WWE BATTLEGROUND Preview:

Tonight is the long-awaited WWE PPV Battleground 8pm Eastern on the WWE Network. Taking place live from the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. I am super excited for this match card based on the fact it is going to determine the future of the WWE. The brand split has raised many questions with the recent WWE Draft. Personally I see many good and bad things that come out of this but we will only know by the end of the tonight. Let’s preview the matches that will change the WWE Universe!!

Kickoff Show
Usos vs Breezango
This is going to be a warmup match for the crowd piling in, in what usually is a good energetic scene in the Verizon Center. Breezango to me has a huge upside in the long run. We haven’t seen much of the Usos on Raw and Smackdown lately so it’ll be interesting if this is just another match or they will actually make them competitive again in the tag team division. Not a bad match from my view but in today’s society nobody has the patience to appreciate the work in a good match on paper.

Highlight Reel with Chris Jericho Featuring Randy Orton
I am a little confused as to why this is even on the PPV. Maybe we will see Brock Lesnar interference or Randy Orton possibly putting Chris Jericho through a table just to get the crowd on his side. I am not too interested in this segment even though Randy Orton is one of the better wrestlers in the company today. A waste of time to fill space is what comes to mind.

New Day vs Wyatt Family
Unfortunately this feud could have been so epic but again WWE had to kill it with the recent WWE Draft. After having a great segment at the Wyatt Family compound, New Day will be staying together with the Wyatts breaking up after this match. I am a huge Bray Wyatt fan and you just wish he would get the push he deserves already. Maybe Bray turns against his family and destroys everyone after the match? That is the only way this would be interesting. Another match where the outcome won’t matter at all unless they doing something dramatic.

Becky Lynch vs Natalya
Becky Lynch and Natalya are two of the most talented and well equipped female wrestlers today. Not giving Natalya any love and Becky switching partners every month pushes them to the bottom of the barrel which they do not deserve. This clash should have been written better with a more dramatic storyline then another partner who turned on Becky. Natalya and Becky Lynch will put on a better match than expected as long as the WWE gives them a decent amount of time for their segment.

Charlotte & Dana Brooke vs Sasha Banks & Mystery Partner
The big question since this match was announced is who is going to be Sasha’s partner? Obviously everyone in the world wants it to be Bayley, but WWE does have a tendency to go against the people just to prove whose in control. I have heard names like Eva Marie, Carmella, and even Nikki Bella. With the crowd expecting Bayley anybody who comes out will get booed out of the gym unless it is Bayley. The only other name I can think of to get some sort of recognition is Asuka. Asuka injured Dana Brooke in NXT so there is some history there and is arguably the best female wrestler in the company. I’ll be biting my nails like everyone else until we have the answer to, who is Sasha Banks’ mystery partner?

Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn
I can write 100 pages on why this match is going to be amazing. With the move sets and history these best friends have on the indy scene, this will be your match of the night. A rivalry that we all wished would last forever. Crowds have ironically chanted “fight forever” when these two square off. Kevin Owens is a genius in terms of mic skills and in-ring psychology. Sami Zayn is your perfect underdog to get behind and root for considering all the injuries he has been through.I am a huge fan of Sami and I will be on the edge of my seat this whole match, unless of course WWE lets somebody win by DQ or interference which would cause a riot at the Verizon Center.

Cena, Enzo & Big Cass vs The Club
Enzo and Big Cass shockingly joined John Cena in the fight versus AJ Styles, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. Enzo and Cass have a great gimmick going and to pit them with John Cena shows that the people backstage are clearly high on them. Another segment which should be entertaining and might even be a good idea to start the show with given the mic skills from almost every wrestler in this match. Is it going to be #BeatUpJohnCena day or The Club turning SAWFT after the match concludes? The future is foggy for The Club after being split up by the WWE Draft. Another match I believe will be fun and exciting for the fans.

United States Championship
Rusev vs Zack Ryder
Rusev and Zack Ryder have been forced to compete against each other in the weirdest way. I can’t even remember how this feud started to be honest. I am a fan of Zack Ryder and was happy for him with his big IC win at WrestleMania. Nobody wants to see Rusev, they all want to see Lana, which we have had a small taste of with her in-ring abilities. So we don’t really know how good she is. This match will be a low point for me with Rusev most likely retaining the United States Championship with his infamous “Rusev Crush.” A good time to take a bathroom break or even play Pokemon Go!

Intercontinental Championship
The Miz vs Darren Young
A rush of energy ran through my body when Darren Young signaled for the CrossFace Chicken Wing last week! Bob Backlund and Darren Young are entertaining whether your an old school fan or not. The Miz has been the same gimmick for years and Maryse is a nice addition. It would be funny if Maryse and Bob somehow got into it distracting Miz and Darren Young coming away with the victory! Once again WWE won’t give the fans what they want unless their investors agree. So another match which could have the potential to be really good but a Miz win with a distraction by Maryse seems to be the consensus like we have seen 1000 times.

WWE Championship
Dean Ambrose vs Seth Rollins vs Roman Reigns
Whether you like it or not this is the match everyone has wanted since The Shield broke up. “The Man” against “The Guy” against “The Dude.” Personally I think it was a little to premature to do it this earlier but everyone will be looking forward to this. Former Shield buddies with injuries plaguing almost every member up until this point. A match which should have been saved for a WrestleMania opportunity and a little bit better of a build up. Who is going to be the victor? Was the Roman Reigns suspension for Adderall a work? (Find out HERE with an article written by Mr. Skatronixxx himself) Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose work magic segments together and will always come through entertaining in my opinion. Another possibility in this match is we can see some type of tag teaming back and forth between the 3 former Shield members. A match everyone will be glued to the television for in hopes of something spectacular happening. I can’t see this match failing in any way, but if it does I will be extremely disappointed and it will kind of be a turn-off with the let down of the recent WWE Draft. Come on WWE, don’t fail your beloved WWE UNIVERSE Tonight!

Jeff Hardy Says He Is Coming Back To WWE In 2017

According to an article written by Joe Burgett on inquisitr.com (View Here) Jeff Hardy is coming back to World Wrestling Entertainment. As reported his contract appears to be up around February 2017, which as we all knew is right around WrestleMania season. If this does turn out to be the case it’ll be very interesting to see which Jeff Hardy shows up?

Unfortunately Jeff’s career has been a rollercoaster ride with as many highs (literally) as lows over his wrestling tenure. His return seems all good and well, but of course last night at BloodyMania 10 he had some weird, strange actions after his match. Announced by Nick Paglino from wrestlezone.com which you can see by Clicking HERE! Jeff Hardy looked like the one we saw versus Sting which is pictured above where he was drunk. Breaking tables Sabu-Style with no opponent above or below the objects he was destroying. We all know if Jeff shows up at WWE like that, Vince McMahon will certainly have none of the nonsense he has shown in his dark past.

On the other side of things if we get the entertaining daredevil we had from the Hardy Boyz it could prove to be a huge addition to beef the roster up at WWE. I personally hope he is doing well and does make a return, which could lead to many rivals and matches that we know he can perform well in. Finn Balor comes to mind possibly if he returned as the ENIGMA WILLOW (pictured below) from TNA! I can’t even think of a scenario where they would have a bad match together except for the obvious which nobody can control but Jeff himself. Another opportunity could be against Bray Wyatt, in which his brother Matt Hardy recently took offense to. Responding to the Wyatt Family Compound segment WWE had a few weeks ago in a negative way via twitter.

All in all, I am rooting for Jeff to make a return to WWE. I was a fan of him, especially those tag team matches he had at WrestleMania with the Dudley Boyz, and Edge and Christian. By far some of the best entertainment to this day, I can re-watch those matches all day! Nobody should wish bad upon him and only time will tell if this is another rumor, or we do hear his music hit one day in the WWE. Some might say he is already lined up for the WWE Hall of Fame if he is to come back. But I think one more strong run would solidify him and clear his name of the negativity that have poisoned people’s memories of him. Jeff Hardy Please Come Back Stronger Than EVER!!

Rumor Mill: WWE Bringing Back MVP/Shelton Benjamin?

An article by Mike Killam of wrestlezone.com which you can view by clicking HERE! states that the former WWE veterans may be making in-ring returns. A podcast called the Gerwick Report, recently had former Smackdown GM Teddy Long as a guest on it. Teddy Long had spoken with MVP and rumor has it that he has already signed with the company and is waiting to hear back from the doctors to be cleared for in-ring competition. Teddy also implied that the return of Shelton Benjamin is on its way also which could bring back recognition to the lesser United States and Intercontinental Titles.

Shelton Benjamin could definitely be an awesome addition to the team of recent Smackdown Draftees American Alpha (Jason Jordan, Chad Gable). Shelton is a world-class athlete who could teach some of the upcoming NXT wrestlers a thing or two. MVP would open opportunities in every title situation as he has shown his wide range of skills from tag teaming to singles competition. Let’s be honest for a second, the stuff MVP did with TNA was not that bad! Unfortunately not too many eyes were on the product at the time but again as a boss in TNA or a star in Japan, it is a great addition for WWE if they do add both of these awesome veteran wrestlers.

Will Ospreay Reportedly Signs WWNLIVE Contract

According to an article posted by pwtorch.com Click HERE to read it. The rising star Will Ospreay has apparently signed a contract with WWNLIVE. At Paul Heyman’s One Man Show in the U.K. over a week ago, Paul gave Will Ospreay an envelope telling him when he is done with New Japan to “give him a call.” If this turns out to be true it could open many doors for Will as he has been the hottest wrestler in the business over this past year.

Although he has some unfinished business with the man they call “Vader.” Ironically this feud started over Twitter, which nowadays doesn’t sound so weird to say. Still kind of blows my mind the attention people get from social media but that is today’s world. Vader had aggressively critiqued the match between Ricochet (Prince Puma) and Will saying matches like that will eventually kill the business and seemed more like a dance routine. Will responded with a tweet saying ” Just throwing it out there I would absolutely love to face @itsvadertime people think I hate him but i don’t, I genuinely want this match.” 

If these rumors are true and Will Ospreay does eventually become business buddies with Paul……..Heyman! I can’t even wrap my head around how excited I would be if he eventually got a gig in NXT/WWE someday. Endless possibilities and the “Pop” for his performance every night would make WWE that much better of a product. Paul Heyman is a very persuasive voice in the industry with a savvy like nobody else to negotiate. I am excited just thinking about it! Anything is possible with the shift that these wrestling companies have recently showed in their product. The first step for the hottest wrestler Will Ospreay is taking down Vader on August 12th, in the York Hall Bethnal Green at Revolution Pro’s UPRISING!

The NXT Review – July 20, 2016

Whats Up Wrestling Peeps! Okay first up. Mahooooosive apologies for being MIA the past weeks but Vacay days were calling and trips to Middle Earth had to be taken. So “sorry” all round but I am back.

And could I have timed it better? DRAFT BABY! Pop-shots first and ‘feels‘ all round but I was slightly disappointed. Besides the totes-obvs call up of Finn Balor (so many mixed-feels on this one guys) but the other picks just didn’t make sense. For reals time though, because logic dictates that GM’s Daniel Bryan and Saint Mickles could have cherry pick ANYONE.

*Sorry for the atrocious use of caps but, you know, my fingers are shouting right now.*

So once Balor and American Alpha were drafted (feels), is it really logical with the wealth of talent that NXT has right now that the likes of Mojo Rawley, Alexa Bliss and Carmella would see a call-up over the likes of Shinsuke Nakamura, Austin Aries and the NXT Champ himself, Samoa Joe?

And lets not forget The Huggable One Bayley … but more on that later.

Seriously though, I’m not hating on the wrestlers but maybe the good ol’ random draft pick generator for NXT would have made more sense here.

But enough of that because we have the return of Rhyno to talk about. yay

I’m all for past legends of the ring making a return to WWE via the halls of NXT, sucking up that valuable star-dust before the jump to the main roster, but only if they contribute something, anything, before that day comes.

Lets look at Austin Aries. After Tuesday night, I’ve heard many call out that Aries is not destined to make the move up (an opinion that I don’t subscribe to myself) but even if that was the case, at least Sparkle-Pants has gotten over fledging talent and bolster the ranks of the Yellow Brand viewership with name power alone.

Can Rhyno make such a claim?

To be fair, the mans a walking bulldozer, and as such does what is in his nature. Goring to his heart content. But I can do without it when so many other CWC contenders could be making a splash right-now.

moving on

So with Jason Jordan & Chad Gable moving to SmackDown! this would be their goodbye match. And as always, had a strong showing while getting The Authors of Pain over on their way out. Skills!

That being said, I’m not totally sold on AOP but they looked strong tonight. I concede that it is American Alphas innate storytelling ability rather than Paul Ellerings’ boys in-ring charisma that got the job done but they have time to work on that. Gable & Jordan on the other hand, its time for them to move on up and start crafting the possibly of my fantasy match against The New Day.

Here’s hoping.

Speaking of time. Like American Alpha, Nia Jax has done it all in NXT. Yes, she was never able to get the elusive title from the clutches of Bayley or Asuka but I have no-doubt that bigger things await Jax on Monday Night RAW.

Bayley on the other hand, her time will come and like many fans out there I was upset that she wasn’t drafted. But a few days removed and would it have been the best outcome for her, really? Think about it. Sure she would’ve been a great pick for either GM, presumably RAW given that The Boss Sasha Banks remains on the Red brand for now. Meaning that if we are to see the pair recreate some of their legendary matches to date, on RAW is where that would happen.

In my eyes though, Bayley is as big a deal as Finn Balor, more so perhaps. But for your average Wrestling fan that still doesn’t watch NXT (believe me folks, they are out there), she would have been nothing more than a name on a list. Nope, she deserves more than that. She has earned more than that.

I can wait until Sasha wins the Women’s Championship at Summer Slam (if the rumours and fan-speculation be true) if it means that Bayley will debut soon after and walk straight into a feud with The Boss for the title.

Or even Nia Jax if she has the belt by then, who knows. But with so many NXT women dominating the main stage. The future looks bright for Women’s wrestling in the WWE … finally!

Lets just hope the don’t F@#k it up by introducing another tacky belt with a damn butterfly stamped on it.

*shudders*

For all your NXT News & Reviews, stick with @mitch_rated only on Skatronixxx

WWE Draft Lottery Mayhem!

With the impending news that the WWE Draft is going to take place tonight, I thought I’d have a little fun and  do a prediction game. I can pretty much guarantee that most people reading this will have done their own fantasy draft in their head already as who they’d like to see on each show, so I thought I’d chip in with my thoughts.

Well what is the WWE draft? For those of you that don’t know the draft is where wrestlers get assigned to brand specific shows, in other words if you get picked to appear on Smackdown you can’t appear on Raw and vice versa. It’s what the WWE Universe has been crying out for, for years we’ve seen talented wrestlers fall by the wayside by not giving a chance to shine. How would have Cody Rhodes or Damien Sandow fared if there had been a brand split in place before their releases or even Wade Barrett? One can only imagine!

THE RULES

So what are the rules you ask? well WWE.com states the following:

‘The rules for the WWE Draft are as follows:

• Raw has the first overall pick
• Since SmackDown Live is a two-hour show and Raw is three hours, for every two picks SmackDown Live receives, Raw will receive three picks
• Tag teams count as one pick unless a Commissioner/General Manager specifically only wants one member of the team
• Six draft picks will be made off the NXT roster ‘

THE ROSTER

It then goes on to list the following superstars and divas eligible for draft selection:

‘The list of current WWE Superstars eligible for the WWE Draft will be as follows:

Male Superstars

• AJ Styles
• Alberto Del Rio
• Apollo Crews
• Baron Corbin
• Big Show
• Braun Strowman
• Bray Wyatt
• Brock Lesnar
• Cesaro
• Chris Jericho
• Darren Young (w/ Bob Backlund)
• Dean Ambrose – WWE Champion
• Demon Kane
• Dolph Ziggler
• Erick Rowan
• Jack Swagger
• John Cena
• Kalisto
• Kevin Owens
• Mark Henry
• Neville
• Randy Orton
• Roman Reigns
• Rusev (w/ Lana) – United States Champion
• Sami Zayn
• Seth Rollins
• Sheamus
• Sin Cara
• The Miz (w/ Maryse) – Intercontinental Champion
• Titus O’Neil
• Zack Ryder

Tag Teams

• Breezango (Fandango and Tyler Breeze)
• Enzo and Cass (Enzo Amore and Big Cass)
• Gallows and Anderson (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson)
• Golden Truth (Goldust and R-Truth)
• Shining Stars (Epico and Primo)
• Social Outcasts (Bo Dallas, Curtis Axel and Heath Slater)
• The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor)
• The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley)
• The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) – Tag Team Champions
• The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso)
• The Vaudevillains (Aiden English and Simon Gotch)

Female Superstars

• Alicia Fox
• Becky Lynch
• Charlotte – WWE Women’s Champion
• Dana Brooke
• Eva Marie
• Naomi
• Natalya
• Paige
• Sasha Banks
• Summer Rae ‘

HOW WILL THE PREDICTIONS WORK?

Well I’m going to do a relatively short article as if I did each individual draft pick and the reasoning behind it, I’d be here for hours, instead I’ll give you my complete rosters at the bottom of the article.

WHAT ABOUT THE CHAMPIONSHIPS?

Well anyone who watched Raw last night will know about the awkward but obvious finish to the world title match. This was signposted as we needed to have dual champions for each brand and what better way to do that than by having that kinda ending. Yes it sucked and yes it was obvious, but yes it made sense.

As for the secondary titles, with the news that Raw will be bringing back the Cruiserweights I have made the bold prediction that Smackdown will be home of the Divas.

As for the Intercontinental and United States championship? Although I see the Intercontinental as the clear middle card title, I see it going to Smackdown so that leaves the United States title for Raw.

HOW MANY PICKS DO EACH SIDE GET?

With Raw getting 3 picks to every 2 for Smackdown and there being about 52 picks (I’m not going to split teams or try not too although I see that happening), this works out to around 21 for Smackdown and 31 for Raw. I’m making sure that each brand gets 3 NXT picks each as well. So that leaves us with 24 for Smackdown and 34 for Raw.

SO WHAT DO MY ROSTERS LOOK LIKE CURRENTLY?

Raw                                                                                              Smackdown

Seth Rollins – WWE Champion                                           Dean Ambrose – World Champion

Rusev – United States Champion                                       The Miz – intercontinental Champion

Kallisto – Cruiserweight                                                        Charlotte – WWE Womens Champion

Neville – Cruiserweight                                                         Sasha Banks – Womens Wrestler

Sami Zayn – Cruiserweight                                                  Becky Lynch – Womens Wrestler

Jimmy Uso – Cruiserweight                                                  Natalya – Womens Wrestler

Jey Uso – Cruiserweight                                                         Paige- Womens Wrestler

Epico – Cruiserweight                                                             Dana Brooke – Womens Wrestler

Primo – Cruiserweight                                                            Eva Marie   – Womens Wrestler

Sin Cara – Cruiserweight                                                       Alicia Fox –  Womens Wrestler

You may have noticed that I have left of Naomi and Summer Rae, this is due to the need for valets on Raw, with Naomi being married to one of The Uso’s this makes the most sense to me, along with Summer Rae.

WHAT ABOUT THE REST?

I see the rosters made up of the following picks:

Raw                                                                                              Smackdown

Alberto Del Rio                                                                         AJ Styles

Big Show                                                                                    Apollo Crews

Braun Strowman                                                                     Baron Corbin

Brock Lesnar                                                                            Bray Wyatt

Chris Jericho                                                                            Cesaro

Darren Young                                                                          John Cena

Demon Kane                                                                            Kevin Owens

Dolph Ziggler                                                                          Randy Orton

Erick Rowan                                                                            Gallows & Anderson

Jack Swagger                                                                           Golden Truth

Mark Henry

Roman Reigns

Sheamus

Titus O’Neil

Zack Ryder

Breezango

Enzo and Cass

Social Outcasts

The Ascension

The Dudley Boyz

The New Day

The Vaudevillains

NXT DRAFT PICKS

Raw                                                                                              Smackdown

Austin Aries                                                                               Bayley

Corey Graves                                                                              Samoa Joe

 Fin Balor                                                                                     American Alpha

FINAL THOUGHTS

Are the rosters fair? Definitely not, the fact that Raw is an extra hour does not allow them to have an additional 10 draft picks and it clearly shows, with the massive difference in numbers of talent.

Could I get this horribly wrong? Did I make a massive error by assuming that Smackdown will be the home of the Divas? Probably! Who knows, let’s find out tomorrow, how many I got right!

Yes, Yes, Yes! Is Daniel Bryan Your New Smackdown GM?

With the news of the impending WWE roster split aka brand draft we found out last week that Vince McMahon’s children Shane and Stephanie will be in charge of each of the main shows, with Stephanie taking charge of Raw and Shane taking charge of Smackdown.

However trust Vince to never make things as straightforward as that. After announcing the news that they would be in charge of their shows, he also made this announcement.

So as well as having Stephanie and Shane in charge they have to bring back the dreaded role of General Manager aka GM *groans*, can I ask what is the point of having two authority figures, either Stephanie and Shane will sit back and let their GM’s do all the work or will their GM will become a glorified and overpaid assistant?

So who would they pick? Would it be the playa Teddy Long, the screech queen Vickie Guerrero, or a new name like Bret Hart or The Rated-R Superstar Edge? Well it seems like Shane has already made his pick with the news leaked on the WWE App, implying that none other than Daniel Bryan has been appointed as GM of Smackdown.

What’s my response? Well to quote Daniel Bryan? Yes, Yes, YES!!!

Will this be an indication of things to come? That once again Smackdown will focus more on the wrestling content rather than the entertainment value? Only time will tell and who will be in charge of Raw! My personal fave would to be bring back William Regal.

However with Shane-O-Mac and The Goat in charge of Smackdown one thing is certain, things will get a lot more interesting!

 

A Look At ‘Transformers: Combiner Wars’

I’m a Transformers fan, I have been since the late 80’s when G1 when was huge, the toys were amazing, the cartoons were badass and the comics even had cameos from G.I Joe and Spider-Man. I drifted in and out of love with the cartoons, but there is no doubting my knowledge, I’ve seen Scramble City, I’ve watched the Japanese Headmasters series and most of the series since. Some of them were ok like Cybertron but to be honest as much as it pains me to say some just plain sucked!

That is why when the news of Transformers: Combiner Wars came out my interest was piqued, tbh what toy does a fan like most? Easy the combiners, yes the figures may have been small but when put together you get one badass bot, capable of squishing even Optimus Prime or Megatron.

Then my heart sank, how could they ruin my beloved combiners? I don’t want to see Predaking, Superion or even the mighty Devastator turned into fun kiddy loving characters. How about a show for us the old school fans? I mean the fans that made the first series a success.

The this video droppped online.

Despite some clunky animation, I was optimistic Peter Cullen was back for the role of Optimus and they even quoted and used scenes from the first movie. No not the one with Shia LaBeouf, the proper original cartoon movie. The one that was the perfect fusion of 80’s heavy metal and cartoons in one. Let’s have a quick reflection on one of the most badass and scarring movie scenes from the film. I doubt that some of the later series would have this kinda graphic hardcoreness.

DAMN! Every time, I get goosebumps watching that, but that’s enough reflection, back to the article at hand.

*Goes and watches Transformers The Movie*

OOPS!! Ok now back to the job hand *Sings YOU GOT THE TOUCH, YOU GOT THE POWER YEAH* That just goes to show how awesome the movie is, I watch one clip and get sucked in, that’s why I’m so passionate about the show.

Then it was all quiet for a while, then another clip drops online.

Fans of G1 will again note that despite the new character again hints were dropped that were related to the original movie, most notably the scene where Unicron transforms Megatron into Galvatron. What I did find interesting though it there’s a female character and she looks quite frankly pure badass, less Arcee more Blackarachnia.

Ok so what do we have so far? Prime and Megatron in their G1 forms, a new female character I’m semi psyched.

Then this happens.

HOLY MOLY it’s G1 Starscream despite some wierd choice of music that sounds like a Marks & Spencers food advert, to quote WWE superstar Daniel Bryan.

With all we’ve seen so far Transformers: Combiner Wars looks like a show us fans, the older fans, the G1 fans can get into.

Transformers: Combiner Wars comes out on August 2 2016, I for one can’t wait!

 

 

 

Smackdown – 14/07/16

Welcome back to our weekly Smackdown reviews. This one is a special Smackdown as this is the final Thursday night Smackdown. That’s right, it’s finally here, next week we start up Live Tuesday Night Smackdown with the Brand Extension draft. Before that though, let’s see what we have in store for our final taped Smackdown.

We open with some replays of the pre show, with Kevin Owens complaining about a birthday card to his son from Sami containing only 20 Canadian dollars. He brings up how that is a pitiful amount for a kid’s godfather to give to him. Can you revoke someone’s right to be Godfather or is that for life? We also get Charlotte cussing out Sasha, Miz talking about Darren Young and Ambrose talking about how he’ll annihilate Kevin Owens. Can you tell that I thought the Owens promo was the best one?

Dana Brooke vs Sasha Banks

We open the show with Sasha Banks coming out to the ring with Dana and Charlotte following on. It’s another match between Sasha and Dana everyone! :(. While the match goes on we get a stunning observation from Mauro. ‘Charlotte isn’t afraid of any female in the women’s division’. By god, are there suddenly some males in the women’s division that I wasn’t clued in to? Is Charlotte gonna get Brogue kicked by Sheamus on her next title defense? I’m sorry, this match is just so overdone that I need to go on these tangents to bring some enjoyment out of it. Brooke taps out to another Bank Statement before Sasha takes a Big Boot from Charlotte. Then she’s thrown into the announcement team while Charlotte yells out some wooden ‘You’ll never beat me’ statements. This is going on past Battleground by the way. battleground is another tag team match. Man if it goes on to Summerslam I want a Sasha vs Charlotte and Dana handicap match.

Winner by Submission: Sasha Banks

Rusev vs Dolph Ziggler

Before Smackdown goes live, Ziggler wants to try and up his value to become a better prospect, he chose to fight Rusev for this value. I’m glad that they’re being conservative with the Rusev/Ryder matches before Battleground, if they overdid that, Ryder would be mush by the time he challenges for the title. After all, we remember the condition of Kallisto going into his title match against Rusev.

Oh god we get the injection of pop culture early in the match with the poignant statement ‘Unlike Pokemon Go, a fight against Rusev isn’t a walk in the park.’ Ah man. Dolph Ziggler fights like only Dolph Ziggler can, selling every hit to the level that it deserves. He also follows the only tactic that seems to work on Post-LoN Rusev, the sleeperhold. I hope that whoever beats him doesn’t manage it through that, it’d lose some of the impact on whoever’s career that manages it.I hope its Ryder. Speaking of, a ‘Woo Woo Woo’ plays as Ryder walks out to distract Rusev and help Ziggler get the pin. I’m glad Ziggler took it, they have to make Ryder winning at Battleground somewhat plausible to put on a good match.

Winner by Pinall: Dolph Ziggler

Then there was a replay of the Breezango vs Luchadragons match from Raw

Then there was a replay of The Wyatt Compound

I liked the Wyatt compound the first time I saw it, I really did, but filling up so much of the LAST taped Smackdown with Raw replays is kinda stupid.

We get back to the Smackdown action with

AJ Styles and Karl Anderson vs Enzo and Cass

This Cena Styles feud was completely revitalised by Enzo and Cass, I’m so glad they came into it. The big talk starts immediately with Enzo roasting them immediately. ‘I’m sick of your “Too Sweet” talk, I suppose at the end of the day, a cup a’ salt looks like a cup o’ sugar’ and Cass just saying that they’re only fighting them tonight since there’s nothing else for them to do. It’s a good motivation as motivation goes. As usual, all 4 guys showcase their skills as top athletes in their field, though I still cringe when Enzo gets reckless. Surprisingly, Enzo puts on some of the most impressive work in the match, taking the big hits and putting on some great moves before finally submitting to AJ, the tag going unmet as Cass is beat up outside the ring as AJ revitalises himself to attack Enzo.

Winner by Submission: AJ Styles and Karl Anderson

Tyler Breeze vs Kallisto

Oh hey, this again.I’m glad that Breeze is using what hes been given to try and claw his way up to relevance. I’m not entirely sure if this is Breezango moving up or Lucha Dragons moving down though. Either way, Kalisto was US Champion like three months ago, and he’s successful enough on his own, a match against him should give Breeze the help that he needs. Even though it resulted in a loss. Eh.

Winner by Pinfall: Kalisto

Oh my ever loving Christ, is that Darren Young’s entrance? Bob Backlund’s rasping voice and a trump-esque Titantron stand in? That poor fuck. He deserves more. Darren Young is then immediately ignored in his own Miz TV interview in favour of a Backlund retrospective. Man I really hope he wins at Battleground. His highlight reel only strengthened that. There was none. Miz shows how great of a heel he is, actually making me support Young. The face off actually gives this feud some heat as Young scares Miz out of the ring.

A faux injured Banks is then approached by Charlotte and Brooke to tell her that she needs to find a tag team partner for Battleground, that’s right, two months no title defense. Yaaaaay. I hope its Paige or Bailey.

Dean Ambrose vs Kevin Owens

Seth Rollins comes out just before the match starts and attacks Ambrose approximately two minutes into the match, then Sami Zayn comes in for a piece of Kevin Owens. The match is turned into a tag team match.

Dean Ambrose and Sami Zayn vs Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens

I’m ok with this change in programming. It’s a god main event to end taped Smackdown for good. The teams work pretty well, with Ambrose and Zayn coming off as pretty good tag team partners throughout the match, with good synchronised moves and synergy throughout. The match is predictably insane as the match gets towards the end, with the odds going either way on the winner as it gears up, the match ends with a pedigree on Zayn before Rollins gets the pin for the win. KO then tries to get one over on Zayn outside the ring before Ambrose defends him then fights with Rollins in ring. Man these tag teams made more sense than I could have imagined. I hope we see more team ups in these four, but the brand extension makes that unlikely.

Winner By Pinfall: Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens

I think that the final taped Smackdown represented Thursday Night Smackdown as an entity, Alright.I can’t wait to see how Smackdown evolves as it’s importance grows with the new brand extension on Tuesday. I’ll be seeing you earlier on in the week from now on, but you can always catch me @oliverwoodster on Twitter.

 

 

 

 

WWE Raw Review: 11.07.2016

INTERCONTINENTAL NUMBER 1 CONTENDER BATTLE ROYAL

This week we start off with the battle royal which will decide who will face The Miz for the IC title at Battleground this month. There were many people in the battle royal but it was clear from the start that there were some obvious choices to win the match. This Battle Royal genuinely left me curious as of who would win as there were numerous people who had a legitimate claim, such as Dolph Ziggler and Alberto Del Rio who were focused on heavily throughout the match, also Baron Corbin and Apollo Crews who are recent call-ups who could be given a chance to shine. In the end, it is revealed that the Make Darren Young Great Again promos were actually leading to something as the former Prime Time Player picked up the win, resulting in an overjoyed Bob Backlund. As Battle Royals go it was quite good, with few botches and a steady rhythm. Once again Alberto Del Rio turned it on for this match proving that at any time he can return to the World Class performer we once knew. Please do it more often. As for Young picking up the win, I am unsure what to think. On one hand, the promos have been repetitive but at least they finally have some direction. If Darren Young is going to be a plain white meat babyface I will not be happy.

• Backstage Shane and Stephanie McMahon discuss the arrival of Vince McMahon. Seth Rollins interrupts to make his case as the number 1 draft pick and also inform the siblings that he has exclusive footage of Roman Reigns being disrespectful to the WWE Universe that will be shown on the Rollins Report (NOT EVERYONE NEEDS A FUCKING TALK SHOW)
• Cole and co. go into detail about Brock Lesnar’s win at UFC 200 and his match with Randy Orton at Summerslam. Orton will return at Battleground to discuss the match.
• Zack Ryder seeks out Rusev about a possible championship match with the Bulgarian Sheamus interrupts Ryder telling him they have a match next.

SHEAMUS def. ZACK RYDER

Zack Ryder gets off to an early start overwhelming Sheamus who pleads for Ryder to calm down in the middle of the ring. However, Ryder’s great start doesn’t last as in no time Sheamus is able to turn the tide and once he hit the Brogue Kick getting the pinfall. As soon as the match finishes Rusev comes out to put Zack into an Accolade saying he’s accepted his challenge. It may have come at the expense of a loss but I am thrilled to see Zack Ryder get a title shot after he was robbed by Miz the night after Wrestlemania.

BREEZANGO def. THE LUCHADRAGONS

This was a surprisingly good match considering it involved Breezango who have been stuck in a terrible Goldust feud for 5 months and the other team being the underused Luchdragons who have been underused as a team for months. The match was quite even with back and forth, but despite this, there were some rough parts to the match especially where Kalisto nearly badly hurt himself with a botched springboard. In the end, Breezango picks up the win by pinning Kalisto.

ROLLINS REPORT

Seth channels his inner talk show host as he hypes up his footage of Roman Reigns. Seth proceeds to show the interview with Roman which is definitely fake as Reigns still has the title. The interview is quite funny but the only problem is they have done it before when Kurt Angle interviewed the Rock, and the first time was much funnier. After the interview WWE Champion Dean Ambrose makes his way to the ring, the arch rivals argue back and forth about who will win at Battleground. Dean delivers a promo that will knock your socks off. Seriously this is the Dean Ambrose that became the crowd favourite that he is. Less wacky Dean and more serial killer Dean, please. The end result is that we get a 1 on 1 match for the WWE title next week on Raw.

• Sami Zayn comes out to the ring to serve on commentary for Kevin Owens’ match, but KO refuses to make his way down the ring until Zayn is gone, which Stephanie accepts.
• Sami is removed but as Owens makes his way down to the ring they briefly brawl before KO flees to the ring.
• We see Vince McMahon’s limo arrive and Renee Young’s interview reveals that Vince is here to reveal the Commissioner for Raw and Smackdown (don’t call the Commissioner name new. There has been 6 in the history of WWE.

KEVIN OWENS def. CESARO

As usual Kevin Owens and Cesaro are able to put on a great match, and easily the match of the night. Both men looked impressive nad pulled out some big moves to put away their opponent, from the corner dropkick from Cesaro to the cannonball from KO. There were many near falls from the two as they crawled their way through this exhausting matchup. In the end, Kevin Owens is victorious after he hits the TKO on Cesaro. I am glad that we are getting some more variety in the ways wrestlers are finishing their matches, instead of just using their finishers. It adds some suspense to these matchups and when a finisher is used it seems more special. The commentary was terrible in this match, constantly trying to force the draft discussion and ignoring the in-ring action.

• After the match, Owens gives a Punk like a promo about he is the best at everything he does, but he is then attacked by Sami Zayn who comes out from the crowd.
• Renee Young interviews The Club backstage who claim that John Cena doesn’t care about anyone other than himself shown by the fact that he has ditched Enzo and Cass for the Espy awards.

TITUS O’NEIL def. HEATH SLATER

This match was clunky, clumsy and careless which is usual for Titus who is a poor worker. Heath Slater and the Social Outcast tried to build heat against Titus, but there is nothing sympathetic about O’Neil who has done nothing to earn the support of the WWE Universe. Titus picks up the win with a Clash of the Titus.

• Renee Young interviews Sasha Banks about her match with Dana Brooke, and Sasha claims that she is going to shut Dana up.

THE WYATT COMPOUND

In the wake of TNA’s final deletion, it seems that for once WWE is on the back foot as they decide to imitate their smaller opposition in an attempt to cash in on the deletion’s hype. The New Day take a visit to the Wyatt’s Compound where they engage in a 3 on 3 brawls with the members of the Wyatt Family. The fight doesn’t go too well for the WWE Tag Team Champions as at the end of the fight they are chased off by the Wyatts and their fireflies. Now while they definitely were inspired by the Final Deletion it would be unfair to say that they copied TNA as the tone of the two video packages were completely different in tone, and the only thing especially strange about the Compound was the ending and that god awful filter.

ENZO & CASS def. THE CLUB

After the mandatory Enzo and Cass entrance, the duo explains that while everyone wants John Cena’s spot but unlike the Club, they are going to earn it. Styles gives them the chance to walk away but to no avail as the match goes ahead. For the first few minutes Enzo is dominated by various members of the Club, he is able to escape from Karl Anderson with a tag to Big Cass who is able to even the odds and tag Enzo back in. However, Enzo continues to get dominated when Luke Gallows is tagged in and he throws Enzo around. The match continues with this pattern but ends early when AJ Styles attacks Cass giving Enzo and Cass a DQ win. The Club surround Enzo in the ring for a 3 on 1 assault but despite what everyone had claimed John Cena was here tonight and he makes the save for Enzo as he and the tag team drive The Club from the ring.

SASHA BANKS def. DANA BROOKE

I’m sick and tired of seeing Dana Brooke wrestle. I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt but she is greener than grass and it really shows. Even when she is able to get her moves correct they look so clumsy and disjointed. She definitely needed more time in NXT. The match was pretty even which isn’t doing Sasha any favours as she is miles better than Dana and her struggling against Brooke makes her seem weak. After Sasha picks up the win Charlotte declares that this week on Smackdown she will need to beat Dana again (For fucks sake. I’m sick of this shit).

MCMAHON VS MCMAHON

So after all this anticipation Vince makes his way out to the ring to announce what will be happening with the brand split. Vince tells his children that while they have done a good job he is upset that they have not been as ruthless as he had imagined. This spurs Stephanie to reveal the true backstabbing character she has always been, as she berates Shane, who stays true to his convictions by thanking the fans. Shane also makes his case that he should be the leader for Smackdown, he successfully convinces Vince but at the cost of his Raw duties being relieved as Stephanie is given the flagship show. So it seems we get Stephanie and Smackdown reviewer Parzy gets Shane. Great. At least we have the reveal of the GMs to come.

FINAL NOTES & SCORE

• MVP of the Night: Dean Ambrose
• Match of the Night: Kevin Owens vs Cesaro
• Moment of the Night: Rollins Report
• The commentary really sucked this week, Miz was the only person who knew how to put people over
• Rumours of Daniel Bryan being the Smackdown GM and HHH being the Raw GM. I am jealous of Smackdown but if HHH is like he is in NXT then I am all good.

Coming off a terrible July 4^th episode of Monday Night Raw this week’s definitely restored the natural order. The natural order being very average. This week gets a 5.5/10.