My hands have just about stopped shaking now, and what a day (and week) this is turning into from a Fulham perspective. Between the win against MK Dons on Saturday, and then heading into tonight with Rotherham and Bristol City winning, MK Dons losing and of course our win tonight- we've taken an absolutely massive step toward our continued survival in the Championship. Being 7 Points clear with 6 Games left, after being 1 Point clear of MK Dons heading into Saturdays game just goes to show the change in fortunes we've had over this week. In short, we're infinitely more secure than we were a week ago- and it's come as a result of us showing the fight to match our undoubted quality on the pitch. Well, that combined with a bit of luck.
I'm loving these Reviews all of a sudden, let's talk about the Goals. In pretty much the only thing that happened in the whole 1st Half, pretty much out of nothing- a Tim Ream long ball was just sent up the pitch, McCormack got the better of the Centre-Back and when Ross McCormack's 1-on-1 with the Goalkeeper 99 times out of 100 he's going to put it into the back of the net. Hopefully we can keep pulling away from the Relegation Zone now and we don't get complacent, because McCormack and our second Goalscorer have been way too good this season to be involved in a Relegation Battle.
The Preston goal was actually really good, it's definitely a lot easier to say that in a game that we've won. Vermijl completely sold Tunnicliffe, then got the better of Parker and Bettinelli couldn't really do much to stop it. With how the 2nd Half was going, I always thought our best bet of scoring would be from either a bit of luck, a Set-Piece or a moment of quality. Dembele's goal ended up being a bit of all three. Pretty much out of nothing, we had a Free-Kick in McCormack range- McCormack bends in an absolutely quality Free-Kick that Lindegaard just about managed to save. Dembele gets the rebound and completely out of nothing we were 2-1 up in a game where we were being completely battered. That's of course how it ended, thank god.
Marcus Bettinelli was good when called upon for the most part today. There was of course the scary moment late-on when Beckford managed to get in the way of his clearance, but apart from that he did quite well today. It's just great to see Bettinelli back in the team, and despite conceding again today- it doesn't look like his injury has done any long-term damage. The sooner he gets his first Clean Sheet back the better.
Fernando Amorebieta's taken a lot of criticism since he's been back, with some of it being justified without a doubt. However, tonight he was absolutely immense first at Centre-Back and then at Left-Back. In-terms of defensive performances, I genuinely can't remember many better over the course of this season- although there's not exactly a wide variety to pick from. Michael Madl delivered the level of performance I think we expect of him now in-terms of an on the ground defender. I thought Jokanovic was smart to take him off the for SEVEN BLOODY MINUTES of Injury Time because as is the case in most matches balls will increasingly get launched into the box the longer they're behind.
I thought Tim Ream had a pretty good First-Half, that was of course unfortunately it for him though with the injury he was presumably getting treated for toward the end of the First-Half. But I do think Ream's done pretty well since he's come back in, and I hope his injury isn't too serious. I thought Ryan Fredericks had a fairly decent game today I thought today. It's not exactly new to say in-terms of pure pace he's probably the best option we've had for a while- but he is. As I said in Saturday's Review, he's a completely different option at Full-Back to Stearman, and it's up to Jokanovic's discretion who he uses when in our 6 remaining matches.
I was surprised to see Scott Parker in the team tonight to be honest, but he was more than worth his place. I said it back in my MK Dons Review, Scott Parker under Jokanovic has turned into our most consistent player- and hopefully if we can stay up it's going to be a lot harder to replace Parker than you'd have thought a few months ago. He was just absolutely immense, once again and there's talks about "Captains Innings"- and Parker's delivered yet another tonight. Another player who I thought was absolutely great tonight was Rohan Ince. You can go back to my Reviews before I got ill and took a break, I was saying pretty much weekly that we needed to be playing a Proper DM to sit in front of, and protect the Back Four. At the time we only really mad Mattila capable of playing the role- but now we've got Ince, and he's actually being played the pieces of the team are 100% falling into place. I don't know if Ince would want to join permanently this Summer given how his first few months here went, but provided we stay up I'd make it an absolute priority- along with signing nearly a whole new defence that we got Ince or a player like him. I thought Tunnicliffe did pretty well today, it's funny how he's ended up being booked for Time-Wasting again tonight in pretty much identical circumstances (dawdling over a throw). It's not a massive thing, but from my point of view he really "gets" the game management side of Football and winding the clock down.
Tom Cairney going off injured was really unfortunate from our point of view, and especially with us playing Ince, Parker and Tunnicliffe we really need Cairney fit to keep the balance of the team. Primarily I hope Cairney's alright of course, but it's definitely going to be interesting to see what Jokanovic does to replace Cairney in the team- and unfortunately we may end having to see McCormack drop deep(er than usual) for a game or two.
As I've already said, McCormack and Dembele from a Goalscoring perspective are just way too good to be where we are in the Table. If we stay up, and despite the gap we've now got- with how our season's gone it's still an "if" it's thanks to Dembele and of course more so McCormack. I think I saw that McCormack's a Goal/Assist away from contributing to 30 Goals this season- and Dembele's a Goal/Assist away from 20. For a team that's basically been fighting Relegation to varying degrees since November, that's ridiculous. Apart from the goals, neither really did much else tonight to be honest though. For me, the First-Half didn't really get going between Preston's two injuries- and then the Second Half was really all Preston- which didn't really give either much of a chance to "shine".
The Stearman Sub for Ream was of course necessary, and I thought Stearman was immense on the whole. It's not been Stearman's season- to put it bluntly- however of the Defenders we've got I'd pick Stearman in a heartbeat in the sort of backs to wall defensive display we had to put in 2nd Half. The O'Hara Sub was of course necessary as well with Cairney's injury, and he did fine on the whole. I wouldn't be looking to renew his Contract unless we went down- but he's still had his moments this season without a doubt he's just tailed off as the season's gone on. As I've already said, I thought Dan Burn coming on for Injury time was smart with his obvious height advantage. I'm interested to see if we renew Burn's Contract this Summer, because Jokanovic obviously saw something in him for him to be starting for as long as he did under him.
Tonight wasn't exactly a world class "Barcelona-esque" performance from us, but that's not what we needed tonight. We needed to battle, and fight for every ball- and for the most part we did. We're finally showing the fight to match the quality we have- and with it being a surprise to nobody- with us doing that we're finally picking up wins. I think with how this season's gone and with MK Dons seemingly struggling if we can pick up 2 more wins- of the 6 games left we'll be safe. The most important thing though is to either maintain or extend our gap on MK Dons now. We can't afford to be sucked back into this Relegation scrap once again- and we can guarantee that by not relying on other teams slipping up. Granted it's definitely helped that MK Dons have lost again tonight, but I want us to stay up under our own steam- and not by having to rely on MK Dons losing the majority of their games left this season.
Hopefully we can keep this good run on Saturday with another battling performance, and another result to match. The Review will of course be up again on Saturday, and hopefully you'll be back again fr that one. Thanks for reading as always, I hope you have a good rest of the week. It's amazing what a couple of wins do for your morale. At this rate we'll win the League.
Wednesday, 6 April 2016
Tuesday, 5 April 2016
RAW Review: 4th April
Well, wasn't last night just infinitely better than Wrestlemania? It's funny, and I was thinking about this quite a bit yesterday after I put my RAW Review up. I, as I'm sure most of everyone reading this would class myself as a really involved Wrestling Fan- in the sense that I actually care about certain people going over etc. and at Wrestlemania, with the exception of Brock/Ambrose my main issue with all of the matches weren't that the match was bad- just that the wrong person went over. Casual Fans don't really care about that, and it was them that this years Mania was aimed at- between the Free Month and all of the Mainstream Coverage they got. So with that in mind, I think everyone in WWE will have seen Mania as a success.
There's a lot of stuff to talk about for this Review, so I'm not going to delay any further and we'll just jump head first into this Review.
Shane & Vince McMahon Opening Segment
This wasn't really much. The bit just before Vince came out annoyed me, because they in so many more words basically said "Roman's gonna get booed to fuck, just ignore that- this crowd isn't a good representation of our 'usual' audience".
Anyway, the Vince and Shane segment wasn't much- it was fun to see Shane still after Wrestlemania. He might still hang around for a few more weeks, or he might not- if it were up to me Shane would be written off by being attacked Backstage to leave it open for a return once Shane's gone back to his Japanese PPV's or whatever.
New Day v The League of Nations (Sheamus & Barrett)- Tag Titles
This was of course quite likely Wade Barrett's last appearance in WWE. Granted as a fellow Brit I may have been pushing extra hard for Barrett to succeed, but I genuinely can't think of many more fucked up wrestlers in-terms of potential vs the push they actually got. Yes, injuries played a part- but the fact Barrett was never WWE Champion when Nexus were at their peak is mind-blowing to me.
New Day were their usual amazing selves in the Pre-Match stuff, between the last Booty'O and them putting over the Lion King. I'm still quite annoyed about what happened to New Day at Mania, but all we can do is move on quickly and just appreciate New Day and hope they keep going from strength to strength.
The match was decent, everyone involved in this match was a pretty fucking good worker- and these two teams have wrestled each other enough times both as part of teams and individually to know how to get the best out of each other. The finish wasn't quite what I expected, in the sense that I thought Barrett would just be pinned clean out of nowhere leading up to what happened after- but it still worked quite well for me.
We then had the Post-Match attack on Barrett to presumably write him off of TV, and it was all but confirmed when The Wyatts screen effect hit and they appeared and attacked the League of Nations. Obviously with Harper injured and Barrett leaving it's 3v3- but it does make me wonder how long they've had this feud planned for, because they teased it MONTHS ago when it would have been a 4v4. I will say I'm looking forward to it though, and I'm just praying that The Wyatts win.
Vince Backstage Promo
I must admit, a small part of me was expecting Vince's Limo to blow up.
Sasha Banks v Summer Rae
Any time I get to see Summer Rae on RAW I'm happy. I was putting over these two's history in NXT- even if Commentary wasn't and that enhanced the match for me. The match wasn't much, it was just a case of having Sasha go over relatively strong after obviously missing out at Wrestlemania via shenanigans. They probably would've had Becky wrestle as well at some point, but she'd completely fucked her eye up.
Apollo Crews v Tyler Breeze
I predicted an Apollo Crews call-up at the turn of the year on Twitter. He hasn't really progressed beyond the "nice guy" Babyface who smiles a lot in NXT. However, Crews is pretty much perfect for current WWE. He's absolutely built, and then he has the offence that can pop a crowd at a moments notice. I said at the turn of the year that Crews will have been called-up and have the proverbial Rocket on his back- and I still firmly believe that.
I'm interested to see the character development of Crews on the Main Roster and who his first feud's with- but for now I was just happy to see him and get the pay-off of one of my (quite a few) successful predictions from last night.
The match was nothing more than a showcase of what Crews can do, which was fine by me. It is a shame that Breeze was the one doing the job, but I suppose that's wrestling sometimes.
Roman Reigns, AJ Styles, Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn Segment
I actually quite liked this segment. To me at least, the job of a Heel is to make sure the crowd want anyone who said Heel is wrestling to beat the fuck out of the Heel and win. Roman Reigns is a Heel, literally anyone could be pitted against Roman and they're the most over Babyface in the entire company. Even things like last night with Roman saying "He's not a Good Guy or a Bad Guy, he's THE guy". That to me just screams Heel. I could be wrong, but to me that line told me that the Roman Character has finally gotten self-aware.
The segment was good in setting the 4-Way up for later, and on the whole I just really liked it. Without a doubt the highlight being the fact that Owens and Zayn just can't be near each other without having to trade punches. I know a lot of people were expecting Owens/Zayn at Mania, but I can't wait for these two to wrestle each other at Payback- in a match that has a pretty good chance of stealing the show.
Baron Corbin v Dolph Ziggler
I think I said it in my Mania Review yesterday, if Baron Corbin can continue his development at the rate he has done- he can really be something special in the WWE. Everything about Baron Corbin is just a perfect Heel, and he looked absolutely great last night. After the whole count-out angle, I was expecting a Cesaro run-in. Feel free to disagree, but I think Cesaro would be a perfect first Main Roster feud for Corbin. They've got the Andre Battle Royal connection, and Cesaro fits perfectly with Corbin's whole Anti-Indy gimmick. It could still happen don't get me wrong, but just because I was expecting the run-in the segment Post-End of Days felt a bit weird to me.
The Miz v Zack Ryder- IC Title
I feel like this is the right time to say it, because I predicted Maryse interfering and Miz winning the IC Title. Someone brought this up last night, I wasn't on Reddit for the whole day yesterday because I knew r/SC would be on Suicide Watch after Mania and I just had no desire to see endless bitching with the occasional GIF. Apparently that FalconArrow bloke said something similar, but it wasn't exactly a hard prediction if you put some thought into it. Especially with Owens and Zayn busy, Ryder was never going to keep the IC Title for long. Ryder pushed Miz off to win the Title at Mania. Maryse was a very strong return rumour. It doesn't take a genius to connect the dots.
I liked the angle with Zack's Dad actually, although I'm not sure how Zack's Dad pushing Miz wasn't a DQ. The match was pretty good, and I'm actually really happy with the outcome. I've said it a few times recently, but The Miz has been absolutely amazing so far this year, whether it was with AJ, Sami or basically anyone he's worked with. Add Maryse into the mix as Miz's valet/manager, with their obvious chemistry and Miz can hopefully keep going from strength to strength.
Womens Championship Presentation Ceremony
This segment was never going to get over unless Bayley came out. The crowd wanted Bayley and only Bayley. Even when Charlotte tried putting over the crowd to try and get a pop the crowd just didn't give a fuck. In that sense, it was poor planning- and especially with how the segment went I wish Charlotte would've just gone off script and Heel'd it up on the Bayley not appearing front. They tried too hard to have Charlotte act like a Babyface before getting cocky, and in time when Charlotte gets more experience she'll know when it's best to just "tear up the script".
I'm quite annoyed that Charlotte's first feud with the new Womens Championship is seemingly going to be against Nattie. I really like her, but for me they needed to try and go from strength to strength with the Womens Championship and not change the winning formula of Charlotte against Becky and/or Sasha until they'd properly established the Title and what it would represent. I'm not saying Nattie's a bad choice, but we've had Charlotte beat Nattie god knows how many times in the last few months. I will admit, I very briefly thought Bret had shown up when Nattie's music hit- and all in all this segment just felt a bit disappointing.
Epico & Primo's Puerto Rico Vignette
I will say one thing positive about this, I did like Epico & Primo when they were just Epico & Primo. I thought while they were perhaps a bit bland they "got it" when it came to being a Heel- and they even managed to make Rosa a valuable part of an act on the show. That's not exactly easy. God knows what this gimmick's going to entail other than perhaps entering with a Puerto Rican flag tied around their neck like a Cape. I'm patiently awaiting their re-debut, I'll put it like that.
The Dudleys v The Usos- Tables Match
I think the end to this match can, in quite a few ways sum up the feud between these two teams. In short, it was a complete botch. If you skipped it, which I wouldn't really blame you for doing- basically The Usos went to Splash The Dudleys through respective Tables as they did last night and the Dudleys moved out of the way sending them crashing through Tables. The key point being, The Dudleys moved- they didn't actually put them through a Table. SOMEONE SHOULD HAVE TOLD THE TIMEKEEPER THAT. It completely took away from an otherwise alright- albeit nothing special match.
Enzo Amore & Big Cass' Debut
This was another one of my Predictions that came off, in that I predicted we'd get Enzo & Cass/The Dudleys rather than Enzo & Cass going right after the Tag Titles. I thought it hadn't happened when they went to the Ad Break after The Dudleys had won- but thankfully they were still out there when they came back.
My one worry when it comes to Enzo & Cass, the Night after Mania crowd is basically the smarkiest crowd of the year. You can pretty much guarantee 95+% of the Crowd knew who they were and Enzo's whole "My name is..." speech. That's great, but once Enzo's in-front of a Flat Crowd in the 3rd Hour of RAW in Dayton, Ohio- if the crowd doesn't respond to him and Cass- they've lost all of their appeal. I would hope Enzo's charisma in particular could get them over for the "casual" audience, but its far from a guarantee. Much in the way of The Vaudevillains' Smackdown debut, I'm just not sure how it'll translate to the bigger arenas and not in-front of the die-hard crowds.
With all that said, I did love this segment- and it was probably the highlight of the night.
Kevin Owens attacks Sami Zayn Backstage
I realise this was before the Enzo & Cass angle, but it made more sense to Review those two segments together. I liked this angle a lot, it's obviously in preparation for an Owens/Zayn Payback match- and obviously it facilitated Cesaro's return. In short, this was just a really good angle- and hopefully the rest of the build will match it. They can pretty much give Zayn and Owens anything and they'd make it work.
AJ Styles v Chris Jericho v Cesaro v Kevin Owens- #1 Contender Fatal 4-Way
I suppose I'll start with Cesaro's return. It was absolutely great. Everything about Cesaro's return just worked. I was wondering where they were going with the whole Suit thing, but they literally had Cesaro do the Superman thing of ripping the suit off and transitioning into his "battle" mode. I just loved it. I'm not exactly sure what Cesaro does after tonight, as I said earlier if I had to guess it would be Corbin. However, basically all I want out of Cesaro's return is for him to get the treatment he deserves as a sort of Dean Ambrose level Wrestler where they're not quite in the Main Event picture- but they're still Main Eventing and can face-off against some of the biggest names. For instance, I'm dying to see a Cesaro/Brock match- that hopefully wouldn't be a squash.
Next we move on to the winner, and that was of course AJ Styles. I'm not certain of anything in the WWE after Wrestlemania and Styles losing to Jericho. However, if I had to make a prediction for Roman/Styles at this stage- I'd say Gallows and Anderson crash the Main Event and take out AJ and/or Roman. I'll be interested to see how they build the match after tonight, and basically how Roman acts toward AJ. In short, there's absolutely zero chance AJ does win the Title at Fast Lane- however in my opinion there's also very little chance that Roman just outright beats AJ.
Owens has Zayn for Payback, and I'm definitely interested to see where Jericho goes now. Had Ryder still had the Belt I'd have probably guessed that. Now, I'm not so sure.
Overall I really enjoyed this RAW. However, the sheer volume of Adverts last night was absolutely ridiculous. I said it on Twitter as well, imagine if you'd watched Wrestlemania- and as I've already brought up you didn't really care who won and then decided to watch RAW. You would have gotten about 5 Minutes of Wrestling followed by 5 Minutes of Adverts for basically 3 Hours straight. If that was my first impression of RAW, I wouldn't be coming back next week.
Thanks for reading as always, we're coming toward the end of Wrestlemania Week on here- with there only being one more post tomorrow which'll be "Booking Wrestlemania 33". I did it last year as well, it's basically me predicting the Wrestlemania card a year out and then we can look back on how wrong I was this time next year. In the meantime thanks for reading, and let's just look forward to hopefully a good few months now we've got people like Cesaro back, with Cena, Rollins, Orton etc. not far behind.
There's a lot of stuff to talk about for this Review, so I'm not going to delay any further and we'll just jump head first into this Review.
Shane & Vince McMahon Opening Segment
This wasn't really much. The bit just before Vince came out annoyed me, because they in so many more words basically said "Roman's gonna get booed to fuck, just ignore that- this crowd isn't a good representation of our 'usual' audience".
Anyway, the Vince and Shane segment wasn't much- it was fun to see Shane still after Wrestlemania. He might still hang around for a few more weeks, or he might not- if it were up to me Shane would be written off by being attacked Backstage to leave it open for a return once Shane's gone back to his Japanese PPV's or whatever.
New Day v The League of Nations (Sheamus & Barrett)- Tag Titles
This was of course quite likely Wade Barrett's last appearance in WWE. Granted as a fellow Brit I may have been pushing extra hard for Barrett to succeed, but I genuinely can't think of many more fucked up wrestlers in-terms of potential vs the push they actually got. Yes, injuries played a part- but the fact Barrett was never WWE Champion when Nexus were at their peak is mind-blowing to me.
New Day were their usual amazing selves in the Pre-Match stuff, between the last Booty'O and them putting over the Lion King. I'm still quite annoyed about what happened to New Day at Mania, but all we can do is move on quickly and just appreciate New Day and hope they keep going from strength to strength.
The match was decent, everyone involved in this match was a pretty fucking good worker- and these two teams have wrestled each other enough times both as part of teams and individually to know how to get the best out of each other. The finish wasn't quite what I expected, in the sense that I thought Barrett would just be pinned clean out of nowhere leading up to what happened after- but it still worked quite well for me.
We then had the Post-Match attack on Barrett to presumably write him off of TV, and it was all but confirmed when The Wyatts screen effect hit and they appeared and attacked the League of Nations. Obviously with Harper injured and Barrett leaving it's 3v3- but it does make me wonder how long they've had this feud planned for, because they teased it MONTHS ago when it would have been a 4v4. I will say I'm looking forward to it though, and I'm just praying that The Wyatts win.
Vince Backstage Promo
I must admit, a small part of me was expecting Vince's Limo to blow up.
Sasha Banks v Summer Rae
Any time I get to see Summer Rae on RAW I'm happy. I was putting over these two's history in NXT- even if Commentary wasn't and that enhanced the match for me. The match wasn't much, it was just a case of having Sasha go over relatively strong after obviously missing out at Wrestlemania via shenanigans. They probably would've had Becky wrestle as well at some point, but she'd completely fucked her eye up.
Apollo Crews v Tyler Breeze
I predicted an Apollo Crews call-up at the turn of the year on Twitter. He hasn't really progressed beyond the "nice guy" Babyface who smiles a lot in NXT. However, Crews is pretty much perfect for current WWE. He's absolutely built, and then he has the offence that can pop a crowd at a moments notice. I said at the turn of the year that Crews will have been called-up and have the proverbial Rocket on his back- and I still firmly believe that.
I'm interested to see the character development of Crews on the Main Roster and who his first feud's with- but for now I was just happy to see him and get the pay-off of one of my (quite a few) successful predictions from last night.
The match was nothing more than a showcase of what Crews can do, which was fine by me. It is a shame that Breeze was the one doing the job, but I suppose that's wrestling sometimes.
Roman Reigns, AJ Styles, Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn Segment
I actually quite liked this segment. To me at least, the job of a Heel is to make sure the crowd want anyone who said Heel is wrestling to beat the fuck out of the Heel and win. Roman Reigns is a Heel, literally anyone could be pitted against Roman and they're the most over Babyface in the entire company. Even things like last night with Roman saying "He's not a Good Guy or a Bad Guy, he's THE guy". That to me just screams Heel. I could be wrong, but to me that line told me that the Roman Character has finally gotten self-aware.
The segment was good in setting the 4-Way up for later, and on the whole I just really liked it. Without a doubt the highlight being the fact that Owens and Zayn just can't be near each other without having to trade punches. I know a lot of people were expecting Owens/Zayn at Mania, but I can't wait for these two to wrestle each other at Payback- in a match that has a pretty good chance of stealing the show.
Baron Corbin v Dolph Ziggler
I think I said it in my Mania Review yesterday, if Baron Corbin can continue his development at the rate he has done- he can really be something special in the WWE. Everything about Baron Corbin is just a perfect Heel, and he looked absolutely great last night. After the whole count-out angle, I was expecting a Cesaro run-in. Feel free to disagree, but I think Cesaro would be a perfect first Main Roster feud for Corbin. They've got the Andre Battle Royal connection, and Cesaro fits perfectly with Corbin's whole Anti-Indy gimmick. It could still happen don't get me wrong, but just because I was expecting the run-in the segment Post-End of Days felt a bit weird to me.
The Miz v Zack Ryder- IC Title
I feel like this is the right time to say it, because I predicted Maryse interfering and Miz winning the IC Title. Someone brought this up last night, I wasn't on Reddit for the whole day yesterday because I knew r/SC would be on Suicide Watch after Mania and I just had no desire to see endless bitching with the occasional GIF. Apparently that FalconArrow bloke said something similar, but it wasn't exactly a hard prediction if you put some thought into it. Especially with Owens and Zayn busy, Ryder was never going to keep the IC Title for long. Ryder pushed Miz off to win the Title at Mania. Maryse was a very strong return rumour. It doesn't take a genius to connect the dots.
I liked the angle with Zack's Dad actually, although I'm not sure how Zack's Dad pushing Miz wasn't a DQ. The match was pretty good, and I'm actually really happy with the outcome. I've said it a few times recently, but The Miz has been absolutely amazing so far this year, whether it was with AJ, Sami or basically anyone he's worked with. Add Maryse into the mix as Miz's valet/manager, with their obvious chemistry and Miz can hopefully keep going from strength to strength.
Womens Championship Presentation Ceremony
This segment was never going to get over unless Bayley came out. The crowd wanted Bayley and only Bayley. Even when Charlotte tried putting over the crowd to try and get a pop the crowd just didn't give a fuck. In that sense, it was poor planning- and especially with how the segment went I wish Charlotte would've just gone off script and Heel'd it up on the Bayley not appearing front. They tried too hard to have Charlotte act like a Babyface before getting cocky, and in time when Charlotte gets more experience she'll know when it's best to just "tear up the script".
I'm quite annoyed that Charlotte's first feud with the new Womens Championship is seemingly going to be against Nattie. I really like her, but for me they needed to try and go from strength to strength with the Womens Championship and not change the winning formula of Charlotte against Becky and/or Sasha until they'd properly established the Title and what it would represent. I'm not saying Nattie's a bad choice, but we've had Charlotte beat Nattie god knows how many times in the last few months. I will admit, I very briefly thought Bret had shown up when Nattie's music hit- and all in all this segment just felt a bit disappointing.
Epico & Primo's Puerto Rico Vignette
I will say one thing positive about this, I did like Epico & Primo when they were just Epico & Primo. I thought while they were perhaps a bit bland they "got it" when it came to being a Heel- and they even managed to make Rosa a valuable part of an act on the show. That's not exactly easy. God knows what this gimmick's going to entail other than perhaps entering with a Puerto Rican flag tied around their neck like a Cape. I'm patiently awaiting their re-debut, I'll put it like that.
The Dudleys v The Usos- Tables Match
I think the end to this match can, in quite a few ways sum up the feud between these two teams. In short, it was a complete botch. If you skipped it, which I wouldn't really blame you for doing- basically The Usos went to Splash The Dudleys through respective Tables as they did last night and the Dudleys moved out of the way sending them crashing through Tables. The key point being, The Dudleys moved- they didn't actually put them through a Table. SOMEONE SHOULD HAVE TOLD THE TIMEKEEPER THAT. It completely took away from an otherwise alright- albeit nothing special match.
Enzo Amore & Big Cass' Debut
This was another one of my Predictions that came off, in that I predicted we'd get Enzo & Cass/The Dudleys rather than Enzo & Cass going right after the Tag Titles. I thought it hadn't happened when they went to the Ad Break after The Dudleys had won- but thankfully they were still out there when they came back.
My one worry when it comes to Enzo & Cass, the Night after Mania crowd is basically the smarkiest crowd of the year. You can pretty much guarantee 95+% of the Crowd knew who they were and Enzo's whole "My name is..." speech. That's great, but once Enzo's in-front of a Flat Crowd in the 3rd Hour of RAW in Dayton, Ohio- if the crowd doesn't respond to him and Cass- they've lost all of their appeal. I would hope Enzo's charisma in particular could get them over for the "casual" audience, but its far from a guarantee. Much in the way of The Vaudevillains' Smackdown debut, I'm just not sure how it'll translate to the bigger arenas and not in-front of the die-hard crowds.
With all that said, I did love this segment- and it was probably the highlight of the night.
Kevin Owens attacks Sami Zayn Backstage
I realise this was before the Enzo & Cass angle, but it made more sense to Review those two segments together. I liked this angle a lot, it's obviously in preparation for an Owens/Zayn Payback match- and obviously it facilitated Cesaro's return. In short, this was just a really good angle- and hopefully the rest of the build will match it. They can pretty much give Zayn and Owens anything and they'd make it work.
AJ Styles v Chris Jericho v Cesaro v Kevin Owens- #1 Contender Fatal 4-Way
I suppose I'll start with Cesaro's return. It was absolutely great. Everything about Cesaro's return just worked. I was wondering where they were going with the whole Suit thing, but they literally had Cesaro do the Superman thing of ripping the suit off and transitioning into his "battle" mode. I just loved it. I'm not exactly sure what Cesaro does after tonight, as I said earlier if I had to guess it would be Corbin. However, basically all I want out of Cesaro's return is for him to get the treatment he deserves as a sort of Dean Ambrose level Wrestler where they're not quite in the Main Event picture- but they're still Main Eventing and can face-off against some of the biggest names. For instance, I'm dying to see a Cesaro/Brock match- that hopefully wouldn't be a squash.
Next we move on to the winner, and that was of course AJ Styles. I'm not certain of anything in the WWE after Wrestlemania and Styles losing to Jericho. However, if I had to make a prediction for Roman/Styles at this stage- I'd say Gallows and Anderson crash the Main Event and take out AJ and/or Roman. I'll be interested to see how they build the match after tonight, and basically how Roman acts toward AJ. In short, there's absolutely zero chance AJ does win the Title at Fast Lane- however in my opinion there's also very little chance that Roman just outright beats AJ.
Owens has Zayn for Payback, and I'm definitely interested to see where Jericho goes now. Had Ryder still had the Belt I'd have probably guessed that. Now, I'm not so sure.
Overall I really enjoyed this RAW. However, the sheer volume of Adverts last night was absolutely ridiculous. I said it on Twitter as well, imagine if you'd watched Wrestlemania- and as I've already brought up you didn't really care who won and then decided to watch RAW. You would have gotten about 5 Minutes of Wrestling followed by 5 Minutes of Adverts for basically 3 Hours straight. If that was my first impression of RAW, I wouldn't be coming back next week.
Thanks for reading as always, we're coming toward the end of Wrestlemania Week on here- with there only being one more post tomorrow which'll be "Booking Wrestlemania 33". I did it last year as well, it's basically me predicting the Wrestlemania card a year out and then we can look back on how wrong I was this time next year. In the meantime thanks for reading, and let's just look forward to hopefully a good few months now we've got people like Cesaro back, with Cena, Rollins, Orton etc. not far behind.
Monday, 4 April 2016
Wrestlemania 32 Review
Hello! This Wrestlemania Weekend, also known as the "Cost Sam as much Sleep as possible" week is drawing to a close now. Well, yesterday was definitely interesting. I'd said multiple times heading into last night that everyone needed to approach the Mania with an open mind after Takeover and not bury it before it's even happened. Well, while not everything on the show was bad- there's definitely gonna be some burying done throughout the course of this Review.
There's definitely some burying to be done. However, I feel like I need to open by saying this. A lot of people I see on Twitter build up a picture of what should happen in Wrestling in their heads, and then if something doesn't live up to the expectations they've basically set up for themselves they deem it to be bad. That's simply put Wrestling Fans living in a Fantasy World. I'm not one of those fans, I'm very realistic in what I expect from a show. With that in mind, there's 11 matches to Review, and in some cases a lot to be said- so I'm not going to ramble any more and I'll just dive right in.
Pre-Show: Kalisto v Ryback- US Title
It doesn't make much of a difference, because my Predictions were fucking terrible yesterday- but the reason I predicted a Title change in this match was because I thought it would be on the USA Network part of the Pre-Show. I thought they'd want to put over an "anything can happen" type of mentality with a Title change in a bid to get some people to go "Oh shit, there was a Title change for free- I wonder what'll happen on the Main Show". That of course didn't happen, but on the whole I thought this match was alright. It was never going to blow everyones minds, but they did the whole "David vs Goliath" angle pretty well I thought- and Kalisto managed to"slay the giant" in Ryback to give him his Mania moment.
Pre-Show: Team Total Divas v Team BAD & Blonde
I'd reconciled this match in my head by saying, "Emma and Summer have got on Mania". So that's what I'll repeat- however this match played out, Emma and Summer did get on Mania. This match actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be to be honest. In arguably the biggest shock of the night, Eva Marie did a Flying Head Scissors without murdering someone. I thought they were smart to have Paige take the majority of the Heat Segment for obvious reasons, Lana looked good with all of her Kicks- especially for her first Wrestling match ever. As I said in my Predictions though, this match was basically the opportunity for;
a) Giving Brie a Wrestlemania send-off win
b) Have said Brie Wrestlemania win be the Total Divas Finale
In that respect they did their jobs really well, and we were only left with one question at the end of the day. WHAT IN THE FUCK DOES NAOMI MEAN WHEN SHE SHOUTS "FEEL MY GLOW"?
Pre-Show: The Usos v The Dudleys
Once again, this match was pretty much as "by the book" as I thought it would be. It was a pretty standard match, with one could argue Bubba trying way too hard to try and get some heat on himself to compensate for the lack of a build. The Usos won after a little while, and then they put The Dudleys through Tables to end the feud.
You see, this was 100% predictable, but predictable isn't always a bad thing. In fact, I'd argue most of the time it's a good thing. When people are predicting something, they're weighing up the chances of something happening using logic. So, this was by far the most logical choice. This whole Pre-Show was booked with logic and everything made sense. WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED FROM THIS POINT ON?!
IC Title Ladder Match
On the whole, I thought this was quite a fun match. Everyone got their spots in, we had the usual "crash and burn" spots with Stardust going through a Ladder via Sin Cara etc., We got the Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens spots that the crowd were desperate for, and all in all I thought this was a perfectly acceptable 2016 Ladder Match. I say that, basically because there's not an awful lot of Ladder Match spots that haven't already been done. The last Ladder Match spot that blew my mind other than Kalisto's Salida del Sol at TLC was in the Ziggler/Harper match at the previous years TLC- and that was pretty much just because of the sheer brutality of the match.
I'm going to reserve judgement on Zack Ryder's IC Title win until my RAW Review tomorrow. Call me suspicious, but I can't see Ryder hanging on to the Title for long when two or three weeks ago he wasn't even in the fucking match. I knew Zack was winning as soon as he did the Elbow Drop off the Ladder, and it was just a case of "How?" and I thought they did a pretty job making sure Zack won, but still protected- with respect to Zack the much better competitors in Owens and Zayn.
Chris Jericho v AJ Styles
I said in my Predictions that this was one of the easiest matches to predict, and of course went for AJ Styles. You know why? Because it fucking should have. I'll keep bringing this point up as this Review progresses, they either wanted every single Babyface to lose, so in the end when Roman won they thought the crowd would finally cheer for a win. Or, they were basically trying too hard to be "unpredictable" with their outcomes at the expense of any sort of logic or common sense.
I thought the match was okay, without being anything more. To me, there's a different between Jericho working a "Heel" style which is quite slow- and simply being too slow and I'm not sure which side of that line he ended up on by the end of the match. Something just seemed a bit "off" about this match to me, there were times when both guys looked a bit lost and were visibly trying to call spots and it just seemed weird. I don't know if I'd have had a better opinion of the match had they pulled off the finish 100% as intended, but they even managed to make that look messy- which basically summed up the match. Two very good wrestlers, having a really messy match.
Also, I have to laugh at the fact the Styles Clash has been kicked out of 2 out of the 3 times it's been used in WWE. Well Done on killing that move, WWE.
Zack Ryder Backstage Promo
It's all these talks of it being a "dream come true" for Zack and all that stuff that makes me suspect that he's losing the Title ASAP. As someone who'd jumped on the Z! TLIS train pretty early on, I don't know if I just don't want to get burned again- but I just can't see Zack having a proper run.
The League of Nations v New Day/Legends Segment
I have to assume Meltzer had simply heard through the grapevine that Michaels, Foley & Austin were going to be in the ring with New Day when he said that last night New Day were going to be put over massively. That did not happen.
Firstly, as predicted New Day's Entrance was one of the highlights of Mania- and could possibly have been the highlight if Shane wasn't a crazy motherfucker. This whole match just seemed like it had been put together at the last minute to me. It was smart for Xavier to take all of the heat segment because of his size relative to the League of Nations, but that's where my praise for this match ends. Throughout the match, I was getting more and more excited for Big E's Hot-Tag where he'd tag in and just go mental on all of the League for 2 Minutes with Belly-to-Belly's and other shit. Big E should have been a made star coming out of this match. Out of the 7 Guys involved, Big E's the only one with Main Event potential (that hasn't already been squandered). But instead Big E got 1 Belly-to-Belly, did his dive to the outside and thankfully didn't die and that was that. Kofi got taken out, and then Xavier was hit with a Bullhammer- and New Day had lost. Again, where was the logic in this? The whole stadium absolutely loved New Day- and granted the Legends did some to keep the "Hype" meter up, but it just didn't sit right with me.
Speaking of the Legends segment; look I'm never going to complain when Austin, Michaels and to a lesser extent Foley show up. Especially with Shawn in Ring Gear (I'm still not exactly sure why that was necessary). The whole clearing house of the League of Nations was fun, mainly because of Rusev's selling- especially for the Stunner. However, I just can't help but be slightly annoyed that this wasn't New Day's moment. They had the dancing spot afterwards with them, but the segment focuses were in order, Michaels, Austin & Foley, The League of Nations, New Day. New Day are 100% "my guys", and I'm just not happy with that.
Brock Lesnar v Dean Ambrose- No Holds Barred Street Fight
I had a lot of buffering during this match, so I didn't see the whole thing- but from what I did see I think the buffering may have been a good thing.
I'm bored of this Brock Lesnar. Brock is a super-human athlete as Heyman has repeatedly put over. He can do so much more than German Suplexes and F5's. It literally is like a Video Game where you just spam one move over and over until you're charged up enough to hit your finisher and you win. We've had that Brock for nearly 2 Years now, and especially with him showing up to quite a few House Shows and generally having more matches since he's signed his new deal- that's a lot of matches with the exact same formula.
This match just simply wasn't good. It was way too short to feel like the "war" it had been built up as, it was a Street Fight that didn't leave the Ring-Side area- or even go up the Ramp and there were hardly any Weapons even used. This just wasn't "No Holds Barred" or even a "Street Fight" it was standard Brock Lesnar House Show match in front of 100,000 people that just so happened to have a Kendo Stick and some Chairs involved. Ambrose didn't even kick out of 1 F5! As I said in my Predictions, I never thought Ambrose had a hope of beating Brock- but I thought he'd at least kick out of 1, if not 2 F5s. Instead it was a "one and done" deal and Brock earned probably Half a Million Dollars for one of the flattest Wrestlemania "street fights" ever.
Charlotte v Becky Lynch v Sasha Banks- WWE Womens Championship
Yes, that's right- the Divas Title is no more. We've not got the WWE Womens Championship- and above all of the other million reasons I've discussed on here about the word "Diva" it was great to get the new Title just to hear Renee completely bury the old Divas Title on the Pre-Show.
Up until this point of the show, this was without question the Match of the Night- and it was most "Wrestlemania" match of the night in my opinion. This felt like a massive deal, everything from the live performance of Sasha's Entrance with Snoop Dogg, to Charlotte's Robe made from her Dad's, to Becky's... Hat. From the moment this segment started, it was a full-on Wrestlemania moment.
These three women completely deserve all of the praise that's come their way after this match. From the moment the bell rang you knew they'd worked ridiculously hard on this match in working out of the spots and the details of the match. We had Charlotte's Moonsault that'll no doubt be in every Wrestlemania/"Divas Revolution" Video Package ever, and everything surrounding it. This match was just great, and on a Mania surrounded by a lot of mediocre segments- this was one of the ones that stood head and shoulders above the rest.
I don't even care about Charlotte winning. The result of this match wasn't as important as the performance of the three women involved in getting the new Title over and putting over the fact they were putting everything on the line for said Title. Flair's interference surprised me, just because I thought Snoop would hang around to stop it- but I suppose it fits the story and we'll be getting Charlotte/Sasha for the next few months. I just hope Becky's not forgotten about now.
The Undertaker v Shane McMahon- Hell in a Cell
I've seen a lot of people complaining about the outcome of this match, some of the points that have been raised are legitimate- and then others less legitimate. Firstly, the main reason Shane didn't win is because he's not hanging around Post-Mania. He may come back again in the near future, but apart from maybe an appearance tonight he's not going to be on TV for a while. That's the main reason Shane lost. Had he been hanging around I've got no doubt in my mind that Taker would have lost. Yes, there was the whole "last Wrestlemania" thing but they can always bring him back with some plot contrivance.
This match, if it were a legitimate fight- up until when Shane cut the Bolts off the Cell for some unknown reason would have played out exactly the same. Shane trying his best to avoid any hard strikes by Taker, and then trying to just catch him off guard whenever possible. I was convinced someone was interfering once the Cell was smashed open- and I'd also like to point out I was right in saying the Announce Desks were in danger in this match during my RAW Review and point about Shane doing the Elbow Drop. This match was essentially all structured around Shane doing that one "jump off the Cell" spot, and you know what in my book it was worth it. This was the one match where had I bought a Ticket I would have sat down after and gone "that was 100% worth it".
Now all we have to do is sit back and wait for when they set-up Taker/Cena for 33. They may even do it tonight given the obvious size of the match.
Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal (Notable Names: Baron Corbin, Shaquille O'Neal, Tatanka, DDP)
This was about as "filler Battle Royal" as you can get. It was fun without a doubt though, and unlike last year with Itami- the right person one in it being the person from NXT. I'm curious to see if that was Corbin's official call-up now. His feud with Aries surely can't be done when the match ended with a roll-up, and for me Corbin still needs a Title run in NXT and just a little more time to polish himself before he goes on the road with the Main Roster.
The Rock, John Cena & The Wyatts Segment
I said I was expecting them to set-up an angle for The Rock wrestling at Wrestlemania 33 tonight. Even with how this segment played out, I still have some hope that it'll be Bray Wyatt. I will always be a Bray Wyatt Fan- so I absolutely marked the fuck out when his music hit and he interrupted The Rock. Let me just remind everyone, the bloke's 28 Years Old. Barring injury, he's got at least 10 Years left in Wrestling should he wish to keep Wrestling. Even with a career ending injury, he could just have the Family wrestle whilst he cuts Promos. He's 28 Years Old, and he's shared a ring with John Cena, The Undertaker and now The Rock in three consecutive Wrestlemania's.
Let me just say this now, Bray Wyatt was categorically NOT buried last night. My opinion of that may change tonight depending on how it's followed up on. However, in the midst of The Rock "wrestling" Rowan and Cena's return (which I never thought I'd be so happy to see) everyone seemed to have forgotten the fact Rock spent a solid minute/minute and a half basically calling Bray the future of the fucking business. That's not a burial. Yes, he insulted them and called them stoners etc. but that's just The Rock being The Rock. As I said, depending on how this is followed up on my opinion of the segment may change. However, for now I'm perfectly fine with it. As I've said quite a few times when it comes to Bray, "Time is on his side".
We of course had Rock beat Erick Rowan, which just confirmed that I'm not crazy when I pitched the idea of The Rock & The Usos vs New Day a while back where I said they'd have Rock begging for a Tag the whole match, enter, hit the Rock Bottom, Peoples Elbow and then they've won. Cena's return was pretty well done on the whole- and I'm interested to see who his first feud back will be. All-in-all this was just a really fun segment, and had Mania ended here on an upbeat note of Cena's Return and The Rock being The Rock I think people would have been a lot happier. I'm also happy this segment ended with Rock and Cena leaving together, because as I said- I thought they'd be setting up an angle for Rock wrestling at 33 tonight. THRICE IN A LIFETIME!
Roman Reigns v Triple H- WWE Championship
I said last night, I'm going to be so interested to see what the crowds reactions are to this match once it's gone through Post-Production. There was of course the muting of the crowd last night which made me laugh, but then of course there was that story of them dubbing boos over Roman on Smackdown so who really knows.
I made reference to the Triple H/Randy Orton Main Event in my Predictions and discussing which match would go on last, and this was basically a worse version of it. Through a combination of there just not being much going for this match, Roman being Roman and the crowd being completely exhausted by the time these two went on after an already 6 Hour Long PPV- this was just such a nothing match.
The crowd still had the energy to boo Roman, and chant for NXT Guys- but that was pretty much it. Everything about this match from the moment Stephanie started her monologue was to desperately try and get some boos on Triple H- and as it's been proven in the entire build for this match, it's impossible to do that with how badly Roman's been fucked up since he attacked Triple H at TLC. I wouldn't call the match bad, it was just completely "meh". With it all being topped off by the "Cerebral Assassin" wildly swinging a Sledgehammer at Roman and eating a Spear to lose.
I said in my Takeover Review that's there's no point comparing the two until after Mania's happened- well, now we can compare the two and Takeover wins by an absolute mile. However, Mania's now in the books and there's nothing that can be done about it. The good thing about Wrestling is, there's never a break. The story just keeps on going, and in a split-second all of the perceived negatives about tonight become a non-issue. We've of course got the Night after Wrestlemania RAW tonight, and I'm massively looking forward to it. There's a lot of stuff that needs to be addressed tonight, and a lot of new feuds that have to be made- and I guess we'll only find out how well they do so by watching.
We've got some NXT call-ups to look forward to tonight, with my money being on Enzo and Cass and Samoa Joe, we have Gallows and Anderson in Texas- so you have to assume they're showing up tonight and there's so much more stuff. In short, Mania was a disappointment without a doubt. They completely abandoned logical booking and it killed it for me. However, and granted it may be because I support Fulham and am therefore a glutton for punishment- I'm still looking forward to tonight.
Whether my excitement is well placed can only be found out on here tomorrow for the RAW Review, where hopefully you'll be coming back here for. In the meantime, I hope you've enjoyed this Review and thanks for reading as always. Hopefully you'll be tagging along on Twitter, and if you haven't already done so and you want to let me know if you want to join the Fantasy WWE thing I do- with the deadline to sign up being basically once RAW's over and I've gone to bed. Thanks again for reading, and Happy Night after Mania RAW Day!
There's definitely some burying to be done. However, I feel like I need to open by saying this. A lot of people I see on Twitter build up a picture of what should happen in Wrestling in their heads, and then if something doesn't live up to the expectations they've basically set up for themselves they deem it to be bad. That's simply put Wrestling Fans living in a Fantasy World. I'm not one of those fans, I'm very realistic in what I expect from a show. With that in mind, there's 11 matches to Review, and in some cases a lot to be said- so I'm not going to ramble any more and I'll just dive right in.
Pre-Show: Kalisto v Ryback- US Title
It doesn't make much of a difference, because my Predictions were fucking terrible yesterday- but the reason I predicted a Title change in this match was because I thought it would be on the USA Network part of the Pre-Show. I thought they'd want to put over an "anything can happen" type of mentality with a Title change in a bid to get some people to go "Oh shit, there was a Title change for free- I wonder what'll happen on the Main Show". That of course didn't happen, but on the whole I thought this match was alright. It was never going to blow everyones minds, but they did the whole "David vs Goliath" angle pretty well I thought- and Kalisto managed to"slay the giant" in Ryback to give him his Mania moment.
Pre-Show: Team Total Divas v Team BAD & Blonde
I'd reconciled this match in my head by saying, "Emma and Summer have got on Mania". So that's what I'll repeat- however this match played out, Emma and Summer did get on Mania. This match actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be to be honest. In arguably the biggest shock of the night, Eva Marie did a Flying Head Scissors without murdering someone. I thought they were smart to have Paige take the majority of the Heat Segment for obvious reasons, Lana looked good with all of her Kicks- especially for her first Wrestling match ever. As I said in my Predictions though, this match was basically the opportunity for;
a) Giving Brie a Wrestlemania send-off win
b) Have said Brie Wrestlemania win be the Total Divas Finale
In that respect they did their jobs really well, and we were only left with one question at the end of the day. WHAT IN THE FUCK DOES NAOMI MEAN WHEN SHE SHOUTS "FEEL MY GLOW"?
Pre-Show: The Usos v The Dudleys
Once again, this match was pretty much as "by the book" as I thought it would be. It was a pretty standard match, with one could argue Bubba trying way too hard to try and get some heat on himself to compensate for the lack of a build. The Usos won after a little while, and then they put The Dudleys through Tables to end the feud.
You see, this was 100% predictable, but predictable isn't always a bad thing. In fact, I'd argue most of the time it's a good thing. When people are predicting something, they're weighing up the chances of something happening using logic. So, this was by far the most logical choice. This whole Pre-Show was booked with logic and everything made sense. WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED FROM THIS POINT ON?!
IC Title Ladder Match
On the whole, I thought this was quite a fun match. Everyone got their spots in, we had the usual "crash and burn" spots with Stardust going through a Ladder via Sin Cara etc., We got the Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens spots that the crowd were desperate for, and all in all I thought this was a perfectly acceptable 2016 Ladder Match. I say that, basically because there's not an awful lot of Ladder Match spots that haven't already been done. The last Ladder Match spot that blew my mind other than Kalisto's Salida del Sol at TLC was in the Ziggler/Harper match at the previous years TLC- and that was pretty much just because of the sheer brutality of the match.
I'm going to reserve judgement on Zack Ryder's IC Title win until my RAW Review tomorrow. Call me suspicious, but I can't see Ryder hanging on to the Title for long when two or three weeks ago he wasn't even in the fucking match. I knew Zack was winning as soon as he did the Elbow Drop off the Ladder, and it was just a case of "How?" and I thought they did a pretty job making sure Zack won, but still protected- with respect to Zack the much better competitors in Owens and Zayn.
Chris Jericho v AJ Styles
I said in my Predictions that this was one of the easiest matches to predict, and of course went for AJ Styles. You know why? Because it fucking should have. I'll keep bringing this point up as this Review progresses, they either wanted every single Babyface to lose, so in the end when Roman won they thought the crowd would finally cheer for a win. Or, they were basically trying too hard to be "unpredictable" with their outcomes at the expense of any sort of logic or common sense.
I thought the match was okay, without being anything more. To me, there's a different between Jericho working a "Heel" style which is quite slow- and simply being too slow and I'm not sure which side of that line he ended up on by the end of the match. Something just seemed a bit "off" about this match to me, there were times when both guys looked a bit lost and were visibly trying to call spots and it just seemed weird. I don't know if I'd have had a better opinion of the match had they pulled off the finish 100% as intended, but they even managed to make that look messy- which basically summed up the match. Two very good wrestlers, having a really messy match.
Also, I have to laugh at the fact the Styles Clash has been kicked out of 2 out of the 3 times it's been used in WWE. Well Done on killing that move, WWE.
Zack Ryder Backstage Promo
It's all these talks of it being a "dream come true" for Zack and all that stuff that makes me suspect that he's losing the Title ASAP. As someone who'd jumped on the Z! TLIS train pretty early on, I don't know if I just don't want to get burned again- but I just can't see Zack having a proper run.
The League of Nations v New Day/Legends Segment
I have to assume Meltzer had simply heard through the grapevine that Michaels, Foley & Austin were going to be in the ring with New Day when he said that last night New Day were going to be put over massively. That did not happen.
Firstly, as predicted New Day's Entrance was one of the highlights of Mania- and could possibly have been the highlight if Shane wasn't a crazy motherfucker. This whole match just seemed like it had been put together at the last minute to me. It was smart for Xavier to take all of the heat segment because of his size relative to the League of Nations, but that's where my praise for this match ends. Throughout the match, I was getting more and more excited for Big E's Hot-Tag where he'd tag in and just go mental on all of the League for 2 Minutes with Belly-to-Belly's and other shit. Big E should have been a made star coming out of this match. Out of the 7 Guys involved, Big E's the only one with Main Event potential (that hasn't already been squandered). But instead Big E got 1 Belly-to-Belly, did his dive to the outside and thankfully didn't die and that was that. Kofi got taken out, and then Xavier was hit with a Bullhammer- and New Day had lost. Again, where was the logic in this? The whole stadium absolutely loved New Day- and granted the Legends did some to keep the "Hype" meter up, but it just didn't sit right with me.
Speaking of the Legends segment; look I'm never going to complain when Austin, Michaels and to a lesser extent Foley show up. Especially with Shawn in Ring Gear (I'm still not exactly sure why that was necessary). The whole clearing house of the League of Nations was fun, mainly because of Rusev's selling- especially for the Stunner. However, I just can't help but be slightly annoyed that this wasn't New Day's moment. They had the dancing spot afterwards with them, but the segment focuses were in order, Michaels, Austin & Foley, The League of Nations, New Day. New Day are 100% "my guys", and I'm just not happy with that.
Brock Lesnar v Dean Ambrose- No Holds Barred Street Fight
I had a lot of buffering during this match, so I didn't see the whole thing- but from what I did see I think the buffering may have been a good thing.
I'm bored of this Brock Lesnar. Brock is a super-human athlete as Heyman has repeatedly put over. He can do so much more than German Suplexes and F5's. It literally is like a Video Game where you just spam one move over and over until you're charged up enough to hit your finisher and you win. We've had that Brock for nearly 2 Years now, and especially with him showing up to quite a few House Shows and generally having more matches since he's signed his new deal- that's a lot of matches with the exact same formula.
This match just simply wasn't good. It was way too short to feel like the "war" it had been built up as, it was a Street Fight that didn't leave the Ring-Side area- or even go up the Ramp and there were hardly any Weapons even used. This just wasn't "No Holds Barred" or even a "Street Fight" it was standard Brock Lesnar House Show match in front of 100,000 people that just so happened to have a Kendo Stick and some Chairs involved. Ambrose didn't even kick out of 1 F5! As I said in my Predictions, I never thought Ambrose had a hope of beating Brock- but I thought he'd at least kick out of 1, if not 2 F5s. Instead it was a "one and done" deal and Brock earned probably Half a Million Dollars for one of the flattest Wrestlemania "street fights" ever.
Charlotte v Becky Lynch v Sasha Banks- WWE Womens Championship
Yes, that's right- the Divas Title is no more. We've not got the WWE Womens Championship- and above all of the other million reasons I've discussed on here about the word "Diva" it was great to get the new Title just to hear Renee completely bury the old Divas Title on the Pre-Show.
Up until this point of the show, this was without question the Match of the Night- and it was most "Wrestlemania" match of the night in my opinion. This felt like a massive deal, everything from the live performance of Sasha's Entrance with Snoop Dogg, to Charlotte's Robe made from her Dad's, to Becky's... Hat. From the moment this segment started, it was a full-on Wrestlemania moment.
These three women completely deserve all of the praise that's come their way after this match. From the moment the bell rang you knew they'd worked ridiculously hard on this match in working out of the spots and the details of the match. We had Charlotte's Moonsault that'll no doubt be in every Wrestlemania/"Divas Revolution" Video Package ever, and everything surrounding it. This match was just great, and on a Mania surrounded by a lot of mediocre segments- this was one of the ones that stood head and shoulders above the rest.
I don't even care about Charlotte winning. The result of this match wasn't as important as the performance of the three women involved in getting the new Title over and putting over the fact they were putting everything on the line for said Title. Flair's interference surprised me, just because I thought Snoop would hang around to stop it- but I suppose it fits the story and we'll be getting Charlotte/Sasha for the next few months. I just hope Becky's not forgotten about now.
The Undertaker v Shane McMahon- Hell in a Cell
I've seen a lot of people complaining about the outcome of this match, some of the points that have been raised are legitimate- and then others less legitimate. Firstly, the main reason Shane didn't win is because he's not hanging around Post-Mania. He may come back again in the near future, but apart from maybe an appearance tonight he's not going to be on TV for a while. That's the main reason Shane lost. Had he been hanging around I've got no doubt in my mind that Taker would have lost. Yes, there was the whole "last Wrestlemania" thing but they can always bring him back with some plot contrivance.
This match, if it were a legitimate fight- up until when Shane cut the Bolts off the Cell for some unknown reason would have played out exactly the same. Shane trying his best to avoid any hard strikes by Taker, and then trying to just catch him off guard whenever possible. I was convinced someone was interfering once the Cell was smashed open- and I'd also like to point out I was right in saying the Announce Desks were in danger in this match during my RAW Review and point about Shane doing the Elbow Drop. This match was essentially all structured around Shane doing that one "jump off the Cell" spot, and you know what in my book it was worth it. This was the one match where had I bought a Ticket I would have sat down after and gone "that was 100% worth it".
Now all we have to do is sit back and wait for when they set-up Taker/Cena for 33. They may even do it tonight given the obvious size of the match.
Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal (Notable Names: Baron Corbin, Shaquille O'Neal, Tatanka, DDP)
This was about as "filler Battle Royal" as you can get. It was fun without a doubt though, and unlike last year with Itami- the right person one in it being the person from NXT. I'm curious to see if that was Corbin's official call-up now. His feud with Aries surely can't be done when the match ended with a roll-up, and for me Corbin still needs a Title run in NXT and just a little more time to polish himself before he goes on the road with the Main Roster.
The Rock, John Cena & The Wyatts Segment
I said I was expecting them to set-up an angle for The Rock wrestling at Wrestlemania 33 tonight. Even with how this segment played out, I still have some hope that it'll be Bray Wyatt. I will always be a Bray Wyatt Fan- so I absolutely marked the fuck out when his music hit and he interrupted The Rock. Let me just remind everyone, the bloke's 28 Years Old. Barring injury, he's got at least 10 Years left in Wrestling should he wish to keep Wrestling. Even with a career ending injury, he could just have the Family wrestle whilst he cuts Promos. He's 28 Years Old, and he's shared a ring with John Cena, The Undertaker and now The Rock in three consecutive Wrestlemania's.
Let me just say this now, Bray Wyatt was categorically NOT buried last night. My opinion of that may change tonight depending on how it's followed up on. However, in the midst of The Rock "wrestling" Rowan and Cena's return (which I never thought I'd be so happy to see) everyone seemed to have forgotten the fact Rock spent a solid minute/minute and a half basically calling Bray the future of the fucking business. That's not a burial. Yes, he insulted them and called them stoners etc. but that's just The Rock being The Rock. As I said, depending on how this is followed up on my opinion of the segment may change. However, for now I'm perfectly fine with it. As I've said quite a few times when it comes to Bray, "Time is on his side".
We of course had Rock beat Erick Rowan, which just confirmed that I'm not crazy when I pitched the idea of The Rock & The Usos vs New Day a while back where I said they'd have Rock begging for a Tag the whole match, enter, hit the Rock Bottom, Peoples Elbow and then they've won. Cena's return was pretty well done on the whole- and I'm interested to see who his first feud back will be. All-in-all this was just a really fun segment, and had Mania ended here on an upbeat note of Cena's Return and The Rock being The Rock I think people would have been a lot happier. I'm also happy this segment ended with Rock and Cena leaving together, because as I said- I thought they'd be setting up an angle for Rock wrestling at 33 tonight. THRICE IN A LIFETIME!
Roman Reigns v Triple H- WWE Championship
I said last night, I'm going to be so interested to see what the crowds reactions are to this match once it's gone through Post-Production. There was of course the muting of the crowd last night which made me laugh, but then of course there was that story of them dubbing boos over Roman on Smackdown so who really knows.
I made reference to the Triple H/Randy Orton Main Event in my Predictions and discussing which match would go on last, and this was basically a worse version of it. Through a combination of there just not being much going for this match, Roman being Roman and the crowd being completely exhausted by the time these two went on after an already 6 Hour Long PPV- this was just such a nothing match.
The crowd still had the energy to boo Roman, and chant for NXT Guys- but that was pretty much it. Everything about this match from the moment Stephanie started her monologue was to desperately try and get some boos on Triple H- and as it's been proven in the entire build for this match, it's impossible to do that with how badly Roman's been fucked up since he attacked Triple H at TLC. I wouldn't call the match bad, it was just completely "meh". With it all being topped off by the "Cerebral Assassin" wildly swinging a Sledgehammer at Roman and eating a Spear to lose.
I said in my Takeover Review that's there's no point comparing the two until after Mania's happened- well, now we can compare the two and Takeover wins by an absolute mile. However, Mania's now in the books and there's nothing that can be done about it. The good thing about Wrestling is, there's never a break. The story just keeps on going, and in a split-second all of the perceived negatives about tonight become a non-issue. We've of course got the Night after Wrestlemania RAW tonight, and I'm massively looking forward to it. There's a lot of stuff that needs to be addressed tonight, and a lot of new feuds that have to be made- and I guess we'll only find out how well they do so by watching.
We've got some NXT call-ups to look forward to tonight, with my money being on Enzo and Cass and Samoa Joe, we have Gallows and Anderson in Texas- so you have to assume they're showing up tonight and there's so much more stuff. In short, Mania was a disappointment without a doubt. They completely abandoned logical booking and it killed it for me. However, and granted it may be because I support Fulham and am therefore a glutton for punishment- I'm still looking forward to tonight.
Whether my excitement is well placed can only be found out on here tomorrow for the RAW Review, where hopefully you'll be coming back here for. In the meantime, I hope you've enjoyed this Review and thanks for reading as always. Hopefully you'll be tagging along on Twitter, and if you haven't already done so and you want to let me know if you want to join the Fantasy WWE thing I do- with the deadline to sign up being basically once RAW's over and I've gone to bed. Thanks again for reading, and Happy Night after Mania RAW Day!
Sunday, 3 April 2016
Wrestlemania 32 Predictions
Right then, it's the "big one". It's Wrestlemania, and I just can't help but feel excited for tonight. It's fucking Wrestlemania. It's the time when the bad build gets almost completely forgotten, and we can all jut sit back and enjoy what we watch. Even if there's been a relatively bad build for Mania, as has been the case for this year- nobody can deny that regardless of build Wrestlemania's almost always deliver. There's a LOT of matches to predict, as far as I can tell just to have made my job of doing the Unbookables Wrestlemania I put up earlier in the week a lot harder- so let's just dive right in.
Pre-Show: Team Total Divas v Team BAD & Blonde
I'm going to try and predict the order of the PPV, without really trying- but when it comes to the Pre-Show I've got absolutely no idea how they're going to structure it. Mainly because, they probably don't either. Up until a few days ago the Battle Royal was meant to be in 1 Hour of the Pre-Show on the USA Network, but now that's on the Main Card (for a reason I'll discuss later) I have no fucking clue what's happening.
There's two possibilities for this match, which is one more than there was this time last week. Either, they give Brie Bella a "Wrestlemania Moment" complete with a lot of "Yes-ing" to send her riding off into the sunset- which is quite likely. However as a result of the best Diva in history returning on RAW in Eva Marie, in my opinion there's now a chance all of the Total Divas turn on her leaving her to be killed by Tamina's Superkick, Lana's Kicks etc. to give a kayfabe reason as to why she's not on the Main Roster Post-Mania and goes back down to NXT. I don't think that's as likely as the first option- but it's one that has to be considered. Add to that, the likelihood that Brie retiring will be the Total Divas Finale- and it's quite clear what'll happen in my opinion.
Winner: Team Total Divas
Pre-Show: The Usos v The Dudleys
I won't lie, I'd almost completely forgotten this match was happening until I looked up the card in preparation for these Predictions. Unless I'm mistaken this feud didn't even get an actual spot on RAW in which to finalise the build- so the whole "look strong on the Go-Home means they're losing" train of thought doesn't exactly apply here. This is one of the (quite a few) matches that could trip up my Predictions, not because of a great build which has you questioning everything about your existence- but basically because there hasn't been a proper build. If I had to take a guess, it would be The Usos winning and then putting both Dudleys through Tables- but I honestly have no fucking clue.
Winner: The Usos
Pre-Show: Ryback v Kalisto- US Title
I have no idea if the USA Network Pre-Show thing is still happening now the Battle Royal's on the Main Show- however, if it is I'm assuming this is the match that'll take place on it. What with it being a Title match and all. I'm working on the basis that this is going to be the USA Network match- but I'm not even sure that really helps me in determining the outcome of the match. On the one hand, having a Babyface win on the Pre-Show is basically a given nine times out of then- and then on the other they may want to kick off Mania with a "bang" and have a Title change. I'm going with the Title change, just because I think 3 out of 3 Babyface wins on the Pre-Show is a bit overkill among other reasons.
Winner: Ryback
Kevin Owens v Sami Zayn v Zack Ryder v Stardust v Dolph Ziggler v The Miz v Sin Cara- IC Title Ladder Match
Firstly, I'm interested to see how much Sami Zayn does tonight after his brutal match with Nakamura. Just in my opinion, I can see Zayn doing a big "wipeout" spot fairly early on- and then only coming back in at the end to duel with Owens over the Title. It's weird, checking the Bookies- and judging by the Odds there's been a fair few bets on Zack Ryder to win the thing basing it off the fact he's the favourite. Why? I have absolutely no clue.
It's between Zayn and Owens for the Title, and only Zayn and Owens. Ryder's only in the match because Neville forgot which way his Ankle was meant to face. I really wouldn't mind either of these two winning, and they truly are destined to fight forever. However, with it seemingly being likely that Samoa Joe's being called up after how Takeover ended- it makes sense for Joe to come up after Owens in my opinion and as such.
Winner: Kevin Owens
Let me just quickly say, I'd love it if Zack Ryder won. But, it would be some turnaround for him to not even be in the original match and then win the fucking Title.
Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
Something big is happening in this for it to be moved to the Main Card. I've seen names as varied as Samoa Joe, Strowman, Bray and Cena for the return/winner as peoples "predicted" reason as to why it was moved to the Main Card. Cena would definitely legitimise the Battle Royal, but I just don't see it personally. The Wyatts don't have enough name value to have warranted a move. I'd say Joe's more likely to show up tomorrow and instantly start a feud. I've got two Predictions for the Battle Royal Winner, the first is a return- and the second is someone already in the match.
I'll start with the one already in the match, Mark Henry. No, really. I could be wrong, because there's a lot of bullshit Wrestling "newz". But I believe Mark Henry said he'd be retiring after this Wrestlemania. As such, giving Mark a relatively big win, at Wrestlemania in his Home-State seems like a pretty apt "Thank You" for all his years of service to WWE. Likely with a HOF Induction in the near future.
Now for the return, you've probably already guessed who I'm talking about. It is of course... Scott Steiner. No, it's Cesaro who's obviously been cleared considering he's booked for the European Tour in like two weeks time- and it's a spot that's appropriate for Cesaro in the sense that it's a good spot to be featured in but it's not going to have a massive impact on the overall show. The reason I've done Mark Henry as well is of course there's no guarantee Cesaro even enters like last year when everyone was predicting Sheamus would return and win the thing.
Winner: Cesaro (and if he doesn't enter, Mark Henry)
The New Day v The League of Nations
I'll just open by saying, after their reaction last night at the HOF- this Wrestlemania Weekend in comparison to the "experience" New Day had last year is all the proof that's needed as to how just fucking good New Day have been over that year. Also, in relation to the HOF- if anyone still has doubts that Big E can be WWE Champion one day. How?
Next, I'm predicting New Day's Entrance will be the best Entrance of this years Wrestlemania barring perhaps The Undertaker. New Day deserve to have an absolutely massive Wrestlemania moment. I don't know if that would be entering on a "Katy Perry Superbowl" type Unicorn, I doubt they'd use live animals just because of how unpredictable they could be- or a million other possibilities.
Given what's been said in the build to the match in regard to tonight supposedly being a massive night for New Day and it most likely "making" them, I'm actually expecting a DQ Finish followed by a run-in. New Day win by DQ- with the League of Nations absolutely battering them and then... The Rock's Music hits. This is the first of a couple of Rock appearances for tonight, and New Day will fight back with The Rock and eventually the segment will close with Rock dancing with New Day.
I know they had the little back and forth thing earlier in the year, but New Day weren't put there by accident. As I'll discuss later, I'm expecting them to kick-off an angle for The Rock to wrestle at 33 in most likely his last match- which will of course be in Florida. But for this segment, Rock's just here to have fun and put his "stamp of approval" on New Day.
Winner: New Day
Sasha Banks v Charlotte v Becky Lynch- Divas Title
As I said during the RAW Review, this is one of- if not the best built match heading into Mania. I believe they will, but I'm just hoping these three get around 12-15 Minutes to properly tell a story and get the crowd emotionally invested in the match. They already are with the characters, but it means nothing if the crowd goes dead once the match gets going. Like I said though, I don't think that'll happen.
You could make a case for all three Women winning the match tonight, and not in the same way you can for the Kalisto match, Usos match etc. The build has just been that good. Sasha Banks is, Sasha Banks- and I'm sure the vast majority of people will be wanting (and expecting) Sasha to win tonight- and I do believe she will. However, both Charlotte- and especially Becky have equal if not better claims on the Title than Sasha in my opinion. As I said on Monday, Sasha winning tonight is likely- however within the context of the story that's been told over the last few months I'd say Becky Lynch winning makes more sense. I do believe Sasha will win, I want Becky to win, and primarily I'm just looking forward to these three being able to do their thing at Wrestlemania.
Winner: Sasha Banks
Brock Lesnar v Dean Ambrose- No Holds Barred Street Fight
If you read these Predictions regularly, you'll know with how I lay these out that I'm predicting that Brock will win. Why? Because Balor stole Ambrose's fucking Chainsaw. But seriously, as with the previous match you can make an argument for both guys involved to win the match- and it's not exactly a surprise to say I really like Ambrose. But Brock Lesnar is Brock fucking Lesnar. Ambrose is on his best run in WWE by far at the moment- but Ambrose (unless WWE drastically change their mentality) will never be an absolute elite tier "superstar". I think Ambrose is going to have one helluva showing tonight, and this match has massive "steal the show" potential. I just can't see WWE having Ambrose beat Brock.
There is of course a chance The Wyatts/Bray Wyatt interfere in the match and target Brock resulting in Ambrose winning. That has to be considering without a doubt, but I personally can't see it. Therefore...
Winner: Brock Lesnar
AJ Styles v Chris Jericho
This is pretty much the easiest match to predict on the whole card. I know Jericho's supposedly hanging around after Mania, but there's no chance Styles doesn't win in his first Wrestlemania. I don't know if it'll be with the Styles Clash, Calf Killer- or perhaps even Spiral Tap- but Styles is winning.
Winner: AJ Styles
I mean, look at this
Have you seen anyone more ready for Wrestlemania? Didn't think so.
Roman Reigns v Triple H- WWE Title
I suppose in-terms of the order of the card, this is the one prediction that is actually important. I've gone back and forth on this one in my head quite a few times, and I even had a conversation with someone on Twitter where I said this would be going on last. However, here we are. It's funny actually, I've largely ignored the "dirtsheets" over the last few months because most of it's just fabricated bullshit, or stuff taken off of r/SquaredCircle. I did see Alvarez say the Hell in a Cell is going on last as of (I think) Thursday. None of that is why I'm predicting this match won't go on last.
I'm predicting this match won't go on last, because Triple H knows exactly what it's like to go out for a Main Event when the crowd has been completely emotionally exhausted by a previous match. Shane/Undertaker is going to have everything and kitchen sink involved. There'll be weapons, interference, Tombstone Kick-Outs, very high high-spots and more with a crowd massively involved in the match. Reigns/Triple H just can't stack up to it.
I said Jericho/Styles was the easiest match to predict, but this match isn't that far behind. There's just a small voice in the back of my head that says Triple H might retain the Title and drop it to Rollins at Summerslam because of how badly they've fucked up Romans build for this Wrestlemania (again). Like I said though, it is a small voice- and no doubt after kicking out of multiple Pedigrees, Sledgehammer shots etc. Roman Reigns will be our new WWE Champion.
Winner: Roman Reigns
This is the match where I'd also expect The Rock to re-surface, with there being likely interference on the part of Triple H during the match- from whom I'm not entirely certain. I'd expect a Rock run-in to help Roman- and in-turn spark the angle for Mania 33 where he'll either be wrestling Triple H as they wanted to do this year. Or, wrestle and put over Roman. That would be accomplished by Roman obviously winning, and then with Rock raising his arm Roman decides he doesn't want to share the spotlight with anyone and attacks him- officially turning him Heel. The "sharing the spotlight" type angle would also be where I'd go for Roman's first Title feud- which as you've probably guessed would be Ambrose.
The Undertaker v Shane McMahon- Hell in a Cell
This is a match that can truly go either, and I think it completely hinges on interference and on who's behalf they're interfering. So I think it's best if I just run through the three main possibilities (in my opinion).
Balor Club- Especially with Balor not being on the NXT TV Tapings (although that could well be a troll like Owens appearing with the Belt for the post Summerslam Tapings) I think the chances of the Balor Club interfering in the Main Event is massive.
The Wyatts- They've got much less of a chance, but there's always a possibility they re-commence the Wyatt/Taker feud. The Wyatts will be showing up at some point tonight, I think that's not exactly hard to predict. Their most likely destination is Ambrose/Lesnar, but it's not locked in.
John Cena- I saw Cena say he's cleared to wrestle the other day, and with Cena/Taker being likely for Mania 33- there's a chance Cena interferes in this match and takes out Taker. That would of course have a double meaning with it being well known that Cena is a "company, and in turn Vince guy".
This match should be really good, and they're going to smoke and mirrors the shit out of it to make Shane's limitations as absent as possible. I'm just simply really looking forward to this match and all of the crazy shit that'll take place. I don't really care who wins the match, I just want to sit back and enjoy it.
With that said, I do believe Taker will win- but I'll happily be proven wrong and have Shane around as a permanent fixture of the WWE for a little while yet. There's no chance this is Taker's last Mania regardless of if he loses, because simply put- they haven't done Taker/Cena yet. Taker's last match won't be against Shane unless he's medically unable to compete past this Mania.
Winner: The Undertaker
We've got the Predictions in the bag, and I hope you've enjoyed reading through them and even if you disagree with my predicted winners I've managed to convey my thought process behind said predictions. As I said in my Takeover Review yesterday, let's not bury Wrestlemania before it's even happened. If we go in with an open mind, hoping to be entertained like Wrestlemania's almost always do I think the doubters of this Mania will come out the other side pleasantly surprised.
Thanks for reading as always, if Wrestlemania does in fact need to be buried- it will be done so on here tomorrow for the Wrestlemania Review. I hope you're back here tomorrow for the Review and you'll be tagging along on Twitter tonight. Thanks again for reading, I hope you've enjoyed all the Posts that have been put up thus far and let's get excited guys! IT'S FUCKING WRESTLEMANIA!
Pre-Show: Team Total Divas v Team BAD & Blonde
I'm going to try and predict the order of the PPV, without really trying- but when it comes to the Pre-Show I've got absolutely no idea how they're going to structure it. Mainly because, they probably don't either. Up until a few days ago the Battle Royal was meant to be in 1 Hour of the Pre-Show on the USA Network, but now that's on the Main Card (for a reason I'll discuss later) I have no fucking clue what's happening.
There's two possibilities for this match, which is one more than there was this time last week. Either, they give Brie Bella a "Wrestlemania Moment" complete with a lot of "Yes-ing" to send her riding off into the sunset- which is quite likely. However as a result of the best Diva in history returning on RAW in Eva Marie, in my opinion there's now a chance all of the Total Divas turn on her leaving her to be killed by Tamina's Superkick, Lana's Kicks etc. to give a kayfabe reason as to why she's not on the Main Roster Post-Mania and goes back down to NXT. I don't think that's as likely as the first option- but it's one that has to be considered. Add to that, the likelihood that Brie retiring will be the Total Divas Finale- and it's quite clear what'll happen in my opinion.
Winner: Team Total Divas
Pre-Show: The Usos v The Dudleys
I won't lie, I'd almost completely forgotten this match was happening until I looked up the card in preparation for these Predictions. Unless I'm mistaken this feud didn't even get an actual spot on RAW in which to finalise the build- so the whole "look strong on the Go-Home means they're losing" train of thought doesn't exactly apply here. This is one of the (quite a few) matches that could trip up my Predictions, not because of a great build which has you questioning everything about your existence- but basically because there hasn't been a proper build. If I had to take a guess, it would be The Usos winning and then putting both Dudleys through Tables- but I honestly have no fucking clue.
Winner: The Usos
Pre-Show: Ryback v Kalisto- US Title
I have no idea if the USA Network Pre-Show thing is still happening now the Battle Royal's on the Main Show- however, if it is I'm assuming this is the match that'll take place on it. What with it being a Title match and all. I'm working on the basis that this is going to be the USA Network match- but I'm not even sure that really helps me in determining the outcome of the match. On the one hand, having a Babyface win on the Pre-Show is basically a given nine times out of then- and then on the other they may want to kick off Mania with a "bang" and have a Title change. I'm going with the Title change, just because I think 3 out of 3 Babyface wins on the Pre-Show is a bit overkill among other reasons.
Winner: Ryback
Kevin Owens v Sami Zayn v Zack Ryder v Stardust v Dolph Ziggler v The Miz v Sin Cara- IC Title Ladder Match
Firstly, I'm interested to see how much Sami Zayn does tonight after his brutal match with Nakamura. Just in my opinion, I can see Zayn doing a big "wipeout" spot fairly early on- and then only coming back in at the end to duel with Owens over the Title. It's weird, checking the Bookies- and judging by the Odds there's been a fair few bets on Zack Ryder to win the thing basing it off the fact he's the favourite. Why? I have absolutely no clue.
It's between Zayn and Owens for the Title, and only Zayn and Owens. Ryder's only in the match because Neville forgot which way his Ankle was meant to face. I really wouldn't mind either of these two winning, and they truly are destined to fight forever. However, with it seemingly being likely that Samoa Joe's being called up after how Takeover ended- it makes sense for Joe to come up after Owens in my opinion and as such.
Winner: Kevin Owens
Let me just quickly say, I'd love it if Zack Ryder won. But, it would be some turnaround for him to not even be in the original match and then win the fucking Title.
Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
Something big is happening in this for it to be moved to the Main Card. I've seen names as varied as Samoa Joe, Strowman, Bray and Cena for the return/winner as peoples "predicted" reason as to why it was moved to the Main Card. Cena would definitely legitimise the Battle Royal, but I just don't see it personally. The Wyatts don't have enough name value to have warranted a move. I'd say Joe's more likely to show up tomorrow and instantly start a feud. I've got two Predictions for the Battle Royal Winner, the first is a return- and the second is someone already in the match.
I'll start with the one already in the match, Mark Henry. No, really. I could be wrong, because there's a lot of bullshit Wrestling "newz". But I believe Mark Henry said he'd be retiring after this Wrestlemania. As such, giving Mark a relatively big win, at Wrestlemania in his Home-State seems like a pretty apt "Thank You" for all his years of service to WWE. Likely with a HOF Induction in the near future.
Now for the return, you've probably already guessed who I'm talking about. It is of course... Scott Steiner. No, it's Cesaro who's obviously been cleared considering he's booked for the European Tour in like two weeks time- and it's a spot that's appropriate for Cesaro in the sense that it's a good spot to be featured in but it's not going to have a massive impact on the overall show. The reason I've done Mark Henry as well is of course there's no guarantee Cesaro even enters like last year when everyone was predicting Sheamus would return and win the thing.
Winner: Cesaro (and if he doesn't enter, Mark Henry)
The New Day v The League of Nations
I'll just open by saying, after their reaction last night at the HOF- this Wrestlemania Weekend in comparison to the "experience" New Day had last year is all the proof that's needed as to how just fucking good New Day have been over that year. Also, in relation to the HOF- if anyone still has doubts that Big E can be WWE Champion one day. How?
Next, I'm predicting New Day's Entrance will be the best Entrance of this years Wrestlemania barring perhaps The Undertaker. New Day deserve to have an absolutely massive Wrestlemania moment. I don't know if that would be entering on a "Katy Perry Superbowl" type Unicorn, I doubt they'd use live animals just because of how unpredictable they could be- or a million other possibilities.
Given what's been said in the build to the match in regard to tonight supposedly being a massive night for New Day and it most likely "making" them, I'm actually expecting a DQ Finish followed by a run-in. New Day win by DQ- with the League of Nations absolutely battering them and then... The Rock's Music hits. This is the first of a couple of Rock appearances for tonight, and New Day will fight back with The Rock and eventually the segment will close with Rock dancing with New Day.
I know they had the little back and forth thing earlier in the year, but New Day weren't put there by accident. As I'll discuss later, I'm expecting them to kick-off an angle for The Rock to wrestle at 33 in most likely his last match- which will of course be in Florida. But for this segment, Rock's just here to have fun and put his "stamp of approval" on New Day.
Winner: New Day
Sasha Banks v Charlotte v Becky Lynch- Divas Title
As I said during the RAW Review, this is one of- if not the best built match heading into Mania. I believe they will, but I'm just hoping these three get around 12-15 Minutes to properly tell a story and get the crowd emotionally invested in the match. They already are with the characters, but it means nothing if the crowd goes dead once the match gets going. Like I said though, I don't think that'll happen.
You could make a case for all three Women winning the match tonight, and not in the same way you can for the Kalisto match, Usos match etc. The build has just been that good. Sasha Banks is, Sasha Banks- and I'm sure the vast majority of people will be wanting (and expecting) Sasha to win tonight- and I do believe she will. However, both Charlotte- and especially Becky have equal if not better claims on the Title than Sasha in my opinion. As I said on Monday, Sasha winning tonight is likely- however within the context of the story that's been told over the last few months I'd say Becky Lynch winning makes more sense. I do believe Sasha will win, I want Becky to win, and primarily I'm just looking forward to these three being able to do their thing at Wrestlemania.
Winner: Sasha Banks
Brock Lesnar v Dean Ambrose- No Holds Barred Street Fight
If you read these Predictions regularly, you'll know with how I lay these out that I'm predicting that Brock will win. Why? Because Balor stole Ambrose's fucking Chainsaw. But seriously, as with the previous match you can make an argument for both guys involved to win the match- and it's not exactly a surprise to say I really like Ambrose. But Brock Lesnar is Brock fucking Lesnar. Ambrose is on his best run in WWE by far at the moment- but Ambrose (unless WWE drastically change their mentality) will never be an absolute elite tier "superstar". I think Ambrose is going to have one helluva showing tonight, and this match has massive "steal the show" potential. I just can't see WWE having Ambrose beat Brock.
There is of course a chance The Wyatts/Bray Wyatt interfere in the match and target Brock resulting in Ambrose winning. That has to be considering without a doubt, but I personally can't see it. Therefore...
Winner: Brock Lesnar
AJ Styles v Chris Jericho
This is pretty much the easiest match to predict on the whole card. I know Jericho's supposedly hanging around after Mania, but there's no chance Styles doesn't win in his first Wrestlemania. I don't know if it'll be with the Styles Clash, Calf Killer- or perhaps even Spiral Tap- but Styles is winning.
Winner: AJ Styles
I mean, look at this
Have you seen anyone more ready for Wrestlemania? Didn't think so.
Roman Reigns v Triple H- WWE Title
I suppose in-terms of the order of the card, this is the one prediction that is actually important. I've gone back and forth on this one in my head quite a few times, and I even had a conversation with someone on Twitter where I said this would be going on last. However, here we are. It's funny actually, I've largely ignored the "dirtsheets" over the last few months because most of it's just fabricated bullshit, or stuff taken off of r/SquaredCircle. I did see Alvarez say the Hell in a Cell is going on last as of (I think) Thursday. None of that is why I'm predicting this match won't go on last.
I'm predicting this match won't go on last, because Triple H knows exactly what it's like to go out for a Main Event when the crowd has been completely emotionally exhausted by a previous match. Shane/Undertaker is going to have everything and kitchen sink involved. There'll be weapons, interference, Tombstone Kick-Outs, very high high-spots and more with a crowd massively involved in the match. Reigns/Triple H just can't stack up to it.
I said Jericho/Styles was the easiest match to predict, but this match isn't that far behind. There's just a small voice in the back of my head that says Triple H might retain the Title and drop it to Rollins at Summerslam because of how badly they've fucked up Romans build for this Wrestlemania (again). Like I said though, it is a small voice- and no doubt after kicking out of multiple Pedigrees, Sledgehammer shots etc. Roman Reigns will be our new WWE Champion.
Winner: Roman Reigns
This is the match where I'd also expect The Rock to re-surface, with there being likely interference on the part of Triple H during the match- from whom I'm not entirely certain. I'd expect a Rock run-in to help Roman- and in-turn spark the angle for Mania 33 where he'll either be wrestling Triple H as they wanted to do this year. Or, wrestle and put over Roman. That would be accomplished by Roman obviously winning, and then with Rock raising his arm Roman decides he doesn't want to share the spotlight with anyone and attacks him- officially turning him Heel. The "sharing the spotlight" type angle would also be where I'd go for Roman's first Title feud- which as you've probably guessed would be Ambrose.
The Undertaker v Shane McMahon- Hell in a Cell
This is a match that can truly go either, and I think it completely hinges on interference and on who's behalf they're interfering. So I think it's best if I just run through the three main possibilities (in my opinion).
Balor Club- Especially with Balor not being on the NXT TV Tapings (although that could well be a troll like Owens appearing with the Belt for the post Summerslam Tapings) I think the chances of the Balor Club interfering in the Main Event is massive.
The Wyatts- They've got much less of a chance, but there's always a possibility they re-commence the Wyatt/Taker feud. The Wyatts will be showing up at some point tonight, I think that's not exactly hard to predict. Their most likely destination is Ambrose/Lesnar, but it's not locked in.
John Cena- I saw Cena say he's cleared to wrestle the other day, and with Cena/Taker being likely for Mania 33- there's a chance Cena interferes in this match and takes out Taker. That would of course have a double meaning with it being well known that Cena is a "company, and in turn Vince guy".
This match should be really good, and they're going to smoke and mirrors the shit out of it to make Shane's limitations as absent as possible. I'm just simply really looking forward to this match and all of the crazy shit that'll take place. I don't really care who wins the match, I just want to sit back and enjoy it.
With that said, I do believe Taker will win- but I'll happily be proven wrong and have Shane around as a permanent fixture of the WWE for a little while yet. There's no chance this is Taker's last Mania regardless of if he loses, because simply put- they haven't done Taker/Cena yet. Taker's last match won't be against Shane unless he's medically unable to compete past this Mania.
Winner: The Undertaker
We've got the Predictions in the bag, and I hope you've enjoyed reading through them and even if you disagree with my predicted winners I've managed to convey my thought process behind said predictions. As I said in my Takeover Review yesterday, let's not bury Wrestlemania before it's even happened. If we go in with an open mind, hoping to be entertained like Wrestlemania's almost always do I think the doubters of this Mania will come out the other side pleasantly surprised.
Thanks for reading as always, if Wrestlemania does in fact need to be buried- it will be done so on here tomorrow for the Wrestlemania Review. I hope you're back here tomorrow for the Review and you'll be tagging along on Twitter tonight. Thanks again for reading, I hope you've enjoyed all the Posts that have been put up thus far and let's get excited guys! IT'S FUCKING WRESTLEMANIA!
Saturday, 2 April 2016
NXT Takeover: Dallas Review
After the Unbookables Wrestlemania, we're carrying on the Wrestlemania Week with a show that's definitely going to be hard to top in last night's Takeover. It's with that in mind that I'm just going to dive in with my first point of this Review. Yes, Takeover was absolutely phenomenal last night- and it's going to be very hard to Mania to top it. That doesn't mean they should be constantly compared and have people saying there's no chance Mania tops it and generally burying Mania before it's even taken place. Especially with how good a show we had last night- and a match that'll be very hard to top in-terms of Match of the Year this year took place, I just thought everyone would be more positive about it all. Surely having 2 (or 3 including RAW) amazing shows spread across 4 Days would be best for all involved? It just annoys me when people have this sort of elitist mentality when it comes to NXT and how nothing the Main Roster does can touch it.
This has turned into a very good weekend for me, if you've come here from the MK Dons Review I've already put up today you'll know what I'm talking about. Takeover was absolutely just fucking amazing, and completely worth staying up until 5am- and as a result me running on fuck knows how much sleep while having to stay up until 4+am again for the next three nights. Now Fulham have won I can just sit back and enjoy the rest of Wrestlemania Weekend with a very positive outlook on everything. Speaking of which, let's get to Reviewin'.
American Alpha (still hate that name) v The Revival- NXT Tag Team Championships
This was just the absolute perfect start to, not just Takeover- but the whole of the Wrestlemania Weekend. It was just good, old-fashioned, Heel and Babyface Wrestling. To borrow from The Revival, there was no flips, just fists and proper Wrestling. Jordan and Gable are the best Tag-Team in the WWE other than New Day- last night just absolutely confirmed that. Enzo & Cass have buckets of charisma, but their ring-work is still somewhat lacking in my opinion. Then we move on to Jordan & Gable who- especially in Gable's case have buckets of charisma- which he's drawn out of Jordan as well and have the ring-work to match.
This match was for me the second best match on the card, and when considering how good the first was- that's some praise for it. It was just a great, old-fashioned Tag Match. The Revival played their parts to absolute perfection- and in the whole night I hope their role in the Takeover isn't forgotten. For me, they proved themselves to be the most improved act of 2016 so far last night. They just "get it". They're proper fucking Heels, they actively try to not pop the crowd with any of their offence and they try to cheat at every possible opportunity. It's so simple, but in the modern climate where every Wrestler thinks they have to pop the crowd it's ridiculously refreshing. It was all topped off with Gable and Jordan's win, and I think I had a proper fist pump when the three-count took place because Gable and Jordan are more than deserving of the win.
I think this was when Ibushi was shown next to JR. I personally can't wait for the Cruiserweight Tournament, JR should be great in it.
Austin Aries v Baron Corbin
I felt a tiny bit sorry for Aries last night. It was his big moment of his in-ring debut in WWE after a ridiculously long time and getting turned down for Tough Enough etc. and it's been almost completely overshadowed by the other stuff that happened on the card.
Personally I thought Corbin should have won this. Especially for NXT, everyone knows Austin Aries and just how fucking good he is- a loss on his debut wouldn't have been the end of the world. Then we have Corbin who isn't quite ready for the Main Roster yet- but is more than ready for a run at the top of NXT as Champion in my opinion. I had so much praise for him in the Sammy's with how he developed in 2015- and if he stays on that trajectory he'll be either called-up- or everyone will be begging for him to be called up this time next year. The finish was probably the best realistic outcome in that Aries obviously won the match but Corbin looked dominant and the loss didn't harm him- and presumably he's going to get his win back ASAP leading to a third match at the next Takeover where hopefully he'll go over.
Shinsuke Nakamura v Sami Zayn
What to say about this? I know it wasn't in the Tokyo Dome, but I'll be massively surprised if it isn't Meltzer's first NXT 5* Match ever, and the first WWE 5* Match is god knows how long (Punk/Cena at MITB?). This match was just absolute perfection. I'd said I think the day before that there hasn't been an obvious Match of the Year candidate heading into Wrestlemania weekend- and I think now we've already got THE Match of the Year.
I know I don't do New Japan Reviews on here, but I've seen Nakamura wrestle before last night- not regularly but I've seen him wrestle quite a few times. They got it absolutely spot on with him last night. His Entrance is just absolutely amazing, and perfect for him. His Theme is, again perfect for him. He had the perfect opponent to play off in Sami Zayn- and they didn't try to change him in any way. I mean, they've changed the name of the Bomaye to the Kinshasa (spelling?) but that's it. The word surreal is used way too much in a Wrestling context nowadays, but it's 100% applicable in this case. Imagine predicting 6 Months ago that Shinsuke Nakamura would be wrestling Sami Zayn on the Wrestlemania Weekend Takeover.
The match was just absolutely perfect. I fundamentally disagree with the "Fight Forever" chants because with the way these two worked the match they'd have killed each other if they fought forever. This match was one of the stiffest WWE matches probably ever, they just punched and kicked the shit out of each other for god knows how long- and it was absolutely fucking brilliant.
Without knowing, I think this was a test match to see if Nakamura could translate to the WWE Audience and style (working to the cameras etc.) before they pulled the trigger on a Balor/Nakamura Title feud straight away- or they held off on it a bit. Safe to say, I'm expecting Balor/Nakamura pretty soon.
I feel like it's only right to end this section of the Review with Sami Zayn. Nakamura, and Nakamura being in NXT is absolutely amazing- but let's not forget it was one of the people who's gotten NXT to where it is' last match last night. Everyone knows the talent that Sami Zayn has, and since he walked in the door against Hawkins and then later on Cesaro he's just gone from strength to strength. He's going to be ridiculously sore today- and his Hotel Room probably has a lot of ice in it- but it's more than worth it with that being his NXT send off match. Don't worry though, he's only got a Ladder Match still to come.
Asuka v Bayley- NXT Womens Title
Firstly, I'd just like to say I predicted this outcome- and in that respect I completely understand why they've had Asuka win. In short, she's Female Brock Lesnar. She's about as close to a "Ronda Rousey" character the WWE can get in my opinion. As such, she shouldn't be beaten until (in my opinion) it's a surprise defeat- and then she can come back even more vicious. I love Bayley, but just with the way her character has developed- in my opinion she doesn't work well as the person being chased. They've tried their best to get it over, the matches have been really good while she's Champion- but she needs to be doing the chasing.
The match was pretty good, it didn't reach the heights of Bayley/Sasha- but it's rare that a match will- and I'd say it can be best described as pretty decent. If I could change one thing, I'd have had it so the crowd recognised the Asuka Lock spot as the legitimate finish so they were really into it. There just seemed to be a degree of disbelief- not dissimilar to when the Streak ended when Asuka won.
Speaking of the Asuka Lock. Considering the match this was, I feel it's the right time to bring this up. In "modern" WWE, where MMA is bigger than Wrestling without a doubt- Submissions should be treated much more seriously. When someone is in a fully locked in submission- they should be tapping ASAP to avoid serious injury. But it's Wrestling you say, there needs to be drama! The drama in Submissions should be whether the Person A can get the Submission on Person B and lock it in. Person B can be struggling and fighting (let's just say) an Armbar, but once the Armbar's on- struggle for a tiny bit- but tap before Person A breaks their fucking arm. I've forgotten a few because- well, 5am. But I remember a Triangle, an Armbar, an Ankle Lock and 2 Asuka Locks off the top of my head- and all but the 2nd Asuka Lock were fought out of in some way after a period of it being on. That's my rant of the day out of the way.
This was when Bobby Roode was shown, in one of the more obvious signings of "Free Agents" I think there's been in a while. As a result of his Tweet, I obtained many Internet Points- and for that I'm thankful.
Finn Balor v Samoa Joe- NXT Title
I don't really know what to make of this "match" to be perfectly honest. Mainly because it wasn't really much of a match. There was a good start where they were seemingly trying to out-stiff the Nakamura/Zayn match, Joe got the cut above his eye- and that pretty much killed the whole match.
I understand a cut like the one Joe got can't be fucked with, however once they did the initial check on it to see how bad it was- they should have just left them alone and gotten on with the match. I understand the Blood is an issue in a PG Environment- but them basically stopping the match every 2 Minutes to essentially dab Joe's cut with a Towel was just stupid and completely took away from a match. This has to be one of the more frustrating ends to a Takeover ever, because it really could have been a special end to a without doubt special Takeover. But instead, it just fizzled out to the tune of 6 Stitches above Joe's eye.
I really wouldn't be surprised if Joe's on the Main Roster in about 48 Hours time given the way it ended- and as I've said so many times on Twitter over the last month or so, I'm massively in favour of that. As for Balor, especially with Corbin being tied up with Aries after the finish of their match- all signs point to a Balor/Nakamura feud Post-Mania weekend.
Thanks for reading as always, we're keeping this Mania Week going tomorrow with the Wrestlemania Predictions and I hope you'll be here for them. As I said at the start, it's highly doubtful that Mania tops last night- however there's no point slagging Mania off before it's started- and I have to at least hope Mania tops it- because otherwise there's no point in watching. Thanks again, and thanks for reading all of these Posts since I've come back to doing them after the Break- it really does mean a lot.
This has turned into a very good weekend for me, if you've come here from the MK Dons Review I've already put up today you'll know what I'm talking about. Takeover was absolutely just fucking amazing, and completely worth staying up until 5am- and as a result me running on fuck knows how much sleep while having to stay up until 4+am again for the next three nights. Now Fulham have won I can just sit back and enjoy the rest of Wrestlemania Weekend with a very positive outlook on everything. Speaking of which, let's get to Reviewin'.
American Alpha (still hate that name) v The Revival- NXT Tag Team Championships
This was just the absolute perfect start to, not just Takeover- but the whole of the Wrestlemania Weekend. It was just good, old-fashioned, Heel and Babyface Wrestling. To borrow from The Revival, there was no flips, just fists and proper Wrestling. Jordan and Gable are the best Tag-Team in the WWE other than New Day- last night just absolutely confirmed that. Enzo & Cass have buckets of charisma, but their ring-work is still somewhat lacking in my opinion. Then we move on to Jordan & Gable who- especially in Gable's case have buckets of charisma- which he's drawn out of Jordan as well and have the ring-work to match.
This match was for me the second best match on the card, and when considering how good the first was- that's some praise for it. It was just a great, old-fashioned Tag Match. The Revival played their parts to absolute perfection- and in the whole night I hope their role in the Takeover isn't forgotten. For me, they proved themselves to be the most improved act of 2016 so far last night. They just "get it". They're proper fucking Heels, they actively try to not pop the crowd with any of their offence and they try to cheat at every possible opportunity. It's so simple, but in the modern climate where every Wrestler thinks they have to pop the crowd it's ridiculously refreshing. It was all topped off with Gable and Jordan's win, and I think I had a proper fist pump when the three-count took place because Gable and Jordan are more than deserving of the win.
I think this was when Ibushi was shown next to JR. I personally can't wait for the Cruiserweight Tournament, JR should be great in it.
Austin Aries v Baron Corbin
I felt a tiny bit sorry for Aries last night. It was his big moment of his in-ring debut in WWE after a ridiculously long time and getting turned down for Tough Enough etc. and it's been almost completely overshadowed by the other stuff that happened on the card.
Personally I thought Corbin should have won this. Especially for NXT, everyone knows Austin Aries and just how fucking good he is- a loss on his debut wouldn't have been the end of the world. Then we have Corbin who isn't quite ready for the Main Roster yet- but is more than ready for a run at the top of NXT as Champion in my opinion. I had so much praise for him in the Sammy's with how he developed in 2015- and if he stays on that trajectory he'll be either called-up- or everyone will be begging for him to be called up this time next year. The finish was probably the best realistic outcome in that Aries obviously won the match but Corbin looked dominant and the loss didn't harm him- and presumably he's going to get his win back ASAP leading to a third match at the next Takeover where hopefully he'll go over.
Shinsuke Nakamura v Sami Zayn
What to say about this? I know it wasn't in the Tokyo Dome, but I'll be massively surprised if it isn't Meltzer's first NXT 5* Match ever, and the first WWE 5* Match is god knows how long (Punk/Cena at MITB?). This match was just absolute perfection. I'd said I think the day before that there hasn't been an obvious Match of the Year candidate heading into Wrestlemania weekend- and I think now we've already got THE Match of the Year.
I know I don't do New Japan Reviews on here, but I've seen Nakamura wrestle before last night- not regularly but I've seen him wrestle quite a few times. They got it absolutely spot on with him last night. His Entrance is just absolutely amazing, and perfect for him. His Theme is, again perfect for him. He had the perfect opponent to play off in Sami Zayn- and they didn't try to change him in any way. I mean, they've changed the name of the Bomaye to the Kinshasa (spelling?) but that's it. The word surreal is used way too much in a Wrestling context nowadays, but it's 100% applicable in this case. Imagine predicting 6 Months ago that Shinsuke Nakamura would be wrestling Sami Zayn on the Wrestlemania Weekend Takeover.
The match was just absolutely perfect. I fundamentally disagree with the "Fight Forever" chants because with the way these two worked the match they'd have killed each other if they fought forever. This match was one of the stiffest WWE matches probably ever, they just punched and kicked the shit out of each other for god knows how long- and it was absolutely fucking brilliant.
Without knowing, I think this was a test match to see if Nakamura could translate to the WWE Audience and style (working to the cameras etc.) before they pulled the trigger on a Balor/Nakamura Title feud straight away- or they held off on it a bit. Safe to say, I'm expecting Balor/Nakamura pretty soon.
I feel like it's only right to end this section of the Review with Sami Zayn. Nakamura, and Nakamura being in NXT is absolutely amazing- but let's not forget it was one of the people who's gotten NXT to where it is' last match last night. Everyone knows the talent that Sami Zayn has, and since he walked in the door against Hawkins and then later on Cesaro he's just gone from strength to strength. He's going to be ridiculously sore today- and his Hotel Room probably has a lot of ice in it- but it's more than worth it with that being his NXT send off match. Don't worry though, he's only got a Ladder Match still to come.
Asuka v Bayley- NXT Womens Title
Firstly, I'd just like to say I predicted this outcome- and in that respect I completely understand why they've had Asuka win. In short, she's Female Brock Lesnar. She's about as close to a "Ronda Rousey" character the WWE can get in my opinion. As such, she shouldn't be beaten until (in my opinion) it's a surprise defeat- and then she can come back even more vicious. I love Bayley, but just with the way her character has developed- in my opinion she doesn't work well as the person being chased. They've tried their best to get it over, the matches have been really good while she's Champion- but she needs to be doing the chasing.
The match was pretty good, it didn't reach the heights of Bayley/Sasha- but it's rare that a match will- and I'd say it can be best described as pretty decent. If I could change one thing, I'd have had it so the crowd recognised the Asuka Lock spot as the legitimate finish so they were really into it. There just seemed to be a degree of disbelief- not dissimilar to when the Streak ended when Asuka won.
Speaking of the Asuka Lock. Considering the match this was, I feel it's the right time to bring this up. In "modern" WWE, where MMA is bigger than Wrestling without a doubt- Submissions should be treated much more seriously. When someone is in a fully locked in submission- they should be tapping ASAP to avoid serious injury. But it's Wrestling you say, there needs to be drama! The drama in Submissions should be whether the Person A can get the Submission on Person B and lock it in. Person B can be struggling and fighting (let's just say) an Armbar, but once the Armbar's on- struggle for a tiny bit- but tap before Person A breaks their fucking arm. I've forgotten a few because- well, 5am. But I remember a Triangle, an Armbar, an Ankle Lock and 2 Asuka Locks off the top of my head- and all but the 2nd Asuka Lock were fought out of in some way after a period of it being on. That's my rant of the day out of the way.
This was when Bobby Roode was shown, in one of the more obvious signings of "Free Agents" I think there's been in a while. As a result of his Tweet, I obtained many Internet Points- and for that I'm thankful.
Finn Balor v Samoa Joe- NXT Title
I don't really know what to make of this "match" to be perfectly honest. Mainly because it wasn't really much of a match. There was a good start where they were seemingly trying to out-stiff the Nakamura/Zayn match, Joe got the cut above his eye- and that pretty much killed the whole match.
I understand a cut like the one Joe got can't be fucked with, however once they did the initial check on it to see how bad it was- they should have just left them alone and gotten on with the match. I understand the Blood is an issue in a PG Environment- but them basically stopping the match every 2 Minutes to essentially dab Joe's cut with a Towel was just stupid and completely took away from a match. This has to be one of the more frustrating ends to a Takeover ever, because it really could have been a special end to a without doubt special Takeover. But instead, it just fizzled out to the tune of 6 Stitches above Joe's eye.
I really wouldn't be surprised if Joe's on the Main Roster in about 48 Hours time given the way it ended- and as I've said so many times on Twitter over the last month or so, I'm massively in favour of that. As for Balor, especially with Corbin being tied up with Aries after the finish of their match- all signs point to a Balor/Nakamura feud Post-Mania weekend.
Thanks for reading as always, we're keeping this Mania Week going tomorrow with the Wrestlemania Predictions and I hope you'll be here for them. As I said at the start, it's highly doubtful that Mania tops last night- however there's no point slagging Mania off before it's started- and I have to at least hope Mania tops it- because otherwise there's no point in watching. Thanks again, and thanks for reading all of these Posts since I've come back to doing them after the Break- it really does mean a lot.
Fulham v MK Dons Review: 7 More, Please.
Hello! Well, it's been a long time since I've done one of these hasn't it? I'm not sure what the cross-over is between the two sides of this blog in-terms of readers- but either way I'm a bit short of time today so I'll give you the short version. Basically, I was ill for a while hence the complete lack of Posts on here for a few Months other than a few when I tried to force myself into going back to doing these too soon. I was ready to bring the Reviews back for the Bristol City game, but as I'm sure we all know- that game didn't in fact take place. As such, I just thought it'd be better to bring them back after the Internationals for the run-in of the season and here we are.
It's not exactly gone to plan since Jokanovic's first game, which was of course my last Review has it? The thing is, apart from the obvious games against Bristol City and Blackburn- I can't really remember a properly abject performance under Jokanovic. It's just been a case of really small margins in some games such as the Hull game at Home- poor finishing like Burnley and of course awful defending, in pretty much every game. All of that combined with Rotherham turning into Barcelona has basically meant we're in deep shit.
Today's game, and result was absolutely massive for us. While we're in no way clear of the Relegation Zone- any sort of space between us and 22nd is much appreciated given how results have been going lately. We're now 4 Points clear of MK Dons, with MK having Rotherham and Bristol City as their next two games. Those two games will either bring MK Dons right back onto our backs- or completely bury them. While I'm obviously trying not to jinx it, based off their performance today- I think the burial is a hell of a lot more likely. They were just plain bad today, which I suppose we can say in hindsight now we've won.
Right then, we're on to the Goals. As Dembele got the run of the ball and started charging into the box, I was getting proper flashbacks to the chance he missed against Bristol City- complete with one could argue way too heavy touches as he was getting closer to the Goal. The difference this time was McCormack was up there with him, and Dembele did really well to square it to him and give McCormack the easy finish. I'm going to be perfectly honest here, I've got absolutely no idea how Josh Murphy ended up clean through on goal. We'd just attacked, and put in a dodgy cross which Cropper caught. I turned around to make some sort of comment to someone sitting behind me, I turned back around just in time to see Murphy chip Bettinelli. I can say it now we've won, but it was a really good finish from him.
I, as I'm sure most people were expecting the worst when MK Dons equalised- despite the fact the goal was one of I believe two Shots on Target they had all game. Enter the good old pairing of McCormack and Dembele. I'd love to know the total number of Goals that have been made between the two of them this season. We did well to get McCormack into the position he was in, and in basically a reverse of the 1st Goal McCormack squared it to Dembele and he put it away and we actually won a game!
I was rapidly losing patience with Lonergan, topped off by his Bristol City performance which was one (of a number) that was just ridiculously sub-standard. So when Bettinelli came back into the team up at Birmingham and made a number of good saves to keep us on a Point. Today, he hardly had to do anything. As I said before, I think MK Dons had two Shots on Target- one obviously being the goal and another being a really tame shot straight at Bettinelli. However, he was good when he needed to be good and first and foremost considering the injury he had it's just great to see him back in the team.
This is my first Review since the beginning of January, and since then Amorebieta has come back- and I'll discuss him later. However, if there's been one positive (that wasn't already there in McCormack, Dembele and Cairney's obvious attacking prowess) it's Michael Madl. It's weird considering we've kept 1 Clean Sheet in 2016, but Madl truly has been one of the (albeit few) positives of the team since he joined. He's not the biggest defender, but once the ball's on the ground there's very few Defenders I've seen at Fulham in recent times that are better than him. I'd hope he'd stay if we went down, but if we stay up I reckon he'd definitely stay and be pretty much the only Defender retained for next seasons Starting 11.
Right then, let's discuss a (fresh haircutted) Fernando Amorebieta. He's the new Bryan Ruiz, there's a section of fans who've branded him a liability and simply won't say anything to the contrary even if he turned into the best Centre-Back in the world. Then there's a section, myself included who- while acknowledging he can be a bit... unpredictable also see in-terms of being an actual Defender he's definitely competent and worth his place in the team above the other options we've got. As I said, I've got no idea how Josh Murphy got clean through on goal today so I can't place blame on anyone until I've seen the Football League Show. However, Madl and Amorebieta is by far our best Centre-Back pairing, despite without doubt being quite limited. We basically just have to hope for the best, and regardless of if we stay up or go down completely re-build the Defence in the Summer.
Stearman and Ream was of course our long-term Centre-Back pairing under Kit, and they've both ended up at Full-Back now. Ream is definitely understandable considering I was saying for pretty much his whole tenure at Centre-Back that he wasn't a Centre-Back, at least not in a two-man pairing. Stearman has been one of the weirdest stories of this season. He came in with a very good reputation and Wolves fans being pissed they'd sold him- and in the space of about 4 Months he was in the Reserves. His Boro performance was pretty dodgy, but Adomah in particular was just "on" that day- but since he's come in at Right-Back he's been pretty much the definition of solid. He's not an attacking Full-Back obviously, but his strengths lie in defence- which is definitely needed given our obvious defensive frailties.
The one problem with Jokanovic's Team Selections, which in my opinion is a necessary evil for the rest of the season is three of our four Midfielders get nosebleeds when they get into the opposition box. That was never more true than in Tunnicliffe's performance today. With the situation we've gotten ourselves in, we need players like Tunnicliffe in the team who- while not necessarily the most technically gifted- they'll run themselves into the ground for the team. It took Tunnicliffe a few games to get up to speed, but now he's back to his battling best. Rohan Ince has been another weird story of our season. He was signed on Loan, again with a pretty good endorsement from Brighton Fans- had a 45 Minute debut, a brief Sub Appearance when we were 3-0 up against QPR and that was pretty much that before the Birmingham game. His Goal against Birmingham wasn't the best finish in the world, but especially in Ince's case he's in the team to just sit in front of the Back Four and protect them to the best of his ability. Which he did pretty well on the whole today, I thought. He's not well... good at all on the ball- but as long as he keeps his passes simple he's more than worth his place in the team.
Scott Parker, completely out of left-field has turned into our most consistent player since Jokanovic came in. He's become the (worse and older) version of Scott Parker that earned him so many plaudits during West Ham's relegation season. Even though he is getting on, he's turned into a key player to just keep us ticking over and keep the tempo up in games as we did today. I think Parker's value to the team, other than running and generally being Scott Parker is just his intelligence in a Football sense. I think that can be perfectly summed up when, late-on Parker got the ball and rather than booting the ball up the pitch like most would have- he played for a Foul and got the pressure well and truly off us. Tom Cairney didn't have his absolute best game today, however he was playing with a certain amount of freedom I thought today. He didn't look afraid to try a Long Shot as most of our players have done for most of this season, and on another day he'd have scored one of them. Cairney's an even more vital part of the team, assuming we're going to keep up our current selection seeing as he's going to be our only attack-minded Midfielder in the Starting 11.
What is there to say about Ross McCormack that hasn't already been said? He's just such a special player. He wasn't even that in the game today I thought, and I think it was Kay had better the better of him for the most part. However, with a player like McCormack you've always got a chance of scoring just because of his pure talent above anything else. I never usually say a player or team is "too good to go down", but in the McCormack and Dembele pairing- it really is too good to be where we are in the League. If we could defend we'd be in the Playoffs if not Automatics without a doubt.
Had I done a Bristol City Review, I think I'd have been a bit contrarian in my thoughts on Dembele from the game. Yes, he did miss a 1-on-1 to kill the game- but the main source of criticism seemed to be the way he went off the pitch. Which to be honest, I just didn't get. We were being absolutely battered by Bristol City- and at the time Rotherham were still losing to Derby. Obviously we wanted a win but a Point wouldn't have been the end of the world when Dembele went off. Anyway, moving on- and Dembele's well and truly gotten into those fans that booed him's good books after today. He was just absolutely sublime today. Physically, I don't think I've seen many players his age compete as well as he does consistently- and now he's adding fairly regular Goals back into his game he's back to the player he showed he was capable of being in the early parts of the season. Long may it continue.
The Subs we made were necessary for different reasons. Stearman was a bit rattled when he collided with Madl- and when it comes to head injuries you can't take chances in the modern climate. Fredericks came on and did well. He's a completely different type of Full-Back to Stearman, and especially with how sluggish MK Dons' defence seemed to be- he was a good player to bring on late on. Smith was brought on basically to have a target for all of the Long-Balls and clearances we were going to do late-on and just hold the ball up. Which he can of course do in his sleep. Burn was brought on basically for the same reason, but in reverse in the sense that MK Dons were just going to be launching it into the box.
In hindsight, it was a pretty easy win. The number of chances we created isn't reflected in the scoreline and had we not have won today it would have been incredibly annoying considering our just general superiority in the game. The job for us now is to go to Preston and aim for the same level of performance. We've got the quality in the team without a doubt, we just need to have the fight and team spirit to match it for the rest of the season and we'll be fine and planning our trip to Villa Park next season.
Thanks for reading, we've got 7 games to go and 7 Reviews of games on here. I'm not doing Previews for the rest of the season, so the next post will be Tuesday night where hopefully we'll be celebrating another positive result and performance. Thanks again, and have a good rest of your weekend.
It's not exactly gone to plan since Jokanovic's first game, which was of course my last Review has it? The thing is, apart from the obvious games against Bristol City and Blackburn- I can't really remember a properly abject performance under Jokanovic. It's just been a case of really small margins in some games such as the Hull game at Home- poor finishing like Burnley and of course awful defending, in pretty much every game. All of that combined with Rotherham turning into Barcelona has basically meant we're in deep shit.
Today's game, and result was absolutely massive for us. While we're in no way clear of the Relegation Zone- any sort of space between us and 22nd is much appreciated given how results have been going lately. We're now 4 Points clear of MK Dons, with MK having Rotherham and Bristol City as their next two games. Those two games will either bring MK Dons right back onto our backs- or completely bury them. While I'm obviously trying not to jinx it, based off their performance today- I think the burial is a hell of a lot more likely. They were just plain bad today, which I suppose we can say in hindsight now we've won.
Right then, we're on to the Goals. As Dembele got the run of the ball and started charging into the box, I was getting proper flashbacks to the chance he missed against Bristol City- complete with one could argue way too heavy touches as he was getting closer to the Goal. The difference this time was McCormack was up there with him, and Dembele did really well to square it to him and give McCormack the easy finish. I'm going to be perfectly honest here, I've got absolutely no idea how Josh Murphy ended up clean through on goal. We'd just attacked, and put in a dodgy cross which Cropper caught. I turned around to make some sort of comment to someone sitting behind me, I turned back around just in time to see Murphy chip Bettinelli. I can say it now we've won, but it was a really good finish from him.
I, as I'm sure most people were expecting the worst when MK Dons equalised- despite the fact the goal was one of I believe two Shots on Target they had all game. Enter the good old pairing of McCormack and Dembele. I'd love to know the total number of Goals that have been made between the two of them this season. We did well to get McCormack into the position he was in, and in basically a reverse of the 1st Goal McCormack squared it to Dembele and he put it away and we actually won a game!
I was rapidly losing patience with Lonergan, topped off by his Bristol City performance which was one (of a number) that was just ridiculously sub-standard. So when Bettinelli came back into the team up at Birmingham and made a number of good saves to keep us on a Point. Today, he hardly had to do anything. As I said before, I think MK Dons had two Shots on Target- one obviously being the goal and another being a really tame shot straight at Bettinelli. However, he was good when he needed to be good and first and foremost considering the injury he had it's just great to see him back in the team.
This is my first Review since the beginning of January, and since then Amorebieta has come back- and I'll discuss him later. However, if there's been one positive (that wasn't already there in McCormack, Dembele and Cairney's obvious attacking prowess) it's Michael Madl. It's weird considering we've kept 1 Clean Sheet in 2016, but Madl truly has been one of the (albeit few) positives of the team since he joined. He's not the biggest defender, but once the ball's on the ground there's very few Defenders I've seen at Fulham in recent times that are better than him. I'd hope he'd stay if we went down, but if we stay up I reckon he'd definitely stay and be pretty much the only Defender retained for next seasons Starting 11.
Right then, let's discuss a (fresh haircutted) Fernando Amorebieta. He's the new Bryan Ruiz, there's a section of fans who've branded him a liability and simply won't say anything to the contrary even if he turned into the best Centre-Back in the world. Then there's a section, myself included who- while acknowledging he can be a bit... unpredictable also see in-terms of being an actual Defender he's definitely competent and worth his place in the team above the other options we've got. As I said, I've got no idea how Josh Murphy got clean through on goal today so I can't place blame on anyone until I've seen the Football League Show. However, Madl and Amorebieta is by far our best Centre-Back pairing, despite without doubt being quite limited. We basically just have to hope for the best, and regardless of if we stay up or go down completely re-build the Defence in the Summer.
Stearman and Ream was of course our long-term Centre-Back pairing under Kit, and they've both ended up at Full-Back now. Ream is definitely understandable considering I was saying for pretty much his whole tenure at Centre-Back that he wasn't a Centre-Back, at least not in a two-man pairing. Stearman has been one of the weirdest stories of this season. He came in with a very good reputation and Wolves fans being pissed they'd sold him- and in the space of about 4 Months he was in the Reserves. His Boro performance was pretty dodgy, but Adomah in particular was just "on" that day- but since he's come in at Right-Back he's been pretty much the definition of solid. He's not an attacking Full-Back obviously, but his strengths lie in defence- which is definitely needed given our obvious defensive frailties.
The one problem with Jokanovic's Team Selections, which in my opinion is a necessary evil for the rest of the season is three of our four Midfielders get nosebleeds when they get into the opposition box. That was never more true than in Tunnicliffe's performance today. With the situation we've gotten ourselves in, we need players like Tunnicliffe in the team who- while not necessarily the most technically gifted- they'll run themselves into the ground for the team. It took Tunnicliffe a few games to get up to speed, but now he's back to his battling best. Rohan Ince has been another weird story of our season. He was signed on Loan, again with a pretty good endorsement from Brighton Fans- had a 45 Minute debut, a brief Sub Appearance when we were 3-0 up against QPR and that was pretty much that before the Birmingham game. His Goal against Birmingham wasn't the best finish in the world, but especially in Ince's case he's in the team to just sit in front of the Back Four and protect them to the best of his ability. Which he did pretty well on the whole today, I thought. He's not well... good at all on the ball- but as long as he keeps his passes simple he's more than worth his place in the team.
Scott Parker, completely out of left-field has turned into our most consistent player since Jokanovic came in. He's become the (worse and older) version of Scott Parker that earned him so many plaudits during West Ham's relegation season. Even though he is getting on, he's turned into a key player to just keep us ticking over and keep the tempo up in games as we did today. I think Parker's value to the team, other than running and generally being Scott Parker is just his intelligence in a Football sense. I think that can be perfectly summed up when, late-on Parker got the ball and rather than booting the ball up the pitch like most would have- he played for a Foul and got the pressure well and truly off us. Tom Cairney didn't have his absolute best game today, however he was playing with a certain amount of freedom I thought today. He didn't look afraid to try a Long Shot as most of our players have done for most of this season, and on another day he'd have scored one of them. Cairney's an even more vital part of the team, assuming we're going to keep up our current selection seeing as he's going to be our only attack-minded Midfielder in the Starting 11.
What is there to say about Ross McCormack that hasn't already been said? He's just such a special player. He wasn't even that in the game today I thought, and I think it was Kay had better the better of him for the most part. However, with a player like McCormack you've always got a chance of scoring just because of his pure talent above anything else. I never usually say a player or team is "too good to go down", but in the McCormack and Dembele pairing- it really is too good to be where we are in the League. If we could defend we'd be in the Playoffs if not Automatics without a doubt.
Had I done a Bristol City Review, I think I'd have been a bit contrarian in my thoughts on Dembele from the game. Yes, he did miss a 1-on-1 to kill the game- but the main source of criticism seemed to be the way he went off the pitch. Which to be honest, I just didn't get. We were being absolutely battered by Bristol City- and at the time Rotherham were still losing to Derby. Obviously we wanted a win but a Point wouldn't have been the end of the world when Dembele went off. Anyway, moving on- and Dembele's well and truly gotten into those fans that booed him's good books after today. He was just absolutely sublime today. Physically, I don't think I've seen many players his age compete as well as he does consistently- and now he's adding fairly regular Goals back into his game he's back to the player he showed he was capable of being in the early parts of the season. Long may it continue.
The Subs we made were necessary for different reasons. Stearman was a bit rattled when he collided with Madl- and when it comes to head injuries you can't take chances in the modern climate. Fredericks came on and did well. He's a completely different type of Full-Back to Stearman, and especially with how sluggish MK Dons' defence seemed to be- he was a good player to bring on late on. Smith was brought on basically to have a target for all of the Long-Balls and clearances we were going to do late-on and just hold the ball up. Which he can of course do in his sleep. Burn was brought on basically for the same reason, but in reverse in the sense that MK Dons were just going to be launching it into the box.
In hindsight, it was a pretty easy win. The number of chances we created isn't reflected in the scoreline and had we not have won today it would have been incredibly annoying considering our just general superiority in the game. The job for us now is to go to Preston and aim for the same level of performance. We've got the quality in the team without a doubt, we just need to have the fight and team spirit to match it for the rest of the season and we'll be fine and planning our trip to Villa Park next season.
Thanks for reading, we've got 7 games to go and 7 Reviews of games on here. I'm not doing Previews for the rest of the season, so the next post will be Tuesday night where hopefully we'll be celebrating another positive result and performance. Thanks again, and have a good rest of your weekend.
Friday, 1 April 2016
The Unbookables Wrestlemania (2016)
Hello! Consider this post my officially kicking off of Wrestlemania Week on this Blog. If you missed this Post last year, what this basically is- is first and foremost a return of the Booking Blogs. What I'm going to do here is book an entire Wrestlemania card out of the "Unbookables" the wrestlers who were either shoved into the Andre Battle Royal just to get them on the card, or couldn't even get on the card. Also this year, I'm going to include the 10-Diva Pre-Show Tag- because that's pretty much the next most filler "get everyone on the card" type thing to a Battle Royal. As with last year, I've removed Titles from the equation- just because it's way too much hassle and instead I'm going to focus on the feuds.
Before I begin, there's ELEVEN matches on the card for this years Wrestlemania. It doesn't take a genius to work out with me needing a minimum of 2 Wrestlers per Match and the Battle Royal only having a maximum of Twenty Wrestlers I'd struggle. Unless of course I had someone wrestle twice, which I did actually consider- but instead I'll just go by last years more manageable 9 Match Card. Also, just to make it harder for myself- I've decided to exclude Cesaro and Orton from the picture despite their seemingly imminent returns. Right then, let's kick on with this- and remember that the whole point of this is to subvert the concept of the "pecking order" and trying to show that if given the right story pretty much any match/feud could get over.
Pre-Show: Damien Sandow v Darren Young
It's kind of stupid for me to play into what's actually happened in WWE considering the concept of this whole thing. However, that's what I've done here. Remember that one PPV where Sandow and Young teamed against The Ascension, The Dudleys and Swagger & Mark Henry? Remember the "We Want Sandow" chants? Well, Darren Young doesn't want Sandow. I suppose this could be considered similar to the AJ Styles/Chris Jericho feud in that it's a crowd chanting that's set Darren Young off.
It would never happen in a million years, but I'd have Darren Young cutting Promos on how he should be admired by the crowd for coming out as gay and he should be treated as a Hero. Completely ignoring the fact, that as Wrestling Fans we don't really care and want to see good wrestlers such as Sandow succeed. That's the basis of the feud- and it'd be a pretty easy one to pull off as well.
Pre-Show: Lana v Naomi
Yes, I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel with this one. The fact is, if given the right build-up almost anything can work in the WWE. I'm having Naomi as the Babyface in this feud, basically because those Light-Up Boots are pretty much the most Babyface-y thing on the planet.
I think the best way to go with this, is to simply make it the feud about something that everyone will understand to some degree- Family. You'll notice I haven't got Tamina with Naomi, and that's because Lana will have murdered her in the build to this with her Educated Feet- and building into a point I'll make later it should be Tamina's last appearance in the WWE.
The feud would kick-off with something trivial like Naomi accidentally bumping into Lana backstage, but because Lana sees everyone as beneath her- she takes offence to the fact that Naomi dared to bump into her- and it basically escalates from there. It's not perfect, but it's still better than some of the builds we've seen for Mania matches over the years- and even this year.
The Ascension v Golden Truth
I think in "Golden Truth" we've already got the Worst Storyline of the Year for the 2016 Sammy's. In the "real" world we've had 7 Billion Backstage segments, a couple of run-ins where the main focus was The Usos/Dudleys feud and Goldust costing Truth a match at Fast Lane (might be the other way around, can't be bothered to check). However, in "my" world where things have to make sense and everything has a purpose- Golden Truth are a legitimate team who have won the odd match.
This feud wouldn't actually be too dissimilar to how The Ascension debuted. The Ascension will be doing Promos on how they're the "new" legends of the WWE and slagging off various past Tag-Teams. With all that in mind, what better way to prove themselves than beating two Wrestlers who were around in the Attitude Era- and a team with 1, if not 2 Future Hall of Famers. Throw in the whole wacky side of Golden Truth and them being a bit dysfunctional- and we've got a fun match.
I'd also like to point out, with The Ascension being on the Main Show- should I be in charge as is the case in this hypothetical world. The Ascension will be making their entrances with the "Mad Max" Flamethrower Guitars playing their Theme. One day it'll actually happen. One day.
Curtis Axel w/Bo Dallas v The Big Show
For the purposes of this angle, The Social Outcasts don't exist (I know, sad thought). This feud would essentially be based around Bo being... well, Bo. Unless I'm mistaken the WWE actually tried this at one point as well. I'd almost transition Bo away from being a Wrestler should I be fully in charge. Not too dissimilar to Bray in the sense that where their main strength is, is their Promos. Obviously Bray's head and shoulders above Bo, but Bo is without a doubt a complete heat magnet if given the right booking as was shown in NXT.
I'd have Bo become a sort of "life coach" type character, trying to "motivate" wrestlers and in turn get Wrestlers on his side to take the beatings he will no doubt attract by being Bo. I realise I had this match in last years incarnation of this blog- but it's a completely different angle this time around. Rather than have Axel believe he's Hogan and try to Bodyslam Big Show. Bo will make Axel legitimately believe he can beat The Big Show with all of his "motivational" tactics and in the build Bo will make sure Axel's beaten Show a couple of times with various shenanigans; weapons, count-outs etc.
The pay-off will of course be Big Show murdering Axel in pretty swift fashion, Bo getting into the ring to berate Axel and be generally pissed, turning around seeing Big Show, trying to run, getting caught and Big Show knocking him out.
Paige, Emma and Summer Rae v Brie Bella, Natalya & Alicia Fox- Losers Leaves WWE
This is an angle I think may actually have a slim chance of happening in the "real" WWE. Or at least I really hope it does. I'd have Paige, Emma and Summer align with each other- under the (not wrong) idea that they shouldn't be spare parts in the "Divas Revolution" when they were the ones who kick-started it down in NXT. We'll get vignettes along those lines saying "they aren't part of the Revolution, they are the Revolution. It'll also give Paige a chance to get back to a darker Heel character which I think is needed.
I realise it's somewhat hypocritical given the fact I was repeatedly slagging off the whole "every Woman has to be in a 3-Person Group" angle last summer- but I think it makes a lot of sense here. In a "Revolution" you have to overthrow the old regime, and for the purposes of this angle it's represented by Brie, Fox and Nattie. It's not exactly a secret that Brie's done soon, Fox has been in the WWE system for the longest of all the Divas in the Company I believe and I'd use this "Losers Leave" angle to write Nattie off of TV for a while- bringing her back (in Canada of course) and kicking off an angle with Paige at a later date.
The fact is we've currently got 13 (including Eva and Emma who may go back to NXT after Sunday) active Main Roster Divas. To be blunt, considering the Divas get an absolute maximum of 2 Divas Segments on RAW- having 13 Women is ridiculous and WWE need to thin the herd pretty soon.
Heath Slater v Fandango- Some sort of gimmicked Street Fight with Musical Instruments
This one isn't nearly as a detailed feud, playing into stuff that's already happened. Basically, it's Rock Music vs Ballroom. I had considered doing Fandango vs Tyler Breeze in a contest to see who's the more self-centred and vapid. However, I've got bigger plans for Tyler Breeze- and as such Fandango ends up defending the honour of Ballroom Music against the One-Man Band. It also helps that Wrestlemania Weekend is pretty much the only time that Fandango's actually over, and Slater's... Slater. I wouldn't even have a defined Babyface/Heel dynamic in this one to be honest, just make it was fun and wacky as possible.
Braun Strowman & Erick Rowan v Kane & Mark Henry
This is me basically getting into the Vince "Clash of Giants" matches sell tickets dammit mode. It's annoying because I've had this match in mind for this Post for a while (well, a couple of weeks) and then Harper went and got injured- when he'd have been the work-horse of this match.
The one thing that has to be said for this match, and it's perhaps why we get them so often- they're ridiculously easy to book and sell. There doesn't need to be some detailed feud with nuanced facial expressions- it just has to be about who the better giants are. Of course Strowman would be the one with the finish to put the "shine" on him and we'd get the first of two Wyatt related matches on the card.
Jack Swagger w/ Zeb Colter v Primo w/Epico- Ambulance Match
Unlike last year, mainly because of the lack of options in comparison to last year- name changes are allowed provided they make sense. Hence the Matadors going back to Epico & Primo. Granted, as someone based in England without a taste for Politics I've of course heard about Trump and his various statements- without paying much attention to them. However, in conceiving this Card- and seeing I still had Swagger available and Zeb still under Contract- I don't think it's too much of a leap to reboot the Swagger and Zeb pairing and make them Trump Enthusiasts.
Of course, with the Trump Enthusiasts you need a protagonist- and in this case it's the only Latinos other than Rosa Mendes that aren't already being used elsewhere. I genuinely liked Epico & Primo when they were just Epico & Primo, so they're not complete duds in my book- but of course Swagger would win and remain fairly prominent while all the US Election stuff rolls on.
Bray Wyatt v Tyler Breeze- No DQ Match
You lot have no idea how relieved I am to have someone like Bray Wyatt available to me for this Post. I've tried my best to give substance (or at least some semblance of) to all of the angles in this Post- but it's hard when there's such little character development over YEARS with I'd say over half the people in this. However, Bray Wyatt is my "banker". Bray's the one who I can properly get my teeth sunk into with regard to a feud and how it's executed. So why have I given him Tyler Breeze?
In "my" WWE, I'll have made Tyler Breeze a "Zoolander-esque" Babyface to tie into the release of the new film. The characters are already quite similar, and I think Breeze has enough talent to have pulled it off. That of course makes Breeze shallow, vacuous and just generally the absolute antithesis of what the Bray Wyatt character is- and what Bray believes himself to be. It's literally a collision of two completely different worlds, and the story will be around whether Breeze can become more vicious and ruthless enough to combat Bray Wyatt. Basically, if there's something beneath the surface with Tyler Breeze.
As the match progressed Breeze will of course show himself to be capable of being vicious, ruthless etc. taking out Strowman and Rowan as they try to interfere. However as Breeze is seemingly about to win, we get the Wyatts screen effect thing, the lights come back on and Leo Kruger appears. Yes, I hadn't forgot Adam Rose on this card- I was just saving him for my continued dream booking. Kruger will obviously take out Breeze leaving Bray to Sister Abigail and Pin Breeze.
This Unbookables Wrestlemania ends with The Wyatts standing tall, 4-Men strong once again. My logic with this, and I'm of course a huge Wyatts fan is they need a new member now Harper's out for (I believe) 6 Months so they can have a Tag Team and a Singles competitor within the Family along with Bray. Then we could eventually either have Harper return & re-join the Family or return and feud with Bray (both being realistic possibilities in the "actual" WWE).
There we go then, once again I've fashioned- what I at least believe to be a pretty decent Mania card out of the forgotten men (and women of Wrestlemania). It was even harder to do so this year, because as made reference to at the start- we've got a tonne of injuries and the WWE have put 11 matches (9 of which's competitors were excluded from this Post) on the Mania Card. However, I think I've done a pretty good job of it if I do say so myself.
Obviously you lot can feel free to disagree with me on this, and feel free to let me know if you do. Thanks for reading as always, these Posts are well and truly back at this stage- and they're going to continue as such pretty much daily over the course of Mania Weekend. We've got the Takeover Review (THREE FUCKING AM), Mania Predictions/Review, RAW Review and Booking Wrestlemania 33 all to look forward to within the next week or so. So hopefully you'll keep coming back for those and going forward. Thanks again for reading, and remember- I'M STAYING UP UNTIL 5 FUCKING AM. THERE'D BETTER BE THE FUCKING BALOR CLUB TONIGHT.
Before I begin, there's ELEVEN matches on the card for this years Wrestlemania. It doesn't take a genius to work out with me needing a minimum of 2 Wrestlers per Match and the Battle Royal only having a maximum of Twenty Wrestlers I'd struggle. Unless of course I had someone wrestle twice, which I did actually consider- but instead I'll just go by last years more manageable 9 Match Card. Also, just to make it harder for myself- I've decided to exclude Cesaro and Orton from the picture despite their seemingly imminent returns. Right then, let's kick on with this- and remember that the whole point of this is to subvert the concept of the "pecking order" and trying to show that if given the right story pretty much any match/feud could get over.
Pre-Show: Damien Sandow v Darren Young
It's kind of stupid for me to play into what's actually happened in WWE considering the concept of this whole thing. However, that's what I've done here. Remember that one PPV where Sandow and Young teamed against The Ascension, The Dudleys and Swagger & Mark Henry? Remember the "We Want Sandow" chants? Well, Darren Young doesn't want Sandow. I suppose this could be considered similar to the AJ Styles/Chris Jericho feud in that it's a crowd chanting that's set Darren Young off.
It would never happen in a million years, but I'd have Darren Young cutting Promos on how he should be admired by the crowd for coming out as gay and he should be treated as a Hero. Completely ignoring the fact, that as Wrestling Fans we don't really care and want to see good wrestlers such as Sandow succeed. That's the basis of the feud- and it'd be a pretty easy one to pull off as well.
Pre-Show: Lana v Naomi
Yes, I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel with this one. The fact is, if given the right build-up almost anything can work in the WWE. I'm having Naomi as the Babyface in this feud, basically because those Light-Up Boots are pretty much the most Babyface-y thing on the planet.
I think the best way to go with this, is to simply make it the feud about something that everyone will understand to some degree- Family. You'll notice I haven't got Tamina with Naomi, and that's because Lana will have murdered her in the build to this with her Educated Feet- and building into a point I'll make later it should be Tamina's last appearance in the WWE.
The feud would kick-off with something trivial like Naomi accidentally bumping into Lana backstage, but because Lana sees everyone as beneath her- she takes offence to the fact that Naomi dared to bump into her- and it basically escalates from there. It's not perfect, but it's still better than some of the builds we've seen for Mania matches over the years- and even this year.
The Ascension v Golden Truth
I think in "Golden Truth" we've already got the Worst Storyline of the Year for the 2016 Sammy's. In the "real" world we've had 7 Billion Backstage segments, a couple of run-ins where the main focus was The Usos/Dudleys feud and Goldust costing Truth a match at Fast Lane (might be the other way around, can't be bothered to check). However, in "my" world where things have to make sense and everything has a purpose- Golden Truth are a legitimate team who have won the odd match.
This feud wouldn't actually be too dissimilar to how The Ascension debuted. The Ascension will be doing Promos on how they're the "new" legends of the WWE and slagging off various past Tag-Teams. With all that in mind, what better way to prove themselves than beating two Wrestlers who were around in the Attitude Era- and a team with 1, if not 2 Future Hall of Famers. Throw in the whole wacky side of Golden Truth and them being a bit dysfunctional- and we've got a fun match.
I'd also like to point out, with The Ascension being on the Main Show- should I be in charge as is the case in this hypothetical world. The Ascension will be making their entrances with the "Mad Max" Flamethrower Guitars playing their Theme. One day it'll actually happen. One day.
Curtis Axel w/Bo Dallas v The Big Show
For the purposes of this angle, The Social Outcasts don't exist (I know, sad thought). This feud would essentially be based around Bo being... well, Bo. Unless I'm mistaken the WWE actually tried this at one point as well. I'd almost transition Bo away from being a Wrestler should I be fully in charge. Not too dissimilar to Bray in the sense that where their main strength is, is their Promos. Obviously Bray's head and shoulders above Bo, but Bo is without a doubt a complete heat magnet if given the right booking as was shown in NXT.
I'd have Bo become a sort of "life coach" type character, trying to "motivate" wrestlers and in turn get Wrestlers on his side to take the beatings he will no doubt attract by being Bo. I realise I had this match in last years incarnation of this blog- but it's a completely different angle this time around. Rather than have Axel believe he's Hogan and try to Bodyslam Big Show. Bo will make Axel legitimately believe he can beat The Big Show with all of his "motivational" tactics and in the build Bo will make sure Axel's beaten Show a couple of times with various shenanigans; weapons, count-outs etc.
The pay-off will of course be Big Show murdering Axel in pretty swift fashion, Bo getting into the ring to berate Axel and be generally pissed, turning around seeing Big Show, trying to run, getting caught and Big Show knocking him out.
Paige, Emma and Summer Rae v Brie Bella, Natalya & Alicia Fox- Losers Leaves WWE
This is an angle I think may actually have a slim chance of happening in the "real" WWE. Or at least I really hope it does. I'd have Paige, Emma and Summer align with each other- under the (not wrong) idea that they shouldn't be spare parts in the "Divas Revolution" when they were the ones who kick-started it down in NXT. We'll get vignettes along those lines saying "they aren't part of the Revolution, they are the Revolution. It'll also give Paige a chance to get back to a darker Heel character which I think is needed.
I realise it's somewhat hypocritical given the fact I was repeatedly slagging off the whole "every Woman has to be in a 3-Person Group" angle last summer- but I think it makes a lot of sense here. In a "Revolution" you have to overthrow the old regime, and for the purposes of this angle it's represented by Brie, Fox and Nattie. It's not exactly a secret that Brie's done soon, Fox has been in the WWE system for the longest of all the Divas in the Company I believe and I'd use this "Losers Leave" angle to write Nattie off of TV for a while- bringing her back (in Canada of course) and kicking off an angle with Paige at a later date.
The fact is we've currently got 13 (including Eva and Emma who may go back to NXT after Sunday) active Main Roster Divas. To be blunt, considering the Divas get an absolute maximum of 2 Divas Segments on RAW- having 13 Women is ridiculous and WWE need to thin the herd pretty soon.
Heath Slater v Fandango- Some sort of gimmicked Street Fight with Musical Instruments
This one isn't nearly as a detailed feud, playing into stuff that's already happened. Basically, it's Rock Music vs Ballroom. I had considered doing Fandango vs Tyler Breeze in a contest to see who's the more self-centred and vapid. However, I've got bigger plans for Tyler Breeze- and as such Fandango ends up defending the honour of Ballroom Music against the One-Man Band. It also helps that Wrestlemania Weekend is pretty much the only time that Fandango's actually over, and Slater's... Slater. I wouldn't even have a defined Babyface/Heel dynamic in this one to be honest, just make it was fun and wacky as possible.
Braun Strowman & Erick Rowan v Kane & Mark Henry
This is me basically getting into the Vince "Clash of Giants" matches sell tickets dammit mode. It's annoying because I've had this match in mind for this Post for a while (well, a couple of weeks) and then Harper went and got injured- when he'd have been the work-horse of this match.
The one thing that has to be said for this match, and it's perhaps why we get them so often- they're ridiculously easy to book and sell. There doesn't need to be some detailed feud with nuanced facial expressions- it just has to be about who the better giants are. Of course Strowman would be the one with the finish to put the "shine" on him and we'd get the first of two Wyatt related matches on the card.
Jack Swagger w/ Zeb Colter v Primo w/Epico- Ambulance Match
Unlike last year, mainly because of the lack of options in comparison to last year- name changes are allowed provided they make sense. Hence the Matadors going back to Epico & Primo. Granted, as someone based in England without a taste for Politics I've of course heard about Trump and his various statements- without paying much attention to them. However, in conceiving this Card- and seeing I still had Swagger available and Zeb still under Contract- I don't think it's too much of a leap to reboot the Swagger and Zeb pairing and make them Trump Enthusiasts.
Of course, with the Trump Enthusiasts you need a protagonist- and in this case it's the only Latinos other than Rosa Mendes that aren't already being used elsewhere. I genuinely liked Epico & Primo when they were just Epico & Primo, so they're not complete duds in my book- but of course Swagger would win and remain fairly prominent while all the US Election stuff rolls on.
Bray Wyatt v Tyler Breeze- No DQ Match
You lot have no idea how relieved I am to have someone like Bray Wyatt available to me for this Post. I've tried my best to give substance (or at least some semblance of) to all of the angles in this Post- but it's hard when there's such little character development over YEARS with I'd say over half the people in this. However, Bray Wyatt is my "banker". Bray's the one who I can properly get my teeth sunk into with regard to a feud and how it's executed. So why have I given him Tyler Breeze?
In "my" WWE, I'll have made Tyler Breeze a "Zoolander-esque" Babyface to tie into the release of the new film. The characters are already quite similar, and I think Breeze has enough talent to have pulled it off. That of course makes Breeze shallow, vacuous and just generally the absolute antithesis of what the Bray Wyatt character is- and what Bray believes himself to be. It's literally a collision of two completely different worlds, and the story will be around whether Breeze can become more vicious and ruthless enough to combat Bray Wyatt. Basically, if there's something beneath the surface with Tyler Breeze.
As the match progressed Breeze will of course show himself to be capable of being vicious, ruthless etc. taking out Strowman and Rowan as they try to interfere. However as Breeze is seemingly about to win, we get the Wyatts screen effect thing, the lights come back on and Leo Kruger appears. Yes, I hadn't forgot Adam Rose on this card- I was just saving him for my continued dream booking. Kruger will obviously take out Breeze leaving Bray to Sister Abigail and Pin Breeze.
This Unbookables Wrestlemania ends with The Wyatts standing tall, 4-Men strong once again. My logic with this, and I'm of course a huge Wyatts fan is they need a new member now Harper's out for (I believe) 6 Months so they can have a Tag Team and a Singles competitor within the Family along with Bray. Then we could eventually either have Harper return & re-join the Family or return and feud with Bray (both being realistic possibilities in the "actual" WWE).
There we go then, once again I've fashioned- what I at least believe to be a pretty decent Mania card out of the forgotten men (and women of Wrestlemania). It was even harder to do so this year, because as made reference to at the start- we've got a tonne of injuries and the WWE have put 11 matches (9 of which's competitors were excluded from this Post) on the Mania Card. However, I think I've done a pretty good job of it if I do say so myself.
Obviously you lot can feel free to disagree with me on this, and feel free to let me know if you do. Thanks for reading as always, these Posts are well and truly back at this stage- and they're going to continue as such pretty much daily over the course of Mania Weekend. We've got the Takeover Review (THREE FUCKING AM), Mania Predictions/Review, RAW Review and Booking Wrestlemania 33 all to look forward to within the next week or so. So hopefully you'll keep coming back for those and going forward. Thanks again for reading, and remember- I'M STAYING UP UNTIL 5 FUCKING AM. THERE'D BETTER BE THE FUCKING BALOR CLUB TONIGHT.
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