On the 5/11 Smackdown, the road to Over The Limit got further along. Read on for my reaction to the show, segment by segment.
I like that the first match ended in such a big brawl. All four men can tell very good stories in the ring, and it made me look forward to seeing them all face off again later in the night.
AJ and Kaitlyn were phenomenal. They did more in a few minutes than some wrestlers do all night in telling a story. AJ was a starving lion and Kaitlyn was a steak.
AJ was also amazing in the Daniel Bryan segment. Give this chick a trophy or something.
They did a good job building heat on Bryan and Laurinaitis using Big Show.
Ryback's a killer. If WWE uses him right, he could be a believable titleholder. It's still too early to say if that will be beyond the midcard level. He might need some mic skills and longer matches before he can be trusted with gold.
Antonio Cesaro is MONEY. He has a character that stands out, veteran instincts in the ring, and a style you don't see a lot of in WWE. I was very impressed with his second WWE match and can't wait to see more of the ROH alum. I hope he has a bright future in the business.
Orton vs. Del Rio was good for what it was. They can both "go" and I like the veteran instincts. The use of Ricardo was good and clever. The post-match was also intelligently booked.
Truth vs. Swagger did a solid job setting up the PPV tag match. All four men can "go" and the tag match should be exciting.
Darren and Titus felt like a tag team in that match, and it seems like they've done their tag team homework. With the matching gear and solid teamwork, a first-time viewer wouldn't expect that they were singles performers who didn't feud all that long ago. Good work. It's important that they continue to feel like a tag team and not two singles stars trying to be a tag team.
Post-match, both Darren and Titus showed the very important trait of personality. Even there they felt like a team. A very goofy tag team, but an entertaining one nonetheless.
Sandow's gimmick is definitely different. I like that he puts effort into things beyond ring work.
Brodus' match was a Brodus match. Not much to say on that matter.
Jericho and Sheamus did what they do best in the main event. Jericho's earned a place on my all-time favorites list. Still that good at 41? Astounding.
The end of the show did a solid job building to the Fatal 4 Way. I look forward to more from all 4 of them.
That's all for the 5/11 Smackdown. The 5/11 news post and more will be up next. Thanks for reading!
Good insights this week. In relation to my other comment, I agree that Titus and Young really don't seem like a less-tenured tag team. It seems almost everything Young (and some of what Titus lacked) on NXT is really decreasing each week. I liked the charisma, mocking, matching trunks, teamwork-based moves and hunger the team has. I know you were a big proponent of Young switching up his trunks and appearance.
ReplyDeleteIn response to your comment about your blog, I like the new change. I think it's a good idea to say "Raw reax" to switch it up from other blog titles, because I bet a lot of them say "Raw Thoughts", for example. It's a good way to differentiate yourself and your blog and its titles from another fan's. I like the more efficient titles in your subject links, as well. It's hard to come to an efficient title to sum up everything you're going to be talking about in one title, but it's more appearance-friendly, as well.
By the way, every suspension I've seen the WWE hand out has been PHD-based. Maybe I don't pay as much attention and I'm sure there have been suspensions handed out (probably not as recently, though) in relation to what Jericho did in Brazil, but what was the justification there? I don't know the whole story, but I'm assuming because it wasn't planned and it's threatening to the name of the WWE what Jericho did?
One thing I give them props for is not trying to overshadow each other as two singles stars thrown together. Kofi and R-Truth are still 2 distinctive performers in their looks, given the impression that they're just a tag team until WWE gives them something better to do. I think they might be able to afford that since both have been there long enough to get over with the crowd and when the team's done, they'll be able to transition into singles roles again. Titus and Darren are "brand new" in the eyes of most people (save some battle royal appearances) since so few people watch NXT, so it's in their best interest to try to find some sticking power as a team before seeing what they can do individually. The tag team division's less competitive to stand out in, and I don't know if they could get more attention by themselves than Cesaro, Ryback, Brodus, Sandow, etc..
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feedback. I think it was time to simplify things some in a "less is more" way. If there's a lot of news in a day that isn't just "so-and-so had an interview" and appearances, it might have to get clunky, but I'm being more selective in what I report in. A lot of it before wasn't really relevant to much and I just reported it out of habit. Now that I need to use my time wisely (being so far behind), I'm going to focus on things that are more interesting and important (and try to sum some things up a little better).
Jericho was suspended for 30 days. Apparently what he did was a serious crime in Brazil and he was almost arrested! So, the company suspended him to counter some of the backlash. It's a little bit like when they "had" to fire Finlay when he approved Miz interrupting the U.S. national anthem at a live event. The National Guard members in attendance got offended, so Finlay (who was in charge of that show behind-the-scenes) got the axe. John Cena also ran afoul of GLAAD with some of his promos.
In the '90s, WWE was a lot more edgy and didn't mind controversy. Now, they're a big media empire and want to look good in the public business world. Linda McMahon's running for Senate in Connecticut (like she did in 2010), and some really link that to the more toned-down PG product.
Yeah, I'm interested to see where the Titus/Young team will go. Being a fan, it's hard to admit this, but we've seen so many tag teams either die off into the sunset, where one partner thrives and the other jobs or they remain a team but fluctuate to lower-card status. I hope if they can stand out like they have been, they can remain a sustainable team. It is unpredictable, however.
ReplyDeleteWhat are your predictions for them short and long term? I know it's hard to adjudicate a valid judgment, but what are your gut instincts?
You are all done with the semester from college now? What are your summer plans?
Once they write them out of the Laurinaitis angle, they'll probably stay a team until someone wants to do something different (use them as singles stars or release them). WWE changes their minds on people seemingly weekly so unless they catch on with the fans and keep momentum even without getting a lot of TV time, they'll unfortunately probably be kept in lower-card Purgatory once WWE finds some new "toys" to play with. WWE will either embrace the youth movement again like they did with Nexus or fall into the same trap they have for years where they lose faith or just change ideas on a whim.
ReplyDeleteShort-term, I hope Laurinaitis continues to use them (I'm only caught up to the 5/21 Raw and my computer had to go back in to fix a different part). I'd LOVE another angle where a bunch of fresh names try to take over the established veterans.
I'm mainly taking the summer off. Reading and refreshing my batteries after the episode that led me to be hospitalized! You?
Yeah, that's true. I just wish there was even some sense of sustainability with the company. It seems like only the main event guys are the ones who have any sense of sustainability for the future. Given, new talent comes along every now and then, but the company has had the same 10 or so guys in the main event picture the last like five years. And whose to say the up-and-coming talent will even stay. It's a shame. Even some of these other guys who have seen a small glimpse of the main events (Ziggler, Khali, Swagger) have faded a bit. It's unpredictable.
ReplyDeleteI would definitely cherish the summer off if I was in your shoes. Two semesters can wind on anyone.
I'm finishing up a couple of Communications certificates to complement my degree, so I'm taking a few over summer. I've been racking my brain thinking how and if I'm going to supplement my master's degree (I have one in Administrative Leadership and College Affairs). I'm the same age as you, and I've thought about going back to get certified to teach (about four more semesters), getting a master's in social work (about two years) or going for a Ph.d. in Communications. I'm leaning to just sticking with my degree I have now, since it's fairly broad and so I won't have to spend more money on student loans. Do you have any advice? What would you do given the economy?
They're terrible with long-term planning outside of the top guys/angles. They have good things going (Nexus, Punk leaving with the title), and then they fade out with them for whatever reason. If they had some bigger competition, they might get their act together, but they're able to coast by with so-so numbers (compared to years past) because no one grabs their audience away like WCW used to. They say they're competing with movies, video games, etc. for attention but not UFC. I don't "get" their thought processes sometimes.
ReplyDeleteSome of it's because the summer classes here are pretty rapid-fire. I'm going to be in college for a good while I think, but I actually want to learn some useful things instead of just skating by like a lot of people here. So, I'll TRY to survive at a slower pace while watching others my age graduate ahead of me who are still uncertain about where to go post-college.
It's unfortunately not easy to give advice on that kind of thing, since I'm far from an expert on the topic. Are there career advisors at the school? I'd check with them. My gut instinct would be not to get caught in the "sunk-cost fallacy" saying "well I'm already so far in debt, so I should just keep going banking on making a lot of money in the future to counteract all the loans". That's basically how people lose money at casinos. But again, that's just a gut-instinct that wouldn't be as helpful as talking to a professional. I wish you luck either way.