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| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 10:28am On Oct 06, 2021 |
WWE NXT REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS MSK FTW Before we get into the main event proper, let’s talk about Trick Williams for a bit. Trick changes the energy when he steps in the ring and talks on the mic. He and Carmelo Hayes caught an early exit this week, but Trick made an impact that I cannot overlook. Back to the match itself, MSK are going to kill themselves defending their tag championships. That’s it. That’s the story. They’re willing to take on any and everyone to prove to the world they’re deserving champions, creating an interesting dynamic to their matches. This week, they fought Grizzled Young Veterans, Briggs x Jensen, and the aforementioned Trick Williams x Carmelo Hayes. They’re not doing it for clout tho; it’s for respect. But how long can this go on? At what point do the tag champs burn out? This week’s main event showcased a variety of styles and flavors for anyone who likes tag team wrestling. MSK ran their normal fast break offense, Briggs x Jensen just wanted to pound everyone into submission, Trick x Carmelo provided a mixture of both, while the Grizzled Young Vets wanted to slow everything down. In the end, it was a tired and beaten down MSK facing off against the two boys who met during a bar fight. Briggs and Jensen were in the catbird position to take the NXT tag titles, but like every team before them, they underestimated the hearts of MSK. If there’s one common thread through this week’s show, it’s how one false move is the start of your ending, MSK gets the W with a victory roll. Appropriate because they barely got this one. Remember when I asked how long can this go on? Almost on cue, Imperium came to the ring looking for revenge and for the titles they feel rightfully belong to them. They jumped the champs but pulled back once Briggs and Jensen somewhat hesitantly lended a couple helping hands. MSK has the young team’s respect but they now have at least two teams aiming for them. One—Imperium—is telegraphing their punches. The other—Briggs and Jensen—have their backs for now. But this is wrestling and we all know the lust for gold knows no friends. We might be looking at the end of MSK’s reign. Dunne and Over Pete Dunne is losing his muscle in a couple weeks, so everyone wants to test him. He wants to prove he’s “the man” with or without Holland by his side. His main aim going into his match with Cameron Grimes was to prove he doesn’t need Holland at all. Grimes wrestled a a little differently than usual, trying to match Dunne’s style. And the two showed great chemistry and put on a good match. Then Kyle O’Reilly showed up, attacked Ridge Holland—who interfered of course—and was quickly dispatched. But Grimes was distracted just long enough to taste the bitter end. Post match, O’Reilly continued his war with Holland x Dunne, as two heads are better than one every Tuesday. Dunne is willing to do whatever it takes to prove his dominance. NXT continued the story of Kyle forming an alliance with Von Wagner. Kyle needs a partner and Von is willing to be that partner. The Rest Breakker, Breakker Bron Breakker is getting his title shot in three weeks at Halloween Havoc. It’s happening, people. Bron doesn’t care how long he's been here, but he’s ready to be champ. Short and to the point. Meet the Diamond Mine I enjoyed this. A segmented hosted by Michael Bivens introducing every member of the Diamond Mine with choice quotes from each member. Bivens can talk his way into a closed theme park, so the more of this the better. An old-school tactic that always works A Rose Grew From Concrete The purpose of this match was simple: establish Mandy Rose as a credible contender. Ember Moon is NXT 2.0’s in-house legend. It would be better if she served as the last boss before someone got to the title match, but NXT’s current construction makes that hard to do. Ember controlled this match from start to...well, not until finish. Mandy can’t do what Ember can do in the ring, duh, but they at want her to be the woman. With that in mind, she nailed Ember with a knee to the face that Ember sold like a champ. Mandy didn’t look great but she looked like someone who can surprise on any given Tuesday. Speaking of Which... And just like that, Raquel González, clearly tired of the bulls*t, calls out Toxic Attraction. Mandy and her crew arrive to the ring, with Mandy even taking on the “what” chants and showing a lot of personality and passion. After a lot of back and forth, Toxic Attraction looks ready to pounce on the champ. But wait! Io Shirai and Zoey Stark come to the champ’s rescue because they have a common enemy. Toxic Attraction figures they’ll fight another day, and the champs stand tall. Odyssey Chase Didn’t really get a feel for this match. LA Knight got the W over Odyssey Jones thanks to Andre Chase. Odyssey needs a feud as does Andre—when he isn’t beefing with Steve—which might be good. LA Knight tho? Still don’t know why he’s there or what he can do in NXT at this point. Honeymoon is Over Indi Hartwell’s story for the past several months involved Dexter Lumis. Even earlier in the show, Indi and Persia Pirotta were talking about Dexter’s size in more of that patented NXT 2.0 edgy humor. But this week, she finally got back in the ring. Mei Ying put up a fight early but lost all momentum when Persia stepped in to eat a kick that was meant for her best friend. Indi gets the win and later in the show, she and Persia step to the Io and Zoey to let them know they want their titles back. All the way from Chicago Tony D’Angelo debuted and the crowd was all the way into him. Malik Blade—dope name—never had a chance. Sure, he got a couple hope spots but c’mon. We know how this works. D’Angelo got the win with a fisherman neckbreaker that doesn’t have a clever name yet. I’m not sold on D’Angelo yet as a character because it feels too retrograde. One Winner, Not Two Joe Gacy cut a promo before his match with Ikemen Jiro. He wants the ring to be a safe space, declaring there will be two winners even if the record book says it’s just one. Okay, cool. He then beat Jiro in another short-ish match, only to hug Jiro when it was all said and done. I was thinking they were going somewhere insidious with this character and the hug was the prelude to a beatdown but...it wasn’t. We did get some tension between Joe and a scary looking cat in the stands. Hopefully this deepens his character. He’s got a match with Ciampa next week, and I’d be shocked if the guy in the stands doesn’t make his presence known. Generation of Jade Cora Jade thought she was fighting Virginia Ferry. We all thought that. Only Franky Monet beat Virginia down before the bell rang and took her place. Monet clearly wanted to blow off steam after losing last week and figured Cora was the perfect target. Cora had other plans as she walked away with an upset W. Much like Mandy’s win over Ember earlier, a win over Franky means something in NXT 2.0. And still no clue where this leaves Franky. This was a packed show. Seriously, they did a lot in two hours. Most of it landed for me but some of the segments didn’t (like you, Duke Hudson, poker player/wrestler) but they kept the show moving at a good clip. Next week, and the next couple weeks, should prove interesting for NXT 2.0 and its future. This week, they put a lot of those wheels in motion. Grade: B 1 Like 1 Share |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 11:04pm On Oct 07, 2021 |
Just thinking about Aliyah on SMACKDOWN...I hope they don't do her like Toni storm  |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by samistry(m): 7:19am On Oct 09, 2021 |
Some of the new nxt guys like Joe gacy, Tony dangelo, Trick Williams have their characters figured out already. I can't say same for the others like Von Wagner, Jacy Jayne, Persia Pirotta. Terrible on the mic. |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 9:02am On Oct 09, 2021 |
WWE SMACKDOWN REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS Remember roughly one month ago when Seth Rollins and Edge went to war at Madison Square Garden and the end result of it was Rollins putting Edge away with the Curb Stomp? My read on that at the time was that it was a very well executed match with an incredible story that culminated in Edge, having come to terms with just how far away from his original goals he had gone, and just how much he’d lost in doing so, having to accept his fate. And he did that. He accepted it, knowing it might very well be the end. But it wasn’t. I wondered where they could possibly go from there, and it turns out they had the right idea with this story all along. Rollins should have let it go there, because of course he should have, because he won. In war, victory is all that matters. History is written by the winners and all that. But that’s not what happened. Rollins, of course, wanted more. He wanted not just the painfully obvious physical admission of defeat but the verbal equivalent. The defeat itself was not enough, he needed to revel in his opponent’s demise. Savor it. Examine the wound and twist the knife a little more. When Edge didn’t bite, at least not initially, Rollins did what he was always going to do, what he’s always done before — he took it too far. He involved the Copeland family, breaking into Edge’s home and making snide remarks about his wife and children. At the time, I didn’t like that story beat, mostly due to how impossible it is to execute in the right way on a pro wrestling show, but it’s improved with the benefit of hindsight. Rollins was back this week to continue rubbing it in and demanding Edge come back around. He offered up whatever stipulation Edge wanted, continued running him down at the expense of his family, all of it. Then, the man himself showed up, rushed the ring, unleashed a vicious assault with all the markings of the evil Edge we’d known before, the one who goes to that dark place, and then he made clear what stipulation he wanted. Hell in a Cell. Rollins’ response to this made clear what all of this was about. He was shocked, yes, but he also looked scared. The smug confidence that had him acting these ways, and saying these things, was replaced by fear; of what he unleashed, of what was bearing down on him, at his inability to escape from it. Pride comes before the fall. The best part? It’s deserved. And that is the key to all of this. Going to the depths of your own darkness to exact revenge on a man over a title is losing yourself. A title, as much as it may mean competitively speaking, is still just a physical representation of an achievement. But family? Family is everything. Going to the depths of your own darkness to defend your family is righteous. In terms of storytelling, Rollins’ going after Edge’s family essentially gives the latter carte blanche to do as he pleases, in terms of audience acceptance. It’s why they had Iosef kill John Wick’s dog, the same dog his wife left for him to help him grieve — and move on from — her death. Iosef talking shit, breaking into Wick’s house, and even stealing Wick’s car he refused to sell wouldn’t have been enough to justify a revenge tour through Iosef’s entire family. But killing the dog? Going after family like that? Now you get not the boogeyman, but the man you send to kill the boogeyman. And there will be no escaping it. Edge will come for Rollins and he will do nothing because he can do nothing. And we get to cheer it all. Brilliant. Acknowledge me We got a look at what a babyface Roman Reigns could look like with this character bent and you know what? It might could work. The bit they did at the start of his segment showed that. He walked out, soaked in the roar of the crowd reacting to his mere presence before shouting out the name of the city, San Jose, and demanding “acknowledge me.” They responded with a thunderous pop while The Usos flanked him holding up their fingers, The Ones, and the audience did the same in response. It felt electric. That’s a pro wrestler being damn good at his job, creating something the fans so badly want to get in on, even when said wrestler is a heel because he’s awesome. Hell, even if they don’t make him babyface again with this, it’s still just a cool thing for fans and live audiences. Even if other crowds respond with boos, it still works. I love it. It’s a perfect pro wrestling bit. Meanwhile, in story Reigns gave Paul Heyman the chance to explain himself and he did a lot of groveling before doing exactly as Roman asked him to, telling Brock Lesnar what he’s got coming to him at Crown Jewel. Then he quite literally bowed at the Universal champion’s feet while the rest of us were left to wonder how sincere he was being. That’s one of the great things about Heyman, both the man and the character — he’s widely known as an inveterate liar. This could very well be the setup to a swerve, the one thing that could take Reigns down and end his, ahem, reign as champion. They’ve done a damn good job of creating intrigue in this match centered solely around the loyalty of a manager. Bingo! The contract signing is a segment WWE uses often for title matches, considering it’s a simple and effective tool to build to said title match. There’s a bingo card game to be played each time, as there are a number of bits you can look for within these segments. Here, we got “it’s a contract signing but no one actually signs a contract” on top of “the furniture is used as a weapon and/or destroyed” to go along with “everyone cuts a promo on everyone else before a brawl breaks out.” The thing to keep in mind is that they can make as many bingos as possible as long as it’s entertaining and Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair, and Sasha Banks made sure to make it entertaining. Especially how it ended: Also, props to them, they actually bothered to have a backstage segment where we saw Lynch complaining to Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville but ultimately choosing to sign the contract to make the match official. King of the Ring, Queen’s Crown On the men’s side, the Mysterio family drama continued, allowing Sami Zayn to score a win over Rey Mysterio. This was a good way to use a meaningful match to continue driving a wedge between Rey and Dominik. Meanwhile, Finn Balor returned from his failure as The Demon at Extreme Rules with a strong victory over Cesaro. As far as reestablishing someone goes, this was about as good as you could ask for. It also sets up a matchup that makes sense in the semifinals. On the women’s side, it’s a bit more confusing. Toni Storm was propped up by way of an introduction to her new character, someone who fashions herself a “child of the 80s,” as they put it. I’m not sure how this makes sense, considering she wasn’t even born until 1995, but either way, it seemed like an obvious set up to give her a win and showcase this new character more. It was a surprise, then, when she got beat in relatively short order. It was also a surprise when Carmella beat Liv Morgan a short while later, as WWE continues to tease a Morgan babyface push before beating her in matches like this. That victory set up a Vega vs. Carmella match for next week, a heel vs. heel encounter that gives us no one to cheer for. Seems strange! It also ensures that a heel from this side of the bracket will be in the final, which could either mean a heel vs. heel final when Shayna Baszler comes out of that side of the bracket (which is what I expected as soon as I saw the complete bracket), or Doudrop is actually getting a legitimate push all the way to the final here. Neither option looks particularly appealing to me, but your mileage may vary. All the rest We got our first look at how Hit Row will be presented on the main roster with a stylish vignette that showed them in the studio. Pat McAfee called them “an electrifying music group that also kick ass in the ring,” which is just about the perfect way to describe them. One of my biggest issues with WWE in recent memory is the fact that no one on the roster is cool. Hit Row is exactly that, provided WWE presents them properly, which is to say, let them do their thing and it will work itself out. They’re off to a good start in that regard. Am I the only one who keeps hearing “Madcat” every time they say “Madcap” Moss’s name on this show? I can’t be the only one, can I? Anyway, this thing where he tells shitty dad jokes that everyone but Baron Corbin hates is the kind of silliness I can get behind in my pro wrestling. After all, who is a bigger heel than your dad after he excitedly tells you his latest knee slapper? I wondered briefly why Naomi wasn’t in the Queen’s Crown tournament and felt badly about it until she showed up on TV and reminded me she’s in this awesomely strange story with Sonya Deville, who is now apparently doing what she said she wouldn’t and getting back in the ring to wrestle Naomi herself. We still don’t know why she hates her so much, beyond the corporate nonsense she claimed a couple weeks ago, but this is a genuinely exciting match to look forward to. I’m all but certain it’s not actually going to happen, but still care enough to want to tune in to see the next step in the story. Whoever will compete with MACE who will ANNIHILATE with his DISPOSITION TO DOMINATE?!? After a predictably bad episode due to the draft last week, the blue brand got right back on the right track. Grade: B+ 1 Like 1 Share |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by Nezzjnr: 6:56am On Oct 10, 2021 |
Why do I have a feeling that Paul will back stab Reigns at Crown Jewel |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 8:05am On Oct 10, 2021 |
Nezzjnr:  you're not alone in that feeling |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by Nezzjnr: 8:08am On Oct 10, 2021 |
pu7pl3:Reigns doesn't Trust Heyman so much. I no go shock if e happen m Even when Paul was being forced to make that statement at Lesnar |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by ValeeLove(m): 8:33am On Oct 10, 2021 |
This is funny. Not only has Brock been regarded as the guy who couldn't hold his own on the mic for years. He comes back suddenly; brings crazy mic skills along with him, and destroys Paul Heyman and The Bloodlines relationship not just once but twice! ...and guess what? He does it each time with 1 simple sentence and as cool and calm as he could ever be. IT'S FUNNY.  I just have one thing to call Brock...GENIUS. He looks and talks different, has clearly reinvented himself, he has done it the right way and at the right moment. It's crazy to see something worth watching in WWE these days IMO, but Brock is definitely SOMETHING. Sorry I'm commenting now, should have dropped this last week. PS: Paul is doing a great job too. 1 Like |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 9:48am On Oct 10, 2021 |
Nezzjnr: yep, I didn't believe him Force of habit |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 9:49am On Oct 10, 2021 |
ValeeLove: Great Job all round from everyone 1 Like |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 9:11am On Oct 12, 2021 |
WWE RAW REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS Let’s talk Raw! No, We Can’t Get Along The Uso’s came around on behalf of the Tribal Chief. Apparently, when you sit at the table, you can do whatever you want when the Head of said table wants it to happen. It’s not the best logic but okay. Especially since it doesn’t explain how Sasha, Becky, and Bianca are on Raw this week. If WWE just explained to us in a simple sentence that wrestlers can come and go as they choose until the draft results go into effect, that solves everything. Their job was to decimate WWE Champion Big E and soon-to-be SmackDown wrestler, Drew McIntyre. Reigns wants E taken out before their one-on-one at Survivor Series, and he just doesn’t want the smoke with Drew O’Mac. While Drew and E aren’t exactly friends, they agreed to put their competitive beef to the side because Jimmy and Jey aren’t cats to take lightly. How would two men who have a scheduled match in two weeks fare against two brothers who are also one of the greatest tag teams in WWE history? E and Drew needed to survive, while the tag champs needed to “finish the mission.” Drew and E were on the same page when the match started. As the match went on, they started reading from completely different books. E took the brunt of the punishment from his old rivals, and made a hot tag to Drew. Drew dominated Jimmy x Jey. During his Claymore countdown, E tagged himself in, a bit of payback for last week when Drew did the same thing, while also showing how frustrated E is with Drew. When E went for the pin, guess who broke it up? If you said “one of the Uso’s” then you guessed wrong and clearly didn’t watch Raw. It was Drew. After stopping his teammate from winning the match, Drew and E battled on the outside of the ring to an eventual count out. And when I said “battled” I really mean it. E drew blood on Drew’s forehead, ring steps were used as weapons, and the barricade around the ring almost gave way. It looked like they’d do Roman Reigns’ dirty work for him, but the Uso’s know that’s not good enough. But even they weren’t enough to contain the built up rage E and Drew wanted to unleash on each other. Once the champion and his challenger were done with them, they went back in the ring and squared off against each other. Again. Drew hit a Claymore out of nowhere and left the champ wondering what century he was in as Raw went off the air. Much like another match we’ll get to, this was more about the story and less about the flips and kicks. Until this week, E and Drew’s beef was friendly. Now? not so much. Friendly competition for the WWE Championship rarely works out, so putting some extra juice on the match is a good thing. Meanwhile, I’d hate to be Jimmy and Jey Uso on Friday night. No Contest “Get em in the ring and let them start it right now!” never actually worked for anyone, Adam Pearce. Thanks, Management. With that out of my system, WWE’s two women champions teamed up to wrestle Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair. Eventually. Since Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Sasha, and Bianca all hate each other with the passion of 10,000 suns, it was partner against partner for a good five minutes. That tension led to a tag match with each woman wanting to prove they could do it dolo (Dunn language/Mobb Deep slang for those who don’t know). And for a while, a very brief while, it looked like an actual tag match would happen. But Sasha and Bianca couldn’t resist beating on each other, while Becky tagged herself in and Charlotte let the women beat up on each other. The ref ruled the match a no contest. Can you blame him? While I know some may feel cheated out of not getting an actual match from these four, it makes perfect sense from a storytelling standpoint. There was no way on this earth, or any other earth, these four women could get along. Especially not the three of them fighting for a championship in a couple weeks. While the past couple weeks featured Sasha’s smarts and Bianca’s power, this week was all about Becky’s cunning. She let her two opponents beat on each other and she picked whatever meat was left on the bone. The Rest He’s Going to be a Mighty King, So Enemies Beware Xavier Woods advanced in the King of the Ring tourney with a hard fought W over Ricochet. Woods and Ric-o-shay put on a phenomenal opening match, with each showing just how much they want need that crown. Xavier, much like Simba, just can’t wait to be king. Ricochet needs it for validation and to graduate to another level in his career. In the end, the high-flying Ricochet was a tad overeager. After using his body as a battering ram two times in a row, the third time wasn’t the charm. Xavier moves on. But who will he face? His partner or Jinder Mahal? It’s Jinder Silly me. I thought WWE was giving us Kofi x Xavier for a story of New Day vs. New Day for a shot at the crown they both desire. But after Kofi didn’t kick out of the Khallas, it’s clear we’re not getting that. Kofi and Jinder put on a good match, and now we avoid any discussion of a New Day breakup. Which is cool. And maybe the King of the Ring tournament doesn’t need the extra juice of two teammates going to war for a scepter. That said, WWE clearly set it up with both members avoiding answering what would happen if that became a thing. If it’s not going to happen, why even tease us? Shayna Moves On, Dana Goes Home Last week, many spilt a lot of digital ink over Corey Graves’ comments about Dana Brooke. As a watcher of a lot of WWE over the years, those comments felt sanctioned and supported by Vincent Kennedy McMahon. Why? Who knows, but Dana and Shayna Baszler went at it again this week in the first round of the Queen’s Crown Tournament. Would we get a different outcome than last week? No, not really. BUT, Dana put up a fight and made it at least a little interesting. Plus, she talked sh*t to Graves, which was a nice touch for her. But the L makes the comments from last week seem even meaner and makes me question what exactly are they doing with Dana. Doudrop Did the Upset Doudrop beat Natalya in their Queen’s Crown matchup, setting up a payoff between her x Shayna in the semi-finals. When You Come at the All Mighty... Straight to the point: Bobby Lashley is disappointed in Goldberg. He doesn’t believe Goldberg getting his Arn Anderson on is befitting of a WWE Superstar, a former WWE Champion, and definitely not a WWE Hall of Famer. No, sir, he doesn’t like it. According to Bobby, no matter what Goldberg does, he can’t touch, hurt, or kill the All Mighty. Strong stuff from the former champ. Not sure it advances anything but that’s the problem with a marquee matchup for a show two weeks away when one of the wrestlers is a part-time cat. Not Quite a Roundhouse Kick... Omos made mince meat of Riddle. Randy Orton told his partner that if he wants to take on Omos, he’s doing it alone. Riddle didn’t believe him and for a while, it looked like Randy was a man of his word. Omos won the match 10 seconds after the bell rang, but AJ Styles wanted more. The man was embarrassed by Randy and Riddle last week, why wouldn't he? After Omos delivered an awful roundhouse kick that was barely a kick to begin with, he finished the match with his signature move. AJ got in the ring, set up a Styles Clash, and was eventually jumped by Randy Orton. Once again, AJ looks like the weak link. I said last week that they need a new note to play going into Crown Jewel and apparently no one heeded my words. Le sigh. Putting on the Hurt (Business) Right when I was wondering why The Hurt Business was reinstated, Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander pick up a very quick win over Mansoor x Mustafa Ali. And I mean really quick. Both teams needed a W but it wasn’t in the cards for Mansoor and Ali tonight. Finally—finally—Ali had enough and ended their partnership after holding yet another L. About time, because after what felt like months of teasing, it’s time for those two to go blow for blow. This is the Way... It’s hard to get invested in this one. Austin Theory x Jeff Hardy matched up after the former got incredibly disrespectful last week. Before they could get a lather, the 24-7 brigade came through for...basketball reasons. Hardy, the legend, looked ready to use the shenanigans to his advantage. But then he missed the Swanton Bomb and got beaten with a roll up. Okay, cool. Raw plodded to its finish this week and an average show is in the books. The bright spot? A lot of stories moved forward and the King of the Ring matches were on point. The rest of the show just didn’t produce anything exciting or interesting. Oh and the Queen’s Crown matches, to this point, are glorified squashes that barely lasted two minutes. On a three-hour show, that’s unacceptable. Grade: C 1 Like 1 Share |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by SILENTandSMART2: 4:17pm On Oct 12, 2021 |
Brock is leaving after c/jso will Roman retains the belt I'm tired of seeing the belt with him... |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 6:17pm On Oct 12, 2021 |
This pic is pro wrestling gold 1 Like
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| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 9:29am On Oct 13, 2021 |
WWE NXT REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS Let’s talk Swerve, Indeed Santos Escobar and the rest of Legado del Fantasma kidnapped—yes kidnapped—B-FAB and Top Dolla. They committed a crime—WWE labeled it as such—on camera and Santos still wrestled for the North American Championship. Professional wrestling. It’s fantastic. This match between Isaiah “Swerve” Scott and Santos was a long time coming. Now that the former is headed to SmackDown, someone in a suit decided it was finally time for them to get it on. And thankfully, for a feud of this caliber that’s gone on for this long, and escalated to the point of an actual felony, Swerve didn’t wait for the bell to ring. I hate when blood feuds start with collar and elbow tie-ups. Swerve is angry and a wounded animal, so he should act as such. Once the bell rang, it was two men doing their best to decimate each other. Lariats, elbows, submissions, chokeholds, high-risk maneuvers, and a firemen’s carry onto the apron. Swerve and Escobar know each other well, so it was all about catching someone off guard for a millisecond. After about 15 minutes of neither one giving in, along came Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams. Trick and Melo evened the odds, took care of Escobar’s boys when they thought about interfering, and distracted Santos long enough for Swerve to get a win nobody expected. That’s it, right? We all go home happy and Swerve takes the belt to SmackDown? Carmelo Hayes had other thoughts in mind, as he used this moment to cash in his Breakout Tournament contract. You know what happened at that point. Isaiah put up a fight but it was moot. Melo shot and he didn’t miss. We got a hell of a match between two old rivals in Scott x Escobar, a surprise finish, then another finish and the last sentence on the story that was Carmelo Hayes’ cash-in. And it all made sense. Melo has no love for Legado del Fantasma, Trick pushed him to get his swagger back, and Scott wasn’t going to lose to the man who kidnapped his friends. Going forward, Hayes x Escobar can tango—with Trick waiting in the wings—while Hit Row moves to bluer pastures. All Tricks, No Treats How does one bring transparent inclusivity to a...championship belt? This was always the issue with WWE doing a character like Joe Gacy’s current incarnation. They’ll give him random buzzwords to say that they read on the Twitter machine and just prescribe them to him sans context. Anyway, Gacy promised to bring that word salad to the NXT Championship with a win over Tommaso Ciampa and pack his costume for Halloween Havoc. I don’t know about you, but Ciampa getting the W was never in doubt. Gacy showed he can hang with the champ, but since he didn’t beat the man, he isn’t ready to be the man. Ciampa left a few openings for Gacy to gain the advantage, but like a kid learning cursive writing for the first time, it was hard for him to capitalize. Ciampa is just too good. If you don't take the cat down when he gives you a shot, then you never will. After Gacy was denied his fairy-tale ending thanks to the actual Fairy-Tale Ending, sh*t got weird. And I don’t mean weird for wrestling, I just mean weird. Harland was in the crowd, standing in the same spot as last week. He locked eyes with Gacy when the match started and it was sort of brushed aside. But as Ciampa made his way to the locker room with Goldie in hand, Harland attacked the NXT champ! With Ciampa out of the picture, he went to put Gacy in a yoke and then...didn’t. Joe, like all cult leaders, apparently has the power to change moods by laying his hands upon thee. Harland backed off, looking like he had an actual come to Jesus moment. Good first match and opening segment if only because it raised my curiosity and my eyebrow. Strange things are afoot at NXT 2.0. The Rest Xyon on a Roll Poor Malik Blade. Once again, love his name. Love his look too. But you know who has a better name and a doper look? Xyon Quinn. Xyon manhandled Malik, as he’s clearly someone NXT wants to establish Xyon as another big thing. Not quite as big as Mr. Breakker, but semi-big. Speaking of Bron... Young Breakker came to Ciampa’s aide when the Grizzled Young Veterans stepped to him. Bron told Ciampa he has his back for now because he wants him at his best at Halloween Havoc. A quick segment that did some character development for Bron, moved the story forward between he and Ciampa, and was, logical. Bron doesn’t want any excuses or an asterisk next to the W he believes he’ll get. And next week, we’ll find out how true to his word he is as he and Ciampa will have their hands full with the Grizzled Young Vets in a tag match. Ivy Nile is a Beast Ivy Nile made her in-ring debut this week and, of course, she squashed her competition. But it was the way she did it that impresses. She squatted another human being. For fun. It was a version of the Torture Rack that looks infinitely more painful than the original because the spine just shouldn’t bend that way. Diamond Mine is legit, people. Get familiar. Give Mandy Her Flowers Last week, I sang Mandy’s praises. This week? I bellow them from the top of the mountain. She was the best part of Toxic Attraction’s promo this week, commanding the ring and the audience while convincing me the NXT Women’s Championship might look better on her than on Raquel González’s. She called her shot, issued a challenge, and at Halloween Havoc, the champ will spin the wheel and make a deal to determine the stipulation for their championship match. Go Mandy! Friends. How Many of Us Have Them? NXT is telling a story with Kyle O’Reilly that I like. This is a guy who, understandably, doesn’t want to trust anyone and be a part of anything anymore. Very similar to what another company did with a certain angsty cowboy. Von Wagner is doing all he can to open up Kyle’s heart let him in just a little bit. This match was about more than just exorcising the Pete Dunne and Ridge Holland demons; Von Wagner needed to prove his loyalty and reliability to Kyle. And that’s exactly what he did. Wagner said he has Kyle’s back and not only did he save O’Reilly multiple times during the match, but he was Kyle’s number one fan as well! Good match, better story. The Dumbass Class Chase U is exceptional. Andre Chase explained how he “schooled” Odyssey Jones last week. He then sonned a hapless student who had the audacity to accuse Chase of cheating. Brandon was sent to join Steve in the “dumbass class.” Red Foreman would be proud. Wrestlers and Guns Arn Anderson, at this point in his career, is still setting trends, After he talked about Glocko Pop a couple weeks ago, Julius Creed followed suit. This week, the Diamond Mine member told Ikemen Jiro—and us (!)—that he “stays strapped.” Of course, it was a clever double entendre referencing the straps on his wrestling attire and how he’s always ready for a fight, so points for wordplay. But still, wrestlers talking that street sh*t is definitely a choice. Another choice? Jiro thinking it was a good idea to challenge Creed as his beef with the Diamond Mine continues. After Creed bodied the main the fancy jacket, Kushida stormed to the ring to save his friend from a beat down. Kushida x Ikemen are going to need a lot more guns if they want to take on Bivens’ crew and actually survive. Indi Isn’t Focused Indi Hartwell x Persia Pirotta made quick work of Amari Miller x Sarray. Pirotta said she wants the tag champs. The tag champs obliged and Toxic Attraction followed. A fight broke out with Io Shirai and Zoey Stark standing tall. But before we got to that point, Hartwell was giving Dexter Lumis all the attention in the world. Something tells me she’s not ready to go after tag titles. Do Kids Love Poker? Time to keep it real: I don’t understand the Duke Hudson poker player gimmick. Why is a poker player interested in wrestling? What does he gain from it? It reeks of Duke “The Dumpster” Droese or Issac Yankem. But he got the win over Grayson Waller, so hooray? Body in the Trunk, Stay in Line, Punk Lash Legend’s talk show didn’t work for me this week. The point was to further whatever is going on between her and Tony D’Angelo. D’Angelo wanted to guest on the show and she said nah. Her producer also said nah. Fast forward and it turns out, shocker, D’Angelo wasn’t too thrilled with being told nah. He stuffed Lash’s producer in the trunk of his Benz. NXT is throwing segments and matches at us so fast this week that it’s easy for some of this stuff to either blend together or possibly ignore what doesn’t work. Not so fast, WWE. I don’t get where we’re going here unless Lash and Tony are going to wrestle each other or the latter plans to manage the former. This show moved with the speed of a train going downhill with no brakes. Every segment moved a story forward, and NXT continued its formula of showcase matches with shorter ones in-between to get over specific wrestlers. Some of it still doesn’t work for me, but most of what they did this week spoke to me. To quote a certain long-haired half-human half-Atlantean, I dig it. Grade: A- 1 Like 1 Share |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 11:30am On Oct 16, 2021 |
WWE SMACKDOWN REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS I absolutely loved the way they closed this show. Brock Lesnar is a force of nature, a straight up animal, a dude who once tore a car door off and threw it into the audience. He’s the type of animal you’d be deathly afraid to be in a cage with. It wouldn’t surprise anyone if, when you were trapped in that cage with him, he tore your limbs off. No, it would surprise you if he didn’t. That’s what made this so damn good. Lesnar, I’ll be damned, is playing mind games. On most days, I would roundly reject this from WWE, because WWE has a bad habit of overdoing it with this kind of thing. But they’ve been almost understated in this regard, just like they were here. Roman Reigns had Paul Heyman look over the contract for their match at Crown Jewel, and Heyman ensured him it has “everything you asked for” before advising him to sign it. Reigns did so. When Lesnar was given the contract, he didn’t even bother taking his eyes off Reigns. He just signed it blind. “You must be some kind of a dumbass,” Reigns remarked. “A big dumb farmer, huh? You just sign it without even reading it, what’s wrong with you, man?” “Roman, I already read the damn contract this morning — with my advocate, Paul Heyman.” And then he walked away. There was no physical confrontation, no fisticuffs, no pull apart brawl, no fight at all. Just Lesnar sowing one last seed of doubt in Roman’s mind on where Heyman’s loyalty really lies. It’s been a good hook for this story from the beginning but I’m impressed with how well they paced the story and just how hard it hit when Lesnar waited that beat and delivered that final line. We’ll see how this all works out in under a week now. Thanks to all this, I cannot wait to find out what happens next. Same hell, different devils I’m pretty disappointed in the story beat they gave us in the Edge-Seth Rollins feud, and I fully admit that has everything to do with my own interpretation of the story up to this point. That mostly has to do with the fact that, up until now, it sure felt like the story arc was about Edge going down a dark path in pursuit of material things (that admittedly meant so much to him), realizing he went too far, accepting what came about as a result of that, and ultimately only being pulled back into action because his nemesis had himself gone too far in pursuit of satisfying his foolish pride and ego. This arc makes Edge heroic. It shows that he is not the Edge we’ve known in the past, that he’s grown beyond that darkness, that he is the light. Turns out, that’s not what happened at all! Turns out, yep, he’s still the devil, and Rollins, too, is a devil, and these two devils are going to go to war in the place you would expect two devils to settle their differences. Hell (in a Cell). Which, yeah, I guess that’s consistent for the Edge character all throughout his career, and it’s kind of epic on its own, sure, but it leaves me emotionally unsatisfied. Edge isn’t a hero, he’s a devil out to scar Seth’s soul in a way that will never heal and I’m to cheer for that because… what, Rollins is a bigger piece of shit? Later, Rollins had his turn on the microphone and he rightly pointed out that he got his way, as Edge more or less admitted he is not “Edge-lite.” Then he wanted to make clear that he’s not intimidated or afraid to face Edge inside Hell in a Cell, because Edge is right, they’re both devils. This kind of sucks now. The match will probably rule, though, so that’s cool! All the rest Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks looked a bit off on their timings and their match looked a tad disjointed to me but they still managed to make it entertaining when all was said and done. Banks scored the win with Bianca Belair ringside, and then they were all ushered out as quickly as possible with Adam Pearce screaming to production folks to get the ring set up for the main event segment. It felt strange and not befitting of stars the level of Banks, Lynch, and Belair, but that’s what happens when you promote zero commercial breaks up against your main competition on the other channel doing the same. They definitely did nothing to address the criticism of how the King of the Ring and Queen’s Crown tournaments are being treated on this show. Finn Balor and Sami Zayn were given ample time to tear the house down with a damn good match while Carmella and Zelina Vega was story heavy and that story was someone losing because they were too worried about getting their face messed up so they can maintain their status as “the most beautiful woman in all of WWE.” There’s a real problem in all this, but we know WWE is going to trumpet itself as groundbreaking for doing two women’s matches at Crown Jewel, including one involving a member of the LGBTQ community. All we can do is keep calling them on it. Sonya Deville using Shayna Baszler as a ringer lines up exactly with what we expected for her “match” with Naomi on this week’s show. I still like what they’re doing here, or at least what they’re going for, I just need them to do a bit more explaining. We know Deville has a big problem with Naomi, but “you don’t take advantage of opportunities” isn’t cutting it. What’s really going on here? It’s time to go deeper. When Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick BOOGS cut off Madcap Moss & Happy Corbin, I was wondering how things would play out and what they dynamic would be between characters like this. Then they just rocked around the ring, dancing with Pat McAfee, all the way back up the stage to the entrance, where the Street Profits showed up and BOOGS played them in on his guitar as well. One thing SmackDown does really well is litters its mid-card with amusing shit like this. Sometimes you don’t need to go in depth with it. Just have fun. We really are living a great life right now. The Usos and The Street Profits never do anything but have great matches with each other, and that was the case again here, as the former defeated the latter in a Street Fight. Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins are off to Monday Night Raw now, but they went out with a bang. They should do very well for themselves over on the red brand. We’ll be seeing this match-up again down the road. I hope they don’t ever extend SmackDown any longer than two hours but this didn’t feel like it was 30 minutes longer. I like the show, what can I say? Grade: B 3 Likes 3 Shares |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 7:55am On Oct 19, 2021 |
WWE RAW REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS Let’s talk Raw! For the Cheap Seats When Charlotte Flair x Bianca Belair’s match ended, I let out an audible sigh. You’re not here, but trust me, it happened. Would I lie to you? This was the best thing on Raw tonight by 20 country miles and it ended in a DQ when the champ, fearful of losing her title, hit the challenger with a chair. I’m sorry, but the ending taints the match just like a bad ending to any story can taint everything before it. Don’t believe me? Mention Game of Thrones to a fan of the seres and watch what happens. Point is, WWE wasted a great match between two of the best wrestlers on their roster. And to what end? Charlotte is the still the Raw Women’s Champion and as of this week, she doesn’t even go here! Bianca, meanwhile, is an actual Raw competitor. Now, maybe Vince is planning some chicanery at Crown Jewel that will solve that equation. But it puts a sour taste in the mouth for what was already a bitter show to swallow in the first place. Prior to the cheap finish, Bianca x Charlotte continued a story they started telling a couple weeks ago before Becky Lynch interfered. They’re evenly matched competitors who have each other well scouted. They both countered signature spots, neither wanted to give up, and at times they were mirror images of each other. The best moment in my not so humble opinion was Bianca rolling out of the way far enough to stop Charlotte from doing her double moonsault. It was a small touch that spoke volumes about both women, and highlighted that Bianca isn’t the “flash in the pan” wrestler Charlotte pegged her as earlier on Raw. The momentum built to a great finish and then it was ruined. Maybe something will happen at Crown Jewel where Bianca can get a little revenge. But we don’t go on maybes and possibles here; we gotta go with whats in front of our faces. And in front of mine right now as I live and breathe on the internet in 2021, is an unsatisfying finish that makes no sense and does nothing for either person. Can They Co-Exist III WWE falls into a lot of lazy storytelling tropes. On the real, it wouldn’t be so bad if they didn’t rely on them as often. And for three weeks in a row. For some reason, I’m supposed to care whether or not two guys wrestling for the WWE Championship in a few days can co-exist in a tag team match with nothing on the line? It’s just weird and, worse, unnecessary. Taking a quote from Godzilla, let them fight. Instead, they’re fighting the Dirty Dawgz...again...for basketball reasons. And it’s made worse when NXT is doing a much better version of this story. That said, it was an okay tag match. Big E took a lot of punishment, sparking questions about Drew McIntyre had a master plan. Then that went nowhere when Drew O’Mac took the hot tag and put a hurting on Dolph Ziggler and Big Bobby Roode. E was briefly taken out of the match but got back in the game just in time to get a reluctant tag from Drew, and put the Dawgz to sleep. They shook hands after the match then jawed back and forth....basically the same thing they’ve done for three weeks now. It’s bugged out that SmackDown’s two top stories (Roman Reigns x Brock Lesnar, Edge x Seth Rollins) are executed to a level that this isn’t even touching. Grant it, there’a a lot of history with all four of those men. History that E and Drew just don’t have. But WWE putting this thing together in such a slapdash way is just boring and wack. The Rest Murder Was the Case I chuckled when Bobby Lashley told Goldberg he’s within his rights to call the cops and report Goldberg’s murderous threats. It flies in the face of so much wrestling history but the All Mighty says he doesn’t roll that way anyway, so it’s moot. Nothing new here. The “No Holds Barred” interview felt more neutered than No Holds Barred. And at least that had Zeus and a guy pooping on himself. I was more excited for this match a few weeks ago than I am now because they’re just repeating story beats. Ain’t No Other Kings in This WWE Thing... Xavier Woods’ close encounter with the steel ring steps looked legitimately scary. Legitimate to the point I wondered if they’d stop the match. Guess that’s what happens when wrestling is really good. Xavier battled back to topple Jinder Mahal and advance to the King of the Ring Finals against Finn Balor. Am I the only one who has to remind himself Mahal is a former WWE Champion? The better man won in an okay match that sets the stage for what should be a very dope encounter this Thursday. Speaking of Finn... Finn and Xavier Woods faced off after the former easily handled Mace. Things got testy between the two cats who want nothing more than to be king. Xavier says Finn will stay a prince. “Artist formerly known as, to be exact” which was a very choice line. Who’s House? Our House The Street Profits told the world they’re on Monday nights to become Raw tag champs. AJ Styles and Omos said “not so fast, homies.” Not in those exact words, but you get the point. They’re next in line and clearly see the Profits as a challenge. How do I know? Because during a match between the aforementioned Profits of the Street and RK-Bro, AJ and Omos beat up everyone and left the champs reeling. What started as a statement match for the Profits ended with Styles and Omos standing tall, looking smarter than their foes, and ready to reclaim what they believe is rightfully theirs. There’s an interesting angle here too with Riddle still not understanding Randy Orton didn’t have a plan last week. Riddle is yet to get the fact his partner was ready to hang him out to dry. If a breakup is in the future, that’s the seed that will grow into dissension. Two Minutes for the Queen Two minutes. The Queen’s Crown tournament semifinal between Doudrop and Shayna Baszler lasted two minutes. And I might be generous giving it that long. Plus the match itself was rather doo-doo and made Shayna’s finisher look weak in the process. Boooo. Doudrop x Zelina Vega will battle for the Queen’s Crown at Crown Royal. What’s the over/under on the match being over or under two minutes? Not including the amount of time it takes them to get to the ring. Theory is 2-0 Austin Theory is now 2-0 against Jeff Hardy. While Jeff could claim he got caught off guard the first time, no such excuses this week. Not even a little, Mr. Hardy. Austin thought he was facing R-Truth, only for Truth to pull a fast one and insert the Charismatic One instead. The result? Austin Theory beat him fair and square in the middle of the ring. But Theory’s weird fanboy selfie thing he’s doing meant he just had to step over the line. Theory, is in fact, a habitual line stepper. He got another selfie with Hardy, then Hardy got his revenge and a selfie of his own with the rabble rousing Raw rookie. This is a way for Theory to get a big W over a legend going to SmackDown while letting the crowd get to celebrate Hardy at the same time. I get it. It doesn’t do anything for me, but I get it. Apologize For your Manhood, Ali Mustafa Ali possibly got his Dr. Frankenstein on and created a monster. After Mansoor got a needed W over Cedric Alexander, (what is The Hurt Business for right now?) Ali hit the ring in a fantastic suit. Incensed his former partner was smiling and giggling earlier, his diatribe barely got going before Mansoor went off. Mansoor let loose, letting everyone know that enough is enough and it’s time for a change. He promised to embarrass Ali at Crown Jewel with a lot of passion and fire. Cool segment with genuine character development. Johnny Zen Another week, another backstage segment with John Morrison adrift while Miz cuts rugs on another network. This time, The Viking Raiders questioned his meditation methods. Raid and get paid. Raw is Trash this week. This was everything holding serve until Crown Jewel, with advancements in the tournaments and a few bright spots blotted out by the sun that is inept complacency. Weeks ago I wondered how Raw would sustain itself going into its Saudi Arabia show. No way on this earth or any of DC’s 51 other earths did I figure the go home show for their big event would be this uninspired. That season premiere can’t get here soon enough. Grade: D- |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 9:24am On Oct 20, 2021 |
WWE NXT REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS Let’s talk NXT 2,0! I Gotcha Back But You Best to Watch Your Front The more I think about it, this situation between Bron Breakker and Tommaso Ciampa where the former is watching the latter’s back for one night was better suited for a singles match. Ciampa taking on a member of the Grizzled Young Veterans one-on-one, with Breakker at ringside to even the odds and possibly, maybe, make it a 3 on 1. Maybe I’m burnt out on WWE using the same basic structure, even if Bron being there to keep Ciampa in one piece rather than “co-exist” with the champ. That said, Ciampa and Steiner Breakker mined a lot of tension out of just how much Breakker was willing to let the champ suffer before tagging in or coming to his aide. And you know what? He didn’t come to his aide that much. In fact, one might argue—and I’m the one to do so—he didn’t come to his aide at all. The champ did most of the work in this tag match against a very good tag team. And in at least two instances when he went for the tag, his “partner” was like me in high school after a bad breakup: absent. Bron getting his Casper on meant no rest for the weary champion, clearly part of the story they’re telling. Ciampa sold it when he finally got frustrated and that’s when the brown stuff hit the fan. After a type-aggressive tag from Ciampa, Bron clearly wanted to swing on the man. And then he did! Some may say it was inadvertent and Ciampa was just in the way. Sure. Breakker missed Ciampa and took the heads off their opponents instead. After whipping out the Steiner Recliner to no avail, Bron finished it with a military press power slam straight to hell. Bron let Tommaso know that’s his future and there’s nothing he can do about it but hold Goldie close for one more week. There’s no way Ciampa is 100% going into Halloween Havoc’s main event. Meanwhile Breakker is fresh and has all the juice on his side. If you ask me—and you did—Goldie is getting a new place to call home very soon. Shooting Those Shots The newly crowned...nope, before we even get there, let’s talk about Trick Williams again. It’s telling he was the first one we heard from when the new North American champ entered the ring this week. Trick might be Carmelo Hayes’ Flava Flav for now, but it’s only a matter of time before he realizes he’s the headliner. Melo is cool and the crowd likes him, but he’s a star to Trick’s super nova. But I digress. Melo started the night with visions of a “Melobration” in his head. Johnny Gargano had other plans. Gargano said with his wife pregnant at home, his daughter married, and all of his obligations behind him, he’s ready to rediscover his way. And that means going after the belt that Melo now calls NXT’s “A” belt. After trading insults—and sending a stray Indi Hartwell’s way—Melo, Trick, and Johnny devolved into a brawl when Dexter Lumis appeared in that way that only horror movie monsters can. They stole the North American championship from Melo and invited he and Trick to a haunted house at Halloween Havoc to find it. Trick knows it’s a setup because he watches movies. But they’re going and I’m very curious to see how this pans out next week. The Rest Class is Cancelled Andre Chase talked big game going into his match with Odyssey Jones. The man even brought his own “student section” to sit in the crowd and bask in his glory watch him take Jones to school. Jones apparently didn’t get the lesson plan. The big man dominated this match. The man from Chase U barely looked competitive. The Imperial Squad Imperium want the tag titles back. The Creed Bros. want their first shot at the titles. Clearly, something has to give. Imperium, to their surprise, found themselves faced with a challenge they never expected in the form of the Diamond Mine’s tag team. Julius and Brutus can match Imperium muscle for muscle and move for move. For a while, they were. But then Kushida and Ikemen Jiro came down for a touch of revenge from last week. Oh yeah, that’s not over. The distraction allowed Imperium to get the quick rollup victory. MSK interrupted their celebration and said they’d see Imperium at Halloween Havoc with their titles on the line. Logical. Gives everyone something to do. Sets up bigger and better. Jaded Santos Escobar issued a challenge to Carmelo Hayes before this match started. If my math is right, that’s two challengers gunning for the North American champ and he’s only had the belt for a week. As for the match itself? Cora Jade stole one from Elektra Lopez. Lopez got pinned with a small package buuuuut the ref missed the fact she had a shoulder up. Sundays are awful when you cheer for a New York City team and the refereeing wasn’t the best. Lopez was stunned and later in the night, she and Legado del Fantasma took their frustrations out on Jade and her boyfriend Trey Baxter. To be continued at Halloween Havoc, no doubt. Wheel of Fortune? First off, let’s all send a prayer and some love Jacy Jayne’s way. She took a nasty fall early in the match and the triple threat became a one-on-one between Iso Sharai and Persia Pirotta. Io and Persia made the best of a bad situation and put on an entertaining match. Props to everyone involved for getting through it. Io, without Pat Sajak telling her to, spun the wheel. The tag titles are on the line in a Scareway to Hell Ladder Match at Halloween Havoc! Wonder how Led Zeppelin feels about that naming convention. The Champ is Here! Guess who’s coming to Halloween Havoc? If you said “Chucky” you’re correct. But if you said “Solo Sikoa” then you’re 100% more right. The Uso’s baby bro makes his debut at the spooky season’s biggest party. Sikoa calls himself the champ of the streets. We’ll see if his lordship over pavement translates to the squared circle. WWE is still undefeated when it comes to video promos making wrestlers look cool when they already have dope material to work with. Bada Bing I’m coming around on Tony D’Angelo. I like the attitude in the ring, I like his moveset, and he’s really smooth. Plus, the cat can talk. Even if a lot of that talk is stereotypical Italian gangster talk. After wiping the floor with Ru Feng, D’Angelo was questioned about Lash Legend’s producer and his whereabouts. At that point, D’Angelo did his best Johnny Tightlips impression, proclaiming he don’t know nothing about nothing. Close But no Donut Legado del Fantasma jumped Briggs x Jensen before the match even started. TO BE FAIR, BxJ started it earlier, so I don’t fully blame Santos’ crew for getting an early...jump...on their competition. The story was simple: Brooks and Josh weren’t ready to compete against Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza. They fought as hard as they could for as long as possible, but they brought dull knives to a gunfight. Host with the Most LA Knight rocked a Ready to Die tank top in his promo explaining why he should host Halloween Havoc. For that alone, he should host the event. But since I’m told the match wasn’t canceled and it aired on my television, clearly someone at WWE disagrees with my very sound and bulletproof logic. In the end, it didn’t matter because Knight put Grayson Waller out to pasture with BFT in about the time it took me to write that first paragraph. And he barely broke a sweat. LA, the man without a country, is hosting Halloween Havoc. Weirdness Joe Gacy dropped a lot of buzzwords and made another connection with Harland. Weird, wild stuff. This was an okay go home show. No mind-blowing bangers to speak of but nothing awful either. The Duke Hudson thing still doesn’t work for me, and now Kyle O’Reilly and Von Wagner are out bonding with each other and nature. Which also didn’t do a thing for me. But several video packages established personalities and stories going into NXT’s big event. The table is set for what should be an entertaining Halloween Havoc. Oh, and Chucky will be there so, yeah, that’s a thing! Grade: B |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by SILENTandSMART2: 8:18pm On Oct 21, 2021 |
Crown jewel.... |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 10:22pm On Oct 21, 2021 |
WWE CROWN JEWEL QUICK RESULTS -Roman Reigns def. Brock Lesnar -Becky Lynch def. Bianca Belair & Sasha Banks -Big E def. Drew McIntyre -Xavier Woods def. Finn Bálor -Goldberg def. Bobby Lashley -Zelina Vega def. Doudrop -RK-Bro def. AJ Styles & Omos -Mansoor def. Mustafa Ali -Edge def. Seth Rollins -The Usos def. Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 10:23pm On Oct 21, 2021 |
Edge and Seth had quite a match and Brock really dead lifted Robinson with one hand...beastly stuff |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by Debroslink: 11:06pm On Oct 21, 2021 |
pu7pl3: As usual, no title exchange hands. This is why I don't really care about crown jewel ppv. |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 11:11pm On Oct 21, 2021 |
Debroslink: Nothing here was designed to move anything forward, just a glorified house show with awesome matches |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 11:13pm On Oct 21, 2021 |
When Brock Lesnar was leaving Saudi Arabia, Brock was quoted saying, “The moment I arrive at SmackDown, I will beat Roman Reigns senseless.”
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| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by ValeeLove(m): 8:38am On Oct 22, 2021 |
I heard the PPV sucked...or is that just the haters review? Plus who knows what the women wore? |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 10:01am On Oct 22, 2021 |
ValeeLove: it didn't suck and they wore standard gear but less revealing 1 Like |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by samistry(m): 4:12pm On Oct 22, 2021 |
It was a great event. The women put on a superb showcase. Thumbs up to wwe pu7pl3: |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 4:19pm On Oct 22, 2021 |
samistry: yea they really tried...all the matches were lit |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by ValeeLove(m): 8:45pm On Oct 22, 2021 |
pu7pl3:i saw the gear. Its the Saudi gear. Like they did the last time they were in Saudi; totally unnecessary, but we'll blame the nation for that. |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 10:37pm On Oct 22, 2021 |
ValeeLove: I can never understand that culture |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by ValeeLove(m): 7:40am On Oct 23, 2021 |
pu7pl3:they are rich, hate women, love cars, like entertainment and are terrible at looking good; just imagine what an average wealthy guy in Saudi wears every freaking day, my point exactly. |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 7:54am On Oct 23, 2021 |
ValeeLove:You summed it all up don't forget their love for exotic pets too |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 7:57am On Oct 23, 2021 |
WWE SMACKDOWN REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS This show was bookended by some of the best and worst of WWE. Let’s start with the good. Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns lived up to at least my own expectations at Crown Jewel, with Paul Heyman managing to play both sides to maintain his spot with whomever best serves him in the moment. In this case, that ended up being Reigns, who used an assist from The Usos to defeat Lesnar to retain the Universal championship. Lesnar, good and pissed off about this, vowed to show up to SmackDown to put the boots to Reigns in retaliation. He did just that, throwing Reigns around like a rag doll and getting especially violent with Jimmy and Jey when they inevitably joined the fray. Seriously, I want you to look closely at Lesnar as The Usos rush him and he moves to dealing with them. That kind of speed and power in such a large man is what makes him so terrifying, and his execution is so violent you almost can’t help but feel scared for what might happen to the poor bastards he has his hands on. It’s why I will always say that Lesnar is one of the best to ever work in WWE. You just don’t get this anywhere else. What followed was an angle we’ve seen before, Lesnar unhinged and breaking cameras before tossing officials around and ultimately attacking Adam Pearce. He was suspended indefinitely, which is how they’re getting him off TV for a while. It works just fine, because, again, we got to see the proverbial bull running through the china shop. Now that Lesnar is gone, though, the focus turns back to Reigns and his seemingly strained relationship with Heyman. It’s clear there is a great mistrust there but trust and usefulness are not mutually exclusive. It will be most interesting to see what’s next. Now to the bad. And my god was this bad. WWE is often a victim of Vince McMahon’s shortsighted ways, and this is another good example of that. Despite the fact that McMahon controls every aspect of this promotion, we somehow ended up in a situation where the women’s champion on each brand was drafted to the other brand and neither lost their title before the switch went into effect. It’s clear they didn’t plan for this even one little bit, and one need only look at the above segment to see evidence of that. Beyond a title exchange being dumb and devaluing, they quite literally had Becky Lynch, one of the coolest characters of the past decade, and Charlotte Flair, who has quickly become one of the top stars in the promotion, acting like children fighting over toys and who would give theirs up first — complete with throwing them around and playing keep away — while Sonya Deville played the role of the parent trying to keep the peace. When they finally managed to actually exchange the titles, Flair suggested a winner take all match, which would have been an actually interesting way of going about this, before Sasha Banks showed up to get in the way of it and Lynch just left. She literally just walked off to go to Raw, stopping long enough to say “I’ll see one of you at Survivor Series.” Banks even smiled and said “bye” as she walked away. This was painfully bad, one of the worst segments I can remember either of these two taking part in. What sucks is they aren’t even necessarily to blame for it. At least it’s done now and we can move on to the next thing that won’t make any sense, when Lynch wrestles Flair at Survivor Series in a brand warfare match where Lynch will represent Raw despite spending the last year on SmackDown and Flair will represent SmackDown despite spending the last year on Raw. The Rest If you didn’t know Drew McIntyre is a guy I should be far more excited about having on SmackDown than I am. He’s a big hoss type who can absolutely go in the ring. I just have a hard time connecting with him. There just isn’t much there beyond “big fella who maybe tries a little too hard.” Here, he showed up to issue an open challenge, one answered by a much deeper, far more fleshed out character in Sami Zayn. Of course, Zayn did the job, going down to the Claymore Kick as a way to firmly establish McIntyre in his first full day on the blue brand. A ceremony was held to crown Xavier Woods the new King of the Ring. Kofi Kingston was there, and joy was had by all. I guess I expected something more of this because of who was involved, but it felt like a standard segment you would get for such a thing. For the second night in a row, Mansoor defeated Mustafa Ali. They had a decent match. There isn’t much to say about it otherwise. They didn’t change much of anything about Hit Row’s presentation from NXT, and that is absolutely the right call. They’ve got bars — legit, too, they’re actually good at this — and WWE finally went back to using a couple jobbers to put them over big in their debut, with Swerve Scott and Top Dolla squading up to score the team’s first win on the main roster. There’s a LOT of potential here, and that much was obvious in this first showing. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Happy Corbin is a perfect feud featuring two wrestlers who amuse me to no end with their character work involving sidekicks. By the way, if you’re team Madcap Moss over Team Rick BOOGS, get out of my face right now. It’s worth pointing out how utterly insane it is that Nakamura is more of a character wrestler in WWE considering his history, but hey, take what you can in this world, right? Corbin scored a win in part thanks to Moss, and they kept calling it a contenders match, so we can reasonably expect a title match between these two in the near future. This show was all about setting up the new roster and showing off some new faces, which they did for some — Ridge Holland, Aaliyah, Angel Garza & Humberto Carrillo, Sheamus — in the form of a brief promo backstage. To that end, it was always going to be a slower show without as much substance. Grade: C+ 1 Like 2 Shares |
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