Drew Gulak made a “surprise” showing at our house show this past Friday. I use quotes because he faced off against Rocky, whom he is personally training, so it wasn’t THAT much of a surprise. The match sucked because Rocky is really, really bad. Mars has a bit more hope when it comes to talent.
The pre-intermission match was all 3 Undisputed Era guys against Heavy Machinery and a stars-and-stripes-clad EC3. The match was highly entertaining and silly. EC3 does comedy well. Speaking of, UE does comedy pretty well. I’ve seen a good number of their matches have a lot of silliness to them and all three of them play if off well.
That’s gotta be a fun election. This could be his last hurrah as an in-ring wrestler. He’s been one of the all time greats. Here he is now, over 20 years in with the Kane character and he’s still a draw, been a great worker the whole time, one of those rare wrestlers whose only talent starting out was being big but got much much better at wrestling over time, and still doing the job in his 50s.
And they need something to do with DB, this will keep him in the spotlight while they find a way to put him into next year’s Mania. He and they should be concerned about him making it that far, he’s the same old DB, 120% effort every day, another injury, even paralysis is a real possibility for him.
Matt Cappotelli, co-winner of Tough Enough III in 2003, who had to retire due to brain cancer in 2007, has passed away from the aggressive brain cancer called glioblastoma multiforme at the age of 38.
Here’s a NJ observation: The commentary is EXACTLY what US commentary should be. Well, for the most part. I understand he has a history, but holy crapballs is JR bad. He has no idea what’s going on and no idea who these people are…dude just needs to retire.
That being said, I love the delivery and rapport of the commentary team. No goddamn characters, no yelling, no stupid rivalry between them…nothing of the sort. Just talking about the match and throwing a joke here and there. Love everything about this (other than JR).
Juice Robinson, the former CJ Parker, has won the IWGP US championship. Good for him.
Sir T-Cups; I’ll definitely agree that JR is out of touch with NJPW. Kevin Kelly and Don Callis usually do the English commentary for New Japan, but JR and Josh Barnett do the AXS shows, and I prefer the former to the latter.
New Japan shows usually feature three or four multi-man matches on the undercard. I find it a bit boring to get through, but I think it works better in Japan where they still treat wrestling like a legitimate sport.
It appears that Bullet Club has now finally turned face, with Cody and Kenny hugging it out, and Haku and his sons turning on the stable and attacking them.
Who’d have thought that Haku would be a main-event heel in 2018?
That Juice Robinson match was my favorite of the night by far. When the BC turned on itself all I could think of was “So I guess Cody and Omega are the new Wolfpac?” I loved the Wolfpac as a kid.
People on the internet are freaking out because RAW was apparently the lowest rated ever on Monday…but they do that about once every other month. Besides, it’s a go home show and those are always giant friggin wastes of time.
Brock’s probably playing WWE and UFC against each other again, seeing who offers him the best salary with the most perks and least appearances.
RAM and SD were decent shows this week. Nothing egregiously bad as far as actual wrestling goes. They always overdo the PPV promos though, and I think that works against them.
RAM’s biggest focus was Reigns vs Lashley, which I’m actually looking forward to. Plus, despite Ronda Rowsey making a great addition to the roster, they’re doing a storyline suspension where she doesn’t have to be on the show and yet the announcers make a big deal of how SHE’S GOING TO BE IN THE FRONT ROW FOR NIA VS ALEXA!!! Isn’t that exciting? Brock Lite is not a good way to make money. What’s the sense in signing up MMA stars if you’re not going to use them? At least they’re doing it right with Shayna Bayzler in NXT.
SD had AJ and Nakamura do half the show. Ellsworth vs Asuka in the lumberjill match was good for some chuckles, and the ten man between Bludgeons, sAni+y and New Day & Hell No was a lot of fun. It came down to Daniel Bryan versus his TNA copycat Eric Young. btw, Kane is into NSYNC.
although I’m wondering if we should remember his and Foley’s series of “garbage style” matches where mick hit owen with a trash bag of packing peanuts and owen acting like it killed him………
I thought it was a large trash bag full of popcorn, and then Mick Foley started stomping on him, and Owen wiggled his arms and legs, making a giant “popcorn angel” in the middle of the ring.
I’ve heard more than one person say that Brett Hart is just a bitter guy, and I do get that sense. I’d say he’s the one being obtuse if he can’t understand why Martha (Owen’s widow) isn’t jumping at the chance to promote with WWE.
Also, Dynamite Kid is in the WWE HOF? I’m not sure Brett’s right about that.
I got an email from WWE today informing me that they were opening a limited number of positions on their “Fan Council”, where you take surveys on the product for a chance to win gift cards. I did the application and I qualified, so I now have an (extremely small) say in the future of WWE’s booking!
