*Official* Pro-Wrestling Thread II

[Dan]

Up to the Riott Squad vs Banks/Bayley/Natalya. Show's ok-ish so far.

• Opening tag was fun enough, even if the finish was utterly botched.
• Battle Royal really, really, really should have been Ember once Asuka was gone -- she finally got one over her biggest rival, which IMO really needed to be backed up with the win. Nia vs Ronda again isn't overly compelling.
• MYC final was good enough. Storm winning definitely the right call IMO -- there's a story in there of Shirai taking the tournament too lightly all the way through and it costing her.
• This six woman tag is better than it has any right to be. Oh god I could see them booking a cringeworthy Bayley heel turn here -- Sasha's been getting beaten up for a long time now.

 

[Dan]

...did Bayley just die?

 

[sledger]

Up to the Riott Squad vs Banks/Bayley/Natalya. Show's ok-ish so far.

• Opening tag was fun enough, even if the finish was utterly botched.
• Battle Royal really, really, really should have been Ember once Asuka was gone -- she finally got one over her biggest rival, which IMO really needed to be backed up with the win. Nia vs Ronda again isn't overly compelling.
• MYC final was good enough. Storm winning definitely the right call IMO -- there's a story in there of Shirai taking the tournament too lightly all the way through and it costing her.
• This six woman tag is better than it has any right to be. Oh god I could see them booking a cringeworthy Bayley heel turn here -- Sasha's been getting beaten up for a long time now.

The fact that they had Sasha, Bayley, Trish and Lita all on the same card and somehow conspired to involve all of them in throwaway multi-person TV matches is absolutely criminal. Worst thing about the show.

 

[Dan]

Trish and Lita kinda had to be tbf. No way were either of them handling singles matches.

But yes. Sasha and Bayley definitely wasted. Honestly, Riott is too.

 

[sledger]

I think that was the original plan though. IIRC they were going to go with Trish v Bliss until doubts arose about Bliss' fitness, which meant it then became a tag, and then eventually culminated in the whole thing being nixed.

 

[sledger]

Ring rust may have been an issue I guess, but Sasha vs Lita is basically a programme that could have written itself.

Or if it had to be a tag it should have been Sasha and Bayley vs Lita and Trish. That could have actually been a cool spectacle and actually meant something.

Pairing the two legends off with Mickie James (who despite being a gun, we all know is basically just a jobber these days) and Alicia Fox (who is just terrible) feels like a massive waste.

I guess they still could do all of these matches, but given the significance of the event, it would have been a great way to make a marquee and get eyes on the product.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Trish can still go from the little I've seen. Lita, on the other hand, nearly broke her own neck in the Rumble with that "moonsault".

 

[sledger]

Also a shame that they couldn't give Ruby Riott a singles match. She's pretty underrated I think, and god knows we have seen enough 6 person tags with the Riott Squad.

 

[sledger]

Trish can still go from the little I've seen. Lita, on the other hand, nearly broke her own neck in the Rumble with that "moonsault".

Yeah this is a fair point.

Tbf though her "moonsault" was always pretty dodgy back in the day as well. Probably a miracle she didn't kill herself even back then.

 

[Mike5181]

Take these views with a grain of salt, I don't watch NXT (or any WWE programming, really).
Io is really good but probably a bit overrated. Sort of like a female version of Kenny Omega. She will be under-utilised after her NXT run and end up being a female midcard comedy act, much like Asuka and probably Kairi soon enough. I have almost zero doubt that those three will end up in a stable together under Vince. Also, the "WWE-style" will change her matches for the worse, significantly.
Kairi is fine but definitely not as good as the public perception of her. One of those wrestlers that has a "cute UwU" social media presence which distorts fan perception. Best elbow drop in the game.
Le Rae is bad. No connection for me. I'll take this opportunity to say that Gargano is awful at everything about WWE-style "sports entertainment" except for working an underdog babyface match in ring.
Baszler is great, probably the best woman they have on their entire roster bar maybe Becky.
Already gave thoughts on Storm. She's got no personality, no physical charisma and works boring move Britwres-style matches. I'm firmly in the out camp. Will probably be big on the main roster because she's blonde and attractive, hooray for Vince.
I've seen like 3 Kai matches and I've got nothing for you. Seems fine. Surprisingly funny in the snippets I've seen of her outside the ring.

Meiko isn't going to end up in WWE ever, IMO, especially in NXT. She doesn't need it, she's already one of the best 10 workers in the world, regardless of gender, plus she owns, books and stars in her own promotion in Japan. There's always the possibility she works matches here and there, but anything other than that would be genuinely shocking.

Athlai, I really recommend you watch some Joshi. Sendai Girls, Stardom, TJPW, Seadlinnng, Ice Ribbon, OZ Academy etc all have a shockingly high standard of wrestling. The main event from the big Sendai show last week is better than anything on that Evolution card, comfortably.

Io Shirai has a lot more natural athleticism than Asuka and she did gymnastics from an early age, so I think she'll do better on the main roster. People love flashy moves from women because it's not that common still. Bianca Belair is the only one I've seen that can match her in that department.

 

[Mike5181]

That botch from Sasha was hilarious.

 

[sledger]

Io Shirai has a lot more natural athleticism than Asuka and she did gymnastics from an early age, so I think she'll do better on the main roster. People love flashy moves from women because it's not that common still. Bianca Belair is the only one I've seen that can match her in that department.

Haha at the moment whenever I see Shirai I just think about how nearly every moonsault she hit during the tournament was a botch. Either smashed her knees into her opponent or overshot them completely before pinning them in every round iirc.

 

[Dan]

Ring rust may have been an issue I guess, but Sasha vs Lita is basically a programme that could have written itself.

Or if it had to be a tag it should have been Sasha and Bayley vs Lita and Trish. That could have actually been a cool spectacle and actually meant something.

Pairing the two legends off with Mickie James (who despite being a gun, we all know is basically just a jobber these days) and Alicia Fox (who is just terrible) feels like a massive waste.

I guess they still could do all of these matches, but given the significance of the event, it would have been a great way to make a marquee and get eyes on the product.

The issue with Sasha and Bayley vs Trish and Lita is that, in order to give Trish and Lita the nostalgia win, you have to job out two top stars. Alternatively, if you put Sasha and Bayley over, you risk backlash because the fans wanted to see Trish and Lita win.

To me, the best way to use legends as a one-off is in an otherwise meaningless match that lets you get the nostalgia pop without hurting anyone else. I can't see a way for that to happen against Sasha and Bayley.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Io Shirai has a lot more natural athleticism than Asuka and she did gymnastics from an early age, so I think she'll do better on the main roster. People love flashy moves from women because it's not that common still. Bianca Belair is the only one I've seen that can match her in that department.

Since when has the main roster been about what the people want? Or talent? This is Vince we're talking about here. Io should be near the top of the card permanently, but she won't be. Just wait.

I saw someone (who isn't an Important Person or anything) say once that Stardom does sports entertainment better than any wrestling company in the world and from the bits I see of it, I totally get it.

15yo AZM with the "everyone older than me is a grandma" swag and Konami just barely holding in her laughter is extremely my ****.

 

[sledger]

True, but is there much value in a nostaligia pop for these two anyway? They've both been involved in various matches or angles over the last few years anyway.

In any event, could have just done a **** finish where Sasha turns heel on all of them and kills them all with a chair or something.

And bear in mind, if the goal all along was a guaranteed nostalgia pop, it looked like Bliss was going to go under the bus for that originally anyway, and so a top star would have been jobbed out.

 

[Mike5181]

Since when has the main roster been about what the people want? Or talent? This is Vince we're talking about here. Io should be near the top of the card permanently, but she won't be. Just wait.

I got more of a TakeOver vibe from these matches, so there's hope.

 

[Mike5181]

Haha at the moment whenever I see Shirai I just think about how nearly every moonsault she hit during the tournament was a botch. Either smashed her knees into her opponent or overshot them completely before pinning them in every round iirc.

I didn't see those, maybe the rings bigger in NXT or something. She'll get there. Her match with Toni was great, although a bit on the short side.

 

[Dan]

True, but is there much value in a nostaligia pop for these two anyway? They've both been involved in various matches or angles over the last few years anyway.

In any event, could have just done a **** finish where Sasha turns heel on all of them and kills them all with a chair or something.

And bear in mind, if the goal all along was a guaranteed nostalgia pop, it looked like Bliss was going to go under the bus for that originally anyway, and so a top star would have been jobbed out.

Yeah but at least Bliss is a heel. And Mickie's still there to be thrown under the bus and take the L.

 

[sledger]

Yeah but at least Bliss is a heel. And Mickie's still there to be thrown under the bus and take the L.

Yeah true, but was meant to be a singles match originally remember.

 

[Dan]

I'm a little disappointed that they didn't use more of the NXT women tbh. Like yeah, would have made the battle royal bloated but it would have been nice to include them.