2015 Pro Wrestling Thread

FWIW, during Raw they ran a commercial for a house show in my area in June. One of the advertised matches was Cena-Rusev for the U.S. Championship. So it looks like the Mania feuds might continue for a while afterward.

 

So I'm supposed to believe Daniel Bryan is a worthy competitor to Brock Lesnar? Seriously?

That's kinda the problem with Lesnar. He's so freakishly big, strong, whatever, and they've had him crush people so easily (see Cena for a perfect example), that it's hard to imagine anyone on the roster (save for one or two maybe) who could be a believable opponent. Certainly not Daniel Bryan.

 

On the surface, you're correct.

I think Bryan is a good enough wrestler to tell a believable story in the ring, though. So is Lesnar, for that matter.

 

It's not about worthy competition in an MMA sense it's about entertainment and story telling. If they keep Brock heel the only face that'll get cheers over him is Bryan.

 

Yeah, but it's hard to tell a believable story if I think Lesnar would crush the guy, especially based on the story-telling they've done with him so far, which is just that. He's unbeatable, but hey, this Daniel Bryan guy sure is SCRAPPY!!! Maybe he can do it!

 

The "scrappy," never-say-die underdog beating the unstoppable monster has been a staple storyline of the wrestling industry pretty much since the beginning of time.

Daniel Bryan is just the most recent example. The title reigns of Rey Mysterio and Jeff Hardy are also fairly recent.

Almost the entire nWo storyline was built around the same idea. An unstoppable gang against the scrappy WCW wrestler of the day, be it Randy Savage, Lex Luger, Diamond Dallas Page, etc.

 

Jeff Hardy had a title reign? Like the big title and not the Hardcore title or something? Good lord.

But you're right. 100%. Although I wouldn't call Randy Savage, Lex Luger or DDP the scrappy wrestler. They were pretty big-time names who had title runs of their own. DDP would be the closest, I guess.

Maybe it's just part of getting older and having a harder time going along with it or something. Who knows. WWE has admitted that its product is aimed at kids, so yeah, it totally makes sense in that context.

 

Here are my predictions since I may not be able to do them this weekend:

Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Roman Reigns via pin

Sting vs. Triple H via pin

2nd Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal - Ryback

Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match - Dean Ambrose

The Undertaker vs. Bray Wyatt via pin

Rusev (C) vs. John Cena via sub

The Bella Twins vs. AJ Lee & Paige via sub

Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins via pin

 

Ryback intrigues me, but I honestly don't know much about him. What's his deal? Is he considered an up and comer or something? I'd be cool if he ended up feuding with Lesnar or Reigns.

 

Hardy had, I think, three world title reigns. He had a pretty long feud with CM Punk over it. And a few more in TNA, but those don't really count.

Also, Savage and Luger et al were attempting to fight at least six people at a time. Sting, too. That's what made them the underdogs.

You're right that there's a certain amount of suspension of disbelief that has to happen with these storylines. Of course Brock Lesnar, if left to his own devices, would crush Bryan. Just like Hogan, Hall, Nash, Big Show, etc., would kill Savage by himself.

However, great wrestlers make that suspension of disbelief easier.

 

Wow. Jeff Hardy had multiple title reigns. That's something.

 

So has Dolph Ziggler.

Jack Swagger is a former world champion, too.