Wrestling In The Time Of COVID-19: the new thread

[Deanjam]

Didn't watch a second of it, but delighted for Asuka.

[BeardFaceMan]

Jesus Christ, what happened to Vince? He looks fucking awful.

[sevendaughters]

I know athletes and sports entertainers are in good physical shape, but they also take a bit of punishment, quite literally if you are an MMA fighter. Would Covid therefore be more dangerous to a fatigued body?

to a body cutting weight - absolutely, as the organs have to function harder to make up for the lack of hydration

[Timothy]

Absolutely awful PPV. The MITB "match" was cringeworthy. Not even remotely entertaining imo. Food fights, slipping on a floor, Otis bad acting, pointless appearances, meh.

Wonder how long theyll be able to try these shows. It just doesnt work without a crowd and apart from Bray VS Cena none of their creative solutions work.

[magval]

Aye, I felt like that was for children. The women don't know when to curtail their pageantry (THERE'S NO ONE THERE, CARMELLA) and WWE's sense of humour is the kind that can't appeal to anyone. John Laurinitis on a scooter getting pied after a non memorable catchphrase, what the fuck is that, what is this god awful shite like. 

Also, and I think this is a much more valid criticism than the above which I will accept is very subjective - WWE's cameramen are dreadful. The zoom on the Undertaker poster and the generally shoddy panning, all of it, this stuff just looks like absolute shite.

No more for me, no no. No idea who the target audience is supposed to be.

[BeardFaceMan]

No more for me, no no. No idea who the target audience is supposed to be.

Non-wrestling fans, basically. They're aiming their product at an audience who doesnt want it, it's crazy. Well, it's Vince, same thing.

[Ja'moke]

Major Raw spoilers for tonight:

Spoiler alert

"PWInsider.com has been told that during tonight's RAW broadcast, which was taped earlier today, there will be a segment where Becky Lynch vacates the RAW Women's Championship to Asuka, who won the Money in the Bank Briefcase on last night's PPV. We have confirmed that with three difference sources."

[close]

[Ja'moke]

Yep. Pregnant. Congrats Becky. Or "The Mam" as I saw someone on reddit comment.

I'm glad they "revealed" that the MITB match was actually for the title, so Asuka doesn't just look like she was just handed the title.

[Mobius]

It's gonna be weird in the future when these next generation stars have 2 wrestling parents. Imagine the spawn of Seth/Becky, DB/Bella, Miz/Maryse being managed by both their wrestling parents at Mania in 20-25 years?

Not that her mum was in WWE or really a big deal, but I can only really think of Paige as a 'next gen' of a female wrestler?

[BeardFaceMan]

Is the kayfabe reason for her leaving her being pregnant? Could have just made the MITB match for the title instead, get more people to watch the PPV. So after years of fighting to get herself (and women in general) on top, she's leaving right at the height of her push? Vince must love her right now. Hehe Seth is fucked.

[Ja'moke]

Yep, they had her make the announcement at the start of Raw. And they retconned the MITB match as being for the title, with Becky having the combination code for Asuka's briefcase and showing her the title was inside. Not joking.

Asuka did some crazy dancing and then hugged it out with Becky. Kinda sweet in a way.

[Deanjam]

Congrats to Becky & Seth. Should've done this reveal last week though, and had the briefcase be for the title. Obviously they couldn't hang the belt up as the match was taped ages ago, but the could've edited something into the show at least. An announcement from Stephanie or some such.

Either way, Asuka as champion makes me happy.

[BeardFaceMan]

Yeah, Asuka is the best female WWE has by far. Maybe her punishment for being popular is over and they'll actually do something with her now. I'd kill to see her in AEW.

[Timothy]

Why didnt they just vacate the title, do a tournament and have Asuka chase Bayley's Smackdown Championship? Asuka with MITB would have been gold. Asuka deserved a more spectacular way to get the title imo.

[The Crumb]

Yeah, Asuka is the best female WWE has by far. Maybe her punishment for being popular is over and they'll actually do something with her now. I'd kill to see her in AEW.

It's funny, there's been a lot of crap for her day to day, but her WWE career sounds amazing as highlights - the streak, first women's rumble winner,  second grand slam women's champion.

[Ja'moke]

Asuka has been the highlight of these empty arena shows, and I think Vince has realised finally how good she is with how much she's been featured recently.

[up_the_hampipe]

Asuka has been the highlight of these empty arena shows, and I think Vince has realised finally how good she is with how much she's been featured recently.

And, of course, giving her the title in the absence of their top female star.

[BeardFaceMan]

Asuka has been the highlight of these empty arena shows, and I think Vince has realised finally how good she is with how much she's been featured recently.

You'd hope so, but how many times how we gotten our hopes up when they make someone champion who is actually over and they fuck up the run completely? Or just make them a transitional champ, it wouldnt suprise me to see her drop the belt on the next PPV. Vince rarely changes his mind, especially with a foreigner who doesn't speak perfect English, I can't see him being fully behind Asuka being the face of the women's division, she's not his type at all.

[Nobody Soup]

Yeah, Asuka is the best female wrestler WWE has by far. Maybe her punishment for being popular is over and they'll actually do something with her now. I'd kill to see her in AEW.

ok, maybe that would make it not "by far" any more, but imo true. does anyone else have the full package of amazing look, compelling in ring story telling, amazing technical ability and excellent character (the lack of english is irrelevant, she's made it part of her gimmick)?

after her push ended she's still put the graft in and remained relevant and entertaining. Has also been the best performer in the empty stadiums.

[madhair60]

[up_the_hampipe]

Anyone started watching the Undertaker docuseries on the Network? It's pretty fascinating to see how broken down he was in 2017, just hobbling round with a clearly fucked up hip, but still being allowed to work the main event of Mania against a fast-paced, hard-hitting young guy like Roman. They paint him as someone with a "gotta get to work" attitude regardless of the situation, so it was really the responsibility of Vince and others to tell him he's not fit to work that year.

He also seems to be a 'perfectionist' in terms of how he wanted his career to end, but he's trapped in this cycle of having a bad match, training to get redemption for it, having a decent or good match and feeling revitalised to keep going, then having a bad match again, rinse repeat. It would seem that all of this kayfabe breaking stuff we've got indicates that the Boneyard Match was his swansong, at least that's how the documentary is painting it. Let's hope he can feel content with how it ended this time.

[Huxleys Babkins]

He'll be on the next plane to Saudi Arabia.

[up_the_hampipe]

He'll be on the next plane to Saudi Arabia.

Pfft, that's non-canon.

[Gurke and Hare]

Still no information on MJF's opponent in his return to action tonight. I can't help thinking it's not just going to be as straightforward as here he is against the jobber of the week, something's going off. No idea what though.

[Deanjam]

WWE are touting a major announcement on tonight's NXT. Also Sami has been stripped on the IC belt. I know it doesn't really mean anything, but it's a bit shitty.

[Mobius]

So you don't get punished for not wanting to appear on shows during a pandemic..  but you do have to forfeit your belt. Meanwhile Andrade keeps his whilst suspended for a wellness policy violation. Weird! Which one of them is dating Charlotte again...

[Ja'moke]

They did also strip Devlin of the CW title and replace Dunne with Timothy Thatcher. Although I suppose in both those situations it's been classed as "interim" champions, whereas the IC tournament is crowning a new champion. That said, Zayn is playing into it on social media, so I imagine it's an in-built feud for when he returns.

[up_the_hampipe]

WWE are touting a major announcement on tonight's NXT.

Oh baby https://twitter.com/WWENXT/status/1260737480061583365

[BeardFaceMan]

So the major announcement is that they're using a 30-year-old PPV name?

[Timothy]

Oh baby https://twitter.com/WWENXT/status/1260737480061583365

Thats pretty neat!