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Post by A Platypus Rave on Sept 19, 2022 0:45:57 GMT -5
I think the issue is that the EST character is very limiting. It means Bianca almost never loses (she’s been pinned SIX times total in two and a half years on the MR and was protected in all of them). She also is booked to physically dominate her foes. Which I get because she IS genuinely a Brock-like freak athlete. But it makes her feuds lack tension because she rarely looks truly vulnerable. And the few times she does lose, she tends to no sell it afterwards. I think the EST gimmick is a lot like the Boss gimmick to a lesser extent... it's kind of inherently a heel gimmick.
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Post by Non Banjoble Tokens on Sept 19, 2022 1:45:34 GMT -5
But how do you feel about Aliyah? ![8-|](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/nerd.png)
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Post by Confused Mark Wahlberg on Sept 19, 2022 8:31:16 GMT -5
Does Bianca Belair have the best smile in the world?
A) Yes B) Also yes
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Futureraven: Beelzebruv
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
The Ultimate Arbiter of Right And Wrong
Spent half my life here, God help me
Posts: 15,184
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Post by Futureraven: Beelzebruv on Sept 19, 2022 8:42:18 GMT -5
I think the issue is that the EST character is very limiting. It means Bianca almost never loses (she’s been pinned SIX times total in two and a half years on the MR and was protected in all of them). She also is booked to physically dominate her foes. Which I get because she IS genuinely a Brock-like freak athlete. But it makes her feuds lack tension because she rarely looks truly vulnerable. And the few times she does lose, she tends to no sell it afterwards. I think the EST gimmick is a lot like the Boss gimmick to a lesser extent... it's kind of inherently a heel gimmick. I'd argue it's worse, "Boss" is just a cocky gimmick, the character can, and should be flawed, cocky. EST is well, being the best. It's basically Mr. Perfect, and they insist in taking it literally. Someone with that gimmick, should be like, a 9 in everything so they can brag but you can bring in someone who's a 10 in one aspect so they have a challenge, need to cheat but can still talk like they're the best.
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J is Justice
Wade Wilson
Will now be grateful.
Willow Nightinfail.
Posts: 29,319
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Post by J is Justice on Sept 19, 2022 8:44:16 GMT -5
Does Bianca Belair have the best smile in the world? A) Yes B) Also yes ![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FQtOd4PXoAIUouL.jpg)
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Post by EZ: Brainy Bae on Sept 19, 2022 11:06:30 GMT -5
Doesn't help that they don't like booking female "blood feuds" with personal stakes. Would really help for when they're not gunning for a title.
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Post by GodzillaIsMyMonster on Sept 19, 2022 14:08:45 GMT -5
One of my biggest problems with online wrestling Fandom is the hatred that a face who wins all the time gets.
Like... the face should win.
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Post by A Platypus Rave on Sept 19, 2022 14:21:14 GMT -5
One of my biggest problems with online wrestling Fandom is the hatred that a face who wins all the time gets. Like... the face should win. Winning a lot is not the problem. ALWAYS winning, Always coming out on top of segments, and never facing any kind of adversity is. Hogan is the king of winning major feuds... but he ALWAYS faced adversity. Whether it be as big as Earthquake breaking his back, or his best friend Andre turning on him and the "How can Hogan beat the Undefeated and unslammable Andre?" If you just steam roll everyone it's boring.
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Post by sportatorium on Sept 19, 2022 14:27:18 GMT -5
I've mentioned before that I have two teenage daughters. One who watches WWE and AEW regularly and one who only watches big live events when we watch together as a family. Bianca is the most over of all the women with both of them with only Asuka, Ronda and Io getting into the same conversation. Bianca's appeal is almost like a pop star.
That said, her booking has been that recent eta Vince stuff. Whether chasing heel Becky or carrying the title- her TV feuds haven't been particularly interesting and are really just keeping her in a strong position whether people see them or not because people love her on the live events.
I would assume that Hunter's team will get some more detail added to her programs, but she was likely way down the list of the things that needing fixing as they took over.
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Post by mistery on Sept 19, 2022 14:50:58 GMT -5
I've mentioned before that I have two teenage daughters. One who watches WWE and AEW regularly and one who only watches big live events when we watch together as a family. Bianca is the most over of all the women with both of them with only Asuka, Ronda and Io getting into the same conversation. Bianca's appeal is almost like a pop star. That said, her booking has been that recent eta Vince stuff. Whether chasing heel Becky or carrying the title- her TV feuds haven't been particularly interesting and are really just keeping her in a strong position whether people see them or not because people love her on the live events. I would assume that Hunter's team will get some more detail added to her programs, but she was likely way down the list of the things that needing fixing as they took over. I think the problem with her booking right now basically boils down to: Why should I care about the women she's facing? She's just gonna bulldoze over them without any sort of adversity. Like it's safe to say Damage CTRL has looked like complete ass thanks to having to feud with her, because she just doesn't sell them as a threat. Which is terrible booking, and while Bayley might end up fine at the end of the day due to her history, it puts Iyo and Dakota in a very bad position for when they inevitably split apart, because no one is going to take them seriously as main event level talents, because they are being portrayed as vastly inferior to Bianca in every single attribute.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2022 15:01:24 GMT -5
Does Bianca Belair have the best smile in the world? A) Yes B) Also yes ![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FQtOd4PXoAIUouL.jpg) ![](https://c.tenor.com/EU2PuyhWqgAAAAAC/bianca-belair-wwe-raw.gif)
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oneday
Bubba Ho-Tep
Posts: 645
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Post by oneday on Sept 19, 2022 22:07:54 GMT -5
I feel like this has been said about most of the women's runs in the past few years when they go gung ho. I remember even Becky Lynch getting this convo about how nobody came out looking better after feuding with her. I do miss that Trish Stratus booking from back in the day though. They weren't afraid to have Trish get beat up and demolished by 2/3 heels and be away for a week or two to sell the recovery. It's fun to watch a face have the odds stacked against them, face problems, but keep on going and fight.
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Post by mistery on Sept 19, 2022 22:08:07 GMT -5
Congratulations to FAN reader Triple H for seeing this thread and making Bianca look vulnerable tonight. Let's see if they can keep it up over or if this was an anomaly.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2022 22:13:17 GMT -5
I feel like this has been said about most of the women's runs in the past few years when they go gung ho. I remember even Becky Lynch getting this convo about how nobody came out looking better after feuding with her. I do miss that Trish Stratus booking from back in the day though. They weren't afraid to have Trish get beat up and demolished by 2/3 heels and be away for a week or two to sell the recovery. It's fun to watch a face have the odds stacked against them, face problems, but keep on going and fight. Yeah, it's been a complaint for a long time. I remember AJ Lee, Nikki Bella, Alexa and Charlotte getting the same complaints.
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J is Justice
Wade Wilson
Will now be grateful.
Willow Nightinfail.
Posts: 29,319
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Post by J is Justice on Sept 19, 2022 22:17:44 GMT -5
I feel like this has been said about most of the women's runs in the past few years when they go gung ho. I remember even Becky Lynch getting this convo about how nobody came out looking better after feuding with her. I do miss that Trish Stratus booking from back in the day though. They weren't afraid to have Trish get beat up and demolished by 2/3 heels and be away for a week or two to sell the recovery. It's fun to watch a face have the odds stacked against them, face problems, but keep on going and fight. Yeah, it's been a complaint for a long time. I remember AJ Lee, Nikki Bella, Alexa and Charlotte getting the same complaints. ![](https://media.giphy.com/media/7xZAu81T70Uuc/giphy.gif)
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asuka007
Fry's dog Seymour
Posts: 21,413
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Post by asuka007 on Sept 20, 2022 0:26:09 GMT -5
They actually let her look freaking vulnerable at the end of the show tonight.
So that is a decent start.
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Post by HMARK Center on Sept 20, 2022 16:57:50 GMT -5
Doesn't help that they don't like booking female "blood feuds" with personal stakes. Would really help for when they're not gunning for a title. Feel like that's an issue in a lot of women's wrestling in the televised companies. I don't watch enough WWE to recall examples where they've tried that, but AEW had a good one in Shida vs. Serena Deeb, and Rosa vs. Britt in their big Lights Out match was before either was champ, but it's hard to think of even just a few others. Many of the rest in all the companies either revolve around the titles at stake or don't really go to that next level where you could imagine the women involved just wanting to tear one another apart, getting to a point where the belts don't feel like they're needed.
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Post by Clash, Never a Meter Maid on Sept 20, 2022 18:12:38 GMT -5
Her biggest issue is roster depth. If there were more rivals for Bianca being built up at a given time, like how Hogan had two or three major heels on his ass during a given period or Okada having multiple challengers lined up, she wouldn’t have any creeping sense of her just running over people.
This is part of why I wish we had a merged roster and unified titles. Liv Morgan is clearly not in Bianca’s power tier, why can’t she be a Women’s US champ? That’d make Bianca being on top more meaningful, Rousey winning a hypothetical US women’s belt would help build heat for Ronda/Bianca, lots of possibilities.
Just declare Bianca a world champ. Rather than just jobbing her a bunch, a simple statement like that could dramatically shift the women’s division dynamic.
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Post by sunnytaker on Sept 21, 2022 13:30:23 GMT -5
One of my biggest problems with online wrestling Fandom is the hatred that a face who wins all the time gets. Like... the face should win. Winning a lot is not the problem. ALWAYS winning, Always coming out on top of segments, and never facing any kind of adversity is. Hogan is the king of winning major feuds... but he ALWAYS faced adversity. Whether it be as big as Earthquake breaking his back, or his best friend Andre turning on him and the "How can Hogan beat the Undefeated and unslammable Andre?" If you just steam roll everyone it's boring. yeah the face should win... in the end. but they need to look vulnerable in some way leading up to that point to create doubts as to whether THIS is the one hill too high to climb for the face. though in hogan;s case he had the advantage of being able to vanish for weeks on end "selling his injury". nowadays it's like 'we can't have this person off screen for more than a week!?!? everyone might forget about them if we do!!!!" so whatever attack takes them out rarely has consequences for more than one week if they're not already back the following week. this has been the problem with bianca's run. i expect bayley to win the title (it is refreshing to see the tag team get the belts before the "leader" gets gold i have to say) and then let bianca and rhea feud next. their feud in nxt was pretty entertaining from what i recall
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Post by Clash, Never a Meter Maid on Sept 21, 2022 13:57:12 GMT -5
Unfortunately, if Bianca and the other top talent are going to be featured so prominently on television, then the times she looks vulnerable *do* need to stay rare. Right now I think she’s an alternative to the constantly-undercut “underdog” babyfaces that nearly always get clapped by the heels and fail to get over.
I know some fans bristle every time I mention this, but I think it’s true- wrestling fans, especially casual and lapsed fans, love winners. Baseball fans complain about the Cardinals and Yankees, but like it or not, they’re major draws because they’re consistently successful. Same reason Hogan, Goldberg, Tanahashi and Okada, Lesnar, Undertaker back in the day and Cena became such big needle movers. There’s an overlooked appeal in seeing someone you support being able to back up the hype and reliably get the job done.
Now I’m not stating that Bianca should never face adversity, she is in need of stronger rivals now. But I don’t think her current writing is that terrible, it’s not like she’s 1994-95 Hogan in WCW where he damn near ran the whole company.
WWE’s period of heel dominance is still too fresh for them to get too worried about LolBiancaWins for the time being (especially with Roman still on top, even though fans are supporting him now more than ever). It’s time for them to start building more babyface world beaters.
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