2016 Pro Wrestling Thread

Wow. That was a trainwreck but, honestly, at least it was (mostly) a watchable trainwreck. Way too long a show. Someone needs to learn how to cut things down.

* Ryback vs. Kalisto- Weird seeing most of the arena still empty with the ticket issues they had but, all in all, I thought this was a decent little match that serve the preshow well. Nothing special, nothing you'll miss if you didn't watch it. A serviceable dark match to get the crowd going. 5/10

* Diva 10-women tag- I actually really enjoyed this match FWIW. Each girl got some time to shine and I really, really loved seeing Brie get the win and Nikki come down the ramp for the sweet moment in the ring. Pretty sure Brie is done and that's cool. That's a good way to go out. 6/10

* USOs vs. Dudleys- Total filler match that should have been cut. This is where I would've put the battle royal. I get why they put the battle royal on the main show (Building buzz b/c Shaq's appearance) but this match was a whole lotta nothing. 3/10.

*IC Title Match- I freaking LOVED this match ... until the end. I thought this was a brilliantly composed match with some great spots for everyone. This should've been won by Zayn but they went with Ryder? Like really? Meh. Killed it for me. Totally killed it for me. 5/10.

*Jericho vs. AJ Styles- Sorry guys. AJ Styles does ZERO for me. This match bored me to tears. I'll rewatch it to really get an idea of how it really was but, honestly, this match should've been cut too. 3/10.

* League of Nations vs. New Day- This match annoys me. How can you have the New Day not go over here? Like, I get that you needed LON to win to build the legend run in but, damn, this was just a mess. And why weren't the titles on the line? That's some weak meat sauce. 4/10.

* Lesnar vs. Ambrose- I loved this match. Thought this was booked perfectly and realistically. Up to this point, it was the match of the night for me. I really liked how strong they made Ambrose look though I would've preferred some color and a WM13 style ending. Still, about as good as you can expect. Good stuff. 7/10.

* Sasha vs. Charlotte vs. Becky- This match was ALMOST everything I could have ever asked for from the WWE with these ladies. WM entrances for the three (Props for Charlotte and that robe. To me, it was THE defining visual of the evening), a good 15+ minutes for the actual match and great spots for everyone. The finish really, really killed it for me. I don't mind Charlotte winning but I really wish it had been done differently. I get they wanted to protect Sasha but come on. Flair? Eh. Gross. Still, this was an iconic match for this division. It won't be THE match the horsewomen are known for but it's a great start. 8/10.

* Undertaker vs. Shane- This was exactly what I thought it would be. A spotfest and some crazy Shane shit. I'll give these two this much: This was substantially better than it had any business being. Fun match, good storytelling and, remarkably, both looked great despite limited in-ring action. Still don't understand what this means going forward but, hey, whatever. Good stuff. 7/10

*Battle Royal- I marked out really hard when I saw Baron Corbin. To me, that was an amazing call, not only to have him debut in the match but win? If the whole point of the battle royal is to elevate talent, this was a perfect place to do it. Match otherwise was blah but you kind of expect that coming off HIAC. 5/10.

* The Rock's segment/match- Someone please give the Rock a script and a five-minute window. Not only did this KILL the show up to this point, it KILLED the Main Event. This entire thing was pointless and booked in an atrocious spot. And the burial of the Wyatts? What purpose did this serve? This was, without question, the worst thing seen in a WrestleMania in years. One of the worst segments I've ever seen at the showcase of the immortals. 0/10.

* HHH vs. Roman Reigns- What a great entrance for Stephanie. Incredible. I wish I could say the same for the match itself. This was tough to watch and just lazy booking. At least give me SOMETHING to entertain me here. Outside of Steph taking the spear, this was pretty blah. As a match, it might have been a five out of 10 but as the main event of WrestleMania? It might be the third worse Mania main event outside of 27 & 9. It's fitting my rating for this match is 3/10.

Overall- I enjoyed the show but, jesus, that was about an hour and a half longer than it should have been. They should've cut everything to do with the Rock, cut USOs vs. Dudleys and moved the Battle Royal to the preshow. Hopefully they keep the show to four hours next year. Also, apart from Charlotte's entrance, I was incredibly let down by the Main Stage set up this year. Blah. Just a lot of blahs all around. 5/10.

 

Ladder match was great, and I'm fine with Ryder as a short-term champ.
Jericho/Styles was very good. But the wrong guy went over.
New Day/League was OK, and the veterans coming in at the end was fine.
I wasn't that thrilled with Lesnar/Ambrose. Maybe my expectations were too high. But I wanted them brawling all over the stadium and be a lot more 50/50. Instead, they made Ambrose look like a chump.
Women's match was great,but where does Sasha go from here?
HITC was what I expected. Kinda slow with two old guys. Helluva bump from Shane, though. Also, after spending weeks of Shane talking about how there needs to be changes with Raw, we'll be stuck with the Authority again.
Rock segment, I've already gone over. They had three ways to go, and two of those would have been fine. Instead they did the wrong way.
Battle royal was it what was. Corbin winning was nice, but he'll get buried in short order.
Main event was meh. Finish was predictably meh.

Didn't watch the preshow, so for me, first part of the show was a B+. Second part of the show was C, with Shane's bump preventing a D+. So overall, a C+/B-. I'd lean towards a C+.

 

My takes:

-- Preshow: I skipped it, and not sorry I did. No interest in either of these matches. Neither deserved to be at Wrestlemania, even on the undercard.
-- The ladder match was good. Not the best at 'Mania but not the worst either. I'm with Baron; I don't mind a short run for Ryder, but what does this mean for Mojo Rawley? Guess he'll need a new Hype Bro.
-- Jericho/Styles was awesome for me until the end. Not the best of the four they've had but pretty good. I don't know why they give Jericho the win, though.
-- New Day/League was an OK match, made good by the legends coming out. Nice moment there. Just something fun for the fans, so I'm cool with that. I think it would've worked better if you had the titles on the line, let New Day win and then had the League jump them and the legends make the save, but wasn't the low point of the night by far.
-- Lesnar/Ambrose was pretty good, but not as good as Ambrose/HHH was at Roadblock. And it makes no sense future storyline-wise to give Lesnar the win to me. I guess they'll do Reigns-Lesnar now, but who fucking wants to see that besides Vince?
-- Women's match was match of the night for me. They haven't done a Charlotte-Sasha one-on-one at a PPV, and this helps set that up and keeps the belt on Charlotte. I wanted to see Sasha win, but now we'll get to see her beat Charlotte and then a rematch of that, so I'm cool with that.
-- Shane-Undertaker started damn slow for me, but the spots later on were great. Was good for what it was.
-- Glad to see an NXT guy get put over in the Battle Royal. Hope it means something.
-- Rock segment was a waste of too damn much time and was a great way to kill good young talent. BUT JOHN CENA AND THE ROCK!!! OMG!!!!
-- Main event sucked. Sucked so badly.

My biggest problem is that outside of the women, I don't see where they're going as far as building the company for the next year and after that. Lesnar's a part-timer but you put him over a guy who is red-hot with the fans and needs to be in the title hunt. Same with Jericho going over Styles. And like others have already said, having Undertaker beat Shane is worthless. If you wanted to have someone lose to Taker, have it be someone who could carry him 15-20 minutes and could use the rub from having a good match with him at 'Mania, maybe having Owens-Undertaker and do the ladder match for the U.S. title. Sure, the IC belt doesn't get defended, but you would've at least furthered someone's career. Now, it's basically a throwaway.

My guesses for tomorrow: They set up Sasha-Charlotte for Payback, Jericho and Lesnar both claim they should get a shot at Reigns because they won their matches at 'Mania, and they set up a Jericho-Lesnar No. 1 contenders match. Owens demands his rematch, gets it for Smackdown and wins the title back. League of Nations is given a shot at New Day's titles again. Cena challenges Calisto for the U.S. title. Pretty much none of this outside of Sasha and Charlotte excites me, so I hope I'm very wrong.

 

And Takeover was the better show by far. Even the Bayley-Asuka match beat out Charlotte-Becky-Sasha, mainly because there were a lot more botches in the 'Mania match. How to fix the WWE: Bring up more NXT talent and let them do what they do.

 

Had two main problems in an otherwise entertaining (but long) show:

1. A man decided an epic women's triple-threat match on the same day they rebrand the division, ditch the Divas belt and give the women their due. Hate it. Save that for RAW and Smackdown, but don't tarnish a day where we were reminded of the past with Jacqueline and Lita and looked to the future with Charlotte, Sasha and Becky, who were done a disservice with that finish. At some point, WWE needs to move on from Ric and let Charlotte stand on her own.

2. Good for Baron Corbin having his WrestleMania moment, but if we're going to let the Royal Rumble provide a springboard for NXT talent, why did they let Tyler Breeze sit a corner the entire match, try to sneak up on Mark Henry, then get tossed without any moves, any offense to show for it? Give the kid a shot. He's far more Miz/Ziggler/Kidman than Fandango/Alex Wright/Disco Inferno. Make some room for the kid somewhere.

Otherwise, I liked the show.

--The 5-on-5 women's tag match was better than I thought it might be. Seemed like a proper finish for Brie Bella, if that's how it ends, going from the cradle to the Yes! lock, then Nikki coming out.
--Usos-Dudleyz and Kalisto-Ryback were OK, but not super long, making it acceptable for early matches.
--Jericho as a heel never fails, but I was surprised he won.
--Ryder win came from nowhere, maybe Owens and Zayn handle their beef separate from the IC belt (Ryder/heel-turned Ziggler?).
--New Day loss set up a legends spot -- who sold the Stunner better, Rusev or Woods? -- with beer cans thrown in the ring. Never fails.
--Ambrose-Lesnar was entertaining, but Ambrose deserves better. Biding time for a Rollins return and Shield three-way match at the next WM?
--Shane's moment ... Wow. Just Wow. For guys who are 46 and 51 years old (if I remember correctly), that was better than it should've been.
--Didn't have a problem with Rock and Cena. With an injury-depleted roster, yeah, they needed some cameos that popped.
--Main event? Eh. We all saw it coming and were defenseless to stop it. Guess it depends on where they go from here.

 

Fuck me, guys. What a long day. Aside from my favorites losing, I had the time of my life. I even managed to land the lift with Baby at the end-of-the-season talent show.

So so so much to write about, but I want to watch the TV version first and get some rest and some icy roll-on shit on my body. I'm stiffer than a gahddamn Bob Holly match, bro.

 

It was fine. The millions (and millions!) of The Rock's fans ... Well, tens of thousands of people take a little time to get inside with bag checks, metal detectors and ticket scans. This is not an event for the impatient. I didn't think it was that bad of a wait. I was nowhere near the front, and I had plenty of time to go in, check two merch stands, eat a hot dog and guzzle a Dr Pepper, and find my seat well before the show started. True, I missed the pre-show matches, but there is a reason they were pre-show matches. Something to fill time for the folks who got in early, so I didn't care.

 

I smiled at the end of the 5-on-5 Divas match, knowing that it was Brie's swan song. That was a nice moment and the others seemed genuinely happy for her. That's always nice to see.

Speaking of the ladies, it was great to see them get some time to shine with a 15-minute match that wasn't in a comedown spot on the card. I wasn't as over the moon about it as some people are (there were a couple of botches, including one bad one, early in the match), but it was probably the best women's match at Wrestlemania since the Trish-Lita heyday.
I still thought Styles-Jericho was the best match of the night.

Not sure why they had Shane go over the Undertaker, but that was a phenomenal match. I've always respected Shane for being willing to do some crazy stuff in the ring when he has no need to even step foot in it, and he didn't disappoint.

Reigns wins. Whoop-de-damn-do. I'd love to hear Bradley's report from the arena on the crowd reaction at the end. Looked like a lot of people were applauding at the end of the match, but it quickly turned south. Reigns sucks.
I will give Triple H credit for keeping that from getting even worse, though. First time in about 15 years we've seen some new moves from him. He looked good, but Reigns really sucks.
I guess Triple H will take his rematch at Payback, and then they'll have a ladder match for the title at Money in the Bank. Reigns losing the belt by Summerslam is the best we can hope for, I suppose.

 

Wanted to post this one last thought separately.
The Rock is a legend. Arguably the best ever. And I never thought I'd say this, but for the love of God can someone please remind him how to cut a fucking promo that doesn't take a half an hour?
His music hits, he comes to the ring, and then he spends the next 10 minutes basking in the adoration. Five more minutes are spent thanking the crowd for adoring him. Then he rambles for another five minutes.
Get to the damn point, Rock.
It's a weird phenomenon, but he gets both the biggest pop every time he makes an appearance and sucks the energy out of the show. That segment last night dragged on, and on and on and on ...

The guys from the Attitude Era have largely found a good role in their twilight years. Austin stuns people whenever he shows up, Michaels and Foley can further a story and do a quick hit. Kane, the Dudleys, Big Show and Jericho are ageless, respected veterans who can fill any role and still put on an entertaining match. Mark Henry is a credible big man jobber and Goldust is tremendous as a comedy act.
The Undertaker hangs out with Punxsutawney Phil until February and comes out of his hole for Wrestlemania. Even Triple H plays the heel authority figure well and is still very capable in the ring.
And then there's The Rock.
I'm not sure if he's too big for the room, or if he just has a tendency to make it all about him, but The Rock just doesn't work for me anymore. He's almost like the cocky 26-year-old former high school football star who keeps coming back for homecoming every year. We appreciate what he's done and it's nice to see him, but we don't need to have him being the featured attraction anymore -- especially when he comes out and buries what should be one of this generation's top heel factions both on the mic and in the ring.
Thanks for all you've done, Rock. Really. But let's give it a little while. Say, at the Hall of Fame ceremony in about five years?

 

The problem with the cheap legend pops is that they're cool for the people in the arena but they kill too much TV time and they kill too much talent. They buried the freakin Wyatts.....again.....for that??

It definitely added to the crappiness of the main event, too. After 5 1/2 hours, having just sat through that mess, I don't think anyone was in the mood for an HHH psychological thriller working on body parts and shit. I'll bet in a vacuum or a text book, HHH and Roman was a good match.....but with that bad a story and with that restless a crowd after that much time....please. Performers/bookers have to take those things into account and plan around em.

 

Who shows up tonight on Raw? Bailey? Balor Club?