Live WWE TV Discussion Thread

[LifeLostInRewind]

I'm only defending the decision to have Almas lose to Styles in a competitive match. Something Almas sorely needed because of his bad booking previously.. Not in any way expecting a good follow up lol.

But if there isn't good follow up, doesn't that reinforce the point that having Almas lose to Styles does him no favors??

[LK3185]

But if there isn't good follow up, doesn't that reinforce the point that having Almas lose to Styles does him no favors??

in theory, yes. but I also resist the urge to fantasy book what could have been you know? Like its happened and I don't know what they could have done instead and it doesn't matter because they didn't do that something else.

I think its as simple as they needed to showcase Almas and AJ was the best person for it. I'm hoping there's good follow up and it helps Almas in the present but that doesn't mean his future is secured.

Almas was on the preshow Sunday, two days later, he's going back and forth with the WWE champ. That's a short term win.

[Heisenberg]

This. Having an up-and-coming guy lose to the champion on a good showing is a classic booking move, and companies like NJPW still do it. Just see how many times Okada lost to Tanahashi before finally winning; it was literally a multi-year story arc, and widely regarded as a classic Flair/Steamboat level rivalry. Or how many times Omega lost to Okada before going over.

This is vastly preferable to WWE's usual 50-50 booking where everyone just trades wins, because no one can lose.

Because companies like NJPW can actually pull that off. What’s WWE done over the past 4 years to make you think they can? Nothing. You talk about a multi-year story arc and how many times Omega lost to Okada before going over. WWE are basically doing the exact same thing in a poor man’s version with Brock and Roman.

On the Almas front I’ve loathed they had nothing for him. They finally did the Kalisto feud and even though it’s not what I wanted for him but it was finally something. He’s not the furure number one heel and future of SD for no reason. I thought he’d move on to something a little more significant after. Not thrown straight into a match against Styles that he was going to lose. It’s far to early for him to be facing AJ. But the sad thing is there really isn’t a face for him to go up against in a feud. He should have gone up against Jeff when he first came up and then had a feud with Orton. It’s all about the follow up from the AJ match but I have serious doubts this is going to lead to something.

[LK3185]

This could all be leading to Rey returning to the company which is all but confirmed.

[LifeLostInRewind]

Yeah, Smackdown does have a shortage of realistic faces for Almas to go over again. Smackdown has Jeff hardy (now embroiled in a feud with Randy Orton), Daniel Bryan (Feuding with The Miz apparently), Kane (injured, and as a Kane mark, I would not want to see Kane take an L to Almas), The New day, and maybe The USOs (if you count them as faces). This leaves the only high caliber face Almas can go over against being John Cena, who is a free agent. I think maybe Smackdown was the wrong brand to have Almas debut on judging by the lack of credible faces for him to go up against.

I am also not sure how I feel about turning Almas face. He just doesn't come off as a face to me.

[Cult Icon]

I am also not sure how I feel about turning Almas face. He just doesn't come off as a face to me.

Even people who followed him before he got to WWE have forgotten that Sombra was a pretty effective face for almost a decade before CMLL turned him heel. And frankly his heel turn, and the crowd rejecting him as a babyface, was more CMLL's fault than his because they chose to shove him and Volador Jr. into the headlining match at the 80th Aniversario instead of Atlantis-Ultimo Guerrero, which at the time was the hottest program in lucha libre. The fans took their frustrations out on him and CMLL immediately responded by turning him heel, putting him with Rush...and the rest is history. Ironically enough CMLL's decision to book Sombra-Volador over Atlantis-UG in 2013 was an immaculate decision for everyone involved; Sombra turned heel and ended up getting on WWE's radar because of it, Volador became a giant babyface, their match was outstanding and Atlantis-UG got an extra year of build, which led to a legendary match that drew over $1 million at the gate. Throw in Los Ingobernables being formed from it (which leads to the formation of LIJ in Japan as an offshoot and the rise of Tetsuya Naito) and that decision is one of the greatest breaks in recent memory.

Wow I got sidetracked! The point is Sombra can definitely be a great babyface if you book him as an exciting high flying luchador ala Rey Mysterio. The problem is a) he's a much better heel and b) when WWE tried him as a face they booked him as a salsa stripper. Throw in their inability to book strong babyfaces and WWE may be better off just letting Sombra stay heel unless he gets too cool.

[LWO4Life]

I've always said, if I was WWE, I'd built up Almas to eventually demask Rey. The matches with Sin Cara were fun, and I'm sure he can work with Lucha House Party, but they all just seem so small compared to Almas. I only mention turning Almas face, because tough lose booking is face booking. Heel booking is squash matches and do anything to win booking. One funny thing with Del Rio, even though he just came off as a natural heel, he never really wrestled as a heel, which left his work feeling "dry." You have to match the in-ring work with that character. Almas, with Vega, is a perfect heel that works like a heel and acts like a heel. Which is why YOU DON'T BOOK HIM LIKE A BABYFACE!

With all of that said, I swear, this woman is the savior Almas's career needs in WWE.

[Oliver]

Not sure where to put this, considered the spoilers thread but seeing as it's a main headline on the front page...

It's proper shit that Nixon Newell has got another knee injury during the Mae Young Classic, just as she was starting to recover from her one before the tournament last year.

[Team Farrell]

I feel so damn bad for her. As much as she might not want it to, if this is anywhere near as serious as last time it might be it for her. That knee might never be 100% again.

[Oliver]

Different knees, I was reading at the weekend - I don't know if that's a positive or negative...

[LK3185]

Well I would take it as a positive. I imagine the reconstucted Knee is easier to break once it happens again.. its certainly concerning regardless though and if nothing else, she'll probably have to alter how she works in the ring.

[Oliver]

I find it a bit sad that they're making Joe/AJ into a soap opera about AJ's fatherhood credentials instead of just a fight for the title.

[LK3185]

As long as they don't bring AJ's wife actually on tv, i'm fine with it.. The basic idea is AJ is consumed by the title (He has had it for a long time) Joe's just trying to get in his head.

Also, They are running Orton as the vicious heel on SD which should be Joe's role imo.

[Team Farrell]

I find it a bit sad that they're making Joe/AJ into a soap opera about AJ's fatherhood credentials instead of just a fight for the title.

I mean, it could just be a fight over the title. But if you have two guys with almost 20 years of well known history together, why wouldn't you make it personal?

[Alan]

I mean, it could just be a fight over the title. But if you have two guys with almost 20 years of well known history together, why wouldn't you make it personal?

Wouldn't the more natural and obvious place for a dramatic angle be a simple 'long-time deep-seated jealousy' storyline? Make it about how Styles got all the plaudits as the better wrestler in TNA, while Joe was overlooked, how NJPW chose AJ and not Joe, sort of like a Bret-Owen personal storyline that's believable?

I mean the storyline they're doing right now works too, if Joe is positioned as the toxic heel who plays psychological games by insulting AJ's family and his parenting, as an away-from-home father, but it is a bit on the soap opera side.