Here we go:

Pre-show: Neville (c) vs. Austin Aries for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship
Pre-show: 2017 André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
Bray Wyatt (c) vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Championship
Goldberg (c) vs. Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman) for the WWE Universal Championship
The Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns
Seth Rollins vs. Triple H Non-sanctioned match
Shane McMahon vs. AJ Styles
Bayley (c) vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax Fatal 4-Way elimination match for the WWE Raw Women's Championship
Chris Jericho (c) vs. Kevin Owens for the WWE United States Championship
John Cena and Nikki Bella vs. The Miz and Maryse Mixed tag team match
Dean Ambrose (c) vs. Baron Corbin for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson (c) vs. Enzo Amore and Big Cass vs. Cesaro and Sheamus Triple threat ladder match for the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship
Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Becky Lynch vs. Natalya vs. Mickie James vs. Carmella (with James Ellsworth) vs. Naomi Six-pack challenge for the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship

Bobby Roode (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura Singles match for the NXT Championship
Asuka (c) vs Ember Moon for the NXT Women's Championship
The Authors of Pain (Akam and Rezar) (c) (with Paul Ellering) vs. #DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) vs. The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder) 3 Way Dance Tag Team Match for the NXT Tag Team Championship
Aleister Black vs. Andrade "Cien" Almas
Tye Dillinger, Roderick Strong, No Way Jose, and Ruby Riot vs. SAnitY (Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe, Killian Dain and Nikki Cross) Eight-person mixed tag team match

____________________

<================== Learn the name now before everyone gets dunked on

Looking forward to that match the most. If it's as good or better than the 2 out of 3 falls match last fall then it's an early contender for MOTY.

When they put the card together, it probably passed their smell test. There's good stories, good matches, spectacle matches, more than one 'steal the show' candidate, and some opportunities to do 'gotcha, bitches' finishes and even a turn or two (*looks at Sasha*).

Their most glaring failure is not having something better for AJ than sticking him with Shane. Shane should've been with Harper, Corbin, Ziggla or some other dude who isn't the best wrestler in the world right now. Too bad about Finn being hurt..maybe that was the AJ match? Certainly they didn't really have him vs HBK as THE plan, right?

Besides that, I'm slightly salty about Sami Zayn being so stuck in a 'mechanic' role to the degree that he has nothing to do at Mania. Last year, he wrecked Mania weekend with Nak and then in the ladder match. So they pretty much have to like him overall but dang. Him and Ziggla need to do something together to see if either can get to a better place by stealing some shows together. Even a Zayn/Harper program could be fun.

Okay..one more: My most 'booking the territory' thought is that Samoa Joe should be wrestling Strowman on this show. Joe cheating a little and beating Strowman would've been a solid look for both guys.

I'm NOT expecting a lot of surprises on this show. Maybe Dwayne shows up and eats clock even though it isn't necessary at all (IE: it wasn't last year either). Maybe the Broken Bros show up if the logistics work out (I doubt it). But I'm not waiting for anything like that.

Side: I still can't believe HHH/Reigns lasted as long as it did after that long ass show. last year Horrible decision. They overestimated the crowd's stamina big-time on that one. Or maybe they wanted us tired cuz they thought that would save the audio when Reigns was holding up the belt at the end. It didn't. Cats booed like crazy. Me and my friends were laughing about how heavy the boos were. I remember damn near wanting to leave in the middle of that match tho. I stayed to see Steph get SM punched/speared since that was a lock to happen.

I have a curse: I've been to Mania 25 and 32. Both of those had HHH at the end having a match way longer than it should've been.

I'm thinking about going to next year's Mania since I feel weird about not being in Orlando right now. I clearly like rasslin enough that I should go to the big shows.

>I have a curse: I've been to Mania 25 and 32. Both of those
>had HHH at the end having a match way longer than it should've
>been.
>
>I'm thinking about going to next year's Mania since I feel
>weird about not being in Orlando right now. I clearly like
>rasslin enough that I should go to the big shows.

The fuck you will!!!

What kind of selfish asshole even considers attending know what it portends?

The pattern is clear: you attend Mania we're all stuck with Triple Haitch chewing scenery. If you attend next year you're doing fans an incredible disservice.

In the flip.... By watching at home for just 9.99 you can be a minor superhero, knowing you're saving us all from a lackluster HHH main event.

Find the hero within, Jim.
Find the hero within.

>>I have a curse: I've been to Mania 25 and 32. Both of those
>>had HHH at the end having a match way longer than it
>should've
>>been.
>>
>>I'm thinking about going to next year's Mania since I feel
>>weird about not being in Orlando right now. I clearly like
>>rasslin enough that I should go to the big shows.
>
>The fuck you will!!!
>
>What kind of selfish asshole even considers attending know
>what it portends?
>
>The pattern is clear: you attend Mania we're all stuck with
>Triple Haitch chewing scenery. If you attend next year you're
>doing fans an incredible disservice.
>
>In the flip.... By watching at home for just 9.99 you can be a
>minor superhero, knowing you're saving us all from a
>lackluster HHH main event.
>
>Find the hero within, Jim.
>Find the hero within.

Bwahahaha! Okay okay! I'll consider the people!

On the other hand, I was nowhere to be found when punked the hell out of Booker T that time. I was also not on-site during that Sting bullshit. See? Maybe it's NOT me. Maybe HHH is just occasionally horrible for the product when it is decided that he's a big enough deal to go on last and/or win a big match.

>On the other hand, I was nowhere to be found when punked the
>hell out of Booker T that time. I was also not on-site during
>that Sting bullshit. See? Maybe it's NOT me. Maybe HHH is just
>occasionally horrible for the product when it is decided that
>he's a big enough deal to go on last and/or win a big match.0+

What sucks for me is I'm a huge Haitch fan fucker has eroded that fandom year after year since the last match he had with Tak3r.

NO PRESSURE GUYS!
____________________

<================== Learn the name now before everyone gets dunked on

>NO PRESSURE GUYS!
>____________________
>
><================== Learn the name now before everyone gets
>dunked on

It's gonna be grand tag team rasslin. It's beautiful to see the artform renewed at this level. Rock n Roll Express lives and even Jim Cornette can't complain about it.

I'm watching hof now. These things are great fun when generally good folks get in. The mark in me smiles huge during the best moments of those.

>NO PRESSURE GUYS!
>____________________
>
><================== Learn the name now before everyone gets
>dunked on

It was pretty supreme. Not shockingly, the intelligence of the match layout was a gift that kept on giving. All of those dudes are gonna be glorious agents when they are done rasslin.

Everyone involved should be incredibly proud.

Christopher Daniels (c) vs. Dalton Castle for the ROH World Championship
The Hardys (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) (c) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) Ladder match for the ROH World Tag Team Championship
Cody vs. Jay Lethal Texas Bullrope match
The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe) and Bully Ray vs. Bullet Club (Hangman Page, Tama Tonga and Tanga Roa) Six-man tag team match
Dragon Lee and Jay White vs. Volador Jr. and Will Ospreay Tag team match
Marty Scurll (c) vs. Adam Cole Singles match for the ROH World Television Championship
Frankie Kazarian vs. Punishment Martinez Singles match
The Kingdom (Matt Taven and Vinny Marseglia) vs. Beer City Bruiser and Silas Young Tag team match

I find that I enjoy the PPV's so much more when I don't watch any of the weekly shows.

The winners are less predictable to me because I know less, and thus I enjoy the matches more. And investing a few hours a month as opposed to a few hours every Monday and maybe a couple more on Tuesday? I'm fresh and ready for the PPVs when they happen, instead of worn out and exhausted of the product and watching out of habit.

Then I need Toddy to get a haircut and some tats.

Anything to spice up his presentation at this point. As it stands dude looks like the stock photo poster boy for corporate training image catalogs.

Fuck yes!!

That theme sounds like it plays in the head of Rorschach from Watchmen.

They have perfected their presentation of him so far. I was hyped for this match just off a random promor. They've never even met on tv before.

I'm pleased to see that they've presented him so well. They've got two good babyfaces now to work the top.

Jesus.

This is the best shit since Hardys/Dudleys/E&C. The psychology of this match is a fucking clinic.

Either get it down to DIY/Revival, which is a matchup that will always produce greatness, or have AOP tear apart DIY to end it. It does less damage to DIY to be in that spot than it does The Revival. I believe they had Revival eliminate DIY as a "going away" gift, but to me it would've been better if they go out as the nearly perfect team that just gets bested by DIY most of the time. It was weird that Revival were in a faceish spot at the end.

>Either get it down to DIY/Revival, which is a matchup that
>will always produce greatness, or have AOP tear apart DIY to
>end it. It does less damage to DIY to be in that spot than it
>does The Revival. I believe they had Revival eliminate DIY as
>a "going away" gift, but to me it would've been better if they
>go out as the nearly perfect team that just gets bested by DIY
>most of the time. It was weird that Revival were in a faceish
>spot at the end.

Revival is so good that the Takeover crowds love them at this point. WWE may as well steer into the skid. We accuse WWE of being bad about not doing it at the right time. Revival as the sneaky thinking-man's tweener tag team works for me. They are pretty much a lock to get the call-up. Then we can get back to the DiY vs AoP story UNLESS DiY gets called up too.

And the story and finish of this? I'm with Cold..I LOVED IT. AOP are ridiculously powerful. DIY and Revival needed to get over their issue to take out AoP 'big dude in a battle royal' style. They eventually figured that out, tried to do it, but didn't stick to it long enough to actually succeed. And it screwed them both in ugly fashion. I loved it. I clapped at them when they sacked up and started working together.

For an old wrestling nerd like me, wrestling is at it's best when they 'give us enough credit' to assume we know how wrestling generally works. These supreme tag matches speak to me in a loud and clear voice and I hear it. I hope all of those dudes get a great career and some good money out of it. They could get tag rasslin to another sweet spot in time. And I'm all for having some struggling singles guys team up and get in on it as long as they become a part of real tag teams too.

>Revival is so good that the Takeover crowds love them at this
>point. WWE may as well steer into the skid. We accuse WWE of
>being bad about not doing it at the right time. Revival as the
>sneaky thinking-man's tweener tag team works for me. They are
>pretty much a lock to get the call-up. Then we can get back to
>the DiY vs AoP story UNLESS DiY gets called up too.

I also thought the crowd died a little bit because they knew Revival didn't have a chance, but AOP destroying every team that's on their way out helps them get over.

>>For an old wrestling nerd like me, wrestling is at it's best
>when they 'give us enough credit' to assume we know how
>wrestling generally works. These supreme tag matches speak to
>me in a loud and clear voice and I hear it. I hope all of
>those dudes get a great career and some good money out of it.
>They could get tag rasslin to another sweet spot in time. And
>I'm all for having some struggling singles guys team up and
>get in on it as long as they become a part of real tag teams
>too.

co-sign all of this. so happy for all these guys. DIY and Revival are fucking artists.

I've literally never seen that one before.

>

She's good but she's pretty much her finisher to most folks. I love that WWE has so many women who can for real work now. And they manage to pull it off and still have a gang of women who are attractive. Ember is just 'another solid one' at this point.

This wrinkle makes her chase for the title more interesting and she still hasn't lost clean. They can add to her character with this feud and then have her beat Asuka when there's an actual story there.

>This wrinkle makes her chase for the title more interesting
>and she still hasn't lost clean. They can add to her character
>with this feud and then have her beat Asuka when there's an
>actual story there.

Yep. Agreed.

It's WWE taking time to 'show their work' instead of falling (again) into the rut of 'newest person from somewhere else can't lose against anyone'. Most of the time with NXT, it made sense, but they need to not turn it into a(nother) trope.

They accomplished a big piece tonight. Asuka was feeling herself and tonight's match did a good job of telling the 'don't get too comfortable' story. Her having to get shady to save herself from losing is the right call.

I love these NXT shows. Through the whole card, the ring-work is what I want and I can usually wrap my mind around the finishes right then and there even if it isn't what I called for when I inevitably 'book the territory' in my mind. Even better, I can go into lots of NXT matches without even thinking about the finish. I try to do the same thing with the main shows but I still catch myself.

Tomorrow is going to be FUN.

Is not special and does not need to be called up any time soon. What am I missing

>Is not special and does not need to be called up any time
>soon. What am I missing

He's not the typical dude from the indies who shows up with crazy moves.

He's rock solid in the ring (ie: a good hand) and in crazy good shape (especially for his age). It's boring at its worst but he's the type of guy you can always use. I'm happy for him basically stumbling into the whole glorious thing. He's not gonna mess it up since he has a gang of experience headlining even if it was in tna. He's good and he can headline these nxt shows and help other folks along.