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| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 9:57am On Nov 10, 2021 |
WWE NXT REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS Protect Ya Neck Carmelo Hayes is hellbent on proving he’s THAT dude on NXT 2.0. He’s willing to take on any and all challengers to get that message across and prove the North American Championship is the “A championship” on the splatter paint brand. That’s why he got in Pete Dunne’s face this week when Dunne was minding his business and looking for Tony D’Angelo after the former sanitation worker popped all that trash last week. Melo and Trick Williams are writing a lot of checks lately and so far, not a single one was declined for insufficient ass whooping funds Pete Dunne is a different breed. Melo knows Dunne’s pedigree—holla at the pun—and is on a mission to knock members of NXT’s old guard off their respective perches. The problem with that idea? He and Trick still aren’t finished with Johnny Gargano x Dexter Lumis. The former hilariously showed up on commentary during this week’s main event. Dexter, like the rest of us, watched a good, physical, bruising contest between Melo x Dunne. Like most matches, it was a battle of wills, but with the added mystery of whether Melo’s ego would lead to his downfall or the slasher psycho sitting ringside. Every week, or every other week, I note that NXT 2.0 is all about the numbers. You need backup if you want to win anything and for a second, it looked like Carmelo having a number two man on his side would pay dividends, just like last week. But one thing led to another, and Trick got his best laid shoe plans uprooted by, surprise, Dexter. And with Melo distracted by all the chicanery on the outside of the ring, he Gargano appeared from under it and got his revenge for last week. One Bitter End later, and Pete Dunne gets a W over the champion of all of North America. That means you too, Canada. I like this story. It’s simple and easily leads to matches. Carmelo is going to take a lot of shots as he sets out to prove he’s top dog. He better not miss because the rest of the pound is hungry and rabid. Judging by the amount of sexual references on this show, they’re not neutered either. The Rest Let’s Get Dirty Toxic Attraction battled Io Sharai, Kacy Catanzaro, x Kayden Carter to assert their dominance over NXT’s women’s division. Mission accomplished, as once again, the Toxic trio proved they’re smarter than everyone else. Fun opening match with the right finish. Public Service Announcement For the past few weeks, Kay Lee Ray told anyone with an ear that she didn’t come to NXT for giggles; she wants to dominate. Sarray, as dope as she is, was in the wrong place at the wrong time. NXT is building Kay Lee up and illustrating a picture of domination for those who sat in the cheap seats during her NXT UK run. Sorry, Sarray. But hey, you made KLR look like a million and one bucks. Kay wants Mandy—foreshadowed!—and it looks like that’s the eventual destination. Been Around the World With Carmelo poking out his chest about the “A title” one wonders where the NXT Heavyweight Champion is. We heard from Tomasso Ciampa and his latest challenger, Bron Breakker, in two separate video packages. Ciampa’s feet have to be tired because he’s the only thing running through Breakker’s mind. The young phenomenon is doing all he can to obtain his “PhD” and work his way back to the top. The champ? He’s doing what he does best and not sweating it. Diary of a Madman Joe Gacy x Boa. Yeah, I’m still not into Gacy and wasn’t feeling the match much because they didn’t mesh well. But then the lights flickered and Boa, seemingly possessed, choked out Gacy and got himself disqualified. That’s at least potentially interesting. Gacy enjoyed getting the W. He also relished bringing that side out of his opponent? I think? I wish I had something smart to say here but I got nothing here. Punks Jump Up to Get Beat Down Every week, Wade Barrett is right at least once. This week, his observation about Jacket Time being the worst name ever for a tag team is 1000 percent correct. Julius and Brutus Creed battled...Jacket Time (Ikemen Jiro x KUSHIDA) because the latter team was aggrieved one time too many. What I LOVED about this match is the moment Jiro’s jacket got pulled off, he took the L. It was like watching Samson’s locks get cut off and all of his strength getting sapped away. Beating Jiro x KUSHIDA isn’t exactly a high bar for the Brothers Creed. BUT, adding Odyssey Jones to that equation? That’s a horse of a different color. Finally, someone evens the odds with the Diamond Mine. Somebody’s Gotta Die Raquel González wants Mandy Rose. But at first, she wants Dakota Kai for a little payback. Guess who else wants a piece of Ms. Kai? Cora Jade. Is Cora willing to wait her turn behind the former champion? This is wrestling so it’s more interesting if she doesn’t, putting her squarely in Raquel’s sights while Dakota reaps the benefits. Back in the Game This poker thing between Duke Hudson and Cameron Grimes is still happening. It’s dumb and needs to be killed with fire. I get it. Duke doesn’t believe someone of Grimes’ “class” should compete with him on any level. We can do that without a...poker showdown. What in the world is a poker showdown? Are they going to play poker in the ring? Wrestle for poker chips? Try to call bluffs on the microphone? Just challenge each other to a spelling bee and call it a day. Tres Leches (Triboro Trilogy) Grayson Waller and LA Knight were crash test dummies for Solo Sikoa. No way was the young Uso Sikoa losing his second match. Especially against two guys who don’t like each other and couldn’t stay out of each other’s way to look remotely competent. Roman’s Revenge During her match with Erica Yan, there was a major question. Was Elektra Lopez recruiting Xyon Quinn to Legado del Fantasma or, to quote a certain Street Fighter dictator, her personal chambers? After she barely lifted a pinky finger to defeat Yan, Lopez invited Quinn to do what they do on Price is Right and come on down! Lopez shot her shot and invited Xyon to join LDF. Quinn, while clearly feeling Ms. Lopez, just isn’t down with her crew. Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza weren’t feeling that, resulting in a quick brawl followed by a tease of sexual tension between Quinn and Lopez. This is something that would’ve really moved me if it was on Raw in 1998. But here, because there’s no real investment in anyone involved, it’s merely eyebrow raising instead of truly engaging. Criminology Tony D’Angelo actually sent Dexter Lumis a Sicilian message. For those of you who don’t speak Godfather, that means he gave Indi Hartwell a dead fish and told her to give it to her husband. Translation? Next week. Lumis sleeps with the fishes. I chuckled as a Godfather nerd. NXT 2.0 is Attitude Era-lite. That’s not a diss, just an observation. The sexual references, the soap opera storylines, the brash characters, and even the lengths of some matches harken back to an era where WWE sat atop the pop culture mountain. The problem, however, is that we’re not getting anywhere close the same amount of time and development of characters for that to fully blossom. At least not yet. The show provided segments with MSK, Grizzled Young Veterans, and a stellar Chase U to rectify that whole “who are these people?” thing. But there’s no depth there. We know what NXT 2.0 wants to be—younger, brasher, edgier—but they’re still figuring out the best mode of travel to get there. Grade: B- 1 Like 2 Shares |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 10:14am On Nov 13, 2021 |
WWE SMACKDOWN REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS The main event angle on Friday Night SmackDown this week was fairly simple but it was hugely effective because of the backstory Xavier Woods has given it. As we’ve talked about endlessly, Woods spent a long time campaigning for WWE to bring back the King of the Ring tournament so that he could simply have the chance at winning it. When they finally did, he was the obvious choice, and that’s exactly what happened. And it was great because it quite obviously meant so much to him. He’s done some goofy bits since then — it wouldn’t be The New Day without that — but those goofy bits don’t take away the value the position holds for the man holding it. This bend the knee stuff is kinda silly, yeah, but it still means something. This shit matters to him. Which is why it was fantastic to have Paul Heyman announce that Reigns would bend the knee if he couldn’t beat Woods and force him to do so first, even going so far as to say he would be stripped of the Universal championship if so. This, of course, was never going to happen, because The Bloodline would never let such a thing happen, especially on a night when Woods would be going it alone while Kofi Kingston recovered from an injury he sustained at the hands of, you guessed it, The Bloodline. The beauty in it all is that Woods went toe-to-toe with Reigns, appeared to have him beat, and then The Usos showed up to screw him over. It’s one thing to be screwed out of the win, but what came next is what put it over the top. The Usos placed Xavier’s crown on top of Roman’s head while Pat McAfee could be heard saying “he who wears the crown is the king.” A bit silly? Sure, but again, that’s only insomuch as the thing itself is silly. It is decidedly not that when you consider how much it means to the man they took that crown from. He put in years of work to even have a chance to put that thing on his own head. And these bastards just cheated him and stole it for themselves. How dare they. There’s gonna be hell to pay for this. I’m most intrigued by what this does to Woods, much in the same sense that as great as Big E is when he’s being playful, he’s equally badass when he gets serious. I, for one, am ready for a pissed off King. All the rest: Having the women’s SmackDown team + Naomi break down into a mess of chaos leading to a tag match to open the show was a fairly standard play, but it worked out in the end, what with how fun said tag ended up being. How about Aliyah and the cheers she got for that rollup pin on Natalya at the end? They added on to this by having Sonya Deville remove her from the team as she was celebrating her win backstage, for reasons we weren’t made aware of. Something to do with Naomi, it seemed. If nothing else, she already has a story. We’ll get to see what they’ve got here sooner rather than later. Los Lotharios reminds me of days gone by, when I was a little kid watching tag teams who felt like actual tag teams instead of just two dudes thrown together. That could very well be solely related to the fact that they have a team name. I’m easy to please, I guess, but I remember Power & Glory, Rhythm & Blues, The Rockers, The Hart Foundation, Demolition, Legion of Doom, so on and so forth. You can tell I was watching early 90s WWF. But I don’t know, they’re dressing alike, doing actual tag team moves, and kicking ass. I like it! It’s too bad it came at the expense of Shinsuke Nakamura & Rick BOOGS. Charlotte Flair took some shots at Becky Lynch, like saying there’s nothing natural about her, and throwing out there that she came back from having a baby too soon. I’m not sure how she determined as much or if that was just designed to be a big shot but it didn’t really hit very strong. Honestly, I expected more out of this and was disappointed she didn’t go harder. Oh, I loved what they did with Toni Storm here, though. I am one of many who has talked about the way WWE keeps forgetting about her, as I wrote about it just days ago. They had her appear on this show to interrupt Flair’s promo on Lynch to ask for a title shot with some legitimately solid logic, namely that Lynch actually backs up her big talk in the ring in title matches while Charlotte has yet to do the same. Flair, instead of actually living up to the “star maker” moniker she had literally just bestowed upon herself, straight up said “no” and just walked out. That was it. That was the whole segment. Tremendous stuff. The bit they did with Sami Zayn and Jeff Hardy arguing before the former campaigned to rid the blue brand’s Survivor Series team of the latter, leading to a match between the two that saw the opposite happen, felt like it was more about Zayn and the introduction of Von Wagner than Hardy. But man, when that dude is wrestling someone on his level, and the crowd is hot, it’s so very obvious that he’s a main event level guy who just needs some heating up. Even after all these years, people still absolutely adore this man. Let’s hope they do something bigger with him before he goes. Give him that Roman Reigns match he so desires. If you weren’t entertained by Jinder Mahal and Ice Ice Shanky spitting hot fire before striking the pose and saying “Hit Row? More like CRINGE ROW!” then we are simply not alike. This was a good show! Grade: B- 1 Like 1 Share |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by Kaycee7(m): 6:40am On Nov 14, 2021 |
pu7pl3:If the booking of this heel turn is messed up, then we'll know his release is imminent |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by Kaycee7(m): 6:50am On Nov 14, 2021 |
The audacity of Jinder to call Hit Row "Cringe Row" after he and Shanky made me feel second hand embarrassment for them is hilarious. 1 Like 1 Share |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 7:17am On Nov 14, 2021 |
Kaycee7: Please o...help me beg them, that guy should on no account leave the company  |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 7:17am On Nov 14, 2021 |
Kaycee7:  |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by Kaycee7(m): 7:19am On Nov 14, 2021 |
Nice debut for Aaliyah. Hope there's actually something in the works for her and not just a future of jobbing. |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by samistry(m): 10:35am On Nov 14, 2021 |
Aew Full gear results: Eddie Kingston lost.  |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 10:52am On Nov 14, 2021 |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by 100naira(m): 9:11pm On Nov 14, 2021 |
Kaycee7:you know the answer to your worries about her a jobber in NXT will certainly be a jobber in smack down, if Shayna bazler can be a jobber then... |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 9:27pm On Nov 14, 2021 |
100naira: I refuse to see Shayna as a Jobber |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by samistry(m): 4:53am On Nov 15, 2021 |
Main roster neutered her. Despite my jokes at aew, they know how to book people to their strengths pu7pl3: |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 5:55am On Nov 15, 2021 |
samistry: Except their women tho |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by samistry(m): 6:25am On Nov 15, 2021 |
Yep. They basically created a new belt just because they don't want their top female talent, Britt Baker to lose her title pu7pl3: |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by Kaycee7(m): 6:44am On Nov 15, 2021 |
samistry:Ehen, you fit summarize this Adam Page title win journey for me abeg? |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 9:02am On Nov 15, 2021 |
samistry: I've been wondering whats soo special about Baker tho, those her hand signs are lame and the abbreviations don't make any sense plus she is just average in the ring |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by samistry(m): 1:08pm On Nov 15, 2021 |
Hmmm... Kaycee7: |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by samistry(m): 4:31pm On Nov 15, 2021 |
The AEW cult could lynch you for this pu7pl3: |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by andresia(m): 5:00pm On Nov 15, 2021 |
Please where can I download tribute to the troops held yesterday? Any link? |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 8:25pm On Nov 15, 2021 |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 8:25pm On Nov 15, 2021 |
andresia: Check if it's on YouTube then download it from there |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 8:55am On Nov 16, 2021 |
WWE RAW REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS All Star Warfare There’s something to be said about WWE paying lip service to the “brand warfare” thing this year. So, I’ll say it: They’re paying a lot of lip service to the idea of brand warfare this year. Which is probably why, if I’m correct, Jimmy Smith referred to Survivor Series as an All Star game. There’s less at stake than a Philly Chicken, and there’s a whole lot of “I” in team on Raw and SmackDown. Need proof? Of course you do. This week’s show opened with the Big WWE Champion rightly calling out Roman Reigns. The Tribal Chief laid hands on King Woods, obviously crossing one of the champ’s lines. He promised to get medieval on Reigns’ hind parts, with hospital beds already reserved for each member of the Bloodline. They’re the ones...in the ICU if E has his way. After a confluence of events, including a quick back and forth between Big E and Kevin Owens, the Usos got involved to deliver a message from the Tribal Chief. That whole “I” in team thing I mentioned earlier? Evident when the entire Raw locker room didn’t clear out to defend their champion from SmackDown invaders. Eventually Riddle showed up, but he and his tag partner have a date with the Usos at Survivor Series, so that makes sense. Sonya Deville and the spirit of Teddy Long called for an impromptu tag match with Riddle x Big E facing Jimmy and Jey. But not before Seth Rollins danced his way to the ring. Did he help his Raw compadres? Of course not. Seth attacked them, which initiated a Randy Orton save, and a traditional tag match turned into a six-man. I get it. The point was to get a Survivor Series “preview” between WWE’s two men’s tag champions and further the animosity between E and Seth. But the match only served to do one of those things. And with no real consequences involved, it didn’t do that well. Seth picked up the win for his team getting a pin over Riddle, seemingly unconcerned with Big E. Randy dished out an RKO to the Right Hand Man, left the ring with Riddle by his side, and once again chided him for, as Avon Barksdale used to say, playing away games. But this brought us full circle. E had his own message for Jey’s “daddy,” which looked a lot like a Big Ending. And it just didn’t do it for me. E’s tone of voice and vicious demeanor called for, to borrow someone’s phrase, brutality. I wanted E to decimate Jey. The man engineered an attack on one of E’s best friends. No, one of E’s brothers. Rather than leaving me excited for whatever transpires between Jey’s cousin and the WWE Champion, I’m less excited. There’s a disconnect between the rhetoric outside of the ring and the action inside of the ring. The Bloodline annihilated Xavier Woods. They even used steel stairs and told him to eat all that. Then Reigns took the crown Woods fought his whole life for, put it on his head, and crowned himself King Tribal Chief. And the best E can muster is a couple threats and a Big Ending? Nah, that ain’t it. E’s promo and intensity said he’s choosing violence. E’s “message” was signed, sealed, and delivered with the same pen as usual. Becky 2 Face A lot of cats in WWE find themselves serving two masters at the moment. Becky Lynch is one of them as she’s juggling her cross-brand feud with Charlotte Flair and her on the horizon beef with Liv Morgan. Ordinarily, I’d dump on the idea of serving two masters because inevitably, one of those stories will feel less than. But props to Becky, Liv, and WWE as a whole here because they managed to spin a couple plates in the air and not have any fall on anyone’s head. Becky came to the ring as a conquering babyface, soaking in the crowd’s adulation and responding to Charlotte’s latest promo in the fashion that made Becky a rock star. It felt honest, personal, and reminded everyone why their beef is everlasting. But then Liv came to the ring and Becky switched sides like a water ride. Liv wanted her props for earning the number one contender spot. And Becky immediately went from enduring to condescending. The champ even brought out a Talking Smack clip of Liv telling the world Becky’s last words to her before she left to become a mom. Becky believed Liv would be the champ by the time she came back. Rather than sympathize with Liv or even show some respect to her for finally getting in a position to fulfill Becky’s prophecy, the champ mocked her challenger. Liv and Becky turned their history on its head for the foundation of this story. Becky did believe in Liv, but realizes that faith was misplaced. Liv wants to prove Becky and everyone else wrong. She isn’t blaming Becky for her lack of success since that fateful day in 2020 either; she just wants a shot. Liv still needs more mic time to truly hang with Becky, because, yeah, no contest. But she did get the upper hand on her in this exchange with a quick counter out of the Manhandle Slam and stood tall with the championship in her hand. They’ve got a lot more work to do, but this is a pretty dope start. The Rest Take a Look at the Bad Guy? There’s a nice Psycho II allusion WWE is telling with Kevin Owens. Earlier, he told us all to say hello to the bad guy. We didn’t believe him when he said he turned over a new leaf, so now he’s going to light every leaf on fire and laugh as the forest burns to the ground. KO says Big E pushed him to this and everything he does going forward is on E’s head. Psycho II saw Norman Bates in a similar position. Everyone believed Norman was the same psycho and wasn’t a new man. In the end, he gave in and became what everyone said he was because they wouldn’t let him be. If you’ve seen Psycho II then you know how that ends, but the story on KO is still in progress. Owens and Finn Balor fought for two reasons: The latter needed a new opponent after Seth Rollins called an audible, and the former just wanted to beat someone up. The match was good. Actually, it was very good. But once again, it was tell and no show. KO told us he was “breaking bad” this week, right? Commentary reinforced that point several times. How did he beat Finn? Fair and square in the middle of the ring. What did he do post match? Get his hand raised and stare at his fallen opponent. That’s it. If you’re telling me this guy has a new attitude and ready to run roughshod over the competition, then, maybe show him doing that. So far, KO’s bark is a lot louder than his toothless bite. Lack of Authority First off, Bobby Lashley is a freak. The things that man can do in the ring with grown human beings is astonishing. Okay and now the rest of the stuff. Austin Theory is in and Rey Mysterio is out as it relates to the Survivor Series team. Why? Because apparently Adam Pearce has an axe to grind with the Mysterios. And I don’t get it. Lashley dominated Dominik’s dad and Adam replaced the beaten down former champion with Theory, who attacked Dominik after the match. Apparently, Pearce “likes Theory’s style” so there we are. Politics as Usual That target on Bianca Belair’s back got a tad bigger as Tamina took aim this week. Tamina, feeling like Doudrop, wanted to take the former champ down a couple of notches to make a point. Yeah, that didn’t happen. The two put on an okay match that was just a prelude to Doudrop coming out and saying she...wasn’t going to take advantage of Bianca’s weakened state to attack her. I don’t get that. If you want her and you’re popping all that tough talk, go get her now. Fast Money The Street Profits and Alpha Academy both want to move up the ladder for the tag team championships. On this night, the Profits barely got the victory as the Academy pushed them to the limit. 50/50 Reign Queen Zelina defeated Nikki A.S.H. while Rhea Ripley trounced Carmella. The story here is Nikki as the weak link of the Women’s tag team champs, and her absence from the women’s Survivor Series team solidifying that. Cool. Colossus of Clout AJ Styles and Omos don’t like the Dirty Dawgz. Omos made that clear this week when they dominated both men while AJ batted clean up. Meh. Another week, another uneven show with logic that just doesn’t add up in spots where it needs to. Adam Pearce was Raw’s central character tonight, apparently under pressure because he “needs” Raw to win at Survivor Series. But, and here’s the rub, he’s in charge of Raw and SmackDown! There was an easy answer here if WWE wanted it: Put Pearce in charge of the Raw team and Sonya in charge of the SmackDown team, put something meaningful on the line, and let the story write itself. Instead, we’re getting a storyline that doesn’t look right even through a funhouse mirror. Pearce needs E focused on Reigns? Why? The fact we got a very good match from two cats who normally have very good matches, and a fun tag match doesn’t paper over the lack of logic and incongruent character moments. Grade: D 1 Like 1 Share |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 9:00am On Nov 17, 2021 |
WWE NXT REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS Old School, New School Need to Learn Though... The main tension in NXT 2.0 is between the old guard and the new guard. It’s the modus operandi for Carmelo Hayes, Grayson Waller, Toxic Attraction, and, duh, Bron Breakker. Tomasso Ciampa takes all of this personally. Why? Because what doesn’t Ciampa take personally. The entire idea of 2.0’s new blood offends the man to his very core. While everyone (WWE management included) is looking for the new hotness, sometimes the old ways are the best ways. He doesn’t like Grayson Waller talking sideways on “Lashing Out with Lash Legend” about the blood, sweat, and tears he didn’t spend on his way to the top. Ciampa says Melo is shooting blanks, and he doesn’t believe anyone in that locker room can lace one of his boots, much less both of them. And then there’s Breakker. Bron wants another shot at the title—shoutout to Lethal Weapon—and, more importantly, wants respect from Ciampa. This week, Ciampa made it clear as crystal that he doesn’t believe Bron is ready. Ciampa showed the footage from Halloween Havoc, insulted the man using Steiner math, and had the audacity to call Bron a puppy barking up the wrong tree. Steiner Bros. allusions aside, this was all about one man asserting his dominance over the field. The championship picture is foggy because the man at the center of it doesn’t think his challengers can see him. Whether it’s on the mic, in the ring, or just when it comes to understanding what it means to be a wrestler. It’s a very meta storyline, while also representing the natural order of things. The young cats in NXT 2.0 are exactly what Ciampa used to be all those moons ago. But in his eyes, they’re not. They’re not in the same league, much less the same ball park. Until he believes someone is worthy, that title isn’t getting defended. Bron is the obvious contender, but the question is what does the big man have to do to get the champion’s curiosity and attention. When I Left You, I Was But the Learner... This week, NXT 2.0 chose every bit of violence possible for its ending. What started as a grudge match between Dakota Kai and her former mentor, Raquel González, ended in a brawl setting up a WarGames match between a bunch of women who really don’t like each other. But let’s deal with Raquel and Dakota first, shall we? The match was two women who know each other really well trying to outsmart the other to no avail. No move was a surprise and there were counters aplenty, seemingly setting up a stalemate. Dakota went for a shovel under the ring—the same shovel she used against Raquel at Halloween Havoc and the same shovel Raquel promised to “bury” her with this week—and was stopped from using it. Before the ref could toss it out of the ring, Raquel latched onto it like a finger trap. Dakota begged for mercy but Raquel clearly wasn’t in the mood. Before the former NXT Women’s Champion decided which of her impulses was right, Toxic Attraction hit the ring because, remember, this is their show now. Mandy x crew issued the patented wrestling beatdown on a defenseless González until Cora Jade, Io Sharai, and a hobbling Zoey Stark showed up to hold her down. And since you read the beginning of this section first, you know what happened when the show faded to black. What I like about this story is different dimensions at play: Cora Jade wants a piece of Dakota. The same piece Raquel wants. Io and Zoey not only want their tag titles back, but revenge for putting Zoey on the shelf. And nobody likes Mandy plus she’s Queen of the Mountain, so there’s always a target on her back. Rather than putting the pieces together arbitrarily, this all feels natural and logical. I might not like everything NXT does in its 2.0 form—and we’ll get to that later—but at least 99% of it makes sense. The Rest Handy Horror First off, shoutout to Trick Williams for rocking the Bad Boy jersey. If he can get me one, we’re friends forever. Now, onto business. Tony D’Angelo picked up a proper quick W over Dexter Lumis with a cheap shot. And I immediately wondered why’d they even bother with the match. Then Trick and Carmelo Hayes hit the ring and my lightbulb went off over my head. Melo and Trick got their revenge for last week, crushing Lumis’ hand—the only hand he does anything with—with a chair. This vicious act of sadism resulted in Johnny Gargano calling Melo out. And that resulted in Pete Dunne showing face to tell Melo to fallback. Then that resulted in the North American Champion, showing that massive chip on his shoulder yet again, challenging both men to a triple threat championship match next week. Trick, of course, loudly objected. But Melo shot his shot. Hell Hath No Fury... Last week, Xyon Quinn told Legado del Fantasma “thanks but no thanks.” More specifically, he said “nah” to Elektra Lopez. After he took Andre Chase to school, Xyon found out why that was probably not the best idea. LDF attacked him before he got even a second to bask in his glory, leading to a surprise return of Santos Escobar. If this is done right, Xyon will work his way through the sub-bosses in LDF before getting to the head dude in charge, Streets of Rage style. Solo Act Remember when I said Indi Hartwell was more focused on her husband than her tag team? No need to check, I definitely said it. Trust me. Anyway, following Lumis getting caught red handed, Indi, obviously, had her husband’s health on her mind. Rather than throwing shade, Persia Pirotta told her best friend she had her back. Persia then went out and put two women on her back before slamming them to the mat. Pirotta beat Gabby Stephens & Jenna Levy with ease. For now, Indi’s lack of focus didn’t cost them. But eventually, it will. Von O’Reilly Look, I’ll keep it real here: Von Wagner and Kyle O’Reilly aren’t particularly entertaining, but they do have a magic together that works for me. And I think it’s because I’m into the story. Shocking, right? It’s the story of a guy learning to trust the only person willing to give him a helping hand. It has the added bonus of Imperium, two dudes clearly feeling themselves way too much and ready for a downfall. Briggs & Jensen were sacrificial lambs here to the larger picture. We Have an Odyssey For weeks, I yelled to anyone who would listen, mostly the people who read this space, that Jacket Time (ugh) needed another body to go against the Diamond Mine. Saints be praised because they finally did. Odyssey Jones was the difference maker here, in what was a fine match between six people who know how to get it done. And with the right finish. Joe Gacy got involved with the Mine before the match and all I can say is, I don’t want it. Joker A joker is not the card you want to pull in most card games. They’re normally pulled out of the deck, just ask James Bond from that season five Simpson’s episode. That’s my preamble to say we all drew the joker on this poker match between Cameron Grimes x Duke Hudson. WOOF doesn’t do it justice. NXT 2.0 is throwing a lot of stuff to the wall and seeing what sticks. I’ll let them know right now not only did that not stick, but the only place it should get thrown is the garbage bin. And then lit on fire. And then tossed into a pit. And then buried faster than Billy Gunn in 1999. NXT 2.0 sped by this week. Every major story progressed as we built toward WarGames. It wasn’t perfect. I still have no idea what they’re doing with LA Knight, and the stuff with MSK and Grizzled Young Veterans isn’t working for me—one group is on an ‘80s movie quest, while the other is just trying to get close to Toxic Attraction—but this was a solid show. It won’t be everybody’s cup of tea each week, but this was my particular flavor of choice. Oh, and the less said about that poker game, the better. Grade: B 1 Like 1 Share |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by Kaycee7(m): 8:34pm On Nov 18, 2021 |
Men's WarGames will be old school vs new school. Ciampa, Gargano, Lumos, Dunne vs Melo, Trick, Bron and someone else. |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 8:36pm On Nov 18, 2021 |
Kaycee7: Lumis isn't even really old school but we can work wih that |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by samistry(m): 6:20am On Nov 19, 2021 |
WWE have released John Morrison, Top Dolla, Ashante Adonis, Isaiah Swerve Scott, Tegan Nox, Drake Maverick, Shane Thorne, and Jaxson Ryker. I don't know what is wrong with this company. You bring people up without plans and then you fire them. 1 Like |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 11:34am On Nov 19, 2021 |
samistry: It's just comical at this point
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| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by Debroslink: 12:13pm On Nov 19, 2021 |
The moment a jobber like Jinder Mahal called those Hit Row guys "cringe row", I knew at that point that those guys won't go far. Now Hit Row guys have been sacked. |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 2:30pm On Nov 19, 2021 |
Debroslink: I wonder why they were called up in the first place... |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 2:41pm On Nov 19, 2021 |
Na Tegan Knoxx own dey pain me small sha |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 2:43pm On Nov 19, 2021 |
If only I could Taya, if only I could
|
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 3:11pm On Nov 19, 2021 |
Young MJF and big Daddy Punk
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