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Question, am I the only one thinking Triple-H has positioned himself to headline the biggest Wrestlemania, attendance wise, of all-time, which would bolster HIS claim of being the defining WWE superstar of all-time? Even though WM is now an event, like the Super Bowl, where it doesn't matter who's in the game (on the card), it's going to do big numbers regardless. So am I reaching, or does my question have substance?
Every question has substance. Certainly, one can look at how the show is formatted and see he's going into it as the defending champion, so he will always be able to claim he headlined the biggest event in company history....UNLESS the results of tonight's Roadblock event change the planned main event for Wrestlemania 32. If it doesn't, he'll have the chance to make that claim, although we are long from the days of Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant having a story that legitimately moved tons of tickets. Most of the Wrestlemania tickets were sold based on the spectacle of being Wrestlemania.
As far as Triple H putting himself into the mix, remember that the initial plan was for Brock vs. Roman and Undertaker vs. John Cena to be the marquee bouts. Once John Cena and others went down, the company shuffled the deck with Lesnar and Reigns now in separate matches. If no one was hurt, HHH most likely wouldn't be in the main event position, although he's without a doubt be involved in something that received a good amount of TV time. He is main eventing Wrestlemania, but hasn't been in that position since Wrestlemania 22 in Chicago, when he lost to John Cena.
It's important to remember that it is Vince McMahon who makes the final call and you COULD point out that right now, Vince's son Shane, his son-in-law Triple H, his daughter Stephanie and Vince himself are all involved in marquee matches/stories for the biggest drawing show of all time for WWE. So, they certainly do get to have the bragging rights that come with it. Do I think that is a coincidence? I do not. It's good to be King.
I feel like this year's WrestleMania line-up (along with at least the last two years), is flat. Do you agree? If WrestleMania is supposed to be the stage for all rivalries to finally come to a conclusion, the match ups are hardly anything heated. Brie Bella Vs. Lana and Shane Vs. The Undertaker came out of nowhere. Brock Vs. Ambrose, Roman Vs. HHH seem to only exist because they have to due to injuries. The Diva's Three-Way is a natural and seems to be the only match that has a rivalry that has been brewing. And while AJ Styles and Jericho has kind of come out of nowhere, at least the seed was planted and there is some storyline for why they are fighting.
Of course it's flat vs. what it could have been. How many talents have gone down to injury and with those injuries, how many storylines and how many pieces of long-term planning went out the window with it? John Cena. Seth Rollins. Randy Orton. Those are THREE top tier pieces of talent out. If you want to include Daniel Bryan, who was always iffy about whether he would be cleared and Sting, out after his match with Seth Rollins, that's FIVE. WWE had to shuffle the deck. They still have a chance to put together a really great undercard and fill the show up with great wrestling matches and then have the spectacles of Hell in A Cell and Dean vs. Brock (and possibly Roman vs. HHH) on top but certainly, things would be a lot different if they had all their pieces on the chess board.
Hey guys, is it just me or do you feel the current ROH roster needs a shake up? I feel I've seen everybody wrestle everybody multiple times now and there a few fresh matches left. One of the things that made ROH great during its 'glory years' was the the biggest names on the indies all under one banner, why doesn't the current ROH target some of the biggest names currently available, whether previous full time ring of honor talent like Chris Hero or Colt Cabana? Or other huge stars like Sami Callan, Drew Gulak, Chuck Taylor, Ethan Page, AR Fox etc? Think of all the amazing fresh matches and storyline you would get!
You are forgetting one thing. During it's "Glory Years", there were far less shows and there were no contracts. There was also no TV show and no storylines week to week. ROH is a completely, completely different animal now. In the old days, it was similar to what Pro Wrestling Guerrilla is now. I don't think ROH is stale, it's just that they have their roster and they utilie it, the same way WWE and TNA does. Of the talents you mentioned, Sami Callihan just left WWE a few months ago. Page, Fox, Taylor, Gulak were/are under contract to WWNLive/EVOLVE for most of the last few years, so how could ROH book them? Cabana and ROH split working together years ago, although a return would mean a huge reaction. Hero is an interesting name and certainly could add depth to the shows, but if the two sides aren't going to commit to each other, it's just him popping up randomly. ROH isn't using guys that pop up randomly. They are using guys they've built as a roster, plus the New Japan talents which GREATLY freshen up things when they are on events. Rosters always need to be freshened up and the only way to do that is to introduce new regulars. They just started a bunch of new talents, most notably Lio Rush and Brian Fury, who look to be the start of that.
I'm not sure why Wade Barrett hasn't been wrestling (I believe I read that he's injured). But why doesn't the WWE at least make him the mouthpiece of the League of Nations. Or at the very least, have him do some talking, instead of being the only guy who doesn't have mic time. I think that not only makes him look like the weak link, but they are also not capitalizing on the group as a foursome. They have been pretty stale in my opinion and could have been a huge powerforce as a group.
There's no argument the League of Nations has completely underscored. As far as Barrett, he did have some nerve damage issues with his neck and he's only just been cleared. If you don't have a clear indication of whether someone will be able to go, it's hard to give them the ball to run with it. Hopefully, tonight's PPV is a new start for him.
I saw Jerry Lawler worked a match in Memphis last night. Can't WWE stop him?
Contractually, no. His announcing deal allows him to work dates. WWE has either chosen not to clear him medically or at least chosen not to utilize Lawler in the ring, but he has been cleared by his doctor to wrestle if he wants and at times, does on the independents.
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