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WORLDS COLLIDE III - 1/25/2020


Dolfan in NYC

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You know how people make fun of Omega or whoever for making funny faces? Dragunov is 800 times worse. His wrestling is good, but holy fuck his emoting I'd God fucking awful. "Fail highschool dreams class" awful.
 

The tag and the main were both great. Fun show that didn't seem to have much of a point story wise.

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2 hours ago, Brian Fowler said:

Fun show that didn't seem to have much of a point story wise.


Particularly because there's a Takeover in three weeks. Also what was essentially a jobber match with Dragunov-Balor. Having Ilja "go the distance" with Balor doesn't do him any favors when every match in the company is laid out to go the distance.

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Really fun show, especially the main event. Yeah, there wasn't much of a story beyond a New Japan-esque faction battle for supremacy but I'm fine with that. Imperium looked like beasts, especially 3 on 4. Aichner muscling up that one guy for a brainbuster was rad and WALTER is amazing as always. Some awkwardness near the end but that's to be expected with one guy taken out of the equation. I'm honestly a little surprised they didn't call an audible and have UE go over since it didn't make them look especially strong but after DIY won I suspected the UK brand would win to tie things up.

Balor/Dragunov was good, but I get the criticisms of Ilja, he's wrestling like the fans are only in the nosebleeds. The cruiserweight title match was a banger too and good on Devlin for the win. That headbutt to Garza was dope. I'll have to rewatch Ripley/Storm and DIY/MM since I wasn't paying too much attention at that point in the night. From what I saw they were good but my interest in Gargano and Ciampa was massively waned since about mid-way through their feud. They need to separate those two for a while.

I mean, real talk, NXT is the best roster going right now in terms of in-ring talent. They don't always use that talent to the best of their ability but they also have to go way out of their way to put on a stinker, it's just sometimes hard to get invested. I never thought when this boom started that a WWE product would be the one I'd call on for more angles and characters but here we are. I need more of Nox and Kai brawling and less multi-person exhibitions, no matter how impressive their feats of acrobatics are.

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Was at the show last night. 

Everytime Walter got in the ring the entire atmosphere of the arena changed.  He came across as the biggest superstar in the company.  He's Brock Lesnar.  Book him accordingly, please.  I also thought Marcel Barthel had a phenomenal night since it looked like he had to wrestle for his part and for Wolfe's.  Despite having one of the most hateable faces, he was a passable Ricky Morton for a good stretch in that match. MOTYC.  Walter is incredible and should be winning the Royal Rumble. 

One thing I noticed was that everyone's chops were like the best chops they've ever thrown in their lives tonight.  Very crisp, very clean, very loud.  It's like they took it upon themselves and said, ""hey, Walter's gonna be on the card, better make sure my chops are good tonight, don't want to be shown up by Walter!"  Finn's and Roddy's were massive.  Even Aichner had a few that were ridiculous.  Give me Roddy vs. Walter one on one with a five+ minute chop battle like Kensuke Sasaki v. Kenta Kobashi. 

Felt like at the time it was a botch for Devlin to win the cruiserweight title.  It sure looked like Garza was going to break it up, he just got there late.  Post-match, not as much after Devlin got on the mic.  Maybe's Garza's timing is so good he could make it look that close.  That was a great match as well.  Wish Lio Rush was in this, though. 

Rhea v. Toni also seemed a little short and to the pointless.  Felt like they were told to go home early. 

Finn v. Dragonov didn't really do much for me.  Never really felt like Finn was in danger, and I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to be seeing in Dragonov the few times I've seen him.  Finn is great and he should be winning the Royal Rumble. 

Mustache Mountain v. DIY was good.  Mostly pointless.  I feel like Tyler Bate should be way better utilized, and he's one of the very best pure babyfaces they have.  Tyler is great and he should be winning the Royal Rumble. 

 

 

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For a guy who I was pretty 'meh' on a the start of 2019, Finn Balor has had a very good past 12 months in ring. Starting with that banger Lesnar match, really fun sprint with Lashley at Mania, perfectly executed heel turn, then terrific matches with Riddle, Lee/Ciampa 3way, Cole and now a really good match with Ilja, he's become one of my favourites in a short period of time. He's started laying his stuff in with more oomph and even his head locks look tightly locked in. 

Think the main event really highlighted how good Bartel and Aichner are, they looked very much on the level with everyone else in that match. As @Lawful Metal highlighted, a guy with that surly face shouldn't work as face-in-peril, but he really made it work. As for Aichner I don't know what was more impressive- muscling up the UE member on that throw-to-brainbuster that could have gone so wrong or the insane leap on his final dive before the finish. 

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1 minute ago, Sky Blue Sam said:

Think the main event really highlighted how good Bartel and Aichner are, they looked very much on the level with everyone else in that match. As @Lawful Metal highlighted, a guy with that surly face shouldn't work as face-in-peril, but he really made it work. As for Aichner I don't know what was more impressive- muscling up the UE member on that throw-to-brainbuster that could have gone so wrong or the insane leap on his final dive before the finish. 

Aichner was limping bad after that dive. Hope it’s not serious. 

and I don’t see how Imperium can be heels now. 

There were some idiots that tried to start a U.S.A. chant at the start of the main event, but shockingly didn’t seem to catch on. Maybe we as a fandom are putting that behind us?

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The Wolfe KO (concussion?) was unintentionally a great piece of storytelling if they're going for the Fall of UE angle over the next couple of months. Losing 4 on 3 is an even better note than just losing to Imperium. Walter's just showing off now going full babyface at the drop of a hat and turning into the most over guy on the show while doing it. I thought they'd work the match with UE more in the face role, but this worked even better. Barthel came out looking like a tough bastard too.

I assume the rest of UE will lose their titles in Portland and we get some kind of UE implodes match at Tampa.

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Strange decision to use the "we shall fight them on the beaches" speech in the opening montage of a show that was basically about (NXT) USA vs. (NXT) UK, especially considering that the UK team was represented by four German speaking wrestlers in the main event.

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19 hours ago, just drew said:

Also, it weirds me out how much WALTER looks like Farva from Super Troopers....

lol~!

I think he looks like a giant toddler.  And if you've been around a toddler, the thought of one with Walter's size/strength is terrifying.

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Aichner has the athleticism to be likeable, WALTER is a force of nature, but well done to Marcel Barthel for being so sympathetic when his gimmick is essentially "SS Captain from your favourite WWII film who dies near the beginning of the third act."

Dragunov is a weird one, because he fights like he ought to be Dave Mastiff's size. Match against Balor was about what we were all expecting

I love me some Trent Seven, but he didn't quite fit in with the other three in that match. Ciampa in full on Heel Mode vs. Trent would be fun, because he's basically the most likable guy in NXT UK; but with DIY Ciampa and Johnny Gargano, he looked out of place. Similarly, I rag on Toni Storm a lot, but I like her a hell of a lot more when she isn't the champion.

In conclusion, bit of a throw away show, but still fun, regardless.

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On 1/26/2020 at 10:41 AM, Godfrey said:

Balor/Dragunov was good, but I get the criticisms of Ilja, he's wrestling like the fans are only in the nosebleeds. 

He was playing to the nosebleeds at the Cowboys stadium over in Dallas.

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I watched the main event again, and I don't think it can be overstated how wide a margin adam cole is the worst performer in this match. He's surrounded by seven/six carnivores, who are all laying their shit in on a big stage, and he tags in, mounts Barthel, and throws a half dozen of the worst punches I've ever see, not a single one of which gets within four inches of it's alleged target. The rest of the match is more of the same, with cole doing his "homeless man's hbk" schtick while everyone else is bringing the fucking lumber. It also occurred to me that adam cole looks like a slightly less intimidating luke wilson. His head's WAYYY too big for his body, so much so that he looks like an Easter Island statue, and for some reason a small but vocal percentage of fans have just decided this dude is the next top guy. At least he didn't have to cut a promo before the match, because he can't do that either. I don't like any of the other UE guys, but they at least raised their game for this match. I know Cole is supposedly being mentored by Shawn Michaels, but that's about the last thing he needs. If I were him, I'd tell HBK never to speak to me again and beg Fit Finlay to take me under his wing.

 

Having said that, every time I watch this I become even more enamored with the Imperium guys. I did a deep dive of nxt UK at work the last two days, just watching old matches of theirs. Fabian Aichner is extremely my shit, and I love how unlikeable Barthel is. He's like the evil ski instructor in every alpine comedy ever. And I'd seen Alexander Wolfe before, but I'll also say that "the Dresden Hatchet Man" is a top-notch hook. Damn.

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2 hours ago, just drew said:

And I'd seen Alexander Wolfe before, but I'll also say that "the Dresden Hatchet Man" is a top-notch hook. Damn.

Have you seen the matches with Dragunov yet? Wolfe looks pretty good in them.

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