WWE Fans

[Rick Sanchez]

Brodie Lee has always been a favorite of mine. I think that he was one of the best big men to come along in the last 20 years, and definitely one of the best big men of all time. I'd seen a lot of his work from ROH, Dragon Gate, and Chikara. I enjoyed his work as a member of the Wyatt Family, obviously. The tag match against the Shield was one of the best matches of 2014. When WWE broke up the Wyatt Family in the fall of 2014, and Brodie got a singles push, I was ecstatic because he was my favorite member.

I liked him more than I liked Bray Wyatt (and I'm a huge fan of Wyatt's). I loved the fact that they had him win the Intercontinental title, but after that, he was just stuck as a tag team guy for the rest of his run. Despite the fact that the Bludgeon Brothers run was my favorite tag team run of his, it infuriated me that WWE wouldn't give him another singles run, because I knew he was a lot more than a tag team guy.

Brodie being revealed as the Exalted One and winning the TNT title were two of my favorite moments of this year. As a longtime fan of his, it was great to see him get to shine in AEW after being wasted for most of his run in WWE. The fact that this happened before he could really get to the meat of his AEW run makes this even worse. He was someone that I always enjoyed watching no matter what.

[deputyduffy]

R.I.P. to this thread...

[Bibilolo59]

memories....
I was fan of the wwe show some years ago
my favs were Undertaker, Randy Orton, John Cena, Triple H, The Rock, DX team (and so on lol) ...
For the divas : the Bella twins

[ABoyBrushedRed]

AEW seems to be picking up where wwe is declining actually

[Love Buzz]

WWE is only worth it for the women's division. There's a reason why the discussion here is mostly about them. They are more relevant than ever compared to the past. It feels like we're really witnessing history. I would go as far as to say they are surpassing the guys if not have already.

The guys however, let us take a look.

Generalising here based on what's out there, these are who they have to live up to.

Flair: Considered the greatest ever.
Austin: Record breaker, most popular.
HBK: Greatest performer of all time, Mr Wrestlemania.
Rock: Most charismatic and comedic ability.
Undertaker: Greatest gimmick / character.
Bret: Best technical in ring, best there is and so on.

All those monikers are taken. They have to live up to and surpass those ridiculously high standards and honestly will never surpass those guys while they are still so prevalent in the minds of so many viewers. What's left to take? Jokingly, or maybe not, the only thing they can strive for is best matches rated by Meltzer and I think Omega/Okada fucking took that one.

AEW is a clean slate. The problem is they think they're great already because every smark is telling them so online, even though they can't even surpass the initial rating they did, which glaringly obviously tells otherwise. It's pick and choose DVR TV at best. Not must see from start to finish.

[MasterBates]

you forgot one:
John Cena: Most merchandise sold EVER!

Still watch but dont like many wrestlers I realised that in the time it takes the douche Micheal Cole to replay everything that happens in the last show - that time = 2 matches we dont get to see dont get me started on the "critically acclained and award winning thunderdome" bullshit the only thunderdome that was critically acclaimed had MasterBlaster in it...who runs Thunderdome?? MasterBlaster runs Tunderdome!

[Cadirai]

Originally Posted by Love Buzz

WWE is only worth it for the women's division. There's a reason why the discussion here is mostly about them. They are more relevant than ever compared to the past. It feels like we're really witnessing history. I would go as far as to say they are surpassing the guys if not have already.

The guys however, let us take a look.

Generalising here based on what's out there, these are who they have to live up to.

Flair: Considered the greatest ever.
Austin: Record breaker, most popular.
HBK: Greatest performer of all time, Mr Wrestlemania.
Rock: Most charismatic and comedic ability.
Undertaker: Greatest gimmick / character.
Bret: Best technical in ring, best there is and so on.

All those monikers are taken. They have to live up to and surpass those ridiculously high standards and honestly will never surpass those guys while they are still so prevalent in the minds of so many viewers. What's left to take? Jokingly, or maybe not, the only thing they can strive for is best matches rated by Meltzer and I think Omega/Okada fucking took that one.

AEW is a clean slate. The problem is they think they're great already because every smark is telling them so online, even though they can't even surpass the initial rating they did, which glaringly obviously tells otherwise. It's pick and choose DVR TV at best. Not must see from start to finish.

WWEs own damn fault though. They cling far too much to "nostalgia" (some of the old farts should have retired long ago) while supressing new talents/spotlighting only a few people at the same time. Then there's also all the bullshit they are pulling ("surprise rollup", weird gimmicks, etc.). No wonder WWE is dying.

[Love Buzz]

I think it's a simple matter of the male wrestlers used to be entertaining and engaging. The staff/wrestlers did a much better job of keeping you gripped from start to finish. Now it's based on match quality and hype over this great wrestler vs this great wrestler which requires no build up anyway because you're already sold on the perceived quality you're going to see. The star power hierarchy is dead because the fucking curtain jerkers could pull off a great match and everyone would be going "they're over, they should be in a better spot" and so on. It's not supposed to work like that. Vince doesn't find these guys engaging him. Drew and Roman are where they are because of the way they look and they are competent. They tick every box for Vince so they're at the top. There are a whole heap of problems with the system, it's a struggle to articulate.

I've hyped myself over that barbed match, I haven't watched the build. Real good storytelling in wrestling died with the internet uptake and the "reality era" isn't woefully awful but has devolved wrestling as we once knew it, but of course they'll frame it as evolved. Those in the bubble are in denial over it because they are doing it their way, doesn't necessarily make it the right way to get back to what it once was.

[Shylock]

Originally Posted by Love Buzz

I think it's a simple matter of the male wrestlers used to be entertaining and engaging. The staff/wrestlers did a much better job of keeping you gripped from start to finish. Now it's based on match quality and hype over this great wrestler vs this great wrestler which requires no build up anyway because you're already sold on the perceived quality you're going to see. The star power hierarchy is dead because the fucking curtain jerkers could pull off a great match and everyone would be going "they're over, they should be in a better spot" and so on. It's not supposed to work like that. Vince doesn't find these guys engaging him. Drew and Roman are where they are because of the way they look and they are competent. They tick every box for Vince so they're at the top. There are a whole heap of problems with the system, it's a struggle to articulate.

I've hyped myself over that barbed match, I haven't watched the build. Real good storytelling in wrestling died with the internet uptake and the "reality era" isn't woefully awful but has devolved wrestling as we once knew it, but of course they'll frame it as evolved. Those in the bubble are in denial over it because they are doing it their way, doesn't necessarily make it the right way to get back to what it once was.

Vince's biggest problem is the same that every wrestling promoter faces and that is getting his talent (wrestlers) to perform gimmicks and the characters he wants them to; as well as putting another wrestler over in certain matches to conform to his storyline. In the end it all comes down to how much money he can afford and is willing to pay his talent in order for his talent to provide the script that he and his writers want. Most of the WWE talent can earn more money working in Indy shows than they can for the WWE and don't want to perform gimmicks for the WWE in any manner that will diminish their Indy paycheck in the future when Covid-19 will no longer prevent the Indy shows from running again. Right now the WWE has more talent that what they need and will be releasing some of the talent after Wrestlemania. Keep in mind that Drew and Roman are two of the higher paid wrestlers in the WWE and as the old adage goes "Money Talks .....!" they are far more receptive to following what Vince wants to keep their paychecks coming!!!

[ABoyBrushedRed]

Thoughts on the Elimination Chamber?

Shocked at the ending with Miz cashing in