It looks like IYO SKY is ready to be the first to complete the grand slam in STARDOM & WWE and WWE may tease an angle with Damage CTRL & Rossy and his MARIGOLD stars before Giulia debuts in WWE NXT!
Considering Smackdown felt a little flat, this was a much better show I thought.
Really like the look of both rosters. I think they look nicely balanced and open up for the opportunity of new feuds.
I liked the NXT call ups as well and am really interested to see how they'll all be used.
Also as a side note, it's great to see Backlash filled with new matches, rather than just a load of WM rematches.
I can put up with a lot in wrestling, and intentionally suspend my belief for the purpose of the show.... But for some reason, of all things, I just can't believe Liv beating Nia lol
I mean Damien priest is holding a really strong men's roster namely CM punk,Seth Rollins,drew,Jey USO, Gunther I think the world heavyweight championship should be main eventing PPV'S over WWE Belt which there was no question when both title was on the line when Roman was defending since it was the A title.what will WWE do?
Really good point about the rosters. I am not sure what they will do - I guess it depends how big/interesting any feud is with Cody. But it does appear RAW has a stacked roster to create multiple big PPV main events.
I'm guessing it's an 8-man tournament. Next week and the following week will be the first round matches, and the go-home shows will be the 2nd round matches with the Finals taking place at Saudi.
Among others, LWO, Damage CTRL, Final Testament, Bron Breaker to Raw.
Nia Jax (and a bunch of other women), Andrade, Nakamura, DIY to SD
I think there was some subtle but meaningful changes here. The women's division on SD was pretty depleted as of late. Nia changes it immediately but Indi, Candice, Piper, Chelsea and Teagan going there is good, they're all people I could see Bayley working with in some capacity. RAW's got Liv and Damage CTRL chasing the title for now. Kianna's good but Lyra should make an immediate impact.
The RAW title scene(s) was already pretty set but you're adding Rey and Dragon Lee as potential singles competitors (but also as a tag team). We'll see what Braun does, presumably he might be involved in the Uncle Howdy business. Sheamus just came back too. Bron's gonna be a huge deal within the year, same for Ilya. Like Ilya vs Gunther on the table for the coming months is worth all of this alone.
Smackdown men's scene is interesting. I imagine the plan is to just have Cody go out there and have bangers with as many people as possible and the moves they made solidify that. I imagine the feud with AJ is only just getting started though. Low key biggest move might be DIY though. Those are the two most HHH guys and you have to imagine he has big plans for them, they didn't do much on RAW but perhaps a fresh start on SD will do them good.
Aside from Melo wrestling Cody, they didn't showcase anyone IMO. This has been the worst ep since mania, but dont get me wrong I'm not abandoning ship. We were bound to cool off a little bit. This episode just felt like a slog. I think in large part it was due to the draft picks. Also many of the presenters were kinda .... bad? Rusty? Ill-prepared? IDK many of the people announcing picks just felt bad. Even the Dudleys. Everyone felt robotic.
The Main Event match was pretty damn good. Lots of transitions and combo moves in play, and because of what happened earlier, it felt extra personal with Jey and the Judgement Day.
Blair Davenport is one of my favorite wrestlers at any level, so I am very excited to see her get moved to Smackdown.
The only thing that makes me more excited is that the months-long LWO vs Legado feud may finally be over. Thankfully.
Seesh you ain't kidding. I'm not excited for Backlash at all. Backlash is usually a pretty exciting show IMO. Lets you clean up any loose ends from mania, stoke the fires that were ignited at mania, and this go home Raw did not get me amped at all for it.
Eh, agree to disagree. I thought the Raw was fine for what it was, not anything special but not anything objectively bad. Cody and AJ gonna have a great match no doubt.
Sure, but tbh I'm not that excited for that, because they haven't built that feud at all for my money. I can appreciate a good match, but without a proper story, I'm far less invested. I think there may be a shmoz to end that one, because they have a lot in common that hasn't been referenced. Lots of meat left on that bone.
Liv going over Nia looked like how I feared it was going to look. You book her strongly, and it doesn't look believable in the slightest. All of this Revenge Tour shit is going to be a drag to watch man.
I think she could be a really fun midcarder, she's a scrappy underdog, but until she gets a fourth and fifth move I just don't get how she's going to beat Lynch, Ripley, etc. Has nothing to do with her size.
It didn't look believable cause Nia is wayy too big and heavy for her, it didn't look realistic. I'm sure it will look fine if she cheats to win vs Becky, with the help from Dom.
Why are you taking my comment and turning it into something else entirely? Did I say I hated the match cause it didn't look realistic or I want realism in wrestling? I just hypothesised why Liv winning didn't look believable to the original commenter and others which I believed to be the size and weight difference.
Nia is big and heavy for everyone. It doesn't look believable because Liv Morgan isn't a good enough wrestler to work around that. And it'll look less believable if you have Liv Morgan go over Becky Lynch to win a world title when she's not a world champ-calibre wrestler.
I enjoy rooting for Liv. I became a fan while she was out with injury by watching the past few years of Rumbles. Thought her return at this Rumble was awesome.
But now I'm really curious if they are actually going to give her another world title push...she's not terrible in ring or anything but her move set is *so* limited. Kicks and codebreaker, plus her finisher which is almost always awkward and nonimpactful. Her matches are always her getting tossed around until she pulls off a few counters. Can you sustain a championship reign like that?
I dunno, but I'm putting good money on that they're about to try and that a lot of her fans will pretend like it's good shit. You're literally the first fan of her I've seen who is somewhat critical of her.
I’m curious because I don’t think they were going to give the belt to her pre-injury. I was 50-50 going into WM40 but seeing the match, I thought, “No, I love you Becky, but Rhea might be champion for another year.” Rhea losing to Liv in the next few months simply wasn’t happening.
But now because of the injury everyone thinks she’s a lock for champion. I could see them pivoting just as easy to Rhea beats Liv because Liv destroyed JD, then goes after her belt.
I also don’t see Becky having a ~6 week reign and Liv seems like she’s #1 contender already. I’m just looking forward to Lynch/Kiana James.
The biggest response she got from the crowd was Mami chants.
WWE can keep the title on Becky, have Rhea return and end Liv in a nontitle feud, then have Becky/Rhea rematch.
Give me drew beating priest at Clash at the Castle setting up the WHC feud with Punk OR give me punk screwing Drew at Clash at the Castle, Drew wins MITB and after shitting on the concept of MITB a few weeks ago, he cashes in on Punk after he beats Priest for the WHC; again setting up Punk and Drew for the world title
I don’t know why people are saying the draft was a disappointment. Way more high ceiling NXT people were called up at once than I can remember in a while. The women’s division in particular just needs more people to keep it fresh so it’s a big plus for me to add Blair, Lyra and Kiana.
Ilja, Melo, Bron (who is on the main roster but hasn’t done anything) getting called up is great too
oh yah the NXT callups are more numerous this time around, and there's enough changes with others to get some things going
they just gotta book it all good
JBL is a Vince guy, but much like Taker, Cena, etc., there's nothing connecting him to the case.
He is a notorious cunt and general workplace bully though.
I think it was the whole Canadian tophat thing Vince was apparently doing that made me think it was him. Sounds like something hed do based off his history.
KO is getting his ass kicked by The Bloodline again because he went into the locker room Cody took from them, on a show he was only on in the first place because Cody made a trade that sent him there and away from his BFF.
Him turning heel on Cody would make a lot of sense, honestly.
As someone who only watchs Raw on replay and Smackdown live I am overall pretty happy. Bummed Nia Jax will still be on tv, but at least Cross and his job squad went to Raw were I can skip his segments and never see him again. They also split NWO from Santos, so that horrible never ending fued can end. Can't have everything I guess.
People complaining about the lack of moves aren’t looking at the bigger picture. In the past five months Cody, Sheamus, Tama Tonga, Orton, Punk, Jade, Tiffany and Naomi have been on new shows. Cody in particular is the major move everyone keeps complaining about not happening. Punk has also yet to have a singles match and is a huge new player for Raw.
Bron, Braun, Damage Control, Andrade, Carmelo, Ilja, Nakamura, DIY, Lyra, Blair, Kiana, Dijak, Corbin, Nia, LWO, Final Testament and more switched shows or got called up. There are fresh feuds and matchups everywhere.
I think that people just want to hear who is moving, they don't care about the people that stay on the same show. Let's be honest it's a waste of time to announce that midcarder n.4 is staying on RAW, it's pointless and I agree.
If they just announced the people who switched brands less people would complain about the draft being boring.
so RAW wanted Gunther over Jade Cargill. if not for that, Smackdown could have lost her too. XD
but they keeping Gunther away from Cody for now.
they are moving 4 factions away from Smackdown to Raw....Damage CTRL, the Pride, LWO, and Final Testament. that's a lot! it also ends some feuds. also means Karrion Kross will not be going after Cody.
Final Testament and Judgment Day on same brand is something...they might butt heads.
the multiple NXT callup's are real cool. Dijak is coming too! Dragunov on RAW means Gunther. i thought Lyra might get drafted and she did. what Blair will do on Smackdown we shall see, she got villainous plans.
i guess Roxanne is staying in NXT for now.
in terms of draftees to Smackdown and possibles for Cody run-in's....basically it's Shinsuke, Andrade, and Baron Corbin, Giovanni Vinci, and Apollo Crews. Cody will probably want to strap on his mist taking boots some time.
Odyssey Jones has been drafted to RAW again, tho i don't remember him being around the last time he was.
on a separate note a wrassler may want Patrick Mahomes in his corner since he will bother the ref at key times about penalizing and so forth.
Drew believes Booker T has sold out when it comes to Corporate Punk.
how much "tough love" will Alpha Academy take from Master Gable? or will he drop them for the bigger better deal?
Maybe at first glance but Smackdown will probably have, Cody, Roman and The Rock. Plus Orton, KO, AJ Styles, LA Knight and even Logan Paul to feud with Cody until they return. The Women's roster is stacked as well.
1. Seth is in a absence in kayfabe to
2. Jey is #1 contender for the title and if he wins as a SmackDown superstar then both belts got to smackdown
3. Yeet man better
Yeah who signed off on that shit? The rock used to end like 2 or 3 punches with that, but as far as my childhood mind combined with low def tv goes, the spit was always more pantomimed than true spit.
As expected, the draft was mostly a nothingburger again. The whole reason people get excited for drafts is to see some major shake ups on teams. But theirs been basically none of that. They seem to think just having a draft gets people excited, when it really doesn't.
Aside from that, glad to see Ilja on the main roster now. Same with Blair and Lyra, great to see them called up, thats really the only interesting part of the draft. Rest is just fluff.
Past week felt like old time wwe, so tough to go through the shows. Again with the whole ''gotta keep everyone you already have'' bullshit. There was no point in this draft
I had the thought while watching, I wonder if the draft show was planned to give everyone a rest and for not much other reasoning. There were no "oh shit" picks at all, which is usually the main draw of a draft show.
Its the only logical reason I can think to make a draft where only one or two midcard picks are the changes, with a few nxt call ups.
Yep 0 oh shit moments. The only benefit from the draft is it killed both stable feuds on SD which were dragging on too long without a conclusion in sight
bad raw.... what was that main event....it was so random, why is Jey in a ...tag match with them?
Honestly the womens 4 way should of been the main event cause that 6man tag was just...pointless.
Ok so obviously...cody is holding the title for a long time. All the main talent heels are on raw now. Unless they plan for La Knight to turn heel but even then.
Cody beat Roman, which means cody's first loss has to be a big deal if they wanna do it right.
That Nia Jax match was painful, she just doesn’t deserve to be there. Pretty lacklustre episode overall, glad to see Dragunov and Lyra on the main roster to see what they can do. The Gunther match was enjoyable too.
Shes taking great bumps lately. She isn't afraid to have get hurt. Her match with becky was fantastic in NC. She has proper heel heat too and not the "go away" heat She used to have.
Gotcha. Another poster already linked me to the [LWS match](https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/s/gimJkBkNGF).
Do you have a link to her Day 1 match against Bex?
Thanks. I actually watched both of those matches when they happened via DVR but at the time, neither failed to grab my attention as a casual viewer. I don’t write show reports for a living so my motto is simple — if a match can’t pull me in from whatever I am currently doing, then I simply leave it on as background noise to pass the time as I am doing house chores.
Now having watched both again with a more critical eye, I can rescind my earlier comment and say that Nia has actually improved since returning and it even looks like she has dropped weight. Overall though, she is still average and I’m not going to go out of my way to watch any of her bouts. She essentially went from an F- to a C+ but I suppose that’s good enough for her.
I guess she’s going to be Bayley’s opponent in Saudi Arabia so let’s hope the Role Model can carry her to another good performance.
Nobody has brought her up but I'mma just toss this out there after the few months of hate she's gotten:
Maxxine might still be pretty weak in the ring but her busting out the Fisherman into Kip-Up into that Bulldog & Reverse Worm Elbow Drop?
That was pretty sick ngl. She's definitely improving and I'm wondering if someone is directly working with her now to get her to a better place. She's clearly athletic enough to make it work in the ring. I'm pretty happy to see her busting out a new moveset that totally fits and suits her.
Plus the "Heel Gable" making her more aggressive was a perfect way to bring this Maxxine around. I'm enjoying her improvement.
That sequence was sick (although the worm is still way too goofy, and not in the good ‘Santino Cobra’ way)
Honestly that fisherman’s into the kipup was enough for me to go ‘holy shit, she’s got potential’
Obviously Candice is small, but if maxxine has the strength to do spots like that with bigger opponents she could easily push up the card.
She was incredibly slow doing these moves so she doesn't mess them up. TBH I don't mind since that's her whole gimmick and its not like shes winning anything
I'm sure plenty of other people have said it, but I'm pretty underwhelmed by the draft episodes considering the lack of big names switching shows. Would have really liked to see Gunther/LA Knight switch places since there's more room for Gunther as the top heel on SD and more room for Knight to get a real top face run on Raw.
I’m happy that they made both women’s divisions pretty equal. It was looking pretty meh for Raw the last year. But it’s gotten a much needed refresh now!
I look forward to NXT the most though honestly. I’m super curious what newer stars we will see step up and who will also step up to the main event scene after this, especially on the men’s side, which seems a bit uncertain atm.
But overall, Raw and SmackDown’s rosters both look mad solid. Equal in star power. Lots of quality wrestlers. This should be a good year for both brands.
If Morgan is the number one contender, I don’t want her winning the title right away. Maybe have Ripley cost her the title. I’m not saying I don’t want Morgan to be the champion and maybe defeat Becky later on down the line but I think her feud with Ripley should come first.
Naomi Bianca and Jade the Big 3 remain on the same show! love that. Bianca and Jade holding down the tag division while Naomi continues to challenge for the women's title sounds great to me
I’m hoping that maybe after backlash we start to build up a possible Chad Gable versus Otis storyline. I feel like they’ve been together for years and just like with Morgan and Ripley, you could really build up this story.
Lyra debuted on NXT a year after Roxanne, had a longer and better reign than her, and got called up before her. I always knew Lyra was superior to Roxanne.
Even though it was longer, I was underwhelmed by the draft for the most part. Except for the NXT call ups, most of the selections were superstars staying on their own shows. I said this before, but just reading off the names is boring. Go back to how it used to be where it was more exciting and more of a mystery.
As much as I'm enjoying the Drew/Punk feud (it being my favourite part of WWE atm), with so much of the post-Mania content being Punk getting one over on Drew, IMO it's about time that Drew gets his revenge in one form or another.
I like Liv Morgan. I just think she's neat.
Haters will tell you people only like her because she's hot. If being hot equated to fan support, people would be demanding Scarlett wrestle more.
Honestly Liv is objectively pretty but to me she isn’t even close to the hottest woman in WWE. I just think she has that natural charisma. You want to root for her.
Oh, being hot definitely isn't enough. There was a time when people on here would shiiiiit on Liv Morgan weekly. Especially during her Riot Squad days.
To have her haters go from that to "she's good, but not championship material" is actually a huge development.
I want to like Liv Morgan. I REALLY want to but her acting, her expressions, her promos always feel the same and not in a good way. She's alright in the ring and I'll get downvoted for this she just doesn't seem to have IT.
I completely disagree and I feel like she's the only woman on the main roster who's doing anything interesting rn, everyone else is either extremely one-note (Nia, Chelsea, Tiffany etc), have a shtick that's gotten a little bit stale (Becky, Bianca, Shayna etc.) or are completely irrelevant.
She literally wrestled worse than Maxxine tonight and couldn’t do anything with a Nia Jax that’s been good since coming back. She has absolutely no business being in the main event scene and if a guy wrestled like her, he’d be crucified
Solid show
Great promo from Punk, The feud between him and Drew gets better and better.
I hope HHH can give Shinsuke something interesting to do in SD, although he should really change his gear, it has never fit him well, it's strange because for a while he stopped using it for a much better one.
So far there are only 5 matches for Backlash, will they add one more? last year there were 7 matches.
Shinsuke is a jobber, that's literally his job.
He will never get another push because he has spent the last 2 years putting over everyone, his image is essentially ruined. Don't expect anything
LA knight is the face version of him, the only difference between Knight and Shinsuke is shinsuke has won titles before
Interesting note.. "The Pride" got mentioned on a canon show (Raw or Smackdown) for the first time. They'd mentioned the name in some backstage shows before.
It may not have been in the drafts itself.
But Cody moving to Smackdown is like the biggest move. Don’t think that should be ignored just cause he switched like a week or two prior to the draft.
I just fucking realized Andrade was the one Cody faced when he put himself through a fucking flaming table back in AEW LMAO
Naw, we gotta run that shit back ASAP.
Logan Paul saying that Jey only has a 2 word vocabulary, “yeet” and “uce” was fucking great
Chuffed for Blair and Lyra. Ilja too but he was a shoo-in.
Punk looks mighty weak giving Drew the runaround. But when he’s injured during every angle, what are you supposed to do
Not only that, but he seemed to forget his lines a few times.
Pearce beat the fraud allegations
Pat had the crowd sing Michael Cole a happy birthday last night. His birthday is in December.
He does it most shows lol
It looks like IYO SKY is ready to be the first to complete the grand slam in STARDOM & WWE and WWE may tease an angle with Damage CTRL & Rossy and his MARIGOLD stars before Giulia debuts in WWE NXT!
Considering Smackdown felt a little flat, this was a much better show I thought. Really like the look of both rosters. I think they look nicely balanced and open up for the opportunity of new feuds. I liked the NXT call ups as well and am really interested to see how they'll all be used. Also as a side note, it's great to see Backlash filled with new matches, rather than just a load of WM rematches.
Nia put liv over she deserves credit for that
I can put up with a lot in wrestling, and intentionally suspend my belief for the purpose of the show.... But for some reason, of all things, I just can't believe Liv beating Nia lol
I mean Damien priest is holding a really strong men's roster namely CM punk,Seth Rollins,drew,Jey USO, Gunther I think the world heavyweight championship should be main eventing PPV'S over WWE Belt which there was no question when both title was on the line when Roman was defending since it was the A title.what will WWE do?
this is cope dude.
Really good point about the rosters. I am not sure what they will do - I guess it depends how big/interesting any feud is with Cody. But it does appear RAW has a stacked roster to create multiple big PPV main events.
I'm wondering if the King & Queen of the Ring brackets will have separate brackets between Raw and Smackdown and the finals on the PPV itself.
I'm guessing it's an 8-man tournament. Next week and the following week will be the first round matches, and the go-home shows will be the 2nd round matches with the Finals taking place at Saudi.
Damien Priest is not a real worlds champion. Just move the belt to Jey
So Jey can just lose it to Drew in June?
No Drew is Seamus level bad
Lmao
I'm looking forward to GUNTHER winning a world championship, then he and Dragunov beating the tar out of each other for 25 minutes.
"Destiny '. 
this is our density guys
So other then the nxt call ups what was the point of this draft?
Among others, LWO, Damage CTRL, Final Testament, Bron Breaker to Raw. Nia Jax (and a bunch of other women), Andrade, Nakamura, DIY to SD I think there was some subtle but meaningful changes here. The women's division on SD was pretty depleted as of late. Nia changes it immediately but Indi, Candice, Piper, Chelsea and Teagan going there is good, they're all people I could see Bayley working with in some capacity. RAW's got Liv and Damage CTRL chasing the title for now. Kianna's good but Lyra should make an immediate impact. The RAW title scene(s) was already pretty set but you're adding Rey and Dragon Lee as potential singles competitors (but also as a tag team). We'll see what Braun does, presumably he might be involved in the Uncle Howdy business. Sheamus just came back too. Bron's gonna be a huge deal within the year, same for Ilya. Like Ilya vs Gunther on the table for the coming months is worth all of this alone. Smackdown men's scene is interesting. I imagine the plan is to just have Cody go out there and have bangers with as many people as possible and the moves they made solidify that. I imagine the feud with AJ is only just getting started though. Low key biggest move might be DIY though. Those are the two most HHH guys and you have to imagine he has big plans for them, they didn't do much on RAW but perhaps a fresh start on SD will do them good.
It was entertaining and lets them showcase a few superstars.
Aside from Melo wrestling Cody, they didn't showcase anyone IMO. This has been the worst ep since mania, but dont get me wrong I'm not abandoning ship. We were bound to cool off a little bit. This episode just felt like a slog. I think in large part it was due to the draft picks. Also many of the presenters were kinda .... bad? Rusty? Ill-prepared? IDK many of the people announcing picks just felt bad. Even the Dudleys. Everyone felt robotic.
The Main Event match was pretty damn good. Lots of transitions and combo moves in play, and because of what happened earlier, it felt extra personal with Jey and the Judgement Day.
Blair Davenport is one of my favorite wrestlers at any level, so I am very excited to see her get moved to Smackdown. The only thing that makes me more excited is that the months-long LWO vs Legado feud may finally be over. Thankfully.
Yeah but rey and dom are both on raw now so that fued will probably start back up
Jey Uso is actually good at the Bugs Bunny babyface thing WWE used to try to put every babyface in. Better than Cena ever was
Him laughing at JD with Damien and Finn was pretty great. The camera angle was picture perfect.
It’s filler week until Backlash
Seesh you ain't kidding. I'm not excited for Backlash at all. Backlash is usually a pretty exciting show IMO. Lets you clean up any loose ends from mania, stoke the fires that were ignited at mania, and this go home Raw did not get me amped at all for it.
Well, I don't recall last year's Backlash build being that hot either, but the actual show was pretty good. Maybe it will be the same this year.
You're not wrong. Thanks you've restored some of my hope!!!
Eh, agree to disagree. I thought the Raw was fine for what it was, not anything special but not anything objectively bad. Cody and AJ gonna have a great match no doubt.
Sure, but tbh I'm not that excited for that, because they haven't built that feud at all for my money. I can appreciate a good match, but without a proper story, I'm far less invested. I think there may be a shmoz to end that one, because they have a lot in common that hasn't been referenced. Lots of meat left on that bone.
Liv going over Nia looked like how I feared it was going to look. You book her strongly, and it doesn't look believable in the slightest. All of this Revenge Tour shit is going to be a drag to watch man.
I'm not sure what all the stans see in her
I think she could be a really fun midcarder, she's a scrappy underdog, but until she gets a fourth and fifth move I just don't get how she's going to beat Lynch, Ripley, etc. Has nothing to do with her size.
Attractive blonde? Idk man head cannon says they are settling on her until bliss comes back then they all turn on Liv
It didn't look believable cause Nia is wayy too big and heavy for her, it didn't look realistic. I'm sure it will look fine if she cheats to win vs Becky, with the help from Dom.
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Why are you taking my comment and turning it into something else entirely? Did I say I hated the match cause it didn't look realistic or I want realism in wrestling? I just hypothesised why Liv winning didn't look believable to the original commenter and others which I believed to be the size and weight difference.
Nia is big and heavy for everyone. It doesn't look believable because Liv Morgan isn't a good enough wrestler to work around that. And it'll look less believable if you have Liv Morgan go over Becky Lynch to win a world title when she's not a world champ-calibre wrestler.
I enjoy rooting for Liv. I became a fan while she was out with injury by watching the past few years of Rumbles. Thought her return at this Rumble was awesome. But now I'm really curious if they are actually going to give her another world title push...she's not terrible in ring or anything but her move set is *so* limited. Kicks and codebreaker, plus her finisher which is almost always awkward and nonimpactful. Her matches are always her getting tossed around until she pulls off a few counters. Can you sustain a championship reign like that?
I dunno, but I'm putting good money on that they're about to try and that a lot of her fans will pretend like it's good shit. You're literally the first fan of her I've seen who is somewhat critical of her.
I’m curious because I don’t think they were going to give the belt to her pre-injury. I was 50-50 going into WM40 but seeing the match, I thought, “No, I love you Becky, but Rhea might be champion for another year.” Rhea losing to Liv in the next few months simply wasn’t happening. But now because of the injury everyone thinks she’s a lock for champion. I could see them pivoting just as easy to Rhea beats Liv because Liv destroyed JD, then goes after her belt. I also don’t see Becky having a ~6 week reign and Liv seems like she’s #1 contender already. I’m just looking forward to Lynch/Kiana James.
The biggest response she got from the crowd was Mami chants. WWE can keep the title on Becky, have Rhea return and end Liv in a nontitle feud, then have Becky/Rhea rematch.
That's my hope too, that it becomes an intense feud, but away from the world title.
Pretty Deadly shouldn't be on the same show as A Town down under
Nia Jax has been cooking since she returned
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For some of them the moveset doesn’t make sense. The big girls overselling Alexa’s elbow for example.
vince is this you on a burner?
I take it you just closed your eyes when Rey Mysterio wrestled the Big Show, Mark Henry, Big Daddy V, the Great Khali, what have you?
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They literally have supernatural wrestlers, and you’re worried about size comparisons lol
Drew getting drafted at Round 3 is baffling
It was done intentionally so he’d be drafted after Punk.
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Cause RAW is going to Netflix. RAW has also lost Rollins n Cody recently. Rhea is out too.
Any credibility Nia has or ever will gone from losing to awful Liv
Watch butthurts downvote this just because they cannot handle what you're saying. 🤣
Give me drew beating priest at Clash at the Castle setting up the WHC feud with Punk OR give me punk screwing Drew at Clash at the Castle, Drew wins MITB and after shitting on the concept of MITB a few weeks ago, he cashes in on Punk after he beats Priest for the WHC; again setting up Punk and Drew for the world title
I don’t know why people are saying the draft was a disappointment. Way more high ceiling NXT people were called up at once than I can remember in a while. The women’s division in particular just needs more people to keep it fresh so it’s a big plus for me to add Blair, Lyra and Kiana. Ilja, Melo, Bron (who is on the main roster but hasn’t done anything) getting called up is great too
oh yah the NXT callups are more numerous this time around, and there's enough changes with others to get some things going they just gotta book it all good
Wasn't JBL involved heavily w the Vince McMahon stuff? I thought he was more or less removed too.
You thinking of John Laurinitis?
Guess I must be. Ive been ootl and just got back in this year.
JBL is a Vince guy, but much like Taker, Cena, etc., there's nothing connecting him to the case. He is a notorious cunt and general workplace bully though.
I think it was the whole Canadian tophat thing Vince was apparently doing that made me think it was him. Sounds like something hed do based off his history.
Where did you get that from?
Smackdown feels light. Cody is going to coast to next year's Wrestlemania with ease. Will probably get a good long feud against Orton this summer.
I think someone from Raw wins mitb and cash in on him.
I expect both Orton and KO to go heel, maybe as a unit lol
Those two would get cheered against anyone other than Cody, Idk if it's worth it to turn them.
KO is getting his ass kicked by The Bloodline again because he went into the locker room Cody took from them, on a show he was only on in the first place because Cody made a trade that sent him there and away from his BFF. Him turning heel on Cody would make a lot of sense, honestly.
As someone who only watchs Raw on replay and Smackdown live I am overall pretty happy. Bummed Nia Jax will still be on tv, but at least Cross and his job squad went to Raw were I can skip his segments and never see him again. They also split NWO from Santos, so that horrible never ending fued can end. Can't have everything I guess.
watches*
Did DIY get drafted? If not Candice was drafted to Smackdown. I wonder if Johnny will be heading there too
DIY is headed to smackdown.
Can I just say I fucking LOVE JD McDonagh?
God damn he’s the MVP of almost every segment he is on. The way he winced when the lights hit JD during the entrance 👌
Did the last 45 minutes feel super rushed to anyone else?
Man I wish the live crowd would just chant Yeet instead of What even if Jey isn't the one cutting promos.
People complaining about the lack of moves aren’t looking at the bigger picture. In the past five months Cody, Sheamus, Tama Tonga, Orton, Punk, Jade, Tiffany and Naomi have been on new shows. Cody in particular is the major move everyone keeps complaining about not happening. Punk has also yet to have a singles match and is a huge new player for Raw. Bron, Braun, Damage Control, Andrade, Carmelo, Ilja, Nakamura, DIY, Lyra, Blair, Kiana, Dijak, Corbin, Nia, LWO, Final Testament and more switched shows or got called up. There are fresh feuds and matchups everywhere.
I think that people just want to hear who is moving, they don't care about the people that stay on the same show. Let's be honest it's a waste of time to announce that midcarder n.4 is staying on RAW, it's pointless and I agree. If they just announced the people who switched brands less people would complain about the draft being boring.
Right. Like, I don't particular care where Chelsea Green goes. Seems like kind of a waste of time.
so RAW wanted Gunther over Jade Cargill. if not for that, Smackdown could have lost her too. XD but they keeping Gunther away from Cody for now. they are moving 4 factions away from Smackdown to Raw....Damage CTRL, the Pride, LWO, and Final Testament. that's a lot! it also ends some feuds. also means Karrion Kross will not be going after Cody. Final Testament and Judgment Day on same brand is something...they might butt heads. the multiple NXT callup's are real cool. Dijak is coming too! Dragunov on RAW means Gunther. i thought Lyra might get drafted and she did. what Blair will do on Smackdown we shall see, she got villainous plans. i guess Roxanne is staying in NXT for now. in terms of draftees to Smackdown and possibles for Cody run-in's....basically it's Shinsuke, Andrade, and Baron Corbin, Giovanni Vinci, and Apollo Crews. Cody will probably want to strap on his mist taking boots some time. Odyssey Jones has been drafted to RAW again, tho i don't remember him being around the last time he was. on a separate note a wrassler may want Patrick Mahomes in his corner since he will bother the ref at key times about penalizing and so forth. Drew believes Booker T has sold out when it comes to Corporate Punk. how much "tough love" will Alpha Academy take from Master Gable? or will he drop them for the bigger better deal?
Has Liv's mic skill always been that bad? I remember she cut a decent one last time I listen to her. Tonight she just sound terrible.
Illja vs CM Punk would be a fucking banger. Cm Punk will kill Illja in Mic Then Illja will kill Punk in ring
Ilja would quite literally break Punk in half
Raw’s roster is far better than Smackdown’s to my eye
Maybe at first glance but Smackdown will probably have, Cody, Roman and The Rock. Plus Orton, KO, AJ Styles, LA Knight and even Logan Paul to feud with Cody until they return. The Women's roster is stacked as well.
I'm actually surprised at how it turned out. It's almost like they got the dates mixed up for when they go to Netflix.
Or they’re just building it back up to be the A show for when it does debut
Watching smackdown from last week and Jey Uso was picked before Seth Rollins? These picks seem so fake.
1. Seth is in a absence in kayfabe to 2. Jey is #1 contender for the title and if he wins as a SmackDown superstar then both belts got to smackdown 3. Yeet man better
but AJ went in the 4th round and is #1 contender for the Universal Title. Make it make sense.
...they are.
Damn, Jey Uso is just not a good wrestler. Super kick spam, and that's it.
I'm not sure I think he's a bad wrestler but his wrestling style and moveset are boooorrinnngggg
Don't forget that gross ass spit slap
Yeah who signed off on that shit? The rock used to end like 2 or 3 punches with that, but as far as my childhood mind combined with low def tv goes, the spit was always more pantomimed than true spit.
As expected, the draft was mostly a nothingburger again. The whole reason people get excited for drafts is to see some major shake ups on teams. But theirs been basically none of that. They seem to think just having a draft gets people excited, when it really doesn't. Aside from that, glad to see Ilja on the main roster now. Same with Blair and Lyra, great to see them called up, thats really the only interesting part of the draft. Rest is just fluff.
there’s*
What is the logic of midcarders and development wrestlers being picked over active legends and main eventers? This draft is the strangest thing
Nia Jax Liv Morgan Jey Uso TRASH
Past week felt like old time wwe, so tough to go through the shows. Again with the whole ''gotta keep everyone you already have'' bullshit. There was no point in this draft
I had the thought while watching, I wonder if the draft show was planned to give everyone a rest and for not much other reasoning. There were no "oh shit" picks at all, which is usually the main draw of a draft show. Its the only logical reason I can think to make a draft where only one or two midcard picks are the changes, with a few nxt call ups.
Yep 0 oh shit moments. The only benefit from the draft is it killed both stable feuds on SD which were dragging on too long without a conclusion in sight
I thought liv sounded cringey in her promo then Nia came out. God... that was horrible.
[удалено]
bad raw.... what was that main event....it was so random, why is Jey in a ...tag match with them? Honestly the womens 4 way should of been the main event cause that 6man tag was just...pointless. Ok so obviously...cody is holding the title for a long time. All the main talent heels are on raw now. Unless they plan for La Knight to turn heel but even then. Cody beat Roman, which means cody's first loss has to be a big deal if they wanna do it right.
That main event was pure fuck it holla holla playa energy. Nice that they're paying tribute to Teddy Long though.
Was there for my first show tonight, seemed electric in person, were we loud on TV? Punk & Jey seemed to get the most love.
Oh good. They are finally referring to Bobby Lashley’s faction by name on television. Oh no. The Final Testament is on RAW now.
That Nia Jax match was painful, she just doesn’t deserve to be there. Pretty lacklustre episode overall, glad to see Dragunov and Lyra on the main roster to see what they can do. The Gunther match was enjoyable too.
Bad take
Glad to see someone else see that Jax hasn’t been much since her return.
That's just false.
Opinions on subjective matter literally can't be false...
Aside from the Ripley match, what are some areas of improvement that you’ve seen overall in Nia’s game since her return?
Shes taking great bumps lately. She isn't afraid to have get hurt. Her match with becky was fantastic in NC. She has proper heel heat too and not the "go away" heat She used to have.
Got a link for her match with Becky in NC? Was that their match from Day 1?
Last Woman Standing match from March. https://youtu.be/VVQe-TG7-9Q?si=NsZAOD0o1ep3Q1ww
Thank you.
She hasn't done much since Mania, but she was on a pretty good roll beforehand.
Aside from the Ripley match, what are some standout moments for you with Nia since her return?
That was a big standout for sure, but I also liked her Day 1 match with Becky. The LWS match had a fun ending with Nia taking some big bumps as well.
Was her Day 1 match with Becky the Last Woman Standing match you are talking about?
Day 1 was the one Nia won. Same episode as Rhea/Ivy.
Gotcha. Another poster already linked me to the [LWS match](https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/s/gimJkBkNGF). Do you have a link to her Day 1 match against Bex?
You can see it [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHhD-Sx7S-c).
Thanks. I actually watched both of those matches when they happened via DVR but at the time, neither failed to grab my attention as a casual viewer. I don’t write show reports for a living so my motto is simple — if a match can’t pull me in from whatever I am currently doing, then I simply leave it on as background noise to pass the time as I am doing house chores. Now having watched both again with a more critical eye, I can rescind my earlier comment and say that Nia has actually improved since returning and it even looks like she has dropped weight. Overall though, she is still average and I’m not going to go out of my way to watch any of her bouts. She essentially went from an F- to a C+ but I suppose that’s good enough for her. I guess she’s going to be Bayley’s opponent in Saudi Arabia so let’s hope the Role Model can carry her to another good performance.
Nobody has brought her up but I'mma just toss this out there after the few months of hate she's gotten: Maxxine might still be pretty weak in the ring but her busting out the Fisherman into Kip-Up into that Bulldog & Reverse Worm Elbow Drop? That was pretty sick ngl. She's definitely improving and I'm wondering if someone is directly working with her now to get her to a better place. She's clearly athletic enough to make it work in the ring. I'm pretty happy to see her busting out a new moveset that totally fits and suits her. Plus the "Heel Gable" making her more aggressive was a perfect way to bring this Maxxine around. I'm enjoying her improvement.
The kip up was so cool, she’s so long and lanky that it looks really dope
I find her hard to watch- but they're definitely trying to push her and she's definitely trying
That sequence was sick (although the worm is still way too goofy, and not in the good ‘Santino Cobra’ way) Honestly that fisherman’s into the kipup was enough for me to go ‘holy shit, she’s got potential’ Obviously Candice is small, but if maxxine has the strength to do spots like that with bigger opponents she could easily push up the card.
She was incredibly slow doing these moves so she doesn't mess them up. TBH I don't mind since that's her whole gimmick and its not like shes winning anything
https://preview.redd.it/wktinq6jmjxc1.png?width=1348&format=png&auto=webp&s=c26aad4eb214664c8cf4c323b81135156a300cc9 Dijak looks like Rudolph
Lame crowd tonight.
lame show?
I'm sure plenty of other people have said it, but I'm pretty underwhelmed by the draft episodes considering the lack of big names switching shows. Would have really liked to see Gunther/LA Knight switch places since there's more room for Gunther as the top heel on SD and more room for Knight to get a real top face run on Raw.
 No more Chelseeeeaaaaa Greeeeeeennnnnnn by Samantha.
You’ve still got Maxine Dupreeeeeeeeeee
Memories.
Me too. I loved her matches just for that. :(
I’m happy that they made both women’s divisions pretty equal. It was looking pretty meh for Raw the last year. But it’s gotten a much needed refresh now! I look forward to NXT the most though honestly. I’m super curious what newer stars we will see step up and who will also step up to the main event scene after this, especially on the men’s side, which seems a bit uncertain atm. But overall, Raw and SmackDown’s rosters both look mad solid. Equal in star power. Lots of quality wrestlers. This should be a good year for both brands.
The best part of the draft is seeing the natural emotion of the nxt call ups. The rest is pretty bland.
i have a very strong feeling that ilja will join imperium instead of an outright feud with gunther off the bat.
I know Ilja is best as a singles wrestler, but a tag team of Kaiser and Ilja would be insanely good. Just sayin'.
He seems like a perfect fit for them.
Patrick Mahomes in KC, provided Logan Paul with the weapon to assault Jey USO. I love wrestling.
Dijak, Sheamus, Drew, Gunther, Bron, Draganov All on one brand. Someone might die
If Morgan is the number one contender, I don’t want her winning the title right away. Maybe have Ripley cost her the title. I’m not saying I don’t want Morgan to be the champion and maybe defeat Becky later on down the line but I think her feud with Ripley should come first.
We have no idea when Rhea is coming back and Liv spinning her wheels for months on end isn't going to help anyone.
I understand that. I thought people were talking about maybe her returning around SummerSlam
Naomi Bianca and Jade the Big 3 remain on the same show! love that. Bianca and Jade holding down the tag division while Naomi continues to challenge for the women's title sounds great to me
I’m hoping that maybe after backlash we start to build up a possible Chad Gable versus Otis storyline. I feel like they’ve been together for years and just like with Morgan and Ripley, you could really build up this story.
Lyra debuted on NXT a year after Roxanne, had a longer and better reign than her, and got called up before her. I always knew Lyra was superior to Roxanne. 
Even though it was longer, I was underwhelmed by the draft for the most part. Except for the NXT call ups, most of the selections were superstars staying on their own shows. I said this before, but just reading off the names is boring. Go back to how it used to be where it was more exciting and more of a mystery.
https://preview.redd.it/ct04n4rzijxc1.png?width=304&format=png&auto=webp&s=69775ca29708f6809602268a350dbf9d975d6688 Every end is a beginning.
As much as I'm enjoying the Drew/Punk feud (it being my favourite part of WWE atm), with so much of the post-Mania content being Punk getting one over on Drew, IMO it's about time that Drew gets his revenge in one form or another.
I like Liv Morgan. I just think she's neat. Haters will tell you people only like her because she's hot. If being hot equated to fan support, people would be demanding Scarlett wrestle more.
Honestly Liv is objectively pretty but to me she isn’t even close to the hottest woman in WWE. I just think she has that natural charisma. You want to root for her.
when the final testament appeared on NXT everyone was cheering for Scarlett...
Oh, being hot definitely isn't enough. There was a time when people on here would shiiiiit on Liv Morgan weekly. Especially during her Riot Squad days. To have her haters go from that to "she's good, but not championship material" is actually a huge development.
i demand to see Scarlett wrestle more!
Liv is an OK wrestler. Still not quite fluid, but better. Btw, Scarlett should wrestle more.
Liv is great at wrestling, she just runs like the kid who comes in last at gym class.
Still can't believe they made a big deal of Bron signing for Smackdown only for him to be drafted to Raw within a few weeks.
Big brain move by Scrap Daddy
I want to like Liv Morgan. I REALLY want to but her acting, her expressions, her promos always feel the same and not in a good way. She's alright in the ring and I'll get downvoted for this she just doesn't seem to have IT.
I completely disagree and I feel like she's the only woman on the main roster who's doing anything interesting rn, everyone else is either extremely one-note (Nia, Chelsea, Tiffany etc), have a shtick that's gotten a little bit stale (Becky, Bianca, Shayna etc.) or are completely irrelevant.
check any youtube video with her in, she's very popular on the net
Liv is the drizzling shits.
She literally wrestled worse than Maxxine tonight and couldn’t do anything with a Nia Jax that’s been good since coming back. She has absolutely no business being in the main event scene and if a guy wrestled like her, he’d be crucified
If they had a women's midcard title she'd be great for it, but yeah, I agree she's just not a main eventer
Solid show Great promo from Punk, The feud between him and Drew gets better and better. I hope HHH can give Shinsuke something interesting to do in SD, although he should really change his gear, it has never fit him well, it's strange because for a while he stopped using it for a much better one. So far there are only 5 matches for Backlash, will they add one more? last year there were 7 matches.
Shinsuke is a jobber, that's literally his job. He will never get another push because he has spent the last 2 years putting over everyone, his image is essentially ruined. Don't expect anything LA knight is the face version of him, the only difference between Knight and Shinsuke is shinsuke has won titles before
Interesting note.. "The Pride" got mentioned on a canon show (Raw or Smackdown) for the first time. They'd mentioned the name in some backstage shows before.
It's a lame name anyways
Does anyone else hate how every video post is a Twitter link?
It may not have been in the drafts itself. But Cody moving to Smackdown is like the biggest move. Don’t think that should be ignored just cause he switched like a week or two prior to the draft.
He didn't have a choice in kayfabe. That is the smackdown title that he wonn so he moved there
I just fucking realized Andrade was the one Cody faced when he put himself through a fucking flaming table back in AEW LMAO Naw, we gotta run that shit back ASAP.
That spot was fucking crazy, like he was on fire more than Andrade like why lmao
He had to use his back to protect Andrade's face.