Read on for my thoughts on last night's Main Event and Smackdown.
Main Event:
Nothing sets the tone for an awful show like a Big Show promo.
I don't blame Show for continuing to do what he does. I blame WWE for keeping him on after so many years.
That's the most I've cared about Swagger since working with Zeb. Anyone who stops a Big Show promo is a face to me.
- Show vs. Swagger:
Booing Show and chanting that he sucks isn't going to get him off TV. Otherwise, Cena would have been gone a long time ago. Go to the concession stand or chant for another performer instead.
There's "slowing down the pace" and then there's this. Yikes.
I'm ready for Miz to do a run-in and wrap this one up.
At least there's some strategy to Show working on Swagger's leg.
It was good for Swagger to fight back the chokeslam and kick out of one. I guess that made it worth it for the match to continue.
Not a bad promo from The Ascension. They're better than their initial main roster gimmick.
- Ascension vs. Dragons:
I wish The Ascension was this good against other teams. It seems like they generally work best with Sin Cara and Kalisto.
Really impressive stuff from both teams. I hope some of NXT's current teams can contribute like these two duos.
Smackdown:
Reigns is better with quick promos. Something feels lacking with it just being a tag match. Even without using Sting, they need to do something to make it more of a big deal considering how many times we've seen these wrestlers face off.
Reigns doesn't seem 100% right in the role of lighthearted babyface. I think it might be more on him being slotted into the Cena role instead of being more of who he is naturally. Reigns vs. Rusev should be fun, though.
More fun stuff with The New Day. They're one of my favorite acts in all of wrestling these days.
Nice little promo from PTP and Henry. I wish ROH did these little cut-ins to show us some of their wrestlers' personalities.
- New Day vs. PTP/Henry:
New Day seem to be having a lot of fun in this role. It's good to see after they were all kind of spinning their tires. I still have high hopes for Big E.
Nice ending! Overall, a good match.
Fun post-match promo from New Day. I wonder if this is going any further with Henry. Big E getting a win over him would be impressive if done right.
I liked Charlotte's video promo. So far, so good with the push of the new Divas.
- Charlotte vs. Naomi:
Not a bad match, but too quick to be all that meaningful. This was a setback after the great longer matches we've seen from the Divas lately.
I wouldn't mind them going with the "referee gets a message from backstage" method of setting up matches more often. The GM concept needs to be lessened. I think William Regal's a good model in NXT. They generally just use him to move other stories along instead of him getting long promos and being a focal point of the show.
- Sasha/Naomi vs. Charlotte/Becky:
Now this is more like it. Great work from the NXT trio.
Hell, Naomi's doing pretty well here, too.
Fine match overall. It's good to see women's wrestling treated seriously.
- Stardust vs. Ryder:
I KIND OF wish they'd have Mojo Rawley backstage supporting Ryder before his matches, but that would probably lead people to think he's being called up. I don't think they should be going that route yet.
I would have been unpleasantly surprised if Stardust jobbed to Ryder given the sort-of push he's getting.
I bet Stardust is loving the chance to work with Amell. He's a big comics fan.
The sooner we get through this IC Title feud, the better. When Kane returns, they should write Show off for a few months if they don't have anything significant for him to do. Give some other people a chance to get over.
- Reigns vs. Rusev:
I think this is pretty good for a collision of hosses. There's a difference between a big hoss and an immobile mastadon, mind you.
I assume Lana is being prepared to be at least an occasional wrestler. That had to be expected at some point. Maybe she'll get revenge on behalf of Fandango's first dancer? Where the heck did she go, anyway?
Fine match overall. Rusev didn't lose clean, so I think he's fine.
I hope Wyatt/Harper vs. Ambrose/Reigns spills out all over the arena. They need to have an out-of-control brawl.
More wrestling coming up.
Man, I have to feel a bit for Jack Swagger here. For every two and a half out of three years, he is always stuck in the same position: has two matches a week against mid or upper card guys and loses about 90 percent of them. Most of it may be that WWE sees so many talents on the roster that may have more personality/charisma that Swagger, but I would be a bit disengaged if I were Swagger, Heath Slater, or Adam Rose at this point. Maybe that could be why we keep hearing about Swagger quitting?
ReplyDeleteThe Big Show quandary persists yet again. I have the same stance of Big Show as you do: a sure-fire hall-of-famer that deserves a lot of respect and has had much success. However, I do get a bit tired of WWE booking him to get the upper hand in 85 percent of his matches against guys that are younger, hungrier, and have more overall elements of "entertainment" than Big Show. I continuously get flustered seeing and hearing about Big Show getting the upper hand when Kane, who is just about the same age and has more "it" still than Big Show, loses 85 percent of the time. That will always be a quandary to me.
Any rumblings you're hearing about Daniel Bryan's return? I am hearing mixed stances with regards to his return with some saying he may not even return.
I wish they'd use some of those guys in NXT if they're not going to do anything on the main roster. At least so they feel valued. There are some amateur wrestlers down there whom I think would be good students for Swagger.
ReplyDeleteFor what it's worth, they seem to be testing some things out with Slater and Rose on live events, possibly teaming the two of them or teaming Rose with Brad Maddox. I do think it's inevitable they'll be some people stuck in the jobber role. It's an important part of the roster at times.
All I can think of to add to the Show situation is I think Vince is really tight with him. He was on Jericho's podcast recently and probably went into a lot of fan criticism.
Bryan's been cleared by his personal doctor, but WWE's hesitant to put him back in the ring after his history of injuries. He's apparently signed to the company for several more years. I'm under the impression WWE hasn't done official testing to see if he's fully recovered from his concussion and its symptoms.
I think if/when he does hit the ring again, he's going to change things up. He's been through a lot with so many years of wrestling a physical style. He's really got to be more careful now.
On a side note, I'm sorry for sometimes getting really frustrated when responding to your comments. Sometimes following wrestling can BE really frustrating, especially when I get sucked into it to the point of blogging about it so much. It's nothing personal.