I liked the Cena promo, but more eager to see the follow up. He ended up going in in circles a bit owing to the length of the promo. The links to the Rock, the desperation to get the 17th title reign etc. are the parts of the story with the most meat on the bone.
Really liked the main event of Raw too. Bron is one of those wrestlers that gets me to involuntarily leave my seat frequently.
I thought the hot crowds would be a much needed shot in the arm for Smackdown, but it's been garbage for a long while now and the noise didn't save it for me. Dunno who's doing most of the booking there but it feels like bad 2010's WWE, from the interrupting chain promos resulting in tag matches, the never ending uninteresting midcard feuds and bad comedy.
Smackdown in Bologna should be a good one! There's like seven weeks inbetween Elimination chamber and 'mania so don't expect a great deal to happen each week.
The women's world title is getting interesting. The Jade Naomi stuff seems to be taking a back seat which could be why!
More and more people online seem to be coming round to the perspective that Jey Uso may not win at Mania. There's something about this build, or lack of, at the moment that might suggest they're having second thoughts.
In retrospect I can now see why they opted him to win the Rumble, as he has that popularity with the live crowd where his character could have really caught fire. But he just doesn't have that main event ability once the entrance is done to take it onto another level.
I still think he probably does win though. They will just see it through in order to have the 'Wrestlemania moment' and then revert by the time Summerslam comes around. Bit like the Damian Priest run.
Love watching Gunther though - brilliant in ring and on the mic. Just a shame there isn't really anyone else they've primed to challenge him that fits. It won't happen now, but that Gunther vs Lesnar match would have been a dream. Bron Breakker in a few months time would fit the bill well.
Gunther is fantastic. I think it was just after the Rumble Hey had an in ring segment with him, and the contrast of Gunther strapped up in a suit against Key his goofy comedy schtick back and forth with the crowd was huge.
I'm hoping they just give Jey a huge entrance at Mania and have him lose rather than succumb to the temptation of having a half hour post match yeetathon.
The thing is, if they have him lose again then they’ve killed his character. He would need to turn heel quickly, and I just don’t think they’re going to do that with the amount of merch he is selling. I think they’re just going to have to see it through but make it a quick reign.
If it’s true they’ve got John Cena appearing regularly after Mania then they can probably afford to have a Jey Uso world champion on the card in a supporting role. But it won’t be good television (entrance aside).
Over on the AEW side of things there's lots of strong opinions about Jon Moxley and a spot with a nailed bat. Got to say that personally I don't care for it at all, seems a bit too much for my liking and I say that as someone whose favourite wrestler is Mick Foley so I don't object to "hardcore" wrestling on principle.
Another very average smackdown. Feels like we are in a loop of the same matches. Chelsea Green is probably only the person to really be in credit this year, everything else is a bit same old same. After the Cena/Rhodes segment on Monday the bar was very high for Punk/Rollins & Reigns. Didn’t get anywhere near the level.
The artwork for the Mona Liva is something else.
It’s a shame that both Drew & Liv Morgan don’t have a marquee match at Mania. Both have been standout performances since Mania 40.
Over on the AEW side of things there's lots of strong opinions about Jon Moxley and a spot with a nailed bat. Got to say that personally I don't care for it at all, seems a bit too much for my liking and I say that as someone whose favourite wrestler is Mick Foley so I don't object to "hardcore" wrestling on principle.
To be honest I probably would have liked it if I cared at all about the feud, but I haven't cared about any deathriders or Copeland for a good while now (thought Revolution was a fantastic ppl up until their snooze fest in the main event). Probably worth keeping in mind that half the strong opinions you'll see online these days are from people who don't really follow the company (which ever one is being debated at the time) and so are often worth ignoring.
Another very average smackdown. Feels like we are in a loop of the same matches. Chelsea Green is probably only the person to really be in credit this year, everything else is a bit same old same. After the Cena/Rhodes segment on Monday the bar was very high for Punk/Rollins & Reigns. Didn’t get anywhere near the level.
The artwork for the Mona Liva is something else.
It’s a shame that both Drew & Liv Morgan don’t have a marquee match at Mania. Both have been standout performances since Mania 40.
Agree with all of this. Didn't help that Roman said he and Rollins had tried to kill each other and then they just stood in the ring listening to his song for minutes. The extended brawls (and post match beatdowns) are a trope that's doing a lot of heavy lifting on the TV.
I'm not a massive Liv fan and didn't think much of the title reign, but she really throws her self into whatever she has got going on. Been really impressed with her for a while now.
I take back what I said previously about the bad comedy on Smackdown though, having now witnessed Paul Heyman's suit in that main event segment.
Had a great time at both shows. Cena/Cody and Gunther/Jimmy/Jey segments were fantastic last night. Voice is struggling after having the Huddersfield game in between!
Had a great time at both shows. Cena/Cody and Gunther/Jimmy/Jey segments were fantastic last night. Voice is struggling after having the Huddersfield game in between!
Cena is clearly having the time of his life getting to play a heel for once, and I know some people find Cody a bit boring (as a character) but he did well in that segment.
Plus Gunther is (still) one of the best, he's having to carry Jey a bit but hopefully it kicks up a notch now.
Not sure whether it’s down to Charlton recent form and the excitement towards the end of the season, but not really looking forward to Mania. It’s wrestlemania, so I will stay and watch both nights, but don’t really have an interest to watch Smackdown/Raw over the next week or two.
I've only started watching since it went back to Netflix but I'm really struggling to care about Punk/Reigns/Rollins, if it was for a title fine but it's not so seems wasted
I think the issue is the length of time between the events, usually we've had WM by now and the European tour is after WM, but this year they've pushed it back a few weeks and it's made it drag a lot more, by the time the matches come around, Jey would have won the RR 3 months ago, that's a very long time to carry a single build up to a match
Not sure whether it’s down to Charlton recent form and the excitement towards the end of the season, but not really looking forward to Mania. It’s wrestlemania, so I will stay and watch both nights, but don’t really have an interest to watch Smackdown/Raw over the next week or two.
Not sure whether it’s down to Charlton recent form and the excitement towards the end of the season, but not really looking forward to Mania. It’s wrestlemania, so I will stay and watch both nights, but don’t really have an interest to watch Smackdown/Raw over the next week or two.
Feels a bit average.
Build is terrible. And the matches are worse.
I wouldn't go that far, but it's a definite step down from last year's 'mania. I'm sure the matches will be good but nothing is getting me interested in terms of storyline at the moment (i'm not a fan of Cody or Cena!) Charlotte like Sasha Banks isn't interesting anymore.
We're still have no idea why Cena joined The Rock, which could have easily been explained as losing at the Rumble and being offered a chance at the chamber without qualifying (was he also the last man out?)
The Bloodline angle, Roman’s 3 year run as champion, plus Cody’s “story” all took years of build to culminate at the same time last year.
Would be near impossible to repeat that level of build every 12 months.
A heel John Cena going for a record title at least makes it significant at main event level.
Where they’ve taken the wrong roads though are with the Royal Rumble winners…
They really need to think twice about Jey/Gunther. If we’re never to see Brock Lesnar again then they need Gunther to fill that position and solidify him as a main eventer.
The promotion was really interesting during the rumble and it seemed pretty unanimous here that we enjoyed an unexpected winner, but there were comments that it would be extremely tough to make a Gunther rematch interesting to a 'mania standard. The last 2 months including beating Jimmy up in front of Jey has done nothing to get me interested in it.
Maybe tonight we'll get an opponent for Bron, got a feeling it will be yet another 3 way with Balor and Penta. 😕 Maybe something interesting happening with Solo and Jacob?
What an absolute mess the Charlotte v Stratton feud is. They’ve really tried cranking the rivalry up with their recent segment, but it just seems that Charlotte is toxic and has proper go away heat.
Comments
Can't see the attraction with Jey yet he's clearly massively over with the fans. There are way more deserving wrestlers on the roster than him.
Really liked the main event of Raw too. Bron is one of those wrestlers that gets me to involuntarily leave my seat frequently.
I thought the hot crowds would be a much needed shot in the arm for Smackdown, but it's been garbage for a long while now and the noise didn't save it for me. Dunno who's doing most of the booking there but it feels like bad 2010's WWE, from the interrupting chain promos resulting in tag matches, the never ending uninteresting midcard feuds and bad comedy.
The women's world title is getting interesting. The Jade Naomi stuff seems to be taking a back seat which could be why!
In retrospect I can now see why they opted him to win the Rumble, as he has that popularity with the live crowd where his character could have really caught fire. But he just doesn't have that main event ability once the entrance is done to take it onto another level.
I still think he probably does win though. They will just see it through in order to have the 'Wrestlemania moment' and then revert by the time Summerslam comes around. Bit like the Damian Priest run.
Love watching Gunther though - brilliant in ring and on the mic. Just a shame there isn't really anyone else they've primed to challenge him that fits. It won't happen now, but that Gunther vs Lesnar match would have been a dream. Bron Breakker in a few months time would fit the bill well.
I'm hoping they just give Jey a huge entrance at Mania and have him lose rather than succumb to the temptation of having a half hour post match yeetathon.
If it’s true they’ve got John Cena appearing regularly after Mania then they can probably afford to have a Jey Uso world champion on the card in a supporting role. But it won’t be good television (entrance aside).
Got to say that personally I don't care for it at all, seems a bit too much for my liking and I say that as someone whose favourite wrestler is Mick Foley so I don't object to "hardcore" wrestling on principle.
The artwork for the Mona Liva is something else.
Morgan don’t have a marquee match at Mania. Both have been standout performances since Mania 40.
Agree with all of this. Didn't help that Roman said he and Rollins had tried to kill each other and then they just stood in the ring listening to his song for minutes. The extended brawls (and post match beatdowns) are a trope that's doing a lot of heavy lifting on the TV.
I'm not a massive Liv fan and didn't think much of the title reign, but she really throws her self into whatever she has got going on. Been really impressed with her for a while now.
I take back what I said previously about the bad comedy on Smackdown though, having now witnessed Paul Heyman's suit in that main event segment.
Finally the Cena stuff got going after a bit too much treading water.
Feel like the build to mania has been pretty lacklustre in general but a few of the bigger feuds are getting tasty at last.
Cena is clearly having the time of his life getting to play a heel for once, and I know some people find Cody a bit boring (as a character) but he did well in that segment.
Plus Gunther is (still) one of the best, he's having to carry Jey a bit but hopefully it kicks up a notch now.
Annoyingly Orton is available and Drew is already matched up with Temu Undertaker.
I'm not sure how in terms of kayfabe a three way match with no stakes can be the main event when you have 4 world champions.
Card is filling up nicely though.
We're still have no idea why Cena joined The Rock, which could have easily been explained as losing at the Rumble and being offered a chance at the chamber without qualifying (was he also the last man out?)
Where they’ve taken the wrong roads though are with the Royal Rumble winners…
They really need to think twice about Jey/Gunther. If we’re never to see Brock Lesnar again then they need Gunther to fill that position and solidify him as a main eventer.
Maybe tonight we'll get an opponent for Bron, got a feeling it will be yet another 3 way with Balor and Penta. 😕 Maybe something interesting happening with Solo and Jacob?