The WWE Thread

[WWEJedi]

Good wrestling..... terrible terrible terrible terrible terrible terrible match ending executions for the three main events..... did I say terrible?

Honestly.... Styles vs Cena... good match.... but they have to make Cena look strong with the ref knockout! Just can't have it any other way apparently. Styles should have won clean, then the beat down on Cena occurs after the match.

Then the MITB match..... not that spectacular of an ending.... Ambrose pushes Owens down.... takes his time grabbing the case.... end match.

Then... Rolins vs Reigns, can't have Reigns take a truly clean loss. WWE must have the ref knockdown angle.... again. And once again WWE had to make Reigns look strong by taking two pedigree's. The match should have ended on the Rollins counter of the spear into the pedigree, absolutely incredible move, never seen before, crowd loved it. It was the proper, best moment to end the match, but nope, Reigns needs to look strong and be beaten by two pedigrees. Rollins still wins, really awesome, but we see him celebrating after the match, Ambrose slams him in the back, one dirty deeds.... and it is over. So, tell me, how does Reigns taking two finishers to lose to Rollins actually make him strong still, when the guy who beat him took only one finisher and lost in five seconds? Obviously Ambrose should have won, but the match really should have gone on for at least a couple of minutes.

Either way, WWE blew there biggest match for SummerSlam. Funny thing is, that is two months away. So, apparently it will be Rollins vs Ambrose at Battleground, Rollins wins it back. Then Ambrose and Reigns both use their rematch at SummerSlam... with Reigns winning and being built strong once again.

Sometimes I really hate WWE.

 

[karamazov80]

You almost never see the marquee face guys lose clean in the ring without an absurd onslaught of "special moves" nowadays (goes back to the Rock/Stone Cold/HHH heyday). I don't care for it, but that's McMahon's way. And also the way it often works in the indies, NXT, and Japan nowadays, though there it's a function of who is the champ, not who is the good guy they're selling t-shirts for.

 

[guyver1]

I'm actually shocked Dean cashed in so early. I guess it was poetic, since Rollins did the same at WM, but he still waited. Booking must be really desperate for ratings

 

[imthebestatwhatido]

I'm actually shocked Dean cashed in so early. I guess it was poetic, since Rollins did the same at WM, but he still waited. Booking must be really desperate for ratings

They set up dean winning MITB and cashing in that same night on RAW when he gave dirty deeds to reigns on the asylum. Watch wrestling long enough and it's like you can see into the future.

 

[Bardoon]

Sorry guys...but what do you expect nowadays from the WWE and the "PG Era"? Vince is delusional and surrounded himself with failed soap opera writers and 'yes men'. Stephanie has done the exact SAME thing. Kevin Dunn is all up in Vince's butt and the ONLY glimmering sign of hope for the WWE is....Triple H! But as long as Vince is around, his family will NOT challenge him on any of his decisions. All the great wrestling minds that Vince used to make the WWE uber-successful in the late-90's are gone: Jim Ross, Pat Patterson, Jim Cornette and even though they got Paul Heyman, they pay him GOOD money to simply be Brock Lesnar's mouthpiece.

You'll get 'glimmers' of hope here and there like this Ambrose win and Styles win (which we know Cena will 'ultimately' win the series)...but at the end of the day, WWE is a barely a shadow of what it used to be. The writing sucks with no cohesiveness, Champions are crapped on and constantly lose in non-title matches (really?), talent is excessively wasted and eventually cast aside (Ziggler, Sandow, etc.).

 

[WWEJedi]

Well, I was wrong. With the Shield Triple Threat at Battleground, that confirms they will split up come the draft and this will be the only feud in the near future between the three.

 

[WWEJedi]

Roman Reigns got suspended for 30 days.

This is Rob Van Dam level of stupidity.... well, almost

Pretty surprised they didn't try to hide it... or just push it under the rug. He still will be in the triple threat, but I wonder how it will be handled on TV...

 

[Bardoon]

Roman Reigns got suspended for 30 days.

This is Rob Van Dam level of stupidity.... well, almost

Pretty surprised they didn't try to hide it... or just push it under the rug. He still will be in the triple threat, but I wonder how it will be handled on TV...

Some people think this is a work, but I don't. It's legit. WWE takes their Wellness Policy VERY seriously and this is crushing that their 'golden boy', the new 'face' of their company got busted.

I think this also a little bit of a "F'you" to Reigns by the company, because, in a sense...putting them in this position to suspend him despite them being behind him for so long. No offense to Reigns/Anoa'i personally, but despite all the fans' VENOM against Reigns' character being shoved down our throats, the WWE has PERSISTENTLY been pushing him and throwing the spotlight on him and trying to shoehorn him into being accepted as the WWE's top star. He's gotten the top spot handed to him on a silver platter and MOST of management has looked away from his glaring flaws to 'back' him as THE GUY. They've manufactured a star and have incessantly been trying to get him accepted and he just can't do it...because he unfortunately just truly doesn't have that 'magic' that makes a Hogan or an Austin or a Rock. All he's got is a 'look' that McMahon and Dunn are all horned up about.

I hope this wakes up McMahon a little and makes them realize they just can't mold these stars on a platter and artificially forces fans to like them...you can't. You need to let them get over naturally and it's such a shame that over all the decades of McMahon's experience...he just refuses to accept it.

As for Anoa'i/Reigns, hopefully this was a poor decision by him and he understands he needs to stay away from drugs, learn from it and grow. The guy, personally, seems like a genuinely good dude and a loving father and husband. The unfortunate thing is that he's under a lot of pressure from the company to become 'the' guy and he's going against so much adversity...so it's possible he just cracked and made some bad decisions. The best thing would be for the WWE to slow the throttle off of him...and let him grow in the mid-card. You already have stronger mic-workers and wrestlers in his two Shield colleagues, Ambrose and Rollins, and they have genuine fans.

I don't like Reigns the character and don't like how WWE is shoving him down all our throats, but I feel for Joe Anoa'i, the man behind the character and hope for the best for him. Let his character develop naturally and let him win the fans naturally...it might take years but it'll be better overall for everyone involved.

If the WWE tries to force-feed him to fans AGAIN after this...it might turn out badly as the first thing fans will pick on Reigns for will be his drug abuse.

 

[ashkanls]

Some people think this is a work, but I don't. It's legit. WWE takes their Wellness Policy VERY seriously and this is crushing that their 'golden boy', the new 'face' of their company got busted.

I think this also a little bit of a "F'you" to Reigns by the company, because, in a sense...putting them in this position to suspend him despite them being behind him for so long. No offense to Reigns/Anoa'i personally, but despite all the fans' VENOM against Reigns' character being shoved down our throats, the WWE has PERSISTENTLY been pushing him and throwing the spotlight on him and trying to shoehorn him into being accepted as the WWE's top star. He's gotten the top spot handed to him on a silver platter and MOST of management has looked away from his glaring flaws to 'back' him as THE GUY. They've manufactured a star and have incessantly been trying to get him accepted and he just can't do it...because he unfortunately just truly doesn't have that 'magic' that makes a Hogan or an Austin or a Rock. All he's got is a 'look' that McMahon and Dunn are all horned up about.

I hope this wakes up McMahon a little and makes them realize they just can't mold these stars on a platter and artificially forces fans to like them...you can't. You need to let them get over naturally and it's such a shame that over all the decades of McMahon's experience...he just refuses to accept it.

As for Anoa'i/Reigns, hopefully this was a poor decision by him and he understands he needs to stay away from drugs, learn from it and grow. The guy, personally, seems like a genuinely good dude and a loving father and husband. The unfortunate thing is that he's under a lot of pressure from the company to become 'the' guy and he's going against so much adversity...so it's possible he just cracked and made some bad decisions. The best thing would be for the WWE to slow the throttle off of him...and let him grow in the mid-card. You already have stronger mic-workers and wrestlers in his two Shield colleagues, Ambrose and Rollins, and they have genuine fans.

I don't like Reigns the character and don't like how WWE is shoving him down all our throats, but I feel for Joe Anoa'i, the man behind the character and hope for the best for him. Let his character develop naturally and let him win the fans naturally...it might take years but it'll be better overall for everyone involved.

This is the best thing that can happen for his character because AT LEAST I hope he is a HEEL NOW. He is the good looking jock that all the guys are jealous of and woman love. Let Dbag Empire begin.

 

[karamazov80]

Some people think this is a work, but I don't. It's legit. WWE takes their Wellness Policy VERY seriously and this is crushing that their 'golden boy', the new 'face' of their company got busted.

While I'm sure the suspension is legit, I don't believe for a second that WWE is serious about their wellness policy. The only way you get a major, long-term push is to juice in the WWE. The wellness policy is a PR campaign, meant to stave off public criticism of the company and mitigate lawsuits.

I wouldn't be shocked if WWE knew about Reigns's issues before the PPV, and that the only reason he lost was because they were going to be suspending him soon thereafter.

 

[epitaph04]

^^Yeah apparently that's the rumor that's going around. Oh well less Reigns and more of everyone else is gonna be neat.

 

[guyver1]

Well, I was wrong. With the Shield Triple Threat at Battleground, that confirms they will split up come the draft and this will be the only feud in the near future between the three.

Which isn't a bad thing, Rollins being a Smackdown champion would work well

 

[guyver1]

Oh oh Kevin Love just plugged the WWE giving them the custom title belt during the Cavs celebration parade on tv. Oh brother..there goes the WWE Social Media blowing up in our faces for the next few days

 

[Bardoon]

While I'm sure the suspension is legit, I don't believe for a second that WWE is serious about their wellness policy. The only way you get a major, long-term push is to juice in the WWE. The wellness policy is a PR campaign, meant to stave off public criticism of the company and mitigate lawsuits.

I wouldn't be shocked if WWE knew about Reigns's issues before the PPV, and that the only reason he lost was because they were going to be suspending him soon thereafter.

Well then why suspend the future face of their company and not cover it up? McMahon and Dunn were behind the guy despite all the negative reception and he was stamped as the MAN for the WWE following Cena. Rumor is that with the draft coming up, Cena was going to headline one show and Reigns the other.

Why not just cover it up?

 

[guyver1]

Well then why suspend the future face of their company and not cover it up? McMahon and Dunn were behind the guy despite all the negative reception and he was stamped as the MAN for the WWE following Cena. Rumor is that with the draft coming up, Cena was going to headline one show and Reigns the other.

Why not just cover it up?

Are you joking..Reigns future face of the company? not according to the boos he got as a face WWE title champion. Even Cena was heavenly respected by the fans in his earlier championship career.

If Reigns got an offer from TNA today, Vince wouldn't bat an eyelash to see him go. Cena and Rollins are back and now we have AJ. Reigns won't be missed, even he becomes a solo heel.

 

[karamazov80]

I suspect there are mechanisms in place to document their investigations by a third party (WWE claims that testing is done independently by a 3rd party, though with a massive WWE contract, the definition of "independent" is probably a bit loose). If the whole thing were completely left up to WWE, who would believe that they were ever being honest, after the scandal of the early '90s, and obvious abuse of steroids by major stars over the years including the vast majority of their champs? At that point, the question is simply how stringent they are with tests (probably not very and/or are pretty selective over what constitutes illicit substances, what threshold has to be met for punishment, etc.), and what the timeline is for reporting/punishing talent (probably a bit of leeway to adjust for affects they will have on TV and PPV events). So, total cover-up would probably not be possible in some instances.

But on top of all that, if major talent were never punished, again, the policy would have no credibility. By giving Reigns a slap on the wrist, it is actually a great long-term PR move to ensure that people give WWE more of a benefit of the doubt. Was he suspended just before Wrestlemania? No. After a 2nd tier PPV, for a month, where his loss will have a marginal effect on things.

So, I think there are a couple of reasons why this makes some sense, while still holding the assumption that this wellness policy is a bit of a joke and should not be construed as a serious attempt by McMahon et al. to clean things up. Hell, Triple H still obviously juices, and he's one of the most important decision-makers in the company. McMahon probably does, as well.

 

[Bardoon]

Are you joking..Reigns future face of the company? not according to the boos he got as a face WWE title champion. Even Cena was heavenly respected by the fans in his earlier championship career.

If Reigns got an offer from TNA today, Vince wouldn't bat an eyelash to see him go. Cena and Rollins are back and now we have AJ. Reigns won't be missed, even he becomes a solo heel.

There's a lot of evidence and proof from the WWE dirtsheets, internal sources, wrestling reports, and even patterns in the writing for him that Roman Reigns for the past year-plus has essentially been designated as the next HUGE star of the WWE BY the WWE, not the fans...but the WWE "itself". Vince McMahon and Executive Producer Kevin Dunn (Vince's top yes-man) LOVE Reigns...but for all the wrong reasons. They just love his "look". It's no secret that McMahon loves his "big hoss" wrestlers and for some reason, despite ALL the boos, despite all the fan backlash, despite the fact that Reigns is a crappy wrestler, can't work the mic worth crap, and is always sucking wind in the ring, McMahon and Dunn have charged WWE Creative with writing Reigns as the next top superstar. Their stubbornness over Reigns is what is driving the fans' rejectionist attitude because the WWE has refused to push the superstars that the fans naturally cheer for...and this has been going on within the past few years within the 'PG-era'.

Do you know Reigns was originally scripted to beat Lesnar at Wrestlemania 32? But they turned that decision around once Lesnar signed his 3-year deal.

The issue is that Reigns has been artificially SHOVED down fans' throat and the WWE is essentially FORCING the fans to accept Reigns as the 'next top guy'. But we don't want...that's why the chorus of boos every time Reigns comes out...the fans KNOW the WWE has been trying to put Reigns on a pedestal and has purposely held back the wrestlers that the fans naturally cheer for in favor of Reigns. I'd argue that Dean Ambrose was sabotaged with concurrent losses to make him less favorable than Reigns, Daniel Bryan was crazy popular from 2013-2015 and WWE did everything in their power to destroy him and try to NEVER make him champion. During the CM Punk years, WWE was high on pushing Alberto Del Rio despite fans favoring Punk. WWE has continually been pushing their own agenda with failed soap opera writers and 'yes men' and trying to artificially create superstars and TELL the fans that these are the guys everyone should root for.

Vince...at least until now...has been rock-solid behind Reigns. He would NEVER give him up to TNA. That's his baby and pet project to create the next top babyface.

Here's a good site to read up backstage news and reports on: https://www.lordsofpain.net/

 

[SwedishHeat]

So, I've been out of the game for a while, I can't remember when I stopped, I vaguely remember the Invasion from after WWE bought WCW, but I barely recall WWE re-starting ECW. Caught the bug again around Wrestlemania this year. But I was curious about the circumstances of AJ Styles' call-up. I remember hearing his name from back in the day, so I'm aware of he's been around a while. And the more I learn about Styles, I'm curious why he goes directly to WWE instead of NXT. Obviously the guy is a big star, but it seems like Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura are also big stars as well. I know Samoa Joe's a pretty big name, but he went to NXT as well.

So, is AJ just that good that he goes to the big show that quick? I mean, I can see he's really good, but what separates him from the others?

Also, Jericho's "perro idiots" was the greatest thing I've seen on any TV show in a long time. That's the Jericho I loved from the Ralphus days

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

Roman Reigns got suspended for 30 days.

This is Rob Van Dam level of stupidity.... well, almost

Pretty surprised they didn't try to hide it... or just push it under the rug. He still will be in the triple threat, but I wonder how it will be handled on TV...

Roman's new catchphrase will be, I don't use good drugs, I don't use bad drugs, I use THE drugs

 

[fistfulmetal]

So, I've been out of the game for a while, I can't remember when I stopped, I vaguely remember the Invasion from after WWE bought WCW, but I barely recall WWE re-starting ECW. Caught the bug again around Wrestlemania this year. But I was curious about the circumstances of AJ Styles' call-up. I remember hearing his name from back in the day, so I'm aware of he's been around a while. And the more I learn about Styles, I'm curious why he goes directly to WWE instead of NXT. Obviously the guy is a big star, but it seems like Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura are also big stars as well. I know Samoa Joe's a pretty big name, but he went to NXT as well.

So, is AJ just that good that he goes to the big show that quick? I mean, I can see he's really good, but what separates him from the others?

Also, Jericho's "perro idiots" was the greatest thing I've seen on any TV show in a long time. That's the Jericho I loved from the Ralphus days

AJ is that good. Overall his body of work over the years compared to the other guys has been better. Just his matches in New Japan alone are some of the greatest by any wrestler. Plus with him being a part of the extremely popular Bullet Club in Japan, I think that really helped his chances to go to the WWE main roster along with his matches in Japan. Also yes Balor, Nakamura and Joe definitely should be on the main roster too.