Universal Wrestling Topic

[Octane]

I took the time to thoroughly scroll through the original Wrestling topic from 2003, and this topic up until early 2009/late 2008.

 

 

I can confidently say it was definitely around summer 2007 when users started complaining more and more about the quality of the show. Hating how John Cena kept retaining, wrestlers getting suspended or released, and weak finishes. Mid 2008 was when users started getting tired of the same old storylines. Once it went PG in July 2008, users stated this was the death of wrestling. Late 2008, they stated it wasn't the same as before, and early 2009 that's when most ruthless aggression fans stopped watching.

[String]

Tangentially related to the above, here seems to be some complaints about WWE, back in 1999/2000

 

http://www.tupwrestlingforum.com/iwc-complaining-1999-2000_topic17091.html

 

Some gems

Quote

I was sick and tired of Stone Cold, he isn'ta good wrestler anyway. He has just as much stamina as Chyna which alot. They both start out fast and end up slow, most of their of their matches are boring.

 

Quote

Raw was so damn boring. Is anybody else tired of HHH and the others coming at and talking the same boring **** every Monday night? Give me a break. And then Jericho comes out and says the same crap he has been saying for awhile.

 

I remember someone sharing a post on reddit of some hilarious criticism of the Rock on some web page back in the late 90s or something like that, can't remember or find it now though. Obviously the attitude era was a successful period for WWE but maybe there were corners of the internet back then slating off WWE even during this time lol, funny to think about. 

 

who do you all predict will win Money in the Bank this year, think it will be someone from Smackdown. 

[Kamus89]

 

[Corndawg93]

The pop for John Cena was F*CKING LOUD, HOLY SH*T

[String]

Summerslam card is shaping up to be better than Mania lol

 

Reigns v Cena

Lashley v Goldberg (?) 

Charlotte v Becky (?) 

Edge v Rollins

Mcintyre v Mahal

 

Hope to see Cena close the show with the title raised like the old days. 

Edited July 19, 2021 by Wayne Kerr

[Is this The Guy?]

Just saw that they released Bray Wyatt. Wow

[String]

Bray and Braun main evented last Summerslam

By this edition both are gone

[Is this The Guy?]

I was watching Jaws on Sling TV and opened the channel menu just to see what else was on during the commercial break.  I never saw an episode of anything AEW and came across AEW Rampage and figured I’d give it a quick watch.  Damn near lost my sh*t when first thing I saw was CM Punk giving a promo.

[Quinn_flower]

holy sh*t punk is back.....

[Lonely-Martin]

Loving the reactions online after Punk's return to the squared circle. It goes from 'Jesus is back to save wrestling in the best moment in history' to 'most overrated horsesh*t ever seen' or something like that, lol. It's exploded out there, brilliant!

 

It was a great moment though. Looking forward to see how AEW uses the momentum, and hopefully it becomes a moment where WWE start to think about pushing back and as an all round wrestling fan, I/we can just be entertained like we know wrestling can do. Punk's return has done the number one thing in the wrestling world and got people talking all over the place, always a good move.

 

Not Punk's biggest fan I'll admit but it's something many have long wanted to see and that reaction was awesome to see. To me he's 'alright', better heel and hard to cheer like that, lol. Him vs Darby Allen isn't what I expected to see, but good luck to the lad as I'm sure being in a program with Punk will elevate him indeed and maybe I'll see something more in Darby after this, who knows. Plus it's a good warm up for Punk of course, shake off that ring rust asap. Fair enough and something I believe the older generation should do with the new to build new stars, so no real complaints really.

 

That said, while that's going on, WWE is going into SummerSlam with Roman saying he'll quit WWE if he loses the title to Cena, lol. Oh dear! Yet more of the boring Roman/Uso overpush that really is the perfect sleeping pill. A certain Roman win then - Nothing new, the man can't and never has truly drawn, but he pleases Vince and is related to The Rock so we get more pushed down our throats. And of course, what else have we got to come? Goldberg vs Lashley, Drew (with his mighty sword) vs Jinder. C'mon, what a PPV!!! Uugh!

 

Rollins will do well to get a compelling match out of a gassed Edge who can't cut a promo without huffing and puffing, it's possible and could even be match of the night though TBH as Rollins is a talent, but we'll see. And I don't care a hoot about Banks/Bianca or Nikki ASH (lol!)/Ripley (who clearly isn't ready). Banks is very talented but needs the right opponent to thrive, but this feud is God-awful. Hopefully the Banks/Bianca match is pulled as rumoured and Charlotte just dominates hers and goes on to Becky. Need more Asuka out there too. Not interested in either tag title match, which is a shame for both Rey and AJ Styles because I do like these guys, but these are nothing matches for me. And whatever Johnny Drip Drip is doing with The Miz, oof!

 

The only potential saving grace for the Smackdown title (as we know the Raw title, and brand, is an afterthought at the moment) is Big E cashing in on Roman straight after, which I think is a 'now or never' thing TBH. But Big E will have to shake the New Day gimmick to get over properly I believe, not sure he will and Roman won't be without that belt for long.

 

I think AEW are in for Daniel Bryan too, and I wouldn't complain if they nabbed up Bray and Strowman to see if they can add to the roster. They're growing their recognised stars pool well while growing their own and that's often proved a good mix, hopefully goes well and we fans benefit from a more competitive and varied wrestling industry that for so long went stale and just too childish in areas. Just need a few less botched finishes in AEW to help strike while it's hot.

 

I know it's near impossible, but so was a CM Punk return at one point, but if AEW got Brock Lesnar in I would really laugh, and that would just be awesome to see/read the fallout from. Do it Tony!

[Lonely-Martin]

Ok, so Brock ain't available, lol.

 

Was expecting Becky to pop in, but wasn't expecting her to win so quickly. Good, good. And Charlotte back on top too, nice!

 

Actually enjoyed Lashley destroying Goldberg to be fair, but an obvious Roman win was obvious, boo!

 

So bored of that man. We need a real star.

[Corndawg93]

Lotta neat things happened over the past 72 hours

[Guest]

Is it just me or WWE has turned Cena into a literal weakling? I mean, I bet he can defeat The Brothers of Destruction on a 2-1 handicapped match if the year was 2005-2009 but now I bet He can't even defeat a female wrestler.

 

and also, Brock looks weird with his new looks  

He kinda looks like Bray Wyatt now.

[DexMacLeod]

6 hours ago, Andrew005 said:

Is it just me or WWE has turned Cena into a literal weakling? I mean, I bet he can defeat The Brothers of Destruction on a 2-1 handicapped match if the year was 2005-2009 but now I bet He can't even defeat a female wrestler.

It makes sense, though. There's no point in building Cena up, and making the champ look weak, if he's just going to leave again the next day. Plus, they needed to build Reigns up a little more for Lesnar. 

[Corndawg93]

AEWs All Out was top notch

Edited September 6, 2021 by Corndawg93

[Xavina]

What a night, lads

[Is this The Guy?]

Didn’t watch it but the Adam Cole and Daniel Bryan debut vid popped up on my YouTube feed.  Daniel Bryan looks good.  He looks healthy and happy, good for him.

 

I wish I could get more into this.  I mean as much as I was hyped for CM Punk finally returning to pro wrestling and seeing Daniel Bryan( Bryan Danielson, I beg your pardon) and witnessing their pops, well aside from Christian, I have no idea who these people that they are wrestling are.

[Corndawg93]

I'm so glad we're getting Kenny vs Danielson for FREE 

Edited September 20, 2021 by Corndawg93

[String]

Not much of a fan of either the current WWE champ or the universal champion, so not exactly jumping to follow WWE these days though who am I kidding lol, and I realize I'm in the minority about my opinion of the champs too

 

Waiting for Mcintyre to kick Romans head off at Mania. 

 

Lot of acclaim for Omega-Danielson, surely this isn't their last bout? Though Bryan ain't gonna be the one to dethrone him... 

[DexMacLeod]

LOL, WWE had twice as many gimmick matches on the Raw after the Extreme Rules PPV as they did on the Extreme Rules PPV. I think maybe it's time to come up with a new name for the September event.

[String]

Kind of feel gimmick PPVs like HIAC, TLC, Extreme Rules are better off shelved and stipulations like the Cell and Extreme Rules are only added to feuds that warrant it. 

 

McIntyre vs Big E should be fun, hope that doesn't mean Drew stays on Raw, he's done pretty much everything on this show it's time to take down Roman. 

[DexMacLeod]

Yeah, I agree for the most part when it comes to things like TLC, Hell in a Cell, and Elimination Chamber, but the thing I liked about Extreme Rules is that it didn't necessarily revolve around one specific gimmick match. There could be Extreme Rules matches but there could also be last man standing matches, falls count anywhere matches, and even "on a pole" matches. I always liked the randomness of that.

 

Maybe they should just bring back Cyber Sunday, lol.

[String]

They should bring back Great Balls of Fire dammit! 

 

16 minutes ago, DexMacLeod said:

and even "on a pole" matches. I always liked the randomness of that.

Roman v Brock should be a Heyman on a pole match, with Paul dangling by the back of his suit. 

 

Edit: huh apparently Cyber Sunday was a voting based PPV, sounds crazy lol unfortunately it was before my time

Edited September 30, 2021 by Wayne Kerr

[String]

WWE Draft results night one

 

Quote

SmackDown

 

Roman Reigns
Charlotte Flair
Drew McIntyre
Kofi Kingston
Xavier Woods
Happy Corbin
Madcap Moss
Isaiah “Swerve” Scott
Ashante “Thee” Adonis
Top Dolla
B-FAB
Naomi
Jeff Hardy

Raw

 

Big E
Bianca Belair
Randy Orton
Riddle
Edge
Rhea Ripley
Nikki A.S.H.
Keith “Bearcat” Lee
Rey Mysterio
Dominik Mysterio
Austin Theory

 

Few observations

 

- Drew to Smackdown yay! Also shows they value him as the top face by selecting him so early

 

- I read FOX was adamant on having Charlotte to Smackdown and Raw could get Becky in response

 

- New Day once again split up lol

 

- Edge drafted to Raw where he was supposed to be before the Rumble win

 

- Lesnar is a free agent

 

- I read these changes only come into effect from Oct 22

 

Curious to see where Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn end up cause they're two I like and cause of the AEW rumours

Edited October 2, 2021 by Wayne Kerr

[DexMacLeod]

I don't know why I always fool myself into thinking these Draft episodes are going to be interesting. 90% of the draft picks are just anti-climactic "things are staying the same" announcement. This year may have been the most nonsensical with how few champions ended up getting drafted. It just never really feels like two brands trying to outdo each other to draft the better roster.

 

Personally, I think they should get rid of the draft and just do the "superstar shakeup" thing they used to do. 

[String]

I think to save some excitement for the Raw draft night, they are saving the midcard champs to be drafted then, world champs drafted on night one and tag and midcard champs on night two. Just trying to play devils advocate. Though I am not the biggest fan of this draft system either. 

 

If you were wondering what Bo Dallas was doing these days, he's started a YouTube channel

Found this on Cageside Seats

 

Mr NXT! I miss NXT 2013-2015

Edited October 3, 2021 by Wayne Kerr

[_Dirty_]

How you guys feel about AEW lately?

 

Huge Punk fan, but i kinda wanna see him presented as a bigger deal now. I understand hes probably the one pitching about working with new talent, but he almost feels like just another guy on the roster already. Bryan on the other hand has been booked pretty good.

 

Hangman Page is probably the next AEW champ, not a huge fan but man the dude is OVER. Even Mox was booed against him. Excited for his storyline with Omega to come full circle.

 

About WWE, i don't really watch it other than highlights on YT. I dig the tribal chief storyline but other than that the shows are pretty dull. I wish my boy McIntyre would win the WWE title again but it's not looking good.

 

[String]

3 hours ago, _Dirty_ said:

How you guys feel about AEW lately?

Its great to see its success, I only watch parts I like online as I do with WWE and read the rest of the show online so may not be the best qualified to say this but it gives me 2013-2015 NXT vibes where the show feels novel and exciting and almost everything the brand touches turns to gold. Be nice if AEW grows to the point where Dynamite and Rampage have exclusive rosters like Raw and Smackdown.

 

3 hours ago, _Dirty_ said:

 

Huge Punk fan, but i kinda wanna see him presented as a bigger deal now. I understand hes probably the one pitching about working with new talent, but he almost feels like just another guy on the roster already. Bryan on the other hand has been booked pretty good.

I think whats happening there is Punk is returning from a near decade hiatus so they want to have him work with the 'lower card' to build himself up and show that he's slowly regaining his step to Prime Punk. Whereas Bryan main evented a WM few months ago and can be considered to be in his prime so rather than having him mess around in the midcard they hotshotted him straight to the main event against Omega.

 

CM Punk will only truly feel like Punk when he's dropping pipebombs at the main event so lets hope it happens sooner than later.

 

3 hours ago, _Dirty_ said:

Hangman Page is probably the next AEW champ, not a huge fan but man the dude is OVER. Even Mox was booed against him. Excited for his storyline with Omega to come full circle.

I've grown to like Hangman quite a bit after thinking 'whats there in this guy' before. That being said I like Omega too, I feel his current run will get more appreciation in hindsight, but yeah time to drop the title to Page. You know the roof will be blown out the place when he kicks out of the One Winged Angel. Should be a great emotional filled  match probably the most since Cody v Dustin

 

Also I want to mention, Malakai Black is an absolute star, Would be cool to see a 'House of Black' faction where he recruits followers to his cause for annihilation

 

3 hours ago, _Dirty_ said:

 

About WWE, i don't really watch it other than highlights on YT. I dig the tribal chief storyline but other than that the shows are pretty dull. 

I hate the tribal chief story lol but I know I'm in a minority

 

3 hours ago, _Dirty_ said:

I wish my boy McIntyre would win the WWE title again but it's not looking good.

McIntyre wont win the WWE title soon but I'm calling it now, he's gonna beat Roman for the Universal title at Mania. Drew McIntyre is my favourite, his Royal Rumble victory was what hooked me back to pro wrestling after a lapsed two years and he just feels like a warrior to me. So if(/when ) he beats Roman, us Drew fans will bask in the  satisfaction of victory...

 

[_Dirty_]

8 hours ago, Wayne Kerr said:

Its great to see its success, I only watch parts I like online as I do with WWE and read the rest of the show online so may not be the best qualified to say this but it gives me 2013-2015 NXT vibes where the show feels novel and exciting and almost everything the brand touches turns to gold. Be nice if AEW grows to the point where Dynamite and Rampage have exclusive rosters like Raw and Smackdown.

 

I think whats happening there is Punk is returning from a near decade hiatus so they want to have him work with the 'lower card' to build himself up and show that he's slowly regaining his step to Prime Punk. Whereas Bryan main evented a WM few months ago and can be considered to be in his prime so rather than having him mess around in the midcard they hotshotted him straight to the main event against Omega.

 

CM Punk will only truly feel like Punk when he's dropping pipebombs at the main event so lets hope it happens sooner than later.

 

I've grown to like Hangman quite a bit after thinking 'whats there in this guy' before. That being said I like Omega too, I feel his current run will get more appreciation in hindsight, but yeah time to drop the title to Page. You know the roof will be blown out the place when he kicks out of the One Winged Angel. Should be a great emotional filled  match probably the most since Cody v Dustin

 

Also I want to mention, Malakai Black is an absolute star, Would be cool to see a 'House of Black' faction where he recruits followers to his cause for annihilation

 

I hate the tribal chief story lol but I know I'm in a minority

 

McIntyre wont win the WWE title soon but I'm calling it now, he's gonna beat Roman for the Universal title at Mania. Drew McIntyre is my favourite, his Royal Rumble victory was what hooked me back to pro wrestling after a lapsed two years and he just feels like a warrior to me. So if(/when ) he beats Roman, us Drew fans will bask in the  satisfaction of victory...

 

I get what they're doing with Punk, he's probably the one who asked to work with young talent like Garcia or Hobbs.. but it's like you said, we really need Punk in main event feuds dropping pipebombs to feel like a huge star again, wouldn't mind Tony Khan turning heel and Punk going against him to be honest.

 

Huge Omega fan, his current character is a bit goofy sometimes and i cringe at some of the Elite stuff, but Omega and Cole are absolute stars. Hangman beating Omega will be a huge feel good moment. As far as Malakai, he and Miro were so wasted in WWE, it's almost embarassing.. i just hope Cody doesn't beat Black next week.

 

I like the storyline with Roman because i always thought he was a natural heel and the main reason he was flopping was because they didn't allow him to bem himself on television. I feel like current Roman is the character he should have had since 2015, when people turned on him and booed his babyface push.

 

Yeah i would love Drew to be the one beating Roman, but i don't know.. Heard rumors Rock is coming back so that's probably the WM main event and if SummerSlam is indeed in the UK it would make sense for Drew to finally have his title win with a large crowd cheering him. I just feel like ever since the Lashley feud he's being booked pretty bad, it doesn't make sense for him to lose to Big E (not a New Day fan, so im biased lol) before going to SmackDown. Let's see what happens.

[String]

(Will be talking Crown Jewel spoilers here)

 

I heard Rock is coming back in WM 39 in California (Wrestlemania Hollywood) and he may not appear in WM 38. I still think Drew is gonna be the one taking the belt off Roman but Crown Jewel was not so good as a Drew fan, Big E won and not only that he kicked out of the Claymore. I guess its a great thing for E since even monsters like Lashley and Goldberg went down to the Claymore. But Drew needs some building up lol

 

Who's next for Roman though? There's some time between now and Mania but apart from McIntyre I dont see any other credible challengers on the Smackdown roster, maybe Nakamura and they go back to Cesaro. Or maybe Drew isnt Roman's Mania opponent this year and faces him earlier but even then idk, seems like opponents are running out.

 

Congratulations to Vega and Woods for ascending the throne (even if I'm not the biggest New Day fan and wanted Balor to win)

 

Edge keeps having these marathon matches, dude's return has been phenomenal. Props to Rollins too it takes two to tango

 

edit: lol

 

Edited October 22, 2021 by Wayne Kerr