The more things change…wait, things never change in wrestling.
Well, not completely true…Al Snow as a #1 contender might be a first.
We just see things differently. I saw the cage match as pointlessly drawn out while the other matches proceeded at a pace suitable for the level of the performance. But that difference is ok, we both were entertained part of the time.
So is TNA dead or not?
They just wrapped up a PPV, and they were originally supposed to end with DA last month, but now that’s been extended till year’s end. Dixie Carter’s “big announcement” is that they’re doing some kind of promotional tour in India. Maybe she’ll start wearing saris now?
To anybody who watched RAW, how was the sound quality for you? It sounded to me like they were broadcasting from inside a tin can. I got pissed off at seeing Luke Harper lose for the umpteenth time. He’s my Cesaro.
I’m kind of torn about Kane. I like him as a figurehead/authority figure, the type who’s outwardly cheerful and affable, but shows his vindictive side when the bosses aren’t watching. I think he should retire from the ring and stay on as DOO, but they’re setting him up for the reverse. Maybe he’ll win HIAC then lose the title to Sheamus cashing in, so technically he gets to stay DOO.
Ex-TNA guy Gunner says he’s in talks with WWE. I hope he gets in. He’s a bearded tattooed brawler face who just looks badass and doesn’t need designer attire or fabulous hair to stand out.
I think the only thing more boring than that Monday Night Football game last night…was RAW.
The only thing that really saved it was the ending which I loved loved loved. Make New Day seem like a truly dominant faction, almost a way of saying “We have fun and we’re silly…but can still kick ass.”.
I think it’s funny that Kane has the “win-or-get-fired” stipulation because don’t they technically lose their DOO either way? Kane either loses and gets fired, or he wins and thus has to wrestle to defend it and not do his job. My only negative about Kane is his stupid mask. He looks dumb in it and looks way more silly than when he wrestles shirtless/in pants. He should adopt the maskless Demon Kane look with the contacts and black pants. He looks like a weird Leatherface.
Life support. They have the timeslot for a couple more months, but they have not yet done any more TV tapings.
There are, apparently, several matches from previous tapings that never aired and they will combine those into some sort of show. To go along with this, they are running a twitter angle where EC3 is claiming he has a legal injunction to prevent Matt Hardy from showing up as champion on Impact.
So presumably they will use this in “backstage/office” segments to explain why their new World Heavyweight Champion isn’t going to actually show up in the ring for the next month or more.
I can’t imagine this is going to help their ratings any, so I’m presuming if any negotiations with Destination America are still ongoing, it’s not a matter of ratings.
Yeah… about that: https://youtu.be/kyK0Mn6HkZA
Alright. So. Takeover 7: Aretha’s Revenge. It’s happening tomorrow, and business is gonna go down, and you better bet your bottom dollar on that. Time to predict some stuff.
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Bayley vs. Sasha Banks, 30-minute iron-man match for the ladies’ title. Hey, main roster booking committee. You know that “Divas Revolution” that you keep insisting is happening, despite the fact that you’re still booking all the ladies as crazy bitches who’re defined by who their boyfriends/husbands/fathers are? Ur doin it rong. This is how you do it - a main-event match (has a womens’ match ever main-evented a WWE card before? This may well be a first) which is doubtless going to be a barn-burner and push both competitors to bring out the best they’ve got. Bayley goes over here - Sasha is main roster now and she’s staying there, but she’s going to go out putting Bayley over like a boss. I don’t expect it, but if they manage to find some way to work Izzy into the finish of the match, it’d be simply amazing.
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Finn Balor & Samoa Joe vs. the Mechanics. This is one of the semifinal matches in the Dusty Classic. Easy call - Finn & Joe go over here, the Mechanics simply aren’t well-developed enough yet to be headlining.
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Baron Corbin & Rhino vs. Jason Jordan & Chad Gable. This is the other semifinal match. Either of these teams could work in the final, but since Jordan/Gable are faces and I’m already predicting Finn/Joe to win their match, Corbin/Rhino feels like a lock to win here.
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The Dusty Classic final match, which I’m predicting will be Finn/Joe vs. Corbin/Rhino. Ever since the tourney began, Finn and Joe have been booked in a way where it’s obvious that they’re going to turn on one another at some point. This will probably be where it happens. The heel team is going to win by taking advantage of their miscommunication, and Joe is going to turn heel on Finn afterward and set the stage for the two of them to have a title match at Takeover 8: An American Sports Entertainer In London.
Dustin and Cody are going to be making a rare out-of-character appearance (I.e. as themselves, not as Goldust or Stardust) to present the trophy to the winning team. It’ll be a little grating to have them have to present the awards to a heel team, but it’ll be touching all the same.
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Dana Brooke vs. Asuka. My web browser is freaking out on me every time I try to get Google to translate “Asuka wins LOL” into Japanese, so just assume that I’ve done so and pasted those characters into the space where you’re reading this text instead.
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Apollo Nation vs. Tyler Breeze. It seems like Tyler has kind of inherited CJ Parker’s spot, where it’s his destiny to get jobbed out over and over again to whoever the new indie darling is. At least he has his many seasonal residences to retire to.
So, how did the planning for this go?
Matt, since our company is doomed and we’re going to air basement tapes until our contract expires, we’re going to let you win this tchotchke so long as you give it up afterwards. We’ll pay you with whatever the pawn shop gives us for it.
And to think, someone actually got paid to write that. 
The oddest thing about Takeover tonight is that it’s airing on the Network at 8:30. but according to my ticket the show starts at 6:30.
I don’t doubt they’ll give us a dark match to warm us up, but 2 hours early? Maybe it’s not LIVE as it’s so much “Live”, meaning they do it live-to-tape and just plug it into the Network.
Mostly agree with the picks upthread except I think that JJ and Bagels go on to win the tournament after Joe or Finn turn. The only reason I think they need to win is that they are a legit tag team (vs one created on the spot) and they are tweener faces who can play heel for the match. At the very least I think it would be a mistake to give it to a created-just-for-the-tournament team.
Also the Bayley/Sasha match bugs me. I’m glad they’re the main event, and I have no doubts it’ll be a great match, but having the main roster guys come down to NXT all the time bugs me. It bugged me when KO did it, it bugs me that Sasha does it. They’re on the main roster, they have no business or reason to come down and wrestle in the minor leagues because they’re officially better than that. It’s especially maddening that when they DO come down it’s always for the title. Again, they’re on the main roster…why do they want the title for NXT? It’s like Mike Trout saying “Well I’m in contention for the AL MVP almost every year, so I’m going to go to AAA and win that one”. Doesn’t make sense. Just make Sasha say “You beat me, that makes me mad, so now I want revenge on the loss and want to beat you over and over again”, and just take the title out of it.
All that being said we are excited for tonight and I’ll give everyone a review on it tomorrow. Don’t know what I’m wearing yet…something bright maybe…
How about
Asuka が勝利します (^▽^)
When I went to Raw a few years ago, the time on the ticket was 4 PM even though the show didn’t go on the air until 5. We got one dark match (Zack Ryder vs. Rusev, I’ll give you three guesses as to who won that one) and they taped a few crowd shots, and a few hype packages were shown on the Titantron, but that was about it for the first hour. I think WWE really just prefers to not have people still trying to find their seats after the show has begun.
It’s TNA. You are sadly mistaken if you think the person has been paid yet.
That and it was probably only $25.
I’m going to go with JJ Bagels unless they’re somehow deciding to ‘season’ Corbin by teaming him with Rhino for a longer term run as a monster tag-team.
I really haven’t been watching wrestling at all, and nothing of NXT, but I finally watched Bayley/Sasha from Brooklyn last night and HOLY JESUS ON A POGO STICK! Are they always that good? That has to stand as one of the best wrestling matches, period, I’ve ever seen.
Makes me wonder if I should shell out the bucks for tonight’s show…
Sasha vs. Anyone is good. Sasha Banks is pretty much the best female wrestler going today.
Basically anything involving ‘The Four Horsewomen’ and/or Natalya working together is GOLD.
Oh, and I very much liked the NXT 24 where Sasha talks about how when they came in, they were told to dial it back and wrestle like Divas and they basically went “Um, No!”
I hear that, and it was basically the same when I went to RAW this last February but they ended up taping Superstars before it and had the intros and stuff. But this is a full 2 plus hours before the show. And they aren’t taping anything beforehand because they’re doing a new round of tapings for the show tomorrow.
Frankly you could just sign up for the one month free trail. You’d get this show, the next round of tapings, hell in a cell, and you can check out the other stuff and just cancel if you don’t like it. FTR all the snark about the product nonwithstanding Ms. Cups and I berry much enjoy the network and wouldn’t want to be without it.
Watching Sasha I felt like I was having flashbacks to Randy Savage, and not just because of the sunglasses.
Who are the Horsewomen?
Sasha Banks
Bayley
Charlotte Flair
My future ex-wife, Becky Lynch.
NXT has consistently put on great women’s matches. If you try out the Network, go back through the Takeover specials - Paige/Emma, Natalya/Charlotte, and Charlotte/Bayley are all classics.