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Post by Finish Uncle Muffin’s Story on Sept 28, 2023 8:50:02 GMT -5
Knight vs Reigns at the Rumble is probably a given. I expect Knight to be on the losing team against team Roman at Survivor Series but with Cena getting pinned as he can't get his hand normally raised against Roman,. It won't hurt him, Knight's taste of the main event will lead to a U.S title pay-off at 'Mania and then they can build him slowly as a champion over the next year before setting up to feud with the consolation World title on RAW or something. He won't touch Roman again. Oh no, it absolutely will hurt him. The WWE does this all the time. They stumble onto somebody who gets white hot without any real help from the company itself, and since he doesn't fit into their long-term plans that they made years ago and absolutely refuse to deviate from, they give him a title shot on a secondary PPV, he loses, they claim "he looks good in defeat" (even thought he usually doesn't), and have no real plans to follow up on it. Then when the fans realize it's not leading to anything they lose interest, and when WWE finally gets around to doing something interesting with him again, nobody cares anymore and Vince or Triple H will just dismiss it by saying "well he just didn't have the 'it' factor" or something. They did it with Braun Strowman, they did it with Ryback, they did it with Dolph Ziggler, they did it with Zack Ryder, they tried to do it with Daniel Bryan, they will do it with LA Knight if given the chance. The smart thing for the WWE to do right now is throw whatever plans they had from now to WrestleMania into the crapper, have Cody win the title from Roman at Survivor Series ("finish telling the story"), drop it back to Roman at the Rumble, and have Knight win the Rumble and beat Roman for the belt at WrestleMania. Give Knight a feud with John Cena in the mean time. Anything else is wasting Knight and leaving money on the table. LA Knight's over, but he's not "let's throw out over a year's worth of story and suddenly pin Roman twice in two months" levels of over. Getting a match with Roman shows they trust him and it's his audition for a bigger stage. Even if he loses, the difference between Braun, Ryback, Dolph, Zack and LA Knight is that LA Knight is a legit merch mover (maybe Ryder was in that convo for a miunte). I also stand by Ryback being f***ing terrible and not worthy of his push. They'll keep him hot so long as he's not stirring shit up backstage.
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Post by BlackoutCreature on Sept 28, 2023 8:50:57 GMT -5
If that's the case then he shouldn't be having interactions with Heyman or the Bloodline or teasing a match with Roman. If he has a title match with Roman and loses, then the fans will lose interest in him and all the heat and momentum he has now will be flushed down the toilet. It's happened before, it will happen again. That part makes some sense but it depends on the followup really. He’s extremely over, much like Cody, and Cody was fine after losing to Roman because he was still pushed as a focal point. The story for Cody winning the title from Roman is no where near as compelling as it was leading into WrestleMania 39 now that he's lost his biggest attempt on the biggest show of the year where all the stars were lined up and needs to call a mulligan on it.
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Post by thechase on Sept 28, 2023 8:58:17 GMT -5
Knight vs Reigns at the Rumble is probably a given. I expect Knight to be on the losing team against team Roman at Survivor Series but with Cena getting pinned as he can't get his hand normally raised against Roman,. It won't hurt him, Knight's taste of the main event will lead to a U.S title pay-off at 'Mania and then they can build him slowly as a champion over the next year before setting up to feud with the consolation World title on RAW or something. He won't touch Roman again. Oh no, it absolutely will hurt him. The WWE does this all the time. They stumble onto somebody who gets white hot without any real help from the company itself, and since he doesn't fit into their long-term plans that they made years ago and absolutely refuse to deviate from, they give him a title shot on a secondary PPV, he loses, they claim "he looks good in defeat" (even thought he usually doesn't), and have no real plans to follow up on it. Then when the fans realize it's not leading to anything they lose interest, and when WWE finally gets around to doing something interesting with him again, nobody cares anymore and Vince or Triple H will just dismiss it by saying "well he just didn't have the 'it' factor" or something. They did it with Braun Strowman, they did it with Ryback, they did it with Dolph Ziggler, they did it with Zack Ryder, they tried to do it with Daniel Bryan, they will do it with LA Knight if given the chance.They did it to Cody, and he's still over. They did it with Sami and Kevin and they're still over (AND they got a pay-off to their Bloodline feud)
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Post by BlackoutCreature on Sept 28, 2023 9:00:06 GMT -5
Oh no, it absolutely will hurt him. The WWE does this all the time. They stumble onto somebody who gets white hot without any real help from the company itself, and since he doesn't fit into their long-term plans that they made years ago and absolutely refuse to deviate from, they give him a title shot on a secondary PPV, he loses, they claim "he looks good in defeat" (even thought he usually doesn't), and have no real plans to follow up on it. Then when the fans realize it's not leading to anything they lose interest, and when WWE finally gets around to doing something interesting with him again, nobody cares anymore and Vince or Triple H will just dismiss it by saying "well he just didn't have the 'it' factor" or something. They did it with Braun Strowman, they did it with Ryback, they did it with Dolph Ziggler, they did it with Zack Ryder, they tried to do it with Daniel Bryan, they will do it with LA Knight if given the chance. The smart thing for the WWE to do right now is throw whatever plans they had from now to WrestleMania into the crapper, have Cody win the title from Roman at Survivor Series ("finish telling the story"), drop it back to Roman at the Rumble, and have Knight win the Rumble and beat Roman for the belt at WrestleMania. Give Knight a feud with John Cena in the mean time. Anything else is wasting Knight and leaving money on the table. LA Knight's over, but he's not "let's throw out over a year's worth of story and suddenly pin Roman twice in two months" levels of over. I disagree. He's the guy who's hot, he's the guy who's over, he's the guy fans are begging to see. The WWE needs to stop putting stories together years in advance and strike while the iron is hot. That will get the most people talking and the most eyes on the shows. Getting a match with Roman shows they trust him and it's his audition for a bigger stage. Even if he loses, the difference between Braun, Ryback, Dolph, Zack and LA Knight is that LA Knight is a legit merch mover (maybe Ryder was in that convo for a miunte). I also stand by Ryback being f***ing terrible and not worthy of his push. They'll keep him hot so long as he's not stirring shit up backstage. Ah yes, the "but those guys weren't worthy of the push, LA Knight won't flame out like they will". They were all crazy over, they were all getting huge pops, and yes, they were all moving merchandise. They would've moved more too if they had gotten the big wins. By the way, I forget to add Bray Wyatt to that list of guys who were white hot, didn't get the triggered pulled on him when he should have, and then flamed out.
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Post by BlackoutCreature on Sept 28, 2023 9:02:42 GMT -5
Oh no, it absolutely will hurt him. The WWE does this all the time. They stumble onto somebody who gets white hot without any real help from the company itself, and since he doesn't fit into their long-term plans that they made years ago and absolutely refuse to deviate from, they give him a title shot on a secondary PPV, he loses, they claim "he looks good in defeat" (even thought he usually doesn't), and have no real plans to follow up on it. Then when the fans realize it's not leading to anything they lose interest, and when WWE finally gets around to doing something interesting with him again, nobody cares anymore and Vince or Triple H will just dismiss it by saying "well he just didn't have the 'it' factor" or something. They did it with Braun Strowman, they did it with Ryback, they did it with Dolph Ziggler, they did it with Zack Ryder, they tried to do it with Daniel Bryan, they will do it with LA Knight if given the chance.They did it to Cody, and he's still over. They did it with Sami and Kevin and they're still over (AND they got a pay-off to their Bloodline feud) Despite how much people on these boards might've wanted Sami or Kevin to go over Roman, the WWE was obviously not building to that with them, they were building to them re-uniting and beating The Usos for the tag title. And that's what happened, they had their big payoff to their storyline. As for Cody, as I already said he might still be getting pops, but his story is no where near as interesting now that it's about him calling a mulligan.
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Post by Finish Uncle Muffin’s Story on Sept 28, 2023 9:12:04 GMT -5
LA Knight's over, but he's not "let's throw out over a year's worth of story and suddenly pin Roman twice in two months" levels of over. I disagree. He's the guy who's hot, he's the guy who's over, he's the guy fans are begging to see. The WWE needs to stop putting stories together years in advance and strike while the iron is hot. That will get the most people talking and the most eyes on the shows. Getting a match with Roman shows they trust him and it's his audition for a bigger stage. Even if he loses, the difference between Braun, Ryback, Dolph, Zack and LA Knight is that LA Knight is a legit merch mover (maybe Ryder was in that convo for a miunte). I also stand by Ryback being f***ing terrible and not worthy of his push. They'll keep him hot so long as he's not stirring shit up backstage. Ah yes, the "but those guys weren't worthy of the push, LA Knight won't flame out like they will". They were all crazy over, they were all getting huge pops, and yes, they were all moving merchandise. They would've moved more too if they had gotten the big wins. By the way, I forget to add Bray Wyatt to that list of guys who were white hot, didn't get the triggered pulled on him when he should have, and then flamed out. Agree to disagree. I think you're respectfully underestimating Cody's popularity, but I hope they give LA Knight a moment, too. There's two titles, two shows that need lead babyfaces. They were offering refunds at house shows when LA Knight didn't show up, they know what they have with him. To be clear, I'm not arguing that WWE hasn't mishandled people in the past, and yes, maybe Ziggler and Wyatt in particular hit pretty bad speed bumps. I'm arguing that it's obvious they've got LA Knight on a different trajectory than any of the people you mentioned there.
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Post by BlackoutCreature on Sept 28, 2023 9:17:15 GMT -5
I disagree. He's the guy who's hot, he's the guy who's over, he's the guy fans are begging to see. The WWE needs to stop putting stories together years in advance and strike while the iron is hot. That will get the most people talking and the most eyes on the shows. Ah yes, the "but those guys weren't worthy of the push, LA Knight won't flame out like they will". They were all crazy over, they were all getting huge pops, and yes, they were all moving merchandise. They would've moved more too if they had gotten the big wins. By the way, I forget to add Bray Wyatt to that list of guys who were white hot, didn't get the triggered pulled on him when he should have, and then flamed out. Agree to disagree. I think you're respectfully underestimating Cody's popularity, but I hope they give LA Knight a moment, too. There's two titles, two shows that need lead babyfaces. They were offering refunds at house shows when LA Knight didn't show up, they know what they have with him. Maybe, maybe not. I guess we'll see. But I still say if they put Knight into a program with Roman and Knight doesn't win the title, then this time next year the fans will have forgotten all about LA Knight and wondering why they are wasting Trick Williams time with him.
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Post by Finish Uncle Muffin’s Story on Sept 28, 2023 9:22:26 GMT -5
Agree to disagree. I think you're respectfully underestimating Cody's popularity, but I hope they give LA Knight a moment, too. There's two titles, two shows that need lead babyfaces. They were offering refunds at house shows when LA Knight didn't show up, they know what they have with him. Maybe, maybe not. I guess we'll see. But I still say if they put Knight into a program with Roman and Knight doesn't win the title, then this time next year the fans will have forgotten all about LA Knight and wondering why they are wasting Trick Williams time with him. We'll see. I think one other thing worth calling out is that some of the guys that WWE fumbled weren't destroyed by losing one single match, it was years of mismanagement. I really don't think fans are going to immediately go "welp, LA Knight's a loser, let's move on."
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schizo
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Post by schizo on Sept 28, 2023 9:50:09 GMT -5
LA Knight's over, but he's not "let's throw out over a year's worth of story and suddenly pin Roman twice in two months" levels of over. I disagree. He's the guy who's hot, he's the guy who's over, he's the guy fans are begging to see. The WWE needs to stop putting stories together years in advance and strike while the iron is hot. That will get the most people talking and the most eyes on the shows. Getting a match with Roman shows they trust him and it's his audition for a bigger stage. Even if he loses, the difference between Braun, Ryback, Dolph, Zack and LA Knight is that LA Knight is a legit merch mover (maybe Ryder was in that convo for a miunte). I also stand by Ryback being f***ing terrible and not worthy of his push. They'll keep him hot so long as he's not stirring shit up backstage. Ah yes, the "but those guys weren't worthy of the push, LA Knight won't flame out like they will". They were all crazy over, they were all getting huge pops, and yes, they were all moving merchandise. They would've moved more too if they had gotten the big wins. By the way, I forget to add Bray Wyatt to that list of guys who were white hot, didn't get the triggered pulled on him when he should have, and then flamed out. Bray Wyatt absolutely did not flame out. He never did, dude was always white hot no matter what he was doing. Dude was over. And he did win the title and went to Wrestlemania as champion. So Bray doesn’t fit whatever point you’re trying to make
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Post by BlackoutCreature on Sept 28, 2023 10:14:42 GMT -5
I disagree. He's the guy who's hot, he's the guy who's over, he's the guy fans are begging to see. The WWE needs to stop putting stories together years in advance and strike while the iron is hot. That will get the most people talking and the most eyes on the shows. Ah yes, the "but those guys weren't worthy of the push, LA Knight won't flame out like they will". They were all crazy over, they were all getting huge pops, and yes, they were all moving merchandise. They would've moved more too if they had gotten the big wins. By the way, I forget to add Bray Wyatt to that list of guys who were white hot, didn't get the triggered pulled on him when he should have, and then flamed out. Bray Wyatt absolutely did not flame out. He never did, dude was always white hot no matter what he was doing. Dude was over. And he did win the title and went to Wrestlemania as champion. So Bray doesn’t fit whatever point you’re trying to make He managed to regain some heat at various times during his run, which is a testament to his abilities, but he was never as over and the time was never as right as it was during the peak of the Wyatt Family in like 2014-ish. But it couldn't happen because it would get in the way of Vince's obsession with building to Brock vs. Roman at WrestleMania, a match nobody really wanted or cared about. Any subsequent reigns he had were pointless and forgettable, unless you're really into watching him get beat by Randy Orton riding to the ring on the back of a sperm. This is my point, the WWE needs to start striking while the iron is hot, not watching someone get red hot and then putting a pin in it and trying to re-capture the magic a year or two later when it's more convenient for them. It doesn't work.
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Nosnorb
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Post by Nosnorb on Sept 28, 2023 10:58:06 GMT -5
If that's the case then he shouldn't be having interactions with Heyman or the Bloodline or teasing a match with Roman. If he has a title match with Roman and loses, then the fans will lose interest in him and all the heat and momentum he has now will be flushed down the toilet. It's happened before, it will happen again. That part makes some sense but it depends on the followup really. He’s extremely over, much like Cody, and Cody was fine after losing to Roman because he was still pushed as a focal point. He also rose out of the then newly created Realm of Bitchhalla like a Bald Eagle over the Rockies during a 4th of July sunrise by winning a feud with Beastie Boy. The follow up will be key, and with his peerless mic skills, LA Knight can easily stay over.
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Post by polarbearpete on Sept 28, 2023 11:10:12 GMT -5
Bray Wyatt absolutely did not flame out. He never did, dude was always white hot no matter what he was doing. Dude was over. And he did win the title and went to Wrestlemania as champion. So Bray doesn’t fit whatever point you’re trying to make He managed to regain some heat at various times during his run, which is a testament to his abilities, but he was never as over and the time was never as right as it was during the peak of the Wyatt Family in like 2014-ish. But it couldn't happen because it would get in the way of Vince's obsession with building to Brock vs. Roman at WrestleMania, a match nobody really wanted or cared about. Any subsequent reigns he had were pointless and forgettable, unless you're really into watching him get beat by Randy Orton riding to the ring on the back of a sperm. This is my point, the WWE needs to start striking while the iron is hot, not watching someone get red hot and then putting a pin in it and trying to re-capture the magic a year or two later when it's more convenient for them. It doesn't work. There’s levels to it, though. Putting a pin in Knight and letting him wallow in the midcard for a year or two would be bad. But having him lose a high profile match to Roman, but then still continue winning and staying near the top of the card afterwards can still work out fine for him in retaining his overness. You’re also comparing a Lesnar-Reigns feud that no one really wanted to badly see, to the Reigns-Cody story that fans as a whole most definitely still want to see. When Cena was getting red-hot in 2003/2004, he still lost to top dogs like Undertaker, Angle, Guerrero, Booker T before ultimately winning the world title from JBL (taking a backseat to Batista-HHH), and he still ended up carrying a brand and being pushed to the moon. We’ll see how they handle Knight.
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Bang Bang Bart
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Post by Bang Bang Bart on Sept 29, 2023 21:06:43 GMT -5
He managed to regain some heat at various times during his run, which is a testament to his abilities, but he was never as over and the time was never as right as it was during the peak of the Wyatt Family in like 2014-ish. But it couldn't happen because it would get in the way of Vince's obsession with building to Brock vs. Roman at WrestleMania, a match nobody really wanted or cared about. Any subsequent reigns he had were pointless and forgettable, unless you're really into watching him get beat by Randy Orton riding to the ring on the back of a sperm. This is my point, the WWE needs to start striking while the iron is hot, not watching someone get red hot and then putting a pin in it and trying to re-capture the magic a year or two later when it's more convenient for them. It doesn't work. There’s levels to it, though. Putting a pin in Knight and letting him wallow in the midcard for a year or two would be bad. But having him lose a high profile match to Roman, but then still continue winning and staying near the top of the card afterwards can still work out fine for him in retaining his overness. You’re also comparing a Lesnar-Reigns feud that no one really wanted to badly see, to the Reigns-Cody story that fans as a whole most definitely still want to see. When Cena was getting red-hot in 2003/2004, he still lost to top dogs like Undertaker, Angle, Guerrero, Booker T before ultimately winning the world title from JBL (taking a backseat to Batista-HHH), and he still ended up carrying a brand and being pushed to the moon. We’ll see how they handle Knight. Assuming Lashley wins the US Title as a heel, LA taking the belt off of him after the Bloodline excursion would be a good way to do it. Or even have Solo become US Champ and LA beats him for the title.
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BRV
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Post by BRV on Sept 29, 2023 22:16:30 GMT -5
It says a lot about how over LA Knight is that the ending of tonight’s SmackDown was as predictable as possible (given the reports from last week), yet the live fans still ate it up.
I’m not saying he should be the one to dethrone Roman Reigns. But he should get a title match at the Saudi show or Royal Rumble and he should be in line for a significant WrestleMania match.
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Post by ChitownKnight on Sept 29, 2023 22:29:03 GMT -5
The first Roman/Knight promo is going to be 🔥
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Bang Bang Bart
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Post by Bang Bang Bart on Sept 30, 2023 7:43:32 GMT -5
It says a lot about how over LA Knight is that the ending of tonight’s SmackDown was as predictable as possible (given the reports from last week), yet the live fans still ate it up. I’m not saying he should be the one to dethrone Roman Reigns. But he should get a title match at the Saudi show or Royal Rumble and he should be in line for a significant WrestleMania match. Best way to give him a big Mania match is a US Title match.
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Post by papagiorgio on Sept 30, 2023 7:47:05 GMT -5
He is definitely pretty over and will get a Roman feud soon. If he wants a continued push after that, he may want to re-sign his contract soon or he risks getting stuck back in the middle.
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Post by The Rick Jericho on Oct 7, 2023 21:09:04 GMT -5
Another big win in the tag match with Cena.
Over HUGE in Indiana.
On to the next.
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Post by daveyt on Oct 7, 2023 21:16:01 GMT -5
It really seemed as if they were presenting him as the most current hot babyface in wrestling today.
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Bang Bang Bart
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Post by Bang Bang Bart on Oct 7, 2023 21:16:04 GMT -5
Another big win in the tag match with Cena. Over HUGE in Indiana. On to the next. Will it be in Saudi next month?
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