Professional Wrestling (WWE, TNA, ROH, etc)

[Andrew]

I'm guessing they use it to shake up the lower card, probably have Billie and Peyton on separate shows (and other similar angle-based/character retooling reshuffling), and maybe have some token midcard moves to make it feel important.

[[Q]]

It's funny that they feel like they need a draft to switch people around when they already have random "trades", or hell just whenever the Miz wants you to switch shows.

I guess that gives writers a source of material for one day, where their job is somewhat easier

[Lean]

Draft's tomorrow. Here's to hoping that Smackdown keeps asshole Reigns. It kinda sucks because I just started watching Smackdown again because of the Alexa/Fiend and Chief Reigns storylines, and with the draft coming I have a gut feeling that Smackdown loses both storylines if some of them if not all involved in the storyline would get moved to Raw. Although I am sure of one thing, though: AJ Styles won't be in the same brand Reigns would be in because of Heyman.

Meanwhile, I finally have the stock simulated leather of the replica NXT championship replaced with a leather strap, and it actually does make it better:



The dude that made the strap manually stamped all those details and added a layer of smooth leather at the back to cover up the bolts.

[Andrew]

Some of the angles are starting to get messy again. They really need to storyboard things, especially with such a big roster these days.

Speaking of which, Billie Kay and Peyton Royce wrestled each other again on Main Event, despite being forced to split and not actually turning on each other. So at this point, I'm going to say that Vince cooled on Peyton's singles push, has forgotten about the two of them, and they split for no reason as the women's tag division descends into terrible shape with a bland face version of The Riott Squad, a team in Lana and Natalya that keeps getting squashed, and thrown together teams comprised of women they have no plans for, including the current champions. It's exactly what I feared it would be, making the sacrifice of one of the most entertaining acts in the company all for nothing. So, typical WWE booking and writing, basically.

On the bright side, it was a pretty decent match. Not quite up to their PWA clashes, but they actually got to wrestle properly, at least by the standards of the "WWE Playbook".

[Lean]

One of them should be moved to Smackdown. The one that gets moved gets a decent run at least, while the one who'll remain on Raw will be in limbo. I really hope those who are not being used properly has the option to go back to NXT like Breeze/Fandango, Balor and now Ember. There's just too many people.

With NXT, I am not fond of their current active roster aside from Balor, Io, Rhea, Shotzi and the UE. Gargano doesn't feel right as heel, same with Candice. And Ciampa may have had his run but I feel like he's not as hot as he was when he first turned heel.

[Andrew]

There's a chance the Draft sorts things out, but I'm still not optimistic. I do think the problem is that all the attention goes to a handful of angles, leaving the rest of the roster in a holding pattern, and that not enough is planned out ahead. What's happened with The IIconics is a symptom of a larger problem with WWE's booking and writing. They're not the first and won't be the last to suffer from it.

Also forgot to mention, the belt looks really cool.

[Lean]

Thanks, Andrew. I'm looking to have that mounted to my wall this weekend. I'm looking to get the Undisputed V2 next, but I'm not in a hurry.

It's surprising that they split up the New Day even when they just won the tag belts from Cesaro and Nakamura, and it's also surprising that the reactions are mostly against it because I remember people pitching that E moves away from the New Day so that he could have a serious singles run(then again people may have had a change of heart since Kofi had a singles run and even won the heavyweight championship while still being in the group.

I have a theory though, and it's a very petty one: what if they're splitting groups because of the deal with CFO$? Surely E would get a new theme after thisand Kofi and Woods might get a theme of their own. They split the Iiconics and then they have their own themes and got rid of their old ones because of that.

[Andrew]

Yeah, I'd much rather they stay together and support each other in singles runs. That's kind of a running thought I have with some of the break-ups we've seen this year, as you can probably tell.

I've seen that suggestion about replacing music from CFO$ being behind the shake-ups and break-ups of teams, and while it may be cynical and perhaps even a bit paranoid...I honestly couldn't rule it out. On one hand, they could very easily just give people new music without splitting up teams and changing gimmicks, as it's not like that hasn't happened before. On the other hand, it seems to be the year of break-ups, so you do have to wonder if that's their "solution".

Beyond that though, we saw the usual lack of logic and consistency in the Draft. Some stables and teams were drafted as a package, others as individuals, and some who aren't officially a team as such - like Rey and Dominik Mysterio - got drafted together. I know, I know, it's pro wrestling and it's not supposed to be super deep or high art, but a bare minimum of consistency and continuity wouldn't go astray.

[[Q]]

random thought: it was cool they did the women's tag titles, but arr they in need of women's mid card titles? singles scene has been dominated by horsewomen and Asuka for the past 2 years. it makes me feel like there's no point in following or getting behind someone who is an up and comer like Peyton or Zelina

[Andrew]

I think at this point it would be overkill. The tag titles are basically midcard titles for the women's division, and they've just broken up a bunch of teams over the past few weeks, creating singles wrestlers who are going to have trouble breaking through the glass ceiling because of the way Asuka and the 4HW are booked. And if anyone else does get an opportunity, stans of those five cry because someone else is getting some shine for a change.

Don't get me wrong, the 4HW and Asuka are great and deserve to get pushes, title runs, and the like. But there's more talent in the division than a lot of people give it credit for. A lot of the women, especially those with extensive experience on the indies, don't get to show the extent of their abilities thanks to their booking.

[[Q]]

So Andrew, how pissed are you that they broke up the Iconics only to team up Peyton with... Lacey Evans??

Not sure if that pairing is better or worse than the equally exciting pairing of Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke

[Andrew]

I'm obviously not thrilled, but sadly, I'm not shocked. They clearly had no actual plan in place when they split The IIconics, or if they did, they quickly changed their minds. Their writing and storyline planning is beyond terrible at this point. I'd make a joke about them hiring David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, but at least the last season of Game of Thrones had some good ideas that were just executed poorly. Right now, WWE doesn't even have good ideas. They've also bungled Retribution in so many ways, which is a shame because that is one of the few ideas that has/had merit.

Mind you, I don't think it's that much better when they hand creative control over to the talent. I'm absolutely sick of The Fiend. It's easily one of the most selfish gimmicks I've seen in wrestling, and now it's added "seduces a pretty woman" to the pseudo-intellectual fan fiction that is the character in a nutshell.

[[Q]]

Lol so Retribution is jobbing for Hurt Business who seems to have turned face?? MVP must have some major pull backstage. I'm all for elevating Shelton and Cedric who were doing nothing before but at th expense of a returning Ali and the new group you've been hyping?

Great cell match with Sasha and Bayley. Nasty spot where they had a running sunset flip into the chair wedged in the corner

[Andrew]

The booking of Retribution is definitely making their failure a self-fulling prophecy.

[Murat]

Speaking of pro wrestling, I sometimes find myself watching videos of late Attitude Era/Ruthless Aggression WWE era, alongside various WCW videos on YouTube. I really loved the acting, the matches, the storylines... except a few, the work was illustrious. Yes, injuries stripped us of much better storylines, but looking back, it looks all amazing in 4:3 ratio. Maybe it's me that finally became a little mature/old, but when I watch wrestling videos of recent times (AEW, Hardys back at WWE, etc), it looks corny. Any thoughts? Or it's me expecting too much?

[Andrew]

The style has changed with the times and it doesn't continue to appeal to everyone, so that's understandable. As for storytelling, WWE has been very inconsistent across its programming for years now.

As for my thoughts on recent events in WWE, Billie Kay's resume shtick has gotten over thanks to her comedic timing, which has been great to see. Like everyone else who's been involved with Lacey Evans, Peyton Royce hasn't benefited at all. Their brief reunion during the Rumble was fun. I'm hoping they eventually reunite permanently.

Speaking of Billie Kay, the official Shimmer YouTube channel uploaded her match against then-Shimmer Champion Madison Eagles, who of course was her trainer, mentor, and original tag team partner.

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