The Natural Posted June 5 Posted June 5 (edited) 22 minutes ago, Log said: Is Gunther on Smackdown? Taking the boy to see it live Friday and hoping to get to see him. RAW unfortunately. Hopefully Gunther will be there for you. Got lucky seeing him as WALTER vs. Cesaro in a dream match at a house show as he rarely did them then. Have a good time! Edited June 5 by The Natural 1
blitzkrieg Posted June 5 Posted June 5 Definitely feels a slight bit like a bigger shift for NXT is coming post-Battleground. Ethan Page's point about the losing of talent to the main rosters and the building to the move to CW feel like they're ringing true. Nice to see that Wendy Choo is getting a gimmick refresh with her return next week. Will be interesting to see exactly where they go with that. Chen/King in a Singapore Cane match is definitely interesting because of the fact they're using the phrase "Singapore Cane" and not the more common "Kendo Stick." I'm sure it's partially because Chen is from Singapore but I also have to wonder if some people have been watching old Dreamer/Sandman matches for inspiration. I was wondering if TNA could end up being a nice place to send talent that isn't going benefit from Level Up but could benefit from in-ring time with more experienced wrestlers. Sort of like New Japan's Young Lion excursions. 1
NikoBaltimore Posted June 5 Posted June 5 5 hours ago, Dolfan in NYC said: I lost count how many times since I was laughing so hard. And my wife fucking lost it while watching it a few times herself. Holy fuck. What isn't shown in that clip is that he's laying there for about 45 seconds until his friend fans him with his hat which revived the guy. That was treeeeeeemendous. Also, shout out to the NXT regulars that go there and add so much to the show. While they can be creepy with things Jaden related they're super into NXT and I sense they feel the appreciation from the talent/staff. The idea of a studio show seems like a thing of the past but NXT has managed to pull that off quite nicely so good for them. 1
odessasteps Posted June 5 Posted June 5 2 hours ago, blitzkrieg said: Definitely feels a slight bit like a bigger shift for NXT is coming post-Battleground. Ethan Page's point about the losing of talent to the main rosters and the building to the move to CW feel like they're ringing true. Nice to see that Wendy Choo is getting a gimmick refresh with her return next week. Will be interesting to see exactly where they go with that. Chen/King in a Singapore Cane match is definitely interesting because of the fact they're using the phrase "Singapore Cane" and not the more common "Kendo Stick." I'm sure it's partially because Chen is from Singapore but I also have to wonder if some people have been watching old Dreamer/Sandman matches for inspiration. I was wondering if TNA could end up being a nice place to send talent that isn't going benefit from Level Up but could benefit from in-ring time with more experienced wrestlers. Sort of like New Japan's Young Lion excursions. Plus, Singapore Cane is back in zeitgeist thanks to Dark Side Sandman episode.
Iron Moose Posted June 6 Posted June 6 20 hours ago, Eivion said: The NA Women's title summit was the usual everyone eventually harping at each other but served well as a build in for the 6-woman tag later in the show. Dug the later backstage stuff with Mia, Grace, Arianna, Sol, Tatum, and Jaida all interacting. The Inside Look for Shayna/Lola was neat. Was fun to see Barnett backing Shayna. Thea/Jazmyn was a mixed bag. Thea looked good for most of it, but there were times where she and Nyx just seemed off with each other. Its a pity since it started out well. Kind of dug the finish though I don't think Nyx should have won. Quick notes on this: - the Shayna/Lola video package was excellent and the kind of thing that works to hook new viewers. I hope they give them both big entrance entourages. (I wonder about how tight the ring crew will have to be on a show in a small venue with both a ladder match and an underground match along with a bunch of regular ones. ) - I thought Thea/Jazmyn was a really good, dominant performance from Thea that wasn't quite gelling with what Nyx was laying down. I regret this was Yet Another Thea Loss Due To Chase U Immaturity and am surprised they held Jacy returning back to the six-woman. It could have worked either other way - Jacy showing up here would work equally well as distracting either Thea or Jazmyn, with a bonus of giving us more of a hint of Nyx as a character. I get that she's sneaky and doesn't think much of Chase U, but like ... that's not enough. - As aired, Ariana goes "You and I have the same name, but we're not related" and Jordynne replies "Wow, what a coincidence. " Jordynne's line works way better after "same name" to let Jordynne block her with wow etc, before Ariana continues with her "although everyone does know me, how could you not?" - One the six-woman - brilliant chaos mixing up the faces and heels. Lash tagging in and then picking up Kelani and putting her on the apron was a great bit of work, and Jaida's sass was prominent throughout. Did Kelani hit Jaida with a Shoot Angle Slam? Fallon still feels a bit inauthentic as a heel, and the bit where Lash was holding Michin down on the rope for Fallon's punch seemed like a bit of misconnunication, because holding the rope down narrows the space for Fallon to go through. Jaida's reverse suplex on Kelani looked fantastic. Fallon cutting off Sol's rally with a straight punch was neat. - Sol and Kelani both seemed a bit withdrawn in both the promo and the match, which I hope is intentional on their parts rather than a consequence of injury or illness. Sol has previously interjected more, even if she's on basically good terms with everyone. In this case, Booker set her up with "you may be a little out of your element in a match like this" but instead of building on that with something like "cool in the chaos is my element" or "the sky is my element" she just wraps with "five snols [sic] will be snatched on Sunday"... and then, after hitting Lash with it at the end of the tag, neglects to show us that it's one down, four to go. (yeah, I'm having a really rough week. ) 2
The Natural Posted June 7 Posted June 7 Enjoy Smackdown, Log and Little Log. Look forward to your road report. 1
Eivion Posted June 8 Posted June 8 The Bloodline anointment ceremony was nothing special but pretty decent overall and a nice setup for the 6-man tag main event. I continue to like how fearful of the current Bloodline Heyman is. Bianca/Jade vs. Indi/Candice was alright with some fun moments before the end came. This was more about the post match with Shayna/Zoey and Unholy Union attacking Bianca and Jade again. Was pleased to see Bianca and Jade actually make the successful comeback by the end. The triple threat for Clash was finally made official backstage. Gargano/Waller was solid. Kind of surprised to see them teasing A-Town Down Under breaking up already, but I'm also ok with it if they go that route. I'd rather see DIY, Street Profits, or G.o.D as champs. The setup for Hayes/Knight was fun. The actual match itself pretty solid. I like how Hayes is just too cocky for his own good in these bigger matches every time. The Cody/AJ segment was good and simple. Nice dick moment for AJ and the match for Clash is official. I like them going the I Quit route based on how this feud has been building. The Bayley/Piper segment was nice. I dug Piper eventually speaking for herself and hyping up her pre-WWE accolades. Bayley may respect Poper, but Piper has no need for it. Have to say the Piper/Chelsea grouping has been way better for both long term than I ever would have guessed when they teamed up randomly year or so ago. I'm glad they are giving both some singles pushing while still keeping them together. Bloodline vs. KO/Profits was another solid match up until the DQ and post match beatdown. I actually dug the ending as another good heel moment for Solo's Bloodline. No standout matches though everything was at least decent. Probably enjoyed Hayes/Knight the most. Segments were decent-solid ith Clash at the Castle really starting to take full shape beyond Priest/Drew. Solid show. 4
caley Posted June 8 Posted June 8 I have to say, I've drifted away from watching WWE shows, for the most part, the last few months, but I ALWAYS wait for @eivion 's write-ups for these shows to see if there's anything I NEED to go back and see and want to thank you for doing them! 9
Johnny Sorrow Posted June 8 Posted June 8 SD was really well done tonight. Everything made sense, moved stories along, and the matches were good. 2
Log Posted June 8 Posted June 8 On 6/7/2024 at 1:32 AM, The Natural said: Enjoy Smackdown, Log and Little Log. Look forward to your road report. Wish I had more of a Road Report. Had to rush home from work, get some kids fed and get down to the show since my wife was traveling for work. Little dude had a great time. He got to see everyone he wanted to see: Cody, Knight and Mysterio (dark match). Wasn’t too happy with him when he yelled, “Beat the shit out of him!” to Kevin Owens, but the people around us were amused. For me, the highlight was Ciampa/Andrade in one of those Twitter matches. They stiffed the ever loving shit out of each other for two minutes. Ciampa got his nose busted up good on an elbow. Andrade/Ricochet had one of those matches later and it was ok. Cool concept with the short time limit, but they just worked it like a shorter, normal match. Seems like there is something. There for guys to get creative with if they choose to, though. Actual Smackdown was fine. I was impressed with Carmelo Hayes. Still don’t get the appeal of LA Knight. Nothing else in the show made me want to tune in next week. 1 2
Curt McGirt Posted June 8 Posted June 8 Quote Wasn’t too happy with him when he yelled, “Beat the shit out of him!” to Kevin Owens, but the people around us were amused. 55 minutes ago, Log said: They stiffed the ever loving shit out of each other for two minutes. "I learned it from watching you!" 1 3
The Natural Posted June 8 Posted June 8 1 hour ago, Log said: Wish I had more of a Road Report. Had to rush home from work, get some kids fed and get down to the show since my wife was traveling for work. Little dude had a great time. He got to see everyone he wanted to see: Cody, Knight and Mysterio (dark match). Wasn’t too happy with him when he yelled, “Beat the shit out of him!” to Kevin Owens, but the people around us were amused. For me, the highlight was Ciampa/Andrade in one of those Twitter matches. They stiffed the ever loving shit out of each other for two minutes. Ciampa got his nose busted up good on an elbow. Andrade/Ricochet had one of those matches later and it was ok. Cool concept with the short time limit, but they just worked it like a shorter, normal match. Seems like there is something. There for guys to get creative with if they choose to, though. Actual Smackdown was fine. I was impressed with Carmelo Hayes. Still don’t get the appeal of LA Knight. Nothing else in the show made me want to tune in next week. Like Father, like Son! Cheers, mate for your post. 1
Iron Moose Posted June 8 Posted June 8 (edited) Meanwhile, on LVL UP: Tank Ledger (w/Hank Walker is still injured) d. Tavion Heights. Tavion is noted as a former olympian while he makes his entrance. Heights in long black tights and white boots with bold silver veins running down them; Ledger in cutoff khaki shorts. Both these guys are alright, the crowd favors Tank. They run through some basic collar and elbow, headlock takeover stuff, with Tank measuring up to Heights surprisingly well... until Tank hits a standing Splash, followed by two Stinger Splashes. Tavion takes a moment to look annoyed with himself before responding with a very overhead throw, not even leaving his feet to do so. Tank pauses to regroup outside and Heights takes over with some waistlocks. Announcers mention that Tavion finds solace in fishing, and a few moments later express relief that Hank isn't Chad Gable. Tank builds momentum with some shoulderblocks and ... I think an atomic drop (!) before winning with a Bubba Bomb. This was technically fine, but I think it was compromised by not having enough of a story, either before or emergent through the ring work. Adriana Rizzo (w/Stacks & Luca) d. Wren Sinclair. Preceded by a brief and competent promo from Wren, the highlight of which is the interviewer high-fiving her after she high-fives herself. Sinclair's ring attire is an aesthetic improvement from her one-legged addidas look, but kind of devoid of character - very dark blue with pink, overlaid with gold stripes and wrapping around one leg, kind of a Statlander-meets-Natalya vibe. The announcers tell us she is wearing Gryffindor socks. Rizzo is in dark green velvet or velour with white stripes and gold trim. The crowd makes a stereotypical italian hand gesture and she makes a show of taking off her earrings as she enters; announcers note that it is Rizzo's third-ever televised match. Rizzo starts off by high-fiving Sinclair, who makes an appreciative face, and goes for the leg. They struggle for a moment with a wristlock, but when Sinclair rolls to escape, Rizzo rolls parallel and keeps the hold on. This forms the theme for the next few moments, Wren trying to roll out of a hold and Rizzo keeping grip. Wren eventually tries to kick her way out of a wristlock, but Rizzo catches the leg, goes under, and replies with a single-leg trip. The pace gets a bit start-and-stop as they struggle over a backslide and eventually an abdominal stretch. Rizzo has a nice moment of pushing back off the bottom rope to reverse a pin attempt, and wins with what looks like a Molly Go Round from a standing position to a seated opponent - apparently this is "A Taste Of Risotto". She helps Wren up after the win and Wren joins in on the italian hand gesture. Rizzo shows great promise and the clinging parallelism of the first half worked as character shorthand - that there wasn't bad blood between the two, but that Rizzo wanted to keep Wren down rather than have to go for big hits of her own. Sinclair continues to keep things together well. Chase U (Duke Hudson & Riley Osborne) d. Javier Bernal & Drake Morreaux. Morreaux earns goodwill by not bumping too big for hits from Riley. Duke's aggression towards Morreaux feels a bit unearned, but he has a great looking bodyslam and two fun bits of picking Riley up and throwing him on people. Riley returns as FIP, and this is smartly keeping Duke and Drake apart until the end. "Big Duke Energy" is a great smarmy catchphrase just tossed out by the announcers, but I think there's something there. Crowd actually starts booing Hudson as he finally starts in on Morreaux. Riley does an amazing dive to occupy Bernal while Hudson pins Morreaux with a reverse DDT. Riley might have hurt Bernal's ankle by landing on it with that the dive. This was fun, but muted a bit by the emotional stakes of all the other Chase U stories not being involved. Edited June 8 by Iron Moose
Iron Moose Posted June 8 Posted June 8 20 minutes ago, Iron Moose said: Riley does an amazing dive to occupy Bernal while Hudson pins Morreaux with a reverse DDT. Riley might have hurt Bernal's ankle by landing on it with that the dive. This was fun, but muted a bit by the emotional stakes of all the other Chase U stories not being involved. Bernal announced on stream that he broke his foot in several places and expects to be out for six months. 2
hammerva Posted June 8 Posted June 8 (edited) I assume that the WWE knows that when Roman does come back he will be if not the #1 face in the company at least 1A. Solo calling himself the Head of the Table was like a molotov cocktail to the fans getting ready for him to return Although I would like one heel Reigns vs Rollins blowoff match Edited June 8 by hammerva 1
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