Read on for my thoughts on last night's Smackdown Live and Mixed Match Challenge.
Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Monday, October 8, 2018
NWA women's title match set, former WWE Champion returning, SDL matches, and Questions on Bryan's new tights, Impact hiring non-wrestlers, Vince turning Braun, Bryan doing headbutts, and Jarrett as a top guy
Jazz vs. Penelope Ford for the NWA Women's Championship is official for NWA's 70th anniversary event. It will be interesting to see what NWA decides to do there.
Set for Smackdown Live:
- Big Show vs. Randy Orton in a WWE World Cup qualifying match. This is Big Show's first match in 13 months.
- Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy in a WWE World Cup qualifying match. This is Jeff Hardy's first broadcast match since Hell in a Cell.
- Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair for the Smackdown Women's Championship. If Becky gets disqualified, Charlotte becomes the new champion.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Almost definitely a Seahawks reference.
2. Impact has definitely shifted to doing more vignettes lately, for better or worse. It's easier to tape fewer matches per show so they don't have to run as many nights of tapings.
3. Raw needs some credible top heels, and Vince clearly doesn't want to turn Roman, so we got heel Braun instead.
4. They trust Bryan enough to be as safe as can be expected in those circumstances. Obviously nothing's concussion-proof, but he's passed the tests, so he's back.
5. Generally when Jarrett's been pushed as a top guy, there weren't a lot of other options for that spot. In Impact, he trusted himself to get the job done and not leave the company for greener pastures.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Set for Smackdown Live:
- Big Show vs. Randy Orton in a WWE World Cup qualifying match. This is Big Show's first match in 13 months.
- Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy in a WWE World Cup qualifying match. This is Jeff Hardy's first broadcast match since Hell in a Cell.
- Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair for the Smackdown Women's Championship. If Becky gets disqualified, Charlotte becomes the new champion.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Almost definitely a Seahawks reference.
2. Impact has definitely shifted to doing more vignettes lately, for better or worse. It's easier to tape fewer matches per show so they don't have to run as many nights of tapings.
3. Raw needs some credible top heels, and Vince clearly doesn't want to turn Roman, so we got heel Braun instead.
4. They trust Bryan enough to be as safe as can be expected in those circumstances. Obviously nothing's concussion-proof, but he's passed the tests, so he's back.
5. Generally when Jarrett's been pushed as a top guy, there weren't a lot of other options for that spot. In Impact, he trusted himself to get the job done and not leave the company for greener pastures.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Sunday, October 7, 2018
HOH guests, WWE Network content this week, and Questions on Cody returning to the WWEPC, territory-era action figures, and Carlito post-WWE
Edge and David Arquette will appear for HOH on December 8.
WWE Ride Along after Raw will feature the pairs of Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch as well as Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville. I'd like to see Charlotte take Mandy under her wing and Becky take Sonya under hers behind-the-scenes, but those pairings wouldn't make sense for Ride Along.
On this week's WWE Marquee Matches:
- John Cena's debut vs. Kurt Angle
- Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio in a steel cage
- AJ Styles vs. Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship
-- There's a theme of important Smackdown matches leading into the 1000th episode.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
Nothing to add to 1 or 4.
2. No, but I could see him working NXT for a while to boost that brand if he signed back to WWE by himself. If he came as part of a deal with the Young Bucks, etc., I'd think he'd go right to Raw or Smackdown Live to maximize that investment.
3. I think an argument can be made the target audience for action figures isn't as likely to buy figures from those eras, with a few exceptions.
5. He gets pretty regular work. WWE just wasn't a good fit for him.
More wrestling coming up.
WWE Ride Along after Raw will feature the pairs of Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch as well as Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville. I'd like to see Charlotte take Mandy under her wing and Becky take Sonya under hers behind-the-scenes, but those pairings wouldn't make sense for Ride Along.
On this week's WWE Marquee Matches:
- John Cena's debut vs. Kurt Angle
- Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio in a steel cage
- AJ Styles vs. Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship
-- There's a theme of important Smackdown matches leading into the 1000th episode.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
Nothing to add to 1 or 4.
2. No, but I could see him working NXT for a while to boost that brand if he signed back to WWE by himself. If he came as part of a deal with the Young Bucks, etc., I'd think he'd go right to Raw or Smackdown Live to maximize that investment.
3. I think an argument can be made the target audience for action figures isn't as likely to buy figures from those eras, with a few exceptions.
5. He gets pretty regular work. WWE just wasn't a good fit for him.
More wrestling coming up.
Main Event and Ring Warriors Reax - 10/6/18
Read on for my thoughts on yesterday's Main Event and Ring Warriors.
Saturday, October 6, 2018
Interviews with Jeff Hardy/Riotts, WWE talent scholarships, new ROH iPPV matches, previous Aussie stadium show on WWE Network, Midnight Express member beats cancer, WWE wins a lot of social media awards, Impact audience, new Cena merch, Riotts commemorate debut, and Questions on NJPW's U.S. attendance, Punk-WWE, AJ Lee-WWE, and Marko Stunt's age
Jeff Hardy spoke before Smackdown Live. Jeff has been largely absent from the ring since Hell In A Cell, which makes sense. I'm curious when we'll see him work on TV again.
The Riott Squad promoted Super Show-Down.
Vickie Guerrero, Josh Woods, and former WWEPC recruit Theo Agbi received scholarships from WWE. I'm glad they're getting help in their endeavors. It will be interesting to see how much we see Woods in ROH as he continues his education.
ROH's October 12 event in Maryland has added Jeff Cobb vs. Eli Isom, as well as TK O'Ryan and Vinny Marseglia vs. Kenny King and Flip Gordon.
WWE Network added WWE's previous Australian stadium show from 2002. It's amazing how hot the product was then, where a Smackdown only show that wasn't on PPV drew more than 50,000 fans.
The Midnight Express' Dennis Condrey has won his battle with cancer, and will be appearing with Jim Cornette and Bobby Eaton in December for the group's 35th anniversary.
WWE won 23 awards at W3 for their social media work. That's really impressive!
Impact Wrestling drew 190,000 viewers Thursday night in another weak showing from a show that drew 251,000 52 weeks prior. It's entirely possible wrestling's audience losses lately are due to people being more captivated by cable news networks during a very contentious political season. Politicians and pundits are practically cutting wrestling promos these days.
John Cena has new merchandise to match his return to WWE.
The Riott Squad got matching tattoos to match their Smackdown Live debut. That's commitment!
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. They definitely need to take some lessons for what to do and not to do next time. Contrast NJPW in California to WWE in Australia and Saudi Arabia, for starters. Of course, timing is also a big issue.
2. He's focused on MMA and movies and the like now. I don't think he's going to go back unless he really needs the money and/or is offered a dream scenario like what led to Shawn Michaels' return. He was miserable at the end of his wrestling career, and he's not eager to revisit that.
3. Very, very low. She's also seemingly moved on from the business, and it could definitely be a contentious issue if she returned while Punk was on the outs with the company.
4. I haven't seen anything, either.
5. He's apparently 22. Then again, the business is built on exaggerations, right?
More wrestling tomorrow.
The Riott Squad promoted Super Show-Down.
Vickie Guerrero, Josh Woods, and former WWEPC recruit Theo Agbi received scholarships from WWE. I'm glad they're getting help in their endeavors. It will be interesting to see how much we see Woods in ROH as he continues his education.
ROH's October 12 event in Maryland has added Jeff Cobb vs. Eli Isom, as well as TK O'Ryan and Vinny Marseglia vs. Kenny King and Flip Gordon.
WWE Network added WWE's previous Australian stadium show from 2002. It's amazing how hot the product was then, where a Smackdown only show that wasn't on PPV drew more than 50,000 fans.
The Midnight Express' Dennis Condrey has won his battle with cancer, and will be appearing with Jim Cornette and Bobby Eaton in December for the group's 35th anniversary.
WWE won 23 awards at W3 for their social media work. That's really impressive!
Impact Wrestling drew 190,000 viewers Thursday night in another weak showing from a show that drew 251,000 52 weeks prior. It's entirely possible wrestling's audience losses lately are due to people being more captivated by cable news networks during a very contentious political season. Politicians and pundits are practically cutting wrestling promos these days.
John Cena has new merchandise to match his return to WWE.
The Riott Squad got matching tattoos to match their Smackdown Live debut. That's commitment!
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. They definitely need to take some lessons for what to do and not to do next time. Contrast NJPW in California to WWE in Australia and Saudi Arabia, for starters. Of course, timing is also a big issue.
2. He's focused on MMA and movies and the like now. I don't think he's going to go back unless he really needs the money and/or is offered a dream scenario like what led to Shawn Michaels' return. He was miserable at the end of his wrestling career, and he's not eager to revisit that.
3. Very, very low. She's also seemingly moved on from the business, and it could definitely be a contentious issue if she returned while Punk was on the outs with the company.
4. I haven't seen anything, either.
5. He's apparently 22. Then again, the business is built on exaggerations, right?
More wrestling tomorrow.
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