Board 8 > All-Purpose Wrestling Topic 429: Rusev Rumble.

(+) Yeah! (+)

scarletspeed7 posted...

Hmm, is it as good as '92, '97, '01, '05?

It's definitely better than '97 at least. I consider '97 very weak at least until Bret Hart enters at #21. I'm not as high on '92 than most (probably since I'm not as high on Ric Flair as most) but it's still good. I'd have to think about it being comparable to '01 and '05 as both of those are really good.

'10 is awful, and this is coming from a huge Shawn Michaels fan.
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And I mean Kelly Kelly looked like her usual self but that was to be expected.
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I thought Lita looked pretty much fine. She was always really sloppy so I mean.

Now I do agree that the damn moonsault was the second most terrifying moment of the match (behind Michelle McCool teasing the faith breaker on Sasha) but yeah I must have missed something cause I thought Lita was completely fine relative to expectations.
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Moonsault worried me as well. Looked nasty.

I was also worried about Vickie Guerrero because that did not look like a person who should have gone over the top rope in any capacity.
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Roman Reigns has now been the runner up in 3 Rumbles, breaking a tie with Big Show, Triple H, John Cena, and Shawn Michaels to be the leader in that category
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How bout dat Heath Slater
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Kayfabe-wise, Reigns is well on his way to being the best Rumble performer ever. He's gone 2nd, 1st, 3rd, 2nd, 2nd IIRC. If I ever update my performance rankings he might be top 10 already.
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Jakyl25 posted...

Roman Reigns has now been the runner up in 3 Rumbles, breaking a tie with Big Show, Triple H, John Cena, and Shawn Michaels to be the leader in that category

Rock Benoit
Orton and someone.
Edge and someone
Taker and someone

Who are we missing here?

Big Show was runner up in 2000 and 2004

Triple H in 2008 and 2009

John Cena in 2005 and 2010

Shawn Michaels in 1994 and 2007

1994 is a special case if you want to discount that
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Rumble Record according to WWE's Youtube channel.

Heath Slater eliminated Sheamus in 0.8 seconds.
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Cena was barista
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ScareChan posted...

Cena was barista

What a great typo
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FFDragon posted...

i feel like even once you quit watching

you still show up for rumble

vouch
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Jakyl25 posted...

Big Show was runner up in 2000 and 2004

Triple H in 2008 and 2009

John Cena in 2005 and 2010

Shawn Michaels in 1994 and 2007

1994 is a special case if you want to discount that

Can't believe I forgot Cena Batista.

Ok

So

Rock Benoit
Cena Orton
Batista Edge
Taker and.... Bret? I legit don't know how that's a thing, and if Shawn was second place why the fuck did Luger get a March at 10 too? I thought they tied or something stupid and that's why we got the dumb ass booking of X (no, I don't care that HBK Razor and Bret Owen were 2 of the best matches ever, it was still dumb ass booking to have 2 Title matches...)

I wanted Kaitlyn to show up and spear someone in half, but that might make Roman look bad
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You havent seen 1994? Bret and Luger co-won so I call HBK the runner up for being the last person eliminated before their tie
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DeathChicken posted...

but that might make Roman look bad

what doesn't though
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Seriously though like

Does anyone actually care about Rousey anymore

It seemed like the Philly crowd did but was that just them playing nice or is she still a thing that matters. Seems like something that would've been cool a year or two ago but is pretty who cares now.
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She's definitely nowhere near as big but people will still care about her in the same way people compared about Brock.
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It's still pretty cool imo. It's not like another MMA woman has stepped up to her level yet in terms of popularity.
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Jakyl25 posted...

You havent seen 1994? Bret and Luger co-won so I call HBK the runner up for being the last person eliminated before their tie

I guess... but not really.

The whole point of runner up is to take the place of someone else (unless it's like the end.... so say the National Championship... it's just done)

If Kentucky beats Alabama in the SEC chanpionship and god forbid the plane crashes on the way home Alabama as the SEC runner up would be crowned SEC Champion and take their place in tournament. (Before at larges... now it's all fucked up).

So there isn't a runner up in that case because if Bret or Luger get hurt, it would just revert to whoever isn't hurt/dead.

Lopen posted...

Seriously though like

Does anyone actually care about Rousey anymore

It seemed like the Philly crowd did but was that just them playing nice or is she still a thing that matters. Seems like something that would've been cool a year or two ago but is pretty who cares now.

You wouldnt think people would still care about Goldberg but here we are
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Sheamus was celebrated as the winner and it's revisionist history to claim otherwise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tkx36KS7ZWE

I know the person claiming this is garbage but let's just correct things: Sheamus was a loved heel (remember the whole Dante thing?) and then when he turned he was a loved face because he's still a pretty great big man wrestler all told. And the standard of wrestler in WWE was significantly lower in 2011, too. Sheamus didn't start to get inevitable smark backlash until 18 seconds happened, which he then followed up with an endless feud with Del Rio - they had some decent matches but character wise Sheamus needed a more entertaining heel.

Jericho was obviously loved too but he was still doing the silence gimmick so people were a bit confused about what he was doing. Sheamus was very liked. I actually remember one PPV where a few people here said it was the "anti-smark PPV" and one of the reasons why was because Sheamus lost (seems crazy now, huh?).

2013 had Cena which was predictable and dumb and then it started completely going off the rails until last year, which was a very open field but disappointed with a boring winner. This year had an open field and a more surprising winner (some saw Nakamura coming a while ago but I doubted they'd pull the trigger, especially because he hasn't been that good since signing).
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-Was a good dang show!
-......suuuuuuuuuper long though like frick
-I did not expect to enjoy HossCon '18. I enjoyed it very much.
-KAIRI HOJO or sane or whatever she is called now
-Asuka is an acceptable consolation prize I suppose
-Unless you are Wifebolo in which case cornetteface for the last 45 minutes of the show
-holy crap the stream went smoothly-ish (except when my internet died) good job I only got randomly exiled to the cruiserweight tag three times
-This was my first time seeing a lot of guys and gals I've only heard of. Nakamura is as cool as his hype. Asuka seems likewise.
-Delaying judgement on Rousey. She seems fun but yeah let's not have her bury the division.
-Thought the ref and announce team did a very poor job selling the Styles finish, and the 2/3 falls finish was weird.
-Otherwise I am pleased with every match! Good dang show and now I'm tempted to re-sub argh
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Yeah people liked (not loved) Sheamus until the Daniel Bryan fiasco pretty much killed his babyface run.
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I mean Goldberg remaining wrestling relevant makes sense because he's from wrestling. Same with Brock

And honestly I think people wouldn't really have cared about Brock or Goldberg with just name value either. They arrived and tore it up in their own ways-- I mean if Rousey brings hype in some way beyond just her name or kills it in the ring then hell yeah but I wonder what the name value is actually worth right now.
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She also has a lot of goodwill from WM31 putting the Authority down

Not many get to make Steph look weak!
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There's no way they can both play up her name value and have her be some unbeatable monster like current Asuka.

Because anyone who knows her name value knows she got absolutely brutalized in her last two fights and is super beatable.
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https://twitter.com/BossMoz/status/957833464140541952

Yup.
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All she has to do is judo throw Stephanie and she'll be the most over face in the company
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Also they did that big Horsewomen vs Horsewomen hype in the MYC
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FFDragon posted...

There's no way they can both play up her name value and have her be some unbeatable monster like current Asuka.

Because anyone who knows her name value knows she got absolutely brutalized in her last two fights and is super beatable.

She also spent a lot of time before that killing bitches dead, just play that up and it's fine

Like call her overrated if you want but her career record and impact is still good.

I'd want to keep her and Asuka well apart and build towards Streak vs. Streak for Summerslam or WM next year. I'd be very into that match. It's rare to have something like that. Have Asuka challenge Charlotte and put Rousey on Raw even.
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Christ, Brock ended his UFC run with Overreem kicking his guts to Neptune. No one cared as soon as he came back and started destroying everyone
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she was 'killing bitches dead' in a time where there was no real competition

once the division matured, it eclipsed her in a flash

i think making her a monster is going to damage the division overall

she can win, but matches have to be competitive
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FFDragon posted...

There's no way they can both play up her name value and have her be some unbeatable monster like current Asuka.

Because anyone who knows her name value knows she got absolutely brutalized in her last two fights and is super beatable.

Yeah but Brock's been a monster for like six years after Overeem nearly made him poop out his innards. I know that he had his old WWE history to fall back on, but I think they can easily book Ronda on her MMA dominance and just ignore her last two fights. I mean, what else are they gonna use to build her up?
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Also I actually like Kelly Kelly a lot more than I used to because she came back and looked pretty bad. It was like, night will follow day and Kelly Kelly will be really bad. It was comforting, in a way
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brock was also homegrown

better comparison would be shamrock
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FFDragon posted...

she was 'killing bitches dead' in a time where there was no real competition

once the division matured, it eclipsed her in a flash

But now you're getting into a level of complexity that the vast majority of people don't care about
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XIII_rocks posted...

Also I actually like Kelly Kelly a lot more than I used to because she came back and looked pretty bad. It was like, night will follow day and Kelly Kelly will be really bad. It was comforting, in a way

Did she get a reduction, or am I crazy?

I mean if you really wanted to do this right, you'd send Rousey down to NXT for a year and have her really work on things.

But since this is the WWE, they'll rush a title onto her when she's clearly not ready and effectively kill one of the Women's Divisions (likely Smackdown Live).
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Shamrock was basically a UFC punchline by the end. Didn't stop him from looking like the baddest man alive in WWE
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Like don't get me wrong, those two losses damage her star power, but if she was still the stratospheric star she was before the losses then she wouldn't have signed for WWE full-time.
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OK well some people think Alexa Bliss can't wrestle, so if we have Rousey as champ on one brand and Bliss as champ on the other, is the entirety of main-roster women's wrestling "dead"?
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DeathChicken posted...

Shamrock was basically a UFC punchline by the end. Didn't stop him from looking like the baddest man alive in WWE

ah yes i too remember when he feuded with Billy Gunn, Goldust and Val Venis over who could bang his sister
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Yeah, keep in mind a lot of these people under WWE contracts are basically failed models/actors/football players or indie darlings that then turn into major stars for the company.

This is someone who was once a huge star, which is a much higher starting point than the standard wrestler they have to build up. No matter how far she may have fallen.
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Yeah I feel like Brock, despite ending his career on a loss, managed to look a lot more competitive in that loss and got out before his credibility was hurt too badly-- also frankly he didn't start utterly crushing people until he got powered up by absorbing the streak. It wasn't just "Brock is ultimate fighter thus Brock will wreck everyone" right out of the gate he had to actually get a wrestling achievement to reach that level. I don't think they're very comparable
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XIII_rocks posted...

OK well some people think Alexa Bliss can't wrestle, so if we have Rousey as champ on one brand and Bliss as champ on the other, is the entirety of main-roster women's wrestling "dead"?

I trust Alexa to do all the non-wrestling parts of wrestling more than I trust Rousey.

God help us having to listen to Ronda Rousey promos.
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You're ignoring how Shamrock tapped out Rock like three consecutive times
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Ronda is still a big name, but it also doesn't help the perception that you are signing damaged goods.

Brock got killed worse by Cain, but at least we saw him put on great matches in WWE prior.

At her peak Ronda was making Mania look smalltime, today she might move the needle only a little.
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Real talk

Part of me thinks Rousey signed with WWE because now she can just be scripted to win all the time whereas she'd pretty much never win another fight
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