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Elimination Chamber is tomorrow


HarmonicGenerator

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Apart from Becky being able to wander in unchallenged which is illogical but WWE 101, it was a really good angle. Charlotte mocking becky like the heel she is, Ronda not giving a shit about Charlotte and then getting worked by Becky was good. Crowd were really into it the whole time and that "She's the Man" chant was cool. Becky flailing and hitting them all over was far better than the usual measured chair shots to the back shit too. Not that I want her hurting anyone but it just felt so much more organic.

Great job on the Kofi Kingston rehavb again. God I hope this is going somewhere. Kinda wish it was Big E though.

Didn't really care about the rest so just listened to it in the background. Except when Baron Corbin came out and I fast forwarded it even as background noise.

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I still find it an odd complaint regarding the 'filler' between now and Mania surrounding Rousey, Becky and Charlotte being unnecessary.

People complain about things being overdone and if Charlotte wasn't involved at this point, WWE would have a huge struggle to keep Rousey and Becky's feud feel fresh for that many weeks between the Rumble and Mania considering how many shows they need to do.

This way they keep the intrigue of what's really going to happen while keeping the crowd behind Becky, against Charlotte and giving Rousey a more interesting path to Mania as well.

Personally I see absolutely nothing wrong with it whatsoever. It's a really difficult task to keep such heat going for an extended period of time. Not impossible but very difficult, especially in this era where there's so much programming. I'd agree if it was an angle that didn't make sense and was involving people that weren't even related to Becky's journey but Charlotte's the perfect person to put in this scenario.

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I think Charlotte's fine as damage control in there if they don't want Ronda getting booed - Charlotte as the McMahon proxy takes all the heat, and means she can carry part of the feud, keeping the other two apart for longer. But if we're getting a Triple Threat - which I think is pretty much guaranteed after last night - that's still part of the problem, as that feels like diluting the actual money match. I'm hoping that the extent to which they've played up on Charlotte being crowbarred in shows they're self-aware enough that they may know to keep her out of the match, but who knows?

 

I'm still holding out hope that Charlotte ends up fighting for the Smackdown belt, so we get Becky/Ronda one-on-one. That way, they can do that big match, either do Charlotte vs. Asuka one-on-one or as part of a multi-woman match for the other title, then Sasha & Bayley defend the Womens Tag Titles in a showcase match - Lita & Trish was rumoured, or could go with the Bella Twins. Close the show with the final shot being all four Horsewomen holding championships aloft, that's the sort of thing they'd love as a "Wrestlemania Moment". 

From there, they can tease the Horsewomen vs Horsewomen feud - though, personally, (especially if Ronda is taking some time off after 'Mania) I'd say tease that only to have Shayna turn on Ronda and choke her out. That way you immediately elevate a new major heel, create a built-in feud for Ronda on her return, and means the heat for taking Ronda out is on the heel, not on Ronda for sulking and disappearing the moment she takes a loss again. 

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* Was kind of expecting Corey Graves to get the Angus Deayton treatment, but outside of a very minor chant when Carmella got into the match there wasn’t anything

* The Women’s Tag Team Chamber match was sloppy in places, but better than I thought it would be going into the show and I liked that new submission from Sasha. What was with Bayley’s prison tattoo? Has she been doing that long? Also, there was a huge boo at the start of their post-match interview for some reason

* Smackdown Tag Title was just sort of there, but happy they’ve got the belts back onto The Usos, hopefully they’ll get to be on some entertaining Indy-riffic matches going forward.

* While it’s great that they’ve got someone to talk for Bobby Lashley, all that I took from the interview was that Lio Rush’s stomach tattoos are wonky

* I’m probably the only person who pops whenever they show that the still stupidity handsome Ray Rougeau is doing the French commentary

* “This is why it’s an absolutely unwinnable situation for Finn Balor. The minute you focus, the minute you have any success with one member of this duo, the other ones right there to even the odds”. That’s not how handicap matches Corey. Bang average match, but if they can be arsed to put any sort of focus on the IC belt than Balor is a  good face to hold that belt

* ‘Rowdy’ Ronda Rousey wrestled Ruby Riott, thank god nobody had a lisp for that one. Obviously the result was never in question, but she was a total afterthought. Ronda came as Mortal Kombat, Becky came as Road Rash, what game is Charlotte?

* As much as I do like Becky, she definitely owes Nia Jax one, because if she hadn’t smacked Becky in the face, granted she’ll have had the Rousey match at Survivor Series but then she’d have been nowhere near the spot she has now and Charlotte would’ve been the one winning the Rumble and getting the build to headlining Wrestlemania. I’ve accepted that it is likely going to be a Triple Threat, and as things stand, it’s hard to look past it closing the show. The only other match that has any sort of build so far is Rollins/Lesnar

* Really enjoyed the Men’s Chamber match, and they’re doing a great job with Kofi Kingston at the moment, which will be worthwhile when New Day breaks up and Big E gets the push. Wouldn’t be against them doing Kofi v Bryan for the belt at Wrestlemania, reckon we’ll get Orton v Styles too, which really sucks if your name is Mustafa Ali

A solid enough show overall, just got to get Fastlane out of the way now

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49 minutes ago, WyattSheepMask said:

What was with Bayley’s prison tattoo? Has she been doing that long? Also, there was a huge boo at the start of their post-match interview for some reason

Do you mean the facepaint/makeup? She's done it a few times for big matches - it's a Sensational Sherri tribute.

 

Quote

* I’m probably the only person who pops whenever they show that the still stupidity handsome Ray Rougeau is doing the French commentary

I do! I got unreasonably annoyed when he wasn't at the Royal Rumble. Ray Rougeau and the Hindi announce team's synchronised sign-off are a constant highlight of PPVs.

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58 minutes ago, Fox Piss said:

Did Nia just run in a straight line into the pod and not even attempt to run into Bayley? It looked proper dodgy.  

Correct. I noticed that too. It didn't look like she was going anywhere near Bayley.

With that out of the way, I wish they would drop Strowman/Corbin anyway. It's bad enough that McIntyre and Lashley are still his lackeys, despite the fact he isn't even the GM of Raw anymore. The whole thing makes no sense, and on top of it the beatdown went on so long you'd be forgiven for thinking either Kurt Angle, Dolph Ziggler or even Finn Balor would make the save... But nope, just a rough dragged-out beatdown on Strowman. For what? They made "The Monster" look weak as possible, yet come tomorrow night they're going to expect you to take him and his corny unmonsterly catchphrase seriously.

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36 minutes ago, poetofthedeed said:

It's amazing how between Becky and Kofi, WWE have happened upon the power of reality, yet any time they attempt to create reality it fails miserably. It doesn't seem that hard, real people + interesting story = reaction, so how do they get it so wrong so often??

It's why the pre-determined nature of wrestling is such a love/hate thing. Their ability to control things and steer storylines etc means they should, in theory, be able to create successful and popular storylines all the time. However that obvious control can often get the complete opposite reaction from crowds. They prefer something more 'natural' where they actually feel in control. It may not seem that hard but to actually create something that FEELS organic despite not being that way at all isn't very easy. Especially from a business point of view. You can't always go with audience reaction etc as, despite what many think, it may not always be 'best for business' in general.

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The thing is, they absolutely can manipulate that crowd reaction and create the illusion of something organic. That's what working the crowd is - and that's what wrestling's all about. Kayfabe isn't dead, its parameters have changed. The easiest people to work are the people who think they're above being worked, because they're looking in the wrong places - they think they know all the backstage gossip, all the planned finishes, all the reasons behind everything, so work them on those grounds. That's what's worked for Becky, and for Daniel Bryan and CM Punk before her. People were ranting and raving about Daniel Bryan being held down while he was main eventing practically every PPV for a year and never off TV - because they bought into the story.

 

More relevant to today's proceedings - who would have said a week ago that Kofi Kingston in a WWE Title match at Wrestlemania would be something they wanted, let alone would be disappointed not to see? Yet now there are people calling for it. That's not because there's been this organic groundswell of support for Kofi Kingston, it's because WWE needed someone to fill a spot, chose Kofi, and then booked him to elicit that level of support from the audience, and managed it all in two matches.

What's frustrating about it all is that demonstrates how WWE can build a star overnight, and seem to refuse to do so.

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@BomberPat Exactly what I was going to say - that main event shows that when the WWE want to, they can still produce incredible, compelling drama.  Smackdown right now has in Orton, Styles, Hardy, Bryan and Joe 5 of the best wrestlers of their generation, all still operating at a top level, and able to take a nothing PPV and produce a moment of super high drama.

I, like that entire crowd, was convinced that Kofi was going to win for about the last 5 minutes, after just 2 matches, and that's the power of pro wrestling.  I know if would have made no sense, would have ruined their WM plans and so on, but by heavens if he's got the pin the walls might have come down in that arena.  Hotshot the title straight back to Bryan on tv, whatever... but they'll never have the opportunity again to make Kofi the way they made Bryan with his against-the-odds victory.

Brilliant stuff, and I also really enjoyed the women's tag match, and loved the Becky beat-down.  Finally she looks like a badass again.  It's all completely unnecessary but it's still good.

Poor Ruby Riot though, she deserves better.

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It's an interesting point about Kofi actually. Did anyone really care about him before? Or has everyone simply enjoyed the booking of him over these two big matches where his talents have been highlighted his talents and WWE did well to frame it in such a way that he's been fighting for it for years.

I've rarely seen people asking for Kofi to be pushed any more than he has been, and yet now there's a huge drive for him to become champion.

I loved the EC but did wonder how far they would've gone with Ali if he'd been in there instead. Would he have received exactly the same treatment? I find it hard to see anyone truly believing he'd have a chance if he was in there last. 

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