2016 Pro Wrestling Thread

They must be counting on her as a non-NXT wrestler. Because nothing says main roster like not being seen since one week before Wrestlemania.

 

So here are the rosters:

RAW
Seth Rollins
Charlotte
Finn Balor
Roman Reigns
Brock Lesnar
The New Day
Sami Zayn
Sasha Banks
Chris Jericho
Rusev w/ Lana
Kevin Owens
Enzo and Cass
Gallows and Anderson
Big Show
Nia Jax
Neville
Cesaro
Sheamus
Golden Truth
Titus O'Neil
Paige
Darren Young w/ Bob Backlund
Sin Cara
Jack Swagger
The Dudley Boyz
Summer Rae
Mark Henry
Braun Strowman
Bo Dallas
Shining Stars
Alicia Fox
Dana Brooke
Curtis Axel

SMACKDOWN
Dean Ambrose
AJ Styles
John Cena
Randy Orton
Bray Wyatt
Becky Lynch
The Miz w/ Maryse
Baron Corbin
American Alpha
Dolph Ziggler
Natalya
Alberto Del Rio
The Usos
Kane
Kalisto
Naomi
The Ascension
Zack Ryder
Apollo Crews
Alexa Bliss
Breezango
Eva Marie
The Vaudevillains
Erick Rowan
Mojo Rawley
Carmella

 

So, looking at those, a few thoughts:

-- I imagine Rollins or Reigns ends up with the title at the PPV. No way they let the WWE title go to Smackdown.
-- Raw's legit (as of now) world title contenders are Rollins, Reigns, Lesnar, Owens and Jericho, Balor can get there but probably won't be right away. Where he's drafted, they should push him into the title picture, though.
-- Raw's U.S. title-tier guys are Rusev (obviously, and he could get elevated easily), Zayn, Big Show (though he's more of a third-tier guy at this point they way they use him), Neville (borderline), Cesaro and Sheamus. A few of those guys (Rusev, Zayn, Cesaro, Sheamus) could get lifted into a world-title feud if they wanted to, and Jericho will probably spend more time in matches with this tier of guys than the top tier.
-- Smackdown's legit world title contenders are Ambrose, Styles, Cena, Orton and Wyatt. Orton shouldn't be in that picture but he will be.
-- Smackdown's IC-level guys are the Miz, Corbin, Ziggler, Del Rio and Kane. I'm tempted to add Kalisto and Ryder, but I hate Kalisto and can't see them giving Ryder much of a shot.
-- Raw owns the women's division. Don't even waste time making a Smackdown women's title. It would be a joke. They'll likely bring Bayley in for Raw, but Smackdown needs her and Asuka a hell of a lot more.
-- The draft killed a deep tag division. Raw has three teams that deserve to hold the belts at some point, one that's a joke but will probably get the belts at least once anyhow, one team well past its prime, and one I have no idea what they want to do with (though I assume they'll get a push at some point). Smackdown has two good teams (AA and Vaudevillains), one that never has caught on (Ascension), one that I can't decide about (Breezango) and one I wish they had torn apart (the Usos). Some potential there, but seriously top heavy.
-- Smackdown's third-tier guys have higher potential than Raw's. Kalisto and Ryder have held a second-tier belt could be tossed into the IC title belt picture any time they want to. Apollo Crews will get into title contention very soon. Rowan is biding time until Luke Harper's return, and then he'll be back in a tag team. I figure Rawley will be paired with Ryder as a team like they were in NXT.
-- On the Raw side, third tier, Young and O'Neil have recently looked like they were for a push but would seem to be behind a bunch of folks. Sin Cara is what he's going to be -- a jobber who can hit some big spots. Swagger is never getting a push. Henry is on the verge of retirement. Strowman will be in title contention on one level or another in a few months if not sooner. Dallas and Axel likely stay paired up for another jobber tag team.
-- Why waste time bringing up Carmella without putting her with Enzo and Cass? And if this was really based on how good they are, Bayley would be way ahead of Carmella. Ditto Asuka. In fact, they killed the depth of the NXT women, pretty much ensuring they either keep Bayley and Asuka down there or the division falls way off.

 

Did anyone watch the draft show on the WWE Network? Holy hell, it was kind of insane! Corey Graves is mostly working it as a shoot, as if it was an actual draft show. Booker T is trying, but clearly struggling, and it's bad-good TV in a way.

 

Okay - This draft show is hella interesting, just because it shows you who actually has some improv chops and who doesn't. Unsurprisingly, Jericho is incredible, and Cena was very good as well. Charlotte... uh oh.

 

An excellent analysis, and one that I find myself agreeing with.

It just seems to me that, by splitting the rosters, they've kinda made both rosters thinner. Whereas before, it seemed like there was plenty of depth for an entertaining show. Now, they look a lot thinner, to the point where one major injury could screw things up big time. It's like they don't quite have enough for two rosters.

I'd imagine that they put more women and tag teams on Raw because of the extra hour, so they need more to keep an audience interested. Which is helpful in giving them more flexibility, but for Smackdown, there's really no margin for error.

If you look at a two-hour Smackdown, figure, with the eight quarter hours, it breaks down like this: Main event (Cena/Styles), two segments, Second top event: Ambrose/Wyatt, one segment. Old vs. new: Orton vs. Corbin, one segment, women's get one, tags gets one, minor belt gets one, and undercard/misc. gets one. Anyone gets hurt/suspended, etc., and they're basically fucked.

In addition, they just broke up some groups unnecessarily. They just spent a couple of months building The Club into a main event force to challenge Cena. Now that gets changed. Strohman gets lost in the shuffle without Wyatt. Nobody will care. Some guys who could use a good buildup (Neville, Young) will get buried at the bottom of Raw's roster instead of having the chance to blossom without having too many guys ahead of them.

The great thing about the Heyman-era Smackdowns was that there wasn't a glut of stale midcarders clogging things up. There were only a couple of previous main event guys (Undertaker, Angle), Hogan was around to get a pop and to give a rub, and most of the rest of the roster was young guys who were looking to break out (Edge, Christian, Eddy, Mysterio, Lesnar, Rapper Cena, Jericho, Haas and Benjamin, That Other Guy We Can't Name.) Instead, we're getting Del Rio, Kane and Ziggler clogging things up, although a Dolph heel turn could do him wonders.

 

Whatever happened to SmackDown supposedly being the place of opportunity. Ambrose is fine, obviously, but to follow him with Styles, Cena and Orton (all at least 36 years old)?

And for both Bayley and Nakamura not to get picked while Bliss, Nia Jax, Eva Marie, Carmella and Mojo Rawley do? Fireable offense for both Steph/Foley and Shane/Bryan. Just plain awful.

 

Does nobody see the real travesty? Nobody chose Heath Slater, WWE's resident game show host and one man band, BABY!

 

I assumed that was an intentional thing, to help give the WWE's best jobber in years a gimmick as its top free agent (and also its only free agent, which no one has to mention).

 

How good was Cesaro's promo about how he doesn't care about Stephanie or Mick Foley getting along and how the focus should be on the actual Superstars? That are Booker T telling the Uso's that the fans hate Roman Reigns.

One other problem I have with these rosters.......they're going to have a cruiserweight division on Raw....and they put Kalisto on Smackdown......hello mcfly...

RE: The World title.......I thought Ambrose would drop it but after he beat Seth clean last night maybe he'll retain to make him and Smackdown look strong. If one commish is going to selfishly create a new title out of thin air and bestow it on her favorite heel that fits Stephanie's character a lot better than Shane's. (And is exactly what Bishoff did for her husband last time they split the belts).

 

I hope this time, instead of just giving a belt, they actually have matches for it. Never liked how they just gave the belt to Trips.

 

Ha, love the kayfabe remarks. Gotta think that they're (rightly) saving Bayley and Nakamura as surprises, instead of burying them as late round draft picks. Someone a couple posts back suggested that maybe Bayley is Sasha's mystery partner, and now anything but that would be kind of disappointing to me. It's still surprising to see Nia Jax brought up though, given that Dana Brooke is as green and also hasn't gotten over at all. (I realize Nia's size probably makes her desirable, but it's not like Tamina or That Guy Against Ziggler has really flourished.) And Eva Marie is like a shitty version of Jillian Hall.