# Any WWE fans in the audience? (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** boxing-wrestling-mma\ **Created:** [June 5, 2014, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124 "2014-06-05T15:34:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 174
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/3462 "2016-01-08T18:58:00Z")
Oh good lord. NO on Jericho. I mean, I used to be a big fan of his back in the day, but now I’m pretty much annoyed as all fuck that he comes back a couple of days a year to shit all over someone on the permanent roster and then walk away. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/3463 "2016-01-08T19:06:07Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Oh good lord. NO on Jericho. I mean, I used to be a big fan of his back in the day, but now I’m pretty much annoyed as all fuck that he comes back a couple of days a year to shit all over someone on the permanent roster and then walk away. Who else but Jericho, though? I figure Rock vs. Brock is a bigger draw than putting either of them against 'Taker, I’m assuming Goldberg/Austin aren’t going to come back and Bryan isn’t going to be cleared, Hogan is obviously an unperson at this point, Jericho is already in for 'Mania season and he needs someone to fight, and if there’s anything Jericho is good at these days it’s putting people over. I suppose you could do Bryan/Jericho if Bryan were to be cleared, but that still leaves 'Taker wanting for an opponent and I’m not sure who else there is who’d be a credible opponent for him. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/3464 "2016-01-08T19:13:12Z")
I honestly don’t think Taker should be wrestling any more, period. But if they’re going to do it, they should be following up on the Bray Wyatt storyline, not simply dropping it and running to some retired old part-timer. That match helps no one. Taker - Jericho just smacks of “Stuck in 1995” ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/3465 "2016-01-08T19:19:05Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > I honestly don’t think Taker should be wrestling any more, period. But if they’re going to do it, they should be following up on the Bray Wyatt storyline, not simply dropping it and running to some retired old part-timer. That match helps no one. It’s pretty much a given that 'Taker will wrestle, since Vince is running out of star power otherwise. As to the Bray-'Taker storyline, I honestly don’t trust them to go anywhere or do anything with it at this point since they’ve already jobbed Bray out to 'Taker twice, so unless they’re going to go full-throttle, reveal that Bray is 'Taker’s son or something, and then let Bray beat him clean and end his career, then they may as well just feed 'Taker a 40-something part-timer for the sake of “Well, this sure would have been an awesome match if we’d done it ten years ago, right?” > [@](#): > > “Stuck in 1995” I thought that was Vince’s motto for the last 15 years anyway. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/3466 "2016-01-08T19:32:18Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > [Also out with an injury.](http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/sasha-banks-injured/) WWE is going to have to start giving wrestlers more time off between shows and/or having them work slower less high-impact matches, or we’re going to end up with Heath Slater vs. Curtis Axel as the main event of 'Mania. > > As it is, it’s looking like Vince is going to have to call in some favors, bring in some part-timers, and hot-shot some of the new guys in order to put together a solid card if he wants to sell out Cowboys Stadium. The best card I can think of that’s plausible at this point would look something like this; > > World title: Roman Reigns vs. Triple H > Rock vs. Brock > Undertaker vs. Chris Jericho > Triple threat, 3-on-3-on-3 tag titles match: New Day vs. Bullet Club vs. Wyatt Family > IC title: Dean Ambrose vs. Shinsuke Nakamura > Bray Wyatt vs. Finn Balor > Divas title: Charlotte vs. Stephanie McMahon, guest referee Ronda Rousey > Kevin Owens vs… someone? No way that anyone from the Bullet Club makes any appearance at 'Mania, much less in three matches. That’s fantasy booking if I’ve ever seen it. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/3467 "2016-01-08T19:39:35Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > No way that anyone from the Bullet Club makes any appearance at 'Mania, much less in three matches. That’s fantasy booking if I’ve ever seen it. The scuttlebutt I’ve been seeing is that AJ Styles is going to be a “surprise” entry in the Royal Rumble, which would prime him and his minions for some sort of appearance at 'Mania; my thinking is that AJ/Gallows/Anderson as one third of a tag titles match would be a draw, and it could be used to set up a Bullet Club vs. Authority feud down the line if they insist on continuing the Authority storyline. I’m not saying that that’s what _will_ happen, just that it’s what I think would work. Nakamura isn’t actually part of Bullet Club, FTR; he was actually one of their biggest rivals. He’s currently the IWGP Intercontinental Champion in Japan, and he’s expected to drop the title before his contract runs out at the end of this month, so I figure putting him in a match for WWE’s Intercontinental title makes sense, and I think he and Dean would be able to put on a great match together. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/3468 "2016-01-08T20:41:50Z")
Sheesh… with all these hurt people, maybe Brock vs Goldberg at WM will happen after all. AJ Styles can main event anything, and could fill the void left by Daniel Bryan/CM Punk as the undersized giant killer. But when WWE politics rears its ugly head, I don’t see him doing much more than feuding with Tyler Breeze by the time WM rolls around. Maybe a Bullet Club vs League of Nations match could formulate if WWE signs away the Young Bucks from NJPW too. According to their [Wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_Club), Finn was leader of Bullet Club, and then AJ took his place when he went to NXT. Maybe an AJ vs Finn feud would work, if it weren’t for the fact that 95% of the audience would know nothing about their history. I really don’t want to see Stephanie in a match, because it would tilt the worker ratio more to the side of yearlies like Rock, Brock, Jericho, UT and Hunter. Rock supposedly has too much on his plate with movie making to participate in anything more strenuous than mike time anyway. Ronda Rousey’s stock bottomed out, so I’m thinking the match with Steph is dead in the water. Maybe they’ll have some surprise callups from NXT for RR like Samoa Joe, Enzo & Cass, and Finn to see if they’d be good fits for WM. Maybe they’ll recreate Sami Zayn’s epic feud with KO for WM. Who knows? They’ve got 2 months to scramble something together, but sometimes utter chaos can produce some unexpected miracle. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2016, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/3469 "2016-01-10T16:11:36Z")
Here’s my choice for the top 2 matches at Wrestlemania; World title: Roman Reigns vs Brock They played the ‘oh so close’ last year before Rollins cashed in on them. The Beast wants a 1:1 match for the title! Before then, however, I’d have Kevin Owens win at the Rumble and hold the belt for a month before dropping it back to Reigns. Which leads to Owens interfering at WM only to have Rollins appear out of nowhere, neutralize him and allow Reigns to get the pin, making the returning Rollins a face and ending Wrestlemania with a feel good moment. And of course, with Brock off on vacation again, it leaves us back in the Reigns/Owens feud. Or Brock feuds with Rollins over ruining his Wrestlemania matches two years running. Undertaker & Kane vs The Wyatts Bray Wyatt gets the pin on the Undertaker and they carry him out, leaving Kane laying in the ring. Taker and Kane both retire. Pull the goddamned trigger on this, Vince. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2016, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/3470 "2016-01-10T17:58:41Z")
If we are putting Bray in a match then it needs to happen organically. I see so many people just throwing Bray into feuds and that’s what WWE does, just chucks him in things for no reason (and then he loses) so I want him to get into a feud for a REASON. Frankly I think KO vs 'Taker is a good match and all you need is Owens to be like “This is him? This is the legendary Undertaker I was so scared of as a kid? He’s nothing but an old man!” Taker gets mad and boom, match. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2016, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/3471 "2016-01-10T21:45:36Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Undertaker & Kane vs The Wyatts > > Bray Wyatt gets the pin on the Undertaker and they carry him out, leaving Kane laying in the ring. Taker and Kane both retire. Pull the goddamned trigger on this, Vince. #2 on my list of “wrestling sure things” (behind Hogan and Mr. T winning the main event at the first WrestleMania) was Undertaker beating Brock, so it goes to show that anything is possible…but if this is going to be Taker’s last match, there’s zero chance that he jobs. Okay, maybe to someone like Sting or The Rock (although you would think The Rock would have enough respect to take the pinfall), but not to the Wyatts, and almost certainly not in a tag match. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/3472 "2016-01-11T01:36:36Z")
Zero chance he jobs in his last match? I thought that was called “Passing the Torch”. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/3473 "2016-01-11T13:46:52Z")
UT put over Vladimir Koslov once. Who? Exactly. UT also put over Great Khali when he first came to WWE, before everybody realized how much he sucked. UT isn’t always guaranteed to be the winner, and he’ll job if he thinks it will benefit the industry. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/3474 "2016-01-11T16:07:11Z")
James Storm ditched NXT for TNA because TNA gave him more money apparently. Said the door is still open for him in NXT but he took a guaranteed deal vs. whatever WWE gave him. Can’t hate the guy for it, plus I would rather NXT be filled with young people and not just the people they poached from (insert other promotion here), so I’m not too torn up over it. Got to see him twice so I’m happy 'bout that ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/3475 "2016-01-11T16:15:48Z")
Well, they kinda had to. Their history of financial issues and late paychecks has driven off most of the talent they like to string along for shitty $250 one-off payments. They have to actually SIGN and PAY people like Storm to even appear to have a roster worth seeing. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/3476 "2016-01-11T19:29:10Z")
One of the sheets is reporting that the following matches are being discussed for the WrestleMania card; Kallisto vs. Brock Lesnar Undertaker vs. Kane, casket match Roman Reigns © vs. Braun Strowman Stardust vs. Stephen Amell, lumberjack match Hopefully this is a cruel joke, because I don’t particularly want to see any of those matches. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/3477 "2016-01-11T19:31:00Z")
Someone fell for it… ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/3478 "2016-01-11T19:53:05Z")
[First HOF Inductee Announced](http://www.wwe.com/classics/wwe-hall-of-fame/sting-inducted-wwe-hall-of-fame-class-of-2016-28532717) ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/3479 "2016-01-11T20:36:00Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Zero chance he jobs in his last match? > > I thought that was called “Passing the Torch”. IMO, Undertaker “passed the torch” to Lesnar. He doesn’t need to do it again, and certainly not to any of the Wyatts. I don’t see any match other than Undertaker’s being the last match at WrestleMania, and if this is the case, “send the fans home happy, even if it means having Hulk Hogan make a surprise run-out to pretty much steal the world title from Yokozuna” takes precedence. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/3480 "2016-01-11T21:13:29Z")
UT could always turn semi-heel again and job to Roman in the main event. Then have the mutual cripple walk after the match, like the way HHH and Shawn Michaels did. Raise each others’ hands, sell the effects of being nearly beaten to death, give the audience time to do standing ovations, and co-hobble with the medics all the way to backstage. That way, UT’s last match demonstrates he went out fighting to the best uninjured babyface. Sorry James Storm couldn’t stick around, but he probably saw a long string of putting over new talent ahead and decided he’d rather be a big fish in a small pond. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124/3481 "2016-01-12T18:31:18Z")
It was announced this morning that New Japan has stripped Nakamura of the Intercontinental title, which is a pretty big surprise, since his contract doesn’t run out until the end of the month and he was expected to drop it to Kenny Omega (who’s also already taken AJ’s place as the leader of Bullet Club) on the way out. I’m thinking this is a sign that Nakamura’s going to debut with WWE before the month is over - perhaps at the Rumble - and New Japan wanted to avoid the situation AAA wound up in when Vince refused to let Alberto drop the mega championship. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124.md?page=173) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-wwe-fans-in-the-audience-part-1/690124.md?page=175)