Royal Rumble 2018 Discussion [& stats]

[Astro Hollywood]

6 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

Seriously, though, the absolute state of Seth's Highspots tights.

They were made from that shirt everyone had in 2002.

[Sergio Mendacious]

They are imbued with the coolness of the lead singer of Smash Mouth

[Carbomb]

1 hour ago, Silky Kisser said:

Carbomb I know Ebb isn't watching this til tonight. Might wanna untag him to avoid potentially spoiling. Same probably goes for Wand and Jim to be on the safe side.

Really sorry - have removed him from the post.

As to Rousey wrestling, there's a very obvious solution to her lack of experience and training: make her the female Goldberg. Sure, Asuka's on an undefeated streak already, but Rousey's known for tearing through most of her opponents within the first minute; have her blast her way through the NXT women's roster in short order, get some squash jobbers for the filler bits in between, make up some stats about her beating a load of people in South America and Mexico, then set her on the main roster, before finally facing Asuka.

[BigJag]

1 hour ago, Astro Hollywood said:

What was up with the acting in that final segment? Nobody seemed to be in character. When they were waiting for Rousey's music to hit, Charlotte was nervously looking around, looking at the camera, like none of them realised they were on camera. Then Rousey comes down in Andre the Giant's leather jacket, and apart from Asuka, everyone seemed like they'd been teleported in there with no idea who or where they were.

Rousey has said that she only knew about having to go out 10mins before she actually did. I'm guessing they neglected to smarten up Asuka , Bliss, and Charlotte. Hence the "what are we supposed to do" reactions from the three established professionals. It seemed only Asuka sort of understood what was required of her.

[Guest]

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

 

Its insane to think that she’s going to be anything other than a regular on TV/PPV for at least a year (though, owing to her profile I’d be fine with her ‘working a program-leave for a bit-work another program’ type schedule). There isn’t an angle here for them to work. There’s no benefit for them in saying she’s full time when she’s not. From a strictly marketing perspective ‘one night only, exclusively at Wrestlemania’ (yadda yadda yadda) is a way more compelling pitch than ‘at Wrestlemania...and then for a bit after that’. And if we accept that she’s coming in as a competitor, surely we have to accept that they aren’t going to start her run as a referee, thus waiting 15 months for her to make a competitive appearance at Wrestlemania? When all the heat will have turned to ice.

Youre acting as if she signed yesterday and now has to start from scratch? One presumes she’s done some training behind closed doors. Certainly enough to get her guided through a match at Mania.

This is a company that have had Lawrence Taylor and Snookie in flagship Mania matches. I think Ronda will be fine.

They need to strike whilst the iron is hot, surely?

I’m amazed anyone could watch last night, read the press release and still come to the conclusion she should start her stint as a ref.

For a kickoff, her appeal, such as it is, is that she’s not a ‘do nothing bitch’ and she’s a badass who’ll take on any challenge. Her fans are hardly going to fork out their hard earned cash to watch her do what is essentially stripy admin.

Plenty Tyson fans paid out to see him be a ringside ref at mania 14. I’m not saying make her Tim White ffs. You contradict yourself throughout that on your definition of full time, so there really is no reasoning with you. 

Yeha she can be guided through a mania match, but what then when you don’t get weeks to practice each match? To be at level of the top women, you don’t get there in the two months she’s been going to the PC. 

[ColinBollocks]

Fuck that.

[BomberPat]

8 minutes ago, BigJag said:

Hence the "what are we supposed to do" reactions from the three established professionals. It seemed only Asuka sort of understood what was required of her.

It's moments like this that really show the benefit of experience - as confident a performer as Alexa Bliss is, she just seemed lost, and Charlotte is always a bit of a deer in the headlights when doing anything other than wrestling, whereas Asuka always carries herself as if she's the most important person in the room, and that she knows it. But then, Charlotte and Alexa have only been wrestling for 4 or 5 years, Asuka's got close to 15 years under her belt.

[BomberPat]

2 minutes ago, ColinBollocks said:

Fuck that.

Putting my response to this in the right place;

I honestly thought that was going to throw the match off, but he was only momentarily rocked. What a guy.

You hear stories of Lesnar enjoying people working stiff with him, and that being the style he prefers, but surely that was nothing more than being proper pissed off with Braun and getting a free shot in? Back when Strowman had just debuted in the Wyatt Family, Lesnar gave him a right hiding in the Rumble match as well.

[Briefcase]

14 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

Seriously, though, the absolute state of Seth's Highspots tights.

I was surprised to see the Curb Stomp back though. Just a one off or will he be using it again?

Anyway the Rumble(s) were much better than I thought they would be, whether its because I watched live and was shattered or the fans/endings were actually good for once I don't know.

Up until the men's final six I was thinking how awful and lack of star power WWE actually has, especially when you got Titus O Neill & Goldust coming out in the last 5 spots. Luckily the ending made the poor entrants forgettable. I know the rumble has always been a mix match of talent but these days with less characters its quite soul destroying when the timer counts down from 10 and you get people you couldn't care less about. At least 15 years ago you would buy into the characters even if you knew they had no chance of winning, maybe thats another discussion to be had elsewhere. 

I have to admit I have never really been into Nakamura as I'm not convinced WWE (on Smackdown anyway) have really showcased his character (same with Balor) so when it came down to the last 4 I wasn't overly excited...BUT do think Nakamura came across excellently with the fans backing him and pretty much nailed it which has won me over in him winning the rumble. I kind of now 'get it' with him so credit where its due. I only watch Raw/Smackdown so can be forgiven for those views having not seen much of Japan/NXT.

I did enjoys the Women's Rumble too, be interesting to see where this all goes with Ronda. I think when you look at both the mens titles, Raw is seen as the 'main one' in how its portrayed heavily in storylines so Ronda fits that profile almost in the same way Brock does, the Smackdown title you feel will be more how its portrayed in the actual ring. In a sense the WWE can reach out to different types of fans to please both in that respect. Your casuals who are happy to see Ronda/Brock and your hardcore who love the match quality (Styles/Asuka).

Lastly, I think the match order was spot on for both Rumble matches and for the first time it made no difference with the womens match going on last, in the past for whatever reason it would feel a bit deflated, not this time though. 

[BomberPat]

He'd used the Curb Stomp on RAW, apparently - last night the set-up was different, though not drastically, so that might have been a one-off. I did notice Corey Graves referring to it by its old "Blackout" name, though.

[Briefcase]

Forgot to mention that other than Raw 25 I haven't really seen much WWE TV lately. I'm not sure if this contributed to me enjoying the PPV more but think I might go that way now. There is only so much WWE TV you can take that by the time the PPV's roll around you can be forgiven for thinking its just another match. 

[Rob Lowe]

Was Lita's #TimesUp on her gear the first vaguely political thing in the Trump era? I think she's pretty terrible and was worried she'd break her neck during the moonsault (she came close), but fair play for sort of saying something.

My only guaranteed to watch shows in wrestling lately are the Rumble and Mania, and the last few years I've regretted wasting time on the former, but both rumble matches were miles better than they have been in many years. I literally forgot Orton won last year until it was mentioned in a hype video (which led to the epic creepy crawly match with Bray, Oof!)

I think they could have had more stories in both rumbles though, lots of wasted opportunities and weird eliminations. Dana Brooke eliminates tournament winner Kairi Sane, who is then eliminated by (one night only appearance)  Mccool? McCool dump Molly Holly out like a sack of shit too, real sloppy.

Molly returning was a highlight, although I nearly choked when the commentary mentioned something about her fighting stereotypes or something, not mentioning the part where she was literally called a fat arse and virgin for part of her career by the company. Victoria is a bit of an underappreciated MVP from back then, would like to see her in the future. I was impressed Torrie and Kelly Kelly survived without injury, they were terrible 'wrestlers' in their primes, nevermind today.

Funny what a gym membership and new gear can do for Rey, he looked fucking phenomenal! Finally got rid of the baggy trousers too. WCW style!

I thought Cena was hamming it up with the crowd at one point, but he was actually shouting "SHINSKE NOW!" multiple times to get Nakamura to cut him off. He was screaming it staring in the direction of the hard camera. He gets a lot of unnecessary flack, but the talking too loud is infuriating, you couldn't miss it here. Reminds me of a lot of rumble sloppiness, multiple times in the ladies Rumble especially, stomps and punches were missing by miles. 

It was a bit strange both Rumbles had long, drawn out finishes too. The Mens seemed to go on forever.

Thumbs up though, which I haven't said about a Rumble in many years.

[PunkStep]

42 minutes ago, BigJag said:

Rousey has said that she only knew about having to go out 10mins before she actually did.

There's no way that can be true surely? Otherwise, what the hell was she there for then? Especially when she was supposedly filming that day, and therefore must've been flown in.

[d-d-d-dAz]

38 minutes ago, Louch said:

Plenty Tyson fans paid out to see him be a ringside ref at mania 14. I’m not saying make her Tim White ffs. You contradict yourself throughout that on your definition of full time, so there really is no reasoning with you. 

Yeha she can be guided through a mania match, but what then when you don’t get weeks to practice each match? To be at level of the top women, you don’t get there in the two months she’s been going to the PC. 

I think the issue here is that you’re expecting her to ever be at the level of the top women, on a strictly performance level. She won’t be. Whoever suggested she become the female Goldberg has a good idea. Because she’ll only ever be built on aura and reputation, she’s never going to be a snowflake wrestler.

By full time, I expect her to be a featured star on TV and PPV. If it came to it, I wouldn’t be offended if she took breaks between program’s. I have no interest in house shows.

[The Gaffer]

Seth's tights ain't got shit on Zayn's current Fatu heel turn numbers.They're the absolute dregs. Some weird unfinished urban brick pattern with unreadable graffiti that I assume says something along the lines of "I'm for real now."