BRM Reviews WWE Backlash 2017

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KILLdozer
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Re: BRM Reviews WWE Backlash 2017

Post by KILLdozer » May 24th, '17, 21:41

Nope. Ziggler has no promo ability. Corbin at least has been made to look like an unhinged maniac at times. ("I'm gonna kill this guy with a forklift!), And he's on the contrary actually been slowly built to where he's at over the better part of a year.
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Big Red Machine
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Re: BRM Reviews WWE Backlash 2017

Post by Big Red Machine » May 24th, '17, 21:45

Corbin has definitely been built up to the place he is pushed to on the card, but I agree that he does not yet have the ability, either in the ring or on the mic, to succeed in his position.
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Re: BRM Reviews WWE Backlash 2017

Post by Big Red Machine » May 24th, '17, 22:15

Dave Meltzer wrote: Shinsuke Nakamura pinned Dolph Ziggler in 15:49. The match was slower than expected with Ziggler on offense most of the way. Ziggler did a great dropkick. Nakamura used a triangle armbar. Nakamura sold the right shoulder most of the way. Nakamura used a lot of knees in his comeback and won after a reverse powerslam and the Kinshasa. **3/4


3. The Usos retained the tag titles over Tyler Breeze & Fandango in 9:16.... **½
The sad part is that I have no doubt that Dave would have given the exact same Dolph vs. Nakamura match two extra stars if it happened in New Japan.
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Re: BRM Reviews WWE Backlash 2017

Post by cero2k » May 25th, '17, 09:38

Big Red Machine wrote: May 24th, '17, 22:15
Dave Meltzer wrote: Shinsuke Nakamura pinned Dolph Ziggler in 15:49. The match was slower than expected with Ziggler on offense most of the way. Ziggler did a great dropkick. Nakamura used a triangle armbar. Nakamura sold the right shoulder most of the way. Nakamura used a lot of knees in his comeback and won after a reverse powerslam and the Kinshasa. **3/4


3. The Usos retained the tag titles over Tyler Breeze & Fandango in 9:16.... **½
The sad part is that I have no doubt that Dave would have given the exact same Dolph vs. Nakamura match two extra stars if it happened in New Japan.
well, in Japan they wouldn't have Nakamura jerking the curtain, nor selling 80% of the match. it wasn't a bad match IMO, but as Nakamura's debut, it was bullshit
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Re: BRM Reviews WWE Backlash 2017

Post by Big Red Machine » May 25th, '17, 10:26

cero2k wrote: May 25th, '17, 09:38
Big Red Machine wrote: May 24th, '17, 22:15
Dave Meltzer wrote: Shinsuke Nakamura pinned Dolph Ziggler in 15:49. The match was slower than expected with Ziggler on offense most of the way. Ziggler did a great dropkick. Nakamura used a triangle armbar. Nakamura sold the right shoulder most of the way. Nakamura used a lot of knees in his comeback and won after a reverse powerslam and the Kinshasa. **3/4


3. The Usos retained the tag titles over Tyler Breeze & Fandango in 9:16.... **½
The sad part is that I have no doubt that Dave would have given the exact same Dolph vs. Nakamura match two extra stars if it happened in New Japan.
well, in Japan they wouldn't have Nakamura jerking the curtain, nor selling 80% of the match. it wasn't a bad match IMO, but as Nakamura's debut, it was bullshit
Nakamura jerking the curtain here makes some sense thematically. They could have set it up better and explained it by doing a segment where Dolph insisted that Nakamura work the opener because he hasn't done anything in WWE yet and thus he doesn't deserve a higher spot on the card. Actually, with the way they set things up by having Dolph complain that the commercial was all about Nakamura, even though Nakamura hadn't wrestled on the main roster yet and didn't even have an opponent announced, I think it would have worked really well to have Dolph come out and demand that Nakamura's match be the opener because he hasn't done anything yet and then you could have Shane come out and agree to this but then say "and since you have such a problem with Nakamura, I think you would make a great first opponent for him." That way you would create a reason for the match to be the opener while also getting heat on Dolph for trying to bury Nakamura and also having Dolph get some comeuppance.

And, to be frank, what were their other options? The comedy match for the tag belts? Nope. Not a good way to start the show. Same with doing a count-out finish in a much-anticipated Owens vs. AJ US Title match. Crowd would have been dead for Harper vs. Rowan due to lack of build. Maybe you could have put the six-woman tag there, but it's not the best thing to stick the champ in an opener, even if she isn't defending her title. In fact, you could argue that sticking her in a tag match to open the show rather than defending her title makes the belt look even worse than putting the tag match on later because at least putting it on later allows it to feel a little more important; like there was a slightly better reason for not having her defend the title. I guess you could have theoretically put Corbin vs. Zayn in that spot (and even tried to use it to set a theme about a "a night of upsets" leading to Jinder's win, but if Nakamura's match isn't the opener then where do you put it because it can't be the main event because if you are trying to push Jinder as a real main eventer then his title win has to be the main event. Dolph vs. Nakamura was the match that would heat the crowd up right away, avoid burying any of your championships, and also did have some sort of theoretical reason for why it was the opener. I'm not saying that this couldn't have been done A LOT better; I'm just saying that I really didn't think it was some sort of horrible travesty, given the requirements of the card.

As for Nakamura selling for 80% of the match, SO WHAT?! I would much rather have him sell for 80% of a sixteen minute match than have him dominate Ziggler in eight because the match wouldn't have been as good- and you know that if they did that people would have complained that they had Nakamura vs. Ziggler and didn't give them enough time. Having him sell a lot and be in the traditional babyface role in the match helps to create a reason for people who haven't seen him in New Japan or NXT and aren't feeling the vibe to get behind him. He took a lot of punishment but bravely fought through it, then he came back on won clean against a former world champion. That's a perfectly good way to debut a bayface.
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Serujuunin
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Re: BRM Reviews WWE Backlash 2017

Post by Serujuunin » May 25th, '17, 18:56

Big Red Machine wrote: May 25th, '17, 10:26 As for Nakamura selling for 80% of the match, SO WHAT?! I would much rather have him sell for 80% of a sixteen minute match than have him dominate Ziggler in eight because the match wouldn't have been as good- and you know that if they did that people would have complained that they had Nakamura vs. Ziggler and didn't give them enough time. Having him sell a lot and be in the traditional babyface role in the match helps to create a reason for people who haven't seen him in New Japan or NXT and aren't feeling the vibe to get behind him. He took a lot of punishment but bravely fought through it, then he came back on won clean against a former world champion. That's a perfectly good way to debut a bayface.
I completely agree. My biggest fear as the show kicked off was "Oh, no, this match is not going to get the time it needs." I was happy it even went 10 minutes because I was expecting the worst, and for it to go like 4 or 5. And honestly, if they want Ziggler to have even a little bit of credibility coming out of a loss, they needed to make him look like he dominated most of the match- and they would need Ziggler to have something left if they want to job him out to new guys and make it actually matter.

I wish they had used the violin player live for this entrance and made it a big deal like they did for his Smackdown debut.
KILLdozer wrote: May 24th, '17, 21:41 Nope. Ziggler has no promo ability. Corbin at least has been made to look like an unhinged maniac at times. ("I'm gonna kill this guy with a forklift!), And he's on the contrary actually been slowly built to where he's at over the better part of a year.
I won't argue with your opinion, but I love him and it makes me sad the way he is currently used. I actually really like Corbin, except my aforementioned issues, he's one of the few reasons I watch Smackdown. He has been built slowly, which is good, but it's also been a lot of stop-and-start (from what I've seen anyway), and I think the push to suddenly main event Smackdown with Randy Orton is abrupt.

I will provide a disclaimer here though, because I write fiction in my spare time, I focus a bit harder on the story elements than some other people might, and I'm more heavily critical about those things. Character development is my biggest peeve in story telling because so many people either don't know or don't care about doing it properly.

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KILLdozer
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Re: BRM Reviews WWE Backlash 2017

Post by KILLdozer » May 25th, '17, 19:24

I mean yeah, I've seen him do stuff a few times, but my opinion of his promo stuff is either no charisma or he sounds like the guy from Friends. It's also just largely in part of due to the fact that I'm quite honestly and frankly just about sick and fed up with him. Failed pushes. Aborted pushes. Dyed hair. Reinventions. Dastardly, low down rotten heel turns. None of them which ever , ever, seem to do anything worthwhile or substantial. Enough already.

Figure it out or stop trying because at this point it's just the same old every time I see him.

I can completely understand with what you're saying though and I agree he could use a lot more in depth work as to who he is and why he does what he does, but this WWE 2017, where it's what they want and the hell with the fans, and it's usually halfway at that. I'm just waiting for Lucha Underground to come back on Netflix at the end of the month.

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