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I would first like to say that the match between AJ Styles and John Cena was awesome. I was in the lower level 3 rows back from the floor seats and I could not hear my friend next to me over the crowd for most of the match. I also have to give John Cena a lot of credit for stepping up from his usual matches. It seemed like the leg kick Styles landed in the opening legitimately hurt him. He also sold the frustration angle and that he had to use everything in the bag to win. With that said, why did WWE do this? AJ Styles is the future of the company and John Cena is quickly becoming the past. He will be taking more and more time off for other projects right after WrestleMania. Was this solely to get him tied with Ric Flair? If so, I cannot think of a more idiotic reason to have AJ lose. And unless they change the title in the Elimination Chamber or Randy Orton goes to Raw, AJ Styles is out of the marquee matches at WrestleMania.
I talked about this in-depth on my hotline yesterday. Vince McMahon likes to cater to the once a year fans that come back for WrestleMania. I think it’s shortsighted. AJ Styles has been the MVP of WWE over the last year. Plus, he got talked down to like a child by Cena on Smackdown last week and didn’t even respond. Then, he lost his Title. He deserved better. He should have retained and gone into Mania as the WWE Champion.
Counter-intuitive as it is, do you think that the NXT crowds actually hurt most wrestlers when they get promoted from NXT to the main roster? Tyler Breeze, Apollo Crews, Adam Rose, the Ascension - they all got HUGE reactions from the NXT fans before they were promoted. I wonder if Vince looks at the reactions that they got from the fans in Orlando - both because of how well they were booked in the first place, and because the crowd down there is pretty smart and supports good wrestlers, regardless of whether they're a face or a heel. Then, when he promotes them to the main roster, if they don't get a huge reaction right away like Owens, Balor or Zayn, he consigns them to midcard or worse.
I don’t blame the NXT phenomenon, I blame the way that they are used when they come up to the main roster. Some acts, like Rose’s, will play well for a smaller crowd but guys like Breeze and Crews? They were never given anything close to a chance.
With all the NXT talent in Texas, why waste a spot in the RR on Ellsworth? I know that it was pre-arranged that Orton was going to win, but that spot could have been good for any of the NXT talent.
I disagree. I talked on our shows over the weekend about how I don’t like talents debuting in the Rumble unless they are going to go a long way. I don’t think there is reason to put a guy just to have him there if there isn’t going to be an impact. I was fine with them using Ellsworth in a comedy spot.
What was your take on Roman Reigns entering The Rumble? The live crowd obviously hated, and as much as Dave likes Reigns and ribs on the people who boo him, surely its over kill? We just watched him for weeks beat up the Champion, get screwed out of the title finish and then he is put in the position as number 30 to go and try get ANOTHER shot the same night. Vince does him no favours at all. I believe a lot of the boo’s now are not against Roman’s ability but simply rejection to how hard he is pushed down peoples throats. Thoughts?
Sometimes I laugh at fans that are supposed to be smart because they miss the obvious. Some people said that they should have put AJ Styles in there. Oh yeah, that would have been great. Trot AJ out at number 30, only so he can get thrown out and lose to Randy Orton. That would have went over well! Instead, WWE did the smart thing. They counted on the boobirds to forget how hard Reigns worked earlier when he LOST the Title and lose their minds booing him when they thought he would win the Rumble. Then, when he got tossed, Orton got the pop that the company wanted because Reigns didn’t win. You guys were outsmarted by Vince!
Why doesn’t Vince listen to the fans when they boo Roman Reigns?
1) He doesn’t have to.
2) He isn’t marketing to them.
3) He knows that at this point they aren’t being fair.
4) He doesn’t trust them to boo Reigns if he turns him.
5) He hears that the fans he is marketing to are starting to take the boobirds and he likes what he hears.
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