The Smackers Thread

[d-d-d-dAz]

My first thought was, if they're doing something this awkward there'll be a reason; there'll be something they have planned they're excited for, so they're happy doing something incredibly awkward/inauthentic to get there.

Then I remembered Tom Brady was apparently doing some TKO stuff Wrestlemania weekend.

Colts v Pats. Randy's Punt backed up by an NFL kicker, Cody as QB1 bringing in NFL's QB1.

Come on. That's exactly what's happening here. Randy w/ Pat v Cody w/ Tom Brady.

And the crowd went mild.

If i'm right, it'd cemeny my belief that Triple H's hallmark as a booker is his willingess to do completely shit, non-sensical bollocks just to get to the bit which will clip well for social.

*edit* i'm catching up on social. Having Cody criticise the angle on the same show was quite the choice. The ever-online Triple H probably saw the backlash and threw Cody back out... 'go on, yeah, go with the Nash and Hall line. Crowds in 2026 will eat that up.'

What a company.

Edited April 4 by d-d-d-dAz

[RedTwoster]

19 minutes ago, The Gaffer said:

Not that a Triple H led writing room isn't capable of this, but...

To be fair on Triple H, not that he deserves it, the fact they came out on the same show and essentially said ‘yeah, we know this is shite’ suggests to me that the order to do this came from up high, making the acknowledgement slightly petulant. That said, McAfee can be good on the mic, and every decision they made tied into this - the mystery and subsequent reveal, the Vince Russo gimmick - seems like it was designed to intentionally sabotage any small chance it had of working. If this is indeed a Triple H tantrum so he can say ‘SEE, I TOLD YOU IT WSS A BAD IDEA!’ I hope they take this to new levels of mental in between now and Wrestlemania. 

I know this was bad, I know this was one of the worst angles I’ve ever seen, but my goodness, I enjoyed how shitty it was. 

EDIT:

Actually, @d-d-d-dAz has probably hit the nail on the head there, with the Tom Brady thing. This is almost certainly designed to set that up. They could easily have done this with any other match - maybe Rollins/Gunther, at least there’s a McAfee tie-in there given that they wrestled - but I do love the choice they made. Brilliantly bad.

Edited April 4 by RedTwoster

[d-d-d-dAz]

If it's not Brady, i'd love it if Unreal revealed it was originally planned as Rock but he changed his mind.

Camera cuts to Dwayne, his daughter and Gerwitz round a phone laughing after he's just rung in not arsed again; 'got the daft prick again'.

[Chili]

"We make (shit) movies" 

[TheScarlettChad]

I'm sure middle aged dads who miss The Attitude Era will just lap that shite promo up. 

[DavidB6937]

I woke up. Remembered it was Smackdown. Stuck it on with breakfast.

Felt like getting coal at Christmas.

Stupid cunts.

I turned off after that. I just couldnt be bothered. I'll watch Danhausen clips on socials.

[Chili]

The thing about doing/scuttling a sort of Russo gimmick out of spite, is that it's 2026 and the wink and tip of the hat that it's all a show is more prevalent than ever. Just go along with it. So having an in universe character trying to be real by saying it's all shit doesn't have the same 'oooooo' effect you'd get from say 1999-2000. It just makes him look absolutely fucking mental.

[DavidB6937]

The Iron Man match comment didn't even make sense. Did it? Or did I miss when they do that.

[Hannibal Scorch]

5 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said:

The Iron Man match comment didn't even make sense. Did it? Or did I miss when they do that.

The last iron man was on PPV in 2018. Most weeks they don’t have 45 minutes of wrestling on Smackdown.

[Kamran]

I had to go find it...

 

Oof!

Edited April 4 by Kamran

[Mr Kennedy]

So WWE 20+ year veteran Randy Orton needed help/advice/whatever it was from Pat McAfee? That’s what we’re supposed to believe?

[Supremo]

Take a drink every time Pat readjusts his sunglasses. You’ll be dead before Disco Inferno starts hilariously catching strays.

Even if we ignore what a dogshit, disappointing reveal it was. Even if we ignore how turning, “everything’s shit at the moment,” into an on-screen storyline has never, ever worked.

They were on fire two years ago. Wrestlemania 39 to 40 was some of the best, most successful stuff they’ve ever done. When requiring an example of when things were better, how in the fuck are we still banging on about the fucking Attitude Era in Twenty Twenty Six. Let it go already. It’s like those losers you knew who peaked in high school, still talking about it decades later.

Almost as depressing was the vanilla midget stuff. Doesn’t even make sense. Honestly, pro-wrestling would be better off sacking everyone involved creatively and starting fresh. The less you know about history, the better. Learn the basics, then write some basic characters and storylines. This wanky, triple-meta nonsense is exhausting. Save_us.Hollywood_writers. 

Funny though. Hunter almost went a whole Wrestlemania season without someone above him forcing a daft, non-sensical direction. Like a cop in a movie who was just two weeks from retirement. He was just two weeks from crossing the Wrestlemania finish line! Reports suggest it was an Ari Emanuel call. Hopefully he goes one better next week and brings The Rock in for an even bigger laugh. Is Travis Scott busy?

Funniest has been the fans online arguing this a red herring and who Randy’s really been having phone sex with will be revealed at Wrestlemania. Same people probably still don’t think this is real.

[d-d-d-dAz]

30 minutes ago, Mr Kennedy said:

So WWE 20+ year veteran Randy Orton needed help/advice/whatever it was from Pat McAfee? That’s what we’re supposed to believe?

It'll be fine. Think of the social media views when Brady chins McAfee on Jimmy Letterman.

[SaitoRyo]

1 hour ago, Chili said:

"We make (shit) movies" 

It's what we do. 

 

[d-d-d-dAz]

It's interesting to me that when Uncle Hunter took over, the overwhelming feeling was 'phew, it's okay to like wrestling again' and now it feels like no wrestling company has ever mistrusted or disliked wrestling or wrestlers as much as this company right now.

That feeling wasn't made up, you could tell it on the shows... at the time there was a freedom to do wrestling stories, be wrestling characters and talk about wrestling like it wasn't the entertainment equivalent of enjoying a strangle wank in your mum's pajama's.

Yet.. now? I've genuinely lost count of the celebrities currently orbiting this Mania, brought in presumably because TKO think they're more likely to sell tickets. McAfee is this years Travis Scott; Tom Brady is showing up one way or another; Jelly Roll is knocking about; iShowArse is - to be fair - doing a great job selling for L.A. Bean; there was some fella with Trick Williams and his Lemon Pepper Steppers.

That's just Smackdown. There is probably more on Raw.

Madness.

Even Vince didn't hate wrestling this much.

Edited April 4 by d-d-d-dAz