GDT: Wrestlemania 40

[TimeZone]

Again, I disagree. You can't point to history between Austin and Rock from 2003 then claim that Undertaker's history with Roman where Reigns gave him 1 of 2 losses at WM doesn't mean anything.

If we use your argument, Cena doesn't have anything to do with "this version" of The Rock, either. It's not about versions of characters. The history was there for Undertaker to want revenge on Reigns for his loss at WM. Stone Cold had nothing to do with the champion. Him showing up would have blown the roof off the building but made no sense. Taker at least makes a tiny bit of sense.

Of course I can, there is significant history between both characters, there is virtually no connection between this version of Roman, The Bloodline and Taker.

Cena has history with The Bloodline, so even if we take Hollywood Rock out of the picture it makes sense, particularly as The Rock is more of a hybrid character that leans more Hollywood, Roman is a completely and totally different character from the failed "believe that" face run train wreck from that time period.

The fact of the matter is neither of them showing up in this situation is logical, but Austin sure as hell would have been the better choice for a cheap, short sighted pop and superior WrestleMania moment.

We're going to simply have to agree to strongly disagree on the matter, otherwise we're going to continue to go around in circles.

 

[TimeZone]

More star power in the 90s to 00s and honestly WWE was trying to survive win out the monday night WAR vs WcW so had to develop better characters/matches/storylines

96-05 period had guys like:

Austin, Rock, HHH, HBK, Angle, Taker, Lesnar, Jericoh, Benoit, Eddie, etc as main eveny guys who often were pushed to mid card or tag matches due to how strong the wrestling lineup was.

Now isnt as strong, but it is better than the early 2010s (2010 - 2015 period).

Miz, Alberto del rio, Jack swagger etc were main eventing or in title matches at WM

I think what the roster truly lacks is younger up and coming talent now. There are some guys, but when you look at the top of the card (Rock, Roman, Cody, Priest, Gunther, Randy, AJ, LA Knight, Cena, Punk, Drew, The Usos, Lashley, Finn) these guys are all nearing or well over 40.

I get there are guys like Bron, but the WWE really needs to get more creative at lurring over younger free agents.

 

[TheBeard]

I think what the roster truly lacks is younger up and coming talent now. There are some guys, but when you look at the top of the card (Rock, Roman, Cody, Priest, Gunther, Randy, AJ, LA Knight, Cena, Punk, Drew, The Usos, Lashley, Finn) these guys are all nearing or well over 40.

I get there are guys like Bron, but the WWE really needs to get more creative at lurring over younger free agents.

I think there's a fair amount of young talent, but with NXT it's own thing and a plethora of top tier aging talent still thriving, there's no need to rush things. But Melo and Trick are young, Dragunov is just. 30, Jade is 31, Montez Ford, Oba, Dunne, Tony D etc.

 

[TimeZone]

I think there's a fair amount of young talent, but with NXT it's own thing and a plethora of top tier aging talent still thriving, there's no need to rush things. But Melo and Trick are young, Dragunov is just. 30, Jade is 31, Montez Ford, Oba, Dunne, Tony D etc.

I'd be lying if I said I see the majority of those mentioned as more than mid carders for the future.

Females in particular don't stick around the top of the card nearly as long as males generally speaking.

 

[TheBeard]

I'd be lying if I said I see the majority of those mentioned as more than mid carders for the future.

Females in particular don't stick around the top of the card nearly as long as males generally speaking.

I don't agree, but that's opinions, right? All of the ones mentioned can go in the ring and have shown the ability to be able to to carry themselves on the mic. Who's a top player is contingent on who HHH and Khan decide is. A lot of it is organic, like LA Knight and Sami Zayn and I don't see why they can't get the same success from the younger generations.

 

[TimeZone]

I don't agree, but that's opinions, right? All of the ones mentioned can go in the ring and have shown the ability to be able to to carry themselves on the mic. Who's a top player is contingent on who HHH and Khan decide is. A lot of it is organic, like LA Knight and Sami Zayn and I don't see why they can't get the same success from the younger generations.

Truth be told I beed to see guys on the Main Roster before forming a proper opinion, I generally find NXT unbearable to watch.

LA Knight has always been great, I never understood what took so long for him to get signed to a major promotion and get the proper push he deserved, he's always been a charisma machine.

I like Sami, but he's pretty replaceable in the mid card in my view.

 

[BobColesNasalCavity]

Would’ve been hilarious to have Goldust interfere in the match at some point. I bet you the Shattered Dreams theme would’ve gotten a great pop

 

[TheBeard]

Truth be told I beed to see guys on the Main Roster before forming a proper opinion, I generally find NXT unbearable to watch.

LA Knight has always been great, I never understood what took so long for him to get signed to a major promotion and get the proper push he deserved, he's always been a charisma machine.

I like Sami, but he's pretty replaceable in the mid card in my view.

I don't see Sami as replaceable. He's such an incredibly versatile guy that can change characters almost from show to show. He basically extended the Bloodline story by at least 6 months because of what he brought. He's also a fantastic worker in the ring. I remember getting goosebumps when Nakamura had his first match against him on NXT

I like LA Knight, but his gimmick isn't all that unique. It very much is a Rock-lite character, and while he's fine in the ring, he's never gonna have a 5 star banger. I think his shtick would ultimately get stale if there was gold around his waist. Sort of reminds me of Bobby Roode in that sense.

NXT isn't what it was about 5 years ago, but it usually has its finger on the pulse in terms of how they'll be received on the main roster. I do think with Vince gone and HHH and HBK running things behind the curtains, there will be considerably more leeway for the younger talent to do what they do best instead of being screwed by Vince's affinity for big men.

 

[GKJ]

Looks like me and @Kairi Zaide gonna have to fight Mark Henry

 

[TheShape]

It would have made more sense given his history with The Rock at Mania, including having his retirement match at Mania against Hollywood Rock, the last time we seen this character was when he was feuding with Austin/Goldberg back in 2003.

Taker lost clean to a face Roman a decade ago, many years before this bloodline version of Roman was so much as a thought, it makes significantly less sense than Austin, which didn't make much sense either, but at the very least would have been a lot more exciting and made a small amount of sense.

People came up with this Taker "the final boss" narrative + history with Roman just to try make it seem like Taker showing up made any sense. It's not that deep, WWE couldn't secure Austin so moved onto the next biggest legend who could step in for an easy pop. No more no less, there was no connected storyline planning involved.

I said pre Mania that I am down to see returning legends, just not in the main event. It was a really fun 5 minutes of chaos as things were unfolding, but it's not something I think is going to age very well looking back on.

 

[GKJ]

By the way, I will win

 

[kanucks25]

Best/most successful group in WWE/F history. They’ve mostly carried the industry for a decade

 

[TimeZone]

I don't see Sami as replaceable. He's such an incredibly versatile guy that can change characters almost from show to show. He basically extended the Bloodline story by at least 6 months because of what he brought. He's also a fantastic worker in the ring. I remember getting goosebumps when Nakamura had his first match against him on NXT

I like LA Knight, but his gimmick isn't all that unique. It very much is a Rock-lite character, and while he's fine in the ring, he's never gonna have a 5 star banger. I think his shtick would ultimately get stale if there was gold around his waist. Sort of reminds me of Bobby Roode in that sense.

NXT isn't what it was about 5 years ago, but it usually has its finger on the pulse in terms of how they'll be received on the main roster. I do think with Vince gone and HHH and HBK running things behind the curtains, there will be considerably more leeway for the younger talent to do what they do best instead of being screwed by Vince's affinity for big men.

A Rock-Lite character is huge in todays world, the star power of today is quite old, have generally been around for years. When it comes to mic work, he's right there with any full timer in the company.

As far as Sami goes, his booking was great last year, but he's definitely the kind of guy who's more of a fill in at the top of the card than a genuine main event level talent. He's good, not necessarily great. He's not necessarily somebody I would consider an elite talent, but a good one.

As far as NXT I suppose we'll just have to wait and see, I can't comment much as anytime I've tried to sit through an episode I've failed, so probably not best I speak too much on it

 

[TheBeard]

A Rock-Lite character is huge in todays world, the star power of today is quite old, have generally been around for years. When it comes to mic work, he's right there with any full timer in the company.

As far as Sami goes, his booking was great last year, but he's definitely the kind of guy who's more of a fill in at the top of the card than a genuine main event level talent. He's good, not necessarily great. He's not necessarily somebody I would consider an elite talent, but a good one.

As far as NXT I suppose we'll just have to wait and see, I can't comment much as anytime I've tried to sit through an episode I've failed, so probably not best I speak too much on it

I get what you’re saying, the only part I have issues with is your view of Sami. He’s a guy who basically forced himself into being the most over guy for the entire first half of last year and arguably had the best match now in back to back Wrestlemanias. He’s really I suppose what Orange Cassidy or even Brian Danielson is in AEW.

 

[Jussi]

Ouch, Karrion Kross' back after the match.

 

[TimeZone]

I get what you’re saying, the only part I have issues with is your view of Sami. He’s a guy who basically forced himself into being the most over guy for the entire first half of last year and arguably had the best match now in back to back Wrestlemanias. He’s really I suppose what Orange Cassidy or even Brian Danielson is in AEW.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to shit on Sami, as I said I do like him as a talent, I just think he's been booked as well as anyone from creative on top of his skills.

Not to be a "body guy" but I do feel if he toned up and cleaned up the look I could see him getting an elevated push over a more extended period of time.

As far as my evaluation goes, I think he's far superior to OC, but also significantly inferior to Bryan.

 

[Kairi Zaide]

Looks like me and @Kairi Zaide gonna have to fight Mark Henry

Summerslam main event

 

[TheBeard]

86% of this raw is just booing.

 

[JaegerDice]

This WM really did feel like the first true 'era reset' for WWE since WM14.

Even though none of the matches on that card were really bangers from an in-ring perspective, there was just an overwhelming feeling of jumping on a moving train. A ton of freshness and momentum.

 

[BiolaRunner]

Looks like me and @Kairi Zaide gonna have to fight Mark Henry

Someone should ask him if he feels the same way about Cody, who was in the ring for Roman's entrance.

 

[The Gongshow]

Brock could have been good for that Taker spot, over both Austin and Taker. He makes the most sense, storywise. But he's not around right now for obvious reasons.

Would The Rock wanted to have to take an F5 tho chokeslam was probably the better choice.

 

[Jussi]

 

[TheBeard]

The behind the scene documentary they’re putting out tomorrow should be a fun watch.

 

[Fro]

Apparently Bobby roode produced the tag team main event

 

[The Gongshow]

Apparently Bobby roode produced the tag team main event

He also co-produced Cody vs Roman on night 2