The Wrestling Thread: WWE WrestleMania 31 [NSFW]

[Jam-Master Jay]

The quality of the product is also shite for the most part. It's currently being saved by people like Punk, Bryan and Cena, and returning legends like Rock, Jericho and possibly Lesnar.

I know he isn't that well liked by our kind, but he's put so much effort into carrying the business when there are so few other legitimate stars. The WWE would be much worse off if he wasn't around.

[Psychic]

If there was no John Cena I doubt the business would suffer significantly, as Vince would probably have made someone else in a similar mould. He's not particularly gifted in any aspect and I feel is a great example of someone being in the right place at the right time.

[Return_of_the_STAR]

Ok so I've finally finished raw, I read all the spoilers in here before watching so I had a different perspective. I believe the Beth thing was a work. Cole kept going on about how long she had been champion. I saw no attempt by the ref, Beth or bellas to communicate that as Beth was hurt nikki needed to roll Beth up for the pin. I think it was planned before. Maybe Beth had some sort of prior injury or something that need sorting because if kharma is returning then my guess would be that she won't be on tv for a little while so kharma can have a reign of terror before Beth comes back to feud with her.

As for the rest of the show I found it hard to watch as my son was climbing over my head amd attacking me with plastic swords. Did cena actually sign the contract?

[Codename 47]

Ok so I've finally finished raw, I read all the spoilers in here before watching so I had a different perspective. I believe the Beth thing was a work. Cole kept going on about how long she had been champion. I saw no attempt by the ref, Beth or bellas to communicate that as Beth was hurt nikki needed to roll Beth up for the pin. I think it was planned before. Maybe Beth had some sort of prior injury or something that need sorting because if kharma is returning then my guess would be that she won't be on tv for a little while so kharma can have a reign of terror before Beth comes back to feud with her.

As for the rest of the show I found it hard to watch as my son was climbing over my head amd attacking me with plastic swords. Did cena actually sign the contract?

Sorry I couldn't help but laugh at this bit I THINK he signed it and then threw it in Lesnar's face but i'm not 100% sure. One thing i found weird during that segment is why Johnny didn't talk on the mic to respond to Lesnar's demands or even have Johnny and Otunga (I was surprised he wasn't on Raw at all) argue about his demands before having Cena come down or something.

[Jam-Master Jay]

Wonder how long it is until ROTS' son locks him in a Sharpshooter.

[Mafro]

Free Bryan & Vinny Show today:

the Bryan & Vinny Show returns today with our first free show in a long time! Tons to discuss today including Raw from Monday night with three hours of nothin-happenin leading into Extreme Rules, Smackdown from last week, plus some wacky, wacky old-school WWWF from the late 70s. Best of all, this GIANT SHOW is completely FREE, so please post the link or file elsewhere and help spread the word about wrestlingobserver.com! And if you like what you hear, consider signing up for a subscription as Vinny and I do two to three shows per week in addition to the other 15-20 brand new shows, plus members have full access to our thousands of hours of audio and hundreds of new and archived Wrestling Observer and Figure Four Newsletters. It's a steal, so sign up and join the fun! Only at wrestlingobserver.com.

http://media001.f4wonline.com/free/042512bvshow.mp3

[KK]

WWE SmackDown Tapings

Daniel Bryan opened the show. He talked about getting rid of A.J. and his guest referee job on RAW. Alberto Del Rio interrupted and said he would be the next World champion after Extreme Rules. Big Show interrupted and cleared both men from the ring. He then chokeslammed Ricardo Rodriguez.

Alberto Del Rio beat Big Show in a non-title match when Cody Rhodes interfered.

A Damien Sandow vignette aired on the Tron.

WWE Divas Champion Nikki Bella beat Alicia Fox.

Darren Young and Titus O’Neil pinned Ezekiel Jackson and Yoshi Tatsu.

Michael Cole conducted an interview with Randy Orton. Jinder Mahal interrupted and Orton left him laying after a RKO.

Antonio Cesaro, in a tryout match arranged by John Laurinaitis, defeated Tyson Kidd.

The Great Khali pinned Cody Rhodes.

Ryback squashed local wrestler Jacob Kay.

The Brock Lesnar taped interview aired again.

They recapped the AJ vs. Natalya match from last week.

Sheamus defeated Mark Henry in a non-title match.

I like how Show & Rhodes are both going in to their match at ER losers.

[Prototype]

The quality of the product is also shite for the most part. It's currently being saved by people like Punk, Bryan and Cena, and returning legends like Rock, Jericho and possibly Lesnar.

...and it's currently being killed slowly by the inability to pull the trigger on guys like Dolph Ziggler.

I've never felt this jaded about WWE in a long time. Initially, I was excited about Lesnar/Cena but the angle has died on it's arse already. We're going to be "treated" to a street fight match, as Brock Lesnar will have all kinds of ring rust.

Rock's input was brilliant last year, and no doubt heavily influenced the Wrestlemania buy-rate, but reliance on older stars coupled with the inability to push younger talent is the real problem here. I've lost count of the number of people who've likened Dolph to Mr Perfect. It's getting to the stage now where titles mean absolutely nothing, and when guys like Rock and Jericho can't go anymore, they're going to be left with the work they've put into the younger stars of today. And that's nothing.

Let's not forget that they've put the WWE champion of last year's Wrestlemania in a "pre-show" of a B-PPV, where we will most likely see Brodus Clay come out and dance for 10 minutes.

WWE is a shambles right now.

[Return_of_the_STAR]

SD

sounds ok although you never know how these taped shows are gonna play out.

On RAW, i would assume that Otunga didn't come out with Johnny as it wouldn't have made sense for him to agree to Lesner's terms if Otunga was there as surely his character would have advised Johnny against it.

[JChalmers]

How in the hell is Khali still in this company and wrestling continuously. I'm pretty sure I could produce a turd with stick arms and legs that would have more mobility and in-ring skill than he could ever muster. I just feel awkward watching him get in the ring. Brings nothing to the product.

[Mafro]

strawberry float being stuck at the bottom of the page

Free Bryan & Vinny Show today:

the Bryan & Vinny Show returns today with our first free show in a long time! Tons to discuss today including Raw from Monday night with three hours of nothin-happenin leading into Extreme Rules, Smackdown from last week, plus some wacky, wacky old-school WWWF from the late 70s. Best of all, this GIANT SHOW is completely FREE, so please post the link or file elsewhere and help spread the word about wrestlingobserver.com! And if you like what you hear, consider signing up for a subscription as Vinny and I do two to three shows per week in addition to the other 15-20 brand new shows, plus members have full access to our thousands of hours of audio and hundreds of new and archived Wrestling Observer and Figure Four Newsletters. It's a steal, so sign up and join the fun! Only at wrestlingobserver.com.

http://media001.f4wonline.com/free/042512bvshow.mp3

[Zellery]

Do people really not read the bottom of a page?

[KK]

Why is wrestling nowehere near as popular as it used to be? I would of thought this PG era would make it even more popular, because they have a larger market to sell to. It can't just be quality.

Wrestling has never been the same since 2001.

There were a lot of people out there that never liked the World Wrestling Federation, so when they failed to appeal to both WCW & ECW's audiences, the industry simply shrank. Vince McMahon never managed to pull off the WCW vs. WWF war everyone wanted, or any combination of that which also involved ECW, so that disappointed people. And then they managed to alienate their own WWF audience when Steve Austin turned heel, which in hindsight turned out to be one of the worst things they ever did from a business perspective.

This week's SmackDown taping in Grand Rapids, Michigan drew an estimated 4,000 fans. The arena was set up for 11,000 people, which prompted them to move fans to one side of the arena to make it appear more full.

Wouldn't it just be smarter to run smaller venues?

[Prototype]

This week's SmackDown taping in Grand Rapids, Michigan drew an estimated 4,000 fans. The arena was set up for 11,000 people, which prompted them to move fans to one side of the arena to make it appear more full.

Wouldn't it just be smarter to run smaller venues?

They should just kill SmackDown.

[IronMaiden]

This week's SmackDown taping in Grand Rapids, Michigan drew an estimated 4,000 fans. The arena was set up for 11,000 people, which prompted them to move fans to one side of the arena to make it appear more full.

Wouldn't it just be smarter to run smaller venues?

They should just kill SmackDown.

It's often the best show of the week (not at the moment admittedly), so no.

[Pell]

Right, not reading anythiing in here because I've yet to see Raw, but I've had an IMMENSE idea.

Jericho wins the belt at Extreme Rules, then comes out on RAW to say he's made a few changes before uncovering...

a brand new flashing belt! Could you imagine how brilliant that could be?

Obviously CM Punk would then win it back a month or two later, bin that and replace it with a decent, Winged Eagle style belt. (God knows he needs to replace it as he promised last year).

[KK]

I find it amusing that 16 years ago when the nWo defaced the World Title it was actually considered a shocking act. If they defaced the WWE title now - like by adding flashing lights - it would probably only improve it anyway. It's a joke championship, even if it did cost $250,000 (or around that figure). There's nothing they could do to it that would devalue it any more. And if it finally leads to the old one coming back, or a variation on it, then why not.

Not that the new retro mishmash has added any credence to Cody Rhodes Intercontinental championship.

[KK]

Silvervision have added the following to their ever expanding sale:

£5.99

Tagged Classics: The Rock The People's Champ & The Rock Just Bring It! DVD (2 Discs) (Wednesday only!)

£18.99

Royal Rumble The Complete Anthology Vol 1: 1988 - 1992 (5 Discs)
Royal Rumble The Complete Anthology Vol 2: 1993 - 1997 (5 Discs)
Royal Rumble The Complete Anthology Vol 3: 1998 - 2002 (5 Discs)
Royal Rumble The Complete Anthology Vol 4: 2003 - 2007 (5 Discs)
WrestleMania The Complete Anthology Vol 1: WrestleMania 1 to 5 (7 Discs)
WrestleMania The Complete Anthology Vol 2: WrestleMania 6 to 11 (8 Discs)
WrestleMania The Complete Anthology Vol 3: WrestleMania 12 to 17 (8 Discs)
WrestleMania The Complete Anthology Vol 4: WrestleMania 18 to 21 (8 Discs)

Bear in mind the Anthology collection are all WWE releases & therefore contain various edits & alterations. On the flipside, you get better picture quality than you would on Tagged Classics.

Talking of Tagged Classics, if Silversion were to go under, I presume these releases would then be lost forever.

[1cmanny1]

Why is wrestling nowehere near as popular as it used to be? I would of thought this PG era would make it even more popular, because they have a larger market to sell to. It can't just be quality.

Well I watched RAW, I can now see why it has bad ratings. What a garbage show, why is Ziggler in matches with that dwarf?!
Also I am not sure how you guys thought Beth's injury was legit, look at how the camera perfectly looks at her ankle as she falls, and not to mention the fake crying. I also have no idea why Edge was here, all he did was make me depressed because he can't come back And what he was saying didn't make sense, Cena looked like his normal old self when he first came out.
The punk thing did not make any sense, and all the matches were slow and dull (Khali That guy must have something over Vince.)
The ending was slow, boring and unnecessary, the crowd were falling asleep when Brock was talking.
Also poor poor Miz, he doesn't even get air time.

Regarding Smackdown, Bryan must be going to win the title, judging by Del Rio coming out?

[KK]

I think Sky Sports must have missed a segment on RAW, because I have ZERO recollection of Alex Riley & Chris Jericho spying on CM Punk drinking.

I remember on the Live IMPACT WRESTLING shows they would take a commercial, come back about a minute later with a 30 second segment & then go back to commercial. Perhaps this is what happened here?