stro Posted March 7, 2017 Report Share Posted March 7, 2017 Biggest takeaway from Raw is that Chris Jericho and Undertaker are the most over faces on Raw in 2017. Goldberg already getting crowds turning on him is hilarious but also so predictably WWE audiences at this point. It's all fun and games until you beat an indie fav. Not sure what to think of Braun backing down to Taker. It's probably preferable to having Taker beat his ass, but it was wildly out of character. They'll already leaning heavily into "you should be booing Roman this time", so I expect fans to have a good time with that and probably end up cheering him in the end. Sami appears to be battle royal bound, which is hilarious. When Cesaro has more planned than you, your career is as low as it gets. Raw's side of WM is shaping up to be Brock vs Goldberg Taker vs Roman Seth vs HHH KO vs Jericho Sasha vs Bayley vs Charlotte Cesaro/Sheamus vs Bullet Club I assume the cruiserweights will be in a big multi man scramble on the pre show, but that looks pretty top heavy. Taker/Roman and Seth/HHH alone will likely take up 40 mins each with entrances and whatnot. Meanwhile, SD is looking like: Bray vs Orton AJ vs Shane Cena/Nikki vs Miz/Maryse Alexa vs ??? (probably Naomi back in time to regain the title in her home town in a fairly short match) Usos vs American Alpha Ambrose vs Corbin There's still the returning Balor, Joe (and hopefully they don't get paired up ever again), presumably Tyler Bate defending the UK Championship, possible NXT call ups as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stiva Posted March 7, 2017 Report Share Posted March 7, 2017 That's a hell of a lot of matches. The pre-show will be a PPV card to itself at that rate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stro Posted March 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2017 Yeah. At this point with the size of roster they have they could have a 2 day WM event. Almost necessary to get all the important talent in anything meaty and meaningful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcmmnx Posted March 7, 2017 Report Share Posted March 7, 2017 I'd take Aries vs Neville over any of those matches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victory Posted March 7, 2017 Report Share Posted March 7, 2017 Biggest takeaway from Raw is that Chris Jericho and Undertaker are the most over faces on Raw in 2017. Goldberg already getting crowds turning on him is hilarious but also so predictably WWE audiences at this point. It's all fun and games until you beat an indie fav. Not sure what to think of Braun backing down to Taker. It's probably preferable to having Taker beat his ass, but it was wildly out of character. They'll already leaning heavily into "you should be booing Roman this time", so I expect fans to have a good time with that and probably end up cheering him in the end. Raw's side of WM is shaping up to be Taker vs Roman l. Do you think they will add Braun to that and make it a 3 way? It seems that would be good way to protect Taker since he seems so limited at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stro Posted March 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2017 Biggest takeaway from Raw is that Chris Jericho and Undertaker are the most over faces on Raw in 2017. Goldberg already getting crowds turning on him is hilarious but also so predictably WWE audiences at this point. It's all fun and games until you beat an indie fav. Not sure what to think of Braun backing down to Taker. It's probably preferable to having Taker beat his ass, but it was wildly out of character. They'll already leaning heavily into "you should be booing Roman this time", so I expect fans to have a good time with that and probably end up cheering him in the end. Raw's side of WM is shaping up to be Taker vs Roman l. Do you think they will add Braun to that and make it a 3 way? It seems that would be good way to protect Taker since he seems so limited at this point. I don't at all. I see Braun dominating the battle royal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fakeplastictrees Posted March 7, 2017 Report Share Posted March 7, 2017 I didn't like Braun backing up and getting out of the ring. He should have stood his ground, stare off with Taker, and THEN Roman's music hits and Roman gets between the two and cuts his promo against Taker. Braun steps back and allows the two to destroy each other. This will allow Braun to save face and come off as a guy who will allow his enemies to destroy each other instead of a guy who is possibly afraid of Taker. Assuming this is the main card: Brock vs Goldberg Taker vs Roman Seth vs HHH KO vs Jericho Sasha vs Bayley vs Charlotte Bray vs Orton AJ vs Shane Cena/Nikki vs Miz/Maryse Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royale I think these five matches should be spread out overMania weekend: Cesaro/Sheamus vs Bullet Club Alexa vs ??? (probably Naomi back in time to regain the title in her home town in a fairly short match)Usos vs American Alpha Ambrose vs Corbin Cruiserweight Open II or Aries/Neville I am sure no tears will be shed if some (if not all) of these matches happened at Fan Fest this year or WWE's decides to gimmick the NXT Takeover show and have an American Alpha homecoming with the Usos match being a feature of the program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted March 7, 2017 Report Share Posted March 7, 2017 I didn't like Braun backing up and getting out of the ring. He should have stood his ground, stare off with Taker, and THEN Roman's music hits and Roman gets between the two and cuts his promo against Taker. Braun steps back and allows the two to destroy each other. This will allow Braun to save face and come off as a guy who will allow his enemies to destroy each other instead of a guy who is possibly afraid of Taker. Assuming this is the main card: Brock vs Goldberg Taker vs Roman Seth vs HHH KO vs Jericho Sasha vs Bayley vs Charlotte Bray vs Orton AJ vs Shane Cena/Nikki vs Miz/Maryse Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royale I think these five matches should be spread out overMania weekend: Cesaro/Sheamus vs Bullet Club Alexa vs ??? (probably Naomi back in time to regain the title in her home town in a fairly short match) Usos vs American Alpha Ambrose vs Corbin Cruiserweight Open II or Aries/Neville I am sure no tears will be shed if some (if not all) of these matches happened at Fan Fest this year or WWE's decides to gimmick the NXT Takeover show and have an American Alpha homecoming with the Usos match being a feature of the program. Yea you go ahead and tell yourself that no tears will be shed if Cesaro doesn't have a match during Mania or that people wouldn't have a fit over an IC Title match taking place during Fan Fest instead of on the main card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stro Posted March 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2017 Usos vs AA at Takeover actually sounds preferable now that the idea has been put out there. I don't even know what the fuck Takeover is building to besides Ember/Asuka and I guess Roode/Nak 2? Maybe AOP vs DIY vs Revival? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Microstatistics Posted March 8, 2017 Report Share Posted March 8, 2017 Not sure what to think of Braun backing down to Taker. It's probably preferable to having Taker beat his ass, but it was wildly out of character. They'll already leaning heavily into "you should be booing Roman this time", so I expect fans to have a good time with that and probably end up cheering him in the end. Yeah I have a feeling they will push Roman as the pseudo-heel against Taker. Pushing him as the top babyface against HHH, Brock atleast made sense from a character point of view. Against Taker, I don't see it. Also to your last point, I concur. I have said it several times here and still think it's true: the moment he actually turns heel, the hate will magically evaporate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stro Posted March 8, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2017 Jesus, 25 minutes into SD and there has been all of one wrestling move. 15 minute promo from Bryan and Shane announcing a match that was already announced, coming back from commercial to see Bryan and Shane walking in the back, then an Ellsworth promo, then a superkick from Carmella into an immediate commercial. Fuck. Then the action starts and it's a 3 minute comedy match and then another promo. The another promo. Then a fluff piece. Then a commercial. AJ/Orton better take up the whole second hour. This is supposed to be the wrestling show, for fuck's sake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stro Posted March 8, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2017 Genuinely offensive Smackdown. I actually almost went to the show. I'd be absolutely furious if I had. Three matches in a two hour show, one of them being a super short comedy mixed tag, and one being what has to be considering wildly disappointing considering Orton's base level match and AJ being the best guy in the world for 3 years now, and the other cut short for an angle. They seriously went from a Dean Ambrose/Baron Corbin promo to a women's month piece to a Mojo promo to Dean walking around the back to a commercial BACK to Dean walking around the back and getting attacked to a 4 way promo with Alexa/Nattie/Becky/Mickie/Bryan to a commercial to a match that ends with partners turning on each other. This was after the first hour having 3 minutes of in ring action. And THEN they start 205 live with a 15 minute promo segment. Jesus fuck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parties Posted March 8, 2017 Report Share Posted March 8, 2017 AJ's read on the RKO in that match is such a great spot, and one where the WWE camera angle actually seems perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted March 8, 2017 Report Share Posted March 8, 2017 That was the best Orton match I've seen in at least a couple years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fakeplastictrees Posted March 8, 2017 Report Share Posted March 8, 2017 Looks like Alexa is defending her belt against every women on the Smackdown roster at Mania. *sigh* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted March 8, 2017 Report Share Posted March 8, 2017 Looks like Alexa is defending her belt against every women on the Smackdown roster at Mania. *sigh* It's lazy but I think the point was to set up a match that Naomi can logically get put in at the last minute without having to wait until the last minute to decide what the title match is going to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMJ Posted March 8, 2017 Report Share Posted March 8, 2017 On Taker/Reigns - Part of me feels like Vince is kind of showing his genius, or, at the very least, has stumbled into a really interesting dynamic. So, Taker is the ultimate babyface to many, of course, but the next 30 days are going to be filled with plenty of people talking about how Reigns should go over him, how Taker is a 1-match-a-year guy and that it is his time to put over someone other than Brock before he retires. And so, even though they might despise Reigns, these "smarts" who love to say things like "Booking 101 dictates..." will actually be rooting for Reigns because if they cheer Taker, they'd have to admit to themselves that they actually do want part-timers to win matches over "the future" and pretend there's a difference between Taker beating Reigns and Goldberg squashing Owens and The Rock beating CM Punk and Lesnar beating Ambrose etc. etc... Plus, as others have said, even if they don't fully turn Reigns, the more he veers in that direction, the more he'll be perceived as potentially turning and the less people will openly despise him. As Taker threw down the gauntlet, Reigns can spear him every week for the next 4 weeks, throw him threw a table, and dominate him and though it will get booed, there will also be a sense that these are heel actions - which means some people will like it because, if the feud were to be so one-sided, it would telegraph a Taker victory at Mania, which would, again, make some people even more rabid about wanting to see Taker lose! TLDR? If Reigns wins, he becomes de facto heel (which is what he is now much of the time) but gains some cred because beating Taker is a big deal. If Taker wins, Reigns gets some begrudging "smart" cred as a guy "held down" by part-timers. Win or lose, Reigns is the talk of RAW and has inched even closer to that "Most Controversial Star" territory that was Cena's tag for years. On Goldberg - Speaking of part-timers, I expect the Goldberg disapproval to only grow over the next 30 days. Goldberg grabbed headlines in November, but its March and he had a cameo role in is own championship win on Sunday. Lesnar's star has faded a bit too. This is beginning to sound a lot like what derailed their match a decade ago - and, at least at that time, Lesnar was still regarded as still being a capable worker when he was motivated. Nowadays? Lesnar's coming off a pretty disappointing 2016 where he put on stinkers against Ambrose and Orton. Essentially you got the WWE hoping Goldberg is able to maintain his current popularity level for the next month by probably hitting spears and jackhammers, but with each day, I think it will trickle down the way it often does with returning stars that don't really offer anything but nostalgia (see The Rock or Batista). The WrestleMania crowd is hard to read/hear due to the size of the stadiums, but that next night on RAW should be interesting when Goldberg and/or Lesnar show up... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted March 8, 2017 Report Share Posted March 8, 2017 I guarantee that writeup of Taker-Roman, while quite good, was putting way more thought into things than was actually done by Vince. He wants to give his boo another Mana Coronation Moment, and I don't think there's much more to it than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted March 8, 2017 Report Share Posted March 8, 2017 Yea Vince is dumb. He's old too. Old and dumb. Obviously the only thing that goes through his head is "Make Roman look strong" LOL. Dumb Vince. We all know he thought Roman was gonna get cheered when he came out at 30 in the Rumble. LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FMKK Posted March 8, 2017 Report Share Posted March 8, 2017 I guarantee that writeup of Taker-Roman, while quite good, was putting way more thought into things than was actually done by Vince. He wants to give his boo another Mana Coronation Moment, and I don't think there's much more to it than that. Maybe he wants to put Undertaker against the opponent that would get the most reaction from the crowd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcmmnx Posted March 9, 2017 Report Share Posted March 9, 2017 Man I wish the streak was still intact for roman to break. That would be a legendary meltdown from the smarks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted March 9, 2017 Report Share Posted March 9, 2017 When did "make the smarks melt down" replace "drawing money" as the main point of the wrestling business? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Redman Posted March 9, 2017 Report Share Posted March 9, 2017 Sometime around Daniel Bryan's whole deal, I imagine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stro Posted March 9, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2017 Smark meltdowns are more fun as a spectator sometimes. In this case, I think both would line up pretty well since there is nothing Taker gains from beating anyone on the roster at this point or at the time he lost the streak, so putting it on someone fans would get mad about and make a super top heel would have been nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Redman Posted March 9, 2017 Report Share Posted March 9, 2017 The reaction when Undertaker faced off with Braun and Roman individually was something. One match-up makes the crowd chant "HOLY SHIT!" at the very idea of them facing each other. The other makes the crowd boo vociferously in protest at the very idea of them facing each other. Guess which one we're getting. But mainly, Braun backing away from Undertaker is the stupidest fucking thing I ever saw. I did enjoy Samoa Joe using SDvsRaw on Playstation 2 Logic of "wrestle outside until the count gets to 9 and then knock him out and jump back in to win by countout" to beat Jericho, I laughed forever. Actually no, the best thing I saw this week was the girls thing on SD, where Nattie KILLS Becky with a German on her head, only for Mickie to top it by KILLING Alexa with a kick so badly that Alexa's head spun around on her shoulders like she was in a horror movie. That was awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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