The Ultimate WWE Thread

[Ben]

Woof that was bad.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

If Gunther actually turns face I will riot.

[Ben]

He's in danger of turning himself by being so good. Agreed he needs to do something despicable to stop that happening.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Love that they made the piledriver mean something.

[Mike]

Making a big deal out of my finisher.
Baz took hundreds of them growing up, I’m pretty sure it was always safely too. Unlike The Reid’s DDT.

[Waffdon]

Anyone seen the video of the indie goon ‘coke-Kane’? :lol:

Sure Tony will sign him up

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

It's actually "CoKane".

It's so fucking stupid yet weirdly funny.

So indy.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Making a big deal out of my finisher.
Baz took hundreds of them growing up, I’m pretty sure it was always safely too. Unlike The Reid’s DDT.

Baz absolutely didn't take them safely...

Edit: Speaking of unsafe finishers. My Mum BANNED me from watching wrestling for a while because I hit a Tombstone on a friend's brother. I had done it many times before safely but the one time he slipped and his head hit the floor I get in trouble.

[phonics]

1855600777059844240

They can never make me hate this company.

[Ben]

I do love some 80s wrestling like.

[wullie]

Speaking of 80s stuff, I've had Raw, SD and NXT pop up on Netflix as coming soon, is it just those shows or is the network shutting down and everything moving over as a whole? I was getting deep into Midsouth but their app made it impossible to navigate so I gave up.

[Gray Fox]

The way they've made it sound is that The Network is no more and everything moves to Netflix.

[Shindig]

The WWE Vault youtube channel seems to be whacking up plenty of stuff.

[Mike]

Going to stick a new ‘user’ on mine for WWE stuff so it hopefully doesn’t full up Netflix, if they do just move everything over.

[Ben]

The WWE Vault youtube channel seems to be whacking up plenty of stuff.

Yep. I've been steadily going through all the WWF/WCW big events from 1988 onwards on the back of something on there.

Starrcade 1990 is next for me which is the blowoff of the Black Scorpion! WCW was generally great from 1988 until early 1990. Then Ole Anderson took over as booker and it's cringey insanity since.

[Ben]

Speaking of 80s stuff, I've had Raw, SD and NXT pop up on Netflix as coming soon, is it just those shows or is the network shutting down and everything moving over as a whole? I was getting deep into Midsouth but their app made it impossible to navigate so I gave up.

Mid South for a time was arguably the best wrestling TV there's ever been. Crazy how Bill Watts went from booking genius in the mid 80s, to stuck in the past come his 1992 stint in WCW. The rise of PPV while he was on hiatus killed his philosophy because he couldn't/wouldn't adapt.

[wullie]

I'm up to 1985 where Hercules is a sheik for some reason and Ric Flair has just started to appear which is exciting, but I imagine a lot of the names start to disappear off to the WWF from around now. Seeing Nord the Barbarian batter everyone including young Shawn Michaels is a curious highlight, he could have been a big deal in different circumstances.

[Ben]

1984 was definitely the best. It's more hit and miss after 1985 as guys leave as you said, but the likes of Duggan and DiBiase keep it entertaining into the UWF era in 1986-87 (then it's sold to Crockett).

To be fair even in 1992 WCW there's some great stuff. Like I said before there was a shelf life to his run because he still prioritised house shows and didn't favour the PPVs, stopped top rope moves etc. etc., but there's some great shit in there too and if you've already seen Mid South then you'll be all Marty McFly "hey I've seen this one!" but in a good way (Beach Blast 1992 is classic Bill Watts).

[Ben]

Pivoting from one promotion that hardly sees airtime in this thread to another, I've got my hands on Meltzer's obituary of Antonio Inoki. Meltzer is a goof but his obituaries are pretty much always outstanding.

Anyway Inoki's is like 40 pages long and I've just got to the point where the Gulf War is in full swing and Saddam has taken a few Japanese hostage. Inoki, fancying himself as a top politician, thinks he can sort it out and barrels into Iraq with an entourage to get the hostages out. AND IT FUCKING WORKED! So he gets the hostages freed and in exchange puts on a New Japan show in the centre of Baghdad with all the top guys involved, along with AMERICANS on the card. So on one hand you've got Operation Desert Storm on the go, then on the other side of the street you've got Inoki in enemy territory doing a wrestling show with Americans and he gets them in and out of the country without any issues. The man is absolutely insane.

Also the story of how he managed to book his fight with Muhammed Ali in 1976 is mental too.

[Ben]

I've not really been following WWE lately, but I've just seen the recent promos hyping Survivor Series.

So Sami Zayn is back on the OG team, but I see there is a surprise 5th man on each team. Is it just going to be Hikuleo and Rollins, or have I missed something that would make it better than that?

The best solution is Cena and Rick.

[wullie]

Miz and R-Truth on each side, make it happen H

[Waffdon]

I've not really been following WWE lately, but I've just seen the recent promos hyping Survivor Series.

So Sami Zayn is back on the OG team, but I see there is a surprise 5th man on each team. Is it just going to be Hikuleo and Rollins, or have I missed something that would make it better than that?

The best solution is Cena and Rick.

They seem to be taping a lot of episodes these days. Spoilers galore. Roll on netflix

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I've not really been following WWE lately, but I've just seen the recent promos hyping Survivor Series.

So Sami Zayn is back on the OG team, but I see there is a surprise 5th man on each team. Is it just going to be Hikuleo and Rollins, or have I missed something that would make it better than that?

The best solution is Cena and Rick.

I've read that Hikuleo is NXT bound.

It seems the new Bloodline have their fifth member as the next RAW has been taped.

[Ben]

:facepalm:

Just do a 4v4.

[Gray Fox]

Surely there's a Sami heel turn coming?

I doubt they end this bloodline thing now when they could spin it out to Mania once more. It also doesnt really make sense to continue on if Solo wins clean again.

I reckon a helluva kick to Jey would cement that turn nicely.

[Ben]

Now is the time to set up Mania matches so I guess so. And if anyone is able to drag a watchable match out of Jey Uso and put him over huge, then it's Sami.

And if all your babyfaces are going to win at Mania, you have the heels win here.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Jade Cargill in Wargames? lol.

[Ben]

Phonics will lol at me for being ancient but WarGames peaked in WCW in 1991 and 1992. 1991 is great fun watching Sid wreck Brian Pillman, then 1992 is the outright best. I'm shocked the WWE Vault channel on YouTube hasn't uploaded them yet.

This new watered down WWE version does absolutely nothing for the concept. Maybe Jacob Fatu will change that. Although having two in one night doesn't help at all from a fan perspective.

[phonics]

I can share that I watched an episode of WCW and enjoyed it but probably not for the reasons WCW would want me to. It's an episode of Thunder where it's Kevin Nash's last night as booker before Russo comes in and Nash is on commentary all night and just ribbing and undermining and talking shit about the entire product. If you watch it on mute it's one of the worst shows of all time but Kevin Nash makes it.

October 14th 1999 - Wcw Thunder if you're interested.

[Ben]

Yeah that's hilarious. Nash is a hero.

[Gray Fox]

They've confirmed today The Network will shut down on 1st January and Netflix becomes the "new home of WWE content."

[wullie]

Only selected historical stuff so not a full transfer which is a shame, hopefully they'll just shift all of that on to their Vault youtube thing instead.

[Ben]

Having the full catalogue on Netflix is pretty much the only thing that could get me to resubscribe I reckon.

[Waffdon]

It is a proper bargain for UK fans for the wrestling alone since you get all the PPVs as well

[Ben]

The ending to Smackdown was tremendous. Punk has been “gone” about three weeks and they still manage to make his “return” huge.

[Waffdon]

The ending to Smackdown was tremendous. Punk has been “gone” about three weeks and they still manage to make his “return” huge.

Not sure Heyman expected a pop like that either

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Yeah that was class.

[phonics]

Gotta give it to WWE being put in a situation where they get called racist enough that. Jade Cargill would have to wrestle for an extended period of time and writing their way round it is good stuff.

[Ben]

You’re going to have to clue us up on this one.

[phonics]

Cargill is a superstar but the biggest issue is she can’t wrestle. I think it was the last PPV that someone pointed out it had been like nearly 18 months since a black wrestler was on a PPV card so they gave Bel Air and Cargill hosting duties to quieten that down. Now Cargill was supposed to be WARGAMES so someone hit her with a car.

[Waffdon]

All this racism stuff started being spouted because HHH was smart enough to realise pushing a 50 year old Lashley wasn’t the smartest move

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

She wasn't hit by a car.

[phonics]

On the subject of Lashley, one thing with old school WWE guys coming into AEW has shocked me is the sheer size difference. Billy Gunn vs the roster was the first impact but Shelton Benjamin coming in has blown my mind. He was post my era of watching WWE but from what I remember his look was kind of middle tier and you put him in AEW and it's like watching The Great Khali if he could wrestle.

I know you won't but check his match vs Kommander. A truly great big vs little man match.

[phonics]

BIG JUSTICE JUST SPEARED QT MARSHALL BAH GAWD. Supremely dumb wrestling. Love it.

[Gray Fox]

On the subject of Lashley, one thing with old school WWE guys coming into AEW has shocked me is the sheer size difference. Billy Gunn vs the roster was the first impact but Shelton Benjamin coming in has blown my mind. He was post my era of watching WWE but from what I remember his look was kind of middle tier and you put him in AEW and it's like watching The Great Khali if he could wrestle.

I know you won't but check his match vs Kommander. A truly great big vs little man match.

The size thing is very old school WWE. I remember Shelty B always looking smaller too, but then you remember there was a roid freak in charge who loved his big meaty men being at the top. Case in point was Triple H back in the day campaigning to Vince that Kurt Angle was only 6ft tall and therefore was too small of a guy to be at the top of the card. Pat Patterson overheard Trips saying this and said if he's so small, go challenge him to a real wrestling match.

The best non-WWE guys in the world all come in at or around 6ft bang on. Omega, Ospreay, Daniel Bryan, MJF, Swerve and so on, all around that mark. Also probably goes a long way to show why the in-ring stuff is a lot more sports entertainment in the dub, with it being of better quality in AEW. But for a few exceptions(Gunther/Walter being the big one I think of) it's harder to get a consistent good match out of a big guy.

[phonics]

That’s why I reccomend the kommander v shelton match. You could run that exact match at every house show for years. It’s a perfect big man v high flyer match.

[phonics]

Also to your first point, colour me shocked that HHH was trying to bury his competition in the back and politicking.

[Waffdon]

BIG JUSTICE JUST SPEARED QT MARSHALL BAH GAWD. Supremely dumb wrestling. Love it.

How the mighty have fallen

[phonics]

QT Marshall has never been mighty.

[phonics]

They have to do something about the lenses or the colour grading they’re using. Everyone is bright yellow. It’s like watching a live action Simpsons episode.

[phonics]

For the first time I think AEW have pulled off a truly poor PPV. It reeked of WCW on so many levels. Shame.

[Ben]

Their TV has been end of days WCW for months. It was only a matter of time before the PPVs caught up.

AEW might want to be careful catching some mainstream popularity with Big Boom AJ because their World champion is out there copying Neo Nazi film gimmicks and quoting Mussolini.

[Ben]

Last night I noticed my IPTV setup has a 24/7 WrestleMania channel, so I whacked it on and it was WM7 and Savage-Warrior was just starting. I always remembered the match being good but it was genuinely incredible. Yes, an Ultimate Warrior match that was great. It reminded me of Rock-Hogan in that it was all about the bells and whistles and it delivered in spades.

Strong recommend if you want to see some classic sports entertainment.

[SvN]

That match was let down by the insulting finish.

[Ben]

I kind of understand it. Savage was supposed to be retired for good with this match so putting Warrior over huge was not a bad play. But of course Warrior burned all his bridges and Savage had to return which makes it look stupid in hindsight. But the post-match angle was so great that you forget the finish anyway.

[wullie]

The match with Hogan was good from a spectacle point of view but that retirement match and the cage with Rick Rude have to be the best Warrior matches, although how do you whittle down such a long list?

[Waffdon]

Rhea pinning Liv Morgan clean. Not very surprising at all. Her and Priest have been single handedly burying Liv Morgan and Dom for months

The babyface’s stood tall in every single segment leading up to the match as well.

[phonics]

I've been watching Survivor Series, I normally only tune into the Rumble and Mania. I can see WWE's ability to make things look big but the quality of the actual wrestling is so poor.

edit: Not saying the participants can't wrestle but every match looks mid as fuck and it's just waiting for the ending to know what the storyline outcome is.

[phonics]

Rhea pinning Liv Morgan clean. Not very surprising at all. Her and Priest have been single handedly burying Liv Morgan and Dom for months

The babyface’s stood tall in every single segment leading up to the match as well.

You would have hated the Stone Cold era.

[Gray Fox]

I've been watching Survivor Series, I normally only tune into the Rumble and Mania. I can see WWE's ability to make things look big but the quality of the actual wrestling is so poor.

Its' legit the opposite of AEW. Production, sets, promo etc unmatched. Yet the in ring stuff is all just very safe and by the numbers.

[Gray Fox]

Also lol at one of the Tongas going for a pin when the other 4 men from each team have yet to enter the match.

[phonics]

Its' legit the opposite of AEW. Production, sets, promo etc unmatched. Yet the in ring stuff is all just very safe and by the numbers.

This is the issue. I don't think AEW's stuff is really that 'unsafe' because these people are very good at their jobs. The only person to have their career ended via moves while both companies have existed is Big E. Accidents happen.

[phonics]

Holy shit this WarGames thing is ABYSMAL.

edit: I posted this and then Fatu missed a move by several feet.

[phonics]

They just splashed someone through a table and then spent the next 4 minutes picking each other up so they could spam super kicks on Solo. Never ever ever ever talk to me about how AEW spams moves ever again.

Bad Decision by Roman trading CM Punks contribution for a favour btw. Did about as much as 2001 Val Venis.

[Waffdon]

Nobody watches AEW mate. Get over it

[phonics]

Yet you keep referencing it like you actually know anything about wrestling outside of what you see on Twitter.

[Waffdon]

It’s wrestling mate, what is there to know, you nerd :lol:

[phonics]

It’s wrestling mate, what is there to know, you nerd :lol:
Ben ?

[Gray Fox]

edit: I posted this and then Fatu missed a move by several feet.

I was about to come in here about how there's only about 2/3 proper workers out of the lot and Fatu just looks a star, but I think his knee legit buckled under him there. They seemed to spend the next few minutes trying to slyly talk about changing the rest of the match.

[phonics]

That Waff comment has genuinely annoyed me. Wrestling is an art that happens to involve fighting. Regal fought differently and cuts promos differently than Flair because they were formed in completely seperate places with seperate history. You should respect the work that’s being done.

[Waffdon]

No selling every single move or treating every match like it’s a Wrestlemania main event is something I respect tremendously.

[phonics]

No selling every single move or treating every match like it’s a Wrestlemania main event is something I respect tremendously.

Someone just put a bin on there head and did a backflip from 20 feet in the air and got up immediately. What are you talking about.

edit: In that literal match someone got superkicked multiple times and got up imemdiately. You're just repeating what you've seen on Twitter with absolutely no idea what you're talking about.

[Ben]

Ben ?

Good morning.

[wullie]

I liked the little NFL lineup video thing they did, everyone going through their character stuff like Yeet University and 'Doctorate in yeyeyeyeye' and then Tonga Loa just says the actual university he attended.

[Waffdon]

Someone just put a bin on there head and did a backflip from 20 feet in the air and got up immediately. What are you talking about.

edit: In that literal match someone got superkicked multiple times and got up imemdiately. You're just repeating what you've seen on Twitter with absolutely no idea what you're talking about.

No, that’s stupid but at least there’s a bit of story telling and psychology behind him doing it. AEW matches are gymnastic routines. They do not sell one bit. I watched MJF get hit with a pile driver off he apron to the floor and nothing was wrong. So dumb

[phonics]

You saw a Twitter clip

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Just finished WARGAMES.

Meh.

Best thing on the card was the intercontinental triple threat, the rest was very mid.

I also expected something to happen at the end with a return as there was a lot of time dedicated to them celebrating.

Wargames should probably take a break now, getting pretty damn boring.

[Ben]

The whole thing was mid. I watched it all in an hour tops.

I've recently watched 91-92 WCW WarGames and even this one with Roman and Punk making it feel huge, pales in comparison with regards to match quality. The whole WWE ethic these days dictate they play it safe and this gimmick isn't set up for that. The most fun I've ever had watching one of these matches is when Sid just wrecked Pillman in 1991 and you wouldn't see that sort of recklessness nowadays. I agree, kill it off for a while.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I liked the NXT ones but I'm not sure if that's because they were actually good (I remember Ian hated them) or because they were completely new to me as I had never seen the WCW ones.

I think Iyo has done the same bin spot in every women's one too which hasn't helped. It all feels really stale.

[Ben]

WCW had some shockers too (usually when Dusty Rhodes booked himself in it) but they found a great niche for a couple of years and they succeeded due to always making it feel different than everything else they did. They ramped up the mayhem x10 and there was blood everywhere and you believed people were going to get hurt. Even only doing one a year, it eventually outstayed its welcome.

Now it's just any cut and paste hardcore match surrounded by a different type of cage.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

You mean you didn't believe people were going to get hurt when this was happening:

1863002379144077733

[Ben]

I'll be honest, I don't think that is Jax's fault. They can't do headshots anymore so you should feed for the chair by showing your back. Naomi didn't do that.

Jax would have exposed it EVEN MORE had she just pulled out completely after winding up for it/

[wullie]

If they're looking to redo WCW gimmick matches, get the triple decker cage out of storage and get Shane McMahon involved.

[Ben]

Or Chamber of Horrors. Or the Scaffold.

Both absolute train wrecks.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

New Day segment worked really well.

[Waffdon]

Dom needs to give that 619 up. He’s too slow and tall for it. Looks utterly pathetic

[SvN]

It can't be any worse than when Cesaro used to do it.

[wullie]

I enjoyed the New Day bit a lot, Kofi Kingston's far too likeable in general so if they're getting people to properly turn on him they've really done it right.

Even though it was very recently I'd completely forgot they'd replaced Big E with that Odyssey guy for about a week before all his unpleasantness.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

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Haven't seen Deadline yet but I've seen this clip, fucking hell.

[Waffdon]

Mankind special

[phonics]

Mahow getting terrified at the panto that the character on stage isn't listening to him scream 'They're behind you!'

[Ben]

Yeah it's a work.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

"It's still real to me damn it!"

I am aware it's a work but it's a spot (other than legs/arms) you don't see and could have gone very badly.

[Shindig]

It looked very well rehearsed, to be fair.

[Waffdon]

Put a tenner on Iyo Sky to win RR @ 34s. Incredible value

Was gonna double it up with Rollins @ 15s but really don’t know what route they’ll go down

[phonics]

The New Day heat is good.

[Browning]

Was hoping to take my daughter to Smackdown at the O2 as she's really gotten into it lately. Can only buy VIP packages or tickets to both shows for insane prices. Even going to a house show in Nottingham was going to be about £250. No thanks.

[phonics]

1866655757543882754

This is truly absolute garbage. Is this the bloke that got kicked in the head so hard he started dancing as well?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

That was Montez Ford.

[Waffdon]

Is this not a PPV? Why on earth are there adverts

[Waffdon]

Put a tenner on Iyo Sky to win RR @ 34s. Incredible value

Was gonna double it up with Rollins @ 15s but really don’t know what route they’ll go down

God, I hope Rollins doesn’t win because Iyo is now 2/1 fav

[phonics]

Triple H opening and closing the show. This man HATES attention.

[Ben]

At least they kept up with the tradition of SNME being a complete snooze.

phonics any idea why our mate Tone is running THREE tournaments concurrently. It's hard enough keeping up with one of his eFed fantasies.

[phonics]

I haven’t been watching lately. I know the continual classic is going on. What’s the other 2?

[Ben]

Dynamite something and some women's shite.

[phonics]

I was watching some old WWF the other day and it hit be like a brick when The Oddities came out with ICP and Don Callis was there.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1868143322445054455

Trips getting back into the ring :drool:

[Ben]

I was watching some old WWF the other day and it hit be like a brick when The Oddities came out with ICP and Don Callis was there.

Don Callis was supposed to be the Higher Power for the Ministry, then at the last minute Vince decided he wanted to do it himself.

“It’s me Austin!”
“Awww son of a bitch”

[phonics]

1868143322445054455

Trips getting back into the ring :drool:

The only way someone could express this thought if they’d never seen a Triple H ppv match in their life.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I also really want Goldberg back in the ring too, buddy!

[Waffdon]

Not sure HHH would be allowed to compete even if his ego wanted him to

[phonics]

Dynamite something and some women's shite.

I looked into this because I was surprised to hear of tournaments that I didn't know of.

There was a tag tournament, it ended at Full Gear. It wasn't a real tournament, It was 2 rounds/4 matches to set up the 4 Way Tag at Full Gear for the purpose of putting Private Party over.

The womens one is not an AEW tournament, it was a qualifier match for the AEW entrant for the womens match at the AEW/ROH/CMLL/NJPW PPV in Japan next year.

From my research in 2024 I count 6 AEW tournaments including the 2 above, looking at WWE I count 11. Just saying.

[phonics]

Triple H opening and closing the show. This man HATES attention.

You'll never guess who the first person on Netflix was

[phonics]

I've just seen Smackdown is moving to 3 hours. I don't understand it, I thought the one positive of this whole Netflix deal is you don't have to rely on advertising so you could reduce RAW back to 2 hours and make it watchable again.

Non PPV wrestling is at its best at 90 minutes with ads. It's why I've lost touch with AEW. I don't have time to watch 5 hours of wrestling a week.

[Waffdon]

Fairly sure RAW is still 3 hours on Netflix

[phonics]

Madness.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1874631061629727110

lol.

[Ben]

Did I see Snoop Dogg on there? :D

He's been in WWE since.

[phonics]

Mahow would be hyped as fuck for Dynamite if they chose some awful nu metal bollocks. Or even Megan The Stallion, he’d fucking cum for a Kenny Omega appearance.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Do you honestly think that's a good song choice?

[phonics]

I legitimately couldn’t give a shit.

I barely watch AEW these days because I don’t do coke anymore so I’m not awake for it but this fanboy bullshit like it’s football Twitter is so cringe.

Every post is like looking at @UtdTreys timeline.

The only thing I’ve looked forward to in this thread is Waff dropping a :drool: over pentas debut just to prove he’s a retard.

[wullie]

The Elton John track for their other show and licencing Ol' 55 for the Brodie Lee tribute were both great picks, can't win them all.

[Pepe]

The pointer sisters are great.

[Waffdon]

I legitimately couldn’t give a shit.

I barely watch AEW these days because I don’t do coke anymore so I’m not awake for it but this fanboy bullshit like it’s football Twitter is so cringe.

Every post is like looking at @UtdTreys timeline.

The only thing I’ve looked forward to in this thread is Waff dropping a :drool: over pentas debut just to prove he’s a retard.

Get back on the coke, you were more entertaining

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Smackdown moving to 3 hours, yikes.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

And in even worse news, the Rumble next year will be held in Saudi Arabia.

[wullie]

Don't see why they'd want it after already hosting The Greatest Royal Rumble.

[Ben]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7MaVm3e0OA

[Shindig]

Yeah, they're really good at hype packages.

[wullie]

Apparently this Raw is going over 3 hours which I hope is just because they've stuffed a load of big stuff into it and it isn't the norm, Smackdown as three hours seems to only be a temporary thing thankfully.

[Waffdon]

Cena better not be putting people over on this run. I want Super Cena back and him to rightfully break the record

And if he’s full time for the year, get the buzz cut back

[Gray Fox]

What odds on Paul Levesque opening and closing the show?

[Gray Fox]

The man knows no shame :D

[Waffdon]

Reigns and Rhea are just machines aren’t they. Make Super Cena look like a jobber.

Punk winning clean was a surprise as was them making McIntyre lose to Yeet.

And making Rock face again? Eh?

[Waffdon]

Felt like they tried too hard to ease new fans into it. Pretty sure heels lost every single match

[Gray Fox]

Hulk Hogan booed out of the building too.

I assume Rick being face again now means he isn't working 'mania.

It's nice having it on Netflix now, but they need to sort the production out. They're usually great for it but last night was littered with sound dropping all over the show.

[wullie]

Never seen that arena before, that's an ideal venue. Particularly like the Mean Gene interview area, hope that's standard

[Ben]

It's nice having it on Netflix now, but they need to sort the production out. They're usually great for it but last night was littered with sound dropping all over the show.

That's on Netflix, not WWE. Their boxing and NFL live events have experienced the same issues.

[Ben]

Felt like they tried too hard to ease new fans into it.

This is it. Hardcore fans need to remember this. A huge percentage of the audience will have been first-time viewers.

[phonics]

4 matches in 3.5 hours?

No thank you.

[Waffdon]

This is it. Hardcore fans need to remember this. A huge percentage of the audience will have been first-time viewers.

In better news, Cena is odds on to the win RR. Please. :drool:

[phonics]

1876486508309614930

[Ben]

I can't understand how WWE didn't think that would backfire.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Pretty crap event really.

Thought at least one match would be a banger to help but they cared more about various star power (lol at Hogan getting booed massively) than focusing on the 'rasslin.

Jey beating Drew with no shenanigans, fucking hell.

[Waffdon]

I’m just hoping it means Rollins, McIntyre and Owens all get together. Wishful thinking

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Corey Graves and Booker T (with Vic Joseph who I really like) on the same commentary team :sick:

Still a really good episode of NXT despite those two.

[Waffdon]

Priest against Balor/Judgement Day has to be the most one sided rivalry in history. It’s went on for fucking ages too. I think the latter have won about two segments in a year

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Corey Graves and Booker T (with Vic Joseph who I really like) on the same commentary team :sick:

Still a really good episode of NXT despite those two.

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It's got to be a work but I don't see what would be the payoff? Graves (who hasn't wrestled an actual match in 11 years) v Triple H?

[Waffdon]

Graves v Pat I’d assume

[Shindig]

Sounds like a Wrestlemania piss break.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ghj8xkAWQAASykR?format=jpg

:cool:

[phonics]

Watching some old stuff and man the music was so much better.

All American Boys is just an all timer compared to the shit we get now.

[phonics]

Been doing a bit of tna. How dare Eric biscoff tell a single person how to run a company ever. Literal poison.

[Ben]

https://www.kayfabenews.com/trump-appoints-vince-russo-chief-border-wall-ensure-nobody-gets/

Bravo.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1882399161271652590

Did he call Vince?

[phonics]

If anyone ever tells me that Bischoff is a good booker ever again...

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GiA4AVFWAAAIilA.jpg

[phonics]

1882399161271652590

Did he call Vince?

I think the name is bad but I think the guy could have a hell of a fun few years being the main eventer that gets guys over on the European indie scene. Like what Drew McIntyre was in Scotland prior to his recent return. You heard the crowd in France. Same with Large William (aka Big Bill). They love a big man which a bit of charisma.

This might be slightly overstating it but he could he 80s Ric Flair for those territories. And if we don't count inflation the pay would probably be about the same.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I think you're right. He was doing really well when they moved him back down to NXT doing exactly that.

His tag team with Bron Breakker was really fun too.

[wullie]

He was great when they made him out to be homeless and he absolutely threw himself into it, one of those you could see coming back after going away and looking like a big deal elsewhere.

[phonics]

Would you like to hear a wrestling Christmas cracker joke I just came up with?

‘What does the man who’s about to be hit by a female drunk driver have in common with a WCW ring announcer introducing a Japanese wrestler?’

‘They both shout Sunny Oh No!’

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Watching SNME now, Jesse Ventura was absolutely shocking in the Breakker/Sheamus match.

[Waffdon]

He’s the only reason worth watching it. It’s the most pointless thing going. A glorified RAW with zero chance of anything relevant happening

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

It goes by quick though, especially when you forward through the filler shit.

45 minutes or so of mediocre wrasslin' on a Sunday morning.

[Gray Fox]

The referee counted three apparently. Someone should have said.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

He clearly didn't though!

[wullie]

I like Jacob Fatu and Tama Tonga a lot more as a duo than with the rest of the group. Solo is completely unconvincing when Fatu is around much like Reigns looking a bit of a spare part this time last year, and the other Tonga lad is almost comic relief so it works well that he's not about for a while.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1884052163326009582

Ended up breaking some ribs and punctured a lung which is probably the best he could have hoped for as it could have been really nasty for him.

Happened early in the match too and he carried on but ended up collapsing when he got to gorilla.

[wullie]

Fucking hell, that's nasty.

[Ben]

His head is massive.

[phonics]

First entrant into the Hall of Fame for the Triple H era? None other than Triple H. :D

The man’s ego knows no bounds.

[SvN]

Are we not counting last year?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

No, it doesn't fit Phonics' narrative.

[Waffdon]

First entrant into the Hall of Fame for the Triple H era? None other than Triple H. :D

The man’s ego knows no bounds.

Let’s be honest, he should have been in it years ago

[Waffdon]

Just clocked the men’s Royal rumble odds when looking to see how my odds are for Iyo Sky. Now I’m sad.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Surely they don't go down that route.

[Waffdon]

Just give me one more Cena run

He’s gonna feud with Logan Paul and put people over the whole time :sick:

[Gray Fox]

Triple H not opening the show? How will I know it's the Paul Levesque era?

I've not paid much attention to any odds as they've gone very safe/predictable with their booking lately. My picks for winners are Drew for the men's and then I think Charlotte returns tonight and clears house, only for a late returning Becky Lynch to gazump her.

[Waffdon]

The things I’d do for McIntyre to win

Huge fan of TKO changing the PPVs to Saturdays and starting before midnight .

[wullie]

A rumble match illustrates how shit most of the entrance music is now, unless it says their name you'd have no idea who's coming out.

[Shindig]

They should just incorporate singing their names into the themes, really.

[Gray Fox]

Drew winning with a late elimination of Cena would be glorious

[Waffdon]

I reiterate the theme song shout. 90% of them sound the same

[Gray Fox]

Yeah I think I've clocked maybe 3 or 4 of them based on their music. The rest all sounds shite. Included is Bayleys music because hers is terrible too.

[Gray Fox]

Still can't do one without a Lita or Trish appearance.

Nice to see Alexa back though.

[Dark Soldier]

Thank fuck they can't do one without a Trish appearance tbf

[Waffdon]

Charlotte is definitely winning unfortunately. I can’t get over how manly her arse is. It looks like her old man from behind

[Dark Soldier]

Crush me, Nia :wub:

[Gray Fox]

Charlotte is definitely winning unfortunately. I can’t get over how manly her arse is. It looks like her old man from behind

Confirmed now they wasted the final slot.

Charlotte does look nothing like she did when she came up now. Far too many a surgery.

[Waffdon]

I knew Iyo at 33s was too good to be true. Fuck you charlotte

[Waffdon]

Nikki Bella, Nia Jax and Charlotte in the final 4 :sick:

[Dark Soldier]

Not watched since Wrestlemania last year, same people still then eh. Fucking hell.

[Gray Fox]

Nikki Bella, Nia Jax and Charlotte in the final 4 :sick:

Yeah it was like that year Reigns got into the last 4 with big show and kane

This one fell apart as soon as Nia came in. That was quite sloppy and very boring

[Waffdon]

It’s definitely going to happen but I really hope the men’s rumble doesn’t have multiple ‘iron men’ again. It happened yet again in the woman’s earlier. Just be unpredictable for once

[Waffdon]

Will we ever see a title change happen that wasn’t utterly predictable again? Owens gets made to look like a bitch once again

[Waffdon]

This rumble is already so much better. Plenty eliminations and not bogged down with 10 people in there at the half way point

[Waffdon]

What the fuck was that

[Waffdon]

Why would you tease us like that

[Waffdon]

And why is that retard main eventing WM :lol:

[Dark Soldier]

Why do I still watch this utter shite

[Waffdon]

Gunther Jey Uso for the 5th time is just not it. The former is so good but even he cannot carry Uso. It has to be a sales thing. Must be making them a fortune

[wullie]

Not sure about that winner but it's right to not have Cena win it, his whole thing should be chasing that final title target than do it first go and then just retire in a 5 minute match with Baron Corbin or whatever.

[Gray Fox]

Yeah I feel Cena will have to be shown to work hard to get it.

Jey Uso though? That's just flatlined night 1s main event for me. I don't get it.

[Gray Fox]

Some notes from my watch:

KO is a madman but also deserves better than he's getting. That finishing spot, yikes.

Crowd seemed either a bit shit, or had crap audio on them because it didn't sound amazing. I don't think the trimmed down entrance set helps here. Make it huge so they can see who is coming out when their generic shit music hits.

Paul really needs to get this fixation of titles only changing hands at Mania weekends out of his head. It's making everything way too predictable.

Quite a crap rumble imo. Quite sloppy in a lot of places and I didnt care much about the tag match so there wasn't really much to see. Everyone knew the womens winner well in advance, save for a potential late save from a returner, but when you waste your 30 spots on Nikki fucking Bella and Logan fucking Paul...

[Shindig]

Yeah I feel Cena will have to be shown to work hard to get it.

Jey Uso though? That's just flatlined night 1s main event for me. I don't get it.

It's The Rick pushing his family. As for the long reigns, they're too predictable. From a TV perspective, it does cement Mania as a season finale.

Joe Hendry getting a bigger pop than John Cena. :cool:

[Waffdon]

Rollins’ double footed stomp on Reigns’ head was brutal

[Ben]

Jey fucking Uso seriously

[wullie]

Have to admit they got me with the final two, just as I was despairing that it made the winner too obvious it didn't happen. I like the idea of a mild surprise, but not necessarily who they picked.

[Ben]

The Reigns, Punk, Rollins thing was really well done and I thought the perfect way to clear the ring for Cena and not have him dump the current top guys.

Gunther has a hell of a job on his hands.

[Waffdon]

I’m obviously pissed because Don Cena winning would have been hype but I genuinely thought the match itself was really good. A lot of nice story telling and good moments. Even the celebrity nonsense was fine because that spear on him was fucking superb. And I guess you can’t moan about it all being predictable and then something like that happens…but Jey Uso. We’ve seen the match so often already and you just cannot carry him to a good singles match. Not like the build up will be good either

No idea where they’re going with any of this. Can’t see Cena winning the EC as he’s not going to fight Rhodes surely.

[Ben]

Punk vs Rhodes
Gunther vs Uso

Women's match was great up until Michin at #20. It wasn't her fault it went tits up but she looked really lost and the sloppiness from everyone ramped up from there. The final four was pathetic. TKO are really transforming the women's division though. Even right up until a year or so ago we had the five or six big names and the rest was awful filler. Now the majority of them look like genuine stars.

Men's match was structured better. Ignoring the winner, it was booked really well throughout. Breakker's entrance spear was sensational.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Fucking Jey Uso.

What the actual fuck?

[wullie]

Gunther vs Uso feels too much like a Raw match to fit the status, but if they're going for Reigns vs Rollins I'm well in to that. They've already got 10 years worth of story ready for the hype.

There's some story about McIntyre throwing a wobbly because his elimination wasn't planned or something which I'm assuming is all an intentional part of whatever's happening next with him, particularly as 'Drew McIntyre Eliminated' flashed up immediately on screen.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Also, regarding Breakker he has the best spear in the game by miles.

The one when he entered, the one one on that Speed twat (what a waste of a spot) and the one on Roman were all superb.

Women's rumble was a bit shit but I think they did well with NXT lasses (what a division that is) and it was nice to see them continue the Bayley/Giulia/Roxanne Perez stuff.

Tag match was predictably shit.

And KO is a fucking madman for those bumps, especially the Alabama Slam. Fucking hell.

Oh and the first Rollins stomp to Reigns was fucking class.

[wullie]

I enjoyed the tag match, but it would definitely fit much more as the highlight of an NXT Takeover then a snack break at a Royal Rumble.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Making it 2 out of 3 falls didn't help too.

Everyone knows it's going to 1-1 so you only bother really paying attention in the final few minutes.

[Waffdon]

Punk vs Rhodes
Gunther vs Uso

Women's match was great up until Michin at #20. It wasn't her fault it went tits up but she looked really lost and the sloppiness from everyone ramped up from there. The final four was pathetic. TKO are really transforming the women's division though. Even right up until a year or so ago we had the five or six big names and the rest was awful filler. Now the majority of them look like genuine stars.

Men's match was structured better. Ignoring the winner, it was booked really well throughout. Breakker's entrance spear was sensational.

His spear on Reigns was sensational as well

[igor_balis]

Just fast forwarded through a shit daily motion video to see all the surprise return entries and there basically wasn't any, wankers.

[phonics]

Hey guys don’t be so down, if we add up all the Jey Uso v Gunther matches together then that’s a 4.75 star match!

I think this current Rumble production format blows. I swear old rumbles weren’t just *horn* 2 guys do a 1v1 spot roll to the side *horn*

However my biggest criticism as it has been for many rumbles is the highlighting of how bland the themes are. Across the men’s and women’s I had to wait until their name came up on the tron or they showed up on camera to know who it was.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1886490309120377002

I think he genuinely wanted to hurt him, lol.

[Shindig]

Folded like a deckchair. Perfect.

[Waffdon]

Reigns out indefinitely. My man has won at life. Been part time for years

[Ben]

Makes sense though. He's not in the EC so it explains his absence until Rollins is fully heel and needs slapping. The three way feud with Punk will be immense.

Although he did take all of that stomp on the floor so he's probably concussed too. :D

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Makes sense, after the two stomps. Especially the double footed one.

Also, when will the plebs in the crowd realise Jey is shit and all he has going for him is a wank one word catchphrase?

[Waffdon]

Of course it makes sense why he’s out but the whole reason it was done was to write him off tv for another 2 months for no reason

[phonics]

Been watching some random old stuff and someone popped up that I'd forgot about in an angle that I never knew existed because I'd stopped watching by then.

Remember Heidenreich? The massive German Nazi fucker that read poetry and had an implied rape scene with Michael Cole? They put him in the Legion of Doom?

[Ben]

Yep lol. It was after Hawk died so they put any old stiff in there to profit off the legacy. It went as well as you'd expect.

[phonics]

As someone who thought Toni Storms arrival into AEW was the definition of mid, her last year has been truly incredible.

[Ben]

Timeless Toni Storm is easily the best thing the company has done since the All In nonsense. Ospreay is the only thing that comes close but he's already being booked like just another guy.

On a totally unrelated note, surely it's not long before WWE sign Joe Hendry. I know he's just become TNA Champion but he's on par with Cena for YouTube views from the Rumble.

[Waffdon]

I think he’ll fail miserably if on WWE full time. Only popular ‘coz of his theme song

[Ben]

It is class though.

[Gray Fox]

If only they had another guy who was only popular for a song or catchphrase. I bet they'd even book him to win the rumble.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Hendry is a decent wrestler though tbf.

[Waffdon]

If only they had another guy who was only popular for a song or catchphrase. I bet they'd even book him to win the rumble.

I don’t like him but let’s not pretend he hasn’t been an absolutely brilliant tag team wrestler and a huge part of the best storyline in years. He was already over without ‘YEET’ and whatever the fuck that dance is

[wullie]

Jey Uso's promo on Monday after winning was great, lot of the Daniel Bryan genuineness about him that people can easily latch onto, not sure how much I want to see him wrestle but I think it's nice to have something new tried. Now set 2025 up to have it be Bron Breakker next year.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Well, regarding Bron...

1886438279073103975

What did Roman do in his second Rumble? Win it.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

AOP, Paul Ellering, Cedric Alexander, Sonya Deville (contract expiring in a month and Blair Davenport released.

Bit surprised by the two women as Sonya was leader of a faction and Davenport was seriously good on NXT but just never got her chance on the main roster due to injuries.

[wullie]

Gallows and Anderson as well, I was sure they'd already gone as I don't remember seeing them in ages? Cedric Alexander I like a lot, surely Tony Khan's already planning to get the lads back together as soon as his 90 days is up.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Gallows and Anderson were fired by Vince I think.

They came back, did some shit on SD and then went to NXT.

In NXT they were horseshit as they always are and hadn't wrestled in a while there anyway as I think one of them got injured.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Isla Dawn :( and Giovanni Vinci also released.

Isla Dawn was class in NXT UK and seemed to be doing alright with Kay Lee Ray/Alba Fyre in a tag team, hopefully Alba gets some singles love now.

Vinci was weird as they wrote him out of Imperium then repackaged him and gave him a lot of hype vignettes. Then he lost twice to Apollo Crews really quickly and then wasn't seen again I believe.

[phonics]

I think the Gallows brothers are awful but they almost deserve a lifelong paycheque just for their contribution to wrestling history. Without them we wouldn’t have a match so bad that Inoki had to came out of Gorilla and smash the place up until they did the go home.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1889869954486591981

Sign of the year.

[Ben]

:cool:

[phonics]

Instead of signing all the people who wouldn’t do a job in AEW they should give 8 bajillion dollars to Harley Cameron. Just a truly multi talented personality that can actually wrestle.

Think her match with Sasha will go off.

1889867771972034900

[phonics]

Josh Alexander to AEW apparently. I’ve never watched TNA but my instant takeaway is that I can never take anyone who wears the Scott Norton ear muffs as a serious competitor so he’s dead on arrival for me.

[wullie]

I never knew what that headgear was growing up, I just thought Rick Steiner was missing an ear or something.

[Ben]

Rick Steiner and Kurt Angle did ok.

Alexander is a really good wrestler but not sure how he stands out from the pack and gets over on TV. As per, he will get a few wins then just be another guy in the midcard.

[SvN]

I never knew what that headgear was growing up, I just thought Rick Steiner was missing an ear or something.
:D

Glad it wasn't just me.

[Waffdon]

RIP Smackdown, Road Dogg is the main writer again. Explains why it’s been dogshit for weeks

[Waffdon]

No shot they’re actually not giving Zayn/Owens their match at mania and are feeding Zayn to Kross :D

[phonics]

Ricky Starks sitting out for a year with a severe case of jobitis just to turn up at NXT for a bout that wouldn't even get top billing on Rampage. A strange man.