I've seen far worse Raws but fully agree it was weak. Shame there was only one return in Riddle but good to see him back regardless. Maybe some will be on Smackdown.
Seems the women's titles are being unified. Having 2 world champions has always been shite.
Main event sets up Cody for his next feud pretty well. Lesnar is a good opponent for him to go over and he can play the sympathetic baby face well. Cue Lesnar F5ing him in 30 seconds for the PPV win!
Sami as a tag champ isn't too bad. Not what the angle deserved but better than jobbing to someone from Jackass. Shame the tag division is pretty weak.
I can't see where Bronson Reed fits into the roster with others like Bron Breaker, Lashley and Solo being of similar build to him and more established.
They'll find some schmuck to job to Roman. The reign is getting very stale though.
I'd love for HHH to get sick of VKM and go off and do his own thing, AEW style, but I know it will never happen. He has his faults, but WWE under him instead of Vince for the last 9 months has been markedly better
HHH’s booking across NXT/main roster has on the whole been very good. The way the Mania storyline built, to have that nonsense outcome just screams Vince McMahon not being able to help himself and interfering. Probably made the decision hours leading up to the match.
Even when Sami didn’t win at the Chamber, or when Drew lost in Cardiff, it was absolutely fine - because it served a bigger purpose and it didn’t cut the momentum of the story dead.
FFS why couldn’t Vince just keep his paws off it until after Mania. Genuinely think that in years to come the WM39 outcome will be referred to as the biggest misstep from a booking perspective maybe even going back as far as turning Austin heel.
HHH’s booking across NXT/main roster has on the whole been very good. The way the Mania storyline built, to have that nonsense outcome just screams Vince McMahon not being able to help himself and interfering. Probably made the decision hours leading up to the match.
Even when Sami didn’t win at the Chamber, or when Drew lost in Cardiff, it was absolutely fine - because it served a bigger purpose and it didn’t cut the momentum of the story dead.
FFS why couldn’t Vince just keep his paws off it until after Mania. Genuinely think that in years to come the WM39 outcome will be referred to as the biggest misstep from a booking perspective maybe even going back as far as turning Austin heel.
I do wonder if they know when and how they were going to finish the blood line story, and have done for a long time and have stuck with it despite the obvious temptation to change it.
Sami was meant to be a short term thing that got over and lasted much longer than it was intended.
Drew was the obvious candidate for the clash, which was a one off event.
I am not sure anyone expect Cody to get over to the level he has in the last 3 months. I think late last year no one would be as pissed that Cody did the job at mania.
The proof of wether it was worth it will be when it happens, but if Vince is back it will be to someone no one cares about in a cold match.
HHH’s booking across NXT/main roster has on the whole been very good. The way the Mania storyline built, to have that nonsense outcome just screams Vince McMahon not being able to help himself and interfering. Probably made the decision hours leading up to the match.
Even when Sami didn’t win at the Chamber, or when Drew lost in Cardiff, it was absolutely fine - because it served a bigger purpose and it didn’t cut the momentum of the story dead.
FFS why couldn’t Vince just keep his paws off it until after Mania. Genuinely think that in years to come the WM39 outcome will be referred to as the biggest misstep from a booking perspective maybe even going back as far as turning Austin heel.
I do wonder if they know when and how they were going to finish the blood line story, and have done for a long time and have stuck with it despite the obvious temptation to change it.
Sami was meant to be a short term thing that got over and lasted much longer than it was intended.
Drew was the obvious candidate for the clash, which was a one off event.
I am not sure anyone expect Cody to get over to the level he has in the last 3 months. I think late last year no one would be as pissed that Cody did the job at mania.
The proof of wether it was worth it will be when it happens, but if Vince is back it will be to someone no one cares about in a cold match.
HHH’s booking across NXT/main roster has on the whole been very good. The way the Mania storyline built, to have that nonsense outcome just screams Vince McMahon not being able to help himself and interfering. Probably made the decision hours leading up to the match.
Even when Sami didn’t win at the Chamber, or when Drew lost in Cardiff, it was absolutely fine - because it served a bigger purpose and it didn’t cut the momentum of the story dead.
FFS why couldn’t Vince just keep his paws off it until after Mania. Genuinely think that in years to come the WM39 outcome will be referred to as the biggest misstep from a booking perspective maybe even going back as far as turning Austin heel.
I do wonder if they know when and how they were going to finish the blood line story, and have done for a long time and have stuck with it despite the obvious temptation to change it.
Sami was meant to be a short term thing that got over and lasted much longer than it was intended.
Drew was the obvious candidate for the clash, which was a one off event.
I am not sure anyone expect Cody to get over to the level he has in the last 3 months. I think late last year no one would be as pissed that Cody did the job at mania.
The proof of wether it was worth it will be when it happens, but if Vince is back it will be to someone no one cares about in a cold match.
Anyway here is a picture of a horse.
My gut feel is that under HHH’s sole direction, there is no way that the outcome of WM39 is the one that disappointed everyone. All the parts had been played so well to build to a crescendo. Vince has just come in and ruined it at the last minute IMO.
To Cody’s credit, he is absolutely over at the moment. I was concerned that Sami’s momentum would mean the fans would resent Cody getting the Mania main event, but that wasn’t the case at all. The storytelling to keep all the major players involved helped that.
Not entirely sure how they’re going to explain the Brock angle though. No real logical reason for that feud. But again, just screams of something that has been thrown together at short notice.
Drew - A few people were disappointed, especially the 70k in attendance and Drew himself who has asked for a release. Drew got screwed not having his 'mania moment and this was the perfect make good.
Sami - Probably 50/50 disappointment? The fact Cody was in the wings meant some people were acceptable to it.
Cody - On the Jarrett preview podcast Jeff said Roman not doing the honours would hurt Roman. People like myself who don't lile Cody were fine but we're definitely in the minority and there is a third strike and your out feel to it. If none of the above than who?
Drew - A few people were disappointed, especially the 70k in attendance and Drew himself who has asked for a release. Drew got screwed not having his 'mania moment and this was the perfect make good.
Sami - Probably 50/50 disappointment? The fact Cody was in the wings meant some people were acceptable to it.
Cody - On the Jarrett preview podcast Jeff said Roman not doing the honours would hurt Roman. People like myself who don't lile Cody were fine but we're definitely in the minority and there is a third strike and your out feel to it. If none of the above than who?
I am not trying to suggest it's the right thing to do, just what I think they are doing.
Should they use the title to give people who deserve it a moment? Did not putting the strap on Drew effect sales for the next UK PPV, which sold out in minutes without a match being announced?
I think they have planned for a while who, and when, will beat Roman and you can't end a 1000 run on a whim or a fad because it obviously takes 3 years to build it.
A UK PPV wasn't in the long term plan then, neither was Sami being so over. Someone had to win the rumble and do the job, if the pay off was already set in stone.
The whole point of Wrestling is that you can make an audible on the fly when the audience dictates that you should.
Solo/Jey or whoever isn't going to be as over as Sami or Cody were. Solo doesn't have the quality to connect with the audience than the other two do and Jey has already has his main event spot feud with Roman that didn't really capture the imagination as well as Sami or Cody did.
Cody will now be hurt by losing and then entering a pointless feud with Brock. Even if he beats Brock, he won't be as over because some of the crowd will prefer Brock over Cody.
Sami is now in a tag division where over wrestlers go to die. There's no talent there and other than the New Day or Bryan/Kane team, no tag team has ever gotten over in the tag division recently.
If Drew or Sami had won their title matches against Roman, then you don’t have the two red hot main events which we had going into WM39.
A very large chunk of the anticipation of WM was about finally seeing the Bloodline being brought down. The streak on both the tag and world titles were needed for that to happen.
Otherwise Zayn or Drew just get their one off moments and end up being another Kofi Kingston, and Wrestlemania just feels a little less special.
They made all the right decisions right up until the final one.
Yep, they made the right decisions as Drew is leaving.
Stories need an ending and Reign's reign is getting stale now. If WWE didn't make changes they would have had Batista (as popular as pubic lice) against Orton as a 'mania main event. Instead their biggest face Danielson sent the crowd home happy. WCW kept the NWO going too long (that also had no proper ending) to their detriment and they were still filling arenas after it had faded away, but not for long.
I wouldn't say the tag match was red hot, just Sami is red hot.
Yep, they made the right decisions as Drew is leaving.
Stories need an ending and Reign's reign is getting stale now. If WWE didn't make changes they would have had Batista (as popular as pubic lice) against Orton as a 'mania main event. Instead their biggest face Danielson sent the crowd home happy. WCW kept the NWO going too long (that also had no proper ending) to their detriment and they were still filling arenas after it had faded away, but not for long.
I wouldn't say the tag match was red hot, just Sami is red hot.
They were building a major, long term storyline that had people interested. You can’t just cut that off to give Drew his ‘moment’ and keep him happy. He had a pretty significant main event spot (albeit unfortunately during the pandemic), but he isn’t in Roman’s league. And was never going to be. I like him, but he’s not much more of a loss than someone like Bray Wyatt was a couple of years ago.
And yes, the tag match was red hot. Hence why it was rightfully a Wrestlemania main event. Sami played an enormous part in it, but the story was just as much about the expected end of the Bloodline. That was the hook to make people tune in.
Yep, they made the right decisions as Drew is leaving.
Stories need an ending and Reign's reign is getting stale now. If WWE didn't make changes they would have had Batista (as popular as pubic lice) against Orton as a 'mania main event. Instead their biggest face Danielson sent the crowd home happy. WCW kept the NWO going too long (that also had no proper ending) to their detriment and they were still filling arenas after it had faded away, but not for long.
I wouldn't say the tag match was red hot, just Sami is red hot.
They were building a major, long term storyline that had people interested. You can’t just cut that off to give Drew his ‘moment’ and keep him happy. He had a pretty significant main event spot (albeit unfortunately during the pandemic), but he isn’t in Roman’s league. And was never going to be. I like him, but he’s not much more of a loss than someone like Bray Wyatt was a couple of years ago.
And yes, the tag match was red hot. Hence why it was rightfully a Wrestlemania main event. Sami played an enormous part in it, but the story was just as much about the expected end of the Bloodline. That was the hook to make people tune in.
Drew had potential to be a main star, the pandemic robbed him of that. I'm guessing you didn't see much of his indy run.
The problem now is who can realistically beat Roman? He's beaten everyone and the streak is stale now. Lossing to Drew then winning it back or fueding with the bloodline wouldn't have hurt the storyline, an 800 day run or so is still very impressive. In fact a defeat could have been more interesting then what's ended up occuring. Drew is a big loss to the promotion.
Crowd was hot for whatever Sami would have been in. Now he's a champion of small division that means next to nothing.
I was with my partner at the O2 Arena last night and she asked whether AEW would be big enough to do the O2. I responded and said they probably could, but at a stretch 😂
This is absolutely bonkers, but can’t help but have respect for the ambition of it.
I was with my partner at the O2 Arena last night and she asked whether AEW would be big enough to do the O2. I responded and said they probably could, but at a stretch 😂
This is absolutely bonkers, but can’t help but have respect for the ambition of it.
Sounds like you have no idea the sheer size and scale of the wrestling fandom in the UK.
I was with my partner at the O2 Arena last night and she asked whether AEW would be big enough to do the O2. I responded and said they probably could, but at a stretch 😂
This is absolutely bonkers, but can’t help but have respect for the ambition of it.
As an AEW fan Im super excited for this, but I cant see it drawing more than 30-40k at best? Regarding AEW interest in the UK, you've only got to look at this thread, it's 90% WWE, and that's from ppl with a large interest in wrestling. The wider public interest would probably be similar.
AEW is free to watch on TV in the UK unlike WWE, but so was WCW back in the day....
I was with my partner at the O2 Arena last night and she asked whether AEW would be big enough to do the O2. I responded and said they probably could, but at a stretch 😂
This is absolutely bonkers, but can’t help but have respect for the ambition of it.
Sounds like you have no idea the sheer size and scale of the wrestling fandom in the UK.
AEW would do the 02 easy.
I’m well aware of the scale of it, I’ve been an event-going wrestling fan based in the UK my entire life. Thanks though.
You realise the O2 holds 20,000 people?
For a regular Dynamite show, yeah they probably would fill the O2 on the basis of it being the very first show in the UK. But I don’t know if it would be a case where it sells out instantly like a UFC show or a WWE PPV.
I recall NXT:Takeover London, which was held at Wembley Arena (capacity 12,500) right when NXT was at its hottest. The crowd for that was akin to what I would expect for AEW - ‘smart’ fans who were pretty amped to have their favourite wrestling show in the UK for the first time. I was able to get a ticket through the official ticket seller about 4 days before the event…..
I’ll be amazed if they sell out Wembley Stadium to anywhere near the full capacity - but absolutely hoping that they do.
This is a unique occasion, so I don’t think anybody knows for sure how it will go.
Fans from around Europe could fly in to London to watch it, if it's even broadcasted there?
AEW isn't main stream in this country, it's on ITV4. Maybe some causal channel surfers may have found it but the majority of their fan base is hardcore fans and there isn't Wembley stadium numbers of them.
Cardiff didn't sell out, more due to prices than popularity, so this is mental for a far smaller company. Expect decent prices and loads of competitions, perhaps a move to Wembley Arena due to fears of snipers going after MJF. 😉
Would be funny in a petty way if they had Drew winning the strap!
Those who are old enough may remember that it was quite common for the old Wembley to run events that were out of sync with the size of the venue fairly regularly.
Greyhound racing, hockey, cricket, celebrity ‘soccer aid’ type events, monster trucks etc.
If they managed 40k-ish for this, that would actually be pretty impressive. Ticket prices needs to match the demand though, so no £70-£80 for a basic row Z ticket WWE nonsense.
Apparently Drew McIntyre contract finishes up at the start of August. Would be a big star for AEW to attract.
Don't think he would be available to make a shock appearance at the Wembley All-In. He would have a 3 month no-compete clause after his contract expires like most wrestlers.
Apparently Drew McIntyre contract finishes up at the start of August. Would be a big star for AEW to attract.
Don't think he would be available to make a shock appearance at the Wembley All-In. He would have a 3 month no-compete clause after his contract expires like most wrestlers.
Pretty sure the 3 month no-complete clause is only when wrestlers ask for a release. If the contract has finished there is nothing WWE can do to stop someone turning up elsewhere.
Apparently Drew McIntyre contract finishes up at the start of August. Would be a big star for AEW to attract.
Don't think he would be available to make a shock appearance at the Wembley All-In. He would have a 3 month no-compete clause after his contract expires like most wrestlers.
Pretty sure the 3 month no-complete clause is only when wrestlers ask for a release. If the contract has finished there is nothing WWE can do to stop someone turning up elsewhere.
The standard 90 day non compete isn't a non compete at all, it's their notice where they still get paid and are under contract.
There are very few non compete clauses, Brock had one when he went to play football and Vince sued him when he went to New Japan.
Comments
Seems the women's titles are being unified. Having 2 world champions has always been shite.
Main event sets up Cody for his next feud pretty well. Lesnar is a good opponent for him to go over and he can play the sympathetic baby face well. Cue Lesnar F5ing him in 30 seconds for the PPV win!
Sami as a tag champ isn't too bad. Not what the angle deserved but better than jobbing to someone from Jackass. Shame the tag division is pretty weak.
I can't see where Bronson Reed fits into the roster with others like Bron Breaker, Lashley and Solo being of similar build to him and more established.
They'll find some schmuck to job to Roman. The reign is getting very stale though.
Even when Sami didn’t win at the Chamber, or when Drew lost in Cardiff, it was absolutely fine - because it served a bigger purpose and it didn’t cut the momentum of the story dead.
Sami was meant to be a short term thing that got over and lasted much longer than it was intended.
Drew was the obvious candidate for the clash, which was a one off event.
I am not sure anyone expect Cody to get over to the level he has in the last 3 months. I think late last year no one would be as pissed that Cody did the job at mania.
The proof of wether it was worth it will be when it happens, but if Vince is back it will be to someone no one cares about in a cold match.
Anyway here is a picture of a horse.
Drew - A few people were disappointed, especially the 70k in attendance and Drew himself who has asked for a release. Drew got screwed not having his 'mania moment and this was the perfect make good.
Sami - Probably 50/50 disappointment? The fact Cody was in the wings meant some people were acceptable to it.
Cody - On the Jarrett preview podcast Jeff said Roman not doing the honours would hurt Roman. People like myself who don't lile Cody were fine but we're definitely in the minority and there is a third strike and your out feel to it. If none of the above than who?
Should they use the title to give people who deserve it a moment? Did not putting the strap on Drew effect sales for the next UK PPV, which sold out in minutes without a match being announced?
I think they have planned for a while who, and when, will beat Roman and you can't end a 1000 run on a whim or a fad because it obviously takes 3 years to build it.
A UK PPV wasn't in the long term plan then, neither was Sami being so over. Someone had to win the rumble and do the job, if the pay off was already set in stone.
Solo/Jey or whoever isn't going to be as over as Sami or Cody were. Solo doesn't have the quality to connect with the audience than the other two do and Jey has already has his main event spot feud with Roman that didn't really capture the imagination as well as Sami or Cody did.
Cody will now be hurt by losing and then entering a pointless feud with Brock. Even if he beats Brock, he won't be as over because some of the crowd will prefer Brock over Cody.
Sami is now in a tag division where over wrestlers go to die. There's no talent there and other than the New Day or Bryan/Kane team, no tag team has ever gotten over in the tag division recently.
Stories need an ending and Reign's reign is getting stale now. If WWE didn't make changes they would have had Batista (as popular as pubic lice) against Orton as a 'mania main event. Instead their biggest face Danielson sent the crowd home happy. WCW kept the NWO going too long (that also had no proper ending) to their detriment and they were still filling arenas after it had faded away, but not for long.
I wouldn't say the tag match was red hot, just Sami is red hot.
The problem now is who can realistically beat Roman? He's beaten everyone and the streak is stale now. Lossing to Drew then winning it back or fueding with the bloodline wouldn't have hurt the storyline, an 800 day run or so is still very impressive. In fact a defeat could have been more interesting then what's ended up occuring. Drew is a big loss to the promotion.
Crowd was hot for whatever Sami would have been in. Now he's a champion of small division that means next to nothing.
This is absolutely bonkers, but can’t help but have respect for the ambition of it.
AEW would do the 02 easy.
https://talksport.com › sport › wrestling › tony-khan-aew...
As an AEW fan Im super excited for this, but I cant see it drawing more than 30-40k at best? Regarding AEW interest in the UK, you've only got to look at this thread, it's 90% WWE, and that's from ppl with a large interest in wrestling. The wider public interest would probably be similar.
AEW is free to watch on TV in the UK unlike WWE, but so was WCW back in the day....
I recall NXT:Takeover London, which was held at Wembley Arena (capacity 12,500) right when NXT was at its hottest. The crowd for that was akin to what I would expect for AEW - ‘smart’ fans who were pretty amped to have their favourite wrestling show in the UK for the first time. I was able to get a ticket through the official ticket seller about 4 days before the event…..
I’ll be amazed if they sell out Wembley Stadium to anywhere near the full capacity - but absolutely hoping that they do.
AEW isn't main stream in this country, it's on ITV4. Maybe some causal channel surfers may have found it but the majority of their fan base is hardcore fans and there isn't Wembley stadium numbers of them.
Cardiff didn't sell out, more due to prices than popularity, so this is mental for a far smaller company. Expect decent prices and loads of competitions, perhaps a move to Wembley Arena due to fears of snipers going after MJF. 😉
Would be funny in a petty way if they had Drew winning the strap!
This feels like something in that realm.
Will remain to be seen how well AEW can sell for a similarly sized event for them
There are very few non compete clauses, Brock had one when he went to play football and Vince sued him when he went to New Japan.