2015 Pro Wrestling Thread

Bryan gave up the IC belt, and says he's not sure when he's coming back. Aw, fuck.

 

As much as I hate to say this, WrestleMania may have been the last time we see Daniel Bryan wrestling.

 

With the Intercontinental Championship being relinquished on Raw, I wouldn't mind seeing the Elimination Chamber for the title. Have a few qualifying matches on Raw, then six winners meet in the Chamber, perhaps. It would be better than having a meaningless Chamber match for the sake of it.

 

B+ player. Maybe B.

 

Not me. I saw him wrestle the weeks after on Raw and Smackdown.

 

I'll give Cena props, for once. That was a great match with Neville until all of the heat was sucked out of the building by Rusev.

I love, love Neville, but I can't help but think of Evan Bourne every time I see him. High flyer gets over huge, has a few great matches, and then inexplicably gets cooled off and put in meaningless tag teams before being unceremoniously released.

 

To be fair to Neville and to throw some shade on Bourne, Bourne couldn't stay healthy. They pushed him a couple times, only to see him breakdown. Not surprising given his size and ring style.

 

They're doing an incredible job putting Neville over and it's awesome.

 

That and he liked the doob too much.

 

That's my bad. I completely forgot Bourne had two Wellness violations. Disregard my previous statement.

 

Triple H promo, yay said nobody ever. Kane actually came over quite well, I always like the intense Kane far more than anything else he does as the Corporate version of himself.

-Ambrose and J&J was fun for what it was and Dean getting a massive pop from his hometown crowd was nice to see. Don't see him winning the title but they have done well in making him a serious threat with just two weeks of build for the former Shield member.

-So we get Ziggler vs. Sheamus and Barrett vs. Neville at Payback. I can dig that and I expect them to both be solid matches. Barrett and Neville will have to go some to be better than what they did at Extreme Rules but I expect the Sheamus and Ziggler match to be better. Barrett getting the win was fine with me. I mean he is the new King after all.

-Wyatt Family back together fives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside.

-Ah, we finally get Neville answering Cena's challenge and what an unbelievable match this was. It was pay per view quality throughout and I didn't even mind the finish with Rusev costing Neville the title. They have booked Neville so well even if he is losing sometimes. Shows you don't always just have to have a long undefeated streak when someone debuts. A Rusev and Neville feud after Payback could be interesting if they choose to go that route.

-Kane and Reigns brawl was fine with me and Roman came out looking strong.

-Seriously fuck Tamina and fuck Brie. Bring back Paige already.

-Macho Mandow and AxelMania versus The Ascension on the Payback Kickoff should be fun if not spectacular. I kind of hoped Sandow was over the impersonation stuff but I guess not. I give it a couple of months until he is jobbing once again. This makes me sad. Still at least he is on TV.

-Bryan's announcement was tough to watch especially as it is exactly a year since it happened with the World Title. He just doesn't seem to have any luck at all and I really do wonder if he will ever be able to compete regularly again if he is still having the same neck issues as before. Doesn't seem like it is going to be an easy fix for something like that at all. Anyway I hope he gets well soon.

-Big E and Cesaro was fun and I am really looking forward to the 2 out of 3 falls match at Payback. It could rival The Usos and The Wyatt Family with the same stipulation last year at Battleground. New Day are great in their new role and gimmick.

-Not into this Bray and Ryback feud at all, don't really care for either guy.

-Main event was a decent match but you always know the dirty finish is coming so I can never really get into it as you know they will not give you an out and out winner. It sucks frankly. Aftermath was fun with Ambrose standing tall. Still don't see anything other than a Rollins retention at Payback on Sunday though.

Overall, an above average show but Bryan's announcement sucks.

 

With a vacant IC title and a new plan needed, the Elimination Chamber suddenly added to the schedule, and the growing push for Neville ... seems like a great spot to give him the IC title for a bit, doesn't it?
Or do they need to put it back on a more established guy and follow the outline they had set up for Bryan?