Hey! Happy New Year! Welcome to the Kingdom of Wrestling that is weekly WWE television.
RAW (1/1/18)
Matches got time, stories were told. Monday Night RAW was a good wrestling show. The last hour did lose a bit of steam, even if it was still filled with OK stuff.
Thoughts from the Opening Promo: Big fan of backstage things leading to entrances. Sheamus looks like a star. Jason Jordan’s shit-eating grin. “REFURBISHED MOUTH.” “DADDY’S BOY” chants. Even though they are still just killing time, RAW opening promos lately tend to not feel like they are killing time.
Why didn’t Angle turn around when Cesaro pushed Jason Jordan before the bell?
Jason Jordan working everybody on the RAW roster in singles is so great – the guy is good and this will make him better. It did seem like things weren’t clicking between he and Cesaro a couple times during their match – like Jordan wasn’t connecting with stuff and Cesaro was either over or under-selling – otherwise it was a good time, a fine TV match that got some time, had solid work, and got a point across. I dug Jordan’s impressive catch of the springboard crossbody and Cesaro finding a bunch of new ways to work a leg, including the kneebreaker on the apron.
Hey Wyatt and Crews got time too. And it was alright! It’s not like Crews isn’t impressive, he’s just a geek in WWE, and here he got to show off some stuff around a Wyatt beating that wasn’t terrible. Loved the brutal Wyatt clothesline as Crews got back in the ring, as well as the INCREDIBLE Sister Abigail counter out of the Crews win setup.
Hey what in the world, Asuka and Alexa Bliss got time too. And it was pretty good, though I’m surprised they gave Alexa so much here, including making her newly impervious to submissions. I am not sure where I stand on Alexa Bliss as the Brock Lesnar of the women’s division just yet. Liked Asuka’s backfist teases, Alexa selling her fear and running away, and Asuka’s fired up comebacks. That Alexa knee to the face looked no good though.
Excellent, excellent Samoa Joe promo: “He will understand that it may be his yard, but he lives… in my world.” I am fascinated by this Joe and Renee Young feud. My theory is Dean Ambrose is returning early and working the Shield Destroyer at WrestleMania.
Haha Jojo intro’d Heath Slater as wrestling when it was supposed to be Rhyno haha.
Braun Strowman vs. Rhyno is a true dream match, and it lived up to its’ 3-minute expectations before Braun Strowman cut an all-time great ringside promo: “You’re either gonna stay on the floor and shut your mouth, or you’re gonna get in this ring, and get these hands like your partner” – oh my GOD. And then Braun just destroyed Rhyno and Heath with like fifty powerslams – Braun getting the “ONE MORE TIME” gimmick is amazing and made for an insanely hot segment. Seriously, this thing was something special. I hope Vince was shouting from his headset “ONE MORE! ONE MORE!”
Building up Braun and Kane while keeping the Rhyno/Slater story going is my jam.
JASON JORDAN’S DELIVERY OF “BELIEVE THAT”
FINN BALOR WITH THE CLUB WHAT IN THE WORLD! Kinda weird they didn’t do a big angle for it and just did it throwaway backstage – oh well. Life goes on.
Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe was Roman just out here having another god damn classic on TV – great selling, timing, super physical, and the crowd with everything. Somehow both surprised and not surprised that Samoa Joe has emerged as Roman’s best opponent. He was great here – going right at Reigns with jabs, just pounding on him, shutting the crowd’s dueling chants up, intensity in his eyes, grinning occasionally, and trying to goad Reigns into getting DQ’d (as per the stip Roman lost the title if he was). Reigns meanwhile would either fire back with amazing shots or sell like his appendix just burst. Loved Joe’s avalanche splash on the apron immediately followed by the incredible tope. The spear setup > kick > uranage setup > Reigns pushed into ref > Joe runs at Reigns and misses > Superman setup > uranage delivery > HUUUGE near fall sequence was SO epic. What a match – the best of their already incredible series.
Roman’s smile post-match as he gazed at the IC Title was so good.
“A cuppa – no, that’s not right – a couple, of haters? A couple… of haters?” LOVE DREW GULAK.
GOLDUST momentarily joining the cruiserweight division is wonderful stuff. I hope he walked backstage Monday afternoon and said I WANT TO WORK GULAK. He and Cedric vs. Gulak and Daivari was an OK enough 205 Live match made ten times better by the sheer insanity of Goldust being in it. The GOLDUST CROSSBODY was great, and Gulak should get a bonus for that lumbar check bump.
The confidence and delivery of Elias is growing every week. This is a man on the rise.
The Elias/Miztourage vs. Balor Club 6-man was a 6-man. It was fine. Best part was Karl Anderson randomly doing a plancha.
The Brock/Kane angle to close the show was very EH but it gets a Miz Participation Award because hey at least they tried.
SMACKDOWN (1/2/18)
A better than normal Tuesday night for WWE, even if the main event story is still terrible.
One interesting thing to do would be for WWE to make the most of AJ Styles’ prime with an interesting story and television product. Another interesting thing to do would be to have Shane McMahon stop doing long promos filled with exposition. Alas – here we are. The opening 15 was a dumb stip setup, dumb payoff, and dumb segment.
It was followed up by The Usos doing an AMAZING promo, as per usual. You know, the whole Styles/Owens/Zayn/Bryan thing would be a lot better if it was Jey Uso instead of Shane McMahon.
Usos vs. Gable & Benjamin was another good Usos match along with a well-done angle. First part of the match went balls out right away followed by a beatdown during commercial followed by an amazing Jey Uso run. Incredible athleticism, frenetic pace, super over – The Usos are the god damn 2018 Rockers. Liked Shelton blocking the tope with his knee too… and then it just ENDED. And it kind of blew my mind for a bit, with Gable & Benjamin winning the titles in like 5 minutes. But then – AN INSTANT REPLAY. THEY GOT THE WRONG USO!!! I saw a mixed reaction to this on the online but I kind of loved it, as I was on the edge of my seat with everything. Great confusing chaos. Second part of the match had an even more frantic place and closed things up really well. Gable jumping into the superkick as he attempted his and Benjamin’s finish was wild stuff.
Liked The Bludgeon Brothers attacking Breezango during the recap. Otherwise, you know. Bludgeon go up, Breezango go down. I think the best spot for The Bludgeon Brothers might be as muscle for as a charismatic central figure. I dunno.
RUSEV DAY is over and it is something that should probably be capitalized on. Xavier Woods and Aiden English meanwhile provided their twice-a-year reminder that they are pretty good. They had a fine wrestling match, maybe a little slow-moving for all the big spots they went for but I still dug it.
WCW LEGEND KARL MALONE WAS HERE
The Riott Squad right now feels like Ruby, Sarah and Liv having their Husky Harris/Michael McGuillicutty runs. It’s very introductory, nothing interesting is happening, and the music is pretty hilarious for a tough guy act. Their 6-man vs. The Welcoming Committee featured chinlocks and a lukewarm finish, so that’s cool. Tamina getting pops for her run was pretty great though. And I have to say, Liv Morgan is really really trying.
Ruby tried in the post-match promo but it was SO awkwardly scripted. Loved the Becky Lynch return. Becky Lynch is awesome and I hope she does way more in 2018 than she did in 2017.
The Miz return promo package on this show peaked my interest. It might mean nothing, but somebody backstage did specifically make a call to air a return video for a RAW guy on SmackDown. Is Miz The Guy this year?
There was a time, not long ago, that AJ Styles vs. Sami Zayn would have been very good. I am not positive that that time has completely passed, but it definitely was not present here. AJ and Zayn always have a little more oomph and precision on everything but they took a long while to really go anywhere. The Blue Thunder and pele kick were good. Otherwise, this whole stupid feud is just taking the life out of everything.
The forced YES chants after Daniel Bryan’s announcement of the Handicap Match at the Royal Rumble made me sad.
205 LIVE (1/2/18)
I don’t really care about this show. My Tweets the night of will give a better impression of it than I could now.
205 Live starting with a long video package of the Goldust tag set to dramatic music is something else. #205Live
My eyes almost rolled out of my face when TJP’s music hit. #205Live
TJP should have a gimmick where he shows off a ‘new attitude’ and is ‘more aggressive.’ #205Live
What #205Live needs more of is a match where a guy works a body part and slaps on a hold.
In the summer of 2016, I worked myself into thinking TJ Perkins was the next great flying babyface. Presentation is everything. #205Live
Tozawa is still good. The main problem is that he is in the cruiserweight division. #205Live
Them introducing Rockstar Spud as guy hanging with Gallagher in place of Kendrick seems like something that they might do. #205Live
It seems completely improbable right now but I really want Hideo Itami to succeed. #205Live
They did not introduce Rockstar Spud as guy hanging with Gallagher in place of Kendrick. That was an angle. Yes it was. #205Live
Former non-canon WWE Cruiserweight Champion Woken Matt Hardy should appear on #205Live.
LOL Goldust is immediately the most over guy on #205Live.
Goldust vs. Gulak is magic. #205Live
GOLDUST WORKING OUT OF BREATH SPOTS ON #205LIVE ONLY ON WWE NETWORK
“You like breathin’, huh?” #205Live
Cedric Alexander always takes nice bumps into the turnbuckle. #205Live
That match wasn’t bad, but there is a dark energy surrounding #205Live.
NXT (1/3/18)
This was a 2-hour Best of 2017 show with Andrade Almas and Johnny Gargano interviews and allll the big beats from NXT in 2017: Nakamura, Drew, Asuka, tag/women’s divisions, WarGames, Almas, Johnny. It has had the best Ember Moon video package there ever was, a nearly 10-minute feature that finally had me buying in on her. It also included someone screaming “O FACE” on WWE TV.
And there was a match! WWE was kind enough to air the Drew McIntyre vs. Adam Cole NXT Title match from San Antonio with Shawn Michaels as the referee. It was very much a house show type of match, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing: stalling, ReDragon getting kicked out, Cole bumping around, HBK hamming it up. I liked Drew’s deadlift sit-out powerbomb, and Cole spitting at Drew only to get a headbutt to the face. A top rope Celtic Cross and FutureShock DDT managed pretty great near falls, which led into Cole attempting Sweet Chin Music, ReDragon running in, O’Reilly getting a Sweet Chin Music, and a SWINGING FutureShock and Claymore. Nobody bought for a second that Adam Cole was winning, but I think everyone had a good time.
MAIN EVENT (1/3/18)
Here this was, Episode TWO-HUNDRED-AND-SEVENTY-FIVE of Season 7 of WWE Main Event.
Dana Brooke vs. Mickie James was Match #1. Dana continues to be a work in progress, but it can be neat to see what she’s picking up. She had real solid timing and reactions to stuff here, while Mickie remains a pro. OK match.
Tozawa vs. Tony NEse was Match #2. It was a typical cold Main Event match, but they got the folks involved with Tozawa’s selling and some neat strikes and spots (including a double big boot!). The crowd flipped for Tozawa getting the 3 as well. WWE should probably do something with Tozawa at some point.
WWE TV Match of the Week: Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe
WWE TV MVP of the Week: SAMOA JOE IS ON THE ROAD TO WRESTLEMANIA
New Japan had the Internet buzz this week, but RAW pumped out another great episode of wrestling TV on New Year’s, while SmackDown wasn’t as weak as usual, even if it wasn’t exactly good either. The Rumbles and Samoa Joe remain interesting, but the main title feuds are struggling.
RAW: 8/10
SmackDown: 6/10
205 Live: 4/10
NXT: 6/10
