World Wrestling Entertainment Presents: Wrestlemania XXXVIII, A Two-Night Premium Live Event

[Splaya]

Originally Posted by Mr. Nerfect That’s basically the template I’d use. By the way, good takes on Mania. It remains to be seen about Rousey. It could be a burial, like you said. But it could also be that she’s taking time off, changing shows, going into a different program or just that they want to do a rematch. She’s a big star and she’s talented, so I hope it’s for the positive reasons. But we’ll see.

I want her to be the star that the company wants. But the first run she had was based off them capitalizing off of her UFC background and her success there. While there is still shades of that happening here, this run will be different. You can't use the. "baddest woman on the planet" moniker if she's going out there and losing to boots to the face in Main events of major PPV's.

If I'm WWE, I reevaluate how long she is staying with the company this time, but I have her start back at the bottom. Let her make her way back up to the top instead of just being pushed to the moon. Since Smackdown and Raw will still be Smark crowds, I can see them turning on her in the next promo she does. If that's the case, the WWE should run with that and turn her heel. If that's the route they go, align her with Shayna Bayzler and let them go after Banks and Naomi for the women's tag titles and let them run with that for a few months. It allows them to establish them as top titles again and allows for Ronda to re-create her place in the business. She doesn't realize it yet, but a heel turn is the BEST thing for her right now.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I wonder if they’re going to do more Cody and Seth? I think there’s an actual story there they could tell. Could go right back to Seth being Dusty’s handpicked guy in NXT. Could be a real good feud.

[#1-norm-fan]

You see what you’ve done, Seph?

[xrodmuc316]

Originally Posted by #1-norm-fan You see what you’ve done, Seph?

Come on Fan, all arguing aside, that Al Snow Norm pic is funny!

[Mr. Nerfect]

Originally Posted by Splaya I want her to be the star that the company wants. But the first run she had was based off them capitalizing off of her UFC background and her success there. While there is still shades of that happening here, this run will be different. You can't use the. "baddest woman on the planet" moniker if she's going out there and losing to boots to the face in Main events of major PPV's. If I'm WWE, I reevaluate how long she is staying with the company this time, but I have her start back at the bottom. Let her make her way back up to the top instead of just being pushed to the moon. Since Smackdown and Raw will still be Smark crowds, I can see them turning on her in the next promo she does. If that's the case, the WWE should run with that and turn her heel. If that's the route they go, align her with Shayna Bayzler and let them go after Banks and Naomi for the women's tag titles and let them run with that for a few months. It allows them to establish them as top titles again and allows for Ronda to re-create her place in the business. She doesn't realize it yet, but a heel turn is the BEST thing for her right now.

I agree 100%. I think she’s more interesting having lost. In shoots, she might not take losing well, but in a work she can explore that side of herself. Absolutely agree that a heel run when the crowd turns on her is the way to go. Wouldn’t mind seeing her align with Shayna and Nattie and have them be her entourage and they can jump around wherever they want and beat up women on both shows.

[#1-norm-fan]

I don’t know, man. Maybe I’m getting too old for this hip internet photoshop humor.

[Sepholio]

Originally Posted by #1-norm-fan You see what you’ve done, Seph?

Working as intended

[Splaya]

Originally Posted by Mr. Nerfect I agree 100%. I think she’s more interesting having lost. In shoots, she might not take losing well, but in a work she can explore that side of herself. Absolutely agree that a heel run when the crowd turns on her is the way to go. Wouldn’t mind seeing her align with Shayna and Nattie and have them be her entourage and they can jump around wherever they want and beat up women on both shows.

It also re-establishes Bayzler as a top talent as well. Two women holding the tag titles that work together is one thing. But knowing that they have the MMA background, don't take shit from anyone, knowing they could beat your ass or make you submit in their matches?? Let them run for 4-6 months with the gold. Hell, if she plans on staying around way longer, you can have her and Bayzler hold onto them till WM39 and be defeated by a tag team, and then take off till the Royal Rumble the following year. She gets the Rumble win and then challenges either Flair or Lynch (or hell re-do the Triple Threat from years ago) and have her defeat one of them and finally win the big one.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Interested to see what they do with Kevin Owens next. Is he going to still be a heel? Obviously he’s just been a dick, but they also made him look tough as shit and it was a great performance and they’ve blown off his heat. I guess they could rebuild him, but maybe he just comes out and gets into some heel’s face and has learned a valuable lesson, lol.

Kinda wouldn’t mind seeing him go against Corbin & Moss, but they’re on different shows.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Originally Posted by Splaya It also re-establishes Bayzler as a top talent as well. Two women holding the tag titles that work together is one thing. But knowing that they have the MMA background, don't take shit from anyone, knowing they could beat your ass or make you submit in their matches?? Let them run for 4-6 months with the gold. Hell, if she plans on staying around way longer, you can have her and Bayzler hold onto them till WM39 and be defeated by a tag team, and then take off till the Royal Rumble the following year. She gets the Rumble win and then challenges either Flair or Lynch (or hell re-do the Triple Threat from years ago) and have her defeat one of them and finally win the big one.

I think they might be doing Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez as a proper team, so they’d be a good shout to eventually take the belts off the heels. But anyway, I do think the women’s tag stuff is going to get more focus so they can spotlight more women. Ronda’s a good way to make sure people get that message. Or even just an act associated with her.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I’m not sure Austin is done, by the way. I know that was delivered so that it could be his last match, but I’m not entirely sure it isn’t going to be a string of them. Could see Austin putting Owens over in the last one to give it a nice bookend.

[Splaya]

I've heard twitter rumors (take with a grain of salt) that he wants to wrestle Reigns and Lesnar. I dunno if I trust him with Lesnar (especially with Lesnar's move set) but I would love for it to be Reigns. As much as I'd love his last match to be with Owens and Owens getting his revenge, Reigns retiring Austin for good would just reach all time high heat levels.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Reigns and Lesnar were my first thoughts too. I was thinking that if they wanted to get Austin on both nights of Mania this year, he could be the special enforcer for the main event and make sure The Usos don’t screw Brock. That gives them a pathway to putting the belts on Brock and to put Austin’s name into Roman and Heyman’s mouths.

I figured Roman could win Money in the Bank, win his belt back by crashing whatever the main event is there (maybe Brock vs. Edge vs. AJ or something?) and he keeps cussing out Austin. Boom, SummerSlam.

By the time you get to WrestleMania, which is where I may do Austin vs. Brock, Heyman could be courting Lesnar again because “It’s the match we always talked about. It’s the match you cannot lose. You need me. And I need you to win this. You’ve beaten everybody. Everybody. But you get one shot at this, and we both know your ego can’t handle having that one guy you never beat.”

I get the thing with Brock’s style and why you wouldn’t be too tempted to put Austin with Brock, even if the idea is good. But I dunno — I think I do trust both men as workers. And the thing’s a blockbuster.

I’d love them to get a cheeky Austin/Goldberg in there too. And I can see him wanting to work with a guy like AJ Styles, but that will all depend on how many he’s got in him and how special you want it all to feel. But if they, say, got until WrestleMania 40 with Austin (his last Mania before turning 60). You could have Reigns at SummerSlam, maybe the UK PPV (this could be AJ?), Goldberg at Crown Jewel, maybe the Rumble and then Brock at Mania. Hmm, maybe call it there? Haha, or just do Austin vs. Owens at Mania 40 after that.

That’d be 7 matches. His magnificent seven. Including a Rumble where he gets to work with a whole bunch of people.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Imagine if the guy was just feeling great and thought he could do this semi-regularly for the next couple of years. Lol, wow. The fun that could be had.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Thinking about the Raw after Mania: Between Cody Rhodes, whatever it is Austin says, and whatever it is Heyman goes on about — you’re probably going to get at least 3 really great promos on Raw. When was the last time we really had that to look forward to?

[Sepholio]

I had the same thought about Austin not being done. He def looked like he could easily have a final part time run in the company after last night. I did not expect 10% of what he delivered. It was the most surreal part of the night for me, not that he was out there, but that he was doing that with his injuries and his age with 19 years of ring rust. Absolutely unreal.

Can you imagine how much money the Saudis would throw at Vince if they could somehow get Austin vs Rock to happen again. Like 3 billion probably.

[Mr. Nerfect]

If that was just a nice little thing for Austin and a one-time thing, that’s cool too. But I wasn’t really surprised by it, honestly. I would not have called him taking a suplex on the concrete, but I knew they were going to overdeliver here. Austin wasn’t coming back to just do a Stunner in a talk show. But it’s definitely surreal.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I think this was masterful in that it could go either way, and there is stuff you haven’t given the people yet. You haven’t gotten him actually advertised for a match ahead of time. You haven’t gotten him in the gear. There are places to go.

[xrodmuc316]

Originally Posted by slikhausen damn some people really mad about cody pic.twitter.com/oKPCeTeGEZ — Chris Allen (@thewalkingyotes) April 3, 2022

C
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[ron the dial]

people do the same dumb shit with sports jerseys. cut from the same cloth of cultists for sure.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Originally Posted by slikhausen Night 2 Predictions: New Day Rhea/Liv Johnny Knoxville Austin Theory Street Profits Omos (and I hate that) Edge Roman Reigns

I actually think Zayn is going to win his match. I don’t think Knoxville’s celebrity personality requires him to win. He’s totally a guy who can get his ass kicked and come out smelling like daisies.

The tag matches I’ve got no clue. I put the face teams ahead of the others, but it wouldn’t surprise me even if Carmella & Vega win…because. That one’s a total crapshoot. It’s also one I can see them giving to heels just because they want more going over on the show. But maybe it’s as simple as they want Sasha Banks on both TV shows? But they can always have her challenge and win later. Hmm.

Raw Tag Titles wouldn’t surprise me to see go to any team. My gut tells me RKBro keep them just because they’re so stonkingly over as a team right now. Why mess with it? But they’ll need stories coming out, so who knows?

[Fignuts]

Originally Posted by xrodmuc316 Naw they are mocking Punk because he flipped out over K.O. trying to make a joke. Don't let Phil's lie about K.O. yelling at him fool you.

So you and a bunch of other people are using a decade old arguement they had as some sort of "gotcha" against punk, despite the fact that in your very own video evidence, owens says theyre cool with each other now.

Again, what?

[Mr. Nerfect]

Originally Posted by Fignuts So you and a bunch of other people are using a decade old arguement they had as some sort of "gotcha" against punk, despite the fact that in your very own video evidence, owens says theyre cool with each other now. Again, what?

I think it’s because Punk is still bitter and has the company’s name in his mouth. And now a guy he had heat with did the things he wanted to do and couldn’t.

If Miz ever dabbled in MMA and actually won his fight, people would do the same thing there too.

[#1-norm-fan]

Lol It was barely even an argument. He said Punk misunderstood him, that he might have done the same in Punk’s situation, he apologized and that was the end of it.

Blowing it up more than 10 years later more than the guys who were actually involved did to push a narrative for your “side” is some serious cultist shit.

[#1-norm-fan]

Originally Posted by Mr. Nerfect I think it’s because Punk is still bitter and has the company’s name in his mouth. And now a guy he had heat with did the things he wanted to do and couldn’t.

“heat” lol

[Mr. Nerfect]

I like Punk, by the way. He just makes himself a very easy target with how he carries himself. Most people here will admit that “well, Punk’s a dickhead, dur.” But he’s also biting into this by tweeting at people and being all “well, actually” and “that doesn’t fit your narrative” about it.

He was a dickhead. Now he’s in the dickhead promotion for dickheads, so people are laughing at him.

[Triple A]

Match order for night 2 via Fightful:

SPOILER: show

- Raw Tag Team Titles: RKBro vs. Street Profits vs. Alpha Academy

- Bobby Lashley vs. Omos

- Johnny Knoxville vs. Sami Zayn

- Women's Tag Team Title Four Way match

- AJ Styles vs. Edge

- Pat McAfee vs. Austin Theory

- New Day vs. Sheamus & Ridge Holland (w/ Butch)

- Hall of Fame

- Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns (w/ Paul Heyman)

[Fignuts]

If even half of what punk accused wwe of on cabana's podcast is true, then I dont blame him for taking a shot at them here and there.

But honestly I dont understand getting offended when anyone does it. I think its funny. Id feel the same if cody came out and dropped a bomb on aew. Cant imagine being so upset by it that Id ignore all the good someone does, and focus just on that.

[Triple A]

Why are they putting on the shitty New Day and Sheamus match so late in the show... always seems much better to me when the show gradually builds to the bigger matches instead of having boring filler matches before the main event

[xrodmuc316]

Originally Posted by Fignuts So you and a bunch of other people are using a decade old arguement they had as some sort of "gotcha" against punk, despite the fact that in your very own video evidence, owens says theyre cool with each other now. Again, what?

No Fig, one nobody made a tweet about it, then Cultists went full Cultists about it, AND Punk himself tried to play the victim. "Oh it is my fault Kev yelled at me".

One random nobody making a dumb tweet was all the Cultist needed to get up in arms. One random nobody making a dumb tweet led to CM Punk TWICE addressing it.

It is exactly what I said, nothing more.

Bitter Cultists on Twitter melting down over both Cody and the fact that K.O. Main Evented Wrestlemania while a certain failed MMA Fighter, Actor, Reality TV Competition participant, and comic book writer never did.

The video wasn't for a " gotcha", people here asked what the story was, so I posted it, nothing more.

[#1-norm-fan]

They always do a filler before the main event. Giving the audience a “breather”. Though after 17 hours of wrestling I don’t know if it real matters.

[XL]

Cooler match to let the crowd “catch their breath” ahead of the Main Event.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Surprised at them putting Theory/McAfee on after Edge/Styles.

[Fignuts]

Originally Posted by xrodmuc316 No Fig, one nobody made a tweet about it, then Cultists went full Cultists about it, AND Punk himself tried to play the victim. "Oh it is my fault Kev yelled at me". One random nobody making a dumb tweet was all the Cultist needed to get up in arms. One random nobody making a dumb tweet led to CM Punk TWICE addressing it. It is exactly what I said, nothing more. The video wasn't for a " gotcha", people here asked what the story was, so I posted it, nothing more.

So what? Happens every day. Hate to break it to you, but if a thing exists, theres cultists stanning for it. Im sure theres some Flamin' Hot Cheetos fans who go ballistic at the mere mention of Cool Ranch Doritos.

Who fucking cares?

[Mr. Nerfect]

Becky so hot.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Originally Posted by Fignuts So what? Happens every day. Hate to break it to you, but if a thing exists, theres cultists stanning for it. Im sure theres some Flamin' Hot Cheetos fans who go ballistic at the mere mention of Cool Ranch Doritos. Who fucking cares?

I don’t think anyone cares about AEW anymore.

[#1-norm-fan]

You’d never know it by the bulk of conversation here and the RABID amount of cultists.

[Fignuts]

Like, I love Joshi, but theres a reason I dont participate in discussion within its fan communities. Too many fucking space cadets.

[Destor]

Originally Posted by Fignuts So you and a bunch of other people are using a decade old arguement they had as some sort of "gotcha" against punk, despite the fact that in your very own video evidence, owens says theyre cool with each other now. Again, what?

punk was right. owens looks indistinguishable from any random random mark.

[Destor]

Originally Posted by slikhausen Funny that Cody said post WM everyone was coming to his trailer all day to welcome him back, including HHH and that he signed 40 days ago and it was 'the worst kept secret in wrestling' but....

playing the middle so he cant be wrong