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I like Angle turning heel in the process and being an annoying sports dad manager. Angle turning heel to give him the belt in like six months would be incredible

Jason Jordan's wife is on social media saying his injury is not as serious as rumours had suggested and that he'll be coming back soon so hopefully he gets the Mania spot his character deserves. A heel turn and a win over Rollins on the big stage would be a nice elevation for him.

I never even thought of that aspect til now, but yeah that is cool.

That was probably the worst thing in the Rumble, anyone else than her would have been better. Comedy spots in Rumbles are both good and necessary

Jesus, they really can't win. They're pushing Asuka real hard but that's bad because it puts her above the other women, but they'll just screw It up and have her lose. She's not losing til at least Summerslam and pushing someone as a star above all the others is actually a good thing.

When are they back in Belfast? Might have to make the trip. I think there's one pencilled in for May 13th but I don't know if it's confirmed. The show had great variety in terms of brawling, indy workrate spot-fests, comedy, stiff striking and sports-entertainment. It's definitely worth checking out if you can. Tickets were only like £15 as well.

This comes off so goofy that there's no way he's actually serious, right?

Had a great time at my first OTT show in Belfast. Was wondering if there was a live wrestling thread running where people can post about shows they've been to. If not, I'll start one cause it seems like a good idea.

Cena is 100% a bigger star because he's on morning TV shows, awards shows, movies, reality shows and stuff. A wider section of the population is aware and familiar with him. But is the housewife who watches whatever the big US morning show going to check out Raw or get WWE Network for a big Cena match? Probably not. He's been around long enough that he draws the audience he draws and that's probably that. Ronda has the novelty factor of wrestling for the first time and for this being her first big post-UFC move. There's also the chance that the sort of person who was invested in her fighting career might be more likely to watch one of her wrestling matches than someone catching Cena on a chat show or whatever. But then I think she needs to work differently and be presented differently than anyone else, because I can imagine the sheer corporate phoniness of the WWE presentation alienating those who tune in on a whim to see what Ronda's getting up to.

I am actually a bit concerned about that, for Shayna's sake. They're not likely to run with two "Uber Legit MMA" heels. I suppose they could use their past friendship and make a faction out of it. Perhaps a killer tag team. Much as I like Ronda - and I like her a lot - I hope Shayna isn't buried by this. They could weave this into the official narrative and bring Shayna up to feud with her quite easily too

She really sucked for the five minutes she was in though. At least her placement lifted the crowd early on

Yeah, somewhere else I infrequently post had people talking about how they didn't really like Rey within minutes of him coming out on Sunday. To me that's another example of The Narrative working people into a shoot - if Rey had been presented as a legend like Shawn or whatever people would treat him with a bit more reverential. Some of it is circumstantial too; injuries at the wrong time, the Bryan Rumble thing and also I think losing to Cena in that Raw title match actually. That made him look like a step below being a top guy. But obviously he's still super popular and he would be viewed favourably by most if he came back for a featured run.

I was almost reluctant to watch this because I don't follow NXT closely so I was worried that the match wouldn't live up to the hype because I wasn't into the characters. But it was absolutely fantastic athletically, in terms of selling, storytelling, everything. It really reached a fever pitch when Candice jumped the barricade to take out Vega, which kinda makes me think they should have just pulled the trigger and put Gargano over right after that. It might be hard to reach that sheer level of enthusiasm for the guy again. But even with that, that match was a home run. *****

Dave dropped the big five on Almas vs Gargano

AJ Styles can throw a convincing looking strike for one... I loved the women's Rumble too but I did think the rolling out was a little excessive and can see why people didn't like it. My brother, who is a casual watcher, commented on it when we watched along this morning so I think it's more than just an incidental thing. But I still think it was an excellently laid out match with some really great performances which managed to convey lots of little internal stories (Beth and Nattie reuniting before Nattie turned on her, Sasha turning heel on Trish and Bayley, Nikki taking out her sister, Trish and Mickie, Trish cementing her position as a legend) within the larger narrative of celebrating the women of WWE going back around two decades. I'd love to know who booked these Rumbles. There was talk about Pat Patterson being at the show. I wonder if he chipped in because there was a drastic improvement on the last four or five years.

If ROH had a video game, the generic create-a-wrestler model would be Adam Cole

Oh yeah, but in WWE-land he was never as explicitly portrayed as the great 'performer' or 'showstopper' in that weird half-kayfabe/half-shoot way like Shawn and Bret were. Especially Shawn.

It's funny that because he wasn't pushed as a legend and being a great worker wasn't incorporated into his gimmick, people think he isn't a legend and a great worker.

Ok, this is the dream match I never knew I wanted

No turning here - I've always hated the act. Kevin Owens + goofy sidekick made Raw unwatchable last year and this incarnation is doing the same with Smackdown.

Turned on Smackdown, saw Owens and Zayn coming out for a promo, immediately turned off Smackdown and left the room.

I just want Rey vs Rusev and Rey vs Cesaro tbh.

And then TNA treated them like shit even though they were a ratings draw because pro wrestling

In the 619 spot I think he may have been telling Reigns to fall to the side so he could take Reys senton?

Cenas been kinda off in his last few appearances actually. Im not sure if hes working towards something or just phoning it in a bit