Read on for my thoughts on yesterday's ROH and Smackdown.
ROH:
- Naito/Lethal vs. Okada/YOSHI-HASHI:
I hate when a match starts off with showing off athleticism. "Oh, you can do a backlip? I can do a kip up!"
Lethal's an upper midcard guy at best. Unfortunately, ROH doesn't really have many believable main eventers, so he's their champion.
The NJPW show featuring ROH talents...
I liked when Naito and YOSHI were trading shots.
Okada's definitely incredibly athletic.
This is picking up. Lots of action.
YOSHI's impressing me here.
This is going long...
Blehhhhh.... I couldn't care less about most of these people because their angles never really cross over with ROH.
- KUSHIDA vs. Kazarian:
The knuckle lock was a fun start.
Nice chain wrestling.
KUSHIDA's really growing on me. I don't know why that many capital letters are necessary, but he's doing good work.
Kazarian can be a pretty solid worker. It's good to have a veteran like him in ROH.
Getting a little flippy here, but the rest of the wrestling in the match has been good.
That was a good counter to the handspring move.
Really good match. I want to see more of KUSHIDA in ROH.
OK, the culture shock of the Briscoes in Japan was pretty funny. Nice to see that to add balance to the show.
- The Elite vs. reDRagon/Shibata:
Well this is starting off wild.
GENIUS stereo cross armbreaker spot.
Lots of stereo and repeat spots.
Ughhhhh... all this flippy.
The Young Bucks are just painful to watch. Their characters are way too over-the-top, and their matches often look unrealistic.
That was toning down nicely until the superkick spots.
More really choreographed spots.
Yeah it's about time to wrap this one up.
If I see one more superkick...
O'Reilly's someone worth watching in the years to come. He looks like he can work the WWE style.
The Bucks can do some really incredible things. I mean, holy shit.
Smackdown:
I like Reigns cutting short promos and getting to the point.
Miz and Maryse have been a lot of fun.
Hollywood Miz has been a fresh addition to his act.
I like Reigns punching Miz instead of cutting a long promo. He's better when he doesn't have awful dialogue to deliver.
Reigns handing Maryse the IC Title was a nice touch.
I'm surprised they mentioned Barrett. I kind of assumed he was going to just suddenly not exist in kayfabe and quietly disappear when his contract ends.
- LoN vs. Kalisto/Zayn/Cesaro:
So much for those rumors of Sami Zayn being Kalisto. For some reason people think Zayn used to wrestle under a mask?
I like Rusev using his strength to work over Kalisto. You don't need flip piledrivers when you can just choke the other guy out.
I don't really see any reason to split LoN unless one of them's turning face. I was hoping to see Rowan/Strowman/Barrett vs. LoN in a thrown-together feud while Bray recovers.
How about at Extreme Rules Kalisto defends in a fatal four way with the current LoNers? Since they're at each other's throats.
I like Cesaro, but I think he overuses European uppercuts.
I hope LoN's problems actually lead to something.
We really need Del Rio vs. Rusev vs. Sheamus at Payback. They deserve a spot on that show.
- Corbin vs. Sandow:
I like Corbin's offense. He doesn't need any flashy moves to kick ass.
I mean, damn. That was just a massacre.
Styles vs. Roman is a pretty good angle.
Hopefully Ambrose vs. Y2J is a hell of a match and leads to an all-out war at Extreme Rules.
Good promo from Dean. Nice to actually put over his opponent.
I hate Bret doesn't give a damn about his Payback appearance. Hopefully both Flairs kick his ass.
I don't like the insinuation Charlotte isn't good enough. Hopefully she'll prove Natalya wrong with a clean win.
I kind of want to see Flair vs. Bret on the moon now...
- Dallas/Axel vs. Enzo/Cass:
It's crazy they're not acknowledging Adam Rose's disappearance.
I wish the Outcasts got a promo before this match. That could have been fun.
Axel works hard. I admire that.
That was a pretty good match for the time it got.
I'm excited for Enzo and Cass vs. the Vaudevillains.
The Golden Truth segments have been pretty entertaining. Silly, but entertaining.
Hopefully after a brand split, guys like Breeze and Fandango get more TV time.
Blah blah blah Puerto Rico blah blah. Without Carlito, El Torito, or Rosa, these guys just aren't interesting.
- Crews vs. Stardust:
Stardust is a good opponent to make Crews more well-rounded and used to working longer matches.
I'm liking Stardust's work here.
That was pretty good overall. How long until Crews vs. Viktor?
- Reigns vs. Miz:
Miz playing keepaway is great. He's one of the best heels in WWE right now.
I like smug, confrontational Roman Reigns best. I really want to see him paired with Gallows and Anderson as a heel.
Maryse helping Miz being even more of a weasel is great.
That was pretty good!
This is a pretty wild post-match. That's usually pretty fun.
Nice ending. I can't wait for Payback.
More wrestling coming up.
Payback predictions:
ReplyDelete- I suppose Kalisto wins to start the show off in a positive fashion/warm the crowd up. I can see Kalisto feuding with Rusev or Sheamus going forward since LoN is apparently done.
- I'm leaning toward Corbin, since he could be a U.S. Title contender in the near future. They could also have Ziggler win to continue the feud a little longer.
- I expect the Vaudevillains to go on to face New Day, with the Dudleys attacking Enzo and Cass to set up another round between those teams at the next PPV.
- I could see Natalya winning to have a feel-good moment with Bret after his recent health scare. Or maybe they save her win for Extreme Rules... OR maybe they keep it on Charlotte to set up a feud with NXT's Bayley around the time of Summerslam.
- I see Owens destroying Zayn to set something big up for Extreme Rules, but Sami might surprise him with a win here first.
- Jericho will probably continue getting heat with a win over Ambrose, clean or otherwise. No matter who wins, I see Jericho getting heat leading to a rematch in three weeks.
- I don't see why Miz would lose the title so soon. I expect Maryse will help him retain.
- I REALLY don't see Reigns losing the title. Anderson and Gallows will either side with him in a big swerve or turn on AJ to eventually side with NXT's Finn Balor (who teamed with those two before they teamed with AJ).
I know most of this is "maybe this happens, or maybe this!" but they've got another PPV to sell in three weeks. Most of these matches will probably set something up for that.