WRESTLEMANIA 32

[Max Green]

Okay show.
*The Women's triple threat was the best match for me. Though Sasha should've won the title but I'm fine with Charlotte winning.
*I also enjoyed the IC title match. Thought Zayn or Owens should've won but I'm fine with Ryder winning as well. He's still over and deserved a break after how bad they botched his US Title win years ago.
*Battle Royal was fun, the right guy went over. I popped for Shaq and DDP.
*Loved seeing New Day as the Ginyu Force and Austin Stun Woods after dancing.
*I ffw'd through most of the Taker/Shane match, I'm able to easily suspend belief when watching but I just didn't find Shane as a credible threat.
*I completely ffw'd through the H/Reigns match. I only watched H's entrance (Goddamn Steph looked hot) and the ending. Reigns as a face champ bores me.

The WWE really misses it's MVP, Seth Rollins. If Angle is healthy they really need to bring him in.

[Dr Positivity]

Having him win the number one contendership and do so by pinning Jericho makes a lot more sense if Jericho won. If Jericho had lost he can't go out there and say that he's deserving of being the number one contender. The inverse however is not true as AJ still could make the claim because he'd beaten Jericho twice.

Why should Styles be able to claim he deserves a title shot after losing to Jericho, a guy who hasn't had a meaningful win in years? Hell, why should Owens or Zayn be entitled to a shot at Reigns either? They both lost last night. And Jericho is Jericho. He's a legend and a former world champ. Even if he lost last night, he can say that he deserves a shot on his legacy alone.

Because AJ's still beaten Jericho twice. Jericho won most recently, but they've still won the same amount of matches against one another so neither guy can claim that he's definitively better than the other. And yes, even if he lost he's still got more than enough built-in equity to do what he did tonight. But having him win is a much cleaner and more logical path than just saying he deserves this opportunity based on stuff he did 5+ years ago.

I think how much W/L effects "putting people over" probably depends on the wrestlers strengths and weaknesses. With A.J. to me the important things with him are standout in ring matches and being likable and pure of heart on the mic. So even if Jericho wins the big match, by having a series of strong matches with A.J. and making him look like a much better person than he is, A.J. leaves with most of what he needed from it. Likewise I feel Jericho had a positive impact on Miz in 2016 because of what Miz's strengths are. Miz promos felt important for a few weeks cause of his back and forth with Jericho to me, including killing it one week IMO when he went on a Miz TV rant, and then when he came out of it he managed to fit in as a mid-carder worthy of hanging with people like Ziggler and Owens, a level up from the Social Outcasts level jobber he was all of last year. I don't know how much Jericho affected that or if Miz was on the way up anyways, but it may have helped. OTOH with a wrestler like Bray Wyatt taking so many big Ls may have been devastating to his character because being threatening was too important to it

[whysoserious]

Finally got back in town and watched WM. It wasn't horrible but I was watching on the iPad while something else was on TV.

The women's match was easily Match of the Night and it would be awesome if they'd give these three the big slot to close out a PPV once in the next few months.

I didn't understand a lot of booking with the Raw the next night. Like we built up this whole ridiculous feud between Taker/Shane where it made no sense for Taker to be fighting on Vinny Mac's behalf, Shane loses and we just reset and Vince gives him control.

I just don't understand for the life of me what's going on. AJ Styles loses to Jericho at WM but is now challenging Roman? Seriously?

The Wyatts lose or get punked off again? Like why should I ever believe anything Bray says challenging anyone and that was already a major issue before WM.

I also don't mind giving Ryder that supposed moment but once again you're killing Owens who has potential for no reason. If anyone should have one that match it was Zayn.

WWE just seems to have lost any idea of what they want to do. It's bordering on Russo/WCW days where it feels like they are just writing it as they go.

[whysoserious]

Also, I hate Cole so much during the Taker/Shane match. Like the second it was announced as a HIAC we all know Shane's going to do some stunt and he's acting shocked that he's trying to climb the cage and then screaming OMG trying to channel Jim Ross and sell it hard as though it's the first time we've seen this.

Cole just flat out sucks. Have never liked him.

[skbucks1985]

Why should Styles be able to claim he deserves a title shot after losing to Jericho, a guy who hasn't had a meaningful win in years? Hell, why should Owens or Zayn be entitled to a shot at Reigns either? They both lost last night. And Jericho is Jericho. He's a legend and a former world champ. Even if he lost last night, he can say that he deserves a shot on his legacy alone.

Because AJ's still beaten Jericho twice. Jericho won most recently, but they've still won the same amount of matches against one another so neither guy can claim that he's definitively better than the other. And yes, even if he lost he's still got more than enough built-in equity to do what he did tonight. But having him win is a much cleaner and more logical path than just saying he deserves this opportunity based on stuff he did 5+ years ago.

I think how much W/L effects "putting people over" probably depends on the wrestlers strengths and weaknesses. With A.J. to me the important things with him are standout in ring matches and being likable and pure of heart on the mic. So even if Jericho wins the big match, by having a series of strong matches with A.J. and making him look like a much better person than he is, A.J. leaves with most of what he needed from it. Likewise I feel Jericho had a positive impact on Miz in 2016 because of what Miz's strengths are. Miz promos felt important for a few weeks cause of his back and forth with Jericho to me, including killing it one week IMO when he went on a Miz TV rant, and then when he came out of it he managed to fit in as a mid-carder worthy of hanging with people like Ziggler and Owens, a level up from the Social Outcasts level jobber he was all of last year. I don't know how much Jericho affected that or if Miz was on the way up anyways, but it may have helped. OTOH with a wrestler like Bray Wyatt taking so many big Ls may have been devastating to his character because being threatening was too important to it

I think it matters situationally more than anything else. When you spend time building up a guy and then he has that fork in the road match and he loses, it can be very damaging. Booker T may not have ever truly recovered from losing to HHH at WM 18 and if he did it wasn't until years later when he had the complete character overhaul with the King Booker character. Styles' loss wasn't anything close to that especially because he'd beaten Jericho a couple times prior to this. But this was AJ's first big match and Jericho doesn't really get anything from the victory. And that point is why I think a lot of people had such a problem with this. I ascribe to the view that when you're over, you're over and it takes a lot to reverse that which basically can't be done with someone like Jericho who shows up sporadically. And so I don't think Jericho really gained anything with the win and wouldn't have been damaged with a loss.

With what happened on Raw plus Jericho seeming to be going into a feud with Ambrose based on what happened on Smackdown, its easy to see why they went this direction. I don't necessarily agree with it but the way they probably look at it is Styles basically got his win back on Raw and Jericho needs to be kept somewhat credible for a program he will almost certainly lose to Ambrose.