quackhell

In theory the injuries could be the foundation of a great comeback story, but I don't know if Ember Moon has ever been a strong enough personality for them to properly tell it. Her gimmick is ill defined and her segments where she lamented missing matches because of the injuries were a little too scripted feeling to really connect it seems.

I don't know if they were at the end of the taping schedule, but this crowd seemed pretty worn out and dead. Mendoza/Clarke was fun with Mendoza getting some flashy stuff in and Clarke getting to be aggressive. I think that gimmick has potential to get over at NXT eventually, maybe even as a face, main roster...eh. AoP squash was fine, the stare down with HM was a little too clichéd, but it's standard build-up stuff so it was fine. 3 way just seemed a little disjointed and the finish was a bit lame. Some good portions in the backstage brawling but a lot of it felt meandering and doing a lot of walking around to the next spot ECW-style. Of course the sick old-school fan in me wants them to do a blood soaked cage match as that would be amazing, but I am interested to see where it goes between Asuka and Cross from here.

The only way this could have been cooler is if the Revival showed up and beat Ricky down and left him a bloody mess.

Lorcan needs a name change and a push because he has brought it big time in every match he has been in. His aggressiveness is amazing and it always gets the fans hyped.

I like the idea of Sexy Star's plan being to hide amongst the band while the Worldwide Underground beat the shit out of her friend and hope an opportunity occurs that allows her to jump on Mundo and Black.

Thought Dunne/Seven was great except for the finish sequence being a little wonky. Dunne is such a great bastard and Seven still looked strong as he went in injured. Not to get all Rip Rogers but I thought the main was a bit of overkill and could have been reigned in a bit. Seems like it followed the indy epic blueprint. Still a good showing by both guys. Regal nearly stole the show with his facials showing his disgust for Dunne and just waiting for him to step out of line.

Itami/Strong was damn good stuff...annoying crowd aside. I know that bullshit isn't going away, but it just really takes me out of things with utter hate for those idiots. Nikki Cross was delightful. She has that character down so well. Feels natural and real. Great stuff. Riot's bit was a bit more generic, but okay. Looking forward to that match and I have to think Asuka retains due to Cross and Riot being distracted by each other. Saving the title switch to Moon or maybe the winner of the tournament.

Ahhhh...mystery solved.

Fun show. HM having a literal squash against some lost pre-schoolers was the goods. But how in the world is Otis not nicknamed Dozer? Too on the nose? I weirdly want a Danny Burch/Oney Lorcan tag-team. I like Hideo, but the build to Roode just hasn't done it for me. Seems like a holding pattern until Drew takes it. The battle royal was kinda shakey, but Asuka finally going full on bitch heel and destroying everyone while dancing around was great. Hopefully Ember is good to go, because that bump was crazy.

No, no, no...i'll maybe give you Tamina as Sid, but not Arn.

Really good show. Almas/McIntyre was a bit underwhelming, but they are telling a story with Almas and I have no doubt the two will go at it again, maybe at a Takeover and get some time for more salty stiffness. So in 2016/17 we have seen Slater hold a title, Mahal getting a title shot on PPV, and McIntyre pushed strong as a title contender. 3MB is a long way from bumping around for El Torito. I'll echo the praise for the Roddy segment. More of that stuff, where character appropriate, please. Really helps fans connect. Riot/Cross was a blast. They both bring so much intensity. Black continues to be put over like a total badass. Bate/Gallagher was unsurprisingly excellent. Gallagher is great on 205Live, but to see him in this style was perfect. Loved Bate selling the arm preventing him from doing his signature wave. It's the little things.

Color in the cage still feels right to me despite all the reasons it shouldn't. That elbowdrop off the top looked so good. A very nice send off for Dillinger and hopefully he can have a solid run on the main roster. Even though the 10 trend will fade I hope he can establish himself enough not to get Breezed. The Asuka testimonial segment was good stuff building her up and making it a huge deal to be the one to finally take her down. Next week looks like it has a lot of potential to be some great in ring stuff with Bate/Gallagher and McIntyre/Almas.

Is it worse than matadors and time share hustlers? Eh...hard to say.

I wonder if the Colons cutting a serious heel promo blasting their previous joke gimmicks and talking about how they are part of one of the greatest wrestling families in the world and show footage from the WWC and talk up Carlos Sr being a Hall of Famer would work out? Or would that be too close to the Usos deal? I don't know if they can ever be taken seriously again, but I would like to see some real effort done because they are talented guys.

I wasn't aware that Rusev was out and assumed that Lana being presented in her own video meant they would no longer be an act. Still might be the case, but hopefully not.

The man who uncovers the Bray/Orton scandal should be a man that was inspired by his father who was a notoriously rigid government agent who doggedly pursued tax cheats. Bo Dallas! "Bray Wyatt? Even your name is a lie....my brother!" A reconciled Dallas brothers eventually break the New Days record as tag-team champions. Oh and I totally approve of a Alexa/Nia combo if it is Master Blaster style with a mic'd up Bliss talking trash riding on Nia's back as she wrecks shop.

I greatly look forward to Nakamura/Styles and Nakamura/Owens programs. Also they really should revisit Nakamura/Zayn at least for a one off. Speaking of Zayn...can he just use his fucking gorgeous Blue Thunder as his finish or at least secondary finish. It's too good to be his "only gets a 2 count" move. Charlotte needed a new territory desperately since they hot shotted the hell out of ever match-up/title change on RAW to an insane degree. Hopefully once she wins the Smackdown title they will give her a long reign and either Becky or Naomi can have a chase that is properly built and payed off. Rusev being split from Lana seems like another nail in the coffin. There is a part of me that would love for him to ask for his release and tear up the indies and Japan, but I figure he will just be a body in the midcard muck again. I am very much on the Big E singles push bandwagon.

I swear I fully expected them to cut to an overhead shot outside the building as the second ambulance left and showing Braun t-boning it like a run away train. I mean why not at that point.

Man the crowd was dead for most of this show and kinda hijacked the Vagabundo segment. Regardless Heavy Machinery continue to be awesome and the hoss battle that will go down when they collide with AoP should be epic. I think Aliyah has a ton of upside potential, but as a heel instead of a fired up babyface. I think it was her debut when she showed a lot of malicious tactics and heel swagger, but with Billie, Peyton and Cross they needed her as a squashable face instead.

A nice wrinkle to the story would be Tozawa is in a tough match with someone and ends up using one of Kendrick's lessons/tactics to win. Kendrick calls him out on it proving he is getting in Tozawa's head.

It is very much The Room of wrestling moves.

Really fun show. I love Lorcan's intensity and physical charisma, but man that name...it's not quite Chilly McFreeze, but it does him no favors. Kendrick/Tozawa has been a bit spotty in execution, but I like the story they are trying to tell and tonight was another nice chapter in it. I really want the Gulak stuff to go somewhere as I am a fan of the guys work and I think he could get some heat with an anti-cruiserweight style. Well depending on the crowd. Always a crapshoot with being stuck in the spot they are in. 4 Way was great. Everybody got the chance to shine and the right guy won, but I really want an extended Neville/Ali title match on PPV at some point.

I cannot hide my hatred for Ambrose, and it is a little personal from his days breaking in here in Cincinnati, but I do believe Corbin has worked hard and paid enough dues not to get the NFL guy getting a push heat, but I concur that his promos can be rough. I did think Ambrose brought some much needed fire in the streetfight and wish we could have gotten that at Mania. Maybe someone lit a fire under his ass, or he is getting a chip on his shoulder. Either way it makes for better work so I am all for it.

The sad thing is Vince can chalk that up to post Mania fans and not expect the regular audience to follow suit with Nakamura. He is probably scrambling around for Yamaguchi-san's number so he can manage Shinsuke and do all the talking. "Chopy Chopy you pee pee...hahaha...laugh dammit, that's funny"

I thought he looked terrible in the Elimination Chamber. Everything he does is soft and weak and doesn't look legit. I am not asking for strong style stiff, but man he is just lazy. His diving light shove through the ropes, his careful bumping, bracing his head on back suplexes etc...for a lunatic he sure is awfully cautious. Also dogging it in a bad program just makes it very awful. Corbin was willing to try and make something of it and Dean gave him nothing. Ambrose being Ambrose indeed.