WWE

[Sparky]

It is sad that Bryan had to retire but I swear to fucking GOD Bryan better be inductee for Hall Of Fame for this one. He deserves it.

But I do wish he could still work for WWE has a commentator get rid of Byron Saxton have him get back in the back.

Bryan being apart of the staff would be interesting actually.

[Anthony810]

Yeah and besides I cried when Bryan announced his retirement. ;-;

[DusknoirSama]

Still hard waking up knowing after almost 10 years, I'll never see another match from the American Dragon himself. I was really hoping to see a future match between Bryan and AJ Styles...

But I guess I can wait for Rollins to return and hope for a Rollins/Styles match.

[Sparky]

Well, there's always Fastlane.

Big Show, Kane, and Ryback vs The Wyatt Family - Six Man Tag Team match

Alberto Del Rio vs Kalisto - US Championship - 2 out of 3 Falls match

Charlotte vs Brie Bella - Divas Championship match

Naomi & Tamina vs Becky Lynch & Sasha Banks - Tag Team match

Dolph Ziggler vs Kevin Owens - Intercontinental Championship match

Ambrose vs Lesnar vs Reigns - Triple Threat - Winner goes to Wrestlemania 32 to face HHH

[Guest]

I'm getting immense enjoyment out of the clusterfuck they've booked themselves into with Roman Reigns. You really have to take a step back and realize that this is less about Reigns' ability as a performer and more about how terribly WWE is booking him at this point.

Check this.

Fast Lane is in Ohio this Sunday, Dean Ambrose's home state.
This entire Fast Lane arc, Reigns has sort of been the third wheel in this feud. It's been all about Ambrose, who looks like a legitimate badass. Getting up in Brock's face more times than he can count, calling him back to the ring even after he'd been laid out by an F5. Reigns is just... sort of there. He hasn't really done much of anything, and I know that's because they're trying to protect him.

WWE has worked themselves into a corner with this entire situation. I can assure you, Reigns is essentially going to be treated as the heel this Sunday. The crowd will be overwhelmingly behind Ambrose, fueled with some slight hope that he could win now that he's lost the IC belt. They'll probably be behind Brock Lesnar in some form as well. Either way, Lesnar will probably get taken out by the Wyatts and Ambrose will eat the pin... and man, I wouldn't want to be Reigns in front of Ambrose's home state crowd. That would probably lock in a negative reaction for Reigns at Wrestlemania 32 too.

I really wish WWE would pull the trigger on Ambrose this Sunday, and do some sort of heel turn with Reigns. It would elevate both huge. Ambrose arguably has been through more abuse by the Authority than Reigns at this point; he's the biggest babyface on the roster besides Cena and Lesnar.

[Sparky]

Well, Fastlane is tomorrow, so how about we do some predictions beforehand?

Big Show, Kane, and Ryback vs The Wyatt Family - Six Man Tag Team match

Alberto Del Rio vs Kalisto - US Championship - 2 out of 3 Falls match

AJ Styles vs Chris Jericho

Charlotte vs Brie Bella - Divas Championship match

Naomi & Tamina vs Becky Lynch & Sasha Banks - Tag Team match

Dolph Ziggler vs Kevin Owens - Intercontinental Championship match

Ambrose vs Lesnar vs Reigns - Triple Threat - Winner goes to Wrestlemania 32 to face HHH

[Guest]

Big Show, Kane, and Ryback vs The Wyatt Family - Six Man Tag Team match

Alberto Del Rio vs Kalisto - US Championship - 2 out of 3 Falls match

AJ Styles vs Chris Jericho

Charlotte vs Brie Bella - Divas Championship match

Naomi & Tamina vs Becky Lynch & Sasha Banks - Tag Team match

Dolph Ziggler vs Kevin Owens - Intercontinental Championship match

Ambrose vs Lesnar vs Reigns - Triple Threat - Winner goes to Wrestlemania 32 to face HHH

[Rosesong]

Ever the lurker in this thread, I'll leave my predictions as requested by Sparks

Big Show, Kane, and Ryback vs The Wyatt Family - Six Man Tag Team match

Alberto Del Rio vs Kalisto - US Championship - 2 out of 3 Falls match

Charlotte vs Brie Bella - Divas Championship match

Naomi & Tamina vs Becky Lynch & Sasha Banks - Tag Team match

Dolph Ziggler vs Kevin Owens - Intercontinental Championship match

Ambrose vs Lesnar vs Reigns - Triple Threat - Winner goes to Wrestlemania 32 to face HHH

[Guest]

When your event gets disliked to hell and your top babyface gets booed out the building for the second PPV in a row

[Tomas Elliot]

No matter how hard I try, I cannot understand what WWE is thinking. Why insisting so stubbornly with Reigns? Why making it clear that they WANT the WM main event to be him vs HHH, a match that promises to bore everyone out of their mind? It is evident by now that Reigns, as talented as he is (I am not saying this sarcastically, I genuinely like the guy), cannot for one reason or another connect with the crowd. He cannot get over. And it is evident that the solution is not to just keep on pushing him and putting him in a boring match to main event WM.

What pisses me off is the fact that Fastlane was a GREAT event. The two female matches, KO vs Dolph, AJ vs Y2J, the pre-show bout and the main event were all fantastic matches, with incredible amounts of talent displayed by everyone involved. It was a superb PPV that should have sent fans home happy... And instead, it ended with boos, because Reigns won. Look around the internet: everyone is posting negative comments on the PPV, everyone is shitting on it, the levels of indignation for the ending are something unheard of. If someone who hasn't seen the show were to judge only from such comments, they'd think it was a terrible PPV. On the contrary, it was great, but the poor, predictable, stubbornly booked finish to the main event, and the rage of the fans over it, overshadowed whatever good the show had to offer. Not to mention, it completely wasted the insanely strong booking Ambrose had enjoyed at RR: that finish made it clear that there were no long-term main event plans for him, and that Reigns was set to go to WM from the start... So what's the point in booking Ambrose so strongly at the Rumble?

I really cannot understand what WWE is thinking. I mean, back in the nineties, when they pushed a young The Rock as the next top face and he failed to connect with the fans, they turned him heel, and the sheer amount of talent he displayed during his heel run caused the fans to finally accept him so that, when he turned face again, he finally became the top guy the company wanted him to be. Why won't they do the same with Reigns? Of course, he isn't nearly as charismatic as The Rock, so there is no guarantee that a heel turn would be as succesful... But heck, "no guarantee" is still better than the current situation, which IS guaranteed to get Roman nothing but boos. It pains me to say this because, again, I really like the guy and I wish he was given a fair chance, but it is a fact that there is no way, and I mean NO WAY, that Roman Reigns can possibly get over right now, not as long as he sticks to his current persona.

[Guest]

No matter how hard I try, I cannot understand what WWE is thinking. Why insisting so stubbornly with Reigns? Why making it clear that they WANT the WM main event to be him vs HHH, a match that promises to bore everyone out of their mind? It is evident by now that Reigns, as talented as he is (I am not saying this sarcastically, I genuinely like the guy), cannot for one reason or another connect with the crowd. He cannot get over. And it is evident that the solution is not to just keep on pushing him and putting him in a boring match to main event WM.

What pisses me off is the fact that Fastlane was a GREAT event. The two female matches, KO vs Dolph, AJ vs Y2J, the pre-show bout and the main event were all fantastic matches, with incredible amounts of talent displayed by everyone involved. It was a superb PPV that should have sent fans home happy... And instead, it ended with boos, because Reigns won. Look around the internet: everyone is posting negative comments on the PPV, everyone is shitting on it, the levels of indignation for the ending are something unheard of. If someone who hasn't seen the show were to judge only from such comments, they'd think it was a terrible PPV. On the contrary, it was great, but the poor, predictable, stubbornly booked finish to the main event, and the rage of the fans over it, overshadowed whatever good the show had to offer. Not to mention, it completely wasted the insanely strong booking Ambrose had enjoyed at RR: that finish made it clear that there were no long-term main event plans for him, and that Reigns was set to go to WM from the start... So what's the point in booking Ambrose so strongly at the Rumble?

I really cannot understand what WWE is thinking. I mean, back in the nineties, when they pushed a young The Rock as the next top face and he failed to connect with the fans, they turned him heel, and the sheer amount of talent he displayed during his heel run caused the fans to finally accept him so that, when he turned face again, he finally became the top guy the company wanted him to be. Why won't they do the same with Reigns? Of course, he isn't nearly as charismatic as The Rock, so there is no guarantee that a heel turn would be as succesful... But heck, "no guarantee" is still better than the current situation, which IS guaranteed to get Roman nothing but boos. It pains me to say this because, again, I really like the guy and I wish he was given a fair chance, but it is a fact that there is no way, and I mean NO WAY, that Roman Reigns can possibly get over right now, not as long as he sticks to his current persona.

They see Roman as a merch mover. In their heads, they see the next company guy. He has the look, the kids cheer for him, he gets amazing reaction at house shows (and a decent one at most RAWs), and all of that jazz. Roman really has become a good in-ring worker. Something snapped inside his mind when he fought Bryan a year ago, and he's been gradually on the rise ever since. But that will never be apparent to the majority of people because WWE is trying to force him as the company guy, and it's just not working. He's not that guy. They're still obsessed with the whole looks thing. They will throw EVERYTHING at the main event of Mania to get him cheered, but it's just not gonna work. The casuals are mostly gone from investing in the product and we're left with a smarter, not as easily worked audience who just aren't gonna put up with this crap.

It'll catch up with them eventually. Reigns has a startling amount of hate among the overall crowd right now, on an overall basis I'd say more than Cena did at this point in his main event career (i.e when he won the title from JBL). Trying to force someone as the company guy for the next ten years just isn't gonna work, and maybe it will take eighty thousand people at Wrestlemania booing Reigns' win (not to mention the RAW afterwards) for them to wake the fuck up. More than likely they're gonna try and turn Dean Ambrose on Reigns after he loses to Lesnar at Wrestlemania because they are running really low on opponents for Reigns, and after that he's probably going to ease into 'beat the heel of the month' format like Cena did, and it's all downhill from there.

[Sparky]

No matter how hard I try, I cannot understand what WWE is thinking. Why insisting so stubbornly with Reigns? Why making it clear that they WANT the WM main event to be him vs HHH, a match that promises to bore everyone out of their mind? It is evident by now that Reigns, as talented as he is (I am not saying this sarcastically, I genuinely like the guy), cannot for one reason or another connect with the crowd. He cannot get over. And it is evident that the solution is not to just keep on pushing him and putting him in a boring match to main event WM.

What pisses me off is the fact that Fastlane was a GREAT event. The two female matches, KO vs Dolph, AJ vs Y2J, the pre-show bout and the main event were all fantastic matches, with incredible amounts of talent displayed by everyone involved. It was a superb PPV that should have sent fans home happy... And instead, it ended with boos, because Reigns won. Look around the internet: everyone is posting negative comments on the PPV, everyone is shitting on it, the levels of indignation for the ending are something unheard of. If someone who hasn't seen the show were to judge only from such comments, they'd think it was a terrible PPV. On the contrary, it was great, but the poor, predictable, stubbornly booked finish to the main event, and the rage of the fans over it, overshadowed whatever good the show had to offer. Not to mention, it completely wasted the insanely strong booking Ambrose had enjoyed at RR: that finish made it clear that there were no long-term main event plans for him, and that Reigns was set to go to WM from the start... So what's the point in booking Ambrose so strongly at the Rumble?

I really cannot understand what WWE is thinking. I mean, back in the nineties, when they pushed a young The Rock as the next top face and he failed to connect with the fans, they turned him heel, and the sheer amount of talent he displayed during his heel run caused the fans to finally accept him so that, when he turned face again, he finally became the top guy the company wanted him to be. Why won't they do the same with Reigns? Of course, he isn't nearly as charismatic as The Rock, so there is no guarantee that a heel turn would be as succesful... But heck, "no guarantee" is still better than the current situation, which IS guaranteed to get Roman nothing but boos. It pains me to say this because, again, I really like the guy and I wish he was given a fair chance, but it is a fact that there is no way, and I mean NO WAY, that Roman Reigns can possibly get over right now, not as long as he sticks to his current persona.

I can understand what you are saying, but this is the fourth Wrestlemania main event in a row that the people didn't like. Rock vs Cena at WM 29, Orton vs Batista before Bryan was added in last minute at WM 30, Lesnar vs Reigns before Rollins cash in at WM 31.

Their booking is the biggest problem tbh. They had Axel vs Truth before the main event, when that could've been the pre-show match and have the 2 out of 3 falls for the US Championship on the main card. I thought the Divas Championship match was actually pretty decent and I almost thought that Brie could've won the belt off of Charlotte. They can't seem to book the Wyatt Family strong at all when it comes to a PPV, yet they book them strongly on Raw.

The true money is with Ambrose, but they're insistent on pushing Reigns to the moon like Cena, yet he doesn't fit the mold of John Cena. Reigns would fit better if his gimmick was that of a Samoan Brock Lesnar. He'd be a perfect heel that the people would love to boo out of a building.

[Tomas Elliot]

They see Roman as a merch mover. In their heads, they see the next company guy. He has the look, the kids cheer for him, he gets amazing reaction at house shows (and a decent one at most RAWs), and all of that jazz. Roman really has become a good in-ring worker. Something snapped inside his mind when he fought Bryan a year ago, and he's been gradually on the rise ever since. But that will never be apparent to the majority of people because WWE is trying to force him as the company guy, and it's just not working. He's not that guy. They're still obsessed with the whole looks thing. They will throw EVERYTHING at the main event of Mania to get him cheered, but it's just not gonna work. The casuals are mostly gone from investing in the product and we're left with a smarter, not as easily worked audience who just aren't gonna put up with this crap.

It'll catch up with them eventually. Reigns has a startling amount of hate among the overall crowd right now, on an overall basis I'd say more than Cena did at this point in his main event career (i.e when he won the title from JBL). Trying to force someone as the company guy for the next ten years just isn't gonna work, and maybe it will take eighty thousand people at Wrestlemania booing Reigns' win (not to mention the RAW afterwards) for them to wake the fuck up. More than likely they're gonna try and turn Dean Ambrose on Reigns after he loses to Lesnar at Wrestlemania because they are running really low on opponents for Reigns, and after that he's probably going to ease into 'beat the heel of the month' format like Cena did, and it's all downhill from there.

Of course you are right, but... I stand by my point. IMO a more gradual approach (again, see my earlier The Rock example) would pay off more in the long run, compared to the current "You are going to get top face Reigns and by God you are going to LIKE it" approach. They are trying to force us to like the guy, but all they are achieving this way is to alienate even those, like me, who do like the guy. I too am afraid that they will put him in a Cena-esque "beat the heel of the month" format after WM, but that would be the tombstone on Roman's likeability, on his chances of ever being truly over.

You know, what you call the "beat the heel of the month" format is actually the format that made WWE the colossus it is back when it emerged from the sea of the territorial system, first with Bruno and then with Hogan. Both massive face champions were booked into feuds with heels that were built up specifically to be their opponents, they would trash talk at each other, they would cross paths at house shows, and then they'd have the big PPV match in which the face champion would win. After the match, another heel would appear to challenge the face champion, and it's essentially rinse and repeat from there.

Only, back then you'd have maybe 2 or 3 big PPV matches per year, now you have one per month. Meaning, the fans will grow bored of this format much faster, compared to the '80s. What blows my mind is that WWE is the company that changed the game, they are the ones who made history in the '80s by bringing wrestling first on national and then on worldwide TV, and then again in 2001 by beating WCW and becoming the single biggest company ever. This insistence of theirs in going back to the '80s formula basically means, that they cannot adapt to a change THEY THEMSELVES BROUGHT ABOUT. How stupid do you need to be to do everything in your power to change the game, only to remain stuck in a mentality from before the change?

[Guest]

Of course you are right, but... I stand by my point. IMO a more gradual approach (again, see my earlier The Rock example) would pay off more in the long run, compared to the current "You are going to get top face Reigns and by God you are going to LIKE it" approach. They are trying to force us to like the guy, but all they are achieving this way is to alienate even those, like me, who do like the guy. I too am afraid that they will put him in a Cena-esque "beat the heel of the month" format after WM, but that would be the tombstone on Roman's likeability, on his chances of ever being truly over.

You know, what you call the "beat the heel of the month" format is actually the format that made WWE the colossus it is back when it emerged from the sea of the territorial system, first with Bruno and then with Hogan. Both massive face champions were booked into feuds with heels that were built up specifically to be their opponents, they would trash talk at each other, they would cross paths at house shows, and then they'd have the big PPV match in which the face champion would win. After the match, another heel would appear to challenge the face champion, and it's essentially rinse and repeat from there.

Only, back then you'd have maybe 2 or 3 big PPV matches per year, now you have one per month. Meaning, the fans will grow bored of this format much faster, compared to the '80s. What blows my mind is that WWE is the company that changed the game, they are the ones who made history in the '80s by bringing wrestling first on national and then on worldwide TV, and then again in 2001 by beating WCW and becoming the single biggest company ever. This insistence of theirs in going back to the '80s formula basically means, that they cannot adapt to a change THEY THEMSELVES BROUGHT ABOUT. How stupid do you need to be to do everything in your power to change the game, only to remain stuck in a mentality from before the change?

See, if they had actually let Reigns turn heel, he would've had a fresh set of opponents (re: heels) to go through when he emerged from his big babyface Wrestlemania win. It's definitely true that having 1 PPV a month means that the heel of the month format is burned through far more quickly; and that's where the problem lies. Reigns has already gone over like 90% of the roster's heels, sometimes multiple amounts of them (see: League of Nations). The only guy left that I can think of off the top of my head is Kevin Owens, and probably Dean Ambrose when they turn him heel. After that, what's left for Reigns? Repeats of feuds he's already gone through. Eventually people will get bored, they'll probably start doing the whole 'LOL HE BURIED HIM' thing and like you said, that'd be the nail in the coffin for any chance of Reigns being over. They can do the whole Cena thing of 'LIKE HIM OR NOT YOU GOTTA RESPECT HIM MAGGLE' but lightning very rarely strikes twice - chances are, Reigns will be booed out of the building by entire RAW crowds faster and far more often than Cena ever managed after a while.

They'll eventually pull the trigger on Reigns vs Lesnar 2 or Reigns vs Cena... in the case of the latter, there's only going to be one chant resounding through the arena.

LET'S GO CENA

ROMAN SUCKS

[Sparky]

This Raw was decent for a little bit, especially with all the thoughts that come out of it.

Reigns is basically f***ed for Mania against HHH and we got two great matches for Mania as well that I'll let Scarlet state when he pops into the thread again.

[Guest]

Alright, so Fast Lane is in the books and so is the post-Fast Lane RAW. That means I get to type up a little summary. So let me start off with a hard hitting, blunt statement.

Fast Lane sucked chicken testicles.

Not because of the finish of the main event (which, let's be honest, most people aware of how wrestling works saw coming from a mile away) - but because of the overall quality of the show. I can't recall a PPV worse than this in a long time. Tons of filler, shoddy matches and overall not very exciting content. AJ Styles vs Chris Jericho was probably the most exciting match on this card, followed by the main event and Kalisto vs Alberto Del Rio. This PPV would definitely not sell you on Wrestlemania, which is hilarious because tonight's RAW did that job so, so much fucking better. It's unreal.

I'm unnerved that the Wyatts seem to be in limbo. I was pretty sure they would cost Lesnar the match, but apparently that's scrapped and Lesnar is going into an admittedly better feud with Dean Ambrose. Problem is, what will the Wyatts do from here on out? They seem to have no direction now, and it's sad to see them fall so far. They deserve better.

The main event was good in terms of the match itself. As always, the finish fell flat and ended with a result that people hated. I haven't seen so much Roman Reigns backlash since last year's Royal Rumble - that backlash would definitely be felt at tonight's RAW. That said, we're getting Ambrose vs Lesnar out of this, a feud that is almost certain to overshadow Reigns vs Triple H. Also, why the fuck was Curtis Axel vs R-Truth so high up on the card? Jesus.

Star ratings for Fast Lane:

Alberto Del Rio vs Kalisto © - ***

Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks vs Naomi and Tamina - **
Kevin Owens © vs Dolph Ziggler - ** 1/2

Big Show, Kane and Ryback vs Luke Harper, Eric Rowan and Braun Strowman - **

Charlotte © vs Brie Bella - **
AJ Styles vs Chris Jericho - *** 1/2

Curtis Axel vs R-Truth - * 1/2

Roman Reigns vs Dean Ambrose vs Brock Lesnar - *** 1/4

Now... let's get to RAW. This RAW was infinitely better than Fast Lane, which is pretty damn sad.

Yes, it's true (it's damn true!) - Shane McMahon is BACK. The place went nuts as they should've - and like I did. We're getting Shane 'o Mac vs the Undertaker at Wrestlemania 32, a match set up by Vince McMahon himself: if Shane wins, he will have control of the company. The match itself won't be much of a wrestling match and more of something in line with Shane's typical bouts - there will probably be a big spot somewhere down the line. This is assuming if someone doesn't wrestle for Shane instead.

They've also started building Ambrose vs Lesnar for Wrestlemania. The streak of making Ambrose (for WWE, unintentionally) the biggest babyface on the roster continues. Ambrose was ambushed and attacked by Lesnar before the show even began, sending him to the hospital in a neck brace. Ambrose comes back during Lesnar and Heyman's promo later during the show, albeit barely walking - or standing for that matter. Lesnar F5's him, and Ambrose demands a match at Wrestlemania - a No Holds Barred match, to which Lesnar agrees to. This is easily a star making match for Ambrose, win or lose and will be one of the most entertaining bouts on the card.

Finally, the main event was Roman Reigns vs Sheamus, to which Triple H came out and started brawling with Reigns. There are a lot of things I could say, but they're all incredibly obvious - let's get the big takeaway from this out of the way.

The Detroit crowd cheered Triple H the entire segment, while Triple H bashed Roman's face into a bloody mess, chanting 'YES', 'THIS IS AWESOME', and 'ONE MORE TIME', among chanting 'TRIPLE H" loudly at one point. You honestly would think Trips turned face for the first time since 2013 and nobody would question it from this segment alone. For WWE, this has to be a disaster. Reigns got no sympathy from the crowd at all (but on some social media outlets, it's starting to accumulate... a little) - he was booed the entire show, right up to his first appearance in the first hour, and his road from here on out starting in March is going to get worse, as RAW will be taking place in several "hardcore" cities, ending with Brooklyn - the RAW before Wrestlemania. To put it lightly, I highly doubt they can salvage Roman as a babyface at this point headed into Wrestlemania. He will be booed no matter what they do. They can, however, attempt to lessen the negative reaction. How will they do that? Simple. Book Roman how they booked him during TLC of last year and the RAW afterwards. Make him come back and bloody Triple H in return. There is no guarantee it will work (and let's be honest, it probably won't) - but it's worth a shot. Otherwise, he'll be booed all the way until after the RAW After Mania.

Good luck, WWE. You're gonna need it.

[Anthony810]

I hate to say it but I hope at Wrestlemania Shane wins. Because if Shane wins it may get a whole lot better.

[Tomas Elliot]

Guys, if I could be serious for a minute... Assuming that the Shane-Taker match does happen (instead of, you know, a bait and switch with Shane getting someone else to fight for him), I can see the match having multiple issues:

1) It's an extreme (meaning, more chair shots than wrestling moves) match between a former wrestler and a non wrestler. Meaning, we are not actually guaranteed to see a headlock, let alone an actual move.

2) The roles are confused. In theory, since Shane is the good authority figure trying to take away control from the evil authority figures, we are supposed to cheer for him... But are you seriously going to boo Undertaker at Wrestlemania? In Texas?

3) UNDERTAKER'S WRESTLEMANIA OPPONENT IS GOING TO BE A GUY WHOSE PUNCHES LOOK LIKE THIS

And keep in mind that, as mentioned in point 1, punches are the most we can expect from this match as far as technical prowess goes. So yeah, I will agree that the shocking moment that lead to this match's announcement was so great, it filled us all with hype. But now that we have calmed down, can you honestly state, with a straight face, that this match is a good idea? I, for one, hope they will pull some sort of bait and switch.

[Cowtao]

I would like to say that I am forever and will forever be a fan of Daniel Bryan.

#Respect_The_Beard

[Anthony810]

Taker is 22-1 why not make the 1 into a 2. 22/2

[Sparky]

The first time I see Tao drop into the thread is always nice to see. I'm really hoping for Shane to win, even though Taker is most likely going to win at Mania.

[Guest]

So, the March WWE Network Event has been renamed from 'March to Wrestlemania' to 'WWE Roadblock'. I don't know which is worse between that and Fastlane, jesus. The main event is Dean Ambrose vs Triple H for the WWE world heavyweight championship, meaning this is Triple H's first title defense.

The Revival (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson) vs Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady, both teams from NXT is also on the card. The rumored Brock Lesnar vs Luke Harper match has been changed to Brock Lesnar vs Bray Wyatt.

According to Dave Meltzer, the original plan for this Network PPV's main event was Dean Ambrose vs Triple H vs Brock Lesnar, with Triple H pinning Ambrose.

Wrestlemania notes from the Observer:

* Sami Zayn will have his Wrestlemania debut

* There are no plans to turn Ambrose heel
* They want Ambrose to keep getting beat down to get him over
* There is a complete Wrestlemania 32 card now

* Plans have not changed in regards to the main event and Roman Reigns is still scheduled to go over Triple H and become the face of the company. He will headline the next two Wrestlemanias

* There is a lack of heel opponents for Reigns to face after he begins his "true" championship run. The only big money contenders are babyfaces, such as Dean Ambrose, John Cena, The Undertaker, and Brock Lesnar

* Charlotte is scheduled to defend the Divas championship in a triple threat against Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks

[Sparky]

So, the March WWE Network Event has been renamed from 'March to Wrestlemania' to 'WWE Roadblock'. I don't know which is worse between that and Fastlane, jesus. The main event is Dean Ambrose vs Triple H for the WWE world heavyweight championship, meaning this is Triple H's first title defense.

The Revival (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson) vs Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady, both teams from NXT is also on the card. The rumored Brock Lesnar vs Luke Harper match has been changed to Brock Lesnar vs Bray Wyatt.

According to Dave Meltzer, the original plan for this Network PPV's main event was Dean Ambrose vs Triple H vs Brock Lesnar, with Triple H pinning Ambrose.

Wrestlemania notes from the Observer:

* Sami Zayn will have his Wrestlemania debut

* There are no plans to turn Ambrose heel

* They want Ambrose to keep getting beat down to get him over

* There is a complete Wrestlemania 32 card now

* Plans have not changed in regards to the main event and Roman Reigns is still scheduled to go over Triple H and become the face of the company. He will headline the next two Wrestlemanias

* There is a lack of heel opponents for Reigns to face after he begins his "true" championship run. The only big money contenders are babyfaces, such as Dean Ambrose, John Cena, The Undertaker, and Brock Lesnar

* Charlotte is scheduled to defend the Divas championship in a triple threat against Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks

I still don't get why they're trying to push Reigns as a face. It's clearly not working, if the fans are booing him out of the building and cheering for HHH. Just push him as a god damn heel already. he'd fit so much better as a heel. Especially when the Shield was still a thing. He was basically the silent powerhouse that'd beat your ass and then some. The booking team is the reason why he's not getting over. They're trying to push him as the next Cena, but he is in no way the next Cena.

[Guest]

I still don't get why they're trying to push Reigns as a face. It's clearly not working, if the fans are booing him out of the building and cheering for HHH. Just push him as a god damn heel already. he'd fit so much better as a heel. Especially when the Shield was still a thing. He was basically the silent powerhouse that'd beat your ass and then some. The booking team is the reason why he's not getting over. They're trying to push him as the next Cena, but he is in no way the next Cena.

To paraphrase what Meltzer said on this week's Wrestling Observer Radio, WWE simply doesn't want to admit that the formula of pushing the big, good looking strong guy just doesn't work in this day and age. They don't have a mainstream audience anymore for it to appeal to, and their casual viewer base has been dwindling. I 100% agree with the notion that it's a 'wrestling' crowd now instead of a 'sports entertainment' crowd. These guys are smarter and not as easily worked by storylines. Sure, you have a number of places that'll still cheer Reigns, house shows, all of that nonsense. But he'll never get the reaction they want at PPVs, and there are an increasing amount of RAW crowds who are either reacting negatively to him or just not giving a damn about him. Apathy, in my opinion is far, far worse than a negative reaction. You're at least getting a reaction out of a crowd if they're booing their hearts out. When you're met with silence or half-hearted cheering/booing/chanting, it just doesn't look good at all. The RAW when HHH beat down Roman, during Roman's match with Sheamus the crowd was weakly doing the whole dueling chants thing like it was a Cena match (Let's Go Cena/Cena Sucks) and it just sounded lifeless.

Roman isn't the guy. He's a top guy for sure, but he's just not THE guy. As for a heel turn, I feel it's too late for that right now. I mean, they could do it after Wrestlemania, but that would essentially be Vince admitting that he has failed to get Roman over as much as he should be over with the audience ... and that's something I don't think he wants to admit. He wants to be seen as someone who can still create stars even in his advanced age. I don't think Vince is incompetent but he's very stubborn when it comes to realizing that the audience is vastly different now and things that worked in the past decades aren't as effective now.

You have Dean Ambrose who right now has done a far better job at interacting with Triple H than Roman has, and it's obvious the fans have picked him as the top babyface (outside of Lesnar, etc.) - but to Vince, Ambrose isn't the guy who he thinks can represent the role of top company face, even though every crowd positively reacts to him. I personally don't think Ambrose is going to draw BIG numbers - I doubt anybody in the company can right now - but it comes off better when you're able to appease your fanbase, because it's the loyal fans who will promote your product the most, and that is how you bring in new people. Ambrose isn't as good in the ring as Seth or even Roman at times but he's passable, and he surpasses both of them in cutting promos and he comes off as more charismatic. The entire world knows that he should be in the spot Roman is in right now, and it appears everyone but Vince knows it. I think Vince knows it too but is refusing to back down; but they recognize the value he has to the company, which is why he's going against Lesnar of all people at Wrestlemania, a match that will more than likely make him a star, win or lose.

[Sparky]

Well, we at least know a few hall of fame inductees for this year on April 2nd.

Sting, The Godfather, and The Fabulous Freebirds.

I do wonder who could be next actually tbh.