The Smackers Thread

[Pinc]

7 hours ago, Suplex Sinner said:

Another week and another quality segment involving The Bloodline. This story arc tops Kenny Omega/Adam 'Hangman' Page now. It's incredibly hard to retain people's attention, especially so when the titles have been on the same person for such a long time but Roman Reigns and co. have navigated this beautifully. 

I can't remember the last time someone got themselves over on their own and DIDN'T get their moment of glory but it's absolutely the right decision to have RR unbeatable heading into Wrestlemania. I never thought for a minute that Cody would or could be THE guy to end Roman's reign but credit where it is due, he's more than delivered since he came back. 

As they're likely to separate the titles again I could see Sami going over Cody, with the help of Jey, as a last nod to being family. I think that could be a satisfying way to get a title on each brand, tie up The Bloodline/Zayn story AND allow Cody to the main man on the main brand. 

Bray Wyatt. Good grief. I don't know why he was brought back. The clue hunt leading up to his  with the QR codes etc. was exceptionally well done and kept the buzz going a lot longer than I thought possible but it's all just a Potemkin village, absolutely nothing behind it. 

 

For all the criticism AEW gets for assuming knowledge on the part of the audience, there’s no worse example than Bray Wyatt’s current incarnation. Four or five gimmicks incoherently mashed together. Requiring you to remember every step of Bray’s career back to NXT and to have followed a load of QR codes to make any sense of it all.

I don’t know what to make of it most of the time and I’m a lifer. It must be utterly opaque to anyone tuning in for the first time.

[d-d-d-dAz]

35 minutes ago, Pinc said:

For all the criticism AEW gets for assuming knowledge on the part of the audience, there’s no worse example than Bray Wyatt’s current incarnation. Four or five gimmicks incoherently mashed together. Requiring you to remember every step of Bray’s career back to NXT and to have followed a load of QR codes to make any sense of it all.

I don’t know what to make of it most of the time and I’m a lifer. It must be utterly opaque to anyone tuning in for the first time.

To be fair to them, I think they’ve made the decision that Bray is a worthwhile investment in that he services a part of the audience who are - for whatever reason - bang into it and no one else.

I don’t think they hide the fact anymore that it’s a separate world on the shows aimed squarely at that sub-section of their audience who do know the ins and outs of the Wyatt-verse. I suspect if that audience if ever tunes out, he’ll be gone.

[DavidB6937]

I do wonder if Bray even knows what he's doing himself at this point.

[Pinc]

1 hour ago, DavidB6937 said:

I do wonder if Bray even knows what he's doing himself at this point.

Is it meant to be like a three faces of Foley thing where he's torn between all of his gimmicks at once? There is legs in that, in principle, but the execution is awful.

Also putting him in a Mountain Dew endorsed gimmick match was beyond humiliating.

[DavidB6937]

Just now, Pinc said:

Is it meant to be like a three faces of Foley thing where he's torn between all of his gimmicks at once? There is legs in that, in principle, but the execution is awful.

Also putting him in a Mountain Dew endorsed gimmick match was beyond humiliating.

I genuinely have no idea whatsoever. And it's not in a fun "ooh I wonder what happens next" type deal like with some things. It just feels like a complete mess week on week and I absolutely don't care whatsoever. The fact that this exists at the same time as the Bloodline stuff just makes it look even worse.

[ScottishSiren]

The Roman and Cody stuff is great. I'm already hooked in for it. 

The Bray Wyatt thing stinks of some loser that hangs around the Cathouse nightclub in Glasgow wearing some costume they bought online and gets drunk in the club and would be seen trying to weird out the girls in the place. 

[Retro Red]

29 minutes ago, ScottishSiren said:

The Roman and Cody stuff is great. I'm already hooked in for it. 

The Bray Wyatt thing stinks of some loser that hangs around the Cathouse nightclub in Glasgow wearing some costume they bought online and gets drunk in the club and would be seen trying to weird out the girls in the place. 

Bray’s gimmick is ‘ICW fan’?

[Lenin]

I think it's also the fact they have abandoned the mystique behind the likes of Uncle Howdy that really winds me up. Current incumbent is clearly a different person to the original and the silly entrance music and mask is just ridiculous. They had something mildly interesting but had to ruin it by attaching a silly name to the character and then as has been said, smash all the gimmicks together without any rhyme or reason. Especially annoying as he's said The Fiend and Cult Leader Wyatt are gone for good. Waste of time and money. 

[Devon Malcolm]

There was never anything mildly interesting in it. It's Bray Wyatt farting about with another itineration of his tedious cult leader / flim-flam man schtick.

Over-presentation doesn't work in wrestling when it comes to new or developing characters, it never has. Wyatt's failings were hidden during the Wyatt Family run because they could hide them in multi-man tag matches. In singles matches he's always been a failure because there's no way he can live up to the song and dance of his entrances and hype packages. He's not a 'bad worker' but you'd have to be one of the best to live up to how he's presented. 

[TildeGuy~!]

It was clearly Bo Dallas this week under the mask right? 

[FUM]

Oh fine then Trips, just give me Cody and Sami v Usos night one and Cody v Roman night two…

[d-d-d-dAz]

That show trailer with pictures of the USO’s as kids set to strings made me realise how incredible the match promo reels are going to be at Wrestlemania. It could be all time.

Cody and Roman full of Dusty, Cody’s return and Roman’s story??

The USO’s/Sami and KO full of childhood bloodline pics and Sami and KO’s history??

Yes… Please!

On a less good note, Karrion Kross looks like a well fed CM Punk with his current hair.

Edited March 11, 2023 by d-d-d-dAz

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

1 hour ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

Karrion Kross looks like a well fed CM Punk. 

The Mindy's Bakery CM Punk if you will. 

[Devon Malcolm]

McIntyre, Sheamus and Gunther triple threat gets one step closer, lads. Hold me.

[RedRooster]

While I still think Roman/Sami at Wrestlemania - or a triple threat - was the right choice, I can’t say I’m not enjoying what they have actually chosen to do. Sami and The Usos all deserve to main event, so I hope they get that chance. I can understand the logic in going with Charlotte/Rhea - particularly if you’re planning to push Rhea as the top female star - so I still think this is the more likely option. 

I don’t like the Viking Raiders at all. The talk of Valhalla ‘casting a spell’…stay away from that, please. There’s enough of the supernatural nonsense with Bray Wyatt.

I’m liking the look of the Wrestlemania card for the most part, and the biggest compliment I can give is that I actually feel invested in the outcomes in a high number of matches; and in particular I’m interested to see the post-match interactions between The Usos and Sami. Roman, Jimmy and Solo vs Sami, Jey and KO; along with Cody’s first title defence could be a fun line-up for Backlash.