WWE General Discussion Thread

[Oliver]

I can buy into that. I think they've made Zayn a realistic option to go against Reigns, which to be honest is job done. If they can maintain his fan support outside of the Bloodline story there's also a realistic chance he becomes the WWE champion in the future. I think that might be easier done if they separate the two titles when Reigns does finally lose.

Watching the Rumble now, and my main thought over the first 45 minutes is when did Dom Mysterio become an excellent smarmy little shit heel? Wearing his Dad's mask, bigging up his ex-con credentials when he spent at most a night in the cells, doing a 'warm up' outside the ring before entering when it's opportune, extending a hand to Drew to beg off from fighting him...

He really is Eddie's kid, isn't he?

Edit: Cody's neck tattoo still looks like shit. Sub-edit: I think it would work as a bicep tattoo, the location is crap. The only way to possibly make it work where it is is to get a half or full sleeve that incorporates it. It looks worse for there not being any other tattoos on him except the little chest one.

Edit 2: You know, I think Logan Paul is an absolute turd, an odious human being, who more than even the Kardashians or Paris Hilton personifies being famous just because they're famous which grants them opportunities, but fair play to him he does seem to have really, really bought into being a sports entertainer.

Edit 3: Make GUNTHER the man. Do it. I don't care that they'd be coming off the back of Reigns' two year plus reign, give GUNTHER a Sammartino-like run.

Edit 4: Smashing, I'm already out on this version of Bray, yet again hamstrung by making it immediately weird and stupid.

Edit 5: Bliss and Belair tried hard, but it just wasn't there, unfortunately. Equally I'd kind of checked out from the Pitch Black match before so I wasn't paying a great amount of attention. I assume that someone in creative has got something uncompromising on someone because the whole Uncle Howdy/Bliss storyline hasn't worked since it started and still isn't.

Edit 6: I used to think the Rumble was bulletproof and could never be actually bad. The last two women's ones have broken that. This one was just a mess, and considering the quality of the men's really did show starkly how bad it has been the past couple of years. Also, not sure WWE should be leaning on the openers from the Rumble being there at the end so heavily - feels like it has happened a lot in recent years.

Edit 7: SPOILERS in this next bit, but...

They are going to need to do something bloody special with Cody between now and Mania to get the fans behind him vs Reigns. That ending with Zayn, the chair shot, the crowd reaction - that was Daniel Bryan levels of support. And Cody, try as he might, cannot garner that level of organic sympathy and support, injury comeback or otherwise. Regardless of the start of this post, right now the logical choice for Mania is Reigns vs Zayn from a pure storyline point of view, the Cody story into Mania is good but is entirely Cody focused and, frankly, Cody walks, talks, and acts like an arsehole most of the time. I can't help but feel like a Rhodes/Reigns main event at Mania will see significant fan backlash in the arena on the night just for it not being Zayn/Reigns - even if Zayn gets the Elimination Chamber PPV opportunity before then.

[The Cook]

I agree that they've given themselves a headache, although not necessarily a bad one, with Sami Zayn now. But going into the Rumble Cody pretty much had to win, with the only way out of it being if a big big name eliminated him giving him a different mega match at 'Mania. And there was only really Lesnar that fit that bracket and they've obviously got different plans for him. Now if Randy Orton wasn't out injured that would've made perfect sense given their past.

I can see Reigns beating Sami in Montreal at Elimination Chamber in a screwy fashion and then either they make 'Mania a Triple Threat or, seeing as there's so much talk of splitting the titles again Reigns works both nights, defending the one against Sami and the other against Cody where he'd most likely lose only one.

[PEN15v2]

There's no headache. Sami can be a challenger against any champion at any time and win... Except between now and WrestleMania. That's it. That's their only hiccup. Get the hot local crowd to make Roman the ultimate heel, and then protect Sami in a loss. Everyone wins and the story can still play out

[Team Farrell]

I've assumed for the last six or eight weeks that Sami would get a shot at Elimination Chamber in his hometown. That's clearly what they've been shifting toward for the last month or six weeks. If modern wrestling fans can't get off the idea of Zayn vs Roman at Mania, that's on them. It was never, ever, ever going to happen. Could things shift and they do a Day 1/Day 2 thing? Possibly, but I don't see it. It cheapens Cody's win so badly if Roman has to defend one of the belts the night before (and I'm not convinced Cody wins at Mania).

Sami gets his shot at Chamber. Then maybe we get Sami/Jey vs Jimmy/Solo at Mania. Maybe something else involving Sami and Bloodline.

Pen, are you planning on going to Elimination Chamber?

[PEN15v2]

I'm in Kitchener, so no. My dream is still Skydome Royal Rumble