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I'm pretty okay with the show not being "edgy"...thats not the real problem. The problem is awful booking primarily on the raw side making things feel boring, predictable, rushed, and even cheap. A good example is the women's division on raw.
 
epitaph04 said:
I'm pretty okay with the show not being "edgy"...thats not the real problem. The problem is awful booking primarily on the raw side making things feel boring, predictable, rushed, and even cheap. A good example is the women's division on raw.
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I agree wholeheartedly. The way they played hot potato with the title between Charlotte and Sasha made no sense and really just devalued it. Now you have Bayley whose whole character was that of squeakiest clean babyface accepting "cheating" to win her matches as of late. Are Bayley/Sasha the heels here or is it Charlotte? To me it seems like it's the opposite of what they're intending. Smackdown almost has the same thing going with AJ Styles. He's been screwed around with so much lately he may as well be Daniel Bryan 2.0.

Honestly the best booked show WWE is running these days is 205 Live. They only need to fit things into a nice 45 minute block though. 3 hour Raws just plod on too much.
 
Im okay with the hot potatoe belt feud because I think it was a very solid feud. Charlotte and sasha put on some great shows and it reallt felt like two of the very best going to war with each other, like theyre equals. I feel sasha may be the most compelling female performer wwe has, not necessarily the best or most technically sound, but she just always puts on a solid show, unlike say becky, who is super solid and will probably never injure anyone, but had lately left me feeling underwhelmed (shes probably my favorite too).

Anyway...everything since the charlotte/sasha feud has felt so rushed, nonsensical, and weird that i just...i just dont know. I enjoyed the nikki/nattie feud a lot more than basically everything wwe has been doing with bayley in the past month or so. Just a mess.
 
The problem extends to ALL the titles and how it affects their champions. There's a few good opinion columns about it...

Ultimately, WWE started this new "non-title match" theme a few years ago in which a lot of contenders had to beat the champ in a non-title match in order to "earn" a shot. These matches have constantly devalued the titles AND the champions that hold them. Combined with WWE's poor writing since the past decade and this constantly damages characters. I read an article recently that outlined that former WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens has a HUGE Loss record to Roman Reigns in both Live and House Shows, granted WWE is "high" on Reigns being "the guy", but this doesn't do Owens AND the Universal Title any favors. It damages the KO character, and also the title and doesn't do much to build anticipation that Owens is going to be a "challenge" for Reigns.

You don't see those lame-azz non-title matches happening in NXT. The titles and characters matter there. Owens, Bayley, Sami Zayn and others had better booking there...Zayn is starting to look like the RAW version of Dolph Ziggler.

Grenouille pointed out as well that the sloppy, poor booking on Bayley's first Women's title win was "tainted" and didn't do much to help her character. It damaged it...her first run is always going to be "tainted". There's a big deal about a "clean win" and the perspective on it. In contrast, John Cena has put over AJ Styles cleanly TWICE...which has helped legitimize AJ Styles as a credible main eventer that CAN beat Super-Cena.

RAW (aka Vince and Kevin Dunn) is hot on Charlotte so it's her and the rest of the division. While Charlotte is a damn good wrestler and heel, it doesn't do much to help the entire RAW Women's division when she flip-flops the title and it doesn't give her any credible challenge. In contrast, there is more "balance" in the Smackdown Women's division and I find it more entertaining.
 
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karamazov80 said:
The Punk parallel was pretty glaring here to me. But that's just the way it goes. Frankly, I think Owens, and Punk before him, should be really happy with what they get. And this is from a guy who will take those guys 10 times out of 10 over a mediocre has-been like Goldberg or old man Rock. But they'll live on to fight another day, and they get the lion's share of attention for the better part of the year while the "real" main eventers take that time off. The way Punk responded, you would think he was treated the way Dolph Ziggler or Cesaro has been.
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Owens is getting a chance because there is just one man fighting for him - Triple H.

It's pretty well-known that Vince McMahon and his best buddy (and TV producer) Kevin Dunn love the huge, muscular, "hoss" wrestlers. They're the ones that tagged Roman Reigns as the next "guy" and have been pushing Braun Strowman. Though I think Strowman is forming much better as a character. Reigns might be forever damaged by his mega-push and he just doesn't have the "it-factor" that guys like Rock, Stone Cold, Triple H, HBK, Cena, etc. have. His mic work sucks, his cardio is bad (you can see he gets winded easily), and he's just overall not a good wrestler...most of his opponents have to carry him and make him look good.

Hunter is the one voice challenging the McMahon establishment (albeit probably delicately) of thought. This is why NXT has been uber-successful and is forming new, more-international stars, is picking up "seasoned" wrestlers (Hunter I think realizes that not everyone out of the Performance Center is going to be a "superstar" so you do need to pick from the indies where wrestlers have had time to hone their craft), and isn't all based on "look".
 
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The first sign I saw that Triple H really respected the technical wrestling workers and their fans influence was at Wrestlemania 20 when he tapped to Benoit. And his nxt success is hard to argue. But I think he also would prefer a roided freak like himself as champ.
 
karamazov80 said:
The first sign I saw that Triple H really respected the technical wrestling workers and their fans influence was at Wrestlemania 20 when he tapped to Benoit. And his nxt success is hard to argue. But I think he also would prefer a roided freak like himself as champ.
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He's come a long way.

Early on in his WWE backstage days, he actually helped push Sheamus. They were gym buddies but even Hunter seemed to understand that fans were just not latching onto his character. He even was rumored to be against CM Punk and Daniel Bryan but couldn't argue their success and naturally being over with the fans. It's rumored that Vince actually got along better with Punk than a Hunter did.

Seems like Hunter has changed his tune. He has been a lead in identifying a lot of the talent for NXT and getting them to sign like Roode, Nakamura, Samoa Joe, Owens, etc. and has been Owens advocate for RAW. I think he has slowly learned that McMahon's ham-fisted way is just not working and McMahon has surrounded himself with a posse of failed soap opera writers to be WWE Creative instead of former wrestlers and bookers. Triple H, despite his ego and always pushing himself when HE wrestles, has very much become a positive entity backstage for more diversity in today's WWE. It's hard to forget his past faults but it does appear he has changed.
 
So you don't think he was supportive of Benoit's win over him at Wrestlemania? Because to my eyes, that was very much in line with what he's doing with NXT--promoting the guys with skills who the hardcore fans really get behind.
 
karamazov80 said:
So you don't think he was supportive of Benoit's win over him at Wrestlemania? Because to my eyes, that was very much in line with what he's doing with NXT--promoting the guys with skills who the hardcore fans really get behind.
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I do agree! I was just co-signing to what you said with other facts and supposed legitimate stories I've heard. I listened to a Triple H media call and it was quite interesting to hear him put over Nakamura and a lot of the NXT talent.

He said the biggest challenge for these newcomers is the transition to television. He said they are predominately a television product now and a lot of guys like Nakamura don't know how to work in front of the camera. He even said that Styles came up to him and wished he had a few months in NXT to learn. This is what I talk about when I mention the "WWE Style". They're always playing to the television audience (for ratings) and some wrestlers need to learn skills to transition to that.
 
I think Roman hit Stephanie with more force on the spear last year at Mania in comparison to the one he hit on Undertaker tonight.
 
The Clown Prince of Crime said:
Slow news day

Roman Reigns might going to Smackdown
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They quietly added 2012 & 2013 NXT to the network. I needed a break from my Nitro marathoning now that I'm into September '98 and things were starting to crack.

Hopefully they add Thunder, WWECW, Superstars, and more Saturday Night soon.
 
fistfulmetal said:
Jim Ross' wife passed away today. She was seriously injured when a car crashed into her Vespa. She had to be put on life support but just didn't make it. This is really heartbreaking for me as I know what it's like to have your wife on life support, only to see them go. All my prayers and blessings to Jim right now.:( More info here:​
https://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2017/0322/624365/jim-ross-says-his-wife-is-on-life-support/
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I'm truly sad to hear that FFM. Makes me see how lucky I am even though I (like every single person) have problems. I know we are dust in the wind but it is never easy to say goodbye, especially in those terms.

May he find peace in these horrible times.
 
I went to the WWE house show tonight in Portland, ME. Not a bad show, but it's what happened during the second and third matches that'll stick with me. Near where I was sitting a man had a heart attack. The suite's hallway where I was sitting became a little chaotic for a while and the poor man died. Really not what you expect to see at an evening at the matches. I just felt terrible for his family.
 

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