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

[Russelrules44]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Y'know what I think should be the Elimination Chamber card?....Well......<p> Main Events</p><p> </p><p> WWE Title Elimination Chamber</p><p> </p><p> Cena vs Orton vs <strong>Bryan</strong> vs Punk vs Brock Lesnar vs Bray Wyatt</p><p> </p><p> WWE Intercontiental Elimination Chamber</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Big E. Langston</strong> vs Kane vs Ryback vs The Miz vs R-Truth vs Alexander Rusev</p><p> </p><p> Mid Card</p><p> WWE United States Title</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Dean Ambrose</strong> vs Roman Reigns</p><p> </p><p> A.K.A, The Beginning of the End of the Shield.</p><p> </p><p> WWE Divas Title</p><p> </p><p> AJ Lee vs Naomi</p><p> </p><p> Opening Matches</p><p> </p><p> Tag Team Fatal Four Way</p><p> </p><p> RyBaxel vs <strong>The New Age Outlaws</strong> vs The Rhodes Brothers vs The Real Americans</p><p> </p><p> Kick-Off</p><p> </p><p> 15 Man Battle Royal to be in the WWE Elimination Chamber- <strong>Bray Wyatt</strong>, Sheamus, Evan Bourne (FINALLY!), Tyson Kidd, Damien Sandow, Mark Henry, Tensai, Kofi Kingston, Alberto Del Rio, Sin Cara, Rey Mysterio, Justin Gabriel, Wade Barrett, Dolph Ziggler and Kizarny (Because I can!)</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> That good?</p>

[TheBooker]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Russelrules44" data-cite="Russelrules44" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>That good?</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> WWE Title Elimination Chamber</p><p> Cena vs. Orton © vs. Bryan vs. Sheamus vs. Brock Lesnar vs. Punk</p><p> </p><p> The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan and Luke Harper) vs. The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins)</p><p> </p><p> Divas Championship Match</p><p> AJ Lee © vs. Naomi</p><p> </p><p> WWE Tag Team Championship Match</p><p> New Age Outlaws © vs. The Brotherhood</p><p> </p><p> Intercontinental Championship Match</p><p> Big E Langston © vs. Alexander Rusev with Lana</p>

[Arrows]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="TheBooker" data-cite="TheBooker" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>WWE Title Elimination Chamber<p> Cena vs. Orton © vs. Bryan vs. Sheamus vs. Brock Lesnar vs. Punk</p><p> </p><p> The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan and Luke Harper) vs. The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins)</p><p> </p><p> Divas Championship Match</p><p> AJ Lee © vs. Naomi</p><p> </p><p> WWE Tag Team Championship Match</p><p> New Age Outlaws © vs. The Brotherhood</p><p> </p><p> Intercontinental Championship Match</p><p> Big E Langston © vs. Alexander Rusev with Lana</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I could see a lot of this being accurate.</p><p> </p><p> Gotta have Kane vs. Punk to resolve that issue. Replace Punk with Show, and it's probably fairly close to what we'll get.</p>

[TheBooker]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Arrows" data-cite="Arrows" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I could see a lot of this being accurate.<p> </p><p> Gotta have Kane vs. Punk to resolve that issue. Replace Punk with Show, and it's probably fairly close to what we'll get.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Show being injured puts a damper on that but now that you mention it I do see Punk vs. Kane making to the Chamber PPV as well.</p>

[Arrows]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="TheBooker" data-cite="TheBooker" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Show being injured puts a damper on that but now that you mention it I do see Punk vs. Kane making to the Chamber PPV as well.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> This is true. Haven't considered it serious, as I haven't heard either way. </p><p> </p><p> Only guy I can see being the 6th man is Del Rio, unfortunately.</p>

[Hashasheen]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Arrows" data-cite="Arrows" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>This is true. Haven't considered it serious, as I haven't heard either way. <p> </p><p> Only guy I can see being the 6th man is Del Rio, unfortunately.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Del Rio v Batista. </p><p> </p><p> The fifth and sixth spots will got to Brock Lesnar and either Big Show, Mark Henry or maybe Rey Mysterio at a stretch.</p>

[Arrows]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Hashasheen" data-cite="Hashasheen" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Del Rio v Batista. <p> </p><p> It'll Brock, Cena, Bryan, Sheamus, Wyatt and Orton, I feel. With the Wyatt Family taking on the Shield (Ambrose/Rollins) and maybe Reigns facing Langston. Though I'd rather Ambrose defend against someone and Rollins challenge Langston. </p><p> </p><p> Also Ziggler/Miz as a tag team?</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> There's actually a rumor flying around that the IC and US titles will be unified soon. Could even see that at EC, and given the lack of a second chamber match, that'd be a great way to do it.</p>

[Hashasheen]

I doubt it. That removes their tertiary title from contention and hurts both Ambrose and Langston, who both are viewed as future stars. The US title works well enough as the third championship rung, I think. Not to mention the E's seemingly cut down on more than a few of their gimmick ppvs having multiple gimmick matches.

[Arrows]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Hashasheen" data-cite="Hashasheen" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I doubt it. That removes their tertiary title from contention and hurts both Ambrose and Langston, who both are viewed as future stars. The US title works well enough as the third championship rung, I think. Not to mention the E's seemingly cut down on more than a few of their gimmick ppvs having multiple gimmick matches.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Honestly hoping with no MitB case floating around, they bump that back to Mania. No need for it to have it's own event, that it's not even going to main event, when it could give six guys who aren't gonna be on Mania a chance to shine on the big stage.</p>

[Blackman]

<p>Surprising to see Mysterio getting so much boos. Am I missing something, or is the crowd just tired of luchador personalities. They don't stick around that long in sports entertainment, yet Mysterio stuck for quite a while. Anyhow: WWE's fault. Always stick a credible contender in the last spot.</p><p> </p><p>

The event itself was average.</p>

[Stennick]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Hashasheen" data-cite="Hashasheen" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I doubt it. That removes their tertiary title from contention and hurts both Ambrose and Langston, who both are viewed as future stars. The US title works well enough as the third championship rung, I think. Not to mention the E's seemingly cut down on more than a few of their gimmick ppvs having multiple gimmick matches.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> When was the last time that title was even defended on a tv show people watch? Hell they barely care about the IC Title these days. Pretty much the only championships that have been relevant in the last year are the tag team titles and the WWE Championship. I could see them getting unified soon. It baffles me how so little can be going on and how many people aren't getting anything to do when they have FIVE hours of television a week to fill....of major television that is.</p>

[milamber]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="lazorbeak" data-cite="lazorbeak" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>This is the sort of reverse logic that helps WWE justify their awful choices, but it's still backwards. "Oh, Summerslam didn't draw, so Bryan's not a draw." There was no story to Summerslam. Cena picked Bryan out of a ring full of stars and the build was... what? Vince berating his beard, Bryan taking a loss to Wade Barrett, and doing basically nothing with Cena. <p> </p><p> Yes, chants in of themselves don't immediately equal drawing power. But it means the crowd is hot for a guy and maybe don't 50/50 book him with Wade Barrett, a guy you mangled back in 2011 with awful booking. </p><p> </p><p> Seriously, let's go back to 1996 and re-book WWE the way they do today. Austin wins KOTR, the live crowd is excited to see him, his 3:16 catchphrase is over. Shawn Michaels picks him to be the #1 contender (not because he won KOTR, just... because), and Austin spends the next 6 weeks trading wins with Savio Vega. Austin wins, but gets screwed out of the title, and never gets any comeuppance on the heels, despite increasingly loud crowd reactions. WWE point out repeatedly that he's not championship material because he's too bland and small. Steve Austin "bald hats" aren't a top seller, and WWE throws its hands up and says "oh well, this guy just can't draw." He's not booked in the 1997 Royal Rumble at all, instead losing to Hunter Hearst Helmsley in the opener. </p><p> </p><p> Of course, what actually happened was that Austin, even though he was still a heel for another 9 months, just stopped losing to anyone that wasn't a top draw in the company (including the Royal Rumble in 1997). WWE started booking him like a champion over a year before he won the belt for the first time, at Wrestlemania, in a story where the heels desperately tried to keep him from winning the belt but still couldn't stop him. He won two Royal Rumbles and only lost on Pay Per View to Bret Hart and the Undertaker in a span of 20 months. In the meantime, WWF put out some of its best merchandise ever (compare with <a href="http://shop.wwe.com/Daniel-Bryan-Beard-Baseball-Hat/W05964,default,pd.html?dwvar_W05964_color=No%20Color&start=8&cgid=superstar-current-danielbryan" rel="external nofollow">this</a>), and kept Austin in major storylines, where again, he didn't lose.</p><p> </p><p> WWE has booked Bryan incompetently for months and then get to say "oh he's not drawing well." More fun facts about buyrates: buyrates were down when Lesnar beat Rock at Summerslam, and down even worse when he beat Kurt Angle at Wrestlemania, but he's still one of the biggest PPV draws in the history of pay per view when booked correctly (UFC 100).</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I see where you're coming from. But it's a different time. Vince relies on Cena and Orton now and if he needs another main eventer he can bring back one of the old guys (Rock, Lesnar, Batista, Jericho). Back in 1996 I assume Vince had a greater need to create new main event stars. And to be fair Vince did push Punk in the Austin role before giving him the longest modern day title reign (although you could claim Vince is biased against Bryan by not giving him the same sort of run at the top). Disclaimer: I didn't watch much WWE until 5 years ago so I don't have any facts to back up my opinion.</p><p> </p><p> Honestly, IMO, aside from not having a decent WWE Championship run, Bryan has been booked strong ever since he won MITB. Good storylines as both babyface and heel that allowed him to show off his wrestling skills and personality. I'd like to see the stats but I'm pretty sure Bryan main evented more shows than Cena in 2013, sometimes even pulling double duty. He's been killing it in the ring every week against half the roster. And the position they have him in has only increased his following. And he's managed to put over The Shield, The Authority and The Wyatt Family at the same time. So I have no problem with the way he's been booked.</p><p> </p><p> Having said that, I would mark out hard if Bryan won the WWE WHC and held it for at least a few months.</p>

[bigtplaystew]

<p>We ALL know Daniel Bryan is being used in a prominent position and making money. I dont have a problem with them keeping the belt off of him if it pays off down the road. But the way they treat him and us it's almost like "We know what you want better than you do."</p><p> </p><p>

And I know that's the angle Triple H has been working, but like aren't you ACTUALLY pissing us off now? Not just drawing heat but at this point disappointing the people who paid money to show up and paid money for the PPV? I mean EVERY SINGLE main event DB was in had some kind of screwjob finish and Batista winning the rumble it's like... REALLY?? I could have dealt with Cena because he makes money hand over fist for the company. I would have loved to have seen Reigns. Anyone but him! Batista is boring and doesn't belong in the main event. He draws eyes on his match regardless as he's a "unique" attraction ala Brock, rock, Taker, etc. He doesn't need a main event match at mania and no one wants to see it. </p><p> </p><p>

That's the thing that makes me fear the network. They won't worry about buys anymore they'll worry about subscriptions. And people won't be likely to drop with all the old school content. They'll have the hardcores by the balls basically as they'll have our money for sure. They won't have to appeal to us AT ALL at that point. I almost feel like it'll give creative carte blanche to do whatever the hell they want to with complete disregard to fan reaction. </p><p> </p><p>

Scary thought.</p>

[milamber]

<p><span>http://botchedspot.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/01/2014-01-27-bryan-support.jpg</span></p><p> </p><p>

<img alt="Be9dBqNCYAI7Cat.png:large" data-src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Be9dBqNCYAI7Cat.png:large" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p>

And one more image that's NSFW.</p><p> </p><p>

<a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/t1/1604756_756379807724472_1874282370_n.jpg" rel="external nofollow">https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/t1/1604756_756379807724472_1874282370_n.jpg</a></p>

[Target Practice]

<p>I would LOVE to know if the events on Raw were planned all along, or whether WWE are scrambling to recover after realising that they made a pretty huge screwup at the RR.</p><p> </p><p>

If they were planned, I need to start giving Creative more credit, because they judged it perfectly, even if I don't agree with using arguably your #2 PPV of the year pretty much solely to troll your audience.</p><p> </p><p>

If they're scrambling, they've done a decent job. Bryan, Sheamus and Cena in the EC match (with presumably Lesnar and one more (Reigns?) to come) gives them a lot of options going into Wrestlemania. It was interesting to see Batista still got a pretty hostile reaction on Raw, you'd have to assume they're going to have to turn him heel soon - it's not even like with Cena where the crowd are split half and half - with Batista, half the crowd are booing, and the other half just don't care. That's not a good position to be in as a face.</p><p> </p><p>

As a side note, the Shield/Wyatts thing at the end was a nice touch. Maybe they'll use that as the catalyst to separate Reigns from the Shield - have them run a feud as tweeners against the Wyatts (or just the 'less hated' of two heel teams), let the crowd do their thing and start giving 'Roman Reigns' chants, then use that to play the jealousy angle.</p>

[bigtplaystew]

Milamber for the win lol.

[Blackman]

<p>I personally don't understand why everyone is upset. Why does it always have to be the 'best' scenario?</p><p> </p><p>

You people know the biblical story of the 7 good years and the 7 bad years, right? <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> Give it time, and eventually, when he DOES win the belt, it's going to be all the sweeter.</p>

[Teh_Showtime]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Blackman" data-cite="Blackman" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I personally don't understand why everyone is upset. Why does it always have to be the 'best' scenario?<p> </p><p> You people know the biblical story of the 7 good years and the 7 bad years, right? <img alt=":p" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> Give it time, and eventually, when he DOES win the belt, it's going to be all the sweeter.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> There would be optimism if people haven't been saying this since SummerSlam after every time he got screwed out of the title.</p><p> </p><p> The basic premise of storytelling would have said that he finally gets his big moment on the biggest show where all of the stories are supposed to come to their end.</p><p> </p><p> Even if he (somehow) wins at the chamber would it be even one tenth of the importance of him winning in the main event of WM against the guy he has been feuding with since June of last year?</p>

[Arrows]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Target Practice" data-cite="Target Practice" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I would LOVE to know if the events on Raw were planned all along, or whether WWE are scrambling to recover after realising that they made a pretty huge screwup at the RR.<p> </p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Reports are the ENTIRE show was re-written just before going on the air.</p>

[1234]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Blackman" data-cite="Blackman" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I personally don't understand why everyone is upset. Why does it always have to be the 'best' scenario?<p> </p><p> You people know the biblical story of the 7 good years and the 7 bad years, right? <img alt=":p" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> Give it time, and eventually, when he DOES win the belt, it's going to be all the sweeter.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> The problem was that Wrestlemania vs. Orton was the perfect chance for Bryan to win the belt, or at least have a clean match with Orton.</p><p> </p><p> Summerslam - Orton cashes in MITB after Bryan just won the title.</p><p> Night of Champions - Bryan wins the title...only to be stripped of it the next night.</p><p> Battleground - Big Show interferes causing a no-contest.</p><p> Hell In A Cell - Bryan loses after being superkicked by Shawn Michaels.</p><p> </p><p> The scene was set perfectly for Bryan to win the Rumble and get to face Orton at Wrestlemania, especially after the pops he has got in recent weeks. Instead Batista comes back and wins the Rumble after one appearance, and now even if (although it won't happen) Bryan takes the title at EC we still get Bryan vs. Batista instead of him getting revenge on Orton. And I don't see how its going to get any sweeter, he already has whole arenas chanting for him and disrupting other matches (Both the rumble itself and the title match).</p>

[Target Practice]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Arrows" data-cite="Arrows" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Reports are the ENTIRE show was re-written just before going on the air.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> In that case, they should do more stuff on the fly, because that was one of the better Raw shows for a while - in particular that opening segment with the Authority and D-Bry.</p>

[Arrows]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Target Practice" data-cite="Target Practice" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>In that case, they should do more stuff on the fly, because that was one of the better Raw shows for a while - in particular that opening segment with the Authority and D-Bry.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Vince McMahon ordered that the scrupt for tonight's Raw be "heavily tweaked" following the Royal Rumble, with the writers still at work as of about two and a half hours ago. The source claims that the new script--which is a big improvement on the first one's--is being made in spite of the negative reaction last night and not because of it.</p>

[Teh_Showtime]

<p>Apparently WWE brought in KENTA to the performance center for a tryout. He's probably even still my favorite Japanese wrestler despite NOAH being a glorified wasteland.</p><p> </p><p>

If you're not familiar with him he worked in ROH in the mid 00s as well, here are three bouts with famous US names</p><p> </p><p>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOXflTy9weQ" rel="external nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOXflTy9weQ</a></p><p>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXK-RdRyFy4" rel="external nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXK-RdRyFy4</a></p><p>

 

</p><div class="ipsEmbeddedVideo"><div><iframe width="200" height="113" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/SdsBa9_XzpY?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" title="ROH Anniversary Flashback: Nigel McGuinness vs Kenta ROH World Title"></iframe></div></div>

[Mammoth]

It's hard to believe KENTA is still only in his early 30's (which in wrestling terms is more often than not their peak as athletes) because he seems to have been around forever. I'm not confident they'll sign him but I'll kill to see him face either Daniel Bryan or CM Punk in the 'E.

[The Final Countdown]

I highly doubt they'll sign KENTA, or it would go very well for him if they did. I wouldn't be that excited for a KENTA/Bryan WWE match either, because there's no way they'd top their ROH title match. KENTA/Punk would be interesting, though it'd be kind of sad if KENTA wasn't allowed to use the move he invented.