I have no idea where they are going with the Rollins/Heyman handshake. All I can say is how many times during the ME I went FUCK when Cena would kick out. At least he lost. AND, when is MizDow going to get a win?
The crowd annoyed me during the New Day match, so I quit watching and just read a live recap.
The New Day interview before the match really seemed to me like they were being forced to act "street". Now, I don't know Big E's background, but Kofi Kingston's parents are both academics and Xavier Woods has 2 bachelor's degrees, a master's degree, and is in the process of getting his PhD. They're decidedly not street. (Big E has a bachelor's degree as well. Google informs me that he won the Florida state wrestling championships when he was 16, but then transferred schools to play football instead and gave up wrestling. Sounds like he was academically sound, though, so his pre-med degree is probably legit.(Not to insinuate that you can't be street and get a college degree. (Nor am I using "street" as a euphemism for black. There are plenty of white hood rats.)))
However, Kofi on commentary seemed completely comfortable with a rapid fire delivery that fit the gimmick yet came off natural. That might be the best mic work I've ever heard from Kofi.
And hey, we got our "serious" Cena promo that people have been clamoring for. Granted, the crux of it was calling Seth Rollins a giant pussy, so it might not have been as beneficial as people had hoped. Reportedly, Cena called a talent only meeting before the show to quell a growing protest resulting from the roster being embarrassed at how lackluster TLC was in comparison to NXT. According to the report, there was talk of a silent protest in the form of calling in all of the matches tonight, as a way of demanding that HHH be given the power in WWE that he has in NXT. I'm curious if Cena's comments to Rollins about being a man and not complaining were in any way connected to that.
Reported by someone who posted a picture of their WWE backstage all access pass as part of the thread, so not just some random "journalist" looking for clickbait.
...you've done a bad job of paraphrasing. The "mailing in" was allegedly for Sunday's matches, not Monday.
Originally posted by the Reddit guy, on Reddit, at about 2PM Monday (CDT)Coming out of the PPV last night, I've been told many in the company are not happy with the end result. While many knew it would be tough to top the NXT show, there were people who thought it could be pulled off.
There have been rumblings that some talent knew they couldn't top NXT so in a silent protest in favor of Triple H, some superstars were described "mailing in" their matches last night. Many are in favor of Triple H and what he has done with the NXT product and feel it is time for Triple H to take the lead on the main roster.
John Cena held a talent meeting about an hour ago which was described to me as forceful yet calm in his approach. Cena stressed that a silent protest is not what the roster needs. Instead, they need to go out there and start stepping it up every night for their point to be proven.
I stand by this reaction (if they let me hotlink it):
The Lesnar/Rollins thing is pretty simple. With the Authority out, they have no real creative ideas outside of making more bad guys buddies with each other. It also puts to bed any hope of Rollins cashing in on Lesnar, unless this is all some massive SWERVE~! on Rollins' part.
Originally posted by CRZ I stand by this reaction (if they let me hotlink it):
Aw, man, if you can't trust some random Reddit guy with the handle "MetsFan4Ever" to have inside secrets about the WWE locker room, who can you trust?
(Though the comments in that thread are pretty hilariously sad.)
They really have to do something about these three hour Raws though because they are just sucking all the energy out of it. I know USA mandates them but can't you just get around it with a first hour NXT showcase or something?
Except for a clean finish, they booked that match to make Rollins into a solid main-eventer. He kicked out of the AA, carried Cena in a powerbomb from one turnbuckle to the opposite, landed on his feet in two lucha-esque spots (the first was AMAZING), and they made him a Heyman guy. At worst, this sets up a repeat of the Authority's pincher move on Cena's title this summer. At best, we get Heyman back on TV. Nicely done.
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
Originally posted by jerichofan717Did anyone else notice the "Eat. Sleep. Disappear. Repeat." sign in the crowd? Brilliant stuff!
It should be Eat, Cash Check, Disappear, Repeat. But, the second part damages the entire thing. Regardless, great sign. I am more getting behind Jericho/Brock at the Rumble or Mania or anywhere instead of Cena/Brock. Rollins being a Heyman guy is interesting, but it would be nice if his character would stand on his own instead of relying on other groups. Speaking of which how are the Stooges employed if HHH is fired.
I must of missed it, but no Ambrose and Bray tonight. I guess they didn't want to acknowledge the universal clowning they got for that finish at TLC.
If and let me state if there was a talent meeting held by Cena. I would hope someone in that room would have said "Hey John, besides Vince being a moron, we are also in a not so subtle way protesting the way you are booked. So, unless you want to have that meeting...oh you don't. Ok, please continue to tell us why we suck while we are laying down for you."
Again, if that meeting happened and for once I am with CRZ. I don't think the main roster gives that much of a shit about NXT as much as the internet does.
Originally posted by lotjxI must of missed it, but no Ambrose and Bray tonight. I guess they didn't want to acknowledge the universal clowning they got for that finish at TLC.
They were repeatedly advertised for tonight's live SmackDown, and RAW showed stills of the TLC match, including the exploding TV.
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
Originally posted by Matt TrackerThey were repeatedly advertised for tonight's live SmackDown, and RAW showed stills of the TLC match, including the exploding TV.
You don't think lotjx actually watches the shows he bags on, do you?
This was...a little better. They seem to have got the memo about booking Reigns as a man-of-few-words badass instead of a jokester. Silent intensity covers way more sins than poo-powder in someone's coffee.
The main was excellent, too. A much better match than the tables one, with Seth looking much stronger and an interesting wrinkle at the end. If Rollins really is Heyman's new client, Cena needs to use it to get in Lesnar's head. It's not much of a stretch to suggest that Heyman wants Mr. Money-In-The-Bank under his wing as an insurance policy should Cena win the title at the Rumble.
Lana, 'Don't waste our time with you childish humor' Jericho wastes everyones time with childish humor.
Jericho was an unbearable asshole all night, Brock could have beaten him down more and I would not have felt bad about it.
I still love Brock, it's a shame they can't find a way to get him on television more. He still feels like a big time star, and it brings me joy when he comes out and whoever is in the ring craps their pants.
Originally posted by Matt TrackerThey were repeatedly advertised for tonight's live SmackDown, and RAW showed stills of the TLC match, including the exploding TV.
You don't think lotjx actually watches the shows he bags on, do you?
This was...a little better. They seem to have got the memo about booking Reigns as a man-of-few-words badass instead of a jokester. Silent intensity covers way more sins than poo-powder in someone's coffee.
The main was excellent, too. A much better match than the tables one, with Seth looking much stronger and an interesting wrinkle at the end. If Rollins really is Heyman's new client, Cena needs to use it to get in Lesnar's head. It's not much of a stretch to suggest that Heyman wants Mr. Money-In-The-Bank under his wing as an insurance policy should Cena win the title at the Rumble.
You expect me to watch 3 hours of this shit do you? I guess Ambrose showed up after the show went off the air.
Originally posted by InVerseThe New Day interview before the match really seemed to me like they were being forced to act "street". Now, I don't know Big E's background, but Kofi Kingston's parents are both academics and Xavier Woods has 2 bachelor's degrees, a master's degree, and is in the process of getting his PhD. They're decidedly not street. (Big E has a bachelor's degree as well. Google informs me that he won the Florida state wrestling championships when he was 16, but then transferred schools to play football instead and gave up wrestling. Sounds like he was academically sound, though, so his pre-med degree is probably legit.(Not to insinuate that you can't be street and get a college degree. (Nor am I using "street" as a euphemism for black. There are plenty of white hood rats.)))
You must live in a pretty milquetoast place if the way they acted was "street" in your eyes.
Overall, I thought it was a fun show. I liked Jericho and his antagonism. I wonder why they didn't go the full route of having Heyman pin Jericho though -- I mean, there WAS supposed to be a match, no? And kind of odd to bring up Fandango stealing his Slammy and not paying off on it. Instead, both guys got beat down within five minutes of each other.
I'm interesting in seeing where things go with Heyman and Rollins. Is he now a Heyman guy, or was this just a "payoff" from Heyman to try to convince him not to cash in on his client? Rollins wasn't in on it, storyline-wise, so who knows. But it's an intriguing turn to the angle. And Rollins was booked to be kick-ass tonight for sure. Great match.
Rollins is the best guy in the company now, right? I would have had him top five last year, and top two or three purely as a worker, but he's found the right level for his sellout character and figured out his mic work accordingly, he's still an elite worker and the best at selling by miles (nobody comes even close to Rollins in getting a "Wait, is he actually hurt?" reaction out of me, and he does it all the time...watch him favor his right leg walking across the ring at the end, and then remember how hard it should be to get that leg over the middle rope when leaving for the door) and his truly underrated skill is how much he sells the character and the story in the middle of matches. He's theatrical in the best sense: loud enough that you can hear him without a hand mic without having to directly address the crowd and ignore who he's supposed to be talking to, without ever forgetting the physical side of it. And I do like his character as he plays it: he's not a HHH-level master planner super-villain like he pretends to be, he's a guy who recognizes the advantage when it presents itself in the moment and happily takes it. That's how he led the Shield to win matches (the only way the Shield can win is if Rollins teleports in from nowhere right at that moment, so here comes Rollins flying in from off-screen!), and that's how he sells it when you can see on his face that he's realzing things have just worked out for him again and he does that slow Grinch smile.
I just wanted to get that out there, because I'm feeling really negative (or much worse, compeltely disengaged) about almost everything else on the main roster these days.
I do think Reigns came off way better last night (that is, in fact, the correct way to handle Reigns: keep it short, keep it simple, let him look cool, because Roman Reigns looks cool and got over being cool and kicking ass. Don't make him Cena. Don't make him Face Sheamus. Whatever guy you choose to be The Next Guy, do not book him exactly like the guy you've booked for 10 years that didn't get you a million buys) and now it just comes down to whether he can make the leap to a main event match guy. They really, really should have had him work a competitive PPV match vs Henry last year instead of squashing him on a Raw.
Brock showing up and not bothering to bring the belt was funny. Cena being in the house, kissing up to Jericho to get a match and not bothering to come out when Brock Lesnar, the man Cena wants to fight so much, comes out to murder Jericho was funnier.
Originally posted by lotjxIf and let me state if there was a talent meeting held by Cena. I would hope someone in that room would have said "Hey John, besides Vince being a moron, we are also in a not so subtle way protesting the way you are booked. So, unless you want to have that meeting...oh you don't. Ok, please continue to tell us why we suck while we are laying down for you."
Yes, in a meeting called because people mailed in/are thinking about mailing in their performances, someone should definitely confront arguably the hardest working guy on the roster in & out of the ring (not to mention a guy w/ a ton of great matches and has made the company tons of money and has earned every bit of the spot he is in).
Someone wouldn't want to have that discussion, but I'm preeeeetty sure that person isn't Cena.
Originally posted by lotjxIf and let me state if there was a talent meeting held by Cena. I would hope someone in that room would have said "Hey John, besides Vince being a moron, we are also in a not so subtle way protesting the way you are booked. So, unless you want to have that meeting...oh you don't. Ok, please continue to tell us why we suck while we are laying down for you."
Yes, in a meeting called because people mailed in/are thinking about mailing in their performances, someone should definitely confront arguably the hardest working guy on the roster in & out of the ring (not to mention a guy w/ a ton of great matches and has made the company tons of money and has earned every bit of the spot he is in).
Someone wouldn't want to have that discussion, but I'm preeeeetty sure that person isn't Cena.
(edited by Spaceman Spiff on 16.12.14 1237)
I question a lot of the notion of great matches and hard work with Cena. As we learned, Make A Wish and promo stuff is done by a lot of the WWE guys. I think Ambrose, Ziggler and others work as hard or harder than him. Most of them had better matches this year too. The massive problem with WWE booking is Cena. The idea that Cena has no say in his booking after ten year is laughable. Even more laughable is him holding a meeting about anything.
That's what's funny. See, why would Stone Cold be freestyling over an EPMD... actually, nevermind. You just reminded me that we need to keep this dialogue targeting the younger crowd. My bad.