I don't know how I feel about tonight's PPV. I don't know whether they'll fix all their mistakes as they approach WM or completely blow it, but I'm still kinda in "Well at least it's not Elimination Chamber" mode.

Rusev vs. Cena for the U.s. Title.

Nikki Bella vs. Paige for the Divas Title

Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan for Wrestlemania title shot

BNB vs. Ambrose for the Intercontinental Title

Usos vs. Brass Ring Club (is that an official name?) for the Tag titles

Goldust vs. Stardust

Ziggler, Rowan, and Ryback vs. Rollins, Big Show, and Kane... cause why the fuck not?

edit: OH YEAH, I forgot Triple H "confronts" Sting... is this a contract signing? What is this?

>Rusev vs. Cena for the U.s. Title.

I'm excited for this match, but this is the laziest setup for a feud. They got into a shoving match after the Rumble for some reason. Cena called Lana a slut for some reason. Then Cena said "Oh yeah, I want the U.S. Title... for some reason." Still should be a good match. Rusev wins in a way that makes Cena look okay. Rematch at WM.

>
>Nikki Bella vs. Paige for the Divas Title

Nikki wins. No one cares.

>
>Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan for Wrestlemania title shot

Shenanigans ending. Both get thrown in the WM main event. I think they should just have Bryan win clean, keep Reigns on ice, and have this contribute to his build next year or whenever. It would be a much more compelling story.

>
>BNB vs. Ambrose for the Intercontinental Title

Ambrose, mostly because they have nothing for BNB. Not that they've written good stuff for Ambrose recently (scratch what I said about Cena-Rusev, this was an even lazier set-up), but he's a much more compelling character and he needs to win a feud here. They probably just do a rematch at Raw and move on to something better at WM, but it should be a good match. Possibly a show-stealer even. BNB's brutal style is a good match for Ambrose.

>
>Usos vs. Brass Ring Club (is that an official name?) for the
>Tag titles

Brass Ring Club, cause why not? This division is a mess.

>
>Goldust vs. Stardust

Goldust, rematch at WM where Stardust goes over. Wonder how Dusty gets involved.

>
>Ziggler, Rowan, and Ryback vs. Rollins, Big Show, and Kane...
>cause why the fuck not?
>

Good guys... but is anyone excited about this match? Depending on if you like Ryback, It's 3-4 guys you don't care about dragging down 2-3 guys you love. My guess is they know no one cares so they spice it up with an Orton return here to set up Rollins-Orton for WM.

I wonder if Taker returns tonight.

doesn't feel like a Mania ramp up at all.

really the only thing im hoping for tonight is that the reigns/bryan match ends (relatively) clean.

<--- Big Baller World Order

reigns/bryan was clearly not planned. the dust brothers match seems like it was originally scheduled for mania and then they pushed it up cause they had nothing else. same goes for cena-rusev. ambrose just kinda threw himself into IC contention and i'm not convinced that was a "plan". the authority tag match is DEFINITELY slapped together. maybe the tag title match was planned, but really the only long-term planning is in the divas title match, and that feud has been all over the place. can't even blame the ladies, they're doing the best they can with a "you're pale and ugly" storyline.

but I've been to everything but a WWE PPV so I figured I'd just cop it for the experience.

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www.maxptah.com
"you gotta be real white to hate on a nxgga for eating." (c) okp infin8

>but I've been to everything but a WWE PPV so I figured I'd
>just cop it for the experience.

its still worth it. i mean the PPV was MITB, which is always entertaining, but no one wanted to see cena win and we still had a blast. as long as its not a complete disaster you'll have fun. my friends went to see that survivor series with orton vs. show for the title and they left pretty angry. im sure the rumble crowds the last 2 years felt the same.

>>but I've been to everything but a WWE PPV so I figured I'd
>>just cop it for the experience.
>
>its still worth it. i mean the PPV was MITB, which is always
>entertaining, but no one wanted to see cena win and we still
>had a blast. as long as its not a complete disaster you'll
>have fun. my friends went to see that survivor series with
>orton vs. show for the title and they left pretty angry. im
>sure the rumble crowds the last 2 years felt the same.

What he said...you'll be fine. Most of the divas look better in person. In some cases, outrageously better. There'll be some good wrestling, which is always fun in person. And you're gonna get Sting doing something that shouldn't be too bad.

If they really wanted to cheat, they'd have HHH come out and ramble. Then sting comes out and starts to ramble. Then, before that can go too badly, bray Wyatt voodoo appearance/lights off/interruption. Then...before anything of note can happen, light off again...pause for effect...gongs. Then obligatory this is awesome chants. Then, it kinda doesn't matter after that. If you end up being in person for something like that, word.

I didn't know HBK/Taker was gonna basically be the best shit of that era going into mania 25, but I stumbled my goofy ass into it...in person..with cool for a regular dude seats. And I'll never forget it. It was so super loud and amped. It was the best. The near falls fucked with all of us something serious.

Hell, I went to a Tlc and had good times there too. And I don't even remember the card. That was my 'fall in love with both Bellas forever' day right there. Enjoy the show. Assume Naomi is ridiculous in person.

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www.maxptah.com
"you gotta be real white to hate on a nxgga for eating." (c) okp infin8

....yeah....








me and the guys near me were cheering for Rusev based on that alone...

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www.maxptah.com
"you gotta be real white to hate on a nxgga for eating." (c) okp infin8

>doesn't feel like a Mania ramp up at all.
>
>really the only thing im hoping for tonight is that the
>reigns/bryan match ends (relatively) clean.

The main event is notable without the champ, the title, Cena or even Rollins involved. That's something there. But yeah...WWE is wingin it. I think they do at least 2 returns tonight to try to make this card. Cena losing to Rusev Crush would be sweet too.

I think we get a VERY Dusty finish to Reigns/Bryan. It would blow the roof off of my doors if not. They are straight up terrified of more 'DB didn't win...WWE sux' outrage no matter what they say. But moonwalking into Bryan vs Brock doesn't seem like their steez. Reigns out of the mania main event leaves the rumble winner nekkid for mania...they won't have that without an injury.

It certainly looks like we're staring in the face of a mania triple threat.

And Rollins gets Orton and it ends up better than it should be cuz Rollins is the king shit and Orton has wrestling boots that he'll wear from time to time. He'll lace them up for the future of WWE.

And Sheamus gets a limpdick return tomorrow and a bs mania feud with BNB or somebody. Hillbilly Jesus gets Taker and no one can win there. Sting gets HHH and we all have to hope Sting is in 'damn...really? You're 50?' shape. And I just don't see that happening for some reason.

A Zayn vs Owens rematch could damn near be the 2nd best match on Mania this year. But they can't risk their dev champ blowing up their whole roster at a mania...and I don't think they have that type of sack..5 weeks is more than enough to sell it tho. Zayn's offense is easy to establish/believe. That, some facial selling, and decent match story is all you need in any ring anywhere. And Zayn is the shit at all of that stuff. He had it down even in a mask. Doing it without the mask is almost cheating for him. And Owens is a master character wrestler doing jackass power-bombs in 2015...there's nothing to sell. They kinda NEED that match on mania. They could do the Shawn/Taker big move, sell, big sequence, sell match and have everyone in love with them. They'll do it on nxt at full sail anyway so it's fine.

i mean they probably won't do it anyway, but it'll just come off as a minor league version of the same thing if bryan's in the main event. that's a shame though, i'd like to see what they do on the big stage. i have no idea why they don't do more nxt "preview matches on raw/smackdown. it's easily the best way to sell the network. just once a month or so would be great.

Haven't watched wrestling in a good while...trying to catch up a bit.

If it's worth it. Is it?

____
Some will tell you that they love you but they've got an ulterior motive - Oh what a shame
They will tell you that they need you but they've got an ulterior motive - Personal gain

(c) Luciano


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg0-qndkemo

>Haven't watched wrestling in a good while...trying to catch
>up a bit.
>
>If it's worth it. Is it?
>

The network is free for this month. Get it, watch a bunch of NXT, then go from there.

____
Some will tell you that they love you but they've got an ulterior motive - Oh what a shame
They will tell you that they need you but they've got an ulterior motive - Personal gain

(c) Luciano


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg0-qndkemo

this will be not unlike your garden variety raw episode. (why jobbers could serve a purpose in 2015)

thank god the network's free again for this month.

imagine if we were still getting gaffled for $50 a pop.

>this will be not unlike your garden variety raw episode. (why
>jobbers could serve a purpose in 2015)
>
>thank god the network's free again for this month.
>
>imagine if we were still getting gaffled for $50 a pop.

I wouldn't be watching these ppvs if they were $50 apiece. As it stands, it's a good use of $10 a month for NXT and the little documentary shows alone. Getting the ppvs as a part of it is sweet for me. And I can lose a gang of time watching old stuff.

These unwatchable, long and badly put-together raws are what's killing them. They have a gang of jobbers. I only watch pieces of Smackdown if something happens that I think I 'need' to see. And I'm still sick of rollup losses, tawkin, absentee champ, limpdick secondary champs, and other booking shenanigans.

kinda the happy/sad dichotomy for me: i can never get enough of the content, but at the same time it's a depressing benchmark of how far the product has fallen.

it's pretty damning that for two years in a row now the bookers have had to call an audible on the heels of the royal rumble, going into WM. it might've helped if they'd made reigns have to work for the W...overcome adversity...yadda yadda.

They held him off for a bit to be sure that is where they wanted to use him but it's the right spot.

other than that, until the Cena/Rusev, it was dead.

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"you gotta be real white to hate on a nxgga for eating." (c) okp infin8

<--- Big Baller World Order

Also, Cody doesn't get enough credit for changing his character/style completely. It's truly impressive.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B-fnOkQCYAAz4KZ.jpg

<--- Big Baller World Order

she's a pretty good follow in twtr too.

you can hear every single call.

<--- Big Baller World Order

He did not realize how many syllables that was.

_________________________________________________________________________________

I'm a simple man. I like pretty, dark haired women and breakfast foods.
IG/Twitter: @sammiie_b

i mean shit we just saw 2 weeks ago sasha basically breaking charlotte then rolling her up.

how do you do a cheat into a pass out for a finish. thats dumb as shit. this shouldve been a clean win and cena wouldn't have even had to tap.

<--- Big Baller World Order

It's not just the submission move that makes him pass out, it's cheating followed by the hold.

This match is far better than I expected, but god damn Reigns kicking out and breaking out of moves that nobody kicks out of including Cena.

Saw that spear coming a mile away

i still have my doubts about how good a reigns/brock match can be. but reigns was good tonight.

full speed ahead w/ the reigns train i guess.

<--- Big Baller World Order

>i still have my doubts about how good a reigns/brock match
>can be. but reigns was good tonight.
>
>full speed ahead w/ the reigns train i guess.

Bryan helped out bigtime tonight and Reigns showed he was enough of an athlete and worker to not blow it. Good for him.

DB needs to do more political work backstage tho. No way I lay down for a gotcha bitch spear. It looked worse after Cena basically nosold Russev's whole video game movelist. Russev Crush was even coming with his NXT shit.

Oh and after having a kickout of my killer knee!? Shiiid. Not I.

Reigns beating Brock is gonna be lame unless the booking makes folks want to see Brock lose. And I don't know if they are smart enough to know that AND book that way.

they got five weeks to get this dude right.

though i see a double-turn coming.

legit hit in the face.

<--- Big Baller World Order

why would he ever go to the UFC

...but how they never saw the potential in Daniel Bryan vs Brock Lesnar is pretty baffling.

They even ran a poll where Bryan beat Reigns in a landslide and they still won't listen to the fans. Tf is wrong with them?

I think it's pretty clear he's got the goods. His response to Paul was exactly the sort of demeanor and attitude he's needed to have consistently for the last 9 months. His work needs time to improve as his mic work continues to rise, but I think he's still an obviously strong choice to move into Cena's slot.

I just don't think it's wise to push him this hard when he's not ready, especially when a big money match like Brock/Bryan is so painfully obvious.

I will say Reigns has slowly shown signs he might be the type to thrive off naysayers so I've got a positive outlook on the Mania match.

The highlight was Bray, and he didn't even wrestle.

>
>Rusev vs. Cena for the U.s. Title.

I've been kinda sick of every face passing out to Rusev rather than tapping out, but it makes sense for Cena... if you don't kick him in the nuts first.

>
>Nikki Bella vs. Paige for the Divas Title

It was fine. Another weird ending though.

>
>Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan for Wrestlemania title shot

Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. UGGGGHHHHH.

>
>BNB vs. Ambrose for the Intercontinental Title

Wtf?

>
>Usos vs. Brass Ring Club (is that an official name?) for the
>Tag titles

Somehow the best match.

>
>Goldust vs. Stardust

They seriously don't get how destructive weird finishes are.

>
>Ziggler, Rowan, and Ryback vs. Rollins, Big Show, and Kane...
>cause why the fuck not?

Booooo this match. Hooray for the Orton return.

>
>edit: OH YEAH, I forgot Triple H "confronts" Sting... is this
>a contract signing? What is this?

Fine.

Hell, I'm not even looking forward to it. I know HHH will sell and sting may be in-shape, but fuck it and give us sting vs someone else.

... hell my son wants a 3 way with H, Sting, and Taker. He thought he was getting it until Bray popped up.

MITB: Lost
Battleground: Lost by forfeit
Summerslam: Lost
No match at NOC
HIAC: Lost by ghost attack
Survivor Series: Lost by DQ
TLC: Lost by TV attack
Rumble: Lost
Fast Lane: Lost by DQ

grabbed that off another forum. i guarantee the bookers don't even notice shit like this when they wonder why the audiences cool on certain characters.

<--- Big Baller World Order

He was getting the biggest pop in the company a few months ago while people cooled on Reigns. There was only one solution for that, especially as Reigns was injured. I mean I understood him losing the Rollins and Wyatt feuds (although not so handily) given the context, but there's no reason for this one. They've had a few chances to take the IC title seriously and they've blown every single one. What exactly are they doing with BNB that's so important? Why shouldn't Ambrose AT LEAST rule the midcard.

Props to Dean though, he's done the best he can with poorly written feuds. Unfortunately, that hasn't changed his situation in the least. His burial is seriously about to top Cesaro's burial last year.

Edit: it's worth noting that MITB and the rumble weren't singles matches, but your point still stands of course.

>He was getting the biggest pop in the company a few months
>ago while people cooled on Reigns. There was only one solution
>for that, especially as Reigns was injured. I mean I
>understood him losing the Rollins and Wyatt feuds (although
>not so handily) given the context, but there's no reason for
>this one. They've had a few chances to take the IC title
>seriously and they've blown every single one. What exactly are
>they doing with BNB that's so important? Why shouldn't Ambrose
>AT LEAST rule the midcard.
>
>Props to Dean though, he's done the best he can with poorly
>written feuds. Unfortunately, that hasn't changed his
>situation in the least. His burial is seriously about to top
>Cesaro's burial last year.
>
>Edit: it's worth noting that MITB and the rumble weren't
>singles matches, but your point still stands of course.

We live in a wild world when a wrestling company is overtly cooling folks off one minute then claiming to be looking for stars in the next. It's like they don't understand that some guys can get cooled off to the point of no return. A hot midcard mixed with 'over' mains is what I'd think a wrestling company would want. Sure, a hot midcard puts pressure on your mains to be awesome, but (all caps, font 50) your mains should be awesome anyway! Otherwise, they shouldn't be the mains.

>We live in a wild world when a wrestling company is overtly
>cooling folks off one minute then claiming to be looking for
>stars in the next. It's like they don't understand that some
>guys can get cooled off to the point of no return. A hot
>midcard mixed with 'over' mains is what I'd think a wrestling
>company would want. Sure, a hot midcard puts pressure on your
>mains to be awesome, but (all caps, font 50) your mains should
>be awesome anyway! Otherwise, they shouldn't be the mains.

yeah, even if you're keeping a guy on the midcard there's a way to do that. They wonder why a guy isn't getting over on like his fifth IC reign when they didn't give him shit to do during the first four reigns and they're not doing shit with him now either.

because the "build" for title matches is the champ losing a string of non-title, tag and handicap matches. Rather than going over lower card guys and enhancement talent to build up the bonafides as champ.

And they did the same thing for the US title until Rusev got it. Hell, Ambrose had that thing for 9 months and barely defended it.

---------------------------------
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"This (and every, actually) conversation needs more Chesterton and less Mike Francesa." - Walleye

>because the "build" for title matches is the champ losing a
>string of non-title, tag and handicap matches. Rather than
>going over lower card guys and enhancement talent to build up
>the bonafides as champ.
>
>And they did the same thing for the US title until Rusev got
>it. Hell, Ambrose had that thing for 9 months and barely
>defended it.

i've said it a bunch of times before, but there's no reason for this devaluation when you've combined the 2 major titles, are keeping that champion off tv, and have like 7 hours of programming to fill a week. People lose those titles and don't seem to care about chasing them again. Wtf is motivating these wrestlers?

I've given up on the IC strap as anything more than useless prop. It hasn't meant shit since Jericho went on his quest to become the greatest IC champ ever. That's the last time I can remember someone strongly emphasizing what it really meant to be IC champ.

I hope they don't fuck it up between now and 'Mania, because I'm loving it. I don't know if the crowd just wasn't into it tonight, or if they just weren't being picked up on camera loud enough, but a better crowd or a bigger crowd chanting "Cody" at Stardust is gonna be great. He's gonna flip out. I can't wait. And if Dusty's there every week? Even better. I hope they get a decent amount of time at 'Mania.

That was probably my favorite part of the night. I was psyched to see Cesaro and Kidd get the tag belts. I think Cena and Rusev can have a great match, but I'm disappointed it seems to be going the standard Cena storyline route. I can't say I'm particularly excited for apparently face Orton, but Orton-Rollins should be great, as well.

Just a lot of whatever tonight, which I guess most people were expecting anyway.