Read on for my thoughts on last night's Smackdown and 205 Live.
- Jinder/Singhs/Randy:
I assume Jinder will have his associates inside the prison with him.
From House of Horrors to a Punjabi Prison. Orton's had quite the year.
It's a pretty crazy match as far as being somewhat convoluted. It also lacks the satisfaction of one side losing to a finishing move and a pinfall. I assume the Singhs will keep Randy occupied so Jinder can escape.
Hahaha nice line about Randy's face.
Oh, wow. That would be a hell of a fall.
I was KIND OF hoping they'd bring up Randy being in a military prison way back when, but that's been a long time and they probably don't want to glamorize it.
I'm still not 100% sure why the Singhs are working with Jinder. I might have missed something.
Randy's like "dude, I've been WWE Champion thirteen times now. I'm not sweating this."
Jinder does have a lot of pressure headlining a PPV.
"Jacked-up ass" cracked me up for some reason.
- Jimmy vs. Kofi:
I love New Day's fun actions.
Good work between these two so far.
Kofi's pretty smooth here.
I'm glad to see the Usos as heels. It was really time for a change.
This is pretty fun.
I love the big crossbody reversal finish every once in a while.
- Shane/women:
I'm starting to get tired of a big bickering segment here.
Wow, Lana basically thrown under a bus.
Oh, my God this is high school.
Oooh. Charlotte burying Becky.
That should be a good match.
- Gable interview:
I was going to say this is a weird storyline, but, hey, let Angle have a mixed-race son. I hope he has a "healthy relationship with the mom" despite being married.
This was definitely a big change for the former teammates!
I hope both Gable and Jordan get to go somewhere with their careers now.
- Mike Kanellis vs. Zayn:
I expected this to be saved for Battleground. If anything, Mike should have a squash match with a jobber here.
I like Sami going strong here.
Good grudge work so far.
Mike's a solid guy. I just think he got too much of a push in GFW.
Maria saving her man!!
That wasn't bad to establish the Kanellises.
- Cena/Rusev:
Oh God it's time for another Big Face John promo.
I do think Cena makes a hell of a hype man.
I question how much the 2017 WWE audience wants to see "U.S. good, other countries bad" angles.
"You have to pull for me if you love AMERICA!" might have worked in the '80s, but I don't know if it resonates with people as well now.
Dude whatever I'd let Rusev put his flag up. I don't want to end up in the hospital from the Accolade! Hell, I'll kneel while he does it.
This is really a thing. WWE's really doing a "MERICA" angle in 2017. That's OK for Tribute to the Troops, but I see far too much of the U.S. flag being showcased in an aggressive "our way or the highway" way in the modern world.
Oh God, thank you Rusev.
I hope Rusev isn't sacrificed to John.
It's going to be hard to buy Cena not prevailing as he always does, but at least Rusev got to put a hurt on him tonight.
- AJ/Nakamura:
This is a pretty cool moment given their history in NJPW. I just wonder how much the WWE audience cares these two were big deals somewhere else.
- Becky vs. Charlotte:
I love the feeling out process.
Nice so far.
I like Becky going for the kill with DisArmHer, and it being sold like it's a really big deal.
The impracticality of springboard moves exposed!
I really like both competitors.
I love that Charlotte pulls from what her dad did without just being "Ric Flair's daughter."
I like Becky, but she's kind of the... umm... red-headed stepchild of the Horsewomen.
I love the counters here!
This is really good. Wow.
That was a nice ending. Good win for Becky, and I'm glad to see Charlotte moved down the card a bit so others can shine.
- Post-match:
Glad there's no hard feelings. Even with the dirtiest daughter in the game.
So, like, are Lana and Rusev still together in WWE kayfabe? I'm confused as hell.
I think I'd actually pop for Lana sneaking a win off Tamina. I love a heel that actually riles people up in 2017.
- Noami/Carmella:
Oh that was lame as hell. Babyfaces can be really milquetoast.
I miss Ellsworth! I'm BEGGING WWE to sign "his sister Jane Ellsworth" to Smackdown.
- Fashion X Files:
The "Day 1 is H" stuff has me DYING. I'm glad they don't beat us over the head with explaining the joke.
Hahah I'm glad Aiden made the show tonight!
I loved the Max Moon reference. Clever stuff like that gets me.
I'm dying.
I can only imagine what this is all leading to.
- Shinsuke/AJ vs. Owens/Corbin:
WE FIGHT ON TUESDAY NIGHTS MAGGLE I LOVE IT
I liked the quick start to build heat for Sunday.
Owens and Corbin make a pretty fitting pair.
Pretty solid action here.
I like how Shinsuke and Corbin play off each other. It's good to have different styles and backgrounds meshing instead of everyone doing flips or everyone being a big powerhouse.
Nice teamwork from the heels.
This is all good.
Glad to see Shinsuke on a bigger stage showing off his strikes.
Styles has good babyface fire.
I like AJ having multiple tools with which to win.
And now things are spilling out of the ring, which is good.
Owens is a smart competitor, and that got him the win here.
-- 205 Live:
- Gulak vs. Mustafa:
-- Fall One:
Nice start.
I like Ali staying grounded so far.
Wow. Those flips coming in handy.
I'm surprised this isn't headlining the show. Instead, it's going pretty quickly.
-- Fall Two:
Gulak is SHOOK.
This is pretty solid. Mustafa isn't JUST flips.
This is a nice clash of techniques.
Solid work here.
I'm liking Mustafa more here. He's showing more to his game.
OUCH. That pull off the turnbucks.
Gulak getting vicious here.
Good fall from Drew.
-- Fall Three:
BAH GAWD REF BREAK THE DAMN HOLD!!!!
This is heating up pretty well. The quick pace means more now because they built to it.
This is like a game of chess. Each man has a clear style and strategy.
Ali's stamina might prevail here.
That would have been two crossbody reversal wins in one night!
I'm liking this a good deal. They know each other pretty well and are having a grand finale.
I'm loving the counter-wrestling.
Haha Gulak don't do it man!! Stay safe on the ground!
Oh, man. That high-flying stuff really is dangerous!!
Good work overall.
- Apollo/Tozawa:
I'm liking this story overall.
Good continuity with the two pre-WWE buddies.
- Kendrick promo:
This is weird. Brian's going back to the "9/11 was holograms" days.
Brian's a little paranoid here.
I'd pop for Devin actually giving up and not wrestling Brian.
- Kendrick vs. D. Bennett:
Brian can be really intense. It's a sharp contrast from Spanky.
Kendrick the American hero saving us from those mean ol' Brits!
- TJP interview:
God, TJP is such a natural douche.
Next week should be fun.
- Ariya promo:
I would pop for Ariya getting an Iron Sheik gimmick.
That was pretty good overall.
- Tozawa vs. Ariya:
Tozawa's got something to prove here.
Daivari's smart to try to avoid Tozawa's strikes!
I also love the obvious but effective strategy of working on Akira's arm.
Ariya knows what he's doing here.
Ariya really targeting Tozawa here.
Tozawa's like a wounded animal fighting back.
Yeah doing a suicide dive with a hurt arm probably wasn't the right move.
This is pretty solid overall.
I'm liking these two getting a spotlight in a match that isn't just thrown together to fill time.
I'm surprised the frog splash didn't finish him off!
Tozawa eking one out there. That arm's troubling him.
- Post-match:
Oh yeah, Ariya not happy about taking that L.
More wrestling coming up.
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