A New Era for the Wrestling Thread

[Hunter Rider]

 

[Lobo]

So will Becky be back before Mania or wait until the Raw after?

I think she comes back before and faces Lyra for the IC title in Vegas.

 

[Dr. Evil]

IMO, the reaction to Jey Uso winning the Men's Rumble would have been different if the final two was him and Logan Paul. Instead it was him and Cena, which is why people didn't like the Jey win.

 

[Dr. Evil]

So will Becky be back before Mania or wait until the Raw after?

I think she comes back before and faces Lyra for the IC title in Vegas.

So the rumor is that she didn't come back at the Rumble, because it would have overshadowed the return of Alexa Bliss.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Elimination Chamber qualifying matches on Smackdown tonight:

Bianca Belair vs Piper Niven

Alexa Bliss vs Candace LaRae

IMO, the reaction to Jey Uso winning the Men's Rumble would have been different if the final two was him and Logan Paul. Instead it was him and Cena, which is why people didn't like the Jey win.

I think the biggest issues is Jey's entrance is way more over than he is, his matches are routinely average at best, so him main eventing Wrestlemania isn't particularly exciting unless you're going to be there live and like waving your arms up and down.

 

[Lobo]

I don't think Jey vs Gunther will go on last. I think Roman vs Seth will go on last. Possibly a three way dance with Punk. People complain about Jey online but in the building he gets nothing but cheers.

There's no way Alexa is losing her first match back. Especially after the pop she got. And with Candace and Zelina she has people her size to work with. I prefer her not be with the Wyatts but if she transitions out of Dark Alexa back to the goddess Alexa quickly enough I'm okay with it.

 

[Hunter Rider]

I don't think Jey vs Gunther will go on last. I think Roman vs Seth will go on last. Possibly a three way dance with Punk. People complain about Jey online but in the building he gets nothing but cheers.

There's no way Alexa is losing her first match back. Especially after the pop she got. And with Candace and Zelina she has people her size to work with. I prefer her not be with the Wyatts but if she transitions out of Dark Alexa back to the goddess Alexa quickly enough I'm okay with it.

That's because the entrance is the biggest crowd participation gimmick I've ever seen, only the Yes! Chants come close, but the millions watching on tv aren't getting that energy, and they're stuck with the mediocre in-ring side of Jey.

Agreed, Alexa will definitely qualify, and I'm with you on hoping she doesn't get stuck with the circus act, they already have Abbey, just let Alexa do her own thing.

 

[Hunter Rider]

 

[Hunter Rider]

This hasn't been 100% confirmed, seems a bit of an odd opponent for Roxy.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Nick Aldis just announced that Drew is officially on Smackdown now and will face LA Knight and Jimmy Uso in a triple threat Elimination Chamber qualifier.

 

[Lobo]

Drew should win that. My guess is Knight takes the pin.

 

[Lobo]

This hasn't been 100% confirmed, seems a bit of an odd opponent for Roxy.

That's weird matchup. Two heels for Roxanne first main roster match?

 

[Dr. Evil]

AOP, Sonya Deville, Cedric Alexander and Blair Davenport are gone.

 

[AndrewGilkison]

After watching the Youtube upload of the Drew/Jimmy/LA Knight segment, I would much rather have LA Knight vs. Drew as a WrestleMania program over Drew wasting time with Priest. LA's promo on Drew (and Drew's response on X) was great.

 

[TheVileOne]

AOP, Sonya Deville, Cedric Alexander and Blair Davenport are gone.

Sonya is most surprising because she's been featured on TV regularly and she was just in the women's Rumble. Not to mention, she does a great job as a company spokesperson. She had a run of bad luck with her injury in the middle of her title run with Chelsea. A little sad to hear this.

Blair Davenport was already a respected, experienced veteran when she signed with NXT UK. I feel she will have no problem getting booked or signed elsewhere.

 

[blue scholar]

After watching the Youtube upload of the Drew/Jimmy/LA Knight segment, I would much rather have LA Knight vs. Drew as a WrestleMania program over Drew wasting time with Priest. LA's promo on Drew (and Drew's response on X) was great.

"I forgot to get my stuff in"

 

[TheVileOne]

IMHO Authors of Pain still had the stink of Vince McMahon's corruption on them after moving to the main roster. They were never able to regain that killer BA aura they had in NXT.

 

[DOBSON10]

Vince killed AOP for the Main roster audience and putting them in a dull, pointless faction kept them there… Should have just restored their NXT treatment and had them go straight into the Tag Division… Very disappointing for me because they have the most potential of any Tag Team I’ve seen in forever IMO, albeit they need a mouthpiece Manager but they had one… Sticking Paul Ellerring & them in the background of that faction didn’t work… They just never fit and had no real direction… One of HHH’s few mistakes…

The Tag Division is awful right now, they could have used NXT AOP…

 

[Lobo]

AOP, Sonya Deville, Cedric Alexander and Blair Davenport are gone.

Giovanni Vinci is probably next. I could see Apollo and Santos getting let go as well. Sonya is surprising. Blair will be better off wherever she goes. I hope TNA.

Kevin Owens signed a new five year deal.

Imo it's only a matter of time before Tama Tonga gets over as a face with his yeyeyeyeyeye being chanted by everyone.

 

[TheVileOne]

Giovanni Vinci is probably next. I could see Apollo and Santos getting let go as well. Sonya is surprising. Blair will be better off wherever she goes. I hope TNA.

Kevin Owens signed a new five year deal.

Imo it's only a matter of time before Tama Tonga gets over as a face with his yeyeyeyeyeye being chanted by everyone.

Apollo Crews is probably safe for now because he's injured.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Solo is back, I didn't realise it was him at first, he still got his heat though. I just hope they don't have him talk Jacob into giving him his spot in the triple threat match next week with Strowman and Priest.

Charlotte is really leaning into the arrogance and it's ideal for heat if she's going to be a heel, the way she talked down to Tiffy was stiff! I was hoping they'd do Tiffy vs Nia at Elimination Chamber, but it's next week on Smackdown, makes me worry that Iyo will wrestle Rhea there instead of Wrestlemania.

Bianca and Piper had another good match, Piper has become a good heel foil to put over the bigger stars, maybe one day she'll get a bit more. Alexa vs Candace was slow and stilted given its been 2 years since Alexa wrestled, and I noticed the signal interference in the middle of the match, so looks like she's getting stuck with the circus troop.

Owens car promo was brilliant, the way he gets real emotion into his voice reminds me a bit of Foley.

Melo to Tozawa - "You look like someone left Cody Rhoes in the dryer too long" was line of the night.

I liked the vignette for the Street Profits, a fresh coat of paint will do them good.

The highlight of the show was Drew vs Jimmy vs Knight, both the promo and the match, all 3 guys got some good lines in and it was funny seeing Drew and Knight play off the real life heat. The match was given plenty of time for all 3 guys to shine and the right guy went over.

That's weird matchup. Two heels for Roxanne first main roster match?

Maybe its a test, if Roxy can get a good match out of Raquel then her stock will rise again.

After watching the Youtube upload of the Drew/Jimmy/LA Knight segment, I would much rather have LA Knight vs. Drew as a WrestleMania program over Drew wasting time with Priest. LA's promo on Drew (and Drew's response on X) was great.

I'd pivot to that as well, I think Drew and Knight's sarcastic promo style would work well against each other, match-wise I'm not as sure, but the build would have more potential.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Vince killed AOP for the Main roster audience and putting them in a dull, pointless faction kept them there… Should have just restored their NXT treatment and had them go straight into the Tag Division… Very disappointing for me because they have the most potential of any Tag Team I’ve seen in forever IMO, albeit they need a mouthpiece Manager but they had one… Sticking Paul Ellerring & them in the background of that faction didn’t work… They just never fit and had no real direction… One of HHH’s few mistakes…

The Tag Division is awful right now, they could have used NXT AOP…

I'm not familiar with what Vince did with them but Triple H should have known better than how he booked them, you can't have 2 monsters jobbing every week, it kills the mystique and the main thing that gets big, mute powerhouses over, you look at any successful monster heel, you don't start them out by having them constantly lose, they need to be dominant until you have the right face to finally but a dent in their record, it's pro wrestling booking 101.

I think the Tag Division on Smackdown is decent, granted none of the teams are super over, but there's some good match-ups in there. The Raw Division is dead though, the War Raiders don't have any real contenders bar the New Day, in truth I'd go back to one set of tag titles as having two isn't helping get anybody else on the shows.

 

[Hunter Rider]

 

[blueharvest]

 

[Lobo]

Alba Fyre should be following suit.

And maybe the Party Girls though I think Kayden Carter is dating Damian Priest so they might get a bit more time.