*Official* Pro-Wrestling Thread II

[duffer]

Lol, Rusev's a star but even he couldn't save this. I just started laughing when I saw it.

 

[sledger]

It's terribad. Not helped by the fact that Rusev looks like he should be in Miami Vice or something. They have really ****ed up his character and image. Just terrible.

 

[MrPrez]

It's quite fascinating to watch stuff from a year or two back and see how people were clearly over and have since been neglected by WWE.

It's not like they have a ton of super-over wrestlers that they can afford to ignore this sort of thing, either.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

It's terribad. Not helped by the fact that Rusev looks like he should be in Miami Vice or something. They have really ****ed up his character and image. Just terrible.

Almost certainly deliberately. WWE resent any wrestler who gets themselves over.

 

[andmark]

Almost certainly deliberately. WWE resent any wrestler who gets themselves over.

I was thinking about Zack Ryder for the first time in years a few days ago. His burial was about as clear as it gets.

 

[Athlai]

Unlike Zack Ryder though, Rusev is more than a meme and is actually pretty good all round. Ryder sucked. Rusev is great, and even while constantly being **** on by Vince, he's still over and he still makes whatever hes doing tolerable.

I think Vince just hates that Rusev married Lana and can't get his head around it.

Also why is this thread always talking about Raw and Smackdown when NJPW/NXT/AEW stuff is so much more interesting and better.

 

[andmark]

Unlike Zack Ryder though, Rusev is more than a meme and is actually pretty good all round. Ryder sucked. Rusev is great, and even while constantly being **** on by Vince, he's still over and he still makes whatever hes doing tolerable.

I think Vince just hates that Rusev married Lana and can't get his head around it.

Also why is this thread always talking about Raw and Smackdown when NJPW/NXT/AEW stuff is so much more interesting and better.

Yeah, tbf, Rusev's great when given good enough work. His improvement in NXT was quite fun to watch.

 

[Mike5181]

Unlike Zack Ryder though, Rusev is more than a meme and is actually pretty good all round. Ryder sucked. Rusev is great, and even while constantly being **** on by Vince, he's still over and he still makes whatever hes doing tolerable.

I think Vince just hates that Rusev married Lana and can't get his head around it.

Also why is this thread always talking about Raw and Smackdown when NJPW/NXT/AEW stuff is so much more interesting and better.

AEW's last show was actually pretty good, it's definitely given me more hope that they'll deliver.

There's no point in watching the main roster stuff until a certain someone dies, though. Not a controversial opinion but it'll always be terrible until that happens.

 

[MrPrez]

It's just so obvious that Vince needs to step back.

Look at the product NXT is - and it is meant to be the show for developing talent for the main roster.

If Triple H can build NXT with the guys who are meant to be preparing for the main roster, it just shows how pathetic the main roster booking actually is.

It's also been particularly noticeable that Vince is panicking. Look at how many weird storylines he's been pushing in recent times. Rusev/Bobby/Lana, Shorty G, Seth burning down the firefly funhouse, etc.

It basically feels like the wrestling equivalent of a publication struggling for numbers and therefore turning itself into a fully-fledged tabloid in the hope they can shock people into buying the publication.

 

[MrPrez]

Also, you simply can't use the "we don't have true stars" excuse.

Between Zayn, KO, Finn, Shinsuke, Samoa Joe etc, you've got guys who have shown their potential to be insanely popular - across NXT and, in the case of Finn and Shinsuke, in NJPW.

That's before you look at other talents like Ricochet, Drew, Aleister Black etc.

But no, the real winner is giving Roman Reigns push number 921309123.

 

[Jarquis]

Weird argument when there’s probably not been a 6 month period in which Reigns has been this far from the title picture since.... ummm...?

 

[MrPrez]

Weird argument when there’s probably not been a 6 month period in which Reigns has been this far from the title picture since.... ummm...?

Sub Roman in with Seth if you want, but you don't have to be going for a title to be getting pushed by the company as "the guy.".

 

[Athlai]

Rollins isn’t pushed like Reigns.

 

[sledger]

Yeah, he definitely isn't. He definitely has been the victim of overexposure though.

His push back to the main event came a year too late. They didn't strike while the iron was hot, and their attempts to rekindle the momentum and popularity he had are going down like a bag of crap.

 

[Athlai]

The way they script their top stars is what kills them. Only Becky and Brock seem cool out of any of the top stars. With zero irony at all Cody Rhodes comes across as a far bigger star than anyone in WWE besides them.

 

[MrPrez]

Rollins is clearly being pushed as "the guy" on Raw but the fans aren't into it sufficiently to make it work.

Yet WWE has doubled down on it to the point that they wouldn't let Bray win at HIAC, and it's genuinely not obvious that Bray will win at Crown Jewel either.

Essentially wrapping "their guy" in cotton wool is something they did with Roman, and something they appear to be doing with Seth.

Hence my point - WWE needs to be willing to give more of their other potential superstars pushes rather than focusing so squarely on getting one guy over despite resistance.

 

[sledger]

Ironically I would say Roman is one of the better written stars they have in many ways. His character is consistent, has a clear personality, not difficult to work out his motivations and goals etc. Just happens to suffer from being "the guy", meaning the fans will **** all over it regardless.

Becky definitely another good example of this like you say, but she suffers badly from not having Rhonda around to play off/feud with. These sorts of bad ass, rebellious, don't give a **** characters lose a lot of steam if they don't have a strong counter foil.

 

[MrPrez]

Anyhow, the point I was trying to make is that WWE has a ton of potential stars - it's potentially one of their best rosters ever - yet they're simply not using the roster effectively.

 

[MrPrez]

Ironically I would say Roman is one of the better written stars they have in many ways. His character is consistent, has a clear personality, not difficult to work out his motivations and goals etc. Just happens to suffer from being "the guy", meaning the fans will **** all over it regardless.

Becky definitely another good example of this like you say, but she suffers badly from not having Rhonda around to play off/feud with. These sorts of bad ass, rebellious, don't give a **** characters lose a lot of steam if they don't have a strong counter foil.

Agreed on both accounts.

Side note on Becky, her match with Kairi Sane on RAW was bizarrely poor.

 

[Athlai]

If Roman vs The Fiend happened at peak Reigns time. The match would have ended with Roman pinning him clean after 3 spears.