Wrestling Thread: the New Generation

[hummingofevil]

Cant sleep. Raw is long and boring.

[ToneLa]

Been reading some spoilers and Becky sounds ace as ever but Christ. Raw's midcard antics just have no surprises. Feel like we've seen every combination, and Corbin seriously needs to go away

When you get bored reading live spoilers, it doesn't bode well. Go home show as well!

[hummingofevil]

That's exactly what I was thinking. Balor Lashley could be fun but I literally have lost all interest in watching any combination of the rest of them on. Kevin Owens coming back in a month so that could be fun and he's seemingly face so hopefully he'll go to Smackdown to tear up the promos with DB.

The Becky Authority stuff was quite good and she's coming back at the end so hopefully they at least going for the old technique of having Austin beat a McMahon every week.

[Timothy]

The Becky angle is soooo been there done that. Again the authority. Come up with something new already.

Gonna listen to the podcast with Omega this week. Sounds interesting.

[up_the_hampipe]

Looks like wrestling is still real to all the people on twitter who think Becky has actually been taken out of the match.

[Timothy]

Good idea to add Charlotte though. This match needs a ring general like Bubba Ray said.

[up_the_hampipe]

I'm not on the Becky hype train, but even I think wedging Charlotte into that match is quite laughable. She doesn't have to be involved all the goddamn time. They'd put her in every women's feud in WWE if they could.

[Timothy]

I agree with Bubba here:

Bully said that making it a three-way elimination match would do more for them at WrestleMania, and could really "make them." He started off by stating that he'd had a chance to rethink his original thought, back when he said he didn't want to see Charlotte added to the match on Tuesday's Busted Open.

Don't you think there's gonna be enough pressure on these women being in the main event? You make it a three-way, and you make it an elimination. Becky pins Charlotte, then she goes one-on-one with Ronda, and Becky pins Ronda. You wanna make someone? That's how you make them.

Dave LaGreca said he was worried that fans would boo the match due to Charlotte's involvement. Bully responded:

Listen, do you really think that we would get to the point where the women are in the last match at WrestleMania, and Becky Lynch, Ronda Rousey, and Charlotte Flair are in a three-way staredown like at the end of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, do you really think that fans are going to be booing? Or do you think that they'll be on their feet cheering?   

Although I would let Becky pin Charlotte only to be pinned by Rousey.

[up_the_hampipe]

You'd let Becky get pinned at Wrestlemania? Sir! You shouldn't let personal vendettas interfere with booking what's right, that's why Vince has been such a nightmare all these years.

[Timothy]

Yeah. Let Becky pin Charlotte,  Rousey pin Becky, have Becky win MITB and cashin on Rousey and go into a full Horsewomen VS Rousey Crew match at Summerslam.

Then you can continue the story without putting the title on Lynch. Becky with the title is gonna be a bore.

[ToneLa]

Sometimes you do end up with a babyface champ with a flat run because their character gets hot chashing and that's all.

Would be rubbish not to pull the trigger on Becky here though. At least try. They'd be sacrificing months of booking for a swerve and the status quo, on a performer who is likely working less dates to boot, beating their own two homegrown women stars on the biggest show of the year, just to job one of em to the part timer.

So there's a chance they'll do it!

Cannae see it but. Would put money, if I had any, on Becky in the D-bry model this year. As beloved on the night too. The match might even pattern out similar as WM30.

[Timothy]

I seriously rather see her lose, go on an angry spree and win MITB. Imagine the pop every time Rousey or Asuka is wrestling and her music plays.

She will be popular when she is the underdog but the moment that changes she will be lost in the shuffle. Better ride that momentum a while longer.

[ToneLa]

The moment she's women's champion after the first women's main event at WrestleMania she is lost in the shuffle? That's a sad indictment of WWE booking.

Totally valid too, sadly.

[Timothy]

Fans are cheering her because she is the underdog and because they like it when it feels like they are in control. They started cheering for Becky, out of nowhere (nobody popped for her before that), just to see what would happen and they cheered her to Wrestlemania.

The moment Becky wins a title it's not necessary anymore to cheer her on, the pops will stop and the fans will turn on her. Especially with this ridiculous SuperBecky booking.
If they don't it would be the first time in years they keep on cheering.

If I would be Vince I would have her lose and let her win MITB to keep this going for a while.

[Huxleys Babkins]

I think Charlotte being added is less that they don't have faith in Becky but that there isn't a heel in the match otherwise and they really don't want Rhonda getting that Roman heat.

You can feel the crowds starting to turn on Rousey. Her lack of aptitude on the mic and the angle she's in is a recipe for a Reigns-ing.

[Timothy]

Rousey isn't that bad on the mic. But when someone that's suppose to be a face starts to act like a heel on both the mic and Twitter it might be quite difficult for someone who's new to doing these sort of promos to adapt. In a normal situation the two wrestlers work together, but Becky's more concerned with being the cool Tweener that gets lot of cheers then making her opponent look good.

For that reason alone it's indeed good that they add Charlotte.

[up_the_hampipe]

I think Charlotte being added is less that they don't have faith in Becky but that there isn't a heel in the match otherwise and they really don't want Rhonda getting that Roman heat.

You can feel the crowds starting to turn on Rousey. Her lack of aptitude on the mic and the angle she's in is a recipe for a Reigns-ing.

She has a motor speech disorder, so maybe they should be a little nicer about that. She's way too talented in the ring to be treated the way she is.

[Timothy]

It's because of all the stupid Ronnie stuff in both Becky's promos as on Twitter. It makes absolutely no sense how she responds to or reacts to Rousey. She's doing the same thing I hated when the Rock was doing it: Putting your opponent down just to look cool and try to be the most entertaining and cool person in the ring, while forgetting that every match needs two competitors on the same level to be entertaining and/or interesting.

That's the main reason why I dislike Lynch. She only seems to be interested in getting herself over.

[mikeyg27]

The main reason I didn't want Charlotte added to the WM match: who the fuck is Asuka going to wrestle? After Becky and Charlotte there's a huge drop-off in potential contenders on Smackdown.

[Timothy]

Sascha?

[Deanjam]

Get the feeling they'll go with Asuka vs Mandy at Mania. As for Charlotte, it makes sense to add her to the Becky/Ronda match. Everything you can do to make the fans think the machine is against Becky winning adds to her support. Also, if this is really gonna go on last then why not spread the wealth and let a third woman share the glory. Charlotte is gonna be one of WWE's top acts for a while longer whether Becky fans like it or not. And with Rhonda's post mania schedule up in the air, giving a second full-timer the Mania main event rub is no bad thing. Also, Charlotte is fucking great. At this point I'm starting to think she's the one who is underappreciated.

[Delete Delete Delete]

Heel Charlotte is best Charlotte. Also WWE has great form with Big Triple Threat matches.

[Timothy]

Out of the three she is the best in ring competitor.

[ToneLa]

Charlotte being added is surely because they'll push the fuck out of it being the first Mania women's main event and, not that this is wrong at all, her being involved is no less than she deserves.

Don't want her to eat the pin or tap, though.

Heel Charlotte is best Charlotte. Also WWE has great form with Big Triple Threat matches.

They do and at Mania it's templated to fuck but damn it works.

She should be the HBK, massive compliment intended. Another layer, a personal addition for one of the other wrestlers, a real threat, the best worker. Sort of a weird match, it's basically three faces from a smark POV

Man, Becky tapping Ronda in the middle of the ring. The crowd going radio rental, the announce team going wild: Renee arguing with Corey Graves...

[Moribunderast]

The three-way will be fine but it's typical WWE to go with the "fine" option when they had GREAT staring them in the face. The people wanted Ronda vs. Becky. Charlotte gets barely any reaction these days. Yes, the storyline is good and makes sense to include her. Yes, her presence may make the match better. But Wrestlemania isn't necessarily about the best match. It's the spectacle. And a three-way robs us of the spectacle of that insane heat when the bell rings for the first-ever women's Mania Main Event and Ronda and Becky stare each other down. It robs us of Becky cleanly tapping Ronda in a one-on-one match. Furthermore, the crowd will hate Charlotte AND Ronda so what happens in the three-way template when Becky is outside the ring? Crowd boos everything Ronda and Charlotte do to each other? Crowd goes to sleep? Crowd shits on the action and chants "Becky" until she gets involved again?

As I say, I think the story is there (though I despise the Authority element and haven't watched a single segment involving them) and the match will be FINE. It's just that, as a spectacle, it could have been great. Unfortunately, it's WWE and they have their chosen people. Charlotte is chosen and thus must be involved. At least she's a fucking heel now. How they miscast her so long as a face is beyond me.

[Mobius]

McMahons opening and closing the show. Some variation of Lashley, McIntyre, Balor, Corbin and Strowman. Nikki Cross losing, EC3 losing. Tamina.

Becky really is the only good thing about Raw lately. And she's Smackdown. Seth being injured sucks.

It was nice to see The Revival win the tag belts. Hopefully they'll just be allowed to put on great 15-20 min matches every week, maybe get the crowd behind the tag division. The Raw tag division is shite, AoP have disappeared but I guess there's a shakeup coming. No idea why they aren't using Sanity. I like Bobby Roode  but why did American Alpha have to break up so Jason Jordan could be Kurt Angle's son, for all this.

[Timothy]

Becky vs Charlotte vs Rousey is good.
Becky vs Charlotte vs Rousey vs Asuka would be amazing.
Becky vs Rousey is just fine imo.

This whole situation would have been easier if Becky knew how to properly play a face. Then Rousey vs Lynch would have been a ln option.

But why have one of your biggest stars in Rousey be a heel and get Reigns boos only because the person thats suppose to be the face cant properly be the face?
They need Charlotte because Lynch isnt doing her job.

[Moribunderast]

This whole situation would have been easier if Becky knew how to properly play a face. Then Rousey vs Lynch would have been a ln option.

But why have one of your biggest stars in Rousey be a heel and get Reigns boos only because the person thats suppose to be the face cant properly be the face?
They need Charlotte because Lynch isnt doing her job.

How so? The fans are hugely behind Becky - seems to indicate she's being a good face. The fans were always going to choose her over Ronda and Ronda is likely leaving after Wrestlemania so why not have her play heel or heel-leaning for this feud and put over the incumbent on the way out? What should Becky be doing differently, in your opinion, to make her vs. Ronda work?

[Timothy]

The fans are behind Becky because she acts like a cool heel.

A good face doesnt insult an opponent on Twitter out of nowhere. A good face isnt deliberatily taunting and insulting the opponent during promos. A good face doesnt have the audience boo the heel. Thats the heels job.

How can you be a proper heel against someone who acts all cool and insulting?

Becky being the cool heel makes sure that Ronda cant be the proper heel. She is being booed for the wrong reasons while Lynch is being cheered for the wrong reasons. Thats why a singles match wont work.

[ToneLa]

The fans are behind Becky because she acts like a cool heel.

A good face doesnt insult an opponent on Twitter out of nowhere. A good face isnt deliberatily taunting and insulting the opponent during promos. A good face doesnt have the audience boo the heel. Thats the heels job.

How can you be a proper heel against someone who acts all cool and insulting?

Becky being the cool heel makes sure that Ronda cant be the proper heel. She is being booed for the wrong reasons while Lynch is being cheered for the wrong reasons. Thats why a singles match wont work.

Baffled you can complain at fans being behind someone! Ronda and her level of overness is her and WWE's fault or praise. You'd be leaving money on the table, I'm telling you.

As for a face. You seem to be only willing to see one kind of face. IMO it's whoever the fans want to win. Did you like Austin? Do you understand why he drew? (Forget the era, but Becky is simply not a smiling babyface type, and some parts of wrestling - mainly how the character gets perceived authentically - stay the same regardless of trends)

It's not like Austin's most famous opponents are perceived as worse. HBK, McMahon, The Rock. Nah, think you're playing favourites, and it would not play at Mania, at least..