The Wrestling Thread: WWE WrestleMania 31 [NSFW]

[Prototype]

It was a very good episode of RAW

Disagree, obviously.

Admittedly there was a bit of filler, but they nailed the booking last night I feel. Six man tag was one of the best matches in a long, long time. Jumped out my seat when Ziggler grabbed the briefcase.

First time I've had some intrigue for Raw as well. Needs to be built around Ziggler, but sadly it'll be all about AJ turning on Cena.

Or Alberto Del Rio's face turn.

[Prototype]

Boogeyman!

[Psychic]

Boogeyman out of nowhere.

How delightfully random.

[Psychic]

I'm not the only one who had no idea that was Brad Maddox, right?

[Cosmo]

FLAIR!

[Psychic]

Cena

Nobody likes you, go away.

[Prototype]

John Cena superstar of the year.

Not the guy who's been WWE champion for the entirety of the year.

[Psychic]

That rant from Punk was superb and entirely justified.

edit: THE SHIELD!

Fat Albert ffs

[KK]

In results from a segment-heavy WWE RAW...

Michael Cole, JBL and Jerry Lawler, all suited and booted, were on commentary.

Hour 1

Match 1: Show kicked off with Rey Mysterio vs. Damien Sandow. Mysterio won with the 619 and splash off the top.

In the first Slammy Award of the evening, Booker T came out to announce Most Shocking Moment of the Year. Booker was then interrupted by the return of the Boogey Man.

Following commercial, Boogey Man had vanished. The winner was about to be announced when Brad Maddox came out expecting to win, but the award went to Kofi Kingston instead for his hand-stand in the Royal Rumble match.

Match 2: In a non-title match, Kaitlyn defeated Eve with the Gutbuster.

The New Age Outlaws came out to award the second Slammy, Comeback of the Year. Billy Gunn read the nominees off his hand in a jokey manner. Jerry Lawler won for his heart attack. Lawler ran to the stage, and then joked that he shouldn't run otherwise he might give himself another heart attack. He thanked the fans in a short speech.

Match 3: In a non-title match, Kofi Kingston beat Tensai with the Trouble in Paradise in a very quick match that went about 1 minute. Crowd chanted "Albert". Following the match, Wade Barrett attacked Kingston on the top rope, ran him into the ring post on the outside and then gave him the Bullhammer.

The commentators once again told us how to download the WWE App on iPhone and Android.

Vickie Guerrero, accompanied with the usual boos, came out to announce The Kiss of the Year Slammy. All the nominees were of AJ Lee kissing everyone under the sun.

Sky 1 announced NCIS LA is back on the 6th January.

Vickie said that before she announced the award, she wanted to make clear that she'd never be nominated for this award as she'd never abuse her position like AJ. Winner was AJ Lee and John Cena. AJ came out to accept the award. Vickie said AJ needed to explain her actions at TLC. AJ said she didn't owe anyone anything, and that she no longer cared what people thought of her. Dolph Ziggler came out dressed like he'd stepped straight off the set of Grease to stop a potential altercation between the two. AJ then jumped up and wrapped her legs around Ziggler before proceeding to kiss him for ages. Strange segment, that made Vickie look like she'd been correct all along, and AJ a slag.

Great Khali came out with Natalya.

I can't believe this is still Hour 1.

Match 4: Khali pinned Otunga in a garbage outing. This went longer than the previous match.

Khali danced with Natalya.

Completely out of nowhere, and to almost zero reaction, Ric Flair's voice was heard saying "Whooooo! Superstar of the year. Whoooooo!" over the PA system.

Ric Flair returned, to a surprisingly modest pop from the crowd, and announced Superstar of the Year. John Cena won.

Hour 2

John Cena came out, and got booed out of the building, though there were a smattering of cheers. Probably about 70/30 against. Most antagonistic response to Cena in quite some time. Cena thanked the fans and the loyalty of the WWE Universe. Cena said Ric Flair deserved the award more than him &, despite the fan voting, gave the award to Flair. Cena left. CM Punk and Paul Heyman then interrupted. Punk said this was ridiculous on multiple levels. He said this was possibly the worst year of Cena's life. A clearly extremely motivated Punk cut one hell of a promo here. Flair told Punk he's been watching, and that the reason Punk can't walk is because he has too much baggage (Paul Heyman). Before Punk could get in there, Flair made a joke about his 4 ex wives. Punk then said he could beat up Flair even with just the one leg. Ric Flair said he and Punk should go right now on RAW. Flair took his jacket off and made his way to the ring. As Punk followed hobbling on crutches, & Flair strutted about in the ring, the announcers speculated whether we were going to get Punk and Flair...next! Hell of a crash to break this was.

Back from commercial, CM Punk hit Flair with a crutch to the gut and then broke it over his back. As Punk was about to nail Ric again, Flair thumbed him in the eyes, and then put the Figure Four on Paul Heyman, as the crowd went nuts. Continuing to channel the very best of WCW Nitro, Flair then got on the microphone again and said that he'd told Vince McMahon that if he was going to die, he'd want it to be in the ring or with a woman from Philadelphia. Flair took a moment to tell Jerry Lawler he loved him and that they'd both be around forever. As Flair was cutting his promo, The nWo Shield's music hit and they made their way out through the crowd. This has been the best 20 minutes of RAW in months and months.

Back from break, Team Hell No, Flair and The Shield were brawling in and around the ring. As The Shield were about to put Flair through the announce table, Ryback's music hit and he came down and made the save. The Shield were pasted by Ryback, and then promptly made their escape back through the crowd. Team Hell No and Ryback lifted Flair above their shoulders & celebrated in the ring.

Flair and Team Hell No were backstage celebrating. They all had a "Woooo", No!", "Yes!"-off. Ron Simmons arrived and said "Damn".

Brodus Clay and the Funkettes were dancing in the ring.

Match 5: Brodus Clay pinned JTG in a quick bout.

Some kids got in the ring and danced.

Santino and Tensai, who was wearing something utterly ridiculous on his head, came out to announce LOL Moment of the Year. Santino & the announcers fake laughed. Santino called him Albert. Santino said Tensai in Japanese meant "Fat Albert". The Rock won. Santino said The Rock couldn't be there in person. Crowd booed. Santino accepted the award on his behalf. Daniel Bryan and Kane came out. Bryan shouted that this should have been his Slammy. Kane carried him out as Bryan continued to rant and rave.

Match 6: Code Rhodes & Sin Cara were already in the ring. Goofy lights are also back again. Rhodes won with Cross Rhodes.

Layla and Zack Ryder were out to announce the Trending Now #Hashtag of the Year Award. Crowd shat all over this.

Back from commercial, Layla announced #FeedMeMore as the winner. Ryder said he'd give the award to Ryback backstage. Whoo. Whoo. Whoo.

Big Show came out hobbling and clutching the "Big Show chair" from last night. Show, smiling, said he wasn't surprised the crowd were booing. He said the crowd lets him down every time he turns around. He said the crowd couldn't handle that he was the most dominant superstar. Crowd chanted "BORING". Show said the crowd would not chant boring at him. Sheamus interrupted. Sheamus said he had no regrets about the match. A clearly restless crowd chanted "What". Sheamus said he wanted to shake Show's hand. Some parts of the crowd chanted "Sheamus sucks". They shook hands. Big Show called him a potato eating Irishman. Sheamus than tackled Show and grabbed the Big Show chair and wore him out. Sheamus hit the Brogue Kick.

Dolph Ziggler ran down and was about to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase. Before he could, Cena ran down and attacked Ziggler, totally destroying him. Crowd were livid at that arsehole Cena.

Hour 3

Dolph Ziggler was ranting at Vickie backstage. Ziggler said their relationship was over. Dolph said her jealously was getting old and plain ugly, just like her. Vickie made the main event for later: Vickie and John Cena vs Dolph Ziggler and AJ Lee. Yes, really.

Match 7: Alberto Del Rio, The Miz and Tommy Dreamer defeated 3 Man Band. Crowd chanted "ECW" and "Tommy Dreamer". Dreamer hit the DDT on Slater for the win.

During the match, Jerry Lawler said that he used to be in a band called T Mobile but they kept breaking up.

Lawler said he recorded a Country song called My Old Bag Left Me Because I Got So Hefty.

Sheamus came out to announce the winner of the Newcomer Slammy. Ryback came out and accepted his second award of the night. He quoted Owen Hart by saying "Enough is enough and it is time for a change". Ryback said he was that change.

Cesaro came out and said just like US voting, this vote was rigged.

Match 8: Ryback defeated Antonio Cesaro via Count Out when Cesaro simply walked out. Crowd chanted "Goldberg".

Gene Okerlund, Ricky Steamboat and Jim Ross introduced the final Slammy Award: Match of the Year. Undertaker vs Triple H. Triple Rooooooooooooooooode accepted. Crowd chanted "We want 'Taker" & "Thank you Hunter". Triple H said we haven't seen the last of The Undertaker.

The Shield were shown assaulting Tommy Dreamer and then Ricardo backstage.

AJ Lee came out and demanded the stage hands set up a ladder in the ring.

AJ, looking Ronsealed, cut a promo atop the ladder. Vickie interrupted. I have no idea who we're supposed to be cheering. It's now 4am and the match hasn't even started.

Main Event: Dolph Ziggler and AJ Lee vs. John Cena and Vickie Guerrero ended in Disqualification when AJ Lee, who had walked out on the match after being attacked by Vickie, came back out with Big E Langston, who beat up John Cena. Langston stood tall over Cena, as Ziggler looked on confused.

[captain red dog]

I don't get why Cena attacked Ziggler when Ziggler was about to cash in?

[Dig Dug]

Wow that Raw sounded like a strawberry floating mess. When your gooseberry fool writing means that the heels are in the right it's time to take a step back and start over.

[Return_of_the_STAR]

Wow that Raw sounded like a strawberry floating mess. When your gooseberry fool writing means that the heels are in the right it's time to take a step back and start over.

I know it would only make sense if say cena was having a heel turn but we know full well that he isn't.

Also the slammys are so gooseberry fool. We know that they are all rigged and the votes ignored. It's just bollocks.

[Jam-Master Jay]

Wondered who the hell this Big E Langston was. Ryblack by the looks of things.

[KK]

In another storyline continuity error - these sure are racking up now, aren't they - remember a few weeks ago when the WWE Board of Directors stated AJ Lee couldn't touch Vickie Guerrero? Sure didn't stop her at TLC, did it. It wasn't even a sanctioned match.

And in case anyone missed it a few pages back, WIRED magazine have an article on WWE's horrendous writing, focusing in particular on John Cena:

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/12/ ... john-cena/

The WWE have announced John Cena & Sheamus vs. Dolph Ziggler & Big Show as the main event tonight for the commercial-free SmackDown, along with AJ Lee and Dolph Ziggler on MizTV.

[Psychic]

What a bizarre end to the show. I have no idea who I'm supposed to be cheering for. Seemed like such a waste throwing away the Dolph/Vickie split on a backstage segment like that, especially when it's something that could have been used to such good effect with some build. Not sure Big E Langston is ready yet either, he's looked a bit raw every time I've seen him wrestle on NXT but it's nice to see them giving new blood a chance, even if it is to get inevitably steamrolled by Cena.

And they still haven't screwed up The Shield yet.

[JChalmers]

Yeah there seems to be more swerves than a Vince Russo show.

But they've done so many that none of the booking makes sense. Vickie Guerrero one of the most hated characters on TV teaming with Babyface Cena To then take on Ziggler who turned on Vickie (thus in theory should be face) with AJ who turned on Cena (thus should be heel).....I'm getting confused just by writing that.

Hopefully in Jan they buck up their ideas and get some solidity of storylines/logic behind matches and programmes.

Good to see new blood like Big E and The Shield as it's what the WWE needs but stop trying to just throw them in randomly into a already muddled storyline.

For Big E would've made more sense for him to come out and take out Sheamus in the World Title match. New feud straight away and freshens up Smackdown too.

[KK]

They're filming the Christmas Eve edition of RAW tonight too, though I suppose it's possible they'll split it between today and tomorrow. A 5 hour taping sounds far too long.

Wednesday 19th December: Super SmackDown Taping (airing on 28th December)
Saturday 29th December: WWE RAW Taping (airing on New Year's Eve)
Sunday 30th December: WWE SmackDown Taping (airing on 4th January 2013)

[JChalmers]

They're filming the Christmas Eve edition of RAW tonight too, though I suppose it's possible they'll split it between today and tomorrow. A 5 hour taping sounds far too long.

Wednesday 19th December: Super SmackDown Taping (airing on 28th December)
Saturday 29th December: WWE RAW Taping (airing on New Year's Eve)
Sunday 30th December: WWE SmackDown Taping (airing on 4th January 2013)

Oh god that crowds going to be dead by the end of that filming. Especially when they've seen the combination of Sin Cara, Rey Mysterio, Cody Rhodes, Damian Sandow, Epico and Primo ten times in one night

[captain red dog]

If they think they can turn Vickie face then they are vastly over-estimating their creative team!

[Codename 47]

What a bizarre end to the show. I have no idea who I'm supposed to be cheering for. Seemed like such a waste throwing away the Dolph/Vickie split on a backstage segment like that, especially when it's something that could have been used to such good effect with some build. Not sure Big E Langston is ready yet either, he's looked a bit raw every time I've seen him wrestle on NXT but it's nice to see them giving new blood a chance, even if it is to get inevitably steamrolled by Cena.

And they still haven't screwed up The Shield yet.

I really don't know what to make of the end of Raw to be honest with you. Is AJ a heel now or what? Is Vickie a face? When she started beating down on AJ I did think there were a few cheers for Vickie. Another thing that makes no sense is, if you're Dolph Ziggler why would you insult and dump Vickie while she's still your boss/GM - doesn't he realise she'll be hell bent on revenge and make his life miserable from now on? The amount of boos Cena got when he stopped Ziggler from cashing in - it just seemed like a very heel thing to do.

Aside from that mess of a situation, it was good to see Flair back - even if some sort of audio cock up ruined the surprise of his return. I'm still loving The Shield at the moment as well. I should've known better but i actually thought Rock was going to surprise everyone and show up to collect his Slammy. Santino calling 'Tensai' Fat Albert did make me laugh though