Paid Members Supremo Posted April 30 Paid Members Share Posted April 30 Absolutely pointless draft, but at least it wasn’t used to humiliate and wind up their own talent. Progress is progress. Never forget. Horrible bastards. Stephanie McMahon on TV again though. Certainly a choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members TheBurningRed Posted April 30 Paid Members Share Posted April 30 Nah that was hilarious. Fuck JR. They said in the lead up to that draft that announcers were eligible. So two swapping over was bound to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted April 30 Paid Members Share Posted April 30 17 minutes ago, TheBurningRed said: They said in the lead up to that draft that announcers were eligible. So two swapping over was bound to happen. For the fans to be told "this might happen" and the talent to not find out "this is happening" until it happens live on air are not comparable. Horrible bastards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Hannibal Scorch Posted April 30 Paid Members Share Posted April 30 1 hour ago, RedRooster said: I'm guessing the Smackdown roster tells us something about their plans for various wrestlers - if you draft a hot heel to Smackdown - Gunther or Drew McIntyre perhaps; maybe even Dragunov they immediately become an obvious contender to face Cody. And if they wrestle him and lose, they cool off. Cody is going to wrestle The Rock at some point - and this plot thread is presumably what will be driving Smackdown forward. Whether Rock wins or loses, that presumably leads to Roman Reigns making his return - bolstering Smackdown. If Cody retains the belt, his Wrestlemania challenger could jump over via the Rumble - perhaps Gunther, or Punk. Or maybe they'll have Logan Paul go after the belt at Wrestlemania? Alternatively, if Cody loses, presumably we get Rock/Reigns for the title at Wrestlemania. Maybe Cody goes after Logan Paul, if he's still the US champ? Either way, there are a limited number of options for Cody - even if you consider potential additions as the year goes on (eg. Ricky Starks and the new Wyatt-inspired faction) Something that’s been lost in the draft conversation is the media rights deal. Remember that in a few months Raw is leaving linear TV to go to Netflix whilst Smackdown will be on USA Network. Sure, in a lot of countries Netflix will be the new home of WWE content, but in the US they will still be on cable and I think some of these choices made are specifically geared to appease the respective contract holders. In other news, saw a clip of Braun returning. He looked blown up getting to the ring, he’s gotten even bigger but looks like he could pop at any minute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRooster Posted April 30 Share Posted April 30 6 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said: Something that’s been lost in the draft conversation is the media rights deal. Remember that in a few months Raw is leaving linear TV to go to Netflix whilst Smackdown will be on USA Network. That doesn't happen until 2025, though - and up until then (or close to then), things remain as they are. It'll be interesting to see how WWE prioritises each show, and what being on Netflix means for the length of Raw; and, I suppose, what being on USA does for the length of Smackdown. Would they be looking to switch one three hour show for another? I really hope not, but... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Hannibal Scorch Posted April 30 Paid Members Share Posted April 30 26 minutes ago, RedRooster said: That doesn't happen until 2025, though - and up until then (or close to then), things remain as they are. It'll be interesting to see how WWE prioritises each show, and what being on Netflix means for the length of Raw; and, I suppose, what being on USA does for the length of Smackdown. Would they be looking to switch one three hour show for another? I really hope not, but... I don’t think the deal mentioned an extra hour so I think it will be just the 2 hour show they get now.  But the reason I mentioned it was because, and I’m possibly mistaken, but the draft only happens once a year. If that’s right, this will be the roster for the upcoming change. Also, Raw’s TV deal expires sooner than the Netflix deal starts. I believe it’s a 3 month gap and there’s been no announcements as to where Raw will be in the interim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRooster Posted April 30 Share Posted April 30 4 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said: I don’t think the deal mentioned an extra hour so I think it will be just the 2 hour show they get now.  But the reason I mentioned it was because, and I’m possibly mistaken, but the draft only happens once a year. If that’s right, this will be the roster for the upcoming change. Also, Raw’s TV deal expires sooner than the Netflix deal starts. I believe it’s a 3 month gap and there’s been no announcements as to where Raw will be in the interim. Typically yes, but I suppose they could run an interim draft, or make a few roster moves. I can't imagine the first Raw on Netflix won't be an all-guns blazing affair; featuring The Rock, and any big name they can persuade to make an appearance. I'm also interested in how they treat Smackdown going forward - will it go back to being a B show, or will Triple H look to maintain some form of parity? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Statto Posted April 30 Paid Members Share Posted April 30 I got the feeling Smackdown was trending back towards being the b-show in the run-up to Mania. The key moments of the Cody/Rock/Roman stuff (feat Seth Rollins) seemed to be playing out on Raw (including the bloody beatdown in the rain), whilst the featured feuds on Smackdown were the likes of Bayley vs Io, Styles vs Knight & Lashley et al vs Kross' bunch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRooster Posted April 30 Share Posted April 30 1 hour ago, Statto said: I got the feeling Smackdown was trending back towards being the b-show in the run-up to Mania. The key moments of the Cody/Rock/Roman stuff (feat Seth Rollins) seemed to be playing out on Raw (including the bloody beatdown in the rain), whilst the featured feuds on Smackdown were the likes of Bayley vs Io, Styles vs Knight & Lashley et al vs Kross' bunch. On the other hand, The Rock appeared on Smackdown more than he did on Raw; same goes, of course, for Roman - and the initial intent was to run a Roman/Rock match; which presumably would have played out on Smackdown. The best angle was on Raw, but given that Smackdown is on network television in the States, I'm wondering if running such a bloody angle on that show would even have been an option. I actually did like b-show era Smackdown, though - outside of the Jinder-era, Smackdown was much more entertaining than Raw during the early years of the new brand split. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members I Bent My Wookie Posted April 30 Paid Members Share Posted April 30 In amlngst all discussion about Meltzer's star rating system in the AEW threads, Maxxine Dupris kip up after the fisherman suplex is up there with a full 7 thumbs up. The pure "yeah bitch, I did that" look on her face after was picture perfect. I now believe in Coach Gable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d-d-d-dAz Posted April 30 Share Posted April 30 (edited) Punk and McInture is so, so good. Punk is at his absolute best when he's got a proper wrestling story to sink his teeth into, and Drew is killing it as a lunatic descending ever further into madness. Twenty stars. Logan Paul is great. Nineteen stars. Whoever is directing the shows at the minute is doing a sterling job, there are always some brilliantly framed shots. Twenty five stars. Edited April 30 by d-d-d-dAz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FUM Posted April 30 Share Posted April 30 My main takeaway was that Logan Paul had a titantron video and I hope that’s the start of their comeback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyUK Posted April 30 Share Posted April 30 (edited) I've thought for a while that Smackdown's roster was a bit meh compared to RAW's and they're both virtually still the same. If anything cools Cody down it will be the fact he's on that show now. He's got a ready made feud with Orton for the summer but other than that, there's not a lot else other than Solo maybe to lead to the Rock/Reigns returns. RAW looks decent though. Gunther, Sheamus and Dragunov on the same show.  Edited April 30 by AndyUK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted May 1 Paid Members Share Posted May 1 I just realized that in all the flap about the draft, we've glossed over Braun coming back. One of the worst misses of a "can't miss" guy after years of bad booking, his reign getting scuppered by a pandemic environment, MORE bad booking and Spooky Bollocks, his big money contract making him a necessary cut, then an injury layoff. He'll make an EXCELLENT and believable threat to Priest... unless they predictably turn him heel to feud with Jey while Priest moves on to someone else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Danger Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 Braun is a bit shit though isn’t he? Proper Albert, Test, Matt Morgan, Heidenreich era big boring hoss throwback. Maybe they can use him to help get Bron Brekker over as genetic freak or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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