Pro Wrestling discussion topic--WWE, AEW, ROH, Impact, New Japan, indies

People talking themselves into thinking that Orton-Lesnar turned into a shoot but work but actually shoot show me that WWE is still capable of some interesting stuff once in a while.

Weird ending, but I liked it. I still found last year's "Undertaker's Suddenly A Sneaky Heel That Taps Out" finish to be stranger than "Lesnar flips out and kills his opponent." Come to think of it, the last 3 Summerslams now have had bizarre finishes involving Lesnar.

Fruit Roll-Up Strap was the biggest heel on the show.

 
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Last night taught me that a lot of wrestling fans are legitimately disturbing human beings. People are pumped at the possibility WWE planned for Lesnar to bust Orton open that badly, with an elbow no less. In 2016. Seriously?

This is still one of my favorite parts of the Summerslam weekend:

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We turned it off and went to bed after Finn/Seth, and reading the results I don't feel bad about it at all. Get us off the Lesnar train already.

 
Lesnar is one of the few things where they still legit surprise you with how they handle his matches. Ain't getting off that train anytime soon.

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They could have cut to that video package after Roman beat up Rusev, come back, said Rusev passed away during the video package, and had Roman then mock Lana because her husband was dead...and WWE would still present Roman as the good guy.

 
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His and her Championships? Based on this design, it almost seems like the World Title is going to be the one with a different design.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if Sasha hurt herself doing one too many botched dives. EVERYONE is doing dives and at least 50% of them land horribly. It used to be a crowd-pop maneuver used sparingly but man has it lost it's luster.

 
I Watched some of CWC last night at my friend's after Summerslam. Unless super strapped for cash, there is no reason to boycott product that good. Love the presentation, commentary and everything. I Was afraid it would be going for an NXT feel, but it treats it more like a straight up sport, which makes it all the more easy to get into and just enjoy the matches for what they are.

 
I might be getting worked here but I still refuse to believe that anyone ok'd Lesnar doing that to Orton. With all the safety concerns in the company these days they agree to let a 280 pound MMA fighter throw an unprotected elbow straight to one of their top stars heads just for effect??? In my opinion the match was supposed to end with a Lesnar beatdown/TKO stoppage just like it did except at no point was he supposed to legit destroy Orton with an elbow. I was pretty sure getting color the "hard way" was a thing of the past in WWE.
 
Just curious, but were you guys mad/disappointed that Balor won the title last night? Seems like there's a vocal amount of people are comparing it to Reigns' push from about 2 years ago and are pissed that he won it.

Personally I had no problems with it and was glad he won the title. 

 
I Got no problems with Balor winning the title. He's had a good momentum since being the founder of Bullet Club to being recognized all the way to the states and being NXT champion and basically being the face of that brand that it makes sense for him to be champion in my mind. Nothing about it feels out of no where and in terms of gimmick and merchandising, it works,

 
They definitely strapped a rocket to Finn's ass from the point of NXT Champion to WWE Universal Champion. I don't have an issue with it, but there are a ton of things I'd rather see him do first -- now he's going to suffer from Sheamusitis and be stale within 2 years.

I think the thing that annoys me the most is that they are shoving that "Demon King" bullshit down our gullets.

 
I can't put my finger on it, but I'm lukewarm towards Balor. I should adore him - cool entrance, handsome guy, astonishing wrestler.

But he kinda bores me. I do. Not. Get it. At all.

FWIW, I was the same was with Edge in his prime. Not dislike - just kinda 'eh, okay. do your thing, i guess.'

apathetic.

 
I Feel more apathetic toward Hideo/Kenta. I Loved his work in ROH and NOAH, but holy fuck his work in NXT is so damn boring (gets beat down, slowly rises back up while yelling at his opponent and no selling offense and then repeated clotheslines, etc.). It sticks out all the more when you have all these other wrestlers who do the strong stiff shots like Nakamura, Asuka and Ibushi just leave him in the dust in terms of quality of matches. Though Ibushi shouldn't really be brought up since everyone is going just all out in CWC as a whole.

 
I'm hoping the rumors of Balor's injury from last night aren't as bad as reported, but the awkward way he's holding the championship during that Good Morning America segment doesn't help. Went back and watched the match to find the spot, and it kinda looks like both he and Rollins just messed up a buckle bomb. What a mess  :whistle2:(

 
Apparently he dislocated his shoulder when he took a running power bomb into the barricade. He was able to pop it back in and finish the match.

WWE is reporting that the MRI shows a possible tear and he'll be getting a surgical consultation to determine the extent of his injury.
 
http://youtu.be/dzdKcLupjmU

WWE just posted the video... So it looks like it was at the beginning of their 20 minute match. Seth seriously needs to stop doing that move so often. It should be left to special occasions likevwhen he throws someone into a breakable wall or into a pit of boxes.
 
Bret Hart is going to rip into Rollins again.

On another note, re-watched NXT Brooklyn and I saw a 8 1/3% sign in the crowd before the title match. Gotta love Steiner.

 
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Foley announced on Twitter Balor relinquished the title

https://twitter.com/RealMickFoley/status/767861610119569410

 
mitch079 said:
Foley announced on Twitter Balor relinquished the title

https://twitter.com/RealMickFoley/status/767861610119569410
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This championship is really not off to a great start.

Too bad for Finn though, that's a major bummer. Hopefully he'll have a quick recovery.

 
That really sucks... Hopefully he's able to do a promo saying that he was able to beat Seth Rollins with only one arm and that he's just made the demon angry.

Hopefully the tear is minor. I'm just shocked that they didn't shorten the match or something. Watching it live I didn't know there was a problem.

If he goes Cena crazy on his rehab he could possibly make it to the Royal Rumble.
 
mykevermin said:
I can't put my finger on it, but I'm lukewarm towards Balor. I should adore him - cool entrance, handsome guy, astonishing wrestler.

But he kinda bores me. I do. Not. Get it. At all.

FWIW, I was the same was with Edge in his prime. Not dislike - just kinda 'eh, okay. do your thing, i guess.'

apathetic.
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Nope, Im with you. Finn looks like someone who should be top dog in the company, but his actual ringwork does nothing for me. Not that its bad, just nothing that really stands out to me. But props to him for finishing that match. His reaction specifically to that arm on the powerbomb was obvious something went wrong, but I wouldnt have figured "relinquish the title" bad. Another injury messing up the master plan.

And man, that Orton injury looks brutal. Definitely was not intended to happen like that, but whoo boy, welcome back Randy...

Cena and AJ stole the show. Fantastic match.
 
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I just realized... what if right after Balor was injured they changed the Reigns match that was scheduled to follow? Maybe it became that weird beatdown thing so he'd look like a credible Universal title contender without actually having to win the US belt, but then also without losing to a "lesser" champion as well. It's smart booking from that perspective, but really makes me worried they're going to give him the title just because fans are expecting Rollins to win...

Obviously wild speculation here, but it's certainly not unthinkable.

 
I think Balor will get there eventually, but yeah, there's something missing right now.

I'll still take a Balor match over 90% of the rest of the roster, but I don't really get excited about seeing him on tv or anything. It may just be that he needs a character, he doesn't really have one since he doesn't have a motivation. He'll have a built-in one when he gets back, at least.

 
Oh yeah, random thing, but was Summerslam the first time Rollins has done the Small Package Driver/God's Last Gift on a WWE show that isn't NXT/OVW? I Wouldn't mind if that becomes his new finisher since I am still not feeling him doing the Pedigree.

 
bardockkun said:
Oh yeah, random thing, but was Summerslam the first time Rollins has done the Small Package Driver/God's Last Gift on a WWE show that isn't NXT/OVW? I Wouldn't mind if that becomes his new finisher since I am still not feeling him doing the Pedigree.
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Pretty sure yes, my gf was confused why I got so excited - I've been waiting for him to bust that out for quite a while. Was interesting seeing him do a Rainmaker as well.

 
Sielanas said:
Pretty sure yes, my gf was confused why I got so excited - I've been waiting for him to bust that out for quite a while. Was interesting seeing him do a Rainmaker as well.
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Don't worry, my friends were also confused when I said aloud "Holy shit! Did he just do God's Last Gift?!"

 
Talking Smack was so good. Oh man. It has absolutely become an essential aspect of Smackdown. That Miz - Daniel Bryan argument gave me chills.

 
Miz promo was solid, although the shooty-ness of it does kind of conflict with his character. He DOES wrestle like a coward, and I don't just mean in a "soft WWE style." This was the guy who had the "don't hit me in the face, I'm a movie star" gimmick.

Both he and Bryan came off like dicks, but they were also both kind of right. Bryan is stupid for thinking you have to kill yourself in the ring to be a respectable pro rassler (like we're seeing with Sasha now), and Miz is stupid for calling Bryan out as "the real coward" when it has been made pretty clear he'd wrestle again if the company would let him, and it's not like he can just go out and wrestle on indies while he's under contract.

 
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KaneRobot said:
I think Balor will get there eventually, but yeah, there's something missing right now.

I'll still take a Balor match over 90% of the rest of the roster, but I don't really get excited about seeing him on tv or anything. It may just be that he needs a character, he doesn't really have one since he doesn't have a motivation. He'll have a built-in one when he gets back, at least.
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Since I can't put my finger on it, I think it's one of three things:

- his matches aren't exciting. He never really seems to be in serious distress, or believable distress. He hasn't really been in a feud where you've worried about him being on the losing end, or that his opponent was a serious threat. Somehow, I think that this remains true even if it was highly probably Rollins could have won the title this past Sunday.

- His entrance outshines everything else. It's a taxing entrance - too much, too long, and by the time the match starts, you're just kinda over him. His match is secondary to his entrance.

- It's clear that the company is (and has been) behind him since day one, so we have that "ehhhhh" bit of reaction to him the way we do Reigns. Formulaic matches and 100% company backing? When fans see that, they are turned off.

Styles we weren't convinced the company was behind at first - D Bryan we (as fans) feel he wouldn't have done *anything* if the company had their way. Nakamura - well, we'll see how he is treated when he comes up. But it's clear that Balor is another "chosen one," so I suspect that may be part of why he's lost some luster in my eyes. Purely reactionary, but alas...

 
I can certainly see a lack of stakes being an issue. I mean, I like the guy, but I wasn't really sure about him. I was super impressed that he was able to complete a full match after that injury at the start of the match. Hopefully they really play up his shoulder on his return and have it taped up, even if unnecessarily. I definitely have more respect for the guy after his match at Summerslam than I did before. 

I like his entrance. It's fun, it's interactive and as long as the full "demon" entrance is left for PPVs, I think it's fine. I hope the surgery went well and Finn has a speedy recovery.

 
I'm also not big on the "Demon" just being Finn with fancy paint, they haven't established it as anything worth caring about, other than it looking cool the first couple times you see it. I do like that his entrance music is slightly changed, but if you're trying to establish it as a true transformation and threat, the dude should have Undertaker teleportation powers and cut Ultimate Warrior-ish promos when he's TRANSFORMED. I'm being sarcastic and exaggerating, sure...but only partially.

Also not sure they should have blown the demon thing in his first big match, but can't get the toothpaste back in the tube now.

 
I have never really been a fan of the Miz. He just comes off as a smarmy cocky fuckboy 99.9% of the time and honestly his matches have always been fairly so-so. That being said, after that promo, I am a newfound fan of him. Not his wrestling per se, but of him. I think he actually does care about the fans, the boys, and his gimmick.

Also, he is right about one thing. In the 10 or so yrs he has been here I don't know of once he has been injured and out of action. Hell, I can't even think of anyone he has injured either unlike Rollins who has now Injured Cena via broken nose, pretty much ended Stings career, and now put Balor on the shelf all within about a year and a half's time. So maybe instead of calling it a "coward" style, maybe he just wrestles a really safe style instead of this insane balls to the wall style we are seeing alot of lately. 

 
Being a smarmy cocky fokkboy isn't necessarily a bad thing though.  That's basically what Honky Tonk Man was in the 80's and he drew a ton of money because people wanted to see him get mauled. 

 
That's the brilliance of Miz.

In today's everyone-is-hip-to-the-biz era, he is consistently and universally reviled as a pro wrestler and a person.

It took me just a tiny bit of training to see it, but I have HUGE respect for Miz now. I think he's one of the best in WWE. Name someone else you would love to see beaten across every WWE show and back, week in and week out. Those people are good at what they do.

 
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