Mr Butternut Squash

I think Smackdown being better is mainly down to it being two hours and Heyman, Roman, Bryan and Edge having some agency in what they're doing. Is the rest of it any better?

They certainly roped me in like a fool with the goodwill coming off the weekend. What a massive shit sandwich to eat that I can't wait to moan about . .

- The new announcer had a mare. He was different from the other robots which is in his favour but addressing the "WWE audience" in his first segment? Woof. Never got the right emphasis on anything with his Kermit The Frog voice.

- Kicking off the Raw after Wrestlemania with an oppressively long heel beatdown on a babyface Riddle that it's impossible to like. Miserable start.

- Rhea Ripley looking like the wheels are already falling off. About to hit Charlotte brick wall, and they've seemingly micromanaged all the cool and confidence out of her and she's having bad matches with Asuska. 

- Following up Damien Priest's big spotlight win at Wrestlemania with a roll-up loss to the Miz in his underpants. 

- Babyfaces Dana Brook and Mandy Rose walking out of their match in fear and accepting the count-out loss like cowards. Then their music plays as if they'd won and they look all smug on the ramp. The most offensive example of the "wins and losses don't matter" philosophy I think I've ever seen.

- Splitting up a group that had some chemistry in the Hurt Business then replacing Cedric and Shelton with the two tall dudes from defunct jobber group Retribution. It's like when they split up The Iconics for no reason to put them in inferior teams. Truly mental behaviour.

- Lore of The Fiend

Bring back Samoa Joe in a poncho. 

Night two never really got off the ground. 

The sight of The Fiend rising from the music box to those chugging power chords took me back to summer 2019, when he felt like a cool, unique character, full of exciting potential. But of course, after the (lovely) Brodie Lee tribute, it was Same Old Bray Wyatt. The invincible, no-selling, super natural monster that loses to a distraction finish. Fucking hilarious.

I love Owen's as a babyface star but I've never got on with his matches. Unlike night one's Seth/Cesaro, this was a workrate sprint that had no meat or story to it. Just two guys endlessly trading big movez because big movez. Fantastic post-match though with Logan Paul getting what he deserved.

Night finally picked up with Riddle vs Sheamus. Proper scrap. Riddle is annoyingly fucking good in the ring and Sheamus is one of the best on the planet. What a brilliant finish. 

Barely remember anything about the Nigerian Drum match other than Big E looking like a superstar during his entrance and the announcers pretending not to know who Dabba Kato is. Was a drum even used? Anyone defending Apollo's gimmick is fooling themselves.

Auska/Ripley was decent but ice cold. Rhea's entrance band should have Milli Vanilli'd it like Wale did. Bloody awful.

To be a downer, I have absolutely zero faith in them capitalising on Bianca Belair and Ripley's big wins. Reading the weekly tv reports it looks like they're barely tolerating the women's division let alone booking it half decent. But what does it matter. The next PPV they'll have some awesome video package that makes it look like they're in some white hot feud instead of being complete non-entity's all along.

The use of Hulk Hogan on this show was as criminal as the non-use of Bayley. Poor Titus could barely hide his disdain at being trotted out all night beside this clown. I'm kind of glad Becky didn't return because these morons would have found some way to get her booed. The reaction to Hogan and The Bella's punking out Bayley went about as well as anyone with a brain cell would have imagined. 

The main event was electric until the silly bollocks with 'con chair to''s and melodrama towards the end. Best triple threat match in donkeys years. It speaks to how much Daniel Bryan has been defined down in three years that he felt like the third wheel and got the crowd reaction to match. And I'm happy to see Roman still getting the boos in. He's the man. I love how there is always an big asterisk next to his victories but he looks dominant at the same time. 

23 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said:

They didn't just start piped in noises over the past year you know.

Plus to be honest there's not a single moment I can think of last night that I actually thought they were interfering with the crowd noise. So if they've found a less obvious way of doing it than before then good.

When did they pump in crowd noise before then? Genuine question because I've never been aware of it. I know they've always pissed about in post-production and even muted reactions in recent years. But piping in cheers during a live event?

The sweetening was massively noticeable in the main event to me. Drowned out what looked like organic reactions at various points.

42 minutes ago, SuperBacon said:

Seth Rollins should never, ever, ever, ever be a babyface. Ever. He has been glorious in this run and him and Cesaro I thought had the match of the night. The usual "Push Cesaro to the mooooooon" comments came out just after the match, and no. I love Cesaro, but not everyone you love HAS to be a main eventer. I genuinely don't think he is that level. Which is fine obviously.

 

Is this still a thing then? For me, the argument for Cesaro is that he should have at least got a crack in a main event slot as a title challenger at some point in his career. Not to be an actual Guy.

Good night of the ol rasslin' there. What looked like it could be an epic disaster turned out to be a fun, feel good (!) show. Liked the variety - Hoss match, diva's style trainwreck, wOrkRate sprint, daft Big Men, fun celebrity wrestling and a traditionally built Main Event. It was great to hear that initial roar for Drew's big entrance and the stadium looked wonderful. Unfortunately, the crowd noise was an issue for me and became more of a problem as the show went on as the sweetening got more and more obvious.

I didn't quite get into opener. It might've just been me trying to adjust to the atmosphere. Typical WWE though. They seemingly done everything they can to cool Bobby Lashley off then he goes over anyway. Man, Drew's had a rough go at it and probably deserves better. Thought his promo with MVP while everyone was scrambling was great stuff.

I was drifting off during the tag turmoil, keeping an ear out for the surprise entrants. But wow, they really did just put that on the card. The nepotism in this company is relentless.

Thrilled Cesaro got his Mania moment. Cracking little match with hardly an ounce of fat on it. The 'UFO' spot was the one moment all night that had me completely forget the stadium was only a quarter full. Seth is half way tolerable in this position and the campaign ad is the best character work he's ever done. That stiff elbow rattling the back of Cesaro's head though. Ouch!

They're so obsessed with big men that they threw all psychology out the window in the tag title match. I kind of love Omos. He looks incredible and has a ton of charisma. But he can hardly do anything! Least the crowd seemed into it.

I hate Shane and wish he'd fuck off forever, but fair do's. At least he's dedicated to killing himself in the middle of the ring.

Bad Bunny is the man! Blow away performance by the lad. The Miz is obviously a pro and did a fabulous job guiding him through it, but Bunny nailed all his spots and his selling and appealing to the crowd was better than most vets. All time great entrance too. 

Main event was real good. Bianca hitting all her impressive power spots while Sasha worked brilliantly around her, looking every bit the Ace she always should've been. Sasha's a gem and made Belair look like an utter star. The crowd sweetening was really distracting at this point though, and I don't know why as the crowed seemed perfectly into it. 

I just need Bayley continuing the weekend being an agitator (although the fools have inadvertently turned her babyface) and then for Becky to shut her up and night 2 will immediately be a success. 

Also, lol at the Hulkster getting booed when they thought they could get away with it. Just send him home. 

Cracking promos from Big E, Bryan, Roman and yes, Edge. A rare glimpse of how good it can be if they'd get out their own way.

The main event stuff was typical WWE though, where it's the heels that sound like they were in the right. Edge in particular felt justified when he painted Bryan as the annoying indie knobhead that weaselled his way into HIS main event. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Bryan gets booed at Mania.

In fact, by the end of Roman's belting promo it felt like this was all by design. That final crescendo of Reign's promo might be the peak of this awesome character. Him saying Edge and Bryan would "hear a million dollars of pyro shoot off and then hear the whole world acknowledge him", made this whole thing click in my head, and got me thinking this was all an elaborate ploy. As Roman wrecks the underserved indie brat and leaves the washed up has-been laying, finally he'll close Wrestlemania to thunderous cheers. Finally he'll have the marks and smarks alike ACKNOWLEDGE HIM as the top babyface star in the promotion.

Oh fuck. Actually looking forward to tonight with the stadium and the crowd, some potential returns and a general big time feel. "Real American" being the first entrance pop will put a massive damper on it.

Only watched Walter vs Ciampa and Gonzalez vs Io and both delivered. Fucking love Walter. He's the only legit looking guy on they have. Fairly simple, straight forward stuff with bore Ciampa that ended with a chop and it was compelling as fuck.

LOL at the wretched sounding main event. Adam Cole stinks and Shawn Michaels ruined wrestling.

Try and get everyone over and no one gets over or however that saying goes. Focus on the key acts.

Feel like I say it every week, not enough Team Tazz. Or Britt Baker. Or Max Caster videos.

I really dig Tay Conti's Dustin style selling but my God she must have the worst Nearfall Face in wrestling.  

It's frustrating because there is flashes of a brilliant dickhead heel in there and the Callis pairing has a lot of potential. The Young Bucks, Good Brothers and the half baked 'Forbidden Door' stuff is really muddying it all up though.

Screw them for putting JD Drake in a singlet. If you look like prime Buddy Rose you don't hide it.

Yeah, it won't happen but I'd love it if The Pinnacle left Tyson laying next week. Not happy with how they've blown off their heat so quickly.

The Acclaimed and Caster are awesome. Max is green as grass but it doesn't really matter in his case. The act feels so fresh and current compared to everything else and they inject the tag scene with some much needed personality.

The Bucks melodrama is so rotten. Hope this an end to all the bollocks because them and Omega just ain't cutting it as champions so far.

4 hours ago, CL Punk said:

The Andre Memorial Battle Royal and The Smackdown Tag Team Fatal 4-Way have been added to the Smackdown before Mania.

That must suck for all involved, not even getting a match at Mania.

That your match doesn't even rate a spot on a kick off show.

I'm far from a "everyone deserves a spot at Wrestlemania" type of guy but it would be shocking if Jey Uso and The Street Profits can't even make a two night card after all they've invested in them the past year.

Also, unless there's some personal issue, I can't imagine Vince is leaving Bayley off the show. I'm convinced she'll have some kind of talk show segment with a surprise Becky Lynch, even if it is wishful simp thinking on my part.

Respectfully disagree @Chris B about the storytelling. I've enjoyed the last few weeks of Dynamite but I do think there's issues big picture wise. There's regularly too many poor or mediocre feuds going on at once, with bad character development and the of need blood and gimmicks to save them. I've no idea why their ratings are falling off but I think the EVP's endlessly dicking about isn't helping. Cody, Omega and The Young Bucks are meant the promotions big stars but does anybody actually care about what they're doing right now? Omega has his flashes of brilliance but it's mostly boring melodrama with him, Callis and the Bucks. Cody and The Bucks are a mess. Adam Page, Lance Archer, Team Tazz, Orange Cassidy and Penta are either constantly treading water or have lost momentum completely. Even Moxley has felt aimless since dropping the belt.

On the other hand Darby, MJF and The Inner Circle have been consistent. 

Edge was always third rate to me without Vickie Guerrero.

Typical that they've finally nailed the Roman Reigns character, he's sharing the ring at Wrestlemania with Daniel Bryan, and I'm not excited at all. With all that intertwined history and a story right there for the taking. Because instead, bloody Edge won the Royal Rumble, and it went about as well as expected. Not only does he look knackered, but he must be the only guy on the planet that has zero chemistry with Roman. As opposed to Bryan who has chemistry with absolutely everyone. So we get some bungled together three-way with a never-has-been and a Daniel Bryan that's spent the year being solidified as a mid carder. Crap.

Forced turns are the story of Luger's career. He must have turned five or six times between 87-90, which is soft stuff by todays standards but is absolutely the kind of thing that could have killed any potential drawing power back then. He is the last guy you should be pushing as some relatable man of the people. But he is one of those weird cases where he was such an awesome dick heel that fans were dying to cheer him. Especially in that WCW environment, which wasn't exactly filled with strapping young Adonis's like Lex.

That's another thing I think hurt him in WWF. By the time he got there he looked to have aged 20 years since his late 80s peak. 

If Charlotte gets cleared she should face Bayley. It'd be a crime if she has nothing to do after pretty much being the only good character on the woman's roster.

Also looking forward to what Omos and Bad Bunny can do. Does Priest have covid as well? Odd that he's been dropped from the match as it seemed like a vehicle to get him over.

I barely notice Darby's size anymore. He's pretty safely the best wrestler in the company for me actually. Him and Serena Deeb. I'm a sucker for mat work and it stands out in AEW. His unique, crazy offence, selling and bumps are incredible too. When he came in he looked like another garbage wrestler, doing silly stunts and weak brawling. But he's something completely different and his own little thing.

Darby usually does decent in the quarters from what I remember. I liked that they've given him a couple of main events as a vote of confidence. 

Yeah I was chuffed with that after moaning about it last week.

"Where is my mind" is overrated and overplayed as fuck but I'm digging the licensed themes. Orange Cassidy needed some kind of boost.

Ouch. Poor Lex. Talk about square peg in a round hole. Vince didn't get the appeal of Luger at all.

Thought it was a fun show that flowed nice. 

John Silver suffered a shoulder injury unfortunately. Thought he did a great job regardless. Hope he recovers soon, would love to see him and Darby go at it some more. The opener was cracking too. I love Don Callis on commentary, does a great job of selling what a shit Omega is.

FTR cutting the ring in half and beating the piss out of a babyface never gets old.

45 minutes ago, RedRooster said:

flating. You potentially have: Cody/QT Marshall, Darby/Matt Hardy, Omega/Christian, The Bucks/The Good Brothers (or Moxley & Kingston/The Good Brothers) and Sting/Archer. Too many promising fresh faces are being sidelined for much less interesting older alternatives.  

That makes for some bleak reading when you see it written down. I completely agree. I think they're a hair away from having a really hot, fresh and exciting show but they need to allocate time better. QT Marshall, Best Friends, Hardy, and now Christian etc . . take up spots and all too regularly suck the energy out of the show.

The less time they have to ruin matches with shitty "stories", the better. Asuka vs Rhea is the most interesting match on the card for me as well. It's a pairing these idiots would never have considered if they didn't fall arse backwards into it out of necessity. Just watch them add Charlotte.

So the Penta thing was just a throwaway to set up Cody vs QT Marshall? FUCK OFF.

Lack of star power? They've got The Hulkster, brother!

I see there's a twitter thing pushing for the women to headline night one at Wrestlemania. Will they cave? I think it'd be cool although it sounds like WWE are more invested in Nia Jax and Reginald than Sasha/Bianca. Could end up feeling like an empty gesture like before. 

Does it even matter though? You could slot almost anyone into the main event these days and it wouldn't make much difference. Drew, Bray, Sasha, they're all the same. The entire promotion is ice cold and aimless outside of possibly heel Roman.

The only thing that could have possibly made Charlotte interesting is an on-screen pairing with Andrade. And . . .  yeah. Not happening. The racist pricks wouldn't have it anyway.