Main Event:
Pretty good opening match. Everyone seemed motivated to impress despite being low on the card.
Tamina vs. Aksana wasn't bad, though it definitely wasn't AJ vs. Kaitlyn. I will say that Aksana has progressed from her early days and both performers seem like they're willing to put in work to get better.
Big E vs. Ryder wasn't bad at all. While I wouldn't recommend Big E to be a big singles star yet, I think he's doing well. Especially being only 27. I hope experience will do him well.
More wrestling coming up.
The most recent Smackdown taping is said to have been poorly attended.
The team Los Matadores faces off with on Smackdown reportedly consists of Tyson Kidd and Ricardo Rodriguez in masks. No word on whether this will be more than a one-time gimmick. It's an interesting idea to consider at least.
After the dark main event for Smackdown, Alberto Del Rio was taken out by the Wyatt Family. Damien Sandow teased a cash-in, but he was taken out as well. Heels beating up heels I see.
C.M. Punk vs. Ryback has been officially set for Hell in a Cell. I hope they move on after that match. I don't see the feud having much juice left. Punk/Lesnar II should definitely happen at some point, but other than that I think we're pretty much done here.
Daniel Bryan talked ahead of a Smackdown taping. I much prefer reading his interviews to Cena's.
Stephanie McMahon talked as part of a piece about the Special Olympics, which WWE is sponsoring. I wonder how they feel about the Eugene character.
Christian is set to return to the ring this weekend, facing Alberto Del Rio. Rey Mysterio is set to return to the ring next weekend. Both of those things are good news for WWE with Cena questionable and RVD out.
The story going forward is that Triple H was concussed by Big Show and Show may be subject to arrest. I can certainly see parallels to Austin vs. McMahon here. I hope the end game is still elevating Daniel Bryan and some of the other younger acts.
Sting and AJ Styles have been added to the Fan Interaction before Bound For Glory. I suppose it was their plan all along to announce those two to get people who were "on the fence" about going. No Kurt Angle, though. Will this be the last BFG Sting and Styles are a part of?
Here's an interview about Christy Hemme's diet. She is in amazing shape. Leader of the TNA Knockouts!? Who the heck said that?
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I have wondered that. They obviously trust him a good deal to be able to pull it off without damaging himself too badly.
2. Obviously it's not great for his hips. I can see him getting a new finisher in time. Right now, as was said, he needs to make a big impact and his finisher does just that.
3. There's a reason they only did one Brawl For All tournament and have stuck with pantomimes since then. Ouch.
4. If I'm not mistaken, there's been at least one legal attempt to challenge WWE's ability to enforce the no-compete clause. Obviously it still exists. Considering you still get paid for those 90 days, I don't see too many people complaining.
5. I'm not hugely familiar with XPW. If it gives wrestlers another place to make money, I guess it's fine by me?
More wrestling tomorrow.
Chuck, what are your thoughts on this possible Damien Sandow face turn? I consider it shameful idea No. 1,036 in the last few months when it comes to Sandow and his booking. I think with a character like his being an arrogant scholar combined with the great promos and character development in such a short amount of time deem this move to be a bit idiotic. I'll wait it out, and maybe it may not amount as a face turn, but if it does, I honestly don't know if it will ever be a good move in my book.
ReplyDeleteI see it almost entirely as a case of them having such a small roster at that show and needing to throw something together. Due to the tour in Dubai and the recent batch of injuries, they were somewhat limited in the "big matches" they could put on. It could very well be forgotten by Monday!
ReplyDeleteBut if the fan response is good, I can see them rolling the dice. Sandow's really spinning his tires right now and the World Title scene could use some freshening up.
Good point. Also, part of it may be since Sandow's booking has been so poor lately that it would sort of "silence" everyone thinking Sandow will cash in his briefcase until a later date with him not being able to pin the champion on SmackDown.
ReplyDeleteIt may indeed also be due to a shortage of superstars with the tour going on and they may just be "testing" the idea out. What are your thoughts on if it indeed happens versus Sandow as a heel? It's just hard for me to see such an arrogant character being made into a successful face character. Hopefully it is indeed just a one-show glitch. This clip here should incentivize the company to keep him as a heel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4V2PRZjF3I
I suppose that could be it. Right now it's just a one match thing as far as I know. I haven't seen anything about him working as a face on live events or anything. I feel if they were setting him up for a big face moment, the match would have gone on last and they would have done more to build him as a face.
ReplyDeleteI know a number of people pointed out how lacking things are for the U.S. tour (including Smackdown). As I mentioned in the Superstars/Smackdown blog, they had Eva Marie, Khali and Los Locales all wrestle. Very much a "skeleton crew" feel.
Sandow as a face will all depend on the execution. What the story is, who he faces off with, what he does in the role, etc.. They made Miz a face and he's still pretty much the same obnoxious character, so it could just be him doing pretty much the same things he does now against heels (minus throwing the crowd under a bus).
P.S. Sorry I haven't been as quick with posts or to respond lately. I always like to get the day's shows/news posts out of the way first so I have a better grasp of what's going on. And I'm rather busy with school and my other job! It's definitely not anything about me not caring.
Congrats on the job and school. It will all be worth it in the end once you get your degree. You mentioned something about possibly moving on as a History major before?
ReplyDeleteI'm interested to hear your thoughts on this article. This may or may not be breaking news to you, but I was a but disappointed to see this. I viewed him as a very talented wrestler who was very devalued due to his size. I liked him and was a bit perplexed as to why he continued to be devalued by each promotion he's been in. He definitely deserves better in my book.
http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2013/1014/566398/former-wwe-and-tna-wrestler-announces-his-retirement/
Here is one more perplexing article for you. When I saw Eva marie competing on Raw, I admit it was a bit quick and surprising, but definitely raised an eyebrow at this article here. What are your thoughts on this? If it is indeed true, is the company really going to be that crude and resentful?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.411mania.com/wrestling/news/300454
I guess it's been a while since I checked in on that: I'm officially a Mass Communication major (I had never declared before now). Sadly it's going to be quite some time before I graduate since I did two semesters part-time. I'm thinking another five semesters (I don't think I'll do summers. It's far too stressful.) I just found out this semester that more than half of NC students don't graduate in four years (some drop out of course).
ReplyDeleteAs for Low Ki/Senshi/Kaval, his reputation online at least is that he has too big of an ego for his own good and can be antagonistic. I know he left WWE because they didn't have any plans for him. He reminds me a bit of Punk and Ziggler in that he works incredibly hard at his game and can seemingly be really outspoken if he doesn't feel he's being appreciated. That can backfire. I don't know too much in the way of specifics since most of his career has been outside of WWE and TNA, but I've seen it said that he burns bridges and such. He recently wrestled a big Japanese show while wearing an Agent 47 costume. The story is that he didn't get approval beforehand and that got him in some serious hot water.
He is really talented, but I don't know how far he could have gotten in a corporate environment like WWE. The impression I got is that he doesn't want to just sit around not getting paid, even if it's good money.
As for Eva Marie: Firstly, pretty much anything relating to a reality show personality is suspect to me. There's a lot of manipulation and editing that go on on those to tell an episodic story with certain character roles. The book "Reality Bites Back" has a lot of details on how reality shows are made - quite the read.
Anyway: I'd be a little surprised if their idea of punishing someone is giving them a match in front of millions of people. She wrestled on Smackdown and on live events after that match. But I can certainly see how there could be resentment against her given how quickly she made it to WWE TV after being signed (with no previous experience). I know there was heat on Christy Hemme when she got such a huge contract from the Diva Search.