I am actually really fine with the title being on the line at the Rumble because yeah, it's been millennia in wrestling time. Frankly it's probably a little overdue to replay the Royal Rumble title match gimmick.

 

It wasn't a great crowd tonight but also it really wasn't much of a show to get them going either. They didn't even pop for the announcement. But honestly I felt like everything save the Neville/Owens/Ambrose segment was either flat out not good (That New Day sketch was the worst I've seen from them, and I generally like them a lot), to fine but not really noteworthy (Becky vs. Charlotte).

 

I got a huge chortle that they edited together an Owens/Ambrose package and they left Ambrose botching that silly rebound lariat off the apron in, for some reason.

 

Jericho's return was very flat and felt like going through the motions to me, and I haven't even seen several of his comebacks.

 

Why does Stardust exist?

 

What was the point of the Ryback/Show/Wyatts segment?

 

Why did Lana come back, do a fake injury angle for a couple weeks, and seems to be off TV again with no explanation?

 

I've used this reference many times to describe his character but it's never been more true: Vince is Muscular Mr. Burns. Nothing wrong with bein' 70, it works fine for him. People chirping him for looking pasty and old are kind of missing the great hubris of megalomaniac Vince not realizing megalomaniac Character Vince doesn't realize and/or give a shit that he's old.

 

Overall I thought it was a very poor RAW. Again, praise to Owens and Neville. Everything else struggled to hold my attention fully.

I really hate the idea that Roman has to defend the title in the Rumble. He just won the thing and now he will either lose it quickly in a way that's completely unfair or beat 29 other guys.

 

What ever happened to giving the babyface the title and riding it out. Diesel got more of a chance as the top guy than this.

The Rumble's been won from #1 or #2 four times, and Flair won from #3. So the beating 29 guys thing has a decent amount of precedent. I don't think he'll actually win, but still.

It does speak to the idea that they've learned several wrong lessons from Bryan's 2014. Having Reigns lose the title in the Rumble feels like booking themselves into a bad corner. The goal seems to be that it isn't enough for him to be a strong face champion who successfully defends at Mania. He needs to overcome the odds and win the title for the third time in four months at Mania so that they can recreate the "correct" version of Bryan's Mania win with their preferred star. Going to the well of Reigns as challenger-who-must-prove-himself again so soon ironically achieves the opposite effect, making him look both like a perennial loser (kayfabe) and overpushed (behind the scenes).

 

I suspect they also look at the bad business/casual viewer interest of the 2006-2012 pre-Authority years and make a false correlation: McMahons as dominant heel GMs = money. They had tons of other overbearing heel GMs (Johnny Ace, Regal, Vickie, AJ Lee, Maddox, Coachman) during bad business periods and it made no difference. The last babyface RAW GM was a reclusive Bret Hart for one month in 2010. Prior to that it was Foley in 2003. Weird that Smackdown had a face GM for almost ten uninterrupted years in Teddy Long and later Booker, though both were routinely put in their place by Vince/Steph/heels. No one at any time mistook Long or Booker as having any real kayfabe power.

 

Basically this is a long-winded version of me saying that I wish Undertaker would retire and become the 2016 onscreen hybrid of Watts and Eddie Marlin.

It's the 2nd time that the title will be on the line in the Rumble match, but the first time that the title is actually defended by someone. I think they will go the 1994 route Roman Reigns & Brock Lesnar the last 2 left, both go over at the same time, so co-winners, they think about restarting it, but then Triple H comes out and destroys Reigns, then Lesnar attacks Triple H and you got a 3-way dance for Mania 32 where Reigns pins both guys and retains, then the night after Daniel Bryan returns challenges Reigns, and wins the title via Authority help and FINALLY gets the heel run that he should of had in 2012.

That would be amazing except that the company seems so stubborn they don't even want to give any credence to the fans maybe being right about Bryan at all (even in a heel run).

i've actually thought for months that if Bryan were to ever return then having him return as a heel would be the best way to use him. If they don't think they can count on him as the babyface ace then he's still super capable of making the top faces look great as a top heel mechanic. He could basically be like 1997 Bret Hart.

 

the most unlikely thing about that post btw is the idea that WWE would do a 3 way dance instead of a triple threat.

One of my kids woke up during the Reigns vs Sheamus match to get a drink of water and looked at the tv and asked me why Vince was wearing fake muscles.

 

I was still laughing today about it.

 

Vince has better arms than 90% of the roster. Just crazy no matter what he's taking.

I'm hoping with the switch to USA, WWE has invested in a new set to give the show a distinct look.

I'm hoping with the switch to USA, WWE has invested in a new set to give the show a distinct look.

 

According to the taping reports I'm seeing, the answer seems to be no.

 

 

I'm hoping with the switch to USA, WWE has invested in a new set to give the show a distinct look.

According to the taping reports I'm seeing, the answer seems to be no.

Colour me unsurprised lol

 

 

 

I'm hoping with the switch to USA, WWE has invested in a new set to give the show a distinct look.

According to the taping reports I'm seeing, the answer seems to be no.

Colour me unsurprised lol

And they're running Becky vs Charlotte which we just saw on Raw, and Ambrose vs Owens which we've seen dozens of times as their featured matches. They could have saved the Reigns vs Sheamus rematch for the first show to make it special. New channel, same old Smackdown.

I thought they would have at the very least had a Del Rio vs Cena US title match on Smackdown, they could have used Raw to hype it instead they didn't even mention Cena would be on the show.

 

 

 

I'm hoping with the switch to USA, WWE has invested in a new set to give the show a distinct look.

According to the taping reports I'm seeing, the answer seems to be no.

Colour me unsurprised lol

And they're running Becky vs Charlotte which we just saw on Raw, and Ambrose vs Owens which we've seen dozens of times as their featured matches. They could have saved the Reigns vs Sheamus rematch for the first show to make it special. New channel, same old Smackdown.

to be fair both of those Smackdown matches will be title matches

So WO.com just dropped the bomb that Cena is the latest to need shoulder surgery, taking him out of WM.

 

Not sure how much more boned WWE can be now. Wouldn't be shocked to see Bryan suddenly able to pass his concussion tests.

Geez. Yeah, something has to give. There's only so deep a well to draw from.

WWE already has Rock signed on for WM32. Jericho is pretty much on-board at this point. Taker, Brock, HHH, Big Show and The Dudleys I am sure are all working the show. Who else can WWE call on to add some 'star power'? RVD and Angle? Does Booker T come out of semi-retirement for a match at Mania? Cena being out is a pretty big blow considering Sting, Orton, and Bryan are all on the self as well.

Man, in the year 2016, if those are the names they're banking on to sell Wrestlemania, I am going to be super disappointed. And next year will be even worse. Eventually they HAVE to make NEW stars. They can't keep banking on wrestlers from years past.

 

They have Roman Reigns. Build-up Ambrose & Wyatt more. Bring back Daniel Bryan. Maybe call-up some NXT people. They should not be looking to guys like The Undertaker, The Rock and Chris Jericho every year. They have to make new names of this problem is only going to get worse, injuries or not. They need to stop with the parity booking & allow some people to get a lot of wins.

At this point I feel the final destruction and I mean FINAL of the Authority is needed to help sell Wrestlemania

EDIT: n/m, words that make more sense in the WM 32 thread.

Never cared or Mauro Ranallo in the past when I've heard him doing MMA. So pleasantly surprised how much I am liking him as the announcer on Smackdown. He brought that Charlotte match to life.

How was heel Lawler? That piqued my interest after reading some tweets. Sounds refreshing.

Lawler turned heel?

I was wondering if Lawler had been a heel on Smackdown or if this was new. It wasn't overt but definitely not the same lazy Lawler. I liked it.

I hope it's a start of a Kalisto push.