Random Wrasslin' thoughts.....

leggo

Strowman is winning.

sky88

i think they'll go with a smackdown winner to try to shock people expecting the roman win and then roman wins it at no 1 contenders at ppv

Lithium93_

Shinsuke Nakamura is winning the Royal Rumble, you heard it here first folks.

leggo

Raw has Elimination Chamber this year actually so I could see them doing a SmackDown winner. Then again there was a SmackDown winner last year and EC was a SD PPV...

If there's a SmackDown winner of the Rumble I'd say Nakamura is a good shout.

Riddle101

It has to be a Smackdown winner. All arrows point to Roman Reigns Vs Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania for the title. Vince has been planning this for a long time I think. So the logical thing would be a Smackdown winner to set up a match at Wrestlemania.

Mr.Nice Guy

I think Styles vs Nakamura will happen at Mania but I don't see it being a title match. I like the idea of Nakamura winning but I can't see Vince being enthusiastic. If you look at recent Rumble winners they tend to be guys Vince loves: Orton, Reigns, Batista, Cena, Sheamus, Alberto. I don't think Vince is all that high on Nakamura judging by how he was booked at Survivor Series.

What I reckon will happen is Jinder gets the title back next month and Cena then wins the Rumble to set up Jinder vs Cena at Mania. (I don't see that being the final match on the show though, still think that will be Brock vs Reigns)

SureYWouldntYa

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I think Styles vs Nakamura will happen at Mania but I don't see it being a title match. I like the idea of Nakamura winning but I can't see Vince being enthusiastic. If you look at recent Rumble winners they tend to be guys Vince loves: Orton, Reigns, Batista, Cena, Sheamus, Alberto. I don't think Vince is all that high on Nakamura judging by how he was booked at Survivor Series.

What I reckon will happen is Jinder gets the title back next month and Cena then wins the Rumble to set up Jinder vs Cena at Mania. (I don't see that being the final match on the show though, still think that will be Brock vs Reigns)

With how much AJ Styles is being built up both before during and after the Brock match I'm really thinking he's going to hold until Mania and defend against either Nakamura, KO or Cena

They wouldn't be saying AJ Styles is the best wrestler in WWE today, and this generations Bret Hart/HBK if he was just going to drop it back to the Mahal experiment to feed Cena for number 17

AJ v Cena at Mania with AJ as champion would be a seriously good and intriguing match, as good a match as they would actually put on and most importantly a real 50/50 match, if it's Mahal v Cena there's only one result and we're already getting one of those on the Raw side

AJ v Nakamura would be a dream, one I'm not going to fully get behind same as the Margot Robbie in the bath one

Mr.Nice Guy

SureYWouldntYa wrote: »

With how much AJ Styles is being built up both before during and after the Brock match I'm really thinking he's going to hold until Mania and defend against either Nakamura, KO or Cena

They wouldn't be saying AJ Styles is the best wrestler in WWE today, and this generations Bret Hart/HBK if he was just going to drop it back to the Mahal experiment to feed Cena for number 17

Remember this is the same company that had AJ lose to Balor, who they pushed as being one of the company's brightest rising talents, before then burying him straight away unmercifully at the hands of Kane. Nothing they do surprises me.

I would think if Nakamura or Owens were in line for big plans for Mania season then they would be positioned better. Nakamura only last week on Smackdown was one of the lumberjacks. No way Orton or someone they perceive as a big star would be put in that situation. Owens meanwhile right now is feuding with New Day.

Reason I think Cena may get the Rumble win is to pay off the whole 17 time Champ storyline where he beats Flair's record (at least the record in their mind).

SureYWouldntYa

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Remember this is the same company that had AJ lose to Balor, who they pushed as being one of the company's brightest rising talents, before then burying him straight away unmercifully at the hands of Kane. Nothing they do surprises me.

I would think if Nakamura or Owens were in line for big plans for Mania season then they would be positioned better. Nakamura only last week on Smackdown was one of the lumberjacks. No way Orton or someone they perceive as a big star would be put in that situation. Owens meanwhile right now is feuding with New Day.

Reason I think Cena may get the Rumble win is to pay off the whole 17 time Champ storyline where he beats Flair's record (at least the record in their mind).

I think we all got AJ losing to Demon Balor at the time, made sense for the guy coming in to lose imo epsecially since making him the champion was not in the pipeline at that moment and was probably partly a reward for going to TLC in the first place

But yeah Balor afterwards is just typical of Vince when he loses faith in someone, I was thinking his burial by Kane the night after TLC might have been punishment because of the 2 sweet he did with AJ but that made no sense once AJ was made champion

Nakamura being a lumberjack is easily explained in kayfabe since he's a face he'll obviously want to do what his boss says

Being in a feud with The New Day isn't an awful demotion for KO, it's something for him and Zayn to do as a team and still in the upper range of the card, I mean Reigns was mostly feuding with Miz and the Miztourage the last 2 months and he's obviously got big Mania plans

I'd be happy with Cena winning the Rumble if it's done right and it's to face Styles, if they go with Cena/Mahal and Brock/Reigns for the 2 titles it'll be such a waste

leggo

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I think Styles vs Nakamura will happen at Mania but I don't see it being a title match. I like the idea of Nakamura winning but I can't see Vince being enthusiastic. If you look at recent Rumble winners they tend to be guys Vince loves: Orton, Reigns, Batista, Cena, Sheamus, Alberto. I don't think Vince is all that high on Nakamura judging by how he was booked at Survivor Series.

What I reckon will happen is Jinder gets the title back next month and Cena then wins the Rumble to set up Jinder vs Cena at Mania. (I don't see that being the final match on the show though, still think that will be Brock vs Reigns)

I would say that's a depressingly Vince idea and realistic, the only thing is the whole Jinder/India experiment has been pretty much ruled a failure so I don't see them going back to that well. They always knew what we know about Jinder, but saw it as a risk worth taking with the potential business he could bring. Now that that's gone? I'd be shocked if he got the belt back tbh, I think they're just giving him his rematch to fill time so they don't ruin any money matches heading into Mania season.

Cena winning his 17th title is definitely a Mania-worthy moment though, so your idea has merit. Maybe KO beats AJ at the Rumble, or they just go face/face off the classics AJ and Cena had and give them a Mania match. So I wouldn't say Nakamura/AJ is a lock as yet (right now it seems more like lads pushing for a match they want than anything canon).

The argument FOR AJ/Nak is that these days they book Mania literally ticking off a match for every type of fan. So Vince gets to book a big guy main event match, there's something for the nostalgia fans, an appearance to appease the casuals/girlfriends in the crowd dragged by their boyfriends, and we usually get 1-2 smart fan matches too (though lower on the card). If a Brock/Roman match is their main event, it almost doesn't matter what they do for the secondary title match so they'd be more inclined to give us a match we like to shut us up. Book Cena/Taker, Kurt/Shane and Triple H/Strowman and it's almost safe to have a fun SmackDown title match from Vince's perspective.

gerrybbadd

Kyle O'Reilly was on Jericho's podcast , and spoke about having Type 1 Diabetes. (strangely i can't find the episode)

Being a type 1 (insulin dependent) myself, I was surprised to learn Kyle was diabetic. I gained a ton of extra respect for him. It's hard enough to manage the disease day to day, keeping blood sugars level etc, without life on the road, and the physical toll the ring takes as well.

sky88

A match i never realised i wanted untill i seen this

https://twitter.com/tanahashi1_100/status/862833262955290629

leggo

A proper dream match. Give me that over Cena/AJ, Cena/KO or Cena/Nakamura (even potential matches like Cena/Omega or Okada) any day. But the only place it would work is in NJPW - Tanahashi just doesn't have the currency Stateside and his name isn't going to get bigger at this stage of his career - and that's just not gonna happen.

sky88

I think the fact that its more than likely never going to happen makes it more intriguing. I cant see tana ever leaving japan even though wwe is more open to names from japan now

leggo

I'd say if WWE made him the right offer, he'd say yes. But I don't think they would make that offer. Nakamura was the guy from that generation to get who'd click with WWE audiences. Okada could work simply off the buzz he's built around himself the past few years.

Tanahashi reminds me a bit of Randy Couture in UFC: he was the last top guy there before the whole thing exploded to a new level, and he'll likely never get the legend treatment he deserves outside of Japan (dude should be in all the HOFs going for how he took NJPW back from the brink to where it is now) because his time at the top was just before everyone started watching, and whether they realise or not they're indirectly watching because of the foundation he laid down. If not for Tana, maybe NOAH would still be considered top dog by international audiences, maybe NJPW is where AJPW is now, the likes of Balor, Nakamura and maybe even AJ aren't in WWE today because their runs don't mean ****, Okada definitely isn't Okada and Wrestle Kingdom isn't the annual mega event it's become.

Not even Cena can say he'd go down as that indispensable to WWE.

J. Marston

With all the sexual harassment stuff being revealed in Hollywood, I'm kinda surprised nothing has been leaked about WWE wrestlers/personalities.

Maybe it's not skeezy as I thought.

leggo

It totally is. :pac:

ShagNastii

Tanahashi is a tank.

ERG89

Thank god his hair is growing out again. The short look was awful.

PTH2009

I loved the Wyatts the night after they had the promo with the rock and they were just attacking and not talking but something happend and the whole thing got abandoed

Agent Coulson

Elias is just Damien Sandow's new gimmick.

Agent Coulson

I would love to see a video of Vince selling The Bludgeon Brothers to Harper & Rowan.

ERG89

Agent Coulson wrote:

I would love to see a video of Vince selling The Bludgeon Brothers to Harper & Rowan.

I'm trying to imagine the creative team reading the script of their promos at a desk with Vince.
Vince then saying I love it!!! As everyone ponders in silence if he's serious :pac:

PTH2009

looking forward to doing my predictions in the 2018 predictions thread

prob get them all wrong but it's hard thing to do. had a disaster for my previous predictions

Itssoeasy

ERG89 wrote: »

I'm trying to imagine the creative team reading the script of their promos at a desk with Vince.
Vince then saying I love it!!! As everyone ponders in silence if he's serious :pac:

Well if you believe Bruce Prichard, be careful what you pitch to Vince because you never know which crap idea he will fall in love with.

Nerdkiller1991

YO, JAY...

https://www.facebook.com/groups/986519331428802/permalink/1619022094845186/

Is there any reason why the 'modern'/oval Intercontinental championship has seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth?

Had a replica of it years ago, sold it when i was stuck for cash. Was in two minds of getting another one, and just noticed it seems to have been Benoit'ed? I don't get it?

Omackeral

Summer Rae is the ultimate butterface.

Lithium93_

Even though New Japan haven't announced the rest of the Wrestle Kingdom 12 card, I'm pretty excited for the show Friday January 5th.. Probably the only time I would ever get up early..

PTH2009

I'm strictly a wwe man but just watched Jerichos attack on Omega in NJPW and pretty hyped for that event and will deff watch that match in Jan. weird seeing blood and Jericho going insane

I was too young and not tech savy enough too see WCW/ECW in there day so it was WWE Raw on Friday nights and SD sat morning until they moved times and eventually ended up being on live/earlier in the week. I remember when TNA had it's small rise in 2008 or 2009 (could of been after that cant remember) when Hogan/Flair/Angle etc were on there roster I downloaded and watched for a few weeks but stopped after a while

don't think I'll ever stop watching wrestling no matter how **** it might get