Topic: Wrestling Thread (AEW, NJPW, WWE, etc) (*)

[amir87]

I did if for The Rock

Ah shuddup ya thong wearing fatty! (you obviously, not Rikishi)

[Samie]

 

I did copy the big man falling from the Hell in a Cell cage from the top of the bunk bed back in the day.

[ScouserAtHeart]

I did copy the big man falling from the Hell in a Cell cage from the top of the bunk bed back in the day.

Kanyon did something similar in WCW that looked so so dangerous. 13-year-old me thought he'd actually died

[Tonyh8su]

Austin definitely would have made more sense, as Rock's greatest rival. Rock and Taker had their moments but don't remember it ever being a great rivalry. Definitely should have gone for a Tombstone because the chokeslam was rough!

I haven't watched since pre-covid (which I said above) but, I read someone else say Taker had the history with Roman, not Rock. Roman beat Taker at Mania so, although Taker and Rock never had the history it was more about the people running in were sick of Roman rather than there to stop the Rock, which I liked.

And as someone who hasn't watched in years I was blown away I have to be honest.

I mentioned before in this thread that I worked in the business and it completely jaded me and, dare I say, ruined wrestling for me, I absolutely throughly enjoyed this weekend. I don't think I'll keep watching but, a brilliant weekend.

[John_P]

Yokozuna beat Undertaker in a casket match as well, and he threw Rikishi off the top of hell in a cell.

Rikishi could've got involved and finally do something for The Rock.

Have to say I hope the Usos were OK that bump and fall looked massive and it certainly looked like they missed one of the tables.

[amir87]

First Wrestlemania, and the buildup, without Vince McMahon was absolutely refreshing. You could tell how much happier the wrestlers are with the current set up just based on how many wanted to praise Triple H. He mitt have earned his role by marrying into the family but has certainly shown the ability to keep his finger on the pulse unlike that senile sex pest.

[damomad]

So glad I didn't have spoilers for that, got to experience the main event one insane pop after another.

Thought Night 2 was amazing. The Street Profits match was garbage but everything else either delivered in the ring and/or was overbooked in all the right ways. I still have stuff I could be critical of but it has taken my mind completely off yesterday's game so I'm grateful. I love professional sports wrestling entertainment.

[RJH]

Think the plan was for anyone with history against the bloodline to appear and try and take them down, but with Brock Lesnar's absence they had to stick someone else in. Reckon Stone Cold turned it down and they asked Undertaker, who let's be honest, doesn't turn anything down.

Brock's year long battle with Roman/bloodline and then taking a clean loss against Cody followed by the handshake would have made perfect sense for him to take the Rock down. Would be a hell of a lot more believable getting an F5 rather than choke slammed by a retired 60 year old.

As Rock rolled out of the ring while it went dark, I thought at first they had disappeared him completely thanks to supernatural Undertaker. That would have kayfabe removed any issues about age and the physical damage of a chokeslam. You could also then wave away a prolonged Rock absence by explaining he'd simply been trapped in hell for a while.




One minor annoyance I just remembered - the plug for the documentary halfway through, with HHH talking about "blurring the line" between reality and scripted.  It's like showing me a video of how a sausage is made just before I have a sausage bap - I don't need the reminder!

[stevieG786]

Night 1 was shite, besides the main event tag match and Gunther/Sami, the crowd sucked too.

Night 2 was much better, the crowed were better, the lighting seemed better,  i think i enjoyed all the matches too, the US triple threat was a banger, the main event was a clusterfuck but it still delivered imo. the ending was great. Cena has aged badly, he looked comical running down the ramp, The Final Boss looked great as usual, it was about damn time Cena finally sold the Rock bottom properly as well. Undertaker was random as hell, i was expecting Austin and was gutted we didnt get to see him and Rock one last time, the pop he would have got would have been unreal.

Cody finally finished his story.. great, not sure about the 30 minute celebration afterwards mind
Roman's reign has finally ended, i personally have enjoyed it, he will go down as a true great. Aknowledged ☝

[stevieG786]

Other than that, I can see why Austin turned it down as he's the kind of guy to say it's Cody's moment and wouldn't want to take any shine away.

Balls. Austin loves a good thunder steal, he did it all the time during his full time run

Very strong night 2. Strong story telling and the right payoff (even if it was an overbooked mess)

Think it has proven one thing. Steve Austin will never get back in the ring again. If there was ever going to be a moment, it was when The Rock was in the ring having taken out Cena.

he wrestled two years ago, he will wrestle again at some point i'm sure

either he was busy with his dates or he was asking for more money/rock level money which they rightfully wouldn't give. i mean the hints were all there for Cena/Austin to run in, no way he declined right away

[stevieG786]

They've definitely started laying the foundations for a split in the bloodline. Roman spearing Rock on Saturday, Solo having to urge Roman to get back up, and Roman going after Seth instead of Cody.
Like you, I expect Roman-Rock to be next WM (and probably Rock's last match?). I guess how they handle the rest of the year will depend a lot on the Rock's filming schedule.

Rock and bloodline turn on Roman tonight on RAW, Roman has a long lay off
Rock disappears for filming Moana, the bloodline minus Roman continue their stuff with Rock making satalite apperaaces here and there
Rock vs Cody for the title at Summerslam, Roman returns and costs Rock the title
Roman defeats Rock at Mania 41

I see it going like that

[amir87]

So had they gone with plan A and had Rock vs Roman last night do we reckon the title run would have gone on for another year?

[gerrardisgod]

Commercial free opening hour, so if there’s anything big I imagine it’s happening handy tonight.

[stevieG786]

Is Cody dying? What the hell is this cringe love fest all about?     

[Stockholm Syndrome]

Is Cody dying? What the hell is this cringe love fest all about?     

That's of course after HHH made sure to be on screen to get his dick sucked by everyone

[Stockholm Syndrome]

Commercial free opening hour, so if there’s anything big I imagine it’s happening handy tonight.

Not being funny but of this hour, 40 odd minutes plus have been a promo

[Stockholm Syndrome]

Cena showed up to the match for 1 minute, took zero bumps, and won the match

The best to ever do it 

[stevieG786]

I enjoyed the opening segment, Rock handled that smarky crowd perfectly. Rock vs Cody is confirmed, most likely for Summerslam, I wonder what he handed Cody at the end there?

Cena is a cartoon man, he looks awful. I have never seen a FOTC become such a mid card glorified jobber every time he’s on TV.  Never mention this clowns name in the same sentence as The Rock, who at 52 still looks like a million bucks.

[Malaysian Kopite]

How does Cena with all his money and Hollywood connections not managed to fix that bald spot he's clearly insecure about?

What hope do the rest of us have?

I don't mind the extended promos we've been getting too, this one's ok but the 2 we had 2 weeks ago made it one of the best RAW's of all time.

[Barefoot Doctor]

No big story movements on Raw, albeit setting up Rock/Cody for some point in the future. I agree Summerslam is where to do that one. Hopefully there's more story stuff on Smackdown this week, think it'd be a mistake not to do something with Rock/Roman there. Don't think Roman is going to be on TV for a while, but I want him properly written out instead of disappearing. Have the Rock execute a coup on the Bloodline, and they absolutely destroy Roman. Then have him make his big return at Summerslam to take revenge on Rock in his title match with Cody and pull the trigger on Rock/Roman at Mania. Rock as the uber bad guy, Roman as the tweener.

I continue to really enjoy Punk trolling McIntyre. Not sure when we'll get that match (Summerslam also?) but the feud has been great so far.

An odd quirk but Summerslam is actually the next time WWE will run a PPV in the US. The next four are all elsewhere - Backlash in France next month, then Saudi at the end of May (yuck). Followed by Clash at the Castle in Glasgow in June, and Money in the Bank in Toronto in July.  And actually the PPV following Summerslam is in Berlin. Cool to see them mixing things up, they've obviously realised they can do massive shows abroad and have super hot crowds in the process.

[jediwarrior]

Loved Night 2, while Night 1 was a bit hit and miss. I think with the Undertaker I saw someone else say, The Rock claiming he is the Final Boss in a Wrestlemania Ring well the Final Boss of Wrestlemania is the Undertaker. But I wish he had the Undertake gear on instead.
Also apparently Roman and Undertaker had some previous history.

Only got back into the wrestling just over a year ago just because I brought the WWE2K game and didn't know any of the new wrestlers. So thought I'd watch a few shows just to know who they are. Then my daughter sat down and watched it with me and became hooked so we both watch it together all the time now.

[paulrazor]

that shot when the rock's music hits and hes walking out and its shot from behind Cody's back was just perfect

fantastic

I got you

thank you



that pop for taker was deafening

[gazzalfc]

An odd quirk but Summerslam is actually the next time WWE will run a PPV in the US. The next four are all elsewhere - Backlash in France next month, then Saudi at the end of May (yuck). Followed by Clash at the Castle in Glasgow in June, and Money in the Bank in Toronto in July.  And actually the PPV following Summerslam is in Berlin. Cool to see them mixing things up, they've obviously realised they can do massive shows abroad and have super hot crowds in the process.

Moving the American PPV market to a streaming network (WWE network to Peacock and then to Netflix soon) has changed the way they need to do their events. They dont even call them PPV's any more (they call them 'WWE Live Events'). So they are not fixed around start and end times, locations and how they present their product to an American market any more. They can go where the money is.

[amir87]

Thought it was a very forgettable Raw. Wasn't feeling the Cody-Rock interaction this time either.

[Barefoot Doctor]

Pretty cool to see Ilja Dragunov on there. He's going to be in the draft in a few weeks so I presume he's getting a call up... although I guess could be drafted to stay on NXT.

[F-T-9]

Man heel Rock just has another level of aura, the music, the gradual walk to the ring, the attire - absolutely loved every minute of his heel run. Was always indifferent whenever he'd turn up previously as a babyface but him playing the bad guy is fantastic. Honestly everyone else in the WWE looks so small time compared to him and I'm saying this as someone who isn't his biggest fan outside of wrestling, but can't deny his aura in the WWE.

Already looking forward to his return and feud with Cody and hopefully Roman.

[Wild Romany Boy]

Man heel Rock just has another level of aura, the music, the gradual walk to the ring, the attire - absolutely loved every minute of his heel run. Was always indifferent whenever he'd turn up previously as a babyface but him playing the bad guy is fantastic. Honestly everyone else in the WWE looks so small time compared to him and I'm saying this as someone who isn't his biggest fan outside of wrestling, but can't deny his aura in the WWE.

Already looking forward to his return and feud with Cody and hopefully Roman.

He was born to be a heel

[TheFinalBoss]

Pretty cool to see Ilja Dragunov on there. He's going to be in the draft in a few weeks so I presume he's getting a call up... although I guess could be drafted to stay on NXT.

For me he's the best wrestler in the world today, I have yet to see him have a bad match against anyone and pretty much every wrestler he's faced have had their best ever match against him.

I hope him and Gunther run it back on the main roster as the matches they had in NXT a couple of years ago are some of the best wrestling matches ever.

[Malaysian Kopite]

Wow they actually showed the Punk-Perry footage from Wembley. was sure they were going to do a fakeout with the promo beforehand. I don't think this was a good decision overall but hey it got me to tune in I spose.

[gazzalfc]

Wow they actually showed the Punk-Perry footage from Wembley. was sure they were going to do a fakeout with the promo beforehand. I don't think this was a good decision overall but hey it got me to tune in I spose.

The only reason they possibly had to show the footage was to directly contradict what Punk said to Ariel Helwani.

Only problem is, nothing in that footage contradicts what Punk said to Helwani. It went down exactly how he said.

[Wild Romany Boy]

So everything Pu
The only reason they possibly had to show the footage was to directly contradict what Punk said to Ariel Helwani.

Only problem is, nothing in that footage contradicts what Punk said to Helwani. It went down exactly how he said.

Yeah, this was a bad decision in a very bad episode of AEW. I hope that the focus is on their in ring product again and not WWE.

Ospreay probably had a right to take his shots at Triple H, but I'm not sure he did it well. But him and Danielson being all speed ahead, I am for it.

[gazzalfc]

AEW are doing copyright striking all over social media over the footage and left it off their highlight package. 

Tony Schiavone with what can only be described as the final days of WCW PTSD 

[TheFinalBoss]

The only reason they possibly had to show the footage was to directly contradict what Punk said to Ariel Helwani.

Only problem is, nothing in that footage contradicts what Punk said to Helwani. It went down exactly how he said.

That's exactly the problem there was a rumour that Perry reversed Punk's chokehold but I didn't seen it in the footage, if Perry didn't reverse the chokehold then what was the point of showing this footage it makes no sense to show it then all this does is give more content to The Drew McIntyre Cm Punk feud.

[Barefoot Doctor]

Didn’t Tony Khan say the backstage fight had him fearing for his life?!

[damomad]

That's exactly the problem there was a rumour that Perry reversed Punk's chokehold but I didn't seen it in the footage, if Perry didn't reverse the chokehold then what was the point of showing this footage it makes no sense to show it then all this does is give more content to The Drew McIntyre Cm Punk feud.

That was exactly my concern. Even if Punk had been lying about what happened, and Perry had got the upper hand, it could have been used to turn Punk into a whiny heel who can’t be trusted.

As it is, he’s been proved right and any wrestling fan with an interest is only going to want to turn into Raw and see Drew’s response.

Is anyone surprised that this happens backstage? In an industry where competitors actually do punch each other in the face for a living (and we’re supposed to believe it’s real). It’s a sport, how often do we hear about footballers falling out at training (sometimes even during a game). Doesn’t make it right but I don’t think anyone should have been fearing for their life.

In a week where WWE and NXT put on some of their best shows ever, AEW has made itself look like a poor substitute. I hope they can refocus and get back to what they do best.

[OsirisMVZ]

More content for the Rise and Fall of AEW

[gazzalfc]

Didn’t Tony Khan say the backstage fight had him fearing for his life?!

Yep. That wobbling flat screen TV could have fallen on his head and killed someone..... 

[Barefoot Doctor]

With Vince gone, it's good to see there's still a deluded billionaire in charge of a wrestling show who has terrible ideas and can't be talked down by his staff.

[XabiArt]

I'm out the loop with this.


Why have they decided to show footage of one of their contracted wrestlers getting beat up by a wrestler from another promotion?


I'd sort of get it if they had footage of an AEW jobber slapping current WWE champ Cody about.

What the hell

[amir87]

Didn’t Tony Khan say the backstage fight had him fearing for his life?!

Cocaine's one hell of a drug