Read on for my take on last night's Smackdown.
Pretty awesome opening segment. I'm ready for the continuing adventures of The Shield, whether they're still a team or not.
Cesaro vs. Ziggler was great. Both men have earned their stripes. Hopefully with Punk gone, WWE will wake up and get behind more young talent.
I enjoyed Fandango vs. Woods and can't wait for Emma vs. Summer Rae. Woods has grown on me since his main roster debut and Fandango has survived longer than might be expected with his gimmick.
I'm a little surprised Axel and Ryback are getting wins given the heat on the latter star. There really is no predicting WWE it seems.
What? Really? I wonder what they have in mind with Titus vs. Darren. I don't see much reason to split them, but maybe WWE has an idea here. I can easily see this being a Cryme Tyme splitting situation if they're not careful.
Very old-school promo with Rusev and Lana. Another evil foreigner. Hopefully these two are a solid addition to the roster.
I really like Christian and all, but I think I would have been more interested in seeing Swagger in the match. Christian will do well in the role, however. Christian feuding with Cesaro would be great.
Good promo from Christian. I wonder what's left for him in his career.
Nice promo from Sandow. I hope he's got something going on in Mania season as well.
Good match between Sandow and Kofi. Maybe Kofi goes for the U.S. Title soon?
I liked Cody vs. Road Dogg. The Tag Team Title situation will be interesting to follow in Mania season if Cody and Goldust are fighting then.
Fine post-match to set up Monday's cage match.
I love the Wyatts. Very refreshing to have such a colorful gimmick. I'm ready for this feud at Elimination Chamber.
Pretty good main event. I'm glad the glory went to The Shield instead of Rey or Sheamus. I still really like both of them, but I want some new faces. I've seen Rey for more than a decade.
More wrestling coming up.
It was definitely inevitable that the Primetime Players would break apart eventually; it's just a little odd that it's right before WrestleMania when odds are that neither of them will compete in it. When you say it would be a Cryme Tyme situation all over again, do you mean that the bigger guy (O'Neil) will get the brunt of the attention early, but in the long-run, the smaller guy (Young) will be the lower-card but employed member? If so, I could see that happen. Titus has definitely grown, but with all of the talent on the roster and with him being close to 37, I'm not sure how far he will be pushed.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, though Young has developed a completely different role than he had on NXT and has done okay in it, I don't think he's done himself many favors. He's kind of getting that reputation of someone who struggles with promos that has little nuance as a character. Though I am a fan, he really needed to find a niche with the company and find a way to stand out in the shark tank that is the WWE any way possible. I don't think he has done that as an "entertainer."
When, it at all, do you see Punk coming back to the company?
That's exactly the metaphor I had in mind. There's no guarantee it will go that way, but I definitely had flashbacks.
ReplyDeleteIt's weird to me that Titus worked a live event, but Darren didn't. I don't know how much to read into it just yet, but since it's a random impromptu breakup, I wonder if Darren's leaving WWE?
I don't know how well either performer will do as a singles star. I think they both have talents, but they worked better as a unit. There's a lot of singles stars in the company, so I wouldn't be shocked to some people getting lost in the shuffle.
The ball is in Punk's court. I don't see him coming back with his tail between his legs. He won't come back until he feels like he's appreciated and well-rested. He's got his money saved, so he's got nothing to lose.
Raw's in Chicago in March, and there's a PPV there in June. They won't be happy if Punk's not there.