Pro Wrasslin' Thread

[nocera]

The more I think about the ending to the main event, the more I think it's a work. Ronda's shoulders were clearly off the mat and they didn't shy away from showing that in the replay. Plus, Corey Graves made note of it. If it's a botch, they work around it and definitely don't have a commentator point it out. That's way worse than a botch in my opinion. That means they wanted to protect Ronda and not give Becky a clean win.

The crowd wasn't as up for Becky's win as they were Kofi. Obviously some of that has to do with the fact that the final pinfall came at 12:30 am after literally 7 and a half hours of wrestling. But, as Cagsjr pointed out, the majority of the crowd didn't even realize who won until the music started. Kofi's win was definitive, in the middle of the ring, and with his finisher. Becky had some weird ass crucifix that seemingly came out of nowhere and Ronda's shoulders weren't even down.

It's a shame that a match with so much hype had such an underwhelming finish. Overall, though, this was my favorite Mania in recent memory. Probably the best one since 30. They really need to do something about the length of these shows though.

[LeopardLetang]

Yeah the ending. Rousey bounced up complaining and the ref was in a blind spot somewhat so it was sellable to me that it was intentional like you said to protect her but get Becky the win

[Morkle]

Rousey broke her hand and it's unknown what her future is going forward. If that was a botch, that was awful. If it was a build-up to Summerslam, doesn't seem apparent right now.

[iamjs]

Hahha we joked about that afterwards. I remember the days of having to go pick up the cable box for PPVs and they would replay it again right afterwards and we, as like 8 year olds, thought it was awesome we got to watch it twice.

My timing was off, but I predicted the match I would wake up to this morning.

I was up at 5ish and Balor/Lashley was running. Of course I went right back to bed and did my best to get that extra hour of sleep, which only made me even more tired. I'm just dragging today. Third cup of coffee and it has done me no good so far.

I watched up to the end of the HHH match. I thought the show as a whole was really good.

DB vs Kofi was the best of the night. It seemed like the crowd was totally gassed after that. Rightfully so.

Entrances this year were super lame. HHH seemed liked a half-assed N64 game footage half baked idea.

It was probably one of the better manias of the 2010s, but the one thing they need to take away from this one is that it was either too damn long and that it ran way too late.

If you're gonna run an all day show, don't have the final pin hit at 12:25 AM. I get that this is their Super Bowl, their World Series, and they want to put everything into this specific event. But if they're gonna do that and feel the need to make it a literal all-day event, this is what I would do:

1pm - gates open. let the fans walk around, grab their souvenirs, food, etc.
2pm - preshow panel starts. Show highlights leading up to matches, panel talks, commercials, HOF inductee bios, etc.
3pm - show officially starts. Anthem, God Bless America, etc. Matches for midcarders, battle royals, etc. Maybe even throw a musical act in right before the 6pm hour.
6pm - Switch from free viewing (USA) to PPV/WWEn and start showing your feature matches. Four hours should be plenty, especially once it's filled with recaps and more advertisements. But why end at 10 when most PPVs run until 11? Because it's a 7-8 hr show and the fans are probably exhausted.

Even with that long of a schedule, it could still be trimmed by an hour or two.

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

so there's still two matches left

has there been rain during a previous WM? if so, what happened? did they roll through it or suspend stuff for an amount of time?

[skullman80]

so there's still two matches left

has there been rain during a previous WM? if so, what happened? did they roll through it or suspend stuff for an amount of time?

The ring and immediate area around it is under a big canopy so it's never really been an issue. I don't think it's ever down poured though or anything.

[iamjs]

even with the canopy, wouldn't you still have the issue of rain blowing in through the sides?

[shafnutz05]

That women's match...eh. Nice moment for them, but that was not a good main event. At all.

[nocera]

Rousey broke her hand and it's unknown what her future is going forward. If that was a botch, that was awful. If it was a build-up to Summerslam, doesn't seem apparent right now.

She was rumored to be taking time off anyway. It's not crazy to think that Vince would want to keep her protected even if she wasn't planning on returning until next year.

[nocera]

Meltzer confirms it was a botch:

“That was the finish because people were out there going, ‘The referee screwed up,'”

“None of that’s true, but she wasn’t supposed to get the shoulders up. That was just — it just happened. It wasn’t that she was… I don’t believe for a second that she was trying to play a game like some of the old time guys used to do where they didn’t want to do a job and they’re kinda pressured into it so they’ll kinda raise their shoulder up to kind of tell everyone, ‘Oh I’m doing a job I don’t wanna do.’ I don’t believe for a second that she’s doing that.”

“Whatever it was her shoulder ended up coming up and they called attention to it which I thought was really weird. Backstage I know that because people did not know the commentary. I know people who were not even aware of this. Because I was going like, you know: ‘They called attention to the fact that her shoulder wasn’t up,’ and it’s like, ‘Oh, well.'”

“I don’t know if it’s Vince’s call. I don’t know if Corey Graves did it on his own because that’s what the replay showed, but the fact that they did the replay to show it makes me think that they did it in production, it’s production’s call, but you know that was the only screw up. She was supposed to be really pinned.”

Meltzer mentioned that WWE had considered a submission finish:

“This is what I know, at one point the finish was going to be a submission finish and there were a lot of people who were for it and a lot of people who were against it. In the end, the idea was a pinfall and not a submission.”

Meltzer also noted that Rousey apparently suffered a broken hand:

“I have some news. Ronda has a broken hand. A severely broken hand. She was just diagnosed with it.”

[Morkle]

I don't think the submission angle makes sense given Rousey's acumen. I think I would have liked to have seen Becky do a superkick and knock her "out" or something (but I doubt Rousey would go for that given her UFC history).

[nocera]

Well fans have been conditioned to know when the match is ramping up to the finish. The main event did not ramp up. It just... ended. I would bet the match was cut down for time but still. The pacing was all off and it hurt the finish.

[Spangler]

I've been playing this in the background, and it's been entertaining so far. Will take multiple days to get through. Anyway, Pat McAfee hosts the watch-along and random wrestlers appear from time to time. Big Show tells some a-hole Randy Orton and Brock stories. You get some interesting insight about the wrestlers.

[Pavel Bure]

How to debut a wrestler. Say their name 1,000 times. Lars Sullivan

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

Taker needs to figure out his hair situation.

[Spangler]

Taker needs to figure out his hair situation.

Even the hair fears the Dead Man.

[Morkle]

Dude needs to just shave it.Or maybe his mission is to look like the crypt keeper.

[iamjs]

Taker needs to figure out his hair situation.

at this point I don't think he has many options.

He really did lose a bunch of it over the last year though.

[shafnutz05]

That reminds me of Prichard talking about how back in the late 80s/early 90s, there was a guy in post-production whose job was basically to ensure that there were no overhead/rear shots of Hogan's bald head.

[Freddy Rumsen]

Pritchard's podcast is gold for stuff like that.

[iamjs]

To this day I don't think Hogan has come to peace with his lack of hair, as evidenced by his formal bandanas that have been worn at court hearings and HOF ceremonies.

I have a feeling HBK is gonna be the same way.

[skullman80]

Hbk at least chopped his long hair off I think right?

[iamjs]

He buzzed his hair prior to one of the Crown Jewel events last year.

“Before this storyline started, I was doing a movie. I did this independent movie in Texas where I played a younger version with my hair and then I played an older version of me that got sick and everything else, so that’s why I ended up shaving it for the movie.”

“And then, I get called in to do this thing, and I though, ‘Do you know what? Hunter has got his head bald. I’m just going to go ahead and leave it that way.’ And it was thinning up there anyway, man, and so it was better to just chop it all off and now, it was gotten to where my wife likes it and you know the short stuff is much easier to manage.”

https://www.ringsidenews.com/2018/11/20 ... own-jewel/

But he's also another one that wear hats, bandanas, hats on top of bandanas at all WWE events. There was a promo on RAW where he and HHH were in the ring and I believe it was Kane that knocked his bandana/hat combo off. The first thing he did was try to find the bandana to cover his head.

[shafnutz05]

We know this already, but Vince is insane.

https://www.pwinsider.com/article/12563 ... e.html?p=1

WWE Creative team member Robert Evans was let go by World Wrestling Entertainment over Wrestlemania week, PWInsider.com has confirmed with multiple sources.

Several sources have told PWInsider.com that Evans was let go at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony after a speech he had produced featured a mention of Vince McMahon. McMahon has strongly stressed for years that he does not want to be mentioned or praised during the Hall of Fame ceremony, to the point it has become something of a running joke. When McMahon's name was mentioned, sources stated that Evans took the blame as writer and producer of that segment. One source stated the firing took place at the gorilla position as the Hall was ongoing.

As noted earlier today on PWInsider.com, WWE Creative Team member Robert Evans departed World Wrestling Entertainment the night of the WWE Hall of Fame.

While the story making the rounds among those in the company over the past 48 hours is that Evans was let go after Vince McMahon's name was mentioned during a Hall of Fame speech Evans was involved in producing, it was actually a "You can't fire me, I quit" scenario.

When it became obvious the company was going to terminate Evans for the issue, he instead quit before being terminated backstage at the WWE Hall of Fame, so his statement this morning is factually correct:

[shafnutz05]

Road Dogg also resigned yesterday from his role as the co-lead writer on Smackdown. It sounds like he finally reached his breaking point at Tuesday's Smackdown with all of Vince's changes to the script. I can't even imagine working for him.