Furthermore, "Baron Corbin" sounds like an investment banker, not a "lone wolf".
/rant OOver
PRESHOW RESULT~!
Baron Corbin WINS via cheat-skills.
WWE continues it's upswing after WM with angles and matches that are a lot better than the crap there was earlier in the year. Overall, with the
possible exception of the Main Event, nothing big will probably happen but it should be a fun show.
Roman Reigns vs AJ Styles: I feel this is where the story moves on the next chapter. Some trigger has to be pulled, AJ going fully heel, The
Club turning on AJ, or somebody else dethroning AJ as the leader. Match should be just as fun as their previous showdown even if we know Reigns is
walking out with the belt no matter what happens. Props to WWE for making Reigns first big feud after WM a fun one, even if he's the least
interesting thing about it.
Chris Jericho vs Dean Ambrose: The Asylum match looks stupid but these two should stil do something fun. Hard to predict winner since it
hasn't been spelled out this is the blowoff match. Jericho wins if he's staying longer, Ambrose wins if this is his last big match to cap
off his best run since 2010.
The Miz vs Cesaro vs Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn I'm rooting for a Title change here, something to shake things up. Both Zayn and Cesaro
haven't had a big win yet since they returned so seeing either one get one here would be awesome. While I'd love for the IC Title to find
itself back as the centerpiece to Owens vs Zayn like it did before the big Ladder match, I'm also ok with Cesaro winning by pinning Zayn, leading
to Owens blaming Sami again for costing him a match.
A New Day vs The VaudeVillians Another match where I feel a Title change would freshen things up. Despite all the doubters, The VVs have been
great ever since they got called up and could already be great tag champs.
Charlotte vs Natayla I'm hoping for a Charlotte win here and also hoping they finally recapture the magic that lead to the great match
they had at Takeover two years ago.
Rusev vs Kalisto Rusev Crush and Rusev and Lana get built back into being the force they were a year ago.
Baron Corbin vs Dolph Ziggler Ziggler is awesome but WWE obviously only wants him to be at a certain level, no need to sacrifice project Corbin
to him.
My picks:
Roman Reigns vs AJ Styles: Totally agree with First 9, it feels like this is where we get the next chapter in the Reigns/AJ storyline and that
some kind of trigger needs to be pulled here (and the extreme rules stipulation lends itself to all kinds of shenanigans). The question though is if
the WWE actually pulls that proverbial trigger and I'm not so sure that they do. Either way, I expect a hell of a match and Reigns of course
walking out with the belt.
Chris Jericho vs Dean Ambrose: I haven't seen anything on the gossip sites about this being Jericho's last match of his current run,
so I'm going to go with him winning here. This has been a fun feud thus far, so I wouldn't mind seeing it continue for another month or two.
The Miz vs Kevin Owens vs Cesaro vs Sami Zayn: Speaking of fun feuds, this is probably the most entertaining one currently going on in WWE
(thanks in large part to the awesomeness of Kevin Owens). I think this match has show-stealing potential as well, since all four of these guys are
capable of putting on a great match together. I'm going to pick the Miz to retain, as the WWE seems pretty high on him right now.
Charlotte vs Natalya: Anytime the odds are stacked against the heel, it usually means the heel is going to win. So I'll go with Charlotte
to retain and think maybe they do something where Natalya injures her knee during the match and then either passes out or is forced to tap to the
Figure Eight.
Rusev vs Kalisto: I predict that Rusev wins and he'll have an eight-day run with the belt before dropping it to Cena on Memorial Day.
The New Day vs The Vaudevillains: This could really go either way: you either have the Vaudevillains win and have a ready-made feud with
Enzo/Cass upon Enzo's return or you could have Enzo return tonight and distract the Vaudevillains and cost them the match. I think I'm going
to go with the New Day to retain the titles, but it wouldn't shock me at all if the Vaudevillains do win.
The Usos vs Gallows/Anderson: What's this? Two tag team matches on a PPV and they both have actual storylines behind them? This truly is a
new era in the WWE! This could be a really fun brawl, since it's a tornado rules match, and I'll pick Gallows/Anderson to win.
Dolph Ziggler vs Baron Corbin: Corbin wins.
OOficial picks go here
http://www.oowrestling.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=31138
The next PPV is Money in the Bank, which flipped me from "Jericho wins and we get rubber match at next PPV" to " Ambrose gets decisive win to this
feud and minimally he of the two move on to MITB". Of course this probably means Jericho wins and the rubber match is a MITB qualifier that Ambrose
wins.
The Dudleys should remain what's next for Enzo/Cass, so Vaudevillians win but New Day retains to continue this one.
The Miz/Maryse pairing makes this too soon for Miz to lose the title, and when he does it needs to be in a 1:1 match, hence Miz retains.
I think the Extreme Rules match strips make this have to be pitfall to win, so Reigns via pinfall. Regardless he retains because duh
quote:
Originally posted by williamssl
The next PPV is Money in the Bank, which flipped me from "Jericho wins and we get rubber match at next PPV" to " Ambrose gets decisive win to this feud and minimally he of the two move on to MITB". Of course this probably means Jericho wins and the rubber match is a MITB qualifier that Ambrose wins.
Baron Corbin over Dolph Ziggler (No DQ): WWE's almost painted all of the numbers in in this feud, so unless they
decide to prolong this feud (which they SHOULDN'T) I'm going with Corbin.
The Miz over Cesaro, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn (IC Title Fatal 4-Way): My heart says Cesaro, but I see him taking it
off of The Miz (who it seems they're rightfully high on at the moment) next month at Money in the Bank. Sami and Kev don't need a title to
feud over at the moment.
The Club over The Usos (Tornado Tag): Based on the outcome of the main event, I can't see The Usos going over yet
again (or ever, really. I might joke around about disliking Roman but I STRAIGHT UP LOATHE The Usos) and diminishing Anderson and Gallows'
stock. Depending on where they're going with this whole Bloodline/Club feud, it'd probably make the most sense for Anderson and Gallows to
be victorious tonight to balance out AJ's almost inevitable loss. Also: Fuck The Usos.
Rusev over Kalisto (US Title, no stipulation?): It's about time they reestablish Rusev, and I hope tonight is the
night they plan on doing so. I know a lot of people are just assuming that he's going to get the strap just so Cena can take it from him, but
I've got a whole fantasy booking scenario in my head where Cena assumes the same and gets trounced by Rusev leading to a long character arc where
Cena questions whether he still has it or not. So yeah, Rusev wins. To make things a little more interesting, I'll say it has a lot to do with
Sin Cara botching a save spot, which might not actually be a botch leading to a Lucha Dragons breakup. Rusev will just keep being awesome.
The Vaudevillains over The New Day (Tag Titles, no stipulation?): This picks a bit for me, since I'm firmly behind
Gotch & English and wouldn't mind for their inevitable feud with Enzo & Cass be for the Tag Titles. That said, I'll probably be in the wrong
on this one because New Day is fast approaching London & Kendrick's record and they're just so damned over. So in all likelihood, The New
Day retains, Vaudevillains get fed to Enzo and Casso at MitB, and then New Day vs E&C2.0; at Summerslam? So long as The Vaudevillains don't get
completely lost in the shuffle along the way I'm fine with whatever.
Dean Ambrose over Chris Jericho (Asylum Match):It's a shame that Jericho waited so long to put his foot down on
the assholometer during this current run of his, but he's gone from being groan inducing to entertaining as he's meant to be recently.
Hopefully this Asylum match is played more for it's brutality so that Ambrose gets a chance to shine. Ambrose needs the victory here more than
Jericho, who you HAVE to imagine is due for another hiatus by now, right?
Charlotte over Natalya (Women's Title, Submission): Text book Flair as heel underdog win here.
Roman Reigns over AJ Styles (WWE World Heavyweight Title, Extreme Rules): I'm going to do my best to suspend all
reasonable logic and believe that AJ has a shot here, because I think this match deserves it. But there are two things that Roman always does: be wet,
and win. I don't see that changing tonight, but am more than welcoming of any surprises. I'm going to go ahead and rehash my prediction from
last month and say that Seth Rollins somehow makes his presence felt and factors into the ending somehow. Maybe he reveals himself to be the
one pulling Anderson and Gallows' strings? It'd be a stretch, especially considering his beef would be more with Roman than AJ. But maybe
that's the point. AJ mistakenly thought he was putting his big boy pants on while The Club was following Rollins' orders and they just
played along with it. All things considered though, this should be a really fun match.
So I guess that's it, unless you want to throw The Golden Truth against FaBreeze somewhere in there... Looking forward to the show tonight.
FWIW, both Rollins and Enzo are backstage tonight and supposedly both scheduled to be at Raw and SD this week. Scheduled could just be "backstage and travelling" but insert your own fantasy booking and predictions here, which some have already done.
quote:
Originally posted by CM Crunk
I'm going to go ahead and rehash my prediction from last month and say that Seth Rollins somehow makes his presence felt and factors into the ending somehow. Maybe he reveals himself to be the one pulling Anderson and Gallows' strings? It'd be a stretch, especially considering his beef would be more with Roman than AJ. But maybe that's the point. AJ mistakenly thought he was putting his big boy pants on while The Club was following Rollins' orders and they just played along with it.
I have problems taking Baron Corbin seriously as a "lone wolf" when he wears skinny hipster-pattern pants as his ring gear.
Furthermore, "Baron Corbin" sounds like an investment banker, not a "lone wolf".
/rant OOver
PRESHOW RESULT~!
Baron Corbin WINS via cheat-skills.
Start calling him Corbin Bernsen as our next meme? 
quote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
Start calling him Corbin Bernsen as our next meme?
I'm working tonight's event here in Newark. Can't say I saw Rollins but I definitely saw Enzo before. Perhaps they cost the
Vaudevillains the title chance. The crowd went nuts for Big Cass, they'll explode for Enzo.
I don't comment on here often but I'll be here tonight. Damn, the Usos getting murdered by the crowd, does everything Reigns touches turn to
shit?
quote:
Originally posted by da1rocksez
Damn, the Usos getting murdered by the crowd, does everything Reigns touches turn to shit?
quote:
Originally posted by Count Zero
quote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
Start calling him Corbin Bernsen as our next meme?
I want to see Rusev kibosh the little guy through all of the un-American announce tables.
I wasn't complaining about the crowd reaction 
Rusev has a small contingent of fans here too. Glad everyone is having a good time!
Rusev knows the rules. RUSEV CRUSH!!!
I was annoyed in the past that Maggle uses the non-word "interducing." Noticed Lillian Garcia says it too.
Seriously, as a ring announcer, that's probably one of the most important words you have for the night, and you can't get it right?
I can't stop laughing at Xavier and Big E ... That was awesome.
And now time for our regularly scheduled Game of Thrones interlude.
Jesus and the Donkey motherfucker. 
So Sami and Cesaro to start then.
ETA: Add Cesaro's shoulder tape to the Inanimate Object list. 
[Edited on 5-23-2016 by janerd75]
quote:
Originally posted by the goon
I think this match has show-stealing potential as well, since all four of these guys are capable of putting on a great match together.
You went out on limb making that prediction, and are incredibly deserving of the kudos for having been right with it.
EDIT: it's only page 1 for me, and
[Edited on 5-23-2016 by williamssl]
quote:
Originally posted by the goon
And we're two pages in and there haven't been any stupid gifs posted yet.
quote:
Originally posted by the goon
And we're two pages in and there haven't been any stupid gifs posted yet.
RUN IN BY MOPPY!!!! 
I hope those are Steve Blackman's nunchucks.
If this ends with a heel turn by Mitch, I'm... I'll be wayyyy too sad to watch wrestling for a long time. 
eta: Thumbtacks? This escalated quickly.
[Edited on 5-23-2016 by Count Zero]
Dean should take a mid match shit in that Home Depot buck.....oh golly, thumb tacks? Please don't tease Please don't tease.........
ETA: JESUS CHRIST! JESUS CHRIST! JESUS CHRIST! *clap clap clapclapclap*
[Edited on 5-23-2016 by janerd75]
Ouch. Fucking ouch.
A big ouch, yes, but basically a no-sell by Ambrose of the barbed wire???
Ambrose wears kevlar shirts?
quote:
Originally posted by williamssl
Ouch. Fucking ouch.
HOLD THE DOOR!!!!
I give kudos for Jericho for taking that spot....but the match was so/so because it felt like they were just going from prop to prop. Thats not
hatred..... hatred is blind and more random than what they did. This was why the IC match was better because I felt like there was legit hatred there
that wasn't in the Assylum match. I think it lost the crowd because of that. Its fine that there are weapons...but their has to be some sort of
organic feel to a match.
Jericho is all man for taking that spot.... but the match had 0 story...which is what makes wrestling great.
My network feed has really shit the bed over the past 15 minutes. Ugh.
Woo. Uh huh. 
quote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
Suddenly Corbin Bernsen mentions on the internet spike 2000%. You're welcome, Arnie.
[img]http://legalblogwatch.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341cce2453ef014e8c2e766e970d-pi[/img]
quote:
Originally posted by williamssl
You went out on limb making that prediction, and are incredibly deserving of the kudos for having been right with it.
quote:
Originally posted by Nobledictator1278
I give kudos for Jericho for taking that spot....but the match was so/so because it felt like they were just going from prop to prop. Thats not hatred..... hatred is blind and more random than what they did. This was why the IC match was better because I felt like there was legit hatred there that wasn't in the Assylum match. I think it lost the crowd because of that. Its fine that there are weapons...but their has to be some sort of organic feel to a match.
Jericho is all man for taking that spot.... but the match had 0 story...which is what makes wrestling great.
Ahem, if I may.....
A.J. Styles-ish!!!!!
ReBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
quote:
Originally posted by First 9
quote:
Originally posted by Nobledictator1278
I give kudos for Jericho for taking that spot....but the match was so/so because it felt like they were just going from prop to prop. Thats not hatred..... hatred is blind and more random than what they did. This was why the IC match was better because I felt like there was legit hatred there that wasn't in the Assylum match. I think it lost the crowd because of that. Its fine that there are weapons...but their has to be some sort of organic feel to a match.
Jericho is all man for taking that spot.... but the match had 0 story...which is what makes wrestling great.
According to Alvarez, a segment was cancelled and ten minutes were added to the Asylum match on short notice. Jericho and Ambrose still had to work in the planned spots and probably couldn't adapt their game plan to the sudden extra ten minutes.
There definently was some stalling so this particular report migth be true.
Fun match that had me believing AJ could win despite 0% chance of that. Yay Rollins is back. He's gonna be a face to the fans no matter what
so put him in that role or prepare for Bizarro Reigns.
[Edited on 5-23-2016 by williamssl]
I came. EVVVVVVVEEERRRYYYYYWWWWHHHHHEEERRRREEEEE!
quote:
Originally posted by williamssl
Fun match that had me believing AJ could win despite 0% chance of that.
quote:
Originally posted by williamssl
Fun match that had me believing AJ could win despite 0% chance of that. Yay Rollins is back. He's gonna be a face to the fans no matter what so put him in that role or prepare for Bizarro Reigns.
[Edited on 5-23-2016 by williamssl]
quote:
Originally posted by williamssl
Fun match that had me believing AJ could win despite 0% chance of that
quote:
Originally posted by williamssl
Yay Rollins is back. He's gonna be a face to the fans no matter what so put him in that role or prepare for Bizarro Reigns.
quote:I think the big issue is that the weapons were strung well above the cage so they actually had to climb to get them. If they had strung them from just the top of the cage and they were dangling from the cage where they could get them while still standing in the ring, it would have been better.
Originally posted by Nobledictator1278
I give kudos for Jericho for taking that spot....but the match was so/so because it felt like they were just going from prop to prop. Thats not hatred..... hatred is blind and more random than what they did. This was why the IC match was better because I felt like there was legit hatred there that wasn't in the Assylum match. I think it lost the crowd because of that. Its fine that there are weapons...but their has to be some sort of organic feel to a match.
I'm Mick Foley - and I approve of these thumbtacks! #AmbroseAsylum @IAmJericho #ExtremeRules pic.twitter.com/YBleWeR7yf
— Mick Foley (@RealMickFoley) May 23, 2016
I do wonder where AJ goes from here. Do they drag AJ vs The Club until Balor is ready to be called up?
I think tonight is as bright as AJ's star will shine in the WWE for awhile. They just have so much talent and young talent at that. Losing
Rhodes should have been somewhat of a blow for WWE...but they give 2 fucks as they have a talent pipeline of hot talent coming in....There is just no
room for all the talent they have to be fed.
The questions that Extreme Rules leaves me with is how long will Roman Reigns be champ?
Who is going to beat him? Its not going to be Rollins or Cena for that matter...or Brock and you have to think thats his next three feuds....so who
takes him down are they even on the Roster now or are they in NXT. Will Reigns hold the title till WM and possibly through it?
Is the Miz the most underrated superstar? This was a big time win for the Miz tonight, and he is clearly one of the most legit heels they have.
NOBODY likes the Miz and the great thing is whoever you put in there with him he makes look better and you believe can kick his ass.
Why did they bring Corbin up? Where does he go from here? Just floundering on the card? I think they should have left him in NXT if they have no
where for him to go. He isn't going to challenge for the IC or US title in the near future. Do they have him feud with Ambrose next who also is
directionless when Jericho leaves.
I expect to see that Dolph has asked for his release in the next few months.
quote:
Originally posted by bigfatgoalie
And then Roman won with a basic, and kinda soft spear. That was a terribly booked ending. Powerbomb on chair. Triple powerbomb with the Uso assist. ANYTHING out of the ordinary would have been better. You let Roman kick out of multiple Style clashes, and cool spots...to end with that.
Yeah, the ppv was mostly meh. I had the same thought in regards to, "Oh, so Reigns kicks out of two Clashes and puts him down with one Spear? Yeah,
I give up on trying to justify Roman Reigns."
As of last night, consider me a hater in regards to that, I guess.
Edit: Even when Rollins came out and the people I was with started marking out I got up and just went into the kitchen to grab a drink. Because I
didn't care by then.
[Edited on 5-23-2016 by Quentil]
I think folks are really being unfair to Reigns. I don't even consider myself a huge Reigns guy and really hate how WWE forced him down my
throat. With that said there is no arguing the fact that Reigns was not the problem, and more so WWE is right Reigns is a major player for the
company.....I just think they didn't have to force it like they have.
Reigns came out last night looking like a million bucks. It wasn't like it was just one spear.....AJ came spring off the ropes into a spear.
Before that AJ got his ass beat at ring side and took a sick Razor Edge Powerbomb that he kicked out of. The whole spot of AJ beating everyone with
chairs was a desperate man trying to win.... he had put everything he had into that and Roman finished him. It was a excellent story....I think
anyway. Id even go as far as to say that AJ vs Reigns was a great program for Reigns and both of them come out looking better than they did when they
started.
Reigns looked legit last night, his mannerism's has gotten better, and he isn't feeling like a character playing a role...but is starting to
have normal reactions come out of him. I think Reigns is going to be getting cheered legit by Summerslam and this hatred to him will go except from
the stubborn. WWE is goign to win this one because fans don't want to rebel on the product....not really and Reigns is good enough that he will
win the fans over. I don't know that he will ever be a internet darling....but I don't think he is going to be John Cena levels of
polarizing either. Its going to be somewhere in between. Personally I think at this point the hatred of Roman Reigns is just a cool thing to
do....and eventually that pendulum is going to swing the other way....where folks will quit hating him because THATS the cool thing to do.
So Reigns feuds with Rollins now and there is 0 chance that Rollins comes out of this with a win....and IF he does win ....no way he comes out of this
feud champion. Reigns is going to be champion for a long long time....no way if your WWE/Vince/Power to be there do you promote Reigns through TWO
wrestlemanias and piss off your fan base if your not going to ride that horse into the ground. Reigns unless he fucks up on a professional level love
it or hate it is the horse they are riding for a long time. The question becomes when will Reigns lose.... I have a feeling it won't be until
after WM (with maybe a one month fluke champion at some point) unless Reigns becomes injured.
Im wondering if the person to have the next clean victory on him (that matters) is even on the roster right now....or on the NXT roster for that
matter. In the meantime there are so many great feuds for Roman Reigns that we can explore....Owens, Zayn, Cesaro and Miz...could all be put in in a
pinch. Then you have the tried and true that WWE will do in Orton, Brock, Rollins, and Cena. Then a few wild cards like Baylor, Samoa Joe, and
Nakamura....all of these feuds can headline the show. Looking at all these names.... Reigns is going to be champion for a long long time.
WWE roster right now is stacked with so much talent that can be upper midcard or main event of folks in their prime or on the rise. I can't
remember in my life time them having such a strong roster and I have been watching since WM III my first WM that I remember caring about WWE. The
attitude era had Austin, Rock, Foley, HHH, HBK, Bret Hart.......but this era....is stacked from top to bottom and there are going to be more and more
talents like Dustin Rhodes leaving the company because there are just too many mouths to feed. With all those names listed above....what is the
company going to do with Big E, Corbin, Wyatt, Ambrose, Del Rio, Sheamus....etc sure some of them will be players but they all can't be.....
there are going to be some hurt feelings and some ugly divorces. Its a good problem I guess for WWE to have...but also kinda its a bad one. I wonder
if a side product of the NXT system is going to be a avenue for new talent to go to other companies and make those companies stronger.
You guys are insane. Rollins is every bit a threat to take the title from ReBoooooooo. Even if Reigns is the new Cena, Rollins is the new HBK.
It's not completely impossible that Rollins beats him for the title tonight on Raw. This dude had like an 8 month title run just last year.
As for Ambrose I believe we are going to transition to the MITB where he'll win and set up the long awaited SHIELD triple threat at SummerSlam
for the WWE championship.
quote:HBK was fed to Cena. Bad comparison.
Originally posted by DKBroiler
You guys are insane. Rollins is every bit a threat to take the title from ReBoooooooo. Even if Reigns is the new Cena, Rollins is the new HBK. It's not completely impossible that Rollins beats him for the title tonight on Raw. This dude had like an 8 month title run just last year.
Styles had to have earned some points with Vince & the crew backstage with these last two PPV's; he bumped his ass off & sold like a champ for
Roman. Making Roman look like a million bucks may just be the most important thing somebody in AJ's position could do right now. Obviously, since
he's working with the champion, he'll slide down the card a little because there's no where to go, but I'm not worried he'll
become a glorified jobber; he'll be in the main event periphery. Needs to win a few PPV matches coming up though. Just not Money in the Bank...
please don't saddle him with that albatross WWE.
Rollins was a welcomed sight. I think SummerSlam seems like the first point where Reigns may have a chance at dropping the title & I can't
imagine they roll with Rollins v. Reigns until then, so I'm kinda at a loss as to how to book their matches. Rollins is an important piece & they
can't have him lose a couple to Roman. I'm guessing DQ/smozz the first time & then maybe a returning HHH screws Rollins the second match,
setting up Rollins v. HHH at Summerslam & freeing up Roman for a Cena match...maybe?
quote:
Originally posted by Nobledictator1278
I think folks are really being unfair to Reigns. I don't even consider myself a huge Reigns guy and really hate how WWE forced him down my throat. With that said there is no arguing the fact that Reigns was not the problem, and more so WWE is right Reigns is a major player for the company.....I just think they didn't have to force it like they have.
quote:
Originally posted by The Grindfather
Styles had to have earned some points with Vince & the crew backstage with these last two PPV's; he bumped his ass off & sold like a champ for Roman. Making Roman look like a million bucks may just be the most important thing somebody in AJ's position could do right now. Obviously, since he's working with the champion, he'll slide down the card a little because there's no where to go, but I'm not worried he'll become a glorified jobber; he'll be in the main event periphery. Needs to win a few PPV matches coming up though. Just not Money in the Bank... please don't saddle him with that albatross WWE.
I can't see AJ beating Miz tonight after Miz just had one of his career achieving wins last night. Plus I think Aj's first feud is Finn
Balor, Miz needs it more than AJ will in that feud.
[Edited on 5-23-2016 by Nobledictator1278]
When Miz loses the title, it should be as part of a feud where he already has 1-2 "retain the title via nefarious means" matches under his belt.
Getting himself DQ'd, Maryse being a distraction or otherwise enabling a win. Etc. Culminate it in a stip match like no DQ and/or a "final
shot and then out of contention" thing.
They've got a great formula and (natural) chemistry with the Miz/Maryse pairing. That needs to be be forefront in the feud that ultimately sees
him lose the title, perhaps at SummerSlam.
If they just move it off him to someone else outta nowhere, I will be sad.
For a while I had thought Miz's ultimate destiny was to be the mouthpiece for a Heenan-like family. And while he's not a KO or Zayn type
worker, he can hold his own just fine, he gets heat & he's got a Wrestelmania main-event win over Cena, which can be his, "I beat Austin & Rock
in the same night!"
Since we got the visual of Cesaro forcing him to tap last night, I'd imagine Cesaro stays hot on his heels & he's eventually the one to take
the IC title.
Bummed AJ lost but the return of Seth freakin' Rollins made that pill about 1,000,000 times easier to swallow. Does anyone know how injured AJ really is? He sure didn't look it last night although the guy does seem to be superhuman (and I'm sure those spots didn't do his body any favors). I'm just wondering if he's going to take some time off, at least from in-ring action. And then, how many flavors of awesome sauce would a (possibly heel) AJ be going against champion Seth Rollins?!
From what I read about AJ they aren't major injuries. Just nagging ones that would go away with some time off and mild rehab. It's his age too because at 38 he's probably feeling it a lot more than he did a decade ago. Considering the tear he's been on since he arrived at the RR this year it stands to reason he could use a short break to get back up to speed.
If I may fantasy book for a moment - Seth beats Roman freakin' yesterday for the title and is massively over as the top babyface. AJ takes a few
months off, Seth has a couple of short-lived feuds while defending the title. AJ then returns and goes full heel with The Club and feuds with Seth.
Smark boner.
Depending on the severity of his injury status I can see them giving AJ the MiTB as a "we trust you, well done, but not right now" kinda thing.
I wouldn't be surprised if this little feud was one part helping Roman look good and one part audition (because, WWE.)
[Edited on 5-23-2016 by The Hitcher]
That IC 4-way has to be the top contender for main roster Match of the Year. Everyone brought their A-game, including The Miz, who won in classic chickenshit fashion.
quote:
Originally posted by royberto
quote:HBK was fed to Cena. Bad comparison.
Originally posted by DKBroiler
You guys are insane. Rollins is every bit a threat to take the title from ReBoooooooo. Even if Reigns is the new Cena, Rollins is the new HBK. It's not completely impossible that Rollins beats him for the title tonight on Raw. This dude had like an 8 month title run just last year.
That'd actually be a nice bulletpoint for Seth to touch upon once Roman starts droning on about being "THE guy." He might be a 3 time world champion, but that's all happened in the past six months. Seth's been a world champ once, for eight months or so, and he still would be if he hadn't gotten injured. Seth is in a perfect position to maintain a lot of his weasely persona and interpretations of the past and STILL come off as a white hot babyface against BROCKTOON.
I've only really been watching the PPV's for the past several months, so I wasn't sure how I'd feel about tonight as you have a
guy who's billed as a legend but who I have next to no exposure to, and a guy who the WWE hasn't given us a lot of reasons to like in our
main event.
Great match, maybe the kick outs and false finishes got a bit too high, and Roman selling being hurt and still doing his wolf howl cocking of the arm
thing over and over has got to stop, but overall a pretty decent match... AJ going nuts with the chair is what sold me on him once and for all... He
just meant it.
The back stage pre-show area brawl was cool, and the big table spot was well done... I just think in the end the WWE didn't know what to do with
the new but really over guy versus their long term plans that no one wants scenario either... and then entered Rollins to magnify this problem so much
more.
Still nice to see him back, and I'm hoping for big things to continue for AJ.
Ambrose vs Jericho was good... I think some of it was they were launching a new gimmick match that's not really new... the flow just never quite
seemed to be there, but the effort for sure was. Sick spot for Jericho with the tac's. I think someone above nailed it with the description of
good wrestling, no story.
The fatal four way was excellent- match of the night.
I'm almost done with Charlotte; that ending sucked... and as champ, she's kind of the lynchpin of the division... Nattie looked great out
there, but that was another dumpy finish. Nattie winning could have let them transition the title to someone else quickly and freshen up a division
that doesn't have a lot of depth... so having one person not even dominate it kind of kills it a bit.
quote:
Originally posted by Quentil
quote:
Originally posted by Nobledictator1278
I think folks are really being unfair to Reigns. I don't even consider myself a huge Reigns guy and really hate how WWE forced him down my throat. With that said there is no arguing the fact that Reigns was not the problem, and more so WWE is right Reigns is a major player for the company.....I just think they didn't have to force it like they have.
Eh. Just eh. As one of the people who said something in this thread, i felt the need to reply. I've been a moderate supporter of Reigns long after most everyone else I know has hated him and his push that defies reason. And I'm not going to say it's his fault for his position in the company, or the angst and enmity it's caused among a large portion of the WWE fans. I'm sure he's a swell guy, a good family man, and does lots of good deeds.
Still, I can most assuredly tell you that I'm not being unfair to the character he portrays and the company that owns it. I was there at least tolerant of it for months...years. But it's gotten to the point where I just want it over with. Much like the authority got to my nerves after awhile in it just being a played out pointless story for me. Only in this case, it's worse because it's a real life crowd and fanbase being told they don't know any better and that WWE will tell them who to like, goddammit. Or else.
Look, crowds (and fans in general) shouldn't get away with dictating terms at companies often. Companies cannot be held hostage by a small element of people bitching online. I mean, that's a given. But when you start noticeably editing the audio and video to try to change what really happened and what the crowd really thinks, you've crossed a creative line, and an ethical one. The crowd is part of the story in wrestling, and in a real way they are part of the cast. How they react feeds into things, and when they react overwhelming poorly, across every market and most demographics over a long period of time, then the company _should_ perhaps rethink things a bit. I understand that product and ad space need lead time, so it's not always easy to shift in the middle of things. But in this case, it's still going on because the company has flat out told the fans to piss off.
WWE isn't wrong in that people are still going to tune into their show and buy their network. And they know this. So they don't have to care. At least for now. But in the long-term, this sort of cavalier attitude could eventually lose them their fans to another company or just in regards to wrestling in general. They are aware of this, I'm sure. So it just makes the whole thing even more confusing to me.
And what makes it more frustrating is seeing them just lie on air and try to portray the boos and derision as "passion" or "excitement" or to blame the town they are in as being the exception. Just admit to the boos and work it into things more. Or work to, you know, have your #1 face in the company actually get cheers. But that's crazy talk.
I realize this ramble isn't going to change any minds at all. And it's not really meant to. But no, I don't feel like I'm being unfair in regards to the WWE or the character that is Roman Reigns when I simply say that I'm sick of this unlikable and non-working story being pushed despite the complete lack of success of telling it. Does that mean I'll stop paying $10 a month to get WWE Network? No. Does it mean I'm unfair in my thoughts in regards to a storyline and a character? Nah. It doesn't matter how hard the real Roman works to polish the turd. It's still a turd. I take no offense at him as a person in doing so, and making lots of cash while in the process of it. It doesn't mean I have to think he's enjoyable at it, though.
[Edited on 5-23-2016 by Quentil]
A better comparison would be Rollins being the Orton to Roman's Cena. Yes, Rollins is a threat in the same sense Orton was always a threat to
Cena.
The underwhelming ending wasn't really any different than Cena beating Owens last year seconds after locking the STF while Owens had thrown
everything at him. One one hand, it is a lame ending on the other, Cena did his super duper top rope AA in the middle of that match just like AJ ate 2
finishers and 2 table bumps before that gentle spear.
When Rollns dislocates his shoulder doing his yet-to-be-implemented version of Vipering Up.......I will find you. I will hunt you.
For a guy whose knee basically exploded I'm amazed that he chose to take out Reigns with a move that puts a lot of impact into the knees the way the Pedigree does.
quote:
Originally posted by merc
Quent, I'm curious about something in your last paragraph. Are you saying Roman's (improved) in ring work is irrelevant because the story is a turd? If that's the case, it really helps clarify why the RR haters hate for me.
I'm not a big story guy, as the infamous writer monkeys drive that part of the program. I'm more about the athletic performance and mic work. I've enjoyed RR development, but can understand the thought that one shouldn't be "developing" at the top (although Rollins did and not a lot of hate there).
Thanks!
I didn't mean to imply you were saying he wasn't trying to evolve, and I also wasn't trolling you. You hit a thought I hadn't
considered. Your conclusion helped nailed it for me. Appreciate the explanation.
I think the crowd is just going to rebel more and more. And muting their volume will push them to even more extremes. The fans want to pay for the
product. They want to like Roman Reigns even. Or at least, they aren't actively opposed to it in theory. The WWE is pushing a story they
don't like about him, though. And being pretty up front about not caring about the crowd's like or dislike of it, which infuriates the
crowd even more. So the booing will just get worse, furthering the circular effect of increasing enmity thing I mentioned earlier.
It would be so easy to fix, too. To do 10 seconds of fantasy booking:
(Roman comes out to boos.) "Yeah, I get it. You don't like me. That's fine. I don't like you either. I'm not forgetful of
your past opinion of me. Nor am I going to apologize for where I am today. It certainly wasn't because of any of you." He has tried
watered-down versions of it, but he just needs to be allowed to go full-on.
And there you go. That apathetic hatred becomes storyline-invested anger in seeing that 'asshole roman' get taken down. In a way, you saw
Seth Rollins give a variation of this very speech on RAW last night to tweak the crowd's response and personal investment.
TL;DR: The fans aren't ready to stop buying the product because of Roman Reigns. But they most certainly are going to shit all over that aspect
of the product in anger and spite out of feeling ignored.
[Edited on 5-24-2016 by Quentil]
[Edited on 5-24-2016 by Quentil]
I don't think you understand how TL;DR works. 
They could have him take some pointers from both Kevin Owens and Charlotte because those two have been putting on a clinic lately on how to simultaneously tell a crowd to fuck off and yet get them to like them even more for it. Kind of astounding really. Instead of doing what Austin, Rock, Jericho, and others did so well with crowd management they choose to have Roman copy one of the most unlikable and audience-antagonizing aspects of the era of Cena domination instead.
quote:
Originally posted by salmonjunkie
I don't think you understand how TL;DR works.
* Usos getting tangentially booed.� And kudos on the announcers for acknowledging it.
* The Ewe Knighted States Championship is on the line.
* Rusev with a proper win.� Hopefully the Dragons can get back into the tag title picture.
* Mick & Shane?� Awesome.
* Fine tag title match as New Day out-cheats Vaudevillains.
* Nice stat about KO being first to wrestle every PPV his rookie year.
* Memo to every WWE announcer.� Not every head-scissors takeover is a 'rana.
* Miz has every right to be upset.� Slow count there by the ref after the SCF.
* That Sunset Powerbomb by Zayn was awesome.
* Couldn't pick up that mild chant but it sounded something like they wanted the match to go on forever.
* Least likely man to win, but it happened the way it had to for Miz to do it.
* We all know this match won't end 'til the Son Of Mitch gets involved, right?
* In PG WWE, those thumbtacks will not be landed on directly.
* OW!!!!� OK, I was wrong.� Bold move, WWE.
* And no Son Of Mitch.� Just a mean Son Of A Bitch walking out as your winner.� If that's how Y2J leaves this time, a vacation well-earned.
* Would be nice if our Stellar Commentary Team knew either of the first two submission moves used in this submission match.
* Again... WHAT'S THE NAME OF THE SUBMISSION BEING USED, YOU TARDS!!!!
* Charlotte still your evil heel champion.
* Thought that was going to be Charles Robinson and not Dana Brooke. I guess they want Dana to feud with Nattie to see if she can cut it on the big
stage.
* Like that high knee from Reigns.
* HA! The You Still Suck chant after the table explosion made me laugh.
* Whoa. Crucifix Sit-Out Powerbomb. Sorry, Newark. The You Still Suck chant does not apply on that one.
* AJ Styles applying for Dolph Ziggler bump status. Holy crap.
* That spear leap over the steps was a cool visual.
* Didn't think we would get a better match the IC 4-way, but we did. MOTY candidate and Roman's best match.
* Hey! Seth is back!
* Quality PPV. Not much to complain about here and two of WWE's best matches this year. Bravo, Monkeys.