All Things Wrestling Thread

[Livewire]

21 minutes ago, Fresh Prince said:

If WWE doesnt ruin Andrade they have a star on their hands.

He's so incredibly good. His match against Johnny Gargano at NXT Takeover was my personal favorite match the last year.

[Troy Brown]

On 1/21/2019 at 6:32 PM, The LBC said:

There's a weird part of me that feels like we're either getting the result that's going to piss everyone and their mother off: He comes out as the Demon on next-to-nothing build and the Demon gets beaten.

or

I could actually see them putting him over Brock just for the sheer shock value.  Brock losing to someone utterly tiny (this would basically be akin to when Rey beat Orton/Angle for his first World Title) very easily allows Brock to save face in any UFC build-up or promotions at Heavyweight because it's clear as day to anyone watching that losing to Finn would be a work.  It also allows them to book a likely show-stealer in Finn/Rollins at Mania that doesn't have to be the Main Event (people will complain but if Seth gets into the match via a different method than winning the Rumble, it's easily doable - and clears the way for either the Women's 3-Way to main event or for - brace yourselves but I can definitely see it happening - a Cena/Bryan match with Cena breaking Flair's record to close the show.

hahahah i did lol at next to nothing build because that's what i imagine is going to happen as well. i hate the demon 

[Dr LBC]

16 hours ago, Troy Brown said:

hahahah i did lol at next to nothing build because that's what i imagine is going to happen as well. i hate the demon 

Well, the other irony is, Finn is undefeated as The Demon.  If Finn doesn't come out as the Demon, with that in mind, he's a goober - because why wouldn't he?  But if they have Brock go over the Demon, they effectively kill the most unique and marketable thing about Finn's character (they literally were selling the Demon part as part of his moniker at one point).

We're guaranteed to get one DQ finish on this card and either this match or the Smackdown Womens match are the likeliest ones.

[beekay414]

I'll take 29

[Dr LBC]

On 1/21/2019 at 4:09 PM, Fresh Prince said:

Just dont think he actually comes out at 30.

Only way I don't see it happening is if they go the comedy route and he comes out or tries to beat Carmella down the aisle during the Womens' Rumble (which I do believe goes on first).

[bcb1213]

5 minutes ago, The LBC said:

Only way I don't see it happening is if they go the comedy route and he comes out or tries to beat Carmella down the aisle during the Womens' Rumble (which I do believe goes on first).

All depends.  Woman rumble could feasibly be last if they swerve a Becky win 

[Dr LBC]

23 hours ago, Fresh Prince said:

If WWE doesnt ruin Andrade they have a star on their hands.

Yeah, he's still got some work on his basing and partnering to work on, though.  It wasn't entirely his fault, but Rey definitely came out of that match injured last night (you could visibly see him trying to shake his hands out after he suffered a stinger mid-match).  Andrade rushes some stuff a bit too much (he did it in NXT too, even in the match with Johnny that he's celebrated for, but especially in the match with Drew where - ironic by comparison to last night - Drew was the reason Drew was injured).

I'm really hopeful they take a page from Lucha culture and do a Mask vs Hair match between him and Rey at Mania.  There's no way in hell Rey is losing the mask (for one, they already made a big deal about it during his feud with Orton, but also it's a good merch seller, especially with kids), so Andrade would have to be willing to shave his head, but it could also be an excuse for him to bring back his own mask from when he was La Sombra for at least a period in his gimmick - giving him something written into his gimmick that he can work from, similar to when Angle lost his hair in a match and was wearing the headgear with the wig - or more to the point, when Punk lost in a hair vs mask match to Rey and spent time wearing the mask.

[Dr LBC]

5 minutes ago, bcb1213 said:

All depends.  Woman rumble could feasibly be last if they swerve a Becky win 

Conversely, if Becky doesn't win one of the title match (which I don't think is the case because the money match is the Becky/Ronda/Charlotte 3-way) against Asuka or the Rumble, the only way you keep the crowd from doing another 2015 Rumble (I don't think the crowd will crap on Charlotte, but you never know - having been in one of these smark-laden big PPV crowds of late, there are A LOT of people who boo or disrupt if they don't get EXACTLY the payoff they what they want no matter how logical) is to have the Womens Rumble go on before the Becky/Asuka match.

Pure booking-logic-wise, it makes the most sense to continue the burn on Becky - which means making her scratch and claw her way into the Mania main event.  For that reason alone, even if Becky is in the Rumble, I expect Charlotte to be the one to win it.  Neither one of them is going to be in a tag team competing for the Womens Tag Belts at Elimination Chamber, so you've got two PPV's till Mania (and it's Mania, you don't need to sweat selling tickets or Network buys for it) to get Becky into that match as well (several ways to do it, and several which create some potential must-see drama to get people tuning into Smackdown - and maybe even some RAWs - weekly).  It also allows you to build to whoever the challenger for Asuka at Mania will be since you've got the two big name women on Smackdown (Becky and Charlotte) feuding with one-another, and thus out of that title picture.

You basically have to build the anticipation to a Daniel Bryan type payoff for Becky at Mania that's more or less been happening (she's not the underdog, but she is working this Becky vs the World angle) so that the payoff hits as strong as possible.

[bcb1213]

14 minutes ago, The LBC said:

Conversely, if Becky doesn't win one of the title match (which I don't think is the case because the money match is the Becky/Ronda/Charlotte 3-way) against Asuka or the Rumble, the only way you keep the crowd from doing another 2015 Rumble (I don't think the crowd will crap on Charlotte, but you never know - having been in one of these smark-laden big PPV crowds of late, there are A LOT of people who boo or disrupt if they don't get EXACTLY the payoff they what they want no matter how logical) is to have the Womens Rumble go on before the Becky/Asuka match.

Pure booking-logic-wise, it makes the most sense to continue the burn on Becky - which means making her scratch and claw her way into the Mania main event.  For that reason alone, even if Becky is in the Rumble, I expect Charlotte to be the one to win it.  Neither one of them is going to be in a tag team competing for the Womens Tag Belts at Elimination Chamber, so you've got two PPV's till Mania (and it's Mania, you don't need to sweat selling tickets or Network buys for it) to get Becky into that match as well (several ways to do it, and several which create some potential must-see drama to get people tuning into Smackdown - and maybe even some RAWs - weekly).  It also allows you to build to whoever the challenger for Asuka at Mania will be since you've got the two big name women on Smackdown (Becky and Charlotte) feuding with one-another, and thus out of that title picture.

You basically have to build the anticipation to a Daniel Bryan type payoff for Becky at Mania that's more or less been happening (she's not the underdog, but she is working this Becky vs the World angle) so that the payoff hits as strong as possible.

It's interesting in that the brand split makes the booing less likely if they have a raw star win.  Alexa, Bayley would seem like the only option there unless they are planning on finally getting natty out of the Ronda sidekick mode 

[Dr LBC]

19 minutes ago, bcb1213 said:

It's interesting in that the brand split makes the booing less likely if they have a raw star win.  Alexa, Bayley would seem like the only option there unless they are planning on finally getting natty out of the Ronda sidekick mode 

Could also be someone who was a recent (since the last Mania) call-up who has history and unfinished business with Asuka, like an Ember or Nikki Cross.  Or even - again, doubt it occurs, but certainly possible and would be totally unexpected - if Bianca beats Shayna the night before (I don't think that happens, but it's possible) and Shayna is a late/surprise entry and wins and then challenges Asuka (because with her friendship with Ronda already built up in-story, it'd be "natural" for her to not challenge Ronda).

[bcb1213]

7 minutes ago, The LBC said:

Could also be someone who was a recent (since the last Mania) call-up who has history and unfinished business with Asuka, like an Ember or Nikki Cross.  Or even - again, doubt it occurs, but certainly possible and would be totally unexpected - if Bianca beats Shayna the night before (I don't think that happens, but it's possible) and Shayna is a late/surprise entry and wins and then challenges Asuka (because with her friendship with Ronda already built up in-story, it'd be "natural" for her to not challenge Ronda).

I think they'll have bazzler stay til raw post wm then build the horse woman thing to survivor series 

[Jeezla]

I'll take 20

[beekay414]

If Shayna comes out during the women's rumble, I will mark out harder than any single possible male entrance (and that includes Omega - which isn't happening anyways but you get the point).

[The Gnat]

What are people's predictions for the matches on the Royal Rumble Card?

Cruiserweight Championship -- Buddy Murphy (c) vs. Kalisto vs. Akira Towaza vs. Hideo Itami

United States Championship -- Rusev (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

SmackDown Tag Team Championship -- The Bar (c) vs. The Miz & Shane McMahon

SmackDown Women's Championship -- Asuka (c) vs. Becky Lynch

Raw Women's Championship -- Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Sasha Banks

WWE Championship -- Daniel Bryan (c) vs. AJ Styles

Universal Championship -- Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Finn Balor

Women's Rumble - Charlotte Flair

Men's Rumble - Seth Rollins

That's who I think is going to win. Personally I would hope that we see Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks win. I'd also like to see Finn win, but don't believe that will happen. Men's Rumble I would love to see a big surprise winner to go on and challenge Daniel Bryan. Like an un-built up NXT call-up, maybe even just bring up all of the Undisputed Era with Adam Cole winning the Rumble in a shocking turn of events.

[PARROTHEAD]

2 hours ago, The Gnat said:

What are people's predictions for the matches on the Royal Rumble Card?

Cruiserweight Championship -- Buddy Murphy (c) vs. Kalisto vs. Akira Towaza vs. Hideo Itami

United States Championship -- Rusev (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

SmackDown Tag Team Championship -- The Bar (c) vs. The Miz & Shane McMahon

SmackDown Women's Championship -- Asuka (c) vs. Becky Lynch

Raw Women's Championship -- Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Sasha Banks

WWE Championship -- Daniel Bryan (c) vs. AJ Styles

Universal Championship -- Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Finn Balor

Women's Rumble - Charlotte Flair

Men's Rumble - Seth Rollins

That's who I think is going to win. Personally I would hope that we see Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks win. I'd also like to see Finn win, but don't believe that will happen. Men's Rumble I would love to see a big surprise winner to go on and challenge Daniel Bryan. Like an un-built up NXT call-up, maybe even just bring up all of the Undisputed Era with Adam Cole winning the Rumble in a shocking turn of events.

Sadly. I think its as predictable as that. Except being one of the Big4 that 1 new major champ gets decided. So roll with AJ in order for DB to push that character hes got going even harder.

Wish guys like Big E, Elias or half dozen others in the same boat as them had a shot to win the Rumble. But cant picture anything happening but another bucket full of "more of the same."