Pro Wrestling! (For Everything WWE, Impact, Indies, AEW, & Japan !) 2021

[EmeraldGladiator]

A bit confused, Vince has a history of not liking face vs face or heel vs heel extended programs but that being said what is up with Alexa/the Fiend and Randy? Face Randy is the absolute worst but the way they are writing Alexa I can't see it has face (hero Cena type) at all, it isn't even anti-hero (grey but cheered SCSA or Rock in fancy shirt) type. Alexa's turning on Nikki was bad enough but the Asuka match was in no way even anti-hero like.

[EmeraldGladiator]

On the tag team tip, bring back the Iconics the split is stupid if Peyton is jobbing over on Raw and Billie is just comedy relief on Smackdown. WWE doesn't have many legit female tag teams so put that one back together. The blonde body builders are building something on Raw I guess, and Bazler/Jax are a dominate heel team but the Iconics have more chemisty than any other pairing of females at WWE. Another idea, I wonder if the Dirty Dogs (Roode and Ziggler) will join with the Bloodline, like when HHH and HBK brought the new age outlaws into DX. It gives the faction a heel tag champs and muscle to dominate the brand. It would be cool if the Dogs accepted the invite but stated that while it will be cool to be in the faction they look forward to the day when they can go up against the Usos to see who the best tag team alive really is for future conflict. Maybe even have the Bloodline and the Hurt Business become frenemies in a way, respecting each other's dominance but thinking they are the superior faction.

[Vworp Vworp]

And so, the erasure of Alexa Bliss is now pretty much complete. She's a cut-price Wanna-Fiend with literally nothing in the role that isn't derivative of Bray, from her character to her look to her moveset to her "powers". Since this whole things started, I've seen a few people compare the Fiend/Alexa relationship to that of Joker/Harley (a look Alexa often emulated anyway, which led to people wanting to see her in this role). And they're half right. The WWE have certainly nailed the abusive relationship aspects of Harley and Joker.

But for all the problems inherent in Harley's original creation, she was at least her OWN character. Dini and Timm didn't just think "OK, let's give Joker a girlfriend and she'll be exactly the same as him. But a girl" It's for that reason Harley quickly grew to be so very popular and how it was possible for her to become a success in her own right, without only being considered Mr J's sidekick/girlfriend/victim. And that's the problem here. Because with Alexa, we don't have that. She isn't her own character with her own motivation, her own style, her own anything. Unsurprisingly, creative took the laziest possible path and just said "OK, Alexa is just like Bray now".

At best, it's a wasted opportunity to have done something genuinely interesting with Alexa. At worst, it's typical WWE booking driven entirely by the idea that simply being associated with a male wrestler is a legitimate means to push a female athlete.

[EmeraldGladiator]

the thing I liked originally about the Fiend was it seemed that going against him brought you back to your characters most heelish version (the first few faces he battled "changed"), at least until he fought Daniel Bryan. That being said maybe they will play it like the Fiend is like a virus that passes from one character to another and now Alexa has it, when Bray returns he will be a face like nice character who will want to save Alexa from the hell he just escaped from. Only to eventually find out that the only way to free her is to take the Fiend back into himself. Kind of comic booky but it would work.

[Ikari]

Huh, one would think Asuka of all people could handle an anime character...

Aaanyways, lets just wait until Wyatt comes back to see where this is going. I presume there is final showdown with Orton and Fiend, and maybe he doesn't need Alexa after that. Also, unsure if this was a debut of wholly new Alexa wrestling character, or just something temporary to keep things interesting until Bray comes back, and maybe also something to build up for women's Rumble. That tends to lack star power and unstoppable zombie Bliss might be one thing to add a little oomph for the match.

[BigLbo]

that **** with alexa and aska was horrible. the drizzling shits.

[BeastieRunner]

that **** with alexa and aska was horrible. the drizzling shits.

I think they could have something cool but they are afraid of going deep with it.

Kind of like all WWE booking lately ... just freaking commit!

Just go balls-to-the-wall gimmicky nutball or stop doing it.

[choptop]

Between how good AEW and impact are right now I'm not sure why anyone is bothering with wwe anymore.

[BigLbo]

I think they could have something cool but they are afraid of going deep with it.

Kind of like all WWE booking lately ... just freaking commit!

Just go balls-to-the-wall gimmicky nutball or stop doing it.

they had something cool with the fiend, what they're trying to do with alexa is just forced. oh and it sucks too. alexa's playground managed to pull off what i thought was impossible, it was worse than moment of bliss. they completely fukt off aska as a champion.

Between how good AEW and impact are right now I'm not sure why anyone is bothering with wwe anymore.

it's the talent. wwe is loaded with talent wrestling fans want to see. the PPVs are still enjoyable because the talent gets to wrestle but the booking usually makes it all meaningless.

[Jcogginsa]

Alexa's new character is great.

[The True Detective]

Between how good AEW and impact are right now I'm not sure why anyone is bothering with wwe anymore.

Smackdown has consistently been good ever since Roman came back as the Tribal Chief, NXT's good, NXT UK is good and slept on heavy, Raw's hit or miss for me, it being 3 hours really hurts it, and I don't watch 205 Live. Raw's the only WWE show that isn't consistently good imo, so it's very easy to watch WWE when it produces 3 quality shows every week.

[Immortal Weapon]

I personally find NXT to be dull. It's a very dry show.

[Maestro 216]

I personally find NXT to be dull. It's a very dry show.

I call it ROH lite.

[CentralPower]

the thing I liked originally about the Fiend was it seemed that going against him brought you back to your characters most heelish version (the first few faces he battled "changed"), at least until he fought Daniel Bryan.

I think that is more a question of the Fiend making them what they truly are, rather than what they were.

Bliss is the exception. In that case, it looks like the Fiend targeted her in order to hurt Braun Strowman.

In real terms, this angle seems designed to show off Alexis Kaufman as an actress. By pitching her as crazy/possessed/corrupted, WWE gives her a chance to show a wider range than her recent run as a face (however endearing it may have been).

The real problem is that this angle is too reliant on cinematics. Bliss/Asuke was a good match unto itself, both in technical and narrative terms. But, the cinematic elements were more intrusive than additive.

[titanfan]

I personally find NXT to be dull. It's a very dry show.

I assumed it was the WWE-ized fan in me. I watch NXT and enjoy it, and it's all wrestling and very little drama. There are very few compelling reasons to watch--quite often I'm not really invested in any of the stories.

And that's ok because I do like wrestling, but I also think it's ok if I have to miss it for a week. And I think if I miss a few weeks nothing will have really changed.