The card is taking shape.
I'm intrigued by how Roman/Solo vs Sami/KO will play out
The card is taking shape.
I'm intrigued by how Roman/Solo vs Sami/KO will play out
Just had a look at the card...
I think AJ will beat Seth. For some reason the "golden couple" are nowhere near the gold and I'm just wondering about other commitments.
No idea on Brock an Cody.
I am always wrong about this shit but I wonder if they'll pin Sikoa so Roman can blame him for the loss.
Hate to be boring but can't see any of those titles changing. Gunther/Bianca/Rhea to retain for me.
And Trish against Becky- I don't care who wins because I can't wait for this match.
Last edited by Tommi_Li; May 23rd, 2023 at 1:43 AM. Reason: be-but
AJ v. Seth is just so weird. On one hand, Raw Guy Seth winning=super predictable but Raw has no World title. On the other, you have AJ winning maybe that brings over the OC and they can finish the feud with Judgement Day that was cut short. Or they cut their losses and send Mia Yim and the Good Bros packing. IDK what the thought process was during the draft and creating this title but it feels like they're playing it by ear each episode.
I'd caught a rumor of something happening about the world title match with Rollins & Styles. Of course rumors and actual results can be two different things.
The OC just feels flat as a group. Good Brothers are like furniture, they can be easily replaced. I get why they're there, but then they're really not doing anything of note with Mia Yim.
The longer Riddle stays involved with this Bloodline/KO-Sami thing the more I feel like a) Orton is coming back to either team with Riddle or turn against him or b) Riddle gets a surprise new tag partner. That said, him and Gunther would intrigue me. Gunther could drop the title to Riddle for Summerslam and I'd be okay with it. At this stage Gunther feels well above the midcard title. So... AJ wins, Good Brothers are paired up against Imperium and Gunther chases AJ for a quick title switch?
A lot of weird decisions like the NXT tag titles being on the main shows, the chance that Seth is your champion and disappears for awhile himself for filming, or AJ drafted to Smackdown to win the title for Raw? It's intriguing but for casual fans can be confusing if they don't watch NXT.
I wouldn't be surprised if Asuka took the title this weekend, but I'm not expecting it to happen.
Presume Rollins will win the championship.
Injury angle for Rhodes opens the door for a third match with Lesnar.
Don't see the Bloodline getting the tag titles.
I want Asuka to take the title. Not sure if it happens here or not but I really wanted her to win at WrestleMania
Me too, but it didn't feel like she had as much momentum with this heel character at the time as she might now. It's still goofy shit that the women's title holders are on shows different than the ones they carry.Originally Posted by MTR
I'm hoping they do something more creative than a shitty title swap.
Regardless as to who comes out on top between Styles and Rollins, I think we're in for a treat. My guess is that fans will sing along with Rollins' entrance, but when the match is underway, more will be cheering for AJ than for Seth.
Mia Yim has been mis-used like many of the women. They brought her to the OC to help deter Rhea and JD, but since Mami was being protected and getting face pops with her truly entertaining work with DomDom, and since AJ got hurt, Michin's OC work never materialized.
RAW and Smackdown get far more views than NXT. Always have and always will. So when talent gets promoted to the main roster, a big chunk of the audience won't be familiar with them. Creative has to help give them storylines and feuds that matter, and the announce team certainly has to help, but I think the draft causes more problems than it's worth here. Just like a few years back when they expanded the women's roster, too much all at once makes it a problem for the audience to start to tell all the new people apart. The new people who don't get screen time for promos end up getting little to no crowd reaction, and then it spirals down. And the few who do manage to get over, despite having to job to current stars, are not given anything to build on. It doesn't mean anything to come out on top of Elias, Corbin, Dolph, Tozawa or the Miz, if those guys ALWAYS lose.
I don't think GUNTHER is losing for a long while. Positive-Ali may end up having the best match of his career here, but this is easily the match doubler for me.
Despite the fact that Asuka gets huge face pops, they are positioning her as a heel. A normal crowd will have none of this. I wonder what the Saudi crowd will do.
I'm happy this is on at 1 PM EST. I'd imagine the UK folks love that this is airing at a normal time for them. 6 PM?
Nothing too interesting here for me. I suppose Lesnar/Rhodes is the most intriguing.
I'd care more about Bloodline match but Owens and Zayn bore me.
He had some serious heaters on 205 Live.
Saudi crowds (so far) feel like they are similar to AEW live crowds. They'll cheer and react positive to anything that happens.
The WWE are probably thinking that crowning a new WH champ will make up for nobody else losing their titles.
It makes zero sense to have Roman/Solo win. Rhea's barely 2 months in her reign. Gunther is on fire and Ali getting the title shot feels like it's 1975 and we're giving the local boy a title shot when the NWA champ comes to town. Theory isn't defending, women's tag belts are determined on Raw. That only leaves Bianca. Do you end her crazy run that night? If there's anyone who should do it, Asuka would be it. Let's get back to the babyface chasing the heel and this would be a breath of fresh air for both women.
You know what would be crazy is if Trish and Brock win. I actually have a feeling we might see Lesnar go over but idk about Trish. I really like this feud, and I hope regardless of the outcome it's not the end. There's still something there with Lita being attacked by Trish but I don't see them having a 1 on 1 match. Becky/Lita v. Trish/???-Maybe someone like Chelsea Green, maybe Mandy Rose returns, maybe Zoey Starks....?
I was at Raw this week and boy did it do Seth no favors. I am not sure how it was presented on TV, but they ran multiple promos saying Seth is up next, the crowd would get hyped and then its just that shitty sit down interview. The last time it happened, people just got up and walked to the bathroom. People were psyched to see him too. Raw wasn't bad, but it was just too many ads for this no nothing PPV. I am not a fan of Blood Money in the Bank Part V. I also think crowning a brand new champ that is a bit dumb. Seth trying to do the whole I was never seen as the top guy even though he has had multiple title runs including his first one lasting what feel like seven years is a bit bullshit. Yeah, Roman has main evented Mania when he shouldn't have a few times, but Seth has been right there as a top guy. AJ is easier to see as the underdog as he has not seen the title or main event in years. I also think AJ would be more fun against Judgement Day as they are the big bads over there. It would also give Seth a chance to fight Roman at SummerSlam or MitB. Seth complaining about Roman not being there and he is not there and has not been there for two weeks now, makes it look dumb as hell.
Good read man. Really looking forward to the Sammi & KO match with them retaining.
Part of me thinks Asuka wins because of the titles being on the wrong shows or whatever but I also don't really see Belair's reign ending here rather than something with more build/hype.
Wish i could be excited about Ali vs/ Gunther as it could be a banger but I am kind of expecting Ricochet/Lesnar all over again.
Could see Cody/Brock going either way depending if it's going to be a series. Could see a valient losing effort from Cody here to then go over in a rubber match. Injury angle's kind of meh since he already did this for realz in HIAC.
Tag title mach is very interesting thanks to the Bloodline angle. Could see it going either way, maybe DQ stuff, lots of options depending if the Usos try to help and it backfires or if Solo lets down the Tribal Chief, etc.. Also interesting with KO/Sami going to SA after both have not in the past, maybe there could still be an angle that takes one or both of them out even...seems unlikely but maybe Usos take out Sami so KO has to go it alone, wouldn't rule that out entirely.
Rhea/Nattie is filler that will be perfectly fine and forgettable.
Trish/Becky should be good.
Yeah, that's the reason I kind of can't see the Bianca loss (although I think they should at some point). Because to make the "lose so the belts can be on the right brand" thing happen....Rhea would have to drop to Nattie
That's why in hindsight the WWE A-shouldn't have made the titles color coded and B-should've had Rhea v. Bianca title v. title. Rhea could say she's not going to worry about Smackdown and vacate the title. I mean, are we really going to call Rhea the Smackdown women's champion until she loses to a Smackdown talent? That'd be odd.
I disagree that there isn't much build/hype to Asuka/Belair. They were friends fighting Damage Ctrl side by side. They were rivals at Mania and now Asuka has fully turned on her former friend. Asuka is operating at a level only 2 or 3 women in wrestling can fuck with and this is the perfect time to get that belt off Bianca.
I hope the WWE didn't brush off the fan reaction to Bianca at Backlash, and they shouldn't be surprised that, despite their efforts to portray Asuka as a heel, she will undoubtedly get many more cheers than Belair will.
Yeah I am a bit boggled that we didn't do a title switch like they did with Becky and Charlotte. Especially since women from the various brands are not coming over to challenge. Nattie is a Raw talent now and Asuka is a Smackdown talent. Just swap the belts already.
That being said I am totally ready for Asuka to have another run with the title.
I'm more ready for Asuka to actually have a character.
Asuka's got all the character she needs. They just need to strap her up and let her kick some heads in for a few strong months.
I would love, love, love to see Asuka do it at Night of Champions but cynical myself says Bianca overcomes the odds again while Asuka drops back down to midcard/semi-serious heel.
Rhia and Bianca have been built up so huge that I can’t see antibody getting past them until they eventually get round to that big clash. They’re just on a pedestal above booking-wise.
Summerslam could see people cheering the shit out of Rhea (as long as there’s no Dom at ringside) while Bianca could get a harsh reaction. Sky got a massive reaction against Bianca in neutral territory for example.
Last edited by Badger; May 25th, 2023 at 8:05 PM.
Asuka has character. The character of I am going to kick some major ass. All she needs.
What if Sami pins Roman in this match?
And that's why you don't book in fear of what one crowd might do. Bianca had never in the last year+ been met with that kind of reaction like she did with Iyo. Which was funny because the night before they popped hard, they popped hard for her entrance, and cheered like a mfer when she won. Explain "neutral territory" If anything this is Bianca's territory.
The WWE know that Rhea is a favorite to watch. We're beyond them worrying about the crowds cheering for her when they get "Mami" chants going. Rhea v. Bianca would be enormous but it kind of diminishes the brand split even more than AJ v. Seth.
Well I suppose if you’re being technical then Puerto Rico is part of the United States though not recognised as a state, but just meant that (as far as I know anyway) they were on an even playing field and who knew who would be cheered although recognise they haven’t done Puerto Rico shows in a while.
Heels are heels and faces are faces. Sometimes they blur, but for the most part, just because Bianca was born on the mainland and Iyo is from Japan doesn't really matter. I don't think anyone went into that match thinking Bianca would get booed 5 minutes into it. And we didn't really see that in any other match which is why it stands out especially with Bianca who no matter where she's at she gets cheered 99% of the match.
Oh I definitely agree it was unexpected and she is getting mostly cheers but there may come a time and point more fans like Puerto Rico will turn against her. Just an educated guess from watching for years and how fans can be for someone over-pushed. For all we know though she’s heel, Asuka will still get cheered wildly in Saudi Arabia if she beats Bianca despite being heel. Could also have happened in the US.
Fans can be a funny sort depending on where they are, but most (not all) trends indicate they eventually get tired of an overpush.
Yeah it's super rare for us to encounter situations like when the WWE goes to Canada. Or if they're in someone's hometown, they might cheered. Or in Cena's case, booed despite being the babyface from 40 minutes away lol.
I just don't think the WWE would hesitate on Bianca v. Ripley in fear of Ripley getting cheered. They already know it's a possibility because Rhea is getting the pops/cheers. She has to go above and beyond now to get booed. I can't even think of a babyface on the roster right now that wouldn't get at least a 50/50 response going up against her. I just hope the WWE doesn't turn Rhea babyface anytime soon.
Oh hell yeah they should not a million percent officially not turn Rhea face as it would majorly water her down. That’s the beauty of her being with Dom, he can still get her boos.
Has the crowd on RAW/SD continued to boo Bianca since Backlash?
Personally my viewing of Raw has been erratic lately at best due time zones, work long shifts and can’t be arsed sitting through hours despite breaks so can’t give you an answer there.
Smackdown easily more digestible and watch more regularly but haven’t noticed anything that’s stood out just yet since.
I read the spoilers ahead of Smackdown but still managed to catch most of it. Really good build for KO/Sammi-Roman/Solo. Like Brock/Cody the result doesn't feel obvious. Tag titles could be DQ win awarded to either team, Usos costing Solo & Roman the match. Doubt it's a clean win for either.
No
So says a Bianca mark.....?
Anyhow, the Rollins - Styles match left me ....
undewhelmed.
And that as a huge Rollins fan - and as one who has waited years for my dream match of ‘Rollins vs Styles’ to take place at that.
But, that damned injury crutch WWE constantly uses in booking matches over the past 5 years or so (and will again later tonight in Cody and his broken arm vs Lesnar), well I for one would much prefer a classic match with two ‘healthy’ wrestlers than these silly superhero-like bookings:
Mr America and his broken wing vs The Beast
or
Rollins and his habitually (and conveniently as usual) damaged leg overcomes again instead of giving us an exhibition of his generational talent.
Wouldn't Rollins not selling the leg be silly superhero-like then? Bret Hart constantly sold his knee in the early 90s because that's realistic. Once you have a injury it can nag you for the rest of your life, let alone your career.
Nah, Styles/Rollins was a banger. Injury angle and all.
Wonder if we get the title swap now
Nattie is great, no farts needed.
Not consistently at all. There have been some smatters
Try harder, Bianca mark
I thought the WHC match really delivered. I didn't get the part where Rollins went for the Stomp but they just kept moving along, but the rest of the match was really solid. Styles executing a Pedigree was a nice touch. When you really think about it, Styles is absolutely incredible. He's been working at a high level for an incredibly long time. The obvious decision isn't always the wrong decision, so Rollins winning here works. Let's see how this works with a new championship and how long Rollins carries it.
Becky and Trish had some sputtering parts to it but I thought they had a decent match. I felt there was a possibility this was a one-and-done scenario but they created a reason to have it going. They certainly have high hopes for Zoey if she's getting inserted into this as a Trish supporter. I imagine Becky and Zoey will have a pretty good match when they get to it.
GUNTHER and Ali delivered a quality match under the circumstances. No one believed Ali was going to win and you easily could've seen this be an outright squash but they told a story that gave you a hope spot or two along the way where you thought Ali was going to do it. We're now looking to early September for GUNTHER. Get him there and have him become the all-time record holder for a single IC reign. Do it. He's earned it.
Asuka and Bianca didn't really click for me but I loved the clever finish. Curious to see where Bianca goes from here. She's lost steam, though not entirely her fault, so there's a variety of ways you can go with her.
Tough to get squashed on your birthday but that's what happened to Natalya.
Rhodes and Lesnar far exceeded my expectations and was way better than the Backlash match. Good on Cole to mention the titanium cast for Rhodes and smart of whoever came up with the idea to run with that and use it as a weapon. Lesnar is a great seller when you get him in a spot where he has to and he did great work there. You have to have Rhodes on the shelf for multiple weeks now and you'll get the blowoff between these two. You could use the meantime for Lesnar to be a primary challenger for Rollins or just have him take some time off. Crazy to think that Lesnar has participated in every PLE so far this year. I also imagine this injury takes Rhodes out of the equation for MITB. That works and should hopefully allow some shine for the eventual winner.
Great to see tag team wrestling main eventing two PLEs. It had the added emotion with Zayn's reaction and speaking Arabic to the audience prior to the match. As for the match itself, it was pretty paint by numbers for the execution. I expected the Usos to show up and I was curious how the theatrics would be played up when they did. As the story has gone over the last week or so, I imagined Jimmy was going to go off but I figured they'd wait until Friday for the celebration. That date Friday also marked nine years since Rollins turned on the Shield so I thought there would be good symmetry there but I appreciate the thought to go ahead and crank it up here with Jimmy superkicking Reigns and doubling down and doing it again. Then Jimmy yelling at Jey that he was doing what Jey should've done a long time ago was pretty good. Jey being stoic during it really shows the Stockholm Syndrome he's been working through. Now that we're moving forward with the implosion, I'm curious to see how Jey and Solo work in this. I double we get a fatal 4way out of this but a tag match should be quite fun.
WWE is knocking it out of the park right now with these international shows in terms of crowd engagement. More international shows, please. The company is a pretty healthy place as a whole right now: Bloodline story is back on track, Zayn/Owens are thriving, Rhea is a strong champion (accompanied by nuclear heat), GUNTHER is on a fantastic run, and Rollins should lead a strong championship picture.
I love, love being wrong!
Get in there Asuka!!!!!
But also Asuka mark.Try harder, Bianca mark
SO CONFLUCTED
You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Mazer again.
Had a feeling Asuka was winning here just because drafting both her and Bianca to Smackdown and continuing the feud after a brief detour felt like Not The Move if they were just gonna have her lose again. Super excited they followed through.
Rollins/Styles, and Cody/Brock were the other highlights, but I dig the direction of the storylines, especially Trish/Becky and The Bloodline implosion. Got hyped at Jimmy doing the damn thing
Loved that finish! Jimmy just saying “fuck it” while Jey trying to be more cautious. Love the twists here and then Jey will probably just say “Fuck it!” too.
Interesting to see how Solo will come around.
If you have a trillion dollars in oil money, you too can get a happy ending to your PLE. Honestly, it was great to Asuka win and the Bloodline finally imploding. The Bloodline ending probably should have ended at Mania, but now is better than never. The American Nightmare tapping out in Saudi was probably not a good look. Don't love Cody's booking of late even with that win with Brock.
Way to just killjoy everything.
He didn't tap out. Other than hightailing it out of at the end of Backlash, I think his booking with Brock has been absolutely fine.
There’ll always be killjoys just because of where it is and will hate no matter what, but if you step back the last couple of shows have been amazing and they’ve been easing the restrictions of women and Sami gets to go over there now so there’s been major strides. Just wish some people would put aside the politics/negativity for at least a bit and just enjoy it objectively.
Objectively, I didn't enjoy this post lol.
*shakes fist* lol
You know what I mean though.
Of course there’s many many negative things and won’t be tolerated and who knows what will change in the real world and yes they’re rich but fuck it me personally just like to put it aside for a night.
If Vince had sold it to them permanently…then that would be different but I can live with this annual arrangement even if it comes across as a hot take. Disagree heavily with their policies and misdeeds but I can put it aside once a year. Maybe just me.
Bravo Paul. I was disappointed to read that Rollins/Styles opens and the tag match closes, but The Bloodline implosion was :chef kiss:.
-Couldn’t go wrong with either finalist as champion. I hope we get a rematch (Survivor Series?) so that AJ can go over.
-Trish with a stable of her own could be very interesting. Initially thought Stratus was only here for a limited time before Mania, but it appears she’s around for the foreseeable future.
-Gunther needs to get to 1000 days/the longest IC title reign, he’s my (way-too-early) pick for Men’s MITB winner.
-Good on Ali getting the massive pop, that had to feel great; nice to see him get a high profile spot, feel he’s been way underutilized the length of his career.
-Bianca has earned some time off, really excited for the Asuka 2.0 era.
-Rhea with the squash victory over Natalya, who got the high profile match as a stick tap for a lengthy and successful career. They need to go all-in on the Ripley heel turn because being accompanied by the go-away heat machine Dom does nothing for her as a face.
-Brock can go on his annual hiatus, seems like Cody is on the shelf for a little bit.
-It’s been quite the year for Sami.
-The fallout from the main event will be something else: Jimmy v Jey, Solo v Jimmy, Roman v Jimmy. Are there possible reinforcements on the way as The Tribal Chief restocks The Bloodline?
Last edited by Tyson; May 27th, 2023 at 6:51 PM.
If Vince had sold it to them permanently…then that would be different but I can live with this annual arrangement even if it comes across as a hot take. Disagree heavily with their policies and misdeeds but I can put it aside once a year. Maybe just me.
It would be different if there was a counter to it, the WWE does, but they don't. They continue to help them sportswash their continuing humanity crisis and their ability to do whatever they want like murder journalists. I hate this event. Its a good ppv, don't get me wrong. I just hate everything about it minu Sammi standing tall which I am not sure how they got that done. I guess Sammi being over with the crowd is a great thing. Its so weird that Roman has destroyed all the hometown heroes from Drew to Sammi to Cody but he shows up in Saudi then he is beatable. It just feels weird even though this should have been the Wrestlemania ending. I am glad they are moving to hopefully the end of the Bloodline.
I hate Cody's story at this point. He is a loser. He beat Brock, but it feels like a fluke. Now, he is the dumb all white meat babyface who is too stupid for his own good. He gets hurt and is told by everyone don't do this and he goes full Scrabby Doo only to lose. He is the Lex Express at this point, but for some reason the crowd is ok with this. Even though I think maybe he should actually win a match and not look dumb doing it.
Reading this gave me whiplash.
Reading that gave me a twitch
Overall, this was a very good show. I had Seth and Asuka's title wins spoiled for me ahead of time so that sucked some drama out of those two matches unfortunately.
AJ/Seth was good. Bit of a weird spot with the mistimed stomp. Seth's win did feel a bit telegraphed in the build but he's absolutely the right guy for it.
Becky/Trish was a bit rough in spots but the intensity was there and good character work from Trish helped. Did not see Zoey getting involved and geeked out pretty good for that. Love her getting injected into such a high profile spot, I think she'll shine.
GUNTHER/Ali was much better than I expected. I was envisioning a squash and my man Ali got to look more credible than he has in years. Perfectly told story. Hopefully he doesn't go back to jobberdom after this.
Bianca/Asuka seemed a little lackluster/off and a solid notch below their Mania match. Not bad, though. The finish was brilliant and I'm super stoked Asuka's back on top. Absolute queen.
I literally joked to the wife "Imagine if Rhea just beats the shit out of Nattie and pins her straight away" and then whammo, Satan heard my prayer. Incredible. Couldn't have asked for better.
Brock/Cody was fine for what it was. I'm thinking Cody wins MITB and cashes in/beats Roman at SummerSlam.
Tag title match obviously delivered in-ring but the Bloodline stuff once the Usos appeared was the real edge-of-your-seat stuff. Loved it.
What I like about Cody/Brock is neither guy has a definitive win over the other. Cody snuck one in on Brock and then passed out to the kimura. That means the 3rd match will have the ultimate bragging rights. I've been incredibly impressed with Lesnar's booking since Mania 38.
Seth winning was obvious, unless they were going to put the OC back on Raw why would AJ win? Very good match.
Main event was wild I didn't expect to see The Usos show up.
I imagine Rhodes/Lesnar III is HIAC.
It would be kind of cool if HIAC became one of those favored gimmick matches where he's "in his element" or whatever buzz words they want to use
I would be in favor of this. It'd be a great trait for the American Nightmare.
He who though? It applies to both Lesnar's due to his UFC tenure and Cody due to the handful of HIAC matches he's been in most notably the torn pec Rollins match.
Cody. Brock's been in a few, too, but it would be a cool wrinkle to add to Cody's WWE legacy.
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