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WWE SMACKDOWN REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS It’s been a while since we’ve seen Roman Reigns on WWE television, and we didn’t have to wait to see him on Friday Night SmackDown this week. John Cena opened the show to start to figure out what’s next for him when he was quickly interrupted by The Bloodline, led by the WWE Universal champion himself. Acknowledge him. Reigns called Cena a coward, saying he only showed up when he took his leave. He also has a problem with the way Cena’s being called “The Greatest of All Time.” Then, the threats. “Leave or we’re gonna make you leave.” Then, a surprise — Cena just outright put him over, acknowledging him for doing what he considers the greatest feat of all time, holding the title for well over 1,000 days. No, he’s not going to challenge Reigns, because he hasn’t earned it. But he knows someone who has. Which brings us to… Your LA Knight segment of the week: I’ll be damned, LA Knight sharing the ring with the top guy in the business. And he quite literally opened with “you pissing your pants yet?” My god, I love this guy. No tripping over his words here — he delivered the goods, keeping Tulsa in the palm of his hand while he stood across from Roman Reigns. He also played it beautifully. “Congrats, they say your name now.” Jimmy Uso attacked from behind but was quickly reversed and thrown out of the ring, leaving Reigns feeling some kind of way. He bailed out of the ring and told Solo Sikoa “forget about Cena, handle him.” So they set up a match for later, Sikoa vs. Knight, which would end up being the main event. They had a solid match, one that saw Jimmy try to interfere on Solo’s behalf only for Cena to hit the ring and take him out. Sikoa hit him with the Spike but that left the door wide open for LA to hit Blunt Force Trauma for the pin. That, of course, could not be allowed to stand and Reigns laid him out with a spear as the show went off the air. It’s really happening! Cody Rhodes & Jey Uso were in town to defend the Undisputed tag team titles against A-Town Down Under. At one point in the evening, Roman Reigns told Jimmy Uso he sees it as an insult to The Bloodline that Cody & Jey, of all people, are champions, so he needs to do something about it. Later, Cody pinned Austin Theory following the Cross Rhodes to successfully defend the titles. The match was fine for what it was, but I’d like to give a special shoutout to Corey Graves for dropping a Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony reference as Cody was hitting his finish. Anyway, the match was really a way to get to The Bloodline hitting the scene to confront the champs, with Reigns and Cody staring each other down certainly appearing to reignite their rivalry. That’s one hell of a teaser, many months away from what could be the start of the build to a rematch. We ain’t in the 3rd inning anymore, folks. More like the 6th. I’ll also say it was an interesting decision to tease this on the same show LA Knight was officially stepping in as the next top contender to Reigns’ title. The fact that they were able to do both and it didn’t take away from either is a sign of the care they’ve put into telling all these stories. Triple H got himself a nice reception for his entrance, and made sure to note how much he misses it at times. He’d be crazy not to, right? He was on the show to announce that Adam Pearce was getting promoted, from simply “WWE official who is running around trying to keep everything in order on both Raw and SmackDown” to simply “General Manager of Monday Night Raw.” That meant, of course, SmackDown would be getting a General Manager too. Nick Aldis was introduced to zero reaction, because casual WWE fans probably know very little about his career, considering he primarily worked in Impact Wrestling and then the NWA. That’s something the folks at WWE seemed to be aware could happen going in, which explains why they had Dominik Mysterio out for this segment. He was the perfect punching bag for Aldis to get over on. Dirty Dom, the best heel in the business. They also had Aldis reveal the big trade acquisition for the blue brand in exchange for Jey Uso moving over to Raw — Kevin Owens, who personally endorsed Aldis by raising his arm after hitting Mysterio with a Stunner. WWE did a great job of putting this together all around. Well done to them. All the rest -Elton Prince came out in his wheelchair just long enough to triumphantly rise out of it to make clear he’s finally healed and cleared to wrestle. What a moment. Then, during the match with The Brawling Brutes he brilliantly faked an injury to allow Kit Wilson to lay Ridge Holland out so he could steal the pinfall and the victory. The Yes Boys are going to the top, just you wait. -Bobby Lashley welcomed Carlito back to WWE, making like he was going to play nice. Carlito offered up a match and The Street Profits put a beatdown on him. So it would seem their issue will continue. -Bayley interrupted The LWO checking on Carlito and pissed off Zelina Vega, leading to a match between the two. Naturally, Bayley, with an assist from Women’s Champion Iyo Sky, defeated Vega before launching a post-match beatdown alongside the rest of Damage CTRL. That brought out Charlotte Flair, who wouldn’t stand for it. Perhaps she isn’t done with Iyo just yet? Sure enough, Flair met with Aldis after he was announced as the new General Manager and they agreed the referee’s decision from Fastlane will stand even though Flair clearly won the title but she’ll get another shot next week. As she was leaving, she bumped into none other than Jade Cargill, with Triple H there to introduce them. It was presented like a major meeting, and it sure felt like one. Flair more or less blew her off while acknowledging they’ll be meeting up soon, and Cargill seemed taken aback by it. Very much looking forward to seeing that battle. They aired a vignette for Dragon Lee, who is now a member of the SmackDown roster. He absolutely deserves to be here. This was a damn good show not just for what happened on it but for what it set up for the future. Grade: A- |
For those that like horror, follow Scarlett and Shotzi take you through the haunted Waverley hills sanatorium https://youtu.be/lN13vY6ojug?si=NbNtrwariqZvLlXJ |
monerozi5590:Okay |
NXT↓
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phr0nesis:Na wa oh |
Devvy4:So anytime him and Modeic are not on the pitch we would keep on missing penalties? |
Devvy4:Penalties are becoming a problem for us tbh |
Kevineleven:Does subtitles work for the Italian? Why was it heavy on Italian? |
phr0nesis:Ah😂 |
WWE SMACKDOWN REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS Your LA Knight segment of the week, one we didn’t have to wait long for: How quickly things can change in WWE, and that was never more evident than this week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown opening with “LET ME TALK TO YA!” To a big pop, of course. He was immediately interrupted by The Bloodline and wouldn’t you know it, Paul Heyman came right out and said it — the next big thing in WWE is none other than The Megastar himself. With everybody saying… So if there was any doubt about how WWE feels about this man right now, consider the matter settled. They see what we see, and I don’t want to hear a damn thing about his age. Over is over. Naturally, The Bloodline threatened to ensure Knight doesn’t make it to Fastlane, where he’s scheduled to team with John Cena against Jimmy Uso & Solo Sikoa in Indianapolis, and Cena himself showed up to ensure they didn’t take his teammate out. There was no big brawl, however. Instead, Knight grabbed a mic, took command, and challenged Jimmy to a singles match for later. They struck a fairly good balance here between overdoing it with a promo and letting Knight get all his verbal stuff in to pop the live audience. SIDE ANGLE ALERT! The Judgment Day, in town on business on the blue brand, were hanging backstage in what was apparently The Bloodline’s locker room. I say that because Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa were none too happy to see them relaxing all big in said locker room. And then Rhea Ripley, who has emerged as a de facto leader of the group, called off the dogs so she could meet with Paul Heyman, who in turn did the same. Ripley’s pitch is one we didn’t hear, but we did hear her say “we’re stronger together.” Heyman called her idea “brilliant” and promised to run it up the chain to none other than Roman Reigns. Except Ripley wouldn’t hear all that. She’s authorizing the deal herself. She got right in his face and said three words. “Paul … acknowledge me.” Heyman tried to back her off, but Ripley wouldn’t blink. Threats were made. The peace holds? The peace did hold, as we found out later in the main event when Knight took on Uso and the match quickly broke down. John Cena hit the scene to back Knight up but The Judgment Day showed up to confirm their unholy alliance. Whatever would Cena and Knight do? Oh, that’s right. A couple other guys were scheduled for this show. Sure enough, Jey Uso and Cody Rhodes hit the scene to even things up a bit. It was still a 6-v-4 in favor of the bad guys, but Heyman backed Solo off and the babyfaces instantly ran wild. Bodies went flying everywhere and when it was settled, it was Cena and Sikoa alone in the ring squaring up. Cena got rocked but Knight made the save and JD McDonagh ended up the sacrificial lamb, taking everyone’s finish to close out the show. And let me give him credit for his selling here, because my word did he ever feed for ‘em big time. All the rest -In advance of Iyo Sky defending the women’s championship against Asuka and Charlotte Flair, the two challengers did the “team up and try to get along” thing against Damage CTRL, who are having some problems after Bayley accepted a triple threat title match on Sky’s behalf. In something of a surprise, they played the match straight up. Everyone got along on both sides, and in the end Charlotte hit Natural Selection and scored the pinfall over Bayley. The match was fine, but could have used some depth. -With the LWO taking on The Suit Profits at Fastlane, Bobby Lashley vs. Rey Mysterio was booked for this show. They had a damn good singles match, one I would quite like to see them run back with more time at a later date. The match broke down late, with both outside teams getting involved and Lashley ultimately spearing Mysterio out of his boots to score the pinfall. This was a ton of fun, and was a perfect way to build to a match where they’re all legally going to be involved. Fantastic work all around. Later, they added even more intrigue by revealing Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro would be out for the match at Fastlane and Mysterio would be making a call for a mystery partner. Fun! -Dragon Lee made his way back to the main roster for a showdown with Austin Theory, a way to showcase him to a wider audience once more. Theory had Grayson Waller out to assist him, and it nearly meant his scoring the win but Cameron Grimes showed up in the nick of time with an assist of his own and Lee pinned Theory. The match was a lot of fun, and the crowd responded well to everything, including Lee. There’s very clearly some real potential here. This was a damn good go home show. Like, one of the better go home shows they’ve done in recent memory. Grade: A |
BankyGee:Jason Statham is always necessary 😌🤭 |
oyaskii:Chai so I shouldn't download this movie? |
Devvy4:And we would have gotten him easily |
Silo season 1 They need to drop season 2 ASAP |
Kaycee7:Big W for them |
WWE NXT NO MERCY REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS The Bomb I thought about just writing an expletive for this section. And I don’t think anyone who saw Carmelo Hayes vs. Ilja Dragunov would begrudge me that honor. Yes, Ilja and Melo amazed and astounded. They topped their Great American Bash match by several leaps and bounds. But I thought of a few scribbles that convey why this match worked for me. I wondered if this was Melo’s story or Ilja’s. Now, in every match, at least if done well, the winner and loser have a story to tell. Sometimes it’s about the heel achieving their goal while the face sees another mountain in front of them. This match, however, set the stakes early: It’s either about Melo regaining his confidence or Ilja finishing his business. When the match started, it looked like the former. Ilja came out the gate blazing and Melo looked lost and out of sorts. Ilja coming the that hard and staying on top of him only kept that confidence down. They told a nice story early with Melo getting dragged down and rebuilding himself over time. Booker T said something insightful: Melo’s technique and skill won’t help all the time; eventually, you have to fight. Ilja fought Melo and although it took a while, Melo eventually fought back. That’s when everything changed and even the match perspective changed. Rather than focusing on Melo getting his groove back, it transitioned to Ilja’s perseverance. Both men dished out their best, with Ilja dropping two H-Bombs, including one from on high. But Melo kept coming. Then it happened. the thing that Ilja asked during the contract signing: What happens to Melo when he shoots but misses? Melo went for the Nothin’ But Net. And he missed. Ilja surprised Melo with a clothesline counter. Ilja went to the top rope and hit another H-Bomb from up top, and got the W. I didn’t see the titles changing hands right now and I can’t say I’m for it right now. Obviously, that depends on the future, but in the moment, this match rocked. Just an incredible showing from both men. Ordinarily, this means Melo moves to the main roster but there’s obviously business here with Trick Melo Gang, and an eventual rematch with Ilja. Do those two things intertwine? Me think so. Watch the match. Watch it now and watch it repeatedly. B-Sides Party For Your Right to Fight I saw barbed wire bats. I saw broken Barbie dolls. I saw chains. And a fire extinguisher. Oh, and tons of chairs. Like, a lot of chairs. Becky Lynch vs. Tiffany Stratton Part Deux had it all. Fun, violent match with big spots and showed, once again, that Tiffany can hang with the big dogs. Becky won—duh—and set her eyes on Tegan Nox sitting ringside but clap for Tiffany here. Stoned Is the Way of the Walk I loved the way this match started. Baron Corbin and Bron Breakker brawled so much on the recent NXT episode that they tore the house down. Literally. It makes complete sense that two men who fought that hard continued that fight the minute they locked eyes. It seemingly took 10 minutes before they got in the ring and the bell actually went ding. Even from that point, the war continued. If the higher ups at WWE want more proof Bron is ready for the main roster, this hopefully provides them everything they need. Less about holds and moves and more about just providing a believable fight with one of WWE’s veteran hands. I like the finish too. Mostly because I didn’t see it coming. And when it happened, it felt so obvious. Bron looked ready for another W but Mr. Stone showed up out of nowhere. Stone leapt off the top rope, fully aware what might happen, and sacrificed his body for a bigger purpose. Bron caught him, because of course, and launched him outside the ring. That momentary distraction gave Baron the opening for an End of Days and a big victory. The finish gives Bron an out, Baron gets the win—Vic Joseph using the burn the boats metaphor and calling Bron the biggest boat Baron’s burnt sounded weird—and we set up a grudge match between Von Wagner and Bron. While I’m not particularly interested in that, I recognize the Performance Center crowd will go insane for Von when he returns. Family I fell for it. I bought Tony D’Angelo’s injury and really worried about the guy. Stacks played the victim for a while as Out the Mud & Los Lotharios smartly took advantage. But then Tony came back with the Steve Austin knee brace. They really got me. And it worked because of Tony’s real past with leg injuries. The match went to another level when Tony returned, as the Family and the Creeds teed off on the bad guys. Despite taking the pin, Out the Mud looked good. Not quite as good as their opponents, but they showed promise. I didn’t expect Lucien Price to take the pin since they’re so new. But perhaps that newness makes the loss easily forgettable. I don’t know if Fatal 4 Way, which provided several chaotic moments, needed the extra story there with Tony’s injury. I didn’t dislike it, obviously, but I don’t know that it added anything to a match that practically sells itself. American Dreamin’ Trick Williams is your new North American champion. I really don’t need to say anything more than that. I will, but I don’t need to. Several ref spots, which seem reasonable given Dom Mysterio and Dragon Lee’s beef. Dom accidentally superkicked Dragon. And yes, it was an accident. Then Dom took out the replacement ref too! That one looked purposeful. Dom truly wanted either a DQ or planned on stretching the match out enough where Trick showed frustration and lost focus. The irony is that Dom’s shenanigans precipitated his downfall. With the ref out of the way, Dom grabbed his belt and went for Trick. But Trick’s knee collided with that belt and Dom’s face. 1-2-3. But eventually, Trick got the W. Not a five-star match by any means but a solid affair that took care of a lot of business. Dom and Dragon are set for another battle in their war, while Trick gets his first title. That means more matches for Trick Willy, and that’s a good thing. 100 Rounds Unsurprisingly, Butch and Noam Dar not only put on a dope match but went the distance. We got the full six rounds here with Noam getting the win 2-1. But that’s not the story. As the clock counted down in round six, Gallus interfered. They took out Butch’s insurance policy in Tyler Bate, then Joe Coffey finished off Butch and helped Noam get the W. Gallus vs. the Brawlin’ Brutes sometime soon? Yes please. The vignettes alone make it all worth it. Scary Sight I predicted Gigi Dolin interfering in Kelani Jordan vs. Blair Davenport. That part I got right. But I expected that interference during the match, not after. Kelani got a good showing. They gave her enough offense and helped her not look overrun, but exhibited her inexperience against someone like Blair. It’s a good showcase before the Women’s Breakout tourney, which probably bodes well for Kelani’s immediate future. Gigi, however, clearly has Blair on her mind. We finally get their match on the next NXT episode! Very fun night with solid and fun matches, with the best coming towards the end. We got a show with something for everyone that advanced stories and set up others. But those last two matches really put everything on a different level. They clearly showed why both matches earned those spots. Grade: A |
Why can't we switch to a 433 and use Joselu as the main CF since he loves crosses? Midfield can be Bellingham, Fede and Tchouameni/Camavinga. |
WWE SMACKDOWN REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS The Bloodline, despite Roman Reigns not being around for some time now, are still dominating the Friday Night SmackDown airwaves. They opened this week’s show in Sacramento, California to call attention to the fact that they kicked the crap out of John Cena last week. Then, of course, a video to remind us of how it came to be that Cena’s tag team partner, AJ Styles, was taken out of the picture in an injury angle. Cena, then, was left to sign the contract alone and WWE has been promoting a 2-on-1 Handicap match. While Jimmy Uso was cutting a promo on Cena, who they claimed was not there, calling him scared, a surprise — Karl Anderson attacked from behind, sending both Jimmy and Solo Sikoa packing. Now that Styles has been taken out, The Bloodline is O.C. business and he’s here to take care of it. Naturally, Paul Heyman talked to Solo, who then talked to Jimmy in response to it — “you better handle this before I handle this.” “I got you.” Naturally, a match ensued. And, of course, Jimmy won that match in relatively short order, effectively dealing with what turned out to be a minor speed bump. Still, it’s good to see they did it if only for storyline continuity. Anderson needed to do something after last week, even if it meant getting destroyed like his stablemate. And there’s story to go back to once Styles returns. Michin, by the way, slapped the taste out of Jimmy’s mouth for what they did to Anderson, and it set Jimmy on the warpath backstage. He took out employees and then Ashante Adonis got caught up in it too. To circle it back around to the main story, Jimmy claimed this was taking out any potential partners John Cena may recruit. That led to Cena finally showing up for the main event segment. He promised if he could find no partner, he would go it alone. The Bloodline hit the scene to make clear they took everybody out and no one would be crazy enough to team with him. Then, they played out the scene exactly the same as last week, right down to Cena getting the upper hand initially but losing it when he lifted Sikoa up for the AA and got superkicked by Jimmy. Only this time he had some backup. And that led us right on into… Your LA Knight segment of the week: YEAH The pop was thunderous, he looked every bit like The Megastar headed for the ring and clearing house, and even though I knew it was coming it felt like a really big deal to see him sign on the dotted line to be John Cena’s partner for this match. It’s really happening, folks. I need LA Knight vs. Roman Reigns sooner rather than later after this. But this’ll do. Santos Escobar cut a great babyface promo early in the evening during an interview with Cathy Kelley, speaking openly about never giving up on his dream to win a title in WWE and not being willing to give that up because Rey Mysterio, his friend and mentor, is champion. “May the best man win.” Later, Mysterio got his own chance to speak and he made clear he has nothing but love and respect for Escobar, knowing how hard he’s worked. That said, he expects the best from his opponents and so he gives his best. “I’m giving you the fight of your life.” When it came time for the match they were both getting cheers during introductions. Escobar did get booed just a bit during the match but they ended up getting the crowd right back by the sheer force of the great back-and-forth they put together. Mysterio got a bit dinged up during a crossbody at one point but they told a good story otherwise, namely that they know each other well and were prepared for all the big shots the other could deliver. That’s how Mysterio emerged victorious too, countering Escobar’s finish with a rollup that got the three count. It leaves the door open for another match down the road while putting the champion over and keeping the challenger fairly strong. This was really well done all around. All the rest -Bobby Lashley was a guest on “The Grayson Waller Effect” and made it sound as though he was already breaking away from The Street Profits for the fact that they didn’t have the killer instinct he’s looking for, costing them a match last week. They attempted to protest and he told them simply to prove they want this the way he does. Later, Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins decided to prove themselves by attacking Mysterio and Escobar just after their match. This pleased Lashley enough to realign with the duo, and they collectively took out the LWO when the rest of the crew hit the scene to back up their boys. This led to a challenge for a match between the two groups at Fastlane. -Cameron Grimes got back on television this week, as fodder for Austin Theory to get a TV victory with Waller in his corner backing him up. They also shot an angle where Dragon Lee, who is set to act as a special guest referee at No Mercy, was ringside and got into a shoving match with Theory. -Jade Cargill was called one of the biggest signings for WWE in years on this show. “There is a storm coming for the women in WWE and trust me when I say, Jade Cargill is a game changer,” as Corey Graves said it. This, and how Cody Rhodes has been treated, has to have some wrestlers in AEW considering how they may be treated if they jump ship when their contracts are up. -Charlotte Flair called out Bayley for becoming a stepping stone and being happy to sit on the sidelines while Iyo Sky is champion. She promised to win their match and challenge Sky for her title at Fastlane. Sure enough, she beat Bayley clean via pinfall. After, Damage CTRL made like they were going to take Flair out collectively but Asuka made the save. She apparently asked for a triple threat match, and Bayley instantly accepted. Then, Iyo said she didn’t say that and seemed upset. Yet and still, issues with Bayley and Sky that never seem to go anywhere. We’ll see if that changes after this. The usual from the blue brand. Grade: B |
IngeniousLeez:Don't worry Tom will shock you later Cc oyaskii |
Rajmeista:if he isn't using his head he doesn't know how to aim with his legs. |
akwesenana:I swear And he can only get better |
God bless the day Bellingham came on our radar |
ValeeLove:my mind is immediately flooded with soomany wrestlers names when I think about WWE. There is no "first" for me |
Vinicius is continuing from where Rodrygo stopped Please give me Brahim |
Fair play to Camavinga Actually playing better than the fullbacks |
ValeeLove:Yes boss |
Cama at LB when your two LB's are fit and in another decisive match. |
Kaycee7:😂😂That's why I'm taking my time oh |
armadeo:I also liked the Yoruba mythology they used |
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