AEW fan that's started watching WWE again....

Bayley had the same exact face character for years and nobody cared anymore. Her heel work has been the best work of her career possibly, at least since her nxt run.

Roman is decent enough in the ring. Just like nost of the other "it" guys have been through the years.

I know people are getting tired of Reigns as champion, but go back and watch his defences before he went part time.

The 2 matches with Jey Uso are absolute masterclass in storytelling. I'd also recommend his matches with Owens at TLC, the triple threat at Mania, the Smackdown match against Bryan, his matches with Cesaro and Edge from last year and although not everyone was a fan, his match with Rollins at the Rumble this year I though was incredible. Was criminal that they never followed up after the perfectly worked DQ finish.

I wasn't comparing him to a Danielson, or Bret Hart.

My natural comparison for him is Cena, which I think is fair? I just feel like Cena did a lot more out there? Maybe not always in terms of different moves, but spots and pacing. Cena typically had finisher fest matches, gimmick matches, and the guy worked smaller opponents on their terms. Remember him giving CM Punk a frankensteiner?

Bayley has a ton more range to get out of her heel run than the trajectory of her work as a babyface was affording her. I'm a huge Bayley fan, going back to NXT, but that character, in of itself, had a ceiling, and she'd reached it a long time ago. Bayley was easily one of the Thunderdome-Era MVPs, and I don't think her heel run (or Sami's, for that matter) are miscast at all. Personally, I think locking someone into what seems "natural" is a hindrance to their potential as a performer. Some of them hit it out of the park, and some of them falter. I don't think Bayley or Sami have begun to falter.

Roman is one of my favorite things in wrestling right now. When he's on, I stop and pay attention. I think his matches since turning heel and going on his massive dominant run have been must see across the board. I think there are varying degrees of strength in the ring, and Roman's is shining insanely brightly right now with the focus on his ability as an in-ring storyteller.

WWE knows what it is - a family product that needs to keep adults engaged to pay the kids' way into the shows/merch/etc. Everything else is gravy for them.

Best thing I ever did was cut myself short when I realized I was trying to treat any brand of wrestling as some sort of high bar beacon of intellectual entertainment. It's a form of entertainment that has its deepest roots in the exploitation of human gullibility and the suspension of disbelief. It's not high brow theatre. Shut off the ole brain space for a couple of hours, settle in, and enjoy the ride for what it is.

Sami Zayn’s current gimmick of being a fanboy/lackey for the Bloodline has a lot of potential no matter which direction they want to take it - I.e Sami actually proving useful to the Bloodline & joining them before trying to take them down from within or being humiliated/mocked by the Bloodline and eventually snapping to take them out. The latter would be particularly effective if the Usos still had the tag belts and Sami found a partner to get his comeuppance.

I like long build wrestling storylines; always have. The worry in modern WWE is that they scrap a storyline or simply forget about it but I’m hoping that will change in the HHH era.

*gestures to what happened tonight on RAW, what happened back in May, and various bits and pieces that have been sprinkled over the past year*

I really really hope someone has explained to Triple H that you can have a plotline fully telegraphed for months ahead of time and it still be extremely satisfying because at this point, if tonight's promo, what happened back and May and everything else doesn't have the ultimate payoff of Sami and Kevin reuniting to take down the Usos, then everyone involved in planting and watering the seeds for the past year are going to look very silly.

Primarily Kevin himself. If all of his little asides and potentially off-script remarks/actions leading back to Day 1 come to nothing then it will be a missed opportunity to say the least.


Personally I think that the Usos have run out of challengers and that there's nobody else left. RKBro is off the table because of Randy, all other extant challengers in the company have been stomped or aren't convincing, and any other potential reunited threats are split between companies. At least with Roman, you can have someone like Cody come back whenever and be considered a threat. Drew doesn't seem like the one who will take the belts but there are still options. The Tag Belts - not so much.


That said, the problem with Sami and Kevin reuniting for the tag belts is that it would likely bring back the old Steenerico vibe of them being tag partners of different alignments. Sami turning on the Usos after all their abuse is gonna get the fans behind him again but Kevin is back to being the Prizefighter Killer Heel again. I mean, they've made it work in the past and have won titles as such, but I see it as not being a particularly WWE Friendly arrangement.

That said, the fans tonight seemed so overjoyed to see the old Kevin back that it just might work. Finally, no more Mr. Panda Man, we got Mr. Wrestling back instead.


Who knows. Maybe Sami will team up with Drew after Drew loses to Roman. Good word would that be awkward though. If the Usos end up losing the tag belts to a frankenteam, it would be the worst decision Hunter has made so far.

Haven’t watched in years feel like I haven’t missed anything but I try to keep up with the highlights.

No top guy throughout WWE history would ever be confused as men of a 1,000 holds.

Hogan,Austin,Rock,Cena,Roman.

Backlund & Hart, come to mind.