Read on for my thoughts on last night's ROH and NXT.
ROH:
I'm not really sure why it took two weeks to get to see stuff from BitW, but I'm glad they've caught up.
I think there's definitely something missing when there's no pre-match promo or video package. Wrestling for wrestling's sake is only so appealing.
- Castle vs. Watanabe:
I like the character contrast between these two. They made it clear who was the heel early into the match.
The long small package spot was good. Castle's growing on me.
Good to see personality from Watanabe. I'm impressed.
That was a pretty good match. Both men wrestled well and told a story beyond "check out our rapid-fire cool moves."
Good post-match to make the feud interesting.
I like Lethal leading this heel stable. They're kind of growing on me.
Lethal's promo was really lame. This "I'm the better wrestler" "No, I am" stuff gets stale FAST.
I liked the setup for Jay's title defenses. If only this had come on last week's show instead of random matches from a previous event.
Boring Strong promo.
Dude, we just had a segment with the champ and a promo from the #1 Contender. Why did we need this part of Inside ROH? This should have been on last week's show.
How about following the stuff from Cedric with a promo from Moose? I can see why people complain about the production of the show. ROH is in a weird spot.
Fine promo from Adam Page.
It's hard not to see some of these acts/gimmicks as bush league. They just don't feel like stars to me.
- The Kingdom vs. Elgin and reDRagon:
So many indie/X-Division matches feel overly choreographed so everything is timed just perfectly for cool moves/spots' sake. I guess I'm not the target audience for ROH (?), since I don't enjoy that.
Things are starting to pick up here. Obviously all these guys are good from an athletic standpoint.
Very impressive physicality in this one. I could do without superkicks and dives since seemingly every other performer does them, but the in-ring stuff is good.
Nice powerbomb spot.
I'm starting to think a wrestling promotion needs to make a ring with more than three sets of ropes so it's actually a big deal to hit a big move from the top turnbuckle again. A super-superplex from the top of six ropes would be BIG.
Pretty big main event overall. I liked it more than the other stuff on the show.
NXT:
It was kind of odd to start things off with a video package that didn't feature any NXT stars.
I'm enjoying the teaming of Emma and Dana Brooke more than I did at the outset.
Sasha carries herself like a star. I hope that means good things about her future.
Dana seems to be getting better on the mic.
I like how Sasha is ready to take both of them on.
This is more or less an NXT dream team.
- Sasha/Charlotte vs. Dana/Emma:
Charlotte and Sasha will be fine on the main roster from a talent perspective. It's up to Management to treat them as the characters and workers they are.
Dana does seem to be improving as a wrestler. She's in there with some really talented people, though, so that doesn't hurt.
If I'm Paige, I'm watching this match as I scout for partners against the Bellas and Alicia. Pretty solid match overall.
Charlotte and Sasha main evented a live event for a reason. Looking forward to that next week.
I hope Bayley isn't out too long. She'd be my pick to become champion if Sasha gets called up soon. I'd have no complaints about Becky Lynch winning it instead.
The NXT Title match was great, but I've already seen it. I'd like to see some of the other NXT names get a chance to shine here.
Owens attacking the cameraman was cool. I wish the commentators would have reacted.
Chad Gable's growing on me. He's got a pretty good background. I hope his teaming with Jason Jordan works out.
Solomon Crowe has barely been gone, but I hope we can see more of what brought him to the dance.
Louis can be pretty creepy. I get vibes of when Kane was first unmasked.
- Crowe vs. Louis:
I like Louis behaving more like an animal than someone trying to win an athletic competition. It's definitely something different.
Crowe continues to experiment. He looks to be getting in better shape. The new name for the finisher is great. I hope we're in for more progress from him as being a future main roster talent.
I enjoy the Vaudevillains' gimmick. I'm not really sure why, but it works for them.
The idea of a "Balor Club" on the main roster with Balor, Cesaro, Neville, (and more?) could work. They definitely don't want to emulate Bullet Club, but they could probably make something work as a unit.
I care more about Enzo/Cass/Carmella than pretty much any act in ROH because they have entertaining personalities.
- Enzo/Big Cass vs. Vaudevillains:
I'm liking this match so far. Enzo's small and tenacious, while Cass makes the most of his size and power. The Vaudevillains are doing good things as a team, too.
Pretty good end to the match. I look forward to seeing what Gotch, English, Blake, and Murphy can do in the title match.
More wrestling coming up.
No comments:
Post a Comment