The Gaffer Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 (edited) Decent watch, skipping all the between bits this morning. Quick thoughts: - Totally thought Boog's injury was a work. Poor guy. - Logan Paul's a proper heel. Not into what he's all about at all, but why should I be. He's canny enough to be a very good celebrity worker. - Bianca getting her win back was the right send-them-home-happy result. - I thought Cody was shitting it a bit. Something seemed a bit low energy about the entrance but they got there in the end. One of them four star Raw matches I spent on my phone. I still think the American Nightmare is a proper WWE off season main eventer though. In all likelihood he's back to where he belongs and will probably enjoy some decent money from being fed to Brock and Roman before phasing into being a lifer there. It's evidently what he wants so good luck to him. He left, became super annoying and now is back in a bigger position. - Gable Steveson looked shite. You have ten seconds to give it a bit of a fist pump at WrestleMania and he looked like someone pulled him away from Candy Crush with just enough time to grab the least flattering shirt in his suitcase. Still, it's happened before. Kurt was a bit humdrum for the first few weeks. Henry for about fifteen years. - Flair and Rousey looked completely pointless heading in - the kind of main event you feel only truly excites the office - and was pretty much that in reality too. Charlotte getting her Triple H 2003 win is the best result though. - The Austin thing was all it needed to be. Was great that it wound up being a proper fight, but you never wanted more once you realised he moved about like someone went into his character profile and turned all the stats down to zero. A great ending. So there you go. A fun, homogenous slog despite brilliant individual performances and we're only halfway through. I'm in the mood for more wrestling, but Survivor Series 96 looks more enticing than night two.   Edited April 3, 2022 by Gay as FOOK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Bus Surfer Posted April 3, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted April 3, 2022 @Andrew the Giant! Enjoyed what I saw. Logan Paul looked great out there and the Austin stuff was under promised and over delivered. Good fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wideload90 Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 Only caught highlights of Austin. Fuck me, what a surprise. Can't please everyone but 10 year old me was satisfied with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Jazzy G Posted April 3, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted April 3, 2022 46 minutes ago, Gay as FOOK said: I thought Cody was shitting it a bit. Something seemed a bit low energy about the entrance but they got there in the end. One of them four star Raw matches I spent on my phone. I still think the American Nightmare is a proper WWE off season main eventer though. In all likelihood he's back to where he belongs and will probably enjoy some decent money from being fed to Brock and Roman before phasing into being a lifer there. It's evidently what he wants so good luck to him. He left, became super annoying and now is back in a bigger position. Is he going to get a shot at Brock or Roman though? Or is he just going to be trading wins with the Ricochets and Corbin of this world for the rest of his time there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyUK Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 I really enjoyed that first night, fair play. Great moments with Austin and Cody and Becky/Bianca was the best match of the night. The Austin/Owens match was just fun, I think they were probably right not to  advertise it as a match but it was exactly what it needed to be. Hopefully they don’t shit the bed during night two like last year again, it definitely won’t be quite as good but fingers crossed it’ll be decent.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted April 3, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted April 3, 2022 I imagine they've paid Cody Rhodes a lot of money to come in, so there's going to be an incentive to treat him as a top level star. The problem is what constitutes a "top level star" in WWE - below Reigns and Lesnar, you're looking at Bobby Lashley, Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre as maybe the next tier down, and while Cody Rhodes could fit pretty neatly in that category, it's going to be tough for them to keep up the momentum behind him. All of the intrigue about Cody Rhodes coming in was a bit "will they/won't they", how much are they going to present him as a star, how much are they going to acknowledge of his character changes since he left, what exactly are they going to do with him, is this even really going to happen - a lot of that has seemingly been answered, and the only question left is "now what?". People haven't exactly been drawing up a list of Cody Rhodes WWE dream matches while he's been gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d-d-d-dAz Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 5 minutes ago, jazzygeofferz said: Is he going to get a shot at Brock or Roman though? Or is he just going to be trading wins with the Ricochets and Corbin of this world for the rest of his time there? Does it matter? He came back, looked a star and will probably get a run at the top in the short term. Beyond that, I guess we’ll see but he may just be able to achieve his dream on his way there. He seemed really happy, good for him. He was a net negative on AEW programming at the end and is immediately a positive for WWE. It’s a good thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Jazzy G Posted April 3, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted April 3, 2022 I wonder whether he's there for the money so he can retire or move into something else aged 40 as he's said his plan was always going to be. Can't fault him if it is his plan, but I guess we'll see if he starts getting itchy feet towards the end of whatever run he ends up having. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted April 3, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted April 3, 2022 Charlotte Flair - beating TERFs and Sandy Hook conspiracy theorists since 2022. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRooster Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 It was surreal to see Cody, presented exactly as he was in AEW, on WWE programming. I didn’t think the match was particularly strong, but it almost didn’t matter. The match was secondary to the moment. Whatever happens from here for Cody, WWE got the return right. Talking of AEW, the two women’s matches really put into perspective how shameful it is that AEW treats it’s women’s division. Either of these matches could have closed the show, and one of them presumably would have had the return of Stone Cold Steve Austin not been on the cards. More importantly though, from start-to-finish, Becky/Bianca and Charlotte/Rousey felt bigger, and more exciting, than any men’s match on the card for me, outside of the main event. Fair fucks to Logan Paul though, honestly, he impressed me more in ring than Dominic Mysterio did. Tonight’s card has a lot to live up to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB6937 Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 Can't be arsed to write about the whole thing but I was surprised how little I skipped. Enjoyed it overall and the main event was a perfect ending. Good for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Nick James Posted April 3, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted April 3, 2022 (edited) I think that just goes to show how out of place Cody was in AEW. The entrance and pageantry fits 100% more in the world (universe) of WWE than the more serious world of AEW. Cody has always felt like his time away from WWE has been to prove a point TO WWE, which to be fair, he has. He is now where he has wanted to be and only time will tell what will be made of it. Reports as well that he is an Executive Producer on an A&E Dusty Rhodes documentary. Cody is a smart guy, you can guarantee he has worked some clauses into that contract and WWE need to prove to others in AEW that if they make the jump, they won't be treated like the ex WCW stars of the world. WWE need to get this right more than Cody needs to. Cody hitting the Stardust cartwheel was great.   Edited April 3, 2022 by Nick James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infinity Land Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 30 minutes ago, jazzygeofferz said: I wonder whether he's there for the money so he can retire or move into something else aged 40 as he's said his plan was always going to be. Can't fault him if it is his plan, but I guess we'll see if he starts getting itchy feet towards the end of whatever run he ends up having. I don't know if you've ever watched The West Wing? In it President Jed Bartlet has a catchphrase of sorts "What's next?" At the very end when he's jetting off to his retirement his wife asks him "What are you thinking about?" the last line of the series is "Tomorrow". Cody's very much in the "What's next?" stage of his career from what I can see. Indie reinvention over WWE midcard, potential of AEW over security of WWE, the main event challenge of WWE over TNT treadmill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perry Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 So I hear that next year will also be a 2 nighter. It's definitely going to be the new set up going forward it seems. While I'm not a fan of splitting the event in two halves, you can't argue with the logic of them making more money this way. Instead of seeing the event as a whole, people just end up comparing the 2 nights. Going by the last couple of years, Night 1 always seems to win favour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperBacon Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 (edited) Everything in ring was great (skipped Drew-Baron as I really don't care). Becky-Bianca was brilliant and they told a great story, Cody got a great pop (not a fan, but the match was good), and Austin-Owens was the absolute tits. Logan Paul? Well fuck me. That is a PROPER heel isn't it? Smug little cunt who you want to see get battered. Get him involved more. Everything out of the ring remains the worst though. The graphics, the crowd sweetening (which was on another level last night) and the comms team are all dreadful, and will never change. All in all though, a very good show. Don't think tonight will better it tbh. Edited April 3, 2022 by SuperBacon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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