The Wrestling Thread Is Under...Siege! - - Part 248

[DOBSON10]

I thought the Rumble was OK, I personally don't find either of the winners interesting what so ever, but they both have the fans behind them so it makes sense to push them. I felt like both Rumbles, but particularly the male Rumble were highly choreographed, or the wrestlers just didn't do a great job making it look smooth, too many times where guys are waiting and setting each other up for moves and it gave away what's about to happen. It was like they were all competing to see who could telegraph their signature/finishing moves the best, Cena as always won that battle because he telegraph's his own moves and his opponents moves but they were all telegraphing things IMO. The entire end of the male match was telegraphed spot after telegraphed spot, until the last minute when the underdog kind of flipped the tables to win, but even that was kind of predictable to be honest, since everyone knows the fans don't want Roman to win.

Honestly, I would have liked to see Trish win the Women's Rumble, I know why it shouldn't happen, I know why it couldn't happen, but she still looks better in the ring than most and having the biggest name in Women's wrestling ever win the 1st ever Rumble would have worked for me. But obviously, she's a guest star who is not returning as a full-time or even a part-timer, so I know why that didn't happen.

They did set up the Wrestlemania matches pretty well I guess. It's pretty obvious barring injury that Brock will face Roman, AJ/Nakamura was announced, they're gonna have Asuka mop the floor with Alexa and I think the Ronda/Charlotte rivalry is something they're banking on being a classic rivarly, they've been teasing it and the Horsewomen angle for a long time now. Eventually they'll move onto an Asuka/Ronda Rivarly once they've both been Champs for a bit... But I don't think Charlotte will ever be completely out of the picture.

Never would have thought, back when I was actually a REAL wrestling fan that I would find the Women's Division more interesting, but it just is right now. Even though I don't understand the Asuka thing, the top women just seem to have more personality and are better at making it seem like they really don't like each other. The men just kind of get thrown together, just seems like business decisions, not real rivalries.

And once again, here are your winners for most annoying people in Wrestling History.... The New Day... Their segment of the Rumble was just stupid, like everything they do. I was actually rooting for Jinder Mahal for a second, a guy I think is straight trash... that's how bad they are.

 

[OnTheAir]

Does that mean Booker is finally gone, or are they making Corey Graves a 1 show announcer now?

Booker is out, and will be going back to doing PPV pre-shows.

 

[famicommander]

I see what you're saying, but did anyone honestly believe Rousey would go into developmental? She's too big an attraction to not use. I also would prefer they don't thrust her into a title match so soon. Build her skills up before doing that.

She's a complete novice. This proves beyond any doubt that WWE does not care about match quality at all.

There are a lot of things that will get a wrestling promotion attention but that doesn't make them good moves in the long term.

For someone with literally zero experience to walk right into a full time contract and a Wrestlemania program is a slap in the face to all the fantastic wrestlers in that company that have been at it for over a decade, destroying their bodies working four to five matches a week in WWE.

This is every bit as bad as Karl Malone, Jay Leno, and David Arquette in WCW. This is every bit as nonsensical as that chick from Jersey Shore in TNA.

The fact that Rousey is a real athlete is irrelevant; it means she has potential. Potential that needs to be developed. Which should be the point of NXT, but the actual point of NXT (and 205 Live) is to have a place to hide wrestlers they don't necessarily have big plans for from better promotions like NJPW, ROH, CMLL, etc.

That match Almas had with Gargano this weekend was fantastic, but the fact that is stands out so much in WWE is a major issue. He had matches thst good or better at least every month or so when he was working CMLL and NJPW as La Sombra.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Alicia Fox has a broken tailbone, may miss WrestleMania.

 

[TheVileOne]

She's a complete novice. This proves beyond any doubt that WWE does not care about match quality at all.

There are a lot of things that will get a wrestling promotion attention but that doesn't make them good moves in the long term.

For someone with literally zero experience to walk right into a full time contract and a Wrestlemania program is a slap in the face to all the fantastic wrestlers in that company that have been at it for over a decade, destroying their bodies working four to five matches a week in WWE.

This is every bit as bad as Karl Malone, Jay Leno, and David Arquette in WCW. This is every bit as nonsensical as that chick from Jersey Shore in TNA.

The fact that Rousey is a real athlete is irrelevant; it means she has potential. Potential that needs to be developed. Which should be the point of NXT, but the actual point of NXT (and 205 Live) is to have a place to hide wrestlers they don't necessarily have big plans for from better promotions like NJPW, ROH, CMLL, etc.

That match Almas had with Gargano this weekend was fantastic, but the fact that is stands out so much in WWE is a major issue. He had matches thst good or better at least every month or so when he was working CMLL and NJPW as La Sombra.

Give me a freaking break. Ronda Rousey is a genuine athlete. She's an Olympic medalist in judo, and she's one of the most dominant UFC champions in history. She single-handedly brought women's MMA into the UFC when Dana White said it would never happen.

She's the first American woman to medal for the United State in judo.

She's an actual athlete who has competed at the international level. Yeah this is a bit different than David Arquette.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Give me a freaking break. Ronda Rousey is a genuine athlete. She's an Olympic medalist in judo, and she's one of the most dominant UFC champions in history. She single-handedly brought women's MMA into the UFC when Dana White said it would never happen.

She's the first American woman to medal for the United State in judo.

She's an actual athlete who has competed at the international level. Yeah this is a bit different than David Arquette.

He hates everything about the WWE these days, so he has the right to say all of those things. His dream is that the WWE dies.

My concern is her mental state after the interview she had on Ellen DeGeneres after the Holm fight and her reaction after the loss to Nunes. However, I do think that a year away from the public for the most part has helped her mentally.

 

[famicommander]

Give me a freaking break. Ronda Rousey is a genuine athlete. She's an Olympic medalist in judo, and she's one of the most dominant UFC champions in history. She single-handedly brought women's MMA into the UFC when Dana White said it would never happen.

She's the first American woman to medal for the United State in judo.

She's an actual athlete who has competed at the international level. Yeah this is a bit different than David Arquette.

Karl Malone was an actual athlete too. It was still a joke because he wasn't a wrestler.

Guys like Ken Shamrock and Minoru Suzuki learned to wrestle before they were put in main event programs. Both of them were fantastic wrestlers and they learned very quickly, but neither of them simply walked into a full time wrestling deal and a match at Wrestlemania/Tokyo Dome. Shamrock had been trained as a wrestler nine years before his first Wrestlemania, and that was as a guest referee. And both of them accomplished more in MMA than Rousey by orders of magnitude.

Rousey was all smoke and mirrors. Everyone was intimidated by her size and attitude early on in her career, but then she got exposed. She can't throw a punch and she can't take a punch. Her MMA career is over and she knows it. She'll never win a fight against a significant opponent again.

The bottom line is she isn't a wrestler. She has never done this before and she is being given this opportunity based on short term celebrity status. It is exactly the same kind of compromise that WCW made, and for the same reasons it's a bad idea.

I don't blame Rousey for using her celebrity to her advantage, but WWE should care more about the quality of its product than to do something like this. Whatever match she is in will be terrible, and it will be worse than the normal terrible celebrity WWE matches because she's actually signed to a contract.

They're putting her in a position to fail miserably for short term dollars.

 

[Dr. Evil]

I could see the WWE giving Batista what he wants to come back so that they will get all giddy that he'll be representing them on the red carpet at the World Premiere of Avengers: Infinity War.

 

[Mister J]

The Wrestling Thread Incessantly Looks at and Points to the Goddamn WrestleMania Banner For Months and It Annoys Mister J To No End

 

[Dr. Evil]

The Wrestling Thread Incessantly Looks at and Points to the Goddamn WrestleMania Banner For Months and It Annoys Mister J To No End

Yeah, that is annoying. Imagine if every year Tom Brady pointed to the Super Bowl logo from the start of the season to the AFC Championship game (despite the fact that he's going every year anyways). But I am not going to pay attention to that stuff.

BTW, did you watch the Men's Rumble match yet? You won't be disappointed if you do.

 

[Mister J]

Yeah, that is annoying. Imagine if every year Tom Brady pointed to the Super Bowl logo from the start of the season to the AFC Championship game (despite the fact that he's going every year anyways). But I am not going to pay attention to that stuff.

BTW, did you watch the Men's Rumble match yet? You won't be disappointed if you do.

Aye. The pace and a number of the spots were enjoyable. The crowd reaction seemed hot for most of it and "You both suck!" floored me. You could see 2 out of the final 3 guys coming from 5280 feet away, but the end thankfully worked it all out.

 

[Hotwire]

It would be better than him vs. Taker, and I do think Cena would actually give a damn to make Ronda look good. When Cena cares, he's damn good in the ring and on the mic. When he doesn't well, he doesn't. Totally opposite from Orton.

Cena is a true worker. He would gladly carry her to help her get over.

 

[Doug_Moore]

Booker is out, and will be going back to doing PPV pre-shows.

Booker stopped giving a fu** on commentary. That's probably why they replaced him.

If not The Rock, who can get in a program with the power couple and Ronda though?

Strowman was discussed to follow up the beatdown from Survivor Series.

 

[honestbharani]

Batista because he has a major movie coming up a month later.

That sounds good but as others pointed out, I am not sure neither one of them will be able to take too many bumps. The left field choice IMO would be maybe Jericho, as the couple seem to be able to work well with him and he will take the bumps and look bad to make sure Rhonda looks good. I won't be surprised if he is their back up option even if they are indeed pursuing Rock and Batista.


I do think that earlier WM set up will work and Rock will work this match. He might make it 30 mins of promo and then a 10 minute match where they get Trips to do all the bumping but I would love to see it, being a MASSIVE Rock fan and someone who feels Trips is way overrated.

 

[javonstokess]

...did they just have Sasha job to Asuka on a freakin' RAW match?

You gotta wonder if Sasha is being punished for something. Maybe for injuring Paige? Whatever it is, this is pure BS.

 

[The Chris]

That Match should have happened at Mania. Sasha should be the champ going into Mania instead of overrated Afraid to bump Bliss.

 

[The Apocalypse]

Man, I think that kick from Asuka might’ve slowed Sasha’s momentum just enough from her career ending. That dive was brutal. She really needs to stop doing it. Every time I see her go through the middle rope I hold my breath.

 

[Dr Lee]

I'm not convinced she wasn't ****ed up by that dive...

 

[javonstokess]

That Match should have happened at Mania. Sasha should be the champ going into Mania instead of overrated Afraid to bump Bliss.

At least 2-3 title defenses before this and I totally agree.

 

[javonstokess]

I'm not convinced she wasn't ****ed up by that dive...

Let's be honest, if she was ****ed up that dive, that match would have ended there instead of going another 5 minutes.

 

[Angryfantasyfan]

...did they just have Sasha job to Asuka on a freakin' RAW match?

You gotta wonder if Sasha is being punished for something. Maybe for injuring Paige? Whatever it is, this is pure BS.

That was a loss, not a job.

 

[javonstokess]

That was a loss, not a job.

Either way, that match deserved more importance than being on a random RAW. That should have been a "money match".

 

[Dr. Evil]

Spoiler

So if it's Asuka vs. Charlotte and Alexa vs. Nia at WM 34, where does Carmella fit in?

 

[javonstokess]

Aaaand Cena wins over Finn Balor.

Yawn.

 

[Dr. Evil]

That Match should have happened at Mania. Sasha should be the champ going into Mania instead of overrated Afraid to bump Bliss.

She needs to defend the title first.