Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House - TV/Movies (265) - Nairaland
Nairaland Forum / Entertainment / TV/Movies / Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House (286613 Views)
Games Of Thrones: House Of The Dragon Official Discussion Thread / Nigerians Storm Gotv Facebook Page Over WWE / Rachel Johnson Goes Topless On Live TV Show During Brexit Discussion (2) (3) (4)
(1) (2) (3) ... (262) (263) (264) (265) (266) (267) (268) ... (298) (Reply) (Go Down)
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 10:20pm On Jul 29, 2022 |
ValeeLove: Wait DB lost? Lemao  |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 10:23pm On Jul 29, 2022 |
ValeeLove: That means you've not been reading my NXT REVIEWS |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 12:39am On Jul 30, 2022 |
Chai First time since 2014 that Seth doesn't have a match at SummerSlam... Unless something changes of course.
|
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by Kaycee7(m): 3:41am On Jul 30, 2022 |
pu7pl3:Folks are clamouring for either Bray Wyatt or Johnny Gargano. If either should happen, I'm screaming my head off in elation |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 8:13am On Jul 30, 2022 |
Kaycee7: Johnny Gargano Vs Seth or a Bray Wyatt appearance tomorrow would blow the roof off...in my house  1 Like |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 8:40am On Jul 30, 2022 |
WWE SMACKDOWN REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar have a long history, the kind of history you can draw on to tell a simple story heading into yet another big match between the two. That’s more or less what we got in the main event spot of Friday Night SmackDown this week in Atlanta. Paul Heyman was charged with saying a few words, but he didn’t need to say much. This is the kind of match that sells itself.0 Instead, they went with everything surrounding it, just enough to add some intrigue to it. Theory attacked Lesnar from behind before he could get his hands on Heyman, and Brock absolutely annihilated the poor guy because Vince apparently forgot to teach him that you don’t attack Lesnar in the back, you attack him in the crotch. Straight for the biggest weakness, kid. While Theory was trying to rush off, Drew McIntyre hit the scene to lay him out with a Claymore before staring down Lesnar. That may very well be what the future holds. Probably not, but maybe! It was a little strange to have this show without Roman Reigns, but that’s a reality we should just get used to at this point. The part time status of the top guys is going to be a major talking point of McIntyre moving forward, so we’ll just have to deal with it. There were reports a while back that Vince McMahon wanted Ronda Rousey to smile more. If you thought that more or less went against everything that always made Rousey interesting, you were one of many. They may actually be correcting course now that McMahon is out. That’s sure what it felt like on this show, where Rousey was back to being her very pissed off self, looking to kick some ass and take some names. She is the “Baddest Woman on the Planet” after all. The chief goal always should have been to make the badass look really badass at all times, while finding new and interesting ways to make that clear. Here, they achieved that by having Shotzi attempt to brag about scoring a win over Aliyah and Rousey hit the scene to tell her to get the hell out of dodge. When Shotzi came back with “oh, hey Ronda” and tried to throw a punch, Ronda easily put her on her ass and smoothly responded “Bye, Shotzi.” That’s badass. She took the microphone and stumbled over her words a bit while getting across how pissed she was, which is obviously a step back, but she made up for it by telling some random guy in the crowd “you shut up, and your mom failed you.” Also pretty badass. You don’t need to be a Rousey fan to support this, simply because it’s not so much that it’s Rousey but rather it’s a sign that there are now creative minds who understand how to actually use someone like Rousey. This is good! It all led to Rousey teaming with her opponent at SummerSlam, Liv Morgan, in a match against Natalya & Sonya Deville. They told a good story with the match, too, with Morgan repeatedly refusing to tag Rousey in because she wanted so badly to show that she could win on her own and she didn’t need Ronda. Finally, Morgan got close enough that Rousey could simply tag herself in, at which point she ran wild on Deville, tapping her with the Ankle Lock while Morgan took care of Natalya. What was notable was that Morgan only won after Ronda got in. This was a great way to build to their title match at SummerSlam. All the Rest WWE opened this show with Drew McIntyre and Sheamus finally having their good old fashioned donnybrook match, presumably because they wanted to set up the next top contender on the September PPV at the start of the show so they could build to tomorrow night’s PPV at the end. They still ended this segment with Theory attacking McIntyre, because I guess Theory has to have his hand in no less than 50-percent of all segments on any WWE program right now. Anyway, the match itself was a fun gimmicked up brawl that was well received by the fans in the arena. No surprise in McIntyre getting that headlining spot in Cardiff. I really enjoy Pat McAfee and hope they have him work a few more programs while he’s with WWE but it would be fantastic if they came up with better creative for those programs than “guy who doesn’t like him harasses/assaults him while he tries to do his commentary job.” This time it was Bum Ass Corbin screaming behind him from the crowd — he bought a ticket for this, apparently — while they did a full ad read for the SummerSlam card. It was hugely annoying, and not in a good way. It also got in the way of the actually interesting thing here, that he was holding up a sign that had a photo of McAfee’s mugshot from his 2010 arrest for public intoxication. The issue is there are probably a lot of WWE fans, likely the vast majority, who don’t even known about as much. They never bothered to explain it in any way. Just used it for a cheap spot and left it unexplained to an audience who almost certainly needs that explanation. The segment ended with Corbin jumping the rail, of course, and punting McAfee in the nuts. We were supposed to get an Aliyah vs. Lacey Evans match, but the latter wasn’t medically cleared, as we were told, and instead we got Aliyah vs. Shotzi. In the end, Shotzi scored the victory to a muted response. The Usos and The Street Profits got together with Jeff Jarrett to go over the rules for the tag team title match at SummerSlam. He made clear his only job is to count to three when someone’s shoulders are down, but that’s at SummerSlam and if they wanted to brawl here, go for it. So they did and, inevitably, Jarrett got absolutely destroyed by a superkick to the face from Jey Uso. He apologized repeatedly but Jarrett didn’t seem keen on forgiving him and the segment ended with The Street Profits standing tall. A nice bit of added intrigue, I suppose, not that this match needed it. Max Dupri is still around after all! He showed up with Maxxine to help debut the Beachwear collection in a backstage pre-taped segment that you may have missed if you blinked during the latter half of this show. His beard is growing back in and he seemed a little more relaxed but there wasn’t much to draw from such a short pre-tape. The Vicious Viking Raiders beat The New Day and I just cannot make myself care about any of this. The match was fine, I’m just not terribly drawn into this whole thing. After the match, they ran an injury angle on Xavier Woods, using their shields to knock him down and a chair to hurt his ankle. This was a pretty good show overall! Grade: B 1 Like 1 Share |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by ValeeLove(m): 6:56pm On Jul 30, 2022 |
pu7pl3:well, I don't care much about NXT unless I'm seeing the likes of JD Drake, Breakker and Grayson Waller. I wasn't referring to you per say, but in the general wrestling world. We keep spending time hyping untalented people when actual talents don't get the spotlight. |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by ValeeLove(m): 6:59pm On Jul 30, 2022 |
pu7pl3:guy no echo am abeg. I'm still pained. It was due to a very weak interference of Jake Hager grabbing Bryan's leg from under the ring through the skirt which he eventually got loose from and still Garcia was able to take him down, put him in a sharp shooter and he passed out in a matter of seconds. I'm so disappointed in AEW. Make them just hire me make I book for them. This is so bad. The crowd was so silent after it happened. |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 8:09pm On Jul 30, 2022 |
ValeeLove: Lol, which untalented people are we hyping |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 8:10pm On Jul 30, 2022 |
ValeeLove: Na wa o...lazy writing. |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 10:40am On Jul 31, 2022 |
WWE SUMMERSLAM REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS He's Not Human. He’s Like a Piece of Iron I truly don’t know where to start when it comes to SummerSlam’s main event. Calling it a war feels like a disservice to actual war. Calling it a match is selling it short. If this is truly the end of the Roman Reigns & Brock Lesnar story, their Last Man Standing match was the exclamation point on the last sentence in the last chapter. Words truly do not do this collision justice. That said, this is the gig so I will at least try. Brock drove a tractor to the ring. He announced himself from said tractor. He also launched himself from the tractor into a Lou Thesz press onto Reigns. That set the tone of the match as it turned into a game of escalation. Roman and Brock beat each other in the crowd. They smashed each other through tables, and hit each other with their biggest moves. Nothing kept the other man down. This is the logical conclusion of everything for these men. For the longest time, WWE told us these two are heads, shoulders, knees, and toes above everyone else in the territory. The only true competition for either men is one another. The only man who can withstand an F5, or several, is Roman Reigns. The only man who shrugs off multiple Superman punches is Brock Lesnar. Putting them in a match where it’s basically Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah is a smart move. What put the match over the top was how each man sold the drama. They milked every 10 count and provided a lot of tension. Reigns isn’t going down because of a trip to Suplex City. But after going through a table and getting dropped into the ring via tractor—a thing that happened—it’s very possible. That’s what this match was all about: possibilities. The possibility that Reigns narrowly beats the 10 count. The possibility that nothing keeps Brock down for 10 seconds. The match took a turn, pun intended, when Brock reached his breaking point. The Beast tipped the match in his favor when he tipped the ring on its side using the tractor. Reigns, and the rest of the match, spilled onto the floor. That’s when Jimmy and Jey got involved, sensing there was no way Roman survived without them. That’s The Tribal Chief in a nutshell. No matter his skill, he needs his cousins for the extra hands. He doesn’t love them. He’s not loyal to them. He just needs them. Even Paul took a shot on Reigns’ behalf when he begged Brock to walk away. Heyman even handed Brock the titles! He just wanted his former client to back away from his Tribal Chief. It was really compelling stuff from Heyman and a nice reminder that he is still at the center of this feud. Too bad he got an F5 through the commentary table for his troubles. But yeah, The Usos. They attacked Brock, Brock attacked them, they recovered, and took Brock to a Superkick Party. Theory’s music hit, signaling the third act of this match. After losing earlier to Bobby Lashley in pretty spectacular fashion, Theory still kept this chip in his pocket. But he never got the chance to officially cash in because Brock hit him with an F5 and laid him out for the rest of the match. But Brock took his eyes off the prize and you know what happens when you do that. At this point, it became the Bloodline doing everything in their power to keep Brock down. It actually took chairs, tables, steps, and anything not nailed down to keep Brock on the floor. He survived Roman beating him silly with the MITB briefcase, several vicious shots to the head courtesy of the championship belts, and more superkicks. But he didn’t survive all the plunder thrown on top of his body. Reigns stood atop the pile of rubble for good measure, bidding Brock adieu and fronting like he did the whole thing by himself. But Brock Lesnar proved he’s not human. Like Drago said about Rocky, he’s like a piece of iron. It took three men and a bunch of miscellaneous stuff to bury the beast. And even then, he got up on his own will. I loved every second of it. This was the perfect cap to a damn near perfect SummerSlam. The Champ, The Challenger, The Sky and The Role Model Whew. So, before we get to the ending, which, some might argue is a bigger deal than the match itself, we need to talk about the actual action first and foremost. Just bear with me for a bit. You know why Bianca Belair and Becky Lynch make great music together? I’ll tell you since you asked: Both women are believable in everything they do in that ring. They sell joy, anger, frustration, and disbelief better than most. And because both of them are capable enough to do whatever type of wrestling match they want, that ability came in handy during their championship match at SummerSlam. These two put on a wrestling clinic at WrestleMania. How do you follow that? Well, for starters, you don’t do the same thing. Becky and Bianca had a knockdown, drag out fight in Nashville. And it all started when the bell rang and both women took their time before engaging. Once they clashed, Becky went to work on Bianca’s shoulder and kept applying that pressure throughout the entire match. Becky and Bianca taught a class on ring psychology. Becky worked Bianca’s shoulder so often, it took Bianca three tries to execute a suplex that is, for her as routine as putting one foot in front of the other. Bianca got in spurts of offense but Becky countered at every turn. And whenever Bianca used one of her big moves, like the suplex or an attempted overhead press slam, she paid the price. Bianca’s power game suffered because, well, she needs two arms for a lot of that. Becky’s plan culminated in the Dis-Arm-Her, the same move Bianca fought off earlier in the match. And it all made sense. Bianca outwrestled Becky at WrestleMania and pushed past her partly because of her strength. Neutralizing that strength is a great gameplay and fantastic storytelling. From Bianca’s standpoint, having one arm makes her adapt. Bianca says she’s the strongest, but she also says she’s the smartest and toughest. After their last SummerSlam moment, proving those last two adjectives was paramount for the champ. So when she slid out of that Dis-Arm-Her onto the floor, she showed that toughness. Rather than tap and succumb to all that pain her left shoulder felt, she found a way out. After mustering some strength, Bianca executed a KOD on Becky...outside of the ring. In a moment of great character work, Bianca tried her damndest to get Becky back in the ring before the ref counted 10. She wanted to win the match in the ring and by pin. But, ironically, because of all the damage she did to Bianca’s shoulder, Becky almost lost this match by count out. She barely made it into the ring to beat the count. But Bianca basically took over from that point. She kicked out of a Manhandle Slam, reversed a top rope Manhandle Slam into a beautiful Spanish Fly, and then finished it—finally—with a KOD. What turned this very good match into a great one was the full circle ending. Becky, after licking her wounds while Bianca celebrated, extended her hand to the champ. Bianca, no doubt remembering what happened in 2021, hesitated. She hesitated for a long time. And her hometown crowd wasn’t feeling it either. But Bianca shook Becky’s hand and the two embraced. Much to my surprise, there was no double cross either. Okay, now we can talk about the very big moment. Bayley made her triumphant return. Followed by Dakota Kai and Io Shirai IYO SKY! Haitch is already putting in work behind the scenes. Vince is out of the big office and in about a week, he brings back Dakota, finally puts Io on the main roster, and puts Bayley back into our lives. BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE. That handshake between Becky and Bianca? Guess who took Bianca’s side when Bayley, Io, and Dakota cornered the champ in the ring? The Big Time herself. To refresh, we got back all the dope things I mentioned, plus a Becky Lynch face turn. Great way to start the show and a hell of a teaser for this Monday. Just put it in my veins right now. Extracurriculars I’ll Be Damned... I’m not shocked Logan Paul is good at this wrestling thing. I’m not shocked he and Miz put on an entertaining match because Miz rarely puts on bad matches with anyone. I’m not even shocked at the incredible Frog Splash Logan hit on Miz with the latter laid out on a commentary table. And no, I’m not shocked Logan won because of course he won. I’m floored that huge Nashville crowd eventually cheered for the man. I didn’t think there was anything WWE, AEW, NJPW, or Jesus Christ could do to get anyone to cheer for that guy. But they did, and that’s a credit to every single person in the match, including an interfering AJ Styles. Styles attacked Ciampa, which, hopefully, means we’re getting an AJ and Ciampa feud. Put that in my veins too, please. Razor’s Edge Real talk: Every No DQ tag match should be a tornado match. This No DQ tag match between The Judgment Day and The Mysterios started the right way. All four men were going at it, doing whatever with whatever. Then, for basketball reasons I presume, it turned into a regular tag match. Like people actually tagging in and out. When Domink, Rey’s son, got beat on, he just sat there and let it happen simply because of...rules? It was really weird. At one point I asked, “Why isn’t Rhea getting some action?” Seconds later, she made her presence known by putting Dom on her shoulders and slamming him into the apron. With Rey down and the Judgment Day begging for chairs to scramble brains, no one noticed the set erected at the entrance. A very appropriate and cool remix of The Brood’s theme bumped through the stadium, and Edge, dressed in a Satan red leather jacket, rose through the fire and made a beeline to the ring. Edge did Edge things, evened the odds, and looked on as The Mysterios got their revenge and the W. Great moment and I’m digging everything about this iteration of Edge. I can’t wait to see if it really is him tapping into some of his original energy combined with everything he is now. And what does this mean for the future of The Judgment Day? They’re not a strong enough crew yet to get defeated by the guy who created them. Time will tell, as it always does. One and Done This was a weird one. No, I didn’t dislike the tag match between The Usos and The Street Profits. It worked for me for many of the reasons their matches together always work. And, like all of them, it came down to one mistake. The Profits had the match won. They perfectly set up the Usos for a trademark win. Dawkins teed up a Montez Frog Splash. But whew, that impact. Tez needed a bit too much recovery time after and Jey kicked out as a result. Tez, frustrated with everything, spent too much time complaining to Double J rather than issuing more beatdown to Jey or tagging in his partner. Can’t leave The Usos that much time, which is a hell of a story to tell. The Usos did what they did and walked out still the tag champs. But it was abrupt. A match that I pegged as an early contender for match of the night didn’t reach that bar. Or even come close. It was good, but seemingly ended as soon as it started. No Profits breakup, no Double J Ka-Bong, just two guys sitting in the ring disappointed while The Usos walked into the moonlight with their titles in hand. Bum Ass Loser Pat McAfee is a good wrestler. The crowd wanted nothing more than to see him beat up on Happy Corbin. And it started with an all-mens choir singing “Bum Ass Corbin” as Corbin walked to the ring. Hilarious and brilliant. That set the tone for the whole match and both men delivered. And Pat won because that was the only sensible outcome. The best moment of the match was this little exchange between Michael Cole and Corey Graves: Graves: “I liked you better when you weren’t allowed to have an opinion.” Cole: “That’s changed. A lots changed.” Thanks for the chuckle, gents. One Good Turn Deserves Another Ronda Rousey saw Becky’s face turn and raised her one with a turn of her own. During her match with Liv Morgan for the SmackDown Women’s championship. Ronda dominated. Liv got her shots in but the champ didn’t look like much of a champ at all. And the ending didn’t exactly help her cause either. Ronda slapped on another arm bar and refused to let go this time. Then the foolishness started. Liv, doing her best to reverse Ronda’s arm bar, puts her opponent on her shoulders. But Ronda doesn’t let go of the submission. The ref, noticing Ronda’s shoulders are down, gets into position to count three. While he’s counting, Liv is tapping. The ref misses that and gives the controversial pinfall victory to the champion. Ronda snaps with good reason, beats up on Liv and the referee. So, yeah, she’s a heel now and Liv doesn’t look the best coming out of the match. It was fine but the ending left a bad taste in my mouth. United He Falls Theory always makes Lashley look like a god. And I mean that in the best way possible. Theory tried fighting dirty in this United States championship match, swinging on Bobby with the briefcase before the bell rang. Bobby walked it off and once the bell went ding ding, it was all Lashley. To be fair, that was part of a larger story. Theory realized he didn’t want this match because of his future plans. Why risk injury messing around with a man like Lashley? So when Lashley applied the Hurt Lock, Theory immediately tapped. Fun match if you like seeing a chicken sh*t heel get beat up by the conquering babyface. I enjoyed it. Whew, what a ride. The night’s two best matches served as bookends. SummerSlam opened hot and closed even hotter. Most everything in the middle rocked as well. Some harder than others while there was only one miss on the whole card. We even got a nice brawl between Riddle and Seth Rollins, which I assume is leading to something big on Monday. And shoutout to the commentary, which was great all night. Like Cole said, alots changed. Those changes allow them to sound natural and like they’re having fun. Another one of the big four events delivers big time. Grade: A 3 Likes 1 Share |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 10:47am On Jul 31, 2022 |
Can't wait for Monday night RAW 1 Like |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 10:52am On Jul 31, 2022 |
Triple H knows this Pro wrestling thing tbh...long may it continue. 2 Likes |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by Fro5t: 8:37am On Aug 01, 2022 |
pu7pl3:Fam, it's been roughly 2 years since I was last actively interested in RAW. Haven't even watched a full RAW show this year. But by the gods, I cannot wait for tonight. Might even got to sleep early and try to catch it live. Papa H sabi the work wella 1 Like 1 Share |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by Fro5t: 8:42am On Aug 01, 2022 |
I've been waiting on Bayley's return for months now and I had resigned myself to having it spoilt for me if she returned on a weekly show. The Summerslam return was still spoilt for me (damn you, notifications) but the segment totally made up for it by The Role Model bringing Kota and Io along. I was pleasantly surprised at Kota but Io got that scream I was reserving for Gargano/Wyatt. I never experrit at all. Deadass thought she'd already gone back to Japan. That Ciampa - Aj feud is going to be absolute fire. I fücking cannot wait for RAW!!! 2 Likes 1 Share |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 11:29am On Aug 01, 2022 |
Fro5t: There have only been raving reviews man. I don't think we are the only ones anticipating Raw tonight 1 Like 1 Share |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 11:31am On Aug 01, 2022 |
Fro5t: I won't be surprised if Gargano comes back too and Wyatt even. We should be prepared for the rise of the Blackheart� 1 Like |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 6:19am On Aug 02, 2022 |
WWE RAW REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS Control IYO SKY vs. Bianca Belair. How did we get here? WWE threaded the story into Raw’s first two hours building up to a match. First, Becky Lynch hit the ring when Raw started with a good babyface promo. Becky adequately explained her evolution from The Man to Big Time Becks back to The Man. And she thanks Bianca Belair for part of that change. Bianca hit the ring, the two hugged, and Becky told the champ to hold it down until she comes back from nursing a separated shoulder. While Bianca basked in her glory and noted the respect she has for Becky doesn’t extend to Bayley, IYO SKY, or Dakota Kai, those same three women assaulted Becky in the backstage area. Bianca rushed to Becky’s defense—in heels no less!—but was too late. Several matches and minutes later, Asuka squared off with Alexa Bliss. Bliss talked about climbing the ladder after discarding Doudrop, and Asuka was her first rung. The match was okay but got a chance to be anything but that since Bayley, Dakota, and IYO interrupted the proceedings. Guess who came to the ring in a very fresh pair or Air Jordan 11s and ready to fight? Bianca chased away the newly minted trio and challenged either of them to a match. IYO accepted. IYO and Bianca was all about both women feeling each other out. IYO didn’t show her mastery of the skies while Bianca didn’t show off her power as often as one might think. The most vicious moment was Bianca catching IYO’s Frankensteiner attempt and slamming her head against a barricade. It was at that exact moment the match’s true purpose revealed itself. Bayley and Dakota, already at ringside, blocked Bianca from throwing IYO back into the ring. Asuka and Alexa evened the odds as all six women stood toe-to-toe. Bianca and IYO wrestled a bit more but the distractions were aplenty. Eventually, everything deteriorated into the four women outside the ring fighting each other inside the ring, forcing the ref to ring the bell and rule the match a no contest. While some may balk at the fact both women’s matches this week being some form of DQ, but the finishes served a greater purpose. Bayley’s crew wants control over Raw’s women’s division. Making their presence known in every match on the card makes sense. Beating down every woman just to make a point is key to that. And, to make it worse, they effectively put Becky out of commission after making her shoulder issue “worse.” I’m feeling all of this and can’t wait to see where it goes. Bianca isn’t exactly a team player. Neither is Asuka or Alexa for that matter. Seeing the three of them go against a legitimate stable has a lot of potential. Can they get along? Will they get along? Which one of Bayley’s group wants Bianca’s championship? How violent will this get? Hopefully we get answers to these questions and more. Ciampa Will Survive Once AJ Styles won his triple threat match against Mustafa Ali and Miz, the winner of Ciampa, Dolph Ziggler, and Chad Gable was obvious. The winner of each match earned the right to wrestle each other. The winner of the one-on-one earned the right to face Bobby Lashley for the United States championship. While the Ciampa vs. Chad vs. Dolph didn’t work for me as much as the earlier one featuring AJ, it was a solid affair. The best moment was Chad and Dolph showcasing their mat wrestling acumen for a brief moment. Also? Weird Dolph came back for Theory and as of now, is doing nothing with Theory. Anyway, Ciampa and AJ faced off with Miz in Ciampa’s corner. And this was, of course, a very good match. It’s not so much clashing styles—no pun—with these two so much as it’s two vets who just know each other really well due to scouting from afar. Ciampa dodged the Pele Kick. AJ reversed the Air Raid into a Styles Clash! Ciampa saw the Phenomenal Forearm coming and countered with a patented knee strike. If not for Miz, these two might still be wrestling right now. But Miz is a thing and he helped Ciampa several times. The biggest of those times came when the action hit the outside. Ciampa threw AJ over the barricade into the timekeepers section. And guess who held AJ’s leg while the ref counted him out? If you said “Maryse” then clearly your brain is not in the right place. Well, it is, but this is the wrong time. It was Miz. It was Miz who held his leg and it was Miz who almost got AJ disqualified. Ultimately, Miz’s presence gave Ciampa the high ground, allowing him to attack AJ as soon as Styles got back into the ring, and finish the match with an Ending of the Fairytale variety. Now we’re getting Ciampa vs. Bobby Lashley for the U.S. title. Words I thought impossible to write after the last few months. But this was a solid story told through good wrestling in three matches with different flavors. That’s a win for everyone. I believe it’s time for Lashley to move on from the U.S. title, so give me Ciampa as the champ. Please? Extracurriculars So Much Style AJ Styles showed me something new this week. At the end of this very good opening triple threat match, Ali hit Miz with a 450 splash only to bounce right into AJ’s hands and fall victim to the Styles Clash. Oh, and AJ executed said Styles Clash right on top of Miz. It was a perfect ending to a great match. Miz was hobbled during most of the match due to some smashed ribs from his SummerSlam match. He did the DDP tape job, so props to him for that because it’s always appreciated. Logically, that meant AJ and Ali played a game of anything you can do I can do better. And both men, at different times, did their best to take each other out and focus on the injured Miz. The best example was Ali launching himself off the top rope and hitting AJ with a tornado DDT onto the floor. Ali is so dope and reasons like that are small samples why. While AJ getting the victory was never in doubt, this really was a showcase for Ali. And he, as per usual, answered the bell. Great opening match for Raw with plenty of stakes. Who Wants the Smoke Now, Biotch? Seth Rollins, who apparently doesn’t care that his wife got assaulted earlier in the night, came out worried about Riddle. The Street Profits, still kinda licking their wounds after losing to The Usos, came out in defense of their friend. Seth talked his ish, clowned them for losing, told them to break up, and said if it was just one of them, then maybe he’d fight. Well, the Profits took him up on that offer and decided to play a game of Paper, Rock, Scissors for the right to fight “Franklin” Rollins. Well, in a move surely hinting at a break between friends, Montez basically said “nah” to that, grabbed the ref, and ran down to the ring. What followed was a great match all about proving Tez can go dolo with one of WWE’s best. His hurt ribs were the other part of the story, meaning his normal high impact offense did just as much pain to him as Seth. And it came back to bite him in the end. Tez dodged Seth’s frog splash and went for his own. But he caught two knees to those hurt ribs. Rollins hit a Blackout, or Curb Stomp, whatever they’re calling it, and got the W. He went for another post match but Angelo Dawkins came to his partner’s side. Mission accomplished on all fronts, Tez. Unfortunately, that probably means we’re one step closer to the Profits breaking up and walking on opposite sides of the block. Judge Not, Less Ye Be Judged Edge came back. Edge cut a good babyface promo. Edge even apologized to the crowd for being, in his words, an “asshole.” Edge kept it simple: He’s here to end the Judgment Day. The only knock I have is the fact he didn’t use the music and presentation from SummerSlam. But I’ll live. Oh, It Ain’t Over Edge wasn’t done. This week’s main event saw The Usos defend their titles against The Mysterios. Which...felt funny to me. Sure, they won their SummerSlam match, but they lost their tag match prior to that one. The only reason they had this spot was for something at the end of the show or for a title change. As the match went one, and it was a solid affair, it became obvious a title change wasn’t in the cards. The Usos continued their reign—which is becoming boring—and the Judgment Day hit the ring for some good old fashioned revenge. Cue Edge’s music. The Rated R one interrupted the beat down and Rhea squeezing the life out of a Mysterio with her thighs like Xenia Onatopp. For...reasons...I want more of that. Anyway, Edge cleared house and set up Damian Priest for a spear. Only for Rhea to push Dom in front of him. Edge showed no remorse for the accidental spear, and chased the his former crew through the aisles. Rey, who earlier noted his friendship and history with Edge, didn’t see Rhea push Dom but did see Edge spear him. He looked confused and no doubt upset his longtime friend would do something so heinous. I’m not sure this story needs this layer of drama since it already writes itself. But, here we are. Raw was an entertaining show this week. All of the matches had some sort of stakes, their newest group got some development, and the United States championship looks like a big time belt rather than just a prop. And we got solid, good, or great wrestling all night, combined with good promos. Not every match was perfect and I do question if they’re overbooking the beef between Judgment Day and Edge. Grade: A- 1 Like 1 Share |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 6:33am On Aug 02, 2022 |
The Miz tonight Vs The Miz next week after he helps Ciampa beat Bobby
|
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 6:40am On Aug 02, 2022 |
Exclusive footage of the aftermath of the Brock Vs Roman match at SummerSlam https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1554296534388379650?t=a6Wbq21_or4HcRm9tQnsWA&s=19 |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by ValeeLove(m): 12:39pm On Aug 02, 2022 |
pu7pl3:Good. Do this. We don't need the 'big time' gimmick, we need this. You can play a 'good guy' or 'bad guy' and still be natural. That's what makes you attractive, because people can connect to you and that's what makes you realistic and can be taken seriously. Now you don't need to wonder why some wrestlers aren't taken seriously; it's also why LA Knight's modelling gimick is and will fail. Nobody believes that. The more we unlearn and relearn, the better. |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by ValeeLove(m): 12:41pm On Aug 02, 2022 |
pu7pl3:to me. I believe that's like 60 to 70 % of NXT 2.0. Maybe the excess gimmick is preventing me from seeing their talents, but I'm not to blame. Let them be themselves. |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by ValeeLove(m): 12:42pm On Aug 02, 2022 |
pu7pl3:it was stupid writing. |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by ValeeLove(m): 12:43pm On Aug 02, 2022 |
Fro5t:you watch AEW during those times? |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by Kaycee7(m): 1:08pm On Aug 02, 2022 |
ValeeLove:A few snippets here and there. |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 4:00pm On Aug 02, 2022 |
ValeeLove: Geez 60% is a huge amount of untalented people don't you think? |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 6:59am On Aug 03, 2022 |
WWE NXT REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS 84 Years... The NXT Women’s Tag Fatal 4-Way was always about Toxic Attraction and Kayden Carter & Katana Chance. As it relates to the tag team division in the multicolored brand, this is the premiere feud. Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne put up roadblocks every time Carter & Chance walked down the road to gold. Every. Single. Time. To say nothing of the their trials and tribulations for gold before Toxic Attraction took over the Florida territory. Ivy Nile & Tatum Paxley and the very exciting Valentina Feroz & Yulisa Leon represented well. Leon even lifted her partner over her head and used her as an offensive weapon against their opponents. Sadly, that was the highlight for them as they were the first to go. But, also, obviously they were going first. Right? Who is eliminated, along with when and how, is all part of the story. Leon & Fereoz are the least pronounced of the four teams while Ivy & Tatum are second in that race. Ivy & Tatum showed their calling card as a team is raw power. Tatum isn’t as showy with it as Ivy, but she’s just as brolic. They work well together too. Like the Brothers Creed, Ivy & Tatum can be huge foils for a high-flying team in the division. That power exhibition didn’t last long because Jacy eliminated the Diamond Mine tandem. Which brings us back to where we started this little writing exercise: Toxic Attraction and KC2. The mini story inside of the larger story was Toxic Attraction’s third reign looking inevitable. They got the upper hand against their arch rivals and did what they do best: Tandem offense coming faster and more furious than Dom on a liquor store run for Coronas. But every time the Toxic duo thought they had the W in hand through their divide and conquer tactics, Carter or Chance found a way to save their partner. They were prepared this time, finally understanding everything coming their way. And that’s why they finally used Toxic Attraction’s games against them. They divided. They surprised. Gigi separated them, as per usual, but they played offense rather than defense. Katana attacked Gigi, allowing Kayden enough time to recover, roll back into the ring, and take it to a now dolo Jayne. Carter & Chance executed some tandem offense of their own, and that was that. Your winners, and—finally—new tag team champions...Kayden Carter & Katana Chance. This was a dood first match but an even better capper to the long story about these two women living up to their potential. Extracurriculars Escobar Season Has Returned. Repent Your Sins Not burying the lede here: Santos Escobar is back after a stay in “hospital.” Diamond Mine put their NXT tag titles on the line against Tony D’Angelo and Stacks. His name is Stacks because he gets stacks of paper. But what he will not have is stacks of championships, at least not tonight. If Santos’ return is the big story of this match, then Julius Creed’s continued ascent is the second. Julius is my favorite hot tag in wrestling. Earlier in the match, he was on the wrong end of various suplexes, headlocks, and general embarrassment from Tony D. Brutus tagged in and did his usual controlled chaos for a minute, but Tony and Stacks rubbed him out as well. Once Julius came back in though? Everything changed. Tony felt the momentum slipping too, which is why he reached for his trusty crowbar. Unfortunately for him, Santos was on the other end and didn’t let go. Julius took advantage of the distraction and it was lights out for Tony D. Santos is back, Elektra Lopez grinned ear-to-ear, and we’re finally getting a blow off to this entire LdF vs. The Family feud next week. A Happy Birthday for the A Champion Carmelo Hayes issued an open challenge for his title. Not how I like to spend my birthdays, but hey, different strokes being what they are, it’s all good. He thought that challenger was Giovanni Vinci. But Vinci’s entrance takes so freaking long, Nathan Frazer stole his spot. Which was hilarious and a clever meta joke. Frazer and Melo wrestled a good match that, honestly, I wanted more. But Vinci was ringside doing commentary, meaning this match wasn’t about Melo at all. We’re getting a Vinci vs. Frazer feud for a couple reasons: One, Frazer embarrassed Vinci and took his spot. B, Frazer’s dive onto Melo on the outside of the ring created a chain reaction that knocked over Vinci’s drink, which spilled all over the “Italian” model. Vinci figured turnabout being fair play and all, why not interfere in the match with the ref not looking? He pushed Frazer off the top rope, Melo shot and scored, and that was that. Like I said, good, not great. Chairwoman Meh. That’s my feeling about Mandy Rose vs. Sarray. The match was just very flat, with the most exciting moment coming when the match was over. Mandy relayed a message to Zoey Stark after pinning Sarray in the middle of the ring, fair and square. She took a chair, did some pretty laughable chair shots on Sarray’s knee, and eventually got what she deserved when Stark came to the rescue. Zoey and Mandy should be fun and filled with emotion, which is the exact opposite of what we got this week. On Fire Lash Legend is improving. A lot. She didn’t win her match against Alba Fyre—of course not—but it proved a nice showcase for her progress since first coming to NXT. She’s learning how to use her body as a wrestler and take advantage of her natural athletic ability. And Alba, of course, is always on fire. Love the crowd chanting “Kay Lee Ray.” “I know You Are But What am I? A Garbage Man!” My disinterest in Von Wagner is well-documented. My adoration for Solo Sikoa is also a thing known on these hallowed pages. So I was torn watching their Falls Count Anywhere match. Even though I only cared about 50 percent of its equation, it kept me glued to the television. Wagner wants to prove he’s tougher than Solo. Solo wants to move on so he can finally “have next.” In fact, we even got a little interaction with Melo during this match, even if it was more contrived than a Friday the 13th movie. Before the match, Melo and Trick ran into some beautiful women with a dead car battery. They offered their help because they’re gentlemen. So, shockingly, when Solo and Wagner headed outside during their match, Solo pushed Melo into the backseat of said car. Like I said, contrived. But the match was fun even if parts of it didn’t make sense. In a match where you still need to pin your opponent, Wagner walked away after dumping Solo into a big trash dump. How, Sway? Solo rising from the trash heap like Shredder in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 wasn’t even a cool visual. But I digress. For the most part, it was a fun, violent affair that saw Solo pick up the W by crashing onto the big man through a commentary table. It’s hard to do a match like this wrong unless the wrestlers don’t use their environment. These two dead and now they should both move on. The less I need to talk about Wagner, the better. Man, You Come Right Out of a Comic Book Axiom was minding his own business when Duke Hudson, noted former poker player, interrupted to pick on him. Duke called the masked man a nerd, made fun of his height, his weight, etc. etc. you know the drill. Duke then beat the stuffing out of Axiom from the backstage area to the ring. Axiom, beaten but not beat, got on the mic and challenged the Aussie to a match. And he won! It’s a good way to get him over and prove there’s something to this comic book hero gimmick that hopefully doesn’t get too corny. Because it can easily go that route very quickly. This was an okay segment, but not the first time NXT did the “big guy picks on little guy” gimmick before. And not the best example of it either. So...Yeah...Gacy Look, I’m sorry, it’s just really hard caring about anything related to Joe Gacy. He talked ish to Briggs & Jensen earlier and Jensen—who I believe says he’s ready for his “first time”—wasn’t having it. Jensen and Gacy fought, Pretty Deadly interfered and Gacy picked up the W. Gacy, for what it’s worth, says the match was just a message to Cameron Grimes. Grimes, who watched backstage like a human being, looked perturbed by Gacy’s post-match ramblings. Die Bart Die JD McDonagh thinks he’s Sideshow Bob. That’s my main takeaway from my least favorite segment of the night. The contract signing between JD and Bron Breakker for their match at Heatwave was stilted, awkward, and did neither man any favors. But whew, it took a turn when JD signed the contract in his own blood. Bruv, come on. He was going for sadistic but it came off as cartoonish. Hence the Sideshow Bob reference. AND THEN HE TRIED SHAKING BRON’S HAND WITH THE SAME HAND. In this economy?! Disgusting. I was excited for this match but the more these two are together in the ring, the less I want it to happen. There’s just nothing exciting here and, once again, it’s another feud that makes the champ feel like he’s not the true star of the show. Use a pen, JD McDonagh. This was a good show. Shock, right? NXT 2.0 is normally solid. Rarely is it truly exciting but it’s always consistent. We got a lot of set up for next week as well, which makes me wonder what else is in store for Heatwave. The contract signing segment landed like a brick and let us never speak of it again. Grade: B 1 Like 1 Share |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 11:02am On Aug 06, 2022 |
WWE SMACKDOWN REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS This week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown featured Liv Morgan getting the chance to talk for the first time since the events of SummerSlam, where she tapped out to Ronda Rousey but won anyway because the referee missed it. Fans in the arena gave her a muted response, and then chanted “you tapped out” at her. “It’s okay, I appreciate y’all calling me out on my shit like that,” she appeared to respond, though they censored her on FOX. The fans booed her anyway. Then she used the excuse that she only tapped after she believed the referee had counted to three. It was a silly excuse, one so bad that I actually considered it may have been purposeful. Could they actually have intended a double turn with that finish at SummerSlam, with both of them somehow going heel? Would that even be a double turn? You’d have to believe that’s not actually the case but I do appreciate that they aren’t piping in crowd noise to support whatever position they prefer and instead allowing the crowd to respond naturally. That response was split. She was cheered, and she was booed. Loudly. Sonya Deville hit the scene while she was still excusing her cheap win, and delivered a heel promo that actually made a great deal of sense and the fans didn’t seem to know how to react to it. This was all very fascinating. It led into a Gauntlet match to determine Morgan’s next challenger at Clash at the Castle. That match featured Raquel Rodriguez cast as the babyface trying her best to run the gauntlet but ultimately falling short to the heel entering the match to oppose her while she’s dead tired. That heel was Shayna Baszler. This sets up a lot of interesting possibilities for Ronda Rousey’s return, at the very least, but there’s not much reason to be excited about Baszler vs. Morgan, at least not at the moment. To be fair, they need time to build a feud, but that’s why finding contenders with matches like this is, in this writer’s humble opinion, a bit silly and counterproductive. Again, though, the potential for what could come later is definitely there. Well, well, well, look who else Triple H decided to bring back now that he’s running the main roster. It’s none other than the man he refused to beat in NXT, the man booked stronger than anyone, the man with a super cool entrance married to the woman playing his manager on screen, who greatly added to his entire character, none other than Karrion Kross. When he was first given a run on the main roster, Vince McMahon instantly jobbed him out, put a dumb helmet on him, and took Scarlett Bordeaux away. He basically stripped him of everything that made him remotely interesting in NXT and it wasn’t long after he was outright released by the company. Things have changed now, and Triple H seems eager to right some wrongs. First, Dakota Kai. Now, Karrion Kross. For further proof of that, he’s already in the main event picture, having made his surprise return in the main event to interrupt Drew McIntyre and Roman Reigns. This was a legitimate surprise, rumors and reports be damned, and there’s reason to be intrigued about what the future holds here. All the rest This show really started with 10 minutes of recaps from SummerSlam. I get it, remind everyone of what happened nearly a full week before, but the stuff with Pat McAfee using a telestrator to continue dumping on Happy Corbin didn’t land all that well. It was used to set up a match pitting Corbin against Ricochet, who was making fun of him over it. It was a surprisingly fun match, one Ricochet won because Corbin couldn’t stop getting distracted by McAfee’s mere presence ringside. After, Pat Mac played catch with him and then autographed a football before punting it into the crowd. They really seemed to be trying to put over how much fun they were all having here. They did yet another Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Ludwig Kaiser match, the two having split a pair of matches over the past couple weeks. For the rubber match, they stipulated Nakamura would earn a title shot next week with a victory. He won, of course, and will go to war with GUNTHER in seven days. They did a staredown for that but avoided the typical GUNTHER abuse of Kaiser, which is actually a good thing considering you can only do it so much before you have to do a deeper exploration of the characters.The Vicious Vikings beat down some local athletes. I remain in favor of getting wrestlers over by simply having them squash people. After, Kofi Kingston, by himself this week, hit the scene to attack them both with a kendo stick. Sami Zayn is trying to remain in the good graces of The Bloodline but The Usos have demanded he start pulling his weight or be made to remove the shirt representing them. By “pulling his weight,” Jey seemed to be referencing the fact that Reigns, Jey, and Jimmy have six titles among them while Sami has zero. That needs to change. It’s an interesting wrinkle for whatever this is going to turn into, and I’m still intrigued and want to see where they take it. This show was interesting for everything it set up moving forward but as a standalone show, it was fairly average. Grade: C+ |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by ValeeLove(m): 4:19pm On Aug 06, 2022 |
Since HHH is pushing NXT guys(I heard he's pushing for Karrion Kross vs Reigns for a world title, USA says RAW needs one), maybe we can see this guy again. It was an ugly incident, but investigations prooved him innocent. Who else wants to see him asides me?
|
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 4:21pm On Aug 06, 2022 |
ValeeLove: Velveteen dream was a Vince asslicker iirc |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 8:53am On Aug 09, 2022 |
WWE RAW REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS Let’s talk Raw! The hunger. That’s what Bayley says she, Dakota Kai, and IYO SKY believe they brought back to the women’s division. A hunger to be the best and a hunger that all of the women in the locker room need. Bayley says—rightly—that the women’s division got complacent in her absence. And the next step in their takeover is Dakota & IYO fighting for the tag team championships. Bayley was great here. She normally is, but I mention that because of one particular moment. After referring to Dakota Kai as “Dakota Sky,” Bayley pivoted and blamed the crowd for her flub. Told them she can’t think properly with them making all this noise and they should all just shut up. She took that moment and turned it into a meltdown, causing Dakota to takeover after telling Bayley to relax. It was hilarious, furthered everyone’s characters, illustrated group dynamics, and showed their chemistry. It wasn’t perfect but it shows why these three are together. Once Alexa Bliss, Asuka, and Bianca Belair showed up, the temperature in the ring changed. The confrontation set up a potential match, as Asuka & Alexa are in the tag title tournament as well, but also a trios tag match at Clash at the Castle. Why then and not now? Well, besides the fact WWE needs a big match for this event, Bayley doesn’t believe Cleveland matters enough for a match that size. Tried and true heel tactics. Bianca wanted static. Bayley wanted to keep control this week but Bianca wanted to lose control. A brawl broke out and made my heart happy. A big brawl setting off a show always makes me smile. Especially when it’s set up in this fashion. Bayley, Kai, and SKY made their presence known throughout the show, appearing in a few backstage segments and flexing muscle over the other women in the division. I love that. It makes them omnipresent and shows instead of tells. WWE is great at telling us what someone’s goal is but not always great showing it. If anything, my only “complaint” is that it’s not threaded throughout the show because, this is the most interesting story on Raw at the moment. But I’m being greedy. Extracurriculars Luminosity Speaking of running threads through the show. During a couple backstage segments, WWE showed a crashed car in the background while people gave interviews or just talked trash to one another. The first time, it was crashed with officials around the car and a couple women wrestlers. The second time, a tow truck lifted the car and cops rushed past the camera as if they were chasing someone. Those same cops appeared at the end of the main event, but this time with someone in their custody. Or at least trying to get someone in their custody. The cops tussled with the individual, the crowd looked on, and eventually there was a quick glimpse of the person dressed in a black hoodie: Dexter Lumis! And that was it. He left, the commentators acknowledged it but didn’t dwell, and attention turned back to the victor in the ring. This was a tease hopefully setting up something larger. I like the execution during the show even if the actual “reveal” didn’t seem to do much for the crowd. But I’m also not sure what the desired outcome was. What I do know, however, is I’m very curious where this is headed. Freakin’ 0-2 At a certain point during Angelo Dawkins’ match with Seth Rollins, the ref ejected Montez Ford. Which is exactly what Seth wanted. Dawkins impressed me during this match. Not to say he doesn’t always impress, but he had an extra fire this week. Even wrestled without his shirt! Story wise, this didn’t progress anything. Seth won fair and square—thanks to a pedigree—then added insult to injury at the end with a curb stomp. But the obvious real world implication is testing Dawkins for a solo run. I don't know if his ceiling is as high as Montez—he can’t jump that high—but he held his own with one of the best. That bodes well for his future. That’s All She Wrote I wondered what Kevin Owens looks like under Triple H. Well, we got an emphatic answer this week. Long and short of it: KO ain’t with the BS. Aside from one small slip on the ring steps, KO was all business. He decimated Ezekiel/Elias/Elrod as soon as the bell went ding. Then, in a nod to his past, power bombed that man on and ring apron. And that was it. Match over. The ref called it due to Zeke’s inability to compete—rhyme intended—while Owens looked on with malice, menace, and another m word to finish off the alliteration. KO is, hopefully, done with this Zeke business and entering the next phase. Zeke even did a stretcher job, so who knows what this means for his future. KO reminded us later that this is still the KO Show and I’m down for all of that. Champing at the Bit I thought Ciampa had it in the bag. I really believed the Black Heart, who dedicated his United States championship match to Harley Race, was walking out of Cleveland with that title in hand. While he didn’t get that, he did get something just as valuable: Elevation. Bobby Lashley said he wants to put on great matches and elevate people on the roster as U.S. champ. That’s exactly what he did tonight. Lashley and Ciampa put on a hell of a fight with plenty of suspense. At times, it really looked like Ciampa might do the impossible and beat a man who looks unbeatable. Ciampa showed everything that made him the man in NXT, along with an ability to work with someone Lashley’s size. And the juxtaposition in styles was perfect for the story. Lashley is all power and high impact. Ciampa is scientific, methodical, and dastardly. WWE didn’t forget about AJ Styles either. AJ ambushed Miz during the match. The two brawled around the ring and even through the ring—without touching Lashley or Ciampa—which took Miz out of the picture after he helped Ciampa several times during the match. Ciampa went from the guy who only survived due to Miz putting his foot on the rope or distracting Lashley, to someone who put the champ on the ropes by himself. The man even survived the Hurt Lock longer than most, refusing to tap initially but ultimately giving in because duh. There’s no shame in losing to the champ. Losing like this though? Looking really competitive and showing he belongs in a title picture? That’s huge for Ciampa. This was just a really good bout between two guys working at a high level way beyond eye level. If you missed this match, you owe it to yourself to watch it not now but right now. Segue! The skirmish between AJ and Miz led to a no DQ main event match. And it was fine. Maybe I was a little let down because this was the main event, but it was a perfectly fine no DQ match between two cats who don’t like each other. Ciampa interfered but his appearance didn’t keep his friend safe. AJ prevailed in a match that used kendo sticks, chairs, tables, and mild violence. The match itself felt like a half-measure. I dislike when no DQ matches don’t take full advantage of that stipulation. Go wild! Make it really violent. Like I said, it was fine, but nothing to truly write home about. And, probably worse, it wasn’t the best end to a pretty solid night of sports entertainment professional wrestling. Me thinks this is the end of AJ and Miz’s short-lived feud, which feels appropriate too. Cats in the Cradle I’m a sucker for this father/son intrigue between Rey and Dominik. Last week, Raw’s final image was Edge spearing Dom and Rey tending to his fallen son while putting the pieces together. This week, Edge apologized to both men. Rey forgave his longtime friend and former tag partner. Dom though? Well, let’s just say he doesn’t believe Edge is “family.” That’s a Fast and Furious reference for anyone playing at home. Dom shoved Edge and barked on his father for taking Edge’s side. Edge offered his help but Rey truly believed in his son. But during his match with Finn Balor, Rey walked to the ring alone. I was actually riveted. I get where Dom is coming from, I get where Rey is coming from. They’re actual human beings with feelings that go beyond cliche stuff. It helped that Finn and Rey put on a good match filled with counters, reversals, near falls, and big moves. Through all that, I thought about Dom. Where is he? Is he showing up in the third act with a knife for his father’s back? Will he realize it was just a mistake and maybe the old men are right? Edge even chased Damian Priest into the crowd, clearing the way for Dom’s return! Well, Rhea Ripley had other plans. The Nightmare showed up with Dom draped over her shoulder like a pillow, beaten within an inch of his life. Ripped shirt, cuts and bruises on his face, and even some “blood” for good measure. Rey stopped caring about Finn because duh, and lost the match as a result. We ended with Rey, on the mat, reaching out to his bruised son, while The Judgment Day glared and did other things bad guys do. I dug it! It’s a simple story told effectively and with some heart. What Have You Done for Me Lately IYO SKY & Dakota Kai flew high. These two beat Tamina & Dana Brooke in a match that...yeah, it wasn’t great. It wasn’t awful, but it was just very meh. This was the first match in WWE’s Women’s Tag champ tournament and was pretty much a cakewalk for Kai & Sky, Which sounds a lot like Kaientai. SMASH Omos squashed a couple of hometown guys. Which was all I planned on saying until it hit me that there’s really no need on this show for Omos. Especially if it’s pointless squashes on a show where most matches meant something. We Can Go Blow for Blow... This match between Chad Gable and Dolph Ziggler, too. Because everything else around it revolved around titles or established beef, this one felt hollow. Both guys are great at what they do in the ring but Ziggler is aimless now with Theory in witness protection. So what are we doing here? On the strength of no emotional investment, it gets a meh. Raw moved this week. I barely noticed the three hours and most of the matches had purpose. We got a bunch of solid bouts and a really good one between Lashley and Ciampa. Raw also ended a couple feuds, added layers to others, and started...something..with a returning Dexter Lumis. Very solid and enjoyable show. Grade: B+ |
| Re: Purpl3's WWE (and Pro-wrestling in general) Discussion And Banter House by pu7pl3(m): 8:25am On Aug 10, 2022 |
WWE NXT REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS The Chariot Rides to Nowhere I don’t know what NXT is doing with Apollo Crews. First he’s journaling and righting wrongs like he’s The Equalizer. Then he’s hanging out with Diamond Mine. Then he’s having visions in green on his way tot he ring like he’s Bruce Banner. His match with Roderick Strong—beefing over Apollo hanging out with the Creed Bros.—was proof Apollo is a fantastic wrestler in search of a great angle. Apollo and Roddy complement each other very well. Power and agility vs. technique and mat wrestling always mesh, but they told a good story too. It started as a traditional wrestling match, complete with a collar and elbow tie-up. Then escalated into an “anything you can do, I can do better” contest as each man matched each other. Roddy paint-brushed Crews so Crews paint-brushed Roddy. Crews goes for a dropkick, Roddy goes for a dropkick. At times, it really felt like Apollo’s audition for leadership over the Diamond Mine. Especially since the Creeds seemingly take direction from Apollo more than Roddy. And maybe that’s where they need to go with this. Strong’s leadership is the opposite of his namesake. More importantly, they’re dragging out this Diamond Mine way too long. I say it every week and the fact that I do means we need that wrap it up button ASAP. This also gives Apollo some direction. He can wrestle all the great matches he wants. And, for the record, he won this match, overcoming a bad lower back and altering his offense just enough to compensate. But he’s a ship without a rudder at the moment. Compare that to Dolph Ziggler’s brief foray in NXT where he claimed the NXT championship. Or Natalya’s stint, which was all about creating a new star for the brand and telling the entire division to step up. Quick, name Apollo’s purpose right now. Don’t think too hard. There’s a lot of creative change in WWE at the moment. Duh, right? Maybe this evens itself out in due time but the winds of change need to blow through Florida quick, fast, and in a hurry. Apollo and Roddy tore the house down this week, easily putting on the best match of the night. Now, give us something new for Apollo on the paint splat brand: follow through. That crowd will only chant his name for so long. If you want them to keep chanting, give them a reason to care. Because seeing green before the match, and not explaining it, ain’t it. Extracurriculars Zoey’s on a Roll Zoey Stark is on a roll. That roll continued this week in a solid match with Cora Jade. Cora was on a mission to eliminate Stark for Mandy on the promise she gets a title shot. And she tried. She really tried. Cora brought out her black kendo stick at one point in the match, showing getting the W was never the point. Injuring Zoey by any means necessary was always the focus. The second time she went for the kendo stick, it was in Roxanne Perez’s hands. That slight distraction was enough for Zoey to finish Cora right in front of guest commentator Mandy Rose. Roxanne chased Cora away, which is a good touch. It’s smart to build to their eventual confrontation rather than just giving it to us just because. The show ended with Mandy flat on her back after failing at her surprise attack, and Zoey standing tall with the championship in her hand. Now, if you believe in wrestling opposite momentum, Zoey isn’t winning at Heatwave. But I do think the story is pointing to Zoey as the one to take Mandy down and possibly send her, along with Toxic Attraction, to the main roster. Hear Me Roar Nikkita Lyons’ match with Kiana James confused me a tad. The first portion worked well for me. Kiana worked Nikkita’s suspect knee, which not only targeted a weakened body part but neutralized Nikkita’s offense. Smart stuff from a wrestler who claims she’s the smartest person in the locker room. Kiana even played possum when the women were on the outside, causing Lyons to kick the steel steps and further injure that bum knee. I love details like that. But the ending threw me for a loop. Nikkita executed a very dope looking roundhouse kick with that same leg—the one with the worked over knee—to set up Kiana for her finisher. It’s a great looking move and any other time I’m fine with it. But Kiana punished that knee. Why not take that time to answer the question if Nikkita can finish a match without using her favorite weapon? And the amount of force needed to do said kick? Whew. The match overall was fine but that finish left a bad taste in my mouth. Kiana had the last laugh with a sneak attack after the match. And, in one of the funniest moments this week in wrestling, Kiana talked trash over her opponent while holding her briefcase high. Yup, her briefcase theoretically filled with papers, pens, and notebooks. You know, for all those calculations. It Ain’t Trickin’... I like the idea of a Rounds match but the boxing portion of it threw off the rhythm. Even with that, Trick Williams and Wes Lee told a pretty compelling and simple story. Trick has Carmelo Hayes by his side for help while Wes overcomes the odds. The right person won (Wes) and beating Trick at his own game—a knock out—was poetic. But the execution of the match lacked the coolness of the idea. There was even a moment where Trick put his foot on the rope during a pinfall only to immediately take it off the rope. Which makes me think it was an accident that added to the haphazardness of the match. Grading on a Curve Arianna Grace caught a black eye from Thea Hail last week. It wasn’t on purpose, but Grace wants restitution. And by that, I mean she wants money. Andre Chase, who is either very cheap or very broke, said since the incident happened on Chase U grounds, Thea and Arianna will settle their beef in the ring. Of course, he used a lot more colorful language than that so use your imagination and pick the naughtiest words possible. Thea impressed for her first match. It wasn’t a long match and Arianna controlled most of it, but Thea showed a lot of promise. Her transitions were smooth, her character work was strong, and she looks like a natural babyface. Arianna was on point as well, especially doing all the cheap heel tricks cheap heels know best. She cried about her eye, she went for cheap shots at every turn, and even tried sucker punching Thea for matching black eyes. I’m still shocked Arianna won. But I suppose that’s part of a larger story about Thea still learning the ropes—pun intended. Fine match. Three’s a New Crowd Lash Legend and Pretty Deadly are a trio. How did we get here, you ask? Well, that’s why I’m here. Lash monologued about her loss to Alba Fyre to Malik Blade & Edris Enofe for about an hour. They snapped, Pretty Deadly pulled up, and impolitely told Enofe & Blade it’s rude to interrupt a lady. As fate would have it, the four men were on the docket for a tag match this week. Briggs, Jensen, and Fallon Henley showed up. Their interference actually caused Blade & Malik the W. D’oh! Lash Legend showed up out of nowhere and bicycle kicked Fallon into next month. Then, a victorious Pretty Deadly celebrated with Lash Legend, while the losers licked their chops. Not much of a match since it was short and a tad chaotic, but I’m interested in the drama. Aside from a few solid matches, this was a drag of an episode. It lacked something I can’t quite define but the two-hour show felt longer than Raw. We got one video segment for the NXT championship match that didn’t excite me at all, and another about Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne finding themselves after losing their tag titles. Meh. The Joe Gacy/Cameron Grimes stuff is still happening and it’s still a cheap imitation of Bray Wyatt and Daniel Bryan from several years ago. NXT normally has a flow to it but this really felt like a bunch of stuff thrown at a wall. Oh, and that “Final Accord” between Santos Escobar and Tony D’Angelo was just awkward. The visual of that small table in the middle of a giant park just made NXT look and feel small. On a show before their next big event, that’s the lasting image for me and it’s a pretty awful metaphor. Grade: C- 1 Like 1 Share |
(1) (2) (3) ... (262) (263) (264) (265) (266) (267) (268) ... (298) (Reply)
Cuando Seas Mia: 'When You Are Mine' / ARROW and THE FLASH fan page....... / Top 15 Nollywood Stars Who Have Passed Away In Recent Years
(Go Up)
| Sections: politics (1) business autos (1) jobs (1) career education (1) romance computers phones travel sports fashion health religion celebs tv-movies music-radio literature webmasters programming techmarket Links: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) Nairaland - Copyright © 2005 - 2024 Oluwaseun Osewa. All rights reserved. See How To Advertise. 208 |