RAW 27/06/16
Anyway, RAW this week wasn’t as bad as it had been the previous week (if memory serves right, all these shows are becoming forgettable unfortunately). We had some good matches with Rollins against Cena and AJ against Ambrose. I like what they’re doing with Ambrose as champion actually, I feel that’s important to note because it’s been far too long since they’ve had a proper babyface champion that gets babyface reactions and it’s working mostly.
Rollins opened RAW and they recognised Reigns’ suspension straight away which was surprising at first but when you think about it, how could they have ignored it in todays internet climate? Anyway I thought the promo was quite good as a whole and I liked the idea that it could become a 5-way with AJ and Cena. However, I do think it seems a bit daft to not have any stipulation that Reigns could be removed from the match. Albeit predictable, the matches that this led too were rather good and helped the show a lot. This brings me to a major criticism of RAW though, they have 3 hours and they waste most of the second hour a lot of the time with nothing really that progresses anything.
Also, The New Day feuding with the Wyatt’s has really grabbed my interest which isn’t surprising because 4 of the 6 guys involved are quite underrated as solo performers but also they’re just very entertaining. We’re not really sure about what’s happening with Xavier either, I assumed that Bray was hypnotising him or something but I’m not sure whether he’s just meant to be really intimidated by them. Either way, it’s something different and adds a layer that we haven’t seen to a Wyatt feud…ever. I think when they get into having matches they’re really going to miss Luke Harper though who I’m hoping they’ll bring back as a monster heel because he’d be really great just running through dudes and shouting “YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH”.
One massive positive for RAW this week however was the Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens promo. I don’t really understand why Jericho was involved in this segment and he was by far the worst thing about it which isn’t a knock on him as much as it is praise for the others involved. The double superkick did lead me to thinking they could be foreshadowing a future tag team between them but that’s pretty much guaranteed to happen anyway regardless of any double super kick. I like the way this is all being built because personal stories in WWE are becoming more of a rarity it seems unfortunately. Also, the longer Owens holds off on cutting an actual promo about how and why he turned on Zayn the first place then the more impact it will have. This feud doesn’t need to the IC title but I definitely think it would benefit more than it’s benefiting Miz currently.
Which unfortunately brings us onto The Miz. Now, I want to make it clear that since Miz has had the IC title he’s flipped me thinking he’s as boring as Sheamus to being one of the more entertaining parts of RAW, and he was, until this week and the return of in-ring Kane. I love Kane, or should I say, I loved 1998-2006 Kane. What made this worse was that Kane was the surprise opponent. I know the previous video package built up to it but nobody WANTED to believe that Kane was the surprise opponent so when his music hits it was like when you stub your toe getting in to bed.
I’m quite enjoying The Club as a whole too, at first I thought they looked a bit weak because they looked like AJ’s bodyguards but I feel like WWE are trying their best to make it look like although AJ is the star, they’re all on even footing within the group which is important. It’s obvious that AJ is the leader but that doesn’t deem Anderson and Gallows as irrelevant. I’m also starting to think that Cena and AJ will have another match at Summerslam for whatever belt is on Smackdown and I think AJ might end up winning. I’ve seen rumours saying that Vince didn’t expect AJ to be so over and as much of a star as he has become and I think he deserves a run with the top belt, especially if they’re splitting the brands.
I’m gonna call this segment of the blog, and this might be a weekly thing, it’s gonna be called the, “Why RAW could safely go back to 2 hours”. Sheamus by himself is enough reason to cut away his segment and make RAW 2 hours but this week, as we all thought it couldn’t get more boring, he was in a tag team match with Alberto Del Rio, the Mexican Sheamus. What made this even worse was that the match lead to Del Rio turning on Sheamus which makes every wrestling fan in the world feel like we’ve been transported back in time to the miserable existence that was WWE 2013.
On another note, rumour has it that the creative team have been trying out having 2 women’s feuds on RAW to see if they can split the roster between Smackdown and RAW. I know what you’re thinking, you’re thinking that I’m going to say that having 2 is a waste of time. Well, reader, I’m not going to say that, what I am going to say is that any feud involving Natalya on commentary is a waste of time because it’s god awful. The ironic thing is that they’re barely trying with both women’s feuds at the minute so hopefully the roster does split and they bring up quite a few of the NXT women’s division and they’ll give us some quality women stories. It’s a shame that they can only do the best with what they’re given though and what they’re given is usually absolutely nothing.
NXT 29/06/16
The last few months for me NXT has just been something I dip in and out of on the way to getting to the Takeover Specials and this week was no different really. As I’m sure everyone with a good mind agrees, I’m very excited for the Shinsuke Nakamura and Finn Balor match in a couple of weeks and I like that neither of them have turned heel for the feud, and they’re promoting it as 2 friends fighting to see who is the best. Perhaps, even more exciting than the match itself is the likelihood that this will lead to a Nakamura win and even further, a Nakamura and Samoa Joe feud which, fingers crossed, gives Nakamura a run with the NXT championship.
The only other thing to note really was that The Authors of Pain have attacked American Alpha again. I think these guys have a great look and they’re supposed be good workers but I’ve seen photos of them before they debuted with masks on and I think they should have kept them because they look even more intimidating with them on. Gargano and Ciampa are also getting a bit of push in recent weeks which is great, they work really well together and their finish is just as great as their entrance song which is also really solid.
Alexa Bliss beat Carmella this week which looks to be leading to her eventually getting to fight Asuka for the belt somewhere down the line which is good. I think she’s really underrated and it’s surprised me how good of a heel she is, she’s got her character down and I could see her being called up in the draft in a few weeks and it would be well deserving. Carmella could also be drafted too but I still think she needs a bit of work, I find myself wanting to like her a lot more than I actually do. She’s cool though to be fair.
I like Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas as well, I think he has a good look to him but maybe he should shed the fedora entrance attire and get new tights that aren’t reminiscent of Edge’s solo early 2000s run which we all know didn’t really go anywhere. I think another problem is that his move set his a bit all over, I’m not a big fan of the casadora bulldog setting up them double knees. I think the double knees should be used to set-up his finish, maybe a dive of some kind and he should just scrap the bulldog, he’s too tall for it to look great in my opinion.
Lucha Underground EP. 23
Finally, Lucha Underground. This season has been great hasn’t it and with Ultima Lucha Dos starting next week it’s only going to get better. My biggest takeaway from this week is the Deathmatch between King Cuerno and Mil Muertes which I’m hoping will be brutal. Deathmatch wrestling isn’t something I’m particularly well-versed too but I do enjoy what I have seen previously. I kind of wish this match wasn’t created from Cuerno pinning Muertes on his first match back but I have a feeling Muertes might destroy him at Ultima Lucha so we’ll see.
I was a bit disappointed that the Pentagon and Matanza story wasn’t advanced as much as I thought it would be, if at all but I’m guessing they’ll do a bit more set-up over the next couple of weeks and save the match for the season finale.
Prince Puma and Rey Mysterio is an excellent way to push Puma as well without him having to go for a championship and I think keeping Puma strong should be a priority for them because he’s got a lot of upside to him and it’s always good for the nostalgia to see Rey wrestling, I just hope he isn’t still wrestling in spite of his long term health.
Part of what makes Lucha Underground one of the best wrestling shows on TV currently is that each episode creates intrigue which I think WWE as a whole fails to do most weeks on RAW and even on NXT. This week, Dario Cueto announced that he has given Cage, The Mack, Son of Havoc and Texano a unique opportunity. Now, I can’t say I particularly care loads for The Mack or Texano but Cage and Son of Havoc I quite enjoy watching and this stipulation gives them all a level of interest and intrigue that they definitely didn’t have before. Particularly, Son of Havoc, The Mack and Texano have been somewhat floundering the last few months for various reasons but this brings them all together. It gives audiences a reason to care and pay attention which is the only thing you can ask for, to be entertained.
The main event of the show was dedicated to Johnny Mundo against Fenix. I’m not really a big Mundo fan to be honest, and I think I would like him more if he wasn’t around Taya. Although even being more honest that could be me being a total mark because they know exactly what to do to make you dislike them and just looking at someone as good looking as Mundo is sickening to be fair.
What consistently surprises me every week is that every part of Lucha Underground matters, all of their cogs spin in time with each other as feuds effect other feuds. Even something as simple as Ivelisse and Katrina crossing paths in Cueto’s office is something that makes this ‘universe’ (I’ll insert this buzzword in here) really tick, it feels real, raw and complete.
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