King Pitcos Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 (edited) 5 hours ago, tiger_rick said: What about the kids and others who just don't know where he's gone? Well if they’re not watching TMZ and all the wrestlers’ Instagram videos, they’re not real fans. You can’t expect everything to be spoonfed on the show itself. Fuck casuals. But even without that kind of Elitism, the oddest absence on the show isn’t Roman Reigns, it’s the audience and any kind of atmosphere. Wrestlers vanishing without explanation isn’t a new thing. Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton often disappear for months at a time without any reason given. The Usos and Naomi dropped off the face of the earth for about six months. Daniel Bryan was gone after WrestleMania last year for ages, Sasha Banks was gone longer. John Cena in the last couple of years of still being pretty active. As a creative decision, explaining away a wrestler’s Coronavirus absence is up for debate. But that was a conversation for the week or two before WrestleMania. There’s no value in plopping it into the show weeks later, if there’s nothing to say about it. But it turning into a Vince Hates Roman Now conspiracy this week seems like a WWE leak designed to use the peak Vince Bad heat to turn Roman babyface to the moron audience. Edited April 19, 2020 by King Pitcos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Hannibal Scorch Posted April 19, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted April 19, 2020 Yeah but Roman was in the main event of Wrestlemania (or certainly a world title fight). He wasn’t having a random match on the card Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Pitcos Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 (edited) 37 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said: Yeah but Roman was in the main event of Wrestlemania (or certainly a world title fight). He wasn’t having a random match on the card Shit, that’s true. If Roman’s not on screen and all the other characters aren’t asking “where’s Roman?” it can only mean that he’s definitely been Benoit’d. Edited April 19, 2020 by King Pitcos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted April 19, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted April 19, 2020 4 hours ago, HarmonicGenerator said: They used to do that a lot of the time when people were off with long term injuries. Not normally as high up the card as RR, but especially in the early 2000s people would just disappear for months at a time without a word and you’d have to assume it was another broken neck. You don't even have to go back to the early 2000s, they've been doing it routinely with Brock Lesnar for years. Initially they'd write in an explanation of him getting suspended when he wasn't going to show up for a few months, but then they just gave up explaining it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeronimoJacksBeard Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 7 hours ago, tiger_rick said: What about the kids and others who just don't know where he's gone? They'd never ordinarily not either write him out or explain. They just assuming everyone knows already. No wonder they don't attract and keep new viewers. Ordinarily, yeah. None of this situation is ordinary though. These same kids and others would be watching these shows with no audience in attendance, while having to stay home themselves. Do they need that explained to them by Michael Cole too? That's already telling them something pretty big is up! Roman's previous health issues have been acknowledged before on screen, as much as they may not have done a great job of it, the whole thing of WWE still doing these shows at all is the big "to provide entertainment/escapism in these times" line. Mentioning the disease or that one of your top stars is high risk from fucking dying from it ain't going to put many smiles on kids faces. Writing him out with some other bullshit is kinda insulting to what he's actually gone through and unnecessary when the global pandemic is someone everybody is aware of, kids included. If there had been a story line reason for it, "dey" probably would have moaned there too. And how do you write him out when you've no clue how long the current situation is going to affect your product in this manner and when/whether Roman can come back to work. It's not ideal for tv storyline purposes, but none of this is. Of all the things people could slate WWE for at the moment, not writing Roman off TV logically should be pretty low on the list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UK Kat Von D Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 (edited) Reigns should still be part of TV for sure. While I’m not suggesting they should be attempting to capitalise on his leukemia, it is what humanised him and made fans realise he was actually a sound guy. There are a lot of people in the world who are at risk and must be terrified, get a superhero doing motivational promos from home for them. It could do some good for a lot of people while keeping him relevant and showing him as a top bloke.  Instead of saying prayers and taking vitamins, have him encouraging the kids to wash their hands and social distance. Don’t splatter it’s all over the shows, but giving Roman five minutes of motivational talk would be great. Would actually help the claim of being an essential business too. Edited April 19, 2020 by UK Kat Von D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCW Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 The argument against that is that people are being bombarded with those messages everywhere else & WWE is the soothing salve of the nation, where you can tune in and forget those troubles for a while. They put smiles on faces damnit! Plus, deep down Vince probably thinks the same as Trump and doesn't give a fuck about vulnerable/poor people dying. He just wants to flog tickets and shitty t-shirts at arena merch stands again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Pitcos Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 2 hours ago, GeronimoJacksBeard said: Of all the things people could slate WWE for at the moment, not writing Roman off TV logically should be pretty low on the list. We’re in lockdown, man. Fuck all to do. Everyone already spaffed all their anger beans about the releases in the first day and a half of them happening, and the righteous fury about still running shows had to go quiet when the other billionaire wrestling man with tastier boots announced he’s still doing them too. So we need new things to get outraged about every day, even if they’re bollocks or we have to manufacture them ourselves. Speaking of which, rumours are circulating that Vince is done with Bianca Belair on the main roster. She was planned to win Money in the Bank, but the idea was dropped because she’s being punished for being in a relationship with another wrestler. Sources have reported that Vince is burying her as an example to other wrestlers to put their careers ahead of their family lives, unlike the ungrateful Samoan Crippler [Redacted Redacted]. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UK Kat Von D Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 1 hour ago, DCW said: The argument against that is that people are being bombarded with those messages everywhere else & WWE is the soothing salve of the nation, where you can tune in and forget those troubles for a while. They put smiles on faces damnit! Plus, deep down Vince probably thinks the same as Trump and doesn't give a fuck about vulnerable/poor people dying. He just wants to flog tickets and shitty t-shirts at arena merch stands again. Yeah I know people are getting it from all sides, but a lot of it is mostly just fear. Just five minutes with a positive upbeat “you can do it guys” from Roman would be great. No one is forgetting about it during those empty arena shows, but the shows could be used to lift people’s spirits and Roman is the perfect guy for that. Unfortunately you are probably right about Vince just not giving a fuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro Red Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 Plus since his mate Donald is busy trying to shit people into a storm so that they protest the lockdown, Vince isn't going to do anything to encourage people to remain calm and happy in isolation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UK Kat Von D Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 2 hours ago, Bicurious Dad said: Plus since his mate Donald is busy trying to shit people into a storm so that they protest the lockdown, Vince isn't going to do anything to encourage people to remain calm and happy in isolation. I doubt Trump would notice a five minute promo unless Fox News report on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro Red Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 It's not about Trump noticing, it's about Vince having the exact same mindset Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted April 19, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted April 19, 2020 9 hours ago, King Pitcos said: Wrestlers vanishing without explanation isn’t a new thing. Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton often disappear for months at a time without any reason given. The Usos and Naomi dropped off the face of the earth for about six months. Daniel Bryan was gone after WrestleMania last year for ages, Sasha Banks was gone longer. John Cena in the last couple of years of still being pretty active. As a creative decision, explaining away a wrestler’s Coronavirus absence is up for debate. But that was a conversation for the week or two before WrestleMania. There’s no value in plopping it into the show weeks later, if there’s nothing to say about it. But it turning into a Vince Hates Roman Now conspiracy this week seems like a WWE leak designed to use the peak Vince Bad heat to turn Roman babyface to the moron audience. Appreciate wrestlers sometimes disappear off TV, which is lazy anyway, but this isn't just a wrestler, it's their current #1 guy who was challenging for the Universal title at Wrestlemania. I'm not interested in the Vince hates Roman stuff, we knows that's more than likely nonsense. I just don't think you book to the hardcores only. Never have. As with that Cena/Wyatt nonsense at Mania, I don't get what they're up to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Supremo Posted April 19, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted April 19, 2020 (edited) As a kid, I remember being super annoyed whenever guys would vanish without explanation. Sid and Yokozuna in 96/97 immediately spring to mind. Two big characters that suddenly just weren't around anymore. It must be a bloody nightmare for kids these days. At least if a guy disappears after a big loss, which is usually WWE's style, you could justify it in your 8-year old brain as them being embarrassed or wanting to take some time to regroup and train or whatever. The number one guy vanishing in the lead up to his biggest match of the year must baffle poor kids though. Obviously anyone with any understanding of what's happening knows why, but as a product seemingly aimed at kids, that's supposed to be distracting them from what's happening in the real world, I'd have hoped they'd at least come up with some type of reason. It's not a particularly big deal, and wasn't some mad conspiracy about hating Vince or whatever, just something that was noticeably jarring going off the reports/what little I've seen. Interestingly enough, Triple H did suggest they had something scripted in an interview before Wrestlemania, but nothing came of it. “But I will say from our standpoint and the storyline standpoint, it’s going to play out in a unique manner. And we wanted it to play out that way. And, you know, it’s not necessarily putting me in an awkward position. It’s just me saying I don’t want to give away the ending of the movie before the movie takes place.” https://www.sescoops.com/triple-h-roman-reigns-wrestlemania-story-will-unfold-in-a-unique-way/ I wonder if they go back to Goldberg vs. Roman when everything returns to normal? I hope so. Wouldn't be the worst idea in the world to rip-off the original Triple H/Undertaker Wrestlemania 27 angle, where Roman's big return to Smackdown is immediately interrupted by Goldberg's big return, leading to the match at Summerslam or whatever. Edited April 19, 2020 by Supremo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UK Kat Von D Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 2 hours ago, Bicurious Dad said: It's not about Trump noticing, it's about Vince having the exact same mindset You weren’t supposed to take that seriously. However on a serious note it doesn’t matter what Vince actually thinks if there is money to be made. Steph has said that philanthropy is the future of marketing so I’m surprised they haven’t already made Roman the empowering voice for those at risk  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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