Official WWE/TNA Wrestling Thread

What sbout Rollins cashing in, but over Brock. Works if Brock leaves or stays. Brock vs the Authority has potential, if he's coming back. If not, what happens if he cashes in mid match? If that hasn't been addressed, then he could cash in, take the belt, Reigns gets the win, but isn't Champ.

 

No I wouldn't put Rollins over Brock at that point in time. I think if Brock beats Reigns at WM then when Brock finally loses the belt it will really mean something and you'd want to save that for another PPV and really build up his challenger instead of it being a flukey way like a MiTB cash in.

 

I think a long build of Brock trying to get his shot at the title would work. Rollins ducking Brock, Authority protecting Rollins, etc... Keeps the title on camera and Brock relavant, whether Brock is working or not. Think about a MiTB with Brock, determined to get his shot, and the Authority determined to stop him. Add Reigns to the Mix too.

 

That RAW before Mania was god awful.

 

I liked the Sting-HHH stuff. Wished they would have had Sting speak earlier than tonight, though. Dude just connects with his audience.

The ending with Brock/Reigns was god awful. It was such an obvious video/photo op to use before their match on Sunday. The IC title match is going to be fun. And the rest of pretty pedestrian.

Unrelated news...rumors are flying that AJ Lee and CM Punk have called it quits already.

 

At least the WWE is being consistent.

 

You know...that last segment was so easy to write.

Here is the setup...the same...but with plenty of "security" to surround the two...You want the photo op? Sure...let them wrestle for the belt for about 4 seconds to get the shot....you then have Reigns smile..... let go of the belt and Mouth "have it for now" as Lesnar stares back at him with hatred and a look of murder on his face. (The ole' poke the bear angle...)..you then have Reigns mouth something else that sets Lesnar off and Lesnar goes nuts as he gets tackled by security...Reigns walks away smiling.....

When Reigns is gone....Lesnar is let go by security and Lesnar proceeds to destroy the set as they go off the air.

You accomplish adding a little heat to the obvious Heal turn for Reigns...and you also get the satisfaction of the eventual face and soon to be huge crowd favorite (Lesnar) going into a murderous rage. Maybe even mix in a feat of strength like Lesnar picking up the stairs and tossing them 30 feet. Maybe even have him destroy the ring...who knows...

You see..that segment wasn't hard to write.

 

Those two sentences are the reason why so many people have no faith in the direction of the product. The WWE has what 20 to 30 writers and that's the best they can come up with? I'm not saying writing 6 plus hours of TV is an easy thing to do but it's the easy lay ups that they consistently screw up.

This has been one of the worst if not the worse built WM in history. I have no clue what the issues/storylines are for the Sting/Triple H match or the Bray/Undertaker match, there's been zero development in the Brock/Reigns match, no one really cares about the Divas match or battle royal and there's no story with the IC title match except the WWE wants to give the fans a good match with crazy spots because they know the rest of the card could be bad. The only matches that have been built decently have been the Orton/Rollins match and Cena/Rusev match.

I have no to low expectations going into WM, I personally think it's going to be a fairly blah PPV so with low expectations maybe the WWE will surprise me and put on a good PPV since what Summer Slam/MiTB?

 

RAW was okay, Ziggler beating Bryan clean was cool.....but Ambrose dancing with Truth? WTF?!

Shameus will be winning the ic title or andrea the giant battle royal. Which sucks. Unless hes a huge heel which is okay.

The Rusev stuff was great. Dude is a monster.

Reigns/Brock was a ****ing joke......it was pedaled to 6 year olds. But guess what? My 7 year old son yelled "jeez hit him! dont let him take your belt!!!" when we watched it this morning. So well done WWE.

I hope reigns/lesnar is like the 3rd match Sunday.....Id rather watch every single other match. Which is pathetic for WM

 

I said it multiple times in this thread that the WWE has done a great job killing all of Ambrose's heat since the fall when he was red hot and probably the 2nd most popular in the company behind Cena. They really had an anti-hero similar to Austin that the company had lacked for a long time (maybe since Austin retired) and it was organic as his character was completely different from everyone else on the roster. People really wanted to get behind him and where behind him and then the WWE cut his legs out from under him by turning him into a goof. And Vince has the nerve to say the wrestlers on the roster aren't hungry enough to reach for that gold brass ring.

And please no Sheamus, even heel Sheamus is bad. Like Big Show/Kane level bad. But you're right, he's probably going to win whatever match he's put in.

 

Brock Lesnar is on Sportscenter in the next 5 minutes.

 

Lesnar retired with UFC and resigned with WWE

 

Breaking News: Brock Lesnar has retired from MMA, and has signed a longterm deal with the WWE.

Roman Reigns...that's your ***.

 

I think the WWE should have kept this a secret until after WM, it would have built in more suspense and drama for the main event. Now that Brock is staying the best bet for the WWE would be to keep the title on him and put the U.S. and IC titles on Cena and Bryan and make them mean something so when Brock is away they have titles that are important being defended.

 

Good.

Brock's legacy could only be tarnished by going back, in my opinion. He can now continue to do his guest appearances (hopefully a little more frequently) and scare the bejesus out of little kids for years. I hope he retains on Sunday.

Also, I agree somewhat on Ambrose. The dancing seemed out of character and I thought it was going to lead to him hitting dirty deeds to end the segment. Odd that it didn't. Especially considering he did it later with Ziggler, a fellow face. IT was very Stone Cold-esque, in that regard, which is a good thing.

But I also disagree that his heat is gone. The guy still gets great pops, is involved with a major storyline on their top show of the year and is being used in promotional posters across my hometown (Wrestlemania) this week. He is just fine, in his current role. I hate the jeans and wife beater wrestling attire though. Seeing him in the ring with Luke Harper was sort of jarring. Both wearing the same thing, but looking completely different. Like some sort of bizarro tag team.

 

So Brock/Rock has the be the early favorite for the WM32 main event right?

 

how long you think WWE keeps title on Brock. I think you can keep it on him, and make IC/US title mean something having Cena/Bryan win those

 

My thought is that Rock is done, but perhaps you are right. If Taker's last ride is WM32, then I have to believe he is in the main event in his home state.

This has been the rumor for awhile as to why Cena/Bryan are pursuing those titles. Higher profile wrestlers holding those belts and defending them regularly while Brock sits at home with the big belt.

 

Vince needs a big main event match to really sell the show and he originally wanted a Rock/Brock match for WM30. I think it all depends on Rock's availability because if Vince wants it he'll dump a bunch of money at him. Because right now I don't think he has that big match draw.

 

One suggested storyline going around the internet is for a double turn at the end of WM with Brock beating Reigns and Reigns flipping out and attacking Brock with Ambrose and Rollins coming out to help, hitting Brock with the Triple Powerbomb and Rollins cashing in and winning the title and thus The Shield is reformed and are heels.

While it would be interesting there would have to be a lot of explaining to do with why The Shield decided to reform etc. Personally still think Brock should win the match and hold the belt for a long long time.

 

I never understood, why the WWE never wants to publicize their "big" contract signings (the real ones).

Let me explain.

Sportscenter got the Lesnar announcement. They put it in their PRIME eyeball slot, which is the last segment of the first hour. You don;t think they sold that?

I think Vince convinces himself that the publicity he gets is worth the tradeoff of eyeballs and money. he even gave a rub to Bill Simmons on Raw and shows Beadle every chance he gets on TV, while also booking guests on her ESPN2 show.

The Lesnar announcement was best kept for a big "announcement" for Smackdown, complete with a Vince McMahon appearance and ceremonial contract signing.

and yes...Sportscenter does not do even half the numbers Smackdown does.

 

I could see Rock coming out to screw Brock....Reigns winning.....Rock/Brock non-title build for WM 32.....Rollins cash in on Reigns....they get a feud....

 

Outside of Brock Lesnar and The Rock, what other wrestler would generate a big announcement on signing a contract that would get the average/casual fan to care? Would people really care about Samoa Joe type or someone from TNA or Japan signing with the WWE to warrant valuable WWE TV time? The WWE signed Kenta and put it on their website and I really think that's good enough. You put them on RAW for the announcement and there's simply no pay off to it because they put the guy in developmental/NXT for months/years and by the time they get called up fans have forgotten about it so it's wasted TV time. If anything the WWE should put contract signing news on the Network where they announce we just signed this new superstar "Joey Samoa" and talk about how he wrestled as Samoa Joe in ROH and TNA etc and maybe have a quick 5 minute sit down interview with him and that's it.

As far as putting Brock on ESPN for the announcement, I think it was smarter to do that instead of Smackdown (although you could make the argument that an announcement like that would never be on a taped show) because Brock is a household name and a legit "real" athlete. By putting him on ESPN the minute he announced he was coming back it was picked up by tons of media outlets and more people saw/heard about that announcement then they would have if it happened on RAW. If it happened on RAW it probably wouldn't have even been mentioned by 98% of the outlets it reached yesterday. The people that watch RAW watch it all the time so the announcement would have done little to pop the rating, but with Brock going on ESPN it seems like a bigger deal and it reminds the average/casual fan that "hey Wrestlemania is this Sunday let's check it out". Don't forget you can always still have that big contract signing the night after WM with Vince etc.

This is one time that I think the WWE made the smart decision of announcing it on another show/channel not controlled by them. Personally I wouldn't have announced a deal was in place until AFTER WM but what's done is done.

 

Some post WM feud news according to Meltzer:

The plan right now is for the Cena/Rusev feud over the US title to continue even after WM. Bryan and Ziggler will feud over the IC title and Reigns and Rollins will feud over the WWE title.

Also Brock signed a 3 year deal and got a slight raise over his previous contract but no other details yet on the other terms.

Meltzer also mentions that the current plans for the WM32 main event is Brock/Rock but it all depends n Rock's film schedule.

 

If it's a Rollins cash in on Brock, I think it's stupid but I'm almost okay with it. If it's Roman winning and then Rollins cashing in, I'm not okay with it but I understand. If Roman outright wins ... then why did they pay Brock so much money?

 

Rollins has to cash in. He ****ing has to. Ill take him leaving with the belt out of any other situation. Slimey Authority backed heel champion, on tv every week, will be gold, and a breath of fresh air.

 

I have no desire to see Rock vs. Brock. But the mainstream appeal is probably too much to pass up. And I imagine the build up would be spectacular if they can get Rock to commit to some dates and physicality.

I wouldn't be opposed to Undertaker getting his win back against Brock to end his career, but I imagine the match would be fugly and may not be a ton of fun to watch.

I still wish the would consider Bryan vs. Brock. Perhaps Summerslam?

 

Rumors of Ambrose getting a big push into summer slam.......wonder if they're aiming for a shield triple threat for the title? Would probably bring the house down.

 

The WWE needs to fill a 100k football stadium so they really need a big match or matches to really sell it and the only realistic "dream" matches left are Brock/Rock (yes I realize they wrestled at Summer Slam 2002 and it was a pretty good match), Cena/Undertaker and I guess Sting vs. Undertaker/Cena. You can bet that Vince will try his hardest to get Austin and HBK back for matches as well.

I really have no desire to see another Brock/Taker match because like you said the match at WM30 was kind of blah, although you could make the case it was because of Taker physically beat up. Who knows what kind of shape Taker will be in Sunday or even at this time next year.

I do think a Cena/Undertaker match might be the best way to go as they only wrestled once or twice in 2003ish maybe and say what you want about Cena but he can carry a match. A still undefeated Undertaker vs. Cena would have had a ton of drama in it.

It's also too bad we couldn't get a time machine to the mid 90s and bring in HBK and Sting for a match.

As far as Bryan/Brock, it really should have happened at this year's WM but I'm down for a Summer Slam match, although it would probably be a semi-squash. With Brock being around for another 3 years you'd have to bet he'll face at some point Bryan, Orton, Rollins, Ambrose, Bray, Reigns again, Kevin Owens, etc. I still don't understand why the WWE has such a low opinion on Bryan but that's Vince for you.

 

That certainly would be an interesting match on paper, wonder if they will hold off for WM next year though.

 

If WM 32 looked something like this:

Rock/Brock

Ambrose/Rollins/Reigns WHC

Cena/Austin

HBK / Bryan

Taker / Sting

Wyatt / Rusev IC Title

I'd be all for it!

 

Yeah that's not a bad card at all.

 

HBK Bryan would be sick.

 

I think that the Wyatt/Taker and Sting/HHH matches will go a long ways towards Vince making the decision to roll out Sting/Taker at Wrestlemania Star. Sting will be 57 and Taker will be 51 by that time ... not exactly young by any stretch of the imagination. You would have to think that the match would probably be a pretty slow and plodding affair - Sting has never exctly been the greatest worker, and Taker looked completely lost against Brock last year (although, to be fair, he was probably concussed). It'll be interesting to see how well they both do on Sunday - if they look old (which, they are), then they may be better off doing something other than a match.

 

I personally think a Sting/Undertaker match would be a disaster from everything you mentioned above. Both guys at this stage in their careers need to work with someone that can carry them otherwise the match would be slow paced and sloppy. I really don't understand the hype for a Sting/Undertaker match anyway, besides from the obvious they never wrestled each other before, I mean even in their prime I don't think it would have been a particularly good match to begin with.

 

The only way I could see it is a tag match, so they can get the hot tag and not carry the thing. However, no way that happens.

 

Yeah, I don't see the Undertaker's last match being a tag match. I could be wrong though.

 

I really hope that Taker's last match is him somehow winning the World Title, and then leaving the urn, hat and title in the ring, along with his boots. If that is what happens next year at WM, then I won't complain.

As for Sting, I think this might be close to it for him. I think the program has been booked pretty solidly with HHH and the production and editing of videos, music, etc. has been top notch (with the exception of that weird voice over) so maybe he is inspired to stick around, but physically, he looks close to done. I wouldn't mind seeing him stay around as a manager, or second to a younger guy, or maybe as an agent, but I think we may see a rough match this Sunday and as such, maybe his last in ring performance.

 

I'd like to see Sting start a stable and be the leader of it, like a cult leader, letting younger guys go in the ring....as he's still awesome on the mic and his interactions are top notch.

 

I don't know I can't picture Sting as a manager or hanging around outside a random appearance or so. Maybe it's just me but he's never been good on the mike and his crow gimmick worked best when he was a loner and never spoke.