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

[Derek Sutton]

Originally Posted by d_phaneuf

Ssp at 45 is crazy

45? He is 49. Shane is so fun to watch.

[KelVarnsen]

Maria going with the “All Red Everything” gimmick

[mile]

Becky next?


edit: no not Nia...

[mile]

Yes!

[KelVarnsen]

The Man!

[CaptainCrunch]

Ok, I'm going to do a half time review because this card is so long.



I didn't really watch much of the under card, I did see the Rusev Nak matchup though and watched the end of Rusev day. We also saw Lana get injured which would come back later in a nice bit of booking.


Asuka(C) def Becky Lynch


See the only problem with Becky Lynch and the man gimmick is she's become a bit too much of a talker without the results to back it up. However this was a very good physical match with a great pace to it. This match was extremely rough with a strong technical aspect to it. We saw some brutal spots including Asuka nearly killing Becky Lynch with a Fisherman's neck breaker from the ring apron to the floor. This match also featured a great sequence of exchanged submission holds, but the match finally ended when Asuka Bridged over into a really nice Dragon Sleeper and Becky had to tap

**** out of 5


To be honest from a booking perspective this was a impossible situation because both woman could have used the win. They're still trying to rebuild Asuka into a genuine top of the card performer and champion. With Becky Lynch losing by tap out made me feel like she was less of a man. I go back to the Stone Cold Bret Hart double flip where a bleeding Stone Cold passed out in the sharp shooter and it suddenly gave Austin all kinds of momentum. To have Lynch lose by tap out didn't help Becky Lynch's end result.



The Miz and Shane def The Bar (C)


I think the WWE can have all kinds of fun with the Miz and Shane as best friends, but I still believe that they're going to turn on each other sooner rather then later. I give Shane credit as he's a maniac he hit an aerial clothesline on Sheamus that was really cool. But I hate his mate offense, his punches and kicks look like garbage. I think people really under rate the Miz and his work rate. The guy is a tremendous seller and he understands story telling at a high level, and he really did a great job in this match. Seeing Shane in an extended swing was awesome. The match did end on a cool but awkward spot as Shane hit a 450 shooting star that only worked because Cesareo did an adjustment in the ring, but Shane still landed it a bit short.


*** out of 5


This wasn't a great match for a PPV like the rumble, but it was fun to watch. I get that they need to put the belt on Miz and Shane so that a turn by one or the other will make sense (Miz "I'm carrying you" Shane "I'm the best in the world and I'm carrying you)


Ronda Rousey(C) def Sasha Banks


This was a pretty solid match based around counters. For every move that they would pull off the other would counter. This match also had solid psychology as both girls sold arm injuries. When you watch Ronda you don't realize how powerful and explosive she really is. She hit a couple of snap suplexes tht shook the ring and her judo tosses are so fast. Banks really played the heel in this one, and she has so many little tips. Like kicking people while she has them in submissions and trash talking. When you watch this match, its still apparent that while Ronda is light and days improved from her debut that she's still fairly green. Her dive to the outside looked really awkward and some her her transition footwork still isn't smooth. However you can't help but appreciate her athleticism. The finish was a little rough as Ronda destroyed Sasha with a dangerous looking suplex/power bomb followed by a rolling lock into a equally dangerous Piper's pit for the win


*** 1/2 out of 5.


After the match they had the typical Ronda is a good sport moment, but it almost lasted too long as Sasha left and came back and flashed the four horsemen sign at Ronda. I think they could have simplified things on that ending but it sets up the start of the road to Wrestlemania.


The Woman's Royal Rumble. Becky Lynch wins



I really actually liked this rumble. But I'm just going to post some thoughts.



Lacey Evans really established herself on the main roster with her long performance.


I don't know what Liv Morgan has done to piss people off but really the Riot Squad needs to be broken up, even with a nice bit of booking where Liv and Sarah returned after their elimination to soften people up for Ruby, they're just a group that doesn't win.


I loved loved the booking between Mandy Rose and Naomi. First of all, I just really hate that Naomi's thing every year is a tricky return to the ring, but Mandy got some awesome heel points by costing Naomi her big moment.


Sonya DeVille needs to go on her own, everytime I see her, I love her ring work as it looks a lot like Baszler on speed.


Surprisingly no old Diva's returns but lots of NXT representation with Sane, IO, Rhea Ripley (I thought she was going to blow her knees out on her exit). Xia Li and Kacey Catanzaro who's someone to watch in the future and out did Naomi with a awesome return to the ring.


Alexa Bliss got a huge pop in her return, though its tough to see her as a face, she's just really over right now.


Zelina hiding under the ring and coming out to laugh at people getting eliminated good. Having Hornswoggle returning from under the ring to chase her off bad.



People tend to forget that Alisha Fox is actually a very good worker with an entertaining gimmick.



So going back to the Lana injury they had her come out with an obvious injury made worse by Nia Jax. So of course Becky comes out and convinces the officials that she should be allowed in the rumble.


I'm bored of Charlotte, she just has her old mans disease in that she's super repetitive, I'm also a bit resentful of her recent attempts to be more of a man then Becky Lynch.


Ok so the dastardly Nia Jax injures Becky who then channels Danial Larusso and manages to get back in the ring and destroys Charlotte with a crane kick sending Charlotte into the sun. Actually no that didn't happen, but I would have booked it that way. But Becky finally wins a must win match and eliminates Charlotte.


I doubt they put Becky against Asuka when the big pay day is Ronda.

**** out of 5.


I really liked this rumble. There were a lot of really good spots. And some nice reputation building. Lacey Evans came out really strong. Carmella surprisingly showed that she can work as well. But this was about rebooting the woman's division which has struggled on the Raw side.


Look for part two probably tomorrow.

[Superflyer]

Both title matches with terrible endings

[CaptainCrunch]

AJ and Daniel really don't have good chemistry or style matchups.



I guess one day Rowan was taking out his garbage and decided that he needed to start recycling and then his eyes open to the plight of the world and he went to help out Bryan.


I actually liked the Brock match he sold like crazy and made Finn look like a million bucks.

[mile]

Brock match was decent. Bryan and Styles have had good matches before but tonight wasn't one of them.



Rowan with the plaid looks like he fits right in as another hippie environmentalist.

[Superflyer]

My problem with Brock's matches is that more than once he gets dominated and then hits one F5 and its over. Just this time it was a submission.

[KelVarnsen]

Lawler is terrible

[mile]

lol wat


Rollins better win this

[KelVarnsen]

That was oddly satisfying

[mile]

Awesome, pretty happy with both Rumble winners.


I think Seth will fight Brock, because he's never won the Universal title and to be the full-time champ on Raw that Roman was supposed to be.



Becky vs Ronda main events.

[CaptainCrunch]

They did a nice bit of deception yesterday with Dolph doing an interview from his home, talking about being on hiatus and not accepting a job as a backstage producer and talking about how he would fit with the AEW.


I'm sure that the SJW will be inflammed over Nia getting absolutely trashed in the men's royal rumble.


What's funny is she never got the approval from a WWE official, so was R-Truth actually eliminated?


Seth wins, I would have rather Andrede win it.



I expect that Seth is going after Bryan.

[rubecube]

Buuuurrrrnnnn it downnnnnnn

[CaptainCrunch]

I'll do a review of the second half tomorrow.


But a few things;


a near 5 hour card is way to much, I'm not young anymore and I was drifting.


I think the woman carried the night. The smackdown woman's match and Raw woman's matches were both very good, the woman's rumble and the booked ending were better then the men.


The Bryan vs AJ match was technically very good, but it was almost the wrong match to have after the hot woman's rumble. Also the ending was really stupid with Rowan getting involved. I just didn't find it that exciting as a match


** 1/2 our of 5


Brock vs Finn


When Brock wants to work with you, he makes you look like a million bucks, and he bumped hard and worked hard for Finn. People might talk about hating Brock, but they forget that when that music hits. Brock is a event. I remember reading a interview by Paul a little while ago where he talked about the biggest thing that people don't understand about Lesnar is that he doesn't hate wrestling, he really loves it, he hates travel and he's not good around people. I thought that this was a well executed match with Finn doing a lot of work, and Brock selling it. I don't know how I feel about the beat down at the end, but I would expect we're going to get demon vs Brock down the road.


*** out of 5.


The Mens rumble Seth Rollins wins


Unlike the woman's rumble they bought in some old timers like JJ JE double F JA double R e double T ha ha ha. Overall it was a decent but not spectacular rumble.



We did have R-Truth screwed out of his spot by Nia Jax. She went in and pulled off an elimination and then got destroyed. Dolph's super kicks are the goat.


Braun is just totally flat right now, I think his limits are starting to catch up with him now. I was actually cheering against him winning. I loved that they threw in some of the lesser lights and had Andrade really announced himself.


I just didn't enjoy it as much as the woman's rumble


*** out of 5.


On a side note, I read that TJ Wilson is producing a lot of woman's matches now, and that Heyman does a lot of work backstage with Ronda.


Not a bad ppv but it lost a lot of energy in the second half and the woman to me carried the card.


Overall mark for the whole PPV *** out of 5




I hope the CalgaryPuck Brigade had a great time.

[Gundo]

Absolutely loved the NXT mix in the men’s Rumble all had great showings and I can’t wait for Allistar to get the call up! And how fun was Mustafa Ali to watch!

[SuperMatt18]

Quick thoughts.

6 hours with the pre show staring at four is a long time to be at the show but overall good fun.

Styles and Bryan tried to have a slower physical match and it didn’t work all that well IMO, especially with the crowd needing a break after a fun women’s rumble.

I liked Brock vs Balor personally. Speed of Balor was evident and made for a good match up. Kinda hope they go Seth vs Bryan and Demon Balor vs Lesnar at wrestlemania.

Men’s rumble was really fun as the guys in the rumble (especially the NXT guys) put on a great show but at the same time also disappointing. No real surprise entrance, no big return (Wyatt, Owens, Zayn were all options I thought), and no big debuts.

Fun weekend overall between NXT and the Royal Rumble and can cross it off the bucket list at the very least.

[Ozy_Flame]

I'll write some post-RR thoughts about the weekend in Phoenix soon, but just wanted to give a heads up that Dean Ambrose has given his notice to the WWE and should be wrapped up by or around Wrestlemania (source: PW Torch).