So I'm looking at the matches and what the fuck....It's a pretty solid card until Drew McIntyre v. Madcap Moss. Take that match out and we're good.
So I'm looking at the matches and what the fuck....It's a pretty solid card until Drew McIntyre v. Madcap Moss. Take that match out and we're good.
It may look like a different card come bell time, due to the covid case rumors.
Announce team promoted Rollins being available for the match Saturday, and Rollins said so himself via his promo. We shall see.
RK-Bro vs. Street Profits was added for the Raw Tag Titles.
I didn't realize until this morning how relaxed the covid quarantine time is getting.
I'd like to think new year, changes in WWE are going to happen, but we all know this PPV is going to be like every other thing in WWE, terrible.
Then we'll feel obligated to watch the Royal Rumble because at least most of that match is exciting, until they get to the final four then it's snores.
And we'll watch WrestleMania just because it's WrestleMania. Then we will all fall asleep until this time next year when the hope will come back, only to disappoint.
Moss doesn't do it for me in the ring, but he and Corbin are playing these characters is very entertaining. This run Corbin has had going from broke to happy has been a fun ride.
I'm done, for the first time. There's nothing they could pull out of their arse that I'd be into. They've driven every stip into the ground, and everybody that I liked before it became super homogenized has had a run with the belt. The part timers have wrestled everybody who can make an interesting match with them. It's not that the matches wouldn't be good, but without caring about anything you may as well just watch the old stuff that doesn't have non stop camera cuts.Originally Posted by Donald
i imagine i'll keep watching the royal rumble match for years to come. depending on what's going on every now and then maybe i'll throw a big PPV on. but this year i got absolutely nothing, less than nothing, out of having summerslam and wrestlemania on in the background. utterly skippable, nothing worth paying attention to, not even particularly pleasant background filler.
More WWE fans like to pretend they're not fans but if you have to go out of your way to talk about how little you watch....well...I call bullshit lol. It's like people these days think we need to hear about how you used to be a fan, the only time you watch is for this, blah blah blah. Mainstream wrestling right now is very mediocre and globally it's even worse. Quantity over quality is the motto. We have all these promotions getting shine thanks to the internet but it all still sucks.
I plan to watch Day 1 but I'll probably forget about it and then on Monday be like Oh shit.
lol. I'll probably forget until I log in to the PS4 and they have a Peacock ad for it.
Day 1 should be a restart for WWE. I can see the hype videos.
Merge the WWE and Universal titles, the Raw and Smackdown titles, tag titles, US/IC titles. Have the champions face each other on the PPV.
Bring back some of the released talent, promote some NXT people.
Get rid of the polished TV presentation look. I don't think many would miss the massive LED displays. Bring back the mini tron from the New Generation era.
I'll give Mr. Kahn a call.
That is a problem, isn't it? With a name like Day 1, and with it being a fatal fourway, that is ripe for overbooking and a heel win. But I think Big E needs a decisive defense here. My druthers, is at the start of the match, Owens nopes out of the ring and hangs back. E and Lashley decide this should be their fight and murder Rollins. Owens still does nothing. Rollins tries to get back in it, after trying to plead with Owens to team up to take them out again, and E and Lashley murder him again. This time Rollins gets handcuffed to the ring to keep him out of it. Owens pretends to get in the ring, but nopes out again when they try to go after him. Match stuff happens. When it looks prime, Owens tries to steal the pin, but doesn't work. E and Lashley finally get their hands on Owens and murder him. Table spot maybe. Then they go at it for the big third and final time. When they're both down, Rollins, nearly knawing his hand off at the corner, starts screaming to the backstage area of Becky to come out. Hey, she's a piece of shit heel, right? Why not have her help out her husband? It's not like it's a secret. She comes out with a key, he gets free. She goes back (that's all her involvement needs to be). Rollins tries to steal the win, but too much time has passed, so the others have recovered. He tries a stomp, but gets caught and taken out. Owens sneaks back in by this time and tries something, but he gets caught. E and Lashley exchange some blows, Big E hits his finish on Lashely, and gets a clean, hard fought victory, Lashley still looks like a beast. Owens' attempt to outplay everyone didn't pan out, and Rollins can complain on Raw that it wasn't fair because he was "handcuffed to the ring for most of it" conspiracy.
Read some news that there a lot of major changes in production pitched for this show (ring appearance, camerawork, etc.) and then they all got turned down so that's kind of disappointing.
Probably going to be watching Day 1 on Day 2 as my in-laws are coming over tonight for supper/games before they head off on vacation in a couple days. Will do my damnedest to avoid spoilers but you know it's hard out in these streets.
100% accurate.
Roman tested positive for COVID, Brock added to the Fatal Fourway.
Wow. Is Brock going to win the WWE title?
big bob got a bit happier
Yep. I would watch that singles match.
Poor Ridge, broken nose.
He has some of the worst luck when it comes to just being pushed. Happened in NXT too.
i'll have this on in the background. interested brock in the multi-man match.
Anyone else feel like they are watching Raw?
3D! Noice!
Did she just say the world's greatest hip hop group?
Maybe dial it down a little
I thought Migos was 1 person…
Yes. It's like they couldn't be bothered to come up with a set and they just replaced "Raw" with "Day 1" on the banners, graphics and ring apron.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but we still haven’t seen Seth yet? Didn’t he have covid last weekend? What are the chances this match gets changed again?
Now they're the greatest group period.
That's a lot of hyperbole, even for wrestling
He had some interview on location for The Bump earlier today.
I need Seth to be there. I predicted a win for him.
The Brock addition is messing with my emotions
I feel like Brock is winning now so Roman can be double champ at mania. Lol.
Man
I'm into this Roman run, but that would be a bridge too far
Beth straight up looking like the hottest viking ever.
Weird how they took forever to play her music. I feel like she should have just ran down and they play her music later.
Excluding Ivar obviously.
Brock coming out after the champion lol
Wow, quick match.
And E took the pin. Crazy.
So looks like Big E vs Roman at Mania and Brock vs Lashley.
Lol, I don't think so.
Up and down show with a hot start and finish.
Why not? They made a point to tease Brock tapping to the hurt lock and then the stare down after Brock won. And someone has to dethrone Roman, hes been champion for 17 years now.
Back to the midcard for Big E.
Brock vs. Lashley will be fun.
Roman will get Drew at Mania.
Usos vs. New Day was the Match of the Night for me, but the 5-way main event was fun while it lasted. As I recall, Brock normally doesn't do really long matches. I did like Brock's doing Heyman's line - "That's not a prediction, that's a spoiler!"
Moss showed us that he's far more talented in the ring than his Madcap gimmick as Corbin's sidekick would suggest, and kudos to Drew for letting him look more credible than many of us expected. I really liked Moss' speed crashing into the corner. The post match backstage beatdown means we get more of Drew vs. Corbin/Moss, but they are making it work so far.
Street Profits got to work as heels against the heavily crowd favorites RKBro. Once I saw Migos join them for the entrance it was pretty clear RKBro was winning. Migos looked like they were having fun, but they are a far cry from Bad Bunny.
Beth showing up was the easiest prediction tonight. She got a good pop from the crowd, and I would not be surprised at all if we see a mixed tag match on one of the Mania days.
Liv Morgan has improved plenty, but she still doesn't belong in the title scene. Becky will not lose before Mania, perhaps against Rumble winner Bianca.
Even though he's closer to my age than he is to many of the rasslers, Johnny Knoxville is already going to be the best celebrity Rumble participant in years, perhaps since Pete Rose.
Liv and Becky were the stars of the show.
What happened to Zayn vs. Nakamura?
Usos vs. New Day delivered as expected. The 1D finisher was an interesting surprise. Kind of amusing that in the RAW Tag Title match, RK-Bro used almost the exact same move with the flapjack RKO.
Skipped Moss vs. McIntyre.
Profits vs. RK-Bro was fine. I thought maybe Migos were gonna do a turn and help the Profits win after coming out with the champs and hanging at ringside but no such luck.
Miz vs. Edge was pretty good. I thought Beth would be getting into this storyline at some point but wasn't sure if it'd be tonight (figured maybe Maryse helps Miz win here and Beth comes out on RAW tomorrow). Shame they kind of bungled her appearance with the camera/music timing. Damn she looked badass, though.
Liv vs. Becky was definitely my MOTN. Damn Liv has really come along, I was super impressed with her here. She looked like she belonged. Crowd was getting into her, as well. Great match, was pretty sure Becky was going to retain but they had me fooled once or twice. Back to the drawing board for Liv and I suspect Bianca will be coming back for Becky soon.
Main event was short as hell.Did the rest of the show run long? Seems like after Brock/Roman got scrapped and Zayn/Nak wasn't on the show, that'd leave you with more time, not less. It was fun while it lasted but it lasted half as long as it should have. Big E should have gotten to kick out of that F-5 and taken a second to stay down. Definitely seems like they're setting up Lashley/Brock which I'll admit I am 100% here for but it's a shame it's at the expense of Big E and a somewhat lackluster title reign.
All in all, pretty good show.
I’m probably wrong, but I don’t ever remember them saying it was at Day 1 and just said it was a future match.
How many more times is Brock going to win the title? Lame
In the words of Randal Keith Orton: “Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!”
Look, I didn't watch, and haven't been for the most part, so maybe it's not my place to judge
But did they really have to do Big E like that?
If he gets a program with Lesnar for Royal Rumble, that could be a dope way to make the most out of a lame situation, but that's gotta be disheartening.
Loved the main event, though I had it spoiled for me.
Didn't care for the rest.
How did they really do him? You have no idea how this is going to play out. It was a sure of the moment decision to get people talking and watching. Maybe give it some room to breathe.
Rollins beats Lesnar due to the Heyman swerve they'd have done here, Brock wins the Rumble, as you were.
Most times I've given WWE room to breathe, they blew it. This is coming from someone who gave WWE a LOT of patience and would say the same thing all the time.
It's ok to dislike the given direction of a product. If it turns out good for Big E, then great, but WWE's recent track record isn't stellar.
Dear God, I hope they don't do that. I can see them doing that, but I hope they don't. You hot potato the title, then have Brock hijack the rumble like he did with MITB a few years back? Noooo! That's one of the few big shows where you can get someone else going or solidify someone else. Brock needs none of those things. I'd be for Owens winning it this year, actually.
I'm more disappointed that they had Big E take the pin. The logical choice would have been said Rollins, since he's taken titles off Brock before. Didn't his whole Messiah gimmick start as an outgrowth of him having to save Raw from Brock's reign of terror and "we people" didn't appreciate it? Brock wins the title by pinning Rollins in a roundabout payback for the other two times. Rollins can then complain that he got screwed because his one on one kept getting hijacked (hypocrite since he did that him), he was weak from the covid (chickenshit heel smarm), he didn't have time to prepare for Brock (ironic same excuse they had Bianca use, but he doesn't 'move on' from it), etc. I mean, it's right there to use! Instead, an already lackluster championship run was ended by the "New Day Killer" as I've seen it described now, and you know Big E ain't getting it back for a long while, if ever again.
Reports say the mania plans haven't changed.
So the only question is will Brock still have the belt, I feel like he will.
How about... Brock enters the Rumble number 1 again so he can choose his Wrestlemania match to be against Roman. Runs the table, Roman number 30 eliminates him to win. Brock defends in the Chamber from #1 then steals Corbin's #1 spot in the Smackdown #1 contenders one and runs the table in that too. Brock vs. Roman for both titles. Kills everybody else but they're dead anyway, and at least the main event would be between two massively protected guys.
You're right. So everything after what is in bold is irrelevant because you supposedly don't even really watch the WWE. You glance, you parakeet, and then you go back sounding like a broken record nobody asked to be played.
If Rollins took the pin you killed all that shit you're complaining about WWE not factoring in. Big E was a transitional champion. And more often than not, a lot of these guys who win a title cashing in their MITB don't have the greatest runs. It's usually the ones before or after that stand out. Look at Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, Edge, maybe Big E will get it again down the road. He wasn't ready to carry the title with all those names on Raw that are better and bigger but at least he got a solid 2-3 months with big clean wins over Lashley and Drew.
Lesnar's never wrestled Lashley or KO so you keep those matches fresh. He has the history with Seth. And Big E also can use the whole "It started out as a singles match with Seth and I just lost to a guy who wasn't even in the match 2 hours ago!" Could be a slight change in character Big E needs to shed that pancake throwing stench and weird splits.
I agree that Big E was not completely ready and they did the cash-in as a ratings grab. I also have wanted to see Lashley vs Brock for a while, so I'm not mad at that prospect, and I'm glad they are hinting at that. I also agree that E should have shed more of the goofy New Day stuff when he did win and hope he does have a character shift and not play it off as "oh well" like Kofi did.
I didn't watch either, but just on paper Big E losing here is kinda disappointing. Now 2 members of New Day have had their reigns ended suddenly by Lesnar.
Relax, bro…
Everything after
Maybe this means we need a king to put an end to this terrible reign.
The McIntyre injury angle was booked to give him some time to heal from some neck issues he’s dealing with, reportedly.
Hes a champ for working the way he worked that match if so.
As REPORTEDLY brock vs Lashley is the plan going forward. I'm all about this except for the fact it just drops the Roman stuff out of the blue but I guess if brocks goal was the title he did get it.
I still want to see a nice showing for e against brock at the rumble if this is the plan.
Good show, exceeded my expectations. Looking forward to Monday night. I imagine the remaining four from the main event will get a #1 contender's match to set up match with Lesnar.
Big E without Kofi & Woods just doesn't seem right. Wouldn't mind E winning Rumble, going for Reigns at Mania.
I'm back and forth on how I feel about this. I was really pulling for a Big E title, and although I was happy to see some wins, I feel like it lacked the signature moment I would hope to see. Also, unless Big E has a big few months, I'll likely continue to not like that he took the fall here. FInal judgement may change, but its not as if skepticism is unfounded. I still feel like the Goldberg match at Summerslam added nothing to TV, and killed a potential hot story for Big E.
Nash makes a solid point in regards to how often first reigns have not been top notch. And that certainly goes back years and years.
I feel like that speaks to a a larger issue. Let's be honest here....not all feuds can realistically be bangers.
But WWE seems to follow a similar pattern for fast rising 1st time champs. Solid build and initial win.....then a filler feud. They really need to have a hotter feud for these face champs after they win the title. If they can establish their reign and build momentum, I think that's the time where you might have enough leeway to feud them against a lower level or filler opponent.
Someone has been on the internet.
Your opinion matters even less than Psycho's.
The problem is his signature moment you were looking for was him cashing in the MITB. That's why, imo, these MITB reigns are never really that awesome. Very few make something of it. Like I said, look at Edge, he cashed it in, it was a white hot moment....and he lost the belt 2-3 weeks later back to Cena. At least Big E didn't have to deal with that.
This was a crazy move. But if the ratings and rumors are true, Big E just wasn't getting it done right now and that's ok to pivot to happy go lucky Brock Lesnar. When it happened there was a part of me that wasn't too shocked and I did kind of have that "Ah fuck this again?" vibe--but 2 seconds later I was like hold up, now what? This is kind of exciting.
Big E did better than Jack Swagger. I feel like Big E will have a few more runs over the next 2 years--he could definitely regain the title back at Rumble or even Mania and that huge win that sets off a more credible run. And I'm not even saying his run wasn't credible he had gigantic wins. Curious if someone that wasn't Lesnar had won if this would even be a discussion. I had a feeling he was losing the title regardless--brand new ppv, something big had to go down.
Yeah, for the Rumble. It's still Brock vs Roman for mania.
That part highlighted has always irritated me, when discussing/judging/analyzing the main titleholder. How can you place the burden of the company’s ratings on one individual like that? Generally speaking the champ goes out, carries their ~30 minutes of the show at a pretty high standard; it seems very disingenuous to blame them for a pisspoor product as a whole with half-assed lazy booking/writing.
Honestly, what more could you have wanted from Ettore during this abbreviated run? He brought a consistent level of entertainment to his matches, he’s probably one of the better big man workers in the industry right now. There were doubts he could do more than being a “New Day” jokester, I thought he demonstrated he was more than capable of delivering the serious “top guy in the company” promo. He attempted and, I thought, passed the obstacles that were placed in front of him.
This continued need by Vince to constantly panic and acquiesce to the part-timers like Lesnar has to be infuriating to those who are there working hard on a daily basis. There was a photo circulating online yesterday of Ettore sitting dejectedly on the floor outside the ring, while in the background you can see Brock holding the title; I thought that spoke volumes. If you want to bring in part-timers for temporary ratings spikes that’s fine, it’s entirely your perogative as principal shareholder, but it can be done while keeping them away from the titles.
I don’t think we can put the ratings issue all on E’s shoulders. The entire show is meh, and that ain’t E’s fault. Making Lesnar champion again isn’t going to lift WWE out of anything, it’ll just show a pulse for a little bit.
Put all that anti-Vince bullshit to the side. Keep in mind, Lesnar wasn't added until a couple hours before the match so your last part is just hater talk and you know it. Are you going to call Seth, KO, and Lashley part-timers?
Take a look around, Big E's title run wasn't setting the world on fire. As it's been said numerous times, sometimes these MITB title reigns aren't that satisfying. Especially when you had a guy who went from barely beating Apollo Crews to magically being good enough to beat Lashley and Drew clean.
Dial it back with the Vince hate. Big E, imo-Lesnar or no Lesnar, was losing the title at Day 1. And if he's so great and he has all this potential, he should get a few more reigns.
Big E has been champion for about 4 months and didn't move the needle in a positive way both in ratings and merch. But that's just rumors. Nobody was putting all the issues on Big E's shoulders.
Actually, E was booked to keep the title until Brock was added.
PS why haven’t you added me on the twitters yet homeboy?
In your opinion he was but you have zero idea.
I'm not adding you to shit especially when it comes to social media I don't even have lol.
Expecting anything of substance over a long period of time, based on the current booking, was probably a pursuit that wasn't going to pan out for you. Reigns is probably the only person in the company who gets a modicum of long-term booking and even that is questionable.
That said, E has done very well as a leader and representing the company while being champion. Sadly, his signature moment was how he won.
Big E feels like little e.
I really thought Rollins was taking the belt. I'm not convinced he wasn't, prior to the quick change.
As far as ratings, all wrestling ratings have been on such a slow decline, that I'm not sure anyone can prove to me who creates a sustained ratings increase (leaving out one-time spikes ala CM Punk debuting), etc.
At this point, I think the only the person you can say is shown to increase ratings is Roman Reigns. And even though, you'd need to specify that its heel Roman Reigns.
That's why not a single person said it was fact OR that it was the only contributing factor.
Spin it how you want, but ratings do matter. Putting asses in seats still matters. Selling merch still matters. If Big E wasn't pulling that off this year as a solo star, that's going to play into his time at the top.
That picture of Big E....Was he supposed to be congratulating Brock? LOL.
Fox put up a graphic with Big E wins under a picture of Brock for the results, I forgot to save it though.
There were also advertisements with Seth Rollins DEFENDING the title against Kevin Owens at future shows so take that for what it's worth.
I'm surprised no one has suggested E is contemplating jumping to aew lol
Coward
That E photo is dang powerful though. Lot going on there.
I dont care for Brock/Lashley or Roman/E but Brock/Roman at WM seems like it will need a stipulation considering they’ve faced eachother twice already at Mania, maybe HIAC?
I feel my last paragraph was spot-on and accurate, I know for a fact I’d feel the exact same way if I were on that roster. Anti-Vince bullshit? He’s hardly been on fire as a head booker, valid criticism is valid. Rather than continue to build on the first time reign of someone who could be a future mainstay in your main event, you panic because you’re a spineless bully who doesn’t want to piss off your special attraction. That seems totally logical and highly conducive to good business practices.
I’m definitely not calling Rollins/Owens/Lashley part-timers because, well, they aren’t.
You have some data to back up your argument and highlighted points or are you a condescending shithead who “AcTuAlLy WaTcHeS tHe Tv EvEnTs”?
That’s a little curious, they probably should have advertised Big E as the titleholder. I’m pretty sure, however, that all WWE tickets have fine print which reads “Card subject to change”.
“Hey kid. Roman’s out, so Brock’s stepping in and taking your title last minute. You know, the one you dreamed about for the past decade. Also, you’re doing the job even though there are three other guys in that ring. Yeah, the same Brock who made your boy Kofi look like dogshit.”That E photo is dang powerful though. Lot going on there.
You have absolutely NOTHING to back up the part where you keep thinking Vince panicked and put the title on Lesnar lol. You're actually basing that comment off my post saying that RUMORS say he isn't doing well in ratings and pushing merch. So basically you're ranting on some bullshit rumor I don't evne know if it's true that I heard while listening to Konnan's podcast lol.
Do I honestly need back up to prove that a wrestling promoter might care about ratings, attendance, and merch sales?????? In what world do those things not matter? I'm sure if Apollo Crews was the #1 merch seller, had the highest rated segments, and people were buying tix to see him-he'd be getting a much better push. There's a reason Roman Reigns hasn't lost the title in over a year.
And your last part is spot on. They probably should've advertised Big E as the titleholder but they didn't and this is something that's been going on in wrestling for close to 30 years. WCW used to pre-tape 4-5 weeks in advance and if a title change was set to happen, they would have that person already carrying the belt even if the title change hadn't happened yet......
So again...for the 5th time. Lesnar winning was not something they thought of until a few hours prior to the show starting. If Roman tests negative for Covid he isn't even in the fucking match lol. And your entire rant is based 10000% on what I said about the rumors that Big E isn't drawing shit so sit down, have a Coke and a smile, you know the rest.
More people are excited about Good Guy Lesnar than anything Big E has done. You probably can't even name one title match Kofi had.
Kofi vs Daniel Bryan
What do I win?
In what realm was that directed toward you? Trust me, we all know the last person you'd want to be is Tyson.
Found the picture.
Yep, totally not a panic move.
That’s totally expected and shouldn’t mean anything at all, the excitement of fans for a Brock Lesnar appearance which happens 2-3 times a year.
I will forever stand on the argument that they didn’t have to do Kofi like that. If you had to do the title change, still not sure Brock needed it at that point, you could have just as easily let Kofi bump his ass off for 15-20 minutes and exit with at least a little bit of legitimacy.
I’d attribute most, if not all, of the credit for the ratings spike to Roman for deciding to pair up with one of the best minds in the business in Paul E. Save for the sympathetic positive response from fans to the leukemia announcement and subsequent recovery, the fans had been hating on Roman “Superman” Reigns for ages.
A Roman Reigns heel turn was inevitable, just like a John Cena heel turn back in the day was necessary yet so vigorously opposed by the big man in charge.
Nash......have you gone into your "head on a swivel, taking on all comers" mode?
At the risk of being all Bill O'Reilly, I was going for no spin. But I also didn't sexually harass my staff, so I wasn't like Bill on either count.
I wasn't meaning to imply that anyone said that was the only factor. As a few people said, Big E's reigns haven't moved the needle. I was just continuing on the discussion on that. I don't even think WWE just looks at that. Unless someone were really to pop, a 3 month or so Face title reign is what I'd typically expect. I was actually giving a little credit to WWE here, because I don't actually think the Big E loss I anticipated was simply due to a knee jerk reaction on ratings.
I think the WWE, in general, actually understands that there likely isn't going to be "one button" they can push that leads to a sustained ratings increase.
I do agree with your points regarding merch and ticket sales, and think we often underrate those by reverting back to our ratings conversation-in fairness to all of us here, ratings data is more readily available. The WWE has all their data on sales, merch, etc and likely makes more decisions based on those factors than we typically discuss.
Also, a co-branded George Costanza/Big E Festivus shirt was a huge missed opportunity. Big E would have dominated the feats of strength AND the airing of grievances.
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