WrestleMania 34

[TheEvilJester]

Wait, what? Seriously? That's stupid. That'd be like doing two Super Bowls in one year or having Christmas twice a year. WrestleMania is supposed to be THE big event of the year. Randomly just slapping another one in the middle of the year makes it seem less special.

I think that Greatest Royal Rumble was just a special event. I don't think they necessarily have any intention of making that a regular thing. I mean, I could be wrong, but I got the impression it was just a special one time deal. Mainly just to do something special because they were going to Saudi Arabia.

[My Coffee Cup]

Yeah. I read about it on gerweck.net, and I think making every pay-per-view 4 hours long is too much. I could hardly stand it for 3 hours at times. I really hate months where you get two back to back shows, because you know one will be mostly just for filler purposes. You rarely get any new title changes, unless it's a new show they have introduced. Then they may do a title switch so that it feels 'historic' to WWE management. But I feel like the feuds are all the same now. They just recycle it all.

[TheEvilJester]

Yeah, the brand split is really killing things. Having two shows most months (other than when they had the big events and therefore both brands were on one show) was just too much. Especially as most of them wound up not being interesting enough.

So, great that they decided to go with all PPVs being co-branded now. ....But not so great that they decided to make them all super long to fill it. Honestly, even WrestleMania itself gets brutal to watch with how super long it is, and that is THE big event of the year. EVERY monthly PPV being that long? Ugh! No, thank you.

[My Coffee Cup]

Jeff Hardy...one of the best wrestlers ever...just got slaughtered by Shinsuke Nakamura!

[TheEvilJester]

Well, case in point, I didn't bother watching this time. Was it sort of a squash match? That is kind of a shame if that was the case just because could you imagine the AMAZING match Jeff Hardy and Shinske Nakamura could have given the opportunity? So it would be a shame if they had the chance and made it just a squash match.

I will say this, though, I don't really think it could hurt Jeff any. He's Jeff freaking Hardy. At this point, he really doesn't need any help. WWE could push him at any time and it would probably work. So, if anything, it is good for Shinske. Especially considering the multi-month program he just got out of with AJ in which he lost every time. Shinske sort of needed a big win.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for longer lasting storylines. It is nice when there can be ongoing stories rather than everything changing so rapidly. But I've never been a big fan of having the same two wrestlers facing each other again and again and again, month after month. Especially when it is for a title. Not only does it start to get old and you want to see new matches.... but I don't see how it makes sense as a story.

Like with the AJ/Shinske program for example. After Shinske lost several matches to AJ and failed to win the WWE title you kind of paint yourself into a corner. The conclusion winds up being either A) Shinske never wins and therefore comes out of the feud looking kind of weak for it. B) Shinske finally wins.... but it looks like he needed several attempts just to do it. How does that make him look a worthwhile champion? Oh, wow! He beat AJ for the title.....after AJ beat him like 8 times already. Don't get me wrong. I get it is all pre-determined and more entertainment than any kind of actual competition... but the goal is still to make it somewhat realistic. I sort of miss the old days where a champ would have a rivalry with a challenger for a bit... it would head off at the big PPV match... and then whichever person won, they'd move on to face the next challenger instead of just facing the same guy over and over and over.

[My Coffee Cup]

Basically, the referee went to put the title to the side and Shinsuke did a low blow to Hardy, which seems to be his top move these days. The referee only saw Hardy writhing in pain. Hardy agreed to proceed. As soon as the bell rang, Shinsuke hit that running knee charge he does and pinned him. After that, Orton returned and did a low blow to Hardy with his foot as he lay in the ring. None of the matches were all that memorable.

[TheEvilJester]

None of the matches were all that memorable.

Sadly, that is generally my opinion of WWE as a whole these days. Mostly nothing is all that memorable. There are a few gems here and there, but not much. What's worse, WWE can't seem to get their crap straight in the rare few times they actually have something good. Either they abandon it almost immediately so it never gets a chance to take off... or they cram it down our throats so much we get sick of it.

I hate sounding like an old man but I miss the good old days of the Attitude era when almost everything on both Raw and Smack Down was basically can't miss.

[My Coffee Cup]

Brock Lesnar is actually a formidable force in WWE. They play that for all it's worth. That's why he rarely appears on TV, because they want him to come across as a jerk that just does what pleases him, so I like that aspect of him, even if his career is looking like he is a lazy champion. I've never seen him wrestle on any of the flagship shows since he returned in 2012, though.

[TheEvilJester]

Honestly, I'm a big Brock Lesnar fan. I even really like him as WWE or Universal Champion. Heck, I even agree with you about him being a special attraction. As in not on every single show all the time. It's just... I'm not so keen on that when somebody is the main champion. They should at least be on most shows. Sometimes it seems like Lesnar is gone for months. Fine if he wasn't champion, but with him as the main champ of Raw it basically leaves Raw without a real main event program for months at a time.

I do like the idea of having Brock Lesnar only on from time to time, I just wish he was on more frequently when he is champion. Once they get the championship on somebody else, he can go back to only appearing here and there and it actually will help make him feel that much more special.

[My Coffee Cup]

First ever women's event announced for October: WWE Evolution.

What an original name!

[lovebroken]

Just bumping up threads since that bot can spam 2000 posts I can just post bump then on some threads being pushed down to lock.

[TheEvilJester]

First ever women's event announced for October: WWE Evolution.

What an original name!

I love that the women are getting so much more attention these days. It is getting so much more equal. I've always been a huge fan of women's wrestling, basically just as much as the men's wrestling. I always hated that period when WWE called them "Divas." I always thought that was so stupid. I realize they MEANT it to be an empowering term like they are more than just normal women... but I just always felt it was sort of the opposite. It was a silly term that made it seem like they were treated as less than the men. They are women wrestlers. They are doing the exact same thing the men do, so why do we have to call them something different?

So, I'm loving the idea of the all women PPV. I'll be excited to see how it goes.

Truth be told, when I play the WWE video games each year, I wind up spending just as much, if not more time, on the women's division. I mean, of course, I use the male characters as well, I create my own character, etc. But I also create some of my own women characters, download ones others have created, download some past WWE women others have made, some current indie women, etc. I wind up having a very robust women's division in my video games. I've always been a fan of women's wrestling getting equal treatment.

[My Coffee Cup]

I wish you could still get cheat codes to play the NPC models, like the seamstress and all that. That was cool. But now you can do it on the PC with modifiers, I see.

[lovebroken]

Bump for Peter. Hope you are doing okay.

[TheEvilJester]

I wish you could still get cheat codes to play the NPC models, like the seamstress and all that. That was cool. But now you can do it on the PC with modifiers, I see.

Yeah, or... you know... freaking LANA!!! LOL! I still cannot understand why Lana has yet to be included as a playable female wrestler. She's been in the last several games, but only ever available as a manager. She's been a wrestler for the past several years now. Sure, she doesn't wrestle all that much, but she's still been actively a member of the women's roster for years now.... yet every year she is only in game as a manager.

But, yeah, I agree it would be neat to be able to play as some of the generally non-playable characters too. Like maybe having two referees fighting. LOL! Or the ring announcer from Raw facing off against the ring announcer from Smack Down. (I can't even remember who they are in game at the moment.) I mean, technically you CAN do all that with created wrestlers, but it isn't quite the same as if they actually let you use the regular in game NPCs.