Read on for my thoughts on last night's Payback PPV.
Pre-show:
Oh boy, we've got a rebellious crowd on our hands. I think Sandow is awesome and am glad that the fans support him, but unless you want him to turn face, BOO HIM. Not a terrible match by any stretch. I still hope Sandow could be the next MITB winner.
Payback:
The IC Title match was good until the clustermess finish. I like Axel and it's cool to me that he's the new Champion, but it felt kind of out of nowhere for him to win the Title since he was a last-minute addition. I wonder what direction they would have gone in if Fandango hadn't gotten pulled out of the match? Anyway, all three performers are talented and I hope they all have good futures.
But, hey, don't get caught up in that whole "fresh, new talent winning a major title" thing, because we've got HHH and Vince to take the focus off of them. I hope both characters take some time off once this angle is done. They feel overexposed (likely because I've seen both of them for over a decade and want some new stars to get some screen time).
AJ vs. Kaitlyn was pretty impressive. I'm generally not a fan of wrestlers kicking out of multiple finishers, but I guess I can let it slide this time. I hope WWE officials were taking note with how good these two are.
Nice post-match. I hope Kaitlyn doesn't disappear. Very hard worker.
Again, I'm very glad that the Chicago crowd appreciates Ambrose. But I don't get this whole "cheering heels" thing, since it makes them look like they're not doing their jobs right. Or maybe any reaction is a good reaction and I'm over-thinking things. Anyway, that was a pretty cool match. Not just because Ambrose won clean, but because he went for Old School and showed how unique he can be. I hope some of these new NXT signings are as talented as he's turned out to be.
Oh God, how I missed RVD's theme song. RVD vs. Punk? RVD vs. Bryan? RVD vs. Rollins? My body is ready. If RVD can still "deliver", I'm fine with him returning. Hopefully his fanbase comes with him. For those of you who haven't seen him before (he has been gone from WWE for 6 years), you're in for a treat. He's got some very impressive high-flying offense.
RVD vs. Ziggler would be pretty epic, too. Ditto for RVD vs. Del Rio. That match was an injustice to Ziggler unless he's too hurt to continue. He's too damn good to be taken out like that. Some are theorizing that he's turning face and Del Rio's turning heel. MAYBE WWE can save this if that's the case. But in of itself, it felt like they were sticking it to Ziggler. I don't blame him for bashing WWE on Twitter. They're being petty if they're punishing him for that and not setting up to be a main event player.
Interesting post-match. Maybe they ARE doing a double turn. As long as both Ziggler and Del Rio get to be awesome (and WWE actually gives them the spotlight they deserve), I'm cool with it.
Good God. Punk vs. Jericho was amazing as always. The gauntlet's been laid down for performers who are just showing up and doing an average job.
That was pretty cool, too. They did a good job of showing that Bryan has the heart of a Champion and setting up his feud with Orton while keeping The Shield train going.
Typing this before seeing the main event: I really hope we see a title change or something here. WWE's doing a pretty good job pushing some of their new stars, but they keep going back to Cena on top as a face. It's beyond stale and I'd love something new. Now, after the match: Fall 1 was pretty nice. I have a bad feeling that this means that Cena comes back to win 2-1. But maybe Punk comes out afterward and challenges him for MITB? Fall 2 was also pretty good, despite the "smart" fans chanting for a wrestler who hasn't been in the company in 9 years. I liked the carnage. Ok, I can't complain with the ending, since Ryback still looked like an absolute beast. I'm willing to see where they go with Cena next.
More wrestling coming up.
That's exactly how I felt 'round about the World Title match, it actually felt off putting hearing the babyfaces booed.
ReplyDeleteSandow looked impressive, he's still on that list.
I did except Barrett to retain seeing as it looked like Fandango was getting the push but injury forces plans to change and winning the IC Tile is more personal to Axel than taking out HHH. Sure the booking would have been better if Axel had debuted and targeted the IC Title immediately but the wins over HHH, Cena and Jericho (what a list!) just adds to him momentum.
Think of it like this; there’s not much Triple H and Vince can do in terms of actual wrestling unless it’s against Curtis Axel, while HHH & Vince bicker, Axel will be off winning matches, improving and getting that lovely heel heat from Heyman. HHH & Vince are a treat but they’re almost static at this point whereas Axel’s stock can only increase.
Gotta be the best Diva's match since Vengeance 2011 (Beth vs. Eve). I like the way Kaitlyn broke from the first Black Widow, the crowd were into it, not completely in the way they should have (mocking the heroine) but a great match all in all. I think that was the first of many Diva's Title reigns, Kaitlyn, is a well-developed character, miles ahead of most of the Diva's today, she'll become a major draw if she stays in storylines.
Any reaction if definitely better than silence and in the rare heel vs. heel, you've got to cheer someone but I do agree about the oddness of heels getting cheered, especially a well-developed heel that has devoted this part of their career to making babyfaces lives difficult. Heels should be booed in the way the Oakland Raiders would be booed in San Francisco. *That being said* the fans are people, they don’t *have* to boo anyone But on the other hand, "smart" wrestling fans should know that heel heat is meat and drink for a any heel.
Decent match, they worked well together as expected. I'm sure hat out of all the signings WWE makes, there are going to be plenty of future stars, ha, it's exciting!
♫ One of a kind!! I didn't see too much of RVD, but he's one of my funny brother's favourite of all time. And no doubt you're a fan too. RVD will be very welcome.
Double turn! Mythical until this day! I read on Twitter that perhaps Ziggler hadn't fully recovered and as sick as this may sound it worked beautifully. WWE must have known that Ziggler's more popular than Del Rio (I'm more of a Del Rio man myself) and planned the turn, we haven't actually seen a Title match between the two with both at 100%, now we can.
He is *back*! I love the way Punk hit that second GTS for good measure. That time-off was ideal for Punk.
Yep I can't add to that, four fantastic talents with a maximum age of 33 - hehe my goodness, these youngers are gonna be *big*!
Regret to say, I fell asleep, only because it was around 3:30 am. My thoughts on the "Cena Syndrome" the guy gets more abuse than he deserves…but he gets more Titles than he deserves. We’ve seen WWE “roll-the-dice” outside of CM Punk, Miz’s WWE reign (and victory over Cena at WrestleMania) was pure shock, Del Rio is already a 4-time World Champion, Sheamus a three-time Champion (even if he is HHH’s buddy) all three of them defeated Cena to win or retain their gold. Cena will be a gigantic draw if he never won a World Title again I believe, his stories are always very interesting, if they can just get him rival after rival, we can see a longer-lasting change.
Sandow's rebounding now. I wish they'd save the pre-show squashes for beating people like Hawkins or 3MB who clearly aren't going anywhere for a while. But, of course, they want people to tune in for the pre-show, so they need two names people actually want to see face off.
ReplyDeleteIf they're not going to get involved with the wrestlers, I don't see much of a reason to feature them so much. Especially at the expense of the actual wrestlers. HHH's character pretty much always has to take attention away from someone. "Hey, you won the IC Title? I still don't want to face you." "Christian and RVD are back? I signed them." This has been going on for as long as I can remember. 2011: "Punk's the hottest thing in the company? I've got to work with him." (and in the process, the spotlight went right back to HHH) There's a reason that it's a frequent joke online to have someone pretend to be HHH and undermine someone.
Some crowds have to be cool and edgy and cheer the heels. Fashionable nonconformity at its finest. "Dude, I know what Ring Of Honor is. I'm too cool to be here." It's sad, really.
People are very high on some of WWE's signings and the current NXT stars. I don't remember people being this excited during Laurinaitis' reign as EVP of Talent Relations.
RVD (at least in his prime) took death-defying and putting his body on the line to a new level. Very quick and athletic.
They did a double-turn with Bret Hart and Stone Cold a long time ago, that being the most-famous one. In some ways, that put Stone Cold on the map. I'm not holding my breath on Ziggler getting a major push, but maybe his hard work will finally pay off in a big way.
And as I said: there are more where they came from. I haven't seen a ton of NXT or these new signings, but I like what I've seen from the Wyatt Family, Kassius Ohno, Sami Zayn, Conor O'Brian and Corey Graves. They all have different styles (don't look for anything Bryan-esque from Wyatt's cronies), but all have shown impressive signs so far.
To contrast, at TNA's last PPV the two top matches featured 54-year-old Sting, 41-year-old Bully Ray, 44-year-old Kurt Angle, (and the at the time 35-year-old AJ Styles, but that's hardly "old"). Granted, Mania featured Rock, Taker, and HHH in top roles past 40 as well.
It's amazing how many title changes there've been in the last however many years. The only people I know of who have more World Titles than Cena are Flair, Hogan, and Sting. And all of those guys have been champion in more than one promotion. So, other than HHH who he's tied with, he's been on top of WWE more often than ANY OTHER WWE SUPERSTAR IN HISTORY. Though Punk's one title reign means more than several of Cena's I think.