2016 Pro Wrestling Thread

Great start. Mediocre middle. Pretty good last hour. All around B. Better than I expected.

I'm not a big Ambrose mark but I think it's the right thing to have him win clean twice in a row. Builds a star. Good direction. Leaves the Summerslam main event hard to predict too, which is a nice change from the past few years with big shows.

 

I enjoyed the end. Like Ambrose winning, although I was thinking it would have made a good excuse to have Rollins pin Reigns, not only to punish Roman, but to allow Ambrose to lose without getting pinned.

Entertaining show

 

I'd agree with this. Awesome pop with Bayley, and I thought the Shield 3-way, Zayn-Owens and Club vs. Cena + Friends were all good matches. Even the so-so stuff on the undercard was OK, like Nattie vs. Becky, Wyatts vs. New Day, Rusev vs. Ryder (and Rawley coming out).

The only real stinker to me was Darren Young vs. The Miz, since the finish seemed stupid. No idea what they were trying to do. Was Maryse trying to fake a domestic assault angle? (If so, that's in horrible taste, even by WWE standards.) Could she simply not stand up because she broke a heel? I'm thinking it's the latter, because the finish seemed so schmozzy.

 

Been busy at work this week, so a lot of thoughts to share:

First, what the hell is the thinking of splitting divisions unless there are more titles split? If I'm a tag team or woman on SmackDown, what is there to fight for? What happens to Raw now that Ambrose is taking the world title to SmackDown? Or vice versa for these shows? More titles, otherwise, there are no stakes ever. Titles should still mean something. But if we get the split, there are more titles. Add another world, women's, and tag title to the mix, plus the new Cruiserweight title. So nine total titles? We're back to 2008 again. Night of Champions will be a nightmare to slog through again.

Battleground was decent. Good idea to get Bayley out of the way early so the constant chants don't shit on the rest of the show. Because these days there are no surprises. Everyone there and their cousins would have known it was Bayley and not shut the fuck up until The E trotted her out. I'd say leave her down in NXT until The E can figure out what the hell they're doing with the split and titles. Either you put her on Raw to get potenntially lost in the shadow of Charlotte vs. Sasha. Do you really want to see Bayley struggle to carry Dana Whatever through a shitty match? But, put her on SmackDown and she's got no one to feud with except Becky Lynch (who did she piss off to be in this spot a few months after a WrestleMania match?) or Natalya or .... who else is on that show? Exactly.

I skipped the IC and US matches. I just don't care.

Wyatt Family won a PPV just in time to break up. That's sick genius. But New Day isn't hurt a bit because titles weren't on the line. So what of the Wyatts? Do they "expand" like The Club? What's the point of doing that schtick with two factions?

Speaking of The Club, I thought that they would lose to Cena and Scooby and Scrappy. Now, I put too much thought into the ring gear colors worn by Styles, Festus and Gillberg. I thought that because Styles was in blue and the other two had red, Balor would come out to kick Styles to the side, leaving Moe and Curly to join him as the Balor Club on Raw. I overthought this.

The triple threat was fine. I was pretty sure either Ambrose or Rollins would walk away with the title, or maybe a schmoz to set up splitting the world title. I figured that Reigns was doing the J.O.B. as continued punishment. After a mostly negative reaction from the crowd (how can you not boo a guy who broke the rules? How do you explain that to your little ones? He broke the rules, so he's a bad guy, and kiddies have to boo the bad guy.), surely The E just turns him. There's no point in keeping him face. But, given that the announcers played up the whole "Oh, he's been at home going stir crazy because he can't come here and compete" bullshit.... uh, are they still trying to make him a sympathetic figure? How the fuck does that logic work? Whatever.

Speaking of, Randy Orton's return had me scratching my head. What the hell was that segment about? A happy, hippy dippy Viper? But let's get to the real meat. The Mic Drop. Scripted? Off the cuff? Unapproved? With Lesnar getting popped for failed tests, does The E have him job to Orton as punishment? It's obvious that the match is still on. I wouldn't mind seeing Orton drop Lesnar and then punt him.

Discuss.

 

I would like to see this exchange on Raw....

Stephanie: We need a world champion, Mick!
Foley: OK, Steph, let's bring back the World Heavyweight Championship!
Stephanie: Great, who was the last person to hold that Big Gold Title? We'll designate them the Raw World Heavyweight Champion!
Foley: The title was retired and a new one was presented to Lesnar. John Cena was the last Superstar to hold the Big Gold title. But Cena's on SmackDown Live now.
Steph: Who was before him?
Foley: Vacant because Daniel Bryan had to forfeit it.
Steph: Good memories there.
Foley: But, of course, he's the SmackDown Live GM....
Steph: Next.
Foley: Randy Orton, but he's on...
Steph: Next.
Foley: Cena again.
Steph: Next.
Foley: Alberto Del Rio, but he's on....
Steph: Next.
Foley: Dolph Ziggler, but he's....
Steph: NEXT.
Foley: Del Rio again.
Steph: NEXT!
Foley: Big Show. We have him.

Later that night....

Steph: I proudly present the FIRST Raw World Heavyweight Champion ..... THE BIG SHOW!

And that's what it sounds like when a few hundred thousand TVs turn off.

 

That about sums everything up. I don't want Lesnar losing to Orton, though. Orton doesn't need the win, and whomever does finally beat Lesnar needs to be someone who can use the win to elevate themselves.

 

Damn that pop for Baley was pretty big. Hope she gets on the main roster soon. She will be the female John Cena but will not get booed. Perfect character for the PG era.

 

I thought of this last night, but forgot about it until now. When Ambrose won, the Smackdown locker room came out and congratulated him, then he was lifted up on the shoulders of ... the Usos? He just pinned their cousin.

I guess blood really isn't as thicker as brand extension ties.

 

fixed

 

Sweet baby Jesus.

 

My thoughts on Battleground:

-- Snooze-fest of a tag match on the pre-show, but glad to see Breezango get the win. 1 3/4 stars

-- The women's tag match was better than I thought it would be, and the debut -- short as it may be -- of Bayley was fantastic. Loved seeing the reaction from Sasha, and then the utter disgust from Charlotte and Dana. 3 stars

-- Wyatts vs. New Day. What a clusterfuck of a match this was. The Wyatts finally get a win on a PPV, but they're splitting up. I still don't understand the reasoning behind it. 2 stars

-- Ryder vs. Rusev. Yawn. But we got Mojo Rawley making the save, which will lead to him losing to Rusev at SummerFest. 1 star

-- Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn. This match tore the fucking house down, and was far and away the match of the night. This was their best match in the E, IMO, and should be in the running for Match of the Year consideration. Those two have always had excellent chemistry together, and they know how to tell a story. I couldn't take my eyes off this match, and kept wondering what they were gonna try next. Zayn holding up Owens in the corner before hitting the Helluva kick again reminded me of when HBK retired Flair and said "I'm sorry, I love you." 5 stars

-- Becky Lynch vs. Natalya was a throwback match in my view. Very old-school style from both, and I was kind of surprised to see Natalya go over here. 3 1/2 stars

-- Darren Young vs. Miz. What the hell did I just watch? That ending ... WTF. 0 stars

-- Cena and friends vs. The Club was another match that was better than I hoped it would be. Cena seemed to really dig what Enzo was doing and the craziness that comes with it. 3 stars

-- Orton segment went on a bit long for my tastes, but it allowed the crowd to cool off a bit.

-- And finally, The Shield Triple Threat. Some great spots in this match. I figured they would make Roman the fall guy, and I'm glad they went that route. Glad to see Dean retain, though I believe it's only a matter of time before he drops it to someone on Raw so the belt can be on the A show and not the B show. 3 1/4 stars

 

Raw will have a new title, and its name ...

The WWE Universal Championship.