Live WWE TV Discussion Thread

[LifeLostInRewind]

I have to disagree with Bayley being boring. She is a lot more interesting than her hugging gimmick when face, which did her no real favors on the main roster. At least now she is in the process of having 2 fairly lengthy title runs. The problem for her is the lack of credible faces she gets to take on with new role.

[Powder]

Bayley as a heel is much more interesting, but that does not make her interesting or attention grabbing.

Being at 10% interesting, and raising to 20% does not give you a passing grade just a slight improvement.

But yes, the lack of quality faces goes to my point of the SD roster in general not having enough people or depth.

[PEN15v2]

WWE is going to run into interesting scenarios with the 3 brands roster. Talents like Carmella are over, but aren't exactly credible. She would benefit from working in NXT again, but that would mean a major change of schedule from a national/international touring setup, to a mostly Florida run + random national ones. It would also take her off the road with Corey.

But the SD women's roster is in a pretty bad state. Naomi being back now is good timing, because though I'm no fan of her and her act, she's a credible threat to Bayley and likely gives up a decent story leading to Mania.

As for Bayley, I'm enjoying the heel stuff more over the last 2 weeks than any time since the actual turn. I like Lacey, but she's still not ready for Prime Time, so she won't bring the best out of the former hugger. With Sasha injured, I'm guessing the storytelling needed to be altered, and meant that the feud had to adapt and likely led to a bandaid fix that wasn't all that great.

[Oliver]

SD has been a lot harder since the turn of the year. I think they had it pretty good going into Survivor Series, but in all honesty since then it's declined in quality quite drastically up until now.

I'm good with a Naomi/Bayley feud, I've got to say. I always thought Naomi was a talent who didn't really get her props due to the dancing gimmick(s) she got thrown early on, but she's much better than she's given credit for.

I think a lot of Smackdown has been in a bit of a holding pattern, though. Like, Bryan vs Fiend was always a bit unlikely to get to Mania and was more designed to get Wyatt/Fiend over a bit more before the next feud. Bayley hasn't been in a feud where it's felt like a title loss might be around the corner for a while - this little program with Lacey comes off the back of her not even being on the TLC card and before that having the Survivor Series build...before that was the Charlotte feud where they traded the belt for five days, and then Ember Moon before that? I'd like to see her get a bit more challenged, to be honest.

It feels a lot like Raw a couple of months ago - there was a period where it felt like the only thing really happening on Raw was Rusev/Lashley/Lana. Everything else was a bit in the background and building towards stuff which is now paying off. Hopefully as Mania season approaches they can pull it together. They really need to end this Reigns/Corbin stuff and give both men a new focus.

[PEN15v2]

Something I was enjoying around the beginning of the recent brand split was how well each week, the main event program changed. I can't remember the exact feuds, but it would be like if Roman vs Corbin took the main event one week and then the next it was a background story/opener/midcard. That week the main event would instead be Naomi vs Bayley, then the next week New Day vs Morrison/Miz...etc. I enjoyed watching when that seemed to be the flow, though I wonder if this sort of booking ended up dropping ratings without a single star as the focal point.

[PEN15v2]

Almost got another stormed out Raw.

[Team Farrell]

I wonder what the house is going to look like tonight.

[Oliver]

I'm confused on what's happening with Ruby Riott returning to attack Liv. Not sure whether that's a good route for her, as it doesn't feel very impactful.

Very happy to have her back, though - I think she's someone that they should look to get more into the main event scene on the women's side. Hopefully she can get there via this little Liv thing. I just hope this was a statement making moment and not some kind of Lana association, to be honest - especially if they go down the line of her having a third romantic partner in the whole thing.

[Powder]

So Angel Garza debuted on RAW last night, and all he had was the same 'Shit Eating Grin' on his face just like my all time favorite wrestler in the history of the business Alberto Del Rio. Man I wish that there was a way to have extreme sarcasm be typed....

Garza should be his own man, and not a reincarnation of ADR.


Also...unrelated...

Ruby Riott made her comeback last night by attacking Liv, and as it looked on behalf of Lana. Weird. I'm glad that Ruby is back, because she has that something about her, that I like. The bad girl with tats, and makeup. I don't know why, but I like it. I think Taz used to call Daphne in TNA 'Zombie Hot', same thing.

But that being said, her return could have been more of an impact. Go after Becky, not Liv. But I see why the WWE had her feud with Liv, to raise Liv up, but Riott should be closer to the top of the card as the women's division needs people in it, and fresh faces. And Riott is a veteran.

[PEN15v2]

You're both missing the point. Ruby attacking Becky would lead to Ruby losing to Becky. Becky might drop the title, but it won't be to Ruby. At least not yet. Much like Aleister Black getting mostly squash wins, it's to build to whatever happens next. Ruby bullying Liv will do more for her eventual confrontation with Becky, and it'll be more likely to happen when the title switching hands is a possibility.

[Powder]

Then why not wait to re-debut Rioot after Mania, when Becky drops the title/ And Have Riott pick up some victories there?

[PEN15v2]

Because Raw is 3 hours and stories are needed (especially with the amount of unfair/incorrect flack WWE gets for only booking a single womens feud per brand).
Because she might have ring rust and need to work out in the ring to get back into championship shape.
Because she wasn't a contender before the injury, so some dominance will help her.

[Powder]

But at Liv's expense?

Liv just debuted a new gimmick and so far it seems to be working. So who then wins this feud? Both women are essentially 'new' once again, and both need wins. I think that Riott has more of an upside, when it comes to talent, but Liv is probably more 'traditionally marketable'. Regardless both need wins to move up the card, so having them feud, by trading victories will help, but who ultimately wins the feud?

[Team Farrell]

I don't understand. Can WWE do no right, or do people just dislike Liv? Liv gets involved with Lana in the Lashley-Rusev feud and it's shit on. Now WWE brings back someone Liv has a well documented history with for what looks like a pretty good personal issue, and it's not the right story for Riott?

Liv Morgan isn't bad, but she needs some work. She's only going to improve so much working with Lana who's worse in-ring than she is. She give her Riott to work with for the time.

EDIT: BTW, that Ricochet promo...I'm so sick of the "this is my dream, I've wanted this since I was a child, I love this business" fucking promos. That type of promo will never ever ever ever ever ever get over with anyone but internet smart marks that already love Ricochet and share his dream so they can live through him.

Did Hulk Hogan or Steve Austin or The Rock or Kevin Nash or Ultimate Warrior ever cut a promo about watching WWF when they were kids and dreaming of the title? No, the cut promos about how much of a bad ass they were and how they were going to kick the Champ's ass.

Why can't Ricochet go out there and just say "nobody in this company thinks I have a shot, but I'm going to go out there with these guys, beat their asses and prove to everyone in the back and all of you that I can kick Brock's ass in Saudi Arabia"?

[PEN15v2]

But at Liv's expense?

Liv just debuted a new gimmick and so far it seems to be working. So who then wins this feud? Both women are essentially 'new' once again, and both need wins. I think that Riott has more of an upside, when it comes to talent, but Liv is probably more 'traditionally marketable'. Regardless both need wins to move up the card, so having them feud, by trading victories will help, but who ultimately wins the feud?

Who do you think is the better choice to be in the mix with the Charlottes, Beckys, Sashas, Rheas and Bayleys? If your answer is Ruby, then you’ll understand why I say yes, at Liv’s expense. Mojo put over Drew last night. Eric Young put over Aleister Black. Mojo, EY, and Liv don’t suck. But they don’t have the upside of Black, McIntyre or Ruby. Liv is getting over, and will be fine. Just because she might never be Women’s champion doesn’t mean she’s wasted.

I don't understand. Can WWE do no right, or do people just dislike Liv? Liv gets involved with Lana in the Lashley-Rusev feud and it's shit on. Now WWE brings back someone Liv has a well documented history with for what looks like a pretty good personal issue, and it's not the right story for Riott?

I think fans of our age forget that they used to watch wrestling without knowing the ins and outs. If I knew everything I knew now while watching WWF 1996-1997, I’d be so upset that Austin lost to Bret Hart so often, and that he got jobbed out to the Undertaker in his first PPV singles title shot. But none of those losses mattered by the time he won the title. According to today's fan's "logic", Austin should have won King of the Ring, and won the WWF title the next night, and held it until The Rock showed up, who should have beat Austin right away, and held the title until HHH was the top heel…etc.