do with this, but I could be wrong.

I think it's purely that The Rock has said he can actually do it this year so they (whether that's TKO mandating it, or if HHH would have done it himself, whoever) just makes that the priority.

So from Uncle Dave's thoughts on this it seems like there might be elements of both here. He's saying it was changed after the Punk injury, and that basically Rock had been pushing for him and Roman to be a Mania match already but with Punk out they caved a couple of days after the Rumble and gave him what he wanted.

SRS says he's piecing his report together so I'll be interested to see what version of events he gets.


Ironic because his heel Hollywood Rock run in 2003 was incredible.

Oh it was tremendous, but that was being booed on his terms.

[Ben]

Mike Johnson (PWInsider) seems to be the only journo worth his salt.

Dave Meltzer: "Okada could be signing with AEW, but he could also go to WWE depending on what his goals are. He hasn't decided yet. Plans change. That'll be $12.99 please."

SRS is a silly grifter who's been fed too much bogus info to take seriously anymore.

[wullie]

Swerve coming, Rock joins Bloodline and tells everyone to fuck off for the end of that Royal Rumble where they stood there looking dopey while the entire arena booed their heads off.

[Gray Fox]

They have now put up a poster and announced it is Rock v Roman. So now they're going to trot the two actual faces of the company out to try and make us believe thats what they always wanted and let the two part timers go at it.

Leaves us with two questions. Will the fans at shows shit on it enough to cause a problem? Even if they do, would a potential Bootista situation make them change the plans?

I reckon the answer to both is no.

[Gray Fox]

1753683188843470908

[wullie]

In contrast the Bayley stuff was fun, everyone shitting it when she started talking Japanese was great.

[Ian]

In contrast the Bayley stuff was fun, everyone shitting it when she started talking Japanese was great.

Just watched this and it was really good. Lol at Aldis and Pearce shouting at them to stop ganging up on Bayley having themselves got out of the ring. Just pull them apart, lads.

[Gray Fox]

Okay so this is all actually happening because when Dwayne was appointed at TKO he was promised $30m in shares based on certain conditions. One of these conditions is him competing in a match in 2024.

Go boo the fuck out of him lads.

[Waffdon]

Nothing stopping them from having the match if they really want to. Just have Rhodes win the title before WM or have the dreaded match in Australia.

But that would mean fighting 3 months running I guess

[7om]

Just watched SmackDown.

Mind boggling stuff. I actually don’t mind Rock - Reigns. I can get on board with that. What I can’t understand is why they had Cody win the Rumble. They’ve set themselves up (perfectly) for Cody - Roman II and, at some point over the last few days, have creatively pivoted away seemingly out of the blue. Gotta feel for Cody. He’s been made to look like a twat over the last week after being a great performer since his return.

Saw someone say it best on social media: Cody is a clean cut baby face who is over as hell. In a time where being clean cut is probably the hardest way to get over.

Can’t help but feel Trips has either got this horribly wrong or he’s been overruled by the higher powers.

[Waffdon]

I think it’s pretty obvious DWAYNE has played a bit of politics.

We need Don Cena back to make him cry on the mic again

[Ian]

I haven't read or heard anything other than that The Rock has willed this into being and that it was after the Rumble they finally agreed, whether that was the Punk injury or not I guess we'll have to await a Ben-approved report on the matter.

And I agree with Tom/ that point about Cody, he's got mega over as an old fashioned earnest baby face which is impressive. WWE does very few of those that actually work in recent years.

[Gray Fox]

He's gone to them saying that with Punk out and Lesnar done, the card needed more star power and that he would be a big draw.

The plan as of the Rumble was for Cody v Roman, hence him pointing at Roman after winning it. But the Lesnar allegations have seen him basically retire from wrestling and Punk got injured. Dwayne then got involved.

Word is backstage and creative all want Cody v Roman, but upstairs have been convinced that Dwayne will draw more money. You could see it all by the look on Codys face after the 'hug.'

[7om]

Is there a creative way out of this shit show?

Say Rock goes over. We then have a largely absent champion coming off the back of 4 year reign where the champ wrestled once a month. Also pretty damning that for 4 years all the full time guys have been run over and it takes a 52 year old part timer to beat Reigns.

If Roman wins then heaven help us because I genuinely don’t know how the fuck they ever get the belt off him. Unless he drops it at Summerslam, we’ll be looking at WM41 before he could realistically drop it again but to who? Let Cody take the WHC and do a champion vs champion at 41?

There’s a shit storm brewing here. It could end up like that Brock - Goldberg mania where the crowd hijacked it with boos.

[Ian]

Put of interest what would everybody put the Rick's chances of beating Roman at?

I have it above zero because he's a big enough deal but I don't really buy it and would assume we've got at least another six months of Reigns but probably another year. 5%? Is even that too generous?

[phonics]

So I've finally seen a way out of this mess.

They relaunch Starrcade as the autumn major PPV.

Romans title reign breaks the Hogan record, Cody gets his main event match under the name that his father created.

[Ben]

Put of interest what would everybody put the Rick's chances of beating Roman at?

I have it above zero because he's a big enough deal but I don't really buy it and would assume we've got at least another six months of Reigns but probably another year. 5%? Is even that too generous?

Rick :cool:

I agree, it’s more than zero. The Bloodline has run its course and breaking it up on the back of a Roman win is a little odd. But then they might look to do a title unification with Cody at Summerslam or something so maybe Roman does win.

Either way it’s a clusterfuck.

[Ben]

977349057113919489

:eyemouth:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1753769124260442399

It's doubled that now plus We Want Cody was trending and Rock got booed at a house show.

[Shindig]

I don't know whether they'd baulk at that or decide, "Oh, clear heel vs face dynamics! GO!"

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1753762970444706282

:D

dots.

[Gray Fox]

I reckon that The Rick(it's official now) has zero chance. I also think he's big headed enough to believe he can turn the tide on this too. A bad side effect of his movies doing well. Apparently he did try a similar power move on the DCEU but didn't get anywhere when they hired James Gunn.

The bigger problem here is that with say Daniel Bryan, it was the guys in the back running the show who made the Batista choice. Those same people were there every night to see him get shit on and Bryan as over as you get. This time all of the people in the back know that this is the wrong call, but are being told by people who will likely never visit a non-Wrestlemania show, who will likely not see any of the shitting on everything, to carry on anyway.

So I reckon this all falls onto The Rick. Will the fans at shows fully shit on him? If so that's an impressive effort. If they do, again, is he big headed enough to believe it's fine I'll turn them back. Or would he actually listen and do the right thing? Given that he needs the match to earn $30m, I bet we're in for a Mania shit show.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Why does said match for $30m NEED to happen at Mania? Why can't it happen at a Saudi show?

[Gray Fox]

phonics
1753972354156273886

[Ian]

Rick :cool:

Man between my phone autocorrecting and me not checking it before submitting that post is a bit of a state. :D I'll leave it there. 'Mon Rick.

[Ben]

Rick is pretty apt for this clusterfuck anyway. Like GF said, it’s official now.

[phonics]

@phonics (https://www.thethirdhalf.co.uk/member.php?u=1)
1753972354156273886

Sadly, I don't think WWE leadership will want an active bounty hunter in the building with the amount of warrants they're facing.

[Ian]

:D

[Shindig]

I'd watch that weekly segment.

[7om]

I reckon that The Rick(it's official now) has zero chance. I also think he's big headed enough to believe he can turn the tide on this too. A bad side effect of his movies doing well. Apparently he did try a similar power move on the DCEU but didn't get anywhere when they hired James Gunn.

The bigger problem here is that with say Daniel Bryan, it was the guys in the back running the show who made the Batista choice. Those same people were there every night to see him get shit on and Bryan as over as you get. This time all of the people in the back know that this is the wrong call, but are being told by people who will likely never visit a non-Wrestlemania show, who will likely not see any of the shitting on everything, to carry on anyway.

So I reckon this all falls onto The Rick. Will the fans at shows fully shit on him? If so that's an impressive effort. If they do, again, is he big headed enough to believe it's fine I'll turn them back. Or would he actually listen and do the right thing? Given that he needs the match to earn $30m, I bet we're in for a Mania shit show.


Is there any way this is purely a Triple Haitch decision? We’ve already had 10+ years of a retard running the company, do we really need TKO board of directors interfering in creative? At some point you’ve got to put trust in the people WWE has - namely Haitch and his writing staff.

What the fuck does The Rick know about wrestling booking in 2024? I genuinely don’t understand why any of this is happening.

[Ian]

I've not seen anybody arguing with the story that The Rock wanted this anyway and then they caved some time after Raw, I'd speculate that if left to his own devices HHH would have just found an alternative to Punk as he is now but left the other match alone.

[Shindig]

I do wonder if it's as simple as TKO/WWE/HHH wanting a distraction from Vince's revelations.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I do wonder if it's as simple as TKO/WWE/HHH wanting a distraction from Vince's revelations.

This is one of the reasons why The Rick can the match apparently.

They thought he'd take the light off Vince due to being a DRAW.

It's working I guess but in the wrong way.

[Ben]

Logan Paul face turn.

1753978337817420271

[7om]

Just do Reigns - Rick night 1, then Reigns - Cody night 2.

[Ben]

https://media1.tenor.com/m/myWhE0y5rTsAAAAC/brent-rambo-thumbs-up.gif

[Gray Fox]

Word coming out that not only has The Rick put himself in, he wants to go over too.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Of course he fucking does :D

[7om]

Bring back Vince???

[Ben]

Word coming out that not only has The Rick put himself in, he wants to go over too.

Ok so have Cody win Night 1 and take the title, then let Rick beat Roman without a title on the line.

[Gray Fox]

It's going to be entertaining if he tries his whole "The peoples..." shtick and is met with boos and we want Cody chants.

I still don't believe the crowd will shit on Rick, but we'll see soon I guess. If he really wants to skirt it though, he just gets "attacked" by Roman/Bloodline and he is off screen until Mania.

[Waffdon]

Hopefully the Raw crowd start it off hot tomorrow with the Cody love in. Doubt Rock even shows up all that often so it’ll be hard to shit on him

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I'm not sure the crowd will boo Rick but they're absolutely chant we want Cody.

[Shindig]

"No, they're saying 'Fuck you, Rick."

[Ben]

1754054090709962872

:lol:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

:D

[7om]

:lol:

[Baz]

Very good. :D

[7om]

Starting to wonder if this is a work. Ricochet and Logan have tweeted out support for Cody. You telling me they would do that without the express consent of the management? Can’t see it.

Incoming triple threat like Bryan at WM30.

[Ben]

I’d rather Rick won the title than a triple threat. It’s such a cop out.

[7om]

True, but it would be one way to partially save face without having to bury Rick.

[phonics]

Oh no don't bury the 50 year old man who is only wrestling because his feelings are hurt due to his comic book film being shit.

[Waffdon]

aren’t 90% of his movies shit. Why is this one such a big deal

[wullie]

https://i.imgur.com/BKGU4x5.png

[Waffdon]

1754267710681169954


No shot they’re going back to this feud :D

[phonics]

I saw Knoxville and thought we were doing Jackass Pt 2.

[7om]

Oh no don't bury the 50 year old man who is only wrestling because his feelings are hurt due to his comic book film being shit.

Like it or not, the Rick is wrestling royalty at this point. You don’t announce him for the Wrestlemania main event and then go “actually nah”. That’s just not going to happen. You’re only options with Cody now are to go to WM41, have Roman headline both nights of 40 or a triple threat. The Rick will be main eventing and it’s bugger all to do with the DCEU debacle.

[7om]

1754267710681169954


No shot they’re going back to this feud :D

That’ll be the Elimination Chamber main event then.

[phonics]

Like it or not, the Rick is wrestling royalty at this point.

So is Vince McMahon and Hulk Hogan. Who gives a shit.

[7om]

What a bizarre comeback.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1754313451231412732

Fucking hell that could have ended badly.

[Ben]

You need some AEW in your life. A weekly occurrence.