Lets Discuss All Things Wrestling - Even The T-Shirt Company AEW!

[Dr LBC]

7 hours ago, bcb1213 said:

The easiest path is rock being in reigns corner but not allowing interference when solo so reigns can prove he's the true head of the table.   He loses, solo and Jimmy see roman has been winning cause of them, instant next fued.  Rock saves face, bloodline disbanded

Strange thing I noticed though is that four of the next five ppv are not in America.  Odd scheduele

 

 

The growing sentiment seems to be that all of Cody, Roman, and potentially Seth will be pull double duty at Mania.  Roman vs Cody will main event N2 and the scuttlebutt is that the Cody/Seth vs Roman/Rock will main event N1 - which is wise, to be honest, for both Seth and Rocky because Seth's going to be coming off rehab (and still nursing his bad back) and Rock with the long layoff, like I said before, has tended to injure himself whenever he comes back and does something physical.

It also leaves the door open Seth to be the one to take the penultimate fall and get cashed in on - which help protect him if they feel he needs it.

But ultimately Rock was very much big-brothering Roman last night in terms of posture, positioning/blocking and, we'll see how/if promos go tonight but he's kind of coming across like one of my favorite kind of bad guys - the guy who doesn't think what he's doing is bad.  So if losing the title to Cody is the catalyst, you can have Roman ultimately be the one to snap on Rock not just for big-brothering him and trying to overshadow him, but for his presence and his coming back being (illogical or not, in the mind of a pissed off narcissist like Roman you don't have to be logical) the cause for Roman losing his title.

And they could honestly take a bit of a post-Mania layoff before even starting into that exchange as a setup to a SummerSlam match, and allow for some bad authority/good authority power struggle bleed over that would use avatars when things got physical between Rock and Hunter.  Hunter's not going to be in physical shape to go in the ring very likely ever again because of his heart, but you can still have him with screen time and even if Rock isn't there physically for a TV, his presence can be via "orders/instructions/demands" given to one or both of the brand GM's, Pearce and Aldis, who are both good enough actors to pull of the tension of being torn between two bosses.

[bcb1213]

13 minutes ago, Dr LBC said:

The growing sentiment seems to be that all of Cody, Roman, and potentially Seth will be pull double duty at Mania.  Roman vs Cody will main event N2 and the scuttlebutt is that the Cody/Seth vs Roman/Rock will main event N1 - which is wise, to be honest, for both Seth and Rocky because Seth's going to be coming off rehab (and still nursing his bad back) and Rock with the long layoff, like I said before, has tended to injure himself whenever he comes back and does something physical.

It also leaves the door open Seth to be the one to take the penultimate fall and get cashed in on - which help protect him if they feel he needs it.

But ultimately Rock was very much big-brothering Roman last night in terms of posture, positioning/blocking and, we'll see how/if promos go tonight but he's kind of coming across like one of my favorite kind of bad guys - the guy who doesn't think what he's doing is bad.  So if losing the title to Cody is the catalyst, you can have Roman ultimately be the one to snap on Rock not just for big-brothering him and trying to overshadow him, but for his presence and his coming back being (illogical or not, in the mind of a pissed off narcissist like Roman you don't have to be logical) the cause for Roman losing his title.

And they could honestly take a bit of a post-Mania layoff before even starting into that exchange as a setup to a SummerSlam match, and allow for some bad authority/good authority power struggle bleed over that would use avatars when things got physical between Rock and Hunter.  Hunter's not going to be in physical shape to go in the ring very likely ever again because of his heart, but you can still have him with screen time and even if Rock isn't there physically for a TV, his presence can be via "orders/instructions/demands" given to one or both of the brand GM's, Pearce and Aldis, who are both good enough actors to pull of the tension of being torn between two bosses.

They aren't going to have both men's championship matches on the same night, so unless you see Seth having two matches in one night with all the injuries (the tag would clearly be the main event), I don't see it

[Dr LBC]

4 hours ago, bcb1213 said:

They aren't going to have both men's championship matches on the same night, so unless you see Seth having two matches in one night with all the injuries (the tag would clearly be the main event), I don't see it

They could have both men's championship matches on N2 if they opened and closed the night with them - that said, my feeling is that if the WHW title is actually defended (they could just consider it a blessing that they're able to get Seth his Mania main event and make it easier to ensure he gets through it without re-injury because it's a tag match).  You still present that he's booked to defend the title against the EC winner on N2, but you have his either get roughed up in the tag match, have Drew blindside him as he and Cody are headed back up the ramp, and then Priest comes running down to cash-in MITB successfully.  And then you've got drama and another hook to pull people back in the next night - "Will they make it a triple threat?," "Will Priest have to defend against the EC winner (likely Drew) now on N2?"

And why have Drew even involved in jumping an already roughed up Seth?  For one, it fits his current character: Ruthless, not going to let anyone or any excuse stand in his way.  For another, you have him clarify it in a pre-tape promo aired just after they go on air N2: "He didn't want any loose ends.  His contract stated he had a match against 'the World Heavyweight Champion.'  And he didn't want a gimpy Seth weaseling his way into an instant rematch via a Triple Threat or finding some other way out of screwing him out of his opportunity."  And it gets confirmed by Cole or Pearce that Seth isn't medically cleared to compete so even if they wanted to give him a return match, he wouldn't have been available anyway.  This gives Drew more ammo to work with as a heel in promo stuff because then he can troll the fans that he single-handedly took away the Seth/Punk Mania match that everyone was so hyped for.

And you play up with the commentary and with the verbiage exchanges in the ring between Drew and Damien that Priest can figure out why Drew would want to face him instead of Seth.  And then you swerve Judgment Day turning on Priest for Drew.  And if you want to have Rhea, assuming she does lose the title to Becky on N1, gain back some heat, you have all the male members of Judgment Day at ringside, ref down from a bump (if they can get a ref to take a stray Claymore that'd be ideal), and just when it looks like they're ready to pounce (and everyone's assuming it's to help Priest, Rhea emerges at the top of the staging area and give the ol' Emperor at the Coliseum thumbs-down, and they all mug Priest instead.

You could do it more subtly, too.  And have Finn or JD "accidentally" trip up Damien when he hits the ropes (back-turned to the ring sort of way, trying to play it off so the ref doesn't notice), and Damien eats a Claymore and loses that way.  Then on replay, the commentators start conspiracy theorizing that "that didn't look so accidental after all," just as Finn and Rhea exchange a knowing look as Finn is helping Priest to the back.  Possible you even save that last bit on tape until the following night on RAW and have Damien be the one who presents it and demands to know what the deal is and that's where Rhea sicks the dogs on his and he's booted out.  But this gets you a way to do both men's championships on the same N2, where the WHW is clearly excusable to be a show-opener but still creates intrigue moving forward.

If you stick the US and IC title matches on N1 you'll still have a fair share of mens title matches to even the nights out.  And they've got a spot-of-intrigue to fill on the card anyway with obviously not being willing to book Lesnar now or potentially ever again.  Or swap the US Title match for the Tag Team Championship match where N1 is concerned.

I can see N1 being fairly heavy on heels going over and then N2 being more face-dominant.  Bayley/Iyo and the Women's Tag Championships (assuming they make the card, but they should since Asuka is a prominent enough draw) likely end up N2 and Rhea/Becky and Bianca/(I'm penciling Jade in here, but it could be someone like Naomi) on N1.  I also wouldn't be surprise if, safely assuming, RomRock vs AmericanSethmare, is on the N1 docket it main events even though Rhea/Becky should, but I could see them throwing Rhea/Becky on right before the main event to burn out the crowd and hope that some folks are either too exhausted or have started to lose their voices to harangue Rocky (that might be counterproductive, but it's something I think they might definitely consider).

[THE DUKE]

I want a suit and tie contract ladder match between Adam Pearce and Nick Aldis, with the winner getting to sign Bron Breakker. Have it end up being one of the most hard core no DQ matches in recent memory.

Edited February 10 by THE DUKE

[THE DUKE]

Hear me out, with Roman having The Bloodline in his corner for WM, Cody comes out with.........The Elite (Omega, Jericho, and Young Bucks). HHH returns the favor later in the year crossing over for AEW Forbidden Door and we get a few dream matchups with them getting 50/50 victors. For WM they largely wouldn't have to do much of anything other than some brawling against Rock/Solo/Jimmy when they try to interfere.  It'd also be a nice FU to Vince who would never have done something like that.

Edited February 10 by THE DUKE

[bcb1213]

2 hours ago, THE DUKE said:

Hear me out, with Roman having The Bloodline in his corner for WM, Cody comes out with.........The Elite (Omega, Jericho, and Young Bucks). HHH returns the favor later in the year crossing over for AEW Forbidden Door and we get a few dream matchups with them getting 50/50 victors. For WM they largely wouldn't have to do much of anything other than some brawling against Rock/Solo/Jimmy when they try to interfere.  It'd also be a nice FU to Vince who would never have done something like that.

Hhh/wwe has no reason to do this.   That makes AEW a big story instead of the actual match which is counterproductive to what wrestlemania is for wwe.  Basically like the final episode of a TV show sewskm

[BetterCallSaul]

I would love to see Goldust back for this feud. I do think it’s possible, albeit not probable. He’s not a major star in AEW and over the last year, it’s pretty obvious that AEW is not a real threat to WWE.

 

And it’s a tag match where Cody and Dustin would be winning. So it’s not like the companies would have to figure out a way to protect their respective brands. I can see why they wouldn’t wanna do a match where their star is made to look bad/inferior. This would not be the case. 

[Edge]

11 hours ago, BetterCallSaul said:

I would love to see Goldust back for this feud. I do think it’s possible, albeit not probable. He’s not a major star in AEW and over the last year, it’s pretty obvious that AEW is not a real threat to WWE.

 

And it’s a tag match where Cody and Dustin would be winning. So it’s not like the companies would have to figure out a way to protect their respective brands. I can see why they wouldn’t wanna do a match where their star is made to look bad/inferior. This would not be the case. 

I do think WWE views AEW as competition. Are we calling it a threat? I dunno, but the pure existence and financial background of AEW gives WWE a competition, that they didn't had since WCW existence ended. Ofc. they aren't a "threat" in regards to their top spot in the business, but they do question the monopoly, that WWE had for around 20 years. We have seen it at the very least during the contract negotiations. AEW is a viable alternative, that wrestlers can use to either have more leverage in their negotiations with WWE (look at Randy Orton), or that threatens WWE to lose certain wrestlers to the competition (Bryan Danielson and many more). AEW as an alternative allows someone like Mercedes Moné to demand big money from WWE and since they aren't granting it to her, she'll just make the switch to AEW and is debuting there next month at Big Business. AEW is also a real competition in regards to signing new wrestlers. WWE had interest in signing the likes of Jay White, Will Ospreay and has interest in signing Kazuchika Okada. But with AEW as a competition, those guys have chosen to go to AEW, instead of WWE. Well besides Okada, who is still a free agent, but most likely ends up in AEW as well in march.

So that fact alone shows the importance in the existence of AEW for the wrestling business, but also shows why WWE might and should view AEW still as a competition.

That being said, i think AEW would allow Dustin Rhodes to have an appearance in WWE. Just like they allowed Billy Gunn to have an appearance for the DX reunion, but just wanted him to get acknowledged as an AEW wrestler. WWE didn't want to do that, which shows, that they did view them as competition back in 2022. Given the same demand from the AEW site, would WWE allow Dustin Rhodes to have an appearance in todays WWE? I dunno. But i think they should allow it, if that is something Cody wants to do. I don't see a reason, not to acknowledge a wrestler of another promotion by mentioning the name of that promotion. They did it for Impact Wrestling. They did it for TNA this year again. That's really not a high demand and the very least showing of respect that a promotion should do for another promotion, who allows one of their talent to appear on another show. To me, that really shouldn't be a problem at all, since it's really not to much to ask for. It should be common and i think WWE should have granted that one demand from AEW back then for Billy Gunn and i think they should grant it, if Cody wishes to have Dustin at his side or if WWE is even thinking about bringing in Dustin Rhodes. Normally, things like that, shouldn't fail because of that.

Edited February 11 by Edge

[Edge]

Okada is headed to AEW and will sign soon, according to Fighful. Okada will be a tough challenge to book, as the expectations are probably sky high, so there is most likely a lot of room for disappointment, but then again, i can't wait to see him in AEW. Add Ospreay and Mercedes Mone and AEW is adding  3 great in-ring performers to their already stacked roster of great wrestlers. Exciting times are ahead.

In all of pro wrestling honestly, as NJPW has to do reinvent themselfes after losing Okada. Then you got the Stardom/Rossy split situation, that will not only affect Stardom, but the entire Joshi scene. You got WWE with their huge scandal, and the controversy around Cody/Rock/Reigns, which is probably still interesting to watch, just because you want to know, how they are handling and booking it and then you got TNA without Scott D'Amore which is a huge blow to them, but it'll be interesting as well, to see their booking in a post-D'Amore era. So for someone like me, there is a lot of stuff happening right now in pro wrestling, which will be interesting to see how the things are shacking out in the upcoming months.

 

Edited February 11 by Edge

[Malfatron]

I have been following this a bit and Cody seems boring as hell

[Mox]

On 2/9/2024 at 10:26 PM, THE DUKE said:

Hear me out, with Roman having The Bloodline in his corner for WM, Cody comes out with.........The Elite (Omega, Jericho, and Young Bucks). HHH returns the favor later in the year crossing over for AEW Forbidden Door and we get a few dream matchups with them getting 50/50 victors. For WM they largely wouldn't have to do much of anything other than some brawling against Rock/Solo/Jimmy when they try to interfere.  It'd also be a nice FU to Vince who would never have done something like that.

Pretty sure Tony hates Triple H for tampering and Kenny is not available.

That said, this would be the most epic thing in wrestling.

[wgbeethree]

On 2/11/2024 at 11:05 AM, Edge said:

So for someone like me, there is a lot of stuff happening right now in pro wrestling, which will be interesting to see how the things are shacking out in the upcoming months.

WWE, TNA and NJPW/Stardom all switching their power structures up at pretty much the same time is a seismic change in the wrestling world and absolutely crazy. 

[sdrawkcab321]

On 2/11/2024 at 2:44 PM, Malfatron said:

I have been following this a bit and Cody seems boring as hell

He’s good. But he’s been underwhelming. I’d like to see him open  up as a heel. 

[THE DUKE]

Word is McIntyre is re-signing with WWE.  Good news for me, he's one of my favorites, heel or face.

[Mox]

On 2/13/2024 at 9:11 PM, sdrawkcab321 said:

He’s good. But he’s been underwhelming. I’d like to see him open  up as a heel. 

Don't count on it