The PPV Discussion Thread

[Scott Barton]

So WWE have had a change of heart regarding the Great Balls of Fire logo.

The original, phallic version...

The new, PG version...

3rd time lucky:

 

[Scott Barton]

http://www.wrestleview.com/wwe-news/83461-spoiler-new-act-smackdown-live-brand/

Could be interesting?

 

[T.A]

That was a crazy PPV, all the matches apart from the filler near the end were of decent quality especially the men's MITB match. One of the best I've ever seen. The women's the MITB was also good but I'm disappointed on how it ended especially with it being the first one. Deserved a clear winner.

 

[Stevencc]

I thought it was pretty poor on the whole with nearly every finish being a cop out and a let down.

 

[T.A]

I thought it was pretty poor on the whole with nearly every finish being a cop out and a let down.

I think you can separate the two though tbf I was robbed at least three times due to them stupid distractions. But before the ending I was actually entertained and wasn't sure on who was going to win which you can't be sure of these days.

 

[Captain Scumbag]

The first women’s MITB ladder match… won by a man!

Bravo, Vince. Your ability to troll IWC millennials remains second to none.

 

[Oaf]

Yeah, I'd go down the route of saying I was happy with the matches but incredibly let down by the endings. James Elsworth winning the womens MitB basically undid the last year of progress womens wrestling has made by itself. New Day vs Usos was great, but that ending was a shame... although it at least means the feud can continue and we can get a rematch, which I guess I'm down for.

But all of this is meaningless when put up against what happened in the main event. Fuck right off. I have no interest in a world where Jinder Mahal is the champion and Baron Corbin is the number 1 contender. Yet this is the world we now live in.

Is it our own fault, as fans? I mean, we can't help but cheer the guys who are great but we're supposed to hate, and boo the guys who get shoved down our throats, even if they're actually really good and supposed to be faces. Is this the future that we have created for ourselves? They now have to start using a deadly combination of wrestlers who are both bang average (Jinder) to dreadful (Baron "My money in the bank briefcase has more personality than me" Corbin) in the ring, and also shoved down our throats? Is this the only way we'll let them create proper heels now? Fuck it all, go back. We'll cheer Roman if you want us to Vince, just don't give us this

The last SD PPV left me shocked, but at least intrigued to see where the fuck they'd go (and as I said before, it was still better than the Orton alternative)... this one has just left me fully pissed off.

 

[Smally]

The only ending I didn't mind so much was the new day vs Usos match, I like a deliberate DQ by the heel champs every now and then.

The Ellsworth involvement in the women's match was predictable but not to that extent. I think Charlotte looked more genuinely pissed off at the ending than when she loses a regular match.

Naomi & Lana was ok until the Carmella interference, just took all the shine off of Lanafor no reason.

Orton vs Jinder I didn't mind at all, mainly because Tandy actually seemed arsed to help push Jinder. I hope Jinder drops at summerslam, but not to Corbin. Corbin' face doesn't fit the character they're wanting to push in him, he looks too friendly to be a 'lone wolf badass heel'

Fashion files segment was better than the pointless match.

Main event was great. Really impressed with Sami holding most of the early match together, the powerbomb on ziggler was great too. Nakamura looked excellent when he finally made an appearance. I'd have preferred anyone but Corbin to win, but maybe this can take him up a notch.

Overall a frustrating PPV

 

[Captain Scumbag]

In fairness, the Ellsworth thing got a load of heat in the arena and online, which is exactly the sort of thing you want when you put the undeserving heel over.

Assuming they deal with the whole ‘annoying man in shit tracksuit ruins the women’s historic moment’ thing in storyline and make a decent angle of it, it’s actually good booking. I liked the finish. An example of smarks getting worked without fully realising it, maybe?

Anyway, if someone could please PM me when WWE get round to the Nakamura vs. Styles feud, that would be swell.

 

[Scott Barton]

I thought it was pretty poor on the whole with nearly every finish being a cop out and a let down.

Really? I thought it was one of the best smackdown ppvs they have done since the split.

I mean sure they had a contraversial ending with the WMITB, but i don't see carmella as someone who could be credible as winning it clean. The New Day/Usos was a fantastic match, the ending for me was fine because i know i am going to see another match. Naomi/Lana i understand it was a bit of a let down, the shine got put on carmella but Lana was definitely impressive. Orton/Mahal worked, Orton put over Mahal - think they did very good on that and the MITB to finish it off, Corbin winning was fresh.

Think they did well to not do the obvious things and keep things rolling.

 

[Stevencc]

They completely undermined the women's division and the work they've done to legitimise it over the last couple of years or so just to give Ellsworth and Carmella some more heat on top of the heat they already had. Ellsworth was already truly hated before this stunt. It probably won't mean much in the long run but it seems like a cheap move after all the build up the match received.

The ending to the tag match isn't so bad on reflection, I'm just upset that I have to see the New Day in another title match! Their shtick got old a long time ago.

The Orton/Mahal match was actually very good in isolation but it was basically a carbon copy (down to the finish) of the match they just had at Backlash. It's clear that they decided to shove the title on Mahal for the shock value and didn't really think about anything further down the line than that initial decision.

 

[Scott Barton]

They completely undermined the women's division and the work they've done to legitimise it over the last couple of years or so just to give Elsworth and Carmella some more heat on top of the heat they already had. Elsworth was already truly hated before this stunt. It probably won't mean much in the long run but it seems like a cheap move after all the build up the match received.

The ending to the tag match isn't so bad on reflection, I'm just upset that I have to see the New Day in another title match! Their shtick got old a long time ago.

The Orton/Mahal match was actually very good in isolation but it was basically a carbon copy (down to the finish) of the match they just had at Backlash. It's clear that they decided to shove the title on Mahal for the shock value and didn't really think about anything further down the line than that initial decision.

I can understand everything you have said, and the problem with Mahal/Orton, there clearly isn't a goal in mind - we all know in 2017 the WWE starts a show with a confrontation and ends with the match. There isn't any long term thinking in mind but as much as i wanted to give Mahal a chance, i am not feeling it and see him as one of those guys who has the title but clearly isn't the main event, this should not be what the WWE title is about.

I couldn't disagree more about the new day, they still amuse me and are light entertainment.

I have struggled with carmella for a while, i don't know what it is but she should of stuck with enzo and cass, as a lone superstar with ellsworth (who for me got boring ages ago), there is nothing credible and nothing i think should be invested in.

 

[Smally]

Jinder is champ cos they're trying to take the network to India I thought? Even if they get 0.5% of that population to subscribe that's 6.5m people

 

[Bluebird_Dai]

It's also because Jinder is the best in the world at what he does...

 

[iesty wfc]

So slammiversary was on tonight, recorded it but I have read about 1 match in particular is meant to be on a par with one of the final deletion matches.... guess which one haha

 

[Stevencc]

I'm really looking forward to the Strowman/Reigns, Lesnar/Joe and Cass/Enzo matches this weekend.

On the other hand, the Rollins/Wyatt "feud" is the coldest bucket of piss either man has been saddled with for a long time.

 

[Oaf]

It really does feel like a hollow match... both guys are great, but the feud has been so meaningless and I keep on forgetting that it's even a match on the card.

 

[Stevencc]

I love Rollins and there is something to Wyatt, the problem with Bray is the constant stream of repetitive, meaningless shit they have him come out with in his promos. He is almost always booked to lose as well. I've seen you make similar statements about him before and I agree, it's a real shame.

 

[Libertine]

Totally agree, the feud just stinks of them having no ideas for either of them so just putting them together to fill a few weeks. What happened to Bray's feud with Finn anyway?

Loving Brawn and Roman still, they've had a great feud. Hoping to see Brawn go for the title at SSlam as is rumoured.

 

[Stevencc]

Wow, WWE really delivered last night - I thought Great Balls of Fire was excellent.

 

[Libertine]

Yeh good show. Crowd was into it which always helps. Interesting to see what happens with Roman - can't see them doing a heel turn but the way Cole was talking after kinda teased it.

 

[Smally]

Decent show. I really liked the iron man tag match, thought it was great from start to finish. Roman was superb, as was Samoa Joe. He cemented himself as a top level guy and I want to see him and Leanar go at it again

 

[Bluebird_Dai]

Decent enough PPV, Roman coming out on top again though? Just once have him stay the fuck down. Joe was absolutely ruthless in the main event, bit of a meh finish though. Goes balls out and then gets put down by one F5...

 

[Scott Barton]

WWE had a great showing, thought the Ironman match and the Ambulance absolutely stole the show. Lesnar vs. Joe was great, a bit of a soft finish but they made look Joe look legit strong against Lesnar.

I was disappointed with Rollins/Wyatt - absolutely nothing going on there, and a really weak story going in to it. Also thought the women's title match and Enzo/Cass was a bit of a let down.

Overall, probably the best brand-only PPV for a long time.

 

[Stevencc]

Battleground was an awful PPV by all accounts, but it did have this...

 

[T.A]

Very convieniant them two tables being next to John Cena's flag pole

 

[Oaf]

4 months ago, if WWE had the fucking common decency to tell us that 4 months down the line Jinder Mahal would be WWE champion and that FUCKING THE FUCKING GREAT FUCKING KHALI would be back we could have just stuck shotguns in our mouths there and then and pulled the trigger. How dare they make us live through this.

I know I'm usually seen as mr positive when it comes to WWE, but really, look at this as a current state of affairs:

Jinder Mahal is WWE champion. AJ Styles is not.
Fucking the fucking great fucking Khali is back.
Baron Corbin is Mr Money in the Bank.
Nakamura is currently forced to rot in a feud with above mentioned Money in the Bank holder.
The least interesting woman/most cringeworthy actor in the world, Natalya, is getting a title shot heading into the second biggest PPV of the year, Summerslam.
Raw currently has a fucking storyline where Jason Jordon is randomly Kurt Angles son, when we all know he's not so it all feels a bit silly.
Big Cass is obviously due for a big future, whether we want it or not.

EEEEEEH. And to me, the biggest thing putting me off of WWE right now is that these 19 PPV's in a year are just too fucking much now. The last 2 or 3 I've just not been hyped for whatsoever (with a few exceptions for individual matches, such as Joe vs Lesnar) and half the time, leading into them, I can only think of about 3 or so matches on the card. I'm exhausted with PPV's now. They have no appeal to them, no significance and they just don't really feel special. I used to kind of skip through a lot of Raw and Smackdown, but watch all of PPV's... now I'm just kind of scanning through the majority of matches on PPV's too. I genuinely feel as if the over exposure to PPV's is doing more damage to WWE's product than any other decision they've made in years, be that including any of the questionable decisions I listed above, making Raw 3 hours, or whatever.

 

[Bluebird_Dai]

Look on the bright side Oaf, you could be watching TNA!

 

[Lance Stoe]

RIP Viscera

 

[Stevencc]

Didn't he die a few years ago?