Matt D

Just like after Summerslam year before last, I do think they should keep Reigns away from Rollins for a few months though. Make Reigns go through Show and Kane. I know that sounds tedious but some decisive wins against giants will help him if they work the matches smartly. Have Rollins defend against Orton and get his win back in a gimmick match. Toss Ambrose at him again for a shot or two. Then work an indecisive match and do a blow off three way with Brock at Summerslam really putting Reigns over. Or something. Knowing WWE they're going to go into a three match series with Rollins vs Reigns immediately (maybe the first one as a four way with Orton and someone else too and the second two as gimmick matches).

Obviously, this doesn't cover everything, because there's Mark Henry's physical ability and then there's Evan Bourne's physical ability. There's charisma which would go under Pro Wrestling Understanding but then there's a sort of physical charisma that might go under ability. Then there's the difference between understanding something and using that understanding to create good matches. Michaels is an example of someone who would use his understanding of pro wrestling to make himself look good at the expense of a match, sometimes. I think that there's still some utility in this though.

The Rousey catch has three things going for it. 1. She's actually hot now and it's not a case of getting a MMA star five years after they're a draw like TNA does. 2. She's only interacting with Steph so it's not going to make their own talent look bush league. And Steph stood up to her exactly like she would Sting or someone else, at least for the most part. Having her around doesn't make, let's say, Sasha or AJ look worse so long as it's only Steph that's getting the focus. 3. She's an honest fan, and not just some MMA mercenary, which helps. So it has a lot of the positives of using someone with crossover appeal like this without the usual drawbacks. It didn't need 25 minutes at Mania or whatever, especially if it doesn't build to a match (and who knows if it will). I don't think her being there as an unannounced attraction made Mania feel more special, not as part of an endless talk segment. If it leads to a match, then it's worth it. If it doesn't, then it's even worse than bringing a part timer back to put over someone who's around all the time, because at least a part timer is an organic part of wrestling and wrestling's past and something that wrestling can claim credit for and not someone whose existence, when pushed as a big deal, sort of makes their roster look insignificant.

This is a case where I think the heat is on the heel and not the company though. They introduced a creative element that exists in their fictional world and it came into play at the exact moment where the fans started to think that maybe they wanted Reigns after all. It was fair game.

I do think that Reigns will be better off for that match and if they pull the trigger at Summerslam, it might work out.

What a surreal show.

Well fuck.

Will is right about one thing. Blood does make everything better. It doesn't need to be a ton. Just a little does the trick. We're horrible people.

It's been a night for knee strike replays.

I'd probably have enjoyed the last hour more if I cared in the least about Rousey or MMA

Old man Taker's wind sucking selling is pretty offputting. Also, whenever I see John Cone, I start thinking the John Cone Office Referee 8-bit theme in my head and it takes me out of the match.

I skipped the first 2/3rds of this (basically up to the point where Rock left the ring) since I was catching up on the Cena match and I don't believe this is still going. I can't imagine how the rest of you guys feel.

Playing catch up; Part of me longs for the match in the alternate reality where they worked the match more around Rusev's shoulder, but the match that we got was really good. I'm okay with the finish. Rusev was up on his feet soon after and since he was going to lose this, it wasn't a bad way.

The pepsi logo in the background being the same colors as the flag is hilarious.

Are they doing another concert or was that the only one?

I wasn't really paying attention to that divas match because I was playing blocks with my kid. Did they really do a call back spot to the Rumble mauling where AJ got pulled off the apron as part of the finish? that's really clever if so.

Wait, after this, there are only three matches left, and there are 2 hours now? It's not like Taker can go long and neither Reigns or Rusev are super experienced.

But Sting hates the NWO. It's like Vince just read the cliff notes or something. And why didn't everyone turn on Sting during the handshake? I'm so confused.

To be fair, on a card that has to be balanced, having Triple H work the chinlock fest on Sting is not a bad idea since Sting is probably as good as 4/5th of the roster at working from underneath in a chinlock. Also, i wonder if that DX run in was booked before the Max Landis video.

I can see Hunter arguing that he should go over because of the corporate tie in entrance.

Yeah, that was a great finish.

That back drop off the top felt pretty novel.

The weirdest thing about that IC title match is that they had seven guys in there and past some bits of Ziggler calling Bryan a turd, I don't think that any of them really had an issue with each other. Also, why the heck did Rollins just do a backflip?

I would have liked Harper or Ambrose being the guy up there with him at the end more. I don't entirely buy Ziggler in that role.

I'm not entirely with Parv but I do think I've hit the point that I don't get excited for these trainwreck gimmick spotfests. There's not a ton of room for storytelling here and it's just watching one car crash spot after the next while they cycle the next guy in.