Loss

I would love to, but they take about 2-3 hours each and it's hard to set aside that much time at once sometimes, especially when I feel like watching stuff should take priority in my wrestling time at this point. But eventually, I hope to return to these, yes.

Absolutely. And even more than that, the bigger issue is not that he has to go on last at Wrestlemania or supersede everyone in the main event scene. He just needs to have his feud with The Authority properly blown off. He has to prove himself a bigger draw than John Cena to get a match with HHH at Wrestlemania? Come on.

I also hate this argument that because John Cena is more of a draw, this means Daniel Bryan isn't one at all. No one is arguing that Daniel Bryan should replace John Cena on top.

The Royal Rumble is over and this is going to be a hot topic for a while, so I thought we could dump stuff here. Latest post from Dave: (Link will only work for subscribers) I don't recall Jimmy Valiant fans crapping on the Ric Flair vs Dusty Rhodes main event and chanting Valiant's name during matches he wasn't involved in. Daniel Bryan is a draw. Last night he asked the entire building if they came to see him, and they responded that they did.

I don't see Brock taking liberties on Taker. No one takes liberties on headliners in WWE.

There were concerns internally about doing that match that I guess were addressed, but a follow-up report would have been nice. They were more related to Brock not being willing to practice the match in advance with Undertaker, though, as has happened for most of his matches for the last few years. And which I personally hate because it's "performing" when wrestling is supposed to be "working", but that's a different topic.

I was about to joke that it's your fault for posting a response and not talking about KENTA.

I split this off. This is a split topic from a split topic. Impressive.

And I think that's okay. In fact, having a long-term plan but not being so married to it that if something unexpectedly gets hot, then deviation from the plan is not an option is the mark of a good wrestling promotion.

I think part of it is that different demos watch WWE for entirely different reasons, and sometimes their interests compete with each other. Dave has talked a few times about the challenges of promoting wrestling in this era because the fan base has never sent so many mixed messages. I think that would be a good topic for a separate thread if someone wants to start it.

I also think Roman Reigns' hair makes him look very 1990s. Men with long hair hasn't really been a thing in a long time but as usual, wrestling is behind the curve.

And then Sami Zayn will be called up and get more over than Roman Reigns and we'll go through this all over again.

I'm sure WWE feels the same way. The problem is that they haven't found that person, or at least haven't found that person that moves numbers better than Cena *and* fits their preconceived notions of what a star should look and perform like.

It's funny because Vince changed the entire direction of what was supposed to be the biggest angle in wrestling history (the Invasion) 13 years ago for the exact same reasons that we saw toward the planned direction last night.

Cena has been booed for the last 8 years. Didn't affect his standing on top as the main face in the company. I don't see why crowd reaction would change their plans now if it hasn't in the past. We've had time to decipher the reaction Cena gets, why he gets it and what it means, along with why it's not really a bad thing. Batista's appeal isn't the same as Cena's, so that's why I'm asking the questions I'm asking - so we can figure that out as well.

I also don't understand the difference in fan response and drawing power. If Batista has so many fans, why don't they cheer him loudly in the buildings?

In theory, wouldn't dead/hostile crowds have an impact on the channel changers who flip past RAW? Also, isn't the aura of your main eventers - and thus their drawing power - hurt over time when someone else's name is being chanted during their segments? Just throwing the question out there. I don't know the answer.

I split this off on its own so it doesn't sidedrain the Rumble thread. Why isn't KENTA in New Japan anyway? His style would fit in very well I would think.

I see that MKJ has a news item up on the internal reaction in WWE to the crowd last night, but it's for elite members. Anyone here know what was reported?

Underdog babyfaces often have a shelf life. Look at the Rock & Roll Express in 1987, after being over huge the year before.

All of that is of course allowing us to overlook how bad Punk's elimination was.

Where are the numbers to show that Roman Reigns isn't just someone people are popping for, thus making him worthy of a push? What about Bray Wyatt?

So now, they have a different problem, which is how are they going to get people excited about the WM lineup this year?

My Onion headline for all of this would be "Low Sales Of Ugly Fake Beards Prove Eyes, Ears Deceiving Us".