WWE TV - 2/13 - 2/19/2023

[Dolfan in NYC]

Elimination Chamber is Saturday.  Could they actually pull the trigger....?

[DEAN]

It's the Street Profits versus Damien Priest and Finn Balor?  Yes.  Finn Balor.  Once again Damien Priest is really good.  He is our weekly RAW MVP.  Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins whup up on the Judgement Day during picture in picture until they get back in the ring and Dominick CHEATS after they get Ford in a situation!  Balor and Priest are a great tagteam!  Ford counters the Toprope Lateral Suplex!  Dawkins makes the hot tag!  NEARFALLS!  Giant Buff Blockbuster!  FOR TWO!  GIGANTIC TOPE CON HILO BY FORD!  Dominick gets pulled into the match which allows Balor to get the win!  That was good.  It's Piper Niven!  It's Michin Mia Yim!  Niven looks like she is maybe shooting for the VADER spot on RAW since Rhea Ripley is going in another direction.  That was fast.  Cody assumes the role of Dustin!  Baron Corbin assumes the role of Shane Strickland!  Cody beats Corbin a lot more than Dustin will beat on Swerve.  There you go.  Is Raquel Rodriguez RAW or SMACKDOWN?  She is the VADER of her brand.  Ah she is Team Smackdown- that makes sense.  Piper Niven is still eligible to the VADER of RAW women.  Nikki Cross is all wacky during picture in picture.  Asuka looks awesome in this.  Asuke attacks EVERYBODY and taps out uncrazy Liv Morgan.  Bronson Reed and Mustafa Ali have at it.  Reed uses his pudge to beat on Ali.  Ali uses his speed to get in a few things before Reed CRUSHES him off the apron.  Ali bumps crazy into a chair!  Ali gets in a Rolling DDT!  For ONE!  Reed smashes Ali with a Tsunami!  Rick Boogs takes on the MIZ!  Boogs is very strong.  The Miz has been through may things that I fast forwarded through so he gets squashed.  Bayley takes on Big Time Becks and Bianca Belair.  Becky Lynch look awesome in this.  Bayley is all evil and calculating and she and Belair look good in the ring together.  So this is to showcase who the real contenders are instead of the Elimination Chamber contenders.  Damage Control beats on Becks and Bianca!  This is pretty good for a Triple Threat match. They OPT to book this nine ways to Sunday as everybody shows up on the outside!  Belair throws IYO SKY onto everybody at ringside.  Bianca throws Becks onto Bayley and pin Bayley!  That was good.  With the remote control, that was a fricking episode of RAMPAGE.  That was some quality professional wrestling.  HHH! HHH! HHH!

[ChesterCopperpot]

 

[Kang]

Seth Rollins anime boots.

[Eivion]

Profits vs. Balor/Priest was solid. The post match attack by Edge and Beth only to be thwarted by Rhea was nice. 

The Lashley/Lesnar signing segment was ok.

Piper/Mia was an ok squash.

The Sami/Cody segment was good. Cody's promo from this well was way the fuck better which is kind of amazing since he was almost completely trying to sell another wrestler. This definitely killed any sort of Sami/Roman stuff for Wrestlemania. We are either getting the impossible with Sami winning on Saturday or the Sami/Owens vs. Usos match some have guessed. Kind of disappointed but unsurprised. 

Corbin's segment leading into an impromptu ass kicking from Cody was good. 

The 6-women tag was fine.

Reed/Ali was a solid squash.

Bianca vs. Becky vs. Bayley was solid. Dug everyone out for themselves and there were some fun spots. Didn't think the EC participants coming out was necessary, but I dug the big spot it set up. 

[Dolfan in NYC]

Œtīs

 

[Greggulator]

I really loved the Cody/Sami segment. I hated hated hated Cody's stuff last week. But this week was pretty great. It was such an awesome juxtaposition of the Cody and Sami characters. Cody is cool and new and confident. But he's self-aware enough to know that he's returned while an epic tale is unfolding, but his journey is what's most important to him. Sami's wearing a hoodie and anxious and looks like a mess. He has seen The Bloodline first-hand and watched (and helped) Roman wreck whoever has stepped in his path.

Sami's not cool. He hasn't been a confident person (hence why he feels the need to find a family.) And him seeking a pep talk from someone like Cody while also warning Cody was spot on. And no matter what happens, Sami's the one who put the crack in the foundation and will always have that victory. 

I think this served an awesome purpose in tying in the two unfolding stories. It did so in a really artful way without being ham-fisted. We don't know how the stories will fully intertwine -- it could be a relay race where Sami loses and hands the baton off to Cody to finish the job against Roman. Or it could end up as a triple threat between the three men. 

And Cody believing in Sami also plants in the seeds for the audience that maybe, just maybe, Sami has a damn chance on Saturday. 

Man, I am friggin' pumped for Saturday. It's such a cliffhanger. Does Sami maybe do it? Does Jey leave Roman's grasp or does he go crawling back?. Does KO return to save Sami from The Bloodline's beatdown of Sami? Does Cody somehow find himself involved? 

[The Natural]

 

[jaedmc]

Cody doesn't always hit home runs, but when he does they're grand slams. That segment was absolutely great. My whole family is riveted by this whole story line.

I love that Sami is still neurotic and awkward, and the audience is still like "That's our guy."

Cody has a real problem coming back to win the Rumble, because he honestly didn't have the crowd momentum to see him main event Wrestlemania. Yeah he had the Hell in a Cell performance and Royal Rumble win, but he was still way behind Sami in terms of who the crowd wants to see challenge for the title. This promo changed all of it.

By putting these two together, it sold every option as a good option. Roman vs. Cody? Fine. Sami vs. Cody? fine. Roman/Sami/Cody triple threat? Fine. Honestly I don't know if Roman can beat Sami in one match and this be over, so I feel like the triple threat route is the most likely.

I don't think WWE knows which option they're doing yet, but unlike the past I don't feel like it's slapdash shit, by someone who can't make up their mind. It feels much more playful and improvised, like they're discovering new ways to make it awesome. Cody felt like he was going to muck it up, but now he's managed to amplify everything.

Best story in WWE history.

[Pete]

Sami winning just isn't in the cards anymore. Even if he beats Reigns at EC, the only logical outcomes from that would be Reigns regaining the title on Night 1 and losing to Cody on Night 2, or a triple threat with Cody winning... and I can't see them switching the belt(s) twice in one month, much less a hot potato two nights in a row.

That said, I could totally see Reigns escaping by the skin of his teeth at EC but getting injured in the process. Say he goes for the spear only for Sami to rock his shoulder/arm/elbow with a nasty chairshot... something nice and visceral to make everyone think Cody has a real chance now. And Reigns tries to play it off as nothing serious, but he's really good at the subtleties and can totally pull off "more badly hurt than people think... and now they're thinking it."

[peterien]

Cody is the biggest carny I have ever seen but…..…I believe that Sami has a chance on Saturday because of him. 

God damn you Cody. 

[Nineteen]

"I think your brother is a joke." I mean Dustin doesn't work here but okay Corbin

"I think your dad is a joke." Cheap heat on Dusty, I guess that's a little better

"I think your dog is a joke." Holy shit did he take a dig at Pharaoh? Just wish he would have capped it off with "AND RACISM HASN'T GONE AWAY EITHER, CODY."

We need more faces like Sami, willing to play up their insecurities and doubts. There's this cynical long time WWE fan in me is like "they can't not do Roman at 'mania... right?" But.... for as much as I hate when WWE tries to over push a line, there is a story to be finished here.

I'm... weirdly hyped for Saturday.

Also, Asuka is the fucking best.

[Octopus]

6 hours ago, jaedmc said:

 

By putting these two together, it sold every option as a good option. Roman vs. Cody? Fine. Sami vs. Cody? fine. Roman/Sami/Cody triple threat? Fine.

 

Wrestlemania 2000 style Fatal Four-way: An Anoa’i in every corner.

Cody w/ The Rock

Roman w/ Rikishi (heel turn)

Sami w/ Tamina?

Jey w/ Jimmy

[dogwelder]

 

[FireThunder]

Curse you and your nimble fingers, Dogwelder!

"One night without cameras, Dom..."

 

Edited February 15, 2023 by FireThunder

[Dolfan in NYC]

Bring me your finest champagne and finest chicken fingers.  

perfection.

[DJ Hero Morganti]

He should of gone with the dangerous minds "can I have the chicken, a whole one?"

[Rev Ray]

I want a holiday video every day for dom and rhea.   Including arbor day.

[DEAN]

It's gonna be a long night of wrestling- a very long DARK, NWA, NXT and THEN the new MLW on REELZ.  Luckily for me, I love pro wrestling!  Let's hope I can stay caught up!  It's Grayson Waller and Tyler Bate.  Is Waller more like Bate, a grizzled veteran who happened to have gotten caught up in the NXT system because he wasn't American? He is polished like the British contigent though I know he is Australian.  Both of these dudes command the ring like Ric Flair.  Man, Waller is good.  He is the Ted DiBiase of NXT.  Bate hits a ginormous Airplane Spin!  It's 1974!  A lotta fun nearfalls, many involving Waller CHEATING!  Bate wins the battle of roll-ups!  That was good.  It's Tiffany Stratton taking on Thea Hail.  Stratton is laying it in as Hail is mid-angle.  Nice Moonsault by Stratton.  Much more of an angle than a match.  It's AXIOM versus Damen Kemp, the most Steiner of the NXT.  AXIOM is dynamic and shit but Kempo goes total Scott Steiner and he is waaaaay more fun to watch.  AXIOM leans waaay into a Lariat to set up a GREAT German Suplex.  AXIOM is slick and polished but Kemo should have gone over.  He is awesome.  Wes Lee and Von Wagner have a wrestling match.  Wagner is good.  Lee is wrestling for five in this.  Wagner starts beating on Lee and the crowd gets behind Lee's STRUGGLE to escape the lumbering power offense of Von Wagner. Huh!  Lee wins pretty quickly.  Odd.  Hank Walker and Charlie Dempsey have at it.  They flail around early.  Walker with the Fujiwara Armbar!  Dempsey counters and applies a QUASI- Regal Stretch!  POSTMATCH!  Gulak leaves with Dempsey!  WHAAA?  IT's Kaitlan Carter and Katana Chance!  IT'S MEIKO SATOMURA!  Satomura was made by Akira Hokuto who put her over in the greatest match in the history of GAEA in 2000.  Chance and Perez are all athletic and shit.  Man, Satomura is so much more intense than anything else on this show.  Roxanne PErez becomes our face in peril while we are in picture in picture!  Oh man, Meiko is so much more real than anybody else in this.  That was good!  Kaitlan Carter and Meiko Satomura would be a fun match.  WHOA!  SATOMURA vs PEREZ!!  That'll be good.  

[Eivion]

Waller/Bate was good. Dug the finish with Waller's cheating finally backfiring on him. Curious where the angle with HBK is supposed to be going since there is no way in hell Shawn is doing an NXT match. 

Dug Jacy's segment even if it could have been a minute or two shorter. If she can step it up in the ring she will go far.

Stratton/Thea was mostly an angle, but the actual wrestling had some neat stuff. I do like how Thea is actually feeling scared and tortured by whatever shit Schism put her through. 

Axiom/Kemp was good fun. Kemp was a total suplex machine and looked great. 

Wagner/Lee was short but good while it lasted. Dug the strong finish for Lee. 

Dempsey/Walker was too short. I did like the post match angle with Gulak walking out with Dempsey. 

Roxanne/Meiko vs. Chance/Carter was good. KC2 showed great teamwork to take control whenever Roxanne as in. Dug Meiko being a house of power/fire that could take the match back any time she stepped back in. I'm with DEAN that she was noticeably on another level with how hard, quick, and smooth she was with everything. Looking forward to a rematch between Meiko and Roxanne. 

8 hours ago, DEAN said:

Kaitlan Carter and Meiko Satomura would be a fun match. 

Kayden. They wrestled in the third match of the second Mae Young Classic. You should check those tournaments out if you haven't already. They had a lot of participants you're fond of like Toni Storm, Io Shirai, Kairi, Meiko Satomura, Hiroyo Matsumoto, Rhea Ripley, Mercedes Martinez, Serena Deeb, Tegan Nox, etc.

Edited February 15, 2023 by Eivion

[Kang]

Too bad Bron and Boogs aren't a tag team.

Looking forward to Bron's match against WWE legend Jinder Mahal. Gtg.

[Greggulator]

Charlie Dempsey is so great. He is such a mean, nasty little prick. You can tell he has learned a lot from his dad in terms of presentation and how to express himself and how to make everything look like a struggle. He probably needs to tone it down 5-10% to make it look more authentic but that is a great problem to have for someone that young. Dude is a star. 

[HumanChessgame]

All the in-ring stuff was varying degrees of good. I don't think the roster is as good as peak NXT in 2015/2016 but there are a lot of (mostly) home grown guys who have a ton of potential. I'd rather see Dempsey and Gulak in a feud with eachother, but I'm interested to see where they go from here as I can tell they're two guys who want to work together. I'm not wild about Axiom's gimmick and he really needs a new finisher, but the former A-Kid is really good. The remnants of NXT UK are all finding their niches too.

The out of the ring stuff though...woof. Jacy isn't bad but she was definitely the least talented of Toxic Attraction. That angle with Briggs and Jensen was embarrassingly bad.

[Doc Townsend]

9 hours ago, Eivion said:

Curious where the angle with HBK is supposed to be going since there is no way in hell Shawn is doing an NXT match. 

I’m not really into Waller or the angle, but, yeah, I’m curious despite myself.  It feels like they’re building to Shawn-Grayson but that’s probably out of the question, so I dunno what the payoff is going to be.

Ok show, but I’m not really into NXT right now aside from the NXT UK crew.  Pretty Deadly steal every segment they’re in and I’ll definitely show up for Dragunov, McDonagh and Bates.  I think I’ll enjoy Bron on the main roster but he really does just seem to be treading water here.  Jinder is probably not the right guy to lead Bron to better matches.

The Briggs-Jensen-Henley-James stuff is so silly it’s growing on me just a little.  It in no way needed as much time as it’s gotten already though.  Hopefully Jensen finally loses his virginity at the next PLE and they move on.

i think Jacy and Gigi both flounder without Toxic Attraction. 

 

[Ramo2653]

The general rumor/thought is that Waller ends up facing Dragon Lee at Stand Deliver as Shawn get fed up. Kind of like how Breeze used to get under Regal's skin and ended up facing Liger.

For whatever reason they threw off the timing of Melo/Bron so it seems like Bron has been treading water since the fall. I say this a lot but it's a feature/big of the group, guys will come off as stale eventually so you have to figure out something for them or call them up. 

Having the UK holdovers stay as the vet hands is a really good move on their end, keeps some folks around that know what they're doing and it gives us better matches.

Dean, Waller is apparently 32(!) and has been wrestling since 2017. That explains a lot. Call that man up!