WELCOME TO JOSHI ISLAND! PAVED IN MARIGOLD!

[Topher is Human]

They need to go full heartbreak on this.

This week Bayley said she will get the new 2 added to their next shirt

Have the 5 women in the ring, and have Bayley hype up the new Damage CTRL shirt. Say Dakota organised it all as a surprise, and Bayley hasn’t even seen it yet.

Unveil the shirt to show Asuka, Dakota, Iyo and Kairi. No Bayley.

“Why aren’t I on this?” By the time she realises what’s happening, all four surround her. (Or the three Joshi’s as Kai isn’t healed yet)

[clc]

Who wins War Games is overall meaningless.
Any member of Damage CTRL can take the pin and it will just be the normal course. They all have been doing nothing but jobbing to Bianca, Charlotte, and Becky for the past 2 years. Kairi hasn't, but Kairi's entire main roster run she was basically a jobber. No one in Damage CTRL has much credibility right now. They are all booked as weak. Even IYO, the champion, is booked as super weak. I don't think she has beaten anyone clean.
And, Damage CTRL winning doesn't mean all that much either. Shotzi or Becky can take the pin and it won't mean anything. Charlotte of Bianca are overall so protected that they can take the pin (they won't, but they can without any credibility loss).

War Games isn't a blow off match. Be nice if it was, but there are not enough women on the roster for that. What matters this War Games is what they are setting up as the follow-up. It's all about the micro-stories that they can tell within the match. They are already teasing that Damage CTRL is not all on the same page.

[papagiorgio]

I'm glad Kari is back. I would guess Damage Control will lose at SS, though. If not, Shotzi takes the loss.

[Deleted]

I really hope they stretch this out a bit longer because there is alot of mileagle left in Bayley forever being the awkward one out as the Joshi murder squad just stare holes through her just waiting for the moment they get to f***ing kill her.

It was such a great tease and the little touch of Dakota telling Bayley it is her job to officially welcome Asuka into the group was such a great under the radar telling of where Bayley is in the hierarchy here compared to where Bayley thinks she is as still the leader.

[ben:friendship frog]

Nov 17, 2023 23:39:03 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

Nov 13, 2023 0:45:40 GMT -5 EoE: Well There's Your Problem said:

Yeah, I’m interested in what babyface post-Hugger Bayley actually looks like. She can’t exactly go back full-tilt into that gimmick, but there’s elements of it that she can invoke at different points if she needs to. Just, having properly colourful gear again would suffice.

I imagine some of the aesthetic would come back, lbeit maybe not the side-pony.

If they want to really sell that she's a blend of new and old, though, have her wail on someone with a kendo stick to show she's moved past that hesitation.

I dunno, she's been growing her hair long again recently, and the side ponytail is such a great visual for an underdog babyface, it getting more disheveled as she's getting beaten up.

[4real]

Thinking either Bayley gets pinned or has the pin taken away from her by somebody else to keep her down in the pecking order. Becky showing up just to lose in this match feels unlikely though.

Man that segment was uncomfortable and I felt sorry for Bayley. She can keep insulting the fans but they all want their hugger back!

[mistery]

Nov 18, 2023 11:36:56 GMT -5 4real said:

Thinking either Bayley gets pinned or has the pin taken away from her by somebody else to keep her down in the pecking order. Becky showing up just to lose in this match feels unlikely though.

Man that segment was uncomfortable and I felt sorry for Bayley. She can keep insulting the fans but they all want their hugger back!

I think Becky showing up is just to add to the numbers. I feel like Shotzi being in the match is a huge red flag for the babyfaces losing, because WWE has been trying for several months now to get Shotzi over and literally no one cares about her in the audience. At this point, the stench of her being a jobber can't really be washed away.

You also have to remember that they are likely gonna drag out Bayley being kicked out for awhile longer still. Damage CTRL losing at War Games would completely murder their newfound momentum. Even if Bayley ate the pin. Because as it stands, the audience seems more interested in new Damage CTRL over any of the babyfaces they are facing, sans Becky maybe.

It's also worth factoring in that the faces are almost certainly going to have the advantage going in considering WWE.com is running a poll where the audience decides who has the advantage.

[schma]

It's interesting how they've set up the current situation with Bayley. When Damage Ctrl first landed, everyone just assumed Bayley was the leader and acted that way despite her loudly proclaiming that there was no leader in Damage Ctrl and that they were equals. Now however, she's claiming leadership when her claim to that title is more in question than ever. However, that could be played as Bayley claiming she wasn't the leader but knowing she really was because at the time she was the accomplished one, the multi-time champion vs the friends she had brought back from being released. She hasn't held a belt since returning but her stablemates had. First the tag belts and now Iyo with the world title. Hell even the super awkward promo had her concerned when Dakota made the comment about one of the people in the ring not being in the group. It's like a part of Bayley knows that things have shifted but she doesn't want to acknowledge it. That's what makes Dakota playing her work so well. Dakota undermines her while making it seem like she's supporting her and giving Bayley a chance to tell herself 'no, everything is fine, I'm totally the leader still'.

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

It is either Shotzi or Bayley taking the L. Bayley can take the L and it won't hurt the group as it would be the set up to kick her out of the group

[Deleted]

IF they have Dmg Cntrl lose then they better bounce back immediately even stronger because you cannot pair all the Joshi's together in one group and have them struggle to beat up even just 1 woman.

IMO they should be dominant through WM...this way you give enough time to book them very strongly but build up new challengers along the way and could bread crumb the inevitable dream triple threat between them down the line.

Hell Asuka seems to have already put that out there with her tweet.

[HIM]

About Shotzi, I'm not sure I agree with the idea that she's dead in the water. I can easily see a way for her to get pinned and still get over. Given it's a Wargames match, just have Shotzi take a lot of damage and look like a tank (pun intended) until she's finally put down to be pinned. This way she looks tough, this way the crowd gets behind her more and more and this way she's pinned but through that she looks better, I mean it took all of them to beat her, you can even have Shotzi be such a threat Dakota has to handcuff her to the ring or something, there's ways to do it. The other 3 women are already established so right now Shotzi's the one who needs the help. She'll be fine.

For the heels, Bayley being the one pinned makes the most sense. She takes the L, they keep looking at her awkwardly, like it makes the most sense. Shit, she can even play it off like it taking all of them to beat her as the others laugh but secretly are thinking "nah, we gotta get her outta here."

At the end of the day, this group is great and I really hope they extend this to post-WM. Have them go through the woes of the group until she's kicked out on the SD after WM by Dakota (who takes up the mantle as leader) and boom, we got it.

[gl83]

Nov 18, 2023 8:33:44 GMT -5 @sigmax said:

I really hope they stretch this out a bit longer because there is alot of mileagle left in Bayley forever being the awkward one out as the Joshi murder squad just stare holes through her just waiting for the moment they get to f***ing kill her.

It was such a great tease and the little touch of Dakota telling Bayley it is her job to officially welcome Asuka into the group was such a great under the radar telling of where Bayley is in the hierarchy here compared to where Bayley thinks she is as still the leader.

[Deleted]

Nov 18, 2023 17:43:15 GMT -5 gl83 said:

Nov 18, 2023 8:33:44 GMT -5 @sigmax said:

I really hope they stretch this out a bit longer because there is alot of mileagle left in Bayley forever being the awkward one out as the Joshi murder squad just stare holes through her just waiting for the moment they get to f***ing kill her.

It was such a great tease and the little touch of Dakota telling Bayley it is her job to officially welcome Asuka into the group was such a great under the radar telling of where Bayley is in the hierarchy here compared to where Bayley thinks she is as still the leader.

I love how different this feels because usually it is the leader who toys with their underlings


But here it is the underlings toying with their supposed leader that thinks she is still the leader with no clue with whats to come but also what makes this even better is that WWE could...in a sense make DAKOTA , IYO , ASUKA AND KAIRI the babyfaces...by stretching this out and making the crowd WANT to see them finally kill Bayley.

They would just have to hold out and ramp up how obnoxious Bayley is like 100 times more.

It seems nigh impossible to somehow have Bayley this out numbered but make the faction that beats her down come out as the babyfaces but it would be a hell of a way to turn this entire thing upside down.

[Bo Rida]

Damn Karai's heel look is different, barely recognise her. I like it.

[Deleted]

Nov 18, 2023 18:05:46 GMT -5 Bo Rida said:

Damn Karai's heel look is different, barely recognise her. I like it.

KAIRI is incapable of taking a bad photo.

[Deleted]

[Mozenrath]

Nov 18, 2023 15:55:15 GMT -5 Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) said:

It is either Shotzi or Bayley taking the L. Bayley can take the L and it won't hurt the group as it would be the set up to kick her out of the group

I am of two minds on it. Bayley can definitely take the L, especially if the idea would be to turn her face, and it could be after some kind of valiant effort. Or, you could do Shotzi losing by virtue of getting isolated after, again, a valiant effort. Either would probably be the ones who lose the least by losing, even if Shotzi also gains the most by winning if she does get to pin Bayley.

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

Nov 18, 2023 18:32:41 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

Nov 18, 2023 15:55:15 GMT -5 Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) said:

It is either Shotzi or Bayley taking the L. Bayley can take the L and it won't hurt the group as it would be the set up to kick her out of the group

I am of two minds on it. Bayley can definitely take the L, especially if the idea would be to turn her face, and it could be after some kind of valiant effort. Or, you could do Shotzi losing by virtue of getting isolated after, again, a valiant effort. Either would probably be the ones who lose the least by losing, even if Shotzi also gains the most by winning if she does get to pin Bayley.

Yea, really who wins or losses is pretty irrelevant. New Damage Ctrl has already showed their dominance and it would be pretty premature and asinine to say them taking an L is killing the group

I feel more strongly about JD winning then them. We know the story for this with Bayley getting kicked out. Drew turning heel needs that W as the losses is reason why he turned 

[mistery]

Nov 18, 2023 18:38:11 GMT -5 Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) said:

Nov 18, 2023 18:32:41 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

I am of two minds on it. Bayley can definitely take the L, especially if the idea would be to turn her face, and it could be after some kind of valiant effort. Or, you could do Shotzi losing by virtue of getting isolated after, again, a valiant effort. Either would probably be the ones who lose the least by losing, even if Shotzi also gains the most by winning if she does get to pin Bayley.

Yea, really who wins or losses is pretty irrelevant. New Damage Ctrl has already showed their dominance and it would be pretty premature and asinine to say them taking an L is killing the group

I feel more strongly about JD winning then them. We know the story for this with Bayley getting kicked out. Drew turning heel needs that W as the losses is reason why he turned 

Eh, I don't really agree with Damage CTRL showing its dominance already. If the babyfaces win, it cements Damage CTRL as firmly below them, and tells the fans to not get invested in them still. It also takes a lot of the air out of Kairi's return, losing her first major match back.

There is also the wildcard that WWE is trying to appeal towards Giulia right now, which is likely one of the big reasons why Asuka, Kairi, Dakota, and Iyo are all being pushed super hard. Them losing a major match as their first real thing together as a group would likely send mixed signals at best. Because it wouldn't be hard to connect the dots and say: "Hey you might be Japanese and you will get a push, but you won't be allowed to go over three of the top women on the roster in a major PLE match".

That's all putting aside the fact that I think its more likely the faces win in the JD match, if just for the fact that if they lose, Priest should logically cash in right then and there and get the gold as well. And I don't see the faces losing considering who is currently tapped to be on their team as the fifth member. So I think Damage CTRL wins for the women, and then Team Cody wins for the men.

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

Nov 18, 2023 19:09:15 GMT -5 mistery said:

Nov 18, 2023 18:38:11 GMT -5 Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) said:

Yea, really who wins or losses is pretty irrelevant. New Damage Ctrl has already showed their dominance and it would be pretty premature and asinine to say them taking an L is killing the group

I feel more strongly about JD winning then them. We know the story for this with Bayley getting kicked out. Drew turning heel needs that W as the losses is reason why he turned 

Eh, I don't really agree with Damage CTRL showing its dominance already. If the babyfaces win, it cements Damage CTRL as firmly below them, and tells the fans to not get invested in them still. It also takes a lot of the air out of Kairi's return, losing her first major match back.

There is also the wildcard that WWE is trying to appeal towards Giulia right now, which is likely one of the big reasons why Asuka, Kairi, Dakota, and Iyo are all being pushed super hard. Them losing a major match as their first real thing together as a group would likely send mixed signals at best. Because it wouldn't be hard to connect the dots and say: "Hey you might be Japanese and you will get a push, but you won't be allowed to go over three of the top women on the roster in a major PLE match".

That's all putting aside the fact that I think its more likely the faces win in the JD match, if just for the fact that if they lose, Priest should logically cash in right then and there and get the gold as well. And I don't see the faces losing considering who is currently tapped to be on their team as the fifth member. So I think Damage CTRL wins for the women, and then Team Cody wins for the men.

Or they are being pushed super hard cause HHH likes his Joshi women. Iyo in NXT was the strongest booked champion behind main roster Bianca and Becky and NXT Asuka.