WWE Stomping Grounds 2019

[Kaz Hayashi]

3 minutes ago, DJM said:

The problem is, other than Lesnar there is no one on a level above Reigns. Everyone else on the roster is currently his equal or a little below/a lesser opponent. There is no "main event" level talent for him to be having competitive matches with, so he is forced to have competitive matches with Drew and Shane. If he squashed Drew and Shane (as he should), who is on the next level for him to fight?

Competitive matches, no problem with that at all.

It’s when he has his arse handed to him for 80% of a match by equals or mid cards and then wins which is odd.

He’s allowed to batter people, in fact he should have come back from his illness & absence stronger than ever.

 

[JakeRobertsParoleOfficer]

2019 wwe, has there ever been less stars in the company than there are now. 

I used to base my life around catching the programme and ppv in the days before  SKY Q and Tivo. But now if I ever catch anything these days its on YouTube. 

They just don't have any stars at all or anyone who looks like they can ellicit an emotional reaction. 

Today's product makes wwf 94 look like 1987.

No one is even 1/4 the level of

Hogan, rock, warrior, flair, sting, road warriors, razor, Bret, Andre, piper, jake, Austin, michaels, Graham, taker, Goldberg, savage, rude, dusty, road warriors etc

Even if we look at the 00s you had edge, punk, batista, angle, cena

The product is just so vanilla, and boring now. 

The best thing they've done in last 10 years was Goldberg vs brock. That whole angle, and Goldbergs quick win was just so memorable (ironically probably by necessity due to Goldbergs limitations). It was a genuine wtf moment, and felt special which wrestling used to be

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DJM]

On 6/24/2019 at 8:43 AM, Onyx2 said:

The entire hard cam side was curtained off. 

Think of all the wrestlers delivering promos facing no actual humans. 

Apparently (from Wrestling Observer Radio) the attendance was 6,000, but closer to 4,000-4,500 that actually paid.

[BomberPat]

I watched as far as McIntyre/Reigns last night, and I remember almost none of the show. Nothing mattered.

What I do remember is them weirdly using Lee Hazlewood's 2006 version of These Boots Are Made For Walking, which was a surprise, and of interest probably only to me, and that god-awful backstage segment after Ricochet's win.

Everyone queuing up at a "wrestlers watching TV" angle unnaturally applauding a bloke they've, as far as I know, had no on-screen relationship with. The Universal Champion is just one of the people queuing up to give the new lad a hug, with no significance given to it, the announcers not mentioning it, so it's not an attempt to give Ricochet the rub by association. Not only that, but Seth is stood right next to Charlotte, his girlfriend (in case you haven't heard) Becky Lynch's hated arch-rival, without incident, just smiling away. To top off the shittiness, in steps Proud Indie Dad Triple H to give Ricochet a big old babyface hug, ignoring the fact that the last time we saw Triple H he was a bad-ass Attitude Era Legend. Or was he an arrogant Corporate Heel? Who fucking knows any more, he's the most inconsistent character in all of wrestling. Above all else, it felt completely inorganic. It wasn't Andre leading the charge in pouring champagne over Hogan, it felt like a corporate mandated team building exercise.

Then, later in the show, they do another backstage bit with Ricochet as the new champion getting interrupted by AJ Styles and The Club. Could we not have combined these into one single, simple, logical angle? Ricochet celebrates - naturally - with babyface chums, AJ steps up to threaten him. Job done.

[Ricc1PW]

I could just about understand Heavy Machinery been there, to say congrats, and Triple H (despite him mostly being a heel when hes on Raw) but Charlotte?! why? she's the biggest heel on the women's side.

[BomberPat]

Even Heavy Machinery left in the middle of it because it was their match next - so they weren't even really there to congratulate Ricochet, just happened to be waiting to go out when he got backstage. Not to mention some random bloke in a suit walking past the camera at one point.

Another thing about Seth being there - wearing his title belt like a chump - he's the World Champion, he has a match for the belt later that night, yet he has time to stand around waiting to give Ricochet a hug? Since RAW has he given up tracking people down and trying to find out who the special referee is? Is he not spending the time before his match preparing, training, stretching, getting into "the zone" or anything? Makes his match look like shit, not that it needed the help.

[Ricc1PW]

also, while I'm thinking about it - this might not be a popular opinion, but I HATED the crowd during the main event. sure it was a crap choice for the referee, and the match was pretty poor all told, but up til that point you'd had 3 or else 4 really good matches, a couple of passable ones and this. not every match is going to be a barn burner, the incessant chanting of this is awful, boring, aew, cm punk, daniel bryan was incredibly annoying.

Edited June 25, 2019 by Ricc1PW

[WyattSheepMask]

Finished the rest of the show this morning. It felt like one of those ‘Network Special’ House Shows they do from time to time. It’s not even  a bad show, there have been far worse over the years, but it was so clear going in that nothing of consequence was going to happen, and that’s exactly what happened. Ricochet won the US Belt, but we all know that’s not going to mean anything in a couple of weeks because none of the midcard belts mean anything, and haven’t done for the better part of 20 years.

It could partly be down to it coming 2 weeks after SaudiMania, but these matches could’ve easily been spread over a week of the regular TV and achieved the same amount. If anything, this just got in the way of what they could’ve been doing to build Extreme Rules as a must see.

But, we’ve been saying for years that there are too many PPVs, to the point that they tried to split the roster to make the numbers work, it didn’t so they made them “joint-shows” rather than reducing them. 

And it’s not just at the time of the year either. Why are there still 2 PPVs between Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania? Who the fuck needs Fastlane or whatever it is now? This isn’t the Monday Night War anymore, there is no need for a PPV every month

[Seratonin]

That was a top PPV, shame no one will touch the title now Ricochet's got his fingers on it. 💩

[Statto]

I guess they felt the need to give Corbin an excuse to keep the issue going by having John Cone end up counting the 3 again, but I really hope they at least considered the prospect of having Becky slap the armbar on Lacey to force a tap out/three count.

[Mr Butternut Squash]

Gotta love WWE's heavy handedness with absolutely everything. 

I was surprised they didn't have Micheal Cole go full-on, "He's quite, he's shy. But he's a hero!" with Ricochet. Proper 123 Kid vibes with him tonight. And that's good, won't knock them for actually trying to get the guy over as a star, and as a new kid on the block that definitely won't be taking a clean pinfall 24 hours later. The Joe match was brutal, lots of nasty stiff shots and Ric being squeezed and folded like an accordion. 

Seth Rollins is Becky Lynch's boyfriend apparently. Couples stuff is bound to be polarising but I enjoy it well enough. These two are kinda awkward as fuck but I'll take it. Becky being painted as the alpha gives her a decent rub and Rollins' lovey dovey stare in the post-match was the first time he's ever shown any hint of being likeable. They'll fuck it all up soon enough but for now this is the freshest either has felt in ages.

Running a mixed tag main event at Extreme Rules in Philadelphia with Baron Corbin and Lacey Evans as the co-headliners is tone deaf Vince at his glorious best. Love to see if they can get a main event worthy story out of this. This really need to be the end for these two fucks though. Get Corbin off TV for six months, find him some jeans and a denim jacket and stick him back in the midcard. Put Evans on the road, she won't be the star they want her to be until she drops that God awful, hokey gimmick. Bring her back when she learns to wrestle.

[WyattSheepMask]

The gimmick isn’t the problem, at least she has one and it’s better than “I wanted to be a wrestler ever since I saw Eddie Guerrero”. The issue is that she isn’t very good and was brought up far too early. She’s a decent enough lowcard heel, but is currently occupying a place beyond her ability, which isn’t her fault.

As for “bring her back when she learns to wrestle”, give over. Some of the biggest names in the business could barely do anything, but they had character, which people want to see. If you want wall to wall “no gimmicks needed” wrestling, go watch 10 year old ROH shows

Edited June 26, 2019 by WyattSheepMask

[Mr Butternut Squash]

Nope, the gimmicks shit. Nobodies buying it. It's fine as a prelim match gimmick but nothing else. It's telling that the only time she's got any reaction is when she brought up being a marine. 

Your second paragraphs reaching nonsense. I don't want ROH and I like gimmicks. I just want someone capable of pulling off the fundamentals of a pro wrestling match, especially if they're getting pushed as a fucking title challenger. If you're making Charlotte Flair look utter shit in a match then you need some work.

Edited June 26, 2019 by Mr Butternut Squash

[BomberPat]

Watched the rest of the show last night. The main event might honestly be one of the worst main events I've ever seen on a WWE show. Recency bias, sure, but I'm not exaggerating.

It seemed almost like parody - a hodgepodge of WWE tropes, with no logic underpinning them. The odds weren't against Seth Rollins because a story logically built to put him in that position, the odds were against him because he's a WWE babyface main eventer, and that's just how this works. 

As far as I could tell, there was no explanation given as to why Baron Corbin was able to name his own referee - it wasn't covered in the video package, nor by the announcers during the show. It's bad enough that he carried on dressing up in his GM gear after he lost the job, but if he also still has the authority to make that kind of decision, why does it matter that he ever lost the job? Why does anything have any consequence at all?

That same fighting babyface heroic WWE champion then attempted to retain the title by count out. In a match with a referee he'd already learned wasn't on his side, but expected to meekly count a ten. 

Speaking of. I love a bit of heel ref shenanigans. Dude Love vs. Steve Austin at Over The Edge '98 is the perfect sports entertainment match, and the perfect "babyface battles heel authority" match. Part of the reason that match was so great is that everything makes sense, there's a logic underpinning everything.

The point in that match which most infuriates the audience is Pat Patterson, as ring announcer, saying "I would like to remind you that this is a No Disqualification match". In this match, the announcer said he'd "just been informed" that it was a No DQ match, or that there were no count outs. The difference is that by framing it as a "reminder", the heels are keeping up the thinnest veneer of objectivity and professionalism - and that it's so transparently obvious what they're doing, you're angrier at them than if they were just out-and-out cheating, and it gets more heat. It's also funnier.

That the match ended with clips that seemed more focused on getting Seth and Becky a spot in Total Divas than furthering any programme for them on RAW was almost as bad.