It seems we get to watch them UK RAW and SD. Saw a big title change happening. Gonna be good.

How things going with you Kawada? Crews is not gonna go any farther than he is right now. He's best bet is ask for his release and either go back to Dragon Gate or link up with CIMA & crew.

I would be more excited about AOP winning if the Raw tag belts meant a goddamn thing.

Ronda had to start out shootin' on Becky about clown school and shit because when they do the face to face promo Ronda is going to get ethered.

31 minutes ago, Jimmy Redman said:

Ronda had to start out shootin' on Becky about clown school and shit because when they do the face to face promo Ronda is going to get ethered.

Yeah I know they seem to like this champ vs champ format for SS, but I don't think Ronda-Becky is going to go the way they think it will. Either their cash cow Ronda gets murked in the buildup, or they try to have her demolish Becky and cement her position as fem-Bryan.

8 hours ago, sek69 said:

Yeah I know they seem to like this champ vs champ format for SS, but I don't think Ronda-Becky is going to go the way they think it will. Either their cash cow Ronda gets murked in the buildup, or they try to have her demolish Becky and cement her position as fem-Bryan.

One thing I look forward to at SS is the crowd reactions during Becky/Ronda.

For a company that puts smiles on faces, that was quite the gloomy Raw. Nearly all the heels won, Nia turned, and the main event was watching Kurt Angle get squashed. 

If you haven't read the spoilers for Smackdown yet, you may want to do so not just to not get spoiled but for your own mental wellbeing.

 

Spoiler

The Stephanie-zation of Shane McMahon continues, he's named as part of Smackdown's SS team and ends up being a focal point of the main event segment.....

 

Hasn't he been a focal point every year at Survivor Series since returning?

I know people love to hate them some Shane McMahon, but there are WAY worse things with this company than putting Shane O'Mac on camera a little more a couple of times a year.

I mean, at least you can connect the dots & draw a logical conclusion as to WHY they do it. His return was a big deal and met with a mostly positive response, even if the Taker match was shaky.

And even the Owens grudge wasn't terrible. Hell, the cell match itself was pretty fucking fun. It carried a decent sense of danger and unease around it, which I really dug & appreciated in the actual moment.

So yeah. Hate the guy if you want, but they could (and continuously *do*) go down shittier paths than this one.

If anything, they should lean further into it. Let Shane completely ape his sister's real life, creepy-smiling corporate character. Let Shane come out on stage and take a bow with his Smackdown children.

Let Shane welcome us to the GRATITUDE ERA, where they're winking & nodding & performing & sports entertaining & congratulating & creating movements & pushing for positive change all across the universe and shit.

I think Shane winning the Best in the World Tournament was tremendously stupid and felt like something only Vince Russo would think is good. 

That being said, I agree that Shane isn't the worst guy to have in 3-4 matches a year - especially with Shane in a heel role (which I've heard is the endgame - I haven't watched the weekly programming for so long I don't know). His batting average the past couple years, to me, has been higher than Taker's and HHH's. Very faint praise, but...

I thought the Hell in a Cell with Owens was very good and helped me forget the awfulness of the Taker one (maybe my least favorite match of the decade). I thought the match with AJ and the tag with Bryan were slightly above-average (largely due to who else was in there). I thought the Survivor Series 2016 match was like one of those "kitchen sink" hot fudge sundaes  - no substance, no vitamins, a total mess and you feel gross having enjoyed it...but you enjoyed it. And you won't want another one for a full year at least. At least that's what I thought of it and, again, Shane was just one participant out of 10 so its not like he's the sole reason that match worked for me. 

 

 

 

Shane already getting big heel heat.  Reports are it was legit and not piped in on a taped show. They have to be thrilled it's working so far

Y'all fucking around about Shane, meanwhile Becky ethered Ronda again, Rey Junior is still on some GOAT ish inventing wrestling at the age of 143, and MANDY WAS MEAN TO SONYA AND SONYA HAD TO FIGHT HER AND THEY JUST LOOKED AT EACH OTHER LIKE ARGH WHY ARE THEY FIGHTING PLEASE PLEASE NO DON'T DO THIS YOU ALREADY LEAD SONYA AROUND AND MESS WITH HER POOR GAY HEART DON'T LOOK AT HER LIKE THAT JUST BECAUSE SHE HAD TO SAVE YOU FROM BEING BEATEN TO DEATH BY NAOMI GIRL DON'T DO THIS TO HER DON'T DO THIS TO ME.

They're going to have to very carefully manage the inevitable Ronda-Becky face-to-face confrontation because Becky will destroy her. 

They've already (inadvertently) established Becky can talk circles around her, so even if they try to script Ronda as the better when they meet face to face it will be obvious they put the reins on Becky. That's going to get the crowd to cheer for her even more.

I just read the results from SDL tonight.

Hey, does anybody remember when Andrade Cien Almas and Zelina Vega were white-hot as an act, coming out of NXT?  Remember all those awesome matches he was having?

Seems like a long damn time ago.

I'm not saying he shouldn't have lost to Rey, because Rey is Rey...but THAT is the best use they can come up with for Almas?  I read Vega wasn't even there tonight?  She's half the appeal of their act.

Between stuff like this and the way they have booked Asuka since Wrestlemania (and several other examples) I feel like there is no point getting behind any so-called "can't miss" talent in NXT, because you know they're going to get shat upon once they get called up. Meanwhile, Baron Corbin is featured on Raw every damn week.

WTF.

Shane got big heel heat in the opening but went out of his way seemingly to shut that down and turn it back around to cheers, including making sure to emphasize he does NOT believe he is really the best in the world and it's for all of Smackdown. Felt like the complete opposite of wanting him to turn heel or get booed.

I'm with the pro-Shane crowd, always enjoy his 2-3 matches a year... loved the Styles match, HIAC with Owens, and the Survivor Series 2016 was my favorite. Also he was definitely not the focal point of tonight's main event segment, being out there for 10 seconds at the very end.

Well I guess I'm on an island here not wanting to see a guy go out there and potato guys while turning various shades of red, looking like his heart is going to explode at any moment. 

Shane McMahon is the second worst written character in Pro Wrestling (possibly the first now that Roman has much bigger things to worry about) but I don't have any issue with how the past couple of weeks have played out. Survivor Series is now the Raw vs. SmackDown super-show and since they only had two weeks to promote it, they needed something hot to kick it off. Shane McMahon winning Crown Jewel got more people talking than The Miz or Bobby Lashley winning it and made the Raw vs. SmackDown rivalry much more personal.

Besides, Shane wasn't the focal point of the main event segment - it was Daniel Bryan and The Miz, the biggest angle on the show that's basically existed since day one. That's the problem with spoilers sometimes, you get somebody's projection instead of how it was truly presented on TV.

And as JR...err...Jimmy Redman pointed out, there was a lot to like about this week's episode. The Champ/Nikki Cross, Mysterio/Almas, Usos/New Day and the segments were all put together really well.

Everybody should check out the stellar promo from the champ. She's taken her game to the next level and there's very few who can sell their fights like the champ. Ronda Rousey/Becky Lynch - pump it into my veins.

Yes the show was excellent. Give me Nikki/Becky every week please. I wonder though, with both sets of champs in their own match how are they going to fill the tag team elimination match without getting into Conquistadors-at-the-first-SS levels of jobberdom?

5 hours ago, The Thread Killer said:

I just read the results from SDL tonight.

Hey, does anybody remember when Andrade Cien Almas and Zelina Vega were white-hot as an act, coming out of NXT?  Remember all those awesome matches he was having?

Seems like a long damn time ago.

I'm not saying he shouldn't have lost to Rey, because Rey is Rey...but THAT is the best use they can come up with for Almas?  I read Vega wasn't even there tonight?  She's half the appeal of their act.

Between stuff like this and the way they have booked Asuka since Wrestlemania (and several other examples) I feel like there is no point getting behind any so-called "can't miss" talent in NXT, because you know they're going to get shat upon once they get called up. Meanwhile, Baron Corbin is featured on Raw every damn week.

WTF.

Word is that Vega is nursing an injury after landing badly in the Evolution Battle Royal, so I wouldn't read too much into her absence

Becky/Rousey should main event SS, this is the most hyped I've been for a WWE match in a good minute. 

I agree it should. But it probably will be the RAW vs Smackdown match featuring Daniel Bryan and co. that will headline the show.

According to fightful.com going forward Raw will be a "hard" 3 hours. Meaning no more overrun for the show

They should go one step further and get rid of the whole third hour.  That mess is so long it's practically unwatchable, as it is right now.

8 hours ago, Strummer said:

According to fightful.com going forward Raw will be a "hard" 3 hours. Meaning no more overrun for the show

It’s already a pretty hard three hours.