Professional Wrestling (WWE, TNA, ROH, etc)

YouTube · by **Andrew** on Sun Apr 02, 2017 9:55 am

The 2017 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony was pretty awesome, some great speeches. Angle looked like he was having a lot of fun, good to see him back. I definitely wouldn't be surprised if he ends up wrestling at Summerslam.

YouTube · by **Lean** on Sun Apr 02, 2017 11:00 am

I love the speeches this year. DDP's was emotional. And it's nice to see Angle back, he definitely had fun during his speech.

Watching Takeover now, the new NXT Tag Team Championships look nice!

YouTube · by **Lean** on Sun Apr 02, 2017 12:02 pm

The new NXT Championship. The Women's title looks like this but smaller, and with an arch below the WWE logo that says "Women's."

EDIT: The new belts with a clearer render:

NXT Championship

NXT Women's Championship

NXT Tag Team Championship

The new belts look better than the previous ones, I like the Tag Team belts the best.

Meanwhile, Nigel McGuiness mistakenly said "...here on Ring of Honor" during the Almas-Black match.

YouTube · by **JaoSming** on Sun Apr 02, 2017 1:21 pm

Loved the matches from Eric Young's stable & Bobby Roode, and seeing Drew Galloway appearing was neat. Desmond Wolfe definitely flubbed that line but overall that was an awesome TNA PPV.

But seriously, fantastic matches all around. Amazing wrestling night that told great stories in the ring (seriously, the DIY/Revival teamup was goose-bump level stuff for me).

Hoping for a little bit more of a rebrand along with the belts to make the weekly stuff more watchable for me.

YouTube · by **Lean** on Sun Apr 02, 2017 3:49 pm

I love the part where they hesitated to team up and do DIY's finisher, then their other halves performing Shatter Machine. And the superplex to the outside!

Galloway will be on NXT. Shinsuke got an ovation after the show (they've posted it on YouTube), I really hope he goes to Smackdown instead because Raw has all of the former NXT Champions and look at what happened to some of them.

by **[Q]** on Mon Apr 03, 2017 6:57 am

The view from my seat

YouTube · by **Lean** on Mon Apr 03, 2017 7:07 am

Damn, Q! Seems like they got an insane set for Wrestlemania.

YouTube · by **Lean** on Mon Apr 03, 2017 8:35 am

The IC title match switched places with the Smackdown Women's title match on the pre-show.

YouTube · by **Andrew** on Mon Apr 03, 2017 9:17 am

Awesome. Have fun, Q! (Y)

And here we go...

YouTube · by **JaoSming** on Mon Apr 03, 2017 9:42 am

If you can't be last, be first. Holy fuck that match had no right to be as fun as it ended up being. That was awesome

YouTube · by **Andrew** on Mon Apr 03, 2017 9:51 am

Agreed. Shane is still a surprisingly excellent worker for a part-timer who was never a full-time wrestler in the first place. It certainly helps that he's in there with AJ Styles, but he held his own. And of course, the right person went over.

YouTube · by **Lean** on Mon Apr 03, 2017 10:24 am

AJ-Shane was unexpectedly nice.

I still cringe whenever the champion goes out first.

YouTube · by **Lean** on Mon Apr 03, 2017 10:28 am

If Sasha doesn't turn, I'll be disappointed.

YouTube · by **Andrew** on Mon Apr 03, 2017 10:35 am

I'm glad Charlotte didn't go over as that was getting old, but the match definitely lost momentum once Sasha was eliminated.

YouTube · by **Lean** on Mon Apr 03, 2017 10:35 am

Welp, that felt flat.

YouTube · by **Lean** on Mon Apr 03, 2017 10:56 am

DAT POP! MARVELOUS!

YouTube · by **JaoSming** on Mon Apr 03, 2017 11:12 am

Fuck that Owl

YouTube · by **Andrew** on Mon Apr 03, 2017 11:13 am

Definitely a mark out moment there. I know some people will be upset that Enzo and Cass didn't get the belts, but with a surprise Hardyz return, anything other than them winning the titles would've been a let down.

YouTube · by **Lean** on Mon Apr 03, 2017 12:45 pm

Has Bray ever won at Wrestlemania? Is this a reverse-Undertaker streak? Randy didn't need the win!

YouTube · by **JaoSming** on Mon Apr 03, 2017 1:05 pm

It's a payoff of the last half year of planning for his character. I'd rather him win and keep that rep for being methodical.

Brock/Goldbery was exactly what I wanted it to be. That was great

YouTube · by **Andrew** on Mon Apr 03, 2017 1:09 pm

Orton winning makes sense from a narrative standpoint, his deception paying dividends. Unfortunately it doesn't do anything for Wyatt, though at least they did something original with the creepy imagery.

Lesnar/Goldberg was probably their best match so far, though the bar is pretty low on that one. It was pretty good for what it was, but RAW's big belt is still on a part-timer. The whole point of the brand split was to give a deeper roster more TV time, big matches, and title opportunities. That goes out the window if Lesnar reigns for a long time, and barely defends it. From one booking mess to another, there.

YouTube · by **JaoSming** on Mon Apr 03, 2017 1:24 pm

INO, the main issue last time Lesnar was part-time and champion was they kept everything on-hold between defenses. Hopefully this time they keep everyone involved in good storylines between defenses....non-title storylines, I think, have been better on both brands since the split.

YouTube · by **Lean** on Mon Apr 03, 2017 1:43 pm

I see your point with Orton, but it just made Wyatt look less credible during bigger moments.

Part of me wished that Undertaker brought along his chopper for his entrance. AND DAMN IT'S GOOD TO HEAR JR AGAIN AT WRESTLEMANIA.

YouTube · by **Lean** on Mon Apr 03, 2017 2:01 pm

Roman better turn heel.

YouTube · by **JaoSming** on Mon Apr 03, 2017 2:14 pm

That was fucking amazing. Best WrestleMania ever. 7 hours plus of entertainment throughout. Great matches, great moments. I have no issues with any of the booking or really any of it.

Can't wait for tomorrow night.

YouTube · by **Andrew** on Mon Apr 03, 2017 2:18 pm

I wish it could've been someone else other than Reigns. I wish we could've had Sting/Taker a couple of years ago, instead of the match with HHH that no one wanted or needed. I wish he'd had a few more world title reigns, instead of people like JBL and the Great Khali. I wish his final match could've been better, with him in better health.

But he went out his way, the old school way, doing the best he could on a hip that desperately needs surgery. He gave the business everything he could, and then some. He's carved out an incredible legacy as a character and a performer, and given us a bunch of memories. He's perhaps the most respected person in the history of the business, and he's earned it.

Thank you, Undertaker.

YouTube · by **Lean** on Mon Apr 03, 2017 2:24 pm

Great Wrestlemania, overall. I'd say better than 31 and 32. I wish Undertaker faced AJ instead of Reigns for his last match. I felt bad seeing the Tombstone reversal botch.

Damn, an end of an era. Thank you, Undertaker.

by **[Q]** on Mon Apr 03, 2017 3:00 pm

Jesus, was that last match as terrible on TV as it was in person? Roman messed up a lot. Even on the finish it looked like undertaker was wondering WTF is he doing. Please tell me you could hear all the boos for Roman.

Biggest pop of the night was for the Hardys. Everyone lost it when they came out.

A lot of the matches seemed a bit shorter than expected, especially the first two. It left a lot to be desired. To me, it made what good have been great matches simply just good matches.

Was a little shocked when Aries and Corbin didn't win. Gronk and his entourage walked by right in front of us on the way to his spot in the front row for that match. I felt they were pretty conservative with match outcomes

It was weird that Charlotte and Alexa got more pyro than bayley did. Gave me a bad feeling for the match. Sasha lost pretty quickly and it did take the air out of the match after that.

Another cool part was seeing Kurt angle who's one of my all-time favorites and participating in the you suck chants

YouTube · by **Lean** on Mon Apr 03, 2017 3:21 pm

Those three attempted Tombstone reversals looked really bad. And that sequence before the final spear where Reigns went on the ropes then just stopped and just slapped Undertaker. I'm not sure if Reigns ran to the wrong side of the ring, or Undertaker forgot to look towards where Reigns ran.

The Smackdown Women's match felt really rushed, though. Ambrose and Corbin's match felt flat from the get-go, IMO. And it's also a shame that the best match in Aries and Neville was relegated to the pre-show.

YouTube · by **Andrew** on Mon Apr 03, 2017 3:34 pm

[Q] wrote:Jesus, was that last match as terrible on TV as it was in person? Roman messed up a lot. Even on the finish it looked like undertaker was wondering WTF is he doing. Please tell me you could hear all the boos for Roman.

They were quick to muffle them, but some boos definitely got through.

by **[Q]** on Mon Apr 03, 2017 8:09 pm

Oh and I agree the Lesnar Goldberg match went exactly as I hoped, which was nice

by **bigh0rt** on Tue Apr 04, 2017 12:29 am

Overall I thought the event was fun and enjoyable. Several matches felt rushed, and nothing was truly, truly amazing; but that doesn't mean it wasn't a good Mania.

I thought that Goldberg/Lesnar was as good as they could have possibly booked it. I had very low expectations, but it was well done.

I really still don't understand the direction with Reigns. He's acting like a heel. He's being booed like a heel. But they're drowning out the boos, still? If you're going to have him go over the Undertaker at Wrestle Mania and retire the legend, why not make the most of the opportunity? If the intent is not to have him be a heel, why do it in the first place? Perplexing, but really, par for the course when it comes to Roman. I'm in the minority here, but I'm glad to no longer have to watch the Taker. Every time I see him it just makes me miss the Taker I grew up with and loved watching in my younger years; not the nostalgic good feelings that others like Andrew get.

Styles v. Shane was very enjoyable. Probably the most enjoyable match of the night. Styles continues to be the best asset the company has, and I hope he's back in the Main Event picture soon, even if it isn't for the title; get him programs against other big performers (his entire feud with Cena was fantastic). I'd love to see Gallows and Anderson re-join him and have them wreak havoc as heels. Hopefully that's in the works. Either way, right now Styles > Everybody else.

Triple H v. Rollins was alright. They did a good job of making me forget entirely about the table that Stephanie ultimately went through. I'm just done watching Triple H wrestle. I hope he doesn't have a match at Mania next year, but something tells me I'll be disappointed. At the very least, throw him against another former star like The Rock, and not against a current big talent like Rollins, who could be better utilized elsewhere.

The Hardyz were obviously the biggest surprise of the night, and it was great to see them in a WWE ring. Hopefully there's some direction with them going forward.

Both Women's matches were very underwhelming, which lately has been a rarity. Like I had thought in my pre-show posts -- they jammed too many superstars into the matches to try and get them on the card, and the matches suffered as a result. They felt rushed.

I don't mine Wyatt jobbing yet again at Mania if they don't just dump him into some random feud for him to lose yet again tomorrow night. He's another guy who benefits greatly from having Harper and Rowan flanking him -- it was a bad idea to break them up initially, and it remains such.

What's next for Orton, do we think? Maybe Styles? I could see them putting on an entertaining program for a month or two. I suppose there's always The Miz or Ziggler they can always look to for a quick month or so.

Owens v. Jericho was a good match as well. Owens continues to be fun to watch. Hopefully there's some re-branding of the United States Championship to the Canadian Championship, unofficially, to make him more hateable to the fans. I'm not sure who he feuds with now that Jericho is stepping away for a bit. Rollins maybe? Looking over RAWs roster, there aren't a ton of big faces. Maybe Finn? Maybe they continue to force Reigns the face? Maybe yet another Sami Zayn? A call-up like Nakamura?

I'm glad Cena will be gone filming. Hopefully there will be a good angle for him to get into upon his return around SummerSlam? I'm looking into attending the event since it's in Brooklyn.

YouTube · by **Andrew** on Tue Apr 04, 2017 1:27 am

Don't get me wrong, I do get where you're coming from in regards to Taker. I would argue that up until a couple of years ago, he was still having pretty good matches. Age and injuries have obviously taken their toll on him, and it was time for him to hang it up. Vince has been coaxing him into working "one more match" for a few years now, and it's probably been a few matches too many, but he's more than earned a send-off and retirement tour. Again, he was still putting on good matches through to around 2012, and even his 2013 match with Punk was pretty good. But yeah, it's time, no question about that. I wish the match could've been better, but at least he got his moment post-match. On one hand I'm sorry to see him go, but on the other hand, I do think that it's good that he is calling it a day.

As for Reigns, I totally agree. HHH recently responded to a question about Reigns by saying "isn't he already a heel?", but the fact of the matter is, no, he's not. Not technically, anyway. He's getting a heel reaction, though it's tough to say how much of it is good heat, and how much of it is the infamous "X-Pac heat". The bigger issue is that he's not being presented or booked as a heel, especially when they continue to try and mask the boos. I don't think anyone's buying the spin they're trying to put on the mixed-at-best reactions. If they went with a fully-fledged heel turn, they could ride those reactions and make the most out of them. If they're concerned about merchandising sales, just look at the nWo and how much merch they sold back in the day, despite being the heels. They continue to bungle his push and character.

HHH can still go in the ring (unlike Taker), but I do think he needs to step back from the spotlight. Finally culminating the feud with Rollins was necessary though, and I'm glad he put him over, as he should have. The thing is though, I think both he and Stephanie are overexposed in on-screen authority figure roles as well. One of the reasons Smackdown's angles are better is that we have top heels clashing with face authority figures, which feels refreshingly old school. The heel authority figure has been around since the late 90s, and HHH and Stephanie do it in a way that makes most of the people they bully look weak. I guess you at least need one of them there to balance out Shane on Smackdown, but their act is stale.

YouTube · by **Lean** on Tue Apr 04, 2017 1:45 am

I give Undertaker credit for putting out great matches despite the lingering injuries and his age. But I do wish that he only lost once at Wrestlemania, and that one loss should have been it for him. I think he looked better physically last year when he had a match with Shane, this year you can tell he's in pain.

Some people tweeted that Taker's hat, jacket, and gloves were left in the ring after the show and while the crew takes down the ring.

EDIT:

As for Reigns, I don't get why they don't go full on turning him heel. They try to portray him as a wrestler with a "50-50" response when you can clearly hear the boos raining on him. Turning him heel probably won't endear him to fans, but at least the response would be fitting.

YouTube · by **Lean** on Wed Apr 05, 2017 1:17 pm

NAKAMURA ON SMACKDOWN!

by **[Q]** on Wed Apr 05, 2017 2:08 pm

Interesting note that WWE has been specifically calling out the "enthusiastic" fans booing Reigns and cheering Lesnar, etc. on both Smackdown and Raw broadcasts. I wonder if that Roman segment and the chants that Vince got will convince him that a Roman turn is necessary?

Looks like the Hardys will be their old selves again, and I don't think it's a bad thing. I think most people are familiar with the broken gimmick and so Matt might bust it out occasionally but he doesn't need to be in character 24/7 anymore. That also leaves the option of them going back to it later on when the legal issues are settled and splitting them into singles stars or allowing Matt to come up with something completely new and original.

YouTube · by **Andrew** on Wed Apr 05, 2017 9:06 pm

He posted an in-character Tweet claiming that the excitement over his homecoming has temporarily "contained" him. I think we'll see traces of it, and then perhaps a full blown run with it.

Meanwhile, Erick Rowan is back, and reunited with Bray Wyatt. The Wyatt Family has been splintered and reunited so many times it's getting a little silly, but the Wyatt character works better with a follower (or followers). Luke Harper is in the mix opposing them, but perhaps he'll end up turning on Orton.

by **[Q]** on Sat Apr 08, 2017 3:01 am

Shake up speculation?
What I think will happen:
AJ for Reigns- they've seemed to finally accept reigns as a heel or at least a boo magnet and he could build himself as the top heel on SD vs nakamura, Orton and co
Charlotte for Alexa- they've been really high on Alexa (unfortunately for me as a Becky fan) and could push her as top heel on raw.
New Day for American Alpha- AA stable with angle would be awesome. SD's tag division could use some help especially with the hardys on raw now
Zayn to SD and Kalisto to raw/205- kalisto could have a role on 205 like Neville as top face
What I wish would happen, but is unlikely to happen:
Cesaro to SD and becomes main event star
Charlotte does not dominate the SD women's belt for a year
Reigns becoming a full blown heel wherever he winds up
Nakamura to raw- he deserves to be on the bigger show

YouTube · by **Andrew** on Sat Apr 08, 2017 3:41 am

I reckon they'll keep Charlotte on the "A show", same goes for Reigns. I could see Styles going to RAW though, and turning face.

YouTube · by **DaCrispy** on Tue Apr 11, 2017 5:13 am

2 Holy Shit moments of my week

Finn Balor appears on Monday Night Raw and beats Samoa Joe and Kevin Owens

Shinzuke Nakamura's appears on smack down in the most epic way possible!!!

YouTube · by **JaoSming** on Tue Apr 11, 2017 5:28 am

To Smackdown
Charlotte is my guess....maybe Emma too?
New Day
Cien
Zayn
Hopefully Cesaro
And Hopefully some top guy to replace AJ/Miz.... Seth? Hell, give me Joe on SD.

To Raw
AJ
Ziggler
Miz
Bliss
Becky
Rhyno & Slater
Elias Sampson

YouTube · by **JaoSming** on Tue Apr 11, 2017 12:50 pm

Can't say I'm too excited for Smackdown tomorrow with pretty much everyone who was good going to Raw.....still waiting for AJ to show up though

YouTube · by **Andrew** on Tue Apr 11, 2017 12:52 pm

Bray moving to RAW also telegraphs the ending to his title rematch with Orton...unless of course, Lesnar gets moved to Smackdown.

YouTube · by **Lean** on Tue Apr 11, 2017 6:37 pm

I was able to catch a portion of Raw earlier before I left for an interview. So basically, did Raw just took everyone that made Smackdown good?

YouTube · by **DaCrispy** on Tue Apr 11, 2017 6:38 pm

I think everyone is forgetting that were gonna be getting some comebacks!!!

I will cry if Rey Mysterio returns to Smack down with his original song and entrance from the early 2000's

Lol :lol:

YouTube · by **Andrew** on Tue Apr 11, 2017 6:48 pm

Lean wrote:I was able to catch a portion of Raw earlier before I left for an interview. So basically, did Raw just took everyone that made Smackdown good?

It wouldn't be the first time that's happened with roster changes, but we are admittedly yet to see who'll be put on Smackdown to balance things out.

It's really weird, though. Both this time around and during the first brand extension, they wanted to present Smackdown as being on equal footing and replicate the competition that hasn't existed since WCW went under, but then they undermine Smackdown by stacking the RAW roster with talent movement. Again, we should reserve judgement until we see how things play out with Smackdown, but it wouldn't surprise me if they messed up.

YouTube · by **JaoSming** on Wed Apr 12, 2017 2:06 am

DaCrispy wrote:I think everyone is forgetting that were gonna be getting some comebacks!!!

Yay, Byron Saxton.

by **[Q]** on Wed Apr 12, 2017 6:31 am

I honestly don't agree with those saying raw took "all that made SmackDown good".

I've never liked the miz but admittedly his Cena stuff has been pretty funny.

Ambrose and Bray have been midcarders/lower main eventers almost their whole time after the split.

Glad to see Alexa gone as she was stealing Becky's spotlight.

But I mean seems like they moved everybody that they didn't have anything going on for. What's going to happen to the IC belt? I expected them to drop it to Corbin at mania

I really enjoy watching AJ work. Becky and Corbin have been good as well. Would like to see Cesaro come over, maybe even Sasha too. And nakamura is there now, so there's not really many people I like to watch on raw. Owens/y2j will continue to be my only reason to watch

YouTube · by **DaCrispy** on Wed Apr 12, 2017 7:51 am

Can I remind people smackdown now has Shinsuke Nakamura and Tye Dillinger!!!!!!

YouTube · by **Andrew** on Wed Apr 12, 2017 10:45 am

Figured Owens would be going to Smackdown after Ambrose went to RAW. It's like when Cena went to RAW in 2005; you knew Batista had to be going to Smackdown, so that there could be a world champion on both shows without a sudden title change that went against their plans to have both guys hold onto the belts for a while. In all fairness, it probably does create intrigue for younger fans who aren't as critical of the product or aware of the usual tropes and narrative structure.

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