Read on for my thoughts on last night's Main Event and Smackdown.
Main Event:
I love Rusev as the vengeful ex-boyfriend.
- Rusev vs. Swagger:
Rusev has pretty much owned Swagger every time they've faced off.
Good stuff to set up the ankle lock.
I like that both men are trying to avoid the other's submission. Selling a move like that as a big deal to be put in is key.
Nice stuff overall.
Fun stuff with Bo, as is usually the case.
- Ryder vs. Dallas:
Good stuff, even though it was short.
- Ascension vs. Dragons:
I enjoy the Dragons as a whole.
Really impressive stuff from Sin Cara and Kalisto.
Good stuff between the quick, agile team and the powerhouses.
I liked the ending.
Smackdown:
I love Rollins' self-serving memory of how things went down with Cena at Summerslam.
I think there's still potential intrigue with the MITB concept. It adds a wildcard to the WWE Title situation.
Mostly a good back-and-forth between Rollins and Sheamus. It's just odd to see Rollins agree with the fans.
- Becky/Paige vs. Sasha/Naomi:
It's so good to see what Sasha and Becky can do against each other.
Naomi's not bad here, either. You can just tell she hasn't had the training the NXT alumnae have.
That was fine.
Good stuff from Stardust and his new cronies. The rhyming made me think of New Day.
Speaking of Based New Day.
This "save the tables" thing is great.
- D-Von vs. Kofi:
Weak match, but a good segment overall. I hope New Day is still doing good things when this feud ends.
I'm excited for Night of Champions, because they're out of reasons to keep the title on Nikki.
I couldn't care much less about the Bellabration. I hope they drop the factions thing before too much longer. Honestly, I wouldn't mind if they dropped Alicia and Tamina with it and focused on the newer names as singles stars. No way would they drop the Bellas, and I think Naomi's still got something worth featuring. I like Alicia well enough, and Tamina's not bad; we've just pretty much seen everything there is to do with them (especially without being able to play off Tamina's last name).
- Cesaro vs. Show:
Dear God it's the same Big Show match I've seen since 1999.
Cesaro's trying. There's just not much to do against Show.
Honestly, I like Show using the ankle lock. It shakes things up a bit.
I would have marked out like no one's business if Cesaro hit the Neutralizer.
BBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
I'm definitely interested in seeing who ends up joining Reigns and Ambrose at NOC.
Rusev is great.
- Owens vs. Ziggler:
God, Owens is a great heel. He's better than Bubba Ray's overrated TNA main event run, for sure.
I love that these two put it all out there.
Not a bad match. I'm just kind of tired of the dirty finishes.
I really hope we're in for a new IC Champion on Sunday. Ryback's OK, but Owens is awesome.
Funny that no one wants to attend the Bellabration.
Decent backstage segment. That would be a good ending for Adam Rose. Talk about someone who really burned out.
I really wonder where they go with Dolph now that Lana's gone. Does Rusev dump Summer, too?
- Ambrose/Reigns vs. Rollins/Sheamus:
Sheamus insulting the crowd is kind of getting old. It was funny for a while, though.
Ambrose is a lot of fun to watch.
Mehhhh. Action was good.
Good ending to the show.
More wrestling coming up.
NOC predictions:
ReplyDelete- They generally have babyfaces win on Kickoff (or so it seems), although Cosmic Wasteland could use momentum. I see Neville getting the win since they like him and his finisher is good for a reaction.
- Dudleys take the titles. I see WWE really getting behind them, younger teams be damned. Dudleys vs. Wyatts seems like a good feud once Bubba and D-Von decimate the current division.
- Charlotte should finally take the gold to try to save the Divas Revolution.
- I'm guessing Ziggler wins to more or less wrap up this feud. I wouldn't be shocked to see Ziggler and Summer end up together as they scramble to find out what to do with Rusev. Rusev vs. Ryback next?
- I see Owens getting the nod unless they do something to continue the feud. He should win after coming up short for the U.S. Title.
- Jericho is a fairly safe bet for teaming with Ambrose and Reigns. Some think an NXT name could make a cameo, which I'd prefer. I expect the faces to win.
- I actually see Rollins escaping with both titles, only to end the night seeing fire explode from the turnbuckles and a red light coming over him. Kane vs. Rollins at HIAC is too perfect to not go with.
This will also be an interesting pay-per-view. Some tough calls.
ReplyDeleteI see Stardust and The Ascension winning the pre-show match. I think them being more of an "official" team that has a team name shows WWE sees at least something in them.
I say New Day will retain in some shady fashion. I think based on them just winning the titles and how much heat and air time they have received would bode well for them to retain the titles. I say they may lose the match, but will retain the titles.
I also say Charlotte will win the title. Not to knock Charlotte (I know she has a lot going for her), but do you think she would be in place to win the title this early if she wasn't Flair's daughter? It is an interesting question.
I honestly don't see Rusev losing again to Ziggler (he had lost a couple of weeks ago via DQ). I would consider this to be a bit of a step down the ladder for Rusev. I don't like the pairing of Rusev and Summer for some reason. I just don't think it "clicks" the way it did when he teamed with Lana. I think if Ziggler wins, it may help his cause teaming with Lana.
I'm very unsure about the Intercontinental Title. This feud has come on pretty quickly and doesn't seem like it's built up as well as it should. I will say Owens wins in some shady fashion, if pressed.
The Wyatt Family match is also tough to call. I think the mystery opponent is definitely helping the cause for Reigns and Ambrose. Then again, it would seem a bit odd to have the Wyatts lose in two straight pay-per-views to Ambrose and Reigns just after adding a new member. This could go either way, but I'll say Reigns and Ambrose will win it. I don't know who the mystery opponent will be.
I see Rollins certainly retaining over Sting. Rollins vs. Cena is tougher to call. I think there is a possibility Cena wins back the U.S. Title and I know him losing two in a row to Rollins would seem tough to fathom for how well Cena is booked. However, it would make sense for Rollins to gain some more traction as champion and it would also make aligning both titles for just a month make little sense. I will say Rollins will win both matches.
By the way, have you heard any updates on Damien Sandow? I know the team of him and Axel disbanded after the Hulk Hogan fiasco, but I haven't heard much from him other than a brief appearance with his old gimmick. I saw this quote regarding Sandow's status that I figured you would find pretty spot-on:
ReplyDelete"I think it's just a case of someone in the company seeing [Sandow] as a comedy guy and nothing more. The audience tried to tell them that they wanted to see him in a better role but were ignored."
Pro Wrestling Insider analyst Mike Johnson's opinion of WWE's booking of Sandow, in June 2015[127]
As strong as the Dudleys have been booked, I all but expect them to win the titles. It feels like New Day won the belts back just to have a heel team to lose to the returning veterans. New Day and PTP got screwed.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I think Charlotte just might still be where she is without her dad's legacy. That's kind of the icing on the cake. She really turned heads for her work in NXT.
I definitely agree with Johnson's first sentence. I think they're trying out his old gimmick on live events to see if it clicks the way people want it to. They've been trying to make something work for Brad Maddox for months now in similar fashion, but it's hard to gain traction when people higher up don't have an interest in getting behind someone. "Why try to push Sandow (Swagger, etc.) again when we can use that spot for a new NXT guy?"