and the sinking garbage scow full of burnin dog shi- that’s been rousey time in the wwf
I think its both a work and real …… shes over the wwf but is doing her part to go out with a bang ………
I wonder if international announcer teams have heel announcers?
Maybe the German heel announcer calls Miz “Der Teetrinker” – Someone who drinks tea whilst everyone else is drinking beer.
Mustafa Ali was a pleasant surprise. He got 0 heat, took some sick bumps, and got pinned, but he brought some much needed excitement amidst all the soap opera angles and blown spots.
Rowan’s shirt is of the folk metal Swiss band Eluveitie. Gonna check them out.
They stuck him in the “Rey Mysterio at #30” spot for seemingly no other reason than to piss off the audience. Why WWE thinks this is good booking is beyond me.
OK, my thoughts on Fastlane:
Usos vs Miz and Shane - Shane’s OK, but I’ll always consider him a figurehead. The boss’s son gets to play with the talent. Sure, he’s willing to smash his face into the furniture, but he’s still the boss’s son. His heel turn means that THE FUCKING MACMAHONS WILL GET MORE AIR TIME! So, dud.
Asuka vs Mandy Rose - OK, Rose is nice to look at, but she sucks. What was Deville supposed to be doing? The announcers hollered that Rose slipped on the apron, but she barely touched it. Dud.
Kofi vs the Bar - could have been done on TV, and its sole purpose was to advance a WM angle. Dud.
RAW tag triple threat - Finally something good! Ricochet did the diagonal flip he used to do as Prince Puma in LU, and Black just looks fucking cool. Finally, the Revival don’t look like chumps. Gable and Roode are the wine that goes with the main course. Two thumbs up.
US title fatal four way - another fun match, and Joe looks dominant. Truth finally stops working clown matches. Two more thumbs up.
Women’s tag title match - a few blown spots as the participants don’t seem to "read’ each other well. Then it becomes a transition to a future match with Natalya and Beth Phoenix. OK, don’t want to drag on Natalya, but retire already. The only reason she’s still being used is because of the Hart legacy. Io Sharai and Kairi Sane could easily take her place. Rating: ehhhh
Triple threat for the WWE title - yes, Ali was put in a tough spot, having to endure audience disapproval, and made to look like a MacMahon stooge. All he could do was what he does best. I still liked the match, as KO and DBD are ring masters. Three thumbs up.
Lynch vs Flair - I hate wounded bird matches. Period. It limits their move sets and we get mostly stomps and crocodile tears. Ronda’s run-in was huh? why? Oh, another WM angle that could have been done on TV. Dud.
SHIELD vs the 3 Amigos - good closer, and the SHIELD have great chemistry together. Bye Dean, if you’re actually leaving.
I about 95% agree with you, Knowed Out. I knew going in that this show’s sole purpose was to set up WM, so I can’t fault it too much for that. The Kofi swerve was the equivalent of giving Cleveland the finger. Poor Asuka is lost in the Becky/Charlotte/Rhonda shuffle. Mandy botched the power move. The finish was horrible, and WWE, you don’t have to break up every pair. The finish for Becky/Charlotte was marginally better, and it got Rhonda on the show. Personally, I would have booked Charlotte to win with the Figure 8, but then disqualify herself by not releasing the hold. I don’t think Phoenix is coming back for a 1-shot, I think she was just doing the time-honored job of helping the heels who just lost keep their heat. I could be wrong. The Orton/Styles run-in was well done and a good way to keep two top names not wrestling on the show engaged with the audience. They’ve got that Orton camera angle down to a science.
Ricochet is a freak of nature, but most of his matches turn into spot fests. The visuals of him flying are awesome, but his matches need fewer and need to sell the effectiveness of the moves better. Also, he needs to learn to play the wounded face mounting the gritty comeback better.
Does Mark Henry still have a role with WWE? If he does, I have a feeling his days as one of the co-hosts of Busted Open (on SiriusXM Fight Nation) may be numbered after what happened on Monday morning; host Dave LaGreca went absolutely ballistic over the fact that the Fastlane commentators kept saying that they were in New York rather than New Jersey - and, apparently, Corey Graves sent out a Twitter post in response that let New Jersey have it with both barrels. I would not be surprised if Vince demands that Henry side with Graves by not appearing on Busted Open in the future.
A pertinent bit from a Fastlane recap I’m working on:
Kofi finally gets to see Vinnie Mac after being kept waiting for an hour. He had been content to keep waiting as long as it took, but Big E and Xavier took initiative. Unfortunately, they interrupted Vince when he was on the phone. And Vince even said that <i>he</i> had been waiting an hour for Kofi, even though Kofi’s story is that Vince had been <i>making</i> Kofi wait.
So, Xavier and Big E make an impassioned argument on Kofi’s behalf as to why he should be competing for the WWE Title, and Vince seemingly agrees. He makes a triple-threat match, tells Xavier and Big E that they’re banned from ringside, and says that Kofi’d better be ready, because he’s up next.
Kofi comes out, and the announcer states that the following is a triple-threat match for the WWE Championship-- but then he’s corrected by another member of the crew. Instead of the match he’d been promised, Kofi would instead be facing both members of The Bar in a handicap match in which both men are legal.
What followed was practically a lynching. God, I hope they’re not going with “Vince McMahon is racist” with this angle, because that’s where it looks like we’re headed. Big E and Xavier finally had enough of watching from the back, and ran to Kofi’s aid only to get blindsided by Nakamura and Rusev. After pummeling Kofi long enough, both Sheamus and Cesaro pin him simultaneously.
I’m relatively excited for this coming Smackdown. I can see the Kofi saga dragging up and to 'Mania…but this gauntlet match should be a good one.
Calling that Kofi does NOT win the guantlet…maybe 3, maybe 4. But it should be awesome. Question is, does Vince not want the title match decided until the week of WM, or does he want a few weeks to push it? I’m going with the former, but only because it is a complete audible.
"Ricochet is a freak of nature, but most of his matches turn into spot fests. The visuals of him flying are awesome, but his matches need fewer and need to sell the effectiveness of the moves better. Also, he needs to learn to play the wounded face mounting the gritty comeback better. "
Isn’t that the problem with all the luchador/high flying types? all their matches are spot fests that look like no one really got hurt in the end?
Definitely nightshadea. But WWE main roster isn’t lucha, even with the lucha wrestlers. Ricochet needs to grow to reach the next plateau. To me, when Ricochet sells, it seems like he’s just biding time until his next spot. But think on babyface Bryan selling, or Styles selling, or Gargano selling; watch Kingston sell next Tuesday. That’s where Ricochet needs to improve. That and promos are his next two steps.
Rico’s lack of proper selling doesn’t really bother me. Not all smaller guys need to grimace in pain all the time. Mustafa Ali sells enough to cover the entire SD roster.
When Rico was Prince Puma in LU, part of what made him exciting was his ability to go up against the big guys and do something unexpected, like pick them up and slam them to the mat decisively. He can also take wicked bumps like getting powerbombed from the ring on to a rusty ladder propped horizontally between the top of the ring apron and the barricade. Tyler Bate comes from the same kind of mold. He performs Cena-level feats of strength that pop the audience.
I agree Rico could use improvement in promos, but on the other hand, does he really need to? His promos aren’t the reason asses fill the seats.
You know who I think is a master of selling? Bubba Ray Dudley, because of the way he gapes in horror when he realizes the tables (yuk yuk) have been turned.
If he can’t promo or sell, he’s never going to be an upper mid-carder at WWE.
You would have to ruin it by reminding us he has to be Vince’s bitch boy to get over.
problem is he came from a lucha background …they don’t sell being in pain (well ok hardcore places like LU might) … and when they do its rudos doing it clown-style for laughs
Ricochet has enough Japan work (more than Lucha), and they often, but not always, expect more selling. And it’s not about being Vince’s bitch boy, though most have to go thru that. It’s about adapting to the style of your employer, versus forcing the employer to adapt to the style of the employee. The employer can make concessions, but in the end, to succeed in WWE, you need to work a WWE style. That includes better promos and selling, unless one’s name is Brock Lesnar. Even then, Brock did a darn good job selling for Balor and Bryan - better than he ever did for Strohman and maybe even better than he ever did for Reigns.
I used to really like Brock. Now I use his matches as piss breaks. Insert victim in move set formula, collect millions, come back 3 months later.
I just miss having the title on TV and people actually going for it.
I know every storyline shouldn’t be dudes fighting for the title, and I like more diverse storytelling, but “fighting for the title” can entertain a good 3 or 4 guys while the rest have some room to breathe
They need to not re-sign Brock. He’s so fucking boring. Have Seth beat him at WrestleMania, and hope we never see Brock again.