DavidB6937 Posted January 13 Posted January 13 Wheeling Jey Uso out during the commercials to YEET like he's the tshirt cannon guy or something. Amazing. Quote
The King of Old School Posted January 13 Author Posted January 13 (edited) Liked the finish to the Gunther match. The opening segment though, good lord what a mess. Keep Iyo Sky especially away from those. Finn Balor fighting for the belt in his "home country" next week made me laugh. Also suspensions in WWE seem really overdone to me, is it just a lazy way of getting him off TV because they haven't really got anything for him to do for a while? Edited January 13 by The King of Old School Quote
FUM Posted January 13 Posted January 13 1 hour ago, The King of Old School said: Finn Balor fighting for the belt in his "home country" next week made me laugh. That’s not some WWE faux pas. There’s a good chance he will regard it as such. Finn feels a bit fresh as a challenger to me as he’s been away from it so long. They’ve not really had anyone feel fresh in that scene for ages so I wish they’d done it as a feud rather than just a one-off match as it appears. Quote
The King of Old School Posted January 13 Author Posted January 13 1 minute ago, FUM said: That’s not some WWE faux pas. There’s a good chance he will regard it as such. I think it is. Like Drew fighting for the belt in his home country of Wales, U.K at Clash at the Castle. Quote
FUM Posted January 13 Posted January 13 1 minute ago, The King of Old School said: I think it is. Like Drew fighting for the belt in his home country of Wales, U.K at Clash at the Castle. Drew definitely is but Finn regarding the North of Ireland as part of Ireland likely isn’t. There’s a good chance he rejects its UK status altogether. Quote
The King of Old School Posted January 13 Author Posted January 13 19 minutes ago, FUM said: Finn feels a bit fresh as a challenger to me as he’s been away from it so long. They’ve not really had anyone feel fresh in that scene for ages so I wish they’d done it as a feud rather than just a one-off match as it appears. Would have been nice for him to do something to earn the shot too. 11 minutes ago, FUM said: Drew definitely is but Finn regarding the North of Ireland as part of Ireland likely isn’t. There’s a good chance he rejects its UK status altogether. Maybe, you would like to think he might have said something backstage if that wasn't the case. Quote
Paid Members DCW Posted January 13 Paid Members Posted January 13 Weird giving Balor a title shot when he's done nothing for years. Also, Punk looked rough as fuck and he's only 3 years older than Balor. Punk has the weird attitude era Vince haircut, which doesn't help. Quote
Paid Members RedTwoster Posted January 13 Paid Members Posted January 13 49 minutes ago, DCW said: Weird giving Balor a title shot when he's done nothing for years. Also, Punk looked rough as fuck and he's only 3 years older than Balor. Punk has the weird attitude era Vince haircut, which doesn't help. I had no idea that Balor was in his mid-40s, my mind is genuinely blown by that. He and Punk feel like they’re from different generations, I’m a bit surprised that they’re not. It’s pretty shocking how old the men’s side of the WWE roster is when you break it down. It’s going to look very different sooner rather than later, and they probably need to ensure the next generation is firmly established by the time that happens. Looking at their 2025 PPV main events, NXT excluded, almost every show-closer was over the age of 40. It’ll be interesting to see how quickly they manage to bring that average down in the coming years. It’s hard to see how they’ll do it, unless they manage to sign a few younger names from AEW. Quote
Paid Members BomberPat Posted January 13 Paid Members Posted January 13 You have to think they're staring down the barrel of a lot of retirements in the next few years, and at the very least a lot of people either leaving or pivoting to more part-time deals. I think it might end up being a bit of a blessing in disguise for Triple H to be able to rely on some retirement runs to carry the booking for a year or two. It's pretty shocking when you see the ages of the male main roster all detailed... 53: R-Truth 51: Rey Mysterio 48: AJ Styles (likely retiring this year) Brock Lesnar (likely retiring this year) 47: CM Punk 45: The Miz, Randy Orton, Shinsuke Nakamura 44: Finn Balor, Kofi Kingston, Erick Rowan 43: LA Knight, Chris Sabin, Damian Priest, JC Mateo, Tama Tonga 42: Alex Shelley, Tanga Loa 41: Erik, Ivar, Dexter Lumis, Sami Zayn, Santos Escobar 40: Akira Tozawa, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, Penta, Rusev, Aleister Black, Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre, Matt Cardona, Roman Reigns, Tommaso Ciampa 39: Joaquin Wilde, Xavier Woods 38: Gunther, Apollo Crews, Joe Gacy, Johnny Gargano 37: Bronson Reed 35: Grayson Waller, Ludwig Kaiser, Angelo Dawkins, Bo Dallas, Montez Ford, Rey Fenix 34: Cruz del Toro, Otis, Hikuleo 33: Angel Garza, Jacob Fatu 32: Pete Dunne, Ilja Dragunov, Solo Sikoa 31: Julius Creed, Carmelo Hayes, Kit Wilson, Trick Williams 30: Dragon Lee, Logan Paul, Berto 29: Brutus Creed 28: Austin Theory, Bron Breakker, Dominik Mysterio, Tyler Bate, Axiom, Elton Prince 27: Nathan Frazer 21: Je'Von Evans On top of that, you likely have Chris Jericho coming in soon, who's older than anyone on the active roster and will almost certainly be positioned straight into a major programme. There's some promise lower down that list - Dominik and Bron, in particular, are likely to be a focal point for a long time to come - but the sheer number of people in and around the top of the card, and some still somewhat seen as up-and-comers, that are north of 40 is pretty staggering, even with the caveat that 40 today isn't what 40 was in the past. There's a whole grouping of nothing in the 30s there, where there's very few people bar Gunther and Jacob Fatu that feel like they are either are or have potential to be proper headliners. I don't know NXT nearly well enough to know if anyone down there is likely to be a future star, but the majority there are at least under 30 - but you still have your Andre Chase, Ethan Page, Joe Hendry, Ricky Starks, and so on, in a developmental brand when they're closer to 40 than to 30, and Shawn Spears is there at 44. Compare that to AEW where, yes, you have your Hurt Syndicates, your Samoa Joes, and your Adam Copelands pushing up the average, but Swerve is 35, Hangman is 34, Ospreay is 32, Takeshita is 30, and MJF, Kyle Fletcher, Jack Perry, and plenty of others haven't even turned 30 yet, and are already well established. There will almost certainly be a lot of movement from AEW to WWE to freshen up WWE's roster over the years, as well as NXT call-ups, though it's no guarantee any of those names will make a dent on the main event scene - for every Cody, there's a Shawn Spears stuck in NXT, there's a Rusev, a Rey Fenix or an Aleister Black doing an awful lot of nothing, or a Penta peaking in their debut and not doing much of anything after that. Unless they get someone on the level of an MJF, I don't see many younger AEW names having an immediate impact. And that's to say nothing of travel in the opposite direction - how many of those names under 40, and particularly under 35, might we see bounce back and forth from AEW and back to WWE over the next decade? Quote
Paid Members Supremo Posted January 13 Paid Members Posted January 13 (edited) You’d hope Je'Von Evans being twenty one years old would give them the opportunity to create a contemporary star. Someone who speaks and connects to the kids of today, rather than the kids of twenty years ago. You’re not going to believe how they described him on commentary this week. He. Loves. To. Have. Fun. The aging is roster is definitely a looming problem, but the aging writing crew is infinitely worse. Even if they had a sudden youth movement, what use is it if the young, exciting talent are scripted by smug, weirdo pensioners? Edited January 13 by Supremo Quote
digforvictory Posted January 13 Posted January 13 Finn Balor has two singles wins since September 2023, both over Dragon Lee. So no wonder he's getting a World title shot next week. Could they not at least have him beat Rey Mysterio or Jey Uso earlier in the night before demanding a title shot? I know he's not winning the belt and it's just a throwaway Raw main event but at least make some sort of effort to make him look slightly credible as a challenger. Also yeah, CM Punk looks fucking rough at the minute. His Butthead/Vince Mcmahon hairstyle is shockingly bad. Quote
Paid Members air_raid Posted January 13 Paid Members Posted January 13 3 hours ago, FUM said: Drew definitely is but Finn regarding the North of Ireland as part of Ireland likely isn’t. There’s a good chance he rejects its UK status altogether. Either way, Bray to Belfast is still closer than when they called London the “hometown” of Smithers. 3 hours ago, DCW said: Weird giving Balor a title shot when he's done nothing for years. Beg pardon? 24 minutes ago, digforvictory said: Finn Balor has two singles wins since September 2023, both over Dragon Lee. There you go. Two more than some. 1 hour ago, BomberPat said: 28: Bron Breakker, Dominik Mysterio, Tyler Bate What’s staggering here is just how long ago WWE were crowing about what a future Bate had, juxtaposed to two blokes who’ve achieved far more and looked far bigger stars and taken half the time to get there. Quote
Paid Members RedTwoster Posted January 13 Paid Members Posted January 13 1 hour ago, BomberPat said: 35: Grayson Waller, Ludwig Kaiser, Angelo Dawkins, Bo Dallas, Montez Ford, Rey Fenix 34: Cruz del Toro, Otis, Hikuleo 33: Angel Garza, Jacob Fatu 32: Pete Dunne, Ilja Dragunov, Solo Sikoa 31: Julius Creed, Carmelo Hayes, Kit Wilson, Trick Williams 30: Dragon Lee, Logan Paul, Berto 29: Brutus Creed 28: Austin Theory, Bron Breakker, Dominik Mysterio, Tyler Bate, Axiom, Elton Prince 27: Nathan Frazer 21: Je'Von Evans It’s pretty staggering that this is the young end of their roster - particularly when you consider that AEW has Swerve, Hangman, MJF, Darby, Takeshita and others within that bracket. It’s not like there aren’t potential megastars within that group - I don’t understand why they’ve not moved Dominik Mysterio up a level given that he’s been one of the most over wrestlers on their roster for years. Dom challenging Cody for the WWE title would have been far more interesting than the vast majority of matches they’ve put Cody in, and as much as I like Drew, shoving the belt on Dom would have been a much better choice - in fact, having Bron Breakker and Dominik Mysterio head into Wrestlemania as your two men’s World Champions is much more exciting than sticking with the old guard, in my opinion. Quote
Paid Members Supremo Posted January 13 Paid Members Posted January 13 (edited) That’s one reason why I don’t mind Finn Balor vs. CM Punk; I’m convinced it’s the gateway to Dirty Dom challenging Punk for the World Title. Not only is it time to pull the trigger on Dom moving up, but after watching Punk struggling to stay alive in that sloppy, stiff match with Bron Breakker last week, I bet he’s been begging to work someone as safe as Dom Mysterio going forward. Probably mapping out a solid six months for the sake of his health. They seem to fucking love that at the moment. Bragging that Drew vs. Cody and Damien vs. Black had been going on since August. That’s not a positive, lads! Bring back monthly cycles! Agreed it’s a bit daft that Finn gets a Title shot out of nowhere though. Least they could have done is had fun with it and had a skit backstage where Finn’s playing career mode on WWE2K, his character beats the Punk character, and he claims that counts as enough to earn him a title shot in real life. I feel sorry Maxine Dupree. She looked so fucking bad last week, so to stick her in a rematch in Belfast genuinely feels like a punishment. She’ll likely look just as shit next week, only with a feverish crowd cheering the heel she’s fighting. Poor girl’s being fed to the wolves. Talk about drawing a line under a failed experiment. It was a fine, if uninspiring show. More paint by numbers. That’s what made it all the funnier that the biggest takeaway was the new Wrestlemania trailer. Oh, to get a glimpse of Triple H delivering that pitch during the next season of Unreal. ”How about I, The Game, The King of Kings, receive a load of videos via email from loads of celebrities, all begging me to be a part of Wrestlemania. Then the final shot will be me looking exhausted at being so fucking great, with everyone wanting a piece of me. Where shall we shoot it? Probably my office. I’ve got the perfect backdrop.” Wanker of the Century. Biggest mark of them all. Anyone else, you’d think it was a sarcastic gimmick or self-deprecating bit, but it’s him. It’s them. Spend a bit less time sucking yourself off and maybe you could find the spark you lost over a year ago. Edited January 13 by Supremo Quote
NeverYield Posted January 13 Posted January 13 That spear was absolutely incredible Another decent show imo, not the best but certainly an improvement on the nonsense we've been served on a regular basis of late. I want to see Adam Pearce properly lose his shit soon and start throwing hands with The Vision Quote
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