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How did I do?!?


WRESTLEMANIA 33 PREDICTION TIME!!!

Let’s do it….

ATGBR - Got to be Strowman. Not that the match means much. Bit of a shame that Zayn will be thrown under the bus again. And I’m disappointed that this where American Alpha have ended up. Their match where they lost the titles to the Usos was really good. I find it strange that WWE don’t think that a rematch (which would be another fine match,) where AA get a feelgood win, is a worthwhile way to spend 15 minutes of ‘Mania.

I couldn't care less about this one either - it really does exist just to stuff people into Wrestlemania that otherwise wouldn't have a match...

But yes, the Strow-boner continues, and he 'wins'.

Mojo wins with Gronk interference?

I was WRONG!

0-1

Neville vs Aries – Hopefully Neville. I’d like to see him kept strong until a really talented, popular babyface can emerge from somewhere.

I actually think this one goes to Aries, and The Greatest Man That Ever Lives wins it here!

WRONG again!

0-2

Bellena vs Mizryse – John and Nicki

I would LOVE for the Miz to crush Cena and Nikki, but, yeah, Cena gets the win - AND proposes to Nikki.

I was right - on both counts!

Tempted to give myself +2 here, but it was all too easy to predict.

1-2

AJ Styles vs Shane McMahon – Styles. Can’t be anything but Styles clean.

Agreed! It HAS to be Styles CLEAN.

RIGHT again!

2-2

HHH vs Rollins – Rollins. Although if there are any shenanigans on Sunday night, they’ll be here. I notice Samoa Joe isn’t on the card anywhere, so I expect him here. And if, if, Balor shows up, it’ll be here. So, hopefully Rollins picks up the win, but I do not think it’ll be a clean one.

Agreed again - and yes, Joe defintiely shows up and this is also the best (Only?) place for a Balor 'surprise' appearance too.

I think you MIGHT be on to something with your Balor Heel Turn here, but it is REALLY hard to have a returning Babyface instantly go heel - especially at Wrestlemania, so I'm hoping/thinking it is a straight up Babyface save IF he shows at all.

I was RIGHT enough here!

3-2

Undertaker vs Reigns – Reigns. On RAW this week, I really thought they were teasing a Buried Alive match. Either way, I think ‘Taker goes down.

Tradition is you always lose your last match - are they going to let Reigns 'retire' The Undertaker - at Wrestlemania?

Maybe.

It would be a great time to FINALLY turn Reigns heel...

RIGHT again!

4-2

Smackdown Women’s Title – Maybe Naomi? Or Becky Lynch.

It is Naomi's hometown, so it will be hard for her to NOT win, but I hope she doesn't. I'm a big Alexa Bliss fan, so I hope she somehow gets the miracle win here and retains.

Should picked with the brain and not the heart - WRONG here!

4-3

RAW Women’s Title – Sasha Banks

They'll restore Flair's lost PPV luster here and she'll get the win.

Unless Dana Brooke costs her the title somehow?!?

Surprised they stuck with Bailey, and no hints of a Banks heel turn either!

I was WRONG!

4-4

RAW Tag Team Titles – I’m unsure about this, but I’ll go for Gallows and Anderson. Enzo and Cass could get it because they seem to be popular. I’d like Sheamus and Cesaro to win. But I’m predicting Anderson and Gallows.

Unfortunately, I think this is where Enzo and Cass finally cash in.

WWE has criminally mismanaged Gallows and Anderson from the start - look for that to continue.

Glad to see Enzo and Cash didn't win it - surprised by the Hardys showing up, and winning!

I was WRONG!

4-5

US Title - Owens. Jericho does the job. Owens looks strong and gets even… heelier?

Maybe... I think you're right, Ownes wins and Jericho chases for a bit, than goes off on tour with Fozzy for a bit?

I was RIGHT!

5-5

IC Title – Ambrose. Not particularly keen on him, but I think Ambrose will come away with it. Probably deserves a triumphant WM moment.

Dean's kinda lost right now - I think Baron gets the win here and Dean...er...I dunno...

I was WRONG!

And...no one cares about Dean and the IC title right now, do they?

5-6

Smackdown Title – Surely has to be Wyatt. Needs to be Wyatt. This storyline had been going really well, but it’s tailed off a bit I think. People should be booing Orton to the moon by now, but they aren’t.

Agreed!

This storyline has gone from bad to ultra-stupid quickly.

Can't stand ORton though, so yes, I'm biased there.

Ugh.

Orton.

5-7

RAW Title – Lesnar. No Doubt about it.

It HAS to be Lesnar, but is that why it won't be?

Can't stand Lesnar either, and having a part-timer as champ again - ugh.

But he is less of a part-timer than Goldberg, so...hurrah?

Easy to predict, and I how Lesnar isn't champ for long.

I finish at 6-7...not impressive at all!

Lesnar will probably lose to Reigns and Reigns will end up with the belt, again...

The only reason why I said that is, if you ignore the fact that Undertaker retired and you usually get your butt kicked on the way out the door, Roman Reigns has done something only 1 other man in the WWE has done, and that's beat the Undertaker at Wrestlemania, and we all know that it was the Beast Incarnate Brock Lesnar that broke the streak. Which means, if we're going all shoenen anime on this then Roman is equal in power to Lesnar, and Lesnar is the next step for Roman.

Which means we're going to see yet another Roman Reigns push no one cares about. oh boy...

I...cannot refute your logic there.

Dammit!

However, watching the crowd REFUSE to let Roman speak was pretty freakin' hilarious!

What's that?

Wrestlemania predicitons?

How did alanmckenzie do, I hear you ask?

Pretty damn good, actually!

8-5!

Crushes my pathetic 6-7, it does!

 Alpharius wrote:

What's that?

Wrestlemania predicitons?

How did alanmckenzie do, I hear you ask?

Pretty damn good, actually!

8-5!

Crushes my pathetic 6-7, it does!

Although I should probably lose points for not spotting that proposal coming.

I was actually really enjoing that match until they decided to end it. Miz was doing brilliantly with the crowd. I hope he can find some success now on RAW. Sadly it looks like they’re just going to rerun the Ambrose feud from a few months ago.

Overall I enjoyed the show. I think the matches were all fairly serviceable.

KO Jericho wasn’t as great as I’d expected, but it was alright.

Rollins HHH was good.
Styles/Shane was pretty good. As expected. Styles needs to headline next year though.

RAW Women’s match was good, I thought. Although I wonder why they didn’t just wait until ‘mania to have Bayley win the title initially.

Lesnar/Goldberg was better than I expected, quite enjoy it. The Lesnar/Part-time/Universal Title situation is a bit of a conundrum though.

Undertaker/Reigns was probably about as good a match as it’s possible for Taker to have these days. Shame to see him go, but it was handled reasonably well…. Even if it was Reigns.

However, Orton/Wyatt was weird and disappointing. Not sure of the thinking behind having Orton win. I’m worried for Wyatt now.

Hardy’s were a great surprise, helped by New Day’s tease.

New Day were mercifully subdued throughout the show too. Which was nice.


RAW after mania was pretty good too.

Your Balor came back finally, then preceded to get battered by mad Jinder Mihal for 10 minutes…. He wouldn’t have liked that. Not exactly easing back into things.

Kurt Angle is GM… should be much better value than Foley. And I do love to hear that music.

And Strowman just destroyed Reigns in what has to be one of the best backstage beatdowns for years. The cheers that would go up every time Brawn reappeared were awesome. And the dude flipped an Ambulance! Brilliant!

That ambulance spot is in this week’s “Insane Spots compilation. So is Jinder Mihal’s brutal forearm smash on Balor.

And Katsuyori Shibata’s nasty headbutt is the type of thing that make me less inclined to watch more Japanese stuff.

https://whatculture.com/wwe/10-most-insane-wrestling-spots-of-the-week-april-16



What do you guys make of the “Superstar Shakeup” tm?

For me, it’s just made Smackdown even more preferable to RAW. I think.

I’ll still keep an eye on RAW for Rollins, Joe, Balor and Strowman. And out of morbid curiosity over the future of the Universal title.

Smackdown with Naka, KO, Zayn, Styles, Corbin, American Alpha just seem to promise better entertainment…. I think. I haven’t watched last night’s SD yet, by the way. So, we’ll see.

The rumours of Orton wanting to go part-time are also feeding my optimism here.


How is it looking to you guys?


Outside of WWE, I went to ICW’s Barrowlands show on Sunday night.

I took my brother-in-law along. He had never been to a wrestling show, and had no real knowledge or interest in wrestling prior to Sunday. However, he’s a pretty enthusiastic dude and had an absolute whale of a time. Really enjoyed it. We ended up pretty smashed (as we often do when we get together ), so details of the actual show are a little fuzzy, but fun was had.

Drew Galloway wrestled what looks like his last ICW match for a while since his recent WWE call-up. Barbed wire rope match vs Jack Jester)

Grado turned heel after his match with Wolfgang. The most shocking turn since Hogan (in Glasgow anyway)

Trent Seven dropped the ICW Title to Joe Coffey. A right good wrestler who faced Kurt Angle at ICW Fear & Loathing IX last year.

War Machine were there and performed well.

Matt Cross was there despite a recent leg break. He wasn’t showing any ill effects in a well worked 6-man scramble.

A really good night.

Below are a couple of pics of a drunk and happy brother-in-law with his new friends…

Glad I'm not the only one who didn't enjoy Wyatt/Orton.

The match just didn't flow - and I think even the crowd were a bit 'Whaaaaa?' with the projection nonsense. It just broke up the fight too much.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Glad I'm not the only one who didn't enjoy Wyatt/Orton.

The match just didn't flow - and I think even the crowd were a bit 'Whaaaaa?' with the projection nonsense. It just broke up the fight too much.

Agreed.

By the time of the show the fued had totally stalled and there was no clear heel/face dynamic when they had ample opportunity to create one. The projections were just odd and only added bewilderment to an already uninspiring match.

It was a shame. Like I say, I'm worried about Wyatt's immediate future.

They're currently teasing a feud between Finn and Wyatt because...reasons?!?

Makes it fairly obvious that Wyatt's not beating Orton - doubt that they'd have the 2 main titles on RAW.

Who knows though?

 Alpharius wrote:
They're currently teasing a feud between Finn and Wyatt because...reasons?!?

Well, at least Wyatt won't try kill him like Mahal did.

But yeah, it's a weird one because I like them both, and I think they're both really good workers and should have good matches together but it's just very hard to see WWE doing anything other than rerun every feud Wyatt has ever had.

It's been done to death, no-one ever comes out of it looking good - least of all Wyatt who just a couple of months ago was pinning Cena and Styles clean and looking great.

Seems to serve no other purpose than to keep a couple of guys busy but out of title contention for a few months.

Is there any other way this could go?

Makes it fairly obvious that Wyatt's not beating Orton.

The worst thing about the whole affair.

Who does take the title off Orton, and is it happening anytime soon?

Looks like the next man to have that opportunity is...




Ha!

Oh.



Well, hope he wins.


Why do people cheer Randy Orton?

He's about as natural born a Heel as we'll ever get.

Just a thoroughly unlikable individual, by most accounts.

May be a tad late, but I wanted to jump in on this thread. My wife never grew up with wrestling, but seeing Undertaker retire was truly a great and heartbreaking moment. Few are still doing what he did at his age, most are dead or disabled. Glad to see him be able retire and hopefully live out a well deserved retirement.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Alpharius wrote:
He's about as natural born a Heel as we'll ever get.

Just a thoroughly unlikable individual, by most accounts.

Debatable. Eddie Guerrero and Triple H were always pretty great Heels.

I probably wasn't clear enough - my point was, by most accounts, he's a real asshat in 'Real Life' too, and doesn't ever make a good Babyface.

He's a natural Heel - for many reasons!

Even HHH and Eddie pulled off VERY good Babyface runs.

Orton hasn't, doesn't and, I'd posit, can't!

 Alpharius wrote:
I probably wasn't clear enough - my point was, by most accounts, he's a real asshat in 'Real Life' too, and doesn't ever make a good Babyface.

He's a natural Heel - for many reasons!

Even HHH and Eddie pulled off VERY good Babyface runs.

Orton hasn't, doesn't and, I'd posit, can't!

Yeah, Orton, even as removed as I am from modern wrestling, is just a massive tool. Even his special move is just a ripoff of Diamond Dallas Page's Diamond Cutter.

Interesting read here:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2704942-the-rise-of-braun-strowman-hinges-on-roman-reigns-incredible-heat-with-wwe-fans

Basically, it almost doesn't matter WHO it was, WHOEVER was going up against Reigns was guaranteed to have a huge, positive reaction from the fanbase.

I...actually agree.

Roman and his corporate mandated push have rubbed fans the wrong way for quite some time now.

Strowman just isn't a wrestler I'm a fan of, for the most part, but there's no denying that he's done a lot with the opportunity he's been presented with.

Well, looks like it is going to be a Finn Bálor vs. Bray Wyatt feud now...

They must fight because...

....


...Because...they both have spooky/supernatural aspects to their characters?

I still think it is a waste of what will be the eventual return of his 'Demon' aspect.

If I was booking this, I'd eventually have Finn work his way up to a title shot with Lesnar (invoking his rematch clause, as he never really 'lost' the title?), and then lose a somewhat hard fought battle.

Maybe then he has to fight his way back up to #1 contender status again - and then maybe he loses again - maybe this time he gets beat a little easier, and take a more savage beating in the process.

Lesnar then dismisses him - until Bálor somehow goads him into one more match.

Lesnar does the usual bluster and then grants him the match, saying 'this is it, you lose and no more title shots for you!'.

Which plays right into Finn's hands as NOW he chooses to unleash the Demon - maybe we're now at one of the 'big' PPV's, maybe ever Summerslam?

To me, the Demon aspect shouldn't ever really lose - kinda like the Undertaker's Wrestlemania streak...

Instead, the Demon will be unleashed on...Bray Wyatt.

With...not that much at stake?

We'll see though - I'd like to be pleasantly surprised here.

I did like that Alexa beat Baley.

And I still look forward to the Broken Hardy's showing up - soon, I hope!

Now watched Payback.

Most of it was dandy. But gawd, the Orton/Wyatt thing is still lame. Their Wrestlemania match sucked. Somehow, their Payback bit sucked even more.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN...

...welcome to the JINDER MAHAL ERA!

(Such as it is, for however long it lasts...)

I was happy to see Orton lose though!

Hey Folks,

Sorry I’ve not checked in here for a while… hardly been on Dakka at all.

Thought I’d better come back in though since it appears that the GREATEST WRESTLING MATCH IN THE HISTORY OF WRESTLING has just happened.
https://whatculture.com/wwe/kazuchika-okada-vs-kenny-omega-ii-breaks-dave-meltzer-39-s-star-rating-system
Anyone managed to see it?

I’ll probably need to track it down. The last one was very good.

It’ll do well to top my current match of the year though….

Anyone see the UK Title match at NXT Takeover?

What did you think?

And what else has been drawing your attention?

Any excitement for Joe - Lesnar?

Alpharius, you're man Balor is holding his own alright isn't he? He's looked pretty good since returning (if we discount the time Jinder tried to kill him) and was booked quite strong during that Fatal 5-Way. Can't imagine he's tooo far away from another title shot. Depends what happens with Brock, Reigns, Strowman I suppose, but he'd be a super popular Rumble winner if they can time it all right.

 alanmckenzie wrote:
Hey Folks,

Sorry I’ve not checked in here for a while… hardly been on Dakka at all.

Your absence has been noticed - you have been missed!!!

 Alpharius wrote:

 alanmckenzie wrote:
Hey Folks,

Sorry I’ve not checked in here for a while… hardly been on Dakka at all.

Your absence has been noticed - you have been missed!!!

Won't happen again

 alanmckenzie wrote:


Anyone see the UK Title match at NXT Takeover?

What did you think?

And what else has been drawing your attention?

Any excitement for Joe - Lesnar?

I'm actually excited about that match - and I really do hope Lesnar loses too.

His allure, for me anyway, is limited. The sooner he fades away, the better. Though I gather he's still quite popular and still has the 'special attraction' feel and drawing power.

I just don't like the belt on a part time champ.

You need to find a way to watch that UK Title match.

But yeah, Agreed. Don't like a part-time champ. Not mad keen on Lesnar either, much preferred him in his youth. I don't particularly like the MMA style/imagery in the wrestling ring. I'd prefer the two worlds were kept apart. I do like the Lesnar - Heyman combo though. And he is still definitely a draw.

All that said, I am quite looking forward to the match. It shouldn't be a squash and it does seem like a long time since Lesnar has wrestled a real match. I think it could be good.

Do we know how the rest of the card looks yet? I've hardly seen any RAW last couple of weeks, only Extreme rules which was pretty meh.

 alanmckenzie wrote:


Alpharius, you're man Balor is holding his own alright isn't he? He's looked pretty good since returning (if we discount the time Jinder tried to kill him) and was booked quite strong during that Fatal 5-Way. Can't imagine he's tooo far away from another title shot. Depends what happens with Brock, Reigns, Strowman I suppose, but he'd be a super popular Rumble winner if they can time it all right.

Bálor has been booked...OK since his return.

I'm actually OK with The Demon NOT showing up yet too.

From a storyline perspective, The Demon should be just about unstoppable - but Finn should be reluctant to summon it, like it costs him too much, or something similar. Make it into a Big Deal. Don't use it for stuff like, oh, I don't know, just to confront someone in ring *BEFORE* a bit title match!

Truth!

They bust out that Demon entrance faaar too early and far too easily that last time. And it's not like his normal entrance isn't fething awesome anyway.

His finisher is the only thing I'd changeabout Balor at the moment.

RAW's been pretty good lately though, seems to have overtaken Smackdown in terms of overall quality as that show's a bit of a mess currently.

I've hardly seen either recently, just little bits..... have my beloved American Alpha just fallen off the edge of the earth though? Where are they?

That's a really good question!

They're almost completely MIA now - and I've no idea why.

I haven't seen anything about an injury or a doghouse stint.

Maybe the emergence of Breezango has...pushed them to the back?!?

I actually don't mind belts being on part timers that way when they show up it's a special event, also saw the UK match between Pete Dunn and Tyler Bates really great airplane spin and commentary.

Got to watch Okada vs Omega 2 and...

...I like Okada vs. Omega 1 a bit better, but that's probably mostly because...




Still, it is a great match, and well worth watching!

...wha...?!?

Roman Reigns declares HIMSELF the #1 Contender, and given HIMSELF a title shot at whoever wins from Samoa/Lesnar at Great Balls of Fire (LOLWUT) at Summerslam in August?

Meanwhile, Finn Bálor now finds himself in a feud with...Elias "The Drifter" Samson?!?

Really?!?

SCREW IT!!!

SUMMON THE DEMON NOW!!!

AND UNLEASH IT ON "WWE CREATIVE" FIRST!!!!

Haha.

I never seen RAW this week.

That sounds.... bad.

Shame Joe - Lesnar isn't a best of 7 series.

Imagine how better the world would be if they actually let Roman go full heel.

Strowman came back though, didn't he? Where does he fit into the picture?


I managed to watch MitB this week.

Despite the absolute tragedy of the women's match finish, the show was alright.

I dislike Orton and often find his matches tough to sit through, but, and it's weird, I'm finding Jinder Mahal totally compeling to watch in the ring. I don't know why, he's not that good. He just seems dangerous and unpredictable or something, and I like his face... or maybe its all the viens. Feth knows.

I don't like the heel foreigner schtick, I always feel for the guy who has to try work with it. And when Orton is the American supposed babyface on the other side of it, it's even harder to accept.

I think I'm turning into a Mahal fan. Thanks Randy

The men's ladder match was pretty good, although I'm not sure about the winner. I'd have really liked to see Styles carrying the briefcase all year. He'd be brilliant with it.

The match itself was good though. A lot of talent on show (Zayn, Owens, Styles, Naka, Ziggler and Corbin.... I suppose) which whetted the appetite for some of the potential match-ups we have on Smackdown now (there's a little bit of talent further down the roster too). The Styles, Nakamura bit was genius. It was so subtley well done.

Watching the show seemed to confirm my suspsions about American Alpha falling down a deep hole somewhere...

However....

Smackdown Live... Who appears???

Only my man Chad Gable (OUTTA NOWHERE) to give Owens a tremendous wee match...



Awesome!

That Open Challenge has the potential to be great if Owens keeps it up.


Also, I like the Fashion Files.....

Yes, Strowman is back and, following in the footsteps of Roman, has booked himself his own match at the next PPV, and yes, its an Ambulance Match vs. Reigns.

And I do completely agree with you - just have Roman go full Heel already - the fan base already treats him as such!

And he's got the smarm to be really good at it.

Absolutely!

It is his true calling!

Combine that with the hatred most fans have for him due to his perceived (right or wrong as that perception may be!) undeserved push, he'd be the most over heel in a long, ling time!