The Official WWE / NXT Discussion Thread *May Contain Spoilers*

[ubernoob]

I doubt it. He's left quad was worked on throughout the Rumble and I am pretty sure that the character of John Cena would be shocked to see HBK superkick Trips so early in the match.

 

That would be all fine and dandy, but to me it just looked like they formulated a plan to get him out of the ring. You can see talking going on right before Cena came in, I believe it was.

 

I could very easily be wrong here, so take it with a grain of salt... I'm just stating it looked like he was injured during the course of the match.

[DaMegaFish]

RAW Spoilers in post-

 

Edge isn't getting a very good face reaction as you would expect for him returning off injury, despite attacking Jericho on the mic. Thats...odd. He is getting boo'd on nearly everything he has said, except when he mentioned he lost to Undertaker.

 

Shame too, because I'm really happy to see Edge back.

[CQI13]

Could it be that they prefer him as a heel?

[The Shape]

RAW Spoilers in post-

 

Edge isn't getting a very good face reaction as you would expect for him returning off injury, despite attacking Jericho on the mic. Thats...odd. He is getting boo'd on nearly everything he has said, except when he mentioned he lost to Undertaker.

 

Shame too, because I'm really happy to see Edge back.

 

God damn. I'm sure he'll win people over, but it must be a terrible crowd. Like, he eliminates Cena, so boo him. No memory of anything, just that.

[ubernoob]

Thankfully I was wrong.

 

Go HHH

[DaMegaFish]

Yeah, im just surprised that the crowd didn't care about Edge at all and kinda wanted him out of there.

 

Also, did anybody really think Cody Rhodes stood a chance against Cena?

 

Finally, I love Cody Rhodes enterance, "Ooh, you mean the ring is behind me?"

[Tha Black Phenom]

To be honest, I think it's all part of the process. I never expected him to be cheered overnight, and I'm guessing they didn't either. They're gonna build this up slowly until the official face turn catalyst kicks in, either screwing Jericho over or something else. That's if the face turn is definite.

[CQI13]

Except that pretty much everyone I can remember that's come back (at least ME's) have gotten good reactions: HHH & Jericho come to mind. Didn't Kennedy get a good reaction when he came back?

[Tag01]

Was Edge a heel when he left? I wasn't watching then.

[Tha Black Phenom]

Jericho's return had suspenseful anticipation - inevitable, y'know? And Triple H has always been a guy fans would love to cheer if given the slightest babyface leeway. But even there, Edge has been a major heel for so long... he comes back and eliminates Jericho and Cena, pretty 50/50. I'm sure they meant to do this slowly from the get-go.

[lazorbeak]

Was Edge a heel when he left? I wasn't watching then.

 

Edge has been probably the most hated heel of the past 3-4 years, main eventing Wrestlemania 24 against Undertaker, allying himself with Vickie Guerrero, and generally doing anything to keep himself in the title hunt.

 

Seriously when was the last time Edge wasn't a heel? I think it was pre-Lita when he was on Raw feuding with Orton for the Intercontinental Title in... 2004?

[jesterx7769]

Pretty sure that was one of the least climatic endings on Raw ever...

[Tha Black Phenom]

Yeah, but at least they're doing something here, good stuff. Vince giving Bret back the spit he gave him all those years ago. Liking to see where Batista comes into the fray with this. Guess this is gonna be WrestleMania season again with superstars appearing on other brands like nothing.

[atomzero]

So has anyone heard any rumors about where this Bret Hart thing is going to end?

[Bigpapa42]

So has anyone heard any rumors about where this Bret Hart thing is going to end?

 

WrestleMania. He's under contract til then, so it expect it to take the 2 months to play out.

[Dragonmack]

I think everyone pretty much expects it to be Bret vs Vince at Wrestlemania. I seriously doubt Bret is going to get in the ring for a match against one of the regular wrestlers, as Batista didn't even give him a powerbomb. That indicates that Bret is either unwilling or unable to take any real bumps.

 

I am curious to see who they are going to bring in to counter Batista in this storyline. My money is on Shawn Michaels right now, as they seem to be going away from him facing Undertaker at Wrestlemania.

[jesterx7769]

Pretty sure Bret can't take any bumps cuz of his stroke and any damage to his head could be serious. He must be pretty broke btw.

[ECW 2.0]

Ewrestlingnews.com is saying that the plains of now is Batista and Vince V. Cena and Hart

[DaMegaFish]

I am curious to see who they are going to bring in to counter Batista in this storyline. My money is on Shawn Michaels right now, as they seem to be going away from him facing Undertaker at Wrestlemania.

 

Its still quite possibly these two could meet at WM. At least from what I know, I missed the 2nd half of RAW tonight but the whole tag champs things has me thinking maybe Shawn goes to SD, gets in the SD chamber or something. Or did I hear the SD chamber is going to be for number one contender? I can't remember right now.

[Woodsmeister]

I think Michaels will cost Taker his title in the elimination chamber and Jericho will win it leading to:

 

Michaels vs Taker

Edge vs Jericho - WWE World Heavyweight Title

Triple H vs Sheamus - WWE Title

Cena / Bret vs Batista / Vince

Orton vs DiBiase vs Rhodes

 

Michaels vs Taker could end up being Streak vs Career

[BurningHamster]

I didn't like the Rumble. I found the whole thing very bland. I didn't expect Edge to win (fairly sure he was going to be in it though) but as for the little battles within the Rumble, it was nothing I haven't seen a million times on free TV for the past few years. McIntyre fought Morrison. CM Punk talked. Triple H, Shawn Michaels and John Cena did stuff. Mark Henry slamming the Big Show is an awesome feat of strength, but I've seen it before. There was just nothing all that special or memorable, and it kind of felt like a waste of an hour to me.

 

+ CM Punk talking. Heard it all before, but I dug it.

+ Beth Phoenix. Just great

+ HBK's freak out. I don't care about HBK/Taker at all, but cool performance

+ After Cena eliminated Batista, seeing an out-of-focus Edge pop into frame behind him, gearing up for the spear. I marked out.

 

I dunno, last year I had someone I was "cheering on" which was John Morrison (I'm a heel mark and... those abs, man) once he was thrown out, I stopped caring. Here, I didn't really care about anyone. Could have cared about Zack Ryder or Matt Hardy, but they were both out in 30 seconds so I didn't have time to get emotionally invested.

 

Usually I find everything Self says to be the absolute opposite of my own opinion but I have to agree with a lot of this.

 

I love Royal Rumble matches, it's the only match I am guarenteed to watch every year, but this year it was very underwhelming. CM Punk was good, not just the talking in between eliminating people thing but also he was bumping around like a madman. I've never been as high on CM Punk as most of your internet wrestling fans but I think he was easily the worker of the match. The HBK Freakout was about the only other memorable moment for me ... the rest of the match was just so blah. Outside of Beth Phoenix and Edge there weren't any surprises. Too many times they pulled the "new guy comes in and floors 3 guys in a row with the same move" crap, so many of the wrestlers just look like slight variations on the same thing and it fell flat for me.

 

I would like to say that is the one WWE show for the year I will watch ... but well .... Shatner.

[sabataged]

A few post RAW comments from me.

 

- Bret Hart looks horrible. The guy is reduced to being held by Batista and no fight back what so ever? After seeing this I really hope he doesn't wrestle at Mania. I hope it is Batista vs Cena with McMahon and Hart in their corners. Maybe a spot where Hart puts Vince in the sharpshooter and thats that.

 

- With Edge acting like he is going to wait I fully expect Jericho to win the WWE title at Elimination Chamber due to outside interference from HBK. Then Edge will challenge Jericho. Taker will be pissed so he will accept HBK's challenge.

 

- I have no idea what will happen in the RAW elimination Chamber. I honestly can not see Sheamus walking out the champ from that one at all. I guess we can get HHH winning and then Sheamus challenge HHH at Mania even though that seems pretty weak to me. To me it almost seems like they are trying to build Orton as a face against Sheamus. I am still holding out hope that HHH vs HBK vs Taker would happen.

[The Shape]

Edge's reaction wasn't as bad as seemed to be said, Spearing Sheamus is a face move either way lol.

 

Cena and Batista getting involved with Bret and Vince makes a lot of sense, makes Batista vs. Cena a more relevant feud and avoids a horrible Vince/Bret showdown. That'd mean it was indeed Michaels vs. Taker, which given this build makes sense. Michaels cost him the title at EC, sets it up perfectly. I'd be even more hyped for the match this time even though Taker is so likely to win, because the build would be better and I know for a fact that during the course of the match itself, I will be sold on the possibility that Michaels can win it, like last year with the clean SCM after the tune up and everything.

 

That way Jericho gets the World title at EC and faces Edge, another match that makes a whole load of sense. So the only loose end is the WWE title. It'd be the fourth match on the billing so Trips vs. Sheamus wouldn't be a disaster, Sheamus could take out his fellow irishman hornswoggle in the buildup, lol. Although I would quite like the Orton/DiBiase situation to be integrated here as well, multi-man-ness would compensate for the lack of the singles match's appeal and it opens up Punk vs. Rey as another big singles match.

 

So overall it'd be:

 

The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels (the issue of whether it would main event the show comes into play when there's no belt involved, but I really, really think it should)

Jericho © vs. Edge - World Title

Cena w/Bret vs. Batista w/Vince

Sheamus © vs. Orton vs. Trips vs. DiBiase (WWE title; two singles matches are possible here but this makes it more interesting, can keep Orton a little more ambiguous...him and Trips and the faces against the new upstarts and all that, not sure where Cody goes but he's already not in action at EC, so yeah.

CM Punk vs. Rey - Hair vs. Mask (OR if Jeff is an option, sXe vs. Hardys for the tag belts, that'd be amazing, in which case Rey is bumped to either MITB or an IC title match)

MITB: Kofi and Morrison are certainties, Big Show and Miz should be here too, Christian if he's no longer champ (if he is, then I agree with the match vs. Tatsu), maybe Bourne/Swagger/Ziggler and others of that mould, and potentially MVP or Matt Hardy

McIntyre vs. whoever for the IC title, just a good solid midcard bout, maybe Finlay, Kane or Matt Hardy, Hardy would be a good one actually

And something with the women, a unification would be nice or make Beth fight a man as mentioned before

[justtxyank]

I know many on here have been spending the past month plus trying to figure out ways to keep Bret out of the ring, heck even before he came back people were thinking of ways to keep him out of the ring, but there isn't a reason yet to think he isn't going to fight Vince.

 

I think they might book it the way they did Mayweather vs Show where they don't tell us what is going to happen, just that there will be a "match of some sort." They might call it "unsanctioned" or something so they don't have to do a lot of "ring work" and just have them punch each other for a few minutes before a sharpshooter.

 

But, you are kidding yourself if you don't think there is going to be some sort of physical matchup between Vince and Bret after they teased the sharpshooter on Raw.

 

By the way, I'd like them to put Jerry Lawler in the Money in the Bank this year.

[Tha Black Phenom]

- Bret Hart looks horrible. The guy is reduced to being held by Batista and no fight back what so ever? After seeing this I really hope he doesn't wrestle at Mania. I hope it is Batista vs Cena with McMahon and Hart in their corners. Maybe a spot where Hart puts Vince in the sharpshooter and thats that.

 

The man's 52. I think it was fairly expected for him to 'look horrible'. I certainly didn't expect him to fight back, against a brute like... Batista. If he ever is gonna wrestle at WrestleMania, it's gonna be against Vince, and it's sure to say Vince isn't no Batista.