Author Topic: There's a PPV tonight? (Read 7159 times)

Prime · « **Reply #50 on:** January 26, 2015, 02:19:27 PM »

WWE made a huge mistake in bringing back Bryan before the Rumble. No reason they couldn't have waited a couple more weeks and just plain avoided all this. Without Bryan active, crowd goes nuts if Reigns wins.

That being said, the segment of the crowd losing their shit over this can't be made up of a large portion of casual fans. The casual fans are the same ones cheering for Reigns in the first place.

That being said #2, I wonder if this crowd reaction happens anywhere else other than Philly/parts of the east.

But again, all of this is a non-issue if Bryan doesn't come back until tonight. Big fuck up there.

freud mayweather · « **Reply #51 on:** January 26, 2015, 02:35:00 PM »

Quote from: Prime on January 26, 2015, 02:19:27 PM

Without Bryan active, crowd goes nuts if Reigns wins.

without bryan, there wouldn't have been all those boos, but fans still would have been disappointed that it wasn't ambrose or ziggler.

or rusev.

basically anyone but the really green bad promo man who is being severely overpushed at the moment.

Pebble.2.0 · « **Reply #52 on:** January 26, 2015, 03:32:51 PM »

Forgot about the PPV and didn't tune in until near the end of the triple-threat:

1. Lesnar is fucking awesome. When he got up and started laying out German suplexes I decided that I'd be fine with him as champ for a long time. Rollins looked like a champ, too, and that top rope splash was awesome to finally see in prime time.

2. Daniel Bryan cannot beat Brock Lesnar, in real life or fake wrestling. Sorry guys, nope.

3. The Rumble had lots to like, and complain about. Bray looked great, and I had no idea Bubba Ray's contract expired with TNA so it was a legit surprise. Bryan got knocked out quick, but none of us really know the extent of his injuries or his limitations thus far. Cesaro basically got punked. Ziggler should have come out on top, but we know that isn't going to happen.

4. ZACK FUCKING RYDER - is trying to avoid having shoulder surgery (he did not have it). I think he needs to shut it down and heal (as we frequently discuss with him), but he doesn't think he has that luxury so we'll see when his arm falls off.

5. I don't care for Roman Reigns. In fact, I don't care for him so much that I marked out when Rusev came out of nowhere at the end. I thought they finally listened to us and were going to give it to him.

6. Rock, c'mon man. I know he's related to you, but you know this business.

7. A big thank you to the crowd

SouthpawJosh · « **Reply #53 on:** January 26, 2015, 04:08:55 PM »

Anyone notice how not only did Ziggler take a swipe at Punk on Smackdown last week, but they now have him in a similar hoodie and his wrists/hands are taped the same way? I don't recall him having the tape before, at least not in the same manner.

Prime · « **Reply #54 on:** January 26, 2015, 04:34:09 PM »

Ziggler has had tape on his forearms and wrists for ages.

benlinus · « **Reply #55 on:** January 26, 2015, 05:23:09 PM »

I just rewatched the ending and I noticed reigns was legit bleeding from the mouth I think. I also noticed tears in his eyes. I wonder if he was crying because of the happiness of winning the rumble or crying out of he can not believe how he was getting the 2014 bautista treatment.

Zandrax · « **Reply #56 on:** January 26, 2015, 05:25:00 PM »

I think even Rock knew the ending was stinky

freud mayweather · « **Reply #57 on:** January 26, 2015, 06:28:17 PM »

Quote from: Pebble.2.0 on January 26, 2015, 03:32:51 PM

2. Daniel Bryan cannot beat Brock Lesnar, in real life or fake wrestling. Sorry guys, nope.

bryan could make it look believable. he made it believable that he beat hhh, orton and batista in the same night.

that said, i don't wanna see a dude with a recent neck surgery fight the man who never stops german suplexing people.

EDGECRUSHER · « **Reply #58 on:** January 26, 2015, 06:33:08 PM »

Neck Injury Victim vs. Destroyer of Necks

It would have to be toned down or have some severe flat backs on those german suplexes.

EDGECRUSHER · « **Reply #59 on:** January 26, 2015, 06:49:29 PM »

Vince moved Bryan's return up to try and get WWE Network subscribers. It may have worked this time, but holy fuck did he just lose Wrestlemania subscribers, not to mention Fast Lane.

Torgo · « **Reply #60 on:** January 26, 2015, 07:46:08 PM »

Quote from: Prime on January 26, 2015, 04:34:09 PM

Ziggler has had tape on his forearms and wrists for ages.

looks like he's rasslin' with two broken arms

FreebirdSTF · « **Reply #61 on:** January 26, 2015, 09:13:15 PM »

I wrote a lot of words about all this, but while Bryan being involved in the Rumble at all was a mistake I don't like the idea that we can't just have clean eliminations in this thing. Anyone who is in there should be able to be tossed without being protected.

Bubba Ray's haircut is inexcusable BTW.

While I typically just post the text of my blog entries over here these two are kind of long. If you guys prefer I'll paste the text over, but I think it'll look better on the board if I just give the links.

http://www.southatlantawrestling.com/2015/01/royal-rumble-2015-romans-rise-fall.html

http://www.southatlantawrestling.com/2015/01/cancelwwenetwork-is-runnin-wild.html

I don't monetize it so there's no real upside for me to drive traffic there either. Like I said, I'll be happy to post the text itself if you guys prefer that.

FreebirdSTF · « **Reply #62 on:** January 26, 2015, 09:15:48 PM »

Horsehead · « **Reply #63 on:** January 26, 2015, 09:29:21 PM »

Quote from: Pebble.2.0 on January 26, 2015, 03:32:51 PM

Forgot about the PPV and didn't tune in until near the end of the triple-threat:

2. Daniel Bryan cannot beat Brock Lesnar, in real life or fake wrestling. Sorry guys, nope.

Wyatt looked like a f'n giant next to DB.....how the hell are we to suspend disbelief that the midget was gonna beat Brock?

FreebirdSTF · « **Reply #64 on:** January 26, 2015, 09:38:14 PM »

I don't have any issue whatsoever seeing Daniel Bryan in there with Brock Lesnar. I just don't have as strong a desire to see it after the absolutely amazing Daniel Bryan WrestleMania we got last year. I'm not saying a top face should only be on top for one Mania or anything absurd like that. I'm just saying I'm not dying to see Bryan go back to the top this year when I saw it last year. It was done so well last year I don't know if they could even top it. A David vs Goliath Bryan/Lesnar match would be good though and probably better than Lesnar/Reigns at this point.

RickRude · « **Reply #65 on:** January 26, 2015, 09:55:57 PM »

I was curious what you guys thought about this since /r/squaredcircle is in full blown internet panic mode. I personally didn't like the Rumble match from roughly Bryan's elimination onwards, but I'm nowhere near as extreme in my distaste as those guys are. Maybe it's because the PPV only cost $9.99 and I got 4 weeks of NXT to go with it, instead of the old days when I'd hate the card and have to give my cable company an extra $40 that month.

I'm glad you guys are mentioning that Bryan may have come back early. He actually was a lot more mobile than I expected at the Rumble, but I'm also guessing he's not ready for, say, 25-35 minutes that you'd expect from him in a WM title match. It is good for business to build his return to prominence instead of just instantly re-anointing him as the King.

One thing I've noticed that is a huge problem with the WWE since I subscribed to the Network in November and while I've casually watched a few Raws in that time span is the utter lack of suspense these days. I think this was a problem in the past, too, but now that I've stood back and can see the forest for the trees, I feel like I'm more aware of it than when I was at my most avid fandom back in the Attitude era. In a regular match, this means too much emphasis on finishers. In a PPV match, this means that the first finisher is rarely the end. For the Royal Rumble match, this meant the stakes were too high for "just anyone" to win and the filler is way too easy to differentiate from the actual contenders. As it got towards #30 coming to the ring, was anyone actually concerned that Big E or Swagger might win this thing? Of course not. Maybe one thing WWE could learn after last year with Bryan and what looks like a difficult Road to Wrestlemania with Reigns is that some extra flexibility might be worth it, and removing that clause to winning the match may have merit.

Overall, I think it's a shame that we're talking so much about Reigns the day after the Rumble, and not enough about Bray Wyatt. I think it's funny how fickle the IWC can be, as they loved the Shield but now hate Reigns even though Ambrose, and to a lesser extent Rollins, had a much smaller role in that group. Reigns has grown less as a character since then, but he had a significant head start, and his injury certainly curtailed things for a bit.

RealMarchHare · « **Reply #66 on:** January 26, 2015, 10:00:50 PM »

I don't think anyone actually hates Reigns. I actually like him. I think our issue is that Vince is so adamant about him being the new golden child. In my opinion he WILL be ONE DAY. That is not today though. He isn't ready. Outside his in-ring performances he is very lacking and they are forcing him into a character that doesn't work. Either go the Goldberg route and have him say little and just kick people's asses or just let him be himself. When he's talking on Countdown, Monday Night Wars, and other such shows on the Network he is a genuinely believable and likable guy as he's just himself.

That's the issue. They're trying to force something that isn't there yet when they have plenty of other talents that are there and ready already. Daniel Bryan being the primary but as others and myself have stated he likely isn't 100% yet. Ambrose, Wyatt, Ziggler, and Rollins are all there though. They are set. FUCKING USE THEM FOR ONCE

FreebirdSTF · « **Reply #67 on:** January 27, 2015, 08:05:50 AM »

Reigns has become the focal point for a problem that has been simmering between Vince/WWE and their most hardcore fans for a while.

Also, to RickRude's point, I feel like we still have an opportunity to see a much healthier looking WWE and happier fanbase by the time Mania rolls around. It really depends on how stubborn WWE is and whether their fans will accept anything other than Bryan/Lesnar though.

Freakshow · « **Reply #68 on:** January 27, 2015, 08:54:24 AM »

Rumble itself was way overshadowed by the World Title match. All three men came out looking tremendous and I heart Philly crowds for their Rollins love. Rollins had a star making performance. Cena is as Cena does. Brock is a goddamn monster in his prime who deserves to hold that belt for at least as long as Punk.

As for the event, Wyatt was loads of fun and it was funny seeing Bully Ray try to act like Bubba Ray again. DDP was fun and it's nice that they kept his Titantron from his run with Undertaker. As for the Reigns problem, he needs some time out of the title picture and in programs with workers who can get his workrate up to snuff. I think he could still be huge, but with the way things are going the crowd is going to continue to shit on him in the World Title picture.

Seriously though, that World Title match was an instant classic. This cannot be said enough.

EDGECRUSHER · « **Reply #69 on:** January 27, 2015, 09:20:03 AM »

Watching the boos that Reigns is getting from the moment he entered and it's incredible. It's like 1983 Memphis "It's still real to me" heat.

He's ruined, have him turn heel and make Rollins the face.

FreebirdSTF · « **Reply #70 on:** January 27, 2015, 09:25:44 AM »

Before I pass judgement though I need to see how strong those boos are in other cities/other parts of the country. With Batista it caught on and spread. I'm not sure until I see Roman elsewhere if that's the case for him or not. I fear it is, but no reason not to take a step back and let it play out a bit first.

All that said I do tend to think he's going to have to heel at some point in order to become the face they want. They can soft reboot him now if they are willing to, but he probably needs a full reset that a heel turn would provide in order for him to flourish as a face eventually. It irritates me to some degree because they got it right with guys like Orton and Henry. I guess since they weren't supposed to be face of the company type guys they didn't mind them keeping a bit of an edge when they turned babyface. With Reigns they immediately decided that he needed to be Cena-esque and that his hurt him tremendously much like Henry being a smiling, slapping hands face did a while back.

One thing I appreciate about that Philly crowd is their passion. The other is that they weren't smarky at all. They supported who they wanted and rejected who they didn't, but you didn't get that idiotic "Husky Harris" chant type thing out of them. Good job Philly.

FATSEXY · « **Reply #71 on:** January 27, 2015, 11:18:15 AM »

Quote from: Torgo on January 26, 2015, 09:16:37 AM

I know Sting was a roid monster at some point, but I still don't think he was even half the roid monster Warrior was for his entire career, minus the stage in 1992 where they brought in that fake Warrior at WM8.

Sting had a Stevie Ray Vaughn level coke and whiskey addiction going on smack dab in the middle of his Crow Sting run.

FATSEXY · « **Reply #72 on:** January 27, 2015, 11:34:24 AM »

Quote from: FreebirdSTF on January 26, 2015, 09:13:15 PM

I wrote a lot of words about all this, but while Bryan being involved in the Rumble at all was a mistake I don't like the idea that we can't just have clean eliminations in this thing. Anyone who is in there should be able to be tossed without being protected.

Bubba Ray's haircut is inexcusable BTW.

While I typically just post the text of my blog entries over here these two are kind of long. If you guys prefer I'll paste the text over, but I think it'll look better on the board if I just give the links.

http://www.southatlantawrestling.com/2015/01/royal-rumble-2015-romans-rise-fall.html

http://www.southatlantawrestling.com/2015/01/cancelwwenetwork-is-runnin-wild.html

I don't monetize it so there's no real upside for me to drive traffic there either. Like I said, I'll be happy to post the text itself if you guys prefer that.

I wonder if Bubba Ray got off the shit for a long enough time to pass a drug test before he came into the WWE, or if everyone there is just that much bigger than him, because holy shit his arms were SWOLE in TNA from the clips I saw, and he had his big boned fat guy arms during the Rumble.

FreebirdSTF · « **Reply #73 on:** January 27, 2015, 12:50:41 PM »

Bubba definitely looked different, but I couldn't tell if it was just the Dudley attire that made him look that way.