DiscoverID: I think Guinness should also handed you an award for setting world records as the lowest IQ ever recorded, far beneath that of a millipede.
Lol maybe you should be given an award too because you just cooked that guy
ValeeLove: 1. I don't need to watch the show to talk about things I talk about. Things I talk about aren't intricacies, but public knowledge you can get from a post or headline on Facebook. Example, knowing all belts aren't defended at Night Of Champions this year as opposed to the rule of the PPV.
Yeah, like complaining about not understanding the justification for the Bianca Belair vs Iyo Sky match at Backlash, only to mention that you didn't actually watch the build up to said match?
ValeeLove: 2. We all know WWE is standing on the weight of it's already built reputation. 50 years + of great programming is what's still keeping them standing, and not what they are currently doing now. And you can easily tell by mentioning any worthy star they've created currently that can match previous guys. They still bring back legends for big matches. Another reason is marketing. WWE is heavy on that, it's why they brought in Nick Khan. Less value, more marketing. That's their mantra, but it's only going to take a while, before it gradually crumbles if they don't act fast. Bring in Bad Bunny, bring Logan Paul, bring this one, bring that one, make this stage, use this arena...it's all marketing. Why do you think they are so high on merch?
Reputation doesn't mean much if your product is consistently bad. Disney has been taking losses from their recent MCU endeavours. We've seen the Star Wars franchise go from one of the most profitable in the world to making box office flops like Solo.
Also, 50+ years of great programming is such a wild statement. Where were you during the anonymous Raw GM era?
WWE has always brought in celebrity guests. Mr T fought in WrestleMania 1. Denis Rodman had a stint with Hollywood Hogan. Vince McMahon had a feud with Donald Trump ffs. I don't know what you're going on about
ValeeLove: the point of the tournament is to create another world title. If they claim is cos Roman is holding the belt hostage, then all of them in that company don't know what they are doing. Nobody holds a belt hostage. You either do your job or you leave.
I hope you understand that's the kayfabe reason, right? Just like when CM Punk won the WWE Championship and was about to leave the company—Roman Reigns is not actually holding the title hostage. Creative just wants a dominant heel champion and it is in character for a heel to do whatever is takes to limit the number of times he defends his title.
ValeeLove: So a big payday in Saudi isn't "top-tier"? Come on. And no matter how influential he is, he can still be let go. Man U let go of CR7, WB fired Dwayne and now he's looking for space in F & F. No one is indispensable and everyone obeys the rules. CR7 and Mbappe aren't more powerful than the ref in a match.
It's only the month after WrestleMania, Roman Reigns wants to keep his title defences few and far between to prolong his reign.
Ronaldo and Dwayne Johnson were let go because they couldn't deliver. Roman Reigns continues to be a draw for WWE and as long as that keeps happening, they will continue to listen to him.
Also, Roman Reigns isn't disregarding refs during his matches. We are taking about assumed backstage politicking.
ValeeLove: Now you mentioned injury, but I'm wondering if he didn't know what he signed up for in the first place and can't he also get injured in a tag match? That excuse no follow. Over-exposure? And yet he's still wrestling. So which exposure again. This one is also shallow.
I'm starting to question whether you actually understand the difference between kayfabe and reality. I said that, in reality, WWE wants to protect their top guy from potential injury and overexposure which is why he doesn't fight as much as he used to. That doesn't mean he won't fight at all, it just means that when he does, it would be a bigger deal.
ValeeLove: And you talked about feeding him people till SummerSlam, and how is that my fault? Did I send WWE to make their programs very predictable. As far as I'm concerned it's a 'them' problem. They've lost the magic touch and can't seem to do anything right. People have been complaining about the programming since WrestleMania ended, so it's nothing new.
Yup that's the conundrum with long title reigns like this. So far, they've done a fantastic job at keeping things interesting.
Also, a few marks complaining about their programming on twitter and Cagematch doesn't change the fact that in reality, the Raw after WrestleMania did over 2 million viewers in ratings, which is above average for Raw. Despite many members of the IWC predicting that there would be a drop off.
In what reality is a company that is making huge profits off live events and merch sales not doing anything right?
ValeeLove: They still want him to be involved? But they don't want him to be involved fully. They are confused then.
The point is this, they should be consistent in their programming and not insult our intelligence. If all belts are defended at NOC, then all belts should be defended at NOC, don't give them an excuse.
Don't worry bro, the show that you don't watch isn't insulting your intelligence.
ValeeLove: You come everyday with review. You critique too, telling us what you liked and what you didn't, while backing it up with logic - that's exactly what I'm doing. We know this, all belts are defended on the said PPV, but today there's an exception with no tangible reason whatsoever. The main company belt isn't defended on the night when all belts are supposed to be defended? And what's the world champ's excuse? Going after a smaller belt he has absolutely no business with and no current expertise on. And all what this company has to say to explain all these is that "strings were pulled"? Haba. No wonder they aren't gaining new fans. Them go just confuse them on their first viewing. And don't worry, AEW isn't exempted from this problem.
First off, he actually watches the shows that he critiques.
Secondly, WWE had been doing solid ratings and making solid profits at least before the buyout (you can't really lie about profits as a pubicly traded company).
Baddestguyp: I stopped this anime cos I plan to binge it... But wtf is this?
You know he literally just screenshots the most sexual parts of the anime and posts them, right? Imagine someone only posting the adult scenes in Game of Thrones, it would probably look like something off PHub.
ValeeLove: 😂 Really? Then what's he doing in a venture governed by rules. You know what, answer this - what's the use of a draft if Smackdown guys can just compete for a RAW belt immediately a draft is completed, huh? As you're finishing with that, answer how and why Roman is getting a tag title shot. How did he earn it and who did it beat in a tag match? If you're going to give me 'tribal chief answers', might as well just ignore the questions.
The point of the tournament is to give the other competitors a shot because the Bloodline is currently holding the other world title hostage.
In kayfabe, Roman Reigns has a ton of leverage as the company's top guy due to his long championship reign. Just like Mbappe and Ronaldo in their clubs or Dwayne Johnson during his stint in the DCEU, they get to dictate their terms to a greater extent than others. Right now, he is using said leverage to limit his title defences to only A-tier PLEs and to negotiate title matches for himself and his boys.
In reality, WWE is just trying to protect Roman Reigns from injury and overexposure. Furthermore, at this point, we know he isn't dropping the belt until at least SummerSlam. What's the point of feeding him talent when we all know they aren't going over? He needs a challenger that feels legitimately positioned to win it for us to be really invested. Lastly, WWE knows that he is a megastar and a huge draw so they still want him to be involved in Night of Champions in some capacity.
ValeeLove: When will this storyline finish so we can return to proper wrestling? You know what, someone tell me why Roman isn't defending his titles at Night Of Champions (the night were every championship is defended)?
It's ok. It raises some important questions about the effects of being terminally online. This is really cool when you consider that this anime released in 1998. It also made some interesting audio-visual choices.
However, the presentation is so slow and self-indulgent that I truly believe that the entire series could have been condensed into a single feature length film and nothing of value would've been lost. It didn't need all the dead air, long panning shots, and red herrings to get its point across.
Baddestguyp: I stumbled on a particular subreddit where people take pics of these anime figures with cûm on them...
Weird shii...they wànk to these figures, spill on it and upload online...wtf
While that's incredible disgusting, it still isn't illegal. Even more importantly, what about the majority of anime figure collectors who don't do stuff like that?
ValeeLove: yeah I don't watch WWE. And if Rhea did it does it make what Bianca did any better? Dropping someone on their face isn't of the same similitude as ending their careers.
Bianca dropped Iyo Sky on her face not unlike Rhea Ripley did to Charlotte Flair. The only thing is that Iyo didn't end up with a bloody mouth like Charlotte did.
PurpLChi: WWE BACKLASH REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS
One night after an awesome episode of Friday Night SmackDown, WWE returned to San Juan, Puerto Rico for its Backlash event. The crowd once again treated us to a special atmosphere and WWE paid them off with one hell of a show.
My thinking after the Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar match was announced was that by the end of it, we would know pretty much everything about how WWE truly views the former and his place in the pecking order. If you thought he should have defeated Roman Reigns to win the WWE Universal championship in the main event of WrestleMania 39, and the powers that be were wrong for not doing so, he absolutely had to win here, and maybe even win clean. Pretty much any other result would have put him into a box he clearly shouldn’t be in. Thankfully, they made the right call. Rhodes pinned Lesnar. How it happened absolutely matters, but this was as clean a win as you could reasonably expect Cody to get. He was an actually smart babyface and attacked Lesnar before the bell, blasting him with chair shots while it was still legal and only stopping once the match officially got underway. He did as much damage as he could, before he started taking damage of his own. Once he did, Lesnar well and truly made him “earn it,” as he put it, although not to such a degree that it was a clear mismatch. Lesnar didn’t treat him like a lower level guy to be squashed but rather an equal. Late in the match, Lesnar suffered a cut that left his face, the mat, and even Cody covered in blood. I don’t know if it was planned but it made for some memorable visuals, notably a bloodied Lesnar screaming as he had Rhodes in a Kimura. And that’s where the finish came, with Cody countering by stacking Brock and pinning his shoulders to the mat while in the submission, improbably scoring the three count there. It was fast, and unexpected, but it was a clean pinfall victory. Again, I don’t think you could have gotten much more for Rhodes here. They knew what they had for the insanely hot Bad Bunny match and still chose to close the show with Cody scoring this win. That’s pretty damn meaningful overall, especially considering he’s the guy they’re going to be counting on to sell shows back home. The match may not have been a classic, but they absolutely did the right thing with it.
The greatest and best match ever When I tell you the atmosphere for this match felt like a WrestleMania main event, I mean I genuinely got that feeling I used to only ever get for major UFC main event fights. That kind of nervous energy that makes you stand up at attention and start shadow boxing and shit. When Bad Bunny’s music hit, the pop was thunderous, an all timer of a reaction. They started singing his song as he danced to the ring with a kendo stick and he felt like the biggest star on Earth in that moment. You almost felt lucky to have him here for this. Then, of course, he went out and performed his ass off like he does everywhere in his life. This man sells better than half the current WWE roster. His timing is good, his instincts are good, even his punches are solid! At one point, he hit a Falcon Arrow and it looked every bit as good as if it was Priest doing it. He’s also an absolute mad lad, willing to take bumps you wouldn’t think a world famous music star would be. Priest — who did a fantastic job protecting him and making sure he was safe while still making it look great — hit him with a Falcon Arrow of his own off a rig through a table out in the crowd. Let’s throw in psychology while we’re at it, as he injured Priest’s leg and then put all his focus on that. Okay, I’m going pretty far here but he legitimately showcased so much in this match. It was a brilliantly done match even before it broke down with The Judgment Day and Rey Mysterio getting involved. And then it really went over the top when none other than Carlito’s music hit for one hell of a great surprise. He teamed with Mysterio to fight off Finn Balor and Dominik Mysterio. Then, Savio Vega showed up to get involved too. The response to all of this in San Juan was something truly special. You had to see it and hear it to believe it. Somehow, the rest of the match was even better than the first half. They teased Bunny winning with the Figure Four — that bad leg! — but ultimately had him hit Priest with the Canadian Destroyer for the pinfall and the victory. After, he was joined by all the babyfaces who had come out previously and hoisted on their shoulders in celebration while the crowd continued going insane for all of it. This was legitimately some of the most fun I’ve ever had watching a pro wrestling match.
The unexpected breather In a strange change of pace, a match involving The Bloodline, against the likes of Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, and Matt Riddle no less, was put in something of a cool down spot, sandwiched between the bonkers Street Fight and Rhodes vs. Lesnar. It was a breather for a crowd that never seemed to need to find a second wind. Still, they worked so slow it felt as though they were trying to calm everyone down after they were so very hyped for the match before it. Hell, at one point during an extended beatdown of Zayn, they started chanting “We Want Reigns.” Yeah. They eventually got the crowd going and into it well enough, even if they didn’t have the same energy as they did prior. Part of that was the nature of the match itself, which was heavily based around the ongoing story of how well The Bloodline would be able to get along. To that end, Solo Sikoa and Jey Uso ramped up their issues with each other in a big way, arguing over who should be in the match and damn near coming to blows just before nearly losing the match. It also looked as though when Sikoa had the chance to go after either Zayn or Jey, he was about to choose the latter. Soon after, he very nearly hit him with a Samoan Spike. It once again nearly cost them. In the end, though, they managed to overcome their issues and win the match, with Sikoa pinning Riddle after the Spike when he snuck a tag that Riddle didn’t see. They did a good job advancing the story here, but it came at the expense of a better match. Considering what they were going to be doing, though, it makes a lot of sense why they put it where they did. Hey, they can’t all be absolute bangers, right?
Brutality > Emotions This one was emotionally charged right from the start. Zelina Vega was given a hero’s welcome, and before she ever got in the ring for introductions she was ringside hugging her family, who were in the front row to watch her challenge for the SmackDown women’s championship. When she was introduced shortly after, she was openly crying. Credit to whoever decided to let that moment breathe before introducing Rhea Ripley, because the crowd responded with a standing ovation as Vega’s tears flowed freely. It made it feel so much more special. It was so well done, with Vega so emotional, and Michael Cole mentioning she was dedicating this to her father, who she lost on 9/11, I started wondering if WWE was planning a surprise and doing a switch here. The way they laid out the match furthered the thought of that as a possibility, with Vega paying homage to Eddie Guerrero and getting a nice flurry that seemed to build to the potential of something more. But Ripley, the dominant champion she is, snuffed that out in a hurry. She used one kick, and a powerful Riptide to emphatically win the match to retain her title. In hindsight, it was always going to be this way. And that’s how it should be, all things considered.
IYO! IYO! IYO! The story going into this match was all about the cracks forming in Damage CTRL and what kind of effect that has had on SKY, or would possibly have in her shot against Bianca Belair and the Raw women’s championship. To that end, SKY came out for the match by herself, with Bayley and Dakota Kai nowhere to be seen. This was a point of reference for commentary, who played up the fact that there have been issues and “some on social media believe Bayley is holding IYO back.” Meanwhile, the live crowd was 100-percent by her, cheering every time she got any bit of offense in and booing anytime Belair returned fire. It felt a bit strange at first, considering they were cheering the heel and booing the babyface, but Bianca did a great job of rolling with the punches. They also proceeded to deliver an insanely strong opener. I can’t say enough about the work these two put in. They were snug but still smooth and able to remain physical without slowing down one bit. There were a couple of near falls in there that felt like WrestleMania with how invested the crowd was. It even started to feel possible SKY would steal the victory. But, as I mentioned, this story is about Damage CTRL’s fracture and the cracks grew much bigger thanks to Bayley more or less costing SKY the championship, even though she was only trying to help. This match did a great job of making clear that SKY no longer needs to be in the group to see great success, if she ever did before, and in fact remaining in it is actively holding her back. The other story is Belair becoming “the longest reigning women’s champion of the modern era.” This victory allows WWE to call her as much, so she was always going to win, even if it started feeling like maybe she shouldn’t. The good news is these two are on the same brand going forward. We definitely need to see this again sometime.
David Stomps Goliath Seth Rollins, predictably enough, was insanely over the moment his music hit the loud speakers. Yes, they sang. And they kept right on singing when the loud speakers got quiet. Rollins stood in the ring, bathed in a spotlight, getting showered with his tune while Omos stood in the corner and waited. Until he didn’t. I wondered how they would handle this match, considering not just the size difference but the general apathy towards Omos in general. Brock Lesnar got over by lifting him up for the F-5. That was all he needed. Rollins would have no such advantage. So I thought it was brilliant to have Omos interrupt that special musical moment by booting Rollins in the head. The crowd despised him for it. This crowd was such that they made it easy on him, but there won’t be many opportunities to get over as a heel to that degree, and Omos did pretty damn well with it. He played to the crowd’s hatred wonderfully, and he sold his ass off for Rollins. Basically, he was a perfect heel. Omos managed to kick out of not just one but two Stomps. Rollins, desperate, went as big as he possibly could to get the job done — going up to the top rope and hitting a SUPER STOMP. That was enough to get the pin and the victory to a huge ovation. This was a million times better than expected, and Omos in particular deserves a lot of credit for his work here, maybe the best he’s ever been in a WWE ring.
A-Town Down Austin Theory, Bobby Lashley, and Bronson Reed had the unenviable position of trying to follow two great singles matches with a triple threat for the United States championship where the finish was basically guaranteed. Despite this, they had a fairly entertaining match, though it was something of a sprint. Reed did a couple big spots, which is pretty much anytime a man of that mass comes off the top rope. He generally looked the part here, and showed why Triple H wanted to re-sign him. Meanwhile, Lashley was booked strong enough despite taking the loss. That’s because Theory, the little shit heel that he is, took advantage of Lashley spearing Reed by throwing Bobby out of the ring and stealing his pinfall. I’m not terribly sold on Theory, and it says something that he was the least memorable of the three guys in this match despite the fact that he’s coming out of it as champion. We’ll see where they go from here, now that the post-Draft rosters take effect this coming week.
I was blown away by how great this show was. Give Puerto Rico a WrestleMania already.
Grade: A
Backlash was waaay better than I expected. The matches absolutely delivered and the performers who I didn't expect too much from absolutely overperformed.
ValeeLove: I hear say Bianca nearly end person career.
Meanwhile, how did Io earn a title shot, isn't she like a secondary member to a stable which Bayley is the leader? Who did she beat to earn a shot?
Bro do you even watch the show? 💀 She specifically requested Bayley allowed her to fight for an opportunity a week after Becky Lynch berated her for going from NXT Women's Champ to Bayley's lackey. She then won a triple threat match to qualify.
@bolded, I didn't see you say anything when Rhea dropped Charlotte on her face.
Kaycee7: That's sad, bro. Of all the soups your stomach could've had an issue with, it had to be the best soup in the world. We gotta order a new stomach for you
TV/Movies › Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by CoolUsername: 2:55am On May 17, 2023
