The Squared Circle Thread (ver 2.0)

[Blue42]

@audiobully

I was actually talking to my gf about the ridiculous length of the shows last night. I get WrestleMania being 5 hours long, but there's no reason a second tier PPV like MITB should be 4 hours and 15 minutes long (plus the pre-show).

Their biggest problem right now is that they haven't figured out how to balance the two shows and the expanding women's division. It used to be that if there was, say 8 matches on a show, it would basically be 7 mens matches and 1 womens match. Now that they're doing more womens matches (which I think most fans appreciate), they haven't taken away any mens matches so you end up with, say, 11 matches (7-8 mens and 3-4 womens). So there's your extra hour or so right there.

It'd be a pretty simple solution to have 4-5 mens matches per show and 3-4 womens matches per show. I get that they don't want to do that because it would likely mean that guys like Roman and Bryan don't have a match on every single PPV (both of those matches last night were basically throwaways), but it would likely be better in the long run because it would keep fans from getting as burned out on those guys. It'd also be smart to start treating the IC and US belts as "TV Titles" that are defended on RAW/SD more often so they don't need to take up time on PPVs as well.

[Tweet]

When Beat the Champ came out, a wrestler named Sasha Banks tweeted at me: "Where's my song, @mountain_goats?" As a territories guy I had to learn her story. I said I'd finish the song by the end of the tour; it took a little longer than that.



Last night Sasha Banks wrestled for the Money in the Bank title, and while she didn't take it home this time, I've learned enough about where she came from and how she got to where she is now to say with confidence: the sky is the limit for you. Your walk is just beginning and the day will come when all your setbacks look like steps on a ladder.



[...] Dedicated of course to Sasha and to everybody who's even had a hint of what it looks like when your dreams start pushing their elbows through the gauze into the real world of blood & sweat & bone.

[Deleted]

Yeah I know we need homes for Shane-O-Mac and Cena, but here's my way too early Wrestlemania predictions:

Daniel Bryan vs The Miz (c)
Sanity vs Bludgeon Brothers (c)
Asuka (c) vs Charlotte Part 2
Andrade "Cien" Almas (c) vs AJ Styles vs Samoa Joe
Shinsuke Nakamura vs Rusev
Kurt Angle VS Triple H
Braun Strowman (c) vs Seth Rollins
Authors Of Pain (c) vs Reigns/Ambrose
Ronda Rousey (c) vs Shayna Baszler
Dolph Ziggler (c) vs Finn Balor
Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn/Elias vs Hardy/Wyatt/Mystery Opponent (Undertaker would bring the house down)

[Tweet]

Cena is going to face the Undertaker because it's 2007 without the economy crash

[Deleted]

I'll beer bet that isn't happening.

[Blue42]

Pretty sure we’re going to get Rousey and Charlotte in the main event. I know they’re on different shows right now, but whichever one isn’t the champ at that point will win the Rumble and make the challenge.

If they’re smart, this match will go on last.

[mikemacncheese]

Hmm, I'll start with Summerslam since even that is feeling murky:

Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar (c)
AJ Styles (c) vs. Samoa Joe
Ronda Rousey vs. Alexa Bliss (c)
Drew Mcintyre vs. Dolph Ziggler (c)
Deleters of Worlds (c) vs. Authors of Pain

This was a shit post, my apologies. They have a massive roster.

Speaking of, the expansion of NXT to the UK could be interesting (they're adding a women and tag team division). Curious if they'll turn the Takeover before Mania into a crossover affair of sorts with the North American wing.

[Deleted]

i caught up on NXT last night and thought takeover was great. very sad i was out of town for it.

i dont think i need to watch MITB based on literally every review i've seen so far

[postfontaine]

Wild.  I won't miss him, but I'm very surprised they did this

[Deleted]

That's great news. He was worthless outside of his ability to have a sweet tan.

[Blue42]

Over/under 3 months before he's the TNA World Champion?

[postfontaine]

Jun 19, 2018 13:18:02 GMT -6 @audiobully said:

That's great news. He was worthless outside of his ability to have a sweet tan.

[Tweet]

Jun 19, 2018 13:30:20 GMT -6 Blue42 said:

Over/under 3 months before he's the TNA World Champion?

6 months sounds more right

[mikemacncheese]

TNA World Champ or TNA Tag Champs w/ Enzo?

"My name is Eric Amore, and this right here, is Big Will..."

[Deleted]

^^^^GOLD^^^^

[regionrat6337]

“Bada bing bada boom...most genuine guys in the room”

[Deleted]

Wish people would stop wishing me a happy birthday today and instead celebrate RUSEV DAY!

[Deleted]

Hey Extreme Rules wasn't terrible! Several matches did not go as I and many expected, which is a breath of fresh air for the WWE.

I fully expected Reigns to OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH his way to victory but they let Lashley win clean. Nice!
B Squad got the titles and that was a huge surprise, at least to me.
The Owens drop from the top of the cage was incredible. Loved that fight.
Ziggler/Rollins was very entertaining even with McIntyre constantly fucking it up. I hate constant interference. Hated it with Mahal and hate it now for Ziggler.

My dad and me watched the first half together and he got a laugh out of me: "Who are these dudes? Lost extras from Braveheart?" IRT Bludgeon Brothers.
Nearly beats my buddies kid during Money In The Bank "I hate this fight because it's just Steroids vs Male Stripper in SWAT Team attire" -Reigns vs Mahal.

[mikemacncheese]

[Deleted]

I like Matt Riddle's look. I like his in ring ability. I was excited to hear WWE looks to him as someone who can challenge Brock Lesner.

But then I saw he's only 205lbs.

That's a problem, right?

[postfontaine]

I mean, it could be? But I think it's also worth considering that a lot of the guys on the main roster and NXT now max out at 220. There are certainly still some big guys, but it feels like there are less and less. Hell, Finn Balor is listed on Wikipedia as 190. I like Matt Riddle, but I guess I don't really think his ceiling (whatever his weight) is much higher than Finn's. Also, I think the copious amounts of marijuana he smokes will be a bigger problem than his size? Supposedly that's why he didn't want to go to Japan

[Deleted]

Well make him part time and the pot won't be an issue

[Blue42]

I haven’t watched Impact in a few years, but I just watched the Slammiversary from a few weeks ago and damn, that’s a great show from start to finish. Apparently Don Callis and Scott D’Amore took over creative a few months ago and i really like the direction they’re going.

I also feel like Moose is a more successful version of what WWE has been trying to do with Roman. And I don’t understand how Brian Cage isn’t in the WWE yet.

[ferro_man]

from his recent tweet, it looks like matt hardy might be retiring soon

[mikemacncheese]

Jul 31, 2018 23:48:58 GMT -6 Blue42 said:

I haven’t watched Impact in a few years, but I just watched the Slammiversary from a few weeks ago and damn, that’s a great show from start to finish. Apparently Don Callis and Scott D’Amore took over creative a few months ago and i really like the direction they’re going.

I also feel like Moose is a more successful version of what WWE has been trying to do with Roman. And I don’t understand how Brian Cage isn’t in the WWE yet.

That PPV was held in the same venue as where Interpol is playing next month. Glad to hear their product itself is improving though.

And Matt retiring rumours... he's had a good run. If he's in a good financial position and his health is aligned, then the time is probably right.

[Deleted]

If anyone should retire for health reasons, it's Jeff.

[Tweet]

Brock Lesnar losing is the best decision this company has made in roughly a year

[mikemacncheese]

Didn't see any of the shows (aside from Velveteen's tights and Seth's whateverthefuckthatwasoffthetopropeholyshit) but it sounds like it was a great weekend for the company.

Roman winning the title was the correct move and that Braun element was more clever than I expected them to be capable of.

EDIT: Just noticed that earlier in this thread I had Matt/Bray vs. AOP for the titles haha. Matt's seemingly retired, AOP are lost, and Bray... TBD.

[Deleted]

jesus god who wrote this shit
(just watched summerslam)

[mikemacncheese]

SummerSlam 2019 week/weekend in Toronto.

Takeover, SummerSlam, Raw, Smackdown, and Fan Axxess. I'll do the first two, maybe Ciampa and Gargano will still be feuding... hopefully not for the 205 Live Title on the preshow.