Official WWE/ECW/WCW/TNA talk, or whatever v2

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

I like the idea......... but what if he gets hurt? Fragile Punk is brittle. I do think a year of a pissed off heel Punk could work wonders. They could easily play off what happened in AEW and have Punk antagonize Triple H due to backstage politics. Would Punk be willing to play ball given his ego? Heel Punk versus Cena or Cody would be feuds I want to see.

Honestly I think that this version of Punk would absolutely play ball for the story line.

[SuperMatt18]

https://x.com/wrestlingcovers/status...189259467?s=46

Part of me wonders if all the Cody / Cena stuff is a swerve..:would WWE count TNA titles to the World Title count...could Cena vs Hendry at WM with Cena winning be an option.

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Honestly I think that this version of Punk would absolutely play ball for the story line.

He wanted to do it in AEW.


Tony and the Bucks balked.

[trackercowe]

After seeing that reaction for Jey tonight I don't know how anyone can question giving him the Rumble win. He might be the most over wrestler in the world right now. That's saying a lot since he's never won a World Title, and spent 99% of his career in the mid card (preBloodline). I honestly don't know how they've done it, as Uso's not particularly great at anything. Yet he connects with the fans, and is a man of the people like Daniel Bryan was. It sort of reminds me of Kofi's singles push back in 2019, but Kofi was never this popular.

Triple H doesn't deserve any ridicule for this. Just because Uso hasn't worked a ***** match in the Tokyo Dome doesn't make him any less deserving of this spot. If someone like Orange Cassidy was this popular in AEW (he's not) he should be getting similar treatment. They went with someone who will be a key player in the company for years to come, and is only increasing in popularity.

It's clever booking... Punk, Cena, Reigns, Rollins, and Drew are all over and don't need the Royal Rumble rub. This will put Jey on the map for years to come, whereas many of those legends only have a few years left in their tank. I am not even a Jey Uso fan, but they can't ignore what the audience wants. Vince did that for so many years, now they're giving the people what they want... Not the obvious choice (Punk or Drew), or one of the company's favourites (Reigns or Rollins). Jey is that "man of the people", and I also think it's a savvy political choice backstage that won't anger anyone. Everyone likes Uso, and he's worked his butt off to be given the main event spot.

If anything Charlotte was the wrong choice. She's been surpassed by the rest of the roster, and that showed tonight. Rhea is the true star of that division, and the gap in their abilities showed tonight. I would hope she'll put Tiffany over, but the verdict is still out on Flair's return. Flair will be 39 in April, which seems to be rather old for a women's wrestler.

[CaptainCrunch]

I agree on both points the main event scene is kind of crazy for WWE but with it aging like it is, they need to start creating new stars. Jey isn't young by any stretch, but he can make things interesting.



Charlotte really didn't look comfortable on that knee, I've never been a huge fan of hers, but at one time she was really the best worker on that card. But you look at the massive leap forward in what some of these woman can do like Belair. Zoe Starks is an absolute freak of nature, And they have real bench strenght in NXT, yeah, Charlotte doesn't look that great. Even Bayley is kind of moving into that mode of being there to put younger workers over, and it wasn't that long ago that Bayley and Banks put on those two 60 minute classics.



BTW with Starks, they need to make her a Paul Heyman Girl, she could literally be the Lesnar of the Woman's division.

[SuperMatt18]

Honestly this Jey Uso thing makes me even sadder that they didn't do the same thing for Sami Zayn when he was so over at WM39

He deserved that Main Event spot vs Reigns and not Cody. A big reason Jey is as over as he is right now is that Sami and him were the highlights of the entire Bloodline story.

[TheIronMaiden]

Jey Uso is over, it was the right move to make him win the RR, but I still think his work sucks and he is a Smelly Cat.

[trackercowe]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Honestly this Jey Uso thing makes me even sadder that they didn't do the same thing for Sami Zayn when he was so over at WM39

He deserved that Main Event spot vs Reigns and not Cody. A big reason Jey is as over as he is right now is that Sami and him were the highlights of the entire Bloodline story.

I completely agree, Zayn is the primary reason the Bloodline was so great for so long. He added so a dimension that none of the other members could bring. However how do they incorporate The Rock into that storyline without Cody's involvement? That really only works with Cody being involved.

I think Zayn will get a run with a World Title, it's only a matter of time. I would love to see Owens and Zayn feuding for that title at some point. They'll get the Wrestlemania spot, but some day it has to be over one of the World Title's. Zayn and Owens have been the most consistent workers the past few years. They deserve to share that spotlight.

[mile]

Fandango returning on NXT popped me

[CMPunk]

WWE really needs to hire someone new to do theme music. Watching the Rumble and it's almost impossible to tell whose coming to the ring via theme music. People should pop when the music starts, not have to wait for the graphics or the person to actually come out.

[SuperMatt18]

Yeah Jim Johnston and CFO$ were good...def rebel is terrible.

I really hope they are trying to swerve fans a bit with the rumour of Rollins vs Reigns vs Punk which is a bit underwhelming as a triple threat with no title involved.

Personally I'd love to see this:

Punk vs Rhodes: Punk wins elimination chamber. They've been building up Punk all year with clean wins over Rollins and Drew, seems weird to have him fall short now before WM.

Rollins vs Reigns

Cena vs Hendry: Cena is desperate for a World Title match after losing in both the Rumble and at the Chamber...and he says Joe Hendry's name.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Yet he's crazy over. And it's not just the entrance, he sells a ton of merch.

Well that's part of my criticism. The dude is over as hell with the "WWE Universe," despite being a terrible worker and co-opting a phrase that hasn't been cool since 2019.

He essentially stole Austin's "what?" gimmick and somehow made it lamer. The fact that it's THAT over with the crowd is kind of further proof that a good chunk of the product is still largely made for preteens.

There's obviously a market for that, and I'm not criticizing WWE for going for those eyes and dollars. It's just not for me, and I'm just not interested in investing time when he's one of the focal points of the show.

It's hard to have an actual surprise winner in the Rumble now and Jey does that and can go fight Gunther.

That might be more interesting if we hadn't already seen that match 3x in the last year. I get the angle is "can he finally make it over the hump," but that makes it less interesting to me. Either we get the same result as the previous three matches, or we get a very obvious result + the added bonus of having Jey shoved down our throats for the foreseeable future.

Again, if that's what the fanbase wants, go hog wild. Just isn't for me.

Also sucks that AEW can't get their #### together and produce a compelling alternative. I'm basically speed-running Dynamite until we get past this whole Death Riders business.

Oh well. More time for the gym, snowboarding, etc. Plus, we have NBA playoffs, March Madness, F1, and MLB starting up soon. Plenty of alternatives for me and I'm sure my girlfriend won't be disappointed if there's less wrestling in my life lol.

[Muta]

Personally I liked CFO$'s work... they did absolute bangers of distinct themes, and consistently. That theme they made for Liger for the one-time-only NYC event in 2015 was where I was like, dang - fan for life over here!

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Muta

Personally I liked CFO$'s work... they did absolute bangers of distinct themes, and consistently. That theme they made for Liger for the one-time-only NYC event in 2015 was where I was like, dang - fan for life over here!

They should really try to get those guys back.

They made the best themes of this era for sure...Drew, Becky, Finn, Shinsuke, AJ Styles, Bobby Roode, KO, Undisputed Era, etc

Def Rebel has the odd good one (Roman, LA Knight, Jey Uso, Seth) but most are too generic.

[trackercowe]

I love the theme music for Penta. It has a wicked guitar riff, and it fits his Razor Ramon "Machismo walk". Overall I agree though, the theme music is often generic. Not a huge fan of New Day's theme music, but it might grow on me. I also liked Priest's old music, I wish they'd bring that back.

On a related note what are they going to do with Drew? Sounds like he was mad after his out of place elimination spot at Royal Rumble. I'm not sure if it means LA Knight or Priest screwed that spot up, but it did seem odd. McIntyre was the wrestler of the year in 2024 (on most lists), so he should get an elevated spot at Mania. I love Priest, but Drew shouldn't have a midcard match at Mania. Feels too much like Corbin at 38 or Sheamus/Gunther at 39.

Personally I'd love to see a Drew/Roman revenge match, where Drew finally goes over... but it doesn't seem like they're setting that up.

[Inferno]

Yeah, I have a hard time recognizing music sometimes even during RAW or SmackDown.

Aleister Black is supposed to be coming back and I hope they don't change his wicked theme song but I'm expecting it.

[Inferno]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

On a related note what are they going to do with Drew? Sounds like he was mad after his out of place elimination spot at Royal Rumble. I'm not sure if it means LA Knight or Priest screwed that spot up, but it did seem odd.

Per Fightful Select (h/t Randall Ortman of Cageside Seats), Priest was originally supposed to eliminate McIntyre before Logan Paul got into the ring as the 30th entrant, but that didn't happen for unknown reasons.

When Priest did eventually eliminate McIntyre, it came as Paul, LA Knight and Jey Uso were fighting to the side of them.

McIntyre reportedly felt Knight's "errant movement killed the drama and momentum" of his elimination, and believed it came off in a "clunky manner."

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/...nd-alexa-bliss

[trackercowe]

I do love the Mariah May/Toni Storm angle. The amnesia/acting performance stuff was a weird wraparound way of reigniting the feud, but could be worse. WWE dropped the ball with Toni Storm, she's probably the best worker in AEW right now. I wish they would have had her "reveal" on Dynamite though, no one watches Collision.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

I do love the Mariah May/Toni Storm angle. The amnesia/acting performance stuff was a weird wraparound way of reigniting the feud, but could be worse. WWE dropped the ball with Toni Storm, she's probably the best worker in AEW right now. I wish they would have had her "reveal" on Dynamite though, no one watches Collision.

I'm watching Dynamite for the first time in at least a month and it's...good?

The Mox stuff has been so bad, that I completely forgot Kenny was back.

Imagine having Omega, Ospreay, MJF, Swerve, Joe, and Okada all healthy at the same time in forever...and you go with John Moxley as the face of your company.

[trackercowe]

I also don't foresee a fitting conclusion to the Moxley angle. Jay White isn't going to beat him (he already lost the four-way). Then there's Cope who was set to face Mox, but I'm guessing that'll be delayed till revolution. I don't think Cope is going to win either, Christian or someone will interfere. So where are they going with this? How long does TK plan on running with this dead stable?

Ospreay mentioned wanting to deal with The Death Riders in his promo a couple weeks ago. Yet he's done nothing to stop them, even when they're committing felonious assault on a weekly basis. They've literally tried to kill people, and Ospreay sat in the back. So I could see Ospreay and Omega going after Mox once they're done with Don Callis.

I do however think Darby Allin was the original plan, but he won't be back for a few months till his Everest quest is completed. It's just poor planning to book Mox for months on end with no fitting conclusion in sight.

The ex-WWE main eventers are really burdening the entire company right now. Have any of them worked out according to plan? Lashley is the only exception. They really need to stick to pushing younger stars. Many of those younger stars either sparotically appear on Dynamite or are jobbed out.