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

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Wait isn't this week the go home Raw and Smackdown?

I haven't been watching much wrestling lately, but would probably tune in to Wrestlemania

Yup the go home shows are this week and WM is Saturday and Sunday.

Most matches are announced now but no announcement of what will be on what night yet (except that Cena/Theory is night 1).

[albertGQ]

Damn. Smackdown coming to Calgary in august. Out of town that weekend again.

Man, I’m so pissed.

[Matata]

I stopped actively watching wrestling a while ago: CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, The Shield and Wyatt Family all peaked and then I lost interest when they started trying to make it the Roman Reigns show. WWEs youtube content has been slowly pulling me back in: The Sami Zayn/bloodline stuff has organically worked itself into my social media algorithm and they seem to be putting out a lot of great content overall.

Whats the general state of wrestling like? It seems like the rise of AEW and Vince's departure has injected a lot of new energy and creativity. Is it time to start giving Smackdown a chance again? Or did I miss the boat on the whole bloodline thing?

[SuperMatt18]

Vince's departure has been good for the WWE for sure.

WWE is still very hit and miss but it's better.

But I would say both the Bloodline/Sami Zayn storyline, and the Rey/Dom Mysterio storyline have been some of the better long term builds the WWE have had in a long time.

AEW has so much potential but IMO fell into the same trap as TNA and WCW where they started to take too many WWE retreads and it ruined what made them unique to start with.

[CaptainCrunch]

Dom has really grown on me when I watch him. Who knew because as a face he was literally a black hole of anti-charisma.

Rhea has really risen to the top of the woman's division, and she just fits into this story with Dom and Rey so well. i expect that this is the end of Rey's story line as he's been talking about the end of his career.

Its expected that Roman's going to take a long break after he hits 1000 days as a champion. But the Bloodlines story line has been done really well.

[Muta]

I will say this - I found it very interesting that at the Dynamite in Winnipeg a couple weeks back, they reinforced / reintroduced the 'four pillars' of AEW on that episode - MJF/Jungle Boy/Sammy/Darby. Whether one agrees with those names or not, totally fair; but, given AEW's quality over the last year (and apt / growing comparisons to TNA and WCW for WWE retreads), they decided to reinforce who their own internal young stars were. They haven't mentioned the 'four pillars' in, well... ages. Just seemed timely and calculated.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Muta

I will say this - I found it very interesting that at the Dynamite in Winnipeg a couple weeks back, they reinforced / reintroduced the 'four pillars' of AEW on that episode - MJF/Jungle Boy/Sammy/Darby. Whether one agrees with those names or not, totally fair; but, given AEW's quality over the last year (and apt / growing comparisons to TNA and WCW for WWE retreads), they decided to reinforce who their own internal young stars were. They haven't mentioned the 'four pillars' in, well... ages. Just seemed timely and calculated.

Danielson, Jericho and Moxley are really the only three former WWE guys doing anything significant, and even they aren't overwhelming the booking (Jericho did at the start for obvious reasons, and Moxley did lately but only because CM Punk dropped the ball). The rest of them are in the mid-card doing various things.

They are clearly repositioning to The Four Pillars, Omega, and the Elite (including Hangman). This is best for the company to separate from WWE talent and legacies.

Should also mention that AEW is finding other success with homegrown talent as well. The Acclaimed are bloody over, crowds absolutely love Powerhouse Hobbs and Ricky Starks, and Hook is capturing that teenager/young adult crowd quite immensely. This isn't even mentioning Orange Cassidy or Danhausen, who are also incredibly over.

Give credit where it's due - AEW does have homegrown talent. It's how they position them on the card that matters. The good thing is that Danielson, Jericho and Moxley know that and is why they give the rub to so many young guys.

[SuperMatt18]

That's the biggest thing IMO. They are shifting back to what made them successful in their first year or two which is 100% the right decision.

[king_amonte]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

Damn. Smackdown coming to Calgary in august. Out of town that weekend again.

Man, I’m so pissed.

Excited for this. Seems like it’s been at least a decade since WWE did live TV in Calgary. Can’t imagine this will help the AEW show sell tickets, Smackdown may even be cheaper.

[CaptainCrunch]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1640669640538955776

[Trojan97]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

https://twitter.com/user/status/1640669640538955776

Context

https://twitter.com/user/status/1640682518608224256

[Inferno]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1641459890395705344

[SuperMatt18]

Interesting that they have Cena vs Theory listed first when they already said it's going to open night one. Wonder if they haven't decided on the main event between the Bloodline match or the Womens Title match yet.

I still have a feeling they are going to have at least one surprise match this weekend, similar to how Cody and Austin were both "surprises" last weekend.

My bold prediction is Cena wins night 1, does a US Title open challenge night two, and Jay White makes his debut and wins the US Title off Cena.

[Inferno]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

I still have a feeling they are going to have at least one surprise match this weekend, similar to how Cody and Austin were both "surprises" last weekend.

Unless they're going to re-add his match against Wyatt last minute, Lashley doesn't have an opponent. Maybe he comes out one night and does an open challenge and someone not expected shows up.

[Muta]

If Muta comes out and mists somebody, I'll be very happy.

[CMPunk]

Originally Posted by Muta

If Muta comes out and mists somebody, I'll be very happy.

I'd love to see him come out with Asuka and then they mist Bianca and Montez

[Ozy_Flame]

Muta needs to pass the mist on to Asuka at the HoF ceremony. It's like the symbolic passing of the torch to keep one of wrestling's best spots intact, and keeps it sacredly in the hands of one the best Japanese talent actively competing.

[GreenHardHat]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Muta needs to pass the mist on to Asuka at the HoF ceremony. It's like the symbolic passing of the torch to keep one of wrestling's best spots intact, and keeps it sacredly in the hands of one the best Japanese talent actively competing.

I love that Muta thanked this post!

[SuperMatt18]

Doing Rey Mysterio's HoF induction this weekend was kind of weird.

Weird to have a storyline with his son as part of his HoF induction IMO

[CaptainCrunch]

Dante Martin snaps his ankle doing an absolutely stupid ladder spot I'm not going to post the video or the injury as its completely brutal.