WWE SmackDown Discussion II

[iMoreland]

Kids love The New Day, and kids loving them = tons of merch money. That's why WWE will be very reluctant to break them up.

I want a Big E or Kofi face run as WWE Champion, preferably Big E because he oozes charisma. But Kofi probably deserves it more than anyone in WWE right now.

[Spens1]

they can keep them together and have Kofi have his run, in fact that's exactly how they should do it (couldn't be worse than Orton or Jinder's run).

[bestnamezRtaken]

You can't sleep on Woods either though. He's pretty underrated as a wrestler. I'm not saying I'd prefer Woods to be champ out of the three but he's pretty good. Personally, I'd prefer Big E to get the push but would be 110% fine with Kofi emerging as leader of The New Day.

[WRau1]

I hope DB keeps up with this super aggressive, threatening to tear ACLs, schtick. I dig it.

[Stanford]

A dance off. I thought we were done with this ****

Joe is the best promo in the company I swear. Not a fan of Bryan's "don't talk about my family" shtick.

[bestnamezRtaken]

Glad Joe got the win last night. Big Cass has really proven me wrong. When he first turned heel, I thought he was gonna be trash without Enzo, that he was getting that push because Vince loves big sweaty men with no talent. But his promos have gotten pretty good. He's turning out to be a great heel.

[Scott Hall]

I agree Samoa Joe is absolutely fantastic on the mic always love his promos...

- Shocked to see Tye Dillenger completely forgot that he was on the roster Vince has effectively
killed off the "10" chants like he wanted

- It might be crazy to say this but Mandy Rose is my "Most Improved Wrestler" of the year so far despite being a rookie.
She was on Tough Enough a few years ago then showed up on Total Divas for a season and then disappeared and was
an afterthought and if she was thought of she was considered a joke like Eva Marie. Was she even in NXT at all? Now
she's holding her own in televised matches against Asuka. Everything she does seems technically sound and she seems
ok on the mic.

- Carmella might be crappy in the ring but man she's great on the mic and very entertaining and she's hot as hell
and you can't teach that. I know her dad is a former wrestler and you can tell "she gets it" with the entertainment.
MITB is a big test for her in ring work though.

- Bludgeon Brothers vs. Good Brothers huh? Smackdown Tag-Division almost as bad as RAW lately.

- This Big Cass push just isn't cutting it with me so far it just feels to much to soon and to rushed. I see this as
just a filler feud to bide some time for a potential DB vs. Miz feud at SummerSlam

- The dance off was stupid but a creative way to get 6 people on the roster in one segment. I'm glad that Lanas
getting a push and is not an afterthought. She's no worse than a lot of the women.

[LLJ]

Mandy was pretty sloppy against Becky a few weeks ago. I think it depends on the opponent willing to work with her. Remember, Asuka spent nearly 2 years at NXT wrestling with people like Eva Marie and Cameron to try to enhance them to be better. I believe it's a large part of why Asuka was brought to Smackdown, to try to help the inexperienced heel roster get better and look stronger.

I think Carmella is pretty funny, but her character's original appeal was lost when she became a winner for a prolonged period. She was best when she was an underdog heel, constantly chasing but never quite getting it done. Her heel crowd reactions have been dying week by week. I don't think crowds buy her credibility. Even after beating Charlotte clean at Backlash, they don't seem to see her as a credible champion. Having her beat Asuka at MITB won't add any more either.

I think having Asuka chase as a babyface is a bad idea. It's not suited to her character and they risk losing her heat if they keep her as the chasing babyface yet still trying to sell her as a dangerous wrestler. Asuka would be better as a sadistic Minoru Suzuki-esque heel with a hate-on for generic WWE blondes because having her sell as an underdog in peril is a waste of her offensive skills, but then again this is a company that has Roode as a goofy face and Roman as an unpopular face.

I also agree that Cass sucks.

[Scott Hall]

I really liked the Mandy vs. Becky match that's the match that really opened my eyes to her as more
than just eye candy. Felt like I was watching a 5 year veteran completely confident knowing exactly
what they're doing. Some people can just pick up the business super quick and some can take 10-15
years to fully get it.

I think Carmella's character is supposed to be the classic Chicken $hit heel that's an undeserving champion but
weasels her way and lucks her way to wins and gets help from others. I thought the finish at Backlash was
poorly booked if I remember correctly didn't Charlotte do a moonsault and then did the injury angle selling
the knee on the landing and Carmella capitalized? I would have had Carmella cheat to win as opposed to that.
I gotta say Carmella has been extremely entertaining in her promos and interviews lately.

Both Shinske and Asuka have been chasing the tittle and been right there for awhile Vince has gotta pull the
trigger on at least one of them and have the first Japanese World Champion.

I feel bad for Bobby Roode the booking is making him look bad to some fans just like it's already starting with Lashley
and killed Ziggler years ago. So many guys in the mid to upper card seem so directionless right now.

As for Cass I like him to a certain extent as a better talking Test. But this main event push seems to much to soon
for a guy who's to green and has durability issues. It just feels awkward as a viewer watching some of these deserving
guys we've mentioned floundering and a guy who's green and undeserving pushed to the moon because Vince has a fetish
for big guys. Some people are still bitching about Jinder.

[LLJ]

Mandy did botch a few spots in the Becky match, even more in the triple threat. But yes, she's better than a lot of the green women too which is why they have some confidence in rolling her out in matches.

I always say, the people who don't wrestle on TV often, don't wrestle often for a reason. The ones who do wrestle on TV often, do for a reason.

Carmella and Nia almost never wrestle on TV. There's a good reason for that. WWE officials in the back know the skill level of these wrestlers and whether they are fit for TV or not. If a wrestler rarely wrestles on TV even if they are healthy, chances are it's because they know they can't do it on a regular basis.

As such, Carmella sticks to mostly promos. Nia, well, she's not really much good at either promos or wrestling.

Here's a recent account I heard from a RAW house show:

Nia was set to defend her title in a 4 way match with Sasha, Bayley and Alexa. Early in the match Nia was knocked out of the ring and spent most of the match lying there or on the apron. The actual match was dominated by Sasha and Bayley working each other, with Alexa occasionally butting in and mostly doing her posturing schtick in the ring. Apparently Nia kept asking the ref when she was supposed to come back in the ring, and he kept telling her to wait. Eventually, the ref motioned for Nia to come in, and then Nia did 2 power moves on Alexa to win the match.

That's how much faith WWE officials have in their RAW women's champion's in-ring abilities.

I really hope Ronda-Nia is being rehearsed extensively or is booked to hide both women's weaknesses.

[Dominator83]

I really liked the Mandy vs. Becky match that's the match that really opened my eyes to her as more
than just eye candy. Felt like I was watching a 5 year veteran completely confident knowing exactly
what they're doing. Some people can just pick up the business super quick and some can take 10-15
years to fully get it.

I think Carmella's character is supposed to be the classic Chicken $hit heel that's an undeserving champion but
weasels her way and lucks her way to wins and gets help from others. I thought the finish at Backlash was
poorly booked if I remember correctly didn't Charlotte do a moonsault and then did the injury angle selling
the knee on the landing and Carmella capitalized? I would have had Carmella cheat to win as opposed to that.
I gotta say Carmella has been extremely entertaining in her promos and interviews lately.

Both Shinske and Asuka have been chasing the tittle and been right there for awhile Vince has gotta pull the
trigger on at least one of them and have the first Japanese World Champion.

I feel bad for Bobby Roode the booking is making him look bad to some fans just like it's already starting with Lashley
and killed Ziggler years ago. So many guys in the mid to upper card seem so directionless right now.

As for Cass I like him to a certain extent as a better talking Test. But this main event push seems to much to soon
for a guy who's to green and has durability issues. It just feels awkward as a viewer watching some of these deserving
guys we've mentioned floundering and a guy who's green and undeserving pushed to the moon because Vince has a fetish
for big guys. Some people are still bitching about Jinder.

That pretty much describes Alexas long run as champ on both shows also. Except for maybe the undeserving part, as shes far better in the ring and even on the mic than Carmella

[LLJ]

Alexa won most of her RAW feuds clean. She hasn't been a chickensh*t winner since her run on Smackdown.

And Carmella beat Charlotte clean.

That's what's annoying about these two. People keep saying they are chickensh*t heels but in reality they're not. They're presented as being stronger that their in-ring skills suggest, and thus, are miscast. If you want a heel to beat people clean, then turn one of the stronger workers into a heel.

[Dominator83]

Alexa won most of her RAW feuds clean. She hasn't been a chickensh*t winner since her run on Smackdown.

And Carmella beat Charlotte clean.

That's what's annoying about these two. People keep saying they are chickensh*t heels but in reality they're not. They're presented as being stronger that their in-ring skills suggest, and thus, are miscast. If you want a heel to beat people clean, then turn one of the stronger workers into a heel.

Sounds a lot like heel Christian Cage. He played that role to perfection

[Ruzious]

Alexa won most of her RAW feuds clean. She hasn't been a chickensh*t winner since her run on Smackdown.

And Carmella beat Charlotte clean.

That's what's annoying about these two. People keep saying they are chickensh*t heels but in reality they're not. They're presented as being stronger that their in-ring skills suggest, and thus, are miscast. If you want a heel to beat people clean, then turn one of the stronger workers into a heel.

Exactly. And while they both have improved quite a lot in the ring, they're still not good enough to believably cleanly beat the better women - and that hurts the product.

[Ruzious]

dble post

[daoneandonly]

Alexa won most of her RAW feuds clean. She hasn't been a chickensh*t winner since her run on Smackdown.

And Carmella beat Charlotte clean.

That's what's annoying about these two. People keep saying they are chickensh*t heels but in reality they're not. They're presented as being stronger that their in-ring skills suggest, and thus, are miscast. If you want a heel to beat people clean, then turn one of the stronger workers into a heel.

Exactly. And while they both have improved quite a lot in the ring, they're still not good enough to believably cleanly beat the better women - and that hurts the product.

Does anyone know how Zelina Vega's wrestling skills are? I know she does some spots when in the corner of Almas that are good, but not sure how she is in the ring. if she was a decent wrestler, she would definitely be at the top of the women's roster cause her mic skills are better than anyone else there bar none.

[skbucks1985]

Alexa won most of her RAW feuds clean. She hasn't been a chickensh*t winner since her run on Smackdown.

And Carmella beat Charlotte clean.

That's what's annoying about these two. People keep saying they are chickensh*t heels but in reality they're not. They're presented as being stronger that their in-ring skills suggest, and thus, are miscast. If you want a heel to beat people clean, then turn one of the stronger workers into a heel.

Sounds a lot like heel Christian Cage. He played that role to perfection

Maybe I'm confused, but are you saying that heel Christian Cage was booked stronger than someone with his in-ring skills would suggest he should be? Because if you are, I don't know if anyone has said something I disagree with more. At that time he was without a doubt one of the handful of best pure in-ring workers in the wrestling industry

[Ruzious]

Alexa won most of her RAW feuds clean. She hasn't been a chickensh*t winner since her run on Smackdown.

And Carmella beat Charlotte clean.

That's what's annoying about these two. People keep saying they are chickensh*t heels but in reality they're not. They're presented as being stronger that their in-ring skills suggest, and thus, are miscast. If you want a heel to beat people clean, then turn one of the stronger workers into a heel.

Sounds a lot like heel Christian Cage. He played that role to perfection

Maybe I'm confused, but are you saying that heel Christian Cage was booked stronger than someone with his in-ring skills would suggest he should be? Because if you are, I don't know if anyone has said something I disagree with more. At that time he was without a doubt one of the handful of best pure in-ring workers in the wrestling industry

That's how I initially read his post, and I was going to say pretty much exactly what you said, because Christian was soooooooooo good in the ring. But then I re-read and figured he probably meant Christian is basically the male version of what they'd hope to have as women's champ.

[LLJ]

Alexa won most of her RAW feuds clean. She hasn't been a chickensh*t winner since her run on Smackdown.

And Carmella beat Charlotte clean.

That's what's annoying about these two. People keep saying they are chickensh*t heels but in reality they're not. They're presented as being stronger that their in-ring skills suggest, and thus, are miscast. If you want a heel to beat people clean, then turn one of the stronger workers into a heel.

Exactly. And while they both have improved quite a lot in the ring, they're still not good enough to believably cleanly beat the better women - and that hurts the product.

They are working the smarks here more than the casual crowd. They know the smarks like to hate on poor workers (Jinder being the most prominent example) and that in theory gives them "heat". But the casual crowds just end up confused as to why they are doing this. That's why Carmella doesn't get as much heat as they want her to--her heel gimmick is too on the nose. Sure the internet smarks may bag on her in ring work but the casual crowds just don't know what game the WWE is playing. The only female heel right now who feels legit on the main roster is Ruby Riott.

If you look at the WWE today, almost 90% of the company's best in-ring workers are babyfaces now. In the past there used to be a better balance but now they have so much trouble getting legit heat for people they are basically playing to smarks now to get heat.

[Dominator83]

Sounds a lot like heel Christian Cage. He played that role to perfection

Maybe I'm confused, but are you saying that heel Christian Cage was booked stronger than someone with his in-ring skills would suggest he should be? Because if you are, I don't know if anyone has said something I disagree with more. At that time he was without a doubt one of the handful of best pure in-ring workers in the wrestling industry

That's how I initially read his post, and I was going to say pretty much exactly what you said, because Christian was soooooooooo good in the ring. But then I re-read and figured he probably meant Christian is basically the male version of what they'd hope to have as women's champ.

Something must've gotten lost in translation here. What i mean is, the way Heel Christian was, IMO, a character that always wanted whatever face he was feuding with, to believe that he was scared/chicken, but in reality he can hold his own in the ring. And once the bell rang, Christian had his opponent right where he wanted him psychologically