SMACKDOWN LIVE SUPERTHREAD

martyos121

Great ending to the show. Bryan looks a bit rusty as expected though, massively overshot those dropkicks and the suplex didn’t look great either. Won’t take him long to return to form I imagine though, bloody great to have him back.

J. Marston

Not an easy first night back for DB. Apron powerbomb, ouch.

Amazing just how much the crowd love him. When was the last time a crowd loudly chanted "You suck!" to the heels because they were beating up the face? Seems so out of fashion now when so many crowds are 50/50.

He still looks lightning quick anyway.

HandsomeBob

Aye fairly full on but no point in keeping the kid gloves on I guess. Went a far way to making the match a must watch now anyway.

Great promo from Daniel as well, delighted for him.

colmufc

martyos121 wrote: »

Great ending to the show. Bryan looks a bit rusty as expected though, massively overshot those dropkicks and the suplex didn’t look great either. Won’t take him long to return to form I imagine though, bloody great to have him back.

I thought the suplex looked amazing
He just whipped him over his shoulder super quick and quite low to the ground
Each to their own I guess

Lord TSC

From a business perspective, I fully understand why they've handled it the way hey have.

From a story point though, it's such a shame hey announced he was returning before the beat down. Imagine the heat there would have been if the two lads attacked him before that announcement. Imagine he pop when he fought back. From a storytelling point of view, imagine if the tale was "I don't care if I'm not medically cleared, I'm fighting these two at Mania and you can't stop me any more."

Still...two years and he is still so over. Bryan is so over, he asked the crowd when would he fight and they all pointed to the Mania sign, instead of demanding it happen in front of them that night; they actually, genuinely care about what's best for Bryan in that moment, not themselves.

And the crowd chanting Wrestlemania will be used in video packages for the next decade too.

connemara man

There's over and then there's Daniel Bryan over. He got a great reaction and in one segment KO and Sami are now the biggest heels in the company

Loughc

connemara man wrote: »

There's over and then there's Daniel Bryan over. He got a great reaction and in one segment KO and Sami are now the biggest heels in the company

And created another WrestleMania "Main Event" one with a long build and genuine interest in.

HandsomeBob

Can't forget about KO and Zayn's contribution last night either as they were amazing, especially Owens. To me it read liked they snapped and while they knew what they were doing was fcuked up, the red mist had descended.

sky88

i love rusev

https://twitter.com/RusevBUL/status/976452363719467008

really hope hes in the title picture after mania

Rjd2

sky88 wrote: »

i love rusev

https://twitter.com/RusevBUL/status/976452363719467008

really hope hes in the title picture after mania

Its absurd Rusev will probably be making up the numbers in the Andre Battle rubbish when ideally he and English should be challenging for the tag team title. He and English were so over not to long ago, but they have decided to focus on Harper/Rowen again with there stupid new heatless gimmick.:rolleyes:

ERG89

Rjd2 wrote: »

Its absurd Rusev will probably be making up the numbers in the Andre Battle rubbish when ideally he and English should be challenging for the tag team title. He and English were so over not to long ago, but they have decided to focus on Harper/Rowen again with there stupid new heatless gimmick.:rolleyes:

I actually think them feuding with Harper and Rowan would have been good as I consider the Bludgeon Brothers a kinda camp tag team.
I can see him & English doing a skit with Elias but I was saying these things a few months ago that they should have been making holiday merch with 'Rusev' replacing the holiday. They sell cereal boxes ffs.
Having him lose to AJ & Nakamura does nothing for him but the build up for Styles & Nakamura is basically it'll be great just wait for it as there is no storyline.

Agent Coulson

Vince can only dream that Roman will ever be that over.

Bounty Hunter

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Vince can only dream that Roman will ever be that over.

Think as long as Roman is kept face (they aint turning Bryan) those two will be kept far away from each other (on different brands). Bryan is the fans guy and his presence just highlights how Reigns is not their guy but Vince's (even if on Raw he says Brock is).


I remember at the time of his big mania run suggesting he was the Stone Cold of then and being told by some he wasn't Austin's equivalent yet by some but now I think everyone admits that Bryan is as over as you can get with the fans these days. Want to get someone over as a heel, have them attack / screw over Bryan in some way is all you need do. Hell we all remember Face Mysterio being bood at the rumble just for not being him.

Snakeweasel

Roman as Universal champ v Bryan as WWE champ at Survivor Series would be pretty great. In fairness to Roman his matches are always at least above average, if they let him play the somewhat heel in the match in the same way AJ is being with Nak, then I think it would be a success. Roman isnt the issue, its the way he has been forced down the throats of fans for the last 4 years.

Itssoeasy

Just a random thought but a smackdown based one. Becky lynch and Sarah Logan in the same ring ? I might need to try and watch smackdown or at least watch it at some point before it's on the network.

SlickRic

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Vince can only dream that Roman will ever be that over.

Daniel Bryan is believable as a real human being.
Roman is not.
End.

Loughc

SlickRic wrote: »

Daniel Bryan is believable as a real human being.
Roman is not.
End.

But Roman is the big Dwag... it's his yard... sure he's not a good guy, he's not a bad guy, he's the guy...

:pac:

SlickRic

Loughc wrote: »

But Roman is the big Dwag... it's his yard... sure he's not a good guy, he's not a bad guy, he's the guy...

:pac:

to be honest, I'm not even really trying to take a dig at Roman. As I've said numerous times, I think he's actually very good, and does better with what he's given than he probably should.

it's a commentary on the booking of today's stars. it's painful.

you don't really know anything about any of them. who is Roman Reigns? who is Seth Rollins? Who is Bobby Roode? Who is Finn Balor?

Roman Reigns - 'Big Dawg' who rules the yard
Seth Rollins - he slays Kings, and burns shít down.
Bobby Roode - he is 'glorious', whatever that means in reality?
Finn Balor - he's cool, with a smile, and flicks his collar. he occasionally wears face paint

i don't know anything about any of them. there is no depth. they are just marketing tools to sell t-shirts and merchandise. nothing else.

Bryan is different, and over, because it feels like we know him and identify with him. he's now in a position where he was heartbroken because he thought he'd never wrestle again, and we all knew that...but he's now back doing what he loves. the audience feels that because it feels real (and in this instance, just about completely real).

with Austin, he personified the working man who wanted to tell their boss where to stick it. he also had depth. you felt as though you knew his motivations. you understood why he said things, and did things, and could live vicariously through him.

with Rock, he was a larger than life, super cool mofo, who said all the things you wished you had the balls to say, and was funny as fúck, with charisma to beat the band. you also felt as though you knew him. he got angry when HHH or Vince screwed him. he reacted to things like a human being would, just larger than life.

with Cena, his rapper gimmick let him relate to a whole new demographic, and he was fúcking brilliant at it. he felt real. then his feud with Edge, in particular (later on) felt real. they reacted to each other like human beings, and you bought into it.

today's product just so often feels like a bunch of people who are there to sell merch and get you to parrot catchphrases. it's why Brock as well, no matter how much a lot of us are tired of him, is still so over - because he feels real. and that is even though they've tried to brand the fúck out of 'Suplex City' to the point where I just want Heyman to shut up about it.

this isn't rocket science.
the majority of characters today have absolutely no depth, and give you no reason to care about them.
and that's a big reason why Daniel Bryan is so different, and so so over.

SlickRic

just to add on Seth...

there's a reason he was the most over he's ever been with the company when he was with the Authority, and when he came back.

you cared about the Shield. you cared that he left. yet, you understood why he left, even if you didn't like it. it made sense.

you cared when he came back from the injury. you wanted to cheer him. similar to how HHH came back in 2001, you cared about what he went through because there was sense and depth to his character.

but unlike HHH in 2001, they didn't go with it, and turned him heel; which made no sense to the audience. then when he turned face (badly) it was on the basis that he was whining that the Authority didn't appreciate who he was and what he had done. i mean, fúck off. that makes no sense, and is not the reaction of a normal human being, who wants to be a star, who was willing to break up the Shield to be 'the man'. you cannot relate to that.

and so, his character fell into utter mediocrity.

Itssoeasy

Has KO lost a fair bit of timber recently ?

J. Marston

Seems to have lost a bit. Also, he's Kevin Steen again on twitter.

https://twitter.com/FightSteenFight

Committing to the storyline.

Pentecost

SlickRic if I could thank a post more than once I would’ve. Spot on sir.

Lithium93_

Pentecost wrote: »

SlickRic if I could thank a post more than once I would’ve. Spot on sir.

I hope Omackeral is bookmarking all these posts for the PW Boards later in the year :pac:.....

Mr. Guappa

J. Marston wrote: »

Seems to have lost a bit. Also, he's Kevin Steen again on twitter.

https://twitter.com/FightSteenFight

Committing to the storyline.

Noticed that Becky Lynch changed to Rebecca Quin on twitter too. Is it some company directive?

Pentecost

Mr. Guappa wrote: »

Noticed that Becky Lynch changed to Rebecca Quin on twitter too. Is it some company directive?

Doubt it. Wouldn’t make a lot of sense outside of storyline reasons like Owens. May be Becky trying to establish some name recognition for her name outside of WWE, for acting gigs or whatever. Obviously they’re ok with it though. Some of them used to have their real name on Instagram and WWE name on Twitter/Facebook.

DM_7

Becky is in the next Marine movie so I guess it is to do with that.

Pentecost

Expected to get some Oscar buzz for it too according to early reports.

In all seriousness though Becky is awesome so hopefully she might get more work of some kind.

xpletiv

No comments and its started?

Tag team match (holla holla) up first with Roode/Orton vs Rusev/Mahal

PTH2009

jaded so I'll prob watch the rest in the morning

xpletiv

Well DB with a bit of a talk again there, nothing special. Confirmed DB/SM vs KO/SZ though.