WWE SmackDown Discussion II

iMoreland · Post #1881 » by **iMoreland** » Fri Sep 3, 2021 3:27 pm

I think Finn wins the title tonight.

Roman just hit 1 year as champion, how long do they plan on having him as champion? Do they want him to break Bruno's 7 year reign?

Finn wins the title and loses it back to Roman at Extreme Rules. It'll be fresh for right now and good long term for Roman I think.

Don't know why they didn't hold off on this match for another week though, next weeks SmackDown is in MSG.

After that they have a tour in the UK right before Extreme Rules (and Reigns will not be UK tour, as of today), Finn as champion is perfect for that.

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tugs · Post #1882 » by **tugs** » Fri Sep 3, 2021 3:38 pm

Clean win for Finn or?...

Post #1883 » by **Ruzious** » Fri Sep 3, 2021 4:54 pm

tugs wrote:Clean win for Finn or?...

It'll be construed as Heyman's fault - to push along the tension there. And after Roman wins back the belt, it'll be time for Brock (face) vs Roman - with the question of who's side Paul is on.

iMoreland · Post #1884 » by **iMoreland** » Fri Sep 3, 2021 5:07 pm

Ruzious wrote:
tugs wrote:Clean win for Finn or?...

It'll be construed as Heyman's fault - to push along the tension there. And after Roman wins back the belt, it'll be time for Brock (face) vs Roman - with the question of who's side Paul is on.

Sounds perfect

Post #1885 » by **Texas Chuck** » Fri Sep 3, 2021 5:18 pm

I absolutely hate the idea of Balor winning the title only to immediately give it back. It hurts your main guy and it buries Balor for no reason. This is one of the reasons dumping Strowman was so stupid. You could use your monster to pull off a story like that without hurting anyone.

But that would be effectively turning Finn Balor into Miz or Ziggler which is maybe all they see him as due to his size, but that feels like another talented guy they just wasted for no reason. I mean look what they did to Kofi who could have given them multiple main event runs, but when you squash him as champion you doom him back to mid card oblivion. And make no mistake if Balor went over tonight, the re-match would be a squash. We all know that.

Post #1886 » by **Ruzious** » Fri Sep 3, 2021 6:00 pm

Texas Chuck wrote:I absolutely hate the idea of Balor winning the title only to immediately give it back. It hurts your main guy and it buries Balor for no reason. This is one of the reasons dumping Strowman was so stupid. You could use your monster to pull off a story like that without hurting anyone.

But that would be effectively turning Finn Balor into Miz or Ziggler which is maybe all they see him as due to his size, but that feels like another talented guy they just wasted for no reason. I mean look what they did to Kofi who could have given them multiple main event runs, but when you squash him as champion you doom him back to mid card oblivion. And make no mistake if Balor went over tonight, the re-match would be a squash. We all know that.

I hear ya, but ya gotsta look at the facts in this situation. While Balor's a great asset to WWE, he's 40 years old, and there's not a whole lot of room for improvement in his game - he's likely always going to be somewhat bland on the mic, and guys his size usually need something more than that to become anything more than upper mid-card level. Becoming WWE champ even for a little while would be a feather in his cap. Heck, the WWE doesn't even seem to know what to call him. On his intro, I think they still call him Prince Devitt. And sometimes, they'd call him The Freak - before Bray Wyatt took the name.

Post #1887 » by **Texas Chuck** » Fri Sep 3, 2021 6:05 pm

Ruzious wrote: While Balor's a great asset to WWE, he's 40 years old,

I mean isn't this basically their whole roster? They finally pushed Lashley at what 44, 45? I'm struggling to think of any male performers of note under 35.

Post #1888 » by **Ruzious** » Fri Sep 3, 2021 6:17 pm

Texas Chuck wrote:
Ruzious wrote: While Balor's a great asset to WWE, he's 40 years old,

I mean isn't this basically their whole roster? They finally pushed Lashley at what 44, 45? I'm struggling to think of any male performers of note under 35.

Yes, Lashley was overdue to be champion and is an all-time physical freak of nature. Nobody's got a look like Lashley - he looks like a champion. Balor doesn't, tbh. The top guys who are Balor's size are all better on the mic, and he's not exactly Daniel Bryan as a ring tactician.

Post #1889 » by **Texas Chuck** » Fri Sep 3, 2021 6:23 pm

Ruzious wrote:
Texas Chuck wrote:
Ruzious wrote: While Balor's a great asset to WWE, he's 40 years old,

I mean isn't this basically their whole roster? They finally pushed Lashley at what 44, 45? I'm struggling to think of any male performers of note under 35.

Yes, Lashley was overdue to be champion and is an all-time physical freak of nature. Nobody's got a look like Lashley - he looks like a champion. Balor doesn't, tbh. The top guys who are Balor's size are all better on the mic, and he's not exactly Daniel Bryan as a ring tactician.

That's fine then. If Balor is only a mid-card guy then do this, though I would prefer they just used a guy like they have before like Miz, Ziggler, Seamus, heck use Kofi again. Use Owens(though he should absolutely be a main even guy imo). Maybe there is nothing worth saving with Balor, but you have other guys who regularly job for the stars and giving them a short title run helps their credibility for what is their primary role anyway.

But I'd prefer to keep the title on Reigns, let him beat Brock. Have Brock move over and take the belt off Lashley to get it back on Drew and let Big E get the push by taking the title off Reigns, then let those two guys feud for awhile.

Post #1890 » by **Ruzious** » Fri Sep 3, 2021 6:25 pm

Btw, Balor was a very late bloomer. Watch some of his matches from more than 10 years ago when he wasn't ripped. He was popular in Europe, but you'd never guess he'd become a big WWE star. He looked more like a grocery store bagger who was trying out wrestling on weekends. I think it was in Japan that he did what it took to develop into a star.

iMoreland · Post #1891 » by **iMoreland** » Fri Sep 3, 2021 7:48 pm

• 9/3 SmackDown: Finn Bálor def Roman Reigns (c)

• Extreme Rules: Finn Bálor (c) vs Roman Reigns *Ends in a no contest; Brock interference*

• Crown Jewel: Brock Lesnar def Finn Bálor (c), Roman Reigns

• Survivor Series: Roman Reigns def Brock Lesnar (c) *Special Referee: Paul Heyman*

tugs · Post #1892 » by **tugs** » Sat Sep 4, 2021 3:22 am

Ruzious wrote:
tugs wrote:Clean win for Finn or?...

It'll be construed as Heyman's fault - to push along the tension there. And after Roman wins back the belt, it'll be time for Brock (face) vs Roman - with the question of who's side Paul is on.

Would've preferred this route though -_-

Damn a clean loss for Finn. Not too worried, he took Ls in NXT with this persona, he'll be relevant still. Plus, that Uso ambush in the beginning didn't make Finn look weak at all.

In other news, finally a gear for Becky that I fully support

The_Brecht · Post #1893 » by **The_Brecht** » Sat Sep 4, 2021 10:25 am

I would use the draft to get Brock to Raw, let him win the title of Lashley.
Then at Survivor Series you get champion vs champion Roman vs Brock.
After that one of them loses the title at some point, only to go on and win the rumble and challenge the other one at Wrestlemania.

Post #1894 » by **Texas Chuck** » Sat Sep 4, 2021 12:34 pm

Glad Balor didn't win the title. Glad they protected him a bit with the ambush. I was so geeked for Becky's return, but so far I hate this version. She was the one always looking for a fight and now she keeps avoiding one. You can turn her heel without resorting to this tired trope. She needs to remain a badass.

It's like they have one competent person in creative and he was assigned to finally fix Roman but clearly doesn't have time to give us any other good angles. I mean they can't even get Seth/Edge right and that matchup should be the easiest of layups.

Also Bianca needs a mouthpiece right now. I'm sure she will eventually be a good promo, but with her meteoric rise that part of her game is hurting--same with basically all the younger female talent. Hope with a return to house shows, they give these ladies the stick every night to help them find it.

iMoreland · Post #1895 » by **iMoreland** » Sat Sep 11, 2021 1:32 am

I can't believe the same company that produces SmackDown also produces Raw. SmackDown don't miss.

Post #1896 » by **Stanford** » Sat Sep 11, 2021 1:37 am

iMoreland wrote:I can't believe the same company that produces SmackDown also produces Raw. SmackDown don't miss.

Besides Vince, who is generally considered to be in charge of each show?

Dominator83 · Post #1897 » by **Dominator83** » Sat Sep 11, 2021 2:02 am

iMoreland wrote:I can't believe the same company that produces SmackDown also produces Raw. SmackDown don't miss.

They do some stupid stuff too. Like its cool seeing the Demon Finn Balor, but what's the point now that they just made the match meaningless? They're already hyping up Reigns vs Brock when Brock isn't even next in line. WWE has a tendency to do that quite a bit. They basically tell you "don't even bother watching this title match were already marketing the next one"

WRau1 · Post #1898 » by **WRau1** » Sat Sep 11, 2021 3:37 am

Dominater wrote:
iMoreland wrote:I can't believe the same company that produces SmackDown also produces Raw. SmackDown don't miss.

They do some stupid stuff too. Like its cool seeing the Demon Finn Balor, but what's the point now that they just made the match meaningless? They're already hyping up Reigns vs Brock when Brock isn't even next in line. WWE has a tendency to do that quite a bit. They basically tell you "don't even bother watching this title match were already marketing the next one"

WWE does have a history of promoting a future match and then having the title change hands prior to the advertised match. Took the title off of AJ Styles days before Styles v Lesnar at Survivor Series. Orton dropped the title to McIntyre a week before Orton's match v Reigns. But this is likely to add Balor to the Reigns v Lesnar match to eat the pin to keep both Reigns and Lesnar strong.

Post #1899 » by **Ruzious** » Sat Sep 11, 2021 11:22 am

Sorry, I don't get the Balor/Demon thing anymore. He does basically the same thing - except with makeup and fog. Even the entrance music's the same, and he does the same mannerisms and just did the same old staredown with Roman that he would have done as Balor. If I was 10 years old, it'd be entertaining. The act was lame compared to the Fiend, and considering WWE couldn't figure out what to do with the Fiend, it ain't likely they'll make Demon look interesting. :dontknow:

tugs · Post #1900 » by **tugs** » Sat Sep 11, 2021 12:25 pm

I'm torn with the Demon persona, thought he dropped that for the edgy Prince Balor. Sure cool to see it back but for a stare down? Really? No one from the Bloodline looked intimidated maybe except for Jey

I would've saved it fro Extreme Rules, catching Reigns off guard like when Corbin fought the Demon when he was expecting regular Finn. That would've been a nice setup for a believable win. Now? It's setting up the narrative that Roman could be the first to beat the Demon