The Wrestling Thread: WWE WrestleMania XL - 6/7 April 2024

[gaminglegend]

One thing that comes across in such the speed of success AEW has had is not just the guys that started it and went out to create something different, but also that having Khan’s money is such a game changer.

When you think back to TNA back in the day; it was never seen as competition, always looked second rate even when they went on Monday nights and arguably changed everything that gave them momentum in the first place.

But even with Panda Energy behind them, Dixie was never going to get the money or put her own in to make it anywhere close to what AEW has been able to become.

[captain red dog]

The Brock/Reigns/Heyman bit on Smackdown was superb. Really enjoyed it. I'm expecting a double turn if they fight at Mania. Heyman not receiving the F5 makes me think he is working with Brock!

[Return_of_the_STAR]

The Brock/Reigns/Heyman bit on Smackdown was superb. Really enjoyed it. I'm expecting a double turn if they fight at Mania. Heyman not receiving the F5 makes me think he is working with Brock!

Yeah going on previous storylines when managers who have managed both this is what would happen.

Roman appears to slowly be turning either face or anti-heel as well.

[KK]

SmackDown ranges from passable to good most weeks, compared to RAW which is unwatchable. Talking of which, WWE has made some alterations to RAW tonight (wonder if that has anything to do with the NFL being back - which they obviously would have known about and could have planned for - or AEW beating them in the 18-49 rating). They’ve added Bobby Lashley vs. Randy Orton for the WWE title and a promised Money in the Bank cash-in by Big E.

Literally the whole programme last week was built around naming the number 1 contenders for the tag titles for tonight’s RAW (Lashley and MVP vs Orton and Riddle), with Lashley vs. Orton being for Extreme Rules.

Turns out Kevin Owens contract is up from the beginning of next year, so there’s another likely signing for AEW. WWE are just allowing big names to go elsewhere, or if not huge names, wrestlers who were fundamental in making their undercard or supplemental programming like NXT worth watching.

[captain red dog]

We could hope, that with the exodus of top talent, WWE will be forced to promote some young stars and have another new generation feel. Sadly that new generation is more Omos than Adam Cole.

AEW could start to beat Raw in the total ratings now the NFL is back. That would be a watershed moment even if Raw is far weaker than it has ever been. Wouldn't it be the first time a non WWE weekly wrestling TV show has beaten Raw since 1998?

[KK]

I would think so. AEW Dynamite did beat SmackDown but that’s when SD was shunted to Fox Sports (which is about to happen again in a few weeks).

There was a rumour last week that WWE’s big idea for Adam Cole was to change his name (because Vince doesn’t like having two people with the same name on the main show - in this case Michael Cole) and make him a manager of Keith Lee. It was batshit mental when Vince wanted to turn Randy Savage into just a commentator but at least he was old(ish) so you can kind of see the mentality, but to have someone like Adam Cole who has been having consistently great main event matches on NXT and turn him into a manager is beyond ludicrous. You’re practically pushing him out the door at that point.

[ITSMILNER]

The more that go to AEW the better that roster in the video game is going to be

[KK]

I wonder when the cut off point is for the WWE 2K22 game in terms of roster. I remember on WCW Thunder on the PlayStation the boxart, reviews and advertisements kept using a photo of Kevin Nash to represent The Giant. Could have been incompetence from the THQ marketing department or it was because by the time the game released in the UK he had joined the WWF.

[Slimgrady]

So Karion Kross was dressed like Sean O’ Haire and also used his old “I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know” catchphrase on Raw. Which I didn’t hate!

[Rawrgna]

https://www.si.com/.amp/wrestling/2021/ ... ssion=true It'll be cool to see Owen's legacy honoured by AEW

[KK]

I wonder what archive footage they’ll be allowed to get hold of. Maybe ITV will be able to help them out here as he featured on World of Sport at points in the late 80s.

This will also be the first video game appearance for Owen Hart since Legends of Wrestling in 2004, I think. The roster for AEW’s game is looking mightily impressive. There’s now a lot of name value there that will appeal to both lapsed and casual fans.

Great way to kick off a really exciting week for AEW.

[KK]

Man, I know it’s for a great cause, but that Rhea Ripley segment on RAW last night where she had to recite all these lines for the Connor’s Cure charity was rough. She just forgot her lines and couldn’t ad lib anything and Nikki Ash wasn’t much help either. Reminded me of The Miz when he first started out and flubbed his lines promoting that hopeless Diva Search, though I doubt they’ll be replaying this one again. To top it off they then had a shitty tag match and won the Women’s tag belts.

What was a surprise though was the Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair face-off directly after, which was actually good. There does seem to be a bit of the Daffney’s in WCW to Alexa Bliss at the moment. Wouldn’t surprise me if WWE booked this as a way to combat the brilliant face-off between Britt Baker and Ruby Soho on Rampage - that had to be the best women’s promo in years, which the crowd reactions only made better. Soho was more interesting and had more personality here than I saw in the entirety of her WWE run.

Even when you have decent stuff happening, WWE programming just feels so flat compared to AEW though. The bad on RAW in particular just drags the crowd down and it makes for a lifeless show. That difference AEW’s crowds bring to the show elevates everything so much. WWE did however throw out a great 20 minute triple threat match on RAW between Lashley, Big E and Reigns. A few people had visibly left in the crowd by that stage though. Imagine staying for a load of shite and then leaving for the best part of the night.

I managed to watch NXT 2.0 yesterday. It’s dead, folks. The vacant NXT title played second fiddle to the main event, which was a comedy wedding that took place in mostly awkward silence. WWE has also brought back the floating crane cam again from the original NXT and SmackDown when it was on Tuesday. Wonder how long it’ll take before they get bored of it again. The new set is like a cross between WCW Saturday Night from 1995 and a garish US game show. The barricades are see-through, and the crowd slightly raised off the floor. The vast majority of matches were with big jacked up guys that go for less than 5 minutes. Rick Steiner’s son was on the show, but with a new name. Commentators made a couple of references to his Dad without explicitly stating who his Dad actually is, like some sort of needless in-joke.

[tomvek]

WWE has also brought back the floating crane cam again from the original NXT and SmackDown when it was on Tuesday.

There is a special place in hell reserved for that floating crane cam! I found it so distracting back when they used it last time

Sad to hear about NXT. I have the new episode to watch but it sounds terrible going by KK's description. Pretty much everything I feared it would be.

Really can't wait for the two AEW shows this week, so packed. They really do capture that excitement I felt while watching 'Raw is War' and something WWE has driven out of the product over the recent eras. The fact that most people have angles from top to bottom really keeps the show interesting. I hope they can keep up the good work.

Also another thumbs up for AEW on the Fyte TV app (thanks to the folks in here who recommended it ). So much better than the ITV Hub and an absolute bargain now you get Rampage included.

[Slimgrady]

Watched the second 2.0 there(well, forwarded through it). They do seem to be jamming in too many new faces in very little time. Bron Breakker was on the mic at the start of the show and sounded so like his uncle Scott, even called a few lads bitches
Now that WWE have genuine competition I think it’s time they stopped creating their own, the brand split has to go. Use AEW’s model as a template, Raw is their Dynamite, Smackdown is Rampage and get rid of half the titles. Advertising matches is an obvious one too, nobody is tuning into to Raw because “anything can happen” anymore.

[Prototype]

Bron Brekker is the most money ive seen in a new talent on NXT in a while, but why the strawberry float would they not use the Steiner name?

[KK]

They’ve basically turned NXT into a small scale version of RAW, the wrestling now taking a backseat to characters and primary school level humour. It also has Vince McMahon written all over it. For example during the wedding it was revealed (at least to me) that Dexter Lumis’ middle name is “Gaylord”. Cue a few fans guffawing in the background.

Whereas before it was a WWE alternative offering something different, it’s now just more WWE with mostly crap in-ring action.

About the only benefit is maybe those that bother to invest their time watching it will now get rewarded by the personalities, characters and storylines continuing on through to RAW and SmackDown. Currently people that were important on NXT go absolutely nowhere on the main shows (see Karrion Kross and Toni Storm at the moment).

[Slimgrady]

The problem I see now is the older talent there, Gargano, Ciampa, LA Knight, even Pete Dunne seem to not fit the 2.0 mould, with the draft on the horizon it seems like a good time to get those names and others finally on the main Roster.

[teh bork]

I was talking with a friend of mine, who watches WWE and isn't a big fan of AEW, about the AEW show tonight to try and get him interested. He still dismissed the show, but he did raise what I felt was an interesting point, does AEW have a diversity problem? He pointed out their card for tonight and how everyone is a white wrestler, compared to the diversity of the card that WWE currently has. I just wondered what people's thoughts were, is it a problem AEW have? Does it matter? Should more be done? It just got me thinking and I was interested in people's opinions on here about it.

[KK]

According to Brandon Thurston on Twitter, AEW Grand Slam tonight will be the most attended non-WWE wrestling show in the US and Canada since the July 5, 1999 episode of WCW Nitro at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, attended by 25,338 (19,456 paid) which is a staggering achievement. In typical WCW fashion by that point however, it was a horrible three hours, featuring:

- Juventud Guerrera and Chavo Guerrero going to a no contest
- Rick Steiner defeating Vampiro
- Jerry Flynn beating Ernest Miller via disqualification in a kickboxing match
- Van Hammer defeated Lodi
- Konnan & WCW Cruiserweight Champion Rey Mysterio Jr. defeating Lord Steven Regal & Fit Finlay in another disqualification
- WCW US Champion David Flair defeated Buff Bagwell in a rotten encounter
- Robin Ethics, Dean Malenko, & Perry Saturn defeated WCW Tag Team Champions Diamond Dallas Page, Kanyon, & Bam Bam Bigelow
- WCW World Champion Kevin Nash and Sid Vicious going to the third disqualification

I was talking with a friend of mine, who watches WWE and isn't a big fan of AEW, about the AEW show tonight to try and get him interested. He still dismissed the show, but he did raise what I felt was an interesting point, does AEW have a diversity problem? He pointed out their card for tonight and how everyone is a white wrestler, compared to the diversity of the card that WWE currently has. I just wondered what people's thoughts were, is it a problem AEW have? Does it matter? Should more be done? It just got me thinking and I was interested in people's opinions on here about it.

AEW does have quite a diverse roster but they’re not as established and therefore not as high up the card (or in the main event) yet like in WWE. Anthony Ogogo was in one of their main feuds recently with Cody Rhodes but Ogogo has since vanished from TV (maybe injured, I’m not sure). Powerhouse Hobbs is facing CM Punk on Friday’s 2 hour edition of Rampage.

They seem to have put the rocket boosters behind Jade Cargill at the moment, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she won the women’s belt next year.

Andrade El Idolo (Charlotte Flair’s boyfriend) has been a bit of a disappointment, though other Mexican wrestlers have faired much better. The Lucha Brothers are current tag champions.

Bron Brekker is the most money ive seen in a new talent on NXT in a while, but why the strawberry float would they not use the Steiner name?

The crowd started barking and popped for the Steiner Recliner this week but the commentators couldn’t call it that. It’s ridiculous.

[Johnny Ryall]

Fantastic match last night between omega and danielson

Bryan’s chest was an absolute state by the end