Maybe they were quiet because they listened when Gable said Shush!
Maybe they were quiet because they listened when Gable said Shush!
The whole Alpha Academy thing feels like it ran its course some time ago, probably more around the time Gable was in that mini-feud with Gunther.
You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Donald again.Originally Posted by Donald
I felt it was more a problem with face v face. Montreal is a great wrestling town, and the fans love both of these guys. Sami being the hometown champ, but a huge portion of the WWE Universe would have been delighted to see Gable in that spot at Mania against GUNTHER. Gable has great matches every time out, and we notice this. WWE seems to have missed by thinking they'd only cheer the hometown guy. Its not like there was someone we wanted to root against at that point.
I would love to see them turn this around by having Alpha Academy question Chad, who only says he will think about it. Sami call out Gable, Gable ultimately apologizes to Sami, and have Sami not accept the apology. Fans are left confused, Gable tries to atone to Sami but is rejected every time MEJU questions Sami, who tells him its not his call. Finally we get a full double turn. Sami works even better as a heel than he does as a face. Gable deserves a big win. In front of his daughter, before she's much older.
A few RAW thoughts -
Awesome Truth retained their titles, in a face v face match where the crowd was confused at first, but they got a good amount of time and the crowd was into it by the end. Ciampa not shaking hands after probably will mean something.
I enjoyed the Damien Priest / MEJU segment. Priest tapping into real life friendship/respect with Jey, when he took Jey out for drinks and Jey told him they were next. Then saying Jey was half right, Priest was next, he is now, basically that Jey hasn't done anything and is the first of many that the machine will put in front of him. Jey scored with his response that Priest is only the leader of Judgment Day because Ripley is out
GUNTHER will be a favorite for King of the Ring. Imperium/New Day was fun between guys who have tangled a lot. This might have been the most offense and grit (with a few kickouts) that Vinci ever got to show, which will be important later. The beat down has been building for months since Vinci has always been the weak link. It was well-executed, and topped off by a terrific flying dropkick to Vinci on the steel steps.
Andrade doesn't want to be anyone's servant.
Drew owns the crowd in this persona. "Say what if you french kiss your cousins." "The only relationship most of you have had is with your own right hand" Then after Sheamus interrupted and reminded them they had banger after banger after banger after banger, Drew landed his best line "Since you've been back, it looks to me like its been after burger after burger after burger"
Nakamura needs to beat someone. He loses more than Miz.
Reed is more believable as a vicious heel. He's not taking Sami's title, though.
Gable gave a tremendous promo. Delusional heel stuff, he believes it was Sami's fault for rubbing it in. Then he tears down Alpha Academy, in a weird attempt at motivation.
Ricochet backstage with DirtyDomDom was fine. Liv staring at Dom after was intriguing, as she's the reason Mami is out.
Congrats to The Man for another championship.
Big Bronson Reed used to be awful but now he's awesome.
Twitter full of idiots saying Becky never puts people over and what not. She cleanly lost to Rhea at Mania. She had to work to get into the title picture. Charlotte is the one that goes away for a while and as soon as she gets back she in the title picture either chasing or holding it until she takes a break or gets injured. Becky does other stuff away from the title at least.
I mean I think I would have preferred to see Shanya finally get a run but I can't really complain much about Becky winning.
Becky literally just took a sidequest to NXT to put over Lyra. People are dumb.
The rumor is that Becky was going to take some time off but Rhea's injury caused them to switch plans and ask her to stick around. It reminded me a little of Moxley's situation in AEW where he was going to get some time off and then Punk got hurt so he stuck around. On one hand, you have a huge roster you could've let these people take a break but then on the flip it's like....they're big names.
I actually didn't even realize she was in the match I've been about a week behind with my WWE viewership. I thought Liv would take it, get a run where she turns heel in the process and then her and Rhea throw down in the summer. Rhea wins back the belt at Summerslam.
People that WANT Liv Morgan to win, I don't think they'll take to it any differently than last time unless she's a heel.
Becky was announced late to be part of the match.
I think they could have gone Liv. They had some former champs they could have gone with.
To your point and a couple other people I have seen on tik tok and what not Becky is a big name so why not go back to her for now. Also she doing a book tour. Now she will be carrying the belt around to all of that bring more eyes to WWE potentially.
I love Becky and not upset but I wanted to see someone else.
I wanted to mention the chants about Dirty DomDom's mustache. I don't recall a mustache that got a chant like that since Cody's.
The periodic blips are back. A lot of talk about Uncle Howdy, but I am hoping it's Alexa Bliss.
As for the battle royal determining a championship, I liked the camera work with starting backstage, and following Becky through Gorilla into the arena. It was clear they were trying to put a focus on the pretty as a Princess but dumb as a box of rocks Maxxinne, who again proved she's capable of entertaining us as she eliminated Candace and Indi. Thank YEW! Additionally, Chelsea Green's not being seen in her first elimination was done well.
For several of the others, timing has to be worked on. It's becoming too much of a credibility strain to see them waiting outside the ring on the apron, before someone eventually knocks them off to the floor. They look foolish for not rolling back into the ring immediately.
“…burgers and burgers and burgers…” - Drew McIntyre
Dude is killing it.
Hopefully being the final two contestants means a feud between Becky and Liv; working with The Man would do wonders for Morgan as a singles wrestler.
Last edited by Tyson; April 23rd, 2024 at 7:50 PM.
Liv is... not good.
I don't think that clip did what you hoped it would do. Liv isn't good because she had a mediocre match with Nia Jax. Maybe you thought that was AJ Styles in there with Liv idk man.
I will say this....Liv Morgan is on the wrong side of the fence. Needs to be a heel.
She's better than me. I'd probably fuck things up the second I walked out the curtain.
Neither are you.
I missed whatever Liv or Nia did poorly in that match, but I'm glad the clip was posted. I like Liv Morgan.
I guess people who take pictures and make video packages of backyard wrestling have a lot of weird takes.
Same.
You're being too hard on yourself. I think you could have a great career. If Eddie Kingston can get over, literally anyone can.
I feel like Liz has lost a little momentum, and full heel turn is the right way to take this.
So glad to see Braun return. Let's do a Braun vs. Bron feud please, with Braun dominating.
Ilja Dragunov german-suplex'd Ricochet onto his face and then he made a funny face.
When he won, he made a funny face, too.
I think even after the win, he made a third funny face, as well.
Can we confirm this, or do I need to rewind and make sure this was how it happened?
Yo should walk up to lija and talk about his funny faces.
Come back and report to us
He scares the shit out of me, tbh.
Awesome pre-match Ilja video tonight.
When he's in hell, he's home. Makes me want to go to hell myself.
I mean what do you think he's going to? Kick this guy's ass for asking why he makes the faces he does? Show me all these beatings wrestlers give especially nowadays. Just because they win fights on tv doesn't mean they can really beat ass.
As much as I like Jey Uso, that spear has got to go. Worst in the business. Looks like a running hug. Zero impact.
I'm all for Liv taking the title from Becky and Liv/Rhea at SummerSlam, assuming Rhea is ready.
That said, that Cole/Becky segment was bad. Kofi/Rey being on a live show makes very little sense to me.
I don't get why two babyfaces are going at it in KOTR so early.
Well, you can't really show the beatings if the person being beat just disappears now can you
I liked the Judgment Day segment. Priest is really stepping up. Balor looks like a chump, though. Keeping an eye on the Liv/Dom story line progression.
Becky did a ton last year to help elevate Lyra, and more is coming.
Kofi overlooking Dragunov in his promo, talking about GUNTHER, convinces me more that GUNTHER is winning KOTR. Ilja vs Ricochet is something I would look forward to again and again. Looking at the pics of Sheamus's hamburger chest post GUNTHER v3.0 made me want him in the Hall of Fame immediately.
I enjoyed R Truth with our local 2x champ basketball coach Dan Hurley. Miz doing a great job playing the exasperated partner.
I wanted the answer to why Bron Breakker was not in the KOTR tourney.
Sami interrupting Chad Gable v. BigBronsonReed made me wonder why Shinsuke has disappered.
I like that the KOTR/QOTR matches all got a good amount of time. I am okay with them tinkering with the formats and not making them 2 min matches, so putting Rey/Kofi on a live event means the live events actually may start to matter some. I'd be happier if the QOTR was on a different PLE than the KOTR.
These tournament matches were great.
The Goldberg push of Bron is getting a little tiresome. Yes he’s big, he can do a spear. You tease him an alliance with Heyman then DRAFT HIM TO THE OTHER SHOW?
For all the greatness that is being put on, they are really dropping the ball on Bron.
Give him a meaningful feud at least!
Guessing that Shinsuke Nakamura will be fed to Bron soon.
Nah, think that’s too much too soon.
Shinsuke is another interesting case in that he is being fed to the big stars considering it’s him and just underwent a character transformation then feuding with .
I guess it’s better than what he was. Maybe it’s just a case the roster is so stacked?
You know what I’d looove to see. Something like Bron vs Ivar. THAT would be a great step-up to book Bron and not at the expense of someone like Shinsuke.
Ivar would be a good call for Bron. For a huge man, he moves really well. I am not sure if they'dwant to give Ivar a cheap win by say Valhalla interference, or if they want to keep Bron as strong as possible.
I think we'll get Strowman v Ivar first, though.
Bron shouldn't lose until like Summerslam 2025.
They missed an opportunity to have him squish Gable Stevenson on his way out.
Sounds like a complete waste of time for everyone involved. Does nothing for anyone. Wow, he squashed a legit Olympic wrestler in a fake fight. Because......?
The roster really is stacked. Lots of guys who can be main event quality.
I know it’s nuts.
Need to catch up with this in a hurry! Not even watched any NXT but…I think I’ll have more time now to catch up.
WWE is so stacked that a guy who was barely shit in NXT and got fired 2 weeks after debuting on the main roster is now the World champ of the #2 promotion.
Who does everybody see winning the tournaments then, and what does it lead to? Obviously Gunther gets to the semi over the Rey/Kofi winner, and Sky vs. Valkyria should be the Raw final, other than that I think it's pretty hard to call. Ilja vs. Uso to me is tough to call because neither should be losing, but I think Jey advances. He shouldn't be losing clean on this wave of momentum and a dirty win would do nothing for Ilja. Smackdown is tough, though I'm guessing Knight advances by DQ and either Orton beats Hayes or the Bloodline costs him. Gunther vs. Knight most likely the final. I don't want Gunther losing all the time but feel Knight needs that big win at this point if they want him at that level.
Queens tournament, who knows? I think it should be Tiffany, but her beating Bianca and Jade on the way to the final doesn't seem realistic. Unless they have Nia and Bianca draw and she gets a bye after beating Bianca. With booking actually going places nowadays, each win seems a bigger deal.
Last edited by Fanny Batter; May 12th, 2024 at 2:51 PM.
Lot of people being pulled from this. Now Vega has been pulled. Not sure if these injuries are legit or if they are pulling people to protect people.
Can't really see why they would need to protect Vega. Other than that tournament she hasn't really lit the world on fire in the ring.
Seriously these tournaments went from nothing but top talent and/or former champions of some kind to random 1995 KOTR qualifier type matches. It'll clean itself up but holy shit.
I do wonder if Drew was going to win it to set up Clash in the Castle, other than that I'm not sure any of the replaced people would have advanced anyway. Seems other than Jey over Drew and Kofi over Woods they're probably where they intended to be. They probably would've had Gunther's out be Drew winding Punk up to cause the DQ in the semi final, whereas now I can't see him losing. To be fair they've got the opportunity to 'make' the World title in the next few months - Drew's homecoming title win, Drew vs. Punk at Summerslam and Gunther challenging in Berlin should be competing with whatever Cody's doing as the top title match on those events.
I think this is honestly the best path. Let Priest hold the title until Clash where he drops it to Drew. Drew goes over Punk then loses it to Gunther? I wonder if they'll ever bring up the fact Drew fucking squashed "Gunther" at Survivor Series a few years back?
Clash in a month, cannot wait! Got tickets to the SD/Clash Combo deal. Saving a ton of money staying at a friend’s house. Although it is in a scummy area apparently as well..living in Glasgow is expensive so have to wait til closer to the event before she gives me address! 😂😂 Crappy couch > expensive hotel.
The shows are for the most part anyway being booked rather well. It’s like a parallel universe!
Where's @BGMaverick disappeared to? Miss his contributions...
Priest told Drew he'll get a title shot when he's cleared. Sets us Clash at the Castle.
yo Sky brought out the best in Shayna Baszler. Since this was a match between 2 heels, the crowd wasn't sure at first who to root for but they delivered, and towards the end they got a deserved "This is Awesome" chant. I was happy Iyo got a chance to remind us she's one of the best in the ring, especially after she lost her title at Mania.
Priest still doesn't want Carlito hanging with Judgment Day. Carlito has nothing to do, so let's repeat the long story about how it took forever for JD McDonagh to be accepted to the group. The difference is, of course, that the JD story had the tremendously entertaining aspect of R-Truth. Priest really made Carlito look small in that backstage segment.
Raw tag champs have a night off, but Truth continues to deliver great stuff. "Ajudiwhat? In the workplace? I'm not even sure that's PG"
Kofi and GUNTHER lived up to high expectations. I loved how Kofi countered the backbreaker nearly into a pin. When GUNTHER was almost counted out, it looked like they gave him credit for getting back into the ring when he was only on the apron when it should have been 10.
Lyra/Liv/Becky backstage segment was executed really really well. Liv's acting chops have improved tremendously since she started. Becky is The Man. Great crowd reaction as well.
Karrion Kross telling Kofi there's always time to turn things around reminded us that Kross has been a complete main roster disaster.
Cole on commentary has done a lot, but he deserves credit for explaining that Gable's new character is the "Little League Dad Coach".
Ludwig Kaiser delivers a solid promo about Sheamus.
When Otis finally turns on Gable, the pop will be intense. Part of me hopes they don't do it too soon.
Judgment Day getting a tag title shot, thanks to Carlito, was very predictable, even moreso given that the Creed Brothers and New Catch Republic are faces, so they aren't likely to battle the face champs. The AOP has no storyline and they had earlier talked about Carlito, so while predictable, it makes sense.
Ilja not beating Jey was a mild surprise, but given how over Jey's entrance has gotten, they need to keep him hot. I am looking forward to GUNTHER vs Ilja at some point, but they can save that.
It might work if they decide to have Jimmy come back to help Jey beat GUNTHER, since they made a point of reminding us that Jimmy cost Jey the last time. GUNTHER should still be considered the favorite, though.
If I'm booking Raw I'm doing two things within the next month. I'm putting the IC title on Kross and putting the tag gold on AOP. I would have this all go down at Clash at the Castle. I'd put Kross and Zayn in MITB with Sami winning and then Kross v. Zayn or maybe Final Testament v. Sami/*Insert team* at Summerslam for the blowoff with the heels going over.
IC title on Kross? Not sure I’d go that far. Baby steps.
Yuck.
Personal opinion aside, that group could really use some credibility...
I think Nash is a big Kross but aye. Let’s give the title to Kross that Zayn beat GUNTHER for.
Nuff said.
Karrion Kross would eat you for breakfast.
Pfft. Merely an appetiser for Man Mountain Badger.
Well sliiight weight difference but still 6 ft 2 200lbs lol.
He's there he just needs that final piece of credibility he's been missing (see below)
They're a group that even before they formed something would magically happen and derail momentum. AOP it was injuries, then getting released, then for some odd reason sitting around for like 10 months without any of us knowing they were back lol.
This wouldn't be so much the belts make the men, moreso if they're going to be positioned in the upper midcard/main event moving forward, give them some gold. Physically they're already credible, these are 3 legit men who could and have beat ass.
That's probably the dumbest take though. Zayn beat Gunther...and? That's why you give it to Kross. He beats a super credible babyface. Zayn gets the briefcase hopefully putting him back in the World title mix where he belongs and you now have a credible heel carrying the IC title division. Chad Gable is probably the only other guy I would have beat Zayn.
I think Nash is a big Kross but aye. Let’s give the title to Kross that Zayn beat GUNTHER for.
Nuff said.
@Nash Diesel…I know your stubborn but bloody hell dumbest take?? Re-read. Kross beats the man that beat GUNTHER and been struggling for ages?
Kross has potential yes. Final Testament got a chance? Absolutely. Is he anywhere NEAR IC TITLE level…no. The man struggled for ages and is only just getting over!
Thiiink man. Honestly don’t know what your hard-on for Kross is.
Gunther would have beaten Zayn if Zayn's wife wasn't in the crowd to distract Gunther.
Kross has been nothing but a disappointment on the main roster. Even putting him in a title scene would feel terribly undeserved and forced.
I'd much rather them give Ivar, Shinsuke, or Big Bronson Reed the IC belt than even hint at putting it on Kross.
I'm not actually opposed to the idea, much as I don't care for Kross but I do think he'll need a couple of minor feuds where he can come out ahead and get some momentum to even seem like a threat because so far, his main roster run, even just this second stint, just feels like a guy that's a lot of "oooh scary apocalypse man!1" talk but is otherwise a jobber. He's Jinder with Indus Sher at this point.
Jinder with Indus Sher?You must spread reputation before giving it to mth again.
Very fair points mthski, but umm yeah Nash proposing he beat Zayn. Nuff said.
I think our young Nash just got a wee bit keen is all. No guarantee that Kross will reach that level of course.
Kross beating Zayn would get me interested in WWE again.
It would get me interested…moreso AEW.
*Basil Brush boom boom*
@Donald STREAM BASIL BRUSH if you wanna be a UKphile again. You especially will fucking looove it!
PS Colour not color lol
@BGMaverick if you are reading sire!
“Maverick's nightmare
Cody Rhodes and Logan Paul sign the contract for their Champion vs.
Champion Match at King & Queen of the Ring, tonight at 8/7 C on FOX!”
Tried to screenshot WWE.com notification but ya get the point!
Kross has had potential since before he entered NXT, and he's been a snorefest from day 1. The fans don't and won't care about him, no matter what he does. I like him, but he's a complete waste of time.
Make sure to take that back.
I liked him in Impact what few times I saw him, and I liked him in NXT but feel like he should've stayed there a little longer. The ping-ponging the on-screen presence from Kross to demotlion's 4th man lookalike to being without Scarlett, to now being teamed with AOP and others... I feel like the timing of trying to push the Profits & Lashley like a more heelish group and the debut of this group was just a missed opportunity. I like Kross, it just seems he either gets miscast or hurt too often and it neuters any push.
This is a good point actually. Perhaps seperating the groups debuts might have helped a bit.
Kross has had a lot of shit like that gimpy outfit. He’s slowly improving but still nowhere ready to take the IC title from the likes of Zayn. Run it as it for now and see what happens.
At this point the fans don't care and I don't think they ever will when it comes to Kross.
Really good episode with matches.
Particularly GUNTHER vs Jey! Awesome match with some nice false finishes at the end. Very old schoolish feel with the Bret/Piper sleeper false finish. MOTN.
Verrry surprise Valkyrie went over IYO. Very good match again.
Otis is getting ooover again. The day he snaps, the pop should be pretty good.
@Donald Braun Strowman showed up. Nuff said lol.
You know your company sucks when Braun Strowman is the only interesting thing going on.
What's up with Braun Hardy??
Wholly disagree.
R-Truth is at the top of his game. "Passed away what?"
Bron Breaker's rabid destruction is getting interesting.
The slow build for Otis' eventual turn on Chad Gable is really heating up.
Lyra Valkryie may be something special. Did anyone catch what Iyo said to her after the match?
Damien Priest is finally taking more of a leadership role.
Even Big Bronson Reed gave his best promo right in Sami's face. He needs to keep it short and sweet on the mic.
My favorite thing of the night, though, is that Sonya DeVille is BACK!
I was shocked to hear Cole tell us it's been 14 months since Chad Gable wrestled on a PLE. Guy is really talented in the ring and becoming as good on the mic. This "little league dad coach" character is working for him.
Man, I forgot about Big Bronson Reed. They really ought to have a trio team of Braun, Bron, and Bronson. That would make me happy.
WWE taking another page from ROH and AEW where they had like 8 guys named Jay and 14 named Adam sprinkled with the 5 or 6 with the last name Cage.
At least they don't have more than one guy named Chad.
Well it seems clear that on Smackdown, Randy Orton will defeat Tonga, and Nia will go over Belair so we avoid face v face and heel v heel in the final at KOTR. I have no problem with either of those heels winning. Nia Jax has been so much better in this run than all of her prior runs combined.
I forgot to mention above that I was disappointed in Ilja Dragunov's interview where he talked about GUNTHER. I was wishing he called him WALTER. If we get Randy v GUNTHER in KOTR finals, consider me delighted.
IYO and Valkyria was worth watching again. Lyra has to stop losing those hair ribbons, though, and I think she oversells in the early part of her matches a bit much.
The 4-way for the women's tag title #1 contender's match was meh. Stark and Baszler do nothing special neither in the ring, nor on the mic. Felt like they only got the nod because they were that heels that Bianca and Jade have not faced, while the other version of Damage CTRL lost the belts to them.
Why would Dragunov call him Walter when he's been Gunther for what, 2 years now? lol
I kind of dig the Stark/Baszler pairing. The finisher was tight. I appreciate WWE's efforts in making us think they're going to do something of worth wtih the women's tag titles but I've accepted the reality that it'll never be as important as the men's. No company has ever produced a quality women's tag division it's always going to be, for the most part, two singles wrestlers paired up and within 6-12 months you'll forget they were even a team.
Gunther vs. Orton should be a great match, and a huge scalp for Gunther if he wins. I kind of like the idea of having him declare for the Bash in Berlin title shot early, and let the summer play out. Though I guess they could do the Zayn vs. Gunther rematch in Toronto at MITB before that, but I like Gunther going in on a tear. That would be HEATED though, and probably be able to main event.
Pretty certain Nia wins to set up a quick feud with Bayley. She's been doing good work since her return and Bayley needs a strong heel act to keep her busy while they build Tiffany up.
The roster still feels very fresh, as out of what you'd say are Raw's top 12 players (McIntyre, Rollins, Punk, Gunther, Priest, Zayn, Jey Uso, Balor, Ilja, Rey, Braun, Bron), only a few of those pairings have feuded extensively. Smackdown is similar. It's like the last couple of years of injuries have helped out tremendously.
Ilja didn't wrestle GUNTHER. Ilja had battles with, and finally defeated WALTER.
That's fair. There have definitely been stretches of years where the men's have meant very little. It's going to take a while for the Women's. They're still not at the point where they have tag teams that are more than a pairing of individual stars for a time.
It's starting to change, but it's going to take time.
Time is a human construct. It doesn't really exist.
The men’s tag division absolutely can get better with time. The women’s…ehhh not so certain. I think they’re still spread too thin for it to be given proper attention especially with everything else being booked. Bayley/Sasha during Covid was good but now…not sure.
We’ll see though.
And the thing is with Sasha and Bayley is that the tag titles and even the women's titles were just part of a bigger story-the eventual feud between them. There's also the reality that there's just more men out there in this business than women. I think right now WWE probably has the most women of any company on their roster. If they can find the right combinations they could make it work.
I think WWE is coming for AEW's tournament crown.
Time is never time at all
That's possibly very true.
On thing I go back to is.....name your favorite tag teams as you became a wrestling fan. The 80s and 90s you had a lot who were tag teams before they were singles stars, that people look back on very fondly. Less so a random 3 month HBK/Cena pairing. I would say only now is the women's division actually having teams that feel like teams. Carter and Chance, The Unholy Union. And they aren't really top teams yet. I think you have to get some truly memorable actual teams before you know what the limit is.
If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that I'd like to do
Is to save every day
'Til eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you
You can never ever leave.
While the points you make are very fair (for me Rockets, HF and LOD)…it depends really how much TV time they are given as teams to shine in the first place. With such a stacked roster too. So while you are technically correct in that there’s no limit…it could still be limited.
There are more women right enough though so I guess we’ll see.
Actuallyyy…
Speaking of women’s tag teams…where the fuck are the sexy Scottish spooky witches. The tag division is forever cursed until they come back!
I wish more people quoted Jim Croce on this forum.
I guess, Like the fool I am, and I'll always be, I've got a dream
Thank you to USA for cutting away from the big storyline twist at the end of last night's RAW so we could watch another shitty competition travel reality gameshow.
One of their mothers passed away recently so maybe bereavement time.
Ohhh.
Understandable xx
Hope we see more Dijak on TV!
I don't see how Stroman vs. McDonut went almost 10 minutes, should have been a squash. That was a cool ending though with Braun getting the pin.
They were on last night.
I don't remember seeing them but I also wasn't paying close attention I just had it playing in the background.
Backstage segment with Shayna and Zoey.
Ahhh ok I do not remember seeing that
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