Just got around to watching this episode, and my guess is that it’s another Aztec god. Dario is visibly frightened when Lorenzo Lamas tells him the boss is coming, there’s mention of him undergoing an “ascension” (presumably not involving Egyptian eye makeup and spiked shoulderpads), and Lamas tells the boss that he’s more powerful than Matanza (who, as you’ll recall, is possessed by a god.) The cigars and the money remind me of Baron Samedi and Santa Muerte - the concept of bribing Death with instruments of vice is a pretty common motif in Latin America, and Wikipedia informs me that there was an Aztec god of the underworld called “Mictlantecuhtli” and it was common to bury gifts with the dead as offerings to him.
The evil councilman was Lorenzo Lamas? Guess it’s been a few decades…
Baron Samedi is more of a Haitian god than Aztec, but he’s seen at Day of the Dead festivals quite frequently, so why not LU too? Cueto’s invoked the gods, Rey Rey’s talked about the prophecies, and the Aztec gods are supposed to be represented in one final cataclysmic battle. Maybe the Big Boss is an avatar of Mictlantecuhtli and somebody like Dragon Azteca Jr is supposed to represent Quetzalcoatl, who stole Mic’s bones and created mortals. Mic wants revenge!
Did I just start a meme?
Poor Emma.
Just as she was starting to get a push, she goes and breaks her back and needs surgery.
Honestly, she was making her comeback and just gets a raw (no pun intended) deal
So, will Dana Brooke’s and Big Cass’s careers take off without their Andrew Ridgeley? Their Art Garfunkle? Their Marty Jannetty?
I must say, once in a blue moon, a RAW promo will blow me away. The last time I marked out this big for a promo was when CM Punk and Paul Heyman had their epic mic wars. This time, it’s Dean Ambrose & Chris Jericho’s performance for their upcoming match at Extreme Rules. I had to watch it a couple more times. The cage, the weapons, the chamber of horrors music, Dean’s unblinking, relentless description of how horrifying the match would be for Jericho, and Jericho selling his confidence evaporating… that was masterful.
Of course, the match is going to be a letdown because we can’t shed any blood for a family-friendly audience, but the buildup was a work of art.
It’s been confirmed that there will be a Finn/Joe rematch in a steel cage at the latest Takeover.
Too bad for me that I just learned about this now because it’s happening at full-sail and tickets are already sold out.
Didn’t even know they were on sale! I’m so out of the NXT loop. But we fixed that because we bought tix to a house show at the end of July
According to WWE.com, this will be the first steel cage match in NXT history.
Don’t know about Brooke, but Cass has impressed me so far. Don’t know when the other guy comes back but I think he’s more manager material than wrestler. Still early though, but he’s showing good stuff in an unexpected situation.
Unfortunately big build-ups followed by actual let downs are a WWE trademark. They’re talking about the Attitude Era a lot, I don’t see then going all the way back, but they may realize they have to deliver more than they have even if they can’t live up to the hype.
Enzo is a much better wrestler than Cass and should not be held to only a manager role.
Cass is definitely taking his ball and running with it, but he’s like every other big guy and has only 5 basic moves he does and just repeats them.
I’m also very against having someone who can wrestle be a manager. If you can wrestle you belong in the ring. Period. Leave managing to women, Paul Heyman (where’s HE been?) and the Jimmy Harts of the world.
I’m not saying Enzo can’t wrestle, but he does much better on the microphone than most wrestlers, and I didn’t see anything special in his wrestling.
No argument on his skill level, but he’s impressed me with his overall ability to perform, especially having to work as a single.
They are all wrestlers. Michael Hayes, Paul Ellering, and many other wrestlers did more as managers than actively wrestling. Most have them turned to managing when they were older, but not all. A manger/wrestler combo doesn’t keep the manager out of the ring all the time, but I’d prefer to see a big like Cass be the focus instead of sharing the spotlight in a tag team.
OTOH, I haven’t seen much of Enzo, he could be much more than I know about, I’m just focusing now on Cass because he stepped up when needed, and I’m impressed with what he can do as a big guy. For guys that tall Kane set the standard for ability, most of the guys that preceded him didn’t even have 5 moves. It took Kane a while to develop as a wrestler from his start as just another big guy, Cass seems to be ahead of that point earlier in his career. But I haven’t seen much of Cass either, this might be all he has.
So far all of Big Cass’s solo matches have been 2 minutes long, maybe bc his promo time is much longer.
I’d actually like to see him feud with fellow NXT graduate giant Baron Corbin.
I was thinking the same thing. Corbin doesn’t impress me in his performance, though he has a good character.
Carmella needs some serious work with a striking coach. I noticed that every time she had her opponent down and was throwing ‘lefts’ as they called them, they had to cut away the camera angle because they were not only ridiculously weak looking, but were not connecting by several inches. It just looked horribly bad.
So she’s from the “John Cena 5-Knuckle Shuffle” school of hitting?
Mick Foley had the lightest touch in wrestling history. I don’t know who Carmella is, but if she’s willing to lose an ear and some teeth and cripple herself she can still do well.
Nia Jax and Bailey’s match was tons better than their last showdown IMO. Looks like Nia’s been doing more cardio and can keep the action going. I wonder if Bailey’s about to be called up? Usually when the main eventers get on a losing streak, it means they’re about to ascend.
Is Austin Aries is going to turn heel on Nakamura for stealing his heat? Somebody who calls himself “The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived” is definitely a heel.
Oh noes, Super Happy Fun Group broke up! I can’t really see either of them getting much higher on their own, like the way that French team drifted away into obscurity after they disbanded.
I’ve been listening to Jericho’s podcasts and his interviews with Luke Harper, KO and Sami Zayn.
Harper used to be a school librarian, and he had the beard back then too. I know Matt Stryker and Spike Dudley used to be teachers, and Big Show used to be a telemarketer. Interesting to hear about their past occupations as they break into the business.
KO said he learned English in 4th grade from listening to Jim Ross calling WWE matches. He thought “slobberknocker” was an everyday English word. KO pointed out that once you start in WWE’s training camp, they don’t care who or what you were before, so the case could be made that they don’t always show favoritism. KO didn’t have the body type they like, but there was no denying his talent.
Sami Zayn’s mental energy level is always on max setting. His interview was exhausting. The guy strikes me as kind of a control freak, and he acknowledged that he tends to rub people the wrong way because of it. He’s telling ring veterans what to do, and they’re replying “Who the fuck are you?” He’s constantly thinking of ways to organize his matches like movies, like having an “Act 1” and “Act 2” and so on.
He was telling a story about he went to an In-and-Out drive-through with Enzo and Cass. Cass ordered burgers without cheese, but he still got cheese. They said to pull up and they’d bring out the correct order in a few minutes. Zayn however, got concerned about what they were going to do with the old food. He didn’t want them to throw it out because it’d be a waste, and he didn’t want them giving it to another customer. He went inside and threw a huge hissyfit about it, and while doing so, Cass got his correct order, and they saw him inside frantically waving his arms around. He truly is inZayn.
I think Jericho’s podcasts are the best of the ex-wrestler bunch. Austin included.
I think that Jericho’s interview of Harper was very well done, Sandow had a great one too a while back. You can tell that he is a very smart person IRL. Oh, another one not to miss, when Jericho interviews Vicki Gurrero. This was shortly after she retired and she talks about life after wrestling and Eddie and a bunch of stuff. It’s a great listen.
In other news, ESPN scared the shit out of me because their app sent a breaking news push notification to my phone and all it says is “WWE Superstar John Cena Announces…” And I freak out wondering what the hell it is.
Turns out he is hosting the ESPYs this year. Wonder if he’ll get Ziggler to write his opening monologue…
Wait… WHA WHA WHA WHAAAAAAT?
From Zack Ryder’s wiki:
Cody Rhodes has asked for his release.
It’ll be a shame to see him go, but I don’t blame him - losing his dad was hard on him and he’s probably tired of people comparing him to Dusty or telling him how he should be paying tribute to him.