The Smackers Thread

[The Gaffer]

He's just an incredible chaser, and they've already done the biggest chase possible with him. And it was incredible and it ended well for him - nobody can ever take that from him - but I'm reasonably confident at this stage that there's nothing left he can do as a face that'll stoke much interest in me. Without chasing his character's essentially the way a Wrestling Superhero is portrayed in a comic book movie, or like a modern update of how yer da assumed all wrestlers looked/acted. 

[Jazzy G]

On 8/1/2026 at 2:17 PM, Ralphy said:

Is the alexa a injury legitimate? I missed that show I think

I hope not. Does my head in when I have to turn my own lights on and off by hand.

 It is, but they've overplayed it a little for dramatic effect. 

[I Bent My Wookie]

6 minutes ago, Jazzy G said:

I hope not. Does my head in when I have to turn my own lights on and off by hand.

 It is, but they've overplayed it a little for dramatic effect. 

Based off the bruising on her arm after the writing off TV, it wouldn't surprise me if they did botch a worked angle and actually cause her some injury in the process. Which, in fairness, trying to Pilmanize an arm even when double jointed does seem like a recipe for disaster. 

[Jazzy G]

She's naturally hypermobile anyway, the number of times she used to pop her elbow out whenever Becky Lynch put her in the Disarmer it lost any kind of impact. She has bone chips and overstretched the ligaments a bit, plus creative has nothing for her apparently. I had a quick peruse on Google.

[Supremo]

We are so fucking back.

[d-d-d-dAz]

Well, I guess we needed to test whether Phil had really changed or not.

If KO is feeling feisty, this could be like testing your new gumshield with a sledgehammer to the face.

Fascinating they've stopped airbrushing Punk's headshots. He looks way better. Well, not better. Human.

Edited August 7 by d-d-d-dAz

[air_raid]

IYKYK.

FUCK this company.

[LaGoosh]

My guess is the Owens/Punk segment goes along the lines of:

KO: you're a selfish, arrogant, miserable, ego maniac who hasn't changed at all despite what you say.

Punk: im the best in the world, some people love/hate me, I paved the way for wrestlers like you

Throw in a few references to things 99% of the live crowd are oblivious to.

Pull apart brawl.

So pretty much the same thing Punk has been doing forever now. Was I right?

Edited August 8 by LaGoosh

[AnotherCrapUsername]

You missed using real names.

[TheScarlettChad]

Yeah but I don't know, I'm a sucker for it. Give me that over melodramatic Roman Reigns bollocks or bloodline stuff. 

[The King of Old School]

Nakamura coming back and he's not alone.

I hope he's bringing back Rick Boogs.

[d-d-d-dAz]

2 hours ago, LaGoosh said:

My guess is the Owens/Punk segment goes along the lines of:

KO: you're a selfish, arrogant, miserable, ego maniac who hasn't changed at all despite what you say.

Punk: im the best in the world, some people love/hate me, I paved the way for wrestlers like you

Throw in a few references to things 99% of the live crowd are oblivious to.

Pull apart brawl.

So pretty much the same thing Punk has been doing forever now. Was I right?

You're not as wrong as I'd like you to be, but they actually used people expecting a pull apart brawl as the backdrop to what I thought was pretty good.

It wasn't the best thing ever, but by design really - it felt like a teaser.

I've been critical of WWE recently, but I thought this really worked. It had a real tension and energy to it. Punk had more promo chemistry with Owens than he's had with someone for a while, and yes Owens called him 'Phil', but they really stuck to a wrestling story of 'you're not the best in the world, you're arrogant, and i'm going to beat you.' They only painted out the lines occasionally, for effect.

I know Owens and Punk kept saying 'we're pro's' as a way of signalling it wasn't going to kick off, but I did actually think the overwhelming effect here was how professional and good they both are. They used all the tricks of shoot promos, but with real discipline to further a wrestling story, as opposed to just spamming real names and references for cheap thrills.

Even the swear word at the end was delivered well.

So, yeah, surprisingly it was top marks from me. Very un-modern WWE, in that showed a bit of nuance and discipline and subtlety.

My favourite bits were Wade Barrett saying at the start 'lots of contentious history here, but we've been asked not to talk about it' (they shouldo do this more, let the people interested find this stuff themselves rather than drown the show in it) and Punk saying 'no, that won't work for me brother' as a real nod to the character he's starting to play.

I also really enjoyed Punk taking credit for the emergence of out of shape wrestlers in WWE. 

Good opening segment generally, the way it segued from Cody/Orton to Punk/Owens really made Raw look tinpot in comparison.

They're also putting Cody back on firey terra firma with this stuff;

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dbwuv9RsSUT/?igsh=MXZzY2k3NmJ2c2c5NQ==

Raw in the dirt.

Edited August 8 by d-d-d-dAz

[Chico Torres]

I can imagine in Punks mind his SHOOT PROMOS are super edgy even though they are last relevant when Shane Douglas did them in ECW over 30 years ago. Meanwhile the NXT kids he thinks he’s impressing with his PIPEBOMBS are likely thinking how lame these middle aged uncles are.

[The Gaffer]

I don't like my escapist fun time wrestling promos sounding like a WrestleZone 2005 forum post as much as the next person, but this place has the occasional habit of eye rolling perceived shoot promos that are - in fact - just the most standard issue modern wrestling style promos ever, with the kind of trickles of reality in them that most of the fans in the building either actively enjoy or just don't seem to get bothered by. 

Also saying they were last relevant over 30 years ago is anachronistic even for you, Chico! The original pipebomb - much as I hate that term and as much as it started some pretty bad tropes - was absolutely relevant.

 

[d-d-d-dAz]

Also, Punk really didn't do any shoot nonsense last night. The closest they got was Owens saying 'Phil' or suggesting Punk was an arsehole backstage, but even then it really wasn't heavy handed.

I hate their unnuanced shooty nonsense as much as anyone, but this was really far away from that.