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

[Jaysin]

Just finished the Bash and it was a very fun show all around. Melo and Dragonuv ruled as expected. Now I want Dragonuv to go to the main roster and show his talents on an even bigger stage. I would love to see a ppv match between Gunther and Dragonuv. They have ridiculous chemistry together and they're even better workers now than they were in their previous encounters. 

[PaperMachete]

On 8/2/2023 at 6:41 PM, Jaysin said:

Just finished the Bash and it was a very fun show all around. Melo and Dragonuv ruled as expected. Now I want Dragonuv to go to the main roster and show his talents on an even bigger stage. I would love to see a ppv match between Gunther and Dragonuv. They have ridiculous chemistry together and they're even better workers now than they were in their previous encounters. 

I think I'd hold off on Dragunov a few months and then have him debut and take the title of Gunther whenever he's ready for bigger things (which, arguably, is now). Builds instant credibility for people who don't know Dragunov and Gunther gotta lose the title sometime.

Anyway, looking forward to Summerslam tomorrow even though I'm missing a few people on the card. Should be a good event nonetheless. Wonder if this is the end for Roman or if he shenanigans it up even more. Cody should go over Brock, Gunther and Drew will put on an extremely good match and Ricochet/Logan Paul might have some fun high spots. Seth/Finn always delivers.

[Killagy]

My reaction to that swerve: 🤬

[Dawn]

Good but predictable show (7/10) with a quite deflating ending. Worst part is, I saw that one coming a mile away too. Oh well. Cody at Mania 40 it is.

At least Io and LA Knight won!

[Jaysin]

I may or may not have fallen off a couch with excitement for Io winning. 

[PaperMachete]

I knew that there was 0% chance of Jey winning but I gotta say, Jimmy vs Jey doesn't excite me at all.

Really wanted Finn to win but fine with Seth holding it, interesting to see how (if) Judgment Day survives this.

[Stennick]

I do not watch a ton of WWE these days but it seems like every Roman match ends in interference. I'm not exactly knocking that approach and I'm not saying every big match DOES end that way but I feel like there is some validity in the statement. I just remember when it was the nWo and every match ending in interference people were kind of tired of it. The overall storyline is great and Roman has won clean and lose clean in some big matches especially recently but Wrestlemania ending in interference and this match ending in interference and the Sami Zayne match ending in interference. I appreciate the character work and the progression of the storyline but these finishes just aren't doing it for me. I'd rather Roman win clean. I know its likely an unpopular opinion. 

[The Blonde Bomber]

2 minutes ago, Stennick said:

I do not watch a ton of WWE these days but it seems like every Roman match ends in interference. I'm not exactly knocking that approach and I'm not saying every big match DOES end that way but I feel like there is some validity in the statement. I just remember when it was the nWo and every match ending in interference people were kind of tired of it. The overall storyline is great and Roman has won clean and lose clean in some big matches especially recently but Wrestlemania ending in interference and this match ending in interference and the Sami Zayne match ending in interference. I appreciate the character work and the progression of the storyline but these finishes just aren't doing it for me. I'd rather Roman win clean. I know its likely an unpopular opinion. 

They have to be more creative with how the finishes are set up. There’s ref bump or blatant distraction etc. Let’s get creative.

[FellaLibby]

Personally, I think Roman does himself real well with his matches. Which is hard to believe if you watched him post Shield. I'm intrigued on how they'll make Uso v Uso match happen because it hasn't ever happened yet, at least to my knowledge. And this is all well and fine.

 

Honestly, it is hard for me to hate Roman Reigns now, especially after what he had to go through, going through leukemia remission and since he came back from there he is the guy we all want to see lose, and every time it's even bigger. He's around more often than Brock was as champ, and the more he shows up, he carries the entire show. I know he's not everyone's favorite, but he's earned up there for me. He's the king of "Slow Build".

[Stennick]

Roman is great and he's been great in this role. I personally think the peak was Elmination Chamber and the end of the Bloodline has been drawn out a bit too much since then but Roman's been great. The Judgment Day have been every bit as good. For my own personal taste I wish there were booking the babyfaces a bit better. I don't feel like Sami and KO have kept their WM momentum. Cody's been pretty great though. 

[overthetop2]

How many potential stars do the WWE want to bury just to keep this stale storyline going?  Lesnar winning the title back two Wrestlemania's ago would've been a better outcome than this!

[Dawn]

9 hours ago, Stennick said:

I do not watch a ton of WWE these days but it seems like every Roman match ends in interference. I'm not exactly knocking that approach and I'm not saying every big match DOES end that way but I feel like there is some validity in the statement. I just remember when it was the nWo and every match ending in interference people were kind of tired of it. The overall storyline is great and Roman has won clean and lose clean in some big matches especially recently but Wrestlemania ending in interference and this match ending in interference and the Sami Zayne match ending in interference. I appreciate the character work and the progression of the storyline but these finishes just aren't doing it for me. I'd rather Roman win clean. I know its likely an unpopular opinion. 

Not unpopular at all. It's crazy to me how they both sell Roman as this world beater greatest of all time champion, yet choose to ignore that most his title defenses have come down to shenanigans which in theory make him a fluke champion. At SummerSlam, Michael Cole did address this point. Do they not understand how contradictory that is?

[PaperMachete]

For me, one of the bigger issues with the Bloodline feud is that while both Usos sure can be main event players, I don't buy either one of them as the Universal Champion, which makes the title matches a foregone conclusion. Especially since everyone is waiting for Cody-Roman 2 at Wrestlemania to "finish the story".

I honestly think I would prefer some sort of stipulation to end the Bloodline feud where the losers have to switch brands. Make it another 2v2, the Usos not on the same page, one of them costs the other the match, they move to RAW and feud so they can have that Wrestlemania 1v1 that's their dream match. Roman/Solo can feud with Sheamus or whoever until Mania season.

[MidKnightDreary]

Many many heels have tried to retain their belts from distractionary methods. Roman doing so for this long shows why he's dominant.

[eayragt]

13 hours ago, overthetop2 said:

How many potential stars do the WWE want to bury just to keep this stale storyline going?  Lesnar winning the title back two Wrestlemania's ago would've been a better outcome than this!

Bury 🤣. Brock? Nah. Sammy? Nah. Cody? Nah. Jey - we'll have to wait and see.

Granted, there's a few from the last couple of years who have never made it back to the main event, but none of them should have beaten Roman. But everyone who's faced Roman for the title this year has been elevated by the Bloodline storyline.

[Dawn]

46 minutes ago, eayragt said:

Bury 🤣. Brock? Nah. Sammy? Nah. Cody? Nah. Jey - we'll have to wait and see.

Granted, there's a few from the last couple of years who have never made it back to the main event, but none of them should have beaten Roman. But everyone who's faced Roman for the title this year has been elevated by the Bloodline storyline.

Agreed. People use the word bury way too liberally nowadays. Jey will be fine. Everyone was convinced Cody's time on the main event scene was done after Mania and now he's their unquestionable #1 babyface.

[PaperMachete]

And not just the ones who have faced Roman, I've seen A LOT of people claiming that WWE are not capitalizing on (or even burying) LA Knight, but he's heavily featured and is as over as ever. Yeah, he didn't win MITB but at the same time, the Priest/Bálor story has a built in story with the briefcase.

[Jaysin]

17 hours ago, overthetop2 said:

How many potential stars do the WWE want to bury just to keep this stale storyline going?  Lesnar winning the title back two Wrestlemania's ago would've been a better outcome than this!

You shouldn't use words you don't understand. 

[Dawn]

Sonya tore her ACL, so one would assume the tag titles will be vacated AGAIN. Just sad to see.

[Jaysin]

18 minutes ago, Dawn said:

Sonya tore her ACL, so one would assume the tag titles will be vacated AGAIN. Just sad to see.

Poor Sonya, finally getting semi decent booking and this happens. Hopefully Chelsea doesn't get the shaft in booking now. Chelsea has busted her butt making this Karen stuff work. Seems like even when Chelsea isn't the one injured, injury still messes up her booking somehow. 

[Jaysin]

People are reporting that Brock went off script post-match with Cody and the show of respect was legit. Cool little moment made even cooler. 

[overthetop2]

16 hours ago, Jaysin said:

You shouldn't use words you don't understand. 

I know full well what the word means, unless you've got a better way to describe Jey now being 0-3 in world title matches and Cody jobbing out to interference he should've seen coming from worlds away?

[eayragt]

7 hours ago, overthetop2 said:

I know full well what the word means, unless you've got a better way to describe Jey now being 0-3 in world title matches and Cody jobbing out to interference he should've seen coming from worlds away?

Cody is arguably WWE's number one face. Struggling with how that equates to being buried.

Meanwhile Jey, essentially a charismatic tag wrestler, has had three world title shots. Also impressive. Doesn't sound like someone who's being buried at all. Even if he never wins a World Title he's been elevated.

Buried means being beaten so badly / often that the crowd won't see you as a credible threat any more.  There's no way Cody has been buried.

Edited August 8, 2023 by eayragt

[PaperMachete]

Yeah, Cody is the biggest face they've got. Have you heard the reactions? And he just went over bloody Brock Lesnar. He's primed to be the one to dethrone Roman at Wrestlemania 40. That's not someone who's been buried.

I'd argue both Jimmy and Jey have been elevated from a great tag team to two main eventers by the Bloodline story. My best guess is this is leading to a 1v1 at Wrestlemania. Would anyone have cared three years ago if Jimmy and Jey faced off? I'm not overly excited myself but I can definitely see how more people will care about them now.

[Dawn]

8 hours ago, overthetop2 said:

I know full well what the word means, unless you've got a better way to describe Jey now being 0-3 in world title matches and Cody jobbing out to interference he should've seen coming from worlds away?

Cody has lost like once since WrestleMania and that was after an injury angle that forced a stoppage in the match. And he won the feud of that loss. He's heavily protected like Cena and Austin both used to be in which he doesn't know when to quit. He is their number one babyface and has gotten MORE popular since the Roman loss.

About Jey, not everyone who challenges for a world title needs to win it, you know...if they did, people would be here complaining about how meaningless the world titles are when everyone under the sun has won it. There is no way to win sometimes. Back to Jey specifically, say whatever you want about other specific people like Finn having been thrown aside for the Bloodline angle but you can't tell me with a straight face that Jey hasn't been HEAVILY elevated by it even without the ultimate win over Roman.

And no, you do not know what the word bury means.

Edited August 8, 2023 by Dawn