Read on for my thoughts on last night's Main Event and Smackdown.
Main Event:
- Charlotte vs. Alicia:
This is a pretty good matchup. I think Charlotte's benefiting from working with a veteran.
Nice match overall!
- Stardust vs. Swagger:
Some nice work between people with solid wrestling backgrounds.
I hate the idea of someone asking "who cares?" about an upcoming match. The Ascension should care who the champions are, and this opportunity to show they belong in the mix for the titles.
- Ascension vs. PTP:
Good tag match overall. I'm liking PTP's reign with the titles.
Smackdown:
NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! This is one of the least compelling matches in WWE.
- Show vs. Ryback:
Well, at least that was relatively quick and painless. Although I have a feeling it's not the end of these two tonight.
With them both being KO'd, does Miz automatically become champion?
The New Day are consistently entertaining.
- New Day vs. Los Matadores/Torito:
Torito's pretty talented. It's easy to discount him because of his size.
Nice ending. I love these three.
Funny post-match.
I'm not a huge fan of Ziggler being paired with Lana, but the match should be pretty great.
Rusev's also been really enjoyable lately. He's just a ruthless jerk.
Great segment to sell Summerslam.
- Neville vs. Dallas:
Kind of a shame for Dallas to lose given how entertaining he is. But it made sense to build to Summerslam.
Good post-match. Sunday should be fun.
Hopefully we're close to the end of Nikki's title reign. It's a shame they might be doing this just to stick it to AJ.
Sasha bringing the fire here. She's really good.
- Brie vs. Becky vs. Sasha:
Not a bad match by any means. I think the NXT callups have a large amount of potential.
Really fun segment with Ambrose, Reigns, Orton, and Cesaro. Summerslam has been built pretty well.
- Orton/Reigns/Ambrose/Cesaro vs. Sheamus/Wyatt/Harper/Owens:
I love a chaotic main event here and there. Not a flippy one, but a chaotic brawl.
Some pretty good stuff here so far. Everyone's really bringing it.
Fine ending, too.
More wrestling coming up.
Summerslam predictions/rumors/etc:
ReplyDelete- Celebrities almost always win. I definitely think that will happen with Amell. I'm not really upset since he's a big WWE fan and takes it seriously. This isn't Jay Leno pinning a main eventer. To me, it's better than Stardust and Barrett not being on the card or just being on the pre-show.
- I don't see why they'd change the tag team titles, but maybe they want to shake things up. No real insight here.
- I think Owens needs a win over Cesaro after probably losing the night before. No complaints there either.
- One of the new Divas should be positioned as the next challenger for the title in the elimination match. Maybe Sasha makes Nikki tap and Charlotte beats her to set up a triple threat? I just know HHH and Stephanie are in favor of the new names.
- I suspect Ziggler wins as a result of Lana getting involved. It would be disappointing for those two not to get their heat back after everything Rusev has done.
- Unless they're looking to add a new member of the Wyatt Family (or Erick Rowan makes a surprise heel comeback), I suspect Reigns and Ambrose will win.
- The IC Title is up in the air. Ryback vs. Owens or Ryback vs. Rusev would make sense if they want Ryback to retain.
- I could see Orton winning to get another crack at Seth Rollins, and because they generally throw the MITB winner under a bus for a while.
- I half-expect some kind of screwjob in Rollins vs. Cena. Some expect Kane to get involved (maybe leading to Kane vs. Rollins at Night of Champions). They've got to be careful with this one.
- I suspect Brock wins after Taker laid him out in his hometown. I sometimes get frustrated with the "person laid out on Raw ends up winning" thing, too. Some think they'll do something to set up something for WM32 here. Either Taker vs. Sting or Taker vs. Kane (for the millionth time). Others think we're in for Brock vs. Kane next. So, it's very much up in the air.
This should be an interesting pay-per-view. With it being four hours long, WWE has a lot of proving to do. Logical predications. This may be the pay-per-view that is the toughest to call prediction-wise in recent memory.
ReplyDeleteI really cringe when celebrities get involved. I understand it from a marketing standpoint, but it really devalues talented guys like Rhodes and Barrett. I say Arnell and Neville will win, but definitely shouldn't.
I definitely think WWE isn't very involved with the tag team division for the men. Much of PTP's air time has been on Main Event and away from Raw or SmackDown, and even with the titles, New Day has gotten more "main show" time, which makes this a toss-up. I say PTP will retain, but it won't necessarily mean they will gain more prominence.
Owens/Cesaro will be a close one. Cesaro has been proving more intangibly, but Owens really needs a win. I say Owens will prevail in this one, but I definitely am not sure about it.
I will say Charlotte's team will prevail if I had to pick a team. What are your thoughts on the divas division being more "team-oriented" versus "singles-oriented?"
Rusev/Ziggler will be tough to call. I say Rusev will win. If he doesn't, I think he will fall closer into that stereotype of the bigger guys that start hot and fall down the ladder. Not that Ziggler is lower card or anything, but if this were six months ago, Rusev would have definitely been a favorite to win this match, and indeed has beaten Ziggler a number of times in the past.
I say Reigns and Ambrose will win. With the Wyatts reuniting, it makes it interesting, but I think with how talented Ambrose is and how high WWE is on Reigns, I say they will prevail in some fashion.
I really struggle with deciding a victor for the IC Title match. Big Show has prevailed over Ryback three times in a row on my count in shady fashion, so if Ryback loses this one, it won't be much of a credible title reign. I say Ryback will retain, but somehow WWE will still find a way to have Big Show gain some credibility (as usual).
Orton and Sheamus is very intriguing. Would WWE have Sheamus lose two big one-on-one matches to Orton in a row? I do agree they throw the MITB winner under the bus pretty frequently, so it makes this match intriguing. I will say Orton will win, but I am not confident about it.
I see Rollins retaining in some shady fashion. Do you really think they will unify the titles to make only two singles champions in the men's division? I see maybe some sort of no contest to continue this feud as a possibility. Very tough to call, though.
I say Brock will win mainly on the basis that if he can dethrone Undertaker at 'Mania, he can do it at SummerSlam in addition to the fact that Undertaker is very much part, part-time guy right now. I think Undertaker would win against many others despite that, but I see Lesnar winning here.
Have you been catching Tough Enough?
Of course I see wrestling more as show business, so I'm OK with Amell being involved since he's obviously in good shape and is a big fan of the business. This isn't the time they parodied Rosie O'Donnell vs. Donald Trump or Jon Stewart being at the same level as Seth Rollins. I'll give them some leeway if he looks competent in there.
ReplyDeleteI actually think WWE's doing well with the tag team division given how many teams are legitimate challengers for the titles. The New Day are heat magnets, so I can see why they're focused on. PTP seems to be doing pretty well in the screen time department given how for a while there neither man had momentum.
I'm glad Cesaro might be gaining prominence. He's a great talent.
I'm more than OK with pairing the new names up with more established names in the Divas angle so they aren't as likely to get lost in the shuffle. I'd rather see the three new names as part of groups than end up like Emma did.
I'd look at it more as Ziggler and Lana finally getting one over on Rusev after Ziggler was taken out for a few weeks and Lana has been raked over the coals. I do think it was inevitable for Rusev to fall down the card a bit, as it is for a lot of wrestlers. If they don't move into the WWE Title picture in some way, it's pretty much the only thing they can do.
I'd be interested to see if WWE would add a new member to the Wyatt Family. No one in NXT seems like a "lock" for the role.
I see Ryback beats Miz so Show remains something of a monster/threat.
I could see Sheamus losing because they presumably see him as a future WWE Champion regardless.
I can see WWE doing something where the winner of Rollins/Cena gives up the U.S. Title. Say someone helps Rollins win and their reward is to be gifted the U.S. Title. But it could also be a wash where they both keep the titles.
Some think Taker wins to set up Round 3 at WM32 in Texas in Taker's last match. I'm not crazy about that idea.
After the last Tough Enough, I've stayed away. It's more or less a reality show about making it in WWE rather than a prediction of who will succeed. WWE does legitimate tryouts for wrestlers pretty often. TE is more of a tryout to be on TV. Hopefully some of the contestants prove me wrong and end up succeeding in wrestling.