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

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

I'm really looking forward to Backlash if the card is Pat McAfee v Gunther and Jey Uso v Logan Paul...

 

[air_raid]

21 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

...is that an AI pic?

WE HAVE RULES HERE

(checks FAQ)

"Images will be acceptable used sparingly and in appropriate circumstances."

So I wasted my time mocking up Ted DiBiase as WWF Champion vs the Hulkster as "what might have been" to augment my review of Mania IV just because its AI and I couldn't draw it myself? Fucking hell lads, it's a bit of fun, we're not paid journos or making web content for PPC.

Let's just ban fun, it would be easier.

EDIT - have now replaced the image with one thats a fair reflection of my real, human skills.

Edited April 29, 2025 by air_raid
Human Intelligence

[LaGoosh]

10 minutes ago, air_raid said:

Let's just ban AI images, it would be easier.

Fixed. 

Edited April 29, 2025 by LaGoosh

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

16 minutes ago, air_raid said:

Let's just ban fun, it would be easier.

We have that place already, it's called the UK Wrestling Forum. 18 posts this year and counting. 

[HarmonicGenerator]

35 minutes ago, air_raid said:

(checks FAQ)

"Images will be acceptable used sparingly and in appropriate circumstances."

So I wasted my time mocking up Ted DiBiase as WWF Champion vs the Hulkster as "what might have been" to augment my review of Mania IV just because its AI and I couldn't draw it myself? Fucking hell lads, it's a bit of fun, we're not paid journos or making web content for PPC.

Let's just ban fun, it would be easier.

EDIT - have now replaced the image with one thats a fair reflection of my real, human skills.

Your replaced image is vastly more fun than the first one - quickly put together Paint drawings of wrestling are the lifeblood of this forum!

[Supremo]

The tan on these lads, it might as well be AI! Neon bastards. Exactly how strong is that spotlight?!

Someone needs to get The Rock on a podcast and ask him what he thinks of the Backlash card.

Maybe it’ll blow away expectations, but if I was coming off that Wrestlemania season, and all the bad press? I’d be looking to impress. My next pay per view would not feature Gunther vs. McAfee, Jey Uso vs. Logan Paul, with John Cena vs. Randy Orton as the headliner.

The B shows normally feature five matches now, don’t they? Might as well try and think of two more dog shit matches and create the anti-Canadian Stampede. Nia Jax title shot? Travis Scott debut?

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

24 minutes ago, Supremo said:

The B shows normally feature five matches now, don’t they? Might as well try and think of two more dog shit matches and create the anti-Canadian Stampede. Nia Jax title shot? Travis Scott debut?

Nia Jax v Tiffany Stratton and Becky Lynch v Lyra Valkirya and that's Backlash. 

[air_raid]

1 minute ago, Lion_of_the_Midlands said:

Becky Lynch v Lyra Valkirya 

They virtually announced that, right?

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

19 minutes ago, air_raid said:

They virtually announced that, right?

I didn't know if that was for Backlash or next week. 

[DavidB6937]

It's definitely a booking problem for me rather than a crowd reaction thing.

1. Seth has been a weird tweener type character for ages.

2. Bron was getting the super spears over pretty well before all this.

They need more than just "book against a good babyface" to switch any of that momentum.

Why should the crowds boo the people they've been enjoying for months? There's barely any difference beyond they're now with Heyman.

Why is Bron even there? Why is Heyman there? There's been very little in trying to piece it together and push them towards the heel side of things more. The Sami stuff is a logical step in the right direction but there needs to be a lot more of that to get any heat on the new group.

[BomberPat]

6 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said:

It's definitely a booking problem for me rather than a crowd reaction thing.

1. Seth has been a weird tweener type character for ages.

2. Bron was getting the super spears over pretty well before all this.

They need more than just "book against a good babyface" to switch any of that momentum.

Why should the crowds boo the people they've been enjoying for months? There's barely any difference beyond they're now with Heyman.

Just from the little of WWE that I've seen this year, that all adds up to me. Something that I've complained about with WWE for a couple of years now is that nobody cheats and there's no real heat; a big part of the reason Cena vs. Cody didn't work is that John Cena wrestling as a heel is just the same thing but slower, there's no sense that anything he's doing is aggressive or underhanded. I couldn't tell you at any point in the last few years whether Seth Rollins was a heel or a face without recourse to looking at who he was booked against. When people were talking about him turning heel at Wrestlemania, I was honestly amazed because I assumed he was a heel already - was he a babyface when he beat up CM Punk and stomped Roman Reigns' head into the ringsteps after getting eliminated from the Royal Rumble?

And with Heyman in particular, it wasn't Rollins who "turned" in that match, it was Heyman who sided with him. Michael Cole was trying to sell Seth Rollins accepting a steel chair from Paul Heyman and using it to beat up his opponents was the most diabolical thing he could possibly have done, but moments earlier he had no problem with either CM Punk or Roman Reigns being prepared to do exactly the same thing. And in every other Triple Threat match, when someone uses a weapon, Michael Cole doesn't get on at them about how evil they are for it, he just gleefully shouts "IT'S ALL LEGAL". So what's the problem here? Why are we supposed to hate Seth Rollins or, at least, hate him more than usual?

 

The broader picture is interesting, between this and people starting to turn on Cody, because that was business as usual for WWE for almost twenty years. On and off-screen they treated their audience with contempt, and booked the company itself to be the biggest heel there was, so that any time someone was clearly the anointed next star, that made them the corporate choice, and a large section of the audience was going to turn on them. That was Cena's entire run on top, and it was every Roman Reigns match pre-pandemic. Until now, all Triple H has had to do is not that, and it's largely worked out. I also think AEW has been part of it - the current generation of WWE fans (or at least the most vocal ones) are more inclined towards tribalism and singing the praises of WWE over the competition than of critiquing what WWE are offering them, so more likely to just take what they're given than any audience since the early '00s.

But that's starting to change. Triple H seems to finally be running out of goodwill, and the honeymoon period is over - WWE have had a run of minor PR disasters, a poorly received Wrestlemania, and the crowd are starting to push back against things a bit more. It's not going to hurt their bottom line, but it will be interesting to see if they try and course-correct and keep the more vocal fans happy, or push on regardless.

[d-d-d-dAz]

20 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said:

It's definitely a booking problem for me rather than a crowd reaction thing.

1. Seth has been a weird tweener type character for ages.

2. Bron was getting the super spears over pretty well before all this.

They need more than just "book against a good babyface" to switch any of that momentum.

Why should the crowds boo the people they've been enjoying for months? There's barely any difference beyond they're now with Heyman.

Why is Bron even there? Why is Heyman there? There's been very little in trying to piece it together and push them towards the heel side of things more. The Sami stuff is a logical step in the right direction but there needs to be a lot more of that to get any heat on the new group.

But, I think its all part of the same whole.

They've stopped bothering to put the connective tissue on storylines together, as they're not booking for TV anymore, they're booking for social. Which means there's no real connection to the audience, which means the crowd response is wonky as they just want what they've been conditioned to want... the cool spots and singalongs they see on Instagram and TikTok.

You're bang on about how they've give no real reason for Seth/Bron/Heyman, in the same way they didn't see the need to flesh out why The Rock was involved with Cena's turn. But it looks good clipped up for the socials or as part of a 2 minute video package.

[Supremo]

There is a direct correlation between good booking and the fans, “playing along.” Give them a solid product with good, well-written characters they can invest in and react to earnestly, and you’ll get reactions to match. Start putting out bad, messy storylines, with inconsistent characters and the fans will start, “reacting wrong,” and entertaining themselves.

It’s not a co-incidence that there’s been a rise in fans booing supposed babyfaces and cheering supposed heels this year. It’s because they’ve completely lost the plot on how to book them properly.

For as much as Hunter is sulking at everyone, “being a critic,” I thought people being unable to grasp this on Twitter proved how few people actually have a critical eye for it. During the European tour, when Bianca started getting booed, loads of people seemed shocked, and there were these mad theories than European crowds were racist. But then they returned to the States and the exact same thing happened there. I found it fascinating that so few people could spot the very clear connection between Bianca getting a negative reaction and her character suddenly switching to that of a mean, bullying dickhead.

Edited April 29, 2025 by Supremo

[air_raid]

25 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said:

Why should the crowds boo the people they've been enjoying for months? There's barely any difference beyond they're now with Heyman.

Maybe someone actively has it out for Bron and wants to crush his babyface momentum by lumping him with the walrus? Worked for Cesaro.

[d-d-d-dAz]

I also want it on record that I, personally, have not been 'enjoying' Seth Rollins 'for months'.