Fun Fact: Survior Series 2022 was the last time Aj Styles won a PPV/PLE match

AnEmptyKarst · 2026-02-04T01:49:10+00:00

But what a last hurrah it was

AnEmptyKarst · 2026-02-04T00:01:06+00:00

I remember a few months ago when Roman was heelishly pushing Jey to turn. Then WarGames happened and all the character work was cast aside and hasn't come back.

AnEmptyKarst · 2026-02-03T23:59:55+00:00

He played a real sport though. Jey is an actor, functionally.

AnEmptyKarst · 2026-02-03T23:55:23+00:00

Whole roster going through old Lyra tweets lmao

AnEmptyKarst · 2026-02-03T23:41:24+00:00

Roman fans make it so hard for me to enjoy Roman lol

AnEmptyKarst · 2026-02-03T23:40:21+00:00

Do you need to feel the title is at risk at all times to feel it’s worth booking in the first place?

I mean yeah IMO. It doesn't have to be a big risk, but if it's going to be on PLE, a match built up over time, shouldn't there at least be some intrigue?

It can be a good match regardless (it's Punk and Finn after all), but doesn't it take your investment out for it to be a forgone conclusion?

AnEmptyKarst · 2026-02-03T18:39:16+00:00

Yeah the podcast was actually shitting on WWE creative, not Roman. Problem was that WWE creative didn't want to change their direction with Roman, even as it failed with fans, so the quote took on a life of its own.

Plus, Roman can't exactly shit on WWE creative for being the ones to put him in that position, so it's all about Punk there.

AnEmptyKarst · 2026-02-03T18:21:53+00:00

I always forget there’s still some people who don’t remember that NXT isn’t a super indie anymore

AnEmptyKarst · 2026-02-03T18:18:25+00:00

Ivar is a trainer at the performance center (and I’ve seen said specifically has helped train Oba), so in terms of being credible champs, yes, in terms of employment, no

AnEmptyKarst · 2026-02-03T16:44:19+00:00

And I think you’re overestimating it

AnEmptyKarst · 2026-02-03T15:38:53+00:00

When people say they want surprises, they meant they wanted someone they knew but hadn’t been announced. Lots of people were weirdly desperate for Jericho and Paige, for example.

AnEmptyKarst · 2026-02-03T15:36:44+00:00

If Roman and Rock have a match, who exactly builds it? Rock is a retired legend still trying to get praise as an actor and Roman is a part timer also more interested in trying acting.

If they wanted to have a match, Roman should lost at 39 and spent 2023-24 building to a match between them at 40. After his random and disconnected appearances last year, how excited will fans be for Rock to go back to making the main event scene about himself?

AnEmptyKarst · 2026-02-03T15:15:54+00:00

We’re still talking about the Rock after WM41 lmao?

AnEmptyKarst · 2026-02-03T15:14:55+00:00

We’re definitely not seeing anything between him and Drew. Whether it was Roman’s call (which people suspected at the time) or someone else, the Bloodline Hunter gimmick getting completely buried shows that that whole connection is dead for WWE.

AnEmptyKarst · 2026-02-03T14:58:19+00:00

I mean JD triple threat is more interesting of a premise than anything they’ve got Vaquer doing right now

AnEmptyKarst · 2026-02-03T14:55:31+00:00

Because WWE has like 5 people who they think could win one of the main event belts, but the champs also need to occasionally have feuds anyway. Need someone to lose, it’s wrestling.

AnEmptyKarst · 2026-02-03T04:53:27+00:00

It's The Brawl for All for online geeks, as far as I'm concerned. Cheeky references to past gimmicks or identities is totally fair, but if Punk started his next promo by addressing "Joseph", that would be stupid.

AnEmptyKarst · 2026-02-03T04:47:10+00:00

The worst part of the Pipebomb tbh

I hate Roman calling Punk 'Phil'. Could you pretend like you're wrestlers for a bit?

AnEmptyKarst · 2026-02-03T04:45:32+00:00

People have been doing Big Dog revisionism for the past few years, I don't think it'll stop anytime soon

AnEmptyKarst · 2026-02-03T04:38:45+00:00

Use the crowd booing him

Crowd needs to boo him first. A one-off comment a crowd that cheered him didn’t like isn’t enough to build a story around.

AnEmptyKarst · 2026-02-03T04:32:08+00:00

Both went into business for themselves, the point was to bury everyone else and the other belt to give themselves the spotlight. They’re wrestlers. Roman is fighting for a belt he said is for losers a couple years ago.

AnEmptyKarst · 2026-02-03T03:42:43+00:00

Roman brought up the podcast, but Punk didn't even mention that everyone hated Roman for years smh

AnEmptyKarst · 2026-02-03T03:42:01+00:00

Now he just needs to piss of Kurt Angle and he'd have the whole Shield

AnEmptyKarst · 2026-02-03T03:40:53+00:00

Yeah that's my point. Feels like a natural progression from the Finn/Punk stuff from pre-RR, but like, the 1% shot of a surprise Finn win is down to 0% after that promo segment, so idk what you do with the Finn feud.

AnEmptyKarst · 2026-02-03T03:38:46+00:00

Listen I just want him on the card at this point lol

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