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Post by J12 on Jun 17, 2018 21:41:30 GMT -5
Thought that whole thing was brilliant. Nia has the best match of her career, Ronda knocks it out of the park again, and they get out of a finish in a satisfying way.
Ronda may be coming along slowly in the promo department, but it is genuinely shocking how natural she already is in the ring.
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Post by J12 on Jun 17, 2018 21:18:04 GMT -5
Very good match, the best of their series and the best of Nakamura on the main roster.
I’m worried about Shinsuke going forward, but he still hadn’t proved he was worth putting the title on. AJ has a lot of great people to work with for the title, too.
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Post by J12 on Jun 17, 2018 20:29:56 GMT -5
This is so bad.
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Post by J12 on Jun 17, 2018 20:23:28 GMT -5
Carmella is bad enough in the ring without having to fix her attire every 30 seconds.
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Post by J12 on Jun 17, 2018 19:56:09 GMT -5
This is garbage.
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Post by J12 on Jun 17, 2018 19:44:46 GMT -5
If they want to avoid a crowd debacle, Reigns should beat him in under a minute.
And not in a fluke way. Just kill the guy and move on.
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Post by J12 on Jun 17, 2018 19:42:01 GMT -5
Bryan/Cass and Rollins/Elias we’re both better than they should have been, so maybe this will be too.
Lol.
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Post by J12 on Jun 17, 2018 19:40:18 GMT -5
Thought that was really good, minus a couple of late arrivals to stop obvious winning situations.
Alexa winning seems a little bit unnecessary, given how much she’s held the title, but the briefcase is definitely better as a heel gimmick and Alexa is the best character in the division by a mile.
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Post by J12 on Jun 14, 2018 14:40:32 GMT -5
I think this is one of the weakest Takeover cards in memory, but that probably won't stop it from being above average to great. Gargano/Ciampa and Ricochet/Dream alone should make it well worth the time spent.
I've been unbelievably impressed with Ricochet's first couple of months on the roster. I was lukewarm on him coming in, but he's adopted the WWE/NXT style well while still keeping his athleticism, and he's coming off as natural, likeable, and flat out cool.
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Post by J12 on Jun 14, 2018 14:27:19 GMT -5
WWE is definitely making a play, but Omega is a unique dude who seems perfectly content carving his own path elsewhere. It's going to have to be a huge offer that supersedes Omega's interest in being the guy to do it without WWE.
All WWE can offer is money, and that's not the be-all, end-all for some of these guys anymore - especially those that are making a killing on the indies like Omega, Cody, and the Bucks. They certainly can't match the way he's treated, the push he receives, and the creative freedom he has elsewhere.
Omega is also in a bit of a weird spot. He's too big of a deal to go to NXT, so you basically have to give him the AJ Styles treatment. Unlike Styles, though, he doesn't have major national television exposure. So, it becomes a case of whether or not you think 2018 Internet exposure is as relevant as early-mid 2000s TNA exposure.
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Post by J12 on Jun 14, 2018 12:13:22 GMT -5
This show is largely contingent upon the ladder matches. If they deliver, it'll likely be viewed as a decent to good show regardless of how the rest of the night plays out. Outside of Styles/Nakamura, who have (thus far) failed to deliver on any sort of hype (coupled with the limiting nature of a Last Man Standing match), the rest of this show will, in all likelihood, be pretty bad.
Both women's title matches could be disasters. Rollins/Elias is a nothing match that could be propped up some by Seth's current run, but it's not going to tear the house down. Both Tag Title matches are complete throwaways. Zayn/Lashley is already the worst angle of 2018 and there's no reason to suspect a match is going to make that any better. Nothing really even needs to be said about Reigns/Mahal. The best thing that could happen here is the crowd reaction. Cass/Bryan is just a colossal waste of Bryan.
Despite my feelings on the rest of the card, I am looking forward to Jax/Rousey. Ronda showed enough fire in her Wrestlemania match to think we could get a miracle performance. I'm not banking on it, but I'm certainly hoping it happens.
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Post by J12 on Jun 11, 2018 11:13:49 GMT -5
If we are to take Corey Graves at face value, it doesn't speak highly to Punk's character, but I think Graves comes out looking just as bad for airing his dirty laundry four years after the fact, specifically when Punk is trending in the wrestling/MMA world.
Tagging Triple H and Vince McMahon, bringing Kenny Omega's name into it for no rhyme or reason, getting into multiple spats with fans all just points to the character of Graves. He's seeking attention and trying to reap benefits by showing his company loyalty and coming out as a contrarian voice against a guy who is trending. It's cheap and tacky, plain and simple.
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Post by J12 on Jun 8, 2018 13:31:23 GMT -5
Cause Roman Reigns.
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Post by J12 on Jun 8, 2018 13:28:05 GMT -5
I don't view booking the "top babyface" in the company as the strongest character on the show as a sports approach. That's how it's always been done, especially under the McMahon family name, even before Vince became obsessed with the term "sports entertainment."
He's settled on Roman and he's plowing forward, come hell or high water. He has no reason to change his strategy because the company is about to become more profitable than its ever been despite Roman Reigns. Could the company be better off if Roman were in a more naturally suited role? Probably. But, hindsight is always 20/20. They got their new TV deals with lower ratings than ever and a largely bad product. They have no reason to change anything.
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Post by J12 on Jun 4, 2018 12:19:08 GMT -5
Punk has more or less admitted, in so many words, that a lot of what he said was exaggerated truth, which likely could've been deduced by most discerning ears at this point.
WWE is certainly not looking clear of fault, though. The fact that Punk stayed in the ring for 30+ minutes with them knowing he was concussed, and THEN taking a huge table bump afterward, is totally baffling.
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Post by J12 on Jun 4, 2018 10:28:31 GMT -5
Sounds like a mistake on the part of the cable provider, honestly. Total Bellas is a Bunim-Murray property and is still airing on E.
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Post by J12 on Jun 4, 2018 10:25:41 GMT -5
NXT wouldn't survive on its own. It's been pretty well documented that they lose money on it, but it's worth continuing to run for obvious reasons.
The spot shows in Florida usually draw very small crowds, because the market is over saturated. It's not much different than going to local indy fed X in that area, and there's rarely any names of note on the cards, save for one or two from time to time.
The road shows are definitely more robust, but it seems to me like WWE's consistent false advertising of talent has hurt those shows (not to mention the "star power" isn't as strong as it once was.) They've been taking great liberties with "card subject to change" lately, and it can be a deterrent for repeat business in a given market.
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Post by J12 on Jun 1, 2018 14:47:08 GMT -5
You're certainly entitled to any opinion you'd like. If you enjoy the show more than NXT, more power to you.
As far as I'm concerned, 205 Live is just a bunch of guys with little to no character fighting over a title no one cares about in front of crowds that can barely be bothered enough to pay attention if they even stay in the building. Whereas, NXT is the most consistent week to week product the company has. Even if the weekly TV may, at times, lack, their storylines are almost always logical, well-paced, and intelligently booked. The talent is top notch, the fan base is passionate (albeit, at times, annoying) and the Takeover specials are the best things wrestling has to offer right now (yes, even above NJPW.)
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Post by J12 on Jun 1, 2018 11:12:53 GMT -5
This is just about the worst way he could have possibly chosen to reintroduce himself.
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Post by J12 on Jun 1, 2018 11:00:03 GMT -5
I mean, the Hall of Fame is a bit of a self-serving joke, but not necessarily for the reasons he lists. It's just one guy in charge making decisions based on his own personal preferences and political motivations. Hall of Fames should contain some sort of element of input from peers, and WWE's certainly doesn't.
It's hard to take a pro wrestling hall of fame seriously when it contains a bunch of celebrities who know nothing about, and have largely had nothing to do with pro wrestling. Not to mention, one that knowingly and happily promotes an award named after, and in the spirit of, a racist and homophobe.
All of those things are far more damning than not having a physical location.
Nevertheless, none of that means an inducted wrestler shouldn't be able entitled to feel pride, or celebrate the idea of being celebrated by his/her peers for a night. Even though the overarching specifics may be a bit of a sham, at its core, it's a nice yearly moment for wrestlers of the past and present.
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