DavidB6937

9 hours ago, SuperBacon said:

Voddy Rhodes.

 

Vodka? Fucks sake. The many gins of Cody Rhodes was right there.

I guess the one thing you can't port over, no matter who it is, is a long term emotional attachment if you've not followed their journey before. There's top stars and then there's favourites and a mixture of both.

Kinda like why I don't hate Seth Rollins quite as much as some - sorry! - simply due to having watched him from day 1 in ROH and being invested in his journey, even if I'm not necessarily a massive fan of his current "character" (and I use that word loosely).

We all find ways to be invested in certain people. Might be their work. Might be a long term commitment. Can be both. It's definitely something a lot of the Japanese stars suffer with if they don't have an immediately impressive performance or character, especially in WWE.

4 minutes ago, RedRooster said:

Subtraction would strengthen AEW

Thought this was some new indy team I hadn't heard of.

29 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

However the finale left me in two minds. On one hand it was a wildly unpredictable and hilarious finale that perfectly encapsulated the series themes. But on a plot/story level it left me fairly unsatisfied. 

Yeah I was sat watching it on a train on the way to work and I wondered what the fuck anyone would think if they walked past and saw what I was watching. I hoped they didn't expect me to explain because I didn't have a fucking clue myself. I still don't know how I feel about it. I've read about it after and obviously it's incredibly open to interpretation. I do love that they did whatever they wanted to do and I'm okay with things not being completely tied up in a neat bow but you're right about the lack of satisfaction. I guess that's life though right?

38 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

Fuck me, they're going to have to turn Mercedes heel soon aren't they? Pretty hard to cheer her, even Toronto seemed to give up after the initial CEO chants. She's coming across as insanely phoney and unlikable. That she basically came out just to be like "hey, I made the production team put together a video about how great I am, watch it!" isn't exactly top babyface behaviour.

This was always going to be the best move, and I hope they already knew it. Sure, you get the initial pop for her in the hometown and all that, but everyone knows she's far better as a heel because that character does not lend itself to being believable or likeable. She thinks she's better than everyone else. She's the boss. The CEO. She's great at coming across as disingenuous and cocky. 

If I'd put bets on who would come in as a heel between her and Okada, it definitely would've been her. Not to say it hasn't been a stroke of genius with Okada but it's a far more natural place for Mercedes to be.

WWE2k23

Got it on the cheap now the new one is out. Haven't bought one in a good 4-5 years so thought I'd give it a chance.

Actually pleasantly surprised. General presentation is really good. A few ridiculous glitches still but doesn't feel nearly as much of a slog as some previous games and doesn't look terrible either. Well apart from the faces and teeth freaking me out on cut scenes.

Helps that I've got it on my Steamdeck so I can just dip in and out whenever. Just working through My Rise at the moment but yeah definitely the most solid all round WWE game I've played in ages. I'll definitely pick the next one up once that goes cheap too.

I wonder if Bayley even wants to jump right back into full face mode. Arguably she had a tough time getting to the main roster and succeeding under that gimmick. Will it work returning to it? I think it needs to be a natural progression if they do head that way and it'd be fairly jarring to just see her turn up like that at Mania. I'm sure it'll raise a smile if it happens, but she also wants Paramore as an entrance doesn't she? Time will tell but Rhea/Becky is feeling a bigger match at the moment.

10 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

So yeah, WWE fans, because there are millions more of them on social media, are louder and have shitter opinions than AEW fans because of sheer volume. That’s not to say neither have shit takes, but one is more noticeable than the other. 
 

What grown adult chooses McDonalds by choice ffs? That’s an everything else is closed option for most people.

You do know you can discuss things without openly slagging off other people, right? And that your opinions are just that - opinions. What you think/feel/enjoy isn't gospel.

You like AEW and you don't like McDonalds. Good for you. Doesn't mean that's what everyone should be doing, and you really need to find a way of being able to discuss stuff without shutting others down as if you're always right and everyone else is wrong.

Well, I like McDonalds and WWE. But I don't like Avatar or U2. So I don't know where that leaves me really. I'm off to cheer for Cody Rhodes while eating some McNuggets.

25 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

WWE can put on any old shite and get record ratings and attendance because it's THE brand (and I am not saying all WWE is shite, but my point is being the most popular isn't always a sign of quality). Also WWE has one of the worst fandoms with the worst takes, as most big fandoms do like Star Wars. 

Doesn't that ignore the fact that there's a general opinion that WWE's product has been better lately? Because the increase in attendance and sales etc lately surely shows that they can't just "put on any old shite" to get record ratings and attendance? Otherwise they would've been doing that year on year for however long?

And ALL fandoms have shit takes. There's always going to be people who have absolutely no interest in opposing views and will just defend their favourite stuff to the death. Wrestling. Football. Sci fi. All of it.

And yeah @tiger_rick I guess it comes down to what people are watching it for, as you say. I imagine the majority of the audience - who the product is mostly aimed at - aren't going to be sitting down and picking it apart in the way some of us do on here. So there's no right/wrong opinions really in terms of quality or whether it's "good" because good clearly means different things to different people, especially in wrestling.

1 hour ago, tiger_rick said:

I'd much rather judge on the people on here than the people on Twitter who were telling me that shows in the Thunderdome were great, fwiw.

Oh in terms of reasonable discussion and all that - absolutely. I rarely directly engage with anyone on Twitter.

However in terms of a wider picture and seeing how people are reacting to stuff, reading Twitter/Facebook/Reddit can give a more overall view of how things are being received as a general audience, which I would assume WWE care more about than us on here. Basically the opposite of Tony Khan.

And right now, as far as I can tell, the questionable booking and shifts hasn't caused a mass turn against Cody or caused any issues with the business, nor has whatever work The Rock has been putting in. And that'll be all they care about really.

46 minutes ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

Barely anyone cares about Cody/Roman. Shite.

Is that true though? Granted a lot of focus has been on The Rock but, whether you agree on the content or whatever, surely the clear point of all of this is to get Cody over more?

One of the main concerns was if they were ever going to be able to keep Cody hot enough for a rematch at Mania.

As far as I can tell Cody is the most over person and in the best spot to beat Roman. If that's the case then I think Rock is doing his job okay. If Cody/Roman falls flat at Mania and no one is invested then we'll know no one gives a shit and the build up failed.

And if they can keep Cody hot AND come out of this with possible feuds with the Rock or Rock/Reigns then that's got to be a good thing no?

I get that the simple story was screwed up somewhere along the way and it's tough for some to get on board now but they do seem to be doing a decent job. I'm not seeing much that people aren't invested in now unless I'm missing something.

Saw a lot of positive comments on the Cody promo over socials this morning. Seemed to go down well in general. Crowd were really into him too. Didn't think it was a bad promo at all myself but hey.

DIY/Creeds worked really well together. Creeds will have their time. They should have a long and bright future. Need to enjoy DIY while we can as they don't seem to have much luck on the main roster, together or apart.

The Becky stuff was exactly what she needed going into Mania. I'm still more into Bayley's story but can't deny Rhea/Becky feeling like the bigger match.

And enjoying the experimentation each week with the shots. Definitely feels like they're more flexible now.

19 minutes ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

 

 

They've got a jointly branded t-shirt.

It's all over lads.

 

Never seen more accurate wording on a t-shirt.

25 minutes ago, BigJag said:

The Guardian posted this article today.

https://www.theguardian.com/games/2024/mar/18/trocadero-london-arcade-segaworld-funland-portal-troc

If there was ever an article written for me. Thanks for sharing

I'd be surprised if Eddie even knows what he's doing from one day to the next. It's a mess.

What the fuck is that one dude doing flinging his arms around madly.

Oh man, this is a tough one. So many things. I'll have to come back to it.

But I can tell you what the best thing the Internet has given me recently because obviously it's this man.

Yeah the coldness due to Jimmy's turn makes more sense I think and I can definitely understand why some people wouldn't be into it after that. It was pretty nonsensical. But I guess the long term plan was riding the Jey popularity wave AND getting the Mania match between the two. It has been mentioned by them a few times that it's something they wanted. So on a personal level I'm quite happy for them too.

Also not really sure where they go after it. Is it one big blow off match and then they go back to pretending each other doesn't exist? I imagine they'll reconcile eventually. Most teams do. Might depend on how successful Jey continues to be.

It's a fine line isn't it. If they're all over each other week on week then it doesn't feel that special when they finally have a match. So I can see why they've been mostly separated. WWE have often had too many interactions between people and lessened the impact. I quite like that they haven't overdone it. There's more than enough there for me to want to see them fight. I don't think it's something that desperately needs more buildup.

2 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

Not like me to disagree with David Numbers, but I feel this WrestleMania is ice cold outside of The Rock and Cody. Even Bayley vs Iyo Sky feels tepid right now, despite feeling quite hot just a few weeks ago. When LA Knight vs AJ Styles and Uso vs Uso is being pushed as big matches you have to wonder if NAME REDACTED was right on Wrestlemania not being a 2 night event. I’m getting late 00’s/early 10’s vibes from the card so far.

I mean I'm not surprised you're not into it, lets be honest.

But I'll agree that Knight/Styles is a random thing and I am surprised like most people that it isn't combined with the Logan stuff. Maybe they've decided they needed another match to fill the time? Who knows.

Have to disagree on the Uso thing though. Considering how long the Bloodline stuff has been going, surely Mania a natural conclusion for those two? That's exactly the type of thing they should be aiming for on the card.

It's a shame if it has ruined WrestleMania for you personally as there's a lot of entertaining stuff going on and The Rock is putting in a strong shift. He's not half arsing it.

Yes there was a logical story there originally and yes it could have been a lot more straight forward but at some point the majority had to make the decision to let go of that and make the most of what we're getting now.

Fair enough if you don't want to and you want to hold on to the anger a bit but it's not going to change. We are where we are and unless you can build a time machine we're here now.

Plus knowing we could've ended up with something far worse anyway.. yeah, I think the build up we're getting now is a good effort and Mania itself should be another solid one.

I'm just hungry now.

He's an idiot.