The thing about this intro is that Spiderman for PS4 is out and I’m more into playing that right now.
RAW (9/3/18)
This show felt like a soft reset: Gable & Roode forming a tag team, Dolph & Drew as tag champs, Drake Maverick with AoP, Dana Brooke leaving Titus Worldwide, and Owens un-quitting. After the last few weeks, I’ll take them putting some pieces into new places. Also Taker calling HBK a pussy easily made this the best RAW in months.
All for a good chaotic RAW start complete with three dudes getting arrested. The Shield/Strowman Squad 6-man pull-apart brawl was a nice twist on the usual pull-apart brawl.
The Bellas return was fun, probably moreso if you ever wanted to see Brie Bella almost die for some reason. Brie sold, Nikki got a hot tag, crowd popped. The tornado armbreaker by Nikki was awesome. Brie’s trip on the first dive and brutal flop to the outside on the second not so much.
Who allowed Gable’s terrible mustache on television? That monstrosity aside, Roode and Gable as a tag team is a thing now. All for trying something, I guess. It might all be worth it for that shot of Roode looking positively horny after Gable got him a win over The Ascension.
Elias is a guy in a weird place – great at talking, but I’m not sure where he slots as a wrestler. The brief feud with Balor was the best use of him – short, to the point, got both guys over. But now he might be too popular to be full heel but his character doesn’t seem like it’d have legs as a full face.
Either way, can’t hate on him being a guy they trust to give 5-10 minutes at the top of the hour to basically freestyle.
Alexa Bliss vs. Natalya was a fine 3-minute bullshit match to setup Alexa Bliss beating Natalya with an armbar so Rousey can be like, “What? That’s my move!”
WWE pacing for RAW lately has been so stilted the whole thing with McIntyre and Ziggler laying out Revival backstage to get a tag title match seemed practically chaotic. Poor Revival though.
Drew/Dolph vs. Revival wasn’t much but found myself fascinated by how stiff it was: Bo going hard on the lariat to Dolph, Drew chucking Bo into the bottom turnbuckle, and too-close-for-comfort superkick to Axel. Drew and Dolph are tag champs now. Good.
DRAKE MAVERICK with The Authors of Pain is a choice. As was putting Drake in their stupid gear. This is pretty awesome though. AoP needed this a long time ago and it was only a matter of time before Drake got sent to big show.
Hey here’s Shawn Michaels just casually putting out an all-time great promo. He and Undertaker bantering like wounded old cowboys who have a history was tremendous. The sell of Undertaker showing up was kind of awesome too (Renee: Come on!). I’ve got my thinking emoji up for this whole segment – could just be bullshit to get to the Australia Super-Show, but WWE usually doesn’t tease “one more match” and not deliver one.
Sasha/Bayley vs. Dana/Ember had a couple neat things in its couple minutes. Guess we’re going with some Dana Brooke character development now – sure. I hope Vince got to TV and said, “Alright: Dana Brooke, Bobby Roode, and Drake Maverick. Figure it out.”
Cracked a smile at all the “MY MAN!” from Bobby Lashley but the meditation thing was an insane deal. And then KEVIN OWENS – grrrreeaaaattt. Lashley has been in the beginning chapters of feuds with Elias, Corbin, Jinder, and now Owens in the last like three weeks. Amazing.
Finn Balor vs. Braun Strowman wasn’t quite Sting vs. Vader, but was a decent TV main event. The triangle choke counter by Finn was downright embarrassing though.
All for a good chaotic RAW ending complete with three dudes getting their asses kicked. Kevin Owens bizarrely aligning with Braun aside, the ENTIRE RAW HEEL ROSTER destroying the Shield was kind of awesome. Braun is cemented as a baddie, Drew and Dolph are serious, and obviously The Shield are once again major major top babyfaces.
Love how WWE remembers how they booked Stone Cold whenever The Shield gets back together, but not when they are on their own. Bad guys just assaulting and destroying the good guys is one of the finest things wrestling has to offer. Rollins’ bloody arm and the blood being painted on Viktor’s stomach was a bonus.
SMACKDOWN (9/4/18)
SmackDown is good.
Daniel Bryan vs. Andrade Almas two weeks in a row has got me real jacked, baby. This was another best case scenario TV match: Almas just eating it on bumps, Bryan selling limb work, Bryan blocking Almas’ back elbow with a kick, and Almas backflipping off the Knee+. Quality wrestling from quality wrestlers.
Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella walking off to kick some ass at a restaurant was very good wrestling.
The Becky/Charlotte interview thing was alright. This feud is kind of past whatever they’re pulling on-screen – it’s all about that reaction to Becky. Do they pay it off in an interesting, meaningful way? We’ve got a 1/10 chance!
Naomi vs. Peyton Royce was a stupid 90-second match but the crowd’s collective freakout for Asuka was very cool. Far be it from me to question WWE writing, but everything involving Asuka since the Royal Rumble has been practically criminal.
I can appreciate using promo videos to build up this Jeff Hardy/Randy Orton match but the promos were kind of cheesy, but like a cheesy that still takes itself too seriously.
Samoa Joe is cementing a legacy with his promo work. “Ohhhh WENDDDYYY!!!” is becoming a Samoa Joe Classic ala “REEEGALL!!!” The brawl with AJ Styles was neat – about time. Big fan of Baron Corbin being such an incompetent GM that he needs police and the entire heel roster to take down The Shield, while Paige just tells AJ Styles to back the fuck up and he does.
Usos vs. Rusev Day vs. SAnitY was a match that was a Triple Threat Tag Match and Triple Threat Tag Matches are kind of dumb, but it’s a physical law of the universe that any Usos match is going to have a hot finish. I am very into Rusev Day vs. The Bar.
Much respect to Carmella for always having something lined up and creating greatness – Nikki feud, Ellsworth, Money in the Bank, I BEAT CHARLOTTE FLAIR!, and now R-Truth.
Also much respect to R-Truth for just being around to pop crowds with some of the only comedy in WWE that actually works.
AWESOME TRUTH EXPLODES! The Miz vs. R-Truth was a wonderful weird 2018 SmackDown main event. The crowd going “NO!” to all of Miz’ ripoff spots is an awesome bit. Truth actually BEATING MIZ was even better.
Very much impressed by SmackDown’s insistence on keeping Almas and Vega relevant in this Bryan/Miz feud. They’re probably just there to lose next week, but I’m into it.
205 LIVE (9/4/18)
Gran Metalik vs. Tony Nese had the occasional neat thing and also the occasional insane thing. Just felt like an appetizer that the group decided on that you didn’t really agree to prior to the main Buddy Murphy course.
Noam Dar squash was all about Lio Rush on commentary – $$$.
A surprise Cedric Alexander vs. TJP match is why surprises can be bad sometimes. There is no honor in TJP on offense, only sadness. Sadness of what could have been. Sadness of what currently is.
NXT (9/5/18)
This was an OK episode of NXT.
Kassius Ohno vs. Kona Reeves was short and to the point and Ohno beat Reeves in 3 minutes. The Ohno promo afterwards wasn’t exactly fire but NXT finally referencing how shit the Ohno return has been is good. Still though – and I know this will likely get to him vs. Riddle – he’s basically The Welcoming Committee now. That’s not ideal.
Oh! He can do the Hero’s Welcome again!
I wasn’t really moved by anything in Forgotten Sons vs. Street Profits besides Wesley Blake’s lariat. Steve Cutler has the look of Chase Owens. That’s not ideal.
Otis Dzovoic in Regal’s office for the Aleister Black investigation was a legit Chris Farley-level performance. Incredible.
Anybody who can’t dig on Kairi Sane revealing her NXT Women’s Title in a treasure chest is just not someone I am probably going to agree with on professional wrestling.
Kairi’s squash was good too. She’s just the best babyface – when the crowd is chanting your name not just when you’re on defense but on a stretch of offense, you are over. And the STOMP spot leading into her finish. So good.
Her brawling with Shayna Baszler was good stuff too – this is one of the finer feuds in all of wrestling. Baszler pushing down the treasure chest and just going after Kairi was wild, as was Kairi’s awesome strike-filled comeback concluding with her just wrecking Shayna with that spear. I hope when Kairi goes to the main roster she tells Charlotte it’s hers now.
Raul Mendoza getting his match with Lars Sullivan next week is very nice.
Johnny Gargano vs. Velveteen Dream hit all the notes of a good match in 2018 but I wasn’t feeling it. Wild bumps, This is Awesome, Mauro screaming, stiff kicks, big near falls – and it all felt kind of empty.
Gargano after the TakeOver Chicago match feels like Okada in the G1 after he lost the title – he’s going through some STUFF and trying to tell a story, but the matches – while there are some cool moments – are just there. Dream also isn’t a guy that can fully pull off the Indy Dream Match thing.
We are like four months away from “Best Friends” Johnny and Tommaso, aren’t we?
MAE YOUNG CLASSIC 2018 – EPISODE 1 (9/5/18)
Will be covering these within the TV Week in Review and post them separately every four episodes.
1. Mae Young Classic – Round 1: Tegan Nox vs. Zatara
Tegan Nox can work a wristlock. Tegan Nox does armdrags. Tegan Nox does a 619 to tease a dive. What I am trying to say is that Tegan Nox is very good. Her opponent Zatara has this looseless to how she wrestles, like a modern-day less zombie-like Onryo. They told a basic story here and got their shit in. Shiniest Wizard, baby. **
2. Mae Young Classic – Round 1: Rhea Ripley vs. MJ Jenkins
It appears that Rhea Ripley is now a Fucking Badass. I like it. MJ took some nice bumps (the dropkick to the floor was wild) and I dug her war cry on the comeback, but this was more about Rhea just being mean and aggressive and stuff. The swat at nothing as she stumbled to setup the missile dropkick and her stalling vertical suplex were highlights. Was very thrown off by the “She doesn’t want to be known as Charlotte 2.0” hard sell though – was that actually a thing? **1/2
3. Mae Young Classic – Round 1: Lacey Lane vs. Vanessa Kraven
I am inherently suspect of anybody trained by the Team 3D Academy of Professional Wrestling. These two probably told the most straightforward story (One’s Big! And One’s Little!) but it wasn’t super well executed. Lane was trying some stuff including that springboard armdrag thing that didn’t work, but needs more polish. *3/4
4. Mae Young Classic – Round 1: Meiko Satomura vs. Killer Kelly
Michael Cole: It’s MEIKO TIME! This was fun. I was so into Michael Cole being so into how “tight and hard” Meiko had her headlock on. Meiko has such a confident way about her – even her stance is threatening. The armdrag to half crab to STF was brilliant, and the handspring double kneedrop thing looked like it hurt. Kelly got that cool dragon sleeper in, but this was all about Meiko being on a WWE show and it was very cool. **3/4
MAIN EVENT (9/5/18)
I feel like guys backstage like Mike Kanellis and want to give him a shot, so they go ever-so-slightly harder when they lockup on Main Event. Kanellis vs. Tyler Breeze was a solid match.
The other match this week, Zack Ryder vs. Mojo Rawley, was like 3 minutes long. Cannot believe we had Awesome Truth AND Hype Bros exploding this week!!
WWE TV Match of the Week: Daniel Bryan vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas
WWE TV MVP of the Week: Kairi Sane
This was a fine week of TV – SmackDown was as per usual pretty good, while RAW was just a bunch of weird stuff getting thrown against the wall and I liked it a lot more than most of its’ recent offerings.
RAW: 7/10
SmackDown: 7/10
205 Live: 2/10
NXT: 7/10
