The Wrestling Thread

[Eraserhead]

I'm honestly kind of embarrassed to even admit this but I have been watching professional wrestling lately. I know there are several others posters here who do as well.

So any thoughts on who will and/or should win the Royal Rumble match and headline Wrestlemania 31.
Any thoughts on who will and/or should win the Lesnar vs. Cena vs. Rollins match for the title?

Also, while we're at it, any thoughts on the "Macho Man" Randy Savage finally getting into the Hall of Fame this year?

[LeBron]

Don't be embarrassed! It's awesome to watch.

I have a good feeling Lesnar will retain the title. Lesnar has the advantage of being the biggest powerhouse in the match as well as past history from Rumble card matches showing good results for the WWE/World Heavyweight champions (ex. Lesnar retained his title at RR '04, HHH retained at RR '00/'03/'04/'05, Angle retained at RR '01/RR '03/RR '06, JBL retained at RR '05, Cena retained at RR '07/RR '09, and then there's others who've also done that like The Miz, Randy Orton, or Edge.

It seems very unlikely that Rollins wins outright considering he is the holder of the Money in the Bank case, but I could possibly see an angle where Lesnar or Cena win, which is followed right away by the Authority coming out and taking down the champion (Lesnar or Cena), which would then allow for Rollins to seize that opportunity and cash in. I'm not sure if that will happen though.

As for Cena, he probably won't win. The whole thing here is that he's been "distracted" from his match against Lesnar ever since he brought the Authority back a few weeks ago and subsequently led to the kayfabe firing of a few of his friends (Dolph Ziggler, Ryback, Erick Rowan). This rivalry will continue on into WrestleMania separate from the WWE Title. If I were to guess, I think there will be a 6-man tag team match at WM with Ziggler, Ryback and Rowan teaming up to take on the Authority's Seth Rollins, Big Show, and Corporate Kane and if Ziggler & Co. win, they get brought back. Triple H usually likes to wrestle at WrestleMania as well and I think they're setting up a match between Cena and HHH.

Now the Royal Rumble match.....I'm going with Roman Reigns on this one. He's been one of the brightest stars of 2014 and there's been this whole storyline for the past few years since Lesnar's return that he's "unstoppable" and can't be taken down. IIRC, Reigns defeated Kane's long-held streak of how many superstars he single-handily eliminated from the Rumble match and Reigns could be seen as the wrestler who could stand toe to toe with Lesnar. He's just as aggressive and ruthless as Lesnar is. There's also the fact that Reigns is loved by fans while Lesnar is one of the most hated heels (considering he's managed by loudmouth Paul Heyman as well as for ending the Undertaker's streak last year). Lesnar does need to lose the title though, and WrestleMania is the best opportunity to do it. When it comes to mic speaking, he's essentially carried by Heyman, and Lesnar has a contract deal with the WWE where he only makes sporadic appearances throughout the year. I don't care who it is, but get the title off of Lesnar.

I don't think Bryan will win the Rumble though because they're setting up a big Daniel Bryan/Kane feud now for WrestleMania where Bryan will likely win and by doing so will achieve his revenge on Kane after Kane's brutal assault on Bryan last year. I'm not at all a fan of Bryan (I find his gimmick annoying), but he likely will be in the WWE Title picture again at some point this year - just not at WrestleMania.

There's also been talk that WrestleMania might feature the Phenom vs. the Icon. The Undertaker vs. Sting. If you saw Survivor Series (2014) when Sting came to the WWE and made his presence felt in the main event of that night, he did something very similar to what The Undertaker did at Survivor Series (2005). So that might be a small hint that this match might happen. That and every wrestling fan would love to see that match.

As for Savage, it's about time he gets inducted. They've inducted people who don't deserve to be inducted at all (Donald Trump, Mr. T, Mike Tyson) before inducting the one man who wrestled perhaps one of the greatest WrestleMania matches ever (WM 3 - Savage vs. Steamboat). I'm glad Savage is finally getting his induction, though it's sad he's not alive to see this happen.

So Eraserhead, what do you like best about WWE so far? The Authority/Cena rivalry, the return of Bad News Barrett, the Miz/Damien Mizdow trainwreck of a team?

[dead0man]

RoH>WWE

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I feel brain-cells dying every time I happen across it.

[Eraserhead]

So Eraserhead, what do you like best about WWE so far? The Authority/Cena rivalry, the return of Bad News Barrett, the Miz/Damien Mizdow trainwreck of a team?

The Authority/Cena rivalry is boring and reeks of phoniness even by professional wrestling standards. Wade Barrett is a solid wrestler but it never seems like the writers have a clue what to do with him (his latest return being no exception - oh boy let's give him the IC title as soon as he gets back just so that he can job to everybody and their mother right after winning it). The Miz/Damien Mizdow team/gimmick is pretty hilarious, their rivalry with the Usos is super stale at this point though.

As far as the current roster goes I really like Bray Wyatt, Cesaro, Dean Ambrose, Daniel Bryan and a few others.

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

I'm going to go with John Cena/Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania with John Cena turning heel this Sunday as the Authority dump Rollins for Cena. I know its not going to happen but I just want to see it happen.

[Eraserhead]

SPOILER ALERT?

Apparently The Rock is in Philly.

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

SPOILER ALERT?

Apparently The Rock is in Philly.

Rock/Lesnar then. Which means someone else walks away with the title.

[rejectamenta]

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

That crowd s[inks] on that match so hard.

[Eraserhead]

That crowd s[inks] on that match so hard.

Rightfully so. Other than making Bray Wyatt look like a beast for MOST of the match (The Big Show and Kane randomly dumping him, Ziggler and Ambrose out was ridiculous), it was a complete waste.

The title match was fantastic though. Seth Rollins is the man.

But yeah, I've never seen a crowd flip out that badly before. You know that when even a Rock appearance can't save you, you've got problems. It looks like it's babyface Brock Lesnar vs. heel Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania. Too funny.

[Thomas D]

For those who missed this, it seems WWE is airing the Rumble & the Title match for free on RAW tonight.

[LeBron]

For those who missed this, it seems WWE is airing the Rumble & the Title match for free on RAW tonight.

Yep, and it's all thanks to Governor Malloy! (And Vince McMahon, who said the "show must go on"). I feel bad for anyone who bought the Rumble last night though now that it's free and airing on Raw.

Also, I don't mean to show-boat, but it turns out I was right in predicting who would win the WWE Title Match and subsequent Royal Rumble match. I wasn't really shocked to see Lesnar retain, though I'm surprised Reigns won given his low statistical odds he had of winning.

[Eraserhead]

Haha, why they would ever want to show that Rumble match again is beyond me... the crowd was literally chanting for Rusev by the end of it. Rusev!

#CancelWWENetwork is still one of the top trends in the United States I believe.

[LeBron]

So for those who saw Raw tonight, I should point out that the Authority technically won that main event match. Big Show, Kane and Rollins all were attacked by outside inference which should have resulted in a disqualification, but didn't. I'm calling foul play by that referee.

But anyway, it's going to be Roman Reigns defending his #1 Contender status against Daniel Bryan at WWE Fastlane. The fans really seem to want Bryan here.

They also seem to be pushing Sin Cara and Tyson Kidd which is kind of cool given they've been jobbers for quite awhile. And man do they have talent. Vince shouldn't be wasting them like he did Justin Gabriel (who was recently laid off by the company). :/

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

I thought Justin left? And the way he did it pissed off a lot of people backstage?

[LeBron]

I thought Justin left? And the way he did it pissed off a lot of people backstage?

I was under the impression he was fired, but yeah, I guess he did quit. He had good reason to though. After his time in the Nexus (and the Corre) stables ended, he was thrown to the side, and deserved better.

[Eraserhead]

So for those who saw Raw tonight, I should point out that the Authority technically won that main event match. Big Show, Kane and Rollins all were attacked by outside inference which should have resulted in a disqualification, but didn't. I'm calling foul play by that referee.

But anyway, it's going to be Roman Reigns defending his #1 Contender status against Daniel Bryan at WWE Fastlane. The fans really seem to want Bryan here.

They also seem to be pushing Sin Cara and Tyson Kidd which is kind of cool given they've been jobbers for quite awhile. And man do they have talent. Vince shouldn't be wasting them like he did Justin Gabriel (who was recently laid off by the company). :/

Yeah, that aspect of the main event bothered me.  The WWE apparently can't even script a match finish that works within the context of their own universe's rules at this point.

As for Fast Lane, I hope Bryan and Reigns put on an entertaining match but there's no way Bryan is gonna be booked to win it. McMahon obviously has a hard-on for Roman and he's only using Bryan as a means of getting him over (I bet they'll even shake hands after the match - ugh).That's a bummer in my book because I'd be much more interested in seeing a Bryan/Lesnar match at Wrestlemania than a Reigns/Lesnar match.

As for Sin Cara, I don't see any real push forthcoming. He's basically just being used as a plot device in the Miz/Sandow storyline. Cesaro and Kidd do seem to be getting a bit of a push as a tag-team but I'd still really rather see them as singles competitors personally. Both of those guys (especially Cesaro) are extremely talented.

[Eraserhead]

Anyway, I think I'm gonna change this to a generic all-purpose wrestling thread since the conversation is no longer about The Royal Rumble specifically.

Have you guys been following the real-life Seth Rollins dick pic/sex scandal drama? I guess this may ruin his chances of cashing-in successfully on Reigns for the World Title after he beats Lesnar. Another bummer. :/

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

If anyone has been reading the dirtsheets, apparently (HUGE POSSIBLE SPOILER) the WM main event has been changed to Reigns v. Bryan v. Lesnar.

[Eraserhead]

If anyone has been reading the dirtsheets, apparently (HUGE POSSIBLE SPOILER) the WM main event has been changed to Reigns v. Bryan v. Lesnar.

I could live with that I suppose (if that's even true).

[LeBron]

Right! I mean the least they could have scripted it was to knock the referee out temporarily in the match so that the referee didn't see the inteference.

So onto another screw job....what do you think of this whole Curtis Axel thing? He never was technically eliminated from the Rumble which was mentioned on social media. But man, it's a shame what happened to him to. Prodigy son of a Legend to a Paul Heyman guy to....a jobber.

Yeah, it sucks but Vince has seemingly always had a motive to push the big guys. He's the same guy who at one point thought the likes of The Great Khali and Mark Henry and Lord Tensai were the future of the WWE. *shutters*

Reigns will probably be booked to win it (or as another scenario the Authority might come out and attack both men leading to a no contest = the three way for the title). I've never been much of a fan of Daniel Bryan. His gimmick has gotten stale for me, and I perceive him as someone with a big ego. The plan does seem to be though that the "ruthless powerhouse" Roman Reigns will be the man to knock off Lesnar.

Regarding Sin Cara, IIRC he was a big rising star when he came to the WWE, but the original luchadore under the mask, Mistico, botched so badly, had bad relations with the company, and it didn't help either that he couldn't speak English and kept on getting injured. Hunico I think is a good replacement for Mistico as Sin Cara (he was after all formerly the heel black-wrestling gear Sin Cara). My best guess here is that Vince feels reluctant to push Sin Cara (Hunico) after Mistico messed up so badly under the Sin Cara name.

That's the problem with Cesaro & Kidd - these things never last. I don't know what it is, but the WWE loves to disband teams as often as possible nowadays - The Real Americans (Swagger, Cesaro, Colter) and the Wyatt Family (Bray, Harper, Rowan) I thought were awesome stables, and WWE got rid of them just like that. Cesaro & Kidd do have a win over the Tag Team Champions though, and I hope they'll put the belts on those two soon.

And one thing on Miz/Sandow. I find this rivalry pretty funny, though I just find it kind of amazing how the creative team decided to re-establish Sandow as a goofball when he previously was known as the "Intellectual Savior of the Masses" and called everyone ignoramuses and such. It looks like such a weird gimmick change.

Wow....I didn't hear that. Rollins posted a dick pic?   Hopefully this goes nowhere. Rollins deserves the World Title more than anybody and plus, as an Authority fan, it would really show their dominance as a team if they could win that (and maybe Kane and Big Show could go after the Tag Titles).

[Eraserhead]

Do you guys watch NXT? NXT Takeover: Rival was last night and it was awesome. It's so much better than the stuff that the main WWE roster is doing, it's not even funny.

[Eraserhead]

As for Curtis Axel, I've never cared much for the guy (despite being a big fan of his father). I wasn't really watching any wrestling when he was being pushed though. This whole "Axelmania" thing is the first time I've found him amusing since I started watching the shows again about a year ago. He should run with it!

[LeBron]

I used to watch NXT when it aired on SyFy (and it was those first 2 Seasons of NXT that brought the WWE wrestlers with strong potential like Alex Riley, Kaval, Darren Young, Lucky Cannon, and Wade Barrett). Some were used wisely, but others Vince just gave up on. And those first few seasons of NXT brought a lot of great matches and competitions.

But no I don't watch the newer NXT. I actually never bought the WWE Network, and plus I don't think it's something I would be able to get into. I usually only watch Raw, SmackDown, and the "Big 4" PPVs.