Bryan winning the belt in the EC seems like a disingenuous way to finally give him the belt, which actually makes sense in a way.

Yeah I think Brock shooting on Taker is insane and I don't think that would ever happen, he may be a loose cannon at times but he respects the business to an extent.

 

With that said, I'm with sek69, I'm more afraid of him not being careful with Taker, throwing him around like a ragdoll and wrestling, well, like Brock Lesnar wrestles these days.

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

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

It's not so much about "taking liberties" as much as the fact that Brock just lays his shit in and he's scary strong.

Yeah, Brock did fine with Hogan. Don't see why he wouldn't do the same with Taker.

yeah, the last unplanned in-ring shoot in any American fed was.... what exactly? was it post-2000? just a Q. Seems a bit crazy to worry about a shoot when there's controls in place that can, at the very least, prevent a shoot where the shooter is declared the winner

At worst Brock does the take down and lays in shoot forearms, punches, elbows, etc. If it happens I think they could work a match around Taker going for Hell's Gate and Brock for the Kimura as a little mini-storyline within the match. Some might argue that's silly considering Taker isn't Brock when it comes to that kind of thing but Brock also sold for HHH's offense so I think I'd let it slide. Still, it'd be an interesting way to work the match.

Let's not forget that Taker has MMA training as well and well before Brock did.

 

I don't know if this was posted yet but Dave had this nugget up yesterday about how RAW was done and this was put up a little over 90 mins before the show.

 

After rewriting several segments throughout the day, we just got word the show is changing again less than two hours before it's start.

 

Also, it's confirmed Big Show is not at TV, as he flew home from Pittsburgh on the same plane with Kevin Nash.

 

Update: The writers were just called in by Vince McMahon and they are rewriting the show.

So anyone that believes the WWE working the fans BS there ya go. They are rolling with the punches on this one.

Problem is if you book Bryan in the World title match at WrestleMania he has to win or the crowd will completely shit on it too. And I can't see WWE booking that finish.

 

I think shoehorning Bryan into a Triple Threat match with Batista and Randy Orton is the most likely change they'll make.

The problem with that is any match that has to follow Bryan not winning the title is not going to have good reactions. If you thought the Rumble was bad, WrestleMania is the most hardcore of WWE fans.

 

Is Wrestlemania really comprised of the most hardcore fans? I imagine there's a lot of casual fans who only get big into watching around Mania time. Rock/Cena last year didn't get shit on at Mania, but it sure would have in front of the RAW crowd the next night.

Problem is if you book Bryan in the World title match at WrestleMania he has to win or the crowd will completely shit on it too. And I can't see WWE booking that finish.

 

I think shoehorning Bryan into a Triple Threat match with Batista and Randy Orton is the most likely change they'll make.

The problem with that is any match that has to follow Bryan not winning the title is not going to have good reactions. If you thought the Rumble was bad, WrestleMania is the most hardcore of WWE fans.

 

Is Wrestlemania really comprised of the most hardcore fans? I imagine there's a lot of casual fans who only get big into watching around Mania time. Rock/Cena last year didn't get shit on at Mania, but it sure would have in front of the RAW crowd the next night.

 

The hardest of the hardcore fans usually come to Mania. Don't get me wrong, there are a bunch of casual fans though. There are also way more foreign fans than at any other time. I swear atleast 20-30% are English. If you are a big WWE fan, WM is more likely to be the show you are going to that year beyond anything else. Add in the other indy shows, Axxess and the other perks WWE gives you and there's no reason not to go.

 

Mania is a bad example for pops because it is outdoors, which means the sound doesn't echo as much. In a Mania crowd, where you sit determines what you hear.

SD! Spoilers. The last 2 entrants for the Elimination Chamber are...

 

 

 

Cesaro and Christian.

 

 

Wyatts vs Shield was officially announced for the PPV too.

 

 

I'm starting to believe the build to EC will be better than Mania's

I don't really watch that much WWE outside of the PPVs and the TV stuff that gets heavily pimped. But I always find myself enjoying The Real Americans whenever I see them. I really liked their match with Rey & Sin Cara last night and would love to see a good 10 minute Rey/Cesaro match. I feel like Swagger has gotten a lot better since being paired with Dutch & Cesaro too. I think the problem with Swagger for a long time was that he was never a fan and it was just a job to him but it seems like he's having fun with the Real Americans stuff.

 

As far as authority figures go, I wish we had a lot more Brad Maddox and a lot less Steph/HHH. The couple of weeks before SummerSlam where he was the GM in over his head before The Authority really took over was actually an interesting take on the authority figure angle for once.

 

Swagger is actually, according to Meltzer and Jim Ross, a lifelong wrestling fan. Like, legit fan, huge mark, grew up reading PWI etc. etc.

 

I think the "problem" with Swagger is that he's not cut out for singles wrestling. He's great in tags. He's great with a a manager. He plays off of others very well, but he can't carry the ball as a single. That's fine. Not everyone can. Every time he's in a tag team I'm entertained by him....every time they pair him with someone like Zeb or Jimmy Golden it's great.....even the ridiculous eagle mascot was great entertainment.....

At worst Brock does the take down and lays in shoot forearms, punches, elbows, etc. If it happens I think they could work a match around Taker going for Hell's Gate and Brock for the Kimura as a little mini-storyline within the match. Some might argue that's silly considering Taker isn't Brock when it comes to that kind of thing but Brock also sold for HHH's offense so I think I'd let it slide. Still, it'd be an interesting way to work the match.

Taker is a pretty bad dude in his own right. He seems to have an insanely high pain tolerance. There's been talk of how beat up his is physically going on 15 years or so now. He only wrestles once or twice a year anymore, but he goes out there and does crazy spots still, and wrestles long matches. I'm pretty sure he's ok with Brock tossing him around and stiffing the shit out of him, and wouldn't have it any other way. And I'm also sure that Brock is aware of Taker's age and physical condition and wouldn't be as reckless with him as he might be with someone else.

and maybe this has a lot to do with her not "showing ass" to the faces during this run. Talking down to them, etc. She's obviously wrong there though

Her promos have been the whole being lesser than the sum of the parts throughout this run. She has about three or four great expressions or deliveries every time, and just the absolute right smug glee for the character, but then it just sort of peters out or the faces do just end up eating it.

I can see Brock taking out Christian to get into the chamber. I pretty much love it right now though.

So they broke up the Prime Time Players. Along with the Rhodes breaking up soon alongside the Real Americans and the Shield. I also don't think the NAO are staying around after Wrestlemania. What happened? I thought this was supposed to be the year of the tag team or something?

I think they put the belts on the Outlaws to transition to the Usos and are going to push the Usos hard this year as the aces of the tag division

 

It is odd though how they seem to be breaking up all the teams they established over the past year at the same time. Rhodes Bros look to be breaking up to set up a Mania match. Shield is breaking up (or at least Reigns is leaving the group I think). Real Americans look to be broken up soon. I'm wondering what teams will be left to work with the Usos at this point

so CM Punk has 'went home', and isn't appearing on upcoming shows (edit: I should read other threads)

I don't like the PTP breakup, mostly because I think Titus has a much better chance to breakout as a babyface than a heel.

 

EDIT:And just to go off an a tangent, I think Hunico is a really terrible fit as Sin Cara. I think they should have tried to use someone else under the mask if they were really intent on keeping it around, they'd already seen what Hunico could do with it and should have realized the guy is not cut out to be a high flying babyface wrestler. At this point, you can't really make ANOTHER switch and I don't think there is any way the character gets over the way they want unless he's doing ACTUAL flashy babyface offense.

I don't like the PTP breakup, mostly because I think Titus has a much better chance to breakout as a babyface than a heel.

 

EDIT:And just to go off an a tangent, I think Hunico is a really terrible fit as Sin Cara. I think they should have tried to use someone else under the mask if they were really intent on keeping it around, they'd already seen what Hunico could do with it and should have realized the guy is not cut out to be a high flying babyface wrestler. At this point, you can't really make ANOTHER switch and I don't think there is any way the character gets over the way they want unless he's doing ACTUAL flashy babyface offense.

Evan Bourne was right there.

Also, Hunico as Hunico is about a thousand times better than Hunico as Sin Cara.

I must have missed it, what happened to the PrimeTime Players?

I must have missed it, what happened to the PrimeTime Players?

Smackdown Spoiler:

 

 

Titus turned on Darren

 

I don't understand why they didn't push the PTPers more. They're both fairly entertaining and charismatic and have good chemistry. When they had a chance (usually on main event) they'd have good matches. After it came out that Darren Young was gay they got a nice little push for a bit which was shockingly reserved for WWE as they never mentioned that Young was gay, but it was clear that a lot of the crowd knew and it made them babyfaces. Then they would switch from heel or face from week to week which never made any sense and made them less over.

 

I have a feeling this breakup will go the way of the Cryme Tyme split. It'll get them a ppv match (most likely, but then again they split Tons of Funk and they didn't get a PPV blowoff) then they'll both be forgotten about and flounder in the midcard. I don't know that Titus will be a good single, and he's pretty old to be getting a big push.

I don't like the PTP breakup, mostly because I think Titus has a much better chance to breakout as a babyface than a heel..

Call me cynical, but I think Titus was the heel by default because Darren Young couldn't be the heel.

 

You are right though.