How wild must it be to be a part of The Shield?
To be Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, or Dean Ambrose?
To be Joe Anoaʻi, Colby Lopez, or Jon Good?
YEAH I KNOW THEIR REAL NAMES
The opening notes of your theme music hits and the thousands in attendance at the sports arena you are performing in go insane, while cameras beam the image to millions of others.
You charge down the stairs, surrounded by a buzzing crowd, wearing your own merchandise, about to confront stars of your childhood, fans clamoring to touch you but blocked by security and modern social convention.
The feeling that that must evoke… the absolute peak of your chosen occupation, which happens to be professional wrestlering.
Could you imagine?
RAW (11/13/17)
This was an awesome show – SO MUCH STUFF HAPPENED. Roman Reigns returned, The Shield had their return match, The Miz did a promo, Bayley advanced to Survivor Series, Bray Wyatt returned and got pinned by Jason Jordan, the Jason Jordan/Kurt Angle saga continued, Brock and Paul did a promo, Braun Strowman slammed Kane through the ring, and on top of all that THE KING OF KINGS THE GAME THE COO OF WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT TRIPLE H.
You know what would be interesting? If there was an actual stipulation to Survivor Series other than… uh, bragging rights?
Either way, the whole RAW vs. SmackDown build towards Survivor Series has been fun and after this week of TV I can positively affirm that RAW vs. SmackDown is 100% LIT, BAY-BEEEEE.
Opening promo with Stephanie McMahon, Kurt Angle, and THE SHIELD was fun because of THE SHIELD. What a pop for those guys. And they FINALLY referenced that something actually did indeed happen between Seth Rollins and Triple H at WrestleMania.
The Mickie James vs. Bayley vs. Dana Brooke Triple Threat was like 5 minutes but good stuff. It flowed well and everything that needed to hit hit, it was the Styles/Joe/Daniels of 5-minute RAW TV matches. Asuka wrecking Dana was neat too.
Drew Gulak continues to be a professional wrestling highlight: “How you doin’?” “I’m doing great, thank you for asking!” Gulak as Enzo’s heavy as opposed to Daivari = great idea. Gulak and Enzo vs. Kalisto and Tozawa was a pitch perfect TV cruiserweight tag, a quick beating, a few dives, over. Gulak hit a knee to the back in this match that was kind of incredible. Also Enzo actually looked really good taking Kalisto’s hot tag.
Hey, MIZ – buddy, do not hold your hand up high while you are rocking the alt-right high-and-tight. Jesus. Anyways, another great edition of MizTV with an epic Miz promo. What’s new? Nothing, and in this case that is just fine.
Jason Jordan vs. Bray Wyatt was like 4 minutes long but got the point across – JJ suplexed Bray around, tweaked his knee, then got a legitimately surprising fluke win.
Then, the Ballad of Jason Jordan continued. A beatdown by Wyatt. THANK YOU WYATT chants. Angle telling him in the trainer’s room he won’t be ready for Survivor Series. Jordan’s disappointment, half sympathetic good guy half whiny little bitch. “I deserve this…. dad?”
Heyman promo gonna Heyman promo. It is OK. It may work for some. It is repetitive and lazy to me. Brock shaking those kids’ hands was hilarious, at least. And somebody in the crowd PROPOSED during this thing.
THE SHIELD vs. Miz/Cesaro/Sheamus was a fun high-energy SHIELD SIX-MAN TAG. The early stuff had a bunch of solid action that built really well to the awesome, as they do. Roman clotheslining Sheamus over the top rope, Miz running away from The Shield, any Reigns vs. Cesaro, and Cesaro’s springboard into the Superman Punch were highlights.
Jason Jordan PLEADING with his pops Kurt Angle had me thinking – you know, this is lame in the moment but it’s building to what could be an awesome payoff. COULD BE.
Either way, IT IS THE GAME. IT IS TRIPLE H. HE IS HERE AND HE IS ON TEAM RAW. AND HE IS GIVING THE PEDIGREE TO POOR JASON JORDAN. And he is definitely adding to the clusterfuckiness of what appears to be the most awesome amazing clusterfuck of a match. This was a fun BIG WWE MOMENT. Triple H vs. Kurt Angle has been the rumored direction for a while, and this is a fun way to get there. Very curious to see how Jordan fits in (if at all).
Joe/Balor vs. Gallows/Anderson was a real basic tag but the finish came together well. Crowd was HOT.
“YOU THINK YOU STUCK ME IN A GARBAGE TRUCK?!?” – love wrestling. Love Braun. Loved the Braun/Kane brawl. BRAUN POWERSLAMMED KANE THROUGH THE RING~~~!!!!!
SMACKDOWN (11/14/17)
This was the best SmackDown in forever, possibly since the Golden Age, all because it finally felt like a big deal. You had Shane and Bryan rallying the troops, two strong title matches, an Usos promo and solid TV match, and New Day vs. Owens/Zayn which had some BUZZ with New Day en route to The Shield and the Owens/Zayn Europegate situation.
The SmackDown cold open this week with Shane giving a stump speech to the SmackDown roster complete with campy mini-promos from Becky, Corbin and The New Day was a classic weird WWE segment. I loved it. There is no real reason for any of this to be happening or any of these people to be acting this way but god damnit they believe in it so I do too.
Daniel Bryan’s hair and beard are growing out and if I could use emojis on WordPress I would put that thinking one here.
Legitimately incredible promo by Bryan on behalf of AJ Styles, I cannot believe through all of this that DANIEL BRYAN cut the true go-home promo for AJ vs. Brock and really Survivor Series as a whole. D-Bryan just WRECKED Brock here and god damnit that match still has to happen some day.
I love that we are at a point where Baron Corbin vs. Sin Cara feels like a big deal. This was a good compact match – they kept it moving, Cara flew around. Amazing Deep Six. Amazing End of Days. I like how this was the one title they bucked the weird Survivor Series convention this year of switching matches around weekly. Miz vs. Corbin always felt off and Miz vs. Cara as a heel vs. face thing makes sense, but then Miz and Corbin cut promos on each other that actually made it seem like it was happening…. aaaaand it’s happening.
I like how no one on the WWE writing staff felt the need to even try to play around with the fact that the 205 Live roster, technically a part of RAW, is backstage at SmackDown every Tuesday.
Dwight Howard made the most of his minutes tonight, yes he did.
Charlotte vs. Natalya was very good pro wrestling. Wrestling is real when these two work together – LEGIT LOCK-UPS, BAY-BEEEEE. Fun enough offense by Nattie (BOW-AND-ARROW! SCOWLS AT THE CROWD! A HARD SLAP!), sweet comebacks by Charlotte (SPEAR AND BIG BOOT!), good cut-offs by Nattie. Charlotte throws hands when she’s working Nattie – check out the stiff-ass boot on the apron. Great sell by Charlotte off the Sharpshooter too, really brought this home well.
Charlotte officially became a wrestler with that post-match promo – “Well let me catch my breath – Nattie just beat the heck out of me,” all exhausted and REAL. And then – RIC FLAIR!! Literally back from the dead. Another awesome BIG WWE MOMENT, Naitch is carny as all hell but this thing brought the goosebumps. Charlotte either did not know he was actually there or acted the absolute hell out of this. Great stuff.
Bludgeon Brothers next week, oh OK.
Jimmy Uso vs. Chad Gable was a very solid TV match. Solid leg-work by Gable. Amazing drop toehold by Gable during the break. Wild bump into the ropes by Jimmy. Very, very solid. Also featured another completely epic Usos promo. Usos and Miz are neck-and-neck for best mic guys this year.
Solid New Day promo. Glad to see them boys getting some love. “And between us, we have at least 27 [titles]! And most of them are Kofi. It’s like all Kofi, honestly. He’s so good.”
Owens/Zayn vs. New Day was a fine tag team match. Owens and Zayn as a modern day Rated RKO isn’t quite much yet – these are two guys who can be good wrestlers, great wrestlers even, but like anybody they need some JUICE. Sami and Woods tore it up, Woods sold his beating well, and then THE SHIELD.
My god, the stupid-ass RAW/Shield combination shirts. Incredible. Anyways, the RAW invasion of SmackDown was AWESOME. Amazing chaos, tons of characters, loved everything about it. Samoa Joe in JEANS. Shane SPRINTING to the ring. In some alternative universe, The Shield is an amazing group of baddies led by the Lex Luthor-esque Kurt Angle taking out aging star Shane McMahon. Shane would be so sympathetic if SmackDown was any good, oh well. The Angle Slam on Shane was SCARY. Excellent closing angle, ideal go-home stuff.
205 LIVE (11/14/17)
This was a show building to a bad guy getting thrown into a cake. Not a bad idea at this point.
The Rich Swann/Cedric Alexander vs. Brian Kendrick/Jack Gallagher opener had me very CONFLICTED. On one hand, it was them trying to have an epic heated brawl when there is zero heat to this feud. But it just kept going and ended up feeling like a straight-up fight, and by the time Cedric and Swann win it felt like they had just been through a war. Gargano just DIED on that tornado DDT on the outside to set up the finish. I DON’T KNOW IF I LIKED THIS OR NOT.
Mustafa Ali cut himself a very lame babyface promo on Ariya Daivari, including using the term “Enzo’s backside.” BACKSIDE!? BACKSIDE??? These two had a technically solid but completely lifeless match.
The Drew Gulak/Kalisto main event was alright, just nothing special because 205 Live is gonna 205 Live. Gulak is good and matches up with a flyer like Kalisto.
And then Enzo got thrown into a cake.
NXT (11/15/17)
A good NXT – did what it had to to bring us to TakeOver: WarGames, and all the in-ring stuff was good.
Street Profits vs. Tino Sabbatelli & Riddick Moss was an awesome 3 minutes, the most ideal NXT Performance Center prospect tag team match. They kept it high energy and every moment counted, either working tag formula or each guy showing off their stuff. Montez Ford sold well and is just insanely smooth and athletic, Moss and Tino were aggressive and Moss especially bumped his head off, and even Dawkins did a kind of mind-altering leapfrog. And it ended with a PUNCH. Tremendous.
Lars Sullivan vs. Raul Mendoza was a great Lars squash, with some insane corner splashes and crossfaces on pour Mendoza. Lars is becoming a made man, if NXT still had balls he would be the next champ.
Gargano vs. Dunne for the UK Title match next week is a straight-up dream match, and not in like a LOL CHAIN WRESTLING AND BIG FUN MOVES way but a legit perfect match-up of babyface who can sell and heel who can kill way.
Ember Moon vs. Mercedes Martinez was a heck of a match, mostly Mercedes staying on offense and cutting off Ember before Ember Overcame The Odds. Mercedes kept it interesting early with the headlocks and a sweet spinebuster and whatnot, while Ember’s rapid-fire tope and brought the goods on the comeback. They even let Mercedes cut off an Eclipse before she went down to one.
The Drew McIntyre/Andrade Almas face-off at the end was OK. Drew’s “I’m the bloody mountain” line was good.
MAIN EVENT (11/15/17)
Real average episode of Main Event, more than usual. Heath Slater vs. Curt Hawkins wasn’t much, though it did have some absolutely incredible managerial work by Rhyno. Guy might have worked harder than either guy in the ring. Gran Metalik vs. Tony Nese was another Metalik match with Metalik doing amazing things, but he’s done said things in better matches on even Main Event. I think they cut out Nese’s entire stretch of offense.
WWE TV Match of the Week: Natalya vs. Charlotte for the SmackDown Women’s Title, baby – Big Match Charlotte only comes around once every six months or so but when she does there is not much better.
WWE TV MVP of the Week: You know, I haven’t given Kurt Angle enough credit as a reason for RAW being pretty great these last six months or so. He really helped bring this whole Survivor Series thing home.
Epic week of WWE TV, with both RAW and SmackDown delivering in and out of the ring. The ride to Survivor Series has been awesome.
RAW: 10/10
SmackDown: 9/10
205 Live: 4/10
NXT: 7/10
