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5 minutes ago, thevestofdeanambrose said:

It was a two minute skit, the crowd lapped it up. It's not a big deal 😂. Some wrestling fans are the worst.

Where's that shhh let people enjoy things meme. Wrestling fans who read too much into everything should take note of that.

There's some truth in that. But the end conclusion of that is 'let them do what they want...who gives a shit', and that's bonkers. Being a fan means having opinions, i'd say it's far weirder to just lie back and think of England, uncritically. All fan communities are based on opinions, critical or praising, on the thing you're into. I think it's a sign you actually care.

...And anyway, short skits can be hung round your neck if done wrong, don't you think sparklecrotch? I mean, sufferin' succotash.

It's not that bad. It was just a throwaway segment, sure, but i'm not sure that does justice to your Mania challenger.

But, to TildeGuy's point, i've never even considered the possibility that Nak doesn't win. The whole thing seems like a perfect vehicle for Styles to handover to Nakamura, have a rematch at the following PPV and then get drafted off to Raw. Then you draft Miz/Rollins/Balor, or someone, to feud with Nakamura whilst Styles tears it up on Raw.

I don't know why, but I was so convinced that was the path that I didn't even consider that the Nakamura match is there solely to tickle the balls of the Mania crowd, with no interest in what comes after.

Edited by d-d-d-dAz
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It's the ultimate pervy "this is wrestling" match, I guess. They've clearly fancied it for a while. IIRC, didn't they tease a face off between the two of them at Money In The Bank?

Nakamura on SD has been a bit weird, though. Things got off to a ropey start with him being dragged down by Ziggler and them inexplicably changing the production of his previously perfect entrance. Then, after big wins over Cena and (IIRC) Orton, he was the bloke they sacrificed during the worst WWE championship run in history. They've done an ok job at least getting Nakamura to a certain level again, because losing to a bum like Jinder is a bit of a disaster for ones cred, particularly when you're trying to build someone up during their first year with the non-NXT casuals and, importantly, kids.

Edited by ColinBollocks
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The feud with Jinder was an absolute disaster for Nakamura - they need to have words with whoever wrote that.

Nakamura probably suffers more than most from the assumption that people will just care about someone because they're told to - he was thrown straight into competitive matches, probably WWE assuming that the goodwill from NXT would carry him. He should have had a couple of months of squash matches to get over what his finishing sequence was, and what he was all about, so that it would actually get a reaction when he started hitting it on heels the audience wanted to see get kneed in the face. Dragging him down with a Ziggler feud right off the bat was a nightmare.

The Jinder feud even moreso, though - Nakamura wasn't built up strongly enough for a win over him to make Jinder look better, and also not strongly enough that a loss to Jinder wouldn't make him look worse. It was a lose/lose situation. On top of that, when Jinder's whole heel schtick was being the evil foreigner, you don't book him against a foreign babyface, unless they're going to use it to paint Jinder as a hypocrite for crying racism when the fans boo him, but then cutting "flied lice" promos on Shinsuke, but they barely touched on that.

 

Worst of all is that they had Nakamura debut in a segment with The Miz, then drafted Miz over to RAW and did nothing to explain why Shinsuke had turned up. You've got a heel that people would want to see get kneed in the face and shut up, who has a track record of being able to get just about anyone and anything over, and a hot new face oozing charisma, and aiming to knee Miz in the face to shut him up. Nothing could write itself better as an introductory programme for him.

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Could they not have done anything better for the main event last night than basically the main event for Fastlane minus Cena. Just give it away why don’t you?

I really hope Jinder isn’t being added to the US Title match. I thought wwe was over him. I don’t want to see him wrestle, never mind being a champion. And Roode vs Orton has the potential to be a good match and would give Roode a big win over a name that he really needs. 

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15 hours ago, Lion_of_the_Midlands said:

Roode v Orton also has the potential to be so dull that it actually makes time go into reverse. Both of them know how to work a chinlock better than Buff Bagwell. 

Couldn't agree more, both are so, so boring.

I'm starting to think Roode is the worst promo on the entire roster, just awful, awful delivery and work these past few weeks.

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That Nakamura segment was worth it just for the final line from Rusev. Creased at that, what a guy.

I don't think Roode is a poor promo, he is just a total failure as a face act. Everything about him screams heel.

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20 minutes ago, FUM said:

That Nakamura segment was worth it just for the final line from Rusev. Creased at that, what a guy.

I don't think Roode is a poor promo, he is just a total failure as a face act. Everything about him screams heel.

Agreed - his best work in TNA was as the heel champ. Showed more aggression as well during it

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Roode is booked as a face because his music got really over. He was fucked as a heel thanks to Gargano and Ciampa making those "Glorious bomb" videos. All his strengths/weaknesses as a wrestler, irrelevant because part of his act gets people popping.

In many ways, I hate what wrestling has become, I really do.

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The most annoying part of that is that his debut promo in NXT was a great bit of heel work in that he pandered to the audience expectations, and turned on them midway through to brilliant effect. It wouldn't have taken much to give him a similar intro to the main roster, playing on the initial babyface reaction and turning it around on the audience. He's more than capable of it.

Alternatively, if someone's strengths lie in working heel, but their music is getting them babyface reactions - change their music. Makes far more sense than making someone work against type to get a cheap pop for their song. Hell, even have it part of a story that his music's changed, so he can heel it up about taking away something from the audience that they liked.

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Just now, BomberPat said:

Alternatively, if someone's strengths lie in working heel, but their music is getting them babyface reactions - change their music. Makes far more sense than making someone work against type to get a cheap pop for their song. Hell, even have it part of a story that his music's changed, so he can heel it up about taking away something from the audience that they liked.

Ha. You know that's such a brilliantly simple idea. They've done it in the past too with Jake The Snake and The Rock, even Roode did so in TNA. Their entrance gets a pop? Cool change it up.

It's just an example of what wrestling is these days, though. One note hooks.

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Though, in their defence, it’s very hard to find things that their audience enjoy at face value. And when they do enjoy them a) I understand the tempration to keep it but b) the audience is so sure of its own intelligence, without really being so, that it’s often more hassle than it’s worth messing with stuff like that.

It seems simple ‘if a heels music pops the crowd? Change it!’ but then, likely, this current audience would interpret that as Bobby being ‘buried’ or ‘held down’ and suddenly he’s getting face reactions, or his name chanted during inappropriate moments or spots.

On a slightly related note, I can’t imagine it helps Rusev, really, to be getting such good face reactions and to have his name chanted during other people’s segments. I’m not sure the instinctive reaction of management to that is ‘he’s over, let’s push him’, it’s probably ‘he’s a heel, what’s going on here?’. In a way, the audience sabotages itself. Or the performers aren’t very good. There’s a point there somehow.

Be more like The Miz. I think that’s the point.

Edited by d-d-d-dAz
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I think BomberPat's point if they fancy him a heel it's such a simple way to get some heat. "You like chanting my song? Whatever, here is some Dub music". Of course, right now it would be daft to do so because they fancy Roode a face, but down the road it's a nice idea. Roode is good enough to get on without it too.

I think Rusev is on one of those "good heel for ages, we like him" runs, which happens quite a bit in wrestling - Daniel Bryan being the last one to explode in such a manner, who also had a daft catchphrase. Riding something like that, which caught on organically is rare air in wrestling. WWE just have a hard time not overexposing it, so you need the talent to have a bit more about them.

And, yes, be more like The Miz.

Edited by ColinBollocks
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48 minutes ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

Be more like The Miz. I think that’s the point.

 

34 minutes ago, ColinBollocks said:

And, yes, be more like The Miz.

(Smokes in quiet contentment)

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