*Official* Pro-Wrestling Thread II

[sledger]

The Angle/Rousey vs HHH/Stephanie was really good. The most impressive thing in that match was the roll Ronda did & came up holding HHH on her shoulders in what looked like she was gonna do a Samoan drop before Stephanie interfered. But she held a 250 lb man over the back of her shoulders for 5 seconds. The place would have erupted if she completed the move. The one bad thing is that you could clearly tell that Angle had aged a lot when you watch that match, fortunately it didn't take away much overall.

It's even more sad when you consider how badly he deteriorated between then and his final WWE match imo. He actually looked pretty reasonable here in comparison to how utterly ****ed he was by the end of his run.

 

[sledger]

It's always fun when Vince makes a rubbish decision (which bringing Shane in to help book the rumble surely is) and somehow gets away without anyone calling him on out on it. It's all about Shane and how Shane has an ego all of a sudden and he was behaving childish. amazing stuff

Yeah it's mad. Apparently nearly all of Shane's creative input/suggestions for the Rumble were completely overruled and rejected by VKM anyway. That's not to say Shane wasn't behaving like a dick/causing loads of other trouble backstage I guess, but the way he has been scapegoated for the Rumble itself being crap is pretty dumb.

 

[Vinny Ru]

It's always fun when Vince makes a rubbish decision (which bringing Shane in to help book the rumble surely is) and somehow gets away without anyone calling him on out on it. It's all about Shane and how Shane has an ego all of a sudden and he was behaving childish. amazing stuff

It could definitely be that Shane has been made the scapegoat for the whole debacle. Shane hasn't had much if any bad things said about him. He's even been praised by attitude era guys like Angle, Foley, and Edge. But now all of a sudden, a 50+ year old Shane is having a power trip and trying to make everything about him. It's out of nowhere. This is all coming from Meltzer, so don't be surprised if this is him writing some fanfiction on top of what really happened to make it ***ier to bury a mcmahon.

Though Shane definitely deserves some blame for going in business for himself and not working in the match. But probably Vince starts the **** like always and leaves someone else holding the baby.

"Blood is thicker than water my ass!"- Shane McMahon, probably.

 

[sledger]

Shane wanting to be booked as sort of credible opponent for Lesnar is definitely something I could see happening tbh

The fact that he and Bad Bunny were two of the final four in the Rumble this year is so incredibly bad tbh. Way to make all of the other legit wrestlers on the roster who had already been chucked out look like total geeks.

 

[Athlai]

Wait Shane and Bad Bunny were final four?

Jesus christ. The final four/six had been something WWE had gotten right traditionally

 

[Vinny Ru]

Shane wanting to be booked as sort of credible opponent for Lesnar is definitely something I could see happening tbh

The fact that he and Bad Bunny were two of the final four in the Rumble this year is so incredibly bad tbh. Way to make all of the other legit wrestlers on the roster who had already been chucked out look like total geeks.

Seriously.

A scrawny, talentless singer eliminates 2 former world champions. He was worse than Shane in the rumble and I don't understand why people are getting themselves wet over that moron. He came out looking the strongest in that match and it would justify a fan's decision to walk away from the WWE forever.

Honestly, the only people who emerged from this Rumble looking good were the ones who weren't in it

 

[sledger]

Seriously.

A scrawny, talentless singer eliminates 2 former world champions. He was worse than Shane in the rumble and I don't understand why people are getting themselves wet over that moron. He came out looking the strongest in that match and it would justify a fan's decision to walk away from the WWE forever.

Honestly, the only people who emerged from this Rumble looking good were the ones who weren't in it

 

[Athlai]

It was Cesaros best rumble

 

[sledger]

It was Cesaros best rumble

damning with faint praise, this

edit: actually this is a bit harsh on Cesaro, but ultimately it doesn't matter. Bloke is a gun, and generally great at everything he is asked to do, but they'll never do anything with him now, he's basically the new ziggler

 

[Athlai]

Cesaro (and to an extent the New Day) is probably the veteran WWE wrestler that'd benefit most from jumping ship.

 

[sledger]

Cesaro (and to an extent the New Day) is probably the veteran WWE wrestler that'd benefit most from jumping ship.

Yeah agree. Not (directly) to AEW though imo. He should look to get over to Japan.

I think a direct jump to AEW would be damaging for both him and them (i.e. because he'd be painted as them hiring just another WWE cast off (of which they already have plenty), TNA style. And AEW would be painted as... just hiring WWE rejects... Which they have been).

Speaking of which, Tony Khan promising another "forbidden door" new signing on Dynamite this week. Difficult to get too enthusiastic about this, given their track record with this sort of thing and, as above, they seem to be falling into the trap of signing any old WWE release at the expense of keeping all their original talent off TV.

 

[Vinny Ru]

Speaking of which, Tony Khan promising another "forbidden door" new signing on Dynamite this week. Difficult to get too enthusiastic about this, given their track record with this sort of thing and, as above, they seem to be falling into the trap of signing any old WWE release at the expense of keeping all their original talent off TV.

Seems like it's going to be Jeff Hardy.

 

[sledger]

Yeah most likely I should have thought, though the is the issue of his non compete

 

[Vinny Ru]

Yeah most likely I should have thought, though the is the issue of his non compete

But that is purely WWE's fault, isn't it? They fired him thinking he was on drugs, without waiting for the drug test results that proved he was clean, which is not a good look for a publicly traded company. He shouldn't have to be under the 90 day non-compete clause anyway because it is they who ****ed up. If they decide to sue him, he'll probably win and receive damages.

Then again, according to his tweets, Khan mentioned that this "forbidden door" signing is also the debut of a free agent. This is incomprehensibly ******** on so many levels......if they are a free agent, they can do whatever the hell they like, how is it forbidden?

This whole concept is stupid. TK seems to think major promotions don’t do business with one another, whereas WWE has always done business with other promotions.

 

[sledger]

But that is purely WWE's fault, isn't it? They fired him thinking he was on drugs, without waiting for the drug test results that proved he was clean, which is not a good look for a publicly traded company. He shouldn't have to be under the 90 day non-compete clause anyway because it is they who ****ed up. If they decide to sue him, he'll probably win and receive damages.

Then again, according to his tweets, Khan mentioned that this "forbidden door" signing is also the debut of a free agent. This is incomprehensibly ******** on so many levels......if they are a free agent, they can do whatever the hell they like, how is it forbidden?

This whole concept is stupid. TK seems to think major promotions don’t do business with one another, whereas WWE has always done business with other promotions.

Dunno really, but I'm pretty sure WWE non-competes come into operation whenever they terminate someone's contract for any reason (in other words it doesn't matter why Jeff was fired, he will have an active non-compete unless WWE decides to waive it). In any event, the entireity of US employment law can be written down on the back of a cigarette packet, so I wouldn't hold out much hope of him bringing any sort of legal action against WWE, not least becuase he's a (heh) "independent contractor" anyway.

But yeah I too was puzzled by the "forbidden door" thing. It implies it's someone currently under contract to someone else (heavily implied to be WWE), which is doubtful because if that is the case he'll risk a huge lawsuit. On the other hand, as you say, if it's not someone under contract to somewhere else etc. then the move won't be "forbidden" at all. So yeah. Looks dumb.

 

[honestbharani]

The final four/six had been something WWE had gotten right traditionally

Are we forgetting the rumble before 31?

 

[sledger]

Are we forgetting the rumble before 31?

Haha I take perverse enjoyment in that match. The way the match itself turns heel on the crowd and the crowd absolutely shits all over it is brilliant. Makes me laugh just thinking about it tbh.

 

[honestbharani]

I think Tony Khan is kinda falling into "doing what the internet fans want" well. I have loved how they are used Bryan and Punk but they should not be signing every big name WWE is letting go if they dont have plans for them.

And the thing about Shane O Mac is that, his sweet spot was always being the entitled brat, which he actually played well unlike Stephanie, who always seems to think it is real while she is just playing a character. I will hold Triple H and Stephanie responsible for everything the WWE has fallen through to since the Attitude era. And while I do think VKM should take most of the blame as its obvious he still calls the final shots there, I really think there is something about the next gen McMahons (Stephanie, Shane and Triple H) that shows they just dont get it about this business. A long running heel champ really only works if they are a weasel character like Flair. Otherwise, you always want to reward the fans who stick with your product and let their favorites win. The Cena era sucked but that seemed an overcompensation from Triple H given how he had run the product to the ground just earlier. And for some reason they keep repeating this with Brock and now Reigns.


Also, was the Angle - Rousey team the year it was actually supposed to be Rock-Rousey?

 

[honestbharani]

Haha I take perverse enjoyment in that match. The way the match itself turns heel on the crowd and the crowd absolutely ****s all over it is brilliant. Makes me laugh just thinking about it tbh.

I mean, it tells you something when the crowd is booing someone even though they are being endorsed by The Rock. I mean, this was literally the time when people thought The Rock could endorse someone and they would become the US President.

 

[Vinny Ru]

I think Tony Khan is kinda falling into "doing what the internet fans want" well. I have loved how they are used Bryan and Punk but they should not be signing every big name WWE is letting go if they dont have plans for them.

The problem with Tony Khan is he wants to sign everyone in the world.

What does it matter if the shows itself are roster bloated, he's going to sign more and more and more because man's got cash yo.

He needs to stop all this and focus on his current roster. He gets a job and he gets a job and he gets a job and everybody gets a job. Screen time is another story but hey at least you have a job in these difficult times.