The Wrestling Thread

[Applecore]

Shit, if I'd known you were watching I'd have given you a shout on FB.
That whole event was awesome, as per usual (spoilers ahoy).

Opening match of Hideo Itami vs Tyler Breeze was a great place to start. I'm actually starting to really like Tyler Breeze. Not a huge fan of his gimmick but he's an incredibly talented dude. Problem is, there's not much for him to do anymore as the title picture has moved on without him and he seems to be on a bit of a losing streak now. I think he could do well moving up to the main roster and partnering with either a heel Ziggler or perhaps Fandango? Itami teased the GTS again, but didn't hit it. I'm wondering when they'll let him do it. CM Punk has been gone for a year now, so hopefully soon!

Baron Corbin vs Bull Dempsey was decent enough. It didn't really need to happen, as Corbin was 2-0 up, but the added stipulation of "No Disqualifications" made it interesting. Except then they didn't bother using it. We almost had Bull with a chair, and the reversal would have been great if Corbin had landed The End of Days with Bull's face on the discarded chair, but no such luck. Solid enough as a standard match, though.

Lucha Dragons vs Blake and Murphy was alright. Neither team really do anything for me, so I didn't pay too much attention if I'm honest. Of the two, I prefer Blake and Murphy going on as champs, but I'd like to see Enzo and Big Cass or The Vaudevillains take the gold.

Finn Bálor vs Adrian Neville was incredible. I can say no more of it.

Charlotte vs Bayley vs Becky Lynch vs Sasha Banks was also an incredible match. I really hope the main roster Divas were watching, as they could all learn a thing or two from these girls. More importantly, though, I hope creative were watching and realise that they don't need to force such pathetic storylines onto the Divas which cheapen them. Keep it simple and let the talent tell the story. Was going to be happy with whoever won, but was genuinely amazed how they handled Banks' winning. I can't remember the last time I saw a submission move bring someone down enough for a pin.

Finally Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn was by far the most brutal PG match I've seen. Both guys laid it all out there and Owens just completely destroyed Zayn. Don't think I've ever seen a title change over a TKO before. Some guys on /r/squaredcircle seem to think we could be getting Owens/Zayn/Bálor for the next event, and I now want that to happen more than anything regarding wrestling.

Also I really want the new Sami Zayn shirt, but last time I checked, a shirt from the WWE shop and shipping to Australia would be about $71.85AUD (£36+), and considering how long it takes to ship from the US to Australia, chances are I'd be out of the country by the time it turns up.

[CrappyMike]

It was a great show as expected. The tag match was actually pretty great although like you I wasn't fussed who won, I enjoyed the match.
Neville vs balor was indeed incredible and like you I can't really say any more.
I could write a long post but I find myself pretty much echoing what you've already said

[Matty_the_Emo_Slayer]

I skipped the tag matches but overall it was an excellent show. Solid opener with Itami and Breeze and a true "could main event anywhere in the world" match from Neville and Balor. I loved the UFC-style video package for that one as well, though the fact Albert sounds a bit like Joe Rogan probably has something to do with that.

The divas match may actually have been my favourite on the card. All 4 can wrestle and structure a match well, all have very distinctive movesets and their workrate is fucking insane. There hasn't been many women's matches with that much of an impact move per minute ratio since Japan Women's Pro shut their doors. It wasn't just a great women's match but a textbook fatal 4-way as well. My only gripes are that Charlotte still has a bit of that awkward lankiness which makes her selling hit and miss (being thrown into the LED apron=hit, shoulder charge into the ringpost=miss) and Bayley is too short to get enough elevation on that amateur style belly to belly suplex to make it work. Really you need to like a Ken Shamrock or a Scott Steiner to make that move look good. Otherwise all 4 of them need to be on the main roster ASAP.

It was also great seeing my boy Drake Younger reffing, though he really should have been doing the main event. He's got a history with both Zayn and Kevin so it would've pushed that great build just one notch higher and he could've sold the conflicted feeling of the finish even better. The commentators did a great job of getting over Owens' brutality though, comparing him to Lesnar and all. Half the crowd are obvious Steen marks so that finish will just make them love him more, but the WWE fans there looked genuinely shocked so if Steen gets booked similarly on the main roster he'll be the top heel within a month. And it is a genuinely novel way of booking someone too. The last person to regularly finish matches by referee stoppage was Bryan Danielson during his ROH World Title run.

Also on the NXT front, apparently GORE GORE GORE is happening





And in other news there are rumours of Genichiro Tenryu being inducted into the WWE HoF to coincide with his retirement at the end of this year after 39 years in the business. WWE would have to do a bit of education on his links to the company (he's been in 2 Royal Rumbles, 1 Wrestlemania and was a founder of SWS who co-promoted 3 Tokyo Dome shows and a dozen or so smaller shows with WWF between 91 and 92) but it would do wonders for legitimizing the HoF and building more of a fanbase in Japan.

[Matty_the_Emo_Slayer]

SAMOA JOE IS LEAVING TNA. YUSSSSSS!

So many dream matches in ROH and New Japan and the UK Indies I can't even begin to list them.

[Jobdone]

RAW was actually pretty good this week.

Bryan's new cocky face thing is working great, and I actually give a shit about this match now.

But I'm still gonna be filled with nerdrage if Roman wins on Sunday.

[Haldamir319]

RAW was actually pretty good this week.

Bryan's new cocky face thing is working great, and I actually give a shit about this match now.

But I'm still gonna be filled with nerdrage if Roman wins on Sunday.

I would not be at all surprised if we didn't get a BS non-finish/double count out/DQ draw to force a Triple Threat match at Mania.

[CrappyMike]

At this point I hope reigns wins even though I feel they have pushed him into the main event too soon. Whether it's because of interference or not, putting Bryan in would do more harm than good. They have went with reigns and they need to stick with that. At the end of the day, he's the one who'll still be there 10 years from now not Bryan.

[Haldamir319]

At this point I hope reigns wins even though I feel they have pushed him into the main event too soon. Whether it's because of interference or not, putting Bryan in would do more harm than good. They have went with reigns and they need to stick with that. At the end of the day, he's the one who'll still be there 10 years from now not Bryan.

Bryan would only be 43 in 10 years .

[CrappyMike]

And missed a significant amount of time due to a neck injury. He won't be in wwe 10 years from now.

[Matty_the_Emo_Slayer]

I hope he's not. All he needs is a Royal Rumble win and a tag title run and he's achieved everything there is to achieve there. Hopefully in about 5/6 years time he'll have a retirement run in the indies/Japan

[Bearstock]

Samoa Joe leaving TNA is great.

Just been a name and not much else for years there now so hopefully he'll not be wasted anymore.

Selfishly as well I know a few UK promoters will be scrambling to bring him back over here so that'd be cool, also a friend of mine has him as one of very few of his favoruites he's yet to meet so it's now more likely.

Unless he signs to join NXT of course.



BTW some things cannot be unseen. A naked Goldust with just the IC title covering his manhood is one of them

[gregors666]

Ive just missed most of Fastlane because i fell asleep. Due to tiredness not boredom.
What i did see was pretty good though.
On another matter, anyone else go to see the PCW shows in Preston?
Its pretty good stuff, and the next shows over the march 13-15 weekend are pretty much a whose who of ex wwe wrestlers.

[Jobdone]

Caught a bit before I went to work.

Seemed like the worst PPV crowd I've ever heard.

[Applecore]

Crap crowd, "alright" show.
Realistically, the whole thing played out like a decent episode of RAW (even the entrance ramp, etc was just a recycled RAW set, which actually really bothers me.*). Moment of the night had to be Sting/Triple H, as it's got me genuinely excited for Wrestlemania - though it annoys the shit out of me that they ended it saying how they'll have a match at Wrestlemania, only for Cole later to interject with "BREAKING NEWS, we can now confirm that Triple H will face Sting at Wrestlemania!" yeah, we know, we just watched the fucking promo for it. Stuff like that just shows how little they think to the intelligence and attention span of their fans, and it's getting really annoying. In fact, the commentary all night was the worst I've heard in a long time. Can we please have a new crew? Keep Booker on RAW by all means, as he's stopped saying "Shucky Ducky Quack-Quack" (and I have a soft spot for him as he frequently calls in on The Wrestling Compadres' podcast and sounds like a really awesome guy outside of WWE) but get the fuck rid of Cole and JBL, they serve no purpose and rarely talk about anything relevant and just bicker between them. It's annoying and detracts from the matches.
I suppose I should choose a match of the night, and at a stretch I'll say Ambrose/Barrett, but only because of Ambrose getting DQ'd and then stealing the belt anyway. Hopefully we'll have a feud up to Wrestlemania with Ambrose holding the belt hostage or something.
In fact, speaking of Wrestlemania, how many of the matches at Fast Lane are going to be recycled? Cena/Rusev is obvious, as is Ambrose/Barrett. I can't see any other Diva stepping up, so we'll likely get Paige/Nikki again. Stardust/Goldust didn't have a conclusive end, so that (which will be a bit weird of they're saving Miz/Mizdow for Mania, too). I can also see The Usos vs Cesaro/Kidd being in the kickoff show.
I'm hoping we get the Ziggler/Bryan match that was teased on Twitter after the Rumble at Mania, as that could be awesome. If we get another 6 man tag match between the tag team formerly known as Team Cena vs Kane, Big Show and Rollins, I may just give up on the main roster altogether. Kane and Big Show need to fucking retire. Kane used to be my favourite wrestler when I was a kid and it's just embarrassing to think that now.

In fact, actually, no, this show wasn't "alright", it was shit. Worse than the Royal Rumble PPV.

* - If they can't be fucked to put some effort into making the show look memorable and impressive, how are the fans meant to get invested in it? Though I suppose they don't care as long as people are paying for their Network subscriptions** and buying tickets.

** - Don't get me started on this fucking "free this month to new subscribers" bullshit. Where's the rewards for the fans who've been constantly paying for the Network who are getting wank PPVs every month? You can't even say that the content on the Network is the reward, as they're giving that same content away for free every few months in order to draw more people in.

[CrappyMike]

There is a rumour that it will be the Bella's against Paige and AJ at WM but obviously not confirmed yet. Also likely to get Orton vs Rollins so hopefully Kane and big show will just go in the battle royal. Ryback is in so a 6 man tag match is unlikely. I expect the usos and Naomi to go against Kidd Cesaro and Natalya in a 6 person mixed tag match on the pre show. Ziggler and Bryan could be awesome but sheamus is a rumoured opponent as well for Bryan.