Any WWE fans in the audience? (Part 1)

The Game Room
2102

Well, after his injury on Raw, I didn’t expect Sami back for a while and was surprised he was cleared to wrestle this match. That being said, it ending in an injury angle was kind of expected.

Now he can take time off, rest up and heal, and come back in 3-6 months to challenge KO for the US Title. :slight_smile:

Becky Lynch made herself last night. That was one helluva effort and I was standing in my living room clapping just like the crowd. She still has things to work on, but she showed she’s better than 90% of the Raw Divas.

And yeah, KO - Joe was a total mark-out moment.

2103

After sleeping on it I am giving Takeover 4: The third sequel a B-. The main even was a letdown, the women blew my expectations away and the rest of the matches were just good enough to keep my attention, but nothing that got me out of my chair. Matches are in as much of an order as I can remember.

NotHideo vs. Breeze vs The Demon: NXT does a TMZ style interview with Enzo and Cass when we hear the sounds of Hideo being attacked in the parking lot. I didn’t see this live because my Playstation was being an a-hole, but it was a neat way of putting him out of action. 6 - 8 months is a loooong time though. As for the match, Finn’s entrance is always something to marvel at, but IMO nothing beats his very first time. I liked the evil eye in the middle of his back, that was new and cool. I was greatly assuming he would win, so I wasn’t surprised when he did. A solid match overall

Bayley/Charlotte vs Emma/Stripper Bitch: This was interesting to me because something had to happen: Either Charlotte was either going to lose on TV, or Bayley was gonna win. It ended up being the latter. A good showing by Bayley actually. Her “underdog always loses” schtick is effecting her wrestling IMO and she looked strong in this match. I wish she would have gotten the pin over Emma to move that story forward, but with Chalrotte there I’m not surprised it ended this way

Rhyno vs Baron Corbin: I wasn’t able to make a predictions post because of my crazy Tuesday (Hello Knowed Out’s dogs!) and my crazier Wednesday (hello spending 8 hours at a car dealership), but if I had I would have said Baron gets the win. Rhyno is a temp and this could make Baron look strong. I was BERRY BERRY impressed with Corbin. He went the distance, he looked good, his finisher looked smooth. I think it took a vet to bring the best out of him.

Jersey Boys vs Superhappyfungroup (now as heels!): Huh. A berry weird ending on this one. I guess NXT needed a new heel diva because this Alexa Bliss turn is one I didn’t see coming. I guess you can pimp fairies and pixie dust or whatever for so long before a girl snaps. I am assuming this will eventually result in a Lucha Underground style mixed match, which will actually be pretty cool.

Leeloo Dallas Multi-Pass vs Sasha Banks: The. Match. Of. The. Night. This was not only the longest match of the night, but had the best technical wrestling in it, the best storyline, the better moves…it was just great. I’ve said it 1000 times, but the best compliment I can give these ladies is that I didn’t feel like I was watching women’s wrestling. My only complaint is the end. Becky fights so hard and then ends up tapping? No, you need her to John Cena memorial pass out, or TKO or something. I appreciated the NXT Universe’s response. It was well deserved.

Sami Zayn vs K.O: A letdown match, but kind of understandable. They are going to be gentle with Sami so he isn’t going to do too much. KO had the best spots, but they were mostly falls, and we had 5 minutes of injury time. Good appearance by Samoa Joe to move THAT storyline forward. I’m not a mark for any of these people, so I’m not pushing them to be called up to the big show anytime soon, but what worries me is that they WILL get called up and NXT is going to tank. I wouldn’t be surprised if they shelve Sami for his injury length and just make Joe and Ko feud with Finn waiting in the background.
Thoughts on NXT moving forward: So with Itami gone, Sami gone, KO maybe playing with WWE and NXT, it’s time for Balor and Breeze to put up or shut up. I am assuming that they continue to make KO a not-so-fighting champion, which means they have to do something with Joe and (eventually) Uhaa Nation, so maybe they just tease Joe now, sign Uhaa, and make them go at it?

This is also the time the Women need to step up as well methinks. They’ve been a consistent bright spot and they will need to continue to be bright moving forward.

But the most intriguing thing to me will be the tag division. SuperHappies and Jerseys are doing a neat thing now, but since the Vaudevillians are nowhere to be found, JJ and…the other guy…have been off a while…who do we have left? Dillenger and another weird person? Pair Solomon with someone? This will be interesting moving forward.

Also…where is bagels? I miss him, he was awesome in the one match he was in and I’m waiting for his triumphant return

2104

Finn could start his own cult. The Eye of Balor. He’s like the living embodiment of graffiti/psychodelia art. If I knew how to blow glass, I’d make a Finn Bong.

2105

File this under “once you see it you can’t unsee it”

After every interview she gives Renee Young eye-humps the ever-loving shit out of each and every person

2106

So, in other news, LU picked a pretty good show to go up against NXT, in that it wasn’t particularly necessary to watch. The Disfunctional Trio vs the Crew would have been much more exciting if it wasn’t so close to the same as the last one.

Also, reports are out that Destination America has cancelled Impact after September. Ratings aren’t great, and it’s said that many of DA’s advertisers don’t want to be on Impact. Because apparently Impact is too low-brow compared to Rednecks Chasing Bigfoot or whatever the hell else DA shows.

No official word yet, actual TNA officials have responded with statements that are seemingly more telling in what they don’t say–stuff like “TNA is not going out of business,” which is not the immediate question being asked.

Regardless, it appears they have changed their taping schedule so that they are taping the 6 weeks after Slammiversary before the Slammiversary PPV. Because taping several weeks after a PPV before the PPV is run is always a great strategy.

2107

I was kvetching about this on Twitter last night, mostly because schmoz finishes at PPVs annoy me. But it works–there’s still money in this feud and this keeps it going. I would be shocked if WWE did intergender matches in 2015–if they put everyone in the same match (which they might) it’ll be a WWE style mixed tag where lads fight lads and birds fight birds. They don’t work well for me, but ymmv I guess.

(You do realize The Totally Heterosexual Friends have been working heel for ages now? I don’t remember if they were ever faces, honestly–when they were jobbers, I don’t know that they had an alignment as such. Probably shifted as necessary to work with whoever was getting a push.)

  1. Balor and Breeze have been putting up for ages. Breeze was putting up when Balor was off fighting tentacle porn monsters in Japan or whatever. He’s continued to put up whenever he’s been able to get a match in amongst all these indie darling johnny-come-latelys, though unfortunately he’s often put up in a “jobber to the stars” way.

  2. Nation’s already signed. He was sitting in the front row there. He’s got promotional videos. He’s got everything but a name, and for all we know, he may be coming in as Uhaa Nation.

  3. I don’t feel like Owen’s has had fewer than a typical number of title defenses. Somebody probably has stats about this shit. Not me, I’m a lazy bum.

They tend, I think, to only really run one tag storyline/feud at a time these days–there’s too much singles power that you need to get on and not enough time. In fact, i think we’ve had only one tag storyline at a time since Enzo and Big Cass were fighting with Marcus Louis and Sylvestre LeFART. And THAT, IIRC, was only sharing time with the weekly Ascension squashin’ jobbers match. So I’d expect Enzo and Big Cass to squash some jobbers, The Totally Heterosexual Friends to squash some jobbers, Carmella to squash some jobbers, Alexa Bliss to squash Blue Pants for heat purposes, and then all of it to lead up to a match at Takeover VI.

(I still love NXT–but they do have a fairly predictable way of building to matches. Which isn’t the worst thing in the world–this ain’t rocket surgery. Also, I’m exaggerating for effect–they’ll have fairly competive matches with some jobbers.)

(Feel free to throw that back at me next time I complain about the Curse of the IC Strap, so I can explain that while it’s certainly predictable, having your champion lose in every non-title match you put him in isn’t necessarily the best way to build.)

2108

*BAWANGAWANGAWAAAAAHHHHHH

BAAAAANNNHHHHH*

The opening vignettes recap past storylines, including Dario Cueto’s warning to the Crew if they fail to defeat the Trios champs in tonight’s ladder match: the gods expect a sacrifice, and if it’s not the champs, it will be you.

The show starts off with the debut of Marty the Moth, who looks like the latino version of Bo Dallas. He flutters his arms and grins like an idiot as he’s being introduced. He takes on Prince Puma. Unusual for a new star to work with the promotion champ right off the bat, but LU is always full of surprises. Marty’s clownlike demeanor surprises PP at the start, and he has the upper hand first half of the match. Konnan blesses out PP for not paying attention, and the champ eventually resurges and wins with his awesome offensive flurry, capped off with the 630 splash. Hernandez shows up on the steps, Konnan challenges him to step in the ring, and PP draws a line in the ring for Her to cross. Her decides he’s too lazy to take the challenge and walks away.

Vampiro has another one of his spirited interviews with Johnny Mundo. He says Mundo’s got some ‘splainin’ to do about his attack on Alberto the week before. Mundo says he’s the star of LU, and he’s just getting his cred back. Alberto just happened to be in the way. The segment ends with Mundo winking to the camera.

Next, Dario Cueto is in his office, and a finger pokes him in the back. He turns, and no one is there. He takes a seat, and suddenly Catrina has her hands slowly molesting him. She whispers in his ear that she can provide the sacrifice the gods crave. She wants another match between Fenix and Mil Muertes. “So Muertes is back?” says Cueto, intrigued. “Death has made him stronger than before,” says Catrina. “Fenix will be your sacrifice.” Then, she licks Cueto’s ear and vanishes from sight.

In the next match, Texano Jr. takes on Les Bloomfield./Daivari, who is wearing gold lamé pants and calls himself The Golden Warrior. Texano is actually the face in this confrontation, so it looks like they are exploring the class warfare aspect of this pairing. Bloomfield has the upper hand, but eventually Texano makes a comeback and is about to put the finishing moves on Bloomfield, when suddenly Ryck Fury appears outta nowhere and clotheslines him, causing a DQ. Looks like Bloomfield has bought him off, which Ryck verifies by rubbing his fingertips like he’s fanning cash.

Another interesting vignette airs in the Malanza storyline. El Azteca is sitting by a campfire, ruminating over Black Orchid’s decision to leave his training, when he’s visited by Chavo Guerrero! The two have a chat, and they’ve overdubbed Azteca’s voice with a deeper, more rumbly rendition. Chavo says he’ll protect Black Orchid if Azteca puts in a good word for him. “The Guerreros are known liars and cheaters,” says Azteca, a nice homage to Eddie Guerrero’s motto “Lie, Cheat and Steal.” Chavo agrees, and he’s willing to make amends. Azteca agrees to cover his debts in return for Black Orchid’s protection.

Finally, the Crew vs Son of Havoc, Ivelisse, and Angelico. Ivelisse in on crutches and doesn’t contribute much to the match, so SoH and Ang take much of the Crew’s abuse. Unlike WWE’s ladder matches, in which the ladders are brand new and shiny, LU’s ladders are rusty and corroded. No safety inspectors here. At one point, Ang has a Crew member on a table and climbs a ladder, ready to do a death-defying jump, but reconsiders and climbs onto Cueto’s office instead, popping the crowd fervently. However, another Crew sneaks up behind him with a kendo stick and lays him out.

One of the Crewbies gets thrown through Cueto’s office window, like Alberto the week before. Cueto is seen talking on the phone. Later, the Crewbie jumps out of the office to pounce on SoH, and Cueto is seen telling the phone, “I have to call you back.” Subsequently, SoH has been laid out by the other Crewbies, who then start to climb the ladder to reach the belts. Guess what? Angelico flies again! EXALTED EXCREMENT, HE JUMPED OFF THE TOP OF THE OFFICE AGAIN! He drop kicks a guy off the ladder, and folds himself up in pain afterwards. Ivelisse climbs the ladder one-legged and bites the hand of the Crewbie trying to reach the belts. Somehow this prevents him from knocking her off, so she grabs one of the belts and wins the match.

Another LU episode that is muy loco.

*BAWANGAWANGAWAAAAAHHHHHH

BAAAAANNNHHHHH*

2109

Reading the NXT Tapings spoilers, it appears the Vaudevillains return, but we’ll see for how long, since


Looks like Aiden English kicked a guy in the head and completely knocked him out - probably severely concussed him.

2110

Guys, I love Angelico, but love him while you can–taking those kind of bumps cannot possibly be good for the longevity of your career, particularly when you consider that we’ve only had a few episodes since the Trios championship match (possibly only one? I forget, and daren’t approach the wiki page for fear of spoilers). It’s theoretically possible he did both of those in a single weekend of tapings. :eek:

That said, what a fantastic match and a fantastic, unlikely team. I’m literally grinning like a damned fool, clapping, and pumping my fists in the air both times they’ve won/defended the belts. (Admittedly, the grin is a permanent fixture for Lucha Underground so far, broken only by the occasional OMG-face.) Who would’ve thought when this weird biker luchador and his shrill girlfriend came onto the show that they’d team up with the tall, lanky guy who sort of got really creepy with the shrill girlfriend and become three of the most beloved babyfaces in the company? I don’t know how long it can last, but right now Lucha Underground has the absolute Midas touch.

Daivari didn’t particularly impress, but the character work of having him pay Bygg Ryck to beat the crap out of Texano was spot-on. And I’ll now eat my words on Texano taking on a babyface role–though I expect he’ll be more of a tweener at most. That look is just not a babyface look. (Then again, neither is Son of Havoc’s.)

Next week… man oh man. I fear the championship match will be completely overshadowed by the “Death Match” between a returning Mil Muertes and Fenix. It probably would regardless, but, well, one of the people in the match is Fernandez. A non-finish via Mundo shenanigans seems likely.

And then… well, I don’t know how many of Fenix’s thousand lives he spent in Grave Consequences, but I would not want to be in his wrestling boots. :eek:

ETA: Also really looking forward to loving Angelico some more in the LLWC this Sunday evening… :smiley:

2111

Dave Meltzer says Destination America will cancel Impact in September. Nobody really seems to care.

2112

Well that about wraps it up for TNA. I can’t imagine Panda is going to bail them out one more time while they look for an even more desperate network.

2113

I was late to watching LU this week, and most of what I would have said has already been said, but I just have to comment on how Marty the Moth Martinez (whose name I can only assume to be a play on that of Randy the Ram Robinson) was introduced as hailing from La Jolla.

La Jolla is a coastal suburb of San Diego, only a few minutes away from OB and PB where the beach bums and hippies and stoners hang out, but it’s one of the most affluent neighborhoods in the country and home to some of the most stereotypical rich jerks you could imagine. Like, for instance, this guy.

So using it as the hometown of an idiot heel with false pretensions of proud Mexican heritage is nothing less than brilliant.

2114

FWIW, TNA has denied the report and sort of vaguely threatened to sue somebody (they don’t specify whom). That said, I’m inclined to believe it. Hopefully Lucha Underground and NXT can pick up some of the talent.

2115

Good thing we have a West coaster to explain those hidden references in LU. Now we need a native Mexican to explain the others. Vampiro could be telling us anything.

2116

whut happened?

2117

I am sitting in a pub watching a lucha libre iPPV.

It’s official. I am a wrestling dork.

2118

The amount of sheer star power in this is insane. Imagine if WWE acknowledged that other promotions existed and had sent a team. :eek:

Also, gotta say, I love the chemistry between Vampiro and Striker.

2119

So far, The Dream Team went over Team NOAH and Theycallhim CAGE brought the victory home for Team ROH/LU over Team AAA.

Time for Legends vs AJPW!

2120

Great show–I wasn’t keeping notes, but it’s worth your $20 and 4+ hours. Vamp and Striker should provide the commentary for literally everything after this. And, surprising no one anywhere, Angelico won the award for aerial move of the night.

2121

I am getting so sick of bandages and injury angles. I want to see action, not somebody pretending to hobble around in pain. I do that enough on my own.