Wrestling Thread 4: The Ruethless Aggression Era • Page 338

I realize Nia was guaranteed a title shot because she won the battle royale @ Evolution, but this idea in wrestling in 2018 (or maybe it's just in WWE) where you legitimately fuck up and then get pushed because "heel heat" is probably what I hate more than anything. I posted about this the other day but didn't know how to articulate it.

Go away booing is not heat. Bad storylines, bad characters, a bad product is not "heat". I realize this all goes back to this adversarial relationship that the company has with the audience and us 'not knowing what we want' but man, it really bugs me. Hopefully Nia goes away after she loses at TLC. For all we know that could be the plan, I guess.

Also I know people were joking last night about us being "wrong" about the crowd turning on Ronda, but she got pretty solid entrance pop tonight. And then the crowd started chanting for Becky like everyone is going to. I stand by saying that last night was a smart crowd and the reaction to her was largely an anomaly.

But it kind of sounded like Ronda was foreshadowing facing Charlotte at the Rumble. She just said Charlotte was after TLC which leaves the door open for either PPV I guess.

 

the thing about going with it for Nia is that the WWE can use this opportunity to actually help Rousey and Becky out in the long term. If they were to give Nia a multi-month title reign or something, then I'd be pretty pissed off, but at this point the crowd will go nuts when Becky eventually gets her revenge

 

do becky and ronda need any help though? they're the two most over women in the company and more over than most of the men

 

I'd say crowd was 50/50 on Ronda tonight prior to her match with Mickie, whereas Survivor Series it felt more like it was 70/30 in favor of Charlotte. Still two different chants for Becky during Ronda's segment, though, and a lot of Woos, as well. It also sounded like WWE was doing some patented fuck with the crowd mics during that bit.

 

It's certainly possible they were messing with the mics like they did for Roman. I wasn't paying THAT much attention to it. I just heard her get a nice pop when her music hit, and then nonstop Becky chants during her promo. But that's going to happen to literally every woman.

 

Rousey? Sorta. Becky? Definitely not, but it is another foe to conquer. Hopefully this Nia push is for the immediate short term and that's it. Anything more than that, then ill be on your (and most fans) side that it's bad. I can make the case that it's the equivalent of if they decided to give Enzo a job again because he's going into business for himself.

But if they're just gonna use Nia for the immediate future to give Rousey and, mostly Becky, a huge pop, then it's not as egregious

 

This Nia thing actually works hugely in Ronda's favor if they do it right. Whereas before, what we were probably getting was Ronda beating Becky, then facing Tamina/Nia with zero heat. That's how you get her boo'd and endless Becky chants.

Instead, have Ronda brutalize Nia at TLC...set up Charlotte v Rousey at the Rumble. And make Charlotte 10x heelier; have her telling Becky she couldnt have gotten the job done via Ronda, etc. That's then back to back feuds for Ronda where she's the clear face, the crowds on her side.

Im fine with them keeping up the kayfabe of Nia's #1 Contendership for this purpose...though the #Facebreaker shit needs to end.

 

I mean that's the ideal scenario. Worst-case evidence is that Becky wasn't mentioned at all tonight, except by Graves, a Charlotte rematch was more-or-less confirmed, and they basically gave Charlotte Becky's gimmick last night. We'll see what Becky says tomorrow, but I'm only cautiously optimistic because of this company's history with Charlotte Flair.

Yeah I never meant to imply they shouldn't give her the title match that was already set-up/scheduled. That's the sad coincidence about all this. But you don't have to do anything to prop-up Nia in the meantime. She's already the most hated person on the roster. Just cut her character off at the knees, don't give her any promo time or hashtags, and just let her go in and take the pin that everyone wants to see.

 

I just hope Ruby and Ember can get a run with the title next year

 

Awww. That's cute. We can dream, but no chance in hell IMO.

 

the Raw results read like an all-time bad episode, jesus

 

I know :(

 

Are they turning Lucha House Party because that was some heel as fuck shit last night

 

Braun is having surgery to take out bone spur in his elbow

 

good thread

https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/9yoj2v/raw_spoilers_some_1010_acting_from_an_extra/

 

Is this why Lars is coming up?

 

I watched football

 

Oof Dean had some terrible lines last night

 

at what point does the main roster product actually deter indie talent from signing NXT deals? the bottleneck in getting called up is only going to get worse as the shows are already crowded as fuck. NXT itself barely offers room for new folks unless you’re a bonafide indie superstar, and the pay is reportedly nothing special (granted i haven’t heard figures in a few years), and if you do get called up you’re almost guaranteed to be fodder for trash

 

I fear they will expand NXT before that happens or when they feel that is happening. Which may not ruin it. Also, I think a lot of guys/gals are sold on and sell themselves that an opportunity at WWE is a can't pass. Either they want to see how they measure up or they tell themselves that they will be successful compared to most. No idea what the pay is, but the potential pay is better than anywhere else. You obviously need a lot of drive and confidence to move through the wrestling scene today, I think that's what continues to bring them. To prove themselves worthy.

 

I think being attached for even a small amount of time can be beneficial for some talent. Juice Robinson being a prime example. He's worked his arse off getting to where he is but you have to believe that even that small amount of time in developmental helped him quite a bit.

Plus, talent with an established name can go to NXT for a year or two and be bigger in the indies when they leave.

 

For raw standards I didnt think it was that bad. Thought the dean and seth stuff was great. They both put on a masterclass of cutting promos. Thought the angle with strowman and Corbin was decent...rousey was eh... and yes that would be it

 

Exactly. If the program was to continue exclusively with Charlotte/Becky and Ronda, I think that's what we should come to expect: Loud pops for Ronda initially that dovetail into more mixed reactions. My guess, based on how I presume they would book Ronda in that position, would be that she'd eventually start getting Cena/Reigns type reactions. What I'm curious about is how the crowd is going to react with this Nia pitstop. Nia has such nuclear heat right now, of course Ronda is going to get cheered. But my fear is that by the time she comes back around to Charlotte and Becky, that's going to cool off all of their heat from the crowd.

I also think a lot of this depends on what Charlotte and Becky's relationship is going to be going forward. Are they aligned again in some manner, or are they going to be foes. I personally dig the idea that Becky's win in the Last Woman Standing match, her leadership in the Raw invasion, and just general bad ass attitude awakened something in Charlotte that allows her to see that Becky was justified in turning on her, that she was doing what Charlotte herself would have once done herself, and that they can move forward if not as a team, but as allies.

That's all probably wishful fantasy booking in the hopes of us somehow getting all four horsewomen back together as a faction, though.

 

When does Charlotte cut a “you stole from Roddy Piper and my father” promo?

Also as for people going to wwe, I gotta believe that for most of them it’s a life long dream and even if they don’t have faith it’s going to work out they still want to be able to say they made it there

 

I'm kinda worried they might cheer Nia against Ronda by the time tlc comes around