Greggulator

Wrestling Degrassi means I have to carve out time for NXT. That rules. Speaking of ruling: Smackdown tonight was absolute fire. Tiffany won in front of the hometown. Bianca and Piper Niven had a banger with an awesome ending. The KO/Cole Carpool Karaoke segment was so fun and weird and the end with KO saying “Get out of my rental car!” before doing the window bit was aces. Cody/Gable was predictably very good. But major tip of the cap to DIY stealing the titles via a long con. You can see how they put the plan in place a few weeks back. “Hey, you know MCMG watched when we had our issues back in NXT. I used to complain about you all the time to Alex. They trust me. Let’s tease animosity to get them to put their guard down. We’ll lure them into a match, will tease a breakup, and then use the distraction and become champs!” I always love that sort of scheming you can see happening without actually needing to see it happen.

The devastation of The New Day overshadowed that really fun Gunther/Dom sprint. I loved that Dom wrestled face-ish (using a bunch of topes and counters.) That was a great test run for when Dom eventually goes face. He can be the heir apparent to his real father and lie, cheat and steal. Gunther is so great at being dominant and also making his opponents look terrific. I can absolutely get behind these guys getting 20 minutes or Dom having the briefcase.

The New Day segment was a masterpiece. We knew our heart was going to get broken. But we didn't know how. They somehow figured out that the most devastating way to do so was by having Kofi and X act like total dicks to Big E. No violence needed. Just two dudes who felt slighted and unleashing their anger on the injured, vulnerable E. (The same day that article dropped just to add to E's vulnerability.) That was cruelty at its peak. It really felt like when your best friend from middle school starts sitting with the cool kids freshman year and tells you that you have to go sit elsewhere. Or when your college girlfriend tells you "we need to talk" and it turns out that she and your roommate are now an item. A+ and something I never want to see again.

I was at the Raw all those years ago where they officially broke the streak for longest tag run. It was so great and fun to see in person. They barely even were getting started with their run, which is wild to think about. I think one of the real turning points for the WWE creatively came during the pre-Sami Bloodline days. The USOs had the belts and were eyeing up breaking the New Day’s streak. So, the New Day stepped up to take a final stand to keep their record. Those four can throw out a four-star match with each other in their sleep. But when you put in stakes that go beyond the usual and it touches in on the world building the WWE has done over the decades? That is really awesome. It’s one of my favorite WWE TV matches ever. Another peak moment of storytelling was when The Usos forfeited in the gauntlet match against X And E with Kofi’s spot on the line. Absolutely fantastic moment during Kofimania.

How are we all prepping for a possible New Day breakup at their 10th Anniversary? Man — what a great piece of long-term storytelling they’ve had with the tensions between the group, even when they had to audible when Odyssey Jones got cut. I think this really shows the magic of The New Day. They were pretty much lower mid-card tag filler the past year but at anytime they needed someone heated up they could have a banger like Kofi or Woods vs. Gunther. Or even the tag matches — they had a lot of really good TV matches against dudes like The War Raiders. They have been absolutely invaluable the past decade. Things like “quality 15 minute tag matches” are really important on a 3-hour show. Three hours is a lot of time to fill, and having people who can do quick, entertaining promos and segments and a good match after are absolutely invaluable to keeping a show together while other characters and stories get highlighted. Kofi and Woods and E being able to being fully committed to that type of work while also being main event level talent really shows their talent more than anything else. And that’s even considering Kofimania, which is high on the list of most beloved wrestling storylines ever told. They’re also really important in terms of representation. I listened to their podcast during all the George Floyd stuff and it hit me more than anything else during the era about the fears Black Americans have when interacting with law enforcement. It made me also confront my own listening skills and priviledge since I live in Philly and have black friends but never truly appreciated what a difficult situation it is until I heard three goofball wrestlers talking about an issue that I knew was important but never felt it until Kofi was talking about jogging in a hoodie being a potentially fatal act for him. X’s Up Up Down Down stuff isn’t for me (I haven’t played a video game in decades) but that stuff also feels like a great way to build culture in the locker rooms. They talked about this in a recent YouTube thing the three of them did. It let out everyone’s nerdy stuff. Wrestlers aren’t bodybuilding lunkheads anymore. They’re really athletic nerds, which I like a lot more. I am bracing for a breakup that may actually lead to tears tomorrow night. But The New Day have been something really special for a decade, and I hope we get a decade more.

Take all the stuff Adam Cole has done but reimagine him as Ricky Starks. Ricky would knock it out of the park as a slimebag manipulative heel so much he’d become a face in months. I love that guy so much.

Some more thoughts from the show, even though I was distracted by playing Jurassic World on the floor with my kid. 1) The Women’s War Games match was a blast. It’s a hastily put together grouping of women made for the sake of the match. It had a lot of plunder and violence and crazy spots. I really thought Tiffany was going to cash in. Would have been epic. Fun end highlighting the best women’s feud going. 2) I had to run some errands so skipped on LA Knight and Shinsuke, assuming LA was going to get the win. Now I might have to check it out. I think the bloom has fallen off the LA Knight rose. Guy is perfectly fine at that Upper midcard spot. Happy Shinsuke gets at least one last title run and has an awesome new persona. 3) Triple threat was everything we expected it to be and was awesome. Ludwig Kaiser needs to get his flowers. Guy really does great shtick throughout every match he has. He was the star of the match for me. But I want to see these guys fight every week for the rest of my life. 4) Priest/Gunther was awesome throughout. I hate the end. Not because of heel slimebag victory but I really was hoping Priest would be able to get some distance from Finn and the JD. 5) War Games for me was a perfect match. Great storytelling throughout. Incredible spots. Jacob Fatu is a madman. The end where everyone got their licks in on Solo was fantastic.

That main event was pretty much a perfect match. Loved it so much

I love the Dom World Title shot. At some point in time, Dom is going to be in the Final 3 at the Rumble to a gigantic pop or he’s going to get the “try to run the Gauntlet but just come up short” Kofi type of push. I always want to boo him since he’s such a great sleazy heel but he’s also a really friggin’ great professional wrestler. He’s just so good at what he does — the right type of panic whenever Rhea gets his hands on him, etc.

Man, that main event was really great. I fell for a lot of the falls — especially Jey’s big splash, since I thought maybe The Bloodline came down to help him to try and woo him to the cause. The Jacob Fatu/Braun tease was incredible and man that’s a possible WM Main Event in two years. Bron licking his chops when he realized he had Jey dead-to-rights was awesome. This stuff with Sami beating Bron and then Bron slipping up against Jey to get it back is really great. They just had a dominant Gunther run with the IC strap and you need to differentiate. Bron being ascendant but able to lose and willing to take shortcuts makes him so incredibly interesting.

Shelton needs a heel title run. He’s always been great when he’s had TV time. But surly 49-year-old Shelton looking to wreck everyone to show he still has it is money. Deserves way more than to be Bobby Lashley’s heel buddy.

Oh, the ultimate “there is no hope” ending is Dump shaving Chigusa’s head. Duh. That’s the peak.

I can’t remember if it ended the show but Jerry Lawler and co beating up a bunch of ECW dudes and hitting Tommy Dreamer in his testicles with a Singapore Cane comes to mind.

I didn’t see the show. But the end sounds incredible. Wheeler the conflicted protege doing the “et tu, Brute?” backstab? The BCC just tried to end not the career but the life of their founder, who is a beloved icon. They’re the evil force and now you need a hero (Darby, OC, etc.) to overcome the odds and put Mox away. I hope they just Keep It Simple Stupid and not get involved with any high power hijinks or anything silly. Mox is a big enough personality on his own to make it work.

Sami/Gunther was absolutely fantastic. Nobody makes me jump out of my seat like babyface Propoghandi fan Sami. Great 2.9 after the first powerbomb. The one count and Gunther’s look of utter disbelief had me flipping out. I thought for sure Sami was going to survive the sleeper (great camera angle to show the “just inches away” rope grab) but for not. Sami’s the best in-ring babyface of the century. He sells perfectly and knows how to turn that into comebacks that make you always think he’s going to pull out the win. Gunther is of course masterful in all aspects of pro wrestling but I was especially impressed with how well he did arrogance to lack of confidence to shock to smugness with his facial expressions and body language. I love how he sits on the mat like he’s thinking things through. Fits him so well. Great main event. The Sheamus/Pete Dunne match was a great, very stiff garbage brawl. They’ve been very big lately on having one big spot on every show — it helps make things viral and get passed along and potentially driving interest. The table spot of the whiskey barrels was really imaginative. I love professional wrestling.