-- Main Event:
- Curtis vs. Titus:
Fine work to open things up.
I like these two.
Titus is straightfoward, but effective with his offense, while Axel always works hard.
Pretty good work.
I enjoyed that ending.
- Ariya/Nese vs. Lince/Metalik:
Fine work to start things off.
I'm enjoying this so far for a fairly meaningless match. To be clear, it's OK for WWE to have some "exhibition" matches because they have so much TV time to fill. ROH, not so much.
I'm glad WWE picked Metalik up. He's got some great agility.
I like Nese bringing something different to the match.
This is pretty good!
WOW. Nice handspring stunner.
Not bad, but the ending was kind of a letdown. Ariya could use a better finisher.
Crazzy Steve has finished up with Impact Wrestling. That's a real shame. I think Decay added something pretty different to the show. I assume Abyss will go back to wearing the mask and being "the monster," and I'd like to think Jarrett, Mantel, and Prichard will make good use of him in that role considering their previous time together. Could we see Joseph Park return, too? As for Steve, I hope we haven't seen the last of him. NXT and ROH would both be interesting options. The latter particularly needs some more interesting personalities.
Kenny Omega and Hiroshi Tanahashi have been added to the War of the Worlds. Those are two of the biggest non-WWE stars in the world, and for good reason. It will be nice to see them again.
The Sandman recently had surgery for a hernia. He followed that up by working a street fight at House of Hardcore. THAT'S hardcore.
Some NXT live event notes from Florida:
- Wesley Blake teamed with Steve Cutler.
- Tino Sabbatelli worked a singles match, losing to No Way Jose. Tino had been teaming with Riddick Moss.
- Buddy Murphy teamed with Kassius Ohno and Roderick Strong, defeating Eric Young, Killian Dain, and Alexander Wolfe. So it looks like potential new teamings for both Blake and Murphy.
- Rich Swann beat Noam Dar.
- Lana worked her new dancing gimmick, with Mary Kate (the former Andrea/Rosie Lottalove) as her manager in a win over Ruby Riot. So we're in for something new from Lana on Smackdown. Fine by me.
Vader collapsed in the ring during a match in Japan, but insists it wasn't related to his heart condition. I really hope he gets to give a big HoF speech next year after reports of being in poor health. There are few men more deserving of the honor than Big Van.
Mojo Rawley talked to Fox Sports:
- More press from Gronk working Mania. How much mainstream press did Aries vs. Neville get?
- Ryder has been a great "soldier" for the company.
- Mojo's got his work cut out for him proving he's worth getting that win over Braun Strowman.
- I'd watch Gronk vs. Jinder. Or Gronk and the Hype Bros vs. Jinder and whatever they're renaming the Bollywood Boyz.
- Oh, yeah. I expected maybe ten draft moves total. I see why they went the route they went, though. There are fresh faces all over the place.
Impact Wrestling drew 320,000 viewers for a live-ish episode with some notable returns and Lashley vs. James Storm for the World Title. That's a small jump from last week, but not what I expected.
C.M. Punk promoted a convention appearance. I bet he's going to get roasted over that UFC loss.
Matt Hardy appeared at House of Hardcore and cut a promo but didn't wrestle as advertised. The implication was WWE was behind that. It's possible they didn't want someone they just signed doing a crazy street fight and getting injured.
Curt Hawkins worked Raw live events this weekend, but the rest of the roster was what it was before the shakeup. Nothing against Hawkins, but I don't see anyone protesting he wasn't on Smackdown's show with the rest of the people who've been drafted to Mondays.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
Nothing to really add to 1, 3, or 4.
2. I could see him holding gold as a tag team guy, since his biggest strength is making others look good. Pair him with someone who could use a solid veteran at his side and they might be onto something. I think there are some interesting options on that end, namely Erick Rowan, James Ellsworth, Luke Harper, Rusev, and Sami Zayn. He could mold with any of those names to make something work. That's a good quality to have.
5. There's no competing with that answer. In the modern era, I'd go with Nexus-era Wade Barrett.
More wrestling tomorrow.
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