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new thread topic: do you ever sit down to watch monday night raw and wonder if your time would be better spent dying of dysentery

@Adam

Sometimes RAW is decent to watch. Sometimes. Last night, Taker was kinda fun to see. And it's always nice to see Austin Aries take commentary during the Cruiserweight Matches.

Most times though, it feels like a drag. Admittedly, there are times when Smackdown drags, but they usually find a way to get things back on track (and I'm not saying that as a Smackdown mark or as a RAW smark).

Taker's presence was wildly underwhelming and honestly I'm sick of them bringing him back for a big pop just so he can grumble and shit. Not to mention the ludicrous angle they used for him throughout the show of "if Mick can't produce the Undertaker, he'll be fired" like Taker wasn't already booked and announced weeks in advance. Also Steph was a heel randomly this week for no reason. Raw's ridiculous inability to tell a compelling story with literally anyone was on full display last night.

@Adam

Honestly I found Shawn Michaels's presence to be more underwhelming. But yeah, I agree with you on RAW's storytelling ability.

Shawn Michaels' appearance was so fucking bad. That Rusev, the only bright spot in that segment, had to job to him was sad.

So in other news Smacklads are still winning.

Becky and Alexa get a cage match next week and the storyline, thankfully, still is more about wrestlers wanting to be recognised as the best wrestler rather than the extremely tired "we are the history-making women who are much better than the old women".

Corbin continues to be slowly built. Losing to Cena was expected and it certainly would have been the wrong time to put Corbs over, but nonetheless WWE are thinking past the sale. He will now start to be a main eventer in fans' minds.

Dolph is reworked and given something new to do to help alleviate his staleness – I for one am glad the new heel Dolph is a different type of heel from previous heel Dolph.

Smackdown is just better in every way right now and I know that's the hot meme opinion to have but it's still true.

The actual Rumble match itself is being quite slowly built up, which is good because I will get tired of it if they rush it and just say "all of these guys are in".

Whats your opinion on CZW?
Besides that they punch each other with lighttubes there are a few really good and talented wrestler

CZW? I'm mixed. Sometimes the deathmatch stuff really overdoes it, but yes, there is also some good technical wrestling. Remember also that Ambrose partially made himself in that promotion. Many people think that it's a promotion where a lot of talent "deserves better" which I guess is kinda true. Also one of the owners in the past booked himself in the top spot a fair bit as I understand it, but this is not exclusive to CZW or a new problem.

WWE UK's round one was pretty good, it was nice seeing Conners and Mandrews again. I'm not sure who I want to win because I like pretty much all of them so far.

Jimmy Snuka has passed away.

Goddamn I finish watching some great wrestling only to find out a legend has died. A lot of people talking about that murder case but I'm not sure now's exactly the time.

In positive news,

Tyler Bate is the inaugural WWE UK Champion, BASED! He is the second youngest person to hold a belt in WWE, only beaten out by Renee Dupree.



I'm not disappointed my homeboy Mandrews did not win as he still had an excellent showing in his losing effort against the dastardly Dunne. I have family in Dudley so I can still claim local connection to Bate lol!

Also, what a thrilling and unexpected way to debut Tommy End. Although he's Dutch, he made a lot of his reputation in the UK and much like El Ligero, he is sort of "British by Adoption". Although he lost, it was important to keep Neville strong and this match was a nice surprise.

RIP Jimmy Snuka. I know the guy's pretty controversial for something that happened decades ago, but regardless, he was certainly an influence.

Anyways, moving on past that, the UK Tournament was a fun watch. The second day especially was more entertaining, since the wrestling action and story started to pick up. The commentary from Cole and Nigel McGuinness was also pretty great; this Nigel fellow does some good color commentary. One more thing I liked about the UK Tournament was that it wasn't a copy of the CWC; unlike the CWC, this tournament built up a story as it went on, particularly about an underdog vs a ruthless heel.

OH, IT'S TRUE, IT'S DAMN TRUE!

Rumours are that WWE has secured a deal with ICW to air their shows on the network, which could be very big if true.

IMO we are either about to see WWE sweep in and kill the British indies 80s-style, or move to a new type of partnership where WWE becomes the parent company to several smaller promotions. I sincerely hope it's the latter since the indies can retain autonomy and creative freedom and keep people in jobs.

With a rather stacked Royal Rumble fast approaching I figured it would be appropriate for us to share our fantasy picks to win the rumble. Just say whatever superstar you'd want to win (or lose) the rumble, regardless of their actual chances.

For me, I just want anyone but Undertaker, Lesnar, and Goldberg to win. Taker and Goldberg are in the tail end of their careers and and I don't want to see a champion that disappears for months at a time. Besides, WWE doesn't need a title for any of those guys to draw viewers.

Braun Strowman winning the rumble wouldn't be all that shocking but someone like the Miz or Baron Corbin would be pretty damn interesting.

Going completely on gut feeling, but I have Nakamura winning the Rumble and main eventing Wrestlemania against Styles for the World title.

Just think that WWE pushing THIS ROYAL RUMBLE IS SO STACKED WITH SUPERSTARS all the time screams surprise winner.

For me, I just want anyone but Undertaker, Lesnar, and Goldberg to win. Taker and Goldberg are in the tail end of their careers and and I don’t want to see a champion that disappears for months at a time.

Yeah mate same. They are just there to be marquee draws for Mania at this point.

A small part of me still selfishly prays that Bálor is actually cleared already and shows up as a surprise.

However my prediction for what will happen is the previously-rumoured

>Taker wins
>Cena takes the title from Styles
>Taker loses to Cena at Mania for the belt in his final match

Taker is probably almost done btw. I really think this might be it this time. He is apparently in desperate need of hip surgery and spent a portion of last year on crutches. I honestly want the dude to retire and be with his kids. He's given the fans enough of his life and health now. I'm gonna miss that big undead bastard though.

I actually don't mind Taker winning the Rumble, since it could maybe lead to an interesting feud (a feud with AJ would be great). As for the rumors of Cena beating AJ, I'm inclined to believe that he won't get that title until WrestleMania. So if Taker wins and AJ retains, maybe we could get a feud between AJ, Cena, and Taker. But uh, that's just me fantasy booking. If Taker doesn't win, I'd think that Braun would, though honestly it's really hard to tell who could win. Regardless, I'm excited to see the surprise entrants for this Rumble.

Honestly I don't see the point on giving it to Lesnar or Goldberg, as the fight itself is a big enough draw to not need a title in the line. Undertaker however could be a possiblity and I'm not too excited on that… They could do Cena vs Taker but I don't see him having a last match without putting someone over (unlike John who is already established and wouldn't benefit from the rub). Strowman and Orton (with Wyatt winning on EC and going over him at Mania) are also among the favourites, but I see Braun too green for a Rumble win and Randy doesn't need another victory under his arm, better give it to someone who could establish himself.

My 1st option for Rumble winner is a returning Finn Baelor trying to get his title back, It would be cool, would position him as a legit main eventer (and would make his haters go mad over him winning the Rumble on his 4th match), 2nd is a debuting Samoa Joe with a monster push (which he'll get independently of winning the Rumble, if he debuts I could see him as the guy with most eliminations). Other names that could be fine are Sami and Wyatt (think on the story above but backwards, with him still winning at Mania).

Match prediction? Match prediction:

• Shesaro vs Club: I don't see why would they change the titles at the preshow.
• Botcha Banks vs Nia Jax: She needs a little push to unJUST herself after Roadblock's defeat.
• Becky Lynch, Nikki Bella, and Naomi vs. Alexa Bliss, Mickie James, and Natalya: Babyfaces goin' over.
• Rich Swann vs. Neville: Time for the king to shine.ç
• Charlotte Flair vs. Bayley: I'm sure her PPV streak will keep going until Mania, where she either gets defeated by Bayley or Asuka.
• Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns: Jericho throws his title to Owens and uses it to knock BBD down. I can see Seth and Triple H interfeering.
• BMAJ vs. BMJ: Smackdown's last promo was kinda… off: An overly confident and smug Cena trying to make excuses from his latest defeats versus an AJ who only wanted some respect. Making AJ lose would kill his momentum, a momentum he could use to break into the mainstream. But then I wake up and realise Cena has buried him like many others.
• Rumble: Check above.

Its prediction time
Shesaro vs Club
Sasha Banks vs Nia Jax
Becky Lynch, Nikki Bella, and Naomi vs. Alexa Bliss, Mickie James, and Natalya
Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns
AJ Styles vs. John Cena wins lol
Charlotte Flair vs. Bayley
Rich Swann vs. Neville

The Battle Royal
Puhh no idea but i can think it will go like
Lesnar gets eliminated by Goldberg
Lensar comes back and eliminate Goldberg and the Undertaker and it will end in a triple threat match at Wrestlemania

Shesaro vs. Club
Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax
Lynch/Nikki/Naomi vs. Bliss/James/Natalya (unless Natalya takes the fall)
Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns
AJ Styles vs. John Cena
Charlotte vs. Bayley
Rich Swann vs. Neville

Rumble: Final five are Goldberg, Lesnar, Taker, Jericho, and Joe/Miz. Jericho wins.

Well, might as well do Takeover predictions too, so here goes:

• Roderick Strong vs. Andrade "Cien" Almas
• Tye Dillinger vs. Eric Young
• Asuka vs. Peyton Royce vs. Billie Kay vs. Nikki Cross
• DIY vs. The Authors of Pain
• Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bobby Roode

Getting into some specifics: Cien wins in a heelish manner, but both him and Strong look, uh, strong. Eric Young wins due to interference from SAnitY. The Fatal 4-Way will mostly focus on Asuka against Nikki Cross, with the two Aussies eating a pin. The Authors of Pain seem most likely to win the Tag belts, though it does seem a bit underwhelming to get 'em off DIY after a short run. As for the main event, I don't see Roode winning unless he cheats.

And now the Rumble:

• Shesaro vs. The Club
• Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax
• Becky Lynch, Nikki Bella, and Naomi vs. Alexa Bliss, Mickie James, and Natalya
• Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns
• AJ Styles vs. John Cena
• Charlotte Flair vs. Bayley
• Rich Swann vs. Neville

Specifics again: As much as I'd like to see The Club win those belts, Shesaro's still pretty over, so it won't be happening in a while. Nia's a monster, so she oughta run past Sasha. The Smackdown 6-Women Tag Match has the heels winning, especially with a debuting Mickie James. For the Universal Title, KO wins due to interference from Y2J. For the WWE World Title, it could go either way, and I wouldn't be surprised if Cena won, but I've got my hopes for AJ. Charlotte's PPV Streak ain't breakin' soon, so Bayley loses. And for the Cruiserweight Title, The King of the Cruiserweights must obviously win.

Anyways, I won't be bothered to guess the final four of the Rumble match since it's really anyone's guess. I could see Braun or Taker winning it though.

The Glorius Era has begun

Takeover was really, really good. I haven't kept up with NXT to well because there is only so much wrestling I can watch in a week. Even so, The tag team match and the NXT championship were especially intense. Unless I missed something, I think Bobby Roode won that match clean. I might have bugged the neighboring rooms in my dorm from me excitedly banging my fists on my desk while I watched.

I also have the prediction that Triple H is going to enter the Royal Rumble and be eliminated by an interfering Seth Rollins.

btw Patrician Trainer, Cosmic Cowboy and I (and maybe Solid Shakespeare) will be watching the Rumble together and talking on a Discord chat. If you wanna join us go here and go to the #wrestlefags tab on the left (there's only 10 invites and it's temporary).

Why Orton? Out of everybody who could've won, why ORTON?

AAAAAAAND they went the most boring choice for the rumble winner

Also, this company will never create starts if they keep pushing old man AND FUCKING REIGNS in our throats

1. Oh thank god, Roman Reigns lost.
Like, why are you put in the Royal Rumble match if you were already in a title match that night? I was hoping Sami would win considering how long he was in the Rumble but Randy Orton's better than a lot of the other options.

2. Didn't realize that the show started at 7 so i'll have to go back and see what I missed.

3. With that being the second time Goldberg squashed Lesnar I have no idea what the hell he's supposed to do next.

4. I just realized that we might see yet another Cena vs Orton title match

Bullsh1t!! Bullsh1t!!

I just

what

People were saying that Samoa Joe would be in the Rumble. Well … a Samoan Joe was?

Who in the hell thought it was a good idea to let Reigns eliminate The Undertaker?

Like, i want to see a Reigns vs Taker match at some point BUT NOT AT FUCKING WRESTLEMANIA.

I KNEW IT

Reigns vs Undertaker feud incomming. I predict Wrestlemania:
>Reigns beat Undertaker
>Undertaker retires
>Reigns get boo'd out of this universe at Post WM Raw

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME WWE?
NOT FUCKING ROMAN REIGNS

Okay, new discussion topic/challenge: Say something nice about The Royal Rumble.

I thought the Cena/Styles match was very intense and exciting.

Nice idea.

Reigns' work in his match against Owens was great, and the match was a lot of fun to watch.

That fucking cruiserweight match though. Well, not the match itself, but rather, the ending.
Neville's going to be a great cruiserweight champion.

Gonna give my thoughts on both Takeover and the Rumble.

NXT Takeover: San Antonio

Not my favorite Takeover, but still a good show all around. Also I can't believe I only got two wrong. The Main Event was great, though the whole shoot injury spot seems overused at this point (still better than the spot at the Women's Match in HiaC). The Women's Match was good, though a tad underwhelming. I'm surprised at how underutilized Nikki Cross was, since a lot of the focus in that match was on the two Aussies. Tag match was great, though it's kinda sad to see DIY lose the belts so quickly. Cien vs Strong was probably the most underrated match of the night: it was a very physical, brutal match. And uh, that's all I have to say really.

2017 Royal Rumble

Ok, now the Rumble. Since Conman brought up discussion of the positives of the Rumble, I might as well start with some positives. The pre-show matches were alright, though imo the RAW Tag Title Match was the best one (I'm also happy The Club finally went over). On to the actual show, all the matches were at the very least alright. Still, AJ/Cena was honestly match of the night right there, because of how bloody great it was. The KO/Reigns match was also pretty good: I enjoyed all the different table spots, and Reigns has been improving. The actual Rumble itself certainly had its moments. I was surprised to see Gallagher enter in, and with his umbrella no less. And it was a great moment to see Tye Dillinger come out at TEN. The spot where Kofi almost slipped out and recovered was good. Goldberg coming in and essentially squashing Lesnar AGAIN was also a cool moment. As for the winner of the Rumble, I'm glad that Orton won actually. Unlike everyone else though, I feel like Orton won't be facing Cena again in a title match, but rather Bray Wyatt, but that's another story for another time.

And now, my criticisms. The Cruiserweight Match was underwhelming, and it didn't help that the crowd was so dead. Hell, the Cruiserweights almost always get these dead reactions. Perhaps if they were allowed to do more of their flippy spots and do less of the traditional WWE style, maaaaybe the Cruiserweight Division would get noticed more? The Rumble itself was underwhelming. Like I said, some cool moments, but as far as entrants go, nothing too exciting. Throwing Roman in at #30 too was the wrong call, and they should've given that to someone else. Of course the crowd would boo him, and him taking out Taker doesn't help his case. Though I'm glad he didn't win, I'm still worried about the potential Roman/Taker feud that's to come.

So yeah, those were my thoughts.

Finn would have won

The Rumble was pretty good, overall decent matches (the CW match could've been better, Vince needs to get his shit together and let them do the flippy stuff that made the Classic so great) and lots of storyline potential (Shesaro split, Reigns vs Braun, Reigns vs Taker, Reigns vs the WWE Universe…). And I would've prefered that Wyatt won if they are going to stick with the Orton vs Wyatt match, but I guess this is alright.

SMOA JOE

Welp

Decent job of a save by Raw this week.

Seth's leg is injured once again, according to a notification from WWE on my phone. Hopefully it's kayfabe or that he otherwise quickly recovers because it's going to really stink if this derails the momentum on his rivalry with Triple H.

Anything you guys are hoping for at Elimination Chamber?

@Conman

Sadly this is a legit injury.

As for EC, I'm honestly hoping that AJ gets the title back, and we don't get Bray vs Orton at Mania like Meltzer said would happen. Nothing on them, they're both great competitors, but AJ vs Orton would be a money match. Wasting AJ in a feud with Shane (if Meltzer's reports are true) would honestly feel like a waste of AJ's talent, and I say that as a fan of both AJ and Shane.

Seth will retire young. Mark my words :(

@Space Cowboy

Well I guess we'll be wishing for completely different things because what I want most out of Elimination Chamber is for Bray Wyatt to win and face Orton at Wrestlemania.

As for predictions, I typically ignore any speculations I see on websites on what's going to happen at such and such WWE event. I've seen a fair share of predictions that amounted to jack-squat in the end (Dolph Ziggler losing his career vs title match, Tye Dillinger being in the Elimination Chamber match, etc).

I'm just hoping that Ambrose doesn't get left out of the picture for Mania. Not only he is the IC champ, which is supposed to be a rather important title, but he is a bona fide main eventer now (or at least should be seen as one). He was the top face on SD for a number of months while Cena & Orton did other things and not only did he do a good job of it, he showed himself off as a top tier guy who could sell a storyline.

Alright, two things:

First I wanna talk about the most recent New Japan show last Sunday (or Saturday midnight, whatever) – The New Beginning in Sapporo. Pretty great show overall, with lots of neat matches (also a lot of multi-man tag matches). Commentary was good, with Don Callis (Cyrus from ECW) replacing Steve Corrino and Kevin Kelly providing some neat insight from time to time. My two favorite matches from the show were the NEVER Openweight Title Defense between Hirooki Goto and Juice Robinson, and of course the main event – Kazuchika Okada defending the IWGP Heavyweight title against Minoru Suzuki. I'm surprised that many people weren't big on the NEVER match, since I found myself heavily invested in it; I'd actually even disagree with Meltzer's rating for it (like, 3.25 stars) and give it 3.75 stars or something. The Okada/Suzuki match went for almost an hour, and it was some great wrestling. Suzuki dominated like 90% of that match using all sorts of holds and submissions, primarily on one of Okada's knees. Anyways, good show, and I'm looking forward to the next one, which is this Saturday night/Sunday morning in Osaka.

Next, Elimination Chamber: it's this Sunday. Gonna run down the card and give my predictions.

• Apollo Crews & Kalisto vs. Dolph Ziggler (2-on-1 Handicap Match)

Giving this one to Dolph.

• Becky Lynch vs. Mickie James

Mickie James wins.

• Nikki Bella vs. Natalya

Nikki Bella wins.

• American Alpha vs. The Usos vs. Heath Slater & Rhyno vs. Breezango vs. The Ascension vs. The Vaudevillains (Smackdown Tag Team Championships)

I'm gonna be pretty ballsy and say that The Ascension picks up the win, since they actually kinda had a strong showing two nights ago. They'll probably just job to the other tag teams ;(

• Alexa Bliss vs. Naomi (Smackdown Women's Championship)

Putting my vote on Bliss. I don't think she'll be losing that title soon until either Becky gets it back or Mickie James somehow gets it.

• Luke Harper vs. Randy Orton

I'm on a high from all the TV time Harper got two nights ago, so I'm gonna say he wins.

• Baron Corbin vs. Dean Ambrose vs. AJ Styles The Gay Community?! vs. John Cena vs. The Miz vs. Bray Wyatt (Elimination Chamber – WWE World Championship)

As much as I'd like for AJ to win that belt back (sorry guys, I'm a huge AJ mark), based on some leaked WrestleMania plans provided by Meltzer, it's highly likely that Bray's gonna win, which I'm fine with. I mean, Bray finally gets to earn an actual title. So yeah, putting my money on Bray.

Anyways, I'd like to hear from others what their predictions are, as well as any thoughts or comments about the EC PPV in general.

Prediction time

• Apollo Crews & Kalisto vs. Dolph Ziggler: Meme fight
• Becky Lynch vs. Mickie James: I believe Becky's victory will come on WM (maybe a triple threat or a 4-way for the title?)
• Nikki Bella vs. Natalya
• American Alpha vs. The Usos vs. Heath Slater & Rhyno vs. Breezango vs. The Ascension vs. The Vaudevillains: Making AA lose now would bury them, I also think the Ascension will be the last eliminated team or one of the lasts.
• Alexa Bliss vs. Naomi : I want to bo-live,
• Luke Harper vs. Randy Orton: It's Sunday, you now what that means.
• Baron Corbin vs. Dean Ambrose vs. AJ Styles vs. John Cena vs. The Miz vs. Bray Wyatt: Time for Bray to shine. Honestly, I hope that the WM match is a triple threat with Orton and Harper and either Wyatt or Harper go over.

Elimination Chamber No Escape Prediction

Mojo Rawley vs. Curt Hawkins

John Cena vs. AJ Styles vs. Dean Ambrose vs. The Miz vs. Baron Corbin vs. Bray Wyatt (John Cena when they change the script, which i doubt)

Nikki Bella vs. Natalya

American Alpha vs. Heath Slater and Rhyno vs. Breezango vs. The Usos vs. The Ascension vs. The Vaudevillains

Alexa Bliss vs. Naomi

Becky Lynch vs. Mickie James

Apollo Crews and Kalisto vs. Dolph Ziggler (via DQ)

Luke Harper vs. Randy Orton

I, for one, welcome our new dreadlock overlord.

///BRAY WON THE WWE TITLE///