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

[ThriceP86]

I also agree that Romans hasn't evolved and it was further proof in his match tonight against Bryan that he has major flaws in terms of wrestling ability. Vince doesn't care though, he just sees money in Reigns and that's it. I'm fine with Reigns winning though because I am 100% for the rumored Bryan vs Ziggler match at Mania and I hope they make that happen!

 

Also, what the hell is wrong with WWE crowds lately?! It's been like this for the last year or two now where WWE puts on a PPV in certain cities that are just completely dull until the final two matches. Maybe they should get one of the divas to shoot a smelling salt cannon to wake them up, eh?!

[Blackman]

Agree with the Romans thing. As for the charisma: I also thing it's rather lacking. Would he pull off a different 'cool badass' gimmick based on what I've seen? Probably not. That's probably why they haven't developed him much. Maybe there's fear of him being too limited? Cena also barely evolved (given the time he's been with E): from the generic faceless wrestler to the rapper to the Respect-inducing guy. That's it.

[CQI13]

Couldn't watch the whole thing last night, only got to right before the Divas match. I didn't find anything offensive in what I saw (as far as quality goes). But then again, I only watch PPVs, NXT, and stuff on the Network, so I seem to be insulated from the squash matches and other negatives. I'll probably watch the rest of the show tonight.

[Mammoth]

Also, what the hell is wrong with WWE crowds lately?! It's been like this for the last year or two now where WWE puts on a PPV in certain cities that are just completely dull until the final two matches. Maybe they should get one of the divas to shoot a smelling salt cannon to wake them up, eh?!

I don't think it's the cities or the crowds, WWE have to give them something to get excited about and/or fill a card from top to bottom rather than relying on the aforementioned "final two matches". I mean Memphis is a wrestling town and has been traditionally a real hotbed for professional wrestling but unfortunately, even they couldn't get behind the product that WWE is offering right now.

 

Fastlane was without a shadow of a doubt one of the worst pay-per-views I think I've ever seen and what makes it even more infuriating is that this is supposed to be the show that sets up Wrestlemania. The amount of insipid matches and botches were actually cringeworthy and that was both in the ring and in the ring announcing. I mean, what was up with the finish to the Goldust Vs. Stardust match? And Lilian Garcia was off her game all night. What I don't understand is why they're persisting with Roman Reigns because I know they see "money" in him but the crowd let them know that he isn't ready. Sure, they booked the match with Daniel Bryan to finish clean to make Reigns look as strong as possible but rather than making him look strong, it just exposed all his weaknesses. Daniel Bryan carried the match and every single piece of offence that Reigns got in looked slightly dodgy and if people think Cena has "five moves" then a match this length really showed that Reigns has about three that he can perform somewhat successfully. The match against Brock Lesnar is just going to be awful because Lesnar isn't the type who will or is capable of carrying a guy like Roman Reigns through a match.

 

Also, Goldust Vs. Stardust got "boring" chants and when's the last time a pay-per-view match got "boring" chants? Let alone the pay-per-view before Wrestlemania when the crowd is supposed to be hyped for what's coming so pretty much everything - even if it is slightly slow and dull - gets cheered. I don't think the storylines heading into the "biggest show of the year" have ever been so weak as I think the only storyline that is somewhat ready-made for Wrestlemania is Sting Vs. Triple H. I would normally be looking forward to Bray Wyatt Vs. The Undertaker (Wyatt's promo really was the highlight by the way, although the fact it wasn't actually 'Taker took a lot of wind out of the crowds sails) but I think the match is totally pointless. I think the build up (promo-wise) will be good but what I mean is that it'll still be XX-1 (it doesn't matter if it goes up at this point) and if Bray wins, you simply can't replicate the shock and aura that they had last year. Plus - as much as I love Bray - is he good enough in the ring to carry 'Taker through a match? As The Undertaker proved with Lesnar last year, he's needed his opponent (Triple H, Shawn Michaels, CM Punk etcetera) in recent years to get him through the match and when he hasn't got that, the match can stink. What else is there? As I said, the crowd have already crapped over the Goldust Vs. Stardust feud and I can't envisage that getting any better. Dean Ambrose Vs. Wade Barrett is a whole lot of nothing. Nikki Bella Vs. Paige is lacklustre. The tag team championship is up in the air due to a lack of quality tag teams. Rusev Vs. Cena is only going to get worse and I'm sure we'll get SuperCena at some point. Randy Orton Vs. Seth Rollins will probably be dull and what I don't understand is do WWE fans like Randy Orton or not? When he's healthy it's usually "same old Randy Orton" and then when he's injured people are like "can't wait for him to return" but I digress. Then any potential feuds between the rest of the roster (Daniel Bryan particularly) aren't going to have the build that they deserve because he's had to have this stupid programme with Roman Reigns as WWE try to build Reigns up again. At this point, The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal may be one of the highlights of the night.

[Blackman]

My god... it all makes sense now. The whole Roman push only serves to make Cena look like a god, so people will all cheer for him when he gets back to the top.

 

And Bray sort of has potential to be the next 'Taker, by which I mean he could be a recurring act for 'Mania from now on.

[machinesxe]

The match against Brock Lesnar is just going to be awful because Lesnar isn't the type who will or is capable of carrying a guy like Roman Reigns through a match.

 

It's going to look as bad as Goldberg vs Brock at WM 20.

[milamber]

Fastlane Review:

 

6 Man Tag - Solid match ruined by giving the pin to Kane instead of Rollins. Nice to see Orton again.

Stardust vs Goldust - Solid match but I think the ref botched. I enjoyed the slower pace and storytelling (Goldust was clearly holding back) as well as the post-match segment. I like Cody's new look. The feud should continue until Extreme Rules.

The Usos vs The Brass Ring Club (Tag Team Championship) - Solid match with a title change, just what the tag division needed. Now give Cesaro & Kidd a theme song.

Triple H/Sting - Good segment. The Bat vs Sledgehammer sign was perfect.

Paige vs Nikki (Divas Championship) - Solid match until the botched tight-pulling. I want Nikki vs Paige vs AJ at Wrestlemania.

Ambrose vs BNB (Intercontinental Championship) - Solid match. I liked the DQ finish with Ambrose stealing the belt... so long as he wins at Wrestlemania.

Bray Wyatt - I knew it was Bray pretending to be Undertaker but it was still awesome. And for the first time in months Bray delivered a promo worth listening to.

Rusev vs Cena (US Championship) - Great match between 2 strong guys. I'm a huge fan of Rusev so it was good to see him beat Cena. Please let him win clean at Wrestlemania.

Reigns vs Bryan - MOTY Contender. This was probably the best scripted main roster match of the year. Reigns was impressive. Now that Creative are helping not hindering him he's improving every week.

 

Verdict: Much better PPV than I expected going in. There was an increased focus on storytelling and wrestling, possibly due to the main roster being shown up by NXT, although some of the undercard matches had the potential to be better. I really enjoyed the main event matches. The only 2 problems were the dead crowd and too many schmoz/botched finishes.

[RKOwnage]

I really thought the PPV was fine but the crowd was atrocious. I've more than submitted myself to the fact of Reigns winning (plus I'm not a huge Bryan fan, don't kill me) so that was a wash to me, but I didn't think that match was awful. Bryan did a good job making him look decent except for the Spear at the end.

 

Five weeks til lolcenawins and lolreignswins. We can only hope that Rollins cashes in.

 

And damn, This BNB/Ambrose feud is messing with my emotions. Tag Title match was MOTN.

[Nathers7]

My thoughts on the show:

 

6 Man tag

Decent but filler. Crowd was genuinely happy to see Orton, I think Orton & Rollins could pull off a quality match at Mania if given enough time.

 

Stardust vs. Goldust

The promos in this feud have been good, the problem is the crowd don't care about either of these guys. Can they fit them onto the Mania card? Match was pretty bad, Goldust tried but no one's buying Cody's offence. Ref clearly botched too.

 

Usos vs. Cesaro/Kidd

I liked this. It's sloppy at times and they could have teased the hot tag more but I'm not going to complain. Solid effort and glad to see Cesaro/Kidd pick up the belts.

 

HHH/Sting Face Off

Does anyone want to see this match? Crowd is excited for Sting but this was pretty generic. Triple H cuts monotone promo, tries to sucker punch Sting, shenanigans ensue, Sting does hokey point to Mania sign.

 

Paige vs. Nikki

Decent match. Nikki hits a better powerbomb than Reigns. Sadly there's a noticeably bad botch and the finish is poor.

 

Ambrose vs. Barrett

Oh man. Had high hopes for this and I like both guys but it's probably the worst match on the card. Suppose you could make the point that Ambrose matches should lack structure but this is just a mess and the finish sucked.

 

Wyatt

This was well done. Wyatt cuts a better promo than usual too.

 

Cena vs. Rusev

Very Good as you would expect. I think Rusev should have went over clean but it's still an acceptable finish.

 

Bryan vs. Reigns

The best Reigns singles match in WWE. Not that that's much of an achievement but this is match of the night. Bryan deserves a lot of credit here but Reigns did look better than he ever has previously. Close to great but not quite a MOTYC, ***3/4 I'd go. Crowd shits all over the post match as they should. I don't know why WWE felt the need to do that.

 

Conclusion

Meh. It's not the worst PPV I've ever seen but I can't say it was great either. The goal of the show was to hype people for Mania and it didn't do that for me. It was better than the Rumble though.

[crownsy]

My thoughts are simple:

 

"Pretty good home Raw the Monday before Mania! oh wait, this was a PPV you say?"

 

I mean, it was ok, it was there. But it felt like every match was essentially a TV match before Mania. All the finishes reflected that too.

[sabataged]

Anyone expecting Daniel Bryan to win you are just foolish. This match was designed to get Reigns over from the beginning. I thought the PPV overall was a good Feb ppv. I dont know how or why anyone would ever expect a lot from a Feb PPV.

[crownsy]

Anyone expecting Daniel Bryan to win you are just foolish. This match was designed to get Reigns over from the beginning. I thought the PPV overall was a good Feb ppv. I dont know how or why anyone would ever expect a lot from a Feb PPV.

 

I would like to expect it not to exist, but given the fact that it does i Can't disagree. Nothing other than returns of guys for mania and no finishes to set up mania matches was to be realistically expected.

 

The M/E was what it was. I will say WWE is doing regins no favors with this booking. You just made Brock a puesdo bad ass face in that triple threat, and now this jamoke that most of their audience doesn't like or doesn't feel is ready is going over him?

 

Best thing they could do post Mania is turn him heel IMO, because he sucks at connecting as a face. Even after he won and got the "show of respect" from DB, he smirked and pretty much said FU to the crowd. Why am i cheering for this guy over lesnar again?

[Self]

Crowd was kinda dead, but I enjoyed Fast Lane. Fun wrestling. I got weirdly excited for Kidd & Cesaro.

[masterded]

Best thing they could do post Mania is turn him heel IMO, because he sucks at connecting as a face. Even after he won and got the "show of respect" from DB, he smirked and pretty much said FU to the crowd. Why am i cheering for this guy over lesnar again?

 

Yeah turning him heel at Wrestlemania seems to be the only way to go, that way the WWE can pretend that the boos are heel heat and not we don't want you anywhere near the main event boos.

 

Right now I am hoping Brock signs a new contract and the main event ends up like Summerslam with Brock winning a one sided match. I know it won't happen, but I feel that is the only chance the main event has of being entertaining.

[Russelrules44]

Seeing as everyone's been saying their two cents about the PPV, I might as well say mine.....

 

I didn't get to see the first two matches unfortunatly, so we're going to skip to the tag team match.

 

The Usos vs The Canadian Swiss Connection- A fun tag team match with the right winners being chosen. So proud on how Tyson Kidd and Cesaro have rebounded after a disastrous year for them. *** 3/4

 

HHH-Sting PPV- The crowd really liked Sting, but that was expected. As always Triple H cuts a damn long promo and boom, we get it on. When you get it down; it sorta cut to the chase. And I like that. *** 3/4.

 

Paige vs Nikki- Not a bad match by any means. Paige can do a great powerbomb; but the finish was sorta botched. ** 1/2.

 

Ambrose vs Barrett- A huge letdown, but since this is a B show PPV; it only makes sense for it to be a disappointment. **.

 

Bray Wyatt- I swear to god I thought that was Undertaker in there. Bray quite possibly cuts the best promo of his career as the wheels are now set for The Undertaker vs Bray Wyatt. **** 1/2.

 

John Cena vs Rusev- Great match, And it helped everyone out. Rusev picks up the biggest win of his career, and Cena still looks strong. And get this, Cena passed out of the Accolade, no one has ever made Cena submit before. I cannot wait for their next match at WrestleMania. ****.

 

Daniel Bryan vs Roman Reigns- Roman's best effort at a singles match, and it's over D-Bryan. It was a good match, but oh man; that finish was sick! I thought for sure Bryan was gonna kick his head off! Of course some are going to be disapointed by the outcome and that's ok, but I think it's time to be honest. Daniel Bryan is finished in the main event scene.....for now at least. *** 3/4.

 

Overall: I thought this was a good PPV; there were some matches I thought were excellent, some not that much; And the two promos we saw were quite good too. All in all, it was a good outing for WWE.....The crowd sucked though. *** 3/4.

[packerman120]

As of right now, WWE has me convinced that Brock is the face and Reigns is the heel. I wonder if this is intentional..

[Russelrules44]

As of right now, WWE has me convinced that Brock is the face and Reigns is the heel. I wonder if this is intentional..

 

That would be freaking awesome if it was.

[crownsy]

Seeing as everyone's been saying their two cents about the PPV, I might as well say mine.....

 

I didn't get to see the first two matches unfortunatly, so we're going to skip to the tag team match.

 

The Usos vs The Canadian Swiss Connection- A fun tag team match with the right winners being chosen. So proud on how Tyson Kidd and Cesaro have rebounded after a disastrous year for them. *** 3/4

 

HHH-Sting PPV- The crowd really liked Sting, but that was expected. As always Triple H cuts a damn long promo and boom, we get it on. When you get it down; it sorta cut to the chase. And I like that. *** 3/4.

 

Paige vs Nikki- Not a bad match by any means. Paige can do a great powerbomb; but the finish was sorta botched. ** 1/2.

 

Ambrose vs Barrett- A huge letdown, but since this is a B show PPV; it only makes sense for it to be a disappointment. **.

 

Bray Wyatt- I swear to god I thought that was Undertaker in there. Bray quite possibly cuts the best promo of his career as the wheels are now set for The Undertaker vs Bray Wyatt. **** 1/2.

 

John Cena vs Rusev- Great match, And it helped everyone out. Rusev picks up the biggest win of his career, and Cena still looks strong. And get this, Cena passed out of the Accolade, no one has ever made Cena submit before. I cannot wait for their next match at WrestleMania. ****.

 

Daniel Bryan vs Roman Reigns- Roman's best effort at a singles match, and it's over D-Bryan. It was a good match, but oh man; that finish was sick! I thought for sure Bryan was gonna kick his head off! Of course some are going to be disapointed by the outcome and that's ok, but I think it's time to be honest. Daniel Bryan is finished in the main event scene.....for now at least. *** 3/4.

 

Overall: I thought this was a good PPV; there were some matches I thought were excellent, some not that much; And the two promos we saw were quite good too. All in all, it was a good outing for WWE.....The crowd sucked though. *** 3/4.

 

Re: The crowd, I think the problem was, and i don't blame them, WWE essentially ran sunday night Raw, not a PPV. I would have been ticked if i was in the crowd too.

[Kitarzu]

If you really want to create a real backlash, which was a great PPV name, at Wrestlemania 31 or Wrestlemania Play, people should do one of these two things.

 

1) Just turning 180° and don't watch the match. I would imagine a 20-25 minutes only of close shots, without have some butts on screen.

 

2) Leave before the main event. It's difficult to find thousands to fill open holes in attendance.

 

Otherwise meringue is served! Bon appetit!

 

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Cookie/ChocMeringue3.jpg

[The Swanton825]

And as usual, the good promos are saved for the website: http://www.wwe.com/videos/get-the-attitude-out-wwecom-exclusive-february-23-2015-27141086

[milamber]

Raw was average. Some notes:

 

- Orton's return is like a breath of fresh air. The main event was good. I don't mind having Orton string the Authority along until he can let loose on Rollins so long as they don't drag it out too long. Kane & Big Show need to get jobbed down the card. With a few tweaks Barrett & Harper, Cesaro & Kidd or The Ascension could take their places as the Authority's hitmen.

- BNB vs Ziggler was good. The IC Title scene is getting interesting despite the poor handling of BNB. A Scramble or Ladder at Wrestlemania would be cool. And here's the backstage Ambrose promo that really sells the angle but they never bothered to show on TV:

.

- The Tag Title rematch was good. The women getting involved keeps the feud fresh. Kidd & Cesaro should debut a theme song at Wrestlemania. The tag division is lopsided with too many babyface teams. They need to turn either New Day or PTP.

- I enjoyed Bryan's and Heyman's promos on Reigns, who also did a good job on the mic. Sure the hype machine was in full overdrive but they were trying to convert the casual marks. WWE know most smarks aren't going to start cheering Roman as a babyface anytime soon. I fell like a lot of people still aren't giving Reigns the credit he deserves for stepping up to the plate post-Rumble.

- 4 divas got a quarter of the time of the short Sting video that interrupted their entrances. Even though Steph played the feminisim card on Rollins earlier in the show. I'm disgusted! #GiveDivasAChance

- They had Heyman advertise Lesnar then changed the script last minute. Vintage WWE.

- Where the hell is Sheamus?

[Dawn]

RAW was bad. Not many really good points at all.

[Blackman]

It was a little sad to see Roman stand there like a dog accepting the praises of others in an effort to get him over. Maybe that's the best thing to promote him. Have him do nothing at all.

[Teh_Showtime]

It was a little sad to see Roman stand there like a dog accepting the praises of others in an effort to get him over. Maybe that's the best thing to promote him. Have him do nothing at all.

 

That's how he got in this situation in the first place. A 20 minute segment dedicated to others begging you to cheer him is going to hurt him more than help him

[RKOwnage]

I'm not even one to criticize Roman all that much as I definitely think he's improving, but them calling his match against Bryan a 'bona fide classic' and 'one of the greatest matches I've ever seen' (I believe that was Booker) is absurd and clearly just a desperate tactic to get people to believe he's ready. It was a good match.