WWE SmackDown Discussion II

[Flames24Rulz]

I'm going to guess it's Wyatt.

[daoneandonly]

Shall we put a bonus point in KIA for guessing the attacker?

Sure they'll make it Bryan/Rowan, but a swerve would be nice. I'd love for it to be Andrade.

[LLJ]

Most people acknowledge that Reigns is a very good wrestler. I don't think people believe it when they chant he can't wrestle. They're just doing it because everyone else is. It's a thing you do at a live WWE show, unfortunately.

A lot of people do, because they focus on movesets, and Roman has one of the most stripped down of all the main eventers outside of Brock (who is also good, when he's invested). It doesn't mean he's bad, though, because wrestling is about more than just moves. As a main event match worker I think he's done better work overall than Rollins, who I generally like but now see flaws in in terms of psychology and pacing. I wouldn't say Roman is an all time "great" of course but he works the WWE style well.


Roman's big problem in terms of his connection to the fans up to his leukemia diagnosis was that he was overexposed and oversaturated on the programs. He's a good performer for a guy his size and everything. But he's not a guy who's compelling enough to focus an entire show around, especially on the mic. Right now he's used correctly and people can see his pros more than his cons.

Although to be fair to Roman, I'm not entirely sure anyone on the roster right now is ideal for focusing an entire show around.

It also doesn't help that booking always makes someone 100x worse than they actually are when thrust in the spotlight. I swear Rollins was 100x better last year when he was IC champ, because they limited him to his strengths and he wasn't enough of a focus to read all those terrible scripts this company gives its performers.

[improper]

Roman's problem is that they desperately need to let him be a heel for a while. They keep trying to force him down our throats as this whitemeat babyface and he just doesn't look the part. They need to go the Rock route and turn him heel and let him be himself. Over time, he'll probably get over as an arrogant d-bag heel just like Miz did.

[iMoreland]

I've been loving Roman's booking/character lately

[Spens1]

Honestly not a fan of the storyline around Roman but the wrestling side has been good. Its just that you can tell he'd be so much better as a heel (the top heel), as a face he has upper mid card level talent as a ceiling. Like he's not better than the likes of Drew Galloway which is my main issue with him (its not that he sucks or anything, he's just not THAT good).

[Ruzious]

Roman's problem is that they desperately need to let him be a heel for a while. They keep trying to force him down our throats as this whitemeat babyface and he just doesn't look the part. They need to go the Rock route and turn him heel and let him be himself. Over time, he'll probably get over as an arrogant d-bag heel just like Miz did.

That's not gonna happen anytime soon. Him coming back from cancer is still very fresh in people's minds - there's no way they could make him hatable now to a large segment of the audience... not without something like saying the cancer was fake - which would be overwhelmingly problematic to the point that there's no way they would consider it. Not to mention he's doing the best work of his career now as a face and getting much better reactions for the most part.

[tugs]

I'm thinking the Roman attacker could be someone who has been out for a while and everybody completely forgotten about. Someone who has been on the shelf and be like jealous and all of the attention Roman got while he was injured as well.

Ciampa?

[LLJ]

Roman's problem is that they desperately need to let him be a heel for a while. They keep trying to force him down our throats as this whitemeat babyface and he just doesn't look the part. They need to go the Rock route and turn him heel and let him be himself. Over time, he'll probably get over as an arrogant d-bag heel just like Miz did.

The missed the boat on the Roman heel turn. They needed to do it like 2 years ago, maybe even 3. Now it seems too late.

[iMoreland]

AYE ERICK ROWAN GOT HIS FIRST NAME BACK

[improper]

AYE ERICK ROWAN GOT HIS FIRST NAME BACK

Vince is gone for one night and it's anarchy.

[tugs]

Didn't even notice it, lol

Sami as mouthpiece? Hmmm... I'd give it a chance.

[iMoreland]

As long as it leads to one of Sami or Shinsuke turning face I'm all for it

[jakecronus8]

Just caught the Sami/Shin segment. That was money.

Those two are some of the worst case of mismanagement I’ve seen with this company so I’m skeptical this goes anywhere, but at least it’s something for both of them to do besides rack up L’s.

[tugs]

Sad that I got surprised Shin was the IC Champ

[jakecronus8]

Sad that I got surprised Shin was the IC Champ

Exact same thing happened to me the other day during summer slam. Couldn’t for the life of me remember who the IC champ was.

ETA: there’s too many belts. IMO, they need one world champ that works both shows PPVs along with occasional appearances on tv to hype the matchups. Hell, you can even do the occasional nxt appearance. Makes the world champ feel special, and elevates the IC and US as the flagship title for each show.

[Ruzious]

Sad that I got surprised Shin was the IC Champ

Exact same thing happened to me the other day during summer slam. Couldn’t for the life of me remember who the IC champ was.

ETA: there’s too many belts. IMO, they need one world champ that works both shows PPVs along with occasional appearances on tv to hype the matchups. Hell, you can even do the occasional nxt appearance. Makes the world champ feel special, and elevates the IC and US as the flagship title for each show.

Heck, I didn't even know Shin won it from Balor. They really need to make a big deal of it when a title changes hands. If they don't do that, it's a sign they should get rid of that title. The silly 24/7 title gets more attention.

[daoneandonly]

Sad that I got surprised Shin was the IC Champ

Exact same thing happened to me the other day during summer slam. Couldn’t for the life of me remember who the IC champ was.

ETA: there’s too many belts. IMO, they need one world champ that works both shows PPVs along with occasional appearances on tv to hype the matchups. Hell, you can even do the occasional nxt appearance. Makes the world champ feel special, and elevates the IC and US as the flagship title for each show.

Heck, I didn't even know Shin won it from Balor. They really need to make a big deal of it when a title changes hands. If they don't do that, it's a sign they should get rid of that title. The silly 24/7 title gets more attention.

Agreed.

And if there's truly no brand split, they should unify the WWE World and Universal Title, as well as the Raw & Smackdown tag Titles. let the champs be on both shows, and then you also have unique feuds as they can alternate between shows who the next defense will be against.

[LLJ]

Sad that I got surprised Shin was the IC Champ

They've buried both Finn and Shin's midcard reigns. You can tell they only want to focus on maybe 6 people in the company at a time.

I know I said this before, but many people in the company really should leave. Or the WWE should cut them loose. Holding talent hostage just to hoard them really doesn't help in the long run.

[improper]

You can tell they only want to focus on maybe 6 people in the company at a time.

And five of them are Roman Reigns.