The Smackers Thread

[Perry]

I thought they only took advantage and added piped in crowd noise when it's pre recorded? Sounds like a shitty thing to do during a LIVE broadcast.  They might aswell just air the weekly shows on a delay if they're going to pull this shite.  WWE certainly know how to piss the fans off.

Edited July 17, 2021 by Perry

[tiger_rick]

So, a question not asked since the Divas title days - that brilliant Edge pop, real or fake?

[TildeGuy~!]

1 hour ago, tiger_rick said:

So, a question not asked since the Divas title days - that brilliant Edge pop, real or fake?

Watching it live last night the first thing that came to mind was “I’m sure they’ve piped in his Rumble Pop”

[Supremo]

Caught the second half of this show this morning.

Baron Corbin's new gimmick is daylight robbery. Growing your shit hair out, looking homeless, hanging around like a bad smell. Tomasso Ciampa should put a formal complaint in for plagiarism. Hes been rocking that gimmick in NXT for nearly a year!

Not that we needed any more evidence, but crowds returning makes it even more obvious what a missed opportunity Big E is. The pandemic era should've been spent pushing him to the top of the company instead of keeping him where he's always been.

Fun main event and a crazy bump from Kevin Owens. I worry what these lads are gonna do at the PPV, all amped up with returning crowds and a blank slate to kill themselves with ladder bumps.

Pat McAfee is the most fascinating man in the company. Like a variant from another timeline, I don't know how or why he's allowed to act, talk and react like a normal human being. Is he super rich and successful elsewhere? Is that what it takes to not give a shit and just do what you want at the booth? Either way, it’s extra weird with him sitting next to Michael Cole, spouting his lines like a replicant. No-one has ever sounded less sincere than Cole shouting, 'We are back and we are HOME!" at the end of this show.

Edited July 18, 2021 by Supremo

[The Dart]

3 hours ago, Supremo said:

Pat McAfee is the most fascinating man in the company. Like a variant from another timeline, I don't know how or why he's allowed to act, talk and react like a normal human being. Is he super rich and successful elsewhere? Is that what it takes to not give a shit and just do what you want at the booth? Either way, it’s extra weird with him sitting next to Michael Cole, spouting his lines like replicant. No-one has ever sounded less sincere than Cole shouting, 'We are back and we are HOME!" at the end of this show.

I reckon that's pretty much it.   He doesn't need the job, so if they start telling him to act more like Vic Joseph, he'll just say "ok, see ya".

I was going to say earlier though, him being as good as he is just makes Michael Cole even worse to listen to.

[Doog]

Michael Cole is particularly frustrating because he can be good. I’ve been going back through RAW and Smackdown over the past year from 2003 and have now reached February 2005, and his partnership with Tazz is brilliant, they work well together and it just works.

Now he’s just a puppet for the latest buzz words or whatever and there’s literally nothing authentic about him at all, you can see why they were so intent on him replacing JR as clearly they realised they could mould him into everything they wanted, but, as above, when left to his own devices as such as I imagine he was during that SmackDown run with Tazz and soon to be JBL, he can be absolutely fine

[Kamran]

4 hours ago, Supremo said:

Pat McAfee is the most fascinating man in the company. Like a variant from another timeline, I don't know how or why he's allowed to act, talk and react like a normal human being. Is he super rich and successful elsewhere? Is that what it takes to not give a shit and just do what you want at the booth? Either way, it’s extra weird with him sitting next to Michael Cole, spouting his lines like replicant. No-one has ever sounded less sincere than Cole shouting, 'We are back and we are HOME!" at the end of this show.

This reminds me of the 'controversy' of his shorts at WrestleMania 35...he obviously isn't afraid to do his own thing, which is refreshing.

 

[Supremo]

If he got that much heat for wearing a pair of shorts, I can only imagine the heat he has now for completely exposing their entire developmental system twice.

Last year he waltzed in, skipped their system and was immediately their rookie, heel and promo of the year, all whilst doing everything they teach guys not to do. And now this year he’s on track to being their commentator of the year, again by completely skipping their training and just acting like a normal person.

This company needs a lot more Brock Lesnars and Pat McAfees. They're the antithesis of the gratitude era. Lads who don’t need this business, doing what they want and being infinitely better than everyone else.

Edited July 19, 2021 by Supremo

[Daaaaaad!]

Pat is surely the logical extension of Vince's ultimate theory; he doesn't want you, unless you don't want him to want you and then he wants you, so long as you don't want him to want you while he wants you, and make it clear that you don't need or want him to want to need or want you. Then, you can do what you want, even if that's not what they want you to do.

Oh, and he did real sports for a bit.

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

McAfee is a millionaire from his NFL work, both as a player and analyst, and does really well with the Pat McAfee show that he hosts as well. He doesn't need WWE at all, he's doing it for funsies.

Since McAfee is both a legit athlete and a media personality, WWE are happy to latch onto him for the perception of relevance, but I think he'd happily pack it in if they tried to mold him in any particular way. I'm sure I heard him say he was willing to just walk off Mania over the shorts thing.

EDIT- yeah, that vid above haha, Watching it back now. God he tells good stories. 

Edited July 19, 2021 by Shane O' Mac Version 2

[CavemanLynn]

It's no surprise McAfee does whatever the fuck he wants. It's part and parcel of WWE's and the McMahons' massive inferiority complex. They HATE wrestling, they hate wrestlers, and they hate anyone who wants to be a wrestler. They hold their own employees in utter contempt. So if you come with an attitude like you can take or leave them, suddenly they can't do enough for you. In the shorts story, there's no way Vince had ever seen the LeBron pic before, and his response reeked of face-saving. Pat's the future, he gives zero fucks, but a roster of guys like that terrifies Vince.

[tiger_rick]

Flicked through the promo segments. Paul Heyman singing John Cena's theme was brilliant. Live crowd loved it. Not sure a heel should be that funny but it was too good.

Outstanding character work and promo from Reigns. Again, crowd were a bit too entertained but I think it stayed on the right side. The crowd chanting "Roman's scared" when Balor challenged him was great and they played it up. Super stuff from Roman. Says much about their inability to create new faces that they've gone to two guys who've been off the main roster because there's nothing much there.

Really wanted to hear from Big E but he said fuck all before it was interrupted by an absolute bunch of no marks, one after the other. One of their really horrible tropes that needs to fuck off back to 2008.

Edit: 

 

Edited July 24, 2021 by tiger_rick

[Hannibal Scorch]

WWE got a centre stage slot at a music festival. A chance to get a crowd of people who wouldn't necessary know the product, who could be lapsed fans, or maybe could be new fans. And have people on Smackdown who have feet in hollywood and outside of wrestling, and they decide the best person to send out first is Otis. FFS. The set up looked great on TV as well which made it more annoying.

The show was a bit of a mess outside of when Paul or Roman were on the mic. Interesting they have got Balor involved in the title picture so soon, but I like him so happy to see if it leads to anything.

[DavidB6937]

5 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

WWE got a centre stage slot at a music festival. A chance to get a crowd of people who wouldn't necessary know the product, who could be lapsed fans, or maybe could be new fans. And have people on Smackdown who have feet in hollywood and outside of wrestling, and they decide the best person to send out first is Otis. FFS. The set up looked great on TV as well which made it more annoying.

Did they send him out first? Unless I accidentally skipped something, it was Wale who brought out the Street Profits?

[Hannibal Scorch]

34 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said:

Did they send him out first? Unless I accidentally skipped something, it was Wale who brought out the Street Profits?

You're right, I missed the bit before the ad break. Though have just listened and eve Wale couldn't get the crowd pumped for the Street Profits (who we know get a good reaction normally). Point is, that is where you send a Cena or Roman, people that have cross appeal. Or maybe a Rey Mysterio flip fest. I feel its a wasted opportunity.