WWE TV - 8/12/2024 - 8/18/2024 - RKO More Words

[Eivion]

5 hours ago, Dolfan in NYC said:

SRS is reporting that (though not confirmed) that Jacob Fatu's injury is a work.  

The theory is it's cover for him not being allowed to enter Germany.  

(You know, him being banned from the EU makes me think he's more terrifying than ever)

Is he stilled banned from the EU?

Honestly, I suspect its more of a 50/50 deal where he legit got hurt, but it wasn't a serious injury like initially feared. You kind of know a wrestler is in pain when they start throwing out random expletives after a bad bump. 

[odessasteps]

Doesn’t him not being allowed to enter the country just enhance his gimmick? 

[Ramo2653]

Catching up on NXT so I don't have a ton of thoughts right now except congrats to Kelly Kincaid and Elton Prince on the pending child. I thought it might have just been an awful dress on her last week but this week confirmed it.

[Phantom Lord]

I watched most of NXT tonight which is rare since I don't usually do that. Mostly wanted to see Obi vs. Otis and I wasn't disappointed with that hoss fest. The Dempsey/D'Angelo match was really good. I figured there would be shenanigans to allow Dempsey to win again and there were. Dempsey is really good and you can see shades of his dad's comedic timing in those backstage segments.

The main event tag was really good. I find myself rooting for CHASE U and I'm glad they won. I still get nervous watching Ridge Holland throw guys with overhead suplexes though.

Pretty good show tonight.

[Eivion]

The Hendry/Page segment was solid. 

Tony D vs. Dempsey was good. Love when these two go at it. They have good chemistry and Tony always falls back on some of his amateur skills. Glad Dempsey won and I dug the finish.

Thorpe/King was fine while it lasted. I assume this is leading to a third match which actually gets time because it has been weird how short their matches have been so far despite showing solid chemistry with each other.

Lola/Tatum was another nice while it lasted type of match, but it was more about further pushing the Wendy/Kelani angle by the end. I do kind of like Lola reaching out to Tatum in ways others haven't so far earlier in the show and after the match.

Wes's promo was going fine before the eventual brawl with Dunne and Hendry broke out. I get setting up a 3-way for the no. 1 contender's spot, but it felt weird to do so after Wes laid out the challenge to Wentz at No Mercy.

Oba/Otis was fun hoss style match with plenty of clubbering and a few big bombs to stand out.

Dame/Reece was a nice showcase for both women. Its a pity neither seems to have much direction at the moment.

Chase/Ridge vs. Axiom/Frazer was damn good and an excellent match to end Axiom and Frazer's reign on. 

Tony/Dempsey, Oba/Otis, and Chase U vs. Aximo/Frazer were the standout matches of the night. That tag title match was another fine addition to the number of good-great NXT tag titles matches this year. Glad to see Chase U as champs again and that it was won clean. Chase U may be the goofiest gimmick in NXT, but there is always a goofball charm there that makes them fun to watch and easy to pull for. The build for No Mercy was in full effect tonight and mostly solid. Still, I have to admit while I like Page well enough I don't buy him in the top spot of even a smaller place like NXT. He just doesn't have to aura recent past champs like Bron, Ilja, Hayes, or Trick have. Curious to see how long they plan to run with him as champ as it feels more and more noticeable each week. Pretty solid show overall.

Edited August 14, 2024 by Eivion

[Curt McGirt]

Re: Sami/Bron, though there were a couple, I think Sami should have taken a page out of Darby's playbook and really leaned into trying to get pins via victory roll, small package, O'Connor roll, whatever. If they'd been able to stretch it out that would have probably been the gameplan. 

EDIT: It is kinda strange having a 2/3 Falls match being worked like a sprint, innit? Especially with Cole announcing that it was "SUDDEN DEATH!" in the third fall the whole time. Kinda reminds of the Rude/Steamboat Iron Man having time limit falls when you expect an Iron Man match to be... you know... an Iron Man match, where guys go as long as they can.

Edited August 14, 2024 by Curt McGirt

[dogwelder]

And now for your weekly DIY:

 

[Cliff Hanger]

I hate that we are still waiting on #1 contender matches for No Mercy. We should have had at least 2-3 matches start their build.

I feel like Perez needs a fairly strong babyface foe given she's not a great heel. Sol Ruca is the obvious choice by that metric, but she just lost a North American title match. Sinclair is in a weird place as she bulls the NQCC into doing things her way and I have no idea how to "take" her antics, but that'd be the best match of the 6 options if she works face. Parker, Gray, Petrovic and Rizzo aren't ready for a long title match, but if you block out the first 2 I go with Parker and just turn her face.

The men's world title build is weird; one face and two heels vying to take on a heel champ, and both of the heels have grudgier matches on the stove (Lee/Wentz and Dunne/Williams.) So Page/Hendry is the obvious choice, and it'll probably be fun as hell. I don't see Hendry winning yet, but it's gonna happen eventually.

Jordan/Choo feels like it's gonna be Jordan's first multi-month feud and I hope they both rise to the occasion.

Hank and Tank are ridiculous cartoon people and I want great things for them.

[The Natural]

6 hours ago, dogwelder said:

And now for your weekly DIY:

 

Throwback:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_Gkrq7-CEKE&t=44s&pp=2AEskAIBygUMR2xvcmlvdXMgZGl5

[Eivion]

The Nia/Tiffany celebration was alright but mostly served as a solid continuation to Nia's feud with Yim.

Andrade/Hayes was another good match in probably had the hottest crowd for this matchup yet. Hayes winning wasn't surprising, but him winning clean was. I assume the flash pin and post match brawl caused by Hayes being a cocky asshole meas next time we finally get a stip. Guessing its either Iron man or 2/3 falls.

Naomi/Blair felt a bit off at times but was mostly decent. Another surprising clean win for a heel.

Owens/Waller was a fun showcase for Owens with him getting pushed a bit closer to the bastard Owens of old.

Street Profits vs. DIY was pretty damn good with the crowd molten for most of it. Glad the Profits won.

The Roman/Solo segment was a solid move forward with Solo getting one over on Roman with Jacob's return. Jacob being in a boot seems to confirm my theory that he was hurt but not as injured as feared. Still not sure he should actually be wrestling, but I guess we will see how next week goes.

Pretty solid show overall. Andrade/Hayes III is well worth a watch and Profits/DOY is pretty close to a must see. Its been good to see tag teams getting slightly better focus and chances to impress the past couple of months on the main roster. Hopefully it continues.

[Greggulator]

Not sure what I want more: KO to revert to the darkside or for KO and Cody to have their own Piper/Bret or Sami/Neville where he does the right thing and doesn’t cheat in taking the loss.

We are so lucky to have KO and Sami as the anchors on each show — neither is the absolute top guy, but they both are so important at telling stories or having a sense of humor and getting everything over while also having high-end matches. KO interacting with the most pure babyface in Cody is such a great idea to see where it heads. 

[The Natural]

14 minutes ago, Greggulator said:

Not sure what I want more: KO to revert to the darkside or for KO and Cody to have their own Piper/Bret or Sami/Neville where he does the right thing and doesn’t cheat in taking the loss.

The latter would be refreshing for Kevin Owens. I like having him as a babyface, he's been mostly heel in WWE.

[Iron Moose]

Meanwhile, on LVL UP:

Mark Coffey d. Cutler James, the former being One Of Gallus and the latter being ... a neighbor? He's got "Hi neighbor!" on his trunks, and at one moment he gets Coffey in a wheelbarrow, and mimes pulling a cord as if starting a lawnmower, the crowd dutifully joining in with a "mow his lawn" chant. The match is unremarkable but competent the whole way through.

Promo segment with Cutler in the locker room; promo segment with Leyla Diggs and Rizzo being interrupted by Izzi Dame, with a fun bit of Rizzo telling Dame to "pick on someone your own size" and then gesturing for Diggs to stand behind her and lift her up.

Adriana Rizzo d. Izzi Dame, laid out very smartly to let Rizzo look plausible working around Dame's size advantage. I'm not going to say Rizzo is a secret superworker but she does a lot of little things well, implying a thoughtfulness surprising given her relative inexperience.

 

For the upcoming women's gauntlet... it's tough to call, but I think we're up for Sinclair/Rizzo being mutually eliminated to keep NQCC/Family beef simmering, Parker following to pull OTM into either the NQCC or Family orbit, and then... both Petrovic and Ruca are occupied with Fallon/Jacy/Jazmyn, so a shock Grey win? Or a non-finish to get it into a 3-way...

[Cliff Hanger]

4 hours ago, Iron Moose said:

Meanwhile, on LVL UP:

Mark Coffey d. Cutler James, the former being One Of Gallus and the latter being ... a neighbor? He's got "Hi neighbor!" on his trunks, and at one moment he gets Coffey in a wheelbarrow, and mimes pulling a cord as if starting a lawnmower, the crowd dutifully joining in with a "mow his lawn" chant. The match is unremarkable but competent the whole way through.

I really want to know why the show was 10 minutes shorter than usual and had no ad breaks. Not that I feel "shorted" but something must have happened.

 

So Cutler James has been around since early spring, and his gimmick has been aw-shucks small-town boy makes good. His promos were all about how Orlando was the big city but he wanted NXT to become a community like the one he grew up in, and the trunks he had before this week were royal blue with a fuckin' white picket fence and mailbox on them. I viscerally hate him almost entirely because of my own emotional baggage around the picket-fence bullshit and my family all being exurb-dwellers who talk shit about Big Cities and try to convince me I'd be happier in a place with no transit. The wheelbarrow spot was cute though. 

Quote

For the upcoming women's gauntlet... it's tough to call, but I think we're up for Sinclair/Rizzo being mutually eliminated to keep NQCC/Family beef simmering, Parker following to pull OTM into either the NQCC or Family orbit, and then... both Petrovic and Ruca are occupied with Fallon/Jacy/Jazmyn, so a shock Grey win? 

NO. I have been talking Gray up as a future star since her first LVLUP match in like April, but she is ABSOLUTELY not ready for a 15+ minute match with Perez in front of a huge, strange crowd. If she keeps improving this fast, and gets a little more personality and confidence when speaking, she'll be ready for a big singles match by SAD, but she should probably have an actual angle before she's expected to carry half of the biggest women's match on a PLE, even with Roxy (who is my favorite person on NXT but is still swimming upstream as a heel)

Edited August 18, 2024 by Cliff Hanger
I said the same thing 3 times and deleted 2

[Iron Moose]

11 hours ago, Cliff Hanger said:

NO. I have been talking Gray up as a future star since her first LVLUP match in like April, but she is ABSOLUTELY not ready for a 15+ minute match with Perez in front of a huge, strange crowd. If she keeps improving this fast, and gets a little more personality and confidence when speaking, she'll be ready for a big singles match by SAD, but she should probably have an actual angle before she's expected to carry half of the biggest women's match on a PLE, even with Roxy (who is my favorite person on NXT but is still swimming upstream as a heel)

... we don't disagree. I'm not saying that I think a shock Grey win is a good idea, I'm saying that it's not impossible given the story ties around all the other people in the match. At minimum I'd expect whoever ends up on the PLE to have established a finishing move.

The bits I went through are all going to be things on my mind as the match happens, and part of the appeal is in wondering how they'll be handled, if at all. For actual outcome I think Ruca* and Parker are the favorites, then Wren and something wonky to make it a multi-person, and then Petrovic, Kendal and Rizzo.

* with the caveat that Ruca might be hurt more than Parker by losing to Roxy.

[Peck]

11 hours ago, Cliff Hanger said:

I really want to know why the show was 10 minutes shorter than usual and had no ad breaks. Not that I feel "shorted" but something must have happened.

I believe they taped multiple shows in the same night so there's just been two matches instead of three.