The 9-month old baby boy has been sick this week so all you get this week are my thoughts on way too many hours of wrestling.
RAW (12/10/18)
I’m still on strike.
This had bits of a good show if the roster didn’t feel decimated by absences and bad booking. The Tag Titles switch, Ruby Riott actually getting heat, Ziggler doing the favors for McIntyre, Alicia Fox dancing with The Singh Brothers, the ending of the Lunatic Fringe name, Lio Rush getting a showcase vs. Elias, Ember Moon getting some steam, and the TLC match were all decent things. It’s just too bad The Product is trash.
I popped for Drew stonewalling Dolph and Dolph taking that top rope Celtic Cross on his elbow in that Drew/Dolph match, let me tell you. And while Corbin is not the best guy to lumber around and setup ladder spots, Seth was a pro in the TLC Match, flying around and giving everyone a Good Time.
SMACKDOWN (12/11/18)
SmackDown Live, it’s a hell of a show… Tuesday nights are on a roll!
Mustafa Ali is showing some gumption… Daniel Bryan’s talking fuel consumption!
Jimmy and Jey are modern day poets … The Miz is the best in the world and he knows it!
Jeff Hardy is teaming with Rusev Day … and The Man – she’s here to stay!!
The first half-hour of this show was built around WWE Champion Daniel Bryan shaming cruiserweight upstart Mustafa Ali on his carbon footprint followed by a 15-minute banger of a match between the two. It was SO good.
After years as the ultimate babyface, Daniel Bryan has once again flipped a switch and become a premium professional wrestling heel. It’s no surprise he’s capable of it, but that WWE for the moment is letting him run wild with it is awesome. Him asking Ali what car he drove and showing his dissatisfaction with the answer by screaming “IGNORANT” and slapping him was great TV.
The match was great too, with Ali introducing himself to the SmackDown audience with a massive somersault plancha and Bryan being a vicious bastard with his heel work: the knee to the gut that sent Ali flying, the surfboard with a fish hook, and him just chucking Ali into the post and proudly raising his arms on the top turnbuckle were all great moments. It was all surrounded by reliably great bumps and selling from Ali, and they even did not just a Spanish Fly but the YesLock during the picture-in-picture break.
At the end of the day it was just classic wrestling, a fun pairing of two great wrestlers from different generations but also a classic dynamic of heel champion vs. newcomer underdog babyface that ruled. And it ended with a LEGLOCK. Awesome.
The Usos vs. The Bar Rap Battle was a goofy blast when Cesaro and Sheamus were dropping lines in their tracksuits and high art when The Usos were on the mic, as those two are modern day poets. The knuckles/Mr. Turnbuckle line was incredible.
I’m not sure if The Miz and Shane McMahon thing is going anywhere but it’s giving Miz something to do that feels like it matters so that’s good. Shane’s trash punches and even trashier floatover DDT in their tag match was a reminder that Shane-O-Mac is not exactly the Best in the World.
Randy Orton getting a promo and getting attacked with a chair by Rey Mysterio was a solid basic angle. In my day it felt like the good guy usually got his revenge at the PPV but here we are.
Jeff Hardy/Rusev vs. Shinsuke Nakamura/Samoa Joe was a solid tag filled with old pros. Great Rusev hot tag, and the Kinshasa countered with a Machka Kick is always a great spot.
This show was book-ended by two excellent matches, beginning with Bryan vs. Ali and ending with a Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka WrestleMania rematch. This wasn’t the Mania match and it ended in a DQ, but it was another great match between these two.
The men are all flying around these days, but the women are working holds and doing deadlifts and throwing elbow strikes. It’s awesome. There was just such a credibility to this match and so the good action was brought up a bunch of notches. Loved Asuka’s palm strikes while she had Charlotte in submissions, and the Codebreaker counter of the spear was sweet.
And then the kendo stick came into play and Becky Lynch got involved and everybody took some shots before ASUKA stood tall. Good stuff.
MIXED MATCH CHALLENGE (12/11/18)
Bayley & Apollo Crews vs. Mahalicia – Alicia Fox threw an awesome boot to end Bayley’s dream of a trip with Finn, otherwise this was a lot of Jinder Mahal vs. Apollo Crews. Eh.
The Fabulous Truth vs. Awe-ska – This was the usual bullshit for a bit but these folks pulled off a heck of a finish. There was an incredible near fall off of R-Truth’s axe kick, and Asuka flexing after she finally kicked Miz’ ass and left him was great.
205 LIVE (12/12/18)
205 Live crushed it this week – the stories still aren’t much but throw some talented wrestlers in there and they might just have good matches.
Buddy Murphy and Gran Metalik had a decent but disappointing match a couple months ago and this week they had what was basically the PPV match – Metalik got his shit in including a crazy hurricanrana off the top, while Murphy again freaked people out with his insane suplex catch. They did some hot near falls near the end including a Metalik Driver kickout, and the crowd was eventually buying everything these two were selling. It felt like a BOSJ semi final or something – great stuff.
Cedric Alexander vs. Tony Nese was the other match and they had a very good match with some hot near falls and sweet spots, though it was also not super memorable so basically par for the course with these two.
NXT (12/12/18)
Solid… solid. Not sure much got accomplished but there were a couple good matches, some promos that moved stuff forward, and nobody got buried. Fun hour of wrestling.
EC3 vs. Bobby Fish was probably the best case scenario between two boring guys, some decent physical stuff between two boring guys before the Undisputed Era ran-in and Heavy Machinery made the save. After the Undisputed Era promo to start the show, you could audibly feel the crowd being like “nah, not cheering for you” when that EC3 music hit.
The Mighty vs. Lorcan/Burch was a fun short match. Nobody brings the chaos like Oney Lorcan, and slaps were getting thrown really really hard at the end. Not sure why they did a superplex/powerbomb combo though, considering Miller powerbombed his own partner. Alas – farewell, Mr. Miller. See you around.
Mia Yim vs. Reina Gonzalez was not a great day at the office for Gonzalez, who looked really awkward as Yim ran through some stuff. I did like the swat with her left hand after Yim ducked a right though.
Tyler Breeze showing up to wrestle Ricochet for the NXT North American Title was awesome. The thing I like about NXT is that they are still sometimes above WWE’s usual paranoia about doing random fun stuff. Like, does Ricochet look weak for wrestling this skinny guy who’s become a nobody on the main roster? I don’t think so… but I bet Michael PS Hayes does.
Either way, a fine Indy Dream Match. Breeze was clearly enjoying working under less restriction, busting out a reverse rana and big knee to the face. Ricochet as per usual busted out some wild stuff too. It felt like it ended a little sudden as Breeze went down to a move I don’t think Ricochet has won much with, but maybe that was the consolation for getting to see Prince Pretty treated like a big deal again.
Breeze enjoyed himself with the poison rana and big knee to face.. fine Indy dream match and fun to see breeze treated like a big deal again. Ended a little sudden
Next week, with Gargano vs. Black in a Steel Cage, Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke’s debut vs. Dakota and Io, and Dijakovic’s re-debut, feels like a big deal. Nice work, NXT.
MAIN EVENT (12/12/18)
Seeing T-shirt Tyler Breeze working Mojo Rawley after the Ricochet match was a trip. It was not a very enjoyable trip, even if Mojo tried to be aggressive and Breeze tried to sell in a compelling way.
The Lucha House Party vs. Curt Hawkins/Ascension 6-man saw Konnor catch a Kalisto pescado on the floor, then lift him into a press slam where he chucked his ass onto the ground. That was good. Also, Metalik vs. Hawkins was nice. Otherwise, Main Event gonna Main Event.
WWE TV Match of the Week: Mustafa Ali vs. Daniel Bryan
WWE TV MVP of the Week: Gran Metalik always rules, whether it’s in a nothing Main Event match or an awesome 205 Live opener with Buddy Murphy.
RAW is bad, SmackDown is good, bring me TLC. Good outings by 205 and NXT this week too.
RAW: 4/10
SmackDown: 9/10
205 Live: 9/10
NXT: 7/10
