Read on for my thoughts on Thursday night's Main Event and Smackdown.
Main Event:
I guess it's kind of cool seeing Maddox back. I'm totally fine with him getting another chance. He and Rose are doing pretty much NOTHING these days. Hell, bring the creepy Bunny into it, too.
- Rose/Maddox vs. Usos:
Fine stuff so far between the veteran team and the new duo.
Not a bad showing by the new team. God knows we need to shake things up as far as the roster goes.
I wouldn't be shocked if the first match was just to give the Usos a win and some momentum. It probably didn't hurt to see what Rose and Maddox can do as a team, though.
Titus and Slater are somewhat guilty pleasures of mine. They're solid undercard acts.
Fun stuff with PTP. It's a shame they're kind of been overshadowed by New Day.
- Naomi vs. Alicia:
Fine technical wrestling here. I think that's a bit of a lost art in the Highspot Era.
Not a bad match at all! I think they both defied how they've been presented.
- Titus vs. Slater:
Titus is just a straight-up hoss. WWE could use some more of those. TNA and (especially) ROH could use plenty more. Cruiserweights have their place and all, but I think we've gone too far in that direction.
Good match overall. The One Man Band needs something to do. Maybe pair him with someone else who's just kind of hanging out?
Smackdown:
Should be a good main event. I'm excited for Survivor Series when I finally get to catch up on everything.
Owens just isn't clicking quite as well as he did in NXT. Maybe it's because he's in a bigger pond now, but he doesn't seem to be AS big of a deal now.
Zeb is absolutely great. One of the best talkers in modern wrestling. Obviously there's that other guy whose client is BROCK. LESNAR, but let's not forget about good ol' Zeb.
I'm never really crazy about mentioning "ratings" as a serious justification for something. It KIND OF makes sense for MizTV, but in general it's weird to break the fourth wall like that.
Ambrose vs. Owens could really be something. Who would have thought that would have been an option in WWE a few years back? These two were as indie as you could get.
Roman's kind of a boring character. He's just Aggressive Male #497 I feel like. That's not an anti-male comment as much as it is one on going to the well so often.
I miss when Awesome Truth was a thing. Can we get that back somehow?
I also miss when Truth actually had a shot to be WWE Champion. That was a fun period of time before Kevin Nash of all people became the centerpiece. I really want to know if he was a draw in any shape or form in 2011.
This is going kind of long.
That was decent overall, but didn't do much to build heat for the main event. That should have been the point. Miz could have driven a wedge between Dean and Roman or promised to be a thorn in one of their sides or something. Hell, they could have even set up Miz vs. R-Truth for the PPV.
I mostly like Miz. I kind of miss Mizdow to be honest.
- Cesaro vs. Miz:
That wasn't bad as a showcase for the former U.S./Tag Team Champion. He should be challenging Del Rio at some point given the former association with Zeb.
The Stardust/Cesaro feud's still going, I guess.
- Cosmic Wasteland vs. Neville/Dudleys:
Am I the only one who wouldn't mind a Neville/"Bully Ray" feud?
I'm liking the stuff between Neville and Stardust.
I wonder how much money the Dudleys have made WWE. I'm always a little skeptical of nostalgia runs. I wouldn't rule out seeing the Dudleys vs. the Hardys in the middle of 2016, but obviously Matt and Jeff are still in TNA for the time being.
It's kind of weird seeing the Dudleys in 2015. It's like a time travel angle. Good match, though.
I love Tyler Breeze's character, but I wonder how it's getting over with people who aren't familiar with his work from NXT.
Ziggler vs. Breeze should be good. I think they should have had them as a team or Breeze as Ziggler's obnoxious cousin or something, personally. Breeze under Ziggler's wing could have been beneficial.
- Breeze vs. Ryder:
Not a bad match. Too short to show much of what Prince Pretty can do, though.
Too many wrestlers use superkicks now.
IMAGINE how much heat Bray would have going into WM32 if he beat the absolute hell out of Taker and Kane at Survivor Series. On the other hand, imagine how little heat the Wyatts have without doing that. I hope WWE didn't defang the tigers.
I'm excited for what the Wyatts could do/could have done at Survivor Series. Maybe they have a trick Taker and Kane haven't scouted?
That was a pretty cool segment overall.
- Charlotte vs. Brie:
Charlotte's quite the solid athlete. I'm glad she's getting a chance to succeed on the main roster. Not to beat a dead horse, but imagine if she was the focal point of the Divas push overall and they waited to call up Sasha after Charlotte had proven herself against the stalwarts of the division. THEN after those two feuded for a while, they could have given Becky or Bayley their own spotlight. Instead, Sasha and Becky are supporting players and somewhat lost in the shuffle.
Good match overall.
I liked Paige's promo overall. I hope they keep her heel for a while given how often she's turned. Anyone who trusts her as a face now is really asking for it.
I mostly liked New Day's promo, although they kind of threw Kalisto under a bus. He's really talented, but his size is definitely going to limit him going forward.
- Big E vs. Kalisto:
Kalisto's impressive. I'm glad he didn't get immediately squashed by Big E.
That was good while it lasted, I think.
This is presumably setting up an elimination match at Survivor Series. They could add the Dudleys on one side and The Ascension on the other (maybe Stardust could replace Xavier so he could work at ringside?).
I could not care less about Miz and Paige's holiday movie. But remember WWE is trying to be Disney or Marvel in the sense of making content in just about every form they can.
I look forward to Ziggler vs. Breeze. I think they could tear it up.
I'm down with seeing Reigns vs. Ambrose. I have a feeling they'd have Reigns win unless they planned on saving that moment for WM32. I hope Ambrose isn't just Reigns' buddy, happy Reigns won the belt.
- Owens/Del Rio vs. Ambrose/Reigns:
Ambrose is a lot of fun to watch most of the time. I think he can be a big contributing player going forward, even a future champion.
I really think Reigns has improved. Yes, he's the "five moves of doom" style of wrestler, but he's doing that better.
I like the combination of Reigns' power and Ambrose's "throw caution to the wind" style.
Pretty good main event. They all work well.
Nice ending. I look forward to Survivor Series.
More wrestling coming up at some point.
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