Paid Members BomberPat Posted January 25, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted January 25, 2018 I still think the problem with Ronda Rousey coming in and not winning is that you're bringing her in to lose the first time the audience sees her. I know a Royal Rumble elimination isn't a "loss" in the sense that a pinfall or submission is, but Ronda needs to look unstoppable up until Wrestlemania - they want people to think they're getting the Ronda Rousey that was an unbeatable phenomenon, not the Ronda Rousey that people have turned on and see as a sore loser and a one-trick pony. Having her show any real weakness between now and Wrestlemania is a mistake, in my view. And so is having her eliminate Stephanie - I get that it would give Stephanie the impetus to want revenge, and end up in a match with her at Wrestlemania, but it would mean that you're starting that angle with Ronda giving Stephanie her comeuppance, when that's the pay-off at the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Dingo Capitano Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 (edited) I guess you could have Rousey come in quite late and look awesome clearing the ring apart from couple of other wrestlers and then have Stephanie get up from the desk to pull her over the top rope from outside of the ring. that way Rousey comes in looking hot and you get instant heat and a match set up without the early pay off. Edited January 25, 2018 by El Dingo Capitano Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Briefcase Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 Ronda could still come in and throw Steph out and leave the ring on her own accord. She doesn't need to be eliminated/thrown out. You have her leave the ring herself as Shane has made her a promise to give her a title match anyway or she leaves because she knows she can beat anyone whenever she likes. That way she gets the pop for throwing out Steph, doesn't get made to lose weak and someone else can win the Rumble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snitsky's back acne Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 See, to me the money match in terms of 'mainstream' is Ronda-Asuka. Yes, for wrestling fans, seeing Steph get her comeuppance from Ronda is great but would anyone buy her as a legit threat? I know WWE would show vignettes of Steph training with martial arts coaches and put over how tough she is blah blah blah but in my opinion you have the undefeated Asuka v bad-ass Ronda Rousey at Mania and that's one heck of an intriguing match. Just my two cents, and I do have this horrible feeling Stephanie will win because, well, it's Stephanie, but one can hope. Â Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members TheBurningRed Posted January 25, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted January 25, 2018 1 hour ago, El Dingo Capitano said: How long was Big Cass put out of action for? He was right on a push when he got injured. Any chance he's back to fitness yet and coming in at No.30 to take the win? 9 month injury. Not back until at least May Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted January 25, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted January 25, 2018 5 minutes ago, TheBurningRed said: 9 month injury. Not back until at least May And he's a million miles away from being ready to win the rumble. He needs the slow Strowman push. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philjax Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 I really don't see this Ronda/Asuka match at all as the choice they would go with because one of them would have to lose and i don't think that's going to happen to Asuka until she has at least won the title. Ronda vs Charlotte I can totally see. They might turn Charlotte again or Ronda will heel it up backed by her crew. A multi woman tag does seem the best option though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Supremo Posted January 25, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted January 25, 2018 (edited) 4 hours ago, UK Kat Von D said: Would they explain it? Or would they pretend that Steph forgot how to count to 30, was not aware of all the entrants of the match and was not aware of Ronda training at the performance centre? Just keep her out the match. She will add nothing other than the biggest groan a wrestling crowd has made since Savio Vega Whether they would explain it or not is beside the point. Fact remains that they could explain it in a very easy, logical way. Thinking otherwise, going down that painfully literal thought process, where nothing can ever be scripted to surprise the character of Stephanie, is proper bonkers. Imagine doing the Austin vs. McMahon feud with that approach. “Well, Vince would know that Stone Cold would have hired a beer truck, and would have ordered the set designers to not feature the usual ramp that week to allow the truck to be driven to the ring, so it wouldn’t make sense that he’d act surprised when the truck appeared and he got sprayed with beer.” Mental. I also think you’re crazy if you think it’d get a groan from the crowd. Ronda hardly got a groan at Wrestlemania, did she? I’d be very surprised if she didn’t get the biggest pop of every woman on the roster,  particularly for her first appearance. Edited January 25, 2018 by Supremo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members PunkStep Posted January 25, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted January 25, 2018 4 hours ago, air_raid said: Asuka wins. I'm not so sure after Monday, that was typical booking where you'd have somebody looking so strong on the go home that you knew they weren't winning. I'm starting to think it might be Nia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted January 25, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted January 25, 2018 2 hours ago, Briefcase said: Ronda could still come in and throw Steph out and leave the ring on her own accord. She doesn't need to be eliminated/thrown out. You have her leave the ring herself as Shane has made her a promise to give her a title match anyway or she leaves because she knows she can beat anyone whenever she likes. That way she gets the pop for throwing out Steph, doesn't get made to lose weak and someone else can win the Rumble. Problem there is you've made Ronda look like a heel, even though it's against Stephanie. If she's a fighter, why wouldn't she want to prove herself and win the thing? Leaving on her own accord makes it look like she's above it. If she's just handed a title shot, it makes her look like a heel for having politicked her way into the match rather than earning it, makes her look like she's backed down from the challenge, and it's undermined the entire Rumble - 29 other women fighting for the opportunity, but one of them's just been handed it, and she can fuck off whenever she likes? No thanks. And if you want people to think all of those things about her, don't muddy the waters by having her eliminate Stephanie, who's the de facto biggest heel in the match. 2 hours ago, Snitsky's back acne said: See, to me the money match in terms of 'mainstream' is Ronda-Asuka. Yes, for wrestling fans, seeing Steph get her comeuppance from Ronda is great but would anyone buy her as a legit threat? I know WWE would show vignettes of Steph training with martial arts coaches and put over how tough she is blah blah blah but in my opinion you have the undefeated Asuka v bad-ass Ronda Rousey at Mania and that's one heck of an intriguing match. Just my two cents, and I do have this horrible feeling Stephanie will win because, well, it's Stephanie, but one can hope. I don't think Stephanie will win - if Steph wins, she's facing (and losing to) Ronda at Wrestlemania. By rights it should be a quick match, barely more than a couple of minutes, in which Rousey absolutely murders her - but it wouldn't be that, as while the McMahons have no problem booking, say, Daniel Bryan to job in thirty seconds at Wrestlemania, they're not going to see the worth in booking themselves in the same spot, and they'd foolishly want Stephanie to look competitive. Alternatively, make it No DQ or a Street Fight and gimmick it up - have Stephanie enlist Nia Jax as her bodyguard, utilise her and a bunch of weapon shots to get heat on Rousey without making Stephanie look like she can actually outwrestle her. I also don't see Asuka winning the Rumble, because it's obvious, and because to then get to Asuka vs. Rousey at Wrestlemania you either have to have Rousey come in for a match before 'Mania to win the title, or Asuka somehow lose her title shot. I think Asuka/Rousey is the logical match for Wrestlemania - you have Asuka's undefeated streak, plus she's started using armbars instead of the Asuka Lock, which seems like a nod to Rousey, though could be nothing. In terms of mainstream attention, I don't think it matters who's on the other side of the ring - Rousey in WWE is the draw, not Rousey vs. [INSERT NAME HERE]. No potential opponent could get them more column inches than Rousey alone, nor will it get any more PPV buys, so they may as well go with the match that makes most sense in kayfabe, and that would be most intriguing to those of us who are already guaranteed to be watching the show regardless - and, for me, that's Asuka, with Charlotte as an outside chance if they want to go with the "Horsewomen vs. Horsewomen" angle, which I think is a non-starter, and wouldn't mean anything to most of the fanbase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfoote Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 Well, according to BleacherReport, Rousey won't be at the Rumble Quote  Rousey shut down the speculation in an interview with TMZ Sports, saying, "I'm actually leaving to Colombia right now to finish shooting Mile 22 and I won't be back until mid-February." The former UFC women's bantamweight champion added she hasn't signed any deal with WWE yet either. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Johny Payne of Sportskeeda) reported this week Rousey was "likely" to win the Rumble match  Although as we all know, that doesn't mean she won't be flown in for one night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snitsky's back acne Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 According to Meltzer Rousey's been training at the performance centre for months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 Hopefully Steph doesn't read the Observer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted January 25, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted January 25, 2018 6 hours ago, El Dingo Capitano said: How long was Big Cass put out of action for? He was right on a push when he got injured. Any chance he's back to fitness yet and coming in at No.30 to take the win? Zero chance of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UK Kat Von D Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 5 hours ago, Supremo said: Whether they would explain it or not is beside the point. Fact remains that they could explain it in a very easy, logical way. Thinking otherwise, going down that painfully literal thought process, where nothing can ever be scripted to surprise the character of Stephanie, is proper bonkers. Imagine doing the Austin vs. McMahon feud with that approach. “Well, Vince would know that Stone Cold would have hired a beer truck, and would have ordered the set designers to not feature the usual ramp that week to allow the truck to be driven to the ring, so it wouldn’t make sense that he’d act surprised when the truck appeared and he got sprayed with beer.” Mental. I also think you’re crazy if you think it’d get a groan from the crowd. Ronda hardly got a groan at Wrestlemania, did she? I’d be very surprised if she didn’t get the biggest pop of every woman on the roster,  particularly for her first appearance. You mention that Austin/McMahon wouldn’t have worked with this logic, I did say it’s not the 90s anymore. You can surprise Steph in other ways, but this example doesn’t work. The groan from the crowd was in reference to Steph entering the Rumble, not Ronda. I’m fine with Ronda making a surprise appearance, but Steph would clearly know before hand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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