One Good, One Bad

[Mozenrath]

I thought of something that I thought would be fun, and a pretty simple concept for a thread. You name something you like about WWE for every negative you give. It doesn't need to be a 1:1 in terms of equal gravity, but, while I'm not going to stop you, it kinda defeats the point if you just give something like "Lacey owns some nice hats" as a positive.

One good:
The WWE Network, for what good or bad it might be doing for how the talent are compensated nowadays, I don't really know the specifics enough to say, has been a major game changer and a huge value proposition for customers. It has added quite a lot of content versus when it first launched, and if you're the kind of person who likes to watch a lot of old wrestling, you could certainly get your money's worth a month, and that's not even counting NXT, the PPVs, 205, etc. It's genuinely impressive.


One bad:
They appear to be trying to change things up, but the amount of repetition and a pervasive feeling that outcomes hardly matter has been a serious plague on this company for months. The Royal Rumble to Wrestlemania period had a lot of big changes, and the follow up was.... a big letdown, to say the least. It's been frustrating as all hell. There have been good PPVs, but it doesn't change that a lot of the TV has been awful as hell.


Another good:
Kofi Kingston and Bayley have been refreshing champions. Bayley had a fantastic night at MITB, and brought some new lifeblood to Smackdown, which had been a problem in the wake of Asuka being utterly mismanaged. Couple that with her finally exorcising the ghost that was the Alexa baggage, and she's a woman reborn. Kofi, of course, has been one of the best things going for WWE in 2019, and his title win, and the chase up to it, has been fantastic. Sure, he could probably use someone like Orton or Bryan as a good title program, but he's been pushed very strongly, and he seems here to stay in the main event, as he should be.


Another bad:
The roster is one of the strongest they've ever had, but you wouldn't know that by watching the shows. Shane has been deeply reminiscent of a former champion, a major name of a boom period, and unfortunately, that person he reminds me of is Vince Russo. He is the top heel in WWE, and that is a role that SHOULD be a wrestler, not a guy who, sure, wrestles, but really isn't doing anyone any favors so far. Beyond that, people go huge periods of time without being on TV. Where the hell is Liv Morgan? Rusev? Why hasn't Roman wrestled on Smackdown? What the hell is going on with the booking? Wildcard or not, let people onto the goddamn show. Don't worry, though. Before he got hurt, Lars had no trouble getting onto TV. Maybe if some of the roster posted a bunch of ableist shit and racism, they'd make TV tapings, since wrestling cares more about "second chances" than first ones.


Final good:
Turning AJ heel was a great move. Firefly Funhouse has been fun. Heavy Machinery is gaining traction with the audience, and that's nice to see. Ricochet as US champion is probably a solid move for the time being.


Final bad:
It's less that they're putting Becky and Seth together on camera. That's clearly being done, in part, because Seth's top face run has been middling, and they want him to get some of her heat. Fair enough, but it's also being done to extend the tired as all hell Lacey and Corbin programs, and that's just exhausting. I get that they are trying to build up Lacey, in particular, but maybe if they hadn't squandered the tag division, they could pivot her to that division for a bit and let her get some development time with someone experienced, and then let Becky feud with anyone else for a moment.

[I'm Team Bayley and Indi]

One Good:
From an in-ring perspective especially on PPV, many of the matches deliver, with the exception of Super Showdown (which I didn't watch), the last few of them have delivered very entertaining matches.

One Bad:
They are taking the Shane McMahon, Best in the World seriously it seems, he's stand toe to toe with legitimate athletes even though his punches look like shit and he gets blown up just walking to the ring.

One Good:
Bayley, they've rebuilt her up (I'm biased yada yada), a lot damage was done to her on Raw a couple of years ago (rhymes with Mexla Smish), but she's delivered regularly since her change to Smackdown

One Bad:
Seriously why aren't they doing anything with Liv Morgan? She should be on TV in some form, even it's someone's lackey.

[Oh Cry Me a Screwball]

One Good: Nikki Cross and Alexa Bliss's questionable friendship is one of the best angles going on at the moment, and I'm not sure if it's going to lead to Alexa finally going face and pursuing The IIconics for the Tag Team Titles, or if Alexa is going to twist the knife in Nikki's back, possibly en route to securing the Smackdown Women's Championship, potentially starting a hot singles feud with a betrayed Nikki unleashing the insanity from her NXT days.

One Bad: The Wildcard Rule is a joke, and the fact that the aforementioned Nikki/Alexa duo is both on Raw, but challenging for the Smackdown titles is a big part of the problem. Samoa Joe is a Raw superstar challenging Kofi Kingston for the WWE title. Roman Reigns exclusively appears on Raw despite being Smackdown's biggest acquisition ever. I get that both networks want the top guys on their show, but the complete lack of detail in what superstars can and cannot do on opposing brands further undermines the brand split as a whole, which in turn renders having two champions for each brand pointless, and it just makes the people who appear on both shows get stale faster (hi Shane and Drew!) while those who struggle to get on TV see their credibility go down the tubes (hi Finn and Shinsuke!).

[mcstoklasa]

Good- The network is a bargain.

Bad- The show stinks.

[Dub H]

One Good: 24/7 is the most fun belt.The only one that seems to be worthy caring for because the wrestlers sell it like such big deal.

One Bad:It over relies on R-Truth.