Oh God what have they got cooked up now?
Yeah the Redemption challenges don't mean anything anymore with the huge lead that Titus has.
Striker's actually worked with Undertaker in his career, but he never headlined Summerslam.
Darren went from headlining the 2nd biggest show of the year to a show that a lot of the WWE Universe doesn't even know still airs.
They're pulling everyone involved in the show into the ring this season it looks like. I don't know if Maryse will be able to compete any time soon, though. Hopefully they don't go with Grisham next.
Well, NXT alum. Alumni is plural. Glad they've got someone different on the show this week, though. Though they pretty much had to without being able to do another round of JTG vs. Kozlov.
That's an ok theme for Gabriel I think. He's developing a cool look as well. Much better than what he first wore in Season 1.
Nice first segment to the match.
Koji Klutch by Gabriel? Pretty cool.
Hard to argue with Regal about Kidd.
I wonder what the Rookies are doing backstage while this is going on.
Fine match, though it fell like they were just killing time for some of it.
Gabriel vs. Young would be a natural given their Nexus history.
Matt Striker was pretty entertaining as a wrestler with his teacher gimmick. He's a natural in an analyst role.
Nice under-the-radar quip by Darren "William Regal" Matthews.
That suplex was nice by Young. I don't think he's done that one yet.
Striker's obviously a Guerrero fan with that move.
Wicked nosebleed.
And there's that sick gutbuster.
Is Young wearing one of those power bracelet things? That's pretty funny, actually.
And of course we get Titus vs. Bateman in the final match. Good. I wish both got some mic time this week, too.
In case anyone's wondering, I'm not doing coverage of the WrestleMania special on Saturday. It's basically music videos and matches I've already covered.
The cameraman's not the only one who'd rather watch AJ.
Does Titus have a cartoon version of himself on his tights? Interesting.
That was kind of quick. And kind of a flop.
A rather lackluster ending. It looks like it's time for rankings again. Top tier means that I want to see more of them, middle tier means that I'm indifferent on them, and bottom tier means that I want them eliminated soon.
Top Tier:
Titus O'Neil (Last rank:1)- Titus didn't seem to have as much fire this week, though that could have something to do with his match hardly getting any time to build something up. The main event was just kind of "there" this go 'round. No mic time plus lackluster match = close to demotion from top tier. The only reason people haven't been moved around in tiers in the past however many weeks is that I've seen so much of them and they've had so many weeks on this show, my impression of them isn't as malleable as it would be if this was earlier in the season. Titus is slipping, and it's looking less and less likely that he'll be my pick to win this competition. That being said, he could rebound with some strong performances in future weeks.
Darren Young (Last rank:2)- Darren got to have a fairly long match and a promo this week, so that really boosted him. I'm liking him more and more in the ring, and while his persona isn't the most flavorful out there, his competition isn't all that stiff, so it's fine. As the season continues to drag, if he keeps performing like he has been recently, being my preference to win gets closer and closer to being in his grasp.
Derrick Bateman (Last rank:N/A)- Derrick's lucky that he has his past work in the season for me to give him another chance in the top tier. If I was just going on this week, he could very well drop to middle tier. Something's just not working for him recently, and if this slump continues, we might be right back to Titus vs. Darren in the finale.
And that's all for this week. I'm getting increasingly worn out with this show, unfortunately, and it's affecting my analyses of everyone. Hopefully next time I have a little something more to care about as far as the actual competition goes. I'll be back on Thursday for Superstars and Impact Wrestling, and a news post will be up later tonight. Thanks for reading!
I really think this week objectively showed that Young is really coming into his own. His intensity/heel status showed when he knocked down Striker and bloodied him without remorse, his promos are good and he's getting more comfortable on the mic, and his in-ring talent is even better than it was before with that disgusting gutbuster.
ReplyDeleteThat is good that you are realizing this as well. Hopefully he moves up in your ranks soon, because he deserves it. I admit Titus is getting fairly better in the ring, but I really think Young has more of a complete package. Titus is just getting a little plain to me, and it just gets tiring with him doing the same old routines every week.
I agree on your points about Bateman. He just seems lost in the shuffle. He's not really doing anything to stand out. You made a good point before that in Season 4 he was more comfortable, as he was supported by the crowd. However, now Titus has that support. Young is a good heel and Titus is the pure face, so it's been a struggle for him to solidify himself and take the status away from Young as the top heel.
That being said.... 1) Young 2) O'Neil 3) Bateman
Yeah, he really got to show how he can be as a heel, like he did with Hornswoggle earlier in the season.
ReplyDeleteTitus was definitely on the plain side tonight since he didn't get to cut a promo. I don't remember him even getting a chance to comment on Hornswoggle being with AJ now. Speaking of those two, I think Darren could get some serious heel points going after them on the mic (if he wasn't currently dealing with Striker).
As for moving up in the ranks, it's all a matter of when WWE does the next elimination. I just do the tiers for non-elimination weeks, then rank them when someone gets cut. It's like when they used to do the Pros' Poll where you didn't know exactly who was where until then.
And I think it's easier to do general tiers other times anyway because it means more when someone moves up the ranks. Measuring how much someone changed in a week doesn't look nearly as important as measuring how much they've changed in a longer timespan. So they're going to be listed by their last rank until then.
Oh, and you're dead on about Bateman's problem this season.