Yeah probably not the opening round match to book there. You should debut the new guy with a win. Hell I am not sure he has wrestled in Smackdown yet in a match. But you can't have Dean Ambrose lose in the 1st round. That should have been even more stupid

 

Never thought I would see a Ryback vs Kalisto match. Or actually want to see to be honest

this has actually been a pretty good show but this tournament just highlights how poor of a job the've done creating new stars. Still I would take this over them bringing back part timers. The Hunter promo was actually quite good but I couldn't care less as that gimmick is beyond stale and just laughably over done.

 

I also get a kick out of Sasha trying to stay heel but she can't help but crack a sly smile when the crowd cheers her

They really don't see much in Becky Lynch based on the last month or so. She has been eating lots of pins.

That four way match on RAW last week was the Becky show. Most of the match was Becky kicking everyone else's ass.

Well if the purpose of that was to make us interested in a Wyatt Family vs Taker/Kane/? Survivor Series match then that was an epic fail. They have already been destroyed rather easily

pretty telling that Hunter, Taker and Kane were the most over babyfaces on this show. Have a feeling they are doing a 4 on 2 match at Survivor Series. They have one more show to announce partners for Taker and Kane.

So, is everyone's prediction Reigns vs Del Rio and Ambrose vs Owens leading to a Reigns/Ambrose final where one of them turns and joins the Authority?

Never thought I would see a Ryback vs Kalisto match. Or actually want to see to be honest

Del Rio v Stardust too. You think they'd at least switch Stardust and Kalisto around. Also those two and Titus get in the tournament but Rusev nowhere to be seen. Poor guy.

Rusev is hurt again.

 

I like the Sheamus/Barrett pairing. Both guys are kind of treading water and I think the sum could be better than the parts.

A title tournament at Survivor Series ending with the winner joining the corpor.... authority. What a fresh concept from 17 years ago. So, yeah, it's a safe bet.

Between the Hunter promo and the layout of the brackets, it seems pretty clear they're just going to end up making "new Seth" and have a new Authority puppet and not changing a goddamn thing.

I am not saying whether it is good or bad, but to say something isn't fresh when it hasn't been used in nearly 20 years, is weird to me.

It's not so much the idea, it's that the presentation of WWE and general source of conflict has revolved around the authority figures for virtually that entire 18-year period.

Not only that, it was done better 18 years ago since the evil authority figures were constantly being one upped by the babyfaces which helped usher in the best period in company history,

It's not so much the idea, it's that the presentation of WWE and general source of conflict has revolved around the authority figures for virtually that entire 18-year period.

This is exactly what I was getting at. Authority figures should appear as frequently as Jack Tunney. To do otherwise is lazy booking. Although knowing WWE's history with Survivor Series I could see them copying Rock's turn to the tee including the sharpshooter/call for the bell.

What they could do is have Ambrose cost Reigns his match against Alberto Del Rio. Then have Ambrose beat Owens & have Reigns get his revenge against Ambrose setting up a match by costing him the match against Alberto Del Rio.

 

But then ADR/Ambrose would pretty much be heel Vs. heel & ADR would be a double-champ (as would Owens). So I think the only logical thing is Reigns winning. Although before thinking about Ambrose turning, I thought it was going to be Reigns/Owens in the finals.

 

I don't know. I'm just pretty sure it's coming down to those four. Maybe they could have Ziggler "upset" Ambrose & that becomes his breaking point to sellout to the Authority or whatever.

 

They should just have Reigns win. No on turn. Brock win the Rumble. Brock/Reigns at Wrestlemania. Reigns retains. Then turn Dean if they want to do it. Doing it now, it wouldn't mean anything.

 

Del Rio just came back & I already feel like people don't give a fuck about him again.

So,

Kalisto beat Ryback

on the SD tapings today. Maybe WWE isn't being as predictable as we thought, since that result seems to go against everything Vince stands for.

Let's use spoiler tags for something that hasn't aired yet.

My bad, I'm so used to not giving a shit about SD results I forgot there might be folks who still do.

As surprises go, that's a pretty tame one. They needed to have at least one of these matches end unexpectedly. If he pulls the second round upset and makes the semi-finals that's kinda cool, but the bracketing of this tournament is weak. Lots of guys paired up badly, losing at the wrong times, etc.

Anyone watch Breaking Ground this week? It really seemed like a filler episode designed to brag about their Texas tour. Nothing much happened. They tried to make Josh a babyface family man, but his man bun is the most obnoxious shit ever. His first promo was brutal, but his second one wasn't bad. The "Yeti" gimmick is all sorts of awful and won't make it to TV. Sami Zayn's comment from the first or second episode - "don't get married to a certain vision" - is obviously foreshadowing Josh dropping the "Yeti" crap for something sustainable. The preview for next week shows Robbie Brookside seemingly going ballistic on ZZ, who was obviously only hired to fail for this show - something that really strikes me as evil.

 

On another note: Carmella and Cass seem cool as hell, and Tyler Breeze is awesome, but Baron Corbin really does come across as an aloof dick uncomfortable with the spotlight. Part of me feels for him, but I don't see how that is going to work for him on the main roster when he is almost expected to be social and outgoing. But maybe that's one of the storylines they're trying to shape, and Corbin will be a social butterfly by the end of this?

 

I wasted my time on The WWE List afterward because the topic "Failed Factions" sounded interesting. The list was horrible. No Union, no Corre, no Dungeon of Doom even, but plenty of decent-ish stuff like 3 Count, JOB Squad, bWo, and 3MB. Come on! When half the episode is spent defending the stables on this shitty list, you know it sucks. I was surprised The Cabinet wasn't on there, because they went out of their way to bury that on one of the Legends roundtables (I thought it was an okay stable myself).

That 'Yeti Nation' was so terrible. Didn't watch Tough Enough, so know nothing about the guy, but he seemed pleasant enough...but that promo was terrible. Highlight of the show was easily Dillinger and Breeze searching for bats.

 

WWE List was awful too, none of the factions seemed like failures to me (OK, maybe the MIA). 3 Count achieved everything you'd expect them to, as well as providing the launchpad for a decent 10yr run for Helms. Really, this list was less "failed factions" and more "enjoyable undercard stables"

WWE List was awful too, none of the factions seemed like failures to me (OK, maybe the MIA). 3 Count achieved everything you'd expect them to, as well as providing the launchpad for a decent 10yr run for Helms. Really, this list was less "failed factions" and more "enjoyable undercard stables"

 

I didn't mind MIA at the time. It gave a spot to a bunch of people who had nothing else to do, and I really dug Hugh Morrus back then (not a popular sentiment nowadays, for obvious reasons).

MIA sucked bc of the dumb russo names and the booker t thing, tho i guess the major stash story karmically offsets all that

If Baron Corbin's aloofness is legit and not something played up for the cameras (and everything seems to indicate it's for real), I see him getting eaten alive by the crazy WWE Locker Room Respect Protocol. I can't imagine him fitting well in an environment where newbies are expected to genuflect every time a veteran walks by.

If Baron Corbin's aloofness is legit and not something played up for the cameras (and everything seems to indicate it's for real), I see him getting eaten alive by the crazy WWE Locker Room Respect Protocol. I can't imagine him fitting well in an environment where newbies are expected to genuflect every time a veteran walks by.

 

Well hopefully he pulls a Backlund and just travels by himself. Or a couple people that he really trusts eventually. But it does seems like he only enjoys being in his own surroundings.

 

I would really recommend the new Table for 3 with Regal, Shemaus, and Barrett by the way