I could swear I’ve just seen an Ig ad for H&M with Roman Reigns!!

Attended the Dublin WWE Smackdown show live last night with my wife (amazingly, she really wanted to go after getting caught up in total divas and total belas)

Its a much more family based event then I expected now and the show itself doesn't feel like the arena wrestling shows of old. Theres a mock version of the stage and entrance ramp and the seating doesn't fully go around. Not sure if this is a design choice, because of the venue or ticket sales. There was a good crowd but not a sell out. (It was pricey enough, I wouldn't have bought the tickets if it wasn't for my wife really wanting to try it)

The Line Up was ok with a few people who I didn't really know and some who I did. Spare a thought for the 3 team title match that sat in second match of the night - Daniel Bryan (big pop), Rusev (big pop, lots of rusev day chants) Nakamura, Usos and er… Ronan? The guy from the Wyatt family. Thats a list that on an indie card would draw a rabid fan base and could all put on solid main event matches. Cant help but feel they are wasted in the current roles especially Bryan, Naka and Rusev. 

We also got Samoa Joe, Kevin Owens, Kofi, Asuka and of course Becky Lynch who had match of the night by a mile with Charlotte Flair in the main event. 

There's a heavy sanitized feel to everything and having seen wwe shows in the past very few people really brought anything to their characters. Heels slagged the home town, lots of stalling. 

What was surprising was that Becky did not get mic time or any real fan fare for being in her home town. Having seen Chris Benoit do a mix spot after beating Triple H many moons ago, I thought this was a missed chance to pop the crowd.

Still, many kids really enjoyed and it is very much a family show. Worth the money? Probably not but kids generally don't think that and if my daughter gets into this stuff I can see it being a family trip in a few years.

2 final random thoughts - the main event played out with the stage lights off and just under normal light glare. I don't know if this was by design or maybe a tech issue (they came back on once the match ended) but it actually gave a great atmosphere to the match. 

Also, I'm not sure WWE understands how to book a three way tag match for the belts. 2 Heel teams vs 1 face team (not the champs) is fine but then only 2 teams start the match and neither is the champs? that doesn't make sense at all.

Should be a good un

Diluted Dante wrote:

Jesus, Silver King has died after he had a heart attack during a match with Juventud Guerrera.

It was clear something was amiss, they really need properly trained referees who can at least spot the signs when things go off script.

You're in the change from New Generation for Attitude Era, so things should start moving on soon

Not surprising really. They're both crossfit nutjobs.

Diluted Dante wrote:

You're in the change from New Generation for Attitude Era, so things should start moving on soon

I really like that era, just before it goes full attitude. Very unpolished presentation at times and all the better for it

@mk64 did you get to hbk vs mankind yet?

I went back and watched through the attitude era about a year ago.

A good 80% of it was complete bollocks.

But the other 20% was golden.

And for the record Jim Cornette is not now, nor was he ever a poor man’s Jimmy Hart, Cornette is his own thing and he’s fucking great at it.

Jim Cornette does better work in WCW and Smokey Mountain Wrestling than WWE really.

Flair disappears after Royal Rumble 93. He loses a Loser Leaves Town match against Mr Perfect on the following Raw. That's a really good match, worth looking up.

Mabel I think left after the 96 Rumble. He was basically shunned after breaking Takers face though.

Piledrivers are banned, only Kane, Taker and Lawler are permitted to do them. I think I read one of the more recent signings is ok to do them as well, but I can't remember who. Punk and Cena got in huge trouble when they did one.

It's an incredibly dangerous move. The people who can do it are trusted to do it. Kane is one of the safest workers the business has ever seen, and he and taker both do the tombstone version which is much safer. Lawler has delivered approximately 85 bazillion traditional ones, and very rarely wrestles for WWE, so they trust he can pull it off when he does step between the ropes.

They were banned some time after Owen broke Austin's neck with one.

What the fuck was up with the comedic refereeing n money in the bank?

At least three donkey calls (Lacey, Shane and Joe?!) weird as fuck.

Btw if Lacey Evans doesn’t become a star it’ll be disgrace or injury.

I went to a wwe live event on Friday. It was pretty damn fun. I got a new respect for Seth Rollins. Him and Lynch definitely added something that made it feel like performance.

Urgh

mistercrayon wrote:

Urgh

Spoiler:

Bore Lesnar is back

Yeah, just saw the results. I loved brock but it's time to move on.