Minor PPVs that don't deserve a thread *Spoilers*

[BomberPat]

10 minutes ago, Snitsky's back acne said:

Anyone else miss WWE customising their sets and stuff for shows?
WWE could have really gone full retro with the set here - had the commentators dress in appropriate attire, hell even have Honky Tonk Man in a backstage skit of some sort.

 

Absolutely. The annoying part is that it wouldn't take much; a few props around the stage, and then all you need is to vary the graphics on the HD stage screen, there'd be no need to construct a new physical set for every show. One of the things that's turned me off the WWE product for the past few years is that it all feels the same, and it feels like nothing's changed for ten years, and all they really need to fix is that is a lick of paint - the in-ring product is decent enough, they just need to alter the presentation.

Imagine a PPV with this name in the mid-90s. You'd have every '50s greaser cliché imaginable plastered all over it. This show should have had a pink Cadillac, Corey Graves in a leopard print trim leather jacket, and Honky Tonk Man interrupting an Elias Samson song.

[LaGoosh]

I've only watched Joe/Brock and thought it was fine. I enjoyed it. The match in my dreams would have been a brutal bloodbath with both blokes throwing bombs at eachother and causing a hurricane of chaos in their wake. Basically something along the lines of Joe vs Necro Butcher but more polished. But realistically I didn't have high expectations because these days Brock Lesnar just does his thing and won't go the extra mile for anyone who isn't The Undertaker. Joe looked strong in defeat and if this is a sign they're going back to finisher's actually keeping people down for the 3 count instead of everyone kicking out all the fucking time then I'm happy with that. But overall, Brock's act is stale. I'd like to see him do the job to Roman and Braun and then fuck off forever to be honest.

[Snitsky's back acne]

1 hour ago, BomberPat said:

Absolutely. The annoying part is that it wouldn't take much; a few props around the stage, and then all you need is to vary the graphics on the HD stage screen, there'd be no need to construct a new physical set for every show. One of the things that's turned me off the WWE product for the past few years is that it all feels the same, and it feels like nothing's changed for ten years, and all they really need to fix is that is a lick of paint - the in-ring product is decent enough, they just need to alter the presentation.

Imagine a PPV with this name in the mid-90s. You'd have every '50s greaser cliché imaginable plastered all over it. This show should have had a pink Cadillac, Corey Graves in a leopard print trim leather jacket, and Honky Tonk Man interrupting an Elias Samson song.

Exactly! ... and how fucking cool would that be! As you say, a little bit of effort is all it takes. 

I've watched a few of the old Saturday Nights Main Events on the network and some would have a theme [Thanksgiving, for instance] and Jesse would put his pilgrim hat on, One had a jungle theme for some reason and Okerlund and Lord Alfred were in skits stumbling across The Bushwhackers and Snuka in the wild.

Just made each event feel different and unique. Everything all blends into one now. 

[Ambulance Chaser]

So shocked at the general reaction to Brock vs Joe. I fucking LOVED this match, 2 brutes, credible, believable. This was everything i love about Wrestling, i was literally on the edge of my seat the whole time with almost a nervous type feeling in my stomach, wondering how brutal is this gonna get? Is Brock going to lose his head at some point. Joe came out a star for me, Brocks selling was masterful. 

Also the pace of the match, it kind of slowed a little after a blistering start, kind of reminiscent of many HW UFC fights, but even in it's slower pace its intriguing because anything can happen. I loved it.

[zep81]

I did like this spot. 

[Guest]

7 hours ago, Daaaaaad! said:

Of course that's true and I don't even necessarily have a problem with it in this particular instance. It's just a shame that when something is adaptable they don't roll with the punches.

Yeah, the worst case for this was during Rollins' failing heel run, and meanwhile Ambrose got as hot as I've seen anyone get since Bryan. But the plan comes first apparently!

[King Pitcos]

15 minutes ago, sj5522 said:

Yeah, the worst case for this was during Rollins' failing heel run, and meanwhile Ambrose got as hot as I've seen anyone get since Bryan. But the plan comes first apparently!

False. They've deviated from their big plans numerous times over the last few years. Daniel Bryan and Batista weren't playing the roles they were meant to play at WrestleMania 30. The whole point of Brock Lesnar ending the streak was for him to put over Roman Reigns at the next WrestleMania, and that never happened. Cena vs Undertaker for this year (or whatever else they had planned for Taker on SmackDown) got dropped. Bray Wyatt's big babyface turn was forgotten the next time he was on TV. The top of this year's SummerSlam card and next year's WrestleMania card have both supposedly been rearranged lately as well.

Now, more than any time in their history, WWE chiefs are very skittish about long-term plans.

[Harry Wiseau]

This really should be posted in random thoughts but it'd be spoilers - when Joe had Brock in the coquina clutch and he was backed into the corner with Lesnar holding both ropes shouldn't the referee have got him to break the hold? Surely that's a rope break? Either way the start of the match was ace

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, King Pitcos said:

False. They've deviated from their big plans numerous times over the last few years. Daniel Bryan and Batista weren't playing the roles they were meant to play at WrestleMania 30. The whole point of Brock Lesnar ending the streak was for him to put over Roman Reigns at the next WrestleMania, and that never happened. Cena vs Undertaker for this year (or whatever else they had planned for Taker on SmackDown) got dropped. Bray Wyatt's big babyface turn was forgotten the next time he was on TV. The top of this year's SummerSlam card and next year's WrestleMania card have both supposedly been rearranged lately as well.

Now, more than any time in their history, WWE chiefs are very skittish about long-term plans.

Bryan/Batista was more of a necessity because they were shaken by the Rumble reaction and the fans would piss all over anything else, with Roman and Brock I'd say they just got cold feet.

I doubt they ever had any big endgame in mind for face Wyatts, so when Bray and Luke went down with injuries they reverted back to default. 

They're willing to switch a few things around just in time for the big shows, but when it comes to mid year B-PPVs I definitely think there's a degree of stubbornness and an unwillingness to go with someone who gets more over than they anticipated. Maintain Ambrose was The guy to go with in 2015, and he'll likely never get that momentum back now - even if he would've failed at being a top guy it was the time to ditch the J&J/authority dreck and run with the guy who was actually over.

[Snitsky's back acne]

Seen this floating about on Twitter.

'Big Ass' and 'Eat Balls'...... 

[Arch Stanton]

4 hours ago, Ambulance Chaser said:

So shocked at the general reaction to Brock vs Joe. I fucking LOVED this match, 2 brutes, credible, believable. This was everything i love about Wrestling, i was literally on the edge of my seat the whole time with almost a nervous type feeling in my stomach, wondering how brutal is this gonna get? Is Brock going to lose his head at some point. Joe came out a star for me, Brocks selling was masterful. 

Also the pace of the match, it kind of slowed a little after a blistering start, kind of reminiscent of many HW UFC fights, but even in it's slower pace its intriguing because anything can happen. I loved it.

I'm with you on all of this, I came in here tonight expecting much more positive reactions. It upsets me to see so many people shitting on Brock's matches, because he's absolutely one of my favourite performers to watch. His matches bring a realism you just don't get from anyone else. He's a star, he's legitimate and he's unique. Admittedly this wasn't one of his finest matches, but I don't know why anybody would have expected it to go much longer than it did. I enjoyed what they did with the start and like that they told a simple but logical story with the match. I'm never going to complain about somebody not kicking out of a finisher either.

It is mighty disconcerting to see Brock turn bright purple though, it does make me worry about him.

[WeeAl]

I quite enjoyed this show as the stuff I thought would be good, was. The parts I thought would be bad, were. So I didn't feel let down by anything. 

Rollins v Wyatt, Miz v Ambrose I thought were poor, but I had no interest in them before the show and their performances didn't change that.

The tag team title match was a blinder I thought. A really good match with a hot final stretch. I like the chemistry this lot have had. I'm not really sure what is next for them all though. Maybe The Revival for the Hardy's, and Ambrose/??? Vs Sheamus/Cesaro? I can't think who to pair them off with. 

I loved the ambulance match, and to be honest, these two are having the feud of the year. They have been going since February and I still want more of it. As soon as I went and listened to WOR and came in here I seen and heard all the "double turn" stuff. I just don't see it. When the spot happened I did think 'Yeah that's a bit of a dick move from Roman.' However, what else is new? He's done heel things multiple times over the past couple of years to Rusev, Undertaker, Braun etc and it's never meant he was turning heel. It may be the start of a Braun turn, but I don't for a second think they did it to facilitate a Reigns heel turn, even though that would normally be the outcome when you book something in that manner. Reigns and Braun will meet again soon, as Braun isn't finished with him yet, but it'll be for the title at that point and I can't wait to see it. 

I liked the main event, I was hoping for the barn burner we all expected, but if you do that now, where does it go from there? I expect these two will fight twice more and this was booked to be a taster. It left me wanting more anyway. I can't see where people are coming from that Lesnar's act is stale either. Yes he could throw in a few extra words when Heyman is talking, but his matches always deliver in feeling like a big time event, and he comes accross as the biggest, baddest guy there is, so much so that you don't need to beat him to benefit, if you hang with him at all then you benefit as he has been protected so much. That's the way it bloody well should be too. Joe is higher than he has ever been, he can go and murder Seth, Dean, etc now and then come back and be credible to face Reigns, Strowman and Lesnar down the line. 

A good event overall I thought, I'd have probably ended with the two main events in the opposite order though just due to how memorable the ambulance collision was, but that's neither here nor there in the grand scheme of things. 

[Arn Anderson's Darb]

I really liked the main event. Told a good story for me. Noone is harmed from losing to Lesnar and Joe looks all the more dangerous for the brilliant sell job Brock did for him. Totally made sense to me that Joe would try to choke him out because what else has Joe got that could get the job done convincingly? Really popped for the attack before the bell and Heyman's reactions really showed that Samoa Joe possibly came close to beating Brock Lesnar. And who could have said that a couple of years ago?

Strowman is a star already and having great matches and he's still got bags of potential to grow into. They show no signs of fucking this up at all. What an amazing job they did here, especially in the post match nonsense. This is my kind of wrestling. Can't say that I see any signs of a turn from either surprisingly and I hope I'm right about that. Braun doesn't need to be lumbered with a turn right now.

Amazed to see Wyatt pick up a win but really doesn't do much for him. Is Big Damo and those weirdos still in NXT? If so I say send them up and re-hash the Wyatt Family. Rollins can just fuck off. I liked him better with lackeys as well.

[PunkStep]

I enjoyed the main event much more second time around, and after re-watching Joe taking the fall after just one F5 does make sense. It was a quick and sudden win, our of desperation. Joe still dominated the match but Brock just about managed to pull out the victory. Joe still looked like a beast and I don't think suffered from the loss. I did want it to go a little longer though- would've been nice to see Joe throw a couple of suplexes of his own too.

Still, it does set up a highly anticipated re-match down the line.

[The King of Old School]

The Braun/Roman feud is brilliant, I could watch them beat the shit out of each other every night.

I can see this all ending at HITC in October over the Universal title, I think Roman will walk out of Summerslam with it.

The way Braun no-sold those chair shots was great too, I know it's not intended but Strowman could end up being the biggest babyface star they have had in years.