2023 Pro Wrestling Thread

I would've liked to have seen Keith pounce Cole into the crowd from the ramp, for old times sake.

I'm glad he's back, but it's weird to see a face Cole. He was a heel for pretty much his entire NXT run, save for when the UE had that angle with Pat McAfee and his team that led to War Games, and he's been heel as long as he's been healthy in AEW.

But if they're playing Britt as face now, too, it would be a bit awkward to have them co-mingling as different sides.

 

Face Cole makes a ton of sense. The fans demanded it. Unlike when the fans demanded Cody turn heel, it happened.

 

In the tradition of the Bellas, Dave and Earl Hebner, and the Killer Bees, here come the Cavinder Twins.

 

I think the Bellas (ahem ... Garcias) are safe. I hardly expect the Cavenders to ever take a bump. I think they're just maintaining their NIL partnership.

 

I guess in my head, I see Jey as a transitional champion. Think Big E or Kofi. Let them run with the title for months, defend at a PPV, then get to where you want to go from there.

 

Yeesh. How hard is it to put out a statement saying that she loves her daughter and hopes to work out their differences. This is nastier than any Vince storyline.

 

I think whoever wins it from Roman won’t hold it long, but I can’t see it being someone who hasn’t held some kind of singles title first. Kofi and Big E had each held second-tier belts before their world title runs. I can’t even remember the last time someone won one of the top two belts without winning a US or IC title or the NXT title first. Maybe Styles when he first arrived? Can’t remember what his first title was.

 

Jinder Mahal? He might have had a run with the U.S. title at some point before he won the WWE title, but he was such a jobber by then that it didn't matter.

Brock Lesnar, FWIW, has never held a belt other than the world championships. Not even a throwaway tag run or an IC/US reign early in his career.

 

If there's a placeholder champion from within the Bloodline, I think it would be Solo, simply because he looks like he has a shot at a promising singles career, where the Usos are the rare WWE tag team with history and staying power.

 

I'll have to hear Solo speak five consecutive words on the main roster before I start seeing him with a top title. I barely watched NXT after the Black and Gold Era ended, so I didn't see many of his promos before he was called up. Though maybe if Heyman turns on Reigns with Solo, it could work.

 

If Solo can cut a great promo, the potential for his turn on Reigns would be off the charts. He could be the ultimate silent assassin. While Reigns was dealing with all of the drama with the Usos, and even keeping Heyman in line, there was Solo lurking in the background, taking notes, being the super-loyal enforcer, and plotting to cut Roman's throat the entire time.
That's a huge ball to run with, though.
It also seems like that would put us in nWo Red and Black territory, where the excitement of seeing a dominant faction unravel is quickly replaced by the tedium of realizing that same faction is still dominating the scene. I think the person to beat Roman needs to come from outside the Bloodline for that reason. And while we don't need another three-year title reign from Roman's successor, they don't need to cheapen that moment by hot-shotting it either.

 

I still think the best keeping-it-in-the-family storyline they could've done would've been signing Jacob Fatu and bringing him in to take the title off Roman. But WWE was in cost-cutting mode when he re-signed with MLW, and they've got him locked in until late 2025. I still think he'll sign with WWE when his deal is up, but Roman surely will have dropped the title by then.

Now, I could see them doing a year-long run with Jey, putting the IC strap on him (would be huge for him as a singles wrestler to end Walter ...err Gunter's run), and keep slowly sowing seeds of doubt over the next year. Then at the Royal Rumble, he and Cody are the last two, and pull the old double-elimination where they both land with their feet at the same time or close enough to it, so they declare a triple threat at 'Mania. Which makes Roman think he's got it in the bag, and he keeps talking about Jey helping him hold on, and maybe even taking the fall and letting Roman pin him. Then you get the backstage moments of doubt with Jey, and at 'Mania as Roman is telling him to lay down after Cody is laid out on the announce table, Jey loses it and superkicks Roman and then lays him out with a chair and walks off pissed. Cody comes in and hits the Cross Rhodes for the win. You end Roman's reign and separate Jey while still giving Cody his finish.

But honestly, I'd be just as happy if they cut Cody out there and just had Jey take the belt off him. I just think they need to go back to pushing him as a singles wrestler for a bit before they do it.