Hmm wondered if they managed a temporary permit if this is the case. Was looking up the laws out of curiosity and did see something about a 24 hour permit.Originally Posted by virms
Hmm wondered if they managed a temporary permit if this is the case. Was looking up the laws out of curiosity and did see something about a 24 hour permit.
The Wyatt challenge to the winner of Lashley/Lesnar feels like a red herring. Everything that's assumed for Mania is laid out rather well and this is something that is being done in that ilk but it doesn't really make a lot of sense. With that, it just feels like they're suggesting something just to present the swerve of it ultimately going to Wyatt and Howdy.
The tag matches were either really good (men's tag) or exceeded expectations (women's tag). They've really got to establish the women's tag division because you've got a legit combo right there in Ronda and Shayna ready to go.
Think we're seeing the hints of a turn for Moss. Crowd was quick to ditch him, he's basically taking Sonya's gimmick of saying he's a star and Emma can be an influential person in his head. He wasn't going anywhere as a face so might as well just try to tweak things a little bit.
Zayn almost jobbed to the turnbuckle but the segment was really, really good.
Owens and El Generico Vs The Usos at Mania night 1, Sami Vs Cody Vs Reigns in the main event night 2.. book it Trips.
There's no need to swerve from that path. Sami winning would be an incredible moment, but to me it's not the culmination of the story. It's always been about the Owens/Zayn relationship and Sami with the Uso's. The 2 big moments, War Games and the Rumble, revolve around those parts. The Usos deserve that huge match too. They've put in incredible work.
The Wyatt bit was deflating as I don't want him in there with a big star, and surely Brock no sells all the spooky stuff. We'll see. Crowd sees him as a star at least. It's a luxury though. With the 2 main events, Mysterio vs. Mysterio, the Gunther match, the 2 women's title matches, the Cena match and Logan vs. Seth, whatever Brock was doing was kind of going to be filler anyway. Mad. Or... Bobby wins by interference, and they introduce the other teased Wyatt 6 folks to counteract the Hurt Business, and Brock has the near annual 'not on the card so demands match' mystery spot against Randy Orton, Jay White or whoever else would fit in that surprise mold. Think I like that actually.
I would have Sami win tonight then drop it back to Roman on a Smackdown in a couple of weeks. Not every title reign needs to last for months/years. That way we get an incredible, feel-good moment in front of a hot crowd that would be talked about for years. One of the greatest WWE moments ever in one of their greatest long-term storylines ever.
Roman vs Cody 1-on-1 can happen at Mania with Cody going over (and bringing back the winged eagle). Cody's motivation is all about fulfilling his family's dream, he doesn't need to be the one to end Roman's 900-odd day run. Sami can do that and still cap off the story with KO and the Usos at Mania.
Sami wins tonight with an assist from KO, Roman wins it back on Smackdown with lots of shenanigans (setting up the Uso tag at Mania), Cody wins at Mania clean.
haven't really kept up at all with the zayn/bloodline story, but i watched an hour long summary of it last night and then watched sami's entrance from last night. i really think he should win. this level of over just doesn't come around too often and sami winning in montreal will be an all-time classic moment people never forget, and i think you take it when those are handed to you. roman can win the title back on TV to defend against cody.
but yeah, the bloodline story really did look very good.
Knight/Kingston overstayed its welcome but it was alright. Knight has a great command of the crowd. If he get some sustained moment after Mania, he should take off.
This version of Dom Mysterio is corny as hell but he sells it very well. It does seem like he tries to channel a lot of Eddie Guerrero's expressions and mannerisms when he gets into the swing of a promo. I do think its smart to use him as a catalyst in the initial part of this story because we've got the key characters probably misaligned. Imagine more want to cheer Rhea and boo Charlotte but Dom will help stabilize things in the interim. As for the feuding family, still think it's more likely they extend the one-on-one story between the Mysterios and we get a tag match at Mania.
What a fever dream of a segment the Firefly Funhouse was. Sheesh.
I'm probably making too much of it but it felt like there were a lot of potentially small productional mishaps with the closing segment. There was the pan shot of both guys in the ring noticing Jey arrived. They basically did the same thing to transition the segment and the cameraman did his whistle to cue the action. Seems like they shouldn't have done the first look or Jey should've been walking to the ring to make them stop what they were doing and look at him. Then they missed the shot of the Helluva Kick but got it on replay. It was also interesting that Zayn said the Bloodline is not about Roman Reigns but the Bloodline is about one man. There's so much complexity and conflict within the story that you really can go a lot of different ways with it. You easily can see KO/Zayn vs. the Usos but you've got every single person mad at the other and that presents drama within the match. There's a real out there approach you could do with Solo fighting alongside Jimmy against KO/Zayn, with Jey ringside essentially being the wildcard and seeing what he does during the match. Reigns is certainly going to prove to be an accelerant next week and push things forward.
I'm interested to see what they're planning for the tag division. If setting up Gunter with Drew & Sheamus at Mania, the other interactions seem to be pointing to Braun + Ricochet, Imperium (Vinci and Kaiser), the Viking Raiders, etc.. But that could just be a Smackdown tag match, playa.
Nah don’t think you’re making a big deal and are absolutely right about the camera work. They do tend to get a bit over the top with the camera cuts and kinda used to it myself but it was especially glaring here.
I mean it's live TV. I get the whole shaking thing as it's done on purpose but stuff like this they aren't always going to be perfect. I think I'd place more of the blame on Jimmy and zayn as they reacted and then the camera shots reacted. Spur of the moment call.
That part may have been fault on both sides but really they should’ve got the Helluva kick.
As much as I wanted Braun/Moss/Ricochet to win, I thought it would be pretty ridiculous to have three jobbers beat Imperium.
The camera cuts suck. I'm not too negative about them barely catching a spot or missing one as it's extremely rare. This isn't ECW or AEW where off camera someone does a 450 off a ladder into the flaming tables for only half the live crowd to see. But that cut to camera 3, 4, 7,3,4,11,4 shit within a 30 second period is ridiculous. That's why they probably missed it.
They have those moments. Like when Lesnar returned. They panned to the crowd for some reason rather than focus on Cena's handshake to Lesnar
Oh! It's ok for you to point it out, but when I do it's ohhh look at the experrrrt over here! The nerve!
jk I hate it too.
- Crowd was hot for the opening segment. They were very into the idea of seeing Reigns and Rhodes. Seems like Reigns got the upper hand, mostly, in the verbal jousting but Rhodes is just that much more motivated to answer another seemingly impossible challenge.
- More convinced they're prolonging the Mysterios match for Summerslam and we get a tag match at Mania.
- Quite weird there was a women's match that featured entrance music for the seconds lol.
- Getting tougher by the week to buy what they're selling with Bray Wyatt.
- The automatic path to earning an IC championship opportunity is winning a multi-man match lol. McIntyre is the lead option, but still would like to see Sheamus in that mix, too.
- Main event didn't get enough time to go, which is a shame, but they told a good story there. The usual beatdown utilized by the Bloodline couldn't be sustained, and they looked silly by the end of it. Nice transition into Jimmy as the one under the spotlight and seeing how he reacts when the pressure is on him to deliver. The Bloodline has had the numbers on their side and now they're getting attacked from different angles. They're getting theirs but those rivals are getting some of their own as well. I imagine we get some more KO action on Monday but it could be coming to a head next Friday.
Here’s a question. When should Solo take his first clean loss on TV and who against? If (big if) he has to defend the tag titles at Mania with Jimmy if Jey is still on the fence, should he be the fall guy or if Jey does should he get his own singles match at Mania or later.
Got a funny feeling they may just have Cody hand him his first loss on the road to Mania and Jey/Jimmy defend the titles but it’d be more interesting personally if they held off on Solo and Roman loses at Mania before him.
Should give his first loss to Sami down the road personally.
Last edited by Badger; March 4th, 2023 at 8:07 PM.
Not imminently. Having him as an undefeated champion defending against a turned Reigns on a redemption arc isn't the worst idea for Wrestlemania 40.
I'd love to see the Usos turn against Reigns, destroy him and carry him away to end a show if that ever happens. Have Reigns return 3-4 months later to take them down, like Sammi is attempting to do but more effectively. Whoever assumes the leadership role of the group, have someone picked off each week leading up to Reigns returning.
I’d love to see Solo take over if Reigns fails at Mania then we get Reigns vs Solo.
It’s like the Wire and their chess references. Slim Charles (Solo in this case) is the silent pawn that actually makes it to the other side of the chessboard and be successful. Reigns is Stringer Bell, trying to spread himself about and Sami and Kevin Owens are Brother Mouzone and Omar taking out a common enemy. Paul Heyman is Levy which actually works well with them being Jewish.
The Bloodline is the Wire now that I think about it. It’s genius.
That Reigns/Rhodes promo was absolutely amazing.
It really was.
- Pretty good opener and each guy got their moments to shine. I really can see LA Knight being a project after Mania. He's building momentum with the crowd. The finish was wonky unless they actually make good on a proper finish next week and don't just push it again to another scenario where the triple threat is the only answer. That also wouldn't make sense from GUNTHER's perspective if he does the heelish thing and doesn't allow there to be a winner next week. If they actually decide on one person to be the opponent, it feels like McIntyre.
- LDF really got a great spotlight moment against JD and I thought they looked great. There's upside there if Wilde and Del Toro get time to work in the division. Good promo time after the match. Still see the money in tag match at Mania and then the blowoff at Summerslam.
- I'm not enthralled with how the build is going between Charlotte and Rhea, but they're actually trying as opposed to on Raw.
- The major takeaway from Jey's promo was that he doesn't like the situation he's in, and that leaves a sliver of an idea that he's got his motivation to turn later down the road. If Zayn had an RKO-like finisher, the angle they had for his slide into the ring would have been sick. Grief creative received from Elimination Chamber notwithstanding, Zayn hasn't lost a ton of momentum and Rhodes is still rolling. You need one more critical angle to occur to get KO to buy in and then you'll have another massive pop when he pairs up with Zayn. You could try to squeeze in a six-man of Rhodes/Zayn/KO versus The Usos/Sikoa before Mania, as well. Either way, they've pacing this well.
Roman vs. Cody is the first time in forever that a one on one match that closes Wrestlemania feels like a rightful coronation of a main event star. They were on the right track pre-COVID with Drew so asterisk there, but before that? Batista at 21? Hasn't been this dynamic for a very long time. They're dropping the ball a bit with the women, Charlotte is beyond tired at this point, but other than that there's a tonne of momentum going into 'Mania. We need that Usos vs. Owens/Zayn signed up sharpish though - that's the rightful main event of night 1 and they know it.
Weird lack of spooky Bray bollocks this week - feels like next week is a critical one for the 'Mania build as you kind of need to get that over the line, the tag titles, the IC Title, Edge/Balor and the Mysterio stuff too. Guessing they're gonna do a tag turmoil next week with Owens/Zayn coming out, beating the Raiders (surely a reason why they were heated up?) and setting it up that way.
Rey Mysterio to the Hall-of-Fame was inevitable and well-earned, it just seems premature given that he’s still active…
Last edited by Tyson; March 11th, 2023 at 2:45 PM.
Still hopeful it leads to a Hair vs. Mask match. Hair vs. Career would be stupidly obvious of the outcome, especially if Rey wins then decides to retire. You'd want the heat on Dom to brag that he retired a hall of famer.
I expect Rhea to win and JD heads to Smackdown after that. So what do you do with Rey/Dominik if that happens?
Have to give WWE credit, the Mania card has developed nicely over a short period rather than all things being obvious six months out.
- Not for nothing, they should look to run Zelina/Rhea after Mania. There's juice there.
- FINALLY some heat between Charlotte and Rhea. That feud desperately needed it and the brawl was well done. I don't think it's got the momentum to main event night one, but it finally moved in the right direction.
- Much like what happened in NXT, LA Knight will be a babyface in due time on the main roster. Nice subtle callback by Barrett to an NWA promo.
- Great match between Sheamus and McIntyre but as sadly expected, GUNTHER's actions didn't match his logic. The triple threat should be a banger.
- Rhodes, once again, trying to do what he can to get Zayn and Owens on the same page. He tricked Owens to get everyone in the same space at the same time and it wasn't working but we finally got Owens to reveal the little hint of need on his side. He's been deflecting and defiant all through Zayn's attempts at reconciliation but at the end of the opening segment, he made himself vulnerable to suggest he was hurt and wanted his friend. He did it a few weeks back but it was spiteful when he threw a verbal jab at Zayn by passive aggressively saying that Zayn should get his "buddy" Jey to help take down the Bloodline. Good line by Zayn saying, "we can be the ones that bring down the ones." Back to the emotions, the brief glimpse of openness allowed Zayn to make his plea and he, himself, opened up to KO. Took a while and a drive through downtown Kansas City, lol, but KO gave in at the end. You saw a vengeful Owens return at the end but you saw one who was gassed up. He's been fighting alone and hasn't had momentum. Now, he was fighting and had belief he was fighting for something and for someone. With that, the Usos didn't stand a chance. I loved that Zayn bared his soul to KO before KO left earlier, to see KO rushing towards him and Zayn wasn't sure what was going to happen. Zayn flinched and braced for an attack but instead got a hug. We got the payoff that many wanted in Montreal but they told a story that helped get us more anticipation. The pop matched the moment, which you love to see. Rhodes watched from the back, smiling and working as the audience avatar. Then you saw the adrenaline rushing through KO and Zayn, and then relief wash over Zayn, as he was happy to have his friend back. On top of that, we got another chip on Jey's shoulder when Zayn said that Jey was really mad at everything because Zayn was the one to get the jump on Reigns first. More seeds for Jey to eventually blow up on Reigns. Fantastic progression for a strong story with so many nuances to it.
Last edited by BGMaverick; March 17th, 2023 at 10:50 PM.
Coming to post similar thoughts, as there were several highly anticipated moments of storyline progression. I am more convinced that Dom will attend the HOF ceremony and Rey will agree then and there. I expect they want to get a few more eyes on the HOF ceremony live, but they will at least get a few more folks watch it on replay. If Rey doesn't take Dom over his knee and spank him at Mania, then I am sure I won't be the only one disappointed. I thought we might get Rey announcing he's going to retire after the HOF.
Drew and Sheamus have tied up plenty of times before, and their chemistry is magic. I liked the tease of the double knock-out because while we were all expecting the 3-way dance, we just wondered how they'd execute it. I honestly wished they didn't have Imperium attack both guys because it makes GUNTHER look foolish. But I am really looking forward to their 3-way bout, and I like how they've got the universe anticipating / fully expecting Sheamus to be significantly more of a crowd favorite than Drew. I doubt he pins Gunther, because leaving Gunther strong leads to better possibilities afterward.
I loved everything about Cody's opening segment, and Kevin's response walking out at first. The promo Jey cut was solid, and Sami's reinforcing the chip on Jey's shoulder about having to sit and take so much of Roman's crap makes me hopeful. When Jey tied up with Roman early on in this great Roman Reign, we took notice as to how good Jey can be. Part of me now wonders if Jey will somehow cost Roman the title - I don't think Roman needs to lose clean for Cody's win at Mania to be magic - its more that I think the WWE cannot resist setting up more infighting.
Was there live tonight. Honestly, really enjoyed it. Matches were solid. Promos were good. And some fun segments were fun.
Well done
Great episode. Best built Wrestlemania in forever. Majority of the matches have had that cornerstone, epic moment/promo in the build. More importantly, momentum! It feels like the stars are aligning at the right time. They didn't rush through the Owens/Zayn reunion so now they've just got the big challenge and match announcement to go and the feud's at its peak going into the match. Rhea and Charlotte, if they can keep the juice of that brawl going into next week, that's peaking. The next big Cody/Roman promo battle is going to be gigantic. The inevitable McIntyre/Sheamus vs. Imperium tag with the tension building between the 2 is bound to be a banger. Theory/Cena and Logan/Rollins have another big go in them. A couple of heaters for Omos and something to stoke up the dull Belair/Asuka programme and we're set.
This Bloodline story has been fucking crazy. The pops for Sami's chairshot, Montreal in general, the Jey turn and now the reunion have been all timers. Now we have the longest reigning tag team champions of all time against 2 of the top 5 babyfaces in the company with all that history as teammates and rivals. I think all of this has been the exact plan since at least Survivor Series, and the pops are proof in the pudding. From Owens returning, this has been it. For a tag title feud! Even if it doesn't main event night 1, and it absolutely should, it's the biggest tag team title match of all time.
There’s still the pops for the title changes to come and then for when Jey finally breaks free.
Very true. I wonder if the Anoa'i family members that are in MLW are under long term contracts, because it could get even bigger. An eventual, say, Jimmy/Jey/Solo vs. Roman/Lance/Jacob match, could be absolutely monstrous.
#LetPaulCook
It feels like there are a couple Rajah slapnuts who really need to eat some crow about how “TrIpS wOn’T bE a BeTtEr BoOkEr ThAn ViNcE!!!”…
He's still got very notable blind spots where the booking hasn't gotten any better, but this specific story has been going quite well. I imagine (and it's pretty obvious there should be) multiple cooks are in the kitchen for this story though.
Any word on who the 4 teams in the 4-way tag match will be? We have to figure the Street Profits, Ricochet/Strowman, New Day, and probably the Viking Raiders. It leaves Alpha Academy off, which is a shame because they've been entertaining every week, and they do get a lot of TV time. The Brawling Brutes and Imperium probably both appear during the IC triple threat match so they likely won't be in an actual match. Gargano and Lumis probably appear in a backstage segment with the host Miz. The Good Brothers probably won't make the card. But can you imagine the pop if they surprise us and one of the teams is Riddle/Randy?
I expect Solo Sikoa to interfere with the Uso's tag match, or maybe Roman's match to get him on the card. I could see him and Heyman getting caught attempting to hand an international object to Roman, with both getting banned from ringside. It would pop the audience, and maybe give Roman/Cody a 30 second breather.
I don't know what Priest will do, if anything, but probably just a backstage pep talk to either the Demon or to Dominik.
No idea, if anything, what LA Knight or Karrion Kross might do, if anything. They deserve a spot more than say Elias/Boogz or Ziggler/Mustafa Ali, but I wouldn't be upset if they miss the card.
2/3 of New Day are injured so I think you'll get Alpha Academy unless Otis is a model now...
RAW is in St Louis this Monday, probably a little too close to Mania for an appearance by the hometown dude Randal, yeah?
That initial face pop would be massive.
Cody looked like an evil mastermind enjoying his plan unfold.
A pretty underwhelming episode, if I’m being honest.
Kevin is totally turning on Sami, right?
The bigger things that needed to happen happened and they were fine.
- Heyman set the table for Monday's notable match. I liked the detail that he thought he was going to be cool and toss the mic to Rhodes and he wasn't going to be ready to catch it. Heyman was thrown off by the fact Rhodes caught it, Rhodes delivered his strongly-worded message and warning. Rhodes then tossed it to Heyman and Heyman didn't catch it. Good symbolism.
- Rey eventually had enough of Dom's BS and the crowd ate it up. On top of that, LA Knight got a notable win.
- I'm never going to be mad at seeing a GUNTHER/Soon-to-be-Dunne match again.
- They rode the wave with KO and Zayn, created a witty shirt with the tie-in of KO-Mania and WrestleZaynia. The Usos needed to get the heat back from Monday and this was fine.
The swing and miss segments clearly related to the women. Triple H hasn't found the footing for them since he's stepped up, which is a shame. The Charlotte promo was beyond weird. Ronda and Shayna won't have to earn their way into a lame duck match.
Then it appears that Lashley's match with Wyatt is off, and he has now been relegated to Friday's Andre.
At KO-WrestleZaynia? No.
Later? Who knows.
Last edited by BGMaverick; March 25th, 2023 at 12:07 AM.
What a weird turn of events that Omos is on the main show and Lashley has been relegated to the Battle Royal when really it should be the other way round.
Loved the KO/Zaynia shirt.
Walter/Dunn…sorry GUNTHER/Butch was really good. It’s like they’ve worked together before.
Finally getting a chance to comment on this latest Smackdown.
Opener with Cody/Kaiser was a foregone conclusion, yet Cody managed to remind us that Ludwig can really go. I am looking forward to Cody/Solo on Raw.
Charlotte's promo accomplished what I think they were going for - convince us that she should be playing the heel against Rhea. The crowd will cheer Rhea as long as she is not accompanied by Dom. They didn't have Charlotte outright insult the crowd yet, but the rest of her promo listing her accomplishments - and the "like it or not" bit - served as a reminder to us that Charlotte is better as a heel. Rhea will get a "You deserve it!" chant after winning.
Rey/Dom has been building for so long, but before I get to that, I really enjoyed the LA Knight match with Rey. Great storytelling. I like that they didn't make LA Knight look like a complete jobber, as Rey did what he's done for so many years - make his opponent look great, and still give the crowd a terrific match. Dom's interference cheapened the win a little bit, but LA Knight still looked terrific here. They must have something planned at Mania for LA Knight - I don't think they'd have Wade Barrett on announce team remind us that it's a shame that the MegaStar still does not have a match at WrestleMania. Perhaps a surprise return by Riddle?
I thought Dom was amazing with his promo, at first we got the rehash of what he's been saying for weeks to Rey - "That's right, just walk away, you were never there for me blah blah blah". The repetitive annoying stuff just made the crowd hate him even more. Then he turns to his mom and sister and it got really good. Calls his sister stupid. Then telling his mom to shut up was something we all can understand was a big mistake. I liked how they had positioned Rey on the ramp, just far enough for Dom to keep rambling that they'd support his dad anyway allowed Rey to come up and put the smiles on all of our faces with the payoff punch. Rey grabbed the mic and explained "You pushed me! I didn't want to hit you! You made me hit you! You don't disrespect your mother like that!" The justification for Rey's action, despite all those months of saying he wouldn't hit his child, was what we all have been wanting to see for ages. What a pop!
Natalya will break a record at Mania - her own, with the most appearances at a PPV/PLE by a woman wrestler. Match was notable for Lacey's nip slip. Ronda/Shayna's announcement was fine, and short.
Drew/Sheamus/Gunther contract signing - they had Gunther ask for Peace to justify how he can possibly lose his title without getting pinned. I think it was more to raise the point, and I don't particularly care because I am most looking forward to this match than anything else on the card. But all of us understood Gunther's shenanigans causing the double interference DQ set this up, and made him look like an idiot at the time. This only served to remind us that Gunther's an idiot.
Butch's attack served to remind us that contract signings usually are boring, but I liked Gunther throwing the contract table over the ropes.
I like the WrestleZaynia shirts.
So they went with the obvious for Solo’s first clean TV loss lol.
Last edited by Badger; March 28th, 2023 at 2:22 PM.
TECHNICALLY his first clean TV loss was that random Walter match on NXT.
And hey, sometimes the obvious is good! I wasn't negative to this. Solo taking an L to the top babyface, that shows that he's basically a World title contender. He's survived everyone sans a few and it took someone of Cody's caliber to finally beat him.
I wasn’t negative per se. I was more like “ah they did what was predicted after all” lol
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