Tony Jabroni
Footballguy
Gotcha. I agree. USA can "only afford one show" as of now. WWE marketing is flexing the muscles right now...and it is working.
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***Official Pro Wrestling Thread*** (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter NewlyRetired
- Start date
made her debut on Impact last night. I love her heel gimmick; the shoulder brush combined with "doing the Tessa" and the wink... 
Tom Servo
Nittany Beavers
Tom Servo
Nittany Beavers
ShamrockPride
Footballguy
In Albany for RAW tonight. First wrestling show I've been to in probably 12 years or so. Pretty psyched.
JB Breakfast Club
Footballguy
WWE going to Fox is awesome news, but I'm not sure they'll make it without the Big Dog Roman Reigns popping ratings.
DJackson10
Footballguy
2019 Oct move date plus Friday night slot. Apparently worth over Billion $. Also not sure if you are being sarcastic but Roman Reigns being on RAW any time he's on that hour of the show drops
Tom Servo
Nittany Beavers
Smoo
Fear the Beaver
Because apparently fans would rather watch a big dude raise his arms and roar over and over again.
Tom Servo
Nittany Beavers
Whomever negotiated this deal for WWE, likely a lawyer of Vince's, should headline next year's HOF class. Between this, the Raw deal, and the Saudi show, WWE just made a killing.
Hopefully FOX can get them to focus more on the sports and less on the entertainment, which sounds possible as the press release pointed out wrestling joining NFL and MLB among the Fox Sports brand. Maybe Smackdown will become the in-ring, athletic exhibition show and Raw will be the cartoon story driven show.
Hopefully FOX can get them to focus more on the sports and less on the entertainment, which sounds possible as the press release pointed out wrestling joining NFL and MLB among the Fox Sports brand. Maybe Smackdown will become the in-ring, athletic exhibition show and Raw will be the cartoon story driven show.
ShamrockPride
Footballguy
I will be very interested to see how far they go to support their new product if they include it into their sports fold, rather than just entertainment. Would that mean we get people like Skip and Shannon, Cowherd (Mr. wrestling fans are booger eaters) discussing and analyzing Smackdown and PPVs?
I'd be 100% on board with Skip and Shannon arguing about kayfabe storylines.
Skip: Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn need to grow up and accept that your boss is your boss and even if you disagree with them you can't attack him.
Shannon: What would you know Skip? You've never been an elite athlete. When you are the best, the only person looking out for you is yourself, and your teammates.
Skip: You ever think about jumping Mike Shanahan in the locker room?
Shannon: (glares angrily)
Ted Lange as your Bartender
Footballguy
WWE stock up 12.5% so someone did something right.
That said, I think long term Friday night Smackdown is a mistake, just like last time, even though it’s a live show now. Maybe the arenas will be livelier at the start of a weekend vs Tuesday, but I can’t see ratings being great for historically the weakest tv night of the week.
That said, I think long term Friday night Smackdown is a mistake, just like last time, even though it’s a live show now. Maybe the arenas will be livelier at the start of a weekend vs Tuesday, but I can’t see ratings being great for historically the weakest tv night of the week.
Tom Servo
Nittany Beavers
JB Breakfast Club
Footballguy
I guess they can still get that Roman pop by spending a lot of Smackdown asking, "where's Roman" and so forth.
facook
Footballguy
DJackson10
Footballguy
Big dude also has more charisma is breaks out some moves that are unheard of for a guy that size.
DJackson10
Footballguy
Stuart Ullman
Footballguy
I think I like Smackdown Live better. AJ Styles is the man. Closest thing they have to Shawn Michaels.
He's like actually over, too. Brand split was the best thing that happened to him.
ShamrockPride
Footballguy
God that was a long night. Fun for sure, but damn I'm drained. Crowd was pretty flatlined by the 3rd hour.
Biggest pops of the night were Kurt at the start and Elias (surprisingly) at the end. Albany loves Elias. He even got that cheap heat trashing Albany and the crowd ate it up.
Biggest thing I wanted to see if WWE really does filter out the Roman boos. To quote Kurt, "Oh it's true. It's damn true." Was showering boos in Albany for RR tonight. Dunno if it came thru on TV. But God that first segment took forever...and it felt it in the arena too. Roman and KO more or less nearly fought an ironman match overall between the single and tag.
Overall, fun time. Would go back anytime they come with a live show. Dark shows are cool, but nothing like a live event. I did read a lot of bad reviews for this show though. Can't wait to watch them all on YouTube tomorrow.
Biggest pops of the night were Kurt at the start and Elias (surprisingly) at the end. Albany loves Elias. He even got that cheap heat trashing Albany and the crowd ate it up.
Biggest thing I wanted to see if WWE really does filter out the Roman boos. To quote Kurt, "Oh it's true. It's damn true." Was showering boos in Albany for RR tonight. Dunno if it came thru on TV. But God that first segment took forever...and it felt it in the arena too. Roman and KO more or less nearly fought an ironman match overall between the single and tag.
Overall, fun time. Would go back anytime they come with a live show. Dark shows are cool, but nothing like a live event. I did read a lot of bad reviews for this show though. Can't wait to watch them all on YouTube tomorrow.
Stuart Ullman
Footballguy
I only watch RAW for Alexa Bliss.
Gawain
Footballguy
The sisters in drag rang a touch over the line what with the bathroom controversy and everything.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ddw0LnZV0AAivvw.jpg
That being said...
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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ddw0LnZV0AAivvw.jpg
That being said...
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Smoo
Fear the Beaver
Charisma is exactly what he doesn't have. He may have some weird appeal that I can't explain, but "Hulk smash, squeeze apple, me like competition" is not charisma.
hagmania
Footballguy
Braun is a compelling character with an organic rise to stardom; he connects with the audience. I suppose I'm not sure what else you need to call him charismatic.
Edit: Have you seen his mini-feud with Elias? https://youtu.be/f-xe1qxhcUI
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Tom Servo
Nittany Beavers
ShamrockPride
Footballguy
DJackson10
Footballguy
And the worst thing for many others. I just heard a rumor that several big name stars have asked to go back to NxT because they hate where they are going on the main roster and few have gone to Regal in NxT begging him to keep them there. There's also a story that Bailey is so distraught with her character and where it's going she went back to school to get her teaching degree so she can become a middle school consoler and leave wrestling. Really WWE? How do you F up with this much talent? Oh that's right no one is allowed to get over on their own and the WWE revolves around Roman Reigns. A guy most of the fans can't stand character wise
DJackson10
Footballguy
from what I've gathered from fans is the show is better live. I went to the Smackdown in Philly after the Rumble that was apparently terrible on TV but came off good in person. My buddy works part time WWE camera crew when they come to Philly. When Roman comes out the boos are defining and it feels like its an Eagles game vs Dal or Crosby just cheap shot Giroux again in a Flyers playoff game. Its laughable what they do for this guy. They use to do the something for John Cena too after awhile. Maybe after the initial heel run and when he was a face and maybe a half a year to a year after Cena's ONS match where the crowd booed Cena out of the Hammerstien Ballroom (Still one of my favorite PPVs and Crowds of all time). Did you notice any signs or anything taken away by security or anything? I've heard a few things about anti Roman signs being taken away from people in the crowd. Nothing inappropriate. One guy had Roman Empire Crumbles that was taken away. Another guy had a Roman wants these hands signs at another show taken away.
DJackson10
Footballguy
The podcast I watch usually that does a post show some guy donated with the comment
"If it wasn't for Alex Bliss I wouldn't be watching Raw. I only watch for her and new Jerk off material."
DJackson10
Footballguy
I have a feeling he does. He's really good friends with the Young Bucks. Could see him as a new member of Bullet Club.
DJackson10
Footballguy
He connects to the crowd. His rise was generic where Roman has been shoved in our faces for years. Aren't you the guy who said he just got back into the wrestling too? You need to watch from The Sheild till now to see where we are coming from on Roman. No one is saying they hate Roman the person. He needs a character change and it's pretty pathetic when WWE doesn't do it and his whole family thinks he needs to turn heel. I've even heard that Rock wants him heel as well as USOs, Rikishi, and even the Late Matt AKA Rosie wanted him to go heel. Roman isn't booed because we think he's a heel. We boo for a totally opposite pretty bad reason which is we don't like his character. One of the great things about Paul Herman in ECW was he would've if he was running WWE and creative would've seen this 2 maybe 3 yrs ago Roman as a Face wasn't working and went with an unstoppable heel who went after the crowd with no one supported me everyone doubted me type character. We can't get behind this happy go lucky face guy.
DJackson10
Footballguy
Segments like that is where I'm embarrassed to be a wrestling fan. I try to get my friends who use to be big time into it when we were n MS and HS (We grew up at a great time as we were all in 5th grade when the Attitude era started and we went to HS all through the Ruthless Aggression era. ONS 06 Cena vs RVD was on the same night we Graduated HS. Either way it's embarrassing trying to get them back into it with segments like that last night
Stuart Ullman
Footballguy
She's so perfect. She's the only lady wrestler I've ever consistently had sexy dreams about.The podcast I watch usually that does a post show some guy donated with the comment
"If it wasn't for Alex Bliss I wouldn't be watching Raw. I only watch for her and new Jerk off material."
I had a dream where I went over to her mansion and had sex with her, while we watched wrestling.
It was the greatest experience of my life.
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Smoo
Fear the Beaver
I'm just lost on what's "compelling" about a guy who just roars and powerslams people. He is hands down one of the most boring characters I can remember watching. It honestly feels like I'm not the one in the dark here.
And I still can't believe people are giving him a pass on bringing a kid up to wrestle with him for the tag belts at 'Mania. That was as embarassing a display as I've seen since This Is Bayley's Life and until last night's Sami Zayn bit.
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DJackson10
Footballguy
Apparently you never saw the Foley one Vince Russo created that the Bailey one was based off of. No one is giving him a pass for it, but it wasn't like that was his idea. It was WWE working around that "Braun needed a tag partner to defend the titles" and their work around for a handicap match. The Kid was also one of the refs sons too. SO as dumb as it was at least it was someone with WWE in the ring and not some random kid. People don't get what's compelling about Roman. We know why the girls like him and the kids but I can't get involved in liking a guy who I can't connect with. They are living off the shield past with that stupid chess protector like thing he wears and his ring gear is basically what it was with the shield. He needs to change his character up a bit.
The lengths WWE has gone to get this guy over is incredible embarrassing from keeping down CM Punk, not clearing Daniel Bryan after multiple Drs cleared him because he was more over then Roman, editing out crowd chants negative, having him break the fourth wall, having Rock come out and showering him with support (I was there that night and the only thing that prevented a GNR like riot was The Rock in the ring), planting fans to cheer Roman, etc. it's embarrassing and if I was an investor I'd be asking Vince and WWE WTF are they doing with this guy. At some point though you also need to blame the wrestler too. You see the amount of length they are going to embarrass you now why not speak up especially if Roman has the pull we all believe he does (Remember his overall family is close with Vince) so why not speak up and say look this isn't working can we try some sort of character change? Maybe work an injury angle and get him off TV? Have him come back at The SummerSlam (As Bret Hart once called it) with a new look and direction. this is what Kenny omega talked about why he left this company. Too many complacent people who care only about a paycheck and nothing else. I think it's great that some of these former NxT talents are speaking up about how they disagree with their character path on the main roster and how Both Cody and Punk basically asked for their releases. Maybe if more talent starts to have their balls lower and question WWE direction path for them Vince and company will wake up
Smoo
Fear the Beaver
Dude, stop shoehorning Roman into this conversation. I understand your beef with Roman. I'm way past that. I'm trying to figure out why Braun Strowman is liked at all, never mind to the degree he is.
And yes, I watched Foley's This Is Rock's Life. That was my era of watching regularly. That bit worked well because Mick Foley nailed the delivery. That bit could have easily failed just as badly, but they had their two best promo men working it so it had a high percentage chance. Bliss is normally pretty good, but that night something was just way off on her delivery, and it's a hard bit to pull off to start with. It did not work at all for her. But her visigoth speech last night had me howling, and the promos she cut on Nia Jax leading up to Mania were gold.
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ShamrockPride
Footballguy
Never noticed any of this, but have heard about that as well. Biggest thing I did notice, and omg was probably the worst overall part of the night. When did WWE start pumping in sounds of guys hitting the mat? Like holy s***. Every 10 seconds in a match, big artificial BOOM from the arena speakers. I don't at all understand why that's required.
DJackson10
Footballguy
adds to the realism. WWE and other promotions back in the mid 90s and early 2000s use to actually turn up the volume on their ring mics'. I've watched the network back for ECW/WCW/WWF/E from back then and they use to pump up the ring noise adding more realism to it. WWE went and held back on it starting maybe after I got back into it. I was out of wrestling for a few yrs in terms of watching weekly and watch the PPV's but when I got back big time into it by 06 I noticed maybe 08-09 they were turning the volume on the Mat Mics down. Live it still comes off but on TV it doesn't sound as realistic anymore. Only promotion on TV it seems to come off is ROH.
DJackson10
Footballguy
Let's make this easy to understand for you then. He's everything Roman isn't and what everyone likes. Its generic, not forced, doesn't come from a wrestling family (You think if Roman wasn't related to the Anoi'a family WWE would still be pushing this hard to get him over), and everyone was surprised how good he came off for such little wrestling experience in and out of the ring. He's got natural talent. He also connects with the fans. it's not that hard to understand really.
Bogart
Footballguy
Will he wrestle? No.
They don't need him (they sold out the show, and have almost sold out the VIP Starrcast tickets) and he doesn't need them (he is about to have his WWE case settled, he's got a UFC fight coming up). Cody and The Bucks have done everything their way to make this happen without gimmicks, and you don't give the Dave Meltzers of the world the satisfaction of giving credit to bringing back Punk.
Does he show up at Starrcast? More likely.
It's in his backyard. Depending on his result at UFC 225, he could be completely going in a different career path and might need to promote something or want to do a signing. A Punk/AJ Lee booth or podcast or event would be the highlight of the weekend.
That said, Cody vs. Punk main eventing AllIn2 could be epic and fill a building twice as big.
JB Breakfast Club
Footballguy
And you guys thought I was the biggest Roman mark on the board.DJackson10 said:
ShamrockPride
Footballguy
It was funny after things were getting settled in the ring last night after they announced RR/KO was gonna be a tag match, the whole crowd erupted in a "We want Ambrose" chant. Was hoping he'd make a surprise return from injury. Not to be though...
Smoo
Fear the Beaver
I'm hoping one day you can craft a well thought out reply without front loading it with condescension.DJackson10 said:
It's obvious that he connects with (many but not all) fans. But you're not saying why. "It's generic". What's generic? Sure, whatever he's doing is not forced, but I'm also hard pressed to see why it's interesting and that's the part you're not explaining well. What is it that he does that connects with the fans? Your argument seems to be "he's not Roman". Can you unpack a reason that doesn't involve invoking Reigns? Despite how desperately you're trying to insert him into the conversation, this has nothing to do with RR for me.
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JB Breakfast Club
Footballguy
A lot of fans seem to like dominant forces playing from the front. This used to be a way to build heels for Hogan, but Goldberg changed the script and became a huge star based solely on him running through the heel roster from day 1. WWE had some success using Ryback the same way. Now it's Braun doing feats of strength and dominating in the ring. I think there is hope for Braun's longevity because he seems like he has his head on straight outside the ring.
Cena in the past and now Roman are dominant forces that try to fight from underneath. It's a difficult role to play because the fans just say LOL Cena wins, but he also has to try to make the match feel like it won't go his way. Fans seem to like to exert control over the story with these guys - they'll crap on their wins and laugh at their losses. The biggest problem with that, in my opinion, is the belt sticking with the only heel stronger than the dominant/underneath guy, and that's why it's been on Brock for most of the past three years.
my 2 cents, anyway.
