Pro Wrestling discussion topic--WWE, AEW, ROH, Impact, New Japan, indies

heard good things about Progress/Evolve this weekend in NYC. Unfortunately couldn't make it myself,  but I'll be there for Summerslam next weekend. 

 
Progress was excellent - went up on a lark when friends had a spare ticket. Of guys I wasn't familiar with, really impressed by Mark Haskins and WALTER.

Watched the G1 Finals today. There was one return that made my heart three times its size, and it wasn't Lance Archer and Davey Boy Smith, Jr. Really touching finale with Yuji Nagata as well, and the G1 final match was excellent (and horrifying at times).

 
You're talking about Daryl, right? If not that, then the surprise return after the Taguchi Bucks match was fucking incredible. Considering no one had any idea and he blogged about how he was worried no one would remember him. But yeah I shared the sentiment of the crying women in the audience and just glad to see him take that back body bump in the ring and smiling.
 
 
It seems pretty vague, but considering they're asking for thoughts and prayers it seems like it's pretty damn bad. Here's hoping he pulls through though.

 
I Remember at one point I felt there was great potential in Bray Wyatt and that he should be the person that has a good heavyweight title run. Now after his awful Wrestlemania match and him pouring ketchup on Finn Balor can this character be saved or salvaged in anyway because I can not care one bit anymore.

 
Really annoyed at the ending of SD, but also entertained by something "different" happening. How does WWE pull off this perpetual disappointing excitement?

 
tonyxvx said:
Really annoyed at the ending of SD, but also entertained by something "different" happening. How does WWE pull off this perpetual disappointing excitement?
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I get most irritated by the changes in direction. I don't get why they did that. I see the rumor they lost faith because he was being out-talked, so hire an acting coach and let it sit until next year. It does make Sunday even more interesting. Either double down the heat or give the fans what we never thought would happen...

 
Man, it would've been so interesting if Corbin won and basically all the booking leading up to SummerSlam would be thrown out the window IMMEDIATELY, but so very McMahon if so. I'm just surprised and feel bad for Corbin though honestly considering he got the rug pulled out from under him for this. I Mean they could've kept it on him and just let him use the briefcase once they felt more confident with him, but still he's got a long while to go before he can harness the heat he'd get if he were to cash it on a top baby face like Styles or Nakamura.

 
Corbin is young and I think very raw. His Battleground match w/ Nakamura was a severe, severe let down, and I think it says a lot about him as a performer.

He has a good look and a great persona (rarely, if ever, showing himself to be a likeable "normal guy" - he does a great job of coming off the same on tv and in person, which is massively to his credit.

But there is *no need* to rush on him. WWE's shown that they want big things with him (Andre Battle Royal, MITB) and they get cold feet shortly thereafter. I think they need to do better at evaluating him *before* they start to foreshadow that they're ready to pull the trigger on him.

 
Changing his entire entrance was also really strange, there was no storyline association at all behind it. Even just adding "Burn it down" to Rollins theme had some sort of build up. It seems like they don't know what they're doing with Corbin.

Also, am I just being a baby for being annoyed that WWE specifically announced that "THE DEMON" Finn Balor will be at Summerslam? It definitely takes away from some of the allure for me.

 
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I Still think the worst thing they did with Finn Balor's "THE DEMON" was put him on the RAW before SummerSlam last year. Like it should be more of an event not a throwaway to beat up Seth Rollins really quick. So for me, eh, not that big of a deal.

And Corbin will always have a weird place in my heart for telling Apollo Crews to go back to Ring of Honor during a promo.

Also Summerslam is goddamn FOUR hours and that's not counting the kick off show. Just...who has time for that? God help us all.

 
I think giving fans the assurance that they'll see something rare/cool (the demon) is good promotion, even if it comes at the expense of it being a "surprise." There are better storytelling devices you could use to build to fans anticipating seeing the demon there, but sometimes you just gotta come right out and say it.

 
I Think the worst booking is really just having Tozawa-Neville at SummerSlam after Tozawa just won the belt in the same week. I Can't wrap my head around that decision or justify it in anyway. Like, they really couldn't wait a whole 6 days to give Tozawa the belt on a larger stage?

 
mykevermin said:
I think giving fans the assurance that they'll see something rare/cool (the demon) is good promotion, even if it comes at the expense of it being a "surprise." There are better storytelling devices you could use to build to fans anticipating seeing the demon there, but sometimes you just gotta come right out and say it.
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Not sure if you watched RAW, but they surprisingly actually did that already, and did it well. After Balor and Wyatt's match and weird fake blood stuff, backstage Balor just said "Wyatt says he has his demons, at Summerslam he's going to find out I have mine too."

Which is all you need! That got me excited. Then later on they just randomly confirmed "The Demon" Finn Balor would be facing Wyatt. So goofy.

 
I didn't get to see it since Monday is a training day and I was too busy this week to watch on DVR.

The former is great storytelling, the latter, well...

 
I dont know about you guys but i hope they Change the look of Balor's demon. I like most of it but i hate the Headpiece. It reminds me too much of these stupid hats:

1695054448025-2.jpg


 
LoveLost said:
I dont know about you guys but i hope they Change the look of Balor's demon. I like most of it but i hate the Headpiece. It reminds me too much of these stupid hats:

-snip-
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I miss the Takeover location-themed "demons". He should do a Brooklyn mobster-type demon.

 
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It's sad watching Southpaw Regional Wrestling season 2 is how I come to remember "Oh yeah, Dolph Ziggler is still on the active roster."

 
bardockkun said:
Arcade Fire best be doing his entrance and if he wins he best be cracking open a can of PBR.
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"Straight Arcade Fiyah" could be a tag name for Xavier Woods and Becky Lynch.

I haven't watched a Raw or Smackdown show in weeks. I downloaded the WWE app and it tells me shit I need to know and saves me a ton of free time. I've sadly lost interest in NXT also but that's from burnout, not from a lack of quality talent.

Bray needs to turn face. His promos make my eyes roll into the back of my head. Remember when they teased a Wyatt Family face turn against The Authority years ago and the fans went nuts? Ugh.

WHAT ARE THEY DOING WITH TYE? His 10 chants could have been the next YES movement. Did they silence him on purpose?

They keep teasing a Shield Reunion but unless they change their music and attire I feel it will fall flat. Roman refuses to change his theme and attire from the Shield days and it's ruined the whole getup for the stable now. It's like refusing to change your ringtone or wallpaper after your girlfriend dumped you years ago.

 
My prediction is that with Rollins and Ambrose teaming up, they will interfere in tomorrow's main event and help Roman. Thus completing the reunion and Roman going heel.

On another note Nxt takeover has been pretty damn good
 
A heel Shield faction kinda makes no sense being as Raw definetly feels like a more heel heavy show as it is. Plus Roman Reigns is basically a perfect heel as is as he's only one who doesn't get the smarky cheers and just gets some of the most definitive boo's of nearly anyone on the roster. As for Rollins and Ambrose, they're only now starting to get over again with the crowd giving a shit about their storyline that addresses Rollins trying to amend for all his past sins. I Don't see how them going heel is beneficial in anyway outside of turning heel for the sake of turning heel.

 
Takeover was such a solid show from start to finish. Women's match was easily my favorite of the night. Hopefully there's some surprisingly good matches tomorrow night, but I'm having a hard time believing something will top that match for me.

 
That was one hell of an ending though. Now I'm curious as to SANITY becoming a face faction or if we just get a bunch of tweeners or everyone being a heel, you figure out who to cheer for.

And after G1 and NXT, I'm basically ready for just a mindless popcorn main event. So long as I get 15 minutes or more of just everyone charging at one another and such, I think it'll be pure fun.

 
bardockkun said:
That was one hell of an ending though. Now I'm curious as to SANITY becoming a face faction or if we just get a bunch of tweeners or everyone being a heel, you figure out who to cheer for.

And after G1 and NXT, I'm basically ready for just a mindless popcorn main event. So long as I get 15 minutes or more of just everyone charging at one another and such, I think it'll be pure fun.
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hahaha - yeah, there's been just too much great wrestling the last month. Gimmie some gimmicky bullshit tonight. :D

I have strong thoughts on Tye and how the "10" chant actually hurts wrestling as a whole (not intentionally, mind) - but I gotta run off to a show, so I'll discuss that later!

 
Cesaro popping the beach ball is another reminder that Cesaro is legit one of the best things ever. The main event was as dumb fun as I had originally hoped it'd be. Not a fan of the outcome and I wish when Lesnar was sent to the back that it just helped set up a future feud. Regardless of the main card I enjoyed AJ-Owens, Ambollins-Shesasro and the Fatal-4-Way, the rest I could've taken or leave, but I can't deny the overall disappointment in the pacing of the Banks-Bliss match. Like it kept feeling like it was trying to build to something and never got there and culminated into a pretty rushed finish.

And less said about Nakamura-Mahal the better.

 
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Not gonna lie, I didn't see that coming at all.

And we didn't have to watch all of  Smackdown
until the end, until the end
to do so.

 
Possible dark horse to get the new gf into wrestling, American Ninja Warrior competitor Kacy Catenzaro signed a developmental deal with WWE. Probably won't go anywhere, but there's a chance. (GF hates it, "it's all fake, they're not athletic, it's stupid", taking her to Mae Young made it a very uphill battle).

 
pitfallharry219 said:
I never knew I wanted to see a Cena vs Reigns feud so badly.
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It's always weird when every while everyone forgets John Cena is a damn good talker. Especially when a feud has enough time to build up. Last night was that reminder of "oh yeah, when he isn't trying to make a situation worse with terrible jokes, he is legitimately one of the best in talking a big game and why he should be seen as a threat."

mykevermin said:
Well, you may see her in AAA still. Probably not anywhere else. :)
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I Got to admit, it makes me happy that there is a tight knit unity among all the wrestling community from wrestlers to promoters and such and everyone just disavowing Sexy Star for her actions.

 
Watching R2 right now. Enjoyed some victors, sad about others.

Of those I've never heard of prior to this tourney, suuuuper high on Toni Storm.

 
tonyxvx said:
Well, Cena murdered Reigns again. Is this a trial by fire thing?
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Every time Roman tries to fire back with something I just get horrible flashbacks of all the Shane and Undertaker Wrestlemania promos where it was just grown men calling each other a bitch. By now there's two weeks of build up left for this match and unless Roman can fire off verbal jabs with Cena, I really hope next two weeks they figure someway to mix it up.

 
pitfallharry219 said:
Mahal is so fucking terrible as champ. This reminds me of 2004 Smackdown when they didn't know what to do with the belt, so they said "fuck it, let's put it on JBL".
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I Thought JBL worked at least as a straight forward heel back than. Like he was damn good at getting a response and just played chicken shit heel in the ring so perfectly. If you were to ask me to name a memorable match with his run or who he lost or gained the title from, that I can't do. It was Rey Mysterio who beat him, right?

With Mahal, I just don't get a response at all from him. When he's on the mic or in a non title match I just don't care. I Think if he was doing this gimmick with the US title I'd be more interested, but instead the unquestionable face of Smackdown, AJ Styles, is holding that title and has elevated that scene way above the main title. That and Mahal's gimmick in this day and age of "evil foreigner" just doesn't really work. Especially since I can't think of any reason why the US audience should have animosity towards India and it being public knowledge that he's from Canada.

 
bardockkun said:
I Thought JBL worked at least as a straight forward heel back than. Like he was damn good at getting a response and just played chicken shit heel in the ring so perfectly. If you were to ask me to name a memorable match with his run or who he lost or gained the title from, that I can't do. It was Rey Mysterio who beat him, right?

With Mahal, I just don't get a response at all from him. When he's on the mic or in a non title match I just don't care. I Think if he was doing this gimmick with the US title I'd be more interested, but instead the unquestionable face of Smackdown, AJ Styles, is holding that title and has elevated that scene way above the main title. That and Mahal's gimmick in this day and age of "evil foreigner" just doesn't really work. Especially since I can't think of any reason why the US audience should have animosity towards India and it being public knowledge that he's from Canada.
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The only thing that stands out to me about JBL's reign, other than from who he won it and to who he lost it (Eddie, Cena), is the ridiculous skit where he was patrolling the border for illegals during the Eddie feud.

 
MysterD said:
And Sandow/Mizdow, too.

Seems to be the WWE's gimmick for those they want to leave or know are leaving soon.
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Also Eugene to an extent?

I Think Ziggler will be very good on the indies though if it comes down to it. Kinda hoping that's the case because I do not see this gimmick having legs at all and we're only in the second week. Especially since Mike and Maria's gimmick got dropped almost immediately.

 
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