Daily Discussion Thread – 8/8/17

Welcome to Tuesday, Nation! We are breaking down Raw, looking ahead to SmackDown, still talking G1 and also of course chatting MLB, NFL and everything else. Come hang!

And be sure to check out Brian’s Raw Rundown!

Some audio for your day as well:

91 thoughts on “Daily Discussion Thread – 8/8/17

    1. That show reinforced my belief that Bayley is the dirt worst.
      I would think her injury was a work the way she looked like she didn’t really care.
      People who say she didn’t deserve the boos are inherently wrong as that was crap.
      She should be way lower on the totem pole than she is presented on TV.

        1. In the words of Metallica, sad but true.
          Also, that Ambrose/Cesaro match went way too long and I think they missed their moment with the reunion last night since the crowd was dying for it.
          They might like their slow burns, but this seems like another case where they pull the trigger after people stopped caring as much.

          1. I am starting to think they win the titles at SS and do it there.

            Or… Ambrose turns heel on him and basically says “fuck you” after they lose.

          2. I imagine Dean and Seth finally reunite next week in Boston which should give it a huge pop.

          3. I can see them winning the Raw Tag Titles at Summerslam and then maybe turn Dean heel down the road if they want. Though they need more Tag Teams.

          4. Eh that won’t be as effective. The turn would be based on revenge and an F You to Rollins, that they can never be friends again.It is better if he does it right away instead of a normal turn.

          5. I think what will happen, or what should given that Seth blew off Dean last night, is Seth really saves Dean from a huge beating next week and ends up doing some sort of deal where he tells Dean he blew him off because he felt he could do more before Dean could regain his trust.

          6. The second way makes the most sense logically.
            Which means they probably won’t go that way.
            I have a feeling they do something lame next week where Ambrose asks why Rollins turned him down and then Rollins tell him now we’re even and they do a lukewarm reunion.

          7. I disagree. From a narrative perspective, last night was perfect. Rollins sending a message to Ambrose after getting one sent to him. Then, either next week or at the PPV, they finally have the moment.

            I hope they don’t spoil that for a dumb turn angle. It’s such an organic story, and they’re telling it PERFECTLY.

            They should do the reunion, and then do the FULL Shield reunion after. Plus they need tag teams badly.

      1. The injury might help Bailey in the long run. Keep her off TV for a little while and maybe when she gets back, they will figure out how to use her properly and she will get the crowd back.

        1. At this point, I don’t think it’s wrong. Alexa and Sasha are miles above Balyely. She’s appealing to her target audience, which is kids. But older fans are tired of it. She doesn’t defend herself. All she does his say that she’ll try harder next time. It’s that ’96 “Blue Chipper” Rocky approach and people are done with that.

          1. The company presented her in a manner where she should get booed. Its not due to Bayley’s promo ability. Her promos always sucked but she was still over in NXT and even on the main roster until that god-awful title reign where Sasha kept helping her retain and the feud with Alexa was the nail in the coffin. Put people in a position to fail and they will

          2. “Put people in a position to fail and they will”

            That about sums up WWE.

            The only guy they inadvertently put in position to succeed is Cesaro because he is an elite tag worker and they keep sticking him in random tag teams.

          3. Cesaro’s attempts to branch outside the tag division have failed for a few reasons (not the least of which is his inadequacy on the mic), but he is the best tag wrestler in the business.

            I always call him the modern day Bobby Eaton.

          4. There’s room for characters like Bayley that don’t appeal to us, though. Her role is to draw in young girls. The issue is they’ve made her actively annoying to the other audiences, rather than just “meh.”

            But she’s still a vitally important character, because they’ve never had someone who appeals to young girls the way that she does — or, at least, can.

            That said, I wouldn’t oppose a heel turn either, and I think you hit the nail on the head for why so many are turning against her (in addition to extremely inconsistent ring work. Thus far, only Sasha has been able to get anything truly special out of her).

          1. She’s not even that good in the ring to cover up for it.
            A belly-to-belly suplex was a lame finisher when Shane Douglas used it and it still is now.

        1. Gotta give big props to Scotty C for being ahead of EVERYBODY on Enzo when Enzo & Cass got called up. He never had a good feeling about him from day one. The PTBN Soothsayer!

      1. Pushing him out the door is probably the best route. They want to keep him as far away from Vince is possible. Sending him to NXT is punishment for him, but is also punishment for the guys down there. Roode, Roddy and others don’t need his shit in their locker room.

    1. Legit the worst guy on the roster, IMO. Yes, he has the *ability* to cut great promos, as we saw before Battleground. But as we’ve seen since then, usually his actual promos (past the opening spiel) are hot garbage. And in the ring, he’s the worst on the main roster by a country mile, at least among the men.

      1. He’s like a bad comedian who needs new material.

        Also, dude legit never worked before going to the PC. Gotch nailed it on that shoot. Enzo believes his own bullshit.

        1. You nailed it with the “bad comedian” bit. When he’s being genuine, he can be very good. When he does the standup routine, he dies out there, because he’s got nothing. And this from a guy who says in shoots that he “doesn’t read, because I got it all in my head anyway, so why would I want anybody else’s material?”

          It’s fine that he didn’t work before the PC, but unlike others in that boat, he seems to lack the humility necessary to improve. Like you said, it appears (from the outside looking in) like he does believe his own bullshit. 30 years ago, I imagine he’d have already been slapped around by Harley Race or some such.

    1. It goes deeper than that. He needs to be aware of his surrounding at all times. If what Graves said about him discussing what he gets paid on the phone in front of other talent, that’s horrible. Not just in that business, but in any business, you never discuss what you make around you co-workers.

  1. Sidebar: Catching up on old podcasts I may have found a new favorite.
    Jeff Learns Wrestling #1 was a great listen and am looking forward to the next one.

      1. One thing though: Why did you ultimately decide not do it chronologically from WM1 in 1985 on?
        I feel like that way would help Jeff follow along easier.

        1. Yeah as Chad said we adjusted to that after listening back to episode 1. Heading into that episode I didn’t realize just how little Jeff knew. Once I pieced together what a novice he was, we changed course to a chrono method.

        1. Yes, another night away from the kids, etc, etc. I got so much going on burning a night out on that isn’t worth it, especially for TV with all the commercials and stuff. I have just been to enough WWE tapings that I can be choosy at this point.

    1. I’m thinking about going but I’m leaning towards no. Still plenty of seats available so I’ll be able to make a decision at the last minute.

      1. Agreed. She’s more credible than anyone else in the history of women’s wrestling, looks great, can talk, has some acting experience. Money.

      1. Believe so. Only a matter of time before they did their own service with their library.

        I am confused what this new ESPN service would be as opposed to Watch ESPN? Purely pay instead of being able to access with a cable login?

        1. Maybe they do away with Watch ESPN and switch everything over to this new service? A deal with all the sports leagues that allows ESPN to broadcast more games than they do now has to be in place right? Also, I’d be curious to see how much they charge for the streaming service as ESPN charges cable and satellite providers the most per subscriber.

  2. Hey guys, this week I’ve found myself traveling back to 2001 on the network, at the start of the “Invasion”. Right now I’m watching the episode of Raw when ECW gets involved. My question to you guys, would this Invasion been different if the Alliance never became a thing and it was 3 companies battling it out?

  3. New Podcast Alert!

    The Shoot Faction Podcast is hosted by Smash Mouth Pro Wrestling and Revolutionary Strong champion Amazing Maria as well as filmmaker Gezus Zaire, director of “New Girls in Town” featuring Mia Yim and Shayna Baszler as well as “High Heels” featuring Amazing Maria and Booker T., available on Amazon Video.

    On this episode, we share our experiences of watching pro wrestling with our grandmothers who didn’t know it was predetermined, blowing an allowance on a Hulk Hogan action figure, Rick Rude’s muscles and watching Savage vs. Steamboat during WrestleMania III. Amazing Maria, a real life heel, also shares a touching moment as one of her best friends, Sarah Logan participates in the Mae Young Classic.

    http://placetobe.podbean.com/e/shoot-faction-podcast-1/

  4. I think besides the Fashion Files segment tonight my favorite part of Smackdown this week was them bringing up Shane’s past outings as a Referee.

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