WWE/NXT/AEW/NJPW Thread

[Derek]

Joe vs Rollins should be a great match. However, with Triple H/Rollins seemingly being the end game, where does that leave Joe for Wrestlemania?

 

[blommen]

Joe vs Rollins should be a great match. However, with Triple H/Rollins seemingly being the end game, where does that leave Joe for Wrestlemania?

wasn't there talk off HHH Rollins for 'Mania was off the table for some reason? If that isn't the case my guess would be Joe vs Zayn, although where that leaves Jericho is very good question. Maybe they have his face turn against Owens and have the battle of the besties?

 

[Derek]

wasn't there talk off HHH Rollins for 'Mania was off the table for some reason? If that isn't the case my guess would be Joe vs Zayn, although where that leaves Jericho is very good question. Maybe they have his face turn against Owens and have the battle of the besties?

I never heard anything about HHH/Rollins being off. I'd say Jericho/Owens is a lock as well, although whether or a not a title is involved is anyone's guess.

Joe vs Zayn for the US Title was the first thing that came to mind for me as well.

 

[blommen]

I never heard anything about HHH/Rollins being off. I'd say Jericho/Owens is a lock as well, although whether or a not a title is involved is anyone's guess.

Joe vs Zayn for the US Title was the first thing that came to mind for me as well.

From a work rate point of view it's what makes the most sense, IMO. Chris and Kevin I'm sure will be able to set the house on fire, I think Rollins vs HHH has the potential to be really fucking good as well. Joe vs Zayn is just... man, that match would be so fucking spectacular I'm almost drooling at the thought of it. The only thing that gives me pause about it is that Zayn would have to lose again, and I honestly think they need to start giving him some big wins at this point. The dude is a Daniel Bryan 2.0 waiting to happen and they are just booking him into oblivion right now. now granted, I haven't seen his match with Jericho from RAW yet so maybe they are starting to work him in another direction but even so, it would be such a shame for him to basically serve as enhancement talent for Joe at 'mania, because Joe has to get some wins out of the gate to establish his place in the main event scene.

 

[Derek]

From a work rate point of view it's what makes the most sense, IMO. Chris and Kevin I'm sure will be able to set the house on fire, I think Rollins vs HHH has the potential to be really fucking good as well. Joe vs Zayn is just... man, that match would be so fucking spectacular I'm almost drooling at the thought of it. The only thing that gives me pause about it is that Zayn would have to lose again, and I honestly think they need to start giving him some big wins at this point. The dude is a Daniel Bryan 2.0 waiting to happen and they are just booking him into oblivion right now. now granted, I haven't seen his match with Jericho from RAW yet so maybe they are starting to work him in another direction but even so, it would be such a shame for him to basically serve as enhancement talent for Joe at 'mania, because Joe has to get some wins out of the gate to establish his place in the main event scene.

Well, he won clean yesterday (I hope that's not a spoiler for you), and the announcers were really talking up his Rumble performance, lasting 47 minutes (which was second only to Jericho's hour+).

I think it's possible to have Zayn lose at Wrestlemania, and still keep momentum. He could always win the title back after continuing the feud with Joe post-Wrestlemania.

The best thing for Zayn would be for them to give him his own extended feud right now. Since he beat Owens at Battleground, he's just been a complementary guy in everybody else's feuds.

 

[blommen]

Well, he won clean yesterday (I hope that's not a spoiler for you), and the announcers were really talking up his Rumble performance, lasting 47 minutes (which was second only to Jericho's hour+).

I think it's possible to have Zayn lose at Wrestlemania, and still keep momentum. He could always win the title back after continuing the feud with Joe post-Wrestlemania.

I mean, they have to realize that Zayn vs. Owens is the match to make for the title when they take the title off Owens. It's a match-up that is still fresh thanks to Zayn and Owens' chemistry and history, and you know they can turn it into a money program. It also allows them to have one of their young heels start entering the title picture, like Joe or Braun. In fact if that's the way they choose to go with it, they could easily transision right into either of those two since Zayn would have had recent feuds with both guys.

So have Zayn feud with Owens all through the summer and have win the title at Summerslam. after that he goes up against Strauman and after that Joe who he loses it to who then goes on to face Balor at Survivor Series.

great, now we'll just have to tweet this to Vince and all should be good to go.

 

[Jack Brickman]

I mean, they have to realize that Zayn vs. Owens is the match to make for the title when they take the title off Owens. It's a match-up that is still fresh thanks to Zayn and Owens' chemistry and history, and you know they can turn it into a money program. It also allows them to have one of their young heels start entering the title picture, like Joe or Braun. In fact if that's the way they choose to go with it, they could easily transision right into either of those two since Zayn would have had recent feuds with both guys.

So have Zayn feud with Owens all through the summer and have win the title at Summerslam. after that he goes up against Strauman and after that Joe who he loses it to who then goes on to face Balor at Survivor Series.

great, now we'll just have to tweet this to Vince and all should be good to go.

Get ready to be disappointed. Rumors coming out that Goldberg will be taking the title from Kevin Owens soon so that Goldberg/Lesnar can be for the title at Wrestlemania.

 

[blommen]

Get ready to be disappointed. Rumors coming out that Goldberg will be taking the title from Kevin Owens soon so that Goldberg/Lesnar can be for the title at Wrestlemania.

I know, and it is going to be a complete fucking shitshow again, and they are going to be booked into a corner with the title again, and they are going to try to force Roman on the fans by having him go over Lesnar again... fuck man, Couldn't you have let me dream a little longer?

I hate the fact that they are still keeping Lesnar around, he does nothing for the rest of their talent and they've booked him so insanely that it is impossible to have anyone go over him in kayfabe. The one guy they wanted to get the rub was so universally disliked that they retconned that shit on the fucking night he was supposed to win and now it just looks like they are going to try to do it again. Fuck.

 

[Jack Brickman]

I know, and it is going to be a complete fucking shitshow again, and they are going to be booked into a corner with the title again, and they are going to try to force Roman on the fans by having him go over Lesnar again... fuck man, Couldn't you have let me dream a little longer?

I hate the fact that they are still keeping Lesnar around, he does nothing for the rest of their talent and they've booked him so insanely that it is impossible to have anyone go over him in kayfabe. The one guy they wanted to get the rub was so universally disliked that they retconned that shit on the fucking night he was supposed to win and now it just looks like they are going to try to do it again. Fuck.

I absolutely hated how Lesnar entered the Rumble and just started tossing around upper mid-card guys like they were sacks of shit. It was the worst part of the Rumble in my opinion. Even worse than Reigns at thirty. Lesnar walked into the ring and literally just tossed Dean Ambrose like he was nothing. Dean Ambrose, much as I have come to dislike him as a wrestler because he hasn't put on a good match in like a year, is the fucking Intercontinental Champion! You don't have one of your champs unceremoniously tossed from the Rumble by a part-timer. That's just madness.

It's no wonder the WWE can't create new stars when they continue to job them out to guys who wrestle five times a year. They should be treating certain guys on the roster as on the same level as Goldberg and Lesnar. Not everyone, of course, but the upper card at least. Guys like Owens, Rollins, Reigns (whether we like it or not he's an upper card guy right now), Strowman since he's in the midst of his undefeated push, Styles, Cena, etc. should all be on a similar level to Lesnar and should be booked as credible threats to beat him. That doesn't mean they have to beat him, but we shouldn't get glorified squash matches like Lesnar/Ambrose at last year's 'Mania.

It's further annoying because NXT builds up stars so well, so obviously someone at the WWE knows what the fuck they're doing.

 

[Kizzle]

Neville and Cedric would be good entries. I don't want to see perkins, swann or Kendrick in there really.

I would've lost all my money

 

[blommen]

I absolutely hated how Lesnar entered the Rumble and just started tossing around upper mid-card guys like they were sacks of shit. It was the worst part of the Rumble in my opinion. Even worse than Reigns at thirty. Lesnar walked into the ring and literally just tossed Dean Ambrose like he was nothing. Dean Ambrose, much as I have come to dislike him as a wrestler because he hasn't put on a good match in like a year, is the fucking Intercontinental Champion! You don't have one of your champs unceremoniously tossed from the Rumble by a part-timer. That's just madness.

It's no wonder the WWE can't create new stars when they continue to job them out to guys who wrestle five times a year. They should be treating certain guys on the roster as on the same level as Goldberg and Lesnar. Not everyone, of course, but the upper card at least. Guys like Owens, Rollins, Reigns (whether we like it or not he's an upper card guy right now), Strowman since he's in the midst of his undefeated push, Styles, Cena, etc. should all be on a similar level to Lesnar and should be booked as credible threats to beat him. That doesn't mean they have to beat him, but we shouldn't get glorified squash matches like Lesnar/Ambrose at last year's 'Mania.

It's further annoying because NXT builds up stars so well, so obviously someone at the WWE knows what the fuck they're doing.

Yeah, as much as NXT has suffered from getting raided at the draft, they are still trying to establish new stars. It's difficult and they are going to be hurting even more when Shinsuke and Roode move up, but even so they have Rod Strong, DIY, AOP, shit even Almas has started to get hot with his heel turn and Tommy End is in all likelyhood coming in soon.

Raw is just completely botching their title picture and making their actual full time stars seem like complete afterthoughts. HAVE YOU SEEN THE WAY THEY ARE BOOKING OWENS!? They have all this awesome, awesome talent on hand, all these fresh, interesting, talented-as-fuck performers and they somehow manage to make them play second fiddle to a rematch of one of the most universally reviled matches in Wrestlemania history. They are going to rue the day they did this down the line.

It's not even limited to the main event stage. Consider how hard they botched the cruiserweight division after it being the hottest fucking thing on the network all summer. what the fuck was that conversation like? "We have this interesting, unique style of wrestling that we don't really cover on our regular programming, we have a bunch of great performers of said style, freshly signed to contracts with a shitload of buzz, and we have a 3 hour show in dire need of something to fill in those gaps we usually give to goldust and R-truth..... LET'S HAVE THOSE TINY FUCKERS WRESTLE THE EXACT SAME STYLE AS OUR REGULAR WRESTLER, THUS COMPLETELY DEFEATING THE POINT OF A CRUISERWEIGHT DIVISION ALL TOGETHER"

god dammit. this was why I took a break from WWE and focused on NJPW for the last couple of months.

 

[Jack Brickman]

Yeah, as much as NXT has suffered from getting raided at the draft, they are still trying to establish new stars. It's difficult and they are going to be hurting even more when Shinsuke and Roode move up, but even so they have Rod Strong, DIY, AOP, shit even Almas has started to get hot with his heel turn and Tommy End is in all likelyhood coming in soon.

Don't forget Chris Hero (or Kassius Ohno, as that's his WWE name). He'll be back in NXT full time soon, and will likely be in the title picture before too long. He'll either debut at Takeover: Orlando or sometime before then. There's already a video on YouTube of him coming out at an NXT event and confronting Nakamura. He's likely to be a future NXT champ. Kyle O'Reilly may be WWE bound as well once his WWE contract is up.

The way I see it, there will always be more talent out there, and there will always be indie guys ready to accept a WWE/NXT contract. Also, there are only so many main roster spots available, and I think guys like Roode and Young specifically signed on to be NXT guys for a while just like Joe did, and he was in NXT for like two years before he was called up. Remember, he debuted shortly after Owens won the NXT Title, and that was ages ago. I don't think Roode is looking at a main roster debut any time in the very near future.

Raw is just completely botching their title picture and making their actual full time stars seem like complete afterthoughts. HAVE YOU SEEN THE WAY THEY ARE BOOKING OWENS!? They have all this awesome, awesome talent on hand, all these fresh, interesting, talented-as-fuck performers and they somehow manage to make them play second fiddle to a rematch of one of the most universally reviled matches in Wrestlemania history. They are going to rue the day they did this down the line.

Owens is a pretty prime example of everything wrong with WWE booking right now. He's the top champ in the company right now and he hasn't won a single of his title matches clean, and in fact made it a point that Reigns was better than him and that he couldn't beat Reigns in a fair fight. Not only does this do nothing for him as a wrestler, but it devalues the title as well, which is terrible for a brand new belt. I get having heels who cheat to win, and that's fine, but they've taken that to another level with Owens and he actually constantly needs help from other people to win, which is stupid. I'd be fine with him dishing out the occasional eye poke or low blow to get enough of an advantage to win, but it's ridiculous to have Jericho or someone else run out and have to save Owens every single time the title is on the line. It doesn't help that he jobbed to Reigns at house shows, and now won't even be main eventing house shows despite being the top champ (Reigns/Strowman is set to main event those shows).

It's not even limited to the main event stage. Consider how hard they botched the cruiserweight division after it being the hottest fucking thing on the network all summer. what the fuck was that conversation like? "We have this interesting, unique style of wrestling that we don't really cover on our regular programming, we have a bunch of great performers of said style, freshly signed to contracts with a shitload of buzz, and we have a 3 hour show in dire need of something to fill in those gaps we usually give to goldust and R-truth..... LET'S HAVE THOSE TINY FUCKERS WRESTLE THE EXACT SAME STYLE AS OUR REGULAR WRESTLER, THUS COMPLETELY DEFEATING THE POINT OF A CRUISERWEIGHT DIVISION ALL TOGETHER"

Yeah, they've really watered down the entire division by having them wrestle the same boring main event style. It just doesn't work for most of the cruisers. You can have a guy like Drew Gulak wrestle that style, because he's a technical specialist guy, but the vast majority of the cruisers are high-fliers who should be working lightning fast matches. At least Gallagher is getting pushed, though.

 

[Bill Walton.]

Sounds like Seth Rollins re-injured his knee Monday Night...

 

[Tornicade]

yeah but is it kayfabe or real.

If Rollin cant make it to fastlane. now what do you do with Samoa Joe.

1. create a 4 way with reigns , owens , stroman and joe.
2. Have triple HHH declare Samoe number 1 contender. feud stroman and reigns then pit Owens vs Samoa Joe for fastlane.
3. Have triple HHH target Reigns and create a three way feud with Reigns, Stroman and Samoa Joe

Now if they do option three they need a contender for Owens. unless Finn Balor has returned then who does that leave?
Outside of bringing up Shinsuke and havig him win a contender royale what are the options

Jericho is feuding with Zayn
so that rules ut those two
Rusev Jahal, cass and Enzo are still feuding but that could be ended relatively quick

Goldberg and Lesnar appear on hiatus until WM

Undertaker would seem more interested in Reigns than Owens at this moment after getting eliminated by Reigns

that leaves Big show and possibly Cass, and Rusev.
none of these guys are ready or suitable for a push to the title.

I say Reigns feuds with Samoa Joe and Stroman gets a title shot on fastlane.

Either Triple HHH and Samo turn face or Owens turns face.

If they proceed with the triple threat match of Reigns, Stroman and Owens.

I suppose a fedu could be lined up with Cass or Rusev but it would have to make sense with the Triple HHH has returned with a new chosen one storyline.

 

[Jack Brickman]

It sounds like the injury is real. He went to see his doctor in Birmingham, which seems a bit overboard for a kayfabe angle. Also, you can see Joe ask Rollins a question when they are on the ground after Joe locks in the Clutch. It sounds like the question is, "Are you okay?" And Rollins' reply appears to be, "I hope so."

Anyway, if you rewatch the video, it looks like he comes down weird on his knee when he and Joe fall to the mat after Joe locks in the Clutch.

If this is a major injury, it may be a bad for Rollins' WWE career, as that's two major injuries in the past two years while he was at or near the top of the card. He's going to start getting tagged with the injury prone label and they'll likely be hesitant to push him in major angles if he's unreliable.