RIP Jay Briscoe. A tragedy like this is not what anyone needed for the first month of 2023. I hope Mark Briscoe and all of Jay's friends and family can get through this.
-
Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
-
Congrats to the winners of the 2023 Smog Awards!
Sports Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
- Thread starter Go2Sleep02
- Start date
So, I felt the Raw 30th Anniversary show was a bit underwhelming. The commercial-free first hour was fantastic - some of the best WWE programming in the past 20 years. The Bloodline and The Judgment Day are the two best things going in WWE today so it was wise to feature them. The show started falling off pretty hard after this first hour, though. The biggest disappointment to me was the cage match between Bayley and Becky Lynch being scrapped due to time constraints and instead it was just turned into a Damage CTRL beatdown of Becky inside the cage. If they needed to make time, there were plenty of other segments that could've been cut instead.
Brock Lesnar returning to cost Bobby Lashley the US Title again was painfully obvious after the match was made No DQ and Bobby mentioned Brock in a pre-match promo. I am looking forward to whenever their next match will be, though.
With all of its flaws, I can still say it's better than the anniversary shows that Vince would book, though. Nobody got beat up by a bunch of legends this time!
One of my favorite Pokemon YouTubers (Mah-Dry-Bread) often talks about pro wrestling, so I want to give watching it a fair try. However, I have no idea where to start. Would anyone have a good, accessible, fun recommendation for me? (I'm generally not into sports unless they're action-packed/theatrical, if that helps with recommendations).
Top action packed:
Top action/drama:
Top action/story/theatrics:
https://www.tokyvideo.com/es/video/adam-hangman-page-kenny-omega-vs-young-bucks-full-match
AEW/ROH did a really nice job paying tribute to Jay Briscoe with this and the Mark Briscoe/Jay Lethal match on this week's Dynamite. Honestly hard to not get emotional watching it even if you've never followed The Briscoes (but moreso if you have). Good on Tony Khan for pushing Warner Bros Discovery hard to allow Mark Briscoe on AEW TV.
Your winners of the 2023 Royal Rumble:
What are your thoughts on the show (if you watched it)? Personally, I really enjoyed it and felt that the right people won. The Bloodline drama in the main event and Sami finally breaking free was some amazing storytelling. The best PPV of the HHH era IMO.
What are your thoughts on the show (if you watched it)? Personally, I really enjoyed it and felt that the right people won. The Bloodline drama in the main event and Sami finally breaking free was some amazing storytelling. The best PPV of the HHH era IMO.
Last edited:
Today is WWE Elimination Chamber and I'm pretty stoked for it. The match card is pretty solid and the build has been mostly fun to watch. Obviously, the main draw is the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match between Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn - which has been built masterfully and should be amazing to see in front of Sami Zayn's hometown crowd in Montreal. I think the rest of the show should be fun too.
Last edited:
TheEaterOfBergs
Pro Wrestling is the Best in the World.
Roman Reigns is gonna get some of the biggest heat of all time and i'm excited to see how it goes down.
Probably the most hype a Main Event title match has gotten in a long time.
Probably the most hype a Main Event title match has gotten in a long time.
I didn't mind it. There was no way Sami was winning the titles and that kind of overbooked cluster finish protected him. Also, the crowd got sent home happy with Sami and KO reuniting. I wonder what happens with Jey Uso though... How will Roman gaslight him into falling back in line?
romans big matches _always_ end in an overbooked cluster finish with ref bump, visual pinfall, interference, repeat. it "protects" sami just as much as it has protected, say, drew. the big payoff to sami's story seems to now be to win the tag team titles vs. jey, with a justification of jey turning on sami because sami accidentally speared jey, which is unsatisfying at best.
the crowd also didnt really seem happy at the end. the mood was really deflated after the finish. no boos, just silence. KO came out and popped the crowd a bit but not much.
they better make some _really_ precise calls with jey now to make the storyline not just end with cody making roman's bloodline collapse just because he wants the title.
the crowd also didnt really seem happy at the end. the mood was really deflated after the finish. no boos, just silence. KO came out and popped the crowd a bit but not much.
they better make some _really_ precise calls with jey now to make the storyline not just end with cody making roman's bloodline collapse just because he wants the title.
This justification can work if we get segments of Roman gaslighting Jey into thinking it was on purpose & stuff like that. Though I would like to see Jey remain conflicted right up until the presumed WrestleMania match.
Also, the Bloodline probably collapses due to Roman just totally losing his mind - which Cody winning the title(s) will be the catalyst for. Plus the Usos likely dropping to SamiKO. Really looking forward to how they continue building both Roman vs Cody and Usos vs SamiKO. Should be some peak wrestling TV.
I'm pretty excited for AEW Revolution tonight even though the build for most of the matches has been pretty lackluster.
On paper, it looks like a really nice card - except for the Tag Title match lol.
On paper, it looks like a really nice card - except for the Tag Title match lol.
Absolutely banger match between MJF and Bryan Danielson, this guy really knows how to go toe to toe with the best, storyline felt rushed though which is a real massive fucking rip, considering I would have loved to see more mic work from the american dragon in their interactions, but its been a hell of a ride.
More importantly, where do y'all think Jay White is headed? As much as I'd love to say AEW, I don't think his talent is necessarily needed there
More importantly, where do y'all think Jay White is headed? As much as I'd love to say AEW, I don't think his talent is necessarily needed there
It's hard to see him being AEW-bound, as he wouldn't have needed to be written out of Bullet Club and NJPW for that. WWE seems most likely and that's honestly where I'd rather see him go.
And re: MJF/Bryan - the story wasn't 'rushed' per se. as they had two months to build it. They spent the first month doing the 5 matches that Bryan had to do to even get the match which delivered some bangers but is an overused element of MJF feuds. Only then did they randomly pull the emotional angle with MJF but couldn't even keep that consistent week-to-week. Tony Khan just isn't very good at telling coherent threading storylines. Really think he should start hiring some writers to help him keep stories more organized.
And re: MJF/Bryan - the story wasn't 'rushed' per se. as they had two months to build it. They spent the first month doing the 5 matches that Bryan had to do to even get the match which delivered some bangers but is an overused element of MJF feuds. Only then did they randomly pull the emotional angle with MJF but couldn't even keep that consistent week-to-week. Tony Khan just isn't very good at telling coherent threading storylines. Really think he should start hiring some writers to help him keep stories more organized.
You put your hands on a man and you can do whatever you want to that man, but you put your hands on a giant, that giant puts his hands back on you!
Even Brock Lesnar loved that promo!
Both Stand & Deliver and WrestleMania Night 1 were a lot of fun. Got two bona fide MOTYCs with the 5 way North American Title match and Charlotte Flair vs Rhea Ripley. The only dud was Austin Theory vs John Cena which really shouldn't have opened the show. Thankfully it was all uphill from there. Super hyped for Night 2!
WrestleMania Night 2 was a bit of a mixed bag - with a legit MOTYC between GUNTHER, Sheamus, and Drew McIntyre (completely blowing away the MOTYCs I mentioned yesterday) but also a bunch of weird booking decisions. I will say that even the matches with bad endings were at least good to great before the finishes. Only dud was the 4 way women's showcase match. Even Brock Lesnar vs Omos was fine for what it was meant to be.
Generally, I'd say I was satisfied with everything I watched during WM weekend.
Generally, I'd say I was satisfied with everything I watched during WM weekend.
TheEaterOfBergs
Pro Wrestling is the Best in the World.
Roman beating Cody was definitely a very strange choice, I personally am not that bothered about it but I can understand those who would be upset/frustrated at that finish especially as it was easily the best time to pull trigger. But I guess we'll see what Triple H has planned going forward.
Gunther/Sheamus/McIntyre was incredible and my match of the weekend (including other non-Mania shows). Those 3 beat the hell out of eachother and I loved every second of it.
Overall I enjoyed the whole of Wrestlemania and i am definitely interested in where they go next.
Also poor Shane McMahon tearing his quad, It was unfortunately funny with how it happened and hope he can recover well.
Gunther/Sheamus/McIntyre was incredible and my match of the weekend (including other non-Mania shows). Those 3 beat the hell out of eachother and I loved every second of it.
Overall I enjoyed the whole of Wrestlemania and i am definitely interested in where they go next.
Also poor Shane McMahon tearing his quad, It was unfortunately funny with how it happened and hope he can recover well.
Last edited:
It's a very rare opportunity for a champion to reach 900+ days and not be stale, might as well make it to a more monumental 1000 days.
