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I actually really like Bray in the ring. He has the nice mix of brawling with sneaky athleticism for his size. They just need to put him with somebody besides Cena because those two just do not have much in-ring chemistry.
 
Agree with the above. Bray isnt too bad in the ring with the right opponent (Bryan at Royal Rumble, Shield at Elimination Chamber), but as good as some of the promos with Cena have been... their matches have left alot to be desired.

In reference to a previous comment about Brock Lesnar vs. Reigns. I dont think that's a match that should happen anytime soon. I fall into the category of people that aren't sold on Reigns and think he's still a little too green to be main eventing against top superstars on his own. Lesnar only has what, one or two matches on his contract left for this year? I would prefer to see him vs. Bryan and/or Cesaro.

I honestly don't think that WWE missed CM Punk that much the first couple months of the year on the Road to Wrestlemania. I felt the card and story telling was good enough for Mania on it's own this year without him in the picture. However, I think right now is when his lack of presence is sorely being missed. Bryan's tenure as champ has fallen flat, and his injury will keep him sidelined for the next month or two. Batista is leaving after this month. Cena and Sheamus are both as stale as ever. Cesaro's "push" since becoming a Heyman guy has been a little stagnant, and he likely is just going to hover around the mid card until he wins the MitB briefcase (my prediction). So, right now it seems the WWE is kind of void of main event players.

My Solution: I think the WWE needs to rely on what is working right now... stables. Evolution, Wyatt Family, and The Shield have carried the company in recent months.

Some interesting ideas would be creating another stable or two. One being a disgruntled group of talented and "over" superstars who have become jobbers of late. Ziggler, Sandow, The Miz would all make sense. All 3 have cut kayfabe promos either on live TV or online complaining about their place in the company recently and being held back. IMO, stick them together and give them a purpose. Another idea I've seen and heard about is reincarnating the Nation of Domination. Mark Henry, Big E, Titus O'Neil, Kofi, Truth, Woods etc. You can use the storyline that they teamed up against Rusev.... since he apparently is one by one destroying all of the African Americans on the roster.

Final note... Adam Rose and his gimmick are god fucking awful. Let's just fast forward a few months and stick him in a tag team with Fandango or 3MB and be done with him already. Bo Dallas coming up doesn't excite me either. Just means more talented mid card guys like Swagger, Ziggler, Rhodes, Kofi, etc. will be spending the summer putting these new faces over.
 
Agree with the above. Bray isnt too bad in the ring with the right opponent (Bryan at Royal Rumble, Shield at Elimination Chamber), but as good as some of the promos with Cena have been... their matches have left alot to be desired.

In reference to a previous comment about Brock Lesnar vs. Reigns. I dont think that's a match that should happen anytime soon. I fall into the category of people that aren't sold on Reigns and think he's still a little too green to be main eventing against top superstars on his own. Lesnar only has what, one or two matches on his contract left for this year? I would prefer to see him vs. Bryan and/or Cesaro.

I honestly don't think that WWE missed CM Punk that much the first couple months of the year on the Road to Wrestlemania. I felt the card and story telling was good enough for Mania on it's own this year without him in the picture. However, I think right now is when his lack of presence is sorely being missed. Bryan's tenure as champ has fallen flat, and his injury will keep him sidelined for the next month or two. Batista is leaving after this month. Cena and Sheamus are both as stale as ever. Cesaro's "push" since becoming a Heyman guy has been a little stagnant, and he likely is just going to hover around the mid card until he wins the MitB briefcase (my prediction). So, right now it seems the WWE is kind of void of main event players.

My Solution: I think the WWE needs to rely on what is working right now... stables. Evolution, Wyatt Family, and The Shield have carried the company in recent months.

Some interesting ideas would be creating another stable or two. One being a disgruntled group of talented and "over" superstars who have become jobbers of late. Ziggler, Sandow, The Miz would all make sense. All 3 have cut kayfabe promos either on live TV or online complaining about their place in the company recently and being held back. IMO, stick them together and give them a purpose. Another idea I've seen and heard about is reincarnating the Nation of Domination. Mark Henry, Big E, Titus O'Neil, Kofi, Truth, Woods etc. You can use the storyline that they teamed up against Rusev.... since he apparently is one by one destroying all of the African Americans on the roster.

Final note... Adam Rose and his gimmick are god fucking awful. Let's just fast forward a few months and stick him in a tag team with Fandango or 3MB and be done with him already. Bo Dallas coming up doesn't excite me either. Just means more talented mid card guys like Swagger, Ziggler, Rhodes, Kofi, etc. will be spending the summer putting these new faces over.

Careful with too many stables. I get why you'd say that because they've struck gold with the Shield and the Wyatts, but I'm still trying to forget the way WCW botched the NWO angle with all the different NWOs (Red n Black, Black n White, Mexican, etc) and inadvertently watering down the rest of the product . How many can they form before it looks played? I'm setting the line at -3 and taking the under.

I completely agree with the CM Punk take. Without his all-around skills and star power at their disposal, a 3 hour RAW is starting to really drag. Well over half of it is borderline unwatchable right now, and yes, a lot of it is these new gimmicks and diva angles that are complete dog shit.
 
I love Bray in the ring. He puts an amazing twist on basic moves. His side choke slam is awesome and powerful. His tossing suplex is great. His running clothesline is sneaky, fast and again a great twist on a classic move.

He's not a Bret Hart but he has originated classic moves by changing a little here and there.
 
I love Bray in the ring. He puts an amazing twist on basic moves. His side choke slam is awesome and powerful. His tossing suplex is great. His running clothesline is sneaky, fast and again a great twist on a classic move.

He's not a Bret Hart but he has originated classic moves by changing a little here and there.

I agree, and I would throw in Mick Foley but with a much more creative set of moves. Wyatt has enough talent and charisma to carry the company some day, especially if he's used properly. This Cena/Usos angle is so freaking stupid.
 
I love Bray in the ring. He puts an amazing twist on basic moves. His side choke slam is awesome and powerful. His tossing suplex is great. His running clothesline is sneaky, fast and again a great twist on a classic move.

He's not a Bret Hart but he has originated classic moves by changing a little here and there.

He's no where near Bret. Bret was not only a technician, he was an innovator. Other then Angle, I'm not sure there's been a better technician in the business.

Careful with too many stables. I get why you'd say that because they've struck gold with the Shield and the Wyatts, but I'm still trying to forget the way WCW botched the NWO angle with all the different NWOs (Red n Black, Black n White, Mexican, etc) and inadvertently watering down the rest of the product . How many can they form before it looks played? I'm setting the line at -3 and taking the under.

I agree, but they should have more tag teams then what they have now.

I completely agree with the CM Punk take. Without his all-around skills and star power at their disposal, a 3 hour RAW is starting to really drag. Well over half of it is borderline unwatchable right now, and yes, a lot of it is these new gimmicks and diva angles that are complete dog shit.

Part of it reflects on the booking of the creative team. Half of it is unwatchable because they don't book it right. It's very frustrating seeing where the tag team division has went since the TLC era. After those three teams split, pretty much tag team wrestling took a huge dive. I'm not sure if it's because WWE just doesn't care or they would rather focus on the main event.

I agree, and I would throw in Mick Foley but with a much more creative set of moves. Wyatt has enough talent and charisma to carry the company some day, especially if he's used properly. This Cena/Usos angle is so freaking stupid.

Mick earned his respect first and foremost by being literally willing to do pretty much anything. With the pg era, Wyatt won't even get that opportunity if he wanted to take that road.

Wyatt is too slow in the ring IMHO and his matches are never fast paced enough.

Agree with the above. Bray isnt too bad in the ring with the right opponent (Bryan at Royal Rumble, Shield at Elimination Chamber), but as good as some of the promos with Cena have been... their matches have left alot to be desired.

Bryan is one of those guys that can make just about anyone look good. Like I said, his promos are great and his mic skills.

In reference to a previous comment about Brock Lesnar vs. Reigns. I dont think that's a match that should happen anytime soon. I fall into the category of people that aren't sold on Reigns and think he's still a little too green to be main eventing against top superstars on his own.

Then what's the payoff of having Lesnar beat the streak?

Lesnar only has what, one or two matches on his contract left for this year? I would prefer to see him vs. Bryan and/or Cesaro.

Yeah, probably one will be at Summerslam. I wouldn't want to see him Vs. Bryan. He's so physical in the ring, I'd be worried about him re-injuring Bryan's neck at this point. Cesaro just joined Paul Heyman, so that wouldn't make sense.

I honestly don't think that WWE missed CM Punk that much the first couple months of the year on the Road to Wrestlemania. I felt the card and story telling was good enough for Mania on it's own this year without him in the picture. However, I think right now is when his lack of presence is sorely being missed. Bryan's tenure as champ has fallen flat, and his injury will keep him sidelined for the next month or two. Batista is leaving after this month. Cena and Sheamus are both as stale as ever. Cesaro's "push" since becoming a Heyman guy has been a little stagnant, and he likely is just going to hover around the mid card until he wins the MitB briefcase (my prediction). So, right now it seems the WWE is kind of void of main event players.

It's so easy to make someone lead up to a championship run, but it's what you do with him after. Sting didn't really draw much as a champ, but as the man vs the world he did.

My Solution: I think the WWE needs to rely on what is working right now... stables. Evolution, Wyatt Family, and The Shield have carried the company in recent months.

I've already said this one here, but I'd rather see them rebuild the tag team division. Other then the Uso's and Los Madadores I'm not sure they have a tag team they brought in.

Final note... Adam Rose and his gimmick are god fucking awful. Let's just fast forward a few months and stick him in a tag team with Fandango or 3MB and be done with him already. Bo Dallas coming up doesn't excite me either. Just means more talented mid card guys like Swagger, Ziggler, Rhodes, Kofi, etc. will be spending the summer putting these new faces over.

I think Bo Dallas might surprise you. The whole Boliever thing is corny, but so are most things in wrestling. Adam Rose on the other hand is basically the new Brodus Clay. Brought in for the kids to watch him dance around the ring with the bunny.
 
The payoff for Lesnar beating the streak, IMO, should've been facing Bryan for the title at Summerslam. Whether or not that can happen now because of DB's injury, I don't know. Winning the WWE WHC was Lesnar's main reason for coming back before WrestleMania, so it's the only thing left for him to "conquer" at the moment. The idea for him to face Cesaro would be late 2014, early 2015. With both being Heyman guys... the story wouldn't be too hard to write.
 
I'm interested to see if they continue to use Bo Dallas the way they did in NXT. They made him act like such an over the top good guy that he was a heel.
 
The payoff for Lesnar beating the streak, IMO, should've been facing Bryan for the title at Summerslam. Whether or not that can happen now because of DB's injury, I don't know. Winning the WWE WHC was Lesnar's main reason for coming back before WrestleMania, so it's the only thing left for him to "conquer" at the moment. The idea for him to face Cesaro would be late 2014, early 2015. With both being Heyman guys... the story wouldn't be too hard to write.

Bryan is already over, so that's not really a payoff.
 
In an effort to revive this dying thread... did anyone watch the Payback PPV last night?

Pretty entertaining show actually from a match standpoint... Especially the two main events. Some of the results were a tad disappointing, although not surprising.

John Cena, while I respect him as a person and everything he does for the company, is just plain insufferable. He literally buried Bray Wyatt. Come to think of it, I dont think Super Cena has EVER lost a last man standing or I Quit match. That's ridiculous considering I can likely count on one hand how many times he has been pinned cleanly since I started watching again in 2011. It'll be interesting to see what WWE does with Wyatt now since he has unsuccessfully tried to get over on the top 2 babyfaces in the company (Bryan & Cena)

I know this wont be a popular opinion here, but the Shield was booked way too strong by getting a sweep over Evolution. What was the point of this rematch anyway after they already won the first match cleanly? Great match overall, just was hoping for some kind of swerve to take place.

Big E... welcome to the jobber club. I figured this match would serve more as a springboard to a real, long term feud between Big E & Rusev rather than a one time under 5 minute long match. Going in I thought Rusev would either win dirty, or something like a double DQ or countout would take place to build toward something bigger. Guess not.

Goldust & Cody are officially done it appears. Cody told him he needed a better tag team partner... Is Booker T still in wrestling shape?! I would love to see a BookDust reunion.

Sheamus-Cesaro and BNB-RVD were solid matches, but predictable results. By taking the loss to Sheamus... Cesaro has to be the overwhelming favorite to win the MitB, right?

No Adam Rose on the card, so that alone made me happy.
 
I get the frustration with John Cena, I really do. But the fact is, the guy is still the face of the company. Look at things from WWE's point of view right now. Their WWE WHC is injured and legitimately aren't sure when he'll be back. CM Punk quit. Randy Orton is tied up in Evolution (but probably not for much longer). These are the WWE's other regular top guys. They need to keep Cena strong because there's a decent chance he may have to carry the show this summer until Bryan can return.

I absolutely love Bray Wyatt, he's the main reason why I tune in now. I don't think he was that hurt by the loss against John Cena. I think, if anything, it shows that he belongs in main event, high stakes matches. He has continued to grow and evolve his character. I think he's in a phase right now where wins and losses don't necessarily mean that much. There's so much mystique around him right now. Do you hear the fans singing along with him? That doesn't seem like someone who's losing out on much just because he's racked up some losses to Super Cena. I look now for Bray to be a huge favorite to win the Money in the Bank contract. He just seems to have a ton of momentum right now.

The Evolution/Shield match was amazing. All three of the Shield members are nuts, it's crazy. Obviously the main focus is on Reigns, but Ambrose and Rollins are both also awesome talents. Rollins in particular has really impressed me as of late. I mean at the beginning it seemed as if Ambrose was the de facto person in charge. Rollins really never has been the main guy in the group, but I like how he's being showcased more and more. I could dig any of these three guys being champ some day.

My big complaint/confusion is what they did with Cesaro. I get how they paired him up with Heyman. I don't think they are properly utilizing Cesaro right now. If the point of the alignment was to use the rub from ending the streak in a residual way for the "next Paul Heyman guy," they haven't really taken advantage of that. I'd like to see much more ruthlessness from Cesaro and Heyman. Look at the magic that Heyman generated with CM Punk.
 
In an effort to revive this dying thread... did anyone watch the Payback PPV last night?

Pretty entertaining show actually from a match standpoint... Especially the two main events. Some of the results were a tad disappointing, although not surprising.

John Cena, while I respect him as a person and everything he does for the company, is just plain insufferable. He literally buried Bray Wyatt. Come to think of it, I dont think Super Cena has EVER lost a last man standing or I Quit match. That's ridiculous considering I can likely count on one hand how many times he has been pinned cleanly since I started watching again in 2011. It'll be interesting to see what WWE does with Wyatt now since he has unsuccessfully tried to get over on the top 2 babyfaces in the company (Bryan & Cena)

I know this wont be a popular opinion here, but the Shield was booked way too strong by getting a sweep over Evolution. What was the point of this rematch anyway after they already won the first match cleanly? Great match overall, just was hoping for some kind of swerve to take place.

Big E... welcome to the jobber club. I figured this match would serve more as a springboard to a real, long term feud between Big E & Rusev rather than a one time under 5 minute long match. Going in I thought Rusev would either win dirty, or something like a double DQ or countout would take place to build toward something bigger. Guess not.

Goldust & Cody are officially done it appears. Cody told him he needed a better tag team partner... Is Booker T still in wrestling shape?! I would love to see a BookDust reunion.

Sheamus-Cesaro and BNB-RVD were solid matches, but predictable results. By taking the loss to Sheamus... Cesaro has to be the overwhelming favorite to win the MitB, right?

No Adam Rose on the card, so that alone made me happy.

I really liked Payback until the main event. Cesaro-Sheamus was a great match, save for the fact that it ended with a freaking rollup. I understand they are trying to keep Cesaro and not put a secondary title on him....but there had to be a better way. Heck, a DQ would've been a better ending. But I loved the match until that point.

RVD-BNB was solid. Rhodes brothers match was decent. The Bo Dallas segment was funny. Cena-Bryatt was great, too. I know LOLCENAWINS gets annoying, but it was good match. Wyatt will have to start winning some matches clean, though.

I am in the minority, but I hated the main event. It was 25 minutes long with maybe 5 minutes of action. Evolution spent the whole time standing around. It was like a mediocre ending Raw segment that ended with an LOLSHIELDWINS. Other than it being the impetus for Batista to take time off for GOTG, I don't know what the point was. If HHH and Batista can't handle a match that isn't 50% rest spots, then they shouldn't be main eventing PPVs.
 
It was a better PPV than expected but did anyone watch NXT Takeover? I feel like they've brought up the wrong guys constantly. Both Adrian Neville and Sami Zayne should be on the main roster. The only thing Adam Rose has going for him is a catchy theme song. Be a Rosebud? WTF is that? Rusev is interesting but he's going down the classic 'strong bigman' road. Squash matches until he faces Cena and goes to mid-card matches or doing comedy bits with Santino. Lana though :eek:
 
It was a better PPV than expected but did anyone watch NXT Takeover? I feel like they've brought up the wrong guys constantly. Both Adrian Neville and Sami Zayne should be on the main roster. The only thing Adam Rose has going for him is a catchy theme song. Be a Rosebud? WTF is that? Rusev is interesting but he's going down the classic 'strong bigman' road. Squash matches until he faces Cena and goes to mid-card matches or doing comedy bits with Santino. Lana though :eek:

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It was a better PPV than expected but did anyone watch NXT Takeover? I feel like they've brought up the wrong guys constantly. Both Adrian Neville and Sami Zayne should be on the main roster. The only thing Adam Rose has going for him is a catchy theme song. Be a Rosebud? WTF is that? Rusev is interesting but he's going down the classic 'strong bigman' road. Squash matches until he faces Cena and goes to mid-card matches or doing comedy bits with Santino. Lana though :eek:

This is spot on. WWE is bringing up all these new guys, but they are the wrong ones. Neville, Sami Zayne, and The Ascension should be getting the nod over guys like Xavier Woods, Adam Rose, and Bo Dallas. Especially after watching them on NXT Takeover, and hearing that before Smackdown last week that Sami Zayne and Dolph Ziggler had a dark match that was "out of this world unreal".

Rusev is okay, but I also fear he is going to get the Ryback treatment as you mentioned. Squash matches until being too quickly thrust into the main event, and inevitably being used to make Cena look even stronger (if this is even possible) by beating him, and then back down to the midcard he goes... likely as a comedy act.

Adam Rose is why it's hard to defend being a WWE fan to people who dont watch. He looks like a gay anorexic Scott Hall sucking a lollipop, listening to him talk makes me cringe, and he hops around with a bunch of adult sized stuffed animals. Unless you're under the age of 10 there's not much to like about him.

Bo Dallas is obnoxious and just has a face you want to punch, but he's also funny at the same time. He really needs a new finisher though. A bulldog? How generic.
 

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