ROH:
As critical as I usually am of ROH, it bears repeating last week's episode was really good. Almost everything clicked, and it didn't just feel like a bunch of matches for the sake of matches.
- Moose vs. Naito:
Naito's quickly becoming one of my favorites on this show. He's got good attitude.
How long until we get a Moose/Apollo Crews tag team?
This is going well. It feels like a fight and a contest instead of a spotfest.
I enjoy Moose's power.
This is good. They're working together well.
Naito's really impressive, and Moose is doing pretty well for himself, too.
That was good.
If ANX is actually going to change things from the current state of the ROH tag team division, they're probably going to be my favorite team. They need to do something different from the other duos here.
- ANX vs. Liger/Cheeseburger:
Good heat to start off with.
I'm liking this so far.
Good teamwork from ANX.
Good work from both sides at this point.
That was pretty solid overall.
I couldn't care much less about Strong vs. Briscoe, unless Strong's leaving.
Silas Young is the gimmick ROH NEEDS. He's the face as far as I'm concerned.
Bleh. ACH. Too many flippy guys in wrestling these days.
- O'Reilly vs. KUSHIDA:
This is pretty exciting so far.
Nice submission wrestling and psychology so far.
NICE Pele/ankle lock spot.
Both men working hard. KUSHIDA's a little on the flippy side, but it's mostly solid.
This is a fight AND a solid submission match. I'm liking it.
Quite the solid encounter!
Smackdown:
I hope this is the last talk show segment for a while. We've seen more than enough Asylums and Highlight Reels lately.
I'm pretty burned out on Jericho vs. Ambrose.
"Talk show segment descends into a bunch of people arguing with each other about who's going to win the match" is very formulaic.
I'm glad we didn't have to listen to too many people go on about winning MITB.
If people haven't been sold on the MITB match coming into Smackdown, I don't see this segment changing their minds. I'd rather see another feud get the spotlight.
- Gallows vs. Cass vs. English vs. Kofi:
I'm very glad this is a tornado match. Wrestling could use more of those.
That was fine for the time it had. I wouldn't be surprised to see a title change Sunday.
Charlotte losing to Paige Monday when Paige isn't even booked for MITB was ridiculous.
Not a bad women's segment, but I'm ready to get to Charlotte vs. Sasha.
- Ryder vs. Corbin:
Corbin's motivated to send a message to Ziggler.
Ryder's got some good fire here.
This match could have been pretty good if it had more time.
I'm ready for Corbin/Ziggler to wrap up.
- Rusev vs. Kalisto:
HOLY SHIT. Brutal suplex from Kalisto's entrance.
The champion wasting no time destroying the former champion.
Rusev's just a force of nature.
Rusev vs. Titus should be a pretty good hossfest.
I'm excited for Cena vs. AJ.
New Day always funny with the banter.
AJ vs. Woods should be pretty good.
- AJ vs. Xavier:
A collision of TNA alums!
This is going pretty well so far.
Styles has Woods where he wants him.
Woods is putting up more of a fight than I expected.
This is enjoyable. Strong showing by Xavier.
Really good match.
Nice post-match to send a message to Cena, but this was hardly a dominant showing.
Fun enough Backlund/Young segment, but it's starting to run long in the tooth without actually seeing Darren in the ring again.
- Natalya vs. Charlotte:
These two generally work together pretty well.
Solid performance this far.
That was pretty solid. I'm ready for Sunday's show.
- Ambrose/Cesaro/Zayn vs. Y2J/Owens/Del Rio:
I'm liking the fight being brought early.
Yeah, I'm pretty over the European uppercut spot. It's overused.
The swing is also not something I'm crazy about.
I liked Del Rio capitalizing on Cesaro trying to win via submission on the wrong person.
Zayn's always a lot of fun to watch.
Pretty good work between Del Rio and Ambrose.
EUROPEAN UPPERCUT PARTY!!111 LOLS.
Mercifully, it's over. I've seen more than enough from all these people facing off lately. No matter how good someone is, seeing them on TV this often can be a buzzkill.
More wrestling coming up.
As critical as I usually am of ROH, it bears repeating last week's episode was really good. Almost everything clicked, and it didn't just feel like a bunch of matches for the sake of matches.
- Moose vs. Naito:
Naito's quickly becoming one of my favorites on this show. He's got good attitude.
How long until we get a Moose/Apollo Crews tag team?
This is going well. It feels like a fight and a contest instead of a spotfest.
I enjoy Moose's power.
This is good. They're working together well.
Naito's really impressive, and Moose is doing pretty well for himself, too.
That was good.
If ANX is actually going to change things from the current state of the ROH tag team division, they're probably going to be my favorite team. They need to do something different from the other duos here.
- ANX vs. Liger/Cheeseburger:
Good heat to start off with.
I'm liking this so far.
Good teamwork from ANX.
Good work from both sides at this point.
That was pretty solid overall.
I couldn't care much less about Strong vs. Briscoe, unless Strong's leaving.
Silas Young is the gimmick ROH NEEDS. He's the face as far as I'm concerned.
Bleh. ACH. Too many flippy guys in wrestling these days.
- O'Reilly vs. KUSHIDA:
This is pretty exciting so far.
Nice submission wrestling and psychology so far.
NICE Pele/ankle lock spot.
Both men working hard. KUSHIDA's a little on the flippy side, but it's mostly solid.
This is a fight AND a solid submission match. I'm liking it.
Quite the solid encounter!
Smackdown:
I hope this is the last talk show segment for a while. We've seen more than enough Asylums and Highlight Reels lately.
I'm pretty burned out on Jericho vs. Ambrose.
"Talk show segment descends into a bunch of people arguing with each other about who's going to win the match" is very formulaic.
I'm glad we didn't have to listen to too many people go on about winning MITB.
If people haven't been sold on the MITB match coming into Smackdown, I don't see this segment changing their minds. I'd rather see another feud get the spotlight.
- Gallows vs. Cass vs. English vs. Kofi:
I'm very glad this is a tornado match. Wrestling could use more of those.
That was fine for the time it had. I wouldn't be surprised to see a title change Sunday.
Charlotte losing to Paige Monday when Paige isn't even booked for MITB was ridiculous.
Not a bad women's segment, but I'm ready to get to Charlotte vs. Sasha.
- Ryder vs. Corbin:
Corbin's motivated to send a message to Ziggler.
Ryder's got some good fire here.
This match could have been pretty good if it had more time.
I'm ready for Corbin/Ziggler to wrap up.
- Rusev vs. Kalisto:
HOLY SHIT. Brutal suplex from Kalisto's entrance.
The champion wasting no time destroying the former champion.
Rusev's just a force of nature.
Rusev vs. Titus should be a pretty good hossfest.
I'm excited for Cena vs. AJ.
New Day always funny with the banter.
AJ vs. Woods should be pretty good.
- AJ vs. Xavier:
A collision of TNA alums!
This is going pretty well so far.
Styles has Woods where he wants him.
Woods is putting up more of a fight than I expected.
This is enjoyable. Strong showing by Xavier.
Really good match.
Nice post-match to send a message to Cena, but this was hardly a dominant showing.
Fun enough Backlund/Young segment, but it's starting to run long in the tooth without actually seeing Darren in the ring again.
- Natalya vs. Charlotte:
These two generally work together pretty well.
Solid performance this far.
That was pretty solid. I'm ready for Sunday's show.
- Ambrose/Cesaro/Zayn vs. Y2J/Owens/Del Rio:
I'm liking the fight being brought early.
Yeah, I'm pretty over the European uppercut spot. It's overused.
The swing is also not something I'm crazy about.
I liked Del Rio capitalizing on Cesaro trying to win via submission on the wrong person.
Zayn's always a lot of fun to watch.
Pretty good work between Del Rio and Ambrose.
EUROPEAN UPPERCUT PARTY!!111 LOLS.
Mercifully, it's over. I've seen more than enough from all these people facing off lately. No matter how good someone is, seeing them on TV this often can be a buzzkill.
More wrestling coming up.
MITB predictions:
ReplyDelete- Corbin
- Apollo in an upset. I don't think they'd have heels win both Kickoff matches.
- Natalya and Becky to get revenge for all their title match losses.
- Rusev
- The Club
- AJ, possibly due to Club/Balor interference.
- Owens
- Roman
As far as surprises go, Orton and the Wyatts are waiting in the wings, in addition to Finn Balor. Bray being a surprise MITB entrant and winning would be a nice change of pace. Or Bray and/or Orton could get involved in Roman vs. Rollins to add fuel to the proceedings and distract from Roman retaining.
Logical predictions there. I honestly haven't been watching as much, so we'll see what happens. Having 10 matches is very interesting. What is your predictions on the pre-show matches? I'll say R-Truth and Goldust will get revenge on Breeze and Fandango and will say the Dudley Boyz will keep their decline going by losing to the Lucha Dragons.
ReplyDeleteI will say Corbin will sneak by. This has been a surprisingly long feud. On my count, this is the fourth televised match between him and Ziggler, so I will say with Corbin winning the Andre Battle Royal, they want him elevated. Ziggler is kind of reminding me of a young Chris Jericho in that he's been booked as the reliable and talented guy that puts up a solid fight, but loses to the guy being elevated.
I also say Crews wins. Sheamus really has been in a funk. Hard to believe he was the WWE W.H. Champion just four months or so ago. Crews is impressive. He seems to be a step ahead of others his size in that he can also talk well.
I honestly didn't even know there was a Divas match taking place. I guess it's just me not caring much, but I will flip a coin and say Natalya and Becky win with it being a tag match.
I also say Rusev will win. Titus seems to be a bit of a throw-in. He'll put up a good fight, but I don't see Rusev losing the title so soon.
I'm surprised to hear you're picking the New Day to lose. I can see that with them holding the titles so long. I noticed in the times I've watched, Cole keeps mentioning the amount of days they've held the titles, so it could happen. I say New Day retains, but we'll see for how long.
The odds makers are apparently saying Styles will win over Cena, but I'm not so sure. Cena is just coming back and he is the face of the company, after all. Then again, a loss for Styles would definitely make some truth of the arguments that he has come up short time and time again. This one is really close. I'll say Styles finds a shady way to win, but this feud will not be over. I see Cena getting his typical "end-of-the-feud" victory, eventually.
Interesting you're picking Owens. I would predict him as my second choice. I know I'm playing to the odds makers here, but I'll say Ambrose. He's kind of been fluttering at the mid/upper card for a few years now and I think this could cement him in the upper card. He deserves it.
The Reigns/Rollins match is pretty intriguing, as well. On one hand, Rollins is just returning, and a loss wouldn't make as much sense with him being upper card. I don't think Rollins will win the title, but I see some sort of shady finish. I see the most likely scenario being either Reigns winning by DQ or some sort of other shady finish.
Orton returning makes sense.
I see 10 matches as being indicative of how many names they're trying to keep relevant at once ahead of the brand extension. They're actually putting effort in something like Breezango vs. Golden Truth. I also think they might have rushed in calling up Crews and Corbin, but at least those two have matches/feuds.
ReplyDelete"Babyfaces win" is usually the case on Kickoff. Especially when matches are announced a few days before the show. Those matches are primarily to warm the crowd up as they fill into the building. I hope the Dudleys get a win; I'm surprised they're losing so much.
I hope they have a longer plan for Corbin. Having him suddenly show up and win the Andre battle royal was a nice surprise, but it felt like something of a last-minute decision. There was no hype for him being part of that match; he just showed up and won it.
I feel sorry for Ziggler. I'm a little surprised he re-signed while Barrett didn't and Cody asked for his release. Inertia is working against him in that he's been there so long without doing anything in a while. At least he's not quite Jack Swagger level.
Sheamus as champ was a last-minute thing to give Roman a mountain to climb on the road to Mania, but I see what you mean.
I like Crews' athleticism, but don't think he has a strong personality. He's definitely really impressive as an athlete his size.
The women's division seems like it's spinning its tires for a while until we get Charlotte vs. Sasha and/or Charlotte vs. Stephanie. I'm curious to see if they try to do two separate women's divisions; NXT has a couple of good prospects, but I don't know think it's quite strong enough to support Raw, Smackdown, and NXT women's titles. Some names are on the shelf for a while, and it's not like Eva Marie, Lana, and Rosa Mendes are going to contribute much in the ring.
New Day keeps surprising me by winning. They're running out of opponents, though, and The Club are credible enough to get the win. New Day would be protected if another team was pinned for The Club to win, so they have a good out.
I can definitely see Styles winning here only to lose at Battleground and Summerslam, or something of the sort where Cena prevails but AJ doesn't get totally hosed in defeat. I really wonder where the other Clubbers will be, including NXT's Finn Balor (who led the group in Japan before AJ did).
Ambrose winning would be a nice change of pace from the shady heel getting it done. My only "gripe" would be he shouldn't need the briefcase to get a title shot after being in previous title matches. He definitely deserves a top spot.
Orton or the Wyatts running in during the main event wouldn't surprise me at all. It would save either competitor from a clean loss.
Also, what do you think of Darren Young's new gimmick?
Time will tell with Young's gimmick. I've gotten fairly jaded with Youtube comments, but I have noticed his clips have gotten almost as much "dislikes" versus "likes," so I'm a bit worried the WWE Universe may not enjoy his gimmick so much. I'm not going to write it off so quickly, though. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteI was absolutely shocked to hear not only Rollins won against Reigns, but to see Ambrose cash in his briefcase so quickly. What do you think was the justification there? We figured: 1) Reigns would keep the title for a while and 2) If Ambrose won MITB, he would either unsuccessfully cash in or WWE would wait a bit for him to cash in. That was an absolute curveball by WWE to have him win it. What is your take?
It's an interesting pairing based on a real-life friendship. My main concern is the WWE Universe as a whole not being familiar with Backlund. He hasn't appeared in WWE in quite some time. Also it seems like they're in a "holding pattern" with Young until the brand extension since they haven't had him wrestle on TV since pairing with Backlund. Hopefully once they're in front of a live crowd, it will click better.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like they really wanted to shake things up and give us a big Shield feud. I know they really want fans to come back to the product with the New Era, live Smackdown, and draft, so switching the title to a less polarizing babyface could be part of that. It also moves us away from the usual "heel wins and takes months to cash in" thing. It's a bold idea.
I'm particularly interested in what this means for Reigns, as his push is back in the "stop" of the start-stop rotation. The fans who just want to see the top babyface prevail all the time might see him as someone who can't get the job done. Cena held the WWE Title for almost a year when he first won it (despite the big boos); Reigns hasn't built up that kind of momentum.