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

[KK]

twitter.com/brazzers/status/1181216046910464000

Amazing how much traction this has got.

Does WWE just fold and put the belt on Wyatt tonight, I wonder.

[KK]

The commentators are falling to pieces tonight. Just all over the place. Vic Joseph, Dio Maddin and even Lawler have at various points been completely lost. Lawler accidentally caught saying ‘was that me?’ after what appeared to be a missed cue. They really don’t have much chemistry together at the moment. Crowd is also DEAD. Zero atmosphere. Building is at probably about 70% capacity. One bloke with an AEW T-Shirt that’s been visible on camera most of the time.

Taken them over an hour to even mentioned the main Hell in a Cell PPV, albeit briefly during a tag match. They managed to go 2 and a half hours before mentioning The Fiend and Seth Rollins.

[Cumberdanes]

Finally watched Dynamite and I really enjoyed it. There may have only been a small number of matches but almost the whole show was wrestling instead of the 20+ minutes of talking you usually see at the start of RAW. Imagine that, a wrestling show where it’s all wrestling.

I’ve been a lapsed wrestling fan for a number of years and I think AEW is just what I need to get me hooked again.

EDIT: Why were the MJF match and Jay & Silent Bob edited out?

[Mafro]

lol @ WWE:

making almost zero reference to the HiaC main event because it was one of the most poorly received finishes they've ever done

being too scared to have their champion and top babyface on RAW after a PPV title defence because he'd almost certainly be booed out the building

trying to turn Kairi Sane, one of the best pure babyface I've ever seen, heel

trying to turn Asuka heel when they've already tried that once and the crowd was having none of it

[Ploiper]

when the fiend attacked cesaro after raw went off the air, he got a pretty big reception as you would expect.

[KK]

EDIT: Why were the MJF match and Jay & Silent Bob edited out?

Just like Fite TV when it was Live, for this edit they opted to stay with the matches through TNT’s commercial breaks but the show still needs to fit within ITV’s two hour window including adverts. TNT also did picture-in-picture for some commercials which ITV doesn’t do for anything apart from Horse Racing.

Maybe ITV will get better as the weeks go on, but at the moment the definitive version is only through Fite.

[KK]

twitter.com/wwerollins/status/1181663787645947905

[Slimgrady]

twitter.com/wwerollins/status/1181663787645947905

What a Gobshite.

Anybody watch the new NWA: Power show? It’s an old school 1 hour studio show. It’s small without looking cheap and they have a nice little roster.

[coldspice]

Power is more interesting than Dynamite, but I feel like the novelty might wear off quicker.

[Cumberdanes]

I saw a little clip from NWA on Twitter, what is going on with Nick Aldis’ accent? I know he’s been in the states for a while now but does he have to try and adopt the accent?

[Slimgrady]

I think that’s actually how he talks now, he was the same during his All In appearances last year, poor bastard. Eli Drake has to be their next champion, now that’s a wrestlers voice you could set your watch to!

[Rog]

Anyone watch AEW Dark? The opener with Cima Vs Allin is worth a watch on youtube.

[tomvek]

Anyone watch AEW Dark? The opener with Cima Vs Allin is worth a watch on youtube.

Just noticed it on my Youtube feed Good to hear there's some gold on there. I really like that they have their 2hr weekly show and a bonus hour of wrestling, easily accessible on Youtube. Makes a difference from WWE's countless hours of mostly average content.

The NWA episode was a fun little show. Not for everyone but at an hour long, I'd still rather watch it than an episode of Raw or Smackdown. I've pretty much eliminated those from my schedule catching up with the odd thing on Youtube and listening to Wai and John at Post Wrestling. AEW, NXT and New Japan makes for much better viewing.

[KK]

Parts of SCU’s theme music in AEW reminds me of the old Brawl For All Tournament.

[Rog]

Some direction problems in this match, mainly when there was stuff happening out and inside the ring. But they completely missed the roll up there.

[Rog]

"Jake Haeger is the most terrified mma fighter in wrestling"

Jericho getting that spot on

[KK]

This really does have all the haphazard, unpredictable, unscripted qualities and production values of late 90s wrestling. Even the rowdy (and probably slightly drunk) crowd, which continually stand during most of the matches and don’t sit down (you try that in WWE and you’ll be told to sit down by security).

Also heard JR saying “great segment” just after they had gone to break, but not on Fite.

I do think Tony Schiavone would be better at kicking the show off than Ross.

[KK]

So great to not have any of the matches broken up by commercial breaks. Even when there’s nothing happening, this show is still much more enjoyable to watch Live than RAW (which has about 45 minutes of ads) because of it.

[KK]

WHEN ALL AND SUNDRY RAN IN. Total chaos again to close the show.

[coldspice]

Dynamite really stepped up a gear from last week imo. They're getting into a stride quicker than I thought they would and the polish is definitely being applied.