I don’t know if anybody reads this stuff, but I like doing it. I’m a writer at heart, or at least try to be, and in between random stories and screenplays, I like to write about wrestling. This blog not only gets me writing – it helps me remember a lot about week-to-week wrestling television that would otherwise be lost to my dwindling mind.
I don’t think any one will mind that I am going to try something new with discussing WWE TV moving forward. Choosing a Match of the Week is fun (and typically easy), and I’ll still discuss them, just maybe not in-depth all the time. When choosing a Match of the Week, a lot that I love about wrestling gets lost in translation: good promos, weird decisions, and most importantly individual performances that aren’t always a part of standout matches but are always the more enjoyable parts of watching this weird thing.
In today’s “New Era” with guys like AJ Styles and Kevin Owens shitting out sweet matches all the time, choosing a Match of the Week also doesn’t typically enable me to discuss C-shows which aren’t always great but deserve some credit (or hatred) for being what they are. I watch Main Event and Superstars every week and I want some god damn credit, you know?
So let’s get into it, OK? Yeah! Cool.
RAW (6/6/16)
- I regret starting out by saying that RAW was kind of a stinker. A lot has been said about three ungodly hours being too long for the wacky world inside Vince McMahon’s head, so I won’t say it here. What I will say is that while today’s wrestling fan has just an embarrassment of riches, including so many indy and Japanese wrestling companies having their own streaming services, and a bunch of world-traveled wrestlers doing their thing on WWE TV five days a week – including three hours for RAW – you also get this weird bottleneck in WWE where guys have to go so long or guys have to attempt “great” standalone matches so much that you often don’t get great “TV” matches. By great TV match, I mean something that’s short and to the point, that gets a dude or lady over, and hooks you and moves logically into the next thing. This was exemplified on this week’s RAW by having three singles matches with very decent wrestlers that all went kind of long and accomplished basically nothing other than filling time and the writing team getting to say they’re building to the next pay-per-view. Sometimes a squash, or a good angle, is a lot better than guys just trading moves for 10 minutes. Shit’s boring.
- So we had Cesaro vs. Chris Jericho, Sami Zayn vs. Alberto del Rio, and probably the twentieth Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose match this year – three pretty solid pairings – and they were all totally decent, completely competent, and absolutely boring.
- The Teddy Long cameos were great fun, though a couple years off TV has left Teddy a little rough on the mic. Still though, a hilarious return that I am not ashamed to say I totally flipped out for.
- The Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins video packages were pretty neat. Love the sports build type stuff. Wrestling in the ring is neat and all, but sometimes you just need a slick video package to get a person hyped, you know?
- This whole show made me fear for the brand split. Despite having a talented roster, WWE right now still clearly lacks the roster depth to pull off a great show every week, especially if you’re splitting this roster in half. Enzo & Big Cass, Rusev, Tyler Breeze and Fandango, Golden Truth – they all did their thing, and it was all decent, but these folks are going to need some true steam behind them if this is going to work.
- I did really like the New Day vs. The Club main event as well as this whole AJ Styles vs. John Cena feud. Nice promo to set things up in the middle of the show, and the main event was good. Xavier Woods getting taken out before the match added a neat dynamic, and Kofi and Big E felt like true babyface stars. Those are two guys I hope get pushed to the moon with the brand split.
MAIN EVENT (6/7/16)
- Main Event was hot this week folks. The show this week threw my whole theory on guys attempting “great” matches kind of out the window already. On RAW they felt lame, but on Main Event there were two legit good matches given basically no story but a lot of time and everything delivered. Sheamus vs. Zack Ryder and Sin Cara vs. Rusev were both kind of amazing. Sheamus the main eventer usually bores me but Sheamus the undercard guy with something to prove is tremendous. Meanwhile, Zack Ryder is a guy who everybody clearly respects and has really put everything together this year. He got a ton of offense and looked like a legit threat here. This went almost 15 minutes, had a bunch of highs and lows, finished strong. Just an awesome match out of nowhere that people should really seek out.
- Sin Cara vs. Rusev was also really good. It started hot with Sin Cara doing his flip entrance and Rusev just immediately clotheslining him. Between this and the Swagger match from SmackDown!, Rusev attacking guys before the bell needs to be a thing. This was basically an extended Rusev squash for about 10 minutes, and then suddenly they decide to tack on like 5 minutes of Sin Cara offense that the crowd totally buys. Rusev taking all of Cara’s flippy shit is great, and then he closes it with the big kick to the Accolade which is an awesome finisher.
- There was also a Viktor vs. Titus O’Neil match that was OK. But for real, seek this show out.
NXT TAKEOVER: THE END (6/8/16)
- NXT had another hot TakeOver show that you can find me writing about in the Quick Thoughts section. Standout matches for me were the awesome Revival vs. American Alpha tag and the perfect-for-what-it-was Asuka vs. Nia Jax match.
SMACKDOWN (6/9/16)
- SmackDown! is the show right now that is proof two hours is the magic number for wrestling TV. It’s basically RAW without the bullshit. And that’s great.
- Enzo & Big Cass vs. Luke Gallows & karl Anderson was a very good match. Enzo & Cass have their formula down and it totally works, especially when plugged with a good team. Gallows & Anderson beating on Enzo was great fun, and there were a couple nasty cut-offs. Cass hit a brutal boot on Gallows off the hot tag too. Lots of fun.
- The Money in the Bank Midcard Showcase this week was alright too. Cesaro/Zayn vs. Rio/Owens was good, basically a Rio/Cesaro singles match as Owens and Zayn brawled to the back midway through the match. Ambrose and Jericho had the main event this week and had their best match together – kept short, hot crowd, nice finish. These two only work well in certain situations and it’s not with each other, but this was inoffensive and actually good at points.
- The Divas Revolution is really starting to lose me, and I like Charlotte. But basing the entire division around her has not been a great choice. I like what they’re doing with Dana as her Arn, but you really also need a Tully and an Ole if it’s going to work, and Dana is definitely no Arn to begin with. Good character, just not there as a wrestler right now though.
SUPERSTARS (6/10/16)
- Superstars this week had a couple decent matches, which is A+ for Superstars. Sin Cara had another good showing against Viktor, who’s settling into his role as a good hand. And Dolph Ziggler and Zack Ryder seemed to have a fun time tagging against the Dudley Boyz, so there’s that.
WWE TV Match of the Week: Zack Ryder vs. Sheamus from Main Event was basically an IC Title PPV match banished to foreign markets, Hulu, and a 2-week WWE Network delay. Loved it. Rusev vs. Sin Cara was close behind, and Gallows/Anderson vs. Enzo/Cass with a finish would’ve been some real competition.
WWE TV MVP of the Week: Give it up for Luke Gallows people. A fine presence as AJ Styles’ second, and good performances in the main event of RAW against New Day and the opener of SmackDown! against Enzo & Cass. Plus there was that rumor that the locker room loves him for cheering folks up backstage, so there’s that too. Thank you, Luke. Thank you.
