FUM

It probably didn’t help the match that Jimmy decided he wanted to look every bit the guy who used to do the haka. Samoans naturally need to do a little more work to stay in shape and it was clear only Jey was arsed about that.

1 minute ago, CTXRussomark said:

This is what I immediately assumed it would be and it's only Meltzer saying otherwise that's pointing towards the opposite.  So it would be doubly funny if someone is just fucking with Uncle Dave with the actual footage story.  Plans change though I guess...

Every journo is reporting it’s not a bait and switch. He genuinely intends to show the footage. 

There were some boos for Cody last year too. There are always boos for Roman’s opponents as there’s a certain element of the crowd into the whole Bloodline business - now more prevalent with the addition of The Final Boss who brings his own fans. Drew didn’t even have 100% backing in the UK.

Man, Roman realised he was being outshone so decided he wouldn’t be when the big lads got their tops off eh?

8 hours ago, Supremo said:

Chad

Didn’t even get his advertised battle royal spot. Neither did Andrade or Nakamura. Must have been confusing for the crowd in attendance to be missing 3 of the front row from the match graphic.

Fucking hell, The Rock at Muhammad Ali’s induction to HOF. Never has an “I’m on the board” power play been more obvious than last night at that ceremony.

Not to mention his grandmother going in last of the night which is usually the headline spot.

23 hours ago, IANdrewDiceClay said:

Anyone remember that WrestleMania party about 10 years ago where they all got kicked out before the show got going? What happened with that again? Who organised it?

One of many was it not? There was one at Sports Cafe in Glasgow that everyone got kicked out before the main event and it caused a riot.

29 minutes ago, Healy52003 said:

Wonder why they didn't announce this earlier in the year ? Suppose they sell it out eitherway with the huge demand by UK and European fans

Clash 1 was announced April 2022 (mid 2021 rumours started) 

MITB in January 23 (no rumours whatsoever) 

I’ve been reading a while it was going to be in Scotland. Wouldn’t be surprised if marketing material was contingent on Drew’s deal which has been rumoured to be expiring soon.

7 minutes ago, Loki said:

I hate to bring this up but… Does anyone else think Roman doesn’t look that well at the moment?

I’m just wondering if some of the scrambling changes of plan over the last few months might be related to him not feeling that great and needing another extended period off.  I presume he’s on some fairly hefty drugs all the time for his leukaemia.

He said he is on “very potent” drugs during his A&E Biography.

Personally, though, I think he looks fine if a little older.

7 hours ago, Mr.Showtime said:

I think some love should be given to the Chad Gable / Sami Zayn Rocky tribute, which I still think was missing something from being an all-time classic segment (some tongue-in-cheek comedy? More emotional music? Not sure), but I was entertained nonetheless and it got me more invested in the IC Title match this weekend. Good stuff.

Surely the story being built here is Chad turning and Gunther retaining though.

As much as I know people still love Sami, they’ve really taken away what got him to the level he did last year which was the comedy combined with the vulnerability for me.

Good luck to SmackDown. It’s at the same time as Scotlands first game in the Euros.

He was always scheduled to appear on this RAW to be fair. Him and The Rock were advertised in the ticket sales promos I seen a few weeks back. 

He’s also stood behind the real star playing second fiddle in that ad.

7 hours ago, Nick James said:

I honestly thought when Rey was doing the tease for the partner it was going to be Andrade. I like Dragon Lee, bags of potential, future star, but this was the wrong time to use him. Absolute tumbleweed of an announcement, especially when the crowd were chanting for Carlito who was right there. 

Tag match is bollocks as well, go all out faction warfare. There's 5 on each side FFS.

When he said a partner of my choosing I thought they had got Bad Bunny back for the big show. Andrade would also have been better than Dragon Lee though. As above, I think Carlito being right there is part of the story as he looked a bit peeved. 

What an absolute shite announcement that tag match was. All primed for either Rey’s career being on the line or a hair v mask singles match. Crickets for Dragon Lee too - the kids good but the audience don’t give a shit for him yet.

Surely there’s not people that still want Cody v Roman to be a pure wrestling match? I want to see the most overbooked mental chaos I’ve ever seen - five times more overbooked than Triple H v Sting for me. Throw everything at it - Rock, Austin, Cena, IRS. 

I generally check out the first segment or hour of RAW then pop off to bed. Last night was so good, I wound up awake for the full show without a hint of tiredness and I was still buzzing afterwards. Best episode start to finish in years by a country mile.

5 hours ago, Supremo said:

The zenith of the failed babyface push for Roman Reigns will always be that Summerslam when he faced Brock and they teased Strowman was going to cash in afterwards, in order to stop the fans from hijacking the match. Then the moment Roman won the belt, they cut the feed, rushing off air.  No cash in after all, suckers! Like a Montreal Screwjob only on your own audience. Vince probably ran and jumped in Earl Hebner’s car straight afterwards.

Weird time.

My favourite was him winning the Rumble in Philly and them thinking bringing The Rock out would save the day. Only for The Rock to piss off for years deeply unhappy because he was booed by association.

He was very explicit on the McAfee show the other day about going on for a while yet. He said the below:

Granted he was in character for much of the interview but it doesn’t sound like a man who plans on cutting it much more anytime soon. He already has a relatively limited schedule.

43 minutes ago, Loki said:

I'm not sure that it's Cody that's most at risk from being overshadowed by The Rock.  For me, it's Roman Reigns that is most at risk of being in the shade.

Completely agree with this. Don’t feel like Cody has lost anything from all of this. Roman completely looks like he’s playing second fiddle to his family member.

The best he looked was telling The Rock to acknowledge him but outside that he’s looked like a bit part in all of this and I don’t think it’s anything he is personally doing - it’s the way it has been written.

1 hour ago, Supremo said:

You assume this means they’ll do a crazy Lucha multi-man at Wrestlemania.

Surely more likely that Dom has been growing his hair for a good reason and Wrestlemania will see a mask v hair match?

I actually thought the camera work and theme music playing harmed the big reveal. They didn’t really highlight Roman saying “you fool” after he clicked his fingers and they took too long to get to the images of Solo and Jimmy.

They then hardly had the camera on Cody as his face changed. I get how absolutely picky and downright nerdy this sounds but, aye, that’s my takeaway.

Is that The Undertaker and Kane no longer brothers in the WWE Universe then?

I’d be surprised if many suffer that full 3 hours of RAW without fast forward use. I was hoping the Netflix deal would be the solution but I doubt it now Netflix has an ad tier.

12 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

When was the last time either had a match on TV, and a decent one?

Jey Uso had a cracker with Gunther to start this part of the feud just a few shows ago then a good main event with Drew the following week. In fact, he wrestles pretty regular and generally always has a decent match.

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

People seem to be eating it up, and are happy to cheer The Rock and boo Cody. Good for them.

But they’re not when they are both on screen together which is what matters. They’ve been lapping up Cody and booing The Rock when both are on screen together.

I think you’re really overthinking some fans in Memphis who were buttered up and given a Rock Concert. There’s no question of what the fans want when Cody appears.

33 minutes ago, 69MeDon said:

I'd be gobsmacked if she's getting paid $10m a year.

Fightful have called bull on that. Would say they’re a more reliable source as Sapp is obsessed with contract business.