I quit going to WrassleGAF every hour of my life somewhere around Extreme Rules 2014, and apart from some obvious jokes, some people trying to be "depressingly realistic" and Sunflower who likes muscular, bad wrestlers as a gimmick (wouldn't classify that as a "joke"), I never saw anyone who actually liked him to the extent you make it sound like people did here.
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Royal Rumble 2015 |OT| 30 Men enter. Roman remains.
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I quit going to WrassleGAF every hour of my life somewhere around Extreme Rules 2014, and apart from some obvious jokes, some people trying to be "depressingly realistic" and Sunflower who likes muscular, bad wrestlers as a gimmick (wouldn't classify that as a "joke"), I never saw anyone who actually liked him to the extent you make it sound like people did here.
Basically vince is still stuck in the mindset that the best way to run a wrestling promotion is to make one mega star and build your product completely around them.
That may have worked in the 70s and 80s and early 90s, when exposure to individual wrestlers was rare, and were less than a handful of major events a year. But when you're putting out 6-10 hours of TV product a week and PPVs every 3 weeks.... you can NOT have your company built around one person. You can't have the same characters doing the same things for 5 or 6 years, let alone 10 years. You need a diverse set of main event guys, seamless transitions to and from the mid card, you need characters changing it up constantly, you need to establish histories between each individual on the roster and every other individual on the roster. You need lore. Because I don't care if you're John Cena, Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, Hulk Hogan, The Rock, or Stone Cold Steve Austin, people WILL get tired of the same old shit... and the more volume of product you put out, the quicker that will happen. Especially when there's so many more distractions now than there were even during the Ruthless Aggression era.
With so much product, deciding in late 2013 that roman reigns is going to be the big star by WM in 2015 means that you have to pray the fans don't tire of him over the next 500 hours of TV and PPV, and that you make his progress believable. Because there's going to be a long time for fans to digest things in the meantime. And they'll see where you're going with things, and be able to tell if it's going to suck
That may have worked in the 70s and 80s and early 90s, when exposure to individual wrestlers was rare, and were less than a handful of major events a year. But when you're putting out 6-10 hours of TV product a week and PPVs every 3 weeks.... you can NOT have your company built around one person. You can't have the same characters doing the same things for 5 or 6 years, let alone 10 years. You need a diverse set of main event guys, seamless transitions to and from the mid card, you need characters changing it up constantly, you need to establish histories between each individual on the roster and every other individual on the roster. You need lore. Because I don't care if you're John Cena, Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, Hulk Hogan, The Rock, or Stone Cold Steve Austin, people WILL get tired of the same old shit... and the more volume of product you put out, the quicker that will happen. Especially when there's so many more distractions now than there were even during the Ruthless Aggression era.
With so much product, deciding in late 2013 that roman reigns is going to be the big star by WM in 2015 means that you have to pray the fans don't tire of him over the next 500 hours of TV and PPV, and that you make his progress believable. Because there's going to be a long time for fans to digest things in the meantime. And they'll see where you're going with things, and be able to tell if it's going to suck
TheStruggler
Report me for trolling ND/TLoU2 threads
holy.....fuck...that is bad
Liquidsnake
Banned
So don't you find it hilarious when Vince tells SCSA that "I just listen to the fans"
I like Roman Reigns but that doesn't mean I think he should main event Wrestlemania. I said last year he should spend a good 18 months cutting his teeth in the midcard before getting his top guy push. Too bad the midcard has simply become where careers go to die.
This was worse than I imagined.
Blackstarhat
Member
He was ok before they turned him into cena 2.0.
The Elite
BOSS
Yup.
Just create interesting characters and build stories around them that make sense. A megastar happens naturally.
This force fed shit from Vince is bullshit.
WWE has a roster they can do this with.
How the hell would Bryan demand anything?
He does not have a leg to stand on, he got dumped like a chump. No controversy and no screw job.
Totally clean.
He is going to become emo Bryan now.
Hell they may even be smart and go heel with him.
You mean when all he did was stand on the apron for most of the Shield tag matches then do some moves at the end?
Hot tag machine.
DEA-
and in other wwe news
Steph has got that "fuck you nerds" smile going on in that pic too.
Trips kind of has that shit eating grin going on too now that I look at it again.
and in other wwe news
They show that clip of him showing up on RAW in 1997 way more than they show whatever the fuck Drew Carey did in 2001, so in comparison he probably belongs in the HOF.
DKehoe
Member
That triple threat was awesome.
Amazing how WWE keeps misjudging their audience. The Rock thing just seemed like a desperate attempt to make people like Reigns. I like him (although they really need to change the content of his promos) but feel they need to have him build more naturally rather than forcing him on people.
The reaction was bad when Bryan went out but as soon as Ambrose was eliminated you could really feel the people turn on the match because they knew Reigns was winning.
Amazing how WWE keeps misjudging their audience. The Rock thing just seemed like a desperate attempt to make people like Reigns. I like him (although they really need to change the content of his promos) but feel they need to have him build more naturally rather than forcing him on people.
The reaction was bad when Bryan went out but as soon as Ambrose was eliminated you could really feel the people turn on the match because they knew Reigns was winning.
It's not like you can't throw someone into the main event and make it work. Hell, look at Wade Barrett. The nexus invasion was such an intriguing storyline, and he had so much talent/heat, it didn't matter he was a rookie or a kind of generic CAW heel - He looked right at home tangoing with John Cena, Randy Orton, and co. There was nothing uncomfortable about him carrying 10-15 minute opening promo segments to RAW. It was believable that he found himself in a title match at.. survivor series I think it was?
Guys like Wade Barrett, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler, Cody Rhodes, Bray Wyatt, and Cesaro can all be stars if you give them the green light. But instead you have vince giving wrestlemania main events and title matches to part timers from the 90s (Taker, Rock... even Jericho). You have people like Jack Swagger, or The Great Khali, or Roman Reigns, or Ryback, or Curtis Axel get pushed to the moon when they're too dangerous to work with, a few years too green, or just don't have that "it" factor which allows them to carry themselves in the spotlight in a believable manner. You pair your great mouthpieces like Paul Heyman with a guy that doesn't need a mouthpiece (CM Punk) and Brock Lesnar (who's body language, delivery, cocky mannerisms and imposing presence more than make up for any perceived shortcomings he has on the stick as far as wit is concerned... and he's better than people give him credit for), instead of, say, a Dolph Ziggler or a Roman Reigns, who might not be the best at carrying a directionless promo all by themselves, but have the confidence to interject in short bursts and contribute to another person's promo in their own, unique ways.
djplaeskool
Member
Oh god what am I watching
He threw the IC Belt on the ground as if it was a piece of trash as he entered the Rumble last night. He's dead to me.
/kidding.
But he did toss it on the ground. It's the details, guys....
UberTag
Member
Can you blame him. The thing's an anchor tied around his waist so long as he has it.
Speaking of Ziggler, the crowd reaction to him cashing in the briefcase against a then-face Del Rio and winning the title was MASSIVE.
Sir_Crocodile
Member
Makes perfect sense to me - Why should he want it, having that belt curses you to losing every week on tv
I find it confusing.
I wish he would be honest like a some music artists. They do music for themselves, and if you want to come along for the ride, you can.
I Wanna Be The Guy
U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
Just finished watching. I don't know what I expected. Oh wait, yeah I do. This is exactly what I fucking expected.
For some reason when Rock came out I had some faint hope of a swerve. Rock heel turn any moment now! Nope. Oh well. What was the point of Rock even being there?
For some reason when Rock came out I had some faint hope of a swerve. Rock heel turn any moment now! Nope. Oh well. What was the point of Rock even being there?
Ninja Scooter
Member
I think Bryan is done for at least for the foreseeable future. I don't think they want to put the strap on him at Mania for the second year in a row just because of fan reaction. The one alternative I can see if they want to call an audible on Reigns' "reign" is with Rollins. I think he came out looking strong after last night despite the loss, and they can try and slowly turn him over the next few weeks in time for a title belt cash in at Wrestlemania.
I haven't watched regularly for some time, but I still managed to catch half of those flubs live. He really is awful on the mic. I'm not sure how the mute muscle in Shield managed to get the main push. I thought Rollins would because he sells so well in the ring, or Ambrose because he's the best of the trio on the mic. Nope. The picked the worst wrestler and talker of the group. Just so many stupid decisions by that company.
The WWE has a passionate and active fanbase that acts as a free focus group for the company. But they ignore all our suggestions. You know companies pay small fortunes for the kind of constant and instant feedback we provide this product, but Vince has his head buried so far up his ass he'll never hear it. PEACE.
Pop-O-Matic
Banned
He's beefy and looks good on a poster, which matters a hell of a lot more to Vince than wrestling ability or mic skills.
BFIB
Member
One way to deflect last night!
To try and salvage some cheers for Reigns. This has been brewing for a while now and they knew it was coming.
canoli2006
Member
Talent told to stay in hotel so I guess we'll something WWE related or more fucking Law and Order.
So does that mean no RAW tonight?
ElectricBlanketFire
Member
They should show a replay of the Rumble for free to get the fanbase even more jazzed about Roman's win!
I Wanna Be The Guy
U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
If they knew it was coming why did they not consider just doing something different?
T
thepotatoman
Unconfirmed Member
I keep hearing this, but aren't WWE Network subscriptions already underwater?
Even if no one followed through on #cancelwwenetwork it doesn't seem like it's going to help much to get new subscribers. Who's going to tell their friend they have to start watching WWE? Who is going to find Raw randomly and think it's a good product when people are constantly booing the top face?
I just can't believe they can continue to run the company like this.
That's why. Vince loves his 6'2-6'5 bodybuilder/muscle types.
Andrew Ryan
Banned
WWE has now no choice but to make Brock face and reigns heel
ElectricBlanketFire
Member
Because they don't care. They're hell bent on never giving the fans what they want and just assume all the naysayers are a vocal, childish minority.
I Wanna Be The Guy
U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
Something tells me that if Punk never came out with that podcast slamming WWE and never joined UFC, and expressed desire to return, WWE would have welcomed him back with open arms and had him winning the rumble on his return. But alas, bridges have been burned.
The plan from the start with the Shield was to use it as the Roman Reigns vehicle to the top. They say this openly in the Shield mini-documentary they did around SummerSlam on the Network. With that said though, maybe they were expecting Roman to be way better on the mic and in-ring by the time the group broke up.
Ninja Scooter
Member
Vince would still take him back now. Vince is a businessman.
Like many here, I don't hate Reigns. I don't even necessarily hate that he won (though it wasn't my preferred option). My biggest problem was how this Rumble was handled after Bryan came in at #10.
Up to that point, things were pretty solid. The Bubba Ray entrance at #3 was great, and giving him a chance to run through his signature moves and phrases before netting a few eliminations was perfect. The addition of the former Wyatt family made for a great cross-generational showdown. Got the crowd into the match and set the stage for what could have been a great rumble.
Bray's "run" was also pretty strong, and helped burn through some novelty acts and obvious non-contenders before real competition hit the ring.
At that point, things just lost steam. There were no big spots, surprises or exciting sequences. Had they saved DB for 20 or so in the Rumble, it would have instantly injected new energy into the whole thing. If they were just going to eliminate Ziggler without much build up, they could have easily put him into DB's slot and showcased him a bit before taking him out of the equation.
This also gets at the fundamental issue with this Rumble, it didn't do anything to elevate ANYONE.
Ziggler wasn't likely to win, but he could have made a hell of a run and come so close that he left with increased respect and a "this close" storyline to drive him for much of the year.
Bray got a nice showcase window, but it was so early in the Rumble that I don't think it made a difference.
DB should have been right there until the end or taken out unfairly by a mid-card heel looking to take the next step into a bigger feud.
Dean Ambrose could have played on his "loose cannon" card, sacrificing his own shot at the WM main event to take out a rival in dramatic fashion.
Rusev could have taken out The Rock and have been blindsided by Reigns in the process, leaving both men looking strong and setting up Cena to take out a bragging Rusev the next night on RAW.
Even Reigns didn't look like a main event force, let alone a credible contender for Brock.
That's to say nothing of Kane's record breaking eliminations being completely anti-climactic double teams, with Big Show doing all the work. Or that the biggest "spot" of the night was Kofi falling into the arms of the conveniently positioned Rosebuds.
The final 2-4 men in a royal rumble should leave you with the anticipation of "what if?". If it had been some combination of Ziggler, Reigns, Bray, DB, Ambrose or Rusev, we would have had that -- and at the very least, it would have signaled the emergence of a new generation of main event talent. People still would have booed Reigns, but at least they would have been holding on until that last set of feet hit the floor.
Up to that point, things were pretty solid. The Bubba Ray entrance at #3 was great, and giving him a chance to run through his signature moves and phrases before netting a few eliminations was perfect. The addition of the former Wyatt family made for a great cross-generational showdown. Got the crowd into the match and set the stage for what could have been a great rumble.
Bray's "run" was also pretty strong, and helped burn through some novelty acts and obvious non-contenders before real competition hit the ring.
At that point, things just lost steam. There were no big spots, surprises or exciting sequences. Had they saved DB for 20 or so in the Rumble, it would have instantly injected new energy into the whole thing. If they were just going to eliminate Ziggler without much build up, they could have easily put him into DB's slot and showcased him a bit before taking him out of the equation.
This also gets at the fundamental issue with this Rumble, it didn't do anything to elevate ANYONE.
Ziggler wasn't likely to win, but he could have made a hell of a run and come so close that he left with increased respect and a "this close" storyline to drive him for much of the year.
Bray got a nice showcase window, but it was so early in the Rumble that I don't think it made a difference.
DB should have been right there until the end or taken out unfairly by a mid-card heel looking to take the next step into a bigger feud.
Dean Ambrose could have played on his "loose cannon" card, sacrificing his own shot at the WM main event to take out a rival in dramatic fashion.
Rusev could have taken out The Rock and have been blindsided by Reigns in the process, leaving both men looking strong and setting up Cena to take out a bragging Rusev the next night on RAW.
Even Reigns didn't look like a main event force, let alone a credible contender for Brock.
That's to say nothing of Kane's record breaking eliminations being completely anti-climactic double teams, with Big Show doing all the work. Or that the biggest "spot" of the night was Kofi falling into the arms of the conveniently positioned Rosebuds.
The final 2-4 men in a royal rumble should leave you with the anticipation of "what if?". If it had been some combination of Ziggler, Reigns, Bray, DB, Ambrose or Rusev, we would have had that -- and at the very least, it would have signaled the emergence of a new generation of main event talent. People still would have booed Reigns, but at least they would have been holding on until that last set of feet hit the floor.
Nemesis121
Member
So when did rolling under the bottom rope became an elimination? never saw Kane/Show go the top rope...what a botched Rumble finish..
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...?
*stops to think about this*
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat???
Why would they package a turd with two of their best prospects in years and hope try to use it as a vehicle for the turd? If that's true, then their investors should be worried. That is really fucked up logic that you'll use two better talkers and wrestlers to promote a third guy who is considerably worse in both areas than both of the other group mates. Like this is the first I've heard of that claim, and it makes zero sense to me. I'd love to be a fly on the wall during one of those meetings. How many people with common sense had to bite their tongues? PEACE.
The Elite
BOSS
I thought they went over the top. Together.
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