The Wrestling Thread

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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?

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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.

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SPOILER ALERT?

Apparently The Rock is in Philly.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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. :/

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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).

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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.

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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!

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What do you watch the PPVs on?

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What do you watch the PPVs on?

I have two friends who are also WWE fans, so we usually alternate each other's houses on where we watch the Big 4.

The problem with going to a local sports bar/restaurant to see the "Big 4" is the places are always packed those nights and hard to get a seat, though if there's a really good lower-scale PPV (like Extreme Rules and TLC), then we might do that.

I presume you watch your PPVs for free through WWE Network?

Haha, if you consider $9.99 a month free...

The Network is basically what sucked me back into watching wrestling (after ignoring it for about a decade) because I initially only subscribed to it in order to get access to all of the classic PPVs and some of the "Beyond The Ring" type shows that break kayfabe.

But with the new PPVs being aired every month on there as well, there really wasn't any reason not to watch them...

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By the way, I'll also be going to a WWE Live Event (aka house show) next Friday at Madison Square Garden with a bunch of my friends from work. It's being billed as "Hulk Hogan Appreciation Night". I'll let you guys know how it is.

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LeBron, I do own WWE 2K15, but I have it on X-Box 360. It's definitely a fun game to just pick up and play. I hope they expand the "universe" mode in it next time around though. That could be a really cool mode but it needs some work.

By the way, I'll also be going to a WWE Live Event (aka house show) next Friday at Madison Square Garden with a bunch of my friends from work. It's being billed as "Hulk Hogan Appreciation Night". I'll let you guys know how it is.

That sounds great! I'm actually picking up my WrestleMania ticket from my friend tomorrow at a showing of Fast Lane. Our university's professional wrestling club is going together since its only about an hour away.

Wow, your university has professional wrestling club? Interesting. What do you guys do exactly? Just watch and chat about wrestling?

That's awesome though, have fun!

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So did any of you guys bother watching Trashlane? I mean I wasn't expecting much but that was one seriously underwhelming show...

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Well, I went to the MSG show last night and I definitely felt like I got my money's worth. It was a fun night with a really diverse and lively crowd. Almost every match was really good and the Hulk Hogan tribute was really pretty fantastic.

Depending exactly where it's held, I'm probably going to look into going to Summerslam now.

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So Brock Lesnar apparently walked out of Raw last week without doing whatever he was supposed to do (attack Reigns?) because he was pissed off about something (contract negotiations with WWE?). Then a few nights later he shows up at UFC 184 in a business suit, chatting it up with UFC President Dana White. Haha, what a troll Brock is!

I have a feeling this Wrestlemania is going to turn into a glorious disaster!

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Anyway, here are some more elaborate thoughts on the MSG show I went to (originally posted this on a different forum):

Very fun show. Lots of solid matches with largely predictable results (but what else can you expect at a house show...). This is the first time I've been to a live WWF/E show since the late 90s and I was impressed by it. Assuming Summerslam ends up being held at the Barclays Center, I'm almost certainly going to go to it after attending this.

A couple of random notes (sorry if it's a lot of the same stuff from other reports):

- Very diverse crowd. Lots of black and hispanic families with kids who loved Cena and Reigns. Lots of groups of white guys in their 20s and 30s who hated Cena and Reigns. Absolutely nobody was giving anybody a hard time about who they were cheering for or cheering against though. Good atmosphere. Everyone came together over their appreciation for Hulk Hogan and the other legends later on in the show.

- It was cool to see a bunch of heels win matches at a house show (Bad News Barrett, Tyson Kidd & Cesaro, Nikki Bella, etc.) even if it was only because they went in with titles that they weren't going to drop without being on TV.

-There were "We want Lesnar" chants at times during the show in my section. Considering he's not even coming out at the shows he's supposed to come out on these days, I knew he was never going to show up...

- There were also a ton of "woos" going on even before the show started. It made me think Flair might show up and he did. I just wish that Piper had showed up too!

- The Triple Threat match for the IC title was really damn good. Ambrose was more popular than Ziggler with this crowd. Barrett had a lot of heat.

- The New Day was booed quite a bit (especially after they lost their match).

- The Chris Jericho segment/match with Harper was high quality stuff and it was well received.

- Paige was over big time with this crowd.

- Triple H acted like a babyface throughout the evening (made Cena vs. Rusev a title match, paid tribute to Hogan, etc.) and was treated like a babyface by the crowd.

- Cena and Rusev actually put on a great match that the crowd was on fire for. It was interesting to see Rusev tap out (even though the referee wasn't present). That's something you don't see on TV.

- R-Truth vs. Fandango was used as a piss/beer break match by many people including myself.

- Even though Orton vs. Wyatt was technically a heel vs. heel match, both guys received babyface reactions (especially Orton). Solid match, makes me wonder if we'll see a program between them on TV in the near future.

- The Hogan tribute was quite lengthy but the crowd ate it up. Everyone loved Hogan, Flair, The Outsiders, Jimmy Hart, Triple H, etc. Nobody really seemed like they were trying to stay in character and the emotions seemed genuine. The only things that were booed in this segment were the two MSG representatives who came out (lol) and the mention of WCW (weird).

- The main event felt a little rushed as they were clearly pressed for time but it was still decent. Rollins had a lot of heat but Reigns had a decent amount too (heh). Everyone loved Daniel Bryan. Reigns won with the spear.

In summary, this was a very enjoyable show! I'm glad I went.

Here's a decent article about the show (with all of the results included):

http://www.businessinsider.com/wwe-madison-square-garden-house-show-hulk-hogan-john-cena-wrestling-2015-2

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So it's almost time for Wrestlemania. I can't say I'm super-excited for it...

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So it's almost time for Wrestlemania. I can't say I'm super-excited for it...

I'm actually going to be there and I have to agree. Supposedly it's possible for Brock to keep the belt though, which I don't necessarily mind.

I don't see that happening. I feel like WWE is just leaking bogus information to try and keep the smarks interested. Reigns is going to win and he may very well end up getting booed out of the arena afterward.

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I'm glad Rollins is the champ. Lesnar retaining and then not showing to defend the title again until Summerslam would have been pretty ridiculous and hardly anybody wanted Reigns to win at this point. Don't you have to pin the champ when you cash in though? Has someone cashing in ever turned a singles match into a triple-threat match before or are they just making up new rules on the fly again?

I'm kind of shocked that Triple H put himself over Sting. Kind of disgusted too. It was a very entertaing match though.

Some more thoughts later perhaps.

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I'm glad Rollins is the champ. Lesnar retaining and then not showing to defend the title again until Summerslam would have been pretty ridiculous and hardly anybody wanted Reigns to win at this point. Don't you have to pin the champ when you cash in though? Has someone cashing in ever turned a singles match into a triple-threat match before or are they just making up new rules on the fly again?

This was the first time someone cashed in during a match, but triple-threat rules mean anyone can be pinned for the match to be won.

Had a lot of fun last night as WrestleMania, amazing to see Taker back. I felt like everything was a bit slow (like really slow), but perhaps that was simply because watching it in-person gives a different feeling.

I'll expound more on my thoughts later but I'll say one thing -- Reigns was squashed and squashed hard. He might've kicked out of three F-5s, but my god, it was bad. We were starting to feel sorry for him. Crowd was ridiculously against Reigns though, they really drove a knife into him.

Yeah, I know the rules of a triple threat match. I just figured the cash in would have rendered the original singles match a no-contest or something.

It was cool to see Undertaker again and he definitely looked better than he did last year at least but Bray should have won that match, especially with Sting losing to HHH earlier in the day. So what's even the point of doing Sting and Taker at Wrestlemania next year when you just had Sting fall at Wrestlemania to a guy that the Undertaker has beaten several times at Wrestlemania already. Why would someone (in Kayfabe terms or otherwise) think that Sting would have a chance? Also, Taker and Bray's entrances looked pretty silly in the daylight.

The Lesnar-Reigns encounter was a lot better than I (and I think most people) expected it to be. Line of the night: SUPLEX CITY BITCH!

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Well, apparently the WWE has banned the curb stomp finisher. wtf? Lame.

Also, I can't really say I'm too excited about ANY of the matches happening at Extreme Rules on Sunday. I am excited about seeing the crowd reactions to them though since it's in Chicago and they are always nuts. I wonder if Reigns v. Big Show will be booed out of the building...

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Well, Extreme Rules was pretty underwhelming as expected.

But apparently we get King of the Ring on the network on Tuesday now. That's pretty awesome.