They actually went with a clean Cody win over Solo. I'm somewhat shocked because it seemed like they were making a point to protect Solo for a future match with Roman and a DQ or count out wouldn't have hurt Cody in any way whatsoever.
They actually went with a clean Cody win over Solo. I'm somewhat shocked because it seemed like they were making a point to protect Solo for a future match with Roman and a DQ or count out wouldn't have hurt Cody in any way whatsoever.
I see Solo is developing that Kane knee bump very well. It always looks so awkward.
They had Heyman play his role very well here too. I just hope there's nothing screwy with him switching sides in the big one.
Yep, incredible.Originally Posted by Ben
I'm a twit
I just watched the whole Cody-Solo segment.
Cody is so ridiculously over. Not just the mega pop for his entrance but also the sheer amount of (unique) signs in the crowd which is a great indicator of someone who has made that connection. The fans are also invested in his matches which in WWE is quite something as the matches are usually when everyone sits on their hands or goes for a piss.
Who was the last wrestler to be like this, Daniel Bryan?
L a knight
yeah
Fuckin caps
LA Knight is awesome.
Yeah!
I can't help but wonder what would have become of Max Dupri. He could have been oiling up beefcakes left and right.
Call me out of touch but that was up there with Red Rooster and TL Hopper as one of the worst gimmicks I've ever seen. Maybe a bit of recency bias too but MMM was/is awful.
Although I do wonder what might have come of Jim Herd's idea of the hunchbacked tag team (ie. they physically can't be pinned) had it got through the sanity censors.
'Shorty G' would be very high up that list for me as well, the weird shooooosh thing he's doing now is childish rubbish but still a million miles better than being an inspirational midget in a day-glo basketball kit.
MMM has been a bit of a guilty pleasure for me.
Especially since they brought in "Otise".
Yeah, they’re great. Should be pushed to the moon.
Rollins was incredibly over during his 2018 babyface run before they had him feud Jezza for five months and killed the mood dead.
Not Bryan levels certainly but I'd say near enough on a par with what Cody's getting currently? That might be my memory failing me but he was very, very over.
Not watched any of last night yet, but where WWE normally waste unbeaten runs on some absolute bullshit I think this is probably a pretty good use of Solo's. Part of a big storyline going into the biggest show of the year. I was surprised it wasn't a DQ too though.
Rollins certainly has had a fall from grace. I hope Logan Paul lols his cackling cunt into some time off.
I was just checking the WrestleMania card so I decided to jot down my thoughts a few days out.
WWE United States Title Match
Austin Theory (c) vs. John Cena
This should be a good “pass the torch” moment to get us going. Theory certainly has great potential even though he got fully schooled on the mic by Cena a couple of weeks ago. I’m not expecting a great match but it will achieve what it needs to.
Singles Match
Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio
I’m not going to lie, I’m actually looking forward to this. Dominik is pretty bad in the ring but between him getting booed out the building for being a twat and finally Rey kicking the shit out of him, it should be entertaining. I think we will get a good indication of both Rey and Dominik’s long-term future depending on the winner; wrestling logic would book a babyface win but this could be a big elevation for Dom if they go with him.
WWE RAW Tag Team Title / WWE SmackDown Tag Team Title Match
The Usos (Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso) (c) vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn
Death, taxes, KO turns on Sami. But if anyone is going to turn here, it should be Jey, if they are really pulling the trigger on the Bloodline falling apart. It’ll be pretty shitty if this doesn’t all culminate with Sami winning at least something.
Fatal Four Way Tag Team Match
Braun Strowman & Ricochet vs. The Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar) vs. The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) vs. Alpha Academy (Chad Gable & Otis)
At least the annual “get everyone on the card” match isn’t a ladder match for the IC title so there’s an improvement. But still, I don’t give a fuck about this. Braun and Ricochet are actually a cute team but Smackdown and WrestleMania are two different things. Viking Raiders I used to LOVE as War Machine but they’re meaningless now. People seem to love Montez but I’m not on board yet. Chad Gable has been beaten like a drum, poor bloke. Otis is shit.
WWE Intercontinental Title Triple Threat Match
Gunther (c) vs. Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre
I think everyone on here knows my thoughts on multi-man matches but this might actually be alright. Gunther is obviously great and they’ve managed to work in another story with Sheamus and Drew and they’re two of the better workers so there might not be so much obvious “waiting for your spot” shit. A good way to get the belt off Gunther without taking a pin as he moves on up to Cody.
Fatal Four Way Tag Team Match
Natalya & Shotzi vs. Chelsea Green & Sonya Deville vs. Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez vs. Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler
Christ. Piss break.
Singles Match
Seth Rollins vs. Logan Paul
Normally I’d hope a cocky YouTube guy would get destroyed but Logan Paul actually understands the wrestling business and he’s brilliant. Seth’s recent promos and general character is some of the most egregious shit I’ve ever witnessed so I’m all aboard the Logan Paul train.
Six Man Tag Team Match
Becky Lynch, Lita & Trish Stratus vs. Damage CTRL (Bayley, Dakota Kai & IYO SKY)
I didn’t think I could care this little about Becky Lynch but here we are. It seems neither company can book women’s wrestling.
Singles Match
Brock Lesnar vs. Omos (w/MVP)
This will be so bad but I won’t be able to take my eyes off it. If this is more than Brock superhumanning Almost with a German, F5, 1-2-3, get out of there, then I’ll be stunned.
Hell In A Cell Match
Edge vs. Finn Balor
Balor needs this win so much otherwise he’s done as a believable threat to anyone above jobber status. He’s meant to be the leader of Judgement Day but it doesn’t come across that way. At least they’ve used the Cell match stipulation properly here. I’m not hyped but unless there’s a load of fuckery I don’t see how it can be bad.
WWE RAW Women's Title Match
Bianca Belair (c) vs. Asuka
They’ve given me no reason to care about this match but bell-to-bell it’ll be one of the better ones, surely.
WWE SmackDown Women's Title Match
Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Rhea Ripley
The big crowning moment of Rhea. She’s a true star now and this will cement it. I just feel the match will be back to front with Charlotte wanting to shine (especially if she’s dropping the belt) and Rhea being such a good bumper. Charlotte is a bad babyface. Having said that, the crowd might end up switching the babyface and heel anyway so it might all come up Milhouse.
WWE Title / WWE Universal Title Match
Roman Reigns (c) vs. Cody Rhodes
The biggest match in years. WWE haven’t built a match this well in so long and I might argue that includes Bryan vs. Authority. Cody is THE babyface, everyone is into him (apart from Tony Khan) and the Bloodline story is some of the best shit they’ve written in forever. It’s got to be a Cody win here. There’s legs on the Bloodline story yet potentially so there’s an argument for Roman retaining but that will kill Cody completely and having a superstar babyface is infinitely more desirable than a superstar heel. Sometimes the obvious thing to do is the right thing to do.
I didn't know about the four way tag team matches, is there any reason for them other than 'here you go'?
Nothing that I'm aware of but appearing on WrestleMania is a big payday so I can imagine some of the participants would be really pissed off if they didn't get on the card.
Which match will be first?
I'm a twit
Theory vs. Cena is confirmed opening Night 1.
I'm going Brock to open the other night, get his armdrags and cradles in early doors and then straight off home to beat the traffic.
You'd have thought with some of the shit on there, that Bobby Lashley could have been given something as an apology.
Wasting a Ronda appearance on a non-title fatal four way tag match is also lol. I can only assume the vampire turns on her and we get some SummerSlam build.
"Otis is shit".
I will hunt you down you mother fucking bastard.
"Tag Team Showcase" matches I believe, so a) to get people on the card and b) HHH's concession to the fact that he does like tag wrestling even if he's done nowt with it yet. Hoping once the belts are off the Usos we can get some proper tag division(s) going again.
Just wait until the match enters its 50th minute and Edge's comeback to win (and he shouldn't win, but he is winning) hasn't even started yet.
Omega using his Devil's Sky theme last night.
Bryan Danielson turning heel.
Omega vs. Danielson at Double or Nothing.
Danielson fighting for the IWGP US title and going in the G1??
See, Tony, it's not that hard. Even though we had to endure Matt Hardy and Orange Cassidy wrestling, the extra devotion to angles and live promos will really pay off come Double or Nothing. Finally BCC starting to mean something.
Having seen apparently what night 1 and 2 look like, the card looks a bit meh for ‘Mania. Hopefully they forget about PG during the Cell match and the Triple Threat for the IC.
The cell match will be one of the worst (other than the Women's let's get everyone involved tag thing) because it will be pushing on an hour just to have Edge grind out a victory.
Yeah I didn’t take into account the fact that it’s two nights so the Cell will get plenty of time. If it was 20 minutes get in, get out then it would be decent.
Got to have 20 minutes alone for The Brood reunion.
The two nights things is largely irrelevant. Edge just gets the Triple H Epic match time nowadays.
Genuinely not sure I've really enjoyed a match of his since he came back. And part of me feels like, somewhere, he and Orton are still slowly stumbling about an empty gym.
THE GREATEST MATCH EVER was alright.
Almost all of his matches have been way too slow and way too long.
Is Christian still with AEW or is there a chance we get all the Brood lads back together?
It is hard to go anywhere but down after you've that The Greatest Wrestling Match.
That said, when he beats painted Balor inside the cage for literally no reason, I'm sure we can get Randy back so they can go at it again.
It's heavily speculated his contract finished up the other week and he was thrown in a casket and not seen since. So there is a chance.
It's also rumoured Smalltime Tony doesn't like putting no-compete clauses in.
Still at AEW so we'll only get 2/3 of Brood.
Speaking of Orton, somebody has to return to put LA Knight on his arse.
Oh god no, do not want that match.
I don’t even think it will be a match, just a promo battle and a finisher.
Criminal that LA isn’t on the card.
Don't worry, he's on WRESTLEMANIA Smackdown in the Andre Battle Royal.
Knight is over enough that they could have found something to do for him across two nights. Yeah!
Predictions time.
Night 1
1 Austin Theory (c) vs. John Cena - I’d like it if Cena stuck around for a bit but not convinced that will ever happen again. As such, he must lose. I’m not fully sold on Theory as a lot of people seem to be, so hoping for a good showing here.
2 Seth "Freakin" Rollins vs. Logan Paul - Logan is a weird one. He has no right being as good as he is in the ring but not sure he will ever commit to a more heavy schedule. Is it palatable for him to go over big names at WM? I’m not sure it is, actually, no matter how much I hate Rollins’ current character.
3 Trish Stratus, Lita, and Becky Lynch vs. Damage CTRL (Bayley, Dakota Kai, and Iyo Sky) - don’t care.
4 Braun Strowman and Ricochet vs. The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) vs. Alpha Academy (Chad Gable and Otis) vs. The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar) (with Valhalla) - don’t care, but I like Strowman and Ricochet as a team. So hope to see them get a little push.
5 Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Rhea Ripley - don’t care.
6 The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) (c) vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn - potential for fuckery here. Jey could turn, as could Owens. On balance, I don’t think anyone will and we might just get a clean win for Sami and Big Kev. That’d be nice.
7 Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio - loved the build for this. The pop when Rey punched Dom on SmackDown last week was great. It’s been a simple but effective storyline and I’m guessing Dom has to win.
Night 2
1 Roman Reigns (c) (with Paul Heyman) vs. Cody Rhodes - has to be Cody, doesn’t it? WM main event, he’s a white hot crowd favourite and it’s rumoured that Reigns needs a break. If you don’t take the titles off Roman now I don’t know how you do it. I’ll be sad to see Roman go, though. It’s been an amazing storyline.
2 Gunther (c) vs. Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre - can’t help but think this should have been Gunther vs Brock and I would’ve been genuinely looking forward to it. I think Sheamus wins here so he can complete his set.
3 Edge vs. "The Demon" Finn Bálor - ugh, I don’t know why but I don’t really give a shit about this. Balor is not a convincing heel for me. Can’t take him seriously. This being inside the Cell makes it more interesting. If it was a 1v1 it would’ve been a piss break.
4 Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez vs. Natalya and Shotzi vs. Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler vs. Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville - couldn’t care any less.
5 Bianca Belair (c) vs. Asuka - don’t care.
6 Brock Lesnar vs. Omos (with MVP) - I don’t know why this match is even a thing. Omos sucks balls and Brock is too much of a box office name to be pissing about with him. Three F5s and finish it in 1 minute, please.
Last edited by 7om; 30-03-2023 at 10:39 PM.
Every time you guys post the card I get a bit more sad. It was never going to match up to last years nostalgia fest but it's truly awful this year.
As frustrating as it sometimes feels to wait ages for the next AEW PPV, at least it’s worth the wait and a pleasure to watch. WWE PPVs, especially this Wrestlemania over two nights, seem like such a chore. I feel like nobody cares about those women’s tag matches.
I'm a twit
I agree Baz. AEW, if they've got anything right, is PPVs. 4 or 5 a year is a great number.
How dare you all keep saying PPV when they are clearly PREMIUM LIVE EVENTS.
But in all seriousness, I think there are too many 'obvious' winners this year. Then you start looking well in that case, who can put on a good show despite that?
I'm tentatively expecting a decent show this weekend but then I didn't care for a fair bit of last year's show. I'll fart out some more extended thoughts later when I'm not on my phone.
Also trying to decide what, if any, of the NXT card I care about.
I'll watch Breakkkker/ Hayes. Women's title and NA title are maybes.
Hurts my heart to see Bate in a match I don't want to watch.
I was watching a YouTube video of someone playing WWE 2k23 the other day.
Now I finally know what PLE fucking means. Have they actually changed that?1
They changed it last year.
Fecking hell is nowt sacred
In fairness to them, unlike their standard weirdness with language this makes sense as there must only be about 10 people who don't trust the internet and still pay for specific shows now
It's still PPV to me damn it.
I'm more excited about this year's than last. I think that's because Triple H has cut down on the Vince bullshit. This year there's a couple of piss breaks sure but apart from Almost, there's nothing offensive. Last year we had Cody on Saturday and not a lot more, then a shit Sunday.
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