These intros are getting ridiculous. I'm watching Smackdown, it's 20 minutes in, and all we've seen is Roman's entrance, and the Rock's entrance…

If you thought Strings retirement match was overbooked, I think Mania Night is going to go way over that.

Anyone going to Smackdown at the AAC on Friday? Wife got me tickets for Christmas.

Bunk Moreland said:

---

Osprey - Take****a was a great match

---

That was match of the year so far.

Kazuchika Okada is the newest member of the Elite!

Watch #AEWDynamite LIVE on TBS!@rainmakerXokada | @YoungBucks pic.twitter.com/p5aDipuA1x

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) March 7, 2024

Now there's some much needed juice for AEW. Please let Kenny get healthy so we can get another match between those 2

Plus it looks like we'll be getting danielson and ospreay soon

Does Ospreay eventually bail on Callas and become a babyface?

Luckily Tony has daddy's money because these guys aren't moving the needle for ratings. Excited for these matches down the road.

BCSGrubber said:

---

If you thought Strings retirement match was overbooked, I think Mania Night is going to go way over that.

---

I kinda hope so. Want to hear that glass shatter as the rock tries to cost Cody the match.

Scotty Flamingo said:

---

BCSGrubber said:

---

If you thought Strings retirement match was overbooked, I think Mania Night is going to go way over that.

---

I kinda hope so. Want to hear that glass shatter as the rock tries to cost Cody the match.

---

That would be the ultimate pop.

Jey comes to take out Jimmy, Cena returns to take out Solo, Orton takes out which ever new bloodline member. Rock about to attack Cody, glass shatters my brain melts

Brock Sampson said:

---

AAC was packed. Rock got pimp slapped to end the night.

---

The place looked great, you must have had a blast!

Hard pass. Dude was a waste…

That Punk, McIntyre, Rollins segment...

Blood!

Man Rock has absolutely crushed this heel run

It's been about 23 years since I really watched wrestling.

I was obsessed with it from about 1998-2002. I went to a few Monday Night Raw tapings, a Nitro taping, and was floor level at Wrestlemania X-Seven. Since then the closest I had gotten to wrestling was running into Bradshaw, Faarooq, and Dean Malenko in the Atlanta airport in 2014.

I have recently started paying attention again and it's…weird.

The wrestling and storylines aren't weird - it's just weird watching without hearing JR and Jerry "The King" Lawler going back and forth. It's also a LOT tamer than it used to be.

I heard about the Vince situation and started kind of following that. That got me to watch a few documentaries and listen to a few podcasts / interviews with Chris Van Vliet. I ended up getting a free month of Peacock, which I then found out would allow me to have access to Wrestlemania. So I decided to start at the Royal Rumble this year and try to catch up on what's happened since then.

A few things I've noted since watching:

As much of a POS Vince is - he was likely the all-time greatest heel and it's weird that there is no McMahon involved anymore.

Ricochet's in-ring talent is insane. Probably my favorite one to watch.

I think I'm a fan of Pete Dunne.

I'm intrigued to see Bron Breakker and how he does. I enjoy the intensity.

I wanted to be a fan of Drew McIntyre because of his Scottish background, but honestly I find him to be pretty boring.

Kevin Owens on the mic has not impressed me - and him behind the booth is kind of entertaining but something about him on the mic seems off.

LA Knight cuts some good promos. The way he talks and his charisma reminds me of The Rock back in the day.

I don't want to admit it, but Logan Paul is entertaining to watch.

I don't see the hype about Cody Rhodes. Good wrestler, but boring on the mic.

It looks like they've completely overhauled the women's division from what it was back in the attitude era. I feel like there was about 10 women back then and now it feels like there's more than triple that.

The lineup for Wrestlemania is exciting. I have seen people complain about The Rock wedging his way back in to the main event, but the last Wrestlemania I watched was in 2001 and it's good seeing a familiar face in there (I think him, Triple H, and R-Truth aka K-Kwik might be the only 3 left from when I used to watch - and I know The Rock is more of a special guest now).

I knew of a few of the big names over the last 23 years when I didn't watch, but I completely missed the runs of Randy Orton, John Cena, Brock Lesnar, Daniel Bryan, Bautista, CM Punk, and others.

Also, where the hell did the ramp go from the entrance to the ring? And where is Sunday Night Heat?!

You should check out WWE NXT (I watch it on Hulu). Booker T does an AMAZING job on commentary. NXT is also a mix of established talent and up and comers, so you see a lot of new moves and experimental in ring action…

TexAgsSean said:

---

The wrestling and storylines aren't weird - it's just weird watching without hearing JR and Jerry "The King" Lawler going back and forth. It's also a LOT tamer than it used to be.
WWE has been famously "PG" for a while now. It kind of sucks for those of us that grew up with the attitude era, but no doubt it was the smart decision to grow the brand and has paid off huge. The good news is, the Rock seems to be soft launching it into a PG-13 era which has been rumored for a while. Most likely when they switch to Netflix...

As much of a POS Vince is - he was likely the all-time greatest heel and it's weird that there is no McMahon involved anymore.
No doubt... but yeah, not even sure we'll see Steph or Shane again at this point

Ricochet's in-ring talent is insane. Probably my favorite one to watch.
He's definitely the best worker in WWE and has had an incredible few weeks lately. I don't think he'll ever catapult to the main event, but you never know... If you like Ricochet, you'd probably enjoy a lot of AEW where there's more of an emphasis on actual wrestling. They have Will Ospreay who is the best wrestler in the world (imo)

I'm intrigued to see Bron Breakker and how he does. I enjoy the intensity.
He's going places

I wanted to be a fan of Drew McIntyre because of his Scottish background, but honestly I find him to be pretty boring.
I like Drew but thought he was getting pretty boring... but new heel, internet troll Drew is awesome, and was a much needed pivot

Kevin Owens on the mic has not impressed me - and him behind the booth is kind of entertaining but something about him on the mic seems off.
Big fan of KO and I really like his non-traditional mic style. He's crazy versatile and I've heard him described as "the only guy who actually pays attention to the show" and I think that's a great way of putting it. Meaning, he is the only guy who remembers stuff and points out when things don't make sense because... wrestling

LA Knight cuts some good promos. The way he talks and his charisma reminds me of The Rock back in the day.
lol this has been brought up quite a bit after his rise and a lot of people think its just a blatant rip off

I don't want to admit it, but Logan Paul is entertaining to watch.
He's fantastic... nobody wants him to be successful, but the fact is he's GREAT at this, and obviously a natural top heel

I don't see the hype about Cody Rhodes. Good wrestler, but boring on the mic.
I dont get the appeal at all... but he's the guy so you better get used to him

It looks like they've completely overhauled the women's division from what it was back in the attitude era. I feel like there was about 10 women back then and now it feels like there's more than triple that.
Yeah the women's revolution happened and now they are a huge draw and get almost equal time. There's some really good ones

---

aggiephoenix02 said:

---

You should check out WWE NXT (I watch it on Hulu). Booker T does an AMAZING job on commentary. NXT is also a mix of established talent and up and comers, so you see a lot of new moves and experimental in ring action…

---

I've heard of NXT but haven't watched any of it. Pretty great idea to make it like the minor leagues - gets views and allows the wrestlers to build their character.

I also really like that they actually recruit colleges now. Smart idea to get some of these athletes that can't make much money in some of the sports they play.

That's how Bron Breakker got such a huge pop and push as soon as he joined the big leagues, his work on NXT…

The Rock will obviously turn at WM right? He isn't going to stay in storylines and he can't leave a heel.

duck79 said:

---

The Rock will obviously turn at WM right? He isn't going to stay in storylines and he can't leave a heel.

---

I think he turns on Roman and kicks off their feud with Rock staying heel... then we either get Rock vs Roman at Summerslam, next year's Wrestlemania... or I've even heard ideas that they do a UFC style special event for their match. Maybe on Netflix... honestly I think that's probably very likely

I don't mean UFC style like an actual fight... just that their match gets treated like a UFC PPV and is its own thing branching out into new territory.

That makes sense. I keep thinking they are going to have Solo potentially turn to setup a run on his own. Cody/Seth have to bring someone out in the tag match right?

I think Cody and Seth are obviously going to lose... I think there's going to be a ton of soap opera drama the entire weekend, so who knows what will happen

Personally, I think Seth is going to turn on Cody. I don't know what that means for Seth on night two though when he fights Drew. I do think Drew is winning the belt from him.


The popular theory right now is Bloodline rules means No DQ... so the Codyvengers will come out to help him (Jey, Sami, KO, Randy... everyone who's been wronged by the Bloodline) and it all culminates with Stone Cold coming out and stunning the Rock to help Cody win

I think that's too obvious and on the nose though, but who knows...

What if MJF shows up and helps Cody finish the story?!

First you steal my glorious idea to lash Cody.

Now you try to cop art from my ex.

I’m a fan.

But please Leave me be, Dewey. https://t.co/b8XHLmDe2w

— Maxwell Jacob Friedman™️ (@The_MJF) April 3, 2024

If only he didn't resign with AEW (allegedly). Him and the Rock would be beautiful together

Dinger said:

---

What if MJF shows up and helps Cody finish the story?!

---

Or what if he shows up and turns on Cody -- only to have The Rock finally say "enough is enough ... take him out and clear the path for a Cody win.

So many possibilities ....

Paul Heyman's Hall of Fame speech was badass. He may be the best there has ever been…