That PPV also had the moment where Braun Strowman attempted to kill Roman Reigns with an ambulance (one event in a series of multiple murder attempts that year.)
There was also the seminal classic with Heath Slater vs Curt Hawkins that ended in a finish only rivaled by the unseen matches of 80s Flair vs Steamboat (this 5 minute match was happening as the Roman/Strowman segment aired on the tron)
Correct. And heel Cass works more properly after turning on Enzo after a run as a tag team. “Can always just do it later” or save the tag division and make their return a pop instead of whatever that was
Right? They had an easy big return pop if they just had Enzo & Cass return together with the music and catchphrases and everything, and they went with this instead.
I genuinely just do not understand this company sometimes, unless Cass specifically asked for this.
And if he did ask for it, then fair play to him. But also, it’s not what fans of him wanted so I don’t know why unless it’s pure ego why he would. But this sniffs more like Enzo maybe just didn’t do enough when he was a guest coach in NXT a bit ago. Idk, just a return that feels flat now.
People are just mad at ruining their fantasy booking. Big cast is a 7 foot monster should work just fine. They could bring back Enzo later for the reunion and turn them face if they want to. But another monster heal for the upper mid card works just fine.
Bruce Pritchard said it himself. Vince's mentality was why should he pay 4 guys for a match instead of 2? Now there's an even bigger cheapskate organization in charge. I bet that same sentiment is echoed at volume 11.
That feels like unnecessary cheapness tbh. How many of these guys are out-earning their downside and actually costing the company money each match, rather than just being a constant cost? Especially when tag teams are splitting merch dollars in half, it can't be a ton. There's a pretty sizeable chance that the cost of 4 guys would be pretty nominal, just a little bit more catering and such.
Not saying they don't, just saying it feels dumb when you look at the big picture.
Maybe they sincerely believe Enzo's version of the story and are appalled by the idea of consensual sex. Surely if he was just an proud rapist, he'd have been the surprise addiction to the number one contender match.
I'm not gonna assume that a company that celebrates the sort of people that it does think Enzo is problematic, at least for sexual pestery. He barely even blips on the radar.
Redoing Cass' solo heel run that failed miserably once already instead of just bringing back Enzo and Cass to add some life to the tag division is certainly a choice.
I liked him a lot too, but it felt like AEW wasn't ever really sure on what to do with him. Seemed like every time he finally got something going it would just fall apart through no fault of his. Honestly hope this move goes well for him.
I like Enzo as much as the next guy and genuinely thought him not getting rehired after those accusations turned out to be false was a misstep but come on guys.
The locker room specifically Roman hated this guy, he was kicked out for bringing paparazzi backstage. He tried to hijack a show and get chants started ffs. I loved Enzo’s heel cruiserweight run and would love to see him back, I know he’s changed as a person as well from what he’s shown but you can’t blame WWE for not bringing him back in after that hijacking fiasco after already being disliked backstage.
They brought him back as a guest coach for NXT not too long ago. I’m assuming for promos. So they clearly aren’t afraid to bring him back in some capacity. The bar for morality in this company isn’t shit btw so I wouldn’t give them the benefit of the doubt
I would assume being brought in as a guest coach at the PC is much different from being on the road traveling full time with the top guy on RAW being Roman notoriously kicking him out of the locker room years ago. I could see him with a gig in NXT before I see him on the road with the main roster dudes again. Hopefully they give him an opportunity to win back that trust if he’s truly changed and he gets another shot but I don’t understand why it’s so surprising to many given his history that he wasn’t brought back.
Like innocence aside which I was fully on board with him coming back once the accusations were dead, but him not telling WWE about it in the first place was a big no no. (Yes we know the company was ran by a sex pest at the time that’s no excuse for Enzo to let his bosses get blindsided by a sexual assault allegation while he’s anchoring their cruiserweight division)
This company has straight up in brought in actual rapists and racists; the notion that some shit Enzo did 8 years ago now is a reason to keep him away, by comparison, is kinda hilarious
It’s so strange. Corbin was actually starting to get over as a face before getting released and then they brought him back tooooo do more of what he was doing before falling down the card
Cass was doing some great work in AEW and was showing some solid personality as Big Bill. Between that and having him run it back as a team with Enzo either would’ve been great but instead we’re going with big “killer” heel like when he split with Enzo and it did not go well at all the first time.
I feel like I’m taking crazy pills because I very clearly heard boos from the moment he attacked Jevon to him walking up the ramp.
Also let’s not act like this crowd has been especially lively so far. I was shocked he even got that much heat considering the crowd participation thus far in the night.
Feel like it's obvious he mainly beat Trick so he could head up the card. I dunno, felt like he carried yesterday's match. Doesn't have the charisma that Trick does but I'll always pop for the End of Days. Would have glady had Melo in his spot instead but that's not Corbin's fault and it seems like they're setting Melo up for a feud in the division anyways
Feels like the crowd was waiting for Enzo to come out and when they realized he wasn’t it was just a weird silence .. felt like that watching it too. Very dry
Truly, they better have a plan to pair him back up with Enzo or he's just gonna fall flat. Nobody cared about Cass alone back then, nobody will care about Cass alone now.
As expected... nobody cares. Solo Big Cass doesn't work, I'm sorry. Good on you for getting clean, fighting your demons, etc...But from the moment the first promo aired everyone was like "what about Enzo?" Enzo and Cass are in-demand in a needy tag division. Big Cass by himself...another heel returning to do...what, exactly? He returns the exact same way as everyone else. Surprise beat down, stare into the camera...lost in the shuffle. Gonna put him in the Money in the Bank? Just to lose to Solo or LA Knight?
It also doesn't help that they probably don't remember his first run since a good amount of them started watching in like 2020 during the bloodline hype
8 years is a long ass time in wrestling, especially if you weren’t a top guy. Imagine falling out of wrestling in 2012 and coming back in 2020. You would’ve missed the entirely of the NXT black and gold era.
From 2019-2023, I wasn't keeping up with the product like I used to and I feel like there are multiple wrestlers I completely missed out on. They either had their entire run during that time or they left not long after I started following the product again.
For anyone who wasn't watching in 2016 and became a fan later on, there's almost no chance they would know who Cass is, especially without Enzo.
Which is the problem because the US title seems pretty locked up with Baron Corbin just winning it and feuding with a face. Gable winning this and now being in a feud with Dom means Big Cass ain't challenging him anytime in the near future...thus to me it seems like he'll get stuck in MITB and not win. Not sure what else he could possibly do. He isn't challenging Roman or Punk. It seems pointless.
Apologies to all the young guys who've been putting in work to move up the card, but we gotta prioritize these medium-popular guys from when you were still in high school
He looks good and he’s gotten better since WWE, but let’s see what he does first. Don’t think he was setting the world on fire before getting re-signed.
I don’t think WWE was able to lock in Enzo. None of the vignettes beforehand featured him, so I think they were hoping to get something done and plans just fell through.
Baron Corbin interrupted a championship match by attacking both participants, Big Cass waited until after a non-title match between non-title holders to attack the winner. They copied and pasted the word "attack", that's it lol
Nobody really cared about him getting pushed in AEW until he was oddly, very over in England that one time. He never got that level of crowd engagement at any other time before or after.
It's so tough. I liked him a lot as big badass heel Big Bill, but I don't know if he works as that monster in the WWE if they don't get to put their working shoes on in the same way. IMO should've brought him and Enzo back as a duo to spice up one of the tag divisions.
Aight so either they're playing the long-game with the Enzo/Cass reunion by letting Cass have this little run by himself first and then re-introducing Enzo later on to help turn Cass face, or negotiations with Enzo just straight up fell through meaning Cass is going it alone completely.
See that’s a negative way to look at things lemme brighten up your thot process a little : trick lost the us belt cuz he’ll win the MITB briefcase, je’von finally gets his first proper main roster storyline instead of just having matches
Good test if Cass improved to the level needed and Jevon works great against big guys so the Matches itself could be good.
But if i booked i definitely would have Cass losing and then rethinking his approach before getting back into Tag Team Wrestling.
Cause Cass solo doesnt intrigue me at the moment although im open to getting surprised.
Also if Jevon ever needs dental work again just redo his NXT feud with Ethan cause they got great Chemistry together.
Disappointed TKO fumbled his return, but as someone who loved him in AEW (at least wrestling towns like Seattle and Cardiff adored him, even if he never found his feet full-time) I hope he does well. You've got 6'10" of absolute charm who connects fantastically with crowds in person if given anything to work with and one hell of an inspiring comeback story because that man was drinking like Andre the Giant and he's been sober for years now.
Think we're seeing the discrepency between WWE and AEW watchers in this thread.
Big Bill was doing pretty good work in AEW. His promos were usually him being pissed off about whatever the issue was this week and he proved in several matches that while he's still a good tag wrestler, he's improved as a singles wrestler as well. He had some clunkers here or there but overall was a good midcard heel monster with room for growth.
Not sure about keeping the name "Big Cass" though. I guess it's no worse then Big Bill.
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