Professional Wrestling (WWE, TNA, ROH, etc)

[[Q]]

We about to have a tag match, playa

(For every week in different combinations until the next ppv)

[Andrew]

As much as there's been a revolution/evolution with the women's division, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Of course, Ronda Rousey shakes things up a little bit, though I'm not pleased to see Stephanie back in the mix. It's getting tiresome watching her emasculate her GM, and now we have a heel authority figure on RAW again. It's been 20 years, that storyline is played out. It's one of those areas where Smackdown is a lot better, moving away from the heel GM/commissioner shtick.

[[Q]]

I really hope Becky's attempts to be a heel fail and people will cheer for her like they cheered the initial heel Stone Cold, and how they cheered heel Punk after the pipe bomb, forcing them to turn her

Most of her promo got cheered, especially when it came to Charlotte. It did get quiet when she turned it on the fans, though so we'll see how they proceed from here. Would be really cool and unexpected if they reversed course and did a double turn from here

[Andrew]

Her turning on the fans definitely smacks of a desperate attempt to portray her as the heel, but the general reaction to the rest of the promo speaks volumes. A double turn would be great as she really does come off as the wronged babyface in the angle, and I think Charlotte is more of a natural heel anyway.

[shadowgrin]

[Andrew]

Perfect.

[Lean]

...aaaand I think they ended up turning Braun heel, anyway.

[Andrew]

Finger on the pulse.

[Andrew]

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I mean, it's better than the commentary in WWE is at times, so...

[[Q]]

The hardest job in the company must be the guy hired to drown out the boos for Roman Reigns

[Lean]

Just watched Becky's segment from last week's Smackdown. The promo's pretty good, and I think it would have been better if the roles were reversed.

So yeah, Becky and Braun are both heels even though the crowd are truly behind them and their rivals are being booed despite being the faces.

Anyway, Becky should lose the orange hair dye and the punk entrance music. Also, that brawl during Becky's segment showed the imbalanced number between faces and heels.

[[Q]]

I like her music, but yeah doesn't match the heel character. But then again, top stars in the past have usually kept their music whether they are heel or face

[Andrew]

As long as there's some consistency with the character, it's usually fine.

[JaoSming]

All In was very entertaining. Definitely booked for smarks in mind and had some insane matches & spots.

[shadowgrin]

Booked to pander to the crowd. The dignified Vince McMahon would never.

[JaoSming]

Roman everything


MLW is uploading their shows to YouTube, took a look at the latest and gotta say, I am again satisfactorily sports entertained. I like the presentation and hearing Tony Schiavone was pretty damn awesome. Will definitely watch their War Games if they stream it or when it comes out on TV.

https://youtu.be/gkOmmKH7mHA?list=WL

phpBB [video]

Gotch doing an open challenge, fighting a boxer, then just piledriving the dude, loved it

[Lean]

It's a surprise that he's able to retain his WWE name.

Anybody watched All In? How was it?

[Lean]

Becky still being cheered!

[Andrew]

Apparently they're changing gears and not portraying Becky as the heel, but running with the idea that both she and Charlotte have a point. It's not a bad way to go since Charlotte's actions alone don't make her the heel in this angle, but she's definitely less sympathetic, and the crowd is too much on Becky's side for her to be the heel (or even a tweener).

[Lean]

I really hope they go with that. And I think if the feud started earlier, it would have made sense if their next match is inside Hell in a Cell.

[Andrew]

I think the crowd reactions have forced their hand. Probably helps that they're on Smackdown, which tends to be better booked. No chance of them listening to similar reactions for Reigns over on Raw!

Meanwhile, AJ Styles joins the 300+ day club with his current WWE Championship reign. I'm really glad that they've gotten behind him and given him a push with the world title that actually means something. I hope he makes it to a full year and counting. Have him break Punk's modern day record with the belt. Hell, have him eclipse Lesnar's reign with the Universal Championship, too.

[Lean]

I see it running probably up to a month after the release of 2K19, or up to the AJ Styles Million-Dollar Challenge thing for the game.

[shadowgrin]

I think the WWE is petty enough that they want Styles to break Punk’s record, similar to AJ Lee’s record being broken by a Bella.

[Andrew]

I think they were going for it with Rollins, before his knee injury led to him having to forfeit the belt.

[Lean]

I'm fine with Styles breaking Punk's record, while it annoys me that they recognized Brock to have held "the title longer than anyone in the past 25 years" in one of the past PPVs, even if he's held the championship that doesn't have the actual lineage.