Professional Wrestling (WWE, TNA, ROH, etc)

[Oznogrd]

Thoughts on the Final Deletion?

Also not sure if i've already plugged but you guys should listen to my podcast..or tell other wrestling fans about it...

[Andrew]

I don't watch TNA, but I heard about it and thought I'd check it out. I didn't come away feeling very impressed, to be honest.

[Oznogrd]

I don't watch TNA, but I heard about it and thought I'd check it out. I didn't come away feeling very impressed, to be honest.

I just accepted it for what it was: The Hardys with no leash and lots of cocaine. The wrestling in it was awful. The rest i found campy entertaining. I liked how jeff was this "country" dad character for no reason and matt doing the odd accent but then dropping it to say "oh shit". It was ludicrous for the sake of ludicrous. Which was great.

Kinda been underwhelmed by RAW lately. Pretty much only interrested in the Enzo and Cass and Zayn/Owens storylines

[[Q]]

SHINSUKE vs FINN TOMORROW NIGHT
Probably won't meet the extremely high bar set by the zayn mat h but should still be very good.

There was so much buzz about final deletion that WWE copied them lol. Once that happened I had to check it out. Wound up skipping through most of it. Looked like some shitty backyard wrestling on a bigger budget. They botched the tree spot too which could have been the highlight of the whole thing. I did like the fighting in the water until some weird shit happened then I skipped to the end

[Andrew]

I don't watch TNA, but I heard about it and thought I'd check it out. I didn't come away feeling very impressed, to be honest.

I just accepted it for what it was: The Hardys with no leash and lots of cocaine. The wrestling in it was awful. The rest i found campy entertaining. I liked how jeff was this "country" dad character for no reason and matt doing the odd accent but then dropping it to say "oh shit". It was ludicrous for the sake of ludicrous. Which was great.

Kinda been underwhelmed by RAW lately. Pretty much only interrested in the Enzo and Cass and Zayn/Owens storylines

That seems to be a popular opinion, which is absolutely fine. I can see how it would be entertaining from that angle, I guess I just wasn't in the mood for it.

Kinda sad that WWE went and copied it for The Wyatt Family vs. The New Day, though. I guess they meant it as a rib as much as anything else, but if they're going to try bad/off-the-wall ideas, I'd rather they be their own, or at least try to be a bit more original.

[Lean]

Man that Balor-Nakamura match. It's a shame that it wasn't on Takeover, but the way things were scheduled (this episode being aired today, a week before the Draft) makes me think that Balor is gonna get called up. Hopefully Vince finds him worthy to hold the title -- I mean, the demon gimmick is very marketable.

The match itself was nice. Although the way how Zayn-Nakamura went, it was just tough to beat. Takeover could have been the best way to send Balor off.

I'll watch episode 1 of the Cruiserweight Classic later.

[Lean]

The Cruiserweight Classic feels like a legit sports program. I'm just not sold on the logo they use.

First episode was nice, great matches all through-out. And KOTA IBUSHI!!!

I also love Mauro Ranallo on commentary. I wish that he'd be paired up with Corey Graves.

[bigh0rt]

Balor v Nakamura was an enjoyable watch. I missed Zayn v Nakamura, I'll have to catch that later. Has Nakamura lost yet since debuting on NXT? None that I can recall. He's gotta ditch that mouthpiece. Has real superstar potential.

The opening 4 matches of CWC were very enjoyable. I especially enjoyed Kota Ibushi's work.

[Lean]

I think Nakamura at least needs to switch to a white mouthpiece. And I also think he's still undefeated. And now he's the new #1 contender to Samoa Joe.

I missed Zayn v Nakamura

It was awesome!

[JaoSming]

He's gotta ditch that mouthpiece.

I wouldn't get your hopes of of the mouthpiece going anywhere when he's in-ring.


So evidently the leaked Smackdown GM will be Daniel Bryan

Does anyone not see Stephanie picking HHH for the Raw GM?


....still somewhat hopeful for a more IWC/NXT based Smackdown and mainstream Raw after the draft with NXT's tapings no Finn, Tye, or Nia Jax might mean they're getting called up, hopefully Bayley too to team with Sasha next weekend My ideal would be Shane drafting Samoa Joe & Asuka and have them become the new Smackdown champions but again, nothing in the NXT tapings would lend credence to that



Absolutely loved the sports feel of CWC. NXT + CWC is a hell of a back to back.


oh, also checked out TNA this week. The broken Matt Hardy stuff isn't doing it for me, but the rest of the show is pretty damn good. In-ring and booking-wise....commentary is

[Lean]

Some are even pointing out that Nikki Bella will be Sasha's tag partner. DANG I HOPE NOT. I really hope it's Bayley. It would make sense since her feud with Asuka could be her last with NXT.

[[Q]]

Balor v Nakamura was an enjoyable watch. I missed Zayn v Nakamura, I'll have to catch that later. Has Nakamura lost yet since debuting on NXT? None that I can recall

Bruh, you need to stop everything and watch it. I think it was better due to the anticipation for his first match, plus it was a bigger venue so when the crowd got into it, the atmosphere was electric.
I think he'll stay undefeated and be hotshotted to the title like Owens because his popularity is just undeniable at this point. I think the mouthpiece is cool, I wish he'd take the damn thing out when he talks lol

I thought it was a good move using the Nakamura-Finn match as the lead-in for the CWC. There's a very good chance that Finn will be drafted. Kota Ibushi was cool, but to me his work leans on his great in-ring ability but his character/personality seems a bit tame. Maybe it's from just watching too much Nakamura. Hell, I even prefer Hideo Itami to Ibushi

I wish that he'd be paired up with Corey Graves.

Good god that guy is the worst ever. okay, maybe second to Striker but he's pretty bad.

[JaoSming]

So they put out the available wrestlers and rules for the draft.... teams stay together unless the GM only wants one (Wyatts not listed as a team), there will be 6 callups from NXT.....and the silliest one in kayfabe....Raw gets the #1 pick, and since it's the longer show, gets 3 picks for every 2 Smackdown picks.....

Men
AJ Styles
Alberto Del Rio
Apollo Crews
Baron Corbin
Big Show
Braun Strowman
Bray Wyatt
Brock Lesnar
Cesaro
Chris Jericho
Darren Young (w/ Bob Backlund)
Dean Ambrose – WWE Champion
Demon Kane
Dolph Ziggler
Erick Rowan
Jack Swagger
John Cena
Kalisto
Kevin Owens
Mark Henry
Neville
Randy Orton
Roman Reigns
Rusev (w/ Lana) – United States Champion
Sami Zayn
Seth Rollins
Sheamus
Sin Cara
The Miz (w/ Maryse) – Intercontinental Champion
Titus O’Neil
Zack Ryder

Teams
Breezango (Fandango and Tyler Breeze)
Enzo and Cass (Enzo Amore and Big Cass)
Gallows and Anderson (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson)
Golden Truth (Goldust and R-Truth)
Shining Stars (Epico and Primo)
Social Outcasts (Bo Dallas, Curtis Axel and Heath Slater)
The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor)
The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley)
The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) – Tag Team Champions
The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso)
The Vaudevillains (Aiden English and Simon Gotch)

Women
Alicia Fox
Becky Lynch
Charlotte – WWE Women’s Champion
Dana Brooke
Eva Marie
Naomi
Natalya
Paige
Sasha Banks
Summer Rae





I'm still interested and hopeful for the draft and this making both shows more interesting.....but I don't even want to bother getting my hopes up with a fantasy mock draft.

But for NXT callups, I'm guessing..... Finn Balor, Bayley, Nia Jax, Tye Dillinger, American Alpha, and The Revival.

And screw it, I say they breakup the Dudleys again, Breezango, and probably Enzo and Cass.

[Andrew]

I've read that HHH and Stephanie were pushing hard for her to get kayfabe control of RAW, because it's the A show, and they weren't happy that Vince was originally leaning towards Shane being in control of it. So much for Stephanie's comments on Jericho's podcast that she'd love to have Shane back in the company...not to mention selling Smackdown as being on equal footing.

[Lean]

It was funny story-wise that Shane and Steph are both clamoring to be the head of Smackdown when Raw is the A show.

Raw gets the #1 pick, and since it's the longer show, gets 3 picks for every 2 Smackdown picks.....

[[Q]]

Yeah it really didn't make much sense to have them both gunning for smackdown but I guess they kayfabe assumed it would allow them to control both shows?

Not sure if revival make it up since they just won back the titles or if that even matters. I'm thinking Finn, bayley, nia, American alpha, tye, and alexa bliss get called up. They all seem like the most polished and ready (not currently holding or feuding for a title)

This would be a great time to bring out the bully ray character whether they split up the Dudleys or not.

I'm assuming champ shows up on both shows?

Have they been teasing a new day split?

Would love to see Finn insert himself into the cena/club storyline somehow at the ppv

Should the women have a second title or a tag title?

[Lean]

Honestly, I was hoping for a Bayley debut on Battleground as Sasha's mystery tag partner.

[Andrew]

I'm against two world titles because I think it cheapens the accomplishment and doesn't make sense when it's still technically the same company, but sounds like that's the direction they'll be going in.

[JaoSming]

Honestly, I was hoping for a Bayley debut on Battleground as Sasha's mystery tag partner.

According to Sasha.....

phpBB [video]

I'm against two world titles because I think it cheapens the accomplishment and doesn't make sense when it's still technically the same company, but sounds like that's the direction they'll be going in.

Not sure if revival make it up since they just won back the titles or if that even matters.......
Should the women have a second title or a tag title?

I still like the idea of bringing up Joe, Revival, and Asuka and have them be the new champs for Smackdown....but NXT taping spoilers though.....

This would be a great time to bring out the bully ray character whether they split up the Dudleys or not.

phpBB [video]

[Andrew]

I still think the Dudleyz are pretty entertaining, face or heel. I know putting older names on TV has become a controversial practice, but their skill as workers and standing in the business can greatly benefit younger talent in helping to sharpen their skills, and get them over.

[JaoSming]

So, from Raw Foley on Raw and Bryan on Smackdown, and Cruiserweights will be featured on Raw.

I'm optimistic. Should be a good place for Dillinger and help change the mood of the weekly 3 hours.

[Lean]

Rollins is now a three-time champion.

EDIT: Ambrose is still champion after that "controversial" finish. Man I hate that they have to put things in "controversial" fashion.

[[Q]]

Well, they had nothing better than to create "controversy" for the lead-in to the draft show without really changing anything. Plus, Roman's suspension isn't up yet so their hands were tied.

seeing DB back was awesome. you know it's been killing him to not be out there and he seemed genuinely happy to be involved in some capacity since he can't wrestle anymore.

[Andrew]

Contrived ending to the show, but Foley and Bryan as the GMs certainly has potential.

[JaoSming]

That kind of writing still on Raw makes me scared for the cruiserweights..... Smackdown got the NXT writers.

My guess is that Dean is drafted to Smackdown and wins on Sunday. Stephanie gives the new World Heavyweight title to Rollins, but Foley makes him earn it vs Reigns. Or something. I dunno.

Kinda sorta looking forward to tonight still.