2014 Pro Wrestling Thread

Other than the ending, the match itself was fairly predictable, yet entertaining. We knew Reigns would look really good, and did. And they set him up for a Shield feud. They also could have had him win it at the end, then have the Shield be all pissed off that he gets the title shot and they didn't. Nope.

We knew the Rhodeses would have issues, we knew Kofi would do something cool and we knew there would be comedy. Best part I liked was Cesaro giving the swing to Rollins for about 30 spins.

 

I was pretty happy with the card. I keep telling myself that WWE is just doing a super slow burn with finally giving DB the top spot.

However, after tonight, I'm not so sure that he's ever gonna be given a chance on top. I suppose Batista can still lose his title shot at EC.

 

Batista is going to headline Wrestlemania because he's starring in a Marvel movie and Vince McMahon would sell his body to Andre the Giant if he thought it would get him 30 seconds of mainstream acceptance.

 

There would still time to salvage something out of this at Elimination Chamber, but not with Batista in one of the slots. Not at all. Even in his prime he was never more than an A-minus main eventer, a guy who could do a decent job for a few slow months to build credibility and then fade back. Having him return, do a shitty job in his first night back, win the Rumble on his second night back, and slide into a WM championship match is idiotic.
Haven't they done bits before where the Rumble winner gets hosed and loses his WM spot? I'm grasping at straws here, but there's got to be some way out of this.

 

No way they'll have Batista drop the title shot at EC. He's got a movie to promote, and Vince loves him some cross-promotion.

Bray and Bryan fucking tore the place down. That match was great, especially the spot where Bray caught Bryan diving through the ropes and hit Sister Abigail on the barrier.

Brock-Show was a beatdown, and I didn't know why until I read that Show had hurt his hand in a match Saturday. I don't know why they keep doing house shows the night before a big pay per view, but I wonder if this will change that?

Cena-Orton absolutely sucked, until the end. The ending was a kick-ass swerve.

The Rumble ... where to begin? Reigns' run was awesome. I really hoped Vince had called out from backstage to change the ending to Reigns winning, but he'll probably win next year's event. Batista winning, even though I knew it was coming, sucked something fierce. The guy can't even do his spear correctly even more, which is sad.

The E could've used tonight to re-elevate Bryan back into the title picture, or to insert someone new like Reigns, Ambrose or Rollins -- or one of the other guys. But they fucked up big time, and the crowd let Vince know it.

 

No way Batista loses his spot. Was hoping we'd have Lesnar show up and eliminate him without entering the match or something to set up a Lesnar-Batista botchfest at 'Mania, but as it is, Trips has his buddies in the WM main event and Vince can get some mainstream pub with another wrestler-turned-actor-turned-wrestler again in the spotlight.

 

I'm pretty sure Lesnar was squashing Big Show no matter what. They need to re-build the monster in a run up to 'Mania.

 

And somebody else (Miz?) right before that. He literally was spinning people for the entire 90-second interval until the next person came out.
There was a nice spot with Miz and Fandango on the apron that was neat. Miz threw Fandango over, Fandango slid back in and threw Miz over, then Miz slid in and Rollins and Sheamus joined in. You ended up with four guys with a grip on each other, all trying to throw each other over.
Kofi's saves were awesome, as always. How far is that from the barricade to the ring? 15 feet? And he did it after running another 10 feet on a 3-inch wide, shaky barricade?

That's the shame of the ending -- it completely spoiled one of the better Rumbles of recent vintage. The roof would've blown off the building if Bryan was No. 30. Reigns, Bryan or even Bray Wyatt (coming in at No. 30) could've had starmaking nights with a win. Punk would've been fine, although I understand the direction he's headed and why he didn't win. They could've brought back Lesnar to destroy everyone.
Even having Bryan coming in at No. 30 and losing wouldn't have ruined that match as bad it did.
But Batista? Really?

 

So this is what I think we'll have for 'Mania now:

-- Batista vs. Orton title match
-- Rhodes vs. Rhodes
-- Cena vs. Undertaker or Wyatt
-- Bryan vs. HBK
-- Shield triple threat for U.S. title
-- Punk vs. Triple H or Kane

Right now, none of that is something I'd want to put my money down for.

And what does these leave the EC competing for? Would that have Orton drop the strap there? Maybe have him lose it to Bryan, set up Bryan-Batista as a swerve?

I think they need to add a MITB-type match to get some smaller names a place to shine and get some more people on the card, but even then that still doesn't excite me much.

 

Not sure I'd want Bryan/Batista. Batista, like Rock, is only interested in putting himself over, not helping the company build new stars to keep the business moving forward. It's why I can't shit on Orton too much for what happened in last year's feud. At least Orton will sell for Bryan. Cena will do the right thing and sell for the guy. Because they're smart enough to know it's ultimately about what fans want. Of course, those guys don't have the final say. But not everyone who does a comeback is like a Chris Jericho, willing to join a title program at Wrestlemania with no expectations of winning. Batista is about Batista. Sure, I said a year ago that he'd come back for the purpose of promoting the Marvel film, but dear God I didn't think he'd be put in the title picture.

Tangent: Brock is a bad ass fighter. Batista is a wannabe. I wouldn't mind seeing Brock humble Dave if they lock up in this whole "there are two No. 1 contenders mess."

 

Here's the thing: If Bryan gets into the Rumble, then gets tossed, the fans are going to shit all over that too. Possibly even more so, because that means they have to watch Bryan job twice. If he enters, he has to win. Otherwise, you'll get the same reaction you got tonight.

All roads led to Batista. They're not bringing him back with as much fanfare as they have without giving him the mega push. This was a slam dunk from the moment it was announced he was back. Now do they panic over the reaction and have Batista turn heel soon? He seems better suited for that role anyway.

Off the cuff booking that can't work now, but what the hell: Someone else wins the Rumble, Batista is in the elimination chamber with Orton and whoever, Authority screws Orton, helps Batista win, Batista becomes the new Face of the WWE (r), Orton disappears for a bit and comes back goat-raping crazy ... alongside the Wyatts.

 

I've spent the past half hour on Twitter looking for a positive reaction to Batista winning the Rumble. I've yet to find one.