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

[The Final Countdown]

Sorry for the double post, but...

 

STEPHANIE MCMAHON BLOCKED A RONDA ROUSEY ARMBAR.

 

That's so dumb on so many levels, I don't even know what to say.

[Questlove]

Sorry for the double post, but...

 

STEPHANIE MCMAHON BLOCKED A RONDA ROUSEY ARMBAR.

 

That's so dumb on so many levels, I don't even know what to say.

 

I was thoroughly sports entertained by that match but yeah WWE's believability jumped the shark there lmao

[CQI13]

A couple of wonky spots in the Rousey/Angle vs The Authority match. Still enjoyable though.

[K-Nection]

Charlotte was ready for Asuka!

 

I knew they would screw that up....

[The Final Countdown]

"The Undertaker is back, better than ever!"

 

...If you say so. I feel sad any time I watch him now.

[CQI13]

Some questionable "matches" - maybe not the results.

[The Final Countdown]

Of all the matches I expected to disappoint me, I NEVER would've guessed it'd be Nakamura vs. Styles. It wasn't bad or anything, but...

 

Ok, as I'm typing this, Nakamura is stomping the living piss out of him after the match. This, I can get behind.

[Questlove]

That was so disappointing. I'm going to bed.

[The Final Countdown]

I just saw someone Tweet that AJ Styles' best Wrestlemania match was with Shane McMahon.

 

I laughed. Then I thought about it, and realized that I actually agree. He had a better match with Shane McMahon than he did with Chris Jericho or Shinsuke Nakamura.

 

...How is that even possible?

[CQI13]

Well, they're clearly building interest in the TV shows with some of these results (to see what they'll do)...too bad I don't watch the shows. It's just confusing.

[Lundinz]

What a waste.. Although, I am excited to see heel Nakamura, expecting a better match from them next time around.

[Uncrewed]

Your new RAW Tag Team Champions are Braun and a child. This is everything I ever wanted and more.

 

I still think that AOP will debut tomorrow night and win the tag titles off of them.

[Lundinz]

What a match!

 

[CQI13]

That was strange. I am sure something will be made sense of the next two days. But right now it's a head scratcher.

 

EDIT -

 

Having had time to digest the shows, NXT was superior - in large part helped by the fact that they have only 1 week of TV and their big events are fewer. I continue to not find Aleister Black interesting. Awesome talent for sure, but his feud with Dream was good because of Dream. And this one with Almas? Almas is getting called up and Black has been unstoppable. Big whoop.

 

Not nearly as bad as the run they had with Owens/Balor/Joe coming in. "OMG! This guy is awesome and he has a long history with the guy he is feuding against from before they made it to WWE." Um, ok. Cool, I guess.

 

As for WM - don't mind the results but how they got to them was interesting to say the least. Clearly drives eyeballs to the product on Monday and Tuesday but that's not me.

[Questlove]

Men's battle royal - *1/2 (Woken Wyatt could be cool)

Cedric vs. Ali - **3/4 (not bad, but pretty tame and the heart/soul stuff felt kinda forced)

Women's battle royal - -2* (awful)

Miz vs. Rollins vs. Balor - **** (not QUITE as good as the Rollins/Balor match on Raw but still really, really good and great to see Rollins win)

Charlotte vs. Asuka - **** (great match and I don't think the decision to end the streak was a bad one)

Orton vs. Roode vs. Rusev vs. Jinder - ** (snoozefest, wrong result)

Angle & Rousey vs. HHH & Steph - ****1/4 (thoroughly entertaining, Ronda looked like a natural and Triple H was amazing, shame about those armbar spots with Steph)

Usos vs. New Day vs. Bludgeons - * (extended squash, nothing to see here)

Undertaker vs. John Cena - **1/2 (kinda hard to rate a 2 minute match but it was what it should have been I guess)

DBry & Shane vs. Owens & Zayn - **1/2 (great to see Bryan back but the match itself was pretty nothingy)

Alexa vs. Nia - didn't watch

AJ vs. Nakamura - ***1/4 (I don't know how to rate it because it was good but it's hard to be pleased with a GOOD AJ/Nakamura match when you know they're capable of infinitely better. My best guess is they were told to hold back a little and wait for the next one, given what happened after the match, but Wrestlemania isn't the time for that)

The Bar vs. Braun & random child - dud (wow what a Wrestlemania moment! I hated this)

Brock vs. Roman - dud (I tried to concentrate on the match but all I could see was Vince edging himself ever closer to completion. 3rd straight dud WM main event, could they perhaps have something in common?)

 

Overall - way too long/10

 

Maybe it's just me, but I came away feeling so disillusioned about WWE as a whole. It doesn't help that the Takeover the night before was amazing, but I don't think any other company could provide so little with so much. I feel like I wasted 39 hours or however long it was.

[Rone Rivendale]

It's weird reading other people's account of Wrestlemania after seeing it myself and thinking it was one of the top 5 WM's of all time.

 

The only bad match was the Bludgeon Brothers squash.

 

Charlotte vs Asuka was MotN, but Rhonda/Angle vs The Authority was a close 2nd.

 

This was a 7 hour event, counting preshow, but it never dragged. Last year's 7 hours felt like 10.

[The Final Countdown]

AJ vs. Nakamura - ***1/4 (I don't know how to rate it because it was good but it's hard to be pleased with a GOOD AJ/Nakamura match when you know they're capable of infinitely better. My best guess is they were told to hold back a little and wait for the next one, given what happened after the match, but Wrestlemania isn't the time for that)

I've seen a lot of people say that, but I don't buy it. That match was 20 minutes; along with the Ronda tag, it was the longest on the show. I don't think Vince allotted those guys 20 minutes of in-ring time and said "Remember, don't do TOO good out there, because we've gotta save something for Backlash!" And the post-match angle would've worked even better if it had been following a classic match, IMO.

 

There was no reason to hold anything back if Shinsuke was going to turn heel afterwards, because that would already offer a completely different dynamic to the rematch(es.) I think this was intended to be a classic, and instead was just 'pretty good.'

[Questlove]

I've seen a lot of people say that, but I don't buy it. That match was 20 minutes; along with the Ronda tag, it was the longest on the show. I don't think Vince allotted those guys 20 minutes of in-ring time and said "Remember, don't do TOO good out there, because we've gotta save something for Backlash!" And the post-match angle would've worked even better if it had been following a classic match, IMO.

 

There was no reason to hold anything back if Shinsuke was going to turn heel afterwards, because that would already offer a completely different dynamic to the rematch(es.) I think this was intended to be a classic, and instead was just 'pretty good.'

 

Bad agenting then, or maybe just an off night? I know Shinsuke's a lazy bugger but surely he could get himself excited for this.

[Blackman]

It was ok but way too long. I fell asleep during Brocks intro and woke up when Roman’s music hit so I can’t rate that. Ronda looked good on herself but they really made her look like a fool who can’t even armbar Steph. Embarrassing. Aj’s match was nice but nothing came close to Gargano vs Almas which is still my favorite recent match. Nxt Takeover’s main event was great. At least I didn’t fall asleep. Could have been so much more. What a waste. I’ll probably cancel my subscription despite the 50-man Rumble announcement.

[Uncrewed]

Definitely a worse Wrestlemania than last year, but it was still decent.

 

Highlights for me: Dakota Kai in the Women's Battle Royal, IC Triple Threat, Charlotte/Asuka, Mixed Tag, Undertaker/Cena, Nakamura turning heel, Last five minutes of Lesnar/Reigns

 

Lowlights for Me: The rest of the Women's Battle Royal, US Title Match, Nia/Bliss going way too long, Styles/Nakamura being a bit of a letdown, The first 10 minutes of Lesnar/Reigns

[milamber]

WrestleMania 34:

 

Andre the Giant Battle Royale - OK match with a cool finish. Bray's babyface turn is long overdue.

Cruiserweight Title - Good match. Disappointed Ali didn't win but Cedric should have been Champ by now anyway.

Women's Battle Royale - OK match. Naomi winning was unpredictable. Becky going out so early had to be a mistake, right...?

Rollins vs Balor vs Miz © - Great match. I was certain Miz would retain for the record then drop the title to Balor. I guess Rollins isn't chasing the Universal Title for some time.

Charlotte © vs Asuka - Great match. Charlotte ending Asuka's streak was a legit swerve. I'm glad they didn't opt for the 2 obvious options (build to Rousey streak vs streak match or Carmella cash-in). Charlotte is the only main roster woman dominant enough to believably beat Asuka.

Roode vs Rusev vs Jinder vs Orton © - Solid match. Rusev should have won. It's funny Jinder finally winning the midcard title he should have held last year.

Steph & HHH vs Ronda & Angle - MOTY Contender. Perfectly scripted to get the best out of the 4 wrestlers. The intergender spots were fun, Steph held her own, Kurt looked way better than in his last match and Ronda lived up to the hype. Thoroughly entertained.

New Day vs The Usos © vs Bludgeon Brothers - Solid match but way too short. Happy with the result. Now they need to add Sanity to the division.

Cena vs Taker - Thank goodness it was a squash match. The best part was the Elias troll-job and Taker's entrance.

Shane & Bryan vs Owens & Zayn - Solid match. Was expecting a Shane heel turn.

Bliss © vs Nia - Good match. Alexa took way more bumps than usual.

Nakamura vs Styles © - Good match but their NPJW match was better. I think it was a big mistake having Namakura lose and turn heel. He should have got the rub as a babyface with Styles moving to Raw in the draft.

The Bar © vs Strowman & Nicholas - Fun match. I was expecting Ellsworth but random child fan (but really the ref's son) was a stroke of genius. Dude got a huge pop for the hot tag LOL. That's one of the coolest Mania moments ever.

Reigns vs Lesnar © - Solid match. A bit over the top with the finisher spam but otherwise nice and brutal. The hate for Reigns is starting to the hype for me more than his booking. Put anyone else in Roman's place and those "awful" chants would have been "awesome" chants. With Lesnar retaining I expect either Taker or Lashley to challenge him on Raw.

 

Verdict: Consistently solid show but only a couple of matches really stood out. They should have bumped another match to the pre-show because the main show was too long.

[milamber]

Sorry for the double post, but...

 

STEPHANIE MCMAHON BLOCKED A RONDA ROUSEY ARMBAR.

 

That's so dumb on so many levels, I don't even know what to say.

 

Watch the match again. Steph was prepared for Ronda's offense, Hunter was prepared for Angle's offense. During the intergender spots you can see Steph and Hunter sturggling to cope.

[CQI13]

Watch the match again. Steph was prepared for Ronda's offense, Hunter was prepared for Angle's offense. During the intergender spots you can see Steph and Hunter sturggling to cope.

 

Wow - didn't realize that until you mentioned it.

 

Looking at the event again, it was enjoyable if a little confusing. AJ/Nakamura suffered from the whole "dream match" over hype. Balor/Nakamura was delightful back at Survivor Series.

[K-Nection]

I'm the only one apparently that is upset by the Asuka loss....but the thing is I think it would've told a way better story if Ember Moon was the one to finally take the streak away from Asuka.

[The Final Countdown]

Watch the match again. Steph was prepared for Ronda's offense, Hunter was prepared for Angle's offense.

No amount of preparation should allow Stephanie McMahon, an executive who's wrestled a handful of matches in her career, to block an armbar from a judoka who built her reputation on tapping people out very quickly with armbars.