Paid Members BomberPat Posted March 30, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted March 30, 2021 Hadn't they already done a "Hurt Business are banned from ringside" angle for Wrestlemania? That simple stipulation allows for whatever they're hoping to achieve from breaking them up, by forcing Lashley to go it alone at Wrestlemania. Breaking them up after Wrestlemania because Lashley couldn't get the job done and he takes out on them would make some kind of sense. Breaking them up before Wrestlemania, when Lashley's trying to get people to take McIntyre out of the equation before the match, doesn't make the slightest bit of sense. There are, in essence, two ways to book wrestling - you either plot everything out months in advance and stick rigidly to the plan, which allows you to sow seeds for stories early, keep a coherent narrative going, and make sure everything makes sense, but risk not being able to change things organically based on the reaction of the audience, or you fly by the seat of your pants and let the audience reactions and the events of each show effectively inform whatever comes up next, potentially at the expense of better long-term storytelling. I'm not sure how they've managed it, but WWE have managed to somehow take on only the worst aspects of both approaches - it feels like The Plan is completely set in stone for months regardless of how fans react (with the exception of Edge/Bryan/Reigns, apparently), yet absolutely everything on the show has the sense of being made up as they go along and just cobbled together hours before the show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foalie Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 13 minutes ago, BomberPat said: Hadn't they already done a "Hurt Business are banned from ringside" angle for Wrestlemania? That simple stipulation allows for whatever they're hoping to achieve from breaking them up, by forcing Lashley to go it alone at Wrestlemania. Breaking them up after Wrestlemania because Lashley couldn't get the job done and he takes out on them would make some kind of sense. Breaking them up before Wrestlemania, when Lashley's trying to get people to take McIntyre out of the equation before the match, doesn't make the slightest bit of sense. There are, in essence, two ways to book wrestling - you either plot everything out months in advance and stick rigidly to the plan, which allows you to sow seeds for stories early, keep a coherent narrative going, and make sure everything makes sense, but risk not being able to change things organically based on the reaction of the audience, or you fly by the seat of your pants and let the audience reactions and the events of each show effectively inform whatever comes up next, potentially at the expense of better long-term storytelling. I'm not sure how they've managed it, but WWE have managed to somehow take on only the worst aspects of both approaches - it feels like The Plan is completely set in stone for months regardless of how fans react (with the exception of Edge/Bryan/Reigns, apparently), yet absolutely everything on the show has the sense of being made up as they go along and just cobbled together hours before the show. Not only have they managed to take the worst aspect of both approaches, but they’ve done it without a single fan in attendance for a full calendar year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Supremo Posted March 30, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted March 30, 2021 (edited) The way I read it was the heels trying to circumvent the, “Hurt Business banned from ringside,” stipulation by essentially dissolving the Hurt Business. If Shelton and Cendric aren’t members of the Hurt Business they can now use a loophole to help Bobby win! Of course, I’m well aware there’s about three per cent chance of them actually trying to be clever like that. In reality, Hurt Business have just gone the same way as every other team and faction in this company, forever bickering, in-fighting and splitting up. I swear, the atmosphere and environment amongst those writing and making decisions on this show must be absolutely toxic. It’s like no-one has ever had friends or actually gotten along with co-workers. Everyone has to always be fighting each other. If they have a whiteboard in the writer’s room with ideas on it I’m convinced the entire board is filled with the single word, “ANIMOSITY,” in the largest letters possible. And speaking of largest things possible, this use of a super short fella to make Rhea Ripley look tall is almost too good. She looks like a tree! Edited March 30, 2021 by Supremo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uklaw Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 I’m fairly sure that shorter guy is Ryan Ward, one the lead writers of RAW. He’s constantly used in scenes in the back, usually being intimidated, mainly because of his height. Strowman, Hurt Business a few months ago and now Rhea Ripley. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perry Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 53 minutes ago, uklaw said: I’m fairly sure that shorter guy is Ryan Ward, one the lead writers of RAW. He’s constantly used in scenes in the back, usually being intimidated, mainly because of his height. Strowman, Hurt Business a few months ago and now Rhea Ripley. So he's mostly to blame for Raw being so shit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The King Of Swing Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 Imagine doing a backstage promo with Asuka and coming out of it looking like the idiot of the two. Bro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members LaGoosh Posted March 30, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted March 30, 2021 49 minutes ago, Perry said: So he's mostly to blame for Raw being so shit He was the head writer for NXT back when it was good so they brought him up to the main shows. Now they're both shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted March 30, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted March 30, 2021 No writer, head writer or otherwise, is "mostly to blame" for Raw being shit. It's one bloke's vision. And he's no Phil Redmond, eh, Mab? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perry Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 You're a bit late to the party with that bollocks, eh, Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uklaw Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 A couple of things to consider: Both times Ryan Ward was NXT Head Writer, the show thrived week-to-week (or certainly enough to make you excited about a Takeover show). When he was Lead Writer of Smackdown (draft 2016-roughly Royal Rumble 2017) the show got more plaudits than RAW. It does somewhat suggest he isn’t an overwhelming part of RAW’s problems but I don’t believe anyone was suggesting he bears no responsibility.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yakashi Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 The only people to blame outside of Vince are his sycophants slapping him on the back and saying everything is great as the product becomes less popular than it’s ever been in history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam O'Rourke Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 5 hours ago, Perry said: So he's mostly to blame for Raw being so shit He works on both shows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted March 30, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted March 30, 2021 Nothing like fucking up a perfectly good act right before WrestleMania, taking away the faction that makes the task harder for the babyface challenger. Although if Lashley dethroned Miz, is he really a heel? I’m lost. And good to see the fucking lazy trope of a singles champion dropping a non-title match to set up a challenger for the PPV still exists, devaluing the title and its holder even if he ends up retaining at the PPV. And who the fuck is Bad Bunny??? Plumbing the depths here aren’t they. Mr T at MSG it ain’t. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB6937 Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 6 minutes ago, air_raid said: And who the fuck is Bad Bunny??? Plumbing the depths here aren’t they. Mr T at MSG it ain’t. Of all the shit on RAW in recent months, he's probably one of the wisest choices they've made. At least they've had some exposure and will continue to do so through Mania with him on board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members I Bent My Wookie Posted March 30, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted March 30, 2021 Yeah air raid while you're usually on the mark with a lot that's way off. He's the biggest musician in North America right now, just because the British don't care about non English music doesn't matter. If the guy can be a headline act on SNL, have the most streams on Spotify and have a global appeal, he's much bigger right now than Mr T and his 4 hour long acceptance speech ever wished he was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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