The Official UKFF RAW thread (part 2)...

[LaGoosh]

13 minutes ago, SuperBacon said:

not tribal bollocks which is what it always descends in to

I wouldn't describe any of the discussion as "tribal bollocks". In fact I think there is very little tribalism on this board. The vast majority of discussion on here is fair and reasonable. The only tribalism discussion I see is certain people moaning about it.

At the end of the day if you find a discussion boring just skip past it or read another thread until you find something you like. Or generate a new discussion.

Edited January 14, 2025 by LaGoosh

[SuperBacon]

1 minute ago, LaGoosh said:

The only tribalism I see is certain people moaning about it.

I disagree with this, but it's all subjective isn't it?

1 minute ago, LaGoosh said:

At the end of the day if you find a discussion boring just skip past it or read another thread until you find something you like.

But I do like reading the discussion. I just think it's so boring that people have to constantly reference the other all the time. Who gives a shit what the other company does? 

Anyway, I'm just grumpy as there is work going on next door and they're banging loudly (waheeeeeeeey)

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

1 minute ago, SuperBacon said:

Who gives a shit what the other company does? 

Everyone, from the top of each company down.

[TheScarlettChad]

They signed Penta purely because of "The Other Company" so clearly WWE does. 

[Guest]

There's no doubt they did everything they could to make Penta feel big time, except they then had him go back and forth with a man who nearly lost to Otis, which I was thought was well weird. 

Just to piss off Bacon, it's the exact kind of debut AEW do, a long competitive match with someone that shouldn't be on the new stars level. Not WWE's usual fare, which is to kill them quick. 

Edited January 14, 2025 by Duke

[Supremo]

The Penta debut gave real Taz-debuts-at-Rumble or RVD-comes-in-during-the-Invasion vibes. This wild scene, where a guy you’d never expect to see in WWE comes in and immediately looks a million dollars.

It’s no surprise then, to see this stuff happening already. 

Of course some of the losers in the back are getting their little digs in early. I’d be shitting myself about my spot if someone who looked like that came in too. He’s a walking merchandise machine. An action figure come to life.

This is brilliant though. What a photo. Your Dad agreeing to take you all to your first metal concert.

[LaGoosh]

Fucking hell Triple H is a such a loser.

[d-d-d-dAz]

Penta's look is so striking. I think it's my favourite look in all of wrestling.

My only issue is... that's a fucking heel. I don't care what anyone says, he looks like a super villain. If WWE ever do a full Avengers v Masters of Evil style story, he's on the side of evil.

And Cody Rhodes should be on that side, too. On look alone they're the biggest baddies in the world. They both look like they'd team up to kill Peter Parker.

Edited January 14, 2025 by d-d-d-dAz

[TheScarlettChad]

3 minutes ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

Penta's look is so striking. I think it's my favourite look in all of wrestling.

My only issue is... that's a fucking heel. I don't care what anyone says, he looks like a super villain. If WWE ever do a full Avengers v Masters of Evil style story, he's on the side of evil.

And Cody Rhodes should be on that side, too. On look alone they're the biggest baddies in the world. They both look like they'd team up to kill Peter Parker.

Penta looks demented with the tongue and eyes. If I was a kid, I'd be scared of him. Rey was my guy as a kid, so I think I'd still love him if I was a kid today. 

[Mr_Danger]

2026, Rey vs Penta in a career vs mask match at Mania. You heard it here first.

I really liked Penta. He doesn’t move like a WWE guy, he doesn’t talk like a WWE guy and he feels both unique and tailor made for WWE. Hopefully they can get all that out of him and Dragon Lee him up asap.

[FUM]

37 minutes ago, TheScarlettChad said:

They signed Penta purely because of "The Other Company" so clearly WWE does. 

Did they? I reckon that could have been said with Vince in charge but Trips is clearly a massive wrestling fan across all promotions rather than having a sole WWE focus. It’s been made very clear the guy watches everything he can from what we’ve seen on his booking and presentation of certain signings.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a huge Lucha Underground fan. He picked up Swerve, Iyo, Kairi, Escobar, Ricochet and Kross while he was running NXT who all wrestled there.

[Hannibal Scorch]

37 minutes ago, Supremo said:

 

This is brilliant though. What a photo. Your Dad agreeing to take you all to your first metal concert.

Look at Paul there looking like such a Proud Boy. That’s definitely not the first time he’s done that hand gesture.

@FUM while you can definitely see that with his run at NXT Black and Gold, why didn’t he go for Penta and Fenix before now? I don’t think you can say them being highlighted as much in AEW wasn’t a contributing factor.

Edited January 14, 2025 by Hannibal Scorch

[TheScarlettChad]

Just now, FUM said:

Did they? I reckon that could have been said with Vince in charge but Trips is clearly a massive wrestling fan across all promotions rather than having a sole WWE focus. It’s been made very clear the guy watches everything he can from what we’ve seen on his booking and presentation of certain signings.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a huge Lucha Underground fan. He picked up Swerve, Iyo, Kairi, Escobar, Ricochet and Kross while he was running NXT who all wrestled there.

It could be because of LU. But he was most recently with AEW. You could be right though 

[Carbomb]

26 minutes ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

Penta's look is so striking. I think it's my favourite look in all of wrestling.

My only issue is... that's a fucking heel. I don't care what anyone says, he looks like a super villain. If WWE ever do a full Avengers v Masters of Evil style story, he's on the side of evil.

And Cody Rhodes should be on that side, too. On look alone they're the biggest baddies in the world. They both look like they'd team up to kill Peter Parker.

Going purely off discussion on here, and that Twitter clip, I think we all know he's not going to turn heel for a while, as long as they can milk the cash cow that is his mask merch. They could do worse than make him a lucha Stone Cold or a Vampiro (no, he wasn't good, but the guy had a ton of bad-ass charisma that carried him further than his abilities would normally allow).

Cody Rhodes looks like a villain in the old style, but in the current era in which so many people consume anime, manga, and videogames, he looks like a blue-eye, especially with that Final Fantasy-looking ring coat with all the extravagant accessories.

[tiger_rick]

It's something of a pointless discussion (Penta without AEW) because we'll never know.

I think what's more interesting is whether him debuting on Raw is because Triple H is more comfortable with that than Vince was or because he's been in AEW and has been working a style they are comfortable with and/or is known to good chunks of their audience because of it.

For as much as I doubt Triple H is as anal as Vince about the working style, he was always a chief offender for complaining about guys who came in and couldn't work going back as far as at least Chris Jericho - who, ironically, now can't work. I'd think that Penta being in AEW and working with a lot of guys they know would have a big impact.

I think that's got to be a net positive for WWE fans. These guys debuting on the big shows is a hot moment, rather than watching them in NXT for months or years until the shine has somewhat worn off. 

To a point I made yesterday about the SNME timing pettiness, how anyone can not see Rhodes, Punk and Penta debut on "their team" and not realise how brilliant having two big companies is for the industry is a fucking dweeb.  

Edited January 14, 2025 by tiger_rick