01-02-2018, 03:01 AM | #161 |
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Hmm, Owens is a possibility. It seems insane to give it to a heel, but with two Rumbles, I can see them putting the men's one on first to make a big deal out of the women's one, so it being sort of an afterthought and just a long Battle Royal that Owens wins.
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01-02-2018, 03:03 AM | #162 |
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Why does it seem insane to give it to a heel?
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01-02-2018, 03:03 AM | #163 |
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I mean, what I can see about Reigns is Vince just loving the idea of the 2018 Royal Rumble pissing off the Philly crowd in the same way as the 2015 one. Come on, that's totally Vince. Can't you just imagine them getting Rey to come in as #30 again, and for Rusev to be the last guy in there again, especially given how popular he's gotten? Vince will be laughing maniacally in the back -- "Goddammit they hate him!"
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01-02-2018, 03:04 AM | #164 |
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01-02-2018, 03:05 AM | #165 |
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Seriously, if you wanted Nakamura to be the sort of babyface they seem to want him to be, this is really your best window, because if he kicks Reigns off the apron, the crowd is going to melt and he can pose in the ring and look fucking cool for once.
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01-02-2018, 03:09 AM | #166 |
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But I'm also predicting Ronda Rousey to win the Women's Rumble, and for her to challenge Charlotte. So that would be two SmackDown winners. It might be more logical to kind of go back to Roman Reigns winning the men's one.
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01-02-2018, 03:09 AM | #167 | |
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With two world titles, he can give them the same false hope he loves to give when there's two world titles. "OH MY GOD! WRESTLEMANIA IS SAVED! REIGNS (or Cena before him) LOST THE RUMBLE AND ISN'T GOING TO MAIN EVENT WRESTLEMANIA!" Then they go on to main event WrestleMania anyway because there's another world title and so his plans aren't fucked with at all. If there were two world title during the whole Daniel Bryan debacle, Bryan probably would have won the rumble that year too because Vince would have been like "Why the fuck not? Let them have their other title and put Batistia in the WrestleMania main event anyway. I don't give a fuck." |
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01-02-2018, 03:12 AM | #168 | |
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It depends on what mood he's in on the night as much as anything. He might decide he wants Taker/Cena to be for the WWE Title, so he might just send Taker out there to toss a few bitches over to close the match. It's not beyond the realm of plausibility with Vince. |
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01-02-2018, 03:13 AM | #169 |
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Meh. They've had a heel eliminate him and win it the past couple years. And Owens will get a pop anyway if he does it and the kids will hate him for it. I don't think it's that crazy.
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01-02-2018, 03:14 AM | #170 |
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I'm leaning towards him popping the crowd, because the heat you're going to get from trolling Philly "isn't worth it." It's better to create hope and a positive stir about your product these few months out. I can see him setting up everything to look like a Reigns win, only for him to just come up short.
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01-02-2018, 03:16 AM | #171 |
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I don't mean "crazy" as in absolutely bat-shit out-of-your-mind weird. I just mean that's it actually a really good opportunity to get a guy properly "over." At least to the point where they can build on it if they don't fuck them up the next week (which they might). And I don't much care for Owens, so I'm finding it hard to get enthused. As I said though, I can see him winning the WWE Title.
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01-02-2018, 03:17 AM | #172 |
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I also think it depends on the story. If the storyline requires Reigns winning the rumble, they'll do it of course. But Owens winning and using his guaranteed title shot as a reason Shane can't fire him seems like something they would do. And then Reigns would just win a #1 contenders match or something.
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01-02-2018, 03:21 AM | #173 |
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Yeah, we're in agreement there. That's actually a pretty good story for Styles/Owens. Especially if Owens beats the piss out of Shane and makes Styles watch or something.
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01-02-2018, 04:34 AM | #174 |
Wrestling Marks Rejoice!
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The difference between here and with Emma was a) Alexa is the champ, whilst Emma was *just* established to be the bottom of the food chain on the main roster... and that was before the release, and b) they did aaaaaaalllllll that hype and build for Asuka's dangerousness and mystique, and almost killed it with two "competitive" matches against the aforementioned bottom of the food chain after she spent the previous number of months either killing bitches outright in singles, winning in handicap matches, or winning multiple-way matches to retain her streak and strap. It would be like if they brought Goldberg in during the middle of his streak in WCW, acknoledged said streak in WWF, even put over the damn streak in an unprecedented move... and then had him him in his debut match against Road Dogg where he mostly took bumps for about 20 minutes and THEN gets a jackhammer and spear.
Asuka struggling *at times* is okay, just so long as they pick the right times. Bliss is the champ, and while she plays a great chickenshit champ and liking to hide behind Nia and such, it is kinda cool when a heel evolves beyond that, especially when it makes her look legit holding the belt instead of it just being her turn to carry it for awhile. She doesn't like to do the work herself, but she *can* at least hold her own if she has to. Otherwise, she would just be like Jinder. I dig it all around. |
01-02-2018, 04:37 AM | #175 | |
Wrestling Marks Rejoice!
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01-02-2018, 04:56 AM | #176 |
dirty irani
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Never really get a chance to watch Raw, due to the time difference over here and finding it hard to put aside time to watch it.
Just caught up on the show report though and read that Balor teamed up with Gallows and Anderson, was I right in reading that they cut to commercial and didn't show their entrance to the ring. |
01-02-2018, 05:33 AM | #177 |
BAY BAY
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Man, the Rumble hasn't been interesting in years, and now there's two 30 person ones. And a horrible Universal title match.
Seems like the most interesting thing to watch will be to see if the Philly crowd just shits on it. |
01-02-2018, 06:02 AM | #178 |
Hey Mister!
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It's in Philly again?
Why does Philly keep getting Rumbles? Fuck those guys. Also, really want Nakamura to win, because Styles vs Nakamura is the match. |
01-02-2018, 12:56 PM | #179 |
Stickman
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The womens Royla rumble is going to be so awkward. The girls are too short to be easily thrown over the top rope so we are going to see a number of women just thrwoing themselves over, and we are going to see a bunch of botched clotheslines that dont knock somebody out so they will try two or three times. Cant believe its he main event.
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01-02-2018, 01:06 PM | #180 |
( ._.)
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Wait they already did Asuka vs Alexa?
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01-02-2018, 01:41 PM | #181 |
I am the cheese
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01-02-2018, 02:30 PM | #182 |
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If a face is champion going into WrestleMania, they do.
They can't and don't have a face win the rumble every single year. |
01-02-2018, 02:44 PM | #183 |
I am the cheese
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I mean thaypretty much have with very few exceptions.
More since the two title deal which allows them to not have the rumble winner main. |
01-02-2018, 02:50 PM | #184 |
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Yeah. And there's two titles now. And like I said earlier, the rumble winner has actually opened the show as many times as they've closed the show when there's been two titles. So it's not insane to think a heel would win since it's likely just gonna lead to a match in the middle of the card anyway. Both title matches don't have to be the face chasing. They can tell different stories.
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01-02-2018, 03:27 PM | #185 | |
Feeling Oof-y
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01-02-2018, 03:59 PM | #186 | |
dirty irani
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Kinda annoyed though , it just goes to show how idiotic the WWE booking can be. The Balor Club has been teased on social media and certain backstage vignettes for a while now. They have had ample opportunities in the past few weeks to build up to this reunion, this is something they could make money off. Vince was moaning about how he didn't think Balor is over enough which is a crock of shit, he's just not big enough for his fetish. Imagine instead that this reunion was to happen at The Rumble , either in the Rumble match itself (which I guess the Philly crowd would go mad for) or in the main event against Lesnar. Carry on the momentum into Wrestlemania in a 3 v 3 tag match against Reigns, Jordon and Rollins with the tag and Intercontinental belts on the line. |
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01-02-2018, 04:39 PM | #187 |
Stickman
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I know very little about the Balor Club but they could have hyped it much much more than they did. Just seemed like a generic, "here are my partners" kind of segment.
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01-02-2018, 04:56 PM | #188 |
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I don't think Vince wants the Japanese stuff getting super-over on his program, because it lends credence to what they're doing. If The Balor Club sticks, it'll be a quick play for some t-shirts and then a job to The New Day or a re-booted Wyatt Family at WrestleMania.
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01-02-2018, 04:58 PM | #189 | |
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01-02-2018, 04:59 PM | #190 |
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It's like when they give MITB to guys who have won the belt numerous times in the past. What's the point of it?
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01-02-2018, 05:02 PM | #191 |
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Don't care anymore. It was never going to be the same on a shallow Raw or SmackDown as it was in NXT. She was always going to be "just another girl." And then Emma killed her out the gate. You watch her lose the Royal Rumble and then still be billed as "undefeated."
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01-02-2018, 05:06 PM | #192 | |
Feeling Oof-y
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One that comes immediately to mind; Wyatt’s return following his absence after the “mumps” outbreak. |
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01-02-2018, 05:46 PM | #193 | |
dirty irani
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Also love how he's this 'eater of worlds' but remember even men with powers can get the mumps. Surely it was common sense to give another meaning , storyline based, for his absence. |
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01-02-2018, 06:18 PM | #194 | |
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As far as what you mean, yeah. I pretty much agree. The two titles thing fucks everything up. Ideally there would be one and if that were the case, it would be a different conversation. Although sometimes a heel chasing works. I don't like the idea of constantly just taking the title off of your face champion at the beginning of every year just to make sure there's a heel champion going into WrestleMania. It gets repetitive and if you keep taking the title off the face so that he can constantly chase then the chase starts meaning less and less. You've gotta tell a different story sometimes. Hell, the biggest match in WrestleMania (and possibly wrestling) history featured a heel chasing. |
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01-02-2018, 06:45 PM | #195 |
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You're not wrong that heels do win and it can be compelling. I think it makes more sense when you've built up a proper face champion too. Ideally, you'd have booked things out so you've got a strong heel that can win and it's not going to serendipitous.
I don't think this is the year for it. I just think with it being Philly and Reigns being the guy from Raw, there's just too much tension in him repeating history and then a babyface knocking him off that perch and basking in Philly's glory. Owens will get cheered, but it'll be...anti-climatic. This year. |
01-02-2018, 06:46 PM | #196 |
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We've also had so many two-time winners lately too. Cena in 2013, Batista in 2014, Triple H in 2016, Orton in 2017. Reigns was the last guy to win it for the first time. There's something rewarding about a guy winning it for the first time that I think should go to a babyface this year.
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01-02-2018, 08:31 PM | #197 |
President of Freedonia
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My gut is that Cena wins with he and Reigns being the final two, "getting his win back" over Reigns without having to pin him.
I'd be fascinated by the crowd reaction to that to see if Philly turns on the whole thing or if they side with Cena now that he's clearly on part-timer status and isn't the current golden boy in Reigns. I mean they're gonna sing "John Cena suuuuuucks" when he enters but that might be along the lines of Angle's "You Suck" chant at this point. I think even the smarky crowds are willing to give Cena his due now that he's on the victory lap stage of his career. |
01-02-2018, 08:37 PM | #198 |
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If Jinder was still champ, I'd definitely say Cena wins with him going on to break the record by beating Jinder at WrestleMania. Now, I don't know.
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01-02-2018, 08:47 PM | #199 |
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This might sound crazy... but what about Ziggler?
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01-02-2018, 08:50 PM | #200 |
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If they really wanna go for shock value and don't wanna mess with their Raw title plans, that actually would make a lot of sense. Seems like Styles has feuded with every other heel on the roster and it also seems like they're building Ziggler to... something. Ziggler vs Styles for the title on Smackdown seems like a program I could actually kinda see happening.
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