The week, it had ups and downs. RAW was its’ usual palace of disappointment, while NXT UK was better than you could ever imagine. WWE is going through a transition but as always they’re still reluctant to make anything actually cool happen — and yes, I have seen the new NXT logo.
WWE TV Recap (8/22/21 – 8/28/21)
Highlights:
– The Miz turns on John Morrison (RAW 8/23/21)
– NXT Breakout Tournament – Final: Carmelo Hayes vs. Odyssey Jones (NXT 8/24/21)
– Hit Row w/ B-Fab vs. Legado del Fantasma (NXT 8/24/21)
– No DQ Match: Aoife Valkyrie vs. Jinny (NXT UK 8/26/21)
– #1 Contender Fatal 4-Way Elimination Match: Bianca Belair vs. Liv Morgan vs. Carmella vs. Zelina Vega (SmackDown 8/27/21)
Stuff Happening: Becky Lynch and Brock Lesnar Return at SummerSlam, RK-Bro win the Tag Team Titles, The Miz turns on John Morrison, Carmelo Hayes wins NXT Breakout Tournament, CM Punk De-Canonizes his WWE Run
Good Work: Sheamus, Kay Lee Ray, Carmelo Hayes, Aoife Valkyrie, Rampage Brown, Baron Corbin
RAW (8/23/21)
Two days after SummerSlam, not much is going on and if it is it’s probably on SmackDown.
- The Miz turned on John Morrison which was at least Something Interesting, though I’m not hopeful it goes anywhere except * shudder *wrestling matches.
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MVP has been tasked with extending the Bobby Lashley/Goldberg feud, and at least had the decency to call a random fan “fat boy.”
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Lashley vs. Damien Priest then Lashley/Sheamus vs. Priest/Drew McIntyre was a pleasantly hoss-filled start to the show, real formula wrestling but of course Sheamus and Drew got it rocking towards the end.
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Karrion Kross, moving on from NXT with even stupider gear, squashed Ricochet.
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WWE actually tried to babyface Logan Paul and the crowd booed him SO loudly that they almost did, but maybe just for me personally.
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The Miz crushed that beatdown. When the man is asked to deliver, really deliver, he will deliver.
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R-Truth and Tozawa, Mansoor and Mustafa Ali, and now Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss – these are the colleagues defining RAW.
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RK-Bro celebrated their Tag Team Title win and AJ Styles wrestled Riddle in the main event, a solid match that was a little too solid.
NXT (8/24/21)
Marriage, Mandy Rose, and Malcolm Bivens – it’s NXT!
- “Where does Cameron Grimes go from here?” – great question, Ted DiBiase! I don’t think they answered it.
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Timothy Thatcher vs. Ridge Holland was not as cool as it looked on paper. Same with Danny Burch‘s return afterwards.
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Carmelo Hayes beat Odyssey Jones to win the 2021 NXT Breakout Tournament. There wasn’t anything “must-see” in the tourney but it did introduce more solid prospects into the WWE Universe, these two included. Odyssey is fun and Carmelo goes harder than most.
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Kay Lee Ray squash match = good.
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Samoa Joe/Pete Dunne as next direction = good.
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Legado del Fantasma‘s entrance gear for the 6-man tag main event with Hit Row was very good, while the match was… good, just in search of a better environment.
MAIN EVENT (8/25/21)
- Jeff Hardy vs. Shelton Benjamin just can’t be a bad match – they’re established enough and good enough to put in a generic Main Event match but still get the crowd popping big.
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The Viking Raiders vs. Lucha House Party just seemed confusing for everybody.
NXT UK (8/26/21)
NXT UK will just surprise you sometimes – this wasn’t a game-changer, but it begins and ends with a pair of good matches.
- First was Aoife Valkyrie vs. Jinny in a No DQ Match with Joseph Conners locked in a cage. That sounds ridiculous, but Aoife’s attack before the match created some energy and they brawled all over the place while making sure the big spots – powerbomb, table bump – stood out. Good shit in the BT Arena.
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Kenny Williams vs. Oliver Carter, Heritage Cup #1 Contender’s Tournament Round 1 – just ok.
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Aleah James challenged Emilia McKenzie, Ilja Dragunov reflected on his NXT UK Title win, and Nina Samuels talked herself into a match with Blair Davenport.
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Rampage Brown and Joe Coffey beat each other into a good match in the main event.
SMACKDOWN (8/27/21)
Guest commentary from Kevin Owens and a little Brock Lesnar intrigue carried an otherwise sleepy show.
- Becky Lynch is back and the crowd is … feeling out her new character, I guess? Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan, Carmella and Zelina Vega all interrupted her then wrestled for a shot at her in what was a good 4-Way Match. Really! They kept it interesting and Morgan especially showed up.
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Cesaro is back! And he got attacked by Otis. Naomi is back! And was told there’s nothing for her.
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Happy Corbin is hilarious but Big E ragging him doesn’t feel like something a good guy would do.
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Rick Boogs pinned Dolph Ziggler!
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The de-emphasis of Sami Zayn has been a bummer, but he gave Dominik Mysterio a solid TV match that’s probably Dom’s best singles match since Seth Rollins.
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Finn Balor and the Street Profits teaming up to go after The Bloodline is a nice hook, but with Brock Lesnar and Saudi Arabia lurking I’m not confident it gets a chance to hit.
205 LIVE (8/27/21)
- This is the Ikeman Jiro and Grayson Waller show now. They beat Trey Baxter and Andre Chase, respectively.
