Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House - TV/Movies (246) - Nairaland
Nairaland Forum / Entertainment / TV/Movies / Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House (294429 Views)
Games Of Thrones: House Of The Dragon Official Discussion Thread / Nigerians Storm Gotv Facebook Page Over WWE / Rachel Johnson Goes Topless On Live TV Show During Brexit Discussion (2) (3) (4)
(1) (2) (3) ... (243) (244) (245) (246) (247) (248) (249) ... (298) (Reply) (Go Down)
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 1:40pm On Jan 11, 2022 |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by samistry(m): 3:12pm On Jan 11, 2022 |
E still never reach? pu7pl3: |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 6:12pm On Jan 11, 2022 |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by PurpLChi: 11:20pm On Jan 12, 2022 |
So that's how this spm buttt deleted my NXT review   |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by PurpLChi: 11:45pm On Jan 12, 2022 |
And I've cleared my notes |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by Kaycee7(m): 6:35am On Jan 13, 2022 |
PurpLChi:Sperm butt na bastard sha. Did me the same on a movie review. |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by PurpLChi: 9:31am On Jan 13, 2022 |
Kaycee7: And I didn't even know till I came back to the thread in the evening...na wa o |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by Jokerman(m): 9:06pm On Jan 14, 2022 |
Brock: Knock Knock Heyman: OK Brock, who's there? Brock: Bobby Heyman: Bobby who? Brock: Exactly  ... Mhen I couldn't stop laffing even looking at Bobby's face |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by PurpLChi: 11:06pm On Jan 14, 2022 |
Jokerman: |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by PurpLChi: 2:23pm On Jan 15, 2022 |
WWE SMACKDOWN REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS WWE spent the entirety of Friday Night SmackDown this week airing clips from the past showcasing the deep history between Universal Champion Roman Reigns and his challenger at the Royal Rumble, Seth Rollins. They ran the scene together in The Shield, Rollins turned on the group, they battled in the main event of major shows, the full nine. Now, they’re back at it again. But this feels … I don’t know, forced? Rushed? Weak? After all, this came about when Adam Pearce simply decided Rollins would be the guy to challenge Reigns for his title at the next major WWE pay-per-view event because his bosses said he needed to do so. That they have such a rich history helps, sure, but their respective character alignments makes for a strange viewing experience as a fan. They’re both bad guys! Who the hell am I supposed to cheer for here? Why do I really care all that much about who wins? In their first in-ring meeting since the announcement, Rollins focused on the fact that he’s out ahead in singles matches against Reigns while Roman said that’s the past and he’s in “God mode now.” That’s a pretty badass line, no doubt, and they’re both much better now than they ever were before, but, again, who am I to cheer for? When Reigns decided to dig deeper with his insults, telling Rollins if he wanted someone from the Rollins household with actual star power to headline Royal Rumble with he would have called Seth’s wife, it was a hit. But how much of a hit can it be when they’re both heels? It’s also unfortunate because I don’t want this to end up with Rollins turning. He’s fantastic in his current role. It all just felt odd, which is unfortunate because this could have been genuinely interesting if they had hit the story at the right time. Now just wasn’t that time. At least the match will be an absolute banger. I love Sami Zayn. This segment was peak Sami, the debut of a new show he called “INZAYN” that was supposed to be him doing “Jackass” better than “Jackass” ever could do itself. He was going to accomplish this by having two dudes roll him down the aisle, up a ramp, which would then lead to his jumping over the ring and landing on the other side just in front of the commentary desk. They decked it out with pads, a big bullseye, and Pat McAfee eagerly awaiting his pulling it off. It was perfect! Then, Zayn took his sweet time, pumping himself up, trying to make sure it was safe, then checking it again, then going and stopping just so he could check it again. I almost couldn’t believe that it genuinely pissed me off that he didn’t go through with the attempt. That’s why I loved this so much. As soon as you saw the setup, you knew he wasn’t actually going to do it. I mean, come on. It was so obvious. But he’s so damn good, he had me going with it to such a degree I outright wanted him to do the thing that would plainly result in some form of injury, enough so that I was legitimately angry when he wouldn’t do it. And was, therefore, happy that Shinsuke Nakamura showed up to knee him in the skull and ol’ reliable Rick BOOGS was there to throw him over the top rope into the bullseye anyway. Sami Zayn is incredible. All the Rest The Usos have a way about them but WWE actually let them show some range in their show opening promo, and the result was a wildly entertaining bit where Jimmy introduced all the teams in a Fatal 4-Way to determine their next challengers. It was fun! We need more fun in WWE. The ensuing match was just that, all while The Usos were on commentary having a blast. The Viking Raiders emerged victorious and they’ll get a future title shot. Sonya Deville once again reminded Naomi she hates her and maybe she’ll take her Royal Rumble entry away, or something or other. Her reasoning? “You act like a main character when you’re just an extra.” Later, they did a bit where Naomi tried to manipulate the heat to get Sonya to take her jacket off so she could jump her but instead of that, Adam Pearce gave her another shot at Charlotte Flair next week. Yep, still don’t know what is really happening here, still think it sucks because they haven’t bothered to flesh the story out. They brought the “Natalya, Guinness World Record Holder” character to television and actually did a great job with the segment they booked for it. Nattie pledged to earn a fourth record by beating Aliyah, a bundle of nervous energy for her first SmackDown singles match, in just over three seconds. So he jumped poor Aliyah before the match could start, got her down and nearly out, then stepped back so the match could begin and she could score the quick pin. Instead, Aliyah, who begged the referee to let the match go on, rolled Natalya up and scored the three count in a record breaking three seconds. It was a pretty damn good way to use the new Nattie character to get over a new babyface in the women’s division who is, presumably, about to get more TV time. Really well done all around here. Lita is back! She showed up on this show in a nice surprise — well, she was promoted briefly beforehand, but only the day of — and made clear she thinks she’s got one more run in her. Whether or not that’s actually the case, I mostly just appreciate that instead of using her as a Legend returning to fill out a spot in the match, they gave us some real backstory for her appearance in the Royal Rumble and a reason to cheer for her beyond simply being a returning Legend. With Sasha Banks hurt, one last run for Lita for some matches with Charlotte Flair actually sounds like a good time, too. They did well to set that up here, and I’d absolutely love to see it. Sheamus beat Ricochet in a decent match. There isn’t really much to say about it otherwise. Madcap Moss beat Kofi Kingston following the latter’s announcement that he will indeed be in the Royal Rumble match this year. And now we wait to see what kind of cool save he’ll do. That’s still a thing, right? This was a pretty good show. Grade: B- |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by ValeeLove(m): 8:11pm On Jan 15, 2022 |
WWE planning on changing the name and rebranding Elimination Chamber. AEW is in contact with William Regal for a possible contract signing. Jon Moxley is finally making his return...to GCW against Homicide at a GCW PPV in the Hammerstein Ballroom. |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 9:45am On Jan 18, 2022 |
WWE RAW REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS Freakin’ All Mighty There must be a better way to feature Seth Rollins and Bobby Lashley on Raw. One week before their respective championship matches, pitting them against each other can’t be the brightest idea WWE had. Will it be a quality match? Of course. These two cats know how to tell a story and they’re both at the top of their physical game. But c’mon! The second WWE announced this match, it was clear a DQ was in the cards because neither man can afford an L before Royal Rumble. We know the Uso’s are Roman’s goons and want to do work to make the Tribal Chief proud. Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin are scorned lovers with a desire to prove their worth to Bobby Lashley and MVP. It stands to reason all four of those cats want to make life miserable for Seth and Bobby. No argument there and the logic is sound. But why oh why is it a match between the two of them? Put Seth and Bobby in separate matches against different opponents and produce the same ending. Because, yup. the match ended in a DQ. To make matters worse, I don’t know who I’m supposed to cheer for. Seth is clearly a heel, duh, but Bobby isn’t exactly dancing with the angels either. Bobby’s alignment seemingly depends on the week and whatever WWE needs done. So instead of a compelling main event story, I’m watching two guys who I know can’t lose so the only question is how does the match end. And the way it ended wasn’t unique to this particular match. I say this a lot but one issue with Raw is the lack of internal logic. Even if we get a good or great match, the internal reasoning for said match isn’t consistently there. This was one of those times. Cats like Seth and Bobby just deserve better than this. On Raw, Seth is wrestling Bobby for basketball reasons. On SmackDown, he’s sparring with Reigns on the microphone and sinking his teeth into an interesting psychological story playing on their history as a team and as individuals. Funny how that works. The one thing of note, however, is Seth working Lashley’s knee. This knee gave Bobby trouble in the past, so one wonders—that one is me—if this comes back to haunt the All Mighty during his match with Brock Lesnar. And with Cedric and Shelton lurking, Bobby needs to deal with them sooner rather than later because he has to know they’re just itching to ruin his shot at the WWE Championship. Right? The Rest A Spelling Bro-KO Chad Gable is a gem. Cherish him and *ahem* acknowledge him, because he’s finding his groove like a DJ right now. I don’t want to say he’s doing a modern version of Kurt Angle’s early obnoxious character, but I also don’t want to not say it. The similarities are there and it’s working, so let’s enjoy it. Alpha Academy’s graduation ceremony, as part of their tag team championship celebration, was incredible. Mostly because of Chad. But this is wrestling so you know where this is headed: Riddle showed up in graduation regalia, asked for a rematch, and Randy came out to a surprise. Between all that, Alpha Academy granted RK-Bro the rematch under one condition: The former tag champs must defeat Gable and Otis in mental challenge. What’s a mental challenge, you ask? I imagine it’s like an academic decathlon. Or a sped up spelling bee. Or maybe it’s Chad’s version of Squid Game. Either way, there will be blood, tears, and laughs. Brick House My enjoyment of this feud between Edge, Beth Phoenix, Miz and Maryse is known in these parts. While this segment didn’t reinvent the wheel or increase my excitement for their Royal Rumble match, it served its purpose. What purpose? Get the crowd to hate Maryse even more and give Beth more reasons to whoop her ass. I’d say hitting Beth with a brick disguised as a purse is just the thing to make that happen. Maryse was less convincing here than previous weeks. She sounded so disingenuous as opposed to the last two weeks where her face and body language spoke very loudly. The set up was obvious but like I said, the hate for Maryse is strong. It’s simple, effective, and the best build for a match Raw has going for it at the moment. If there’s one big knock on the segment, it’s the commentary. Homegirl hit Beth with a BRICK. And the guys at the booth sold it with the same emotion they would if it were a chair. Stunned First off, Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins are hilarious together. The humor comes from the fact we all expect them to turn on each other at the drop of a dime. Seth’s appearance on the KO Show was filled with moments like this, especially when Seth easily offered his “best friend” as a sacrifice to an interrupting Damian Priest. I’m not sure how this translates when the two finally duke it out because none of us buy it. But Seth and KO are pros so they’ll figure it out. But let’s get to the match. Damian Priest. Kevin Owens. United States Championship not on the line. Just a fun spirit of competition match. And unsurprisingly, it was a damn good match. My one knock is there was nothing on the line, no stakes, and as of now serves no purpose, but hey they did the best with what they were given. KO got the W by faking out Damian and the ref, playing them both for fools when he faked a knee injury. Damian dropped his guard and got dropped by a stunner. Ms. Momentum Raw kicked off with the standard back and forth between a champion and her challengers. Doudrop, Bianca Belair, and Liv Morgan all hit the ring with different agendas. Doudrop to warn Becky Lynch about the ills of getting what you ask for, while Bianca and Liv announced their intentions to win this year’s women’s Rumble. Oh and then a relatively quick tag match happened, with Bianca and Liv in one corner, while Becky and Doudrop begrudgingly shared another corner. Becky and Doudrop obviously didn’t get along, engaging in a game of “anything you can do, I can stop you from doing so I can do it.” Becky hit a blind tag early in the match, only for Doudrop to repay the favor. Doudrop broke up Becky’s pin attempt on Liv, dragged Becky back to their corner, tagged herself in, and finished Liv for the 1-2-3. After the way Raw ended last week, it was necessary to get momentum on Doudrop’s side and make her look like actual competition to Ms. Lynch and not an afterthought. With two weeks to go, there’s still a lot of work to do on that front. But we gotta start somewhere, right? Random Tags for Rumble Prep Every man for himself. We say it every year during the Royal Rumble, but it’s better to show instead of tell. The Street Profits and the Mysterios picked up the W over the Dirty Dawgz, Apollo, and Commander Azeez. While celebrating, the Mysterios tossed the Profits out of the ring, only for Rey to show his son just how true that “every man for himself” rule really is. Dominik dropped his guard and got tossed out the ring too. Harmless, fun match that tells the story WWE tells every year but takes a different shape based on the individuals involved: Even the closest tag teams have no alliances when the WrestleMania main event is on the line. Not even blood is thicker than the Mania payday. Poor Finn No glib headline here. Finn Balor took a clean L to Austin Theory this week. Why? Shrug. But if Austin didn’t win, Vince threatened to “beat him” in a very visceral way. I wanted to see it happen because if a man that old can do the things Vince said, that’s more impressive than any wrestling match. It’s hard to get into the match itself when Finn is crash test dummy in this weird thing between Austin and McMahon. And no, it’s nowhere near as compelling or exciting as the last time Vince paired himself with a guy named Austin. To say nothing of the undertones of which WWE clearly isn’t aware. Plus? Vince just looks bad on television and the old man just doesn’t have his fastball anymore. Almost a Match Nikki A.S.H. showed a lot of aggression and beat the pants of Rhea Ripley before their match even started. So, yeah, no match. Just more set up for their eventual clash. Which is a good thing because a match this week feels too soon for them. Omos Over Omos pinned Reggie with one foot. That’s it. Actually, I lied. Omos beat AJ Styles. Let me repeat that: Omos beat AJ Styles. And in the aftermath of that victory, he pinned Wrestle McWrestler (not his actual name) and now Reggie. So what was the point of him beating AJ? This is what happens when one books themselves into a corner. Doll Face I like Alexa Bliss and miss her. But these therapy session segments aren’t the move. The only good thing about them is they’re short and over before they begin. Raw is...average. And that’s OK! This week featured Edge, Beth, Maryse and Miz doing dope work as usual, a fun tag match, a segment that sports entertained me, and a couple good matches. But on the whole, it felt like an average episode of a program that often just clears the bar. Here’s hoping the Royal Rumble go home show is at least putting in an effort for an A. Grade: C 1 Like 1 Share |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by ValeeLove(m): 1:12pm On Jan 18, 2022 |
ValeeLove:"I don't give a sh** about your kids" This was on RAW when Heath Slater was scheduled to be part of a Brock Lesnar segment. The segment was remebered for the moment Slater forgot his line while climbing up the ring and said with some emotion to it - "I have kids I need to feed". The Beast - who wasn't known for speaking for himself back then - would reply a line that would go on as one of the most savage responses in history - "Let's talk about your kids...I don't give a sh** about your kids". Heath's facial expression sold it even more. Segments like these shows how much WWE and Wrestling as a whole will benefit from taking away the script from their promos. |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by ValeeLove(m): 1:23pm On Jan 18, 2022 |
Mustapha Ali has asked for his release from WWE. Backstage rumours telling us that he had a heated argument with Vince over his character as Vince told him he was too much of 'nice guy(he probably wanted some RUTHLESS AGGRESSION from him, lol) and the heading was the result of it. Again Vince McMahon is wrong in this. If what I wrote is 100% true, you shouldn't tell your employees to change character till it gets to a heated argument with him or her asking for their release. It should come as an official advice, nothing more. It goes back to the rudiments of what pro-wrestling is today. Don't try to change who I am to fit your selfish interest. Anyway I don't know the full story. This is what I heard. We will miss you Mustapha. He had a huge momentum till he got injured before that Elimination Chamber and Kofi took his spot. Speaking of Elimination chamber, no Premium Live Event titled that name this year, it will be done in a Saudi Arabia PLE. So this is how WWE took away the name "Pay Per View" from their vocabularies. Hmmn. |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by Kaycee7(m): 4:34pm On Jan 18, 2022 |
ValeeLove:Heard a rumor Vince wanted him to play a terrorist character. |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 5:44pm On Jan 18, 2022 |
Kaycee7: Nah, it's not it...Vince didn't want him to do this↓ https://twitter.com/AliWWE/status/1459589009039147011?t=UdyNotGxi7cWZAxVuwWopA&s=19 Perhaps he was scared of the backlash it might get but it looks promising to me. |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by ValeeLove(m): 9:37pm On Jan 18, 2022 |
WWE is going to open the Forbidden door for the Royal Rumble event and they started by announcing Impact Wrestkings World champion Mickie James. Cody Rhodes reportedly doesn't have a contract with AEW and he hasn't for a while now even though he's their TNT champion. They are even funny rumours that he's going to appear at the Royal Rumble. |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by ValeeLove(m): 9:38pm On Jan 18, 2022 |
Kaycee7:I didn't hear exactly that Sha. |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by ValeeLove(m): 10:17am On Jan 19, 2022 |
Just in case you start seeing some funny things in NXT, just know that as of last week Bruce Prichard took over NXT creative. |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by PurpLChi: 1:32pm On Jan 19, 2022 |
This Spa.m bo.t is getting on my last nerves 1 Like 1 Share
|
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by PurpLChi: 1:33pm On Jan 19, 2022 |
|
|
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 9:19am On Jan 22, 2022 |
WWE SMACKDOWN REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS Is it just me or was there a subtle hint of something when Roman Reigns held his hand out for the microphone and looked awfully displeased when Jimmy Uso was late delivering it? Missing a certain someone by his side, perhaps? Also notable from the opening segment of Friday Night SmackDown this week — Seth Rollins referred to Jon Moxley not as “Dean Ambrose” but as “Mox.” Let everyone take that to mean all kinds of things, but I’m just going to consider it a step forward for WWE to allow at least some of its on screen talent to act like real human beings sometimes. Meanwhile, I quite liked the story they went with on this show. Of course they would do a celebration for Reigns being champion as long as he has and of course that would break down with Rollins hitting the scene for some sort of shenanigans. Said shenanigans actually made a great deal of sense, though, and advanced the story in a way that, again, made everyone involved look like they use their brains. Hey, it’s noteworthy when WWE so often goes the other direction with its booking of these guys. Rollins decided to challenge The Usos to a tag team match with the stipulation that a win would mean they’re barred from ringside at Royal Rumble. That way he can actually have a singles match for the title, instead of surely falling victim to THAT DAMN NUMBERS GAME. He brought Kevin Owens along with him to help in his quest to achieve this. Reigns, to keep some semblance of control, alpha that he is, added his own stip: a Rollins loss would mean he no longer gets a title shot at all. That’s how you start a show to set up a main event match with high stakes. Later in the night, they delivered on the match in the sense that it was fun and worthy of its placement. It just sucks that it ended with a disqualification, with Reigns knowing The Usos were about to lose and getting a lick in on Rollins to cause a DQ. It wouldn’t be a WWE show without a disqualification in the TV main event, I suppose. Either way, it was a good show storyline that made sense as a way to build to the PPV match. All the Rest Big E showed up to assist Kofi Kingston in his match against Madcap Moss, basically to make a mockery of Moss and Happy Corbin. There wasn’t much to it, just a babyface being smart enough to get one over on the heels after the heels did the same to him. It was satisfying for what it was. As a wise man once said, there’s levels to this game. When Lita returned to SmackDown, she was given a full blown segment with the champion of the women’s division. When Summer Rae returned, she was just hanging out in the crowd in her own hometown, during someone else’s match. Of course, it was during Natalya’s match, who she’s been beefing with on Twitter, so at least they effectively used a returning Legend to make the Royal Rumble more meaningful. Anyway, Aliyah won by disqualification when Nattie couldn’t break a five count. Xia Li showed up at the end of it when Natalya wouldn’t stop, and we were all reminded “The Protector” is still around. The Viking Raiders became top contenders to the SmackDown tag team titles last week but because The Usos have better things to do, the decision was made to simply have Erik & Ivar go over clean with a dominant win over Los Lotharios. This is the kind of thing WWE should be doing in situations like these, so good on them for doing it. Naomi got her rematch with Charlotte Flair this week and I’ll give you two guesses on what went down but you’re only gonna need one — you got it! Sonya Deville interfered and screwed her over once again. I’d give some sort of analysis here if there was any to give but this has become the standard on the blue brand, so much so it’s become routine. Later, Eric Bischoff appeared from nowhere to advise Adam Pearce to go to upper management to get a match booked between Deville and Naomi for next week. Later, it was made official and I’ll assume the same thing happens. Why would I think any different after the past however many months? Sami Zayn’s grand plan to prove he’s better than Johnny Knoxville was to show that he can do Jackass stunts just like him. Except he’s Sami Zayn, so he tried to fake his way through it. Naturally, Knoxville himself showed up, made it real, and zapped Zayn before tossing him out of the ring again. I am almost convinced that Knoxville is actually going to eliminate Zayn in the Royal Rumble this year.Ridge Holland returned to hang out while Sheamus beat up the guy who broke his nose weeks back, Ricochet. There you have it. This was a fairly average show. Grade: C+ 1 Like 1 Share |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 8:50am On Jan 25, 2022 |
WWE RAW REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS Do Not Boo Birthdays Miz is an awful singer. Lucky for us, he’s a pretty good wrestler. That means Miz can take even the most stereotypical professional sports entertainment wrestling segments, like a birthday celebration for Maryse, and make it work. In fact, Maryse, Edge, and Beth Phoenix all played their parts just as well in Raw’s best story going into the Royal Rumble. For those who missed last week due to football or just living their lives, Maryse hit Beth with a brick. Yes, a brick. Sure, it was wrapped in a leather purse, but it was still a brick. Chaos ensued when Edge and Maryse hit the ring, dispatching members of Miz and Maryse’s security one by one with odes to tag teams of the past. And it was cool. But this was the main event angle on the go home show for the Royal Rumble. I know, I know. “The Rumble sells itself,” is what you’re probably saying to yourself. And maybe they don’t really need to give us a hook other than a bunch of guys on camera saying how much they want to win. But this is a visual medium, people. Show, don’t tell is still the name of the game, and it’s a game WWE used to play really well. What main event star on Raw made it known just how much they want need to win? Kevin Owens is suddenly more interested in the United States Championship, Seth Rollins is fighting for the Universal Championship, Bobby Lashley is squaring off with Brock Lesnar, and Big E is milk carton status as of earlier this month. This speaks to a larger issue within WWE, which is the black hole that is both men’s championship pictures, but in particular, the second-class citizen treatment of the WWE Championship. Does anyone really believe one of the Street Profits, The Mysterios, or the Dirty Dawgz have a shot at winning the main event spot at WrestleMania? Maybe Rey, and that’s only because he’s the cover boy for their (hopefully) rehabilitated video game. But for the most part, it doesn’t compute. WWE spent a lot of last year and the past several months telling us that these championships have permanent residences. What’s worse is not many cats are booked to look like competent competitors for either. There’s nobody to believe in and no one like Steve Austin, Bret Hart, or Shawn Michaels, three men who needed to be the last man standing more than they needed oxygen. Rather than Raw closing with someone out for blood and ready to burn the entire arena down to beat 29 other guys, we got Beth and Edge, posing for the cameras looking ready to partake in a mosh pit. We Need to Talk about Damian Let’s not mince words here: The “Damian” thing isn’t working. I waxed semi-poetic about this several weeks ago, but this week made it clearer than white crystal. Damian Priest defended his U.S. title against Kevin Owens because the latter gave the former his first loss on the main roster last week. The nature of Damian’s “I’m not a killer but don’t push me” character means he gets DQ’d more often than not. WWE solved this once when he wrestled Dolph Ziggler. Shockingly, Priest controlled himself because he knew a DQ meant the end of his championship reign. But then there are matches like this week, where a DQ means he takes the L but keeps the gold. Guess how it ended? And it’s a shame because Priest and KO put on a pretty good contest before the ending. Priest lost it when KO faked another injury, and managed to retain the title. The crowd was on KO’s side the entire time and rightly unleashed the boo birds when the match ended. And no, Damian, they weren’t shouting “Boo-urns.” Priest’s current gimmick means he retains his title damn near every match because someone makes him lose his cool. It’s cheap, renders matches moot, and, at least for one week, got the crowd rooting for the supposed heel. And we still don’t know where the gimmick is going because or why it exists! Whew, okay I’m done now. Carry on with the rest of the recap. The Rest Get Your Weight Up Brock Lesnar doesn’t take Bobby Lashley seriously, doesn’t take the WWE Championship seriously, nor did he take this segment seriously. Lashley and Lesnar partook in a weigh-in. Why? To tell us both men are incredibly large and capable of popping most human heads like grapes. Lesnar’s attire, demeanor, and overall vibe made it very entertaining. Lashley still wants Lesnar to view him as a threat, but it’s just not happening. There’s nothing more to say about Raw’s opening segment. It worked because the people involved made it work, not because the idea of a weigh-in does anything for this match or furthered the story at all. We’re still where we were last week, and the week before that, and the week before that. From Spelling to Sports Entertaining Anything RK-Bro and the Alpha Academy do is a home run. These four cats took something potentially silly—a spelling bee—and made it work. Chad Gable is still on fire as the condescending descendant of Kurt Angle. That very specific character needs egg on their face as revenge for their smarminess, so of course Chad was the weak link in the spelling bee. His reaction to spelling the wrong word correctly, thrown off by Kevin Patricks Irish accent, was priceless. That meant two things: RK-Bro picks the contest for the second leg of this intellectual triathlon, and Randy Orton challenged Gable to a match. And what a match it was. These two work really well together, threw in some psychology, and weren’t afraid to brawl either. We got multiple table spots, several false finishes, and a scooter. Yes, Riddle hit Otis with a scooter. Multiple times no less. In the end, Randy eeked out a win with the RKO, and Riddle challenged the Academy to a scooter race on next week’s Raw. Also? Otis and Gable formally entered themselves into the Rumble. If you missed the match, watch it. Come for the dope RKO and even doper sell by Gable, stay for Otis’ face when the words “scooter race” were uttered. Big Bang Theory So the Vince McMahon and Austin Theory thing is still happening. The downside? The Vince McMahon and Austin Theory thing is still happening. The upside? We got a great match featuring Theory and AJ Styles as a result. Theory wanted to prove himself before Royal Rumble and earn a favorable entry spot. AJ wanted revenge for Austin’s disrespectful acts a week ago during their first encounter. Following Randy Orton and Chad Gable, these two knew they needed to show up and show out. So, yeah, they did that. AJ ended up getting the win as Austin, despite hanging with AJ step for step, did his best to cheat his way to victory. This was a rumble warmup, a showcase for Theory, and a way of getting some momentum back on Styles’ side. Rumble Prep Shocker, but the Street Profits and The Mysterios put on a very good tag match. Who knew, right? This match evolved out of their friendly competition a week ago, and with all four men setting their sights on earning a spot in the WrestleMania main event. Rey Mysterio got the win for his team because of course he did. WWE 2K22 got its trailer debut tonight, and Rey got his flowers as the cover wrestler. Did you really think his team was losing? Or that he wasn’t getting the pin? In typical Royal Rumble fashion. after the match ended, we got a lot of people getting tossed out of the ring. Even the Dirty Dawgz got in on the action. The problem, however, is that none of these cats looked serious. Throwing each other over the ropes felt like it was for laughs rather than seriously wanting to win, essentially, the biggest matches of their careers. More Rumle Prep A six-woman tag match with Carmella, Nikki A.S.H., & Tamina on one side of the ring, and Dana Brooke, Liv Morgan, & Rhea Ripley on the other was all about, you guessed it, the Royal Rumble. This wasn’t a long contest and didn’t really work for me. That’s not indicative of the women, but an indictment of the amount of time they were given. Rhea, who needed wind at her back after the past few weeks, got the submission win for her team. Of course, Nikki A.S.H. got her post match licks in, so Rhea will have vengeance on her mind during the Rumble match. Will Rhea let Nikki distract her from winning the Rumble? To quote Miz, oooooof course. Two Rooms. One Interview Becky Lynch and Doudrop did a one-on-one video interview. No one said anything new so you know how this went. Doudrop wants to make a name for herself and lay claim to the throne. Becky got meta and talked about Doudrop being another name to fill out the card until Becky made her relevant. Cool, cool. If that wasn't enough to make me dock points for this segment, it turns out they were barely 10 feet apart from each other! Doudrop eventually went off camera and it took her no less than 1 minute to get to Becky and throw hands. Why did we even bother with the video interview? All Hail the EST This match...was a thing. My love for Bianca Belair is well-documented, and Queen Zelina is no slouch. That said, this match was a waste of their time. I get it. We need to give Bianca some momentum heading into Royal Rumble. But can’t we accomplish that putting her against someone who isn’t half comic relief half royalty? Zelina can go but right now, she isn’t presented as even a minor threat to someone like Belair. The match proved that point. Analyze This I still really like Alexa. And still really dislike these therapy segments. But it’s not her fault. Alexa is doing all she can to make the best of it and she at least makes it watchable. Bliss’ therapist says she’s making progress, so it shan't be long until she’s live and in person. I can’t get over the lack of build for the actual Rumble itself. Or even the fact that there’s no one positioned as the favorite. Or the fact that the match feels like an afterthought to everything else happening on the show. That said, we got a few good matches this week and a couple entertaining segments. That counts for a lot in my book. If there’s one more thing I would change, it’s that Edge and Beth’s vengeance wasn’t a running story throughout the show. I’m sorry, but if someone hits me with a brick, I’m not waiting until the show is almost over to get my hands on them. A running storyline of Beth and her husband on the prowl for Maryse and her husband, leading to the ultimate showdown during Maryse’s birthday just feels right. As it stands, the angle, much like Raw this week, was just okay. Grade: B- |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 8:13am On Jan 26, 2022 |
WWE NXT REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS The Champion of All of North America Remember last week when Tony D’Angelo and Cameron Grimes both wanted a shot at the North American Championship? Of course you do. You watched. I know you watched. Hence this number one contender’s match between the two, with Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams watching from the Crow’s Nest. Yes, that’s what I’m calling it now. Maybe I have pirates on the mind, but it’s the perfect name for that perch in the corner of the Performance Center. The match was fun and physical. The contest was a smooth affair save for one bad sequence where Grimes slipped on the rope going for quick moonsault. With a little more seasoning, both men can work out of a spot like that and not make it look choreographed. I mean, we know it is, but we like the illusion. The story was obviously, first and foremost, getting a shot at Melo at NXT Vengeance Day. The second story, one that appeared out of nowhere, was the reappearance of Pete Dunne. Dunne showed up with what I believe was a Cricket bat, and slammed it across Tony D’s hand. Payback of course, and the most obvious sign their beef is still simmering. Dunne’s interference allowed Grimes to take advantage, get the W, and set his sights squarely on Melo. I’m not sure what level of escalation Dunne and Tony can ascend to after the crowbar match. I am sure, however, that I want to find out. And if Melo and Cameron can put on a match even half the caliber of Melo’s last title defense, then that’s worth the price of admission alone for Vengeance Day in a few weeks. Not a fan of that name, but hey, this is the same company that thought Great Balls of Fire was a thing to do. The Rest Numbers Game Tommaso Ciampa is back. Let’s not even bury the lede. How did we get here? Glad you asked. Allow me to recap. Santos Escobar hates Bron Breakker for a lot of reasons. Yes, his family’s awful math skills are on that list. And as someone who also sucks at math, I empathize with Bron. It’s a heavy burden to carry, but carry it we must. The main reason Santos has nothing but hate for the NXT Champion, is the fact that he got that gold before Escobar. Bron, of course, never shies from a fight or a war of words. The NXT champ came ready to fight but Escobar still wants to do it on his terms and his time. You know how this went. The other members of Legado del Fatansma got fed to the dog. And the dog did what dogs do to hired goons. LDF challenged Bron to a tag match, provided he can find a partner. If not? Well, a handicap match suits them just fine. As the credits rolled on another week of NXT 2.0, LDF approached Bron as he exited the building. Before Santos and crew got the chance to jump Bron into their gang, Breakker found his partner: Tommaso Ciampa. LDF backed off and the former champ and current champ dapped each other up as a sign of solidarity. New Name, Who Dis? WALTER is dead. Long live GUNTHER. I guess. We got an explanation from the man himself for the name change. GUNTHER represents a new beginning for Imperium. Cool. Malcolm Bivens speaks for me, and possibly the lot of us, when he said GUNTHER is “an awful name.” Either way, Bivens doesn’t care what GUNTHER calls himself; he wants blood. Next week, Imperium faces the Diamond Mine’s Creed Brothers and Roderick Strong. Dusty MSK MSK wants their spot back. The tag team believes the best way to do that is to conquer the Dusty Rhodes Classic and grab that cup. That probably made the outcome of their match with Jacket Time daily obvious to anyone even slightly familiar with professional sports entertainment; the person/team with the story normally wins. BUT, and it’s a big “but” for a reason, Jacket Time didn’t go down without a fight. NXT kicked off this week with an incredible tag match between two equally acerbating teams. Fast break offense from the first ding ding to the last, each team trying to outdo each other all in the name of a trophy. This was another great match of the tournament, with Jacket Time proving themselves as more than worthy opponents for the former NXT tag champs. Dusty Vets Grizzled Young Vets put the hurt on Chase U’s Andre Chase and Bodhi Hayward to advance in the Dusty Cup. The match was fine. But maybe I’m spoiled after the last two Dusty Cup matches and expected too much. Mutual Interests Tag Teaming Sometimes, booking really isn’t that difficult. Kay Lee Ray wants Mandy Rose. Persia Pirotta and Indi Hartwell want all the smoke with Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne. Put them together and watch what happens. And guess what? It was pretty dope. The most interesting aspect was whether or not KLR would keep her cool and not go off on Mandy. That happened for a while, but eventually their beef spilt over into the Performance Center. Pirotta got the W for her team, more than likely earning a tag team championship. Meanwhile, Mandy has a lot to handle with KLR. Better than the First Time Tiffany Stratton’s second match on NXT was much better than her first. I’m sure a lot of that was due to Io Sharai as her opponent. Io got the win but Tiffany showed character and skill. Taking it to the Streets Something was off about this street fight. At least in the beginning. For a while, it seemed like Boa and Solo Sikoa needed to find their rhythm. That happened as soon as a fire extinguisher entered their street fight. From there, the two went back to the ring after doing a bit of fighting in the “back,” setting up a finish that might make a Dudley smile. Solo gets the W after a huge splash through a table, causing the piece of wood to practically explode. Like I said, it started slow but ended really good. Here I Come Dante Chen and Duke Hudson continued their dance after the former interfered in the latter’s big match last week. Of course, Hudson got the advantage with a chop block to the back of Chen’s previously injured leg. Eventually, these two will...duke it out. And no, I’m not apologizing for that, nor do I feel any shame. Oh and before I forget, Duke squashed Guru Raaj. Can’t make an omelette without...you know the rest. His Name is Sanga Grayson Waller’s insurance policy is Sanga, “one of the biggest stars in Bollywood.” If LA Knight wants Grayson, he needs to go through Sanga first. Judging by the man’s height, size, and beard, that won’t be an easy feat. This was a solid NXT 2.0 show. We got some good matches, a couple surprises, and a musical performance that wasn’t the best. I like Ollie Jay but this wasn’t her finest moment. But hey, can’t win them all, right? While the men’s Dusty Cup rolls on, we even seeded some stories for the women’s version. Io Sharai needs a new partner, while Cora Jade and Raquel González’s odd couple act might carry them to the promised land. This show was packed with forward momentum and a sense of urgency. Always appreciate that out of my professional sports entertainment. Safe to say NXT 2.0 knows what it is now. You’re either in or you’re out at this point. Grade: B 1 Like 1 Share |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by Qu3sT(m): 7:42pm On Jan 26, 2022 |
might actually start watching nxt again, these two dudes have a lot of swag and gumption about them plus they're really sharp on their feet. 1 Like
|
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 8:20am On Jan 27, 2022 |
Qu3sT: Especially Trick |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by Qu3sT(m): 8:31pm On Jan 27, 2022 |
pu7pl3:camelo's got that confidence fit for the main roster, plus he's really handsome as marketability and sex appeal sells. |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 11:25am On Jan 29, 2022 |
WWE SMACKDOWN REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS THE BOSS IS BACK. There’s probably some legitimate criticism to level at WWE for giving us the surprise Sasha Banks return on the Friday Night SmackDown the night before Royal Rumble instead of in the Royal Rumble match itself but I don’t mind this at all. In fact, I think I prefer it. My big problem with the men’s Royal Rumble this year (as you’ll read in my preview of the match later today), is WWE didn’t ever bother creating any actual stories for it, instead relying on the match itself to sell for the sake of it. They had mid-card acts sneaking up on each other and throwing each other over the top rope with a “got cha!” laugh just after and left it at that. The women’s Rumble has had the opposite problem. First, they announced a bunch of returning Legends we haven’t seen in quite a while, also revealing the Forbidden Door was opening up with Impact Knockouts Champion Mickie James included in the mix. Then, Charlotte Flair declared she would enter as champion so she could win and choose her own WrestleMania opponent for the first time in history. Now, we get Sasha Banks returning to establish some opposition to that. There are a lot of legitimately compelling angles with the women’s Rumble this year, and they just added a major one right here while also getting some screen time in for some of the other women in the match. This was really well done all around. I’m awfully confused by the way they’ve gone about this Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns program. We started with only getting this match because Adam Pearce was tasked with giving Reigns an opponent for Royal Rumble, and he could pick literally anyone. So he went with Rollins for reasons they never actually bothered to explain. It was something of an odd choice, considering they’re both heels, but they have a lot of history, so let’s roll with it. Instantly, they bring that rich history up and use it in promos for the feud. But the angle they started with was Rollins making note of the fact that he’s beaten Reigns in every one-on-one straight up encounter, and he’ll do it again. Then, he managed to smart his way into ensuring The Usos would be banned from ringside. He was presented, more or less, as a sympathetic character in this. This week, we took an abrupt turn. Rollins showed up to SmackDown dressed as the Joker and spent an entire segment calling everything about Reigns a joke. When he referenced taking a chair to Roman’s back and breaking up The Shield, Reigns became visibly upset before revealing he hates Seth for what he did and he can never forgive him for that fateful evening all those years ago. Reigns, then, became the sympathetic character in this. It’s a bit confusing! Kyle Decker had a take on the segment online: While it was heavy handed (because it’s WWE), I appreciated the idea that 8 years later, Roman still isn’t over that betrayal. Also that Rollins is the one that can break the exterior of Reigns. Also, the superhero fan in me appreciates the Batman-esque villain scenario where the mob bosses think they know what’s up but they don’t know how to handle the Joker. He’s not wrong. Character alignment issues aside, there is something there, and villains can be even more compelling when we can relate to them and their struggle. I just wish they had picked a lane and stuck with it from the beginning. All the rest Ridge Holland returned alongside Sheamus and got his measure of revenge on Ricochet for breaking his face. Poetically enough, he used the mask he was wearing to put Cesaro down to score the pinfall for his team. Happy birthday to Sheamus! Naomi finally got one over on Sonya Deville, defeating her clean in a singles match. There was a pretty damn good pop for it, which seems to indicate they didn’t hold off on this for so long that it didn’t register as a moment for her. Having said that, they did it on the go home show to Royal Rumble in such a way that it was a way to build to Sonya announcing she, too, would be entering the match to try to ruin it for Naomi. So we’ll see where they go from here. It was nice seeing how devastated losing to Naomi made Deville. Sami Zayn did a live podcast with Jinder Mahal and Shanky, one that was largely about Zayn reminding us all that he really, really hates Johnny Knoxville. It turned out to be a lead in to Mahal & Shanky vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Rick BOOGS, which, I believe, represents the Intercontinental champion’s first match back since being cleared to return from his hand injury. He barely ended up doing anything in the match, with BOOGS doing the heavy lifting, scoring a win for the team. It was what it was.Big E showed up to reunite with Kofi Kingston for a match against Madcap Moss & Happy Corbin. They won! And it felt good to see the band back together again. It was real nice to see The Midnight Hour on the blue brand. This was a strange show. The women’s segments hit really well but the rest of the card was meaningless tag matches and the strange storytelling in the main event. Grade: C+ 1 Like 1 Share |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by Fro5t: 2:25pm On Jan 29, 2022 |
Qu3sT:Omo! Ollie Jay, suffocate me  |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by Fro5t: 2:26pm On Jan 29, 2022 |
pu7pl3:Even if I'm not able to catch the whole show, I must find a way to watch Trick's segments. The dude is a whole vibe |
(1) (2) (3) ... (243) (244) (245) (246) (247) (248) (249) ... (298) (Reply)
Cuando Seas Mia: 'When You Are Mine' / ARROW and THE FLASH fan page....... / Top 15 Nollywood Stars Who Have Passed Away In Recent Years
(Go Up)
| Sections: politics (1) business autos (1) jobs (1) career education (1) romance computers phones travel sports fashion health religion celebs tv-movies music-radio literature webmasters programming techmarket Links: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) Nairaland - Copyright © 2005 - 2024 Oluwaseun Osewa. All rights reserved. See How To Advertise. 149 |