03-12-2017, 07:09 PM | #1 |
Reigning Tipsters Champ!
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Mania Up 3, Down 3
Coming off the back of Fastlane and the latest week of shows, the card for Mania is starting to take shape. While there may be a few additions or surprises to the card in the coming weeks, a lot of the matches are now looking more and more probable.
In what's being reported as a potentially marathon 7 hour event, including pre-show etc..., I thought it would be cool for everyone to pick out their top 3 and bottom 3 programs going into the event, giving a few reasons. The reasons can be anything from liking or disliking the performers involved, the story being told, or even the uncertainty/certainty that surrounds the potential outcome. I am probably forgetting a few things, but the card more or less seems to be the following... Brock vs Goldberg HHH vs Rollins* Orton vs Bray Undertaker vs Roman Big Show vs Shaq* Owens vs Jericho Styles vs Shane Charlotte vs Sasha vs Bailey (vs Nia?) Smackdown Woman vs Alexa Corbin vs Ambrose Neville vs Aries Club vs Enzo/Cass vs Cesaro/Sheamus Battle Royal Miz/Maryse vs Cena/Nikki ...And possibly some multiman Cruiser stuff or Smackdown tag stuff. For me 3 UP 1. Owens/Jericho I thought this should have been for the title. I know it would have been a massive risk, but the story has been really well told, especially over the last few months. It had real emotion there and i think the crowd reaction would have been incredible for Jericho winning. As it is, the story is still the best told going into Mania and I think the workers care about it and will tell a great story in the ring come the night. 2. Neville/Aries A surprise one here, but Neville has been awesome since coming back and they have built him as the unstoppable, vicious heel. I had no concept of Aries before the last few weeks, but he is naturally at ease on the mic and on commentary and just seems to have confidence and swagger. I feel the whole future if the Cruisers rides on this one and I think they have two men that will deliver, and a potential big star in Aries. 3. Undertaker/Roman I will admit, this is morbid interest. I don't see any other result other than a Reigns clean win over an aging Taker and I will be glued to see how the avoid derailing the rest of the show after that. If they don't do that, and actually do something interesting with Reigns...better still. Down 3 1. Big Show vs Shaq I understand why it needs to happen, but I hope it doesn't. This might have had an edge to it 10-15 years ago, but not now. Show has nothing left to offer at this stage of his career and I would much rather see someone else using g his time. Harsh, but he has been booked into the ground and isn't an attraction in 2017. 2. Orton vs Bray I was really into this one, and then i felt like it just drove off a cliff with the fire and sister abigail suddenly being relevant to anything. It was too severe a twist in my eyes and outlandish and drained the intrigue I had for the match. There is still time to get it back, obviously, but for now, not into it at all. 3. Cena/Nikki vs Miz/Maryse Probably the two best promos in the company. Honestly, if this were a heel Miz as champ, and Cena chasing number 17, i would have been glued to this. As it is, it will potentially all be about Nikki Bella and a massive waste of these two guys on the card. So what are the opinions on TP Dub? 3 programs you are most into as of right now, and the 3 you are least into or most disappointed with going into the big showcase... |
03-12-2017, 07:20 PM | #2 |
Amazon Affiliate
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I hope nobody goes over Undertaker clean at Mania ever again.
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03-12-2017, 07:24 PM | #3 |
Amazon Affiliate
Posts: 42,694
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UP
Jericho VS. Owens I love Jericho and he's still got it, plus I enjoy watching Owens do his thing. Probably going to be the best match on the show. Down 3 Goldberg VS. Lesnar #3 Have a feeling this will be pretty awful. Doubt the crowd will shit on it, though. I want to see a powerhouse counter to the spear. Big Show VS Shaq Big Show is awful. Blah. Corbin VS. Ambrose Who even are these people? |
03-12-2017, 09:33 PM | #4 |
LIMITLESS
Posts: 32,273
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Up
Jeri-KO EXPLODES Feud has been slow burning for a long time, it's almost old school in this era where feuds don't last more than 3 months as a general rule. Both great workers that really could have elevated the Universal title if they had been given the opportunity. HHH (or Joe) vs. Rollins Another long build that will result in a great match regardless of whether it's H or Joe fighting. I don't love seeing H push himself into a main event slot every year, but this will be infinitely better than last year. Orton vs. Bray I'm just really happy that Bray is the champ and I'm really invested in the build (even though they sped through it a lot). It should be good and hopefully Bray wins. DOWN Undertaker vs. Roman Does anyone really want to see this? LOL ROMAN WINS. Styles vs. Shane A pure and outright waste of one of the WW's true top level talents. Fuck Shane. Neville vs. Aries I just don't get the hype around Aries. I always heard that he was great and so forth, but I haven't really ever been impressed by him in the ring at all to this point. |
03-12-2017, 09:42 PM | #5 |
MVP Mark
Posts: 16,447
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Sooo looking forward to Bray/Orton and Rollins. Brock/Goldberg may be the last epic match of two superstars of their star power.
Not looking forward to see Taker ever wrestle again. |
03-12-2017, 09:49 PM | #6 |
Rigged from the start
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Thought Big Show/Shaq had been officially cancelled?
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03-12-2017, 10:31 PM | #7 |
Resident drug enabler
Posts: 45,473
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I'm looking forward to Reigns-Taker for the same reason Maluco is.
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03-13-2017, 08:29 AM | #8 |
Reigning Tipsters Champ!
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Apparently it might be back on. Hoping it's not, but he is supposed to be back in discussions.
It just really seems like something that should have happened in the attitude era, not now. Everyone is way past caring. Like a good 10 years past caring. |
03-13-2017, 12:02 PM | #9 |
Posts: 59
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3 up for me
Jericho/Owens. Just wish this was for the universal title. Neville/Aries. Both are awesome IMO Strange one this but Bliss/Smackdown. I strongly believe Asuka is going to play part of this match and kick Alexias head off. 3 down Show/Shaq. Please god no Undertaker/Reigns. Just fully retire please taker Styles/Shane. Really feel you are wasting a massive talent in Styles on this match |
03-13-2017, 04:56 PM | #10 | |
Feeling Oof-y
Posts: 17,136
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Quote:
We had on, then off, then back in discussions, now it's dead again. Getting too late to kick-start it now. |
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03-13-2017, 05:25 PM | #11 |
Former TPWW Royalty
Posts: 66,588
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3 Up:
* Neville vs Aries - Potential to be the best match at Mania if the WWE lets them go all out. * Owens vs Jericho - JeriKO and Festival of Friendship were some of the best things about RAW over the past year. Match should also be pretty great given how good both guys are. * Orton vs Bray - Potential to really cement Bray's status as a big star and the Orton-Wyatt storyline has been pretty interesting. 3 Down: * Undertaker vs Roman - Feels like Reigns isn't ready to get the rub of being the one to finish off Taker at Mania. Also for something teased as Taker's potential retirement, feud doesn't feel special at all and just like almost every other Taker Mania feud in recent years. * Triple H vs Rollins -Assuming this does happen, feels really dumb to rush Rollins back and risk him suffering an even worse injury because Triple H needed a Mania match. Also something that really didn't need to be delayed till Mania for the sake of it. * Miz/Maryse vs Cena/Nikki - Understand Nikki wants something big as her retirement but don't care at all about the match itself. |
03-14-2017, 05:06 PM | #12 |
Make the IWC Great Again
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I think this has been the best built Mania from top to bottom.
What I mean by that is almost every key match has a strong storyline going into it and lots of star power throughout. There have been past Manias with individual matches with stronger builds, but nothing like this one from first match to last match. I would say the weakest storylines have been the SD women's title match and the RAW tag titles match. And I only say that because in both cases, they seemed to try to stretch to get multi person matches, instead of just sticking to one program. But like with the RAW tag titles, each of the teams has a well defined issue heading into the match, so it's not just thrown together. HHH v Rollins is probably the best because it's a story that started when Rollins dumped The Shield. Cool that they managed to keep it going for so long. Also shockingly enjoying Cena's deal. |
03-14-2017, 05:54 PM | #13 |
Tongue my Fartbox
Posts: 5,362
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Taker just needs to not bother anymore, only takes a few minutes and he's huffing and puffing, come the end of the match he looks like a deadman...literally.
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03-14-2017, 06:49 PM | #14 |
Reigning Tipsters Champ!
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I actually think Taker-Reigns will be a great match, I really do. Even at his age, Taker has never disappointed given a decent opponent and Reigns is a lot of things, but bad in the ring isn't one of them. I am sure he will bump around for Taker too. It will just be fascinating how things go down post-Mania.
Rollins-HHH definitely took a step up for me after this week. I am intrigued now, whatever happens. A Balor substitution, if Seth really is out, would be stupid though. It would be contrived. They should just shoot an angle and keep things alive til Summerslam if he can't wrestle. Am starting to get concerned about New Day hosting. They have become really annoying and too much of them doing their usual schtick throughout the night could bring the show down a little. Show/Shaq getting canned is a real blessing, and a battle royal win would be a nice Mania send off for him. I was hoping Owens and Jericho would be kept apart until Mania |