#yes yes aew has been around for 4 years now | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wrestlezon · 1 year

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(hell yeah. heres a whole post blogging about my blog. i hope you like introspective words. if not... then definitely dont click that readmore)

I posted 3,572 times in 2022

That's 3,572 more posts than 2021!

(well... a respectable amount... for this being the first year of Blog Existing)

370 posts created (10%)

3,202 posts reblogged (90%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

pepsitwist

dogcollarpunk

hoodyhoo

allelitewrestlings

(3 people with the best tastes on the site and a fantastic sourced aew content blog. hell yea ofc these were my most reblogged blogs)

I tagged 3,533 of my posts in 2022

Only 1% of my posts had no tags

(oh no. where are they. where are these 40 untagged posts?? how could i leave them BARREN... NO... THEYRE LOST... OUT IN THE COLD...)

#chuck taylor - 576 posts

#orange cassidy - 570 posts

#cm punk - 500 posts

#fanart - 406 posts

#p - 291 posts

#trent beretta - 229 posts

#talkzon - 221 posts

#mjf - 220 posts

#jon moxley - 201 posts

#eddie kingston - 198 posts

(ah yes my top 3 favorite wrestlers. chuck, orange, cm punk. of course. LMAO. funnily enough the pipeline for me was in that exact reverse order... punk vs eddie got me watching the show, then i saw an orange match and was like hey thats fun and cool, then i was like hold up... whos that weird-cute guy who hangs out with him sometimes... and now here i am. with incurable chuck taylor brain worms.)

(ok. actually the story is a bit more ironic than that but if i get too openly genuine on here i'll break out in hives sooooo moving on)

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#excalibur said something last friday along the lines of ''hes not willing to team up with danhausen yet'' which made me laugh out loud. ''ye

(my tag got cut off... i think this is before xkit rewritten added the ''tag too long'' alert for the quicktags thing. i dont even remember what the rest of it was supposed to be... this was on a gifset of the hook birthday chips incident)

My Top Posts in 2022:

thank you aew broadcast team for the instant replay alternate angle on wardlow's very cool pin

295 notes - Posted July 13, 2022

(...i liked wardlow better when he was a vaguely amoral henchman guy but i can appreciate A Very Cool Pin)

"One word to describe me? GAY"

295 notes - Posted October 17, 2022

(the people need to know. they need to know max caster is an entertaining and somewhat unhinged weirdo)

listen. look. i need you to understand. look at this.

SLOUCHED. HANDS BEHIND HIS BACK. HEAD BENT DOWN. cm punk spends most of his promo at this point AVOIDING EYE CONTACT. he never even holds the goddamn mic!!! punk is posturing SO hard to appear as a small harmless creature. so much smaller than hangman.

which he factually ISNT. i mean, look at how he looks when he stands up straight, when he isn't trying to put on an appearance.

See the full post

325 notes - Posted May 26, 2022

(oh noooo lmaoooo not my overly excited cm punk theory-effortpost... embarrassing...... even more embarrassing in hindsight... u_u "wow theyre doing such a good job of working together to tell this fictional story of conflict and antagonism! such acting! such subtlety! wait. what. no. are you guys mad for real. what the")

See the full post

389 notes - Posted June 4, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

how im feeling about that upcoming dog collar match

752 notes - Posted March 5, 2022

(honestly the most shocking part of this was seeing people out in the wild think this was where the sickos meme came from? which doesnt even make sense chronologically?? sickos has been around forever!!! and the original comic is so good. i am not deserving of kartoonist kelly's onion comic clout i am just a wrestle blog)

(also. i have to say. getting into wrestling right as the cmjf feud started was such a mistake... it set the bar too high... wrestling is not normally Like That... ;~;)

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#year in review #talkzon #why do they add like 4 different tags for ''year in review''. no. i will have a single one

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staytiny-angel · 3 years

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For Grace and Country 1/?

'Hangman' Adam Page/F!OC, One-Sided Kenny Omega/F!OC

Rating: Eventually M, right now PG

Warnings: Canon Typical Violence, Kenny Omega being an asshole and a creep, Cameos from WWE wrestlers.

Written with my partner in crime @lilmissriottbliss

Taglist: @axelwolf8109 @moxleyunstable

Notes: Takes place in the alternate universe created by @lilmissriottbliss, @swifteforeverandalways and myself known as the Emoverse, but no prior knowledge is needed to enjoy this fic.

Fic Playlist:

Summary: Ava-Grace came to AEW with a purpose, to be the best wrestler she could be, but also to maybe win the heart of a certain cowboy. Unfortunately standing in her way is an overprotective Dark Order and the unwanted advances of the AEW Champion Kenny Omega.

--------

Ava-Grace Sinclair looked in the mirror backstage at Dynamite carefully checking herself over. She had to look perfect, tonight was her Dynamite debut. After months of working dark matches tonight she was wrestling Thunder Rosa. She popped her airpods in and cranked up BTS to get herself hype as she eased into her stretching routine. She had to do well tonight, she wanted to make her trainer, Seth Rollins proud and prove that the months he'd spent training her in Iowa weren't a waste.

"Ava…" a sickeningly sweet voice said from behind her. Kenny Omega frowned as he realized Ava couldn't hear him. Kenny didn't know what it was about the 5 foot 4, curvy African American woman but he was….interested. Unfortunately for him Ava had spurned his advances at every turn, preferring the company of herself or rarely those misfit losers in the Dark Order.

Kenny tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention, causing Ava to spin around hand raised to defend herself, only to groan when she caught sight of Kenny and Don standing there smirking at her.

"Ava." Kenny smiled at her, "Tonight's the night isn't it? Your big Dynamite debut."

"Yes it is and I'm getting ready for my match. Why don't you both go away and continue ruining Impact?" Ava said rolling her eyes

Kenny smirked. "Ouch, that was low"

"What do you want, Omega?"

"After your match maybe we can….hang out?" Ava was cut off by Moxley loudly clearing his throat.

"Do you have a problem?" Kenny sighed in annoyance.

"Nope, just leave the Newbie alone before I call my emo baby sister's twin"

"I didn't need the save," Ava told Moxley, shaking her head and continuing to get ready for her match.

"You're one of my brother's kids. Me and Sethie may not currently see eye to eye but...I promised I'd look out for any of his that ended up here" he said gruffly before walking away.

"Mox" Ava called out

"Thank you" Moxley nodded and gave the smallest of smiles. Darby Allin nodded at her while Pac talked to Rebel. AEW definitely seemed like everyone knew everyone and they were all BFFs. And then the Dark Order came in, Silver tripping over himself while Anna cussed at him. Evil Uno was reading and Adam Page was drinking, and Ava's heart soared

Hangman Adam Page. The reason she signed with AEW, instead of joining Seth in WWE. The secret Becky had promised to take to her grave. The redhead had thought her crush was cute. To Ava it was an annoyance she couldn't shake. She'd been watching him for years and had always been infatuated with him and now after years of hard work here she was, same company, same show as the love of her life….except...the Dark Order was super overprotective of their cowboy and tended to shield him from newcomers for fear of someone taking advantage of him or hurting him while he was still healing from his breakup with The Elite.

Ava took a deep breath as first Thunder Rosa's then her own music hit. There was no time for annoyingly sexy cowboys or their even more annoying defense squads right now. Right now? It was time to kick some ass.

"Nice debut," Miro praised. "Seth has never trained a bad student"

"Not sure about that but thanks" Ava smiled then frowned.

"What's wrong?" Penelope asked.

"I can't find my phone, I swear if Kenny took it"

"I'll go ask" Miro handed his title to Kip.

"I'm hanging out with Violet from WWE tomorrow, the last thing I need is that getting leaked" Ava groaned.

"Excuse me?" Adam knocked on the wall. "I found this by Malachi"

There it was, a phone with a purple case

"My hero!" Ava praised causing the denim clad man to blush.

"Uh...nice match tonight, that finisher of yours is a showstopper" Adam said rubbing the back of his head with one hand as he took a sip from his ever present whiskey glass.

"Thanks! Seth was really excited that I decided to use one of his moves."

"He sure must be proud of you," Adam replied.

"I hope so, I worked really hard to get here" Ava smiled at him causing something to flutter in Adam's chest.

"Time to get ready" Anna came over to them pulling Adam away from both the odd feeling in his chest and Ava herself

"Guess I'll see you next week?" Ava said looking up at him

"Yeah, next week" Adam softly replied before walking away with the Dark Order trailing behind him, some of them giving Ava oddly hostile looks.

"You got it bad, girl," Penelope said, shaking her head.

Ava sighed "I know"

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The next day Ava sat at an outside table of a restaurant in Texas waiting for her friend, former Raw and NXT champion Violet Gillath-Balor to show up. Soon enough the pale blue haired woman showed up, baby carriage in tow.

"There's my girl," Ava cooed at the baby girl, giggling when she blew a bubble.

"Sometimes I think you're more excited to see the baby then you are to see me" Violet took off her sunglasses and rolled her eyes.

"It's because I am" Ava replied cheekily "She's cuter and talks less"

"Saw you kick Thunder Rosa's ass last night, a picture perfect tv debut, if I should say so myself" Violet says as she sits down and picks up the menu.

"Thanks, Seth even posted about it on his socials, said he was proud of me" Ava grinned at the thought of the praise from her mentor. He hadn't been happy when she'd chosen to sign with AEW instead of joining him in WWE after her stint on the indy circuit but they were slowly working past it and she had many friends in the rival company, including Violet, the wife of Finn Balor and Seth's own wife Becky Lynch.

"You deserve the praise" Violet smiled at her "You did really well for your first appearance on national TV"

"Now it's time to claw my way up the ladder" Ava grinned back as she took a sip of her wine.

"Well, enough of that, time for the dirt. Did you see him?" Violet asked with a smirk

"Oh my Goddess, you would not believe it. I misplaced my phone like a total spaz but he found it for me! And he called Grace Under Pressure a 'Showstopper'" Ava said tapping on the table in her excitement

"Tell me everything"

-------

After a long lunch with Violet and her daughter, Ava stopped by her hotel room and changed into her comfortable but fashionable workout clothes and headed to the gym the roster was using while they were in town.

"Do you have anywhere I could dance?" She asked the attendant as she walked in the brightly lit space, already spotting Miro and Kip working out.

The woman pointed to an area off to the side where there was a section of wooden floor, a mirrored wall and a barre.

Putting in her earbuds she put on Perfect World by Twice, and stretched her muscles before starting to dance to the upbeat Japanese song. Unbeknownst to her Kenny was in a different part of the gym and had just walked into the main room, his eyes immediately drawn to the dancing wrestler, his eyes following her movements as she twisted and turned to the music only she could hear.

"Your obsession is showing" came the snide voice of MJF from behind him. "You're practically drooling, give it up Omega, the entire roster knows she's got her eye on the cowboy. You don't stand a chance" he laughed as he walked away.

Meanwhile Adam and the Dark Order were entering the gym, Adam's eyes also immediately drawn to Ava as she switched from a cuter style dance to a sexier one as the music changed.

John Sliver came up next to him and asked "You like her huh?"

"I don't know her, but I think I could," Adam said honestly

"Omega ain't gonna be happy, he's got his eyes on her too" Anna chimed in

"That's not exactly a deterrent" Adam said with a smirk.

"I….we just don't want you to get hurt, all anyone knows about this girl is that she was trained by Seth Rollins but declined a WWE contract to come work with us" Anna said softly

"I'm a big boy Anna" Adam reminded her, he swore he appreciated the Order ever since they'd unofficially adopted him but their over protectiveness could be stifling at times.

Oblivious to the two men who's attention she'd garnered Ava took out her airpods and took a long guzzle from her water bottle.

"Ava-Grace...didn't know you could dance like that." Kenny came over to stand behind her.

Oh goddess, not again

Ava thought to herself as she tried to avoid being as rude as she'd been the night before, Kenny Omega was still the AEW Champion and one of the higher ups in the company, the last thing she wanted to do was aggravate him, but there was no way she would ever date an asshole like him even if she didn't have her heart set on her precious Hangman.

"What do you want Kenny?" Ava asked as politely as she could.

"For you to go on a date with me tonight" Kenny answered

"For the last time...no" Ava said

"But look at us, we look so good together " Kenny says pointing to their reflections in the mirrors

"Your just not my type Kenny, I'm sorry, " She said as sincerely as possible

"Besides, the lady already has a companion for the evening" Adam chimes in out of nowhere

"I do?" Ava looked up at Adam in shock. This could not be happening. Was he really asking her out?

"If you want to, that is" Adam said blushing.

"Sorry Kenny, I already have a date" Ava says in a slightly awestruck voice.

"Are you serious? You'd rather go out with him instead of a champion?" Kenny laughed sarcastically

"Absolutely" she says looking up at Adam dreamily

#hangman adam page #adam page imagine #hangman adam page x Female OC #Shai Writes #Ava-Grace Sinclair #Spotify

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betterthebest · 3 years

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Here We Go Again | An MJF fanfiction

Not requested. Bella was a teen wrestler working in the Indy circuit until an injury cost her her short career. She and MJF were friends turned lovers, turned strangers and friends again. What happens when she joins AEW to lead a faction with her ex? Will their history jeopardize their rekindled friendship?

This is an alternate universe where MJF didn’t earn a spot in the inner circle. This first part is a flashback, the second will be present time. Hope you all enjoy my original story!

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Part 1: A flashback

Spring 2015 After three years of friendship Max and I became a couple. I wasn’t sure about him at first, our friendship was pretty strong. On our 4th date he asked where this was going. My mind was made up when he visited me in the hospital after I got sick. He was the only one to come see me and spend time with me even though I looked like crap and hadn’t been able to shower in a day. This is when I felt it was true. He really cared.

We established a relationship. And for a year and five months, we were going strong. On our six month anniversary we had a match against each other at one of the promotions we worked. That was the night I told him I loved him. After our match we went back to the hotel. I was supposed to stay with a female wrestler friend of mine, but I lied to my parents. They know Max and like him, but if my dad found out we shared a hotel room, I’d be in major trouble. We laid in bed, my head resting on his chest, hearing his heartbeat. We were silent, enjoying each other’s company. He ran his fingertips up and down my arm softly. We haven’t been intimate, only kissing. I wanted to wait for the right time and he never pushed it. I think he was waiting for me to initiate. He’s usually bold and brash, but with me, he can be soft and sweet. I looked up at him and smiled. “Max?” “Yes,” he smiled back. “I think I might... L you.” I couldn’t say the word. I was too nervous that he wouldn’t feel the same. Is it too early? Will he think I’m crazy? “Well, I L you too. I mean love.” He smirked. I let out a small giggle. Max placed two fingers under my chin and brought me closer. “Say it,” he said softly. He brushed his lips against mine. “I love you Max.” With each syllable my lips touched his. “I love you too,” he kissed me. As the kiss grew more passionate we entangled our bodies together. That night was our first time together. We both had a little experience, but that made this even better. There were a couple of awkward moments, but it was a perfect night.

2016 came and we were stronger than ever. We travelled to shows together and spent most of our time with each other. We never got tired of each other. In March we started doing tag team matches at one promotion out of the three or four we were a part of. For the next three months, we worked as a tag. Our last tag match was the day before our 1 year anniversary. We won the match and celebrated that night in New York City. He took me to an amazing restaurant and then went back to his family home in Long Island. We spent the night together since his parents and sisters were out of town for the weekend. That day was one of my favorite days spent with Max. That was a day I would cherish for a very long time. A memory that in August, would seem like a lifetime ago.

August 2nd 2016 was the worst day of my life. The day everything changed. I got badly injured to my neck that almost paralyzed me. That night Max was the main event. When he saw how I wasn’t even moving in the ring, he ran out and kneeled by my side. “Medic, Medic. NOW!” He called out. “Baby, are you okay? Please be okay. Move your leg, please.” I couldn’t speak, the shock settled in. Shooting pain rain up my spine. I moved my leg slightly, but that sent another shooting pain up my body. The medics came into the ring and carefully strapped me onto a stretcher. Max abandoned his match to go with me to the hospital. “Get back here Friedman.” I heard the promoter shouting. “I don’t care Frank, I’m going with her. You saw what the fuck happened.” His words spit absolute venom. “Please be okay” I heard his voice shaking and then my vision went blank. On the ride to the hospital I went in and out of consciousness. I could see Max on the side by the paramedic with his hands in his hair. He looked up at me with tears in his eyes. We finally arrived at the hospital. I don’t even know how long it took. I was taken in to the emergency room. Max stood by my side. The EMT told him to go out into the waiting room and call my family. First he grabbed my hand softly, “everything will be okay.” I still couldn’t speak in fear that I would hurt myself more. I got tests done and had to get emergency surgery. I wasn’t sure if it was the same night, or the next day that my surgery was finished. I woke up when it was light outside. My parents and Max were in the room talking. My eyes fluttered open slowly. “Bella!” Max smiled. My mom came over to me and grabbed my hand. “How are you feeling?” She sounded like she was about to cry. “I’m okay.” I looked down to see my neck brace. I moved my legs and this time there was no pain. I tried to move my head, but it was uncomfortable. The neck brace limited me obviously. After a few minutes of talking to my mom a doctor came in the room. “Bella, hello. I’m your surgeon Dr. Marley. How are you?” I answered the same as I did for my mom. I wasn’t feeling okay, but I wasn’t feeling terrible either. “Now it will take a couple months of recovery. You only have to wear the neck brace for six weeks, so until the second week of September. You need physical therapy three times a week for the next six weeks as well. I will advise you to take a walk through the hallways once I leave...” He talked more. I listened, but I didn’t really hear what he was saying. That was until he said four words that broke me down. “You shouldn’t wrestle again.” I couldn’t help but cry. “No no no no no no” I said softly. Max grabbed my hand and squeezed a little. “It’s going to be okay.” He ran his thumb across my knuckle. That did nothing to comfort me, I was too distraught. My dream is ruined and I’m only 18. The doctor and my parents went into the hall to talk. “Didn’t you hear Maxwell, I’m done for?” It wasn’t going to be okay. “Babe” was all he could say. “This is just not fair Max.” I cried again. I don’t remember anything except crying all day. For a week I was in the hospital. Many wrestling friends came to visit. After each one I cried, reminding me of what I’m losing. I tried for the next month to go to Max’s local shows. This time he travelled more often as he gained some popularity. The first week of October Max came back from a different state after being away that last week. It was a nice day in New York so we decided to meet up at a park near where I live. It’s been a couple weeks since I got my neck brace off. I had to wear some other device a few times a day. It kept my neck in alignment and gave me regular massages to my neck and shoulder. We sat on the park bench for a while in silence. Max was the first one to speak. “How are you?” I shrugged, “I guess I’m okay.” He grabbed my hand, “how are you, really?” That caught me off guard. He knew exactly when I had a lot on my mind. My brown eyes looked into his. “I’m miserable Max. Nothing is going right. I don’t get to see my boyfriend anymore, I feel numb. Wrestling has been my life. Since I was 9 I dreamed of it. I was always told that I was too fragile and too soft. Now Max... I’m lost. I feel fragile and soft. I can’t believe this is happening to me.” I wanted it so badly to be a dream. Maybe I would wake up on the day of a show and be able to perform. Max took a deep breath as if he was the one doing the rambling. Tears welled up in my eyes as I looked at his face. He had sadness in his eyes, he looked defeated. “I don’t want to hold you back.” “What? Bella, you’re not...” “Oh come on Max, I’m a mess. You don’t deserve a burden of a girlfriend.” “You’re not a burden, I love you.” “I love you too Max, but being around wrestling makes me feel like shit. I can’t even talk to my friends. Britt called the other day and I declined the call. And she’s been my close friend for a year.” “What about me? Where does that leave me?” He asked firmly. “I want to be with you, but it hurts so bad.” I cried. Tears spilled like a waterfall, my vision was blurry. “I-I want you to be happy.” I had to take a break. “And I promise you won’t be happy with me around.” “You’re being selfish now.” He stood up. “Maybe so, but I need to look out for me.” “Let me take care of you Bella. I’m happy with you.” “I don’t even feel like myself. Everything has changed.” I rubbed my neck, feeling the scar in the back. “I love you Max and that’s why I have to let you go.” He stood there staring at me. “If that’s what you want. You need to heal, just know I’m always here for you.” He leaned in and kissed me for the last time. We made the kiss last a minute, knowing it won’t happen again. It hurt, everything hurt. This was the correct decision, right?

For the next few years I lived a normal life. I had a decent job and a close family. I never met anyone close to Max. Meaningless hookups just went on to fill an empty void. I wasn’t sure if it was a wrestling void or one because of Max. We didn’t talk originally for two months after our breakup. I didn’t talk to any of my wrestling friends for more months after that. The only person I talked to was Britt Baker and it wasn’t often at all. It wasn’t until 4 years later that I could watch wrestling again. The what ifs played in my head. It took a while and through therapy, I got over that. It was a year since AEW was established that I started watching. I saw many familiar faces and had to come to terms with the fact that I wasn’t able to join them. I had to accept my new life, one that I didn’t plan.

#mjf #mjf fanfic #maxwell jacob friedman #aew #aew fanfiction #wrestling fanfiction #like #reply #comment #here we go again #wrestlingfanfiction

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puroresu-musings · 4 years

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PWG BATTLE OF LOS ANGELES 2019 Final Stage DVD Review (Sept 22nd, The Globe Theater in Los Angeles, CA.)

Battle of Los Angeles Quarter Finals Match Dragon Lee vs. Jake Atlas ****1/4

Battle of Los Angeles Quarter Finals Match Bandido vs. Brody King ***

Battle of Los Angeles Quarter Finals Match Jonathan Gresham vs. A-Kid ****

Battle of Los Angeles Quarter Finals Match Joey Janela vs. Rey Fenix ***1/4+

Battle of Los Angeles Quarter Finals Match Darby Allin vs. Penta El Zero M ***1/2

Battle of Los Angeles Quarter Finals Match David Starr vs. Jeff Cobb ***1/2

Dark Order (Evil Uno & Stu Grayson) vs. Rey Horus & Aramis ***1/4

Battle of Los Angeles Semi Finals Match Jonathan Gresham vs. Joey Janela ***

Battle of Los Angeles Semi Finals Match Bandido vs. Dragon Lee ****1/2

Battle of Los Angeles Semi Finals Match David Starr vs. Darby Allin **3/4

Team Ugg (Caveman Ugg, Orange Cassidy, Jungle Boy, Artemis Spencer and Paris DeSilva) vs. Team Taurus (Black Taurus, Mick Moretti, Lucky Kid, Tony Deppen and Kyle Fletcher) ***3/4

Battle of Los Angeles Finals Match Bandido vs. David Starr vs. Jonathan Gresham ****

Photos.

It’s that time of the year again; Pro Wrestlig Guerrilla’s annual BOLA tournament. I’d be lying if I said this years line-up filled me with much enthusiasm (beyond living legend Daisuke Sekimoto’s inclusion, of course), but I’d heard this final day was worth checking out, and it certaintly didn’t disappoint. It featured a bunch on great matches, countless madman moves, and if you were playing a drinking game in which you were to take a shot every time someone slapped their thigh, you’d be in an alcohol induced coma by the midway point. PWG is a promotion I’ve sort of fallen out with in the last couple of years. Every now and then they’d have an occasional show that I’d really like (last years BOLA was mostly great), but generally, the roster since mid 2017 hasn’t sparked my enthusiasm, and their shows have just been average more often than not. Well I’m pleased to say this was a return to form of sorts.

Action kicked off with a bang with Dragon Lee’s fantastic, all-action victory of Jake Atlas, which left a lot to follow. Lee had the two best matches on the show here, and I hope wherever he ends up post CMLL split, that he’s featured at the top of the card. Atlas held his own here too, it must be said, though Lee was obviously the standout. There was a crazy sequence where Lee hit a Hurricarana out of the ring, and Atlas took out the front row, and another, straight out of the Hiromu feud, where they traded 8 straight German Suplex’s, then traded reverse rana’s, before Lee hit a running knee strike for a near fall, dropped the knee pad and hit another to advance in 10:55. Bandido’s win over the massive Brody King was good, but couldn’t follow that, and they decided to do a “Lucha” match, which was both impressive, given King’s size, and terribly messy at times. Bandido won with the 21 Plex in 10:40. The Octopus Jonathan Gresham’s win over Spain’s A-Kid was an excellent contest that started off as a compelling technical outing, then broke down into a heated hard-hitter, and was the most “real” looking fight on the entire card. Gresham worked over Kid’s leg all match, and won via ref stoppage after repeatedly stomping on it, and driving the knee into the mat at the 18:03 mark. This was great.

Joey Janela surprisingly advanced over Fenix in another good match. However, at 15:58, this was much too long, and had it gone 10 minutes, probably would have been much better. Fenix was roughly a hundred times better than Janela in this, but The Bad Boy got the upset after turning Fenix’s mask around, thus ‘blinding’ him, and hitting a super kick for the three. Darby Allin and (the sometimes) Pentagon Jr had a very good outing next which told a compelling story, and featured even better selling by Penta, after Allin bashed his knee with a chair in the early stages. The masked man pulled a tremendous sell-job, needing help getting his leg over the ropes whenever he tried to enter the ring. Of course, they fucked it by doing a piledriver and Canadian Destroyer off a ladder, neither of which were the finish, and Darby just popped up from them, hit some moves and won with a figure four cradle at 16:24. Had it had a different finishing stretch, this too would have great, but alas, they had to epitomise everything that frustrates me about indy wrestling nowadays. David Starr and Jeff Cobb had a very different bout next, it was a fun wrestling match which saw Starr pull off the upset by defeating last years winner, and current PWG World Champ, Cobb after nailing him with a belt shot behind ref Aubrey Edwards back (which would later play into Starr’s semi final bout), then hitting a massive Lariat to advance in 11:15. Post intermission, the former Super Smash Bros., now Dark Order defeated the Lucha tandem of Rey Horus and youngster Aramis. This was another good match-up, but I wasn’t too invested in this. Dark Order won after hitting their cool Fatality finish on Aramis at 14:48.

BOLA semi final action commenced with Gresham making short work (8:30) of Joey Janela, in a fun little sprint (which did needlessly feature Gresham kicking at one form a Package Piledriver). Apparently, Janela has won all his tourney matches with a super kick, but Gresham kicked out here, which threw the Bad Boy, resulting in him ‘losing it’ and throwing a bunch of chairs into the ring, which he was Germaned onto. The Octopus locked on the Manjigatame for the submission win. Dragon Lee and Bandido had the match of the night next. This was something of a dream match, and whilst it was a wild 12 minute all-actioner, I can’t help but wish they went maybe 5 minutes longer here. Regardless of this, the match was still excellent stuff indeed, and we know what to expect here; Lee hit a tope suicida maybe 4 rows deep, and Bandido hit an Orihara moonsault that literally grazed the balcony. They went full-speed, hit all of their signature spots, before Dragon Lee no-sold a top rope Moonsault Powerslam, and scored a near fall with a devastating top rope Desnucadora. Bandido countered a Powerbomb into a Destroyer, then hit the 21 Plex, but rolled through into a Deadlift German for the win. The crowd showered the ring in dollars in the post-match, whilst Bandido got them to chant “Please Come Back” at Lee. And in the third semi final, David Starr was victorious of Darby Allin in the weakest, and shortest, match on the show. The main story here was Starr trying to bully and intimidate referee Aubrey Edwards, pushing her around, before she finally shoved him to the mat to a huge pop, all the while Darby just... lay around. As Allin made a comeback, Starr caught a Coffin Drop into a Powerbomb backbreaker, then got the win at 5:39 with another big Lariat.

The prerequisite ridiculous BOLA 10 man of first round losers followed, and it was just as preposterous as previous years, if probably a little more entertaining. This started as just a comedy outing, but turned into a highspot fest. Team captains Ugg and Taurus’ exchange was the highlight here, as both powerhouses bealed their teammates into one another in order to bring the other down, but to no avail. There was all kinds of crazy shit here; everyone hit a big dive, Cassidy did a nonchalant balcony dive, Moretti was nearly killed in a terrifying reverse rana Tower Of Doom spot, the massive Ugg followed that up with a Phoenix Splash (!!!), the dinky Paris DeSilva hit a Shooting Star DDT (!!!), then Cassidy pinned Tony Deppen with a cradle at 25:49 to win for his team. Yes, it was silly, yes, it was overly long, but it was a ton of fun. And finally, Jonathan Gresham, Bandido, and David Starr faced off in the elimination 3-way 2019 BOLA Finals. As a triple threat, this was great stuff, they got so much out of a figure four, it was unbelievable. Starr was first eliminated after Gresham locked him in Manjigatame and started raining down hammer fists, which prompted referee Rick Knox to call for the bell for a ref stoppage elimination. This boiled down to Gresham and Bandido, and they had a nice back-and-forth, which saw The Octopus kick out of a 21 Plex. He then once again locked in the Manjigatame and started hitting the hammer fists, and Knox again teased the stoppage to great drama, but Bandido powered out with a Samoan Drop. The masked man then took Gresham up top and hit a reverse version of his Moonsault Powerslam, and hit the tournament winning 21 Plex to claim to trophy at the 23:26 mark. Bandido celebrated with his father and brother, and Dragon Lee in the post match, and promised to beat Jeff Cobb for the title in the future.

PWG is in a strange impasse at the minute; most of their key talent has been swallowed up by either AEW or NXT, and I don’t see either of their top guys, Bandido and Jeff Cobb, not being snatched up when eithers contracts with ROH are up, and where PWG goes then is anyone’s guess. I certaintly don’t see them knocking out shows of the same quality of years gone by. Of course, there’s always a chance they become a kind of unofficial developmental league for AEW. However, despite this potential black cloud, the Cali rebels produced a great show here. It was 3 and a half hours, but never dragged, and featured nothing that could be seen as less than good, and a whole bunch of great (though nothing could touch last years final, in my opinion). Also, I can’t review a BOLA without going on my annual production rant, but for God sake guys, it is 2019. Surely we’ve advanced beyond these shows being filmed on a single hardcam, and a lone handheld around ringside. It’s so RF Video circa 2002, its ridiculous. Especially when promotions such as AAW look great nowadays. Please sort the presentation of these DVD’s out. Thanks.

NDT

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darkarfs · 4 years

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This is gonna make so many horrible people unhappy. EVERY Takeover has had at least one match-of-the-year candidate on it. Some of the most emotional moments in that brand have come from cards that even aren't quite as good. I even considered not doing this list, because, by all accounts, NXT Takeover: Tampa isn't even going ahead. But then I thought, fuck it, let's celebrate, taken all together, for my taste, the best wrestling product in the history of mankind. It's not just moves; it's emotional investment, sharply-focused, character-based storytelling, intricately-performed spectactle from the greatest physical specimens ever to lace their boots. It FINALLY legitimized Western women's wrestling in the mainstream (Michelle McCool, Trish, Molly, Mickie, Jazz, Victoria, you all were stunning performers in your own right, but you and your kind were, until NXT, only given 3 minutes: the longest women's match IN HISTORY, until 'Mania 32, was Trish Stratus vs. Mickie James at Wrestlemania 22, and it got 9 minutes.), it's got some of the greatest tag wrestling ever seen on ANY brand, it's created the longest-drawn storytelling ever, it's the best of the indies, the best of the WWE, wrapped up in a sequence of shows that were epic without being FIVE FUCKING HOURS LONG.

Where do I even start...?

Honorable mention: Takeover: R Evolution (I have to, because I've only got 10) Sami Zayn spends over a year, clawing and sweating and tearing walls down, just to get to the top of the mountain in NXT. He has the opportunity to cheat, but does it his OWN way, as beautiful, unique babyface Sami Zayn...before being no-scoped by his best friend, who debuted THAT NIGHT. The undercard isn't as strong, so I can't officially include it, but this payoff, this triumph, and this tragedy represents everything the first era of NXT was, and kickstarted it, truly, onto its first golden era. So, properly, then...

10. Takeover: Rival If you leave this list feeling like the title reigns, and thus, ERAS, of Zayn/Owens are a little under-represented by it, I completely understand. After all, so much good came from that time. American Alpha soldifying themselves as the dominant tag team, the Iron-Woman match between Sasha and Bayley, Becky Lynch putting all the pieces together, Enzo and Cass actually being GOOD...it was, still, at its heart, a developmental brand at that time. It had indie megastars, yes, but it also had the likes of Bull Dempsey. And that's not a dig at Bull Dempsey, it's just that those early Takeovers were an eclectic mix of skill levels, which is what NXT was at that time. It was a place to showcase these people. That said, some of these cards were truly *fantastic.* Case in point: Takeover: Rival. Not only was the undercard completely stacked (Hideo Itami vs. Tyler Breeze over-delivered; we had the first and still SOMEHOW ONLY Fatal 4-Way match between the Four Horsewomen; and Finn Balor vs. Neville was a solid match of the year candidate), but the main event was the first step in one of the most storied rivalries in the history of wrestling: Zayn vs. Owens. The video package is one of the best NXT ever did, and the match...was a masterpiece of simple-but unexpected booking. Zayn mistimes a leap to the outside, hits his head, and Owens responds by powerbombing him over...and over...and over again, until the ref stops the match. Zayn loses nothing, because he was never pinned, Owens is made to look even MORE the loathsome monster, and Zayn's title reign ends after just a month, without the champion nor the championship devalued in any way. It showed that NXT knew, even then, how to reward fans for their emotional investment.

9. Takeover: Portland Right now, NXT feels like it's approaching the very end of a special time in its life. Like it's on the verge of hitting critical mass. One of either Gargano or Ciampa probably leaving the company after the next Takeover, and the reign of the Undisputed Era seems to be crumbling, too. In yesteryear, this would indicate a raft of very important call-ups, neccessitating a shift in the roster and a period of calm centered around more patient character-building. NXT's existence now as a third brand throws that formula into uncertainty, but it definitely feels like they're ramping up to a finale, because goddamn, this is NXT almost at a point of self-parody. Every match is so. MUCH. Lee/Dijakovic is the pinnacle of HOT wrestling (and Lee, will you marry me?) Bianca Belair breaks out as an actual superstar...just as Charlotte decides to visit and to ruin everything, which is just dreadful timing. Gargano/Balor being everything we need it to be, and also Balor pinning Gargano with his fucking dick. And the Broserweights being VERY DUMB...but also VERY, VERY GOOD. The only thing that lets this card down...and this is obviously subjective...is that NXT has almost come TOO FAR, now, in its delivery on its main events, in that every kickout starts to beggar belief. On the level of Triple H/Undertaker at Wrestlemania 28, in that I still love it, but...hoo, it can be exhausting. Depends on how much Ring of Honor you like in your gumbo, I guess, but it feels like everyone on the roster is racing toward Tampa to explode, like a wrestling Crisis on Infinite Earths, and then MAYBE...things can calm down. Just a hair. Y'know, if Tampa even...still happens.

8. Takeover: Philadelphia If there's one man that's become synonymous with NXT, it's Johnny fucking Wrestling. You know, what would happen if a meerkat put on muscle mass and became the best set-piece wrestler this side of Daniel Bryan. We knew since he started his tag team with Tommaso Ciampa that he was an exceptional wrestler, but it wasn't until Philadelphia, and his INSANE match with Andrade "Cien" Almas, that we saw him as truly the industry's next star. It was the first Takeover match to go over 30 minutes (Sasha/Bayley at Respect went EXACTLY 30, don't @ me), it was the first NXT match to get 5 stars from Dave Meltzer (if that matters to you), and it set a new bar for Takeover main events. And while the undercard doesn't live up to it, it's still loaded with excellent matches. A.O.P. vs. the Undisputed Era is something special. Shayna Baszler makes her Takeover debut, and while she's nowhere near her prime, it cemented her immediately. Velveteen Dream and Kassius Ohno have a very fun match, and Aleister Black and Adam Cole have a ludcriously stupid no-holds-barred match, featuring two men doing with chairs what no one ought to do with chairs. But as good as all of that is, it's really a one match show, but what a match, and Ciampa ending it by being an utter bastard yet again.

7. Takeover: Brooklyn I Does the first Brooklyn Takeover feature Canadian Destroyers, 18 kick-outs and "fight forever" chants? It does not. Does it create moments of wrestling happiness that are rarely, if ever, replicated? It sure does. Firstly, Blue Pants appears and helps the Vaudevillains defeat Blake and Murphy. Seems quaint to look back on it, but it made everyone SO goddamn HAPPY that night. If you're forgetting, Leva Bates (that wrestling librarian in AEW right now) was once a comedy jobber in NXT, who wore Blue Pants. Adorable. Ignore what happened on the main roster (which is something you'll probably have to do with a lot of these shows, I imagine), but the Vaudevillains were once incredibly over (I promise!), and their win was one of several beam-inducing moments from this stellar night. Samoa Joe destroyed Baron Corbin at the height of his game, Apollo Crews debuted brilliantly (again, ignore what happens next!) and Balor and Owens' ladder match was also fantastic. Also, what's Jushin Thunder Liger doing here?? Wrestling like he's in his early 30s, that's goddamn what!! But of course, the reason we're all here is Sasha Banks vs. Bayley, and...there's still something in my eye. Anytime people want to rag on NXT for being "predictable," remind them that giving the people a moment they've genuinely prayed for...is a good thing. Bayley besting Sasha Banks at her prime just made us all...so happy. All of us. Everyone. When that curtain call took place, it was so earned. The narrative of women's wrestling dominated most of 2015, and this moment, this match, was the apex of that narrative.

6. Takeover: Chicago I And speaking of feelings...hello, Ciampa, you godless fuck. And so begins maybe the actual greatest rivalry in all of NXT. It is truly an odyessy, with twists, turns, injuries, betrayals, wounds torn open, and this is the nexus point. Well, the seeds had already sort of been planted, because Triple H knows what he's doing. Ciampa almost ALMOST turns on Gargano after their terrific match in the Cruiserweight Classic, only for the team to die another day...and what a death it was. After a great ladder match, the two stand atop the ramp, and you think "will it happen?" And the absolute bastards show you the copyright logo, just to make you think the show ends there, because it always does, seconds after that happens. You unclench, you breathe out, relax...Ciampa whispers "this is MY moment" and then...It is a perfectly engineered bait-and-switch, and exactly as vicious as it needs to be. Pats on the back, all 'round. This moment alone makes this a worthwhile Takeover, but there's also a hell of an undercard. The women's triple-threat (Ruby Riott vs. Asuka vs. Nikki Cross) is stellar, Bobby Roode and Hideo Itami have their respective best Takeover matches ever, and then there was Tyler Bate vs. Pete Dunne. An absolute show-stealer of a match, a star-making performance for both men (especially Dunne), it cemented the career of several men, and was a fully-formed GREAT show, as opposed to a good show in service to a storyline.

5. Takeover: Brooklyn IV Gargano and Ciampa's battle of brotherhood, betrayal and brainwashing was supposed to blow off at Takeover: New York, but because God hates necks, Tomato Champion was out of action, making this the final singles encounter to date, until Tampa (again, IF it even happens). This is the weakest of their 3 excellent encounters (which still makes it better than any match over SummerSlam weekend), but it also features Johnny Stupid running into a speaker, because his dumb ass can't seem to quit Ciampa. It's one of the greatest long-form feuds for a reason, mirroring Bret and Owen from 1993 into 1994, with all the repeated imagery, the callbacks, the nuances, the psychological cruelty. The street fight at Chicago II is MAYBE better, but this undercard, for me, is a lot stronger. It featured the Undisputed Era vs. Moustache Mountain, aka the Brothers Shithead vs. the Proud Circus Bear and His Beautiful Son. Velveteen Dream vs. EC3 was the closest NXT got to WWE-style storytelling and was still brilliant (remember when EC3 wrestled?), and HEY, wouldn't you know it, Kairi Sane was once a character with dimensions, as evidenced by an amazing match with Shayna Bazsler. But what makes this undercard truly stellar is Adam Cole vs. Ricochet. It is so nice to see Ricochet used well, etc., but I will still never stop pissing myself at Cole nailing him square in the jaw with a superkick WHILE HE'S MID-MOONSAULT UPSIDE-DOWN SWEET JESUS. Sometimes...sometimes...things fall exactly into place.

4. Takeover: WarGames (2018) The WarGames Takeovers are just so silly. It's a silly shoebox, filled with huge, silly men who only barely know why they're killing each other. It's as close as we ever get to WWE's now-terminal problem of "set aside whatever feuds you have right now, because it's Stipulation Month!" (see: Hell In a Cell, most Money In the Bank shows, though Elimination Chamber largely sidesteps this). The other Shoebox Takeovers are really good, no doubt, but this one stands head-and-shoulders above the rest. But there is not a bad match on this card. Kassius Ohno rides Matt Riddle's knee all the way to heaven; NXT shows why 2-out-of-3-falls is fast becoming its signature stipulation with the excellent blowoff between Sane/Baszler; Sexy Mindgames Prince had a star-making match against Tommaso Ciampa, showing why he may be the best overall character in NXT right now, and sweet lord, Aleister Black vs. Johnny Wrestling. It somehow showed that Gargano was JUST AS, if NOT MORE engaging as a dirtbag than as a good guy. And those Black Masses are presents just for me, a guy who tends to like more community theater in his wrestling than flips ("I ABSOLVE YOU...OF ALL YOUR SINS!"). And then we get to the Shoebox, and gosh it's silly! The Viking Experience, Ricochet and Pete Dunne take on the Undisputed Era, and...its a fucking LOT. 45 minutes of spots and smashing, with just a sprinkling of story, with Fish locking Dunne in his cage so he can't participate in the match. Since this seems to be what this match is designed for...let's rattle off some spots! Ricochet, jumping from one ring to the other! That amazing face-off that recreates the Captain America: Civil War poster! Perhaps the beefiest Tower of Doom in all of wrestling! And then Ricochet proving just how amazing he is...with the double moonsault off the top of the cage. What a stupid thing to do in an amazing, amazing show.

3. Takeover: Dallas I get it; a lot of people might not rank this Takeover quite so high. But it might be my actual personal favorite...? Overall...? More than any other Takeover, this show feels the most like it's filled with living, breathing superheroes. Many NXT stars are seen as just indie guys whose only gimmick is "I'm a very good wrestler," making them almost anti-WWE at the core. But NXT doesn't get enough credit for being, at its core, the best aspects of WWE. The showmanship, the things that elevate mere wrestlers to things like monsters, gods, and demons. I will always like my NXT WWE-style: the best wrestling cut with the most theater, the most camp. And Dallas is that concept, writ large. Baron Corbin coming out with lil' skulls on his shoulders. American Alpha finally becoming Super Saiyan Nerds. Asuka killing our hero, because Bayley is a person, and Asuka is a goddess who can perform brain surgery with her feet. Finn Balor coming out and going actual Texas Chainsaw Massacre on Samoa Joe. It's excellent wrestling, near-mythic visuals...and then we get to Nakamura/Zayn. The most special moment of a very special night. It is, from nearly every perspective, perfect. The hype of the crowd, salivating with anticipation. That moment when Nakamura appears in silhouette, and that violin note slides like a knife across steel, to reveal the man who set New Japan aflame. Sami Zayn getting the best possible swan song in a promotion built almost entirely on HIS back. The end of his era. That bit where they just KEEP PUNCHING ONE ANOTHER. I know it's not a perfect show (Balor/Joe stops for 3 minutes to address a cut on Joe's forehead, stalling its momentum; that Corbin/Ares match isn't as good as it could be) but that all means nothing. It's a sentimental choice, and I'd make it #1 if I could.

2. Takeover: New Orleans I went around and around in my head, and this one and #1 kept jockeying for position in my brain. But these top two Takeovers are literally note-perfect, from ship to shore, soup to nuts, top to tails. So if this is YOUR favorite? (Honestly, maybe 1 person I know who loves wrestling as much as I do will even see this mess). I'm here for you, and I understand. But this show has TWO 5-star matches from the Wrestling Observer, and I don't ever agree with that. In this case, I agree with BOTH, in the North American Championship ladder match, and the first (and so far, BEST) match in the Gargano/Ciampa feud. Everything. Is. Amazing. Shayna Bazsler became Women's Champion after BEAST-MODING her SHOULDER back INTO IT'S SOCKET to show that, YES, she gets pro-wrestling. Roderick Strong shocked the world (and the System) by joining the Undisputed Era and becoming the final Chaos Emerald needed to make that stable Super Sonic. Aleister Black took the championship from Andrade "Cien" Almas and SMILED, I fucking SAW IT! And it all depends on what you want from your wrestling, but Gargs/Tamps might actually be the best main event in Takeover history, at least from a storytelling standpoint. The crutch, the neckbrace. Each man going back to their DIY roots (the tag team - they didn't build another ring when that one broke), and then sitting side-by-side, like they did at the Cruiserweight Classic. Brothers. Completely spent. Destroyed. No one but each other. And then Ciampa shits any chance at redemption up the goddamn wall, cementing his own destruction. Every. Bit. Counts.

and #1...

Takeover: New York For a whole bunch of other wrestling fans, this has the greatest main event in Takeover history. But first, let's take a minute to appreciate how lucky we are, or were, that NXT exists. It justfies the existence of WWE, artistically, almost by itself. If this one's only slightly worse than New Orleans, it is argued, it's that the North American title ladder match was TOO good, and hurt every other match on the card. It has been argued. Not by me, but this one is somehow the most perfectly paced, perfectly sized wrestling card, on its own, ever. Every match, through alchemy or magic, manages to enthrall the crowd equally, and completely. The Viking Raiders vs. Grumpy Smaller Undertaker and the Human Pinball was off the hook incredible, and that warm "thank you" feeling has translated, currently to a man trapped in a room and a man trapped in Vince McMahon's scorn for smaller wrestlers, respectively. Matt Riddle and Velveteen Dream put on an absolute fantasy match, pitting the best of MMA vs. the best of WWE-style theatricality, and adds to the complete, demented character-world of this brand, and the fact that Dream WINS against one of the hottest new prospects is so deserved, and shows that he can, and will, shine forever brighter. Then AAAAGH WALTER vs. Pete Dunne! WALTER LAYS into poor Dunne, his chops alone having you believe that after the match, he's going to run into the arena's parking lot to FIGHT THE CARS. Then Shirai vs. Baszler vs. Sane vs. Belair and goddammit how do I even expound on that without crashing thesarus.com? And then Johnny Gargano and Adam Cole wrestled for. 40. MINUTES. With Gargano as the defacto heel because it was allegedly Cole's time. And by the match's end, he had the crowd more behind him than maybe they ever had been before. Is it a bit much? Yes. Too many kickouts? Probably. But it stands as the apex of Johnny Wrestling's journey. After everything had been taken from him: DIY, his health, his sanity, even his chance at revenge...the only thing he has left is the NXT Championship. And in that moment, he is invincible, he is more than enough.

What a show. What a host of shows.

Thanks for reading, everyone.

#long post

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hazyheel · 5 years

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10 Ways WWE can improve their weekly TV

WWE has a bit of a problem on their hands: the other major wrestling promotions around the world are making a serious run at their product. New Japan has proved on several occasions that they can sell out buildings in the United States, and their incredibly powerful alliance with Ring of Honor, RevPro and CMLL gives them a huge talent pool to work with, without overexposing them. Lucha Underground (if it is staying afloat) is an interesting alternative to a lot of main stream wrestling due to its unique style of storytelling. Impact Wrestling has been improving steadily since the beginning of 2018, and they are becoming a bigger threat every year. And of course, AEW is premiering next month, and indy fans are already saying that they will revolutionize the wrestling business, and could even bring a new form of the Monday Night Wars. Now, I don’t know how accurate that is, but WWE needs to be concerned about these other companies. The reason why I took a week or two off of WWE in March was because I was watching the New Japan Cup, and I couldn’t even stand watching Raw or Smackdown because of the high quality of wrestling I was watching every day. That is a serious problem that I couldn’t watch their programing because I knew it would be a lot worse than a competitor. It will be a while before WWE falls to another company, but they need to get ahead of the curve on this. Several companies are coming for their position as number 1, and the first step to defending their turf is improving Raw, Smackdown, and hell, even NXT and Main Event.

1. Make Raw 2 hours again: this point has been beaten to death, but that is because it sooooooooo needs to happen. A 3 hour show is incredibly difficult to watch every week, and we end up watching a bunch of low card matches that we do not care about, and the people that we do care about get overexposed because they need to be on the show every week. 205 Live and NXT work really well, because their talent does not wrestle every week, which gives them a sense of specialness and mystery that is not present on the main roster. So, why two hours instead of one like the “developmental” brands? Well, those brands simply couldn’t sustain a monthly pay per view schedule with that little air time. It works perfectly for the bi-monthly schedule of NXT Takeover, but they could not do 12 big shows a year. So, a two hour show for Raw, where all of the important storylines and title scenes are addressed in each episode, will be enough to craft good stories.

2. Form some stables: this is a very New Japan style, but there is a reason it works. Forming some large stables in WWE would give a tangible reason to put lower and midcard guys on the show. Put them in a big, multi person tag match when they need to fill time. This creates the option to have feuds between stables, allowing for actual reasons for interesting feuds on the undercard, without matches getting too competitive. It also provides relationships between wrestlers, a necessity for interesting storytelling that is not used nearly as much as it should be. In a bigger tag match, it allows for lower card guys to wrestle possible main eventers. It even would help for pay per views, giving an organic style of match to put on the pre-show: a fun 6 or 8 man tag between stables, possibly with big stars on the teams who don’t have anything real to do at the show. It shows good wrestling without showing off major storylines for free. Moving away from the booking for a bit, putting these less popular wrestlers on the show more in a capacity that fans may care about means that they have less of a reason to jump ship to another company. There are a lot of diverse benefits to creating a larger atmosphere of gang warfare, not unlike the way things were in the late 90′s

3. Clean up the announce team: another point that has been beat to death, but I am so damn sick of a three person team. There is better chemistry in a two person booth, again creating a relationship for fans to enjoy, while allowing the commentators to have organic conversation without feeling the need to chime in. Renee Young and Corey Graves have great chemistry together, and it pains me to say that Michael Cole gets in the way of that, often. He is just redundant on the team. The same goes for Byron Saxton and Aiden English. Saxton sucks, so Tom Phillips and Corey Graves would be a fun and refreshing commentary team without Saxton desperately trying to get Graves to respect him. Vic Joseph and Nigel McGuiness work great together on NXT UK, so there is no reason why they can’t on 205 Live as well. As for NXT, I actually like the team they have, but Nigel McGuiness doesn’t really need to be there. Percy Watson and Mauro Renallo would be fine on their own. Also, going in a bit of a random direction, the main roster commentators need to take a page out of NXT’s book of announcing a match or two for next week, to get fans excited a week before the match even happens. I always liked that, but it is really just a random suggestion. A two person booth genuinely works better. And though I criticized Michael Cole, that does not mean that I don’t have an idea for him outside of commentary.

4. Very professional General Managers: Drake Maverick, William Regal and Johnny Saint are phenomenal in their performances as GM. Smackdown and Raw really need something like that. This is where Cole comes in. He, as a professional babyface, would be a welcome change to the constant annoyance that is the presence of an authority figure at every turn. Cole could run the show from behind the scenes, appearing for important segments but nothing more. I think that the McMahons have far overstayed their welcome, although having them around for a few weeks at a time to abuse power is a pretty good idea. But in between those stretches, Cole has a good idea of how to come across as an authority, and he has a subtle charisma about him that would benefit him in that role. He isn’t the kind of guy WWE would want to shove down our throats, and that is the kind of GM Raw and Smackdown need right now.

5. Fewer non-finishes: these are just infuriating, and they happen all the time. Now, not every count out is necessarily a non finish, but DQ’s tend to be, and they are maddening. I would even lump in the distraction-roll-up finish in here too, because that is waaaaaay overdone. I mean, shouldn’t the faces of the company start to realize what their rivals are doing by playing their music? I hate when the heroes just look dumb. Non-finishes is mostly just a lazy storytelling crutch, and they should be fazed out for competitive matches with actual booking.

6. Better main events: I am just kinda sick of rushed together main events that don’t end up meaning anything. WWE is normally pretty decent with this on Smackdown, but Raw’s main events seem to be repetitive and boring. Why watch a throwaway match like Baron Corbin vs. Rey Mysterio when there was a tag team championship match earlier in the night? That seems ass backwards. WWE needs to respect their belts more, and that includes those in the midcard. If there is a championship match on the card, there is no reason why it shouldn’t be the main event. It will give the final match of the night a sense of stake, and it will elevate the belts. The tag titles are never in the main event slot, and they would get a huge bump for being in that top slot on Raw. Better booking of the main events, in ways that aren’t so repetitive and pointless, will help the shows overall.

7. Keeping track of wins and losses. Because then, we will be able to understand how people are progressively moving towards a title belt. Keeping track of the wins and losses in this manner will give the audience a real sense of where things are going. It will make random title matches and open challenges feel a bit more like a great opportunity, because anyone could challenge even if they aren’t on the list. It will also be an interactive thing with the fans. It will be easier to show people on the rise as they go from contender 5 to number 1. It will just be an easier way to book Becky Lynch’s meteoric rise to the women’s championship, because people could follow it. It will make things feel like a real sport, and that is a good thing in a product that feels oddly in between a sport and soap opera.

8. Weekly press conferences with the on screen GM’s. Speaking of making things feel more like sports, this is a very interesting way to progress storylines. Gm’s come out for a little press conference things, and fake reporters ask questions in kayfabe about certain stories. For example, if there was an attack backstage on Raw, a reporter can ask about it, and the GM can talk about what he or she will do, such as keeping them apart for the night, or booking them in a match. This will be an interesting way to keep on screen authorities involved in the shows without really shoving them down our throats all the time. We don’t need to see someone like William Regal every week, because he will show up on this show and talk about the various feuds. It could also be a great way for champions, or controversial superstars to have a place to cut a promo. It will feel very professional, and interesting, to see the champions speak about their various feuds and such. And yes, an extra hour for fans to watch on the network could be tedious, but given that we are rolling back an hour for Raw, I am not too worried.

9. Use stipulation matches correctly. WWE is very weird about how they book stipulation matches. A few years ago when I started watching, they would not often book a stipulation match, but when they did, it could be anything from a no DQ match to a cage match. This era was around 2011-2012. Then I stopped watching, and I picked up again in early 2017. And boy was there a change on TV. They do more stipulation matches now, but almost all of them are multi-man matches. They happen about once every 2 weeks, whether it is on Raw or Smackdown. And I am not opposed to things like this happening, I just don’t think we need it as often as we are getting it. A good example of a triple threat was on the Smackdown after Elimination Chamber 2017. Now, if you don’t remember, Bray Wyatt won the WWE championship in the chamber that night, and it was only 2 weeks after John Cena beat AJ styles for it at the Royal Rumble. So, on Smackdown, Cena wanted a rematch, and AJ wanted a more fair rematch than he got the sunday before. So, they booked a triple threat main event. That makes sense. But last year and bleeding into this year, they have been throwing together multi-man and multi-team matches to fill out the card and get a lot of bodies on the show. And I understand that impulse to do that, but it devalues those types of matches and makes them feel a lot less special. When they happen in New Japan, it feels like a huge occasion, because the happen so infrequently. So, if WWE wants multi person matches to feel interesting and special, we can’t have them every two weeks. But at the same time, throwing in a different type of stipulation every once in a while spices things up.

10. Make NXT a real brand. Triple H has already gone on record saying that he wanted to make this a reality, so why not go for it? Given the crazy amount of talent on each roster, having a third brand that is equal but different would really help. If a superstar is too overexposed on the main roster, draft them to NXT. Down there, they feel special, and can get their mojo back. Same goes for 205 live, if a superstar is a cruiserweight. But say someone like Finn Balor or Ricochet or Johnny Gargano just do not work on the main roster, 205 live will give them a fresh start. Now, I get that is disappointing to a lot of people, but given the quality of 205 Live lately, it would only make it and the superstars better. Then they can do some interesting things with titles crossing brands and such, maybe even an NXT vs. Smackdown show or something. It is just interesting.

So, that is how I would improve WWE tv. Not all of these things need to go together, although some of them do, but each one of them would definitely help. Hopefully, WWE can start to implement these and make their shows even better.

#hazyheel #wwe #wwe list #pro wrestling #pro wrestling list #raw #smackdown #nxt #nxt uk #205 live #raw list #smackdown list #nxt list #nxt uk list #205 live list

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purplesurveys · 3 years

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1237

disclaimer I’ll be taking into account the last 24 hours for the first part because it’s 3 in the morning and I haven’t really done anything yet lmao anywho

survey by chasingghosts

Have you today?

Looked in a mirror? Yeah I took a shower earlier so I couldn’t really avoid the mirror in the bathroom.

Watered a plant? I don’t do plants. Can never take care of them to save my life.

Worn denim? I did, actually. Some package came for me earlier today and I didn’t really look the most decent, so before heading out to meet the delivery guy I grabbed the first jacket I saw, which was denim.

Washed your hair? Yes, when I took said shower a couple of hours ago.

Been in pain? Yup my back and shoulders feel like hell from sitting on my ass all day while at work.

Had a nap? Kinda, I guess? I fell asleep at around 9, 9:30ish...woke up at around 1 AM, and here I am now. I don’t plan on sleeping anymore.

Brushed your teeth? Yup.

Kissed someone? Just my dogs.

Used a cheese grater? No, I don’t think I’ve consumed any cheese today either.

Eaten something sweet? Nah, it’s all been salty/savory for me today.

Spoken to a stranger? Sure.

Dropped something? I drop my vape pen at least once a day, so yes.

Felt upset in some way? UGH yeah. Our internet disappeared at around 2 in the afternoon and it still hasn’t come back, and our service provider’s social media has been unsurprisingly unresponsive and useless. I’ve been using data since then and I’m just worried about how long this would take because I don’t want to keep spending just for extra load. I also have my Korean language classes this afternoon which will for sure require a lot of data :/

Drank coffee? I have a full mug of it beside me right now.

Walked for more than thirty minutes? LOL no, I’ve only stayed indoors.

Signed up for something? Hmm I don’t think so.

Travelled in a car? See two answers above this.

Opened a can? Nopes.

Thought about doing something crazy? Just me thinking about dropping another couple thousands on merch until I mentally slapped myself and told myself I’d be fucking stupid if I spent on one more piece of stupid merch.

Listened to a new song? Yes, I tried listening to Love Shot by EXO over dinner since my sister had started humming it. It was okay but I quickly shifted back to BTS right after hahaha.

Written in a notebook? No. I only do so when I practice my Hangul but I have yet to work on that today.

Fed an animal? Yes, I have pets.

Checked your emails? I mean that’s kind of the standard in my job lol I have my Gmail tab up throughout the 8 hours.

Told someone you love them? No.

Made a phone call? No, I’m rarely the one who makes the call.

Have you in the last week?

Travelled on a bus? I’ve never ridden a bus solely for commuting by myself. I’ve only been on them when it’s the arranged vehicle, like for school field trips or our family vacations. Our public buses are quite bleck and unsanitary and the drivers maneuver the buses like it’s their last goddamn hour on the planet, so I don’t get on them myself.

Washed your face? I mean yeah, when I take showers. I don’t really have a skincare routine though, if that’s what you mean.

Used a blender? We rarely have a use for a blender at home so we don’t even have one.

Received a phone call? No. My biggest pet peeve is when delivery riders call me up once they’ve arrived at our place just to say “I’m here,” but fortunately the one assigned to me today to deliver my package knew how to use the doorbell.

Talked to someone you dislike? Yeah I have to deal with a client I absolutely fucking despise everyday.

Consumed alcohol? I’ve thought of it, but then I thought of how sleepy I get whenever I drink alcohol and decided against it because I wanted to stay up tonight.

Eaten pasta? Yeah, my dad made Filipino-style spaghetti for dinner the other evening.

Planned for an event? Not an event per se but sure, I made some plans? Punk is slated to make his debut on AEW/return to pro wrestling next weekend or sometime soon, idrk - and this is a big fucking deal omg, 15 year old Robyn has arisen from her grave - and Andi and I made plans to watch it together so we can freak the fuck out.

Asked someone for a favour? Yes. I borrowed cash from my mom since the delivery fee for my packaging earlier was apparently cash on delivery.

Watched something funny? I mean I watch BTS clips pretty much everyday and a gigantic chunk of them are hilarious.

Trimmed your nails? No, but I did bite on them multiple times.

Browsed Reddit? I did actually! After a super long time of not doing so...I just decided to randomly check out r/bangtan to see what’s going on there. It’s mostly Americans though so idk if I’ll make a habit out of browsing.

Talked to yourself? Oh this happens a few times a day.

Purchased tickets for something? Nope.

Felt like you were annoying someone? Just about everyday.

Cleaned a toilet? I have not.

Reminisced about the past? Not really. I’ve made references to the past with friends, but we didn’t ~reminisce.

Used headphones? Yeah I always use my headphones when playing Rhythm Hive so I can hear the beats better.

Laughed with a friend? Many times. Always just virtually, though.

Cooked dinner and then didn't feel hungry? I don’t cook.

Written a list? LOL yes. My period had been coming and I noticed I was crying over the smallest, stupid things, so I started a list of the things I cried over the last week. The funniest item on the list is probably an ad that was shown to us during a campaign briefing...

Played an instrument? Nope.

Felt jealous or envious? I will sometimes feel the tiniest tinge of envy and wistfulness when I see my friends in happy and fulfilled relationships, but it passes in a second.

Ignored a text message on purpose? So many hahahahahahah

Congratulated someone? Yes!!! Graduation season was last week so I congratulated a shit ton of friends.

Have you in the last month?

Made a piece of art? Making art was never made for me, so no.

Rewatched one of your favourite tv shows or movies? Yep, I rewatched Friends a couple of weeks ago.

Called a plumber? Nope.

Been to a see a doctor? I mean, technically I guess yeah? When I had to get my vaccine shot.

Finished a book? I haven’t done that in a while.

Had a crush on someone? Just celebrities but I won’t count those.

Travelled on a train? I haven’t.

Worn heels? Haven’t done this either.

Been to a friend's house? I’ve been to Angela’s house semi-regularly, yup.

Shared a bed with someone? Nah.

Been to see a movie at the cinema? I haven’t been to the cinema in like a year and a half.

Paid attention to celebrity drama? Erm not really. I also haven’t been up to date with that, especially with American celebrities hahaha.

Felt anxious? Maybe not anxious but nervous.

Taken an elevator? Yeah in Mega since that place is so goddamn big.

Given someone the cold shoulder? Yep, my mom when she is being extra annoying/condescending.

Purchased a new book/game/movie? I guess you can say that? I bought a subscription pack on Rhythm Hive because I was using it regularly anyway.

Applied for a job? I already have a job, so no. I did get a job proposal on Linkedin a couple of weeks ago with another PR firm, but I took a look at their clients just to see if the offer was something I could sink my teeth into - and even though their brands were quite high-profile, they were in industries I didn’t particularly find interesting.

Used a printer? Nah.

Had lunch in a park? No.

Gotten a manicure or pedicure? I have not.

Made an appointment? Just for my shot but that’s it.

Had a blood test done? Noooooo not another one of those plz.

Suffered from a major bruise? Not a major bruise but a huge bloody gash on my thigh after a particlarly rowdy play session with Cooper. There’s still a very visible scar on me.

Researched a topic in-depth? I do this quite a bit in my work, yes.

Have you in the last year?

Been to the beach? No, I’ve mostly stayed at home since July 2020.

Visited someone in the hospital? I haven’t. Too risky.

Played pinball? No, it’s never interested me.

Travelled on a plane? I haven’t. :(

Worn a costume? Sure, for Halloween last year I went as Dora.

Been thrift shopping? Not that I can recall, no.

Thought about getting pregnant or got pregnant? Definitely not at this point in my life.

Made a big life decision? Uh yeah this past year was both the worst and best rollercoaster I’ve ever been on. I can’t believe it’s almost been a year since that shitty breakup...

Changed a lightbulb? Nope.

Framed something and put it on your wall? No but I have been meaning to do this for months. I just never get around to buying some actual picture frames lol.

Been stargazing? Not the professional kind of way with a telescope and all. I’ve just lied on my back at the rooftop to gaze at the night sky and the stars.

Made a new friend? So many!!! Reena is probably my bestestestest new friend <3 I mean we’ve met a while ago, as Angela’s mutual - even had a few drinks or so together - but we didn’t become closer until just a couple of months ago.

Added to a collection? I’ve had merch that arrive every week or so these days because I bought a ridiculous amount of shit between May and June when I was a new Army. I’ve substantially calmed down now, but I should expect to receive my running list of ordered merch up until September LMAO. At first I used to bitch about the really long shipping period considering all the products come from Korea, but after 3 or 4 fulfilled orders you kinda get used to it.

Been to the dentist? No.

Broken up with someone? Yessss. I didn’t know it at the time but it would turn out to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

Held a baby? Nah.

Created a budget? Yeah...doesn’t mean I’ve been successful. I always go over, hehe.

Confessed feelings for someone? There isn’t anyone to do that for.

Had surgery of any kind? Nopes.

Quit a job? No and I have no plans to anytime soon.

Been in a car accident? Nah but my dad has, c/o some stupid and unattentive motorcycle driver.

Purchased something worth over a grand? So in US dollar conversion, around P50,000? Hell no.

Been on vacation at least 500km/300mi from home? No. :( The farthest we’ve been to was Tagaytay and I think that’ll remain the same for a while.

Applied for an academic course? Yes, my Korean class.

Had your photo taken by a professional? No, it’s been over a year since my last professional shoot for my senior photos.

#survey #surveys

0 notes

gdwessel · 3 years

Text

KENTA Appears on AEW Dynamite, Attacks Jon Moxley, Insults Kenny Omega, Booked for Next Week’s Episode; Speculation on NJPW/AEW Working Agreement; NJPW Announces New USA/UK/Canada TV Deal With Roku Channel, Starts 2/11/2021

Well this turned out to be quite a 24 hours.

Last night, in the dying second of AEW’s special “Beach Break” edition of Dynamite, as the main event of Jon Moxley, Pac & Rey Fenix v. Kenny Omega, Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows ended, the Bullet Club’s KENTA made a shock appearance to attack Moxley and deliver a Go2Sleep on him. As the show went off the air, Omega stood over Mox as if HE did the deed, whilst KENTA just had a “fuck you” look on his face at Omega.

In a later post-show backstage segment, Omega commented “Switchblade never told me to expect anyone” and tried to Too Sweet KENTA, which lead to KENTA’s classic comment of “Shut the fuck up, I’m not your friend.” (There have been plenty of other Bullet Clubbers on Twitter expressing similar sentiments towards Omega, Gallows, Anderson and The Young Bucks in recent weeks.)

The main upshot of this is now, KENTA will be teaming with Kenny Omega, the current AEW World Champion, on next week’s edition of Dynamite, v. Jon Moxley & Lance Archer (another former NJPW roster member himself) in a “Lights Out” tag match. (Which, much like Moxley v. KENTA for the IWGP US Heavyweight title, has probably already been taped, as Dynamite is on the old RAW Taped Every Other Week schedule.)

We’re now hearing that yes, for realsies, NJPW and AEW have a formal working agreement in place, although the COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions are putting a damper on too much involvement. KENTA still resides in Orlando, stemming from his NXT days, so it wasn’t much difficulty to get him on Dynamite in Jacksonville, FL. (Also, explains why he wasn’t on The New Beginning tour.) In addition, Mox v. KENTA is an actual match that is booked, and has already happened, so it’s easy to build a program with this because there is, at last, an assured payoff.

Once again, the narrative that this only came about because of Takami Ohbari being made NJPW President, in place of Harold Meij, is rearing again, allegedly stating Meij was against a co-promotion with AEW because he thought AEW might fail. Let’s be frank for a second - there were absolutely no guarantees, back in January 2019, that All Elite Wrestling was sustainable. There are still no guarantees now. AEW is successful, and overall a very good product... so far. But then, so was WCW from 1996-99, and, well, it’s been pretty well documented how THAT turned out.

So, let the speculation begin as to what else can happen here, and when. There’s still a pandemic going on, and Japan has been a lot more stringent about international travel and quarantine than the USA has been so far. As of right now, all we have is KENTA in a match on next week’s AEW Dynamite, Moxley on NJPW Strong this week in a pre-taped promo, and Mox v. KENTA for the IWGP US title on the 2/26/2021 edition of NJPW Strong. Of course I’ll be keeping an eye on this, given I write/podcast about NJPW here, and podcast about AEW on a weekly basis. (That’s Boom Goes The Dynamite on the PWOM Podcast Network with myself and Paul Sebastian!)

(Also, I legitimately squealed when AEW announced DDT’s Maki Itoh coming soon to their TV. Don’t @ me.)

On the heels of this announcement, NJPW has also announced they have a new TV deal in the USA, UK and Canada beginning 2/11/2021 on The Roku Channel:

February 4, 2021 –New Japan Pro-Wrestling Co., Ltd. (NJPW) today announced a partnership with Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU) to bring NJPW content to The Roku Channel in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The eponymous New Japan Pro-Wrestling, a one-hour weekly series featuring the athletic action of the world’s preeminent pro-wrestling organization, will air episodes featuring top matches and events that have yet to air on television outside of Japan.

Premiering February 11, episodes of New Japan Pro-Wrestling will air every Thursday beginning at 5 pm on The Roku Channel, beginning with ten special episodes that will see the US, UK and Canadian television premiere of Wrestle Kingdom 14, available on-demand thereafter. Additionally, The Roku Channel will host a block of library content, featuring key highlights from the 2020 NJPW catalogue, with potential for the introduction of more historical content in the future.

Availability on The Roku Channel makes NJPW the first pro-wrestling company to call an AVOD service home. As pro-wrestling fans increasingly seek out new platforms to watch content, the partnership brings the Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s “Promotion of the Year” for the last eight consecutive years to North American and U.K. audiences at a major level for free.

“Expanding the breadth and quality of our programming has fueled The Roku Channel to one of the largest and fastest growing channels on our platform,” said Ashley Hovey, Director of AVOD Growth, Roku. “Sports programming continues to be an important category for our users, and we are very excited to partner with NJPW to put the world of professional wrestling at the fingertips of millions of engaged users on The Roku Channel.”

“Our fans in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom are among our most loyal, and they have been very clear that they want NJPW’s content made available to them,” said Takami Ohbari, President of NJPW. “NJPW is unlike any other pro-wrestling in the world. It is the most athletic, sports-oriented pro-wrestling on the planet, and we are excited to bring our athletes and matches to these markets in such a major way. Thank you to The Roku Channel, and we look forward to a successful partnership that brings NJPW to millions of new fans around the world.”

So, yay, NJPW back on US TV. And the graphic above appears to indicate that this will be an English translation of episodes of World Pro Wrestling from TV Asahi, much like the early days of NJPW on AXS, rather than lifting content from the English feed of NJPWWorld. Which is cool, I liked the World Pro Wrestling episodes version of NJPW on AXS, back when it was on.

However:

Erm, that timeslot. 5pm, I assume EST, on a Thursday? I understand it will be VOD later, but that’s not exactly a prime timeslot to have for this programming.

With the focus on Roku, and Roku being an app-driven streaming platform, why not bring the NJPWWorld app to Roku? It’s already on Amazon Fire TV (which, the interface IS one of the worst out there, it has to be said), it couldn’t be that difficult to have a version on Roku, surely? Perhaps there are contracts and agreements involved with exclusivity on Amazon I am not aware of, but it’d be easier to have NJPWWorld than a weekly TV show on Roku, IMO.

Regardless, here’s hoping the weekly TV brings a measure of success for NJPW, so that more content, and perhaps NJPWWorld, can make it over to Roku as well.

#NJPW #new japan pro wrestling #kenta #jon moxley #Kenny Omega #all elite wrestling #AEW #IWGP US Championship #Takami Ohbari #Harold Meij #roku #roku channel #World Pro Wrestling #tv asahi #njpwworld #maki itoh

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placetobenation · 4 years

Link

Happy 4th of July everyone! It’s surely a much different Holiday this year as COVID-19 has put all of us in a new normal for our daily routines. So, no, there won’t be the huge July 4th fireworks crowd, but instead more intimate backyard bbq’s and yes, unfortunately no baseball.

It also means no big wrestling extravaganzas around the Summer to celebrate either. Any thoughts of getting crowds back into the WWE have been seemingly set aside by the spikes around than 30 states in the past two weeks. So, let’s enjoy what we have and that my friends was a very strong week on all three shows. My nod to the tops of the week – NXT with a holiday themed Great American Bash!

Star of the Week:

Sasha Banks & Bayley – Three shows again this week and they were standouts on each and every one of them. Banks taps out Asuka on Monday night before the green mist gets the revenge on Wednesday night as the Empress trumps the Boss. Bayley rounds out the week with a DQ win over Alexa Bliss due to Nikki Cross’ blindside on the champ. Week in and week out they are carrying the women’s division at the moment. They even gave themselves a nice little tribute to boot too!

RAW

RESULTS

Andrade & Angel Garza defeated The Viking Raiders

24/7 Championship Match: R-Truth defeated Akira Tozawa to win title

Seth Rollins & Buddy Murphy defeated Aleister Black & Humberto Carrillo

Peyton Royce defeated Ruby Riott

2-on-1 Handicap Match: The Big Show defeated Andrade & Angel Garza

United States Championship Non-Title Match: MVP defeated Apollo Crews

Bobby Lashley defeated Ricochet

Champions vs. Challengers Match: Sasha Banks & Dolph Ziggler defeated Asuka & Drew McIntyre

Loved it:

#ExtremeRules: The Horror Show can't get here soon enough.#WWERaw @DMcIntyreWWE @HEELZiggler @WWEAsuka @SashaBanksWWE @itsBayleyWWE pic.twitter.com/FPnDaJa4cn

— WWE (@WWE) June 30, 2020

Double contract-signing chaos – Loved, loved, loved getting both contract signings out of the way to start the show and instead make it an in-ring main event as champions Asuka & Drew McIntyre took on their Extreme Rules challengers Sasha Banks & Dolph Ziggler. Contract signings are things of the past and predictable as hell. So, I appreciate the out-of-the-box thinking having Samoa Joe in the ring with chaos already ensuing to start the program. Plus, the main event was very good to boot!

Welcome back Ricochet – It’s nice to see Ricochet back, even in defeat to Bobby Lashley.

How many times can we…

A glimpse into @reymysterio's future?#WWERaw @WWERollins pic.twitter.com/3aTLMrHvVQ

— WWE (@WWE) June 30, 2020

Get Seth Rollins, Murphy, Aleister Black & Humberto Carrillo together? – It’s getting stale. Plus, here’s a thought to Rollins character of the Monday Night Messiah. If he truly is a Messiah, shouldn’t he have throngs of followers by now just not the same two guys to do his bidding? Either go full in cult or not.

HE DID IT!@The305MVP just DEFEATED #USChampion @WWEApollo on #WWERaw! pic.twitter.com/GXENHXvG6s

— WWE (@WWE) June 30, 2020

Have MVP win – For a guy who seemingly retired after one match against Rey Mysterio in his WWE return, MVP sure does wrestle a lot and win. Now, we get a victory over the US Champ? Hmmmm. I get it, he needs Bobby Lashley to do it, but still. Can we make Apollo Crews look a bit stronger first before we tear him down? Ultimately, I think he makes the turn to heel town and joins MVP down the road.

Pay tribute to The Undertaker – Damn, they are really try to sell us that that Boneyard Match was his final match, I guess.

Meh:

Where was Liv Morgan – Sure thought Liv Morgan was going to save her former friend Ruby Riott against The IIconics but I guess that vacation took precedent.

Andrade & Angel Garza – Another week of win one, lose one for the Zelina Vega boys. I think it’s time to let these two fight it out for better or for worse. And speaking of that, can we get Angel & Charly Caruso together already! LFG!

NXT

RESULTS

NXT Women’s Championship Number One Contender’s Elimination Match: Tegan Nox defeated Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai, & Mia Yim

Timothy Thatcher defeated Oney Lorcan (submission)

2-on-1 Handicap Match: Rhea Ripley defeated Aliyah & Robert Stone

Strap Match: Dexter Lumis defeated Roderick Strong

NXT Women’s Championship Non-Title Match: Io Shirai defeated Sasha Banks

Loved it:

𝙎𝙐𝙍𝙋𝙍𝙄𝙎𝙀 ! @WWEAsuka helps @shirai_io turn the table on @SashaBanksWWE & @itsBayleyWWE at #NXTGAB! #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/tx9udWsTI9

— WWE (@WWE) July 2, 2020

The entire show. I thought that night 1 of the Great American Bash was entertaining from start to finish. The only thing I would’ve done differently is maybe to roll in some historical highlights of GAB of the past. Sure, Mauro Ranallo gave us some historical context during the Strap Match between Dexter Lumis and Rodrick Strong which was nice, but some video could’ve put the cherry on top of the sundae.

So, what stood out?

Her face says it all.

@TeganNoxWWE_ is victorious in the No. 1 Contender's #EliminationMatch! #WWENXT #NXTGAB pic.twitter.com/YZTXNRdQxD

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) July 2, 2020

Two amazing matches starting out of the box with the #1 Contender’s Fatal 4-Way Match. Who honestly saw Tegan Nox winning? Not me for sure! The back-and-forth was well done. Candice LeRae getting triple-team was expected and sets up next week’s street fight vs. Mia Yim.

The main event between Io Shirai and Sasha Banks was top notch including a wonderfully placed shoulder slam against the barricade by Banks to Shirai. Asuka’s arrival with the Green Mist was nice surprise too to help Io get the win.

With nowhere to run, @roderickstrong finally looks fear in the

in this #StrapMatch against @DexterLumis . #WWENXT #NXTGAB pic.twitter.com/mFZMEkS0AB

— WWE (@WWE) July 2, 2020

In between, the Strap Match was better than expected although I thought for sure Strong was going back in the trunk!

Thatcher vs. Locan was a damn physical old school match too.

.@RheaRipley_WWE is NOT joining the #RobertStoneBrand anytime soon as she makes @WWE_Aliyah AND @RobertStoneWWE TAP at #NXTGAB! #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/vkzznvHCe6

— WWE (@WWE) July 2, 2020

Rhea Ripley continues to win me over while adding some personality to her in-ring skills. Beating Aliyah and Robert Stone brought some levity to the show.

Plus, we got cars, puppies and a nod to the 4th. Can’t wait for night 2!

SMACKDOWN

RESULTS

Matt Riddle defeated John Morrison

Intercontinental Championship Match: AJ Styles defeated Drew Gulak to retain title

SmackDown Women’s Championship Non-Title Match: Bayley defeated Alexa Bliss (DQ)

Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Kofi Kingston

Loved it:

The first hour of #SmackDown featuring @SuperKingofBros vs. @TheRealMorrison & @DrewGulak vs. @AJStylesOrg was

! pic.twitter.com/xlzW6psv1U

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) July 4, 2020

First hour – That was SOMETHING! If you are a wrestling fan, that was some kind of first hour with two amazing matches! Matt Riddle backs up his upset over AJ Styles two weeks ago with a second SmackDown victory, this time over John Morrison that was athletic as hell! Then, on the heels of that, Drew Gulak and Styles brawl it out before their match that was equally as good. Plus, I LOVED that they made AJ look strong with the victory. A very strong and smart 60 minutes, probably the best hour of the week.

Not so much:

Second hour – After such a strong hour, it seemed like hour two was just more set-up than quality. Getting just five minutes of Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley before Nikki Cross interfered for the DQ was a little disappointing, but set up next week’s tag match and of course, leads more for Cross vs. Bayley at Extreme Rules. The same can be said for Kofi Kingston vs. Shinsuke Nakamura. It was all to set up next week’s tag team title match.

Can do without:

Who knew @WWESheamus was a poet? #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/W2Ly5pMYTq

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) July 4, 2020

A Toast to Jeff Hardy – Just not into the whole storyline of Sheamus mocking Jeff Hardy’s trouble with alcohol and substance abuse. Week after week of the same message just isn’t appealing for me. Plus, it’s just in bad taste IMHO. It was fine for a hook for one night, but they need to move on. Plus, was that main event slot worthy? I think not!

Can’t wait:

#SmackDown @WWEBrayWyatt @BraunStrowman pic.twitter.com/qJV0OPWaes

— WWE (@WWE) July 4, 2020

Back to the Swamp – I’m just intrigued how they will put it all together in the swamp when old friends Braun Strowman and Bray Wyatt take the Horror Show to Extreme Rules.

Ironic, don’t you think:

Sasha & Bayley – LOVED that Sasha finally got back at Bayley for all her “Sasha will fight you now” by having Bayley fight Bliss Friday night. The back-and-forth between these two over three shows each week has been very entertaining.

Extreme Rules – Horror Show – Updated Card

WWE Championship Match: Drew McIntyre vs. Dolph Ziggler

RAW Women’s Championship Match: Asuka vs. Sasha Banks

Universal Championship Swamp Match: Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt

SmackDown Women’s Championship: Bayley vs. Nikki Cross

Parting Shots:

Renee Young’s big announcement – Well, she definitely had the internet buzzing with the rumors of a big reveal this week. Could she be joining hubby Jon Moxley in AEW? No, just putting out a cookbook! Should be tasty! Congrats Renee and here’s to a speedy recovery from COVID-19!

Wednesday Night War – Well, for the second straight week, NXT beat AEW in total viewership – 792,000 vs. 748,000. In the demo ratings, AEW is still the victor so still lots of stuff to crow about on each side. Quality stuff from both continues if you ask me.

Coming Up This Week:

RAW Champion vs. Champion – Asuka vs. Bayley

NXT – Great American Bash – Night 2 Champion vs. Champion Winner Take All Match: NXT Champion Adam Cole vs. North American Champion Keith Lee Street Fight: Mia Yim vs. Canice LeRae 6-Man Tag Team Match: Drake Maverick & Breezango vs. El Legado del Fantasma Damian Priest vs. Cameron Grimes

SMACKDOWN SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match: The New Day vs. Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura Sasha Banks & Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross Money In The Bank Universal Championship Match: Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt

Thanks for letting us share our thoughts! Shoot me an email at [email protected]. We’d love to hear your comments and suggestions! You can also check out my blog, The Crowe’s Nest as we delve into more pro wrestling, sports entertainment and the World of Sports. My apologies ahead of time – I AM a Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins fan! If you’re not down with that, I’ve got TWO WORDS for you… NEW ENGLAND!

#IFTTT #Place to Be Nation

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placetobenation · 4 years

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A good week for RAW. A solid week for NXT. An average week on Smackdown. And through it all, the WWE seemingly lost about a billion dollars in value due its stock being down with 4th quarter financials released after the firing of two top executives, George Barrios and Michelle Wilson.

Now, according to Vince McMahon, the WWE may be shopping the streaming rights to its own PPV’s to an outside streaming service. What does that mean for the WWE Network? Will it become a VOD service? The allure of the network has always been to get the monthly PPV’s along with new content and access to hidden gems and past shows at your fingertips, all for – say it with me – the low, low price of $9.99 a month. If you take away the PPV’s, that’s a big chuck of the attraction. Stay tuned as we could learn the outcome of all this before WrestleMania according to McMahon on this week’s conference call.

So, when all is said and done. When the out-of-the-ring news overshadows the product in-the-ring and on tv, it’s not a great week for the WWE. I’d have to give RAW the number one show of the week, not because NXT nor Smackdown were bad. They weren’t. NXT was a solid show and Smackdown was ok, but what Randy Orton did in front of an amazing Salt Lake City crowd that trudged through a massive snowstorm in Utah made it a hotter show.

Star of the week:

"YOU answer to ME!" – @AngelGarzaWWE to @humberto_wwe #RAW @Zelina_VegaWWE pic.twitter.com/feYnFnMUts

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) February 4, 2020

Angel Garza – Pulling double-duty on RAW and NXT gives Garza the spotlight this week. If he continues to shine, maybe he’ll be sticking around even after Andrade returns from his 30-day suspension. Sure, I could’ve given it to Randy Orton for his monster-heat, but Garza put himself out there in an impressive debut and stood out on two shows.

RAW

RESULTS

Liv Morgan defeated Lana

Non-title 24/7 Championship Match: Drew McIntyre defeated Mojo Rawley

Six-Man Tag Team Elimination Match: Buddy Murphy & Authors of Pain defeated Kevin Owens & The Viking Raiders

Aleister Black defeated Eric Young

Rey Mysterio, Jr. defeated Angel Garza via DQ

Asuka defeated Natalya

WWE Championship #1 Contender’s Match: Ricochet defeated Seth Rollins and Bobby Lashley

What we loved:

“I can’t do this.” @RandyOrton leaves the WWE Universe without an explanation for his savage attack on @EdgeRatedR. #RAW pic.twitter.com/xkwysFO3et

— WWE (@WWE) February 4, 2020

Mega-heat – Randy Orton said nothing. And we LOVED it! That’s how you draw mega-heat my friends. Less is more! We are going to have one helluva Road to WrestleMania between Edge and the Viper.

New blood – I’ll give the WWE credit for continuing the Brock Lesnar-Ricochet storyline for a payoff at a big spot at the Super Showdown in Saudi Arabia. Instead of falling back into yet another Rollins vs. Lesnar or a short-term Lashley vs. Lesnar spot, it made sense to follow-up the Royal Rumble low-balling storyline between the WWE Champion to give Ricochet his first shot at the company’s top title. Of course, we know he has no shot at winning, but at least it should be a good match.

Tempers are high in this heated matchup between @NatbyNature and @WWEAsuka on #RAW! pic.twitter.com/6MPkk5yBBV

— WWE (@WWE) February 4, 2020

Asuka vs. Natalya – Good, old-fashioned slobberknocker right here! Two of the most physical superstars in the women’s division going at it is a must-watch.

Hello, Angel – It may be just a short-term fix until Andrade returns from his 30-day Wellness suspension, but it’s good to see Angel Garza get the call-up for a face-to-face with his cousin Humberto Carrillo and Rey Mysterio, Jr.

See you Wednesday, @MsCharlotteWWE. #WWENXT @RheaRipley_WWE pic.twitter.com/wju4PLrKUd

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) February 4, 2020

Charlotte vs. Rhea – We told you it was coming! Realistically, can we see Charlotte Flair heading back to NXT full-time, nope! But it will be interesting to see these two go back-and-forth for a few weeks over RAW and NXT on the Road to WrestleMania.

What we didn’t love:

RAW needs something – Remember back in the day, we had Piper’s Pit, The Barbershop, the Brother Love Show and more. Well, it’s time for RAW to have something like that. It just seems like the show’s getting repetitive with run-ins and in-ring long promos time after time. It needs to have something outside the ring to turn to on a semi-regular basis, not every week. Make it an attraction and something to look forward to. And no, it has to be more than the Saturday Night Live Update rip-off we get from The Street Profits.

Meh:

Ruby Riott returns – Ruby Riott returns to attack her former Riott Squad member Liv Morgan and seemingly join forces with Lana. But why? Do we now get Sarah Cross joining Morgan soon to even the odds? Underwhelming for a return IMHO.

NXT

RESULTS

Angel Garza defeated Isaiah “Swerve” Scott

Dominik Dijakovic defeated Killian Dain

Mercedes Martinez defeated Kacy Catanzaro

Non-title NXT Cruiserweight Championship Match: Jordan Devlin defeated Tyler Breeze

Tommaso Ciampa & The BroserWeights (Pete Dunne & Matt Riddle) vs. The Undisputed ERA (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) went to a no-contest

What we loved:

WE. ARE. NXT.

Just in case you forgot, @MsCharlotteWWE. #WWENXT @BiancaBelairWWE @RheaRipley_WWE pic.twitter.com/VSkp2YAAP7

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) February 6, 2020

Double-teaming The Queen – Not only did Charlotte Flair come back to Full Sail, but she got Rhea Ripley and Bianca Belair over before going over, literally, herself as Ripley and Belair topple her ot defend the NXT turf. They’ll be time to cement the Flair vs. Ripley WrestleMania match, but a good, creative job of booking to hype Ripley vs. Belair for TakeOver in Portland first. Belair’s stock continues to rise coming off the Royal Rumble with some quality mic time showing she can handle it with it the top stars.

Double-duty Angel – Monday night. Wednesday night. What’s next for the former NXT Cruiserweight Champ? Maybe a trip to Smackdown to complete the trifecta!

M @DreamWWE has his

on you, @roderickstrong! #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/ALg7wygoog

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) February 6, 2020

It’s not a Dream – Welcome back Velveteen Dream! Just when it looked like The Undisputed Era had the upper hand again, back comes the Velveteen Dream to make it a nightmare for Cole and company! The only down side to it could be a possible injury to Ciampa heading into TakeOver.

What we didn’t love:

The look – We will continue to say it until it changes. The WWE rarely does anything that looks small, especially against a rival. Yet, when going up against AEW on Wednesday nights, the look of NXT appears lesser when put in the cozy confines of Full Sail. It’s times to take it to the road a few times a month. The talent and the audience deserve it! As for quality, NXT has it. Now it’s time to sharpen up the look. The WWE, with its lucrative TV deals and Super Showdown money from Saudi Arabia, can afford it.

Too little KC – Yes, I’m biased being a Ninja Warrior fan, but I need more than just under three-minutes of Kacy Catanzaro. It was nice to see her return to TV, but in pretty much a squash match against Mercedes Martinez doesn’t cut it for me.

SMACKDOWN

RESULTS

The Usos defeated Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode

Elias defeated Cesaro

Daniel Bryan defeats Heath Slater

Sheamus defeated Apollo Crews

Smackdown Women’s Championship #1 Contender’s Match: Carmella defeated Alexa Bliss, Naomi and Dana Brooke

Here’s the thing about this week’s Smackdown. It was perfectly fine. Nothing tremendously great, but nothing over-the-edge bad. It just was there and that’s not how I think the WWE wants to have its only show on broadcast TV to be looked upon, especially when it has two major events – Super Showdown in Saudi Arabia and WrestleMania coming up. Every week should be treated as special.

"HERE'S YOUR BREAKING NEWS: #TheFiend @WWEBrayWyatt, YOU'RE NEXT!" – @Goldberg #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/QDQxuCB6IH

— WWE (@WWE) February 8, 2020

This week, Goldberg’s return was more of a throwaway. A rematch for the Universal Title a year later against The Fiend, who wasn’t even the person to beat Goldberg last year? Huh? I get that they want to deliver a big-time feel match for the Prince, but it just doesn’t make common sense and give you any reason to believe that Goldberg could win.

WE GOT A MAKEOVER MONTAGE!!!

@otiswwe is getting READY for his #ValentinesDay date with @WWE_MandyRose!#SmackDown @tuckerwwe pic.twitter.com/a0Oanfqh0r

— WWE (@WWE) February 8, 2020

The best thing may have been the Otis vignette getting ready for his Valentine’s Day date with Mandy Rose for next week. Now that’s MUST SEE TV my friends.

Sheamus, after weeks and weeks of saying Smackdown doesn’t have any challenges for him, is making that seem true as he doesn’t really have a true suitor – no, I don’t count Shorty Gable’s, ahem, short feud.

Good to see Heath Slater is alive, losing to Daniel Bryan via a ref stoppage. You have to wonder what’s next for Bryan and the born-again YES movement.

And no, I can’t believe they are trying to give us yet another King Corbin vs. Roman Reigns match at Super Showdown inside a steel cage. It’s the feud that no one cares about that will never end!

On the positive side, the Dirt Sheet returned with a few funny moments from The Miz and John Morrison, complete with cameos from Lance Storm and John Laurinaitis. Elias and Cesaro was pretty fun.

.@CarmellaWWE PICKS UP THE WIN… but the SmackDown Women's Champion immediately takes out her challenger on #SmackDown! @itsBayleyWWE pic.twitter.com/RRnzwMHQIT

— WWE (@WWE) February 8, 2020

Naomi looked good before bowing out in the main event fatal four-way as Carmella wins a shot at Bayley’s title before Bayley gets her shots in on Carmella.

Parting shots:

The official trailer for WWE #RuthlessAggression is HERE. The new docuseries premieres Sunday Feb. 16 on WWE Network! pic.twitter.com/TiRlPfI6Id

— WWE Network (@WWENetwork) February 6, 2020

The trailer for the WWE Network’s new series Ruthless Aggression looks pretty good.

WrestleMania card – confirmed matches

WWE Championship: Brock Lesnar vs. Drew McIntyre

Thanks for letting us share our thoughts! Shoot me an email at [email protected]. We’d love to hear your comments and suggestions! You can also check out my blog, The Crowe’s Nest as we delve into more pro wrestling, sports entertainment and the World of Sports. My apologies ahead of time – I AM a Patriots and Red Sox fan! If you’re not down with that, I’ve got TWO WORDS for you… NEW ENGLAND!

#IFTTT #Place to Be Nation

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placetobenation · 4 years

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It seems like the WWE is much like the Holiday season for most of us these days. We’re all rushing around trying to meet a thousand different masters, some good, some bad and not always succeeding at mastering any of them. But, at the end of the day, we all will arrive on Christmas hoping for the best that everyone likes what we’ve given them enough to celebrate a wonderful with family and friends.

So, with that, we can easily divide the three WWE shows into the naughty, nice and Santa Claus categories.

On top, leading the way as Santa is NXT. While not playing in front of the same crowd numbers or audience, the product itself easily outdoes its mainstream counterparts on a weekly basis and this week is no exception. Two unbelievable championship matches from Adam Cole vs. Finn Balor and Shayna Baszler vs. Rhea Ripley highlighted by a returning fan favorite in Johnny Gargano show that NXT is getting really good at delivering those “moments” while continuing to bring solid, in-ring quality throughout the show. And to boot, NXT beat AEW in the ratings this week in both viewership and the coveted young demo for the first time. That’s something surely to hang their hat on and build on there.

Smackdown is our “nice” show. There’s enough there each week to keep us happy but still not enough there to break it into the out-of-the-box stratosphere. We expect more now that it’s on broadcast TV but it has yet to deliver anywhere near the viewers – 4 million – it did in its debut show. I will give them credit though this week. A better show from start to finish. Unfortunately for them, with the holiday weekend starting, it may not get reflected as such in the ratings.

What can we say about RAW? What was once the “A” show has now declined into a show that out of the three, is the one you could miss each week without not missing much. That’s something I would’ve never thought especially after Paul Heyman was put in charge of it. We need more attention, more personal development so that we can get that emotional payoff. Storylines, good ones with a touch of reality would go a long way. Rollins and the AOP could be the start of something good, so let’s see where it goes.

The good thing, just like in wrestling itself, is that things can change at the drop of a dime. So, in the spirit of the season, we wish all three shows a Happy Holiday Season ahead and lost of Season’s Beatings with good tidings ahead of the new year coming in.

She stands tall above the rest.

#WWENXT #NXTWomensTitle #AndNew @RheaRipley_WWE pic.twitter.com/afnm69A0C0

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) December 19, 2019

STAR OF THE WEEK – Easy choice this week and yes, we go chalk. Kudos to Rhea Ripley on her first NXT Women’s Championship. A shooting star has now landed and taken over NXT.

TLC PPV

RESULTS

Humberto Carrillo defeated Andrade

Smackdown Tag Team Title Ladder Match: Champions The New Day defeated The Revival

Aleister Black defeated Buddy Murphy

Raw Tag Team Title Match: Champions The Viking Raiders vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson (double count out)

TLC Match: King Corbin defeated Roman Reigns

Non-Title Match: Champion Bray Wyatt defeated The Miz

Tables Match: Lashley defeated Rusev

Women’s Tag Team Title TLC Match: Champions The Kabuki Warriors defeated Becky Lynch & Charlotte

What we loved:

New Day, Great Start – Applause to both The New Day and The Revival for kicking off TLC in grand style with a ladder match that left both teams strong and made sense.

Action packed Aleister – Just as he’s done on Monday nights, Aleister Black continues to deliver a fast-paced, action-packed match. Black and Murphy kept the emotion and physicality from the ladder match brought it up a notch.

The Fiend vs. Bray Wyatt vs. The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan – Yup, a four way out of a single match. That’s well done my friends. After a more serious-looking match from The Miz that saw him take the clean defeat, the mind games continue with Wyatt being told by The Fiend to finish The Miz off with a giant, clown-like mallet only to see Bryan return, more clean shaven than in the past thanks to The Fiend’s clippers a few weeks back, to take out Wyatt. It’s not the last we’ve seen of this four-way I’m sure and that’s good for the entire WWE Universe.

What we didn’t like:

All downhill – After the first two matches, TLC simply fell flat. Starting with a double count out (seriously, a double count out on a PPV?) from The Viking Raiders and Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson to the en masse beatdown of Roman Reigns to a lackluster Tables Match from Lashley and Rusev complete with spots that simply looked out of pace to the TLC main event from The Kabuki Warriors and Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair that spent way too much time out of the ring, it just didn’t connect. Why was the Women’s Tag Team Title Match the main event in the first place? That made no sense to me. There was more intrigue in the Bray Wyatt vs. The Miz match, which while the match itself was nothing to write home about, the finish with Wyatt being confronted by The Fiend on screen led to a clean finish over The Miz and the re-emergence of a clean-shaven Daniel Bryan. That to me seemed more of an emotional connection to end a show than the women’s tag match that just seemed to meander through 20+ minutes and Asuka’s claiming of the belts at the finish. Now, kudos to Kairi Sane for taking some insane, concussion-inducing bumps, but the match as a while didn’t resonate.

The end – Why did we need to have a restart of the en masse brawl between King Corbin, Roman Reigns and what seemed like the entire locker room during and after the women’s match? Did we really need 30 more seconds to close the show? Not me. Consider me as one who is bored with Reigns vs. Corbin and we’ve been saying that for weeks. Corbin’s a great heel, but the feud is just going nowhere. Cut the losses and move on instead of doubling or tripling down.

RAW

RESULTS

Non-Title Match: The Good Brothers defeated RAW Tag Team Champions The Viking Raiders

Erick Rowan defeated Dante Leon

US Title #1 Contenders Gauntlet Match: Ended in no-contest when Andrade stretchered Humberto Carrillo (Akira Tozawa defeated R-Truth, Ricochet defeated Tozawa and Matt Hardy, Humberto Carrillo defeated Ricochet, Carrillo vs. Andrade went to no-contest)

Asuka defeated Deonna Purrazzo (submission)

Randy Orton defeated. AJ Styles

What we don’t get:

Proposals, Gauntlets, #RKO's outta nowhere and more… These are your top ten moments from #Raw. pic.twitter.com/tQbQNzXpEO

— WWE (@WWE) December 18, 2019

Common sense – I thought with Paul Heyman in charge of RAW on Monday night, we were supposed to get better storylines, creative development and the details being more paid attention to. Yet, instead of that, we continue to get Erick Rowan’s cage with no payoff, a no-contest to a six-man gauntlet match that sees both Humberto Carrillo and Rey Mysterio, Jr. get punked out and many segments to Seth Rollins and the AOP. Please WWE, I’m begging you, please stop starting every non-NXT show with a person standing in the ring droning on and on for 20 minutes just to set up the night. It just makes me change the channel because they’ll be replaying it three of four more times over the next 2.5 hours. Heyman’s better than this product is delivering on Monday nights. Outside of Carrillo’s push and Rollins returning to a heel character he should’ve never left, what do we have? It seems like RAW is a show that’s lost its identity and not sure which way it should go. With the Royal Rumble and the road to WrestleMania about to begin, it’s high time they discovered their way again and do it fast, especially since this Monday’s RAW is already in the can having been taped last week.

Matt Hardy – We’ll say it again, Hardy deserves better. Just listen to the WWE Universe, they actually booed when Hardy lost to Ricochet. What does that tell you! Ricochet’s one of the top faces in the company and the crowd still isn’t happy. Listen to the Universe my friends! Remember that credo announced earlier this year by Stephanie McMahon and Triple H? It seems like they have not.

What we liked:

Wedding anyone? – Not that we love the Lashley-Lana saga being drawn out any further, but we do love a good wrestling wedding on TV! Can’t wait for the destruction and Lana’s tears coming in this one! BTW: I’m with CM Punk – put Lashley and Rusev together against Lana and a new young stud team to start the new year!

NXT

RESULTS

NXT Title Match: Champion Adam Cole defeated Finn Balor

Damian Priest defeated Killian Dain

Cameron Grimes defeated KUSHIDA

Io Shirai defeated Santana Garrett

Pete Dunne defeated Travis Banks

NXT Women’s Title Match: Rhea Ripley defeated Champion Shayna Baszler

What we loved:

Untouchable. Unbeatable. Undisputed.#AdamColeBayBay #UndisputedERA #AndStill pic.twitter.com/xMiN8fzCaX

— Adam Cole (@AdamColePro) December 19, 2019

Everything! – Honestly, not a damn thing to not like about this show. From start to finish, just an enjoyable show with hard-hitting action, a surprise return in Johnny Gargano and an absolute thrilling feel-good moment to end the show with Rhea Ripley becoming NXT Women’s Champion for the first time. Now, that’s saying a lot especially when you figure the show didn’t feature Tommaso Ciampa, Keith Lee or Matt Riddle.

His past is back. This time… in the form of a FURIOUS @JohnnyGargano!!!#WWENXT pic.twitter.com/gwgoySpLqr

— WWE (@WWE) December 19, 2019

Welcome back Johnny – I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect to see Johnny Gargano until 2020 and just when you thought Finn Balor was about to become NXT Champion again, Mr. Gargano changes the game. A look, a nutcracker and a cradle by Adam Cole and the new twist is here. BTW: awesome line by Mauro Ranollo sneaking in the anniversary of The Nutcracker in there after Cole’s nut shot on Balor. So, not only do we have a reason to see Balor vs. Cole again, but we certainly have Balor vs. Gargano to look forward to as we begin the new year. And again, it wasn’t forced. It all felt seamless.

All Hail the New Queen – We’ve been telling you for weeks that Rhea Ripley is truly a superstar in the making. Well, after defeating one of the baddest MF’ers on the planet in Shayna Baszler, Ripley has the gold to prove it. And talk about the way she does it! Ripley absorbs an assault from Baszler’s henchwomen – Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir – and turns what look like a championship retaining submission into a top rope stunning reversal and an avalanche riptide for the title! To boot, the NXT crowd fills the ring to make a special moment even more inviting. Kudos new champ!

Solid. Solid. Solid. – Week in and week out, it’s generally the in-ring performances that keep NXT at the top of the Wednesday night chain for me. This week, it’s even more important as Damian Priest, Io Shirai and Pete Dunne built a solid bridge between the epic title matches that kicked off and finished the show. Truly, it’s what turns a good show with some great moments into one of the most memorable shows of the year from start to finish. It’s also something that makes NXT stand out from RAW and Smackdown where silliness and things that absolutely make no sense seem to be more common place than not.

SMACKDOWN

RESULTS

Miracle on 34th Street Fight: Heavy Machinery defeated The Revival

Carmella defeated Sonya Deville

Non-Title Match: Smackdown Tag Team Champions The New Day defeated Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura

Non-Title Match: Smackdown Women’s Champion Bayley defeated Dana Brooke

Lacey Evans vs. Sasha Banks went to a double count out

The Miz & Daniel Bryan defeated King Corbin & Dolph Ziggler (submission)

What we loved:

NEXT WEEK on #SmackDown, a Triple Threat Match between @WWEDanielBryan, @mikethemiz and #King @BaronCorbinWWE will determine who will challenge #TheFiend @WWEBrayWyatt for the #UniversalChampionship at #RoyalRumble 2020!https://t.co/t9JfsYg2Ld

— WWE (@WWE) December 21, 2019

A triple threat treat for The Fiend – So, not only do we get The Miz and Daniel Bryan as contenders for The Fiend’s Universal Title, but after Friday night’s Smackdown, we get King Corbin added into the mix. For the final Smackdown of 2019, it’s a #1 contender’s match for The Fiend’s opponent at the Royal Rumble. Beautifully done to slide Corbin off of the Roman Reigns feud and onto the main event status. Corbin’s a perfect foil as the top heel on the show to face-off with his counterparts. Plus, when you add in Dolph Ziggler, you’ve got so many combinations to fuel the fire. All of that was fully evident in their tag team match and a final laugh from The Fiend to close the show.

We feel ya kid, we feel ya. #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/C4cyB1QqJK

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) December 21, 2019

Lacey Evans, One Teed-Off Mama – A couple of weeks ago, we made Lacey our Star of the Week for bringing that personal touch to her feud with Sasha Banks and Bayley. This week, after saving Dana Brooke from a two-on-one attack, we get the next step as Sasha taunts Lacey’s daughter, enraging Evans and igniting a fire to this confrontation. We should plenty of Lacey, along with Brooke vs. Sasha and Bayley over the next few weeks.

Merry Christmas, @otiswwe! #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/MqnzqeuGK0

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) December 21, 2019

Otis and Mandy – Heavy Machinery is just wildly entertaining week in and week out both in and out of the ring. Now, add in the sexy Mandy Rose (oh Mandy! – sorry couldn’t refuse all you Barry Mannilow fans!) to flirt with Otis (and his ham) is a juicy story we can sink our teeth into.

Braun’s next step – It’s been teased for weeks and now it looks like we’ll finally get Braun Strowman taking on Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura. His save of The New Day to take a shot at Nakamura is a perfect way to kickstart a title run for the big man. Let’s see if it’s a slow burn or a quick shot for Strowman.

Addition by subtraction – Noticeable by his absence is one Roman Reigns. To me, that’s a good thing. It’ll help us forget the forgettable match at TLC and help him move on to whatever is next for The Big Dog.

What we didn’t like:

Carmella vs. Sonya Deville – Why only 90 seconds for them? Carmella danced with The New Day for longer than that. Deville’s talent is getting wasted at the moment. If they can’t use her right on Smackdown, I’d love to see Deville in NXT as an addition to Shayna Baszler’s team to take out Rhea Ripley.

Sheamus’ vignettes – There needs to be another layer to these vignettes. It’s the same thing week after week. I’d rather see Sheamus build up the roster rather than the tired “no one on Smackdown is any good” line of smack. It’ll be interesting to see who he physically attacks first.

Parting thoughts:

Food for thought – are we headed towards a surprise Rhonda Rousey entry into the Royal Rumble?

Thanks for letting us share our thoughts! Shoot me an email at [email protected]. We’d love to hear your comments and suggestions! You can also check out my blog, The Crowe’s Nest as we delve into more pro wrestling, sports entertainment and the World of Sports. My apologies ahead of time – I AM a Patriots and Red Sox fan! If you’re not down with that, I’ve got TWO WORDS for you… NEW ENGLAND!

#IFTTT #Place to Be Nation

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