Does Anyone Watch Wrestling? (WWE, AEW, TNA, NWA, etc)
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Thats 11 missing. WWE PLE average is 12 a year so thats almost an entire year. And if you look at the years individually, the moment he becomes a part timer there is such large gaps where he isnt even present at all.
Though in that regard, I'm not just referring to the amount of title defenses as a measure of quality but just my overal take the Bloodline storyline is awful post-Daniel Bryan when there is no reason to care or think anyone could beat him except Cody Rhodes.
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So a couple of thing worth mentioning.
Gunther has been indefinitely suspended for his attack on Michael Cole and Pat McAfee, he attempted to choke Cole out but McAfee intervened which led to McAfee getting the same treatment, this suspension tells me that Gunther is taking some time off.
Its been reported that Cena v Orton will take place at Backlash on May 10th which is in Orton's home town of St Louis. its also being billed as 'one last time'.
WYATT SICKS return is imminent and could happen on tonight's Smackdown, Alexa Bliss will be revealed as the new leader.
Speaking of Smackdown later Cena and Cody are advertised to appear, There is also a TLC match for the WWE tag titles with Street Profits defending against Motor City Machine Guns and DIY, I think Aleister Black may return as well.
Gunther has been indefinitely suspended for his attack on Michael Cole and Pat McAfee, he attempted to choke Cole out but McAfee intervened which led to McAfee getting the same treatment, this suspension tells me that Gunther is taking some time off.
Its been reported that Cena v Orton will take place at Backlash on May 10th which is in Orton's home town of St Louis. its also being billed as 'one last time'.
WYATT SICKS return is imminent and could happen on tonight's Smackdown, Alexa Bliss will be revealed as the new leader.
Speaking of Smackdown later Cena and Cody are advertised to appear, There is also a TLC match for the WWE tag titles with Street Profits defending against Motor City Machine Guns and DIY, I think Aleister Black may return as well.
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If you have got half an hour today you need to see that TLC match last night, The Street Profits retained their tag titles in an insane main event, there were some great spots and the commentary team of Tessitore and Barrett was superb. Tessitore is very good.
Cena v Orton for the WWE title has been made for Backlash in two weeks, they both opened the show with a great promo segment. Aleister Black returned to interrupt the Miz and hit him with Black Mass, it was a good night for Aleister's wife Zelina Vega as she won the women's US title from Chelsea Green, its Vega's first singles title in WWE and ended Green's 132 day reign, I think it was needed.
We had two big matches which sadly went to DQ's, Jade Cargill and Tiffany Stratton were having a good match until Naomi and then a returning Nia Jax got involved, Drew McIntyre and LA knight were having a number one contenders match for the US title until Solo Sikoa, Damien Priest and then Jacob Fatu got involved and Fatu cleaned house. Fraxiom made their Smackdown debut beating Los Garza.
No Cody Rhodes or Charlotte Flair last night.
Cena v Orton for the WWE title has been made for Backlash in two weeks, they both opened the show with a great promo segment. Aleister Black returned to interrupt the Miz and hit him with Black Mass, it was a good night for Aleister's wife Zelina Vega as she won the women's US title from Chelsea Green, its Vega's first singles title in WWE and ended Green's 132 day reign, I think it was needed.
We had two big matches which sadly went to DQ's, Jade Cargill and Tiffany Stratton were having a good match until Naomi and then a returning Nia Jax got involved, Drew McIntyre and LA knight were having a number one contenders match for the US title until Solo Sikoa, Damien Priest and then Jacob Fatu got involved and Fatu cleaned house. Fraxiom made their Smackdown debut beating Los Garza.
No Cody Rhodes or Charlotte Flair last night.
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And so it happened as Tam Nakano goes out in the most Tam Nakano way, losing to her protegé via her own finisher being used on her.
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End of an era as the last OG memeber of Starfom has left
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Two matches made for WWE Backlash, Lyra Valkryia v Becky Lynch for the women's intercontinental title and Gunther v Pat McAfee. The Lyra-Becky match is pretty easy to explain as Becky attacked Lyra last week, last night Becky revealed herself to be Bayley's attacker at WrestleMania arguing that Bayley had done the same to her over the years and that she was upset at Lyra for teaming with her. Gunther v Pat McAfee is certainly curious! Gunther attacked Pat and Michael Cole last week and got suspended for it, Pat issued a challenge to Gunther last night and the match was made, Pat gave a good promo but it was a bit blathering and sweary with the bleep machine being used.
Sami Zayn stood up to Rollins new faction and paid for it, he called Rollins a hypocrite for going this way when he had fought the Bloodline for so long (he had a point!) Rollins responded by saying that he didn't want to hurt his friend but if he stood in their way then he would become a target, he also offered Sami a trade to Smackdown and Heyman later said he would face the winner of Cena v Orton if he agreed to move, Sami wasn't having any of it and when he fought later against Bron Breakker he took several spears and the ref had to stop the match and Rollins stomped him after.
Sami Zayn stood up to Rollins new faction and paid for it, he called Rollins a hypocrite for going this way when he had fought the Bloodline for so long (he had a point!) Rollins responded by saying that he didn't want to hurt his friend but if he stood in their way then he would become a target, he also offered Sami a trade to Smackdown and Heyman later said he would face the winner of Cena v Orton if he agreed to move, Sami wasn't having any of it and when he fought later against Bron Breakker he took several spears and the ref had to stop the match and Rollins stomped him after.
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WWE Vault you sickos 😍
(retired from in-ring work yesterday after a 30 year career)
Wild that she was active in WCW during that odd period in the Monday Night Wars where they:
- introduced a women's belt with a division so slapdash they had to have eventual inaugural champion Akira Hokuto wrestle under two gimmicks and include a 17 year old Meiko
- only to abandon the title after a year and two champions total, with Madusa (who the division was apparently meant to be built around) never holding the title.
- Because their women's division was so deep (deeper than the WWF in that they had actually had one even if the mid-90's womens scene in WWF was Alundra Blayze/Madusa v.s former co-worker from her time in AJW she wanted to work with), WCW introduced a Women's Cruiserweight Championship because why not have two belts that basically overlap once weight limits are accounted for
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Discussion proping up about the logistical nightmare that is writing wrestling stories in regards to fan retention. Its been a problem since the Bloodline days but its gotten amplified since the curtain of Kayfabe keeps opening to the point its not even a corpse anymore. Lot of stories just being tone death with the crowd or just the crowd immediately high jacking into anything that throws keychains in front of them. It came to question again with CM Punk chants being relatively small that even caught Seth Rollins off guard and the crowd wanting Bron Breakker to brutalize Sami Zayn with the same spear, over and over.
There is no real way to fix this, if kayfabe is bleeding out this bad there is nothing to save it.
The way we write wrestling stories might need to be full blown reboot to be up to date with the current fickle atmosphere of it.
I think Pro Wrestling needs a fourth wall. If were going to acknowledge more and more there are writers, we need to stop addressing the crowd and "business" as if its real. We need an invisible boundry to split the crowd from the storylines because bringing them in just isn't working. Don't have babyfaces fight for the honour of the crowd or the business, dont have heels attacking the crowd or thinking they know whats best for business. Have stories be handled like Drew McIntyre vs CM Punk where it is entirely personal between the characters involved and not bring any outside forces into it pretending its real (apart from Drew acting annoyed at CM Punk chants I dont think the fans were brought into this once (except the girl who made the bracelet I guess)). Fans can be engaged in these storylines when done well and them choosing to side with the heels over the faces wont be as hijacking or killing the story because it isn't about the fans anyway, they are just invested in whats going on.
There is no real way to fix this, if kayfabe is bleeding out this bad there is nothing to save it.
The way we write wrestling stories might need to be full blown reboot to be up to date with the current fickle atmosphere of it.
I think Pro Wrestling needs a fourth wall. If were going to acknowledge more and more there are writers, we need to stop addressing the crowd and "business" as if its real. We need an invisible boundry to split the crowd from the storylines because bringing them in just isn't working. Don't have babyfaces fight for the honour of the crowd or the business, dont have heels attacking the crowd or thinking they know whats best for business. Have stories be handled like Drew McIntyre vs CM Punk where it is entirely personal between the characters involved and not bring any outside forces into it pretending its real (apart from Drew acting annoyed at CM Punk chants I dont think the fans were brought into this once (except the girl who made the bracelet I guess)). Fans can be engaged in these storylines when done well and them choosing to side with the heels over the faces wont be as hijacking or killing the story because it isn't about the fans anyway, they are just invested in whats going on.
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Would it be a stretch to claim that storyline issues with the fans has been an issue since the "WWE Universe" became a thing? Possibly leading into it even? Playing off the fans is one thing, but I think that most of the time when a feud isn't skill or rival focused, it suffers...
However, I am one of the few that is more interested in the fight looking good and flowing well than with storylines. To be honest, ai haven't cared about any storyline in wrestling since Shibata returned to the ring. I don't care for melodrama, which admittedly is a big part of pro wrestling, but it can be done right...if only it was.
I'm not sure if I buy that WWE under Trips is focusing on long term stories... booking is a different thing to me anymore, but they go together and I wonder if, like many other industries, the vast amount of talent on and off screen has a hard time doing something new or interesting because it's so crowded and many watchers just want melodrama for the sake of it so the suits want what will bring in the money.
... sorry that hot wordy...
However, I am one of the few that is more interested in the fight looking good and flowing well than with storylines. To be honest, ai haven't cared about any storyline in wrestling since Shibata returned to the ring. I don't care for melodrama, which admittedly is a big part of pro wrestling, but it can be done right...if only it was.
I'm not sure if I buy that WWE under Trips is focusing on long term stories... booking is a different thing to me anymore, but they go together and I wonder if, like many other industries, the vast amount of talent on and off screen has a hard time doing something new or interesting because it's so crowded and many watchers just want melodrama for the sake of it so the suits want what will bring in the money.
... sorry that hot wordy...
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I certainly didn't ask for HANAKO challenging for the Wonder of Stardom Championship and yet I'm so in
But fr when you're losing four high profile talents in quick succession*, may as well go wild and do stuff like throwing relative rookies a high profile match to see how they handle it.
* -
- Tam Nakano, retirement
- Mayu Iwatani, departure for Marigold
- Thekla, departure presumably for the States (and trigger Tony Khan to pull out a contract from his endless stack)
- Maika, six month to a year break after her next hometown show to deal with arm injury
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WWE Universe only problem was it added more arbirtrary words to Vinces force vocabulary. Kayfabe was still alive through it especially since this was the start of PG era getting a whole lot of kids and more casuals into the product to by into the Kayfabe. So there wasnt any more out of control smarks than there was back then.
But those Kids have gotten older and much more wiser and due to the curtain being broken open, new kids buy into kayfabe a lot less. Doesnt help that Hype/Peak/Aura culture is also in full swing so people just by into any loud sounding majority no matter what. Making stories like they did attributing to the fans and company during the Attitude Era, Ruthless Aggression Era and PG Era just won't cut it anymore.
As for "Long Term storytelling" I agree and I don't buy it, it just means long title reigns where the only point of caring is when they lose it and not even how (Cody wasn't even meant to beat Roman until fans realised it and objected to it and no way they started Romans Reign thinking Cody is definitely going to be signed and beat him). Its why the Bloodline storyline is such a bore post Daniel Bryan. They fill the middle with nothing but hype matches. Compare it to 2008/2009. Triple H and Edge were the World Champions pre draft and were the Champions heading into Wrestlemania BUT it wasn't a single reign. Edge lost it to CM Punk so Raw can have a World Champion before he won it back in No Way Out to fuel is own storyline shinanegons with Big Show and Vickie Gurerro. Meanwhile Triple H lost it to Edge then Jeff Hardy won it to finish that story but won it back in No Way Out to put a pin on elevating the Orton and McMahon fued. There was clear end goals with the storylines but they filled the middle with interesting stories that were allowed to play out.
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And to the shock of...well...nobody, Mayu Iwatani has followed her father figure Rossy over to Marigold. (And if you somehow believe Dave Meltzer, WWE is a potential landing spot for someone noted to be easily homesick)
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There are releases ongoing at WWE, the following have been released:
Braun Strowman
Dakota Kai
Shayna Baszler
Kayden Carter
Katana Chance
More might be coming, they also released a few staff members yesterday too including some members of creative how had been there for years.
EDIT: NXT's Cora Jade, Eddy Thorpe and Gigi Dolin also gone, Cora Jade is a surprise!
Braun Strowman
Dakota Kai
Shayna Baszler
Kayden Carter
Katana Chance
More might be coming, they also released a few staff members yesterday too including some members of creative how had been there for years.
EDIT: NXT's Cora Jade, Eddy Thorpe and Gigi Dolin also gone, Cora Jade is a surprise!
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There some more releases over night but all were in NXT and not the main roster.
Riley Osbourne
Jakara Jackson
Gallus (both members)
Oro Mensah
Javier Bernal
15 releases in total.
Not much to mention from Smackdown last night as it was average and missable, a fatal four way for the US title has been made for Backlash with Jacob Fatu defending against LA Knight, Damien Priest and Drew McIntyre. Backlash is next Saturday.
Riley Osbourne
Jakara Jackson
Gallus (both members)
Oro Mensah
Javier Bernal
15 releases in total.
Not much to mention from Smackdown last night as it was average and missable, a fatal four way for the US title has been made for Backlash with Jacob Fatu defending against LA Knight, Damien Priest and Drew McIntyre. Backlash is next Saturday.
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Meanwhile in Jacksonville, Florida, three people were trampled to death as Tony Khan rushed to get to his dedicated contract printer.
Kinda wondering if Eddy Thorpe got on the bad side of someone backstage, because it sure seemed like they had plans for him.
Kinda wondering if Eddy Thorpe got on the bad side of someone backstage, because it sure seemed like they had plans for him.
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Either that or he printed out a contract when he founded AEW for everyone who has ever looked at a wrestling ring in person
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So here is my take on the latest WWE releases.
Braun Strowman.
He put Bronson Reed over, he put Jacob Fatu over, he picked up injuries as a result and he did wrestle whilst injured...and this was his thanks. The weird thing is I can see him coming back within a year! He might have limited wrestling ability but his matches have a lot of entertainment value, who doesn't like seeing chaos and stuff getting destroyed?!
Dakota Kai.
Yeah this was a surprise, really good reliable talent like Braun who was well liked backstage. She was involved in the IC women's title picture for a while and won the women's tag titles with Damage CTRL. She did have her issues with injuries so maybe that was a factor in this decision, She has already had a lot of interest from other promotions.
Shayna Baszler.
Shayna is someone who maybe peaked on NXT, she had a great women's title reign there which is still one of the longest and she was a proper badass. But it never quite worked for her on the main roster, she never held a singles title on Raw or Smackdown but did win the tag titles a few times. This one was not a surprise for me, I think she had her time in WWE.
Kayden Carter & Katana Chance.
The only proper women's tag team on the roster, they may have started out as two names thrown together but they stayed a team for years. Great to watch as they had good chemistry they won the now defunct NXT tag titles and the women's tag titles.
Cora Jade.
This was a surprise, someone who was thought to be primed for the main roster not long after she debuted on NXT. She was in the NXT title picture a few times and is another who is young talented and reliable. Like Dakota she had her injury issues which might have been a factor. She can definitely shine somewhere else!
Shotzi.
She has got a great looked but WWE clearly didn't know what to do with her, I remember she fought for one of the women's titles on the main roster against Ronda Rousey, she had been back on NXT more recently.
Gigi Dolin.
Was successful prior to WWE as Priscilla Kelly, was on NXT in two factions one with Mandy Rose and Jacy Jayne and the other with Shotzi and Tatum Paxley. If they released her then its clearly because they didn't think she had it to make it to the main roster, and I know that sounds brutal.
I don't know much about the others. Eddy Thorpe was in the NXT title picture earlier this year so his release was a surprise.
This is now an annual thing for WWE where they have a bunch of releases after WrestleMania, I think Jim Ross said once that there are only two reasons for releases: Cash or creative. Its not really cash on this one as WWE have record revenues and profits mostly driven by extortionately priced tickets for their shows. I do think that if you are an NXT talent who has been on the brand for a few years and hadn't been called up to the main roster then I think its because they don't think you can make it there.
Releases are always brutal but its now becoming a yearly thing, but several people have been released before and thrived elsewhere. Matt Cardona is one who spring to mind.
Braun Strowman.
He put Bronson Reed over, he put Jacob Fatu over, he picked up injuries as a result and he did wrestle whilst injured...and this was his thanks. The weird thing is I can see him coming back within a year! He might have limited wrestling ability but his matches have a lot of entertainment value, who doesn't like seeing chaos and stuff getting destroyed?!
Dakota Kai.
Yeah this was a surprise, really good reliable talent like Braun who was well liked backstage. She was involved in the IC women's title picture for a while and won the women's tag titles with Damage CTRL. She did have her issues with injuries so maybe that was a factor in this decision, She has already had a lot of interest from other promotions.
Shayna Baszler.
Shayna is someone who maybe peaked on NXT, she had a great women's title reign there which is still one of the longest and she was a proper badass. But it never quite worked for her on the main roster, she never held a singles title on Raw or Smackdown but did win the tag titles a few times. This one was not a surprise for me, I think she had her time in WWE.
Kayden Carter & Katana Chance.
The only proper women's tag team on the roster, they may have started out as two names thrown together but they stayed a team for years. Great to watch as they had good chemistry they won the now defunct NXT tag titles and the women's tag titles.
Cora Jade.
This was a surprise, someone who was thought to be primed for the main roster not long after she debuted on NXT. She was in the NXT title picture a few times and is another who is young talented and reliable. Like Dakota she had her injury issues which might have been a factor. She can definitely shine somewhere else!
Shotzi.
She has got a great looked but WWE clearly didn't know what to do with her, I remember she fought for one of the women's titles on the main roster against Ronda Rousey, she had been back on NXT more recently.
Gigi Dolin.
Was successful prior to WWE as Priscilla Kelly, was on NXT in two factions one with Mandy Rose and Jacy Jayne and the other with Shotzi and Tatum Paxley. If they released her then its clearly because they didn't think she had it to make it to the main roster, and I know that sounds brutal.
I don't know much about the others. Eddy Thorpe was in the NXT title picture earlier this year so his release was a surprise.
This is now an annual thing for WWE where they have a bunch of releases after WrestleMania, I think Jim Ross said once that there are only two reasons for releases: Cash or creative. Its not really cash on this one as WWE have record revenues and profits mostly driven by extortionately priced tickets for their shows. I do think that if you are an NXT talent who has been on the brand for a few years and hadn't been called up to the main roster then I think its because they don't think you can make it there.
Releases are always brutal but its now becoming a yearly thing, but several people have been released before and thrived elsewhere. Matt Cardona is one who spring to mind.
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But hey, apparently they've re-hired Alberto Del Rio as a result of the AAA buyout!
Surely nothing will go wrong with that, right? Right?
Surely nothing will go wrong with that, right? Right?
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Alberto 🤡 del 🤡 Rio
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I know this is late but I finally watched part 1 of Wrestlemania with my children
A few quick thoughts: It was good for the most part but I thought the Charlotte Flair/Tiffany Stratton match was terrible. We ended up fast forwarding that match. I love el Gran Americano/Chad Gable match. I thought hey should have let Ray Fenix win. The last match was okay except for the end. I would have preferred if they let Heyman give Reigns the chair and hit Punk with it then he pinned Punk. Then they could have had Heyman try to hit Reigns with the chair only Rollins ( who conveniently would have fallen off the ring ) catch Reigns from behind with a Pedigree then hit with the chair. At least that's what I would have done. Also I loved the Naomi/Jade Cargill match. Being heel has really helped Naomi in my eyes. Anyway we will probably watch the the 2nd night next week or something. My youngest is looking forward to the John Cena match
A few quick thoughts: It was good for the most part but I thought the Charlotte Flair/Tiffany Stratton match was terrible. We ended up fast forwarding that match. I love el Gran Americano/Chad Gable match. I thought hey should have let Ray Fenix win. The last match was okay except for the end. I would have preferred if they let Heyman give Reigns the chair and hit Punk with it then he pinned Punk. Then they could have had Heyman try to hit Reigns with the chair only Rollins ( who conveniently would have fallen off the ring ) catch Reigns from behind with a Pedigree then hit with the chair. At least that's what I would have done. Also I loved the Naomi/Jade Cargill match. Being heel has really helped Naomi in my eyes. Anyway we will probably watch the the 2nd night next week or something. My youngest is looking forward to the John Cena match
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Seth Rollins already has his sights on Jey Uso and his world title, they fought on the main event of Raw for the title (first world title match on Raw in seven months) they had a great match until Breakker inevitably got involved but Jey was saved by Sami Zayn and then a returning CM Punk. Logan Paul knocked out Jey after Raw went off air.
Dominik v Penta for the IC title has been made for Backlash this Saturday bringing the number of matches to five, IYO Sky and Roxanne Perez had a really good match which Sky only just won, Finn Balor was spotted talking to Perez backstage, Rusev destroyed Alpha Academy. Sheamus returned and beat Austin Theory in his first match since the Royal Rumble. Gunther and Pat McAfee had a good verbal back and forth, say what you want about Pat but he is a good talker.
Dominik v Penta for the IC title has been made for Backlash this Saturday bringing the number of matches to five, IYO Sky and Roxanne Perez had a really good match which Sky only just won, Finn Balor was spotted talking to Perez backstage, Rusev destroyed Alpha Academy. Sheamus returned and beat Austin Theory in his first match since the Royal Rumble. Gunther and Pat McAfee had a good verbal back and forth, say what you want about Pat but he is a good talker.
