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

[djthefunkchris]

Just watched the last episode of Lucha Underground. WWE really should copy that format for an upcoming Raw or Smackdown. Have 3 10-man matches and and a triple threat match to determine the last entrant in the Rumble. Whoever takes the pin can be first seed. Maybe Rusev, Ziggler and Reigns.

 

To be fair, I didn't catch the latest Lucha but I believe WWE has done something similar a few times.

[The Swanton825]

To be fair, I didn't catch the latest Lucha but I believe WWE has done something similar a few times.

 

I remember something like that on one of the Smackdown vs. Raw games. I think it was 2006.

[milamber]

To be fair, I didn't catch the latest Lucha but I believe WWE has done something similar a few times.

 

I think it's usually just a Battle Royale on one of the go-home shows with a popular babyface winning. Plus the usual half-hour segment where a dozen guys come out to say they intend to win the Rumble and they start brawling. An entire show dedicated to all the entrants and highlighting a few Lucha Underground style would be more effective.

[djthefunkchris]

I definitely remember WWE having a few people face off in order to hold a better number a few times.... although sometimes it kind of backfires. "Whoever loses will come out first!" then after the win "Congratulations, you don't have to come out first, your SECOND!!" I think that had something to do with Punk specifically, but I do remember match's matering more then a few times for the rumble positions.

 

I've always liked the lottery type the best though. When they stick their hand in and bring out a ball that has a number on it.

[breakingkayfabe]

If Roman Reigns is going to win the rumble i would love to see WWE not have him win at Wrestlemania 31, i would report to the dirtsheets that Brock has signed a multi year deal and he's going to be around for the long haul, then at Wrestlemania have Brock beat Reigns then Rollins cashes in then heading into Extreme Rules you have story there built up from a year ago that you couldn't draw up any better.. That way you have some sympathy for Reigns and not make the fans feel like he was just handed everything me personally i wouldn't have him win it until Payback but i know they want that "Wrestlemania Moment"

[DaMegaFish]

Good to see/hear the roster getting healthy right in time for WWE's biggest few months of the year. The returns/probable features of Triple H, Sting, Reigns, D-Bry, Orton look great.

 

Also, I know there is talk of Cena vs Rusev, but that wouldn't interest me nearly as much as Daniel Bryan vs Rusev at Mania.

[Craig Edwards]

anyone else have a feeling that rollins is going to cash in at the royal rumble after cena beats brock

[Big Roguey]

So Survivor Series effectively means nothing now, right?

[crownsy]

It ment nothing at the time. Besides DB's show, every week Seth showed up, ran rampant all over the show while having J & J, kane and bigshow take everyone out for him.

 

Seriously, that had no impact with me last night, I just rolled my eyes. When Cena caved, I was like "who cares? It's been the exact same dynamic with or without them."

 

The only good thing to come out of this so far is Dolph is actually getting protected as a champion and *gasp* winning a non-title match once in awhile. I assume he'll get squashed by some mid carder soon enough in a non-title match though, since that is the only way Creative thinks a fued over the belt starts these days.

[RKOwnage]

I liked last night's RAW, it was different. Promo time from unexpected guys and I think Seth took a major step toward becoming a big star last night. He's still got some work to do but he played the psychopath pretty well. I would love to see him cash in at Mania after Reigns wins. It gives them a WrestleMania moment with Reigns winning, puts him over huge, then elevates Rollins to super scum heel level and gives them an insta-storyline as soon as they write out Lesnar. Reigns should eventually win the belt from him though.

 

And I'm just a huge evil smug Triple H fan so I like that the Authority is back. They botched that Survivor Series thing a long time ago anyway.

[crownsy]

I liked last night's RAW, it was different. Promo time from unexpected guys and I think Seth took a major step toward becoming a big star last night. He's still got some work to do but he played the psychopath pretty well. I would love to see him cash in at Mania after Reigns wins. It gives them a WrestleMania moment with Reigns winning, puts him over huge, then elevates Rollins to super scum heel level and gives them an insta-storyline as soon as they write out Lesnar. Reigns should eventually win the belt from him though.

 

And I'm just a huge evil smug Triple H fan so I like that the Authority is back. They botched that Survivor Series thing a long time ago anyway.

 

I did like the promo's for Harper, Ryback, Cesaro, and even the Uso's. IF that was really the result of the wrestlers saying "You need to make it more like NXT, give us promo time to try to connect with these people." then good for them.

 

Ryback, in particular, added more depth to his character in a 5 minute promo than anything else they have done with that character since he came back. I now know why he acts the way he acts, his motivations, and where he thinks he is heading. That is the kind of stuff you need to let these guys in the midcard/upper mid do if you ever want them to really connect with the audience.

[djthefunkchris]

I thought Ryback's promo was pretty good myself. I didn't expect the Authority to be back before New Years, but they look like they had a great Christmas, so vacation is over I take it... Time to work double duty.

 

I knew from the first time Seth told Cena he was the only one with the power to bring back The Authority, that they would be back. Those kind of things are laid down with a reason normally, unless of course they figure it is a horrible idea, then they pretend it was never an issue.

[crownsy]

I thought Ryback's promo was pretty good myself. I didn't expect the Authority to be back before New Years, but they look like they had a great Christmas, so vacation is over I take it... Time to work double duty.

 

I knew from the first time Seth told Cena he was the only one with the power to bring back The Authority, that they would be back. Those kind of things are laid down with a reason normally, unless of course they figure it is a horrible idea, then they pretend it was never an issue.

 

I knew they would be back, I just thought they could have handled it better. Why on earth would Cena do it just because seth threatened someone? Seth does that every week.

 

And even furthermore, why does Seth care? It's not like things got worse for him when the Authority left, if anything they've gotten better. He still is in every main event, Kane and Bigshow still beat people down at will for him with no repercussion's from anyone. Seth was literally running the whole show and now he brought back the authority because.....?

 

I mean, if they had actually told a story, and shown everyone kinda sticking it to Seth like "guess you sold out at the wrong time chump" until Seth snapped and went on a reign of terror until they were back, awesome. But that's not what happened. The authority went out of power and .....nothing happened. Aside from Bryan, multiple heel GM's came in and pretty much just punished the babyfaces.

[Moe Hunter]

Ryback's promo was like a live Desire video. I like that finally Rusev gets a normal feud instead of everyone suddenly being "#1 Patriot Guy".

 

I liked Seth's performance a lot. Authority means nothing, and the story is always going to be bland - Sting, Ziggler, Ryback and Rowan should all turn on Cena at this point for invalidating their efforts, but they won't.

[Teh_Showtime]

And even furthermore, why does Seth care? It's not like things got worse for him when the Authority left, if anything they've gotten better.

 

Seth has been losing left and right since Survivor Series

 

He even lost clean to Ziggler of all people who he's regularly owned since the summer

[milamber]

Raw was thoroughly entertaining. It was almost like Vince gave someone a rough outline then took a step back and let them do their own booking. The only thing that could have made it better would have been an Orton return.

 

Notes:

 

- Edge & Christian were way better than Jericho as GM despite half of their jokes sounding lame.

- Tyson Kidd continues to be entertaining, despite being booked in the divas division.

- Ryback backstory was most welcome. Shame Cesaro botched his promo like Reigns did last week.

- The Ascension debut was terrible. Only good thing is the titantron and entrance music. Their NXT look didn't need changing. They should have squashed Los Matadores not Team Mizdow. They need a manager ASAP.

- Big Show was better on commentary than Cole, JBL & King. He's got a future in the booth.

- I like the way they bought back the Authority but they should have waited until after the Rumble. Seth Rollins was awesome so I hope he doesn't get demoted to lackey again.

- I really hope D-Bry is fit and isn't risking his health to keep wrestling.

[The Final Countdown]

And I'm just a huge evil smug Triple H fan so I like that the Authority is back.

Smug jerk Hs is miles better than badass face Hs, for sure. I'm just so beyond tired of the heel authority figure in general.

 

Not that it matters anyway. I had this show muted in the background so I could see Bryan's promo, then turned it off as soon as that was over, so I'm obviously not their target audience.

[TakerNGN74]

I really enjoyed last night's RAW but there was one glaring problem for me at the end which people have already mentioned. It's the fact that the Authority is back over stupid reasoning. I knew that as soon as that "Cena has the power to reinstate the authority" thing was added to the stipulation that it would eventually happen but the way they did it was beyond lazy.

 

My guess is that they are doing it this way to have a reason to do a match between HHH and Sting at Mania with Sting coming out and being upset that his efforts at Survivor Series were for nothing. However it could have been handled a lot better. My hope is that this is only temporary and that the Authority will once again be dead after Wrestlemania but we shall see with this company it's like 2 steps forward 10 steps backward and last night was proof of that fact.

[BHK1978]

Smug jerk Hs is miles better than badass face Hs, for sure. I'm just so beyond tired of the heel authority figure in general.

 

Not that it matters anyway. I had this show muted in the background so I could see Bryan's promo, then turned it off as soon as that was over, so I'm obviously not their target audience.

 

I feel the same way about not being part of their target audience. I mean I want to like it but I just cannot. I watched a few minutes and then I gave up and started watching the first season of the Wire on HBO OnDemand. Yes I would rather watch a show that first aired in 2002 (I have watched the first season like four times), over the WWE.

[milamber]

Charlotte & Sasha had a fun match on Main Event and got a better crowd reaction than most of the Divas. And Tyler Breeze lost the Smackdown dark match to Sin Cara.

[ThriceP86]

I really enjoyed last night's RAW but there was one glaring problem for me at the end which people have already mentioned. It's the fact that the Authority is back over stupid reasoning. I knew that as soon as that "Cena has the power to reinstate the authority" thing was added to the stipulation that it would eventually happen but the way they did it was beyond lazy.

 

My guess is that they are doing it this way to have a reason to do a match between HHH and Sting at Mania with Sting coming out and being upset that his efforts at Survivor Series were for nothing. However it could have been handled a lot better. My hope is that this is only temporary and that the Authority will once again be dead after Wrestlemania but we shall see with this company it's like 2 steps forward 10 steps backward and last night was proof of that fact.

 

I second this. That whole main event segment was way too long and it was lazy writing. Nobody cared that the Authority was back, either. I also agree with a lot of other guys on here saying that Rollins has been great in his performance and mic work lately. I felt bad for Cesaro messing up his promo and knew that JBL and crew were going to give him crap about it on commentary because they're petty and stupid.

[The Swanton825]

I second this. That whole main event segment was way too long and it was lazy writing. Nobody cared that the Authority was back, either. I also agree with a lot of other guys on here saying that Rollins has been great in his performance and mic work lately. I felt bad for Cesaro messing up his promo and knew that JBL and crew were going to give him crap about it on commentary because they're petty and stupid.

 

Correction, they're petty and stupid because Vince won't let them be anything else.

[Mammoth]

Am I the only one who likes it that the commentators now point out/talk about mistakes? I used to hate it much more when they ignored such things, both in promos and in matches. I agree, they don't have to slaughter someone for making a mistake (I think that's more down to their gimmicks; there are too many "comedians" at the desk now that are trying to be funny rather than just calling the match) but at least they're mentioning them now. There's nothing worse than seeing a missed kick or something but hearing a commentator say "He caught him right on the chin!"

[djthefunkchris]

Steve Austin talked a bit about the commentator's on his podcast and basically said the same thing Swanton said. He would like to think that if left alone they would just call the match and action at hand, but someone in their earpiece has them throw in quite a bit of information, especially Cole.

 

I don't mind them calling out mistakes, it's not like it actually effects the crowd. The crowd reaction can really make or break a show for me. Plus, Cesaro's promo covered it. "I don't connect, I prove myself inside these 4 ropes (umm... sides) of the ring. That's where I connect, and no one can touch me in the back!" To me, it felt like he had a language barrier, as if his English could use some work. That kind of saved the promo for me.

[CQI13]

I was probably over thinking it, but when I heard the stipulation for Survivor Series, I thought Team Cena would win and someone WORSE than the Authority would come in. Then for WM, HHH gets brought back (reluctantly) - not that he would have changed much in that time, but it would have been an interesting dynamic.

 

Sure Cena brings him back, but smug HHH might still hold a vendetta against him for ousting him. You could still have HHH & The Authority going after Cena (and the faces on that team) for being responsible for what happened in their absence. Leading into Survivor Series, HHH was cutting face promos!