The Smackers Thread

[LaGoosh]

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Edited September 6, 2025 by LaGoosh

[The King of Old School]

Always thought that Punk/Rollins ends at Mania for the belt so reckon we have a good few months at least left yet.

[RedTwoster]

8 minutes ago, The King of Old School said:

Always thought that Punk/Rollins ends at Mania for the belt so reckon we have a good few months at least left yet.

I’d put money on Rollins/Reigns/Punk for the belt, so it main events the show two years in a row with ‘even higher stakes’ this time around. 

[TheScarlettChad]

Do we reckon AJ sticks around for mania? 

[air_raid]

52 minutes ago, The King of Old School said:

Always thought that Punk/Rollins ends at Mania for the belt so reckon we have a good few months at least left yet.

 

42 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

I’d put money on Rollins/Reigns/Punk for the belt, so it main events the show two years in a row with ‘even higher stakes’ this time around. 

I’d put money on Cody vs Punk and the end game for “The Vision” to be Rollins vs Reigns at Mania so Roman avenges the loss and/or wins the Silver Medal.

If Reigns, Rollins and Punk are all busy, who in the multiverse do you stick Rhodes with??

[TheScarlettChad]

14 minutes ago, air_raid said:

 

I’d put money on Cody vs Punk and the end game for “The Vision” to be Rollins vs Reigns at Mania so Roman avenges the loss and/or wins the Silver Medal.

If Reigns, Rollins and Punk are all busy, who in the multiverse do you stick Rhodes with??

Lesnar again?

[DavidB6937]

AJ Lee is one of those that I appreciate more on a personal level than actually enjoying her work massively.. if that makes sense? Like I'm happy for her and for Punk and it was a great moment and I genuinely enjoyed it for what it was but I've never been desperate to see another AJ Lee match. 

[The King of Old School]

27 minutes ago, air_raid said:

 

I’d put money on Cody vs Punk and the end game for “The Vision” to be Rollins vs Reigns at Mania so Roman avenges the loss and/or wins the Silver Medal.

If Reigns, Rollins and Punk are all busy, who in the multiverse do you stick Rhodes with??

I think it will be Punk/Rollins for the participation belt, and Cody/Roman for the real one.

[Callum1993]

3 hours ago, RedTwoster said:

I’m not watching a show featuring Brock Lesnar, but I did watch the AJ Lee return segment and I thought it was really good.

I know that Becky Lynch’s character isn’t exactly well-loved around these parts, but I think she’s been excellent in this role, and is a far better agitator than Paul Heyman was for that group. Her shit-talking is very believable and she sold AJ’s offence brilliantly. If I was going to book an inter-company dream match right now, Toni Storm vs Becky Lynch would probably be top of my list, as tempting as it would be to run a Punk/Omega or Reigns/Hangman match.

I also read that Sami got some boos again. It absolutely baffles me, that. What’s he done that merits that? I’d suggest it’s because he interrupted Cena, but it’s not the first time this has happened to him. I was hoping for an emotional, Eddie Guerrero-style title win for him, but maybe the best route for Sami is to win the World title as a heel and turn babyface later based on how entertaining he can be. Cody vs heel Sami could be great, and something like Zayn vs Reigns with the roles reversed from their last match is also an interesting prospect. Then, eventually, when Owens returns we might even be able to get a Zayn/Owens World title match, with Zayn as the heel and Owens making his triumphant return as a babyface. 

I think the problem with Sami is that despite being built as an underdog type character he wins A LOT. Ending the Usos long tag title reign with Owens at Wrestlemania, Ending Gunther’s long IC Title run at Wrestlemania, Winning the US title recently with very little build. I don’t think the feud with Kross helped either given a lot of the audience were with Kross. I think he’s great but I understand to an extent why the crowd are turning on him a bit. A heel run might actually be a good thing at this point as he’s been face now for a good while. 

[The King of Old School]

Sami is a brilliant heel too so I'd be up for that.

[TheScarlettChad]

People call him Sami Hogan now, so there's something to it 

[Supremo]

Punk and Rollins’ Never-ending Story is the worst feud of the year by default at this point, but as a singular segment this was a fantastic bit of business.

Pro-wrestling is at its best when it turns the Panto up to eleven. There’s nothing better than the writers teasing the most obvious direction imaginable, delivering it to a huge reaction, and the heels act ridiculously shocked, like it hadn’t even crossed their mind. Becky and Seth’s surprised faces when AJ’s music hit is the best thing either of them have done in years. Excellent work all round.

AJ and Punk looked happy too, so good for them. Bet it was an amazing moment in front of their hometown crowd.

This fucking company though, man. AJ Lee, mental health advocate and campaigner for female equality in pro-wrestling, returning on the same show as Brock Lesnar. Gross.

As always, the most interesting thing is trying to figure out whether WWE are completely blind to the optics, don’t care, or do it on purpose to troll and get some type of weird, petty revenge. The speed with which Triple H got a video up of AJ hugging and thanking him could only be measured in nanoseconds. As with most of the Punk stuff, it’s requiring less and less cynicism to think there’s an ulterior motive at play and they enjoy having the once virtuous performers, who’d speak truth to power, now come crawling back, climbing into the mud with them.

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

I can't wait for the backstage footage of HHH showing AJ how to do her ring entrance. I bet he skips like like a scratched CD. 

[TheScarlettChad]

Saying mental illness was her superpower was certainly a choice of words from Cole. 

[FUM]

1 minute ago, TheScarlettChad said:

Saying mental illness was her superpower was certainly a choice of words from Cole. 

It’s the name of her autobiography.