The Wrestling Thread: WWE WrestleMania 31 [NSFW]

[Skippy]

Plot holes? In my wrestling show?

It's more likely than you think

[Codename 47]

I'd just put it down to Cena being in the wrong place at the wrong time which is why he was the one who got dealt with. As people have said it would make more sense for him to go after Henry ahead of anyone else. The problem with feuding with Cena these days is, even if you're supposed to be a heel...you still end up getting cheered when you kick Cena's ass I do hope we get that monster Kane again and like i said earlier, it could be akin to Mark Henry - and what is probably his last proper run - where Kane goes out on a high after a recent period of mediocrity. I'm probably not as excited about the Punk/Y2J match like the vast majority of the so called IWC will be, but it would be great to have another big name match up on the Wrestlemania card.

It was obvious that the reason last night for HHH mentioning Big Evil's name was to lay the seeds for another feud (or maybe he just wanted to bury 'Taker i don't know ). I wouldn't be against it because they had a good match at the last 'Mania. But i would like to see something different though. I'd love to see the Barrett Barrage face 'Taker at 'Mania. I think what Barrett needs is to show a proper viscious side to him. At the moment he's more of a cocky and sometimes cowardly heel. If he starts taking people out or something, then people may see him as a legit threat to the streak. Right now i don't think people would view him as a serious threat to it.

[Jam-Master Jay]

Missed RAW due to being up for work really early, but I wish I'd seen the new Kane live.

Not too fond of the mask, but even a Sin Cara or Mysterio mask would have been an improvement over de-masked Kane.

Johnny Ace's video.

[Return_of_the_STAR]

Missed RAW due to being up for work really early, but I wish I'd seen the new Kane live.

Not too fond of the mask, but even a Sin Cara or Mysterio mask would have been an improvement over de-masked Kane.

Johnny Ace's video.

The Johnny Ace video was great, the music made me want to go and watch the Transformers Animated movie.

I didn't realise he was only 46 though, looks much older.

I agree about the Kane mask. It might grow on me, but currently its a thumb down from me.

[Mockmaster]

I wonder. I wonder if they will use Kane to turn John Cena slowly to the dark side. There has to be an important reason that Cena was shown in the promos for Kane's return. This was no random attack. Maybe Kane wants Cena to feed off the hatred of the fans and embrace the emotional scars that have festered deep within, like Kane is used to doing. Or something.

[PES Fan]

So wait.

Sheamus and John Cena have no matches for TLC? But we get Big Show vs Henry for the 4th time this year on PPV? Why couldn't they just put Sheamus in the match?

I hope this Cena and Kane feud doesn't result in Cena overcoming the odds. Kane needs to go back to no selling, and it should take a lot of punishment to defeat him. Another point on Cena is considering he is facing The Rock, will he be in the rumble?

[IronMaiden]

So I've been reading Bret Hart's book the last few weeks. Such an awesome read, very long though. Up to around 95 at the moment. Things that have stuck out to me -

- Steroids are a bitch.
- Too many wrestlers die young
- Hulk Hogan's a dick but the paranoia of being the 'top guy' seems to affect a lot of people the same way.
- When you read a story about Bret meeting Vince in say January and the conversation is about starting a hint to a feud that will culminate at Summerslam or even later. Such better build back in the day. I know they've got more programs nowadays but even at that the difference is depressing.
- Bret Hard is a man whore
- Stu Hart
- Most of the Hart family

[Banjo]

I get the feeling that Mark Henry's monster run is at an end. For weeks now he's been dominated by Big Show, where his only method of winning is through cheap and underhanded techniques. And now with Kane returning and Henry seen running away from him, I don't think Henry can be believed as a legitimate monster. It's a shame really, as much as I enjoyed Henry's world championship run, I feel that the potential for it was wasted. First it was with Randy Orton, where pretty much every encounter the pair had resulted in Orton coming closer and closer to beating him (without having to change his game), then Big Show returning and dominating him, to the last few weeks where he was seemingly being thrown into matches regardless of his champion status (last weeks match against Ryder, anyone?).

A Kane/Brodus Clay feud would be nice, a who's the bigger monster contest, where the winner has huge momentum and is then a credible heel for a rising face to take on.

[Mafro]

Oh yeah that's another thing, still no Brodus on Raw

[captain red dog]

Otunga and Atlas was superb. Hope they carry that on with other superstars laughing at him!

[Banjo]

And with Kane back, I don't quite know where Brodus would fit in. I was thinking he'd make a good foe for Cena, who's done plenty of stuff against bigger guys but Clay's momentum along with his size would make for an interesting dynamic (as demonstrated last night, Cena can lift the big guys but it's only ever seen from a prone position). But, as suggested, with Kane back I just know where another Big Man will fit in. I hope they figure something out, I like Brodus.

[KK]

Otunga and Atlas was superb. Hope they carry that on with other superstars laughing at him!

You could actually hear the collective groans in the crowd, who were beginning to get restless. It was rotten, & went on far too long.

[Return_of_the_STAR]

Otunga and Atlas was superb. Hope they carry that on with other superstars laughing at him!

You could actually hear the collective groans in the crowd, who were beginning to get restless. It was rotten, & went on far too long.

I agree, it was just annoying, not funny at all.

[captain red dog]

I swear some of you are watching a different show! There weren't audible groans at all at Atlas from what I could tell, unless I missed the mic picking up one guy, and Road Dogg actually got a decent reaction in contrast to other guests. It certainly wasn't a flat reaction as described earlier. The Johnny Ace/Punk bit did seem to fall a bit flat as the promo Punk cut was too rehearsed and most of the crowd didn't seem to get it.

I wouldn't say it was a good show, it was the wrong lead into a PPV for sure, but it wasn't the absolute disaster some people made out. Are you guys sure that you are doing the right thing watching it live?

(I don't mean that in a flaming tone at all, just totally perplexed at differing views on the show).

[KK]

On the reaction front, or lack thereof, the thoughts of the thread Live also seem to be echoed elsewhere in the various RAW Reports & forum threads during & following the show...

Atlas segment; Sounds like the crowd is starting to get restless

Road Dogg came out to present the next award. It was nice to see him back but I was surprised just how little reaction he receives. It speaks to how much of their last boom period is left.

As it regards the Jim Ross rap, as noted, there wasn't supposed to be the background music, and as soon as they played it he was thrown off and forgot his lines. Ross wrote: I apologize 4 the worst segment of tv I've ever killed. Had a rap thought, lost it. Won a Slammy!:) He also provided the rap he had planned to do. Michael Cole ur damn fool. King beat u like Gov Mule. I should call Raw ur not in my class. U kissed kings feet now u can kiss my ass! Whew. As noted last night, as bad as that segment was, I think the Tony Atlas segment was even worse.

David Otunga and a returning Tony Atlas came out on-stage to introduce the Trending Star of the Year. Atlas did his Abraham Washington bit laughing all the way through Otunga's intro. The crowd apparently didn't watch or doesn't remember WWECW since there was no reaction.

Perhaps this level of campiness appeals to the masses, but the crowd's dead reaction to most of the segments seems to indicate that's not the case.

C.M. Punk and the John Laurinaitis video: I got a kick out of the video and the campy song they used. The problem was that while I'm sure this got a lot of laughs backstage, the live crowd's reaction indicates that it sailed over the heads of casual viewers.

Atlas: The laughing gimmick not only didn't get over with the crowd, but it produced catcalls and felt like it was never going to end.

I'm watching in Surround Sound, so maybe I'm hearing more of the crowd track.

[Return_of_the_STAR]

When trips returned this week did they refer to him at all as the COO of WWE at all? Have they now dropped that storyline? Last I remember he was still supposed to be COO but not allowed to run raw. You know because that's how they run big companies nowadays.

"well you've got the job, you're running a multimillion dollar company, oh but just one thing, you aren't in charge of our main product!"

[KK]

Not sure. I think it might be one of those things that is quietly dropped & then brought up again when it suits them that he's COO. There's been nothing in storyline where he's lost the position, so I presume he still is.

Much of Karen Jarrett's demeaning on-air dialogue designating Velvet Sky as a promiscuous woman is based on how certain TNA Wrestling officials legitimately view the Knockouts Division star.

Last time I read she was still dating Chris Sabin, & before that Hurricane.

[Codename 47]

Granted the segments may not have been great - I think the Otunga-Atlas one did go on for too long but it was ok intially - I imagine the lack of pops and stuff is part of the price you pay when you aim your product at the so called PG market. Chances are a lot of the young folks there just had no idea who Tony Atlas or Road Dogg or even who Million Dollar Man is. That said, without wanting to blame the crowd too much it's likely they had their enthusiasm for the show sucked out of them when they heard the Commentators rap challenge..

And that storyline Had some potential but just seemed to get wasted. I'm surprised they even made reference to the walkout on Raw.. I don't understand how HHH can be the COO but yet not be able to make any authoritative decisions on either Smackdown or Raw.

[Cosmo]

Just re-watched Kane's return. Absolutely awesome (apart from the wig).

And next Monday's 2nd 2012 video should basically tell us who's returning.

[KK]

WWE RAW did a 2.8 rating, & a 2.98 during the usual two hours. 3,670,000 watched the first hour, 4,490,000 for hour two & then back down to 4,160,000 for the final hour. Not a hit with viewers, then.

One positive for WWE is that almost a million of their standard viewers didn't see Ross & Cole stinking up the joint at the start.

In other news, ahead of the WWE Network launch, WWE On Demand is being scrapped at the beginning of next year.