It's endlessly amusing to me that the company that can't let the Monday Night Wars end has to rely on the only star WCW created as the "returning legend coming back" go-to now. 

I was kinda, sorta hoping the Goldberg rumors were a red herring and it would really be HBK vs. Dolph. Say what you want about them, but I'd tune in to see how that turned out. 

Y'all complained about Ziggler taking shots at 'Berg, and now that it has a payoff....

I hope it's a squash.

One theory is a Rikishi/HHH vs. Austin type angle with Bryan as Rikishi and Joe as HHH, with Joe's concern being a red herring. 

1 hour ago, KawadaSmile said:

Y'all complained about Ziggler taking shots at 'Berg, and now that it has a payoff....

I hope it's a squash.

I'll be surprised if it's not. Otherwise, I hope it's the usual well done, compact Goldberg sprint, which would atleast make a Dolph Ziggler match watchable. 

1 hour ago, KawadaSmile said:

Y'all complained about Ziggler taking shots at 'Berg, and now that it has a payoff....

I hope it's a squash.

That was me. I honestly didn't expect it to lead to Berg coming back for this. I'll gladly eat this one and say I got worked. 

They should just put the belt on Goldberg again and run three or four title defences between now and Mania. 

6 hours ago, Microstatistics said:

One theory is a Rikishi/HHH vs. Austin type angle with Bryan as Rikishi and Joe as HHH, with Joe's concern being a red herring. 

"It's those damn ROH Originals."

8 hours ago, jiraffejustin said:

That was me. I honestly didn't expect it to lead to Berg coming back for this. I'll gladly eat this one and say I got worked. 

Gotta be honest with you bubba, I wasn't expecting it either. And now that Goldberg is actually a very good promo, things got better.

"Guess what, son?" is a great line.

So for the second week in a row, Ziggler is promised in the last segment so I make the quite reasonable decision to bail. And for the second week in a row, they end up shooting an angle I enjoy instead. Damn bait-and-switch WWE!

I haven't read the WON yet and don't know if its been touched upon, but why is Ziggler the name out of all on the roster who got a PPV match with Goldberg?  Hasn't he done nothing all year?

10 hours ago, FMKK said:

They should just put the belt on Goldberg again and run three or four title defences between now and Mania. 

No doubt.

54 minutes ago, WingedEagle said:

I haven't read the WON yet and don't know if its been touched upon, but why is Ziggler the name out of all on the roster who got a PPV match with Goldberg?  Hasn't he done nothing all year?

I guess he can bump well for his moves and eat a job without it mattering too much

Actually, the true question is : why the fuck anyone should give a shit about a Goldy squash in 2019. Seriously. His comeback program with Brock Lesnar was something at least, it was a top match against the top star, it was fine for two nostalgia pops and finally see Goldy do what he does in WWE (whatever that was worth, I was tired of Goldberg before the end of 1998). Ok, it's been done. People have seen Goldy come back and beat Brock. So, now it's 2019. And you get a Goldy squash against a JJTS like it's Thunder 1998. Really ? Has the bar in WWE sunk that low that people are actually interested in seeing this ? I'm amazed.

Ryan Satin reporting Vince has ordered Smackdown to be completely re-written 2 hours before showtime

That whole segment with Roman was so weird on multiple levels.

Roman dove into the car well before any impact, and the attacking car hit the back of Roman's car. From the way it was shot it was clear he wouldn't have received any significant injury unless something crazy happened like one of the windows falling out on to him. 

When they showed Hunter and the medics assisting Roman, there wasn't any damage on the car, which is a pretty major miss for a company that usually excels at things like this. 

 

On the topic of SummerSlam, it seems there is total disarray and disorganization backstage. Vince booking everything on a complete whim with no foresight.

From what I understand, SummerSlam was a near sell out months ago due to "the brand" while the B-level Network struggles to sell tickets. (I looked it up and it was reported in the Observer that it sold out all the way back in March)

With the show already sold out, what was the point of throwing a rushed Goldberg squash onto this card? Why not save that appearance for a show 2 months from now and actually build him up to take on a real, top level guy? Or have him wrestle on a show that doesn't feature Brock? 

And its not just the Goldberg match. The Trish/Charlotte match could've been something - except Charlotte has basically been a non-factor since WrestleMania so that match is cold too. When did Trish/Charlotte get pencilled in? If it was planned back in May or June, why not build up to it starting then? What else was Charlotte even doing? I think the match would've been absolute shit, but one could argue that the top heel in the women's division, in August 2019, is Lacey Evans and that is who Trish should be coming back to face. 

I'm really hoping that they save the reveal of Roman's attacker till SummerSlam itself as, even with how hokey this storyline has been, I still think this feud has legs (if it is Bryan, in fact, who is revealed as the attacker). But rushing the reveal tonight and then throwing Bryan/Roman onto a card that is already so loaded would be such a waste.

 

Yeah SummerSlam is pretty much a sellout every year now based on the name and WWE positioning it as the #2 show after Mania. It's been puzzling seeing them appear to be booking in a way that seems designed to boost a show struggling to sell tickets when it's been sold out for weeks. 

Honestly I think it's all stemming from a combination of them reacting to poor sales of recent shows and the reality that they actually have real competition on their hands about to go full bore in a couple of months. 

As far as Charlotte, she was out for a while since her and Andrade were dealing with family issues (Ric's latest hospitalization and Andrade's mom and aunt dying pretty much back to back). It is weird for her to just waltz back in and get a match with the top legend on the women's side seemingly out of nowhere. I suppose "I'm the queen and you're time is over" isn't the worst motivation for them to feud, but it could have been way stronger had they put more than a couple weeks into it.

2 hours ago, El-P said:

Actually, the true question is : why the fuck anyone should give a shit about a Goldy squash in 2019. Seriously. His comeback program with Brock Lesnar was something at least, it was a top match against the top star, it was fine for two nostalgia pops and finally see Goldy do what he does in WWE (whatever that was worth, I was tired of Goldberg before the end of 1998). Ok, it's been done. People have seen Goldy come back and beat Brock. So, now it's 2019. And you get a Goldy squash against a JJTS like it's Thunder 1998. Really ? Has the bar in WWE sunk that low that people are actually interested in seeing this ? I'm amazed.

Goldberg looks like a bad ass, he is now a legitimately great promo and he has short and impactful matches in the era of the self-conscious epic. Plus, people always love an old man ass kicker. Yeah I know the limitations but I'm pretty much a mark for the guy at this point.

55 minutes ago, sek69 said:

Yeah SummerSlam is pretty much a sellout every year now based on the name and WWE positioning it as the #2 show after Mania. It's been puzzling seeing them appear to be booking in a way that seems designed to boost a show struggling to sell tickets when it's been sold out for weeks. 

Honestly I think it's all stemming from a combination of them reacting to poor sales of recent shows and the reality that they actually have real competition on their hands about to go full bore in a couple of months. 

As far as Charlotte, she was out for a while since her and Andrade were dealing with family issues (Ric's latest hospitalization and Andrade's mom and aunt dying pretty much back to back). It is weird for her to just waltz back in and get a match with the top legend on the women's side seemingly out of nowhere. I suppose "I'm the queen and you're time is over" isn't the worst motivation for them to feud, but it could have been way stronger had they put more than a couple weeks into it.

I feel like there must have been some sort of scheduling conflict along the way with the Charlotte and Trish thing because having her back on the Raw Reunion to do that angle would've come off as way more natural than the way it played it with her just randomly being on Smackdown in Memphis because reasons.

Real talk, Ziggler's hair might be the worst part about his act, think about the ground that covers.

Ali getting pops will never not warm my heart.

Trish still seems to be hesitant with her promos but tonight was her best since her return.  That's counting last year's run

It'd be great if Charlotte could do something else other than speaking...really.....slowly.....when.....doing.....a......heel......promo. She sounds like that kid in grade school who couldn't read well but the teacher kept calling on them to read out loud.

Real missed opportunity on Dolph's part to not give Gillberg a payday.