So this is TV Week in Review, let’s review.
RAW gained – and I say gained as not just an addition but the version of the term with overtly positive connotations – and start with gained as opposed to lost, because WWE’s roster is so over-exposed week-by-week, that there are not many guys on it who are truly a “loss” for any one show, and since most matches and feuds possible on each show are usually exhausted by the time we get to this time of year, any show with a new face is in some shape or form… gaining something:
AJ Styles, The Miz, Andrade, Zelina Vega, Rey Mysterio, The Usos, Naomi, Eric Young, Sami Zayn, Samoa Joe (probably) and, moving from 205 Live, Cedric Alexander. Aleister Black, Ricochet, Lacey Evans and EC3’s spots on the show were cemented. Finally, War Raiders Hanson and Rowe were called up from NXT as The Viking Experience (Erik and Ivar), which does definitely sound like one of the worst things to ever happen in wrestling and at the same time feels like something you could go see at Universal Studios, and I continue to think the old (mc)man’s still got it.
SmackDown gained Roman Reigns, Finn Balor, Elias, Bayley, Ember Moon, Liv Morgan, Mickie James, Chad Gable, Apollo Crews, and, moving from 205 Live, Buddy Murphy. Kevin Owens, Lars Sullivan, Heavy Machinery ended up settling there too. Finally, while Kairi Sane was called up from NXT in a tag team with Asuka that’s managed by Paige, and I want to ask the old (mc)man just who the fuck he thinks he is.
A few thoughts on this year’s Superstar Shake-Up, one of the most necessary events of the year:
RAW is confirmed to be good for at least the next year because, as a rule, any show The Miz is on is the better show.
The 205 Live guys being established as able to graduate to main roster is awesome. 205 Live has decent peaks and outrageous valleys, but if it’s legacy is getting Cedric, Buddy, and Ali established for the main roster then it arguably did its job.
Whatever’s going on with Sasha Banks, any deal that involved not just Bayley and Sasha’s WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles loss but also a Superstar Shake-Up induced split happening, all apparently with no plan to even have Sasha turn on Bayley, is a junk deal. I am Team Sasha.
AJ Styles and Seth Rollins as top babyfaces on Monday Night RAW will be interesting to see play out. I think I’ll like it, but I’m not sure. They have a similar style and at the top of the card that style needs something else balancing it out. Maybe that’s going to be Braun Strowman. Remember him?
Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, and Baron Corbin all staying in the same place is disappointing. I like all three individually, but THESE three comprising the majority of the heel main event scene of RAW is a buzzkill.
Finn Balor to SmackDown seems like a good call, though between him and Reigns and Owens and New Day and at any point in time Jeff Hardy, that SmackDown babyface main event scene is pretty crowded. It’s a good crowded, but still – crowded. Hm.
Becky Lynch just ready to scrap with everybody anywhere is pretty great.
Kofi Kingston should probably feud with Randy Orton soon, so I am glad they remained where they are. Keep the underdog deal going, take advantage of Orton being the spoiler, etc etc. Come on guys!
FOX is approaching, but I think Charlotte Flair should’ve gone to RAW. She’s got a lot of new faces to scrap with on SmackDown, but for some reason she feels like a bigger deal on RAW.
I’d say Chad Gable can make waves somewhere new, but it feels like he was JUST on SmackDown Live making as many waves he did on RAW.
RAW (4/15/19)
I mean, it’s cheating – any WWE show where stuff actually happens and there’s a bunch of surprises is going to be fun to watch. It didn’t really feel like there was anything must-see here, but they kept the news coming frequently enough that it overwhelmed the fact that there aren’t all that many interesting stories going on.
The absolute refusal of WWE to put any effort beyond a line from Michael Cole in letting the folks know that guys were now on new brands is a decision I am fascinated by. I’m not sure it’s bad, it might not even matter. But the decision-making process to not really establish the actual Shaking Up… I need to know everything about it. Was it deliberate? Did Vince McMahon specifically say to do it that way? Was it even brought up in the first place?
I mean in the first segment The Miz just conveniently attacked Shane McMahon out of nowhere and all Cole could muster was a “yep folks this signifies it, he’s on RAW now.” Where is my GRAPHIC, god damnit?
The attack was kind of cool though, as was Miz’ head getting cracked open.
The little sound effects added to both Aleister Black and Ricochet‘s intros are so ridiculous and unnecessary that there’s a part of me that loves them. They don’t really do any harm. They’re just weird and kind of stupid.
The Viking Experience, commented on earlier, and The Revival vs. Black/Ricochet and RAW Tag Champs Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins was a pretty basic run-through of wrestling spots all under a haze of, THE VIKING EXPERIENCE? WHAT!? Erik and Ivar won their match, but going even with the RAW tag division in their first match was a debatable intro.
Andrade, led to the ring by Zelina Vega, made his presence on RAW known by wrestling the outgoing Finn Balor. They pulled off a few wild spots and had a tremendous last few minutes, but the early stuff was pretty generic and they didn’t feel on the same page at points.
Elias is spending his days getting beat up by various popular names in WWE history, and this week it was Rey Mysterio. There was a near-flub on an armdrag spot they did that I could not believe they were able to cover up.
Lars Sullivan is spending his days beating up various popular names in WWE history, and this week it was Rey Mysterio. I dug the seque from Elias to Lars, and of course Rey had a mini-banger with Lars.
Poor EC3 got absolutely destroyed by Braun Strowman on his first official night on RAW, not just getting pinned in ring but just getting his ass kicked around the arena before he was slammed through a table. This I don’t get. Like – why? You can always do a re-introduction, but, just – why? If anything it took away from Braun too, as he continues to just kind of seem like a dick.
THE UUUUUSOS are on RAW now and of course they had a little TV banger with Bobby Roode & Chad Gable in their final match as a team.
Sami Zayn eating up and dancing around to the Montreal sing-a-long for his song on A Moment of Bliss sure will be a pretty funny thing to look back on via the WWE Network years from now, as long as it is included in the tier you have chosen. It was one of the best things Zayn has done in WWE actually, because I feel like you get the real Sami Zayn with this stuff, and not just the real Sami Zayn but a Sami Zayn who is all out of fucks.
Becky Lynch vs. Ruby Riott was a match of two folks who probably could’ve used a bit more of that Zayn dancing time. An OK RAW TV match, in that it was super short and forgettable but the work was solid. The Natalya bit with Becky post-match felt a little off, and then Lacey Evans came out to wrestle Nattie in a very… OK match. I like Lacey – she’ll work a hold but then she’ll punch you in the face. Her investment in her closet for this run has to be commended too – John Oliver was right to go after WWE for its independent contractor model, but it’s a shame he didn’t bring up that Lacey doesn’t even have a god damn way to enter an expense report any of it.
Lio Rush‘s reaction to AJ Styles coming to RAW was great and actually a highlight of AJ, Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley & Baron Corbin, which was a good but not great Shield tag. That heel team is a snooze and * … whispers … * AJ was kind of underwhelming.
SMACKDOWN (4/16/19)
Much like RAW, not the most exciting take on the Superstar Shake-Up but there was a lot going on and I had a good time.
Much like his pal Sami, Kevin Owens was over beyond belief in Canada and got an awesome superstar reaction. I feel like we don’t talk about superstar reactions enough, or at least don’t single them out. There should be a Top 10 Superstar Reactions at the end of the year. This was so cool to see – booming crowd, Owens soaking it in, Owens being all free-wheeling in his promo because he knew anything was going to work. And then ya got Owens with the Big E-less The New Day, just swiveling his hips in New Day merch like the dad he is, which was tremendous TV content. I will now only recognize this segment as the true Kevin Owens face turn.
FINN BALOR vs. ALI!!! was a heckuva little match, a fun short version of this fresh pairing. After all the boring formula RAW matches where he’s selling for big dudes, it’s easy to forget just how quick and cool Balor is in the ring. Ali’s missed 450 followed by Balor’s Jon Woo dropkick and Coup de Grace was awesome.
Love Charlotte Flair, love Carmella, but their match wasn’t any better for getting more time than usual.
Lars Sullivan’s no-sell of R-Truth‘s corkscrew clothesline post-match was wild. The running Liger bomb was a move I figured gone forever in WWE after Droz got paralyzed taking it, and here’s big 330-pound rookie Lars seemingly using it as a finish. Wow.
Ah, of course this show had the annual SmackDown Live women’s clusterfuck. A Becky Lynch promo saw interruptions for Ember Moon, Bayley, The IIconics, Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville, and finally Paige‘s new tag team, Asuka and the debuting Kairi Sane. Kairi called up is awesome, but it was in a real dumb mess of a segment. The SmackDown women’s division is a stacked roster, but it’s also stacked with some acts that need a little care, and I’m not confident they will get that care. At least as long as they are on the same brand, Otis and Mandy have an angle to pitch.
The match that resulted from all of it was cool though, a fun 8-Woman Tag with a lot of talent. Asuka and Sonya Deville continues to be a pairing that intrigues me. Glad the Insane Elbow got some love as the finish.
Buddy Murphy to SmackDown is cool, though not having him opposite the RAW babyface roster (just look at it) feels like an odd choice.
IMAGINE the pressure of trust fall protecting Vince McMahon. Elias, of course, did it like a pro, before he was unceremoniously also laid out by a Superman Punch from new SmackDown star ROMAN REIGNS. Elias as the foil for the “biggest acquisition in SmackDown history” tease was nice, but it also made an uncomfortable amount of sense for McIntyre to be in this spot. Either way, a swell angle to bring Roman Reigns to Tuesday Nights on USA that will eventually become Friday Nights on FOX.
205 LIVE (4/16/19)
This brand is still rough week-to-week but they’ll give ya some good wrestlers doing depressing good wrestling. The thing about this show, beyond it inexplicably feeling like the stiffest show WWE has as far as over-scripting and relying on formula, is that it just doesn’t feel anywhere near applicable to outside-the-bubble people. You’ve really got to want to like this. And if you really want to, it certainly is good. But you’ve really really got to want to.
The choice to have Lucha House Party introduce nearly every show on the live mic now seems smart but comes across as dumb.
Gran Metalik vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Mike Kanellis vs. Ariya Daivari was a fine empty meaningless match that gloriously put some focus on Gran Metalik, who remains one of the if not the most spectacular professional wrestlers in the world. He, as he does, was just hitting his reps on this nothing show, but the match was based around those reps and was brought up because of it. Commentary also seemed instructed to put him over like crazy, suddenly recalling that yes, he was in the Cruiserweight Classic Final. They must’ve said that like five times. Then Daivari won for some reason. If I have to watch Tony Nese vs. Daivari at some point I’m gonna be real fussy.
Clean Shaven Oney Lorcan is terrifying but I am happy to report he is still a fantastic professional wrestler. He had Cedric Alexander‘s last 205 Live match and these two had a PPV-level banger to absolute silence. It was incredible: Lots of cool matwork, Oney avoiding a suicide dive, Oney countering a handspring with an uppercut, Oney countering a springboard with an uppercut. A POWERBOMB. So much desperation, so much intensity – that’s how the wrestling works, baby. I feel like they were given the greenlight to go have their big epic main event type of match because this pairing probably isn’t going to happen again. Glad we got it though, their match a few weeks ago was already great and this was better.
NXT UK 39 (4/17/19)
It’s NXT UK at AXXESS, which means wrestling matches over the sound of crowd murmurs and random appearances from members of other brands.
Raul Mendoza & Humberto Carrillo vs. The Coffey Brothers sure had a few instances of these guys being guys who are clearly working each other for the first time. Mendoza and Carrillo did a little flying around, then Joe just tagged in and hit a lariat for 3, which I quite liked.
Kassius Ohno ranting about Ligero felt like a promo in search of a reason vs. a reason for a promo.
Bomber Dave Mastiff vs. Kona Reeves was a very very very very very decent squash match.
Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews cut a promo on this show and I think it’s nice that they have a motivation – wanting to be the first ever Welsh champions in WWE – but they just come off like a really sad version of The Wiggles, a pair of professional wrestlers who are impossible to root for because they are just such fuckin’ lame fake dorks.
Rhea Ripley and Kacy Catanzaro are both interesting wrestlers who had a swell little match. Rhea catching a crossbody, deadlifting into suplex, and Kacy countering it with an inside cradle was my jam.
So was Jinny giving big disgusted eyes to Radzi backstage as The Undertaker’s theme played in the background.
The Grizzled Young Vets vs. Amir Jordan & Kenny Williams was a real formula god damn tag match, everything was worked well enough but god damnit none of these guys are really dynamic enough to bring it anywhere god damn outside of that. Grizzled Young Vets took a buzzkill countout loss too.
BTW – Pete Dunne wants a rematch with WALTER.
NXT (4/17/19)
This show had a pair of great matches and a 5-second squash match. So three great matches.
Velveteen Dream vs. Buddy Murphy was some STUFF – you can feel it when they’re wrestling elsewhere, but seeing these two opposite each other re-enforces that Dream and Buddy are on another level of WWE professional wrestler. As they wrestle you can almost picture an empty arena, these two running endlessly through sequence after sequence of athletically mind-blowing wrestling sequences as HBK and Red Rooster pop chubbs and tell them to keep going, while Regal looks on from afar, only seeing potential in The Dream. The apex moment of Buddy running into a superkick was well-done, as was the leaping sunset flip roll-through into a Dream Valley Driver. I loved that Murphy broke the count to avoid Dream losing by countout, a true evolution of the modern day professional wrestler, and it created a heckuva dramatic situation before The Dream retained his title.
How are Street Profits Snapchat’s so long?
Dominik Dijakovic‘s 5-second squash was cool. Dominik Dijakovic 5-minute scripted promo was not.
Shayna Baszler vs. Kairi Sane, one last time (…?), for the NXT Women’s Title fucking ruled, as it always does. They got 10 minutes and from Kairi’s backfist and stiff-ass shots to the face early they just kept this train moving with their beautiful wonderful good guy vs. bad guy dynamic, pulling out all the stuff that worked best the last few times, which all fucking ruled. Shayna can look a little off taking certain offensive maneuvers, but her torturing Kairi at the end more than made up for it. So, so good. Great angle of a finish too, the torch of the Baszler feud essentially passed to Io Shirai.
MAIN EVENT (4/17/19)
Sam Roberts is doing commentary now, alongside Renee Young and Byron Saxton, if you somehow did not know who does commentary on Main Event.
He seems to be leaning into the Internet woman hater gimmick, and though it’s not my cup of tea it sure did a better job of making Dana Brooke the underdog vs. Tamina than whatever those two were doing. The crowd did pop huge for a Dana cartwheel out of an armbar.
Heavy Machinery vs. B-Team zzzzzzzz….
WWE TV Match of the Week: Cedric Alexander vs. Oney Lorcan or Buddy Murphy vs. Velveteen Dream or Shayna Baszler vs. Kairi Sane, I don’t know
WWE TV MVP of the Week: Kairi Sane
A week of changes en route to a week that follows up on those changes. I had fun. Great stuff on NXT and 205 Live too.
RAW: 7/10
SmackDown: 7/10
205 Live: 7/10
NXT UK: 4/10
NXT: 9/10
