OK, why is this still happening?
And if it still is happening, why would you you have your commentary team stand right next to each other?
RAW (4/6/20)
Until they fully accept that this needs to be a squash-filled studio show, empty Performance Center WWE has still lost me.
They spent like an hour with The Street Profits, Angel Garza, Austin Theory, Zelina Vega, and eventually Bianca Belair (who goes here now) in three different matches. Montez Ford popping for his wife was great, but everything and everybody involved really would’ve benefited from a crowd. Bianca Belair needs those pops.
Asuka vs. Liv Morgan got more time than usual, while Aleister Black vs. Apollo Crews got a lot more time than usual. Like 20 minutes! It was pretty good, and though it would’ve been nice to see if a crowd bought in it was cool to see Crews work a match where he could just show his ability and not be dragged down by a crowd not into him because WWE made him such a loser.
I liked Byron Saxton’s legitimate request for a replay of the finish to Cedric Alexander & creepy clean-shaven Ricochet vs. Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch, which was a fine little tag match.
Becky Lynch, Shayna Baszler, Kevin Owens, Charlotte Flair, and Bobby Lashley all got a few words in post-Mania. A guy (Bobby) going from wanting new management to wanting a new wife is a heck of a leap, no?
The show closed with – uh, Drew McIntyre vs. THE BIG SHOW for the WWE Title in a match that apparently happened after WrestleMania went off the air. So Drew beat Brock Lesnar then Big Show right after, and I appreciate the thought behind that but you’d think they would be confident in getting over Drew McIntyre as a beast by having him beat – you know – BROCK LESNAR. The dude who’s entire thing is that he’s a killer and nobody beats him.
Either way, a pretty good match and a lot better than Drew/Brock. Big Show dished out a beating like he was some kind of giant or something before Drew managed a big bodyslam and absolutely nailed him with the Claymore in under 10 minutes.
NXT (4/8/20)
An hour of it was the final (maybe) Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa match, but we’ll get to that.
First came a NXT Women’s Title #1 Contender Ladder Match between Io Shirai, Candice LeRae, Tegan Nox, Dakota Kai, Chelsea Green and Mia Yim – heck of a line-up, not a good match. The WWE Ladder Match has jumped the shark, and one of its’ only redeeming qualities is at least it pops a live crowd and you get to hear that pop – not anymore. Shirai jumping off of stuff was fun, but the manager stuff with Robert Stone and Raquel Gonzalez was way over-produced and obvious and nothing else stood out.
Malcolm Bivens should probably do more than manage a team of scary foreign guys, I dunno.
Finn Balor, Adam Cole, Charlotte Flair, and Rhea Ripley did post-Mania promos and they did not add much of a layer to whatever they’re doing.
Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa ruled at the Cruiserweight Classic and that was 10 minutes.
Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa right after Ciampa’s turn ruled too.
The match in Chicago was OK but unnecessary.
Everything since has sucked because WWE is really shockingly bad at all the stuff they say they’re training people to be good at.
Their final match was filmed with a cinematic flair, but it wasn’t a Boneyard Match or a Firefly Fun House Match – it was a shitty Falls Count Anywhere Match with more camera angles. Both guys did bad punches and topes and talked lame trash at each other in a match that was both way too serious and not serious enough. I could dig in but ultimately it was just boring, a near hour of nothing special. That’s the worst kind of wrestling, especially when it’s the supposed conclusion to NXT’s biggest rivalry.
Also, a drone filmed Johnny Gargano doing a superkick on top of a truck where he visibly slapped his blue jeans to make a sound. That should be funny – it wasn’t.
The circumstances stink, but much like spending two years to build to THIS they finished the match with THAT – 45 minutes to setup a reveal that Gargano was wearing a cup the whole match.
Shame on everybody, both the DX guys for booking it and these two guys for embracing it.
MAIN EVENT (4/8/20)
NXT UK (4/9/20)
They showed Tyler Bate/Jordan Devlin from the first WWE U.K. Title Tournament, Jack Gallagher/Zack Gibson from the second, Mark Andrews/Joe Coffey from the first episode of NXT UK TV, and the Trent Seven/Pete Dunne match to see who challenged Bate at the first TakeOver: Chicago. That last one is a really, really great match.
My analysis based on these four matches I skimmed through is that NXT UK was a lot more exciting before the TV show began and it became clear no one was trying and everybody was regressing.
SMACKDOWN (4/10/20)
The WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles rematch just felt unnecessary. Dolph Ziggler with Sonya Deville vs. Tucker was a segment with all the least interesting people in that feud. The Miz & John Morrison rapping was somehow more bush league than normal. There are over 5,000 YouTube channels putting out better content.
Sheamus squashing Wayne Bloom’s Tall Kid was the best part of the show.
TAMINA?
The Forgotten Sons, the least assuming wrestlers there ever were, are here now. Welcome to the ride. What a weird ride.
Braun Strowman vs. Shinsuke Nakamura was a fine TV main event on some other planet. Bet you the Bray Wyatt/Braun Strowman feud peaked with that promo.
205 LIVE (4/3/20)
Tony Nese vs. Danny Burch could’ve killed a territory, but Jack Gallaghher vs. Oney Lorcan was kind of awesome with some cool matwork early and both guys eventually throwing the hardest strikes they could – big slaps, chops, and Oney throwing the most brutal lariat on WWE TV since Luke Harper left.
Then Tony Nese ran-in for a DQ.
