Hello! It's another Review- and it's being written on a Saturday Morning for a change. I'm writing this directly after the thing has finished for a change so without the benefit of sleeping on what's happened like I usually have my opinions may be a bit more- well opinionated than usual. Overall this card promised it to be a really fun show, so the only question that needs to be answered is- WHAT'S IN THE BOX?! Also- Did it Deliver?
Chris Jericho vs Neville
I actually loved this match- and considering I'd forgotten it was even on the card until this morning when I looked it up that's saying something. Jericho has infuriated me quite a lot since his last (on TV) run what with his defence of DeMott and general way he's come across, but that doesn't take away from what he's done in the ring and he delivered a master-class tonight. It was obvious he was going to be a Babyface coming out because- well he's Chris Jericho, but what he did was gradually swtich further and further into Heel Mode as the match went on and massively had Neville over as a Babyface by the end of the match.
That side of the match put to one side- it was also a damn good match, with two great workers like Jericho and Neville involved I don't think people expect much else- but for once and a theme across the night the commentary actually enhanced the match and overall the match was just really good. I would have liked Neville to go over, just because he's the one who's going to be on TV on Monday but I was mildly appeased by the fact Jericho won with the Liontamer and Cole actually called it a Liontamer. Can't have it all my own way.
Nikki Bella v Paige v Tamina- Divas Title
They were on a different continent and the match involving the Bella still sucked. I'm not necessarily blaming Nikki for that because Paige's spot calls were so loud it was stupid but the match was just bad. I know it's a House Show (and I'll talk about it more later) and they usually have the Title defended on House Show's but this just felt so out of place in the rest of the card.
Brock Lesnar v Kofi Kingston
I'm not saying I didn't enjoy this- because watching Brock kill people is never not fun. I wanted more from this match. The last time we saw Brock he was getting taken out by The Authority with the focus being on his Knee, I get that Brock is meant to be Superhuman (and it was a House Show) but I don't get why Brock wasn't selling the Knee at all- because surely that was the point of the Angle on RAW and for Rollins to have a weakness with which to target. Fine, take that part out of the equation; Brock within the storyline should be absolutely pissed- I was expecting Brock to come out and rip Kofi (and the rest of New Day) to shreds. It just felt like another Brock beat-down segment, and as I said I do like it but I wanted more.
The aftermath was fun with Xavier and Big E coming out- and they rightly put over just how easily Brock F5'd Big E and it was all fun. I just wanted it be longer and a lot more brutal than it was. Also I can't remember which German Suplex it was- but one of the German's looked absolutely brutal and with the way Kofi sold it, it literally looked like he died.
Finn Balor v Kevin Owens- NXT Title Match
I loved this- everything from Balor's Entrance to Owens just being awesome and ultra-heel and then the match itself and of course the Title Switch to cap it all off.
Let's start with the Pre-Match, Balor's Entrance was great- and the Paint was even more great than usual with the Japanese Characters on his back which apparently meant "Demon Prince" and the Devil on his back was just so cool and so great. The Streamers are something I've wanted to see in WWE for a while just because of the cool visuals when it comes to Streamers and it definitely added to the Pre-Match and feel for the match- although them cleaning it all up and then leaving it just at ringside rather than under the ring nearly tripped Balor. The Flowers spot was great- Owens sold the Flowers when they were given to him like he'd just been presented a John Cena Wristband and then is true John Cena fashion he just chucked the Flowers out of the ring which was hilarious and great.
The actual match itself was great- and they just told a great story throughout the match, but then again did we really expect anything else from these two? Whether it was Balor hitting Bloody Sunday or just everything in general being great I loved it. The only slight issue I had with this match was Triple H spoiling it on Twitter. I know this was obviously airing on a slight tape delay- but come on, surely he had more sense than to post it immediately after Balor won the Title (in Japan, Live).
The Aftermath was good- and I get the feeling it was Owens' NXT send-off, people can talk about his Rematch Clause or whatever but to that I'll point out Paige never lost her NXT Womens Title and still hasn't tried to recapture it. Actually I lied, I had another issue with this- they showed Itami at Ringside so they acknowledged he was there, so I expected Itami to come in and raise Balor and then of course have it as foreshadowing for when Itami comes back in December for a feud with a Heel Balor after it's already been revealed that Balor- or rather The Demon was the one who took out Itami. So they're either not going to do that angle or they had a massive misstep.
John Cena & Dolph Ziggler v Kane & King Barrett
We were one "K" off in the Kane and King team to have unfortunate initials. Let's get into this debate because I saw a lot of people bitching about this being the Main Event- I do understand where they were coming from with it but with no WWE Champion on the show there was no way on earth Cena wasn't going to Main Event a House Show, because at the end of the day that's all it was- it just happens that there was TV Cameras there for the Network this time.
The match itself was fine considering Cena was the only one with any kind of momentum headed into the match and like in every house show it ended with the Babyface standing tall to send the crowd home happy.
Overall the show was great, I don't know what it was about the Lighting for the show but it really enhanced the show and gave the show a more realistic feel to it. That combined with the fact Cole and Saxton who I was dreading being on Commentary together ended up being a highlight of the show and really enhanced it says a lot for the show and standard of it. Who'd have thought not having a 70 Year Old Lunatic Screaming in your Ear would improve performance?
Thanks for reading as ever, we'll be back for the RAW Review on Tuesday but in the mean time have a good weekend and I think if we all Clap in Unison we can bring Kofi back to life with the Power of Positivity. CLAP WITH ME GUYS, NEW... DAY ROCKS, NEW... DAY ROCKS, NEW... DAY ROCKS.
Saturday, 4 July 2015
Thursday, 2 July 2015
TNA: Bell to Bell Review
Hello! It's another Impact Review- and in the case of Last Night it was "Bell to Bell" which unless I completely missed the point was for them to air matches uninterrupted hence "Bell to Bell" so either I missed the point or they did because I saw way too many BBQ Pitmaster Adverts when I wanted to see some Wrasslin. With this episode being pretty much the most hyped up TNA card of the year I'd say we should all have rightly expected big things- so the question that needs answering is of course, Did it Deliver?
The BDC v The Rising
I really liked this match- it told a really good story from all sides and really put over The BDC again after as I discussed last week their feud with The Rising should by all rights have been over already. Whether it was the Eli Drake "injury" or the Galloway "last stand" so to speak this lot told a really good story and for that I really have to give them credit. Would I have preferred Low Ki to get a bit more of a send off- Yes, I don't see why he couldn't have won the match for the BDC and then in a Backstage thing act all remorseful and then get killed by his own Crew. Then again, that's a small thing and it shouldn't take away from what was a good match.
Magnus, Mickie & Storm Promos
It was kinda weird Storm wasn't gloating about Slammiversary right? This was fine- there wasn't anything massively wrong with the segment or the Promos, but you're just reminded how shockingly bad the angle is every time you try and even remotely praise it.
The Wolves v The Dirty Heels- 30 Min Iron-Man Match
It's not that I didn't like this match- because I did. There was just so much missing from this match that would have taken it to another level. For example, it's an Iron-Man Match and they didn't have a Scoreboard up; unless I've really missed the point surely a part of the Iron Man Match is to have a scoreboard so you can see what the Score is and how much time is left. Then we move onto another problem I had with the match- and event as a whole. Having an Ad Break during an Iron-Man match was a complete killer for me, it massively interrupted the story they were trying to tell and also pretty much went "You're not going to miss a Pin" which is directly contrary to what the Iron-Man Match should be about. Speaking of Pins- I'm not suggesting it should have ended 47-46, but not having a Pin until pretty much the last 5 Minutes annoyed me to an extent because they might as well have just made it a normal Match with a 30 Minute Time Limit- and also maybe I'm thinking too much, but I think it'd have been a nice touch for as the bell rang to have Eddie tapping just to put over how close it was while still having the Wolves win. Like I said right at the start- It's not that I didn't like this match because I did, there was just too many things I could see wrong with it that prevented it going to that "next level" that to be honest you expected when you saw the two Teams and the Stipulation.
Taryn Terrell v Brooke v Kong
It's actually getting to the point "Doll Parts" is genuinely annoying me- and not in a good "Heel Heat" way. It just doesn't suit wrestling or the wrestling environment at all- it's arguably the most depressing theme in Wrestling History. The match was fine- although I had to laugh because SPOILER ALERT I thought last night was the night Brooke won the Belt so that really caught me off guard IT'S SAFE TO COME BACK.
Jeff Jarrett Interview
It's obvious they're GLOBAL FORCE WRESTLING going for an invasion angle GLOBAL FORCE WRESTLING but my problem with this GLOBAL FORCE WRESTLING whole thing is that GFW isn't an established entity and GLOBAL FORCE WRESTLING any invasion angle is just going to fall flat- if you put a gun GLOBAL FORCE WRESTLING to my head I wouldn't be able to name you 5 GFW stars. Also, did it annoy anyone else as much GLOBAL FORCE WRESTLING as me how they literally crammed GLOBAL FORCE WRESTLING in even when it didn't really fit.
EC3 v Kurt Angle- TNA WHC Match
Given the Trouble Trouble Trouble the company is in it could very well be that EC3 is the last TNA World Heavyweight Champion and it really is fitting. TNA has done an awful lot of stuff wrong- I'm the first person to say it, but with EC3 they've truly got it bang on. The match was great and it told a good story- and of course with the Roll-Up Finish it keeps it open enough for Angle to say he wasn't "beaten beaten" if that makes sense and'll of course set up the Rematch where EC3 will once again prove he is very good. The only issue I had with this match was that it wasn't live. It's not something you can really quantify- Title Changes always seem to mean more when you don't know it's coming, even if the outcome is pretty obvious, but that's just a slight issue I had with what was otherwise a great match.
I don't think I've been happier to see a Title Win since Bryan at Mania 30, like I've said in a few different posts it was myself and about 12 other people who watched NXT Redemption regularly and I hated Derrick Bateman with a passion and was all about Johnny Curtis just because of how absurd his whole gimmick was. It goes without saying I don't think many people batted an eye when EC3 was released- but whoever saw that little spark in EC3 and hired him for the role he was to be put in is a genius and deserves to be paid only a week late. It's been just so good to see EC3 develop over nearly 2 Years now and for the first time in a Long-Time I'm genuinely excited for next weeks Impact.
Last Night was a really fun show- and it was nice to have 3 reasonably long matches on the card and to have the focus on the in-ring action even if the "Bell to Bell" concept was flawed.
Thanks for reading as always, I'm definitely going to be back on Saturday for the "Beast in the East" Review where the Review may just be a eulogy for Kofi. So Yeah I'll be back for that for definite. Thanks again for reading- I'm just so happy to see EC3 win the Belt- and all we can hope for is that TNA's Trouble Trouble Trouble doesn't stop his Title Reign matching it's full potential.
The BDC v The Rising
I really liked this match- it told a really good story from all sides and really put over The BDC again after as I discussed last week their feud with The Rising should by all rights have been over already. Whether it was the Eli Drake "injury" or the Galloway "last stand" so to speak this lot told a really good story and for that I really have to give them credit. Would I have preferred Low Ki to get a bit more of a send off- Yes, I don't see why he couldn't have won the match for the BDC and then in a Backstage thing act all remorseful and then get killed by his own Crew. Then again, that's a small thing and it shouldn't take away from what was a good match.
Magnus, Mickie & Storm Promos
It was kinda weird Storm wasn't gloating about Slammiversary right? This was fine- there wasn't anything massively wrong with the segment or the Promos, but you're just reminded how shockingly bad the angle is every time you try and even remotely praise it.
The Wolves v The Dirty Heels- 30 Min Iron-Man Match
It's not that I didn't like this match- because I did. There was just so much missing from this match that would have taken it to another level. For example, it's an Iron-Man Match and they didn't have a Scoreboard up; unless I've really missed the point surely a part of the Iron Man Match is to have a scoreboard so you can see what the Score is and how much time is left. Then we move onto another problem I had with the match- and event as a whole. Having an Ad Break during an Iron-Man match was a complete killer for me, it massively interrupted the story they were trying to tell and also pretty much went "You're not going to miss a Pin" which is directly contrary to what the Iron-Man Match should be about. Speaking of Pins- I'm not suggesting it should have ended 47-46, but not having a Pin until pretty much the last 5 Minutes annoyed me to an extent because they might as well have just made it a normal Match with a 30 Minute Time Limit- and also maybe I'm thinking too much, but I think it'd have been a nice touch for as the bell rang to have Eddie tapping just to put over how close it was while still having the Wolves win. Like I said right at the start- It's not that I didn't like this match because I did, there was just too many things I could see wrong with it that prevented it going to that "next level" that to be honest you expected when you saw the two Teams and the Stipulation.
Taryn Terrell v Brooke v Kong
It's actually getting to the point "Doll Parts" is genuinely annoying me- and not in a good "Heel Heat" way. It just doesn't suit wrestling or the wrestling environment at all- it's arguably the most depressing theme in Wrestling History. The match was fine- although I had to laugh because SPOILER ALERT I thought last night was the night Brooke won the Belt so that really caught me off guard IT'S SAFE TO COME BACK.
Jeff Jarrett Interview
It's obvious they're GLOBAL FORCE WRESTLING going for an invasion angle GLOBAL FORCE WRESTLING but my problem with this GLOBAL FORCE WRESTLING whole thing is that GFW isn't an established entity and GLOBAL FORCE WRESTLING any invasion angle is just going to fall flat- if you put a gun GLOBAL FORCE WRESTLING to my head I wouldn't be able to name you 5 GFW stars. Also, did it annoy anyone else as much GLOBAL FORCE WRESTLING as me how they literally crammed GLOBAL FORCE WRESTLING in even when it didn't really fit.
EC3 v Kurt Angle- TNA WHC Match
Given the Trouble Trouble Trouble the company is in it could very well be that EC3 is the last TNA World Heavyweight Champion and it really is fitting. TNA has done an awful lot of stuff wrong- I'm the first person to say it, but with EC3 they've truly got it bang on. The match was great and it told a good story- and of course with the Roll-Up Finish it keeps it open enough for Angle to say he wasn't "beaten beaten" if that makes sense and'll of course set up the Rematch where EC3 will once again prove he is very good. The only issue I had with this match was that it wasn't live. It's not something you can really quantify- Title Changes always seem to mean more when you don't know it's coming, even if the outcome is pretty obvious, but that's just a slight issue I had with what was otherwise a great match.
I don't think I've been happier to see a Title Win since Bryan at Mania 30, like I've said in a few different posts it was myself and about 12 other people who watched NXT Redemption regularly and I hated Derrick Bateman with a passion and was all about Johnny Curtis just because of how absurd his whole gimmick was. It goes without saying I don't think many people batted an eye when EC3 was released- but whoever saw that little spark in EC3 and hired him for the role he was to be put in is a genius and deserves to be paid only a week late. It's been just so good to see EC3 develop over nearly 2 Years now and for the first time in a Long-Time I'm genuinely excited for next weeks Impact.
Last Night was a really fun show- and it was nice to have 3 reasonably long matches on the card and to have the focus on the in-ring action even if the "Bell to Bell" concept was flawed.
Thanks for reading as always, I'm definitely going to be back on Saturday for the "Beast in the East" Review where the Review may just be a eulogy for Kofi. So Yeah I'll be back for that for definite. Thanks again for reading- I'm just so happy to see EC3 win the Belt- and all we can hope for is that TNA's Trouble Trouble Trouble doesn't stop his Title Reign matching it's full potential.
Tuesday, 30 June 2015
RAW Review: 29th June
Hello! It's another RAW Review, I'm massively running out of witty remarks for this opening gambit- but Yes, it's a RAW Review- which means a lot of crushing disappointment and basic logic being thrown out the window. Yay! Anyway after last weeks RAW that was really flat we were led into this weeks RAW where with no Brock booked and the announcement of the most repetitive Main Event ever it didn't look good heading into the show. But did it surprise anyone?
Seth Rollins does... Something
When I was watching this Last Night I wasn't sure if I really hated or completely loved this segment. Now that I've thought about it and of course slept on it I'm going down on the side of loving this segment. Yes, it was completely stupid- but that was the point. In a weird way it reminded me of the "Hug It Out" segment in that they probably told Seth "You've got 15 Minutes, Go Out there and do it". I fully understand people hating this segment- I'm just not one of those people- End of the Day I was laughing so it was job done.
Big Show v Mark Henry
At least it was short. The only highlight for this was Miz on Commentary his "This is What WWE is all about" line whether it was meant to be ironic or not got a laugh out of me.
Ryback v The Miz
For what it was I liked it- it put over Ryback as the Strong IC Champion and Miz as the cowardly Heel all while protecting to an extent both guys by not having them take a Pin. Also I'm not sure if they planned it as such or the Ref got a voice in his head telling them to "go home" but the Ref calling for the Bell after about 4 when Miz bolted was weird and I don't think I've ever seen that before. Either way it was a mistake because Miz was going to come back and win the Match. #JusticeForMiz.
Paige v Alicia Fox
After my Divas piece last week it was my intention to leave these segments blank until there was a marked change in the Division. However, Last Night was a nice change of pace. For once a Divas Match got the crowd invested into the match- and for about 10 Minutes both Women put on a good match. What do you know, there wasn't a Bella involved in said 10 Minute good match that got the crowd invested. It's almost as if the crowd don't actually care about the Bellas.
Cesaro v John Cena
Cena's Open Challenge was back- and it was as great as ever. I tweeted as Cesaro came out that I was all for this match because Cena/Cesaro was one of my Match of the Year Candidates last year- and while I wouldn't say it was as good as last year's offering this was still straight out of the top draw. There are some pairings that just "click" and Cesaro and Cena is definitely one of those pairings- although in fairness Cesaro "clicks" with literally everyone other than RVD it seems. This was just a great match- and the best thing about it all, they actually felt the need to protect Cesaro for the finish. I'm sure pretty much everyone expected Cena to power through AA Cesaro and then get blind-sided by Owens (who's commentary reminded me quite a lot of Punk's) so for him to take out Cesaro and then Cena did a great job and was the perfect finish. I suppose we can add Cesaro to the list of people Owens is feuding with now as well, I think he's angling for his own Royal Rumble.
Quick Point before I move on- I genuinely am trying to get this Cesaro Post out, but the last two Friday's have been really weird and hectic for me so I hope you understand and I'd rather when I do put it out to be quality rather than rushed.
Bray Wyatt Promo
It's so nice to see Bray has something he can really sink his teeth into again, because even myself as a huge Bray fan wasn't getting into the Ryback stuff. I'll repeat what I've said a few times now- you can say Bray's Promos/Promo Style "isn't for you" but calling his Promos boring or pointless is naive- if you actually listen to what Bray is saying it makes perfect sense.
The Lucha Dragons & The Primetime Players v New Day & Bo Dallas
I'm not sure what to think of this match if I'm honest. On the one hand it was a pretty solid match- and did as good a job as an 8 Man Tag Match can do- but on the other this match was way, way too long for what it was- and that was a throwaway 8 Man Tag just to fit everyone on the card. I don't know if I'm saying that because I wasn't expecting it to go as long as it did and that fact caught me off guard- but I didn't really get into the match until Titus had his little flurry right toward the end.
Ziggler & Lana/Rusev & Summer Rae Segment
I'm not on board with the Ziggler/Lana pairing- and I still say Rusev is coming off as the Babyface in this whole thing. That said, the Crowds Reaction to Lana finally getting physical with someone- combined with them finally giving Summer something to stick her teeth into means I'm not totally against this as I have been. While this may be up in the air with Dolph's rumoured Contract Issues I can see them doing a double-turn with Dolph and Summer eventually being the Heels. But for now I's assume it's going to be a Mixed-Tag at Battleground where it'll be interesting to see if Lana can actually wrestle. As much as I want to get behind Lana (no, not in that way) if she's useless in the ring then she should stay out of the ring.
Ambrose & Reigns Segment
I hope Ambrose is happy with himself- he got Roman all hyped up before it was time for their match, and as a result Stan is now dead.
Sheamus v Neville
For the throwaway filler match that this was it was pretty good. You can say what you want about Sheamus but he does know how to use a crowd to get what he wants out of said crowd and any match involving these two is going to have to go some way in order to be bad. The one question I do want answering is simply, Where the Hell is Orton? They literally started his feud with Sheamus and then a week later he went missing with no explanation.
King Barrett v Jack Swagger
This was fine for what it was as was the previous match- I think we were all surprised Swagger ended up on RAW for the first time in forever. But I think it's more surprising that Barrett has actually strung together 2 Wins on RAW in a row, even if they were against jobbers.
Kane & Seth Rollins v Ambrose & Reigns- No DQ Match
When this match started up I was all for it- it was hectic and all 4 Guys were in the ring which was a must for me, because it was a No DQ Match. Then we came back from the Ad Break and they'd reverted to the rules of a normal Tag Match- Why? It's not that I didn't like the match, because I did- I just wanted it to be more chaotic and have more stuff happening. Bray's interference was actually a nice change of pace because with the exception of Brock, Bray is the first guy to breach that Main Event segment in seemingly forever and it was refreshing for Bray to close the show so for that I do give them credit.
This whole episode was quite strange, nearly everything was pretty solid at a minimum last night but for some reason I went to Bed feeling quite empty- and I can't even really pinpoint why.
Anyway, Thanks for reading as always- Like I said I truly am trying to get the Cesaro Post out ASAP and I'll try my best to get it out this week so hopefully stay tuned for that- also apologies for this being up a bit later than usual but I had a Hospital Appointment so, Yeah I couldn't do anything about it. Thanks again for reading, If you want you can join me Tonight for Tough Enough where the Hunt for the next Silent Rage continues, thanks again and have a good week before we all go into mourning for the death of Kofi Kingston. NEW... DAY DIES, NEW... DAY DIES.
Seth Rollins does... Something
When I was watching this Last Night I wasn't sure if I really hated or completely loved this segment. Now that I've thought about it and of course slept on it I'm going down on the side of loving this segment. Yes, it was completely stupid- but that was the point. In a weird way it reminded me of the "Hug It Out" segment in that they probably told Seth "You've got 15 Minutes, Go Out there and do it". I fully understand people hating this segment- I'm just not one of those people- End of the Day I was laughing so it was job done.
Big Show v Mark Henry
At least it was short. The only highlight for this was Miz on Commentary his "This is What WWE is all about" line whether it was meant to be ironic or not got a laugh out of me.
Ryback v The Miz
For what it was I liked it- it put over Ryback as the Strong IC Champion and Miz as the cowardly Heel all while protecting to an extent both guys by not having them take a Pin. Also I'm not sure if they planned it as such or the Ref got a voice in his head telling them to "go home" but the Ref calling for the Bell after about 4 when Miz bolted was weird and I don't think I've ever seen that before. Either way it was a mistake because Miz was going to come back and win the Match. #JusticeForMiz.
Paige v Alicia Fox
After my Divas piece last week it was my intention to leave these segments blank until there was a marked change in the Division. However, Last Night was a nice change of pace. For once a Divas Match got the crowd invested into the match- and for about 10 Minutes both Women put on a good match. What do you know, there wasn't a Bella involved in said 10 Minute good match that got the crowd invested. It's almost as if the crowd don't actually care about the Bellas.
Cesaro v John Cena
Cena's Open Challenge was back- and it was as great as ever. I tweeted as Cesaro came out that I was all for this match because Cena/Cesaro was one of my Match of the Year Candidates last year- and while I wouldn't say it was as good as last year's offering this was still straight out of the top draw. There are some pairings that just "click" and Cesaro and Cena is definitely one of those pairings- although in fairness Cesaro "clicks" with literally everyone other than RVD it seems. This was just a great match- and the best thing about it all, they actually felt the need to protect Cesaro for the finish. I'm sure pretty much everyone expected Cena to power through AA Cesaro and then get blind-sided by Owens (who's commentary reminded me quite a lot of Punk's) so for him to take out Cesaro and then Cena did a great job and was the perfect finish. I suppose we can add Cesaro to the list of people Owens is feuding with now as well, I think he's angling for his own Royal Rumble.
Quick Point before I move on- I genuinely am trying to get this Cesaro Post out, but the last two Friday's have been really weird and hectic for me so I hope you understand and I'd rather when I do put it out to be quality rather than rushed.
Bray Wyatt Promo
It's so nice to see Bray has something he can really sink his teeth into again, because even myself as a huge Bray fan wasn't getting into the Ryback stuff. I'll repeat what I've said a few times now- you can say Bray's Promos/Promo Style "isn't for you" but calling his Promos boring or pointless is naive- if you actually listen to what Bray is saying it makes perfect sense.
The Lucha Dragons & The Primetime Players v New Day & Bo Dallas
I'm not sure what to think of this match if I'm honest. On the one hand it was a pretty solid match- and did as good a job as an 8 Man Tag Match can do- but on the other this match was way, way too long for what it was- and that was a throwaway 8 Man Tag just to fit everyone on the card. I don't know if I'm saying that because I wasn't expecting it to go as long as it did and that fact caught me off guard- but I didn't really get into the match until Titus had his little flurry right toward the end.
Ziggler & Lana/Rusev & Summer Rae Segment
I'm not on board with the Ziggler/Lana pairing- and I still say Rusev is coming off as the Babyface in this whole thing. That said, the Crowds Reaction to Lana finally getting physical with someone- combined with them finally giving Summer something to stick her teeth into means I'm not totally against this as I have been. While this may be up in the air with Dolph's rumoured Contract Issues I can see them doing a double-turn with Dolph and Summer eventually being the Heels. But for now I's assume it's going to be a Mixed-Tag at Battleground where it'll be interesting to see if Lana can actually wrestle. As much as I want to get behind Lana (no, not in that way) if she's useless in the ring then she should stay out of the ring.
Ambrose & Reigns Segment
I hope Ambrose is happy with himself- he got Roman all hyped up before it was time for their match, and as a result Stan is now dead.
Sheamus v Neville
For the throwaway filler match that this was it was pretty good. You can say what you want about Sheamus but he does know how to use a crowd to get what he wants out of said crowd and any match involving these two is going to have to go some way in order to be bad. The one question I do want answering is simply, Where the Hell is Orton? They literally started his feud with Sheamus and then a week later he went missing with no explanation.
King Barrett v Jack Swagger
This was fine for what it was as was the previous match- I think we were all surprised Swagger ended up on RAW for the first time in forever. But I think it's more surprising that Barrett has actually strung together 2 Wins on RAW in a row, even if they were against jobbers.
Kane & Seth Rollins v Ambrose & Reigns- No DQ Match
When this match started up I was all for it- it was hectic and all 4 Guys were in the ring which was a must for me, because it was a No DQ Match. Then we came back from the Ad Break and they'd reverted to the rules of a normal Tag Match- Why? It's not that I didn't like the match, because I did- I just wanted it to be more chaotic and have more stuff happening. Bray's interference was actually a nice change of pace because with the exception of Brock, Bray is the first guy to breach that Main Event segment in seemingly forever and it was refreshing for Bray to close the show so for that I do give them credit.
This whole episode was quite strange, nearly everything was pretty solid at a minimum last night but for some reason I went to Bed feeling quite empty- and I can't even really pinpoint why.
Anyway, Thanks for reading as always- Like I said I truly am trying to get the Cesaro Post out ASAP and I'll try my best to get it out this week so hopefully stay tuned for that- also apologies for this being up a bit later than usual but I had a Hospital Appointment so, Yeah I couldn't do anything about it. Thanks again for reading, If you want you can join me Tonight for Tough Enough where the Hunt for the next Silent Rage continues, thanks again and have a good week before we all go into mourning for the death of Kofi Kingston. NEW... DAY DIES, NEW... DAY DIES.
Monday, 29 June 2015
Slammiversary Review
Hello! It's a Slammiversary Review that I really wasn't sure I'd be doing. The only reason I ended up watching Slammiversary last night was because it was Free on TV last night- I wouldn't even have bothered streaming it, so thanks for that one Challenge. Anyway, the one question that you all want the answer to- Do I want a Refund?
Tigre Uno v Manik v DJ Z- X Division Title Match
It's not that I didn't like this match- because I did, but to me the job in Title matches is for the audience to suspend their disbelief to the point that you believe a Title Change may happen even though you know it won't. All of that was completely out of the window knowing for a complete fact that Tigre wasn't dropping the Belt and for me that took any suspense out of the match that a good match needs to have. Like I say though, that's not to say I didn't like the match and it was a fun opener- it was just flawed from the outset.
Quick Point, with TNA seemingly doomed a load of people have been saying how they want Aries, Roode etc. to come down to NXT- While I do want them, I would seriously rank Zema Ion above them in terms of who I want to see down in NXT. You'll know if you've been following me on Twitter for long enough that I really rate Zema- and were it not for the Jesse Sorensen thing I truly believe Zema would be at Aries level in terms of standing within the company- couple that with the fact he's still only 28 get's me quire excited and he's someone who I definitely want them to look at.
Robbie E Backstage Promo
The little thing with Borash before we got onto the Interview felt like a Eulogy- and it wouldn't surprise me if JB is off soon as well. The Robbie E promo was good in selling his "new" motivations so to speak and did a decent(ish) job of hyping the match.
Robbie E v Jessie Godderz
The Jessie Promo was a bit "meh" and his new gimmick seemingly being the exact copy of Chris Masters/Mordetsky isn't exactly helping his cause but I'm actually enjoying Jessie at the moment. In terms of "Most Improved Guys" Jessie has to be one of the guys you talk about- and his facial expressions made him look like a genuine psychopath and like he'd snapped. It's never been disputed that he has "the look" but now he's actually adding to that and his character is seemingly starting to get some depth. That makes the finish even more perplexing- but as long as Jessie gets the Win back on a show that actually matters it should be fine.
Bram v Matt Morgan
At least Bram won. After what happened on Wednesday with Vader I really wasn't confident that Bram would win which was a must- and I've read the Spoilers but I've already forgotten them but I would hope Bram will kick on from this and in a not too dissimilar way to EC3 slowly build up momentum to the point everyone's clamouring for him to get the TNA WHC Belt. I actually liked this match because it didn't go all out. It was somewhat refreshing for a match to not give the crowd the kitchen sink and basically acknowledge that there were other matches they needed the crowd to be invested in more. So for me this was a decent match, but it never wanted to be anything more than that.
Austin Aries v Davey Richards
WRASSLIN! For a seemingly throwaway match to determine the stipulation of a match that had already happened with one of the participants having one foot out the door this was really good. This was a good ol' Wrestling Match. It didn't have any of the bells and whistles of a stipulation- and they just got in there and showed why they're two of the best Wrestlers in the Company. There honestly isn't much else you can say about the match other than that the 30 Minute Iron Man Stip should be a fun one.
Brooke & Kong v The Dollhouse
This was just quite "meh" to me- and that's pretty much been the feeling of the Knockouts recently in general, and that truly is a shame. It's not that they're doing anything inherently wrong- I just want more from the Knockouts, and when you factor in the Knockouts aren't unique any more in that they're giving Women the spotlight in NXT to an equal- if not more so than the Knockouts at their height does take some of the sheen off of the Knockouts Division. BUT THOSE ROYALTIES FOR CORGAN'S FRIEND!
Magnus Backstage Promo
This was a bit all over the place- but I'm not going to massively dig at him for that because he was probably all over the place mentally what with it being most likely his last night with the Company.
James Storm v Magnus- Unsanctioned Match
As far as matches go when both competitors are pretty much out the door this definitely outranked Brock vs Goldberg. I don't usually like matches where they go "all around the arena" just because for me it stops the match getting a good flow to it and I hate all the conveniently placed items that come into play but I really liked this match. It had enough of a rhythm to it that the "get to different areas to do a spot" didn't feel as blatantly obvious as most of these sort of matches do, so when the spots actually happened it meant something. This match told a near perfect story as well with Magnus refusing to give in- Some people may have not liked the finish and I'd understand that- but to me it was good because it showed that although Storm won there was nothing to separate the two guys.
This was when it all started to go horribly wrong. I remember seeing something in the week that The Harris Twins told the TNA Workers that the pay was delayed and if they wanted to they could shake their hands and leave. Well, it seems like the Audio Guys took the offer. It was hilarious for the first minute or so because all I heard was a massively loud bang that made me jump out of my skin before the audio just completely cut out. If there was ever a way to Celebrate 13 Years of TNA this was it. Well, that and the Main Event.
EC3 & Tyrus v Mr Anderson & Lashley
This was quite "meh" to me- and it was pretty much the definition of a Filler Match. That said I'm still excited to see the Title Match on Wednesday- WHERE LITERALLY ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN, WHO'LL WIN- I DON'T KNOW!
King of the Mountain Match
King of the Mountain Matches are a Complete Cluster- Anyone who disagrees with that doesn't know what they're talking about. That said as far as Clusters go this was a fun one. If you put a gun to my head I wouldn't be able to explain the rules for the match- but once you gave up trying to understand what was happening it was quite a fun match with a lot of different dynamics. I'm not going to get annoyed that Jarrett won as some are seemingly doing because I think everyone was braced for said occurrence and if anything I'm less pissed than I thought I'd be because I was convinced Jarrett was going to do the match in a GFW T-Shirt. It had enough moving parts to make this match passable and enough fun spots like the Team Canada reunion, but the one thing that annoyed me was the way in which Jarrett won. Eric Young is someone who's become somewhat of a killer in TNA over the last 6 Months, maybe more- so for him to Piledrive Jarrett onto a Ladder which looked stiff as anything by the logic TNA has used when booking EY should have meant Jarrett was stretchered out. So for him to get up like it was nothing 2 Minutes later and win just killed the match for me, and I had developed some goodwill toward it before that point.
Anyway, I'm sure all the things that happened tonight will be thoroughly addressed in terms of the In-Ring product this coming Wednesday and we of course have the Title Match to look forward to where literally anything could happen- I know I'm going to put my life savings on Angle retaining.
Thanks for reading as always, I genuinely did hope to get the Cesaro Booking Post out Last Friday but a load of really weird stuff happened on Friday that there's no real point of me getting into on this. That said I truly am trying to get it written and up ASAP and hopefully it'll be up in the coming days. Of course you've also got the RAW Review to look forward to tomorrow so stay tuned for that- and feel free to tag along on Twitter tonight for some top notch banter. Thanks again for reading, and after last night I feel like we need to start up the "Don't Fire Eric" stuff again- so remember to chant that on Wednesday guys.
Tigre Uno v Manik v DJ Z- X Division Title Match
It's not that I didn't like this match- because I did, but to me the job in Title matches is for the audience to suspend their disbelief to the point that you believe a Title Change may happen even though you know it won't. All of that was completely out of the window knowing for a complete fact that Tigre wasn't dropping the Belt and for me that took any suspense out of the match that a good match needs to have. Like I say though, that's not to say I didn't like the match and it was a fun opener- it was just flawed from the outset.
Quick Point, with TNA seemingly doomed a load of people have been saying how they want Aries, Roode etc. to come down to NXT- While I do want them, I would seriously rank Zema Ion above them in terms of who I want to see down in NXT. You'll know if you've been following me on Twitter for long enough that I really rate Zema- and were it not for the Jesse Sorensen thing I truly believe Zema would be at Aries level in terms of standing within the company- couple that with the fact he's still only 28 get's me quire excited and he's someone who I definitely want them to look at.
Robbie E Backstage Promo
The little thing with Borash before we got onto the Interview felt like a Eulogy- and it wouldn't surprise me if JB is off soon as well. The Robbie E promo was good in selling his "new" motivations so to speak and did a decent(ish) job of hyping the match.
Robbie E v Jessie Godderz
The Jessie Promo was a bit "meh" and his new gimmick seemingly being the exact copy of Chris Masters/Mordetsky isn't exactly helping his cause but I'm actually enjoying Jessie at the moment. In terms of "Most Improved Guys" Jessie has to be one of the guys you talk about- and his facial expressions made him look like a genuine psychopath and like he'd snapped. It's never been disputed that he has "the look" but now he's actually adding to that and his character is seemingly starting to get some depth. That makes the finish even more perplexing- but as long as Jessie gets the Win back on a show that actually matters it should be fine.
Bram v Matt Morgan
At least Bram won. After what happened on Wednesday with Vader I really wasn't confident that Bram would win which was a must- and I've read the Spoilers but I've already forgotten them but I would hope Bram will kick on from this and in a not too dissimilar way to EC3 slowly build up momentum to the point everyone's clamouring for him to get the TNA WHC Belt. I actually liked this match because it didn't go all out. It was somewhat refreshing for a match to not give the crowd the kitchen sink and basically acknowledge that there were other matches they needed the crowd to be invested in more. So for me this was a decent match, but it never wanted to be anything more than that.
Austin Aries v Davey Richards
WRASSLIN! For a seemingly throwaway match to determine the stipulation of a match that had already happened with one of the participants having one foot out the door this was really good. This was a good ol' Wrestling Match. It didn't have any of the bells and whistles of a stipulation- and they just got in there and showed why they're two of the best Wrestlers in the Company. There honestly isn't much else you can say about the match other than that the 30 Minute Iron Man Stip should be a fun one.
Brooke & Kong v The Dollhouse
This was just quite "meh" to me- and that's pretty much been the feeling of the Knockouts recently in general, and that truly is a shame. It's not that they're doing anything inherently wrong- I just want more from the Knockouts, and when you factor in the Knockouts aren't unique any more in that they're giving Women the spotlight in NXT to an equal- if not more so than the Knockouts at their height does take some of the sheen off of the Knockouts Division. BUT THOSE ROYALTIES FOR CORGAN'S FRIEND!
Magnus Backstage Promo
This was a bit all over the place- but I'm not going to massively dig at him for that because he was probably all over the place mentally what with it being most likely his last night with the Company.
James Storm v Magnus- Unsanctioned Match
As far as matches go when both competitors are pretty much out the door this definitely outranked Brock vs Goldberg. I don't usually like matches where they go "all around the arena" just because for me it stops the match getting a good flow to it and I hate all the conveniently placed items that come into play but I really liked this match. It had enough of a rhythm to it that the "get to different areas to do a spot" didn't feel as blatantly obvious as most of these sort of matches do, so when the spots actually happened it meant something. This match told a near perfect story as well with Magnus refusing to give in- Some people may have not liked the finish and I'd understand that- but to me it was good because it showed that although Storm won there was nothing to separate the two guys.
This was when it all started to go horribly wrong. I remember seeing something in the week that The Harris Twins told the TNA Workers that the pay was delayed and if they wanted to they could shake their hands and leave. Well, it seems like the Audio Guys took the offer. It was hilarious for the first minute or so because all I heard was a massively loud bang that made me jump out of my skin before the audio just completely cut out. If there was ever a way to Celebrate 13 Years of TNA this was it. Well, that and the Main Event.
EC3 & Tyrus v Mr Anderson & Lashley
This was quite "meh" to me- and it was pretty much the definition of a Filler Match. That said I'm still excited to see the Title Match on Wednesday- WHERE LITERALLY ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN, WHO'LL WIN- I DON'T KNOW!
King of the Mountain Match
King of the Mountain Matches are a Complete Cluster- Anyone who disagrees with that doesn't know what they're talking about. That said as far as Clusters go this was a fun one. If you put a gun to my head I wouldn't be able to explain the rules for the match- but once you gave up trying to understand what was happening it was quite a fun match with a lot of different dynamics. I'm not going to get annoyed that Jarrett won as some are seemingly doing because I think everyone was braced for said occurrence and if anything I'm less pissed than I thought I'd be because I was convinced Jarrett was going to do the match in a GFW T-Shirt. It had enough moving parts to make this match passable and enough fun spots like the Team Canada reunion, but the one thing that annoyed me was the way in which Jarrett won. Eric Young is someone who's become somewhat of a killer in TNA over the last 6 Months, maybe more- so for him to Piledrive Jarrett onto a Ladder which looked stiff as anything by the logic TNA has used when booking EY should have meant Jarrett was stretchered out. So for him to get up like it was nothing 2 Minutes later and win just killed the match for me, and I had developed some goodwill toward it before that point.
Anyway, I'm sure all the things that happened tonight will be thoroughly addressed in terms of the In-Ring product this coming Wednesday and we of course have the Title Match to look forward to where literally anything could happen- I know I'm going to put my life savings on Angle retaining.
Thanks for reading as always, I genuinely did hope to get the Cesaro Booking Post out Last Friday but a load of really weird stuff happened on Friday that there's no real point of me getting into on this. That said I truly am trying to get it written and up ASAP and hopefully it'll be up in the coming days. Of course you've also got the RAW Review to look forward to tomorrow so stay tuned for that- and feel free to tag along on Twitter tonight for some top notch banter. Thanks again for reading, and after last night I feel like we need to start up the "Don't Fire Eric" stuff again- so remember to chant that on Wednesday guys.
Thursday, 25 June 2015
Destination Impact Review: 24th June
Hello! It's another Impact Review- and the Episode last night was Live! So literally anything could happen and it'd all be a surprise, Oh. Them billing this episode as "Live" annoyed me- there's no "well it's as good as..." it's either live or it's not and it wasn't. I just have an issue with that, why go there in the first place and bill it as live when spoilers were all over Twitter and Jeff Jarrett was trending before the show even started which pretty much wrecked the "big surprise"- unless as I thought when I first saw him trending and thought he was dead and left it at that without clicking on it. Anyway, I've got a lot to say about this Episode so why waste any more time.
Angle & EC3 Open to the Show
This was good in a "Hype the Match" way- but not much else, this was pretty much exactly the same as last weeks open to the show, and that annoys me to an extent because both guys are capable of more.
Tigre Uno v Low Ki v Grado- X Division Title
I said it a few weeks ago that it'd be a mistake to put the Belt on Grado so at least where that's concerned they hit the mark. However it didn't do much else, I'm not sure why they felt the need to put the Elimination Stipulation in there for match with such a short time window and the match just felt quite disjointed and as such it didn't really get me invested into the match which really was a shame because they had some good workers in the match- and Grado.
Taryn Terrell Backstage Promo
I'm not sure if this was meant to be so awkward it ended up being funny with "The Dolls" describing how they were going to take out Brooke and Kong- but hey, Billy's gotta get those Royalties to his friend.
Velvet Sky v Angelina Love
For someone who was at the start of the match not under contract it sure was nice of them to give Velvet a brand new Entrance theme. This was, well it was Velvet v Angelina in pretty much the identical feud they've been involved in so many times before- they just get more plastic every time, and I'll repeat- nobody cares about Velvet Sky.
Dirty Heels v The Wolves- Full Metal Mayhem
They really went out there with that finish- I don't think anyone saw The Dirty Heels winning the match let alone winning the match by being Dirty Heels. Don't get me wrong, I really liked the match- but to me a truly great match has to get you emotionally invested into it, and with the outcome being so obvious it didn't make that connection for me and that stopped a good match being taken to the "next level". If anything that fact is more annoying to me than if they'd just completely flopped and turned it into a Botchamania Special because it's harder to critique something that really delivered from an in-ring perspective.
Jeff Jarrett & Karen make a "Shock" Return
This was the point of the show where it went one of two ways for everyone- it either became the best thing ever because of all the Nostalgia and you loved it, or you were like me and just thought it was all stupid and unnecessary. Yes, I was intrigued to see Jarrett back in TNA- but within 30 Seconds it was so obvious Jarrett was using TNA to plug GFW and nothing else. Don't believe me watch the Promo back and take a Shot every time Karen or Jeff said "Global Force Wrestling"- you won't be able to come back because you'll be in A&E needing a new liver. The whole Promo just felt really bizarre and way, way too long. At one point it was like they forgot where they were going and just dropped random names- which was quite hilarious because Sonjay Dutt got the biggest pop of all of them other than AJ Styles. Yes, it was interesting and definitely generated buzz with Jarrett coming back- but that buzz just won't generate long-term interest and giving the amount of time they did to these two especially given how long Karen had the Mic for it was unnecessary.
Vader v Bram
This has made me really angry. Vader is 60 Years Old- why on earth did they feel the need to protect him at the expense of Bram? I said it last week and I've been saying it for a while- if TNA is to have a future Bram is going to be one of the guys who is at the forefront of that future, this was just so ridiculously short-term thinking- and crucially it was a huge missed opportunity to put Bram over someone who has a reputation like Vader. In short this really annoyed me.
Matt Morgan on the other hand is someone who I am reasonably happy to see back because I thought he was doing some of his best work before he left a few years back. But still I just can't get over the fact they felt the need to protect Vader.
Eric Young v Chris Melendez
I don't know what I was expecting from this match to be honest. I know I was expecting something to have a lot more substance considering the way they'd hyped this as somewhat of a Blood Feud. I just don't see why they felt the need to cram this supposed blood feud match into a 5 Minute (if that) segment on an already packed card.
The BDC & The Rising Brawl
The last of the responses to Dixie's Mass Text was Shawn Hernandez- I want to get into this feud, I really do- but The Rising has already beaten the BDC so the addition of at best a Midcarder in Hernandez isn't a big powerplay sort of thing that suddenly legitimises the BDC again after the loss and just screams that they don't have a direction for either faction coming off the back of their feud.
Kurt Angle v Matt Hardy
This was a really weird one, considering Matt Hardy has absolutely no direction and Angle is going into a World Title match it almost seemed like this match was the wrong way around. Hardy was largely dominant and Angle scraped the win- and although that put over Angle's "Never Give Up" sort of thing because of the number of Side-Effect's he kicked out of, him scraping a win against someone like Matt Hardy is hardly the ideal scenario heading into a big title match.
The finish was interesting because they of course had EC3 tapping- and that was sure to get some last minute buys for Slammiv- Oh.
Thanks for reading as always, Like I said with the Jarrett thing- this episode can go one of two ways for everyone; there really isn't a middle ground which is good in a way because it provokes a reaction out of everyone and get's people talking whether it's good or bad. Anyway, the Slammiversary card is doing very little for me but chances are I'll watch it with it being free in England so stay tuned for the Review of that- and also look out for my Cesaro Booking Post tomorrow and if you haven't already I'd recommend reading Yesterday's Post about the Divas Division. Anyway, thanks again for reading and remember- next time you send a Mass Text remember to exclude the bottom of the barrel guys.
Angle & EC3 Open to the Show
This was good in a "Hype the Match" way- but not much else, this was pretty much exactly the same as last weeks open to the show, and that annoys me to an extent because both guys are capable of more.
Tigre Uno v Low Ki v Grado- X Division Title
I said it a few weeks ago that it'd be a mistake to put the Belt on Grado so at least where that's concerned they hit the mark. However it didn't do much else, I'm not sure why they felt the need to put the Elimination Stipulation in there for match with such a short time window and the match just felt quite disjointed and as such it didn't really get me invested into the match which really was a shame because they had some good workers in the match- and Grado.
Taryn Terrell Backstage Promo
I'm not sure if this was meant to be so awkward it ended up being funny with "The Dolls" describing how they were going to take out Brooke and Kong- but hey, Billy's gotta get those Royalties to his friend.
Velvet Sky v Angelina Love
For someone who was at the start of the match not under contract it sure was nice of them to give Velvet a brand new Entrance theme. This was, well it was Velvet v Angelina in pretty much the identical feud they've been involved in so many times before- they just get more plastic every time, and I'll repeat- nobody cares about Velvet Sky.
Dirty Heels v The Wolves- Full Metal Mayhem
They really went out there with that finish- I don't think anyone saw The Dirty Heels winning the match let alone winning the match by being Dirty Heels. Don't get me wrong, I really liked the match- but to me a truly great match has to get you emotionally invested into it, and with the outcome being so obvious it didn't make that connection for me and that stopped a good match being taken to the "next level". If anything that fact is more annoying to me than if they'd just completely flopped and turned it into a Botchamania Special because it's harder to critique something that really delivered from an in-ring perspective.
Jeff Jarrett & Karen make a "Shock" Return
This was the point of the show where it went one of two ways for everyone- it either became the best thing ever because of all the Nostalgia and you loved it, or you were like me and just thought it was all stupid and unnecessary. Yes, I was intrigued to see Jarrett back in TNA- but within 30 Seconds it was so obvious Jarrett was using TNA to plug GFW and nothing else. Don't believe me watch the Promo back and take a Shot every time Karen or Jeff said "Global Force Wrestling"- you won't be able to come back because you'll be in A&E needing a new liver. The whole Promo just felt really bizarre and way, way too long. At one point it was like they forgot where they were going and just dropped random names- which was quite hilarious because Sonjay Dutt got the biggest pop of all of them other than AJ Styles. Yes, it was interesting and definitely generated buzz with Jarrett coming back- but that buzz just won't generate long-term interest and giving the amount of time they did to these two especially given how long Karen had the Mic for it was unnecessary.
Vader v Bram
This has made me really angry. Vader is 60 Years Old- why on earth did they feel the need to protect him at the expense of Bram? I said it last week and I've been saying it for a while- if TNA is to have a future Bram is going to be one of the guys who is at the forefront of that future, this was just so ridiculously short-term thinking- and crucially it was a huge missed opportunity to put Bram over someone who has a reputation like Vader. In short this really annoyed me.
Matt Morgan on the other hand is someone who I am reasonably happy to see back because I thought he was doing some of his best work before he left a few years back. But still I just can't get over the fact they felt the need to protect Vader.
Eric Young v Chris Melendez
I don't know what I was expecting from this match to be honest. I know I was expecting something to have a lot more substance considering the way they'd hyped this as somewhat of a Blood Feud. I just don't see why they felt the need to cram this supposed blood feud match into a 5 Minute (if that) segment on an already packed card.
The BDC & The Rising Brawl
The last of the responses to Dixie's Mass Text was Shawn Hernandez- I want to get into this feud, I really do- but The Rising has already beaten the BDC so the addition of at best a Midcarder in Hernandez isn't a big powerplay sort of thing that suddenly legitimises the BDC again after the loss and just screams that they don't have a direction for either faction coming off the back of their feud.
Kurt Angle v Matt Hardy
This was a really weird one, considering Matt Hardy has absolutely no direction and Angle is going into a World Title match it almost seemed like this match was the wrong way around. Hardy was largely dominant and Angle scraped the win- and although that put over Angle's "Never Give Up" sort of thing because of the number of Side-Effect's he kicked out of, him scraping a win against someone like Matt Hardy is hardly the ideal scenario heading into a big title match.
The finish was interesting because they of course had EC3 tapping- and that was sure to get some last minute buys for Slammiv- Oh.
Thanks for reading as always, Like I said with the Jarrett thing- this episode can go one of two ways for everyone; there really isn't a middle ground which is good in a way because it provokes a reaction out of everyone and get's people talking whether it's good or bad. Anyway, the Slammiversary card is doing very little for me but chances are I'll watch it with it being free in England so stay tuned for the Review of that- and also look out for my Cesaro Booking Post tomorrow and if you haven't already I'd recommend reading Yesterday's Post about the Divas Division. Anyway, thanks again for reading and remember- next time you send a Mass Text remember to exclude the bottom of the barrel guys.
Wednesday, 24 June 2015
The Divas Division Problem
Hello! It's another post- and one that although I haven't been directly planning to do, it's something that I've had in the back of my mind to do at some point for a while. Now it's all seemingly coming to a head with the Divas Division being at a very low ebb and in my opinion it has to be thought of as down there as at the least in the conversation as the worst the Divas Division has been in terms of perception and general booking ever. However, it's a lot deeper than that- because while the #GiveDivasAChance thing prompted approximately two weeks of the Divas getting a decent amount of air time I don't think anyone is buying the Divas are being viewed as legitimate by the powers that be in the back and we're back to 3 Minute Tag Matches that are booked atrociously.
I'm not sure what I'm going to talk about exactly in this Post- I know the frame of what I'm going to say in that I'm going to say where I think it all went wrong for the Divas and then also identify how to improve the Division- and that isn't as simple as calling up the NXT Women and everything will be better.
The Great Model Debate
The way I see it, while the Divas Division wasn't perfect before 2006 it still had a core of solid females and crucially the Divas Division was at least in my opinion respected by the people in the back as legitimate with people like Trish and Lita and then Victoria and Mickie to name just a few around how could it not? I don't think anyone was expecting a smooth transition when Trish and Lita retired almost at the exact same time- but as long as they kept a good core and the right philosophy it should have been fine after a rough transition.
The way I see it, while the Divas Division wasn't perfect before 2006 it still had a core of solid females and crucially the Divas Division was at least in my opinion respected by the people in the back as legitimate with people like Trish and Lita and then Victoria and Mickie to name just a few around how could it not? I don't think anyone was expecting a smooth transition when Trish and Lita retired almost at the exact same time- but as long as they kept a good core and the right philosophy it should have been fine after a rough transition.
Then John Laurinaitis happened. I don't necessarily have a problem with models coming into WWE, but Big Johnny literally ordering models out of a catalogue to send down to OVW is ludicrous and where the long-term problems for the Divas Division started in my opinion. The models in this case were Alicia Fox and Kelly Kelly. The fact the people in OVW were forbidden to have "carnal relations" with Alicia and Kelly says it all in terms of the circumstance of them hiring and the seeming motivation for it.
To me Kelly Kelly was pretty much the living, breathing "What's wrong with the Divas Division" for her entire run. She was sent down to OVW which is fair enough, but she was called up after approximately a Month (if that) to literally be a Stripper. That wouldn't be so bad, if not for the fact that once she did transition into an in-ring performer she was absolutely horrible. I still have nightmares about how she ran the ropes- and the worst thing was she was properly pushed from an in-ring perspective when calling her Green would have been an insult to people who were green. I'm not blaming Kelly Kelly for that- she shouldn't have been there in the first place, and she only really became passable from an in-ring perspective around the time she left in 2012.
To me the whole perception of the Divas changed when they went down the Model route not just from the fans, but in the back- and that is still largely holding the Divas back to this day. You only have to see what happened when the Entourage people showed up and they had Divas lined up to "get on their good side" for them to see what I mean.
Total Divas
Total Divas is a Cancer to the whole Wrestling business- and it is slowly killing the Divas Division without a shadow of a doubt. If you read these regularly you'll know I'm open minded to pretty much everything, and when I saw the announcement of Total Divas I thought it'd be good to get some more exposure for the Divas and would be the garnish if you will to the Divas stories they could put into place in that they could further an angle on Total Divas- because when it comes to "Reality TV" Reality isn't Reality.
Instead they've let Total Divas for the most part control the storylines in the Divas Division since it came into play. The stupid angles they've done with the likes of Nattie and Summer bringing it over to WWE TV when we all know the "drama" with them happened months ago because they date it as such just defies logic and is beyond stupid. Then when you consider Total Divas has led to people like Cameron, Rosa and Eva Marie being featured when they're to be quite frank awful- I'm happy to give Eva a chance now that appears she's actually trying training with Brian Kendrick and what not, but in an almost repeat of Kelly Kelly Eva was on the Main Roster after practically no time in Developmental and it most definitely showed. Then we get onto Rosa and Cameron who both should be on the next lot of Releases WWE does, which if I'm honest I'm surprised hasn't happened yet given the Mass Jobber-Cide had already happened this time last year. I mean anyone who tries to pin someone the wrong way around simply doesn't deserve to be in a Wrestling Ring- and to make matters worse she defended herself on Twitter by saying she was "making her own rules" or words to that effect, NO, YOU WERE BEING DENSE.
The Bellas
Feel free to tweet this to that BriannaNicole or whatever her Twitter handle was who I got into an argument with during that RAW, because she can't disagree with anything I've said. The Bellas are a large part of what is wrong with the Divas Division, and this isn't me Bella Bashing- it's a fact. I think we're all resigned to Nikki beating AJ's title record now- but the thing is nobody gives a damn about her Title run. She's had the Belt for 200+ Days and she hasn't even had one memorable moment in that 200 Days let alone a memorable match/feud. I wish I was doing this when The Bellas were first around because I absolutely hated them- because once again they were literally pimped out to every RAW Guest Host and just everywhere because "Hey, there's two of them". However when they left I thought that was that- and move on, they can go away and be actors or whatever they left for and the Divas Division won't miss them. Nope, A Year Later after they'd completely flopped trying to be actors they came back with their tails between their legs to the WWE with the promise of a Reality show with them as the stars. I don't care what anyone says- it might as well be called Total Bellas, they're so clearly the stars of it.
Then we get onto the complete abortion of a feud they had last year. I wasn't necessarily against them feuding because apart from the bizarre thing when one of them picked Team Teddy and one of them Team Johnny it hadn't really been properly explored and it's an interesting dynamic- because hey, there's two of them. Instead we got what was rightly made the worst feud of the year, and I would argue one of the worst feuds of the Modern Era. It was just horrendous- and what made it worse was they actually got a decent amount of air-time with which to further their pure horrendous feud. The Bella vs Bella and Brie vs Stephanie feud was the first Divas feud to get a really proper amount of exposure in ages- and it was the worst feud imaginable for that exposure, and massively set the Divas Division back, because the Ratings backed up what a lot of people are saying- nobody other than Teenage Girls and Total Divas Fans care about The Bellas.
The "Give Divas a Chance" Era
When I saw the Give Divas a Chance stuff I was in two minds- because on one level I saw the positives in that it was going to get the Divas exposure, but I was also thinking "Well, The Divas Champion is Nikki Bella- so maybe this won't turn out how people think it will". Sure enough we're around 4 Months give or take since it started and we're not any better, if anything we're worse off now because of AJ leaving.
I'm not a massive AJ Fan- but I respect the hell out of her because you know she loves this business and she spent her whole life trying to get to WWE. I also respect her because she was given a crumb of an opportunity in her pairing with Bryan and she played her role so well she ended up in spots with Punk, Bryan, Kane, Cena and Dolph and she was getting Main Event level exposure. She wasn't perfect, but at the same time she was also one half of the last really good Divas match in the AJ vs Kaitlyn match where AJ finally won the Belt- that combined with the fact she was at one point the only Diva with Merch says all that needs to be said about AJ's impact on the Division. Now that AJ's left we're left with this as the Divas Roster;
Nikki
Brie
Paige
Alicia
Summer
Cameron (Ugh)
Emma
Layla
Rosa
Tamina
Naomi
Nattie
Lana
No really, there's 13 current Main Roster Women. I've left out Eva because she seems to be in NXT for the foreseeable future which can only help her.
Let's firstly look at Lana who is now up there with Cesaro and Harper levels in terms of mis-use in my opinion. She was a Strong Independent Woman who was in control of a Beast in Rusev- and that in my opinion is why people gravitated to her. Now she's just another Valet who's inexplicably paired up with Dolph in one of the worst relationship pairings ever- I think Perry Saturn had more chemistry with Moppy. Lana could well have been the next great Woman in the WWE- now she's got to almost start from scratch when I would argue at one point she was one of the hottest (No, not in that way) acts in the company.
Then we move onto the dead-weight. Cameron, Rosa and Layla should be on the next trip to Belize without a doubt and you can also make arguments for Tamina to be on that trip. That would take out nearly a quarter of the current Diva Roster and nobody would even notice.
I'm not going to say call up Charlotte, Becky, Sasha and Bayley and everything will suddenly become great and the Divas will Main Event a PPV- I'm not that naive and it really isn't that simple. I would argue it would take the best part of a year for the Divas to be seen as anywhere near that level. However NXT call-ups are the way to go- not for the necessarily obvious reason of that they're better. The Women down in NXT are pretty much Triple H's project and if one of the dubbed "Four Horsewomen" does get called up I would be very surprised if Triple H didn't "Pick his Hill to Die on" as the saying when it comes to Vince goes in order to protect any of those 4. With that in mind if the NXT Women do come up I think they would be better booked because someone with Vince's ear will actually be fighting for them and fighting to change the perception of the Diva.
Like I said- the Divas Division doesn't have some magic wand where it can be fixed overnight because there's been almost 10 Years of the Division just having completely the wrong mentality- but the Divas Division is now at a crisis point where there either needs to be a marked change just in the whole mentality of the Divas and the way the Divas are booked or just scrap it all together and cut their losses.
I haven't even touched on some of the stuff that's happened with the Divas Division- but to me these were the main bullet points so to speak. This is my breaking point with the Divas- and now I've had my say I'm officially wiping my hands of the Divas Division until we see a marked change- all future Reviews will just have the segment and then a blank space.
Thanks for reading as ever- I'd appreciate feedback on this because at the end of the day it's just an opinion. Anyway, I'll be on Twitter tonight for NXT/ROH and then Impact so if you want feel free to tag along on that 3 Hour journey and come back tomorrow for the Impact Review! Stay tuned for that and then the Cesaro Booking Post on Friday- Thanks again for reading, and remember I truly do want the Divas to succeed- but I'm not sure WWE really does.
To me the whole perception of the Divas changed when they went down the Model route not just from the fans, but in the back- and that is still largely holding the Divas back to this day. You only have to see what happened when the Entourage people showed up and they had Divas lined up to "get on their good side" for them to see what I mean.
Total Divas
Total Divas is a Cancer to the whole Wrestling business- and it is slowly killing the Divas Division without a shadow of a doubt. If you read these regularly you'll know I'm open minded to pretty much everything, and when I saw the announcement of Total Divas I thought it'd be good to get some more exposure for the Divas and would be the garnish if you will to the Divas stories they could put into place in that they could further an angle on Total Divas- because when it comes to "Reality TV" Reality isn't Reality.
Instead they've let Total Divas for the most part control the storylines in the Divas Division since it came into play. The stupid angles they've done with the likes of Nattie and Summer bringing it over to WWE TV when we all know the "drama" with them happened months ago because they date it as such just defies logic and is beyond stupid. Then when you consider Total Divas has led to people like Cameron, Rosa and Eva Marie being featured when they're to be quite frank awful- I'm happy to give Eva a chance now that appears she's actually trying training with Brian Kendrick and what not, but in an almost repeat of Kelly Kelly Eva was on the Main Roster after practically no time in Developmental and it most definitely showed. Then we get onto Rosa and Cameron who both should be on the next lot of Releases WWE does, which if I'm honest I'm surprised hasn't happened yet given the Mass Jobber-Cide had already happened this time last year. I mean anyone who tries to pin someone the wrong way around simply doesn't deserve to be in a Wrestling Ring- and to make matters worse she defended herself on Twitter by saying she was "making her own rules" or words to that effect, NO, YOU WERE BEING DENSE.
The Bellas
Feel free to tweet this to that BriannaNicole or whatever her Twitter handle was who I got into an argument with during that RAW, because she can't disagree with anything I've said. The Bellas are a large part of what is wrong with the Divas Division, and this isn't me Bella Bashing- it's a fact. I think we're all resigned to Nikki beating AJ's title record now- but the thing is nobody gives a damn about her Title run. She's had the Belt for 200+ Days and she hasn't even had one memorable moment in that 200 Days let alone a memorable match/feud. I wish I was doing this when The Bellas were first around because I absolutely hated them- because once again they were literally pimped out to every RAW Guest Host and just everywhere because "Hey, there's two of them". However when they left I thought that was that- and move on, they can go away and be actors or whatever they left for and the Divas Division won't miss them. Nope, A Year Later after they'd completely flopped trying to be actors they came back with their tails between their legs to the WWE with the promise of a Reality show with them as the stars. I don't care what anyone says- it might as well be called Total Bellas, they're so clearly the stars of it.
Then we get onto the complete abortion of a feud they had last year. I wasn't necessarily against them feuding because apart from the bizarre thing when one of them picked Team Teddy and one of them Team Johnny it hadn't really been properly explored and it's an interesting dynamic- because hey, there's two of them. Instead we got what was rightly made the worst feud of the year, and I would argue one of the worst feuds of the Modern Era. It was just horrendous- and what made it worse was they actually got a decent amount of air-time with which to further their pure horrendous feud. The Bella vs Bella and Brie vs Stephanie feud was the first Divas feud to get a really proper amount of exposure in ages- and it was the worst feud imaginable for that exposure, and massively set the Divas Division back, because the Ratings backed up what a lot of people are saying- nobody other than Teenage Girls and Total Divas Fans care about The Bellas.
The "Give Divas a Chance" Era
When I saw the Give Divas a Chance stuff I was in two minds- because on one level I saw the positives in that it was going to get the Divas exposure, but I was also thinking "Well, The Divas Champion is Nikki Bella- so maybe this won't turn out how people think it will". Sure enough we're around 4 Months give or take since it started and we're not any better, if anything we're worse off now because of AJ leaving.
I'm not a massive AJ Fan- but I respect the hell out of her because you know she loves this business and she spent her whole life trying to get to WWE. I also respect her because she was given a crumb of an opportunity in her pairing with Bryan and she played her role so well she ended up in spots with Punk, Bryan, Kane, Cena and Dolph and she was getting Main Event level exposure. She wasn't perfect, but at the same time she was also one half of the last really good Divas match in the AJ vs Kaitlyn match where AJ finally won the Belt- that combined with the fact she was at one point the only Diva with Merch says all that needs to be said about AJ's impact on the Division. Now that AJ's left we're left with this as the Divas Roster;
Nikki
Brie
Paige
Alicia
Summer
Cameron (Ugh)
Emma
Layla
Rosa
Tamina
Naomi
Nattie
Lana
No really, there's 13 current Main Roster Women. I've left out Eva because she seems to be in NXT for the foreseeable future which can only help her.
Let's firstly look at Lana who is now up there with Cesaro and Harper levels in terms of mis-use in my opinion. She was a Strong Independent Woman who was in control of a Beast in Rusev- and that in my opinion is why people gravitated to her. Now she's just another Valet who's inexplicably paired up with Dolph in one of the worst relationship pairings ever- I think Perry Saturn had more chemistry with Moppy. Lana could well have been the next great Woman in the WWE- now she's got to almost start from scratch when I would argue at one point she was one of the hottest (No, not in that way) acts in the company.
Then we move onto the dead-weight. Cameron, Rosa and Layla should be on the next trip to Belize without a doubt and you can also make arguments for Tamina to be on that trip. That would take out nearly a quarter of the current Diva Roster and nobody would even notice.
I'm not going to say call up Charlotte, Becky, Sasha and Bayley and everything will suddenly become great and the Divas will Main Event a PPV- I'm not that naive and it really isn't that simple. I would argue it would take the best part of a year for the Divas to be seen as anywhere near that level. However NXT call-ups are the way to go- not for the necessarily obvious reason of that they're better. The Women down in NXT are pretty much Triple H's project and if one of the dubbed "Four Horsewomen" does get called up I would be very surprised if Triple H didn't "Pick his Hill to Die on" as the saying when it comes to Vince goes in order to protect any of those 4. With that in mind if the NXT Women do come up I think they would be better booked because someone with Vince's ear will actually be fighting for them and fighting to change the perception of the Diva.
Like I said- the Divas Division doesn't have some magic wand where it can be fixed overnight because there's been almost 10 Years of the Division just having completely the wrong mentality- but the Divas Division is now at a crisis point where there either needs to be a marked change just in the whole mentality of the Divas and the way the Divas are booked or just scrap it all together and cut their losses.
I haven't even touched on some of the stuff that's happened with the Divas Division- but to me these were the main bullet points so to speak. This is my breaking point with the Divas- and now I've had my say I'm officially wiping my hands of the Divas Division until we see a marked change- all future Reviews will just have the segment and then a blank space.
Thanks for reading as ever- I'd appreciate feedback on this because at the end of the day it's just an opinion. Anyway, I'll be on Twitter tonight for NXT/ROH and then Impact so if you want feel free to tag along on that 3 Hour journey and come back tomorrow for the Impact Review! Stay tuned for that and then the Cesaro Booking Post on Friday- Thanks again for reading, and remember I truly do want the Divas to succeed- but I'm not sure WWE really does.
Tuesday, 23 June 2015
RAW Review: 22nd June
Hello! It's been too long, we're back with the RAW Reviews and back into the swing of things on this Blog- I truly was aiming to get the Cesaro Booking Post out last Friday but some stuff came up and let's just leave it at that. Anyway we're back with the RAW Reviews- and after last weeks RAW I had reasonably high hopes for last night, I said just before it started that with all the ingredients that were there last night it can't be bad. I may well have jinxed that- but let's get started.
Heyman & Brock Open the Show
This truly was a novel concept- an opening promo on RAW that was pretty much guaranteed to be engaging and basically just good. I'm not sure if they planned it to happen like it did or Cole just improv'd but Cole essentially apologising for Brock F5-ing him was hilarious and in a weird way really up-sold Brock. Any segment where Heyman cuts a Promo is money and this was no exception and that is really all that can be said about this segment.
Kane v Dean Ambrose
Ok, I don't mean to alarm anyone- please remain calm through this next statement. KANE HAS WON 3 RAW'S IN A ROW- PANIC, EVERYBODY PANIC, RETREAT TO YOUR BUNKER AND PRAY. For a first match of the night and with two people who at this stage didn't really have any direction to speak of it was pretty good. It wasn't a 5* amazing match- it was solid and sometimes especially early on in the show a solid match is for the best and with the Seth interference it did both a good job of shielding (Wahey!) Ambrose and setting up the main angle of the night.
Backstage Rollins & Kane Promo
I suppose this can be described as functional in that it did the job it needed to do in carrying on the main angle of the night, it wasn't anything other than that- but still.
Primetime Players v The Ascension
Again this was "just" a solid match- I'm still not really into the PTP as Tag Champs, it's not that they're bad but New Day are just so much better at present and I wish the Primetime Players at least had a good build before they dropped the Belts but they literally had 2 weeks. That being said I was surprised the match went as long as it did and it did a really solid job of getting the PTP's over- and Big E got his "Backstage Monitor Watching" gimmick back so it's happy days.
Sheamus v Roman Reigns
Is it implied that Sheamus won this via Countout? Firstly I have to say that this match was surprisingly good. Little things like Sheamus squaring up to Roman as he made his entrance will help his perception long-term provided he doesn't go on a run of getting pinned by Midcarders like most MITB winners have done. These two had the first match that was more than "solid", I was surprised these two got as long as they did for what was such an obvious outcome but they used all of their time well and told a good story I know pretty much everyone isn't a fan of Sheamus at this stage and to a lesser extent but still prevalent Roman- but I have to give credit where credit is due.
The finish was cool and it got the "Bray's in Roman's head" angle perfectly- I'm still holding out hope that Roman's daughter is going to get involved somewhere down the line in this story because that'll take this angle to the next level and will legitimise to an extent Bray's character and motivations. The creepy room with all of the Roman pictures and the "Anyone But You" thing was cool and I'm really interested to see where they go with it all now.
Rollins meets J&J Backstage
As with the Kane backstage promo this can be described as functional and not much else.
Neville v Kofi Kingston
I understand why they didn't have Neville lose to Kofi especially with the Xavier and Big E expulsion- but why even go there with the expulsion angle, have Kofi win with Shenanigans to play up the numbers game and just for a split second make you think the numbers could get the better of Brock in a couple of weeks. That said New Day reinforced their role as in my opinion the most entertaining part of the current product whether it was Kofi prancing down to the ring clapping or Xavier's ringside shout-outs that had me in hysterics specifically the "IMMA CALL GRAVITY" one which if it isn't acknowledged in my End of Year awards in some way you have permission to shoot me. The one small critique I have with Neville at the minute and it is a small one- he takes too long balancing himself on the Top Rope for the Red Arrow in my opinion, it may be unrealistic to ask him to do it quicker but it get's to the point where the person on the deck in this case Kofi is out for nearly 30 Seconds because of a singular move that doesn't look like it had that sort of impact.
King Barrett v Zack Ryder
This was the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object- who's will to lose was greater than the others. I'm happy Barrett actually won a match, but it's not as if beating Ryder means anything and we've seen the "Top Rope Bullhammer" spot so much now it's lost all meaning- I was hoping we'd see a Mid 450 Bullhammer or something cool like that so once RAW was over people would have been talking about what Barrett did but nope.
Cena and Owens Promos
Voyant que Owens a fait, je pensais que je pourrais aussi bien faire aussi. Google Translate baybay! It may be because of the stupidly high standard these two have set for each other but I was really underwhelmed by this little back and forth last night. This was truly "PG Cena" at his finest with his cutting deep insults including calling Owens a "garbage human being"- I don't know how Owens didn't burst into tears after that one.
Rollins Backstage with Trips & Steph
Functional.
The Bellas v Naomi & Tamina
*deep breath* NEW... DAY ROCKS, NEW... DAY ROCKS. I actually do have something to say about the Divas this week because I'm going to put out a Post most likely tomorrow basically looking at the Divas Division as a whole and why it's all so horrible for a while now before I just refuse to acknowledge it until we see a marked change in the Division. Also c'mon, The Bellas are working Face again solely because Paige isn't there because of Tough Enough- surely they could have worked out a way to make it work with them staying heel.
The Roman Terminator video package was just bizarre- but I didn't take against it; until they cut to Brock in the back and Cole said he was WWE's terminator which was just a "Well What was the Point of that then?" moment.
Ryback v Mark Henry
It wasn't quite new gear as I predicted- but they're definitely showing Ryback off more after last week where he appeared without his Singlet and looked even more like a beast than usual. Considering it was Ryback v Mark Henry being, well Ryback v Mark Henry it was good enough and Ryback adding another dimension to his moveset with the Splash is an interesting and good way to go. I wasn't a massive fan of Ryback winning the Belt at the Chamber but at this moment in time I'll happily say I was wrong because he's really come into his own again and the crowd getting on his side is proof of that.
Ryback Backstage Promo
I'm liking the more personal Ryback because he's not letting the stuff he says in these sort of things define his character- but he's still throwing it out there in a "Yeah, I'm Human" way which as a babyface is ideal because the crowd naturally gravitates towards him as a result of this sort of stuff. Also, He Killed Big Show!
Heyman & Brock Open the Show
This truly was a novel concept- an opening promo on RAW that was pretty much guaranteed to be engaging and basically just good. I'm not sure if they planned it to happen like it did or Cole just improv'd but Cole essentially apologising for Brock F5-ing him was hilarious and in a weird way really up-sold Brock. Any segment where Heyman cuts a Promo is money and this was no exception and that is really all that can be said about this segment.
Kane v Dean Ambrose
Ok, I don't mean to alarm anyone- please remain calm through this next statement. KANE HAS WON 3 RAW'S IN A ROW- PANIC, EVERYBODY PANIC, RETREAT TO YOUR BUNKER AND PRAY. For a first match of the night and with two people who at this stage didn't really have any direction to speak of it was pretty good. It wasn't a 5* amazing match- it was solid and sometimes especially early on in the show a solid match is for the best and with the Seth interference it did both a good job of shielding (Wahey!) Ambrose and setting up the main angle of the night.
Backstage Rollins & Kane Promo
I suppose this can be described as functional in that it did the job it needed to do in carrying on the main angle of the night, it wasn't anything other than that- but still.
Primetime Players v The Ascension
Again this was "just" a solid match- I'm still not really into the PTP as Tag Champs, it's not that they're bad but New Day are just so much better at present and I wish the Primetime Players at least had a good build before they dropped the Belts but they literally had 2 weeks. That being said I was surprised the match went as long as it did and it did a really solid job of getting the PTP's over- and Big E got his "Backstage Monitor Watching" gimmick back so it's happy days.
Sheamus v Roman Reigns
Is it implied that Sheamus won this via Countout? Firstly I have to say that this match was surprisingly good. Little things like Sheamus squaring up to Roman as he made his entrance will help his perception long-term provided he doesn't go on a run of getting pinned by Midcarders like most MITB winners have done. These two had the first match that was more than "solid", I was surprised these two got as long as they did for what was such an obvious outcome but they used all of their time well and told a good story I know pretty much everyone isn't a fan of Sheamus at this stage and to a lesser extent but still prevalent Roman- but I have to give credit where credit is due.
The finish was cool and it got the "Bray's in Roman's head" angle perfectly- I'm still holding out hope that Roman's daughter is going to get involved somewhere down the line in this story because that'll take this angle to the next level and will legitimise to an extent Bray's character and motivations. The creepy room with all of the Roman pictures and the "Anyone But You" thing was cool and I'm really interested to see where they go with it all now.
Rollins meets J&J Backstage
As with the Kane backstage promo this can be described as functional and not much else.
Neville v Kofi Kingston
I understand why they didn't have Neville lose to Kofi especially with the Xavier and Big E expulsion- but why even go there with the expulsion angle, have Kofi win with Shenanigans to play up the numbers game and just for a split second make you think the numbers could get the better of Brock in a couple of weeks. That said New Day reinforced their role as in my opinion the most entertaining part of the current product whether it was Kofi prancing down to the ring clapping or Xavier's ringside shout-outs that had me in hysterics specifically the "IMMA CALL GRAVITY" one which if it isn't acknowledged in my End of Year awards in some way you have permission to shoot me. The one small critique I have with Neville at the minute and it is a small one- he takes too long balancing himself on the Top Rope for the Red Arrow in my opinion, it may be unrealistic to ask him to do it quicker but it get's to the point where the person on the deck in this case Kofi is out for nearly 30 Seconds because of a singular move that doesn't look like it had that sort of impact.
King Barrett v Zack Ryder
This was the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object- who's will to lose was greater than the others. I'm happy Barrett actually won a match, but it's not as if beating Ryder means anything and we've seen the "Top Rope Bullhammer" spot so much now it's lost all meaning- I was hoping we'd see a Mid 450 Bullhammer or something cool like that so once RAW was over people would have been talking about what Barrett did but nope.
Cena and Owens Promos
Voyant que Owens a fait, je pensais que je pourrais aussi bien faire aussi. Google Translate baybay! It may be because of the stupidly high standard these two have set for each other but I was really underwhelmed by this little back and forth last night. This was truly "PG Cena" at his finest with his cutting deep insults including calling Owens a "garbage human being"- I don't know how Owens didn't burst into tears after that one.
Rollins Backstage with Trips & Steph
Functional.
The Bellas v Naomi & Tamina
*deep breath* NEW... DAY ROCKS, NEW... DAY ROCKS. I actually do have something to say about the Divas this week because I'm going to put out a Post most likely tomorrow basically looking at the Divas Division as a whole and why it's all so horrible for a while now before I just refuse to acknowledge it until we see a marked change in the Division. Also c'mon, The Bellas are working Face again solely because Paige isn't there because of Tough Enough- surely they could have worked out a way to make it work with them staying heel.
The Roman Terminator video package was just bizarre- but I didn't take against it; until they cut to Brock in the back and Cole said he was WWE's terminator which was just a "Well What was the Point of that then?" moment.
Ryback v Mark Henry
It wasn't quite new gear as I predicted- but they're definitely showing Ryback off more after last week where he appeared without his Singlet and looked even more like a beast than usual. Considering it was Ryback v Mark Henry being, well Ryback v Mark Henry it was good enough and Ryback adding another dimension to his moveset with the Splash is an interesting and good way to go. I wasn't a massive fan of Ryback winning the Belt at the Chamber but at this moment in time I'll happily say I was wrong because he's really come into his own again and the crowd getting on his side is proof of that.
Ryback Backstage Promo
I'm liking the more personal Ryback because he's not letting the stuff he says in these sort of things define his character- but he's still throwing it out there in a "Yeah, I'm Human" way which as a babyface is ideal because the crowd naturally gravitates towards him as a result of this sort of stuff. Also, He Killed Big Show!
Dolph Ziggler v Adam Rose
I only have a few things to say about this. Firstly, Dolph and Lana's chemistry is Nil. I know Rusev got hurt and that would have affected any potential angle they did- but surely they could have written Lana off of TV somehow especially after she got injured as a result of Rusev. Secondly, Adam Rose's Spinebuster is still one of the best I've ever seen. Lastly, Isn't Rusev supposed to be the Heel? I can't speak for everyone- but to me Rusev is coming off as the sympathetic Babyface in all of this. Summer Rae showing up doesn't usually bode well for an angle but I'm willing to give it a go.
Seth Rollins' Apology/Brock Beatdown
To me they played this segment perfectly. People can say what they will but to me this was a near perfect segment because it humanised Brock and made Rollins look like a threat to Brock in the strength in numbers way that was definitely needed in order to make the match at Battleground have some jeopardy to it. Brock still looked like a beast- and as long as Noble is ok in the long run that side will definitely help Brock's perception if they do bring it up, it's just on this occasion he was overwhelmed by Kane who's still a 7ft Bloke, Rollins who's the WWE Champion and then Mercury who is the Destroyer.
This RAW just felt really flat to me- and as I said just before it started last night and at the start of this seemed impossible given all of the ingredients they had to make last nights RAW. But it just felt really bare-bones with No Orton, No Paige, No R-Truth other than a Backstage Pre-Tape and just way, way too many Adverts for the second week in a row.
Anyway, thanks for reading as always- as I've already said there will (or at least should) be a Post tomorrow, Thursday and Friday this week so stay tuned for all of those- unless I drop dead I should be on Twitter later on for Tough Enough so why not tag along for that eh? Anyway, Thanks again for reading, Merci encore pour la Lecture- and I'll leave you with this. https://vine.co/v/e5iPZZAdMZQ.
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