Working Man’s WWE TV Review: 6/14/20 – 6/20/20

Amidst a second wave of COVID-19 and the unveiling of systematic sexual assault industry-wide, professional wrestling… endures? WTF

RAW (6/15/20)

Whether Paul Heyman was in charge or not, this has been a fundamentally broken show for months that can’t help but feel like it’s in a holding pattern despite a WWE Title Match, RAW Women’s Title Match, and – uh – a Natalya/Lana tag team setup?

There were a few moments where I found myself “entertained” or whatever: crazy Randy Orton has again been unleashed, Dominick Mysterio threw hands at Seth Rollins so good it was almost cathartic, and both MVP and Asuka continue to be very good at all this.

None of the wrestling was good, a lot of nothing matches that stayed in first gear: Kevin Owens vs. Angel Garza, Natalya/Liv vs. The IIconics, Crews vs. Benjamin, Raiders/Profits vs. Tozawa and some Ninjas.

The two title matches – Drew McIntyre & R-Truth vs. Bobby Lashley & MVP and Asuka vs. Nia Jax weren’t much either… the former a weak example of transferring an undercard guy’s heat to the champ, the latter a weak example of the usually awesome Asuka/Jax match.

There was a lot of moving on from Heyman: Lashley divorced Lana, Owens got his win back over Garza, and there was no mention of like ten guys (Black, Carrillo, Cedric, Ricochet, Thorne, Bianca – WHERE ART THOU?).

Plus Big Show showed up to tell jokes with Street Profits and Viking Raiders and fight off uhhh NINJAS.

There’s a universe where Ric Flair punching Christian in the nuts so Randy Orton could injure him again worked, but we’re not on it.

Rating: 2/10

NXT (6/17/20)

The NXT Title picture got a desperately needed kick in the ass this week in the form of more people simply entering the picture: Keith Lee, Johnny Gargano and Finn Balor are probably your best guys so them going after Adam Cole while Karrion Kross creeps around is probably the best bet. There’s conceivably good matches in there.

The rest of the show was kind of all over the place, from a solid NXT Tag Team Title match between Breezango and Imperium to Robert Stone puking over raucous laughter on commentary to Kyle O’Reilly putting on a cap and glasses and playing psychiatrist for Roderick Strong.

Bronson Reed got a brief re-building in the form of a 20 second squash, all just so he can get wrecked again by Kross next week. Seems like an odd way to handle the big fella.

I am here for Timothy Thatcher promos where he applies submissions and explains them loudly while ignoring the the pain his trainee is, but after this week maybe that’s not reading the room.

Bayley & Sasha Banks vs. Tegan Nox & Shotzi Blackheart closed the show for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles and it wasn’t some 4.5 star banger but the match was just fun, pleasant, hopeful – a necessary antidote to all the ugly truths being revealed day after day in the industry. We could use A LOT more matches like this.

Rating: 4/10

MAIN EVENT (6/17/20)

Some of RAW’s MIA midcard showed up here, Humberto Carrillo wrestling Shane Thorne in a 3-minute match before Ricochet vs. Andrade which was the most average possible Ricochet vs. Andrade match. I liked how Andrade chucked Ricochet’s leg into the ropes to setup his finish.

Rating: 3/10

NXT UK (6/18/20)

In light of recent events, I’m inclined to say this show can eat it. There was a Most Brilliant episode this time, focusing on the Tyler Bate/Pete Dunne WWE U.K. Title match at the first TakeOver: Chicago, a great match I was lucky enough to see live in a more hopeful but likely still terrible time. None of the talking heads on this show offered anything new, so here’s what I said about it a few years ago:

Best live match I’ve ever seen, one of the best examples I can point to of a wrestling match escalating and building into a crescendo. A perfect blend of the madness of modern day wrestling with the restraint of old school wrestling. Jaw-dropping spots, peaks and valleys, standing ovations – awesome. Right place, right time – a special match that wasn’t just jump-out-of-your-seat awesome, but the emergence of two young superstars.

Rating: 5/10

SMACKDOWN (6/19/20)

A barely watchable show carried by a polluted debut, a Sonya Deville promo, and Sasha Banks and Bayley. Bray Wyatt doing the Louisiana gimmick to feud with Braun Strowman is nothing to be excited about – this feels like Undertaker vs. Bundy on top for six months.

The Cesaro Swing to Kinshasa was a heck of a move too.

Shorty G beat Mojo Rawley in a forgettable upset, Sonya and Mandy Rose talked shit on MizTV, and Sasha and Bayley made a pitch for completely replacing Michael Cole and Corey Graves on commentary during a New Day/Lucha House Party match before Sasha had a sweet little sprint with Nikki Cross.

The big thing any other day would be Matt Riddle‘s debut going over AJ Styles in a non-title match, but the day before Riddle got accused of sexual assault, had his lawyer release a response denying it that was printed on sticky labels, then began posting pictures of him and his wife. Whatever the story ends up being, it was all REALLY FUCKING WEIRD.

I regret to say the match was really good, a quality showcase of Riddle’s style with AJ doing some inspired leg work. The Calf Crusher where AJ used Riddle’s bare foot to wrench back was awesome, and the win felt big.

However, this was also a match that exposed everything wrong about basically everything right now: 20 wrestlers surrounding the ring during a pandemic for no reason, nobody in the crowd wearing masks, and finally everybody running into the ring and embracing the accused for his big win – during a pandemic – WAS A LITTLE FUCKING MUCH.

Rating: 3/10

205 LIVE (6/19/20)

A useless show – work Ever-Rise and Indus Sher into NXT and cancel this.

Rating: 1/10

My Favorite Things

1. Bayley and Sasha Banks do Commentary
2. Timothy Thatcher’s Promo
3. The Cesaro Swing to Kinshasa Move

WWE TV Match of the Week: Damnit, AJ Styles vs. Matt Riddle

WWE TV MVP of the Week: Sasha Banks and Bayley