Summerslam: Down Since Day One Ish

[Hannibal Scorch]

1 hour ago, RedRooster said:

Yes, and I’m also sure that you should cut down on your use of memes. 

For me, there’s definitely drama. There’s a real sense of it being a ‘last chance saloon’ for Cody. He absolutely has to win, because if he doesn’t there’s nothing left for him. The main problem is going to be keeping him hot in between now and Wrestlemania. After Lesnar, what could possibly be next that feels of equivalent value? I hope they have a good plan in mind. And I really hope that it doesn’t involve Bray Wyatt. 

And that’s why I challenged your “I think it’s working really well”. Because it ain’t. The online reaction was as loud, if not more, then when Cody lost. People are sick of every match having interference, a shock twist, and being samey.
 

And who is there for Cody to feud with that’s on the level of Lesner. Answer is no one, because they have put or their eggs into the bloodline basket, they haven’t built anyone up properly. There are no compelling storylines either. This is the wrestling equivalent of Lost. They had the hottest story in wrestling, and then rather then give it a satisfying conclusion they stretched it out, knowing it’s start and ending but not knowing what to do in the middle. They have backed themselves into a corner.

[Version1.0]

Did Charlotte botch every second or third move she did?

[DavidB6937]

The question about the Bloodline stuff still working or not is obviously going to be a personal one. Some people will still enjoy it. Others won't. That's wrestling!

The real test of it being dragged out or whatever is if people genuinely lose interest and if it starts impacting on the business. Which at this point it doesn't seem to be. A few people moaning online isn't really enough to make any judgements on. There's ALWAYS people moaning.

I think we can all agree the Bloodline stuff is past its best. That much is certain. And on the surface the Jimmy thing looks like a shock for the sake of it but they've been pretty good at explaining most things and making them feel pretty believable so I'm not going to shit all over it immediately. All it takes is one decent promo.

Show as a whole was really enjoyable i thought apart from the women's match which felt like a mess and I'm not really sure why. The three just never clicked and it felt so awkward. And Ronda/Shayna wasn't really my kinda thing.

[RedRooster]

47 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

And that’s why I challenged your “I think it’s working really well”. Because it ain’t. The online reaction was as loud, if not more, then when Cody lost. People are sick of every match having interference, a shock twist, and being samey.

You didn’t, you posted a meme. That’s not challenging anything. Even if it were, you’re challenging an opinion. We’re all going to feel differently; and until the next stage of this story is clear it’s difficult to say whether or not it’s a misstep. I don’t have a problem with what they’ve done for a number of reasons. It’s certainly not a ‘swerve’ without logic, it’s pretty easy to theorise why Jimmy might have done this.

Ultimately, I’m fine with it and you’re not. Neither of us is wrong. 

[d-d-d-dAz]

I think it's probably a game of pick your algorithm, as everything i've seen since last night is probably too positive. Lots of the 'IT'S A DAMN MOVIE' stuff. It's not, it's a perfectly fine wrestling story that is coming to an end.

As i've said, i've no real beef with Jimmy and Jey feuding. Especially if Roman has got 2 months off now.

On another note, Logan Paul is brilliant. His little imperfections, the little bit of scruffiness and recklessness he's got as a newcomer, makes everything look that bit more realistic and like it actually hurts. I'd be more than content with a newly confident Logan Paul feuding with Cody for a bit.

[gmoney]

Bit of a TK special with the hoodie and mask, then immediately unmasking. I don't have a problem with the turn, but they could have done something a bit more creative. I'm suprised the lights didn't go out first. 

Cody v Brock was great, King Cody brings it again.

I really liked the women's three way as well, good finish and cash in. 

Gunther v Drew sadly did not bang as hard as I wanted it to bang. They got a meaty bangfest in them, and this wasn't quite it. 

[FUM]

30 minutes ago, RedRooster said:

It’s certainly not a ‘swerve’ without logic, it’s pretty easy to theorise why Jimmy might have done this.

In my opinion it really isn’t when he’s spent almost every promo telling his brothers they were being manipulated. Basically he had cottoned on to Roman and Heyman games now we’re to believe he suddenly falls for them again?

They may give some other reason but jealousy driven by Heyman putting it in his head doesn’t stack up for me here.

Edited August 6, 2023 by FUM

[MVP RULZ]

9 minutes ago, FUM said:

In my opinion it really isn’t when he’s spent almost every promo telling his brothers they were being manipulated. Basically he had cottoned on to Roman and Heyman games now we’re to believe he suddenly falls for them again?

They may give some other reason but jealousy driven by Heyman putting it in his head doesn’t stack up for me here.

Jey was always the one that was most distrusting of Roman up until Jimmy was Oddly the one to kick Roman at Night of Champions

It's hard to make any sort of final assessment of the swerve yet until Smackdown at least and we get an explanation from Jimmy

It's not hard to believe jealousy is the main motivation, he may know he was being manipulated still but also be jealous that the moment he gets hurt Jey goes off challenging for the Universal title and Tribal Chief title.

Roman portrayed being shocked at Jimmy last night

Maybe he was sent by the elders or something, i dont think he did it to help Roman at all and was more about Jey

And that's where it will go now it will branch out to Jey vs Jimmy away from Roman stuff 

until we know exactly what his motivation was its tough to just dismiss it as a Swerve for swerve sake

 

[DavidB6937]

There is a grey middle area where Jimmy doesn't have to go against Jey AND be on Roman's side. The sibling rivalry thing is far more believable for me if its purely driven by Jimmy and his jealousy and he's now just out for himself. He's had enough of everyone. That way they don't need to try and explain away everything up until this point with him going against Roman etc. He can easily go on about Jey becoming selfish and them no longer being a team and whatever else.

There's definitely enough for them to drive the story forward without completely ignoring what's happened before.

[RedRooster]

1 hour ago, FUM said:

In my opinion it really isn’t when he’s spent almost every promo telling his brothers they were being manipulated. Basically he had cottoned on to Roman and Heyman games now we’re to believe he suddenly falls for them again?

They may give some other reason but jealousy driven by Heyman putting it in his head doesn’t stack up for me here.

I don’t think he has - I’m assuming @DavidB6937 and @MVP RULZ are along the lines of what they’re going for. I don’t think the idea is that Jimmy is with Roman at all. If that is what they do, yeah, all complaints are justified. But they’ve been smarter than to do something like that so far, and I would be surprised if they created such an obvious logic gap at this stage. 

[d-d-d-dAz]

There was a line in one of Jey's promo's in the last few weeks where he said "this ain't about no damn tag team" and said something like "this is about me beating you and becoming the Universal Champion and the Tribal Chief."

Just playing devils advocate, but that would be new information to the character of Jimmy who turned on Roman and said it wasn't about individuals, it was about the family, the team... "we the ones" etc

Providing they don't stick him back with Roman (fairly confident they won't), I think this is a perfectly fine deviation. It might not be what you wanted, or you might not be interested or whatever, but there're more than enough there to make it make sense.

[Mr_Danger]

The Jimmy thing felt telegraphed the moment Jey went all ‘Main Event’ Jey Uso. So in that respect it made perfect sense. The only thing that made me doubt that they’d do it was that they’d only just don’t the same thing with Sami and Roman and that thrusting Jimmy in to singles world would be the worse thing for him.

[The Gaffer]

I'm surprised at some of the negative reactions. They proper got me with that Jimmy moment. Not in that it was a total surprise, but in that I'm completely marking into it and genuinely stung that it's come to the two twins finally at full odds with one another. I feel like it's another ingredient the cauldron really needed at this point because I do agree the saga was getting stale and is clearly coming off its massive series a of peaks. They seemed to start banking too much on "Let's all pull faces, take giant pauses between everything and it'll be fucking great". Jimmy doing what he done though? Great. It'll keep the interest going for sure. 

Tell you what though, the best part was the brief moment Solo was roaring at Roman in Samoan. He looked like the absolute worst person you'd ever want turning around to you after you tell him keep quiet in the cinema. You know all those real life stories about Meng? That should be his character. And push it to the moon. 

Enjoyed most of the rest of it. Balor/Rollins had a great match, LA Knight got a nice moment, and Ronda/Baszler proudly inherited the Fuck Off With This Shit award previously held by 'Taker and Ken Shamrock boring the entire crowd trying to do an MMA style match. 

Now if you'll excuse me I have a sudden urge to purchase multiple brands of edgy sounding energy drinks. 

 

Edited August 6, 2023 by Gay as FOOK

[DavidB6937]

I actually hate myself a little for how much i enjoy Logan Paul now. He's a cunt but a naturally talented one damn him.

[Supremo]

More power to anyone who’s still on the hook for the Bloodline saga. Jimmy turning on Jey felt like the ultimate shark jump for me. Veering into Bloodline Hollywood and Bloodline Wolfpack levels of dragging something out and milking it dry. Bring back Sami!

Hopefully I’m wrong and they’ve got some good ideas, but the same four lads turning on each other in different combinations until April next year sounds fucking dreadful. Cody shouting about how he’s back on track after his match with Brock suggests that’s still the ultimate direction, but will him winning at next year’s Wrestlemania have anywhere near the impact as if he’d done it this year? I doubt it. Whole thing feels ice cold now. Plus, brother vs. brother almost never works unless you’re Bret Hart, so I don’t hold out much hope for the matches. Especially if they adopt this new slow, plodding pace Roman’s…..made…….famous.

You assume that’s the end for Ronda Rousey. What a fitting conclusion to the weirdest career of all time. Took to it quicker than anyone not named Kurt Angle, had one of the greatest debut matches of all time, white hot first run, then got periodically worse and worse as time went on, finishing up having a rubbish, weird MMA match, performed to silence. Mental.

Whole thing could be a work but it was interesting seeing Becky Lynch being passive aggressively pissed off at being kept off this show. I can only imagine how she felt watching Ronda and Shayna stink up the joint. Rebecca Knox becoming All Elite sure would be something, wouldn’t it?

Opener, Cody vs. Brock and the Battle Royale were all great. Give us all a massive break from the Bloodline bollocks and do LA Knight vs. Roman for the next few months. YEAH!

Only 50 odd thousand fans in attendance? Didn’t they once do 80 thousand for a Wrestlemania there? WWE in the mud. Should’ve done a Grado angle on Talksport. Get the tickets flying out the door.