Extreme Rules is over and we’re onto the next thing, which is… SummerSlam!? In like THREE WEEKS!? My son is climbing stairs now and EVERYTHING IS MOVING TOO FAST.
RAW (7/15/19)
There wasn’t much must-see here outside of THE FIEND finally appearing, Cedric beating Drew, and Street Profits being amazing, but it was also felt less counter-productive than normal. There’s some direction, even if the show itself wasn’t some rollercoaster. I conceivably should be pro any show that ends with a star-studded Battle Royal, but this one ended with a “big moment” as forced and exciting as Extreme Rules did.
Paul Heyman gloating with Universal Champion (again) Brock Lesnar at his side was actually the best work I’ve seen Heyman do in a while. Must be excited about something to not come off as the pull-string toy he has for the past few years.
The Usos & Ricochet vs. The Revival & Robert Roode is a HECK of a match on paper, and I like the apparent decision to have an Usos promo basically be their entrance music. But L-O-L at this stupid thing being 2/3 Falls, which meant Scott Dawson took a pin in SECONDS and an Uso was pinned soon after with a FLAPJACK. The flapjack might’ve been Dash being out of place for the Shatter Machine but STILL – why make meaningless WWE TV matches MORE meaningless!? If you’re going for a sports vibe with no wrestling during commercials then actually put over the sports vibe, otherwise just slow it he fuck down during break like everyone has done for years – lord knows you’re all capable of it when the cameras are rolling. Man am I fired up. I’m sure the finish was fun for everyone in attendance but yikes.
Lots of other stuff I don’t have anywhere close to that much to say about. Heck of a squash by The Viking Raiders. Poor Mike Kanellis continues to be poor Mike Kanellis. Lucha House Party vs. The Club was a cool idea with the occasional neat exchange but just the most basic-ass of RAW TV matches. Dolph Ziggler is Dolph Ziggler but I would be into him and The Miz as some kind of late-millennial Rated RKO, though I’ve thought that would be cool for years and it might be too late. Drake Maverick appeared on TV naked with his 24/7 Title covering his bits and His Wife in a hotel room on a bed with a bouquet of roses before R-Truth pinned him for that 24/7 Title. My only question is… the roses were still wrapped in plastic, why was anybody selling the thorns?
Drew McIntyre vs. Cedric Alexander was a pitch perfect follow-up to last week’s angle, a fast-paced 5-minute match with Cedric showcased as a spunky high-flyer and Drew showcased as an ass-kicker before Cedric got a cradle win. I’ll be bummed if Drew just pins him next week, but this was GOOD.
The big story of the show was THE FIEND making his first appearance and scaring the crap out of everyone with his horror film mask as he hit Sister Abigail on Finn Balor who spent a couple minutes in the ring with Samoa Joe prior. A couple points: The Fiend shouldn’t do Sister Abigail, it’s too convoluted a move. Also, this was incredible. The lights shutting off in three stages and the terrifying strobe light effects were wild TV and showcased that creepy mask beautifully. I still don’t know how the matches are gonna be but this was cool.
There was also that Fatal 4-Way Elimination Match between Alexa Bliss vs. Natalya vs. Carmella vs. Naomi to see who faces Becky Lynch at SummerSlam and it was… not good. Lynch showing up ringside a day after the Corbin attack was badass, but this went way too long considering all the acts in the ring that haven’t been treated like anything special in forever. Lots of chinlocks too. I did like Alexa trying to sneak a pin in during a Romero Special though. Becky vs. Natty not my ideal pick for a wrestling pay-per-view.
The Cross-Branded All-Star Top 10 Battle Royal (yikes) was a 10-man Battle Royal that went like 10 minutes so wasn’t much but did stay entertaining with a lot of strong acts and key moments. A Seth Rollins/Lesnar WrestleMania rematch at SummerSlam a year after they did the Reigns/Lesnar WrestleMania rematch at SummerSlam makes me lower my head in shame for supporting any part of this.
SMACKDOWN (7/16/19)
The story of the show continues to be Kevin Owens vs. Shane McMahon and even though that happened a few years ago, the reversed babyface/heel dynamic is making it a fun story to watch.
The Shane McMahon Town Hall to kick things off gave a lot of folks that don’t get standout moments get some – names like Apollo Crews and Liv Morgan, along with Elias sucking up and New Day being New Day. To be honest a monthly town hall to setup some matches and angles beats whatever else they’ve been using to set them up for the last few years. Kevin Owens‘ blown Stunner on Shane was a bummer but they got their eventually for a hot angle.
This was another show with a bunch of short matches, but short matches that vaguely accomplished things. Aleister Black vs. Cesaro was only like 90-seconds but I’m glad Extreme Rules made it clear these guys should wrestle again. Stiff strikes, snug holds, and a flip or two. Liv Morgan vs. Charlotte Flair was also 90-seconds but the loss seems to be setting up a new direction for Liv, while also reminding us that Charlotte Flair is Still Here. The Kabuki Warriors as a name will forever be a stain on WWE, but it sure was nice to see them in the ring again, even if they went 30 seconds with The IIconics before The IIconics bailed. HEAT, brother… or something. Apollo Crews vs. Andrade was also very quick thanks to a pre-bell attack from the dastardly Andrade.
Bayley as Ember Moon‘s mystery partner vs. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville was the easiest choice, also the most logical in that Bayley has ascended from lovable nerd to women’s division ace who fights the good fight. It was a nothing match, but the Bayley challenge to Ember for SummerSlam afterwards brings us a fresh pairing that could be a good match.
Is Ali coming for Shinsuke Nakamura? IN.
The Daniel Bryan Announcement hype leading to him saying nothing at all was 25% intrigue and 75% a bummer.
The New Day vs. Randy Orton/Samoa Joe/Elias was the match of the show, in that it was the typical fun TV tag that WWE and especially New Day are very good at. Plus they were facing a weird WAR team of opposition. Orton pinning Kofi is Very good because I need Kofi vs. Orton NOWWWWW.
Kevin Owens vs. Dolph Ziggler was the main event and guess what? It was another short match. Though it had an extra chinlock or two. A simmering though not quite boiling chapter in the Owens/Shane-O-Mac saga.
205 LIVE (7/16/19)
A show all about Gentleman Jack Gallagher and Chad Gable reminding everyone they are good professional wrestlers.
Before we get to that, Akira Tozawa vs. Samir Singh opened with a quick match that kept a good pace. The Singh Brothers acting like they’re off filming Bollywood movies between the wrestling is a good gimmick.
The Drake Maverick character is finally once and for all fully integrated between the main roster and 205 Live and it’s for an angle with… Mike Kanellis!? Either way, this is fun. It’s like Johnny Curtis and Derrick Bateman screwing around towards the end of the original NXT if all that actually went anywhere.
If you haven’t heard, Chad Gable vs. Jack Gallagher ruled, a match that began with scattered boring chants and ended with the crowd on their feet. The first part was a whole lot of Fun With Armbars, and armbars are really one of the more underrated ways to set up sequences of wrestling, especially compared to the Irish whip. Once they realized armbars weren’t going to win them the match, these crazy bastards went all G1 Climax on us with a wild finish: one second you’re doing armbars, the next you run into a headbutt for a hot near fall. Everything felt like a struggle and there were some great counters, including Gallagher’s corner dropkick caught dead by Gable with a Dominator. Can we get a Daniel Bryan-led Catch Point with Gulak, Gable, and Gallagher?
NXT UK 52 (7/17/19)
I’ll say this about NXT UK – the shows aren’t great, but they have transitioned well from WWE trying to be a UK indie lacking a soul to something that feels like an actual WWE developmental brand. Obviously British Strong Style are the top prospects to appear on SmackDown any day now, but guys like Fabian Aichner and Mark Andrews and Toni Storm and Xia Brookside are finding themselves too.
Fabian Aichner & Marcel Barthel vs. Tyson T-Bone & Saxon Huxley was a good night for the Imperium boys, who quickly isolated Huxley, laid out T-Bone on the floor, and pinned Huxley with a European uppercut/powerbomb combo. Aichner’s catch powerslam on T-Bone was wild too.
Jinny wrestled Xia Brookside and I dig these two but it was bad, with some really awkward interference by Jazzy and a blown pinfall.
Lots of promos this week: Imperium on Trent Seven, Kenny Williams on Noam Dar, Gallus on Bomber Dave Mastiff, and finally Toni Storm being interrupted by Kay Lee Ray to setup their TakeOver: Cardiff match. Stories! We tell STORIES!
Mark Andrews vs. Kassius Ohno ended the show on a good note, with impressive flips from Andrews that Ohno was all there for and a cool spot to setup neck work where Ohno caught an Andrews tope, removed the bottom turnbuckle with one hand, and dropped Andrews’ head on the exposed steel. Andrews did a fired up comeback that reminds you he’s still good and actually pulled off the win for a feel-good ending to another eh episode of NXT UK.
NXT (7/17/19)
A show packed with good, unique wrestling.
I enjoyed Arturo Ruas trading shots under his old gimmick name with Kassius Ohno, I enjoyed him not seeming shook for one second during the awkward EVOLVE 10th Anniversary Match with Anthony Henry, and now there’s this match with Matt Riddle that I didn’t just enjoy but thought was legitimately great. They kept things on the ground with some of the coolest matwork you’ll see in WWE before a flash knee from Riddle led to him raining down blows for the KO.
Then Killian Dain made a return completely out of nowhere and attacked Riddle. I did not expect it and I kind of liked it.
Street Profits did another great promo.
This week the NXT Breakout Tournament introduced us to Dexter Lumis, the former Samuel Shaw, and Bronson Reed, the former Jonah Rock. Wrestling in the ring moves too fast today, but so does the business – I swear I just heard these guys’ names for the first time and here they are on NXT. Either way, it was awesome TV, mostly due to the enigma that is Lumis. I’m a mark for debuts by a guy that feels completely different from anything else on-screen, and Lumis with his Stranger Things-inspired theme and sociopathic stare as he walked to the ring fit the bill.
Commentary sold it well too: after a long period of silence, “Can I just say this guy gives me the creeps?” And after what I’m not sure was a legit mis-cue or not, “We were supposed to go to an interview with Dexter Lumis, but I think the people in the control room are just as entranced as the rest of us.”
The match? The match was good, and like any Breakout match showcased a few spots before going home under 10 minutes. Lumis’ kip-up to legdrop and tope con hilo where he landed on his feet was impressive, and Reed did a sweet body block setup and massive Superfly splash to finish it.
“I’m a man, I just got this beard.” – Tyler Breeze
KUSHIDA vs. Apollo Crews was KUSHIDA and Apollo Crews doin’ fun stuff. The springboard rana countered with a sunset flip near fall was a great capstone to the match, and the top rope Hoverboard lock looked incredible.
The show ended with Adam Cole bringing out a challenger of his choosing for the NXT Title, which turned out to be Twan Tucker, who appeared in the Cole Championship Tour segments and I see no reason to not believe is a legit trainee at AIW, an independent company out of Cleveland that both Johnny Gargano and Cole are alumni of. Cool spot for Tucker, and it led to Gargano very quickly coming out and brawling with Cole. I can’t believe Gargano/Cole is still just going on, but this was a pretty cool angle.
MAIN EVENT (7/17/19)
You know what – Dana Brooke and Sarah Logan have developed a little match. It was the fourth one I’ve seen in a couple months, but they’ve got a thing down that properly fired the crowd up.
EC3 actually won a match this week with a schoolboy cradle in an odd-pairing catering line tag of him and Eric Young vs. Titus O’Neil & No Way Jose.
WWE TV Match of the Week: Chad Gable vs. Jack Gallagher from 205 Live – sometimes ya just gotta give the kids a little time!
WWE TV MVP of the Week: Cedric Alexander
The main shows didn’t have much good wrestling or even the most exciting setup for SummerSlam, but it was also a perfectly pleasant week of WWE TV that read more like place-setting than time-killing.
RAW: 5/10
SmackDown: 6/10
205 Live: 7/10
NXT UK: 5/10
NXT: 8/10
