As I write this, the Paul Heyman/Eric Bischoff news as emerged, on the same day I compile these thoughts on a week of wrestling in which Nikki Cross, Drake Maverick, and Aleister Black appeared to be the only actually developed characters on WWE TV.
I guess we’ll have to talk about that some time.
RAW (6/24/19)
A show that didn’t feel so… dark. And though the Wild Card rule continues to be a silly shortcut, it really shows off just how deep this roster is – we’ve got a 3-hour show here on Monday Night with Styles vs. Ricochet, Zayn vs. Kofi, Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch as top champs, and a random Elimination Match featuring The New Day, The Usos, Daniel Bryan and The Revival. Obviously there’s tons of stuff that would make this all more enjoyable but seriously, what an array of talents.
Of course, there’s also the array of decision-making on this show, including what really did seem like a concerted effort to avoid wrestling during commercial breaks: the randomness of the Elimination Match, the 24/7 Title and Handicap Matches being really short, Braun and Lashley having a Tug-of-War… is this our new world? Plus Corbin and Shane are still your lead heels and that all just seems very questionable to me. I get that they are legitimately dislikable … but I think the point is to make the character dislikable , not the story they are the antagonist in. Right?
Random as it was, the Elimination Match with The New Day & The Usos vs. Daniel Bryan/Rowan & The Revival was at less than 10 minutes pretty abbreviated but had too much talent to not be good. You had Bryan and Woods running the ropes and tearing it up, Woods doing a springboard into a Shatter Machine, Dash making a attempt at a Buzz Sawyer powerslam, and what felt like a pretty casual banger between The Usos and The Revival to close thing out. That hook by Dawson on the top rope bulldog was a bummer, but the PowerPlex setup countered with a Superfly Splash was a great finish.
The 24/7 Championship and R-Truth continue to be hit-or-miss – Truth rules, the gimmick has potential, but you’re really really REALLY re-enforcing that there is a caste system in this company and anyone running after that title outside of maybe Drake Maverick probably isn’t going to have anything better to do for a while. I hope the “constipation” chant for Drake is a career highlight – that’s good comedy heel work right there.
McIntyre & Shane in a Handicap Match with Reigns was a pretty typical 90-seconds of stuff before THE UNDERTAKER appearance, which was SO random and out of nowhere that it probably WAS his coolest return in a few years though. Still though – fuck you, The Undertaker. If you’re not here to take a Claymore from Drew then go back to real estate investments or reading Drudge Report or whatever.
The Viking Raiders vs. Gallows & Anderson in a match of former IWGP Tag Team Champs on Monday Night RAW was an awkward piece of business, as it was partially an enhancement match for The Club who have done NOTHING for two years opposite these new killer monsters who’ve been playing heels, so you’ve got Erik or Ivar in a chinlock and fighting for a tag so they can get their shit in and weird. Not sure this did anything for anybody.
Kofi Kingston‘s consistent presence across WWE shows is something else, but I’ll take likable good guy champ just being a likable good guy with his friends over a zillion other options of TV time. He had a solid match with Sami Zayn in which Zayn looked more fired up than usual (probably because he had more than 5minutes to work) and Kofi doing his WWE Champ shtick, selling and hitting those signature moves. The Kevin Owens challenge afterwards was I GUESS a decent way to keep pushing Kofi, and while the SOS ont he floor was wild that countout finish was kind of awkward.
Brand split/wild card/just lost a title be damned, Samoa Joe choking Kofi out and going after his title is awesome. If it can’t be Orton, I’m in on this.
Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross vs. Natalya & Naomi was a match that morphed from a quick singles match between Naomi and Bliss, and was unfortunately another example of what feels like pretty useless in-ring action that exists not to simulate competition but to get to the next part in whatever weird story they’re writing. If anything, Nikki Cross looked awesome and I hope her little rope shake spot on the outside was the kinda thing that makes Vince take notice.
AJ Styles vs. Ricohet, huh? Good. Very good. But the first time type of match they can probably have in their sleep. You bet your ass there was a chinlock. But there were also some mind-bending speedy counter spots, and AJ modifying his backflip DDT so he could catch this young pup that knows his tricks. Once these guys got things revving they provided a fine teaser of what might happen later if anybody still cares about cool wrestling.
SMACKDOWN (6/25/19)
SmackDown just ain’t must see anymore baby and it’s real real sad. Outside of whatever Ali’s doing of course.
This was what you could call a fine show, an OK show, a show that didn’t feel like everything was falling apart, but also a very middle-of-the-road show, a not very exciting show, a show that I can’t see exactly initiating any uninitiated.
Big E & Xavier Woods vs. Daniel Bryan & Rowan is probably a classic waiting to happen in the future, and here it was fun TV while it lasted that played the expected game: Woods got beat up, E beat some ass. Look at Bryan out here just selflessly taking losses. What a MAN.
The Miz wrestled Elias in a 2/3 Falls Match where if he won he got a match with Shane McMahon and it was a lame premise to begin with but the match didn’t help. Miz as a babyface needs a dynamic opposition, otherwise TV babyface Miz is working the most basic of basic matches. This was solid for a bit, then became more about getting the Shane gimmick over.
Finn Balor vs. Shinsuke Nakamura as a direction for the IC Title: Aye.
Bayley vs. Nikki Cross for Alexa getting a title shot at Bayley at Extreme Rules or whatever was awesome, they got some time and Bayley has got that mojo back. Cross adds a new physicality to the division and Bayley seemed hyped to bring it right back to her. Bayley’s missed tope bump was some wild stuff too, and I kind of love the idea of Bayley getting 10 minutes to play with Cross and being like “Alright kid I’m going full Sabu tonight.”
I occasionally dig Ember Moon and Sonya Deville but their match was like 38 seconds.
The last quarter of the show was Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler in a 2/3 Falls Match where if Dolph won he got added to the Kofi vs. Samoa Joe match at Extreme Rules, and as you can see there was a whole lot of THAT stuff going on this show. These guys managed to pull off an actual not bad early first fall in a TV 2/3 Falls match, with Kofi taking advantage of a referee argument to rollup Dolph. They did all their stuff, which when they’re in a big position and have some time can be very good stuff, and had their best match of the recent run, though I’m not sure it hit their top-tier IC title stuff. Memory’s hazy though. Either way a good match that built up well, with good counters and near falls and them eventually pulling out stuff they don’t always (KOFI SPINNING POWERBOMB! And has Dolph done the Bret corner bump before?). Kofi just cracked Ziggler with that Trouble in Paradise too.
205 LIVE (6/25/19)
205 Live continues to saunter on but I will tell you what, Oney Lorcan screaming “HOW DOES IT FEEEEEL” repeatedly after just clobbering Ariya Daivari from behind with a chair backstage was one of the greatest things I’ve seen on WWE TV in YEARS.
Plus, good Akira Tozawa match. He main evented vs. Tony Nese and made a few Tweets afterwards that alluded to him being finished with something. So if this was his 205 Live swan song, whether to the main roster or somewhere outside WWE, it was a pretty phenomenal swan song, a real statement of “Hey guys, yep this is what I’m capable of. Been here two and a half years now. Yep.”
He hit the somersault plancha off the apron which still blows my mind, he threw the brilliant tope, he hit a Canadian Destroyer out of nowhere which I just was not prepared for. It really a testament to this guy that WWE hasn’t done a thing with him for two years and he’s still out here flipping out these confused 205 Live crowds. Nese of course was capable of keeping his uncharismatic end of the bargain too, right there for all the spectacular stuff Tozawa was doing, doing a bit of spectacular stuff himself, and applying a bodyscissors every so often.
Elsewhere, Humberto Carrillo was granted a neat squash match where he used his aerial expertise to down his opponent, while Jack Gallagher and Mike Kanellis had what I’d say was a rock solid, quiet match. They fought for stuff, there were a few strong key moments, but they’re acts that aren’t very over. I can’t tell if Kanellis is onto something or not. They pulled off a nice near fall or two before Kanellis once again almost got a win before Jacky pulled through.
Kanellis did an angle afterwards where he told Maria to tell Maverick he was done and walked off through the crowd. Once again, I can’t tell if Kanellis is onto something or not.
NXT UK 49 (6/26/19)
Yes, this was a show that was headlined by a championship match where the contender was determined via a 4-Way Match built up to with multiple weeks of a TV. And yes, it felt just as inconsequential as all the others.
Mark Andrews vs. Joseph Conners had the still very capable Mark Andrews doing all kinds of cool stuff, including taking a sunset flip buckle bomb with his legs and arms entirely stretched out.
Zack Gibson with James Drake doing an overly scripted promo about the Download Festival attendees needing deodorant was one of the dumbest things I’ve seen on WWE TV in a while.
Killer Kelly, meanwhile, stretching Xia Brookside‘s eyes nearly out of her sockets was one of the wildest. They had abrief match where Jinny and Jazzy Gabert observed from the entrance ramp, presumably to distract Xia except poor Kelly couldn’t even take advantage of that.
Noam Dar vs. Ligero was the type of match these two fellas will have, real basic stuff that wasn’t bad or anything but very by-the-books. Kenny Williams sat ringside and had a little interaction with Dar where he asked him for his chair and he didn’t give it to him, leading to the finish. I’m not sure what any of it was supposed to accomplish, to be honest.
WALTER vs. Travis Banks for the WWE U.K. Title was an underwhelming first go for WALTER. Banks is a pretty blank slate of a babyface that hasn’t been established yet so there’s that, but it was more OK enhancement match with the champ against a guy with no chance than anything else. They tried to do stuff with WALTER’s leg being a weakness but it wasn’t really effective, especially compared to what Devlin was doing with WALTER a month or so ago. I did like how straightforward the finish was though – love that WALTER just uses a POWERBOMB. A solid match, one that for better or worse cemented that this is no longer Pete Dunne’s yard.
NXT (6/26/19)
This was a STACKED show – the tag division remains questionable but we’ve got fresh faces debuting, Keith Lee’s back, Killian Dain’s coming back, Adam Cole’s getting vignettes, Damian Priest is coming off like a star, there was a Steel Cage Match, and by GOD it ended with an awesome heel turn.
Seeing Joaquin Wilde aka DJZ on NXT TV with that crazy gear he invested in was a trip. And he wrestled Angel Garza aka Garza Jr. was a fun introductory match to both guys. They did little video package/interviews before the match that had an NXT Season 1 vibe. Garza’s got a shit-eating grin that gives me an Eddie Guerrero vibe – or, I guess a Hector Garza vibe. Wilde’s going to need some tweaks to come off less like another Ricochet, but brother can go. Garza is capable of some wild stuff, and that butterfly trap into the ass-drop was a cool finish. DJZ’s little ass wiggle to try and escape before he dropped it was brilliant too.
The NXT Breakout Tourney adds a guaranteed interesting match to the next few shows, and gives NXT the potential for a reset with some fresh faces who could presumably carry the brand once the Cole/Gargano/Dream/Riddle set goes up. Good stuff all around.
Didn’t think much of the whole Street Profits vs. Forgotten Sons NXT Tag Team Titles match that really wasn’t because of a quick DQ followed by the Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch run-in and staredown with the champs. What’s with tag booking around 3-way matches?
Killian Dain vignette!
Vanessa Borne and Aliyah are just gonna be a main roster act at some point aren’t they?
Weird gear aside, Nykos Rikos was game to make the returning (and still undefined) Keith Lee look like a beast. Fine squash.
Adam Cole‘s championship tour deal wasn’t bad. Cole kind of just showed up with some kind of statement about taking over, but sometimes it’s still necessary to establish why he’s a douche in vignette form.
Shayna Baszler vs. Io Shirai for the NXT Women’s Title in a STEEL CAGE! was a heck of a wrestling match that went from a gritty mat-based fight to a chaotic donnybrook with Candice LeRae and Baszler’s gals showing up. I can’t help but compare this to the Kofi/Dolph Cage Match at Stomping Grounds, which stunk, because they basically just ran Their Match inside a cage – they threw each other into the cage, but there were a lot of cute counters and attempts at getting pops. This match had no BS to it – they kept it interesting because there was a credibility to it, and when Io threw the double knees that drove Shayna’s head into the cage it felt like a major freaking moment. The Candice and Marina Shafir/Jessamyn Duke stuff gave the finish some juice, including Io’s insane moonsault off the cage. Loved the finish too with Io slamming the cage door into Shayna’s face to escape the sleeper, but Shayna collapsing over her and escaping the door. Good old school cage match.
AND THEN BY GOD, THEY DID A HEEL TURN! Io went loco on poor Candice with a chair and it was a wild time. This is an interesting route for Io and one that will hopefully make Candice a player.
MAIN EVENT (6/26/19)
This week we got the rematch of what was an abrupt match between Dana Brooke vs. Sarah Logan last week with Dana getting busted open and the match stopping early, and they even did a “last week” recap thing as Dana made her entrance. They had a solid match and played off the Dana injury spot to setup Dana getting the win with a Swanton bomb to a pretty massive pop. I see you two. Logan’s yell is cool too.
Cesaro, Robert Roode & EC3 vs. Lucha House Party was way too short be anything but sure did feature an interesting trio of fellas, dubbed the Main Event Muscle Man which is a name I doubt sticks, or at least I hope doesn’t. All three of them are that potential main event guys if a bunch of people were in a plane crash or something, so it’s a good dynamic. I say go with it. Make Lio Rush their manager!
WWE TV Match of the Week: Akira Tozawa vs. Tony Nese
WWE TV MVP of the Week: Akira Tozawa
I guess we’ll see what happens next week, huh?
RAW: 5/10
SmackDown: 4/10
205 Live: 7/10
NXT UK: 4/10
NXT: 9/10
