Live SummerSlam Discussion Thread - August 23rd

[Dale]

And yet Undertaker still had all time classics.

Bray Wyatt has...?

 

[Hoss]

not at all, just that most fans disagree with his opinion for very good reasons.

it’s cool tho. that’s wwe.

Ok, but why does it matter? The guy has his own opinion on Bray, how does what most fans think make a difference? I mean, certainly if he had said something like "No one wants another Bray title run", I could understand, but he's only speaking for himself.

And I will go ahead and state that I agree with him. Though I feel I've made that pretty clear. I like the imagery Bray uses, I like the concept of the gimmick, I like the Firefly Fun House segments, but literally as soon as The Fiend enters the arena to wrestle or have a segment, it's straight downhill, and that certainly isn't an unpopular opinion either. Not only do I think he can't wrestle (btw he's not in Taker's league on his best day), but his character is a weird fit in today's era and the way they book him when he's not shooting some backstage shit is just weird. The segments where he cornered Rollins and then emerged from under the ring on Smackdown that same week flopped massively. When he got in the ring with Goldberg in Saudi Arabia, he looked like a complete non-threat across the ring from Bill. The segment that set up his match with Cena at Mania was also lame as hell. Not Bray's fault there, I should mention, but those are things that have taken some of the appeal away from the character. Ultimately for me to have any investment in the guy, he's going to have to be able to perform in the live arena, not just in pre-taped segments, or in front of a camera backstage somewhere.

Whether or not that's popular, I would hope you are able to understand that these are valid reasons for an individual to personally not be a fan of the guy.

 

[Chris]

There's plenty of Bray matches I enjoy, my favorite are with Bryan who obviously has a great track record with everyone and multi-man matches with the Wyatt Family where he wasn't doing a lot of work. That said, he also had some gems with Cena (ignoring the cage match), but yeah since he debuted as The Fiend the only match I've really enjoyed (not counting cinematic which I'm cool with him doing exclusively) is the Bryan one.

That said, I'm fine with him continuing to do what he's doing.

 

[Dale]

Card updated through last night

 

[Chris]

Nothing is just wowing me at the card which is a bit of a let down for a SummerSlam especially in the 2010s, but it all looks really solid af so far, expecting a fun show for the most part. Just think it might be forgettable in the long run.

 

[Cwalker]

Bray Wyatt has been on the main roster for 7 years and you can count the “good” matches he’s had on one hand. And 3 of them are with Bryan.

You can like him as a character but when that bell rings, he’s not good.

 

[Jimmy King]

I’m looking forward to Asuka and Banks again, I just hope there is no weird finish to it. Depending on whoever challenges Bayley, that might be good too.

I’m also kind interested in seeing how Dominick fares against Rollins.

 

[Dale]

Card updated.

Saw the results from SmackDown and while I like Asuka and Sasha, I really want them do away with this 2belts shit now, i'm so fucking over it.

 

[Pat]

lol randy’s face in that pic is ULTRA-douchebag lol

 

[Jimmy King]

I’m cool with this. Could be fun

 

[Cwalker]

Covers up Dominik’s greenness. It’ll definitely be fun. And it’ll be huge if he goes over a guy like Seth in his debut match.

 

[Ace]

Am i the only one who kinda likes the card?

Drew vs Randy is great and is tough to predict since both have been booked so strongly.

Fiend vs Braun feels like a Fiend win but could also signal the start of some super-monster-heel Braun push.

Mandy/Sonya is actually kind of intriguing although the real life shit that happened could make it feel a bit off.

The ASuka matches will both be great, and I can't see a bad match coming out of that tag team title match.

The Seth/Dominik match is easily my least favourite booking because you already know Dominik is winning, even if it probably won't be clean. I just don't buy into Dominik at all.

 

[Ace]

And yet Undertaker still had all time classics.

Bray Wyatt has...?

His all time classics were with HBK. So basically the equivalent of having a classic with D-Bry these days.

Beyond that it was really just the Mankind match and Kane, and he has also been wrestling for the WWE for 30 years.

Bray and the Undertaker are a good comparison. They're there for character work and psychology, not in-ring technical brilliance. Which is why they're perfect for WWE.

There's a reason you can't really compare Ricochet to D-Bry to Cena. They do different things, but the point is they do them well.

 

[Hoss]

Bray Wyatt has been on the main roster for 7 years and you can count the “good” matches he’s had on one hand. And 3 of them are with Bryan.

You can like him as a character but when that bell rings, he’s not good.

And I will say, you can be a fan of him regardless.

His all time classics were with HBK. So basically the equivalent of having a classic with D-Bry these days.

Beyond that it was really just the Mankind match and Kane, and he has also been wrestling for the WWE for 30 years.

Bray and the Undertaker are a good comparison. They're there for character work and psychology, not in-ring technical brilliance. Which is why they're perfect for WWE.

There's a reason you can't really compare Ricochet to D-Bry to Cena. They do different things, but the point is they do them well.

Whoa now, Taker has way more classics and bangers than what you're giving him here. Matches with Bret Hart, Triple H, Stone Cold, Kurt Angle, Batista, Edge, Punk, Brock Lesnar, Jeff Hardy, The Rock and Randy Orton. Honestly I don't think I'd put any Kane matches towards the top of his catalogue either for that matter, though. Now, Taker also has his duds, but those are mostly against trash workers like Giant Gonzales or occurred when he was way beyond his prime in the last few years.

Bray Wyatt is in what should be his prime and has nothing but a pair of Daniel Bryan matches to hang his hat on (which don't touch Taker's best imo) while he's been working against plenty of talented guys, such as Seth Rollins, Chris Jericho, John Cena, Finn Balor and Randy Orton. Not that all those guys are guaranteed to give you bangers but they are very competent guys.

In defense of Bray, the chicanery that comes with his characters is often a huge handicap in producing good in ring action and he doesn't wrestle super regularly, so I will give him that much.

But to me there is no comparison in how engaging Taker was in the ring to how meandering and tedious such a large portion of Bray's matches have been.

His character is interesting. I won't knock anyone for being a fan of him. But for me, he isn't fun to watch between the bells. When you have a strong character and entertainment skills, you don't have to be good in the ring, but for me (again) you have to at least not be bad.

 

[Hoss]

But as for the show...

Show looks pretty solid to me, honestly.

Orton vs. McIntyre has been a red hot rivalry, although I feel like the attack on HBK this week was just too obvious and repetitive, so I wish they would saved the Flair attack for the go-home show instead. The big question is how they will mesh as opponents, because there's some people Orton tears down the house with, but all too often, it feels like he doesn't have chemistry with his rivals.

Asuka taking on Banks and Bayley in the same night is an interesting situation, and honestly, I think it might have been their best route, because otherwise we woulda had Bayley once again defending her belt against a pretty random and uninteresting opponent. I think announcing Bayley and Banks defending their tag belts at Payback is some misdirection from WWE to make people think their relationship is going to survive SummerSlam, so I'm kind of expecting something big to happen with them at this show (quite likely Bayley losing her title, if not both of them losing their belts to Asuka).

Dominik vs. Seth is one I'm certainly on the fence about. I don't care too much for Dominik, largely because his look is vanilla and he's been thrust into such big spots without having ever wrestled. That might be somewhat unfair to him, because no one's gonna turn down that kind of opportunity, but needless to say he has a lot to prove here. I do think Rollins is pretty much the perfect guy to ensure his first match goes off without a hitch. Rollins has been probably more entertaining than ever in his current role, and being the company guy that he is, you know he'll go all out to make Dom look good in his debut. Both guys have proven a willingness to take a beating, so I hope for maximum brutality in their street fight.

MVP is one of the most entertaining acts in the company right now, but it's obvious that his best in ring days are a good decade or so behind him. Apollo isn't someone who inspires a ton of intrigue on his own either. But, despite low expectations for the match quality, I am enjoying the storyline, so I'm down to watch this match happen. I'm predicting Cedric Alexander costs Apollo and joins The Hurt Business.

Street Profits vs. Angel and Andrade is a pretty standard tag match. Neither team is just amazing, but both are solid and have great entertainment skills. Should be solid at worst.

Sonya vs. Mandy in hair vs. hair is actually an intriguing match. Their feud has been handled pretty much perfectly, with Sonya especially reaching a new level through all this (though kudos to Mandy on being a much more effective face than I anticipated). Anytime there's the likelihood of someone losing their hair, it's likely to be worth watching.

Braun vs. Bray is a match I'll watch and be blown away if it's any good.