A New Era for the Wrestling Thread

[Lobo]

I hope in the near future a Kross goes after Jey. In reality though, Seth needs to win the WHC back as the leader of this revolution group.

 

[Dr. Evil]

If Gunther jobs to Pat McAfee of all people, I'm becoming a full fledged AEW fan.

So no NXT?

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

So no NXT?

Just to get attached to them and see them get called up and watch Trips fumble them?

 

[Dr. Evil]

Just to get attached to them and see them get called up and watch Trips fumble them?

He hasn't ruined all of them. I think he's doing a good job with Bron the last two weeks.

 

[Dr. Evil]

If Gunther jobs to Pat McAfee of all people, I'm becoming a full fledged AEW fan.

It has gotten a lot better the last few months, with the Death Riders and Young Bucks the only bad segments.

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

It has gotten a lot better the last few months, with the Death Riders and Young Bucks the only bad segments.

Exactly.

I'm actually really enjoying their women's division and the fact that they treat them like main eventers, I begrudgingly admit that MJF entertains me, I really like Kevin Knight and the shine he's getting, Will Ospreay is cool... it's growing on me.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Ricochet has been booked a lot better in AEW.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Just to get attached to them and see them get called up and watch Trips fumble them?

Eh, nobody cares if Triple H ruins Tony D'Angelo if he keeps that gimmick he has now.

 

[AndrewGilkison]

Bron is going to main event WrestleMania next year. The crowd does not care that he's a heel now, they just want to cheer for him spearing the **** out of everyone.

 

[DOBSON10]

Mixed bag tonight… The Seth/Sami drama was good, albeit alittle random… It all made sense but it was kind of flimsy, but Sami/Seth made it work with good character work… It was good but seemed a bit like filler because they can’t be done with Punk/Roman… I did not like Sami at all when I first came back to watching a few years ago but man, he’s just really good with character work/developing storylines, he makes you believe what he’s saying matters to him… He’s not a guy I would typically like but he’s won me over time and time again…

Stephanie Vaquer is legit, good in the ring, great look… I think her gimmick might be able to withstand not being able to cut a promo, unlike some other the other people on the roster… She’s dark and mysterious, it works in her favor but it still limits what they can do story wise…

I don’t know what it is but I just do not like Becky as a heel… She just hams it up a bit too much and it feels forced.. She comes off kinda corny to me when she tries to act evil/devious.. Her more natural Irish tough chick babyface routine is much better to me… Lyra scored a couple brownie points tonight, showing some personality for the first time, still needs a lot of work on the mic though…

I don’t watch NXT so I don’t see the hype behind Roxanne, she doesn’t stand out to me yet, she’s solid in the ring, smooth for being younger but I haven’t seen anything special either… Guila hasn’t done anything so no opinion on her yet… Rhea looks great, she’s gotten into even better shape and just makes most things look good… Best woman’s wrestler in the world at the moment… Iyo is very good in the ring but man, she is terrible at everything else, she’s just weird…

Jey and Logan… Ugh… I get it though, put your super limited, boring new Champ against the most hated jackass in wrestling to keep the crowd on his side as long as possible…

Gunther wasting time with Pat… Pat taking a spot he doesn’t deserve, cutting crappy promos and wrestling when he shouldn’t be… The match should last 30 seconds, Pat shouldn’t even get a single punch in and should be stretchered off… hopefully forever…

Some good, some bad.. Seth/Sami saved this from being a really weak episode…

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

Mixed bag tonight… The Seth/Sami drama was good, albeit alittle random… It all made sense but it was kind of flimsy, but Sami/Seth made it work with good character work… It was good but seemed a bit like filler because they can’t be done with Punk/Roman… I did not like Sami at all when I first came back to watching a few years ago but man, he’s just really good with character work/developing storylines, he makes you believe what he’s saying matters to him… He’s not a guy I would typically like but he’s won me over time and time again…

Stephanie Vaquer is legit, good in the ring, great look… I think her gimmick might be able to withstand not being able to cut a promo, unlike some other the other people on the roster… She’s dark and mysterious, it works in her favor but it still limits what they can do story wise…

I don’t know what it is but I just do not like Becky as a heel… She just hams it up a bit too much and it feels forced.. She comes off kinda corny to me when she tries to act evil/devious.. Her more natural Irish tough chick babyface routine is much better to me… Lyra scored a couple brownie points tonight, showing some personality for the first time, still needs a lot of work on the mic though…

I don’t watch NXT so I don’t see the hype behind Roxanne, she doesn’t stand out to me yet, she’s solid in the ring, smooth for being younger but I haven’t seen anything special either… Guila hasn’t done anything so no opinion on her yet… Rhea looks great, she’s gotten into even better shape and just makes most things look good… Best woman’s wrestler in the world at the moment… Iyo is very good in the ring but man, she is terrible at everything else, she’s just weird…

Jey and Logan… Ugh… I get it though, put your super limited, boring new Champ against the most hated jackass in wrestling to keep the crowd on his side as long as possible…

Gunther wasting time with Pat… Pat taking a spot he doesn’t deserve, cutting crappy promos and wrestling when he shouldn’t be… The match should last 30 seconds, Pat shouldn’t even get a single punch in and should be stretchered off… hopefully forever…

Some good, some bad.. Seth/Sami saved this but being a really weak episode…

Your point about Stephanie Vaquer (and also keeping in mind a talent like Iyo) just goes to show that they really, really need to bring managers/valets back. If your wrestler isn't the strongest and/or you're building a non-American star whose English isn't the best, give them a manager that can be their mouthpiece.

Bring managers the likes of Heenan, Woman, Sunny, Francine, Jimmy Hart etc back.

But it's a lost art.

 

[DOBSON10]

Been hearing that AEW has gotten a lot better the last few Months so I watched the PPV and 3 episodes of TV but nope, it’s still MJF, FTR, Samoa Joe and then a bunch of people I couldn’t care less about… I’m trying though…

 

[DOBSON10]

So, Pat gets a redemption match with Gunther because Gunther threatened Cole but Jimmy is just like, you almost killed me but my brother beat you so I’m good now…I get that was part of Jey’s story and you can’t have both the Uso’s beat Gunther back to back but Pat? That’s Gunther’s next up? Not to mention several other guys who actually work year round who deserve a spot like this on a PPV…

 

[Hunter Rider]

Looking at this thread for just the last 24 hours you can see why pro wrestling in 2025 is so hard to book, from me to @Lobo @Shinobi Shaw @DarthSkywalker @DOBSON10 @TheVileOne you see such a range of differing opinions, even on talents like Sami and Iyo, so trying to appeal to a very diverse set of opinions.

Bron is going to main event WrestleMania next year. The crowd does not care that he's a heel now, they just want to cheer for him spearing the **** out of everyone.

This is a problem with modern wrestling and frankly has existed due to a bunch of old school guys who grump it up on podcasts, it's the NWO conundrum, they were so busy being "cool" heels that they turned the core audience of easily led 14-25 males into simping fanboys who wanted to live vicariously through them.

it's become an ever growing issue, you see guys like Edge and Jericho making conserted efforts to remove moves that popped the crowd when they went heel, to ditch catchphrases and even entrance music that got pops, because they wanted heat, the actual job of a heel, but these day's everyone is chasing the hug.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Your point about Stephanie Vaquer (and also keeping in mind a talent like Iyo) just goes to show that they really, really need to bring managers/valets back. If your wrestler isn't the strongest and/or you're building a non-American star whose English isn't the best, give them a manager that can be their mouthpiece.

Bring managers the likes of Heenan, Woman, Sunny, Francine, Jimmy Hart etc back.

But it's a lost art.

It's a tricky one, in the women's division I feel it's a bit different, part of the charm of Iyo and Stephanie is their accents and how they phrase things, and they do show that real aura (not everything is aura kiddies ) and charisma transcends a language barrier, and it's manageable in the women's division as there aren't a ton of great talkers.

Conversely the men's division could really use some strong promo managers/valets, Heyman can't manage everyone! That's why I thought they dropped the ball not using MVP more, I mean look what he did for Lashley's presentation. There's been talk of Cathy Kelley becoming a valet so we'll see how that goes, and the Stone guy in NXT would be ideal managing some big monster, as the thing to remember is a manager isn't just there for those who are bad at promos, they accentuate good talkers and their overall presentation, like lHeyman with Roman, or back in the day Bobby Heenan with Rick Rude and Mr Perfect.

 

[Hunter Rider]

 

[Hunter Rider]

I'm hoping Trips ditches the 5 match format for Backlash as they need to bolster this weak ass line-up, and with Jey vs Paul likely to be added id say make it a 7 match card as neither World title match should go long, and the Gunther/McAfee nonsense should be 5 minutes.

WWE Championship
John Cena vs Randy Orton

Women's Intercontinental Championship
Lyra Valkyria vs Becky Lynch

Street Fight
Gunther vs McAfee

World Heavyweight Championship
Jey Uso vs Logan Paul


I mean theres three 4 finger stinkers straight off the bat. So add these to balance it out for fans who favour the bell to bell content and not just the hype and noise.


Iyo Sky & Rhea Ripley vs Roxanne Perez & Giulia

Seth Rollins vs Sami Zayn

US Championship Fatal 4-Way
Fatu vs McIntyre vs Priest vs Knight

 

[Lobo]

If they add that US title match, it'll steal the show imo.

As for managers I agree, there should be more. I still think Corey Graves would be a very good manager. MVP is great in the role.

I think I'd put Cathy with Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark. Personal opinion, I still think Zoey has main event potential.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Jacob Fatu is just waiting for the right moment to destroy Solo. He gave Solo a dirty look on Friday, but is waiting for the moment where he's triggered by something Solo says, and when he does kill Solo, that crowd will pop for him. One of the better things that Triple H has done with Jacob was not make him a silent killer who never talks (Vince would have done that), because when Jacob speaks, it makes Jacob a more formidable wrestler when he does speak. I don't agree with the hot take that he should never speak. The promos make Jacob Fatu a lot scarier than he would have been if he was a silent, grunting mute.

 

[Hunter Rider]

I wonder if Raquel will get a substitute partner while Liv is away.

 

[Hunter Rider]

 

[Dr. Evil]

Does anyone notice that whenever Karrion Kross is backstage with someone, he copies their hairstyle?

 

[Hunter Rider]

 

[Lobo]

Does anyone notice that whenever Karrion Kross is backstage with someone, he copies their hairstyle?

I have noticed that and considering the recent promo he had, he should be furious about Logan Paul getting a title shot. I wonder if he'll get involved and go into a feud with Jey from there?

 

[Lobo]

I wonder if Raquel will get a substitute partner while Liv is away.

I'd guess that depends on just how long Liv will need off?

I'm curious what movie it'll be, though? There's several big movies filming soon