“SmackDown proved last night that they are not the B show, but RAW proved that we are THE show.”
Oh.
OK.
That settles that, then.
RAW (11/20/17)
Monday Night RAW is a good wrestling show. This week we got three good matches, some fun angles, the Rise of Braun Strowman and the Is Jason Jordan A Dick sagas continuing, a fun return and debut angle that breathed some life into the women’s division, and the supporting cast used fairly well. I mean that’s good stuff.
Opening promo with Steph, Triple H, Angle, Jordan and BRAUN was alright, but weekly Steph and Hunter again might be a bit problematic. This week Hunter got YOU’RE A COWARD chants though so that is kind of amazing. Big time pop for Braun too. I like how he is in no way shape or form a classic top WWE babyface – the crowd cheers, but he will straight fuck up little Jason Jordan if need be.
Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor was great, that’s 2/2 great TV matches by these two. The NXT Title matches weren’t much but chop 10 minutes off and you get the good stuff. Part of this match was built around a nerve hold and it was tremendous. Liked Joe going right after Balor at the bell as opposed to chain wrestling, Balor selling Joe’s overwhelming force, Joe’s cut-offs, Joe side-stepping the dropkick. So many sweet shifts in momentum. The finish with Joe dragging Balor out of the Coup de Grace setup into the choke was awesome.
Asuka crushed Dana Brooke. God damn right she did.
MizTV with The Shield was fun – The Miz and Shield bantering is such money. These are high-end WWE characters right here. Especially enjoyed Miz rolling with the lights going out briefly.
Sheamus vs. Dean Ambrose was fun, one of those WWE-style matches that just flows so well and has a bunch of cool beats to it. I was most impressed by Sheamus’ pull-up from the corner onto the top rope spot. I know he does it in almost every match but that thing is so impressive every time. Sheamus is a guy who could get by just doing tight headlocks and hitting hard, but here he is doing this athletically impressive thing because wrestling needs to be cool sometimes. Plus it’s a cool spot that actually makes sense, as this feat of strength gets him to a perch where he can do damage more efficiently. Man. Just love the wrestling.
Matt Hardy dropping real talk on his pal Jason Jordan about Braun Strowman, then brawling with Elias in a feud designed to heat up Elias, is a fine use of undercard up-and-comer Matt Hardy.
The Alexa Bliss and RAW Women’s Division Except Nia Jax and Asuka promo was good solid stuff and then OH MAN. First of all, Mickie James feeling relevant is one of the greatest success stories of 2017 RAW. And Cole’s “…Bayley” as Bayley entered was both incredible and terribly sad.
And then – PAIGE!!! Really fun return, but what a long strange road this has been. Here’s the thing – I don’t give a shit about what Paige did in her free time, I care about the WORK, baby. And before she left Paige hadn’t had a good match in like 2 years. But clearly she’s over as shit, knows how to cut a promo, and they gave her a hook with NXT newcomers Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose as back-up. So right now I’m into it.
The only things I have seen Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose do have been in nothing NXT TV matches. Mandy’s hot and has a presence, so WWE will make her work. And Sonya’s MMA shtick needs work but she’s not a bad wrestler, and let’s be real here it’s pretty cool there is a gal who’s openly lesbian on weekly WWE TV. Their run-in on the 90 second Sasha vs. Bayley vs. Foxy vs. Micke 4-way dance wasn’t exactly a Shield beatdown but it’s always fun when WWE introduces something new.
Jason Jordan briefly lifting Braun Strowman was the coolest thing he has done in WWE since he was doing hot tags against The Revival. Braun vs. JJ was two matches in a row that went like 90 seconds and ended with interference – the Attidue Era is back, baby!
Speaking of that…….. Kane. It’s Kane. Kane vs. Braun is going to continue. Might as well bring in Corporate Kane too. The Big Red Guy going after Braun’s THROAT was an interesting little thing though. Was really into the visual of Braun limping away as the referees pleaded: “Let them help you!”
The cruiserweight 8-man was a WWE cruiserweight 8-man. I feel like when this is all said and done, we shouldn’t refer to this whole division as cruiserweight – it’s 205 Live. Rey Mysterio was cruiserweight, Psicosis was cruiserweight, even Jamie Noble was cruiserweight. Tony Nese and all these fucks are 205 Live.
The 8-man and Matt/Elias both weren’t terrible but definitely slowed the fun down in the third hour.
Roman Reigns vs. The Miz was good. I say it every time – these two just have great chemistry. The matches are over, and it’s always impressive how much Roman sells his ass off to the point where Miz looks credible against him. The big pop as Roman dived back in to avoid the countout, Miz picking the knee as Roman went for the Superman, and the SkullCrushing Finale kickout were highlights.
ROMAN REIGNS IS THE INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION! THE BIG DOG, THE JUGGERNAUT, THE 3-TIME WWE CHAMPION, IS THE INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION!
SMACKDOWN (11/21/17)
Not a terrible show, but not a good one either – welcome to SmackDown.
The Zayn/Owens vs. Shane storyline as the focal point kind of stunk before Survivor Series, and it really stinks after Survivor Series as the main event really killed its heat.
Meanwhile, Jinder as consistent main eventer just isn’t compelling, nothing is being done with Corbin as midcard champ, there’s zero tag division depth, and there’s a lot of solid guys either MIA or in un-interesting situations.
The Zayn/Owens vs. Shane storyline might be cooking up some genius payoff (Festival of Friendship sure worked the last time an Owens angle ran a show to a halt for a few months), but at Survivor Series, Shane ran Owens and Zayn off like total chumps and 10 minutes later was revealed to be a cowardly fool who would align himself with Triple H of all people, only to get a Pedigree.
Then this week, Shane packs his shit and leaves early, there’s a slight tease of Daniel Bryan making a big decision, we get a Lumberjack Match, and then Bryan ends up putting Owens in a match with stale-ass Randy Orton. C’mon, guys. Give me SOMETHING here!!!
Jey Uso vs. Shelton Benjamin was a fine little match but Shelton and Gable are such blank slates so it’s hard to care. Shelton’s big knee to set up his beatdown and the ugly missed Superfly Splash by Jey were highlights. The Usos are gonna go to Hollywood one day people, enjoy them while they last.
Bobby Roode snapping on Owens and Zayn and reminding them he was in the Survivor Series main event was good stuff, mostly because I completely forgot he
Was completely surprised by the Ruby Riot, Liv Morgan and SARAH LOGAN debut. Happy for all of them, but I just don’t know about any of this – Ruby Riot and Liv Morgan as vicious heels!? This isn’t exactly lady Nexus. A cool moment but I don’t exactly have faith in any sort of decent follow-up… it reeks of just putting anybody in a spot they had open and seeing who stands out, ala the awkward few months that Team PCB and Team B.A.D. were a thing. If Paige is masterminding this thing, I’m in. Otherwise… ehhh. Regardless, the SmackDown’s lady heel side did need a kick in the ass and this will help with that.
Had a good laugh and then cry at Shane and Bryan not even reacting to three NXT ladies viciously attacking Becky Lynch backstage.
The Bludgeon Brothers (HARPER! ROWAN!) debut was a fun wrestling squash and a bad sports entertainment thing. The gear is embarrassing and if they don’t actually use the sledgehammers what is the point?
AJ Styles is an OK babyface promo, and the “In the sequel to Rocky… he wins” line on Brock was NICE. Otherwise, AJ and Jinder Mahal are just going to limp to Clash of the Champions, aren’t they? Promo this week, Handicap Match next week. You know who would’ve made this story fun as back-up for AJ? James Ellsworth.
The Usos WWE Shop promo was the worst Usos promo since the heel turn.
The Charlotte/Natalya SmackDown Women’s Title rematch wasn’t bad, but more of a short bit of wrestling to get to the Ruby/Liv/Sarah interference. The stuff during commercial seemed pretty convoluted, but I did like the early exchanges and Charlotte selling the shit out of the Sharpshooter. This was a way better introduction for Ruby, Liv and Sarah than the backstage thing earlier, even if Becky sold her god damn heart out for it.
Daniel Bryan offering no comment on Ruby, Liv and Sarah – is it interesting or is it pointless?
The Rusev Day and Nakamura chants during the Owens/Zayn vs. New Day Lumberjack Match are as fine an indictment on the weakness of SmackDown’s big angle right now than any. Sami being lifted back to the ring by everybody was neat enough, but the match was a match. Owens and Zayn are good in many situations but appear to be actively bad as a heel tag team.
I can only end this with a haiku:
Kofi skanks over Zayn
Owens versus Orton, why?
SmackDown makes me sad
205 LIVE (11/21/17)
Drew Gulak dressed up as the Gobbledy Gooker and in a Street Fight – I SEE YOU, 205 LIVE.
Gulak trying to suck up to Ezo continues to be the highlight of this show: “What man… I thought you told me to loosen up!”
The Gulak vs. Tozawa Street Fight was a good solid match, though it lacked JUICE like every damn 205 match. Gulak’s tope catch, the picket sign bump, and Tozawa’s comeback getting the HA! chants were highlights. A senton bomb through a table on a guy with a trash can over his head is a good finish.
Well, there you go – Hideo Itami is on his way. Go get em, KENTA. Please. Dear god, please. I need KENTA in WWE to end at least somewhat well. Him as the babyface cruiserweights’ savior isn’t the worst idea, nor is him as guy who just takes over the ‘Zo Train. Neither of these things will probably happen.
Mustafa Ali vs. Tony Nese was a fine match but one of those we’ve seen a million times, with no real heat to it. Without any good character/stories (no, ‘Zo Train isn’t really a character), these guys just end up doing the same match every time. Both are good, but it’s lifeless. Sweet tornado DDT though.
The Cedric/Swann vs. Dar/Daivari main event was fine enough but a long stretch of offense by Dar and Daivari – yikes.
I can understand the attempt at building some sympathy for the good guys by having Enzo’s crew lay them out, but we’re past building sympathy with these fellas. Your top babyfaces interrupted a PowerPoint Presentation and Enzo promo, which are realistically the only truly over things on this show, and then they got their asses kicked. Get over here, Itami.
NXT (11/22/17)
Post-TakeOver NXT’s are always alright, and this one was even better because Johnny Gargano vs. Pete Dunne for the WWE United Kingdom Championship was on it.
Sonya Deville vs. Ruby Riot had themselves a real solid match with a nice lock-up early, Sonya working the leg, and everything building to a nice heel hook near fall before Ruby caught Sonya for the finish. Enjoy the ride, you two.
All the post-match interviews on the show were perfectly fine, though they were also the typically vague post-TakeOver promos – “I’m ready for what’s next” etc. I did really enjoy Lars Sullivan as a well-spoken monster.
Tino & Moss and the Street Profits did a little WWE.com angle and to be frank Tino & Moss really need to actually show off some ladies they hang with or cars they drive at some point.
Johnny Gargano vs. Pete Dunne only got like 10 minutes of TV time but it was awesome, as it was always meant to be. These are two of the more exciting young grapplers on the scene today. They do all the cool stuff you expect of a wrestler from 2017 (big suplexes, stiff kicks, crazy DDTs), but also with all the cool stuff you expect of a wrestler from 1987 (selling, working characters, getting people to give a shit about them).
They packed in ALLLL the good stuff. Smooth matwork, Dunne working the FINGERS (and Johnny selling them), a tope tornado DDT, Dunne catching a slingshot DDT and lifting Gargano into an X-Plex. Dunne gets caught in a crossface but takes out his mouthguard and BITES JOHNNY’S FINGERS! “What are you doing? You can’t bite!” He tries a Bitter End, but Johnny counters with an inside cradle for 2. Both guys throw big shots, the crowd chants N-X-T and This is Awesome, Gargano grab the mouthpiece and kicks Dunne in the god damn face for a near fall. He goes for the kill with the slingshot spear but Dunne counters with an elbow and drops the Bitter End for two.
What a year these two are having. If there’s any justice in wrestling (and there usually isn’t) they will face-off again in a big time match on a WWE pay-per-view.
MAIN EVENT (11/22/17)
Gran Metalik vs. Brian Kendrick is a strong pairing on paper but maybe my hopes were too high, as it was solid but not anything standout. Metalik does a sweet arm-hook sunset flip and they get a sweet near fall off an elbow drop, so there’s that. Apollo Crews vs. Curt Hawkins was the other match and it was like three and a half minutes.
WWE TV Match of the Week: As a good TV match, Balor vs. Joe – both guys did everything everybody likes them for in such a strong compact TV wrestling match. But Gargano vs. Dunne was the real highlight here, an awesome 10-minutes of professional wrestling.
WWE TV MVP of the Week: Paige had the people talking, now let’s see where the follow-up leads.
Not a great week of TV, but RAW continues to bring the very good sports entertainment every single week. When does the very goodness end?
- Reads the Internet *
Wait.
Miz is going to film a movie?
THE Miz?
And it’s not known how long he’ll be gone for?
…
Uh oh.
RAW: 8/10
SmackDown: 5/10
205 Live: 4/10
NXT: 6/10
