Television Tho Prop Grops Throps

Sylar

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The white rabbit stuff has been done well.its got people talking (although not reflected in raw ratings though we will see if it does for smackdown)
 

Ekeke

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The white rabbit stuff has been done well.its got people talking (although not reflected in raw ratings though we will see if it does for smackdown)
Yeah seen plenty of people interested in and talking about it so thats good for them.

I'm interested, but thats 1 person and its more to do with my not being excited for who its probably about - Bray or an NXT guy getting a call up with a new gimmick. Theres plenty of people who would be excited by Bray I'm just not 1 of them and unless its Bron, I'm not that interested in how the NXT guys are used on the main roster. And its not Bron
 

Bwuk

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Hope it's not Wyatt. Really can't be bothered with him coming back. The Fiend was godawful.
 

Sylar

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Any idea what its about?
theyve thrown different clues. Most think its wyatt. There have been clues that it could be kross (but hes already there on SD). And Demon balor makes no sense as hes in judgment day.
Wyatt makes the most sense but i also agree with this:

The Fiend was godawful.
The gimmick started of great but his matches were just so so bad. It ruined a lot of 'face' characters like Rollins.
I do hope its Wyatt, but I also hope its a new version of him that is a leader of a group like he had the wyatt family.
 

SalfordRed18

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I'm one of the few that really liked the fiend :o

Felt the character suffered from shit writing/creative and had legs to grow.
 

noodlehair

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I'd say its slightly improved and we've certainly got fresh blood on the main roster... But its guys I wasnt interested in before in NXT so I'm not interested in them on the main either.

Its mostly just the honeymoon period, its Trips instead of same old Vince so he's getting a pass.
I think it improved for a few weeks, although partly just down to the pops and excitement around people returning.

Now we have a completely pointless title match between Reigns and a celebrity headlining a ppv and no real reason to care about either it or anything going on beneath it. You could have missed raw entirely this week and picked back up next week without even realising.

We also have stuff like a "Viking Rules" match where the ring gets turned into a boat for some reason and then is put against a background of the sea with a wavey camera while Michael Cole shouts out (clearly under direction) "whoa I'm feeling see sick!" ...even Vince would have been cringing.

...and the the Viking Raiders won that after spending a month mopping the floor with New Day, only to disappear off TV while new day get put into two separate title contender matches. Also unclear why the women's tag titles decided to detour on their way to Bayley and Co via a make shift team or Rodriguez and some person who spends all of each match getting beaten up.
 

Sylar

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Raw has an issue of being three hours. Its one hour of 'fluff' basically and stretching. You lose that hour, and Raw will become much tighter like Smackdown.

Overall, it has certainly improved as titles seem to matter. I stopped watching Raw / SD and only watched the PPVs. Since HHH took over im finding myself not changing the channel or skipping everything (or not caring).
Things seem to be more connected and flow much much better. Its not perfect as I think it wouldnt be, as HHH was never going to just do a clean break and start everything from scratch. Hes had to transition things. Reigns holding both belts is an issue.


The Saudi show is just that, Its always had a celebrity / part timer element to it because of the nature of that show. Its had Taker/Goldberg, HBK come out of retirement, Tyson Fury etc in the past.
It really is a nothing show beyond just trying to get the biggest attention.
 

CassiusClaymore

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There's an interview with Tony where he pretty much confirms that MJF can cash his chip any time (like MITB I assume) which now makes it look pretty obvious that he'll be walking out of Grand Slam with the title unless they throw a curve ball. Feels a bit lame tbh so I hope not. Really wanted to see Bryan have a run with it.
 

The Hilton

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Hope it's not Wyatt. Really can't be bothered with him coming back. The Fiend was godawful.
I'm one of the few that really liked the fiend :o

Felt the character suffered from shit writing/creative and had legs to grow.
Wyatt was consistently one of the best things going when he was in WWE. He's one of the best talkers around, and while he's no Omega or Styles he can go well enough in the ring, and his imagination and character work kept things interesting when WWE was at its most monotonous.

The fiend could have been brilliant too, but it was ruined by Vince rushing him to the title, and subsequently deciding he didn't like Wyatt because he was fat.
 

Ekeke

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I'm one of the few that really liked the fiend :o

Felt the character suffered from shit writing/creative and had legs to grow.
The problem is it killed everyone he worked with. He would no sell their offense and then go over. Everyone that worked with him went on a downward slide. We had babyfaces crying in fear at him. Who wants to cheer for that guy? Seth had to turn heel. Oh and that awful red lighting meant you could hardly see any of the match.

Of course thats a problem in the gimmick and Vince should have seen that it was a problem. When he was released the leak was that he was hard to work with creatively so perhaps he wouldnt go along with what they wanted as well.

At least with Roman he doesnt no sell his opponent's offence and nobody is peeing their pants at being confronted by him. He beats everyone but they can still move forward after
 

b82REZ

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The Undertaker's whole gimmick was no selling opponents offence.

Absolute bullshit that it can't work.

I've loved all of Bray's main roster gimmicks.
 

SalfordRed18

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The problem is it killed everyone he worked with. He would no sell their offense and then go over. Everyone that worked with him went on a downward slide. We had babyfaces crying in fear at him. Who wants to cheer for that guy? Seth had to turn heel. Oh and that awful red lighting meant you could hardly see any of the match.

Of course thats a problem in the gimmick and Vince should have seen that it was a problem. When he was released the leak was that he was hard to work with creatively so perhaps he wouldnt go along with what they wanted as well.

At least with Roman he doesnt no sell his opponent's offence and nobody is peeing their pants at being confronted by him. He beats everyone but they can still move forward after
You know damn well thats bollocks.

Undertaker, Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, the demon all worked. The OP gimmick can work if done properly.
 

Bwuk

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The Fiend looked like a fat clown.

It was ridiculous seeing him face to face with someone like Roman.
 

Sylar

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Brock is one of the best sellers. Any time somebody gets offence on him, it looks deadly

Fiend stuff was crap as @Ekeke said cos he worked with 'goodguys' who would look like wimps. It didn't help any face at all.
Fiend had one good match , it was with Daniel Bryan
The rest were not good at all. The way the fiend stuff was in its presentation in the ring was horrible. The gimmick looked great and it's execution was bad. Then he lost from a weak jackhammer to Goldberg haha
 

Sylar

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There's an interview with Tony where he pretty much confirms that MJF can cash his chip any time (like MITB I assume) which now makes it look pretty obvious that he'll be walking out of Grand Slam with the title unless they throw a curve ball. Feels a bit lame tbh so I hope not. Really wanted to see Bryan have a run with it.
Missed this before but totally see that happening. Bryan usually gets a title reign after cm punk goes. And then it's a short reign. Would prefer they build to it with Bryan getting some wins in between whilst mjf does a few matches with mox and wins
 

cyberman

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There's an interview with Tony where he pretty much confirms that MJF can cash his chip any time (like MITB I assume) which now makes it look pretty obvious that he'll be walking out of Grand Slam with the title unless they throw a curve ball. Feels a bit lame tbh so I hope not. Really wanted to see Bryan have a run with it.
I hope to God they dont so this. It would come off as so WWE lite it could hurt the show.
It’s like when TNA had their version with suitcases and all. Feast or famine or something?
 

Sylar

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I hope to God they dont so this. It would come off as so WWE lite it could hurt the show.
It’s like when TNA had their version with suitcases and all. Feast or famine or something?
Feast or fired
Only one good thing came out of that, when curryman won the fired briefcase and wanted a fired title shot
 

SalfordRed18

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I hope to God they dont so this. It would come off as so WWE lite it could hurt the show.
It’s like when TNA had their version with suitcases and all. Feast or famine or something?
I quite liked TNAs option C with the x division championship. Think that would work in AEW.
 

Ekeke

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You know damn well thats bollocks.

Undertaker, Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, the demon all worked. The OP gimmick can work if done properly.
Undertaker didnt go over everyone and he didnt no sell everything. He just won at Mania and considering his length of career he wasnt always with or going for the title and a lot of his big matches were with tall not great guys as a spectacle for mania. He would overcome other "monsters" getting a push with some squash matches to make them look like they'd maybe have a chance.

At least until later on when it was big stars putting their careers on the line against him.

Bray was doing a Roman beating all the faces he was against, not losing but he was doing it in a way where you would never want to see the match again. 1) you couldnt see the match cuz red 2) the babyface couldnt hurt him and then 3) the babyface had to lose and look scared, losing all their momentum and any chance you'd want to see them fight again

The face needs to be someone the crowd wants to get behind and actually believe in even if they are the underdog. They are who the audience lives vicariously though. So when you watch that you dont want to see it again

Sure you could do him that same way as the undertaker, but then you need to have him going against the same guys Taker would work with which were other supernatural and large wrestlers who were also plowing through everyone. You could do The Fiend Vs. Braun for example. Thats not what we got

We got Seth Rollins who was one of the main babyfaces, having a ? match because we couldnt see half of it in the red, crying at The Fiend's feet

An Undertaker and Rollins match would not have the Undertaker not selling his stuff. He would simply sit up after Rollins knocked him down
 

The Hilton

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He is good, but Cena was and still is, the best on the mic.
Each to their own, but in my mind that's a ridiculous take. Cena is capable of greatness on the mic, but spent years phoning it in and "fine speech"-ing all of his opponents, only once he stopped being super Cena was he consistently super on the mic.

The Rock has a good shout for best ever on the mic, but he was let down by his return run - some amazing moments but too much silliness and catchphrases (a bit like Cena actually).

I'd probably have to give it to Punk - he's great no matter his alignment, can talk interest into any feud, and I can't think of any verbal sparring partner he's been overshadowed by. MJF is the most likely to take that title, but he's gonna need a long career full of great work to do it.
 

The Hilton

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As for Dynamite, it was a fantastic show, the crowd was electric with some huge noise for The Acclaimed and Paige.

Be interesting to see how Paige is used. If the time away has healed her neck like it did for Edge then she's a great get - huge profile, a good wrestler, and the AEW women's division needs people who can talk.
 

Shane88

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MJF is a brilliant motormouth but a lot of the actual content is shite insider references. It's piss easy to do for AEW crowds who will "Oooooh" at anything WWE or backstage related.

Someone like Bryan can do everything promo-wise. Babyface, underdog, villain, comedy. That's more impressive to me.
 

Sylar

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Dynamite was great. But they over did the endings for the first three matches.
Jericho/Claudio was fantastic and the cheating made sense. And its the perfect champ to have for an eventual ROH tv deal.
The tag match was decent but should have ended after the boombox shot.Not sure what happened after that as it all got sloppy, and Daddy ass getting involved wasnt needed.
The third match was decent, but again, ended with some cheating. Which I guess was to show OC is on Pacs level, but again, third match in a row.
Womens match was decent and a good showing for all. Saraya is a great get as shes a great talker and if she can go, then she will do well. Hopefully its limited to make it special.
The main event was good and im glad there was no 'cash in'. Looks like Mox is being rewarded for cutting his holiday after a day to carry the main event scene. MJF beating Mox for the title will be good.

Overall a really good show.
 

The Hilton

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Dynamite was great. But they over did the endings for the first three matches.
Jericho/Claudio was fantastic and the cheating made sense. And its the perfect champ to have for an eventual ROH tv deal.
The tag match was decent but should have ended after the boombox shot.Not sure what happened after that as it all got sloppy, and Daddy ass getting involved wasnt needed.
The third match was decent, but again, ended with some cheating. Which I guess was to show OC is on Pacs level, but again, third match in a row.
Womens match was decent and a good showing for all. Saraya is a great get as shes a great talker and if she can go, then she will do well. Hopefully its limited to make it special.
The main event was good and im glad there was no 'cash in'. Looks like Mox is being rewarded for cutting his holiday after a day to carry the main event scene. MJF beating Mox for the title will be good.

Overall a really good show.
I think you're being harsh on the tag match - the boombox false finish was great as it looked like that could have been The Acclaimed's shot and they blew it. Then the actual ending came along and the place erupted. Not quite as good as their previous match (which was as good as it gets), but still well done and it's a brilliant story with the home grown tag team slowly rising to the top.
 

Sylar

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I think you're being harsh on the tag match - the boombox false finish was great as it looked like that could have been The Acclaimed's shot and they blew it. Then the actual ending came along and the place erupted. Not quite as good as their previous match (which was as good as it gets), but still well done and it's a brilliant story with the home grown tag team slowly rising to the top.
I dunno, it looked a little sloppy, and then Billy Gunn getting involved too which made it another match with a screwy finish (three in a row). False finish would have been fine but the ending just didnt flow for me.
The moment of them winning the title was great though. And im glad they did.
 

CassiusClaymore

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Tag match was definitely sloppy. There were a hideous couple of botches in the first two matches actually that took me right out of both. There's definitely a short shelf life on The Acclaimed as tag team champs as well imo.

I found the show a bit meh actually. Glad they didn't do the cash in straight away but they telegraphed Mox winning the title again way too much. Hope there's a plan for Danielson as well because he's kind of nowhere now...?
 

SalfordRed18

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Just watched it. Disappointed the Danielson didn't go over tbh. Maybe he'll get his moment at full gear?

They need new ROH belt designs. The current designs look too indie and cheap. Don't know why they've gone back to the original.
 

Zen

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What makes you think it was fake? Seemed pretty real given the shot of the crowd going mental, and videos from people who were there.
I didn't over see a crowd going mental to be fair... but I guess I live in a different age and need to move on from that. But there's no way the actually broadcast crowd aligns with crowd shots - for me at least, the videos from phones aren't that loud.

Paige (Saraya) Debuts at AEW Grand Slam Crowd Reaction - YouTube

I don't know, maybe it's now common for them to use some sound altering mics or whatever. But that sounds like a pretty routine crowd to me. I don't it much, it just sounded very unnatural to me, and that video above confirms it.
 

The Hilton

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I didn't over see a crowd going mental to be fair... but I guess I live in a different age and need to move on from that. But there's no way the actually broadcast crowd aligns with crowd shots - for me at least, the videos from phones aren't that loud.

Paige (Saraya) Debuts at AEW Grand Slam Crowd Reaction - YouTube

I don't know, maybe it's now common for them to use some sound altering mics or whatever. But that sounds like a pretty routine crowd to me. I don't it much, it just sounded very unnatural to me, and that video above confirms it.
Each to their own, to me it's clearly the crowd reaction in the video, a similar level to when the acclaimed won earlier in the night.