Television Tho Prop Grops Throps

[Sylar]

So it's been happening for years, yet these mugs still turn up to every event, these mugs still went out and bought the network. They'll still turn up to the Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania and Summerslam. The thing that you dont seem to get is, where else will these people go? there isnt some alternative other product where only midgets who can do armbars are the only people pushed.

You do realise its not the same fans at every single show right? You do realise the network subscriptions have been poor (but tbh, the amount of old footage makes it worth it - and it doesnt have Raw and SD on it) and the numbers are dwindling in the US right? (especially with the no commitments now)
WWE is about money and people who are turned off can still follow it without actually buying PPVs. New age.

I dont get what your midgets who can do armbars point is? Its like youre trying to make a point without actually making one.

All the complaints about Reigns are about how he's not good enough in the ring, read through the thread if you don't believe me.
So because they've been in wrestling longer it automatically makes them more suitable for a push...hmmm.

No, its a mixture of things. One he cant promo like a main eventer and it seems to get worse each week the more he says.
Two, he hasnt shown anything at all to say he main event WM.
Three, there are better people who probably deserve a push.

Them being in the industry longer doesnt make them more suitable. If you read the whole thing, you would see that I also mentioned them being able to cut better promos and have better matches (and its not a minority opinion). Dont be selective in your reading.

Ahh still making excuses, as if CM punk wasnt given hourly slots to cut promos and what not, as if Daniel Bryan wasnt afforded the same thing. The ratings still never saw a sharp rise.

Its no excuses though. Positioning is everything. Being on the show all the time but losing will not garner interest at all.
Putting a title on somebody (for a month no less and having him beat down all the time) will not garner interest. Compelling storylines will

At no point have I said Daniel Bryan should not be Champion again, I actually like Daniel Bryan and CM Punk(until he fecked off) but I can completely understand why the WWE weren't willing to have him win the rumble this time. Last year they got it horribly wrong with Batista but they fixed it, they haven't made the same mistake this time.

Whether its a mistake or not will be seen by numbers of subscriptions, etc and how Reigns is perceived.

What does it matter who was in the main event ? the fact is Punk and Bryan were champions, they were given a lot of air time and it still made no difference to ratings, just stop with the embarrassing excuses.
The thing is as well, the hourly ratings showed no significant rise either, which again links to the pointlessness of who was in the main event. Surely people could have just tuned in for Bryan and Punk and then by time the main event came with big bad horrible John Cena, they could have just..you know.. turned off the tv. They didn't though, because they love the whole Cena drama, that's why they turn up in Anti Cena shirts.

How hard is it to understand? Being champion means nothing, putting a title on somebody means nothing, unless theres compelling storylines to go with it.
Giving Punk or Bryan the title means nothing if the booking/ storytelling is so bad that it turns people off.
Its a simple concept. Its not hard to understand. Ratings do not just jump up like that, its a gradual process over time. The Monday Night War / Attitude Era is a perfect example of that.

Zack Ryder is shit and always has been, he failed to capitalise on TV time with Cena, so many wrestlers before him have benefited with having programmes with John Cena it's not his fault Ryder is shit and that smarks stopped giving a shit about Ryder because deep down they know he's shit.

Yes being embarrassed by Cena, Eve and Kane. How did he fail to capitalise on this?

It's bandwagon, it was in philly, expected reactions, 1 in 4 people are retarded. So for every one person bitching and complaining and supposedly cancelling subscriptions (we'll see how long that lasts) three won't. Law of averages.

Just like Pittsburgh, or New York. Or Chicago. Or LA. Or Corpus Christi. Or Miami. Or Houston. Or... oh wait.


Dont get me wrong. I see that Reigns has a huge upside to him. But they are making a mistake if they want him to be a top face for years to come. If they are happy for him to be a Cena face thats fine but he really could be so much more than that.

Bray they had to take away for some time because they lost all his momentum by having him lose a feud to Cena and then his feud with Jericho did not restart it (he lost the first match). It was bizarre what they were thinking with that.

Keep in mind, just being on TV and having segments does not mean you are being booked strongly.

 

[Nighteyes]

I rarely watch wrestling, but people would boo Reigns regardless. From what I've seen, he can't wrestle, can't speak and can't connect with fans. He's fecked.

1. You're wrong. Reigns has been over with the crowd for some time now which is what makes the whole thing doubly ridiculous.
2. Reigns is nowhere near as bad you're making it out there.

 

[Nighteyes]

When was the last time a heel won the Rumble? Vince? Or was it Batista?

And I half agree with this bit:

When one of the most popular wrestlers in WWE history is giving the winner a hand and people would rather chant for a guy whose gimmick involves praising Vladimir Putin, there might be a problem. Unlike some other fans in my section, I don’t expect the WWE to rewrite the finish during the show, as there’s too much at stake for that. But now I’m starting to wonder if the “guaranteed WrestleMania main event spot” is an anchor that is weighing the Royal Rumble down, because if you gamble on someone and get burnt, you’re kind of stuck.

 

[Duffy]

Screw it, get a camera and let Sami Zayn and Adrian Neville wrestle for 3 hours.

 

[phelans shorts]

Typical WWE 50/50 booking, God just HAS to get his win back over Vince. Makes me sick.

 

[Hoof the ball]

To be fair, Reigns is not a bad performer. He's not sloppy in the ring. He doesn't possess superb ring psychology at present, nor does he engage in a series of chain wrestling holds, but he's got something. Everyone can improve. He has enormous potential but that potential largely depends on his desire to improve every single area of his game. Rollins is the quintessential example of this. Ring craft, charisma, mic skill and psychology have all improve hugely.

 

[NM]

1. You're wrong. Reigns has been over with the crowd for some time now which is what makes the whole thing doubly ridiculous.
2. Reigns is nowhere near as bad you're making it out there.

1. Not sure how over he has been - don't watch enough. He got shat on last night though.
2. He's not bad at all. He just needs more time. He simply isn't ready.

For a main eventer, he isn't good enough on the mike (or from what I've seen in the ring). One year too early probably.

As long as he is managed well, he will be ok. If not, he will fail. Badly.

 

[Ludens the Red]

You do realise its not the same fans at every single show right? You do realise the network subscriptions have been poor (but tbh, the amount of old footage makes it worth it - and it doesnt have Raw and SD on it) and the numbers are dwindling in the US right? (especially with the no commitments now)
WWE is about money and people who are turned off can still follow it without actually buying PPVs. New age.

And of course all this would have been solved had Bryan won the Rumble last night......

I dont get what your midgets who can do armbars point is? Its like youre trying to make a point without actually making one.

No, its a mixture of things. One he cant promo like a main eventer and it seems to get worse each week the more he says.
Two, he hasnt shown anything at all to say he main event WM.
Three, there are better people who probably deserve a push.

Them being in the industry longer doesnt make them more suitable. If you read the whole thing, you would see that I also mentioned them being able to cut better promos and have better matches (and its not a minority opinion). Dont be selective in your reading.

You know what the point is, we all know about this obsession with small technical wrestlers.
Reigns was great in the Shield, so he can't cut a promo like Ambrose and Rollins but he's a more believable threat to Lesnar than those two. Why does he need to be great at cutting promos anyway? In case you haven't noticed the current Champion is terrible at promos.

Its no excuses though. Positioning is everything. Being on the show all the time but losing will not garner interest at all.
Putting a title on somebody (for a month no less and having him beat down all the time) will not garner interest. Compelling storylines will

Whether its a mistake or not will be seen by numbers of subscriptions, etc and how Reigns is perceived.

How hard is it to understand? Being champion means nothing, putting a title on somebody means nothing, unless theres compelling storylines to go with it.
Giving Punk or Bryan the title means nothing if the booking/ storytelling is so bad that it turns people off.
Its a simple concept. Its not hard to understand. Ratings do not just jump up like that, its a gradual process over time. The Monday Night War / Attitude Era is a perfect example of that.

Humongous amounts of shite being spouted here. CM Punk wasn't losing all the time, he was Champion for over a year, he had good programmes with Bryan and Cena during his title reign.
Daniel Bryan wasn't given the title for a month, he only lost the title because he broke his neck, I don't know who these wrestlers are that were "losing all the time" or "only had the belt for a month", seems like you're just making things up.

Wasn't the point of Bryan's reign that the authority would do everything in their power to stop him, weekly beat downs made perfect sense, I don't remember him wrestling many matches as Champion anyway, I swear he had to take time off for his dad and then because of the injury, all before he eventually had to give up the belt.
Unfortunate circumstances dictated his title reign, nothing to do with perceived 'bad booking'.

Yes being embarrassed by Cena, Eve and Kane. How did he fail to capitalise on this?

If you cant accept that Zack Ryder is shit, there's nothing I can say to move this along.

Just like Pittsburgh, or New York. Or Chicago. Or LA. Or Corpus Christi. Or Miami. Or Houston. Or... oh wait.

Are you really trying to suggest WWE get crowds like last night every night?

 

[.Rossi]

 

[.Rossi]

So, I've just read up on a lot of stuff about last night and what happened etc....

I don't see them turning this around.....
They have two months to do it....This is make or break for them.

 

[Nighteyes]

So, I've just read up on a lot of stuff about last night and what happened etc....

I don't see them turning this around.....
They have two months to do it....This is make or break for them.

They can't turn this around because the fans don't want it that way. Period. They'd be wasting their time trying to build him up.

So either Reigns turns heel or they change the lineup by adding a genuine face to the match.

 

[Duffy]

To be fair, Reigns is not a bad performer. He's not sloppy in the ring. He doesn't possess superb ring psychology at present, nor does he engage in a series of chain wrestling holds, but he's got something. Everyone can improve. He has enormous potential but that potential largely depends on his desire to improve every single area of his game. Rollins is the quintessential example of this. Ring craft, charisma, mic skill and psychology have all improve hugely.

Honestly, I like Reigns, he is a good big guy, he has a presence and a look but this makes no sense. Bryan returning and being triumphant would have made sense, Ziggler getting his job back and sticking it to the Authority would have made sense...What's the story with Reigns? He's got the luck so just go for it? The storytelling levels are abysmal, I'm not sure why I should care about 90% of what is going on at the moment.

Why are the Miz & Mizdow facing The Usos, why do they want the titles? Why are the Bellas back together? Why are Cesaro and Kidd teaming? Why have Harper and Rowan split from Bray? Why are New Day together? There is no reason for these issues so why should I give a damn?

 

[.Rossi]

They can't turn this around because the fans don't want it that way. Period. They'd be wasting their time trying to build him up.

So either Reigns turns heel or they change the lineup by adding a genuine face to the match.

Which I can't see them doing....And then their Network begins to fail....And then it all slowly crumbles

 

[Ludens the Red]

I'm not asking you to book them all into the main event at the same time. I don't want this to go into a point-by-point debate, but I honestly believe they could have done a lot better with all of them. Wyatt, for example, wasted tons of momentum by jobbing to Cena repeatedly. Cesaro, another example, was getting huge pops, he lost touch with the fans because of an terrible turn and did himself no favors by that one comment, but for Vince to say that he can not connect because maybe he is "swiss" is bullshit. Rowan and Harper could have easily had a proper feud together after splitting up but instead they face eachother weekly for nothing on smack down. Ziggler has the biggest night of his life in Survivor Series, then does nothing.

For months and months, we have had Kane interfere too often in matches, instead of ending clean. Now we have Big Show to accompany him. It is the embodiment of a wider problem because they keep going back to their old stars for the main event of Wrestlemania and on the build up to it

Honestly, if all these guys are not good enough, then someone in WWE should be fecking fired for not hiring enough talent that can go to the main the event. It's been so long since someone broke through to the very top, you think they'd realize they need someone better.

By jobbing to Cena repeatedly you mean losing a mere 2 out of 3? Plus they were setting up Cena/Lesnars big Summerslam match, it wouldn't have been credible for Cena to keep losing to Wyatt.
#bestforbusiness

Yeah Vince can be a bit racist, shit comment to make but would it have been made if Cesaro didnt run his mouth.
Rowan and Harper haven't been getting good enough reactions to be honest and they never will.

I completely agree with the Big Show/Kane stuff, them being in the last four of the rumble was pretty bad, they didnt book the Rumble very well although the outcome was the right call.

As for the bit in bold I don't think that's entirely correct, after all isn't Roman Reigns an up and comer?
isn't WrestleMania going to feature Wyatt/Undertaker, Rusev/Cena. Those are pretty big matches for two up and coming talents. Seth Rollins is in the middle of a mega push and has multiple victories over Cena, it's only a matter of time before he's Champion.

Ziggler's attitude hasn't changed. That's why they did the fired angle and took his belt off him.

His twitter posts aren't as smarmy and sarcastic towards the WWE as they used to be, maybe because he's face, I dont't know but he's certainly in a better position now than he was several mothns ago.

I dont think the fired storyline had any bearing, after all Ryback and Rowan were "fired" too.

 

[phelans shorts]

twitter posts aren't as smarmy and sarcastic towards the WWE as they used to be, maybe because he's face, I dont't know but he's certainly in a better position now than he was several mothns ago.

I dont think the fired storyline had any bearing, after all Ryback and Rowan were "fired" too.

They needed to bring a face up when they had none around Survivor Series, Ziggler did a decent job so kept his position, he has since started acting up again.

The others were fired so that they could make it into a storyline, Ziggler was being punished for making outside commitments without the office's consent.

 

[LS17]

It's a shame that the rumble was that bad and poorly booked that there has been barely any talk of the triple threat. Can't remember the last time I enjoyed a match so much, they were all fantastic. Hope Bully is back full time too, made sense to bring him back as Bubba but if he's going to be doing singles I hope it's in a character similar to his one at TNA.

 

[cyberman]

Saw this blow up on Facebook and thought I'd read up on it.
Can the regular watchers tell me why the WWE are being criticised for not being unpredictable when these same fans are on wrestling sites 24/7 reading up on every direction change that's even hinted about being discussed?
It makes no sense. There's only a finite amount of wrestlers around, they can't pull some random guy who's been losing all year and make him a star. It's always going to be predictable due to it's nature.
I mean is this Bryan character going to have to win every Royal Rumble for these clowns to be appeased?
These people so upset that they blocked the wrestlers from leaving the arena, these are the people who non wrestling fans laugh at, does it matter who wins or loses? It actually doesn't matter. If you're into this and watch a good match, what do the last 3 seconds change?
Who cares about an imaginary win/loss record? Are title shots even decided on these records?
So many questions lol

 

[Ludens the Red]

Saw this blow up on Facebook and thought I'd read up on it.
Can the regular watchers tell me why the WWE are being criticised for not being unpredictable when these same fans are on wrestling sites 24/7 reading up on every direction change that's even hinted about being discussed?
It makes no sense. There's only a finite amount of wrestlers around, they can't pull some random guy who's been losing all year and make him a star. It's always going to be predictable due to it's nature.
I mean is this Bryan character going to have to win every Royal Rumble for these clowns to be appeased?
These people so upset that they blocked the wrestlers from leaving the arena, these are the people who non wrestling fans laugh at, does it matter who wins or loses? It actually doesn't matter. If you're into this and watch a good match, what do the last 3 seconds change?
Who cares about an imaginary win/loss record? Are title shots even decided on these records?
So many questions lol

exactly, that describes to-the-fecking-point, a large majority of people who post in here.

 

[Silva]

And the people completely not getting their criticism.

 

[duffer]

Brock/Rollins/Cena was incredible. I don't usually like triple threats but that was great.

Rollins' elbow from the top onto Brock was something the Macho Man would be proud of.

 

[paceme]

I honestly don't know how anyone can't be annoyed? Who the feck wants to watch Roman Reigns fumble his way around Brock Lesner, with the justification being 'well he looks pretty big' The guy currently has about 5 moves in his locker at the moment, is the main event going to be 10-15 minutes long?

 

[phelans shorts]

I honestly don't know how anyone can't be annoyed? Who the feck wants to watch Roman Reigns fumble his way around Brock Lesner, with the justification being 'well he looks pretty big' The guy currently has about 5 moves in his locker at the moment, is the main event going to be 10-15 minutes long?

They're making new stars out of Brock ending the streak. Bryan beating him would be a fecking waste.

So why would I be annoyed?

 

[Shane88]

The crowd gives up on guys just as fast as wwe does. I feel sorry for Reigns he's one for the future no way did he deserve those boos. But I do think WWE could booked it better, Bryan going out so early, Ziggler getting almost no time, Ambrose and Bray's flat exits.

Roman will be fine when he's a heel....

CraveOnline: The Royal Rumble is in Philly this year and been known to have a rowdy crowd. Do you ever pay attention to what fans or critics say and is there anything in particular you find amusing?

Roman Reigns: [Laughs] Yeah, I think its hard not to pay attention these days with all of the social media networks and all of the different outlets. It’s so easy to connect with fans nowadays. You know, I have a Twitter and things like that. I’m not a crazy Twitter guy to where I’m tweeting out stuff every day and rarely even once a week, do I tweet. But I mean, occasionally, I read some stuff.

The funny part is, you have a guy like me who is kind of getting like a mixed vibe from time-to-time. I get a lot of love and then you’ll get the hate in the middle of it but its just funny, the perspectives you know, the differences between the love and the hate. As far as the hate, it makes me laugh. Everybody is a critic. Every critic I’ve ever had, they weren’t wrestlers [laughs]. Every wrestler I’ve ever had critique me, they were always into my stuff or what I’m doing out there. For a non-wrestler, someone who doesn’t even know how to lock up, and if we did lock up, they wouldn’t know what to do, for them to critique any of us, it really does pop me.

CraveOnline: I always find that humorous. I think those types of people would be pissed off no matter what.

Roman Reigns: That’s what haters do. They hate because they hate their lives.

He just needs to channel that whinyness on to the mic and he'll be sorted.

 

[Silva]

They're making new stars out of Brock ending the streak. Bryan beating him would be a fecking waste.

So why would I be annoyed?

Aren't you into all that Japanese thing? Can you see Reigns having a match you'll really like?

 

[phelans shorts]

Aren't you into all that Japanese thing? Can you see Reigns having a match you'll really like?

Yes and yes.

If they decide to have the two big guys fecking batter each other like sonethibg you'd see in an Ishii match it would probably be a contender for my match of the year.

Bringing up Japan is odd, as the cards often feature a hell of a lot more variety than a WWE show.

 

[Sylar]

And of course all this would have been solved had Bryan won the Rumble last night......

You know what the point is, we all know about this obsession with small technical wrestlers.
Reigns was great in the Shield, so he can't cut a promo like Ambrose and Rollins but he's a more believable threat to Lesnar than those two. Why does he need to be great at cutting promos anyway? In case you haven't noticed the current Champion is terrible at promos.

Humongous amounts of shite being spouted here. CM Punk wasn't losing all the time, he was Champion for over a year, he had good programmes with Bryan and Cena during his title reign.
Daniel Bryan wasn't given the title for a month, he only lost the title because he broke his neck, I don't know who these wrestlers are that were "losing all the time" or "only had the belt for a month", seems like you're just making things up.

Wasn't the point of Bryan's reign that the authority would do everything in their power to stop him, weekly beat downs made perfect sense, I don't remember him wrestling many matches as Champion anyway, I swear he had to take time off for his dad and then because of the injury, all before he eventually had to give up the belt.
Unfortunate circumstances dictated his title reign, nothing to do with perceived 'bad booking'.

If you cant accept that Zack Ryder is shit, there's nothing I can say to move this along.

Are you really trying to suggest WWE get crowds like last night every night?

Given fans a satisfying outcome / a match they want to see is big for fans. Compelling storylines is what interests not only the loyal fan but casual fans as well. Wrestling fans are the most loyal you will see, but they are also treated by crap by WWE (well because WWE knows they have them). Bryan winning the rumble last night would not be a solution to anything. Him winning would have made a great story. Or making him look strong would not have turned the crowd against the remainder of the rumble though. The option that was mentioned before, having Bryan and Reigns as the last two and going for ten minutes before Reigns eliminates him would have worked better.
Its about knowing your audience.

Comparing Brock to Reigns in terms of promo ability is a strange one. Current champion has the best talker doing promos for him and is meant to be a heel. Reigns is meant to be a face and cutting ten minute promos using Disney lines will not work and hasnt worked. It hardly gets reactions. The thing is, he doesnt need to be cutting great promos if he could be putting on great performances. Hes not doing either right now.

I never said CM punk was losing all the time. I grouped CM Punk / Bryan together and made a general point towards booking / positioning. Punk was champion for a record breaking time but was not booked as the guy during that time. It was only until they turned him heel to go against the Rock they did.
Bryan did only have the title for a month. How is that making it up? Before he won the title he was losing all the time. How is that making it up?
During his time as champion, Bryan was running with Brie from Kane. Thats bad booking and thats the difference. You wouldnt have past world champions run from Kane. But for some reason Bryan was.

Nobody is saying Zack Ryder should be world champion but he did the one thing that all of the industry says he should, get over himself and he got destroyed because of it. Thats bad booking.

More and more crowds are becoming like last nights crowd especially on PPVs. PPVs always see hardcore fans turn up

 

[Silva]

Yes and yes.

If they decide to have the two big guys fecking batter each other like sonethibg you'd see in an Ishii match it would probably be a contender for my match of the year.

Bringing up Japan is odd, as the cards often feature a hell of a lot more variety than a WWE show.

Has Reign's really done anything to suggest he'll actually do it well? Because whenever I've seen him (and it's admittedly little for a good while), he's been really shit. Big guys battering each other is fine, but Reign's doesn't have any rhyme or reason yet, he just does moves. I'm never going to watch something just because he's in it, because he doesn't do anything better, or even as good, as dozens of other people.

 

[phelans shorts]

Has Reign's really done anything to suggest he'll actually do it well? Because whenever I've seen him (and it's admittedly little for a good while), he's been really shit. Big guys battering each other is fine, but Reign's doesn't have any rhyme or reason yet, he just does moves. I'm never going to watch something just because he's in it, because he doesn't do anything better, or even as good, as dozens of other people.

He's against Brock Lesnar. Certainly the most entertaining wrestler in the US. I'd give anyone the benefit of the doubt that they'll put on a very entertaining match with him until proved otherwise.

 

[Silva]

He's against Brock Lesnar. Certainly the most entertaining wrestler in the US. I'd give anyone the benefit of the doubt that they'll put on a very entertaining match with him until proved otherwise.

But wouldn't you rather watch Lesnar going at it with someone who we know is really good at wrestling? Sheamus would have an infinitely better match with him than Reigns. You know, cos he's a good wrestler. That's why people are shitting on this, Reigns has consistently been worse than a lot of people and is going to be in the biggest match of the year.

 

[Duffy]

I think the match will be perfectly fine, still doesn't change the fact that the WWE is wasting so many talented wrestlers and characters that it's unreal.

 

[MoneyMay]

Right to do it? Sure but that doesn't make it any less stupider. Cry all you want about Bryan getting eliminated (and I agree that could have been handled better) but there was no need to boo Reigns after that. As it is, Bryan is not in the main event picture (Rightly so. The idea of him beating Brock is bordering ridiculous) and the guy who is in it will spend his time getting booed no matter what WWE do try and build him up because the oh so knowledgeable wrestling fans have already made their bloody minds up about him. Oh well.

They paid for the tickets and therefore have the right to show their displeasure. I'm not "crying" about Bryan fwiw, I'm not sure about him at the moment. Not in terms of progression or status because he's definitely main event material, but was it necessary for the WWE to have him return "early"?

When the final three was Big Show, Kane, and Reigns, it honestly felt like they were attempting to make this the worst Royal Rumble ever. It's 2015 and the WWE were attempting - and failed spectacularly - to make Big Show and Kane legitimate threats for the Royal Rumble. Just think about that.

 

[MoneyMay]

Brock/Rollins/Cena was incredible. I don't usually like triple threats but that was great.

Rollins' elbow from the top onto Brock was something the Macho Man would be proud of.

Rollins' body is unreal. He has the perfect figure, let's be honest here.

 

[Sylar]

Has Reign's really done anything to suggest he'll actually do it well? Because whenever I've seen him (and it's admittedly little for a good while), he's been really shit. Big guys battering each other is fine, but Reign's doesn't have any rhyme or reason yet, he just does moves. I'm never going to watch something just because he's in it, because he doesn't do anything better, or even as good, as dozens of other people.

His match with Orton was good IMO.

Roman will be fine when he's a heel....
He just needs to channel that whinyness on to the mic and he'll be sorted.

Agreed with this. I think he should start doing what Batista did. Start adding heel elements haha. I think he would be quite a good heel that could organically have fans start to like him as a cocky badass monster heel that is too good to boo.

 

[MoneyMay]

 

[duffer]

I'm waching the Rumble match now, Bray Wyatt just eliminated Zak Ryder. It's been great so far! Buba Ray looked awesome. I hope he's back for a decent stay.

 

[Sylar]

They paid for the tickets and therefore have the right to show their displeasure. I'm not "crying" about Bryan fwiw, I'm not sure about him at the moment. Not in terms of progression or status because he's definitely main event material, but was it necessary for the WWE to have him return "early"?

Yeah that made no sense. Im not sure why they did that. Having Bryan return and cut that promo on Raw when he feigned retirement to then go and announce his Rumble participation and then have him only be in the match for like 10 minutes was mad.

 

[MoneyMay]

/thread

 

[paceme]

They're making new stars out of Brock ending the streak. Bryan beating him would be a fecking waste.

So why would I be annoyed?

Because it's a guy who isn't ready, giving it to bryan really would be a waste but they've fecked themselves over with all the other talent really. I would have loved for Ambrose to win it but it wouldn't have made sense since they've established him as a high mid card guy now instead of pushing on with him when he was getting massive pops during the rivalry with Rollins and selling massive amounts of merch. Hell either Ambrose, Rollins OR Bray would of been a better choice while they give reigns a year or two to slowly and naturally get better and get the crowd on his side. Has any top star ever really become massive from having Vince strap a rocket to their ass? usually it just ends up backfiring and they have to change the character to get them over.

 

[Silva]

His match with Orton was good IMO.

Better than other people's matches with Orton?

Ryback's match with Bryan was great, but he's still crap most of the time.

 

[Bubz27]

I just caught up with it and I'm sure Curtis Axel wasn't eliminated. I think we all know the plan here guys... Triple Threat? Brock, Reigns and Axel? Axel wins, Rollins cashes in, but Axel beats him as well.