A New Era for the Wrestling Thread

[Hunter Rider]

WWE is referring to from his NXT debut to when he joined with Paul Heyman not the start of his singles push. WWE clearly invested in Reigns and saw huge dollar signs in him well before that, hence CM Punk's "MAKE SURE YOU MAKE ROMAN LOOK STRONG" complaint.

There was no singles push of any kind prior to 2014, and it only began in a major way when he won the Rumble in 2015, before that he was in a team, and the Shield were a massive success, but if we're going from FCW in 2010 to WWE in 2012 it was 2 years, as the Shield were a massive part of the show.

 

[Dr. Evil]

IYO SKY receiving internal praise as ‘breakaway star’ in WWE

SKY is highly regarded behind the scenes and well-respected in the women’s locker room.

www.f4wonline.com

Not surprising as she's massively over right now.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Also people are going to be outraged when Gunther faces Goldberg. Now if Goldberg was coming back for more matches, I would get that, but the WWE is planning for Goldberg to have a retirement match. That's only one match....as in once he's done with that match, he is done with wrestling. He's not going to have any more matches after that one, but most of the IWC won't understand that at all. His only contact with WWE after that match will likely be under a legends deal.

If Goldberg is coming back for a retirement match, I am fine with him returning for it. I think he deserves one final match anyways. I don't know if Gunther is the right opponent, as I think the WWE should wait for Bronson Reed to return from injury.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Tonight's Smackdown line-up.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Tonight's Smackdown line-up.

Jacob is just waiting for the right moment to betray Solo. I don't think tonight is that moment though.

 

[AndrewGilkison]

Also people are going to be outraged when Gunther faces Goldberg. Now if Goldberg was coming back for more matches, I would get that, but the WWE is planning for Goldberg to have a retirement match. That's only one match....as in once he's done with that match, he is done with wrestling. He's not going to have any more matches after that one, but most of the IWC won't understand that at all. His only contact with WWE after that match will likely be under a legends deal.

If Goldberg is coming back for a retirement match, I am fine with him returning for it. I think he deserves one final match anyways. I don't know if Gunther is the right opponent, as I think the WWE should wait for Bronson Reed to return from injury.

Maybe Cena doesn't want to risk injury, but is there any big match left for Goldberg besides Cena? We got Goldberg vs. Roman and Goldberg vs. Undertaker. Heel Cena vs. babyface Goldberg seems exactly like the nostalgia fest that the Saudi regime would want for their shows, and I am sure both Cena and Goldberg would get paid a lot of money for it.

 

[TheVileOne]

Maybe Cena doesn't want to risk injury, but is there any big match left for Goldberg besides Cena? We got Goldberg vs. Roman and Goldberg vs. Undertaker. Heel Cena vs. babyface Goldberg seems exactly like the nostalgia fest that the Saudi regime would want for their shows, and I am sure both Cena and Goldberg would get paid a lot of money for it.

Gunther.

 

[AndrewGilkison]

Gunther.

The Cena match would draw a lot more money.

 

[TheVileOne]

The Cena match would draw a lot more money.

I think it's negligible at this point. I want to see Gunther chop the dren out of him. Goldberg really can't be trusted with Cena after what happened with Undertaker and almost killing him.

Hot take, Bayley is leaving WWE next year.

 

[TheVileOne]

There was no singles push of any kind prior to 2014, and it only began in a major way when he won the Rumble in 2015, before that he was in a team, and the Shield were a massive success, but if we're going from FCW in 2010 to WWE in 2012 it was 2 years, as the Shield were a massive part of the show.

He's referring to his NXT debut in 2012. In 2014, he was already part of the Shield and a hot act. CM Punk was instructed to make sure Roman Reigns looks strong in a handicap match, which annoyed Punk. Point being, back during the Shield days, WWE was grooming Roman and wanted him to eventually become a huge star.

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

I just want to know what did Gunther say to Trips to piss him off to have him do PPV matches with Pat McAfee and possibly a meaningless Goldberg retirement match (because lets be real, who gives a damn about Botchberg)?

If that match tomorrow with Pat isn't just 3 whole minutes of Gunther squashing him then I give up.

 

[TheVileOne]

Well, maybe these matches are happening because WWE and Triple H trust Gunther and hold him in such high regard.

Also, say what you will about Pat McAfee, but he's done very well in the ring for his matches in NXT. I think he and Gunther can put something interesting together.

If this is a way for Gunther to recover after losing the title, I'm good with it.

 

[TheVileOne]

Pat McAfee is a lot more annoying these days I get it, but his stuff in NXT with Adam Cole/Undisputed Era was really good and high quality.

My hope is that Gunther delivers a beating to McAfee. McAfee valiantly tries to fight back but Gunther eventually makes him pass out.

If McAfee wins, I will riot though.

 

[Hunter Rider]

He's referring to his NXT debut in 2012. In 2014, he was already part of the Shield and a hot act. CM Punk was instructed to make sure Roman Reigns looks strong in a handicap match, which annoyed Punk. Point being, back during the Shield days, WWE was grooming Roman and wanted him to eventually become a huge star.

I'm aware of the Punk quote, he wasn't irritated by them wanting him to make Roman look strong, he was irritated that they kept reminding him over and over, and he said the stupidest thing was having him beat the Shield 3 vs 1, instead of him just losing and Roman getting the pin. Cody was clearly referring to the Mega push they invested in from 2015, making it 6 years, not 8, to pay off.

 

[AndrewGilkison]

Big Dog Roman was basically John Cena Lite. Vince treated him the same way he treated Lex Luger in 1993, wanting Luger to replace Hulk Hogan as the superman babyface. He wanted Roman to replace Cena in the same way and strapped the rocket to him.

That handicap match was late 2013 and Vince was preparing to have Punk vs. HHH at WrestleMania and having Roman break out of the SHIELD as a babyface to begin this push. So he wanted Punk to win but he didn't want Roman to be damaged in the loss. Its all ****ing stupid but that was Vince towards the last decade of his tenure.

 

[Lobo]

So who will hold singles gold on the main roster first among these choices?

Ludwig Kaiser
Bronson Reed
Jimmy Uso
Solo Sikoa
Karrion Kross
Carmelo Hayes

Figured this would a nice fun little discussion. My guess is Solo.

 

[AndrewGilkison]

So who will hold singles gold on the main roster first among these choices?

Ludwig Kaiser
Bronson Reed
Jimmy Uso
Solo Sikoa
Karrion Kross
Carmelo Hayes

Figured this would a nice fun little discussion. My guess is Solo.

Kross

 

[Dr. Evil]

Not sure if this is a hot take, but Iyo Sky is the most over of any of the WWE Superstars right now.

 

[Lobo]

Last night we got Randy Orton and Randy Shorton.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Solid promo from Cena on Smackdown, I thought when they showed R Truth waiting for him that he was going to come to the ring and catch a beatdown from his childhood hero, to give Cena extra heat.

The section of the show that focused on the women's division had some interesting, intersecting developments. First the return of Alexa to team with Zelina, then into Charlotte getting heavily booed and walking out, only to come face to face with Jade Cargill who tells her to get to the back of the line for a title shot, before proceeding to lose the #1 contender match to Nia thanks to a distraction from Naomi, and then we see Charlotte storming to her car to leave, only to be stopped by Alexa who says "Let's chat."

Black vs Melo and Fraxiom vs the Street Profits were both good matches, I'm not a fan of the trope of winning a non title match to get a title shot, but the way Street Profits sold their injuries from the TLC match gave them something to build off in the rematch.

The opening tag match was decent but Drew's promo afterwards was the money! I think the Fatal 4-Way tonight will be good, but I'm looking forward to a full singles program between Fatu and McIntyre.

So who will hold singles gold on the main roster first among these choices?

Ludwig Kaiser
Bronson Reed
Jimmy Uso
Solo Sikoa
Karrion Kross
Carmelo Hayes

Figured this would a nice fun little discussion. My guess is Solo.

I'm going to say Kaiser, but I think Melo might well win the tag titles with Miz before any of these guys win a singles title.

Last night we got Randy Orton and Randy Shorton.

Lol who was that guy?

 

[Lobo]

To me the most interesting thing yesterday was the Alexa and Charlotte interaction

@Hunter Rider That was Randy Shorton obviously

Honestly no idea, probably a local indy guy.

 

[Hunter Rider]

To me the most interesting thing yesterday was the Alexa and Charlotte interaction

@Hunter Rider That was Randy Shorton obviously

Honestly no idea, probably a local indy guy.

Yeah, I wonder where they're going with that, as I don't see Charlotte in the Wyatt6.

Lol when Owens returns Randy Shorton and Bob should form a tag team against KO and Orton.

 

[Lobo]

On another note, my favorite fan theory I read is that the real John Cena never returned from the Firefly Funhouse. That's why we have this twisted version.

As per Alexa and Charlotte, my guess is Charlotte comes back with a different look or attitude? Like all in black and basically being an evil queen. But Alexa is the one of the most over faces so who knows?

I mentioned this to Hunter in dm but Alexa and Zelina is a feud I want to see. I did enjoy them teaming, though.

Now let's get Zelina some better entrance music.

 

[Hunter Rider]

On another note, my favorite fan theory I read is that the real John Cena never returned from the Firefly Funhouse. That's why we have this twisted version.

As per Alexa and Charlotte, my guess is Charlotte comes back with a different look or attitude? Like all in black and basically being an evil queen. But Alexa is the one of the most over faces so who knows?

I mentioned this to Hunter in dm but Alexa and Zelina is a feud I want to see. I did enjoy them teaming, though.

Now let's get Zelina some better entrance music.

Cenzarro!

Yeah it's hard to tell as Alexa hasn't really said much since returning, so we don't really know exactly where she's at with her gimmick, but I can see Charlotte going for an image change.

Zelina just got that music but I agree she needs a new theme, it's so flat, something like Roman’s Revenge by Nicki Minaj would work. More than anything she needs more mic time.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Pretty good chance that Bianca comes back next Friday since all she got was broken fingers and those can heal fast. Also, a break from WWE programming might be what she needs, because there are certain aspects of the IWC comparing Bianca to Cena during Cena's "LOL Cena Wins" era.

I'll be surprised if Bianca doesn't return for Money in the Bank.