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Drew gets tipsay and watches random shit...


Just Dave

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Pretty self explanatory. I'm starting off with my favorite match of he last 12 months. Imperium vs. Undisputed Era. Damn this is quality. I had purposely avoided nXt and nXt UK for about eighteen months prior to this. I have zero desire to watch a promotion centered around indytastic midgets like UE, and I just don't have enough time for nXt UK. Well, holy shit. This is my introduction to WALTER, and I wish now I'd have made his acquaintance some time ago. This shit is SNUG. Stiff, even. This is a fantastic showdown, although Wolfe having to leave early due to injury is unfortunate. If I had to guess, I'd think Barthel did double duty in Wolfe's absence. Everything about Imperium is impressive to me. That entrance, the whole thing about "the ring being sacred." All their tags; The Ring Generale, the Italian Flying Tank, The Dresden Hatchet Man. Shit is all dope. All of it. Then there's the charisma vacuums on the opposite end of the ring. I know there are people who hold some of those guys in high regard around here, but damn. Maybe it's an act and I'm not picking up on it, but the whole pretentiousness bubble surrounding them just turns me off. Part of it is Kyle O'Reilly. I have actively despised him since that "respect!!!!" nonsense with Steel Davey Richards and the old guy. Gozinya? What's his name? Yeah. I don't do "wrestling is serious BIZNESS." I almost turned the match off during one spot where 5'5, 160 lb. KOR shakes off three forearms from WALTER, hulking up during them. The segment is saved, however, when WALTER chops the bejesus out of O'Reilly. 

Here's the other problem; seven of the guys in this matchup are carnivores, doing everything they can to maximize this opportunity in front of a huge crowd. As hard as I am on O'Reilly, he's at least laying it in with the Imperium guys and Roddy. Adam Cole is doing schtick while everyone around him is fighting for their lives. He throws a series of mounted punches on WALTER that are nowhere close. This guy is supposed to be the future? I don't see it. Maybe the future of 205 Live. Maybe. I understand that he used to be a big deal in Japan or ROH or something, but he's dwarfed by the Imperium guys and just looks so... common. Like, I'd pay to see all the Imperium guys before I'd pay to see him. Speaking of which, Barthel and Aichner have been a revelation. I am digging these guys. Barthel has this "head prison guard in 'the Dirty Dozen'" thing going. And Aichner is a sledgehammer. Absolutely breathtaking how these two dudes impose violence on others. And WALTER? Y'all already know. He might be the only guy under WWE contract with an actual aura. This force field of invincibility. I hope he stays far, far away from the main roster. 

The finish is a bit disjointed, probably because Wolfe wasn't there. WALTER pins Bobby Fish after a massive powerbomb. This shit is really fun, made even more so by a super-live crowd that can't decide who they love from one moment to the next. I've got a few ideas as to what to watch next. 

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You will excuse a certain amount of scepticism on my part about that Wolfe injury. A Heel vs. Heel match includes a moment that just happens to leave maybe the weakest in-ring performer on one side unable to continue and somehow Marcel Barthel, just happens to become as sympathetic as anyone with a gimmick that amounts to "head prison guard in 'the Dirty Dozen'" could ever possibly hope to be and he and his weakened team just happen to overcome the odds to win? Talk about your happy accidents.

Hell of a fun match, though.

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I've got similar thoughts about the Balor vs. Joe match where they just happened to clash heads early on, just happening to cut Joe, who needs to be cleaned up repeatedly, which just happens to perfectly play into this story about Balor only managing to survive Joe. 

In both cases, I could believe either way, but I guess I'm too cynical. It's a good way to blur the line a little, as long as it's just a little blurring every now and then. 

Edited by DangerMark
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Stomping Grounds 2019

 

Full disclosure; I like this show. There are some clunkers, and Lacey Evans in particular is exposed for her lack of experience, but it's got a good crowd and some genuine bangers, so here goes:

Lacey/Becky: This is for the Raw women's title. Oooof. It's no wonder Becky's buzz was never quite the same after her program with Evans. Lacey is flat-out bad here. She fails to follow Becky into the corner for a reversal spot, so Becky just kicks her in the face. Right after that, when the crowd starts chanting "Lacey sucks," Becky scoffs and nods. "Yeah, she does," she remarks. I don't fault Lacey. I'll never fault the worker for being in over their heads. That's not her fault. That's the fault of the decision makers who put her in that spot. There are several other instances in the match where it looks like Evans just flat-out forgets what she's supposed to be doing. I get why the office thinks Lacey is a star. She's got a good look, a fairly compelling backstory (mom, former Marine, etc.,), and she's a good athlete. You can see her quick-twitch ability even through her clodhopping work. She just has no feel for how a match is supposed to unfold. Lynch wins in around 12 minutes by submission. I think this program goes a while longer, but I'm really not sure why. The announce team is still heavy into the "Becky and Seth are a thing" mode, as they refer to Seth as "Becky's boyfriend." Pretty obnoxious. As an aside, Renee Young seems completely checked out on commentary. I completely understand why, but it's obvious.

We get a cool vignette for Ali, but I'm not sure anything ever comes of these quasi-vigilante videos. I like Ali. I hope he gets a fair shake soon, because he's got something.

 

There's an interview with Happy Heyman. Nothing of real consequence. Teases a cash-in. I can't remember if this is where it happens or not. Baron Corbin is still looking for the special guest referee for his match with Seth Rollins. The ongoing story is that Rollins has taken out several of Corbin's choices in the weeks leading up to this, I guess in some misguided attempt to make him an Austin-like anti-authority babyface, but Rollins is as capable of being a badass babyface as I am of being the Secretary of the Interior, so it's just come off as forced. Ugh.

 

Next we get Zayn/Owens against Big E and Woods. This is around the time where Owens turned on Kingston. I forgot Zayn was involved in this. It's impressive to me how convincingly Zayn can work babyface or heel. Dude is a pro. I understand why this had to be, but Woods and Big E got punked a LOT during Kofi's title run. They gave Owens and Zayn a lot, probably more than they should have, and the Revival pulled their punk cards weekly leading up to Orton's match with Kingston at Summerslam. I thought it made New Day look a little weak. But this match is pretty well a banger. A lot of old school NWA sensibilities, with Owens and Zayn cutting the ring in half and Woods playing Ricky Morton. Big E is an underrated "hot tag." I wish they'd present him a bit more credibly, and I think if they did they'd have maybe their most compelling "Money in the Bank" winner in a long time. Cool finishing stretch here,  and they earn a well-deserved "this is awesome" chant.  Owens and Zayn win after a stunner, set up by Owens knocking Woods off the top rope. This was a good little tag match, but again, I'm not sure why Big E and Woods had to eat so many pins this spring/summer. 

 

Little Alexa/Nikki segment here. I think this is still when they were trying to present Alexa as taking advantage of Nikki, but their chemistry is so good they dropped that. Nothing much here.

 

Now we get Ricochet vs. Samoa Joe for the US Title. Man, they had something with Ricochet. It takes a special kind of incompetence to turn him into "just another guy," but by God they've done it. There's still some bloom on his rose at this point, however. I'm looking forward to this, as I'm not sure I've watched it all the way through. There's an amusing camera shot where the ref is holding up the US Title to the hard camera and is clearly flexing as hard as he possibly can. #beefref. 

Joe's instincts are so good. So many of the things he does well are things that can't be taught. His timing, his willingness to control the pace, his feel for when to show ass and when to show killer instinct. It's all perfect. I wish his body held up the way his ring presence does. He cuts off a rally for Ricochet with a vicious back elbow that's timed so well. He's just fantastic. I wish WWE had gotten him 5 years before they did, and I'm still not sure about the wisdom of having him spend so much time in nXt. As an aside, I've read where Shawn Michaels has been mentoring Adam Cole in nXt. If I were Cole, I'd ask HBK never to speak to me again and ask Joe to mentor me instead. Adam Cole isn't a star, but if there's any chance of tht ever changing, he's got to develop a sneaky, vicious streak. Joe is the perfect teacher for that. Everything about Joe is impressive to me. His ability to move around the ring without wasting motion. He pivots instead of stepping. His feet are always in good position. And he feeds Ricochet perfectly for a mini-comeback, leading to both guys being down mid-ring. This is a master class in making a small babyface look like a threat while not killing your own aura. He also catches Ricochet on a corkscrew dive of some kind to the outside. It just seems like Joe is always in the right place. Always. When his in-ring career is done, I hope the office understands what they have and send him to Tampa to work with the kids. He's that good. 

While I'm over here verbally fellating Joe, these two guys are having a whale of a match. This reminds me of a Coliseum Video I had with Yokozuna/123 Kid match on it. The monster vs. the prodigy. Ricochet getting the perfect amount of offense. Another really good finishing stretch here, with Ricochet getting the pin after his second 630 attempt. Well done, guys. Ricochet wins his first title, and if you'd told me he'd be left completely off the next Wrestlemania's card, I'd have called you an idiot. Well, not you, but the people that make those decisions. They're idiots.

 

Next we get Bryan/Rowan vs. Heavy Machinery. This was the match that first made me take notice of HM. The face/heel dynamic of this match is altered by Bran being from Washington, where this PPV is emanating from, but I feel like they did a decent job of. working around that. Rowan/Bryan had some pretty serious Diesel/Michaels heel energy, and I'm not sure they should've split them up so soon. Rowan grew by orders of magnitude being around Bryan, and using a heater really helped Bryan as a heel. It wasn't help that Bryan needed, really, but I'm sure it made some things easier. 

Bryan and Otis start off, and this is goodness. It looks like Bryan is legit having trouble keeping a straight face during some of their interactions. I like that thing HM does where one guy will take their opponent up for a suplex, tag out, and pass the opponent off to the other guy. That's impressive strength. Watching Tucker here, and at Elimination Chamber from a few weeks back, and it's amazing how much better he's gotten. In an era where guys come up from nXt and regress almost exclusively, Tucker deserves credit for how much he's improved. Rowan is in that boat, too. When the Wyatt Family split up I figured he'd kick around for a little while and then get released, but he has become almost a revelation. He looks like he's lost some weight, and it suits him well. Rowan also has good feet for a man his size, and it separates him from the gaggle of former football players on the roster. it's a shame Rowan is pushing 40, because he has the kind of strength, speed, and feel for tempo that would've made him a top guy if he'd started five years sooner. In fairness, he could've picked up a lot of that from teaming with Harper for so long. 

There's a long heat segment for Bryan and Rowan, which seems a bit out of place since the crowd has deemed them the babyfaces, but it still works. Bryan and Otis are back in. Say what you will about Otis' work, but dude knows who he wants to be in the ring and executes well. Otis fires up on the "yes kicks." Damn he's got his act down. The big man is managing to partially win this crowd over. Otis hits the caterpillar and tags in Tucker. Tucker could use a haircut. That just occurred to me. I think it would do him some good to not look like he's running sound for Atlanta Rhythm Section. Rowan and Otis bump meat for a minute, and Otis catches Rowan mid-air. That's freaky strength, and it'll serve Otis well. Tucker flying for the second time, and he might should knock that shit off. He's too big for that. Bryan picks up the pin on Tucker after a small package, and this was better than it had any right to be, and a lot of that had to do with Daniel Bryan being the greatest wrestler to ever live. Do not @ me. 

 

Now we have Bayley vs. Alexa for the Smackdown Women's Title. They do a really nice video presentation recapping this angle, where Bayley tries to tell Nikki that Alexa isn't her friend, but it feels tone deaf. By now the crowd is pretty into Alexa and Nikki, and Alexa comes off as much more sincere and genuine when she talks about how Bayley targeted her in nXt. I thought they should've had Alexa be Bayley's opponent for Wrestlemania, with the story being that Bayley and Sasha had convinced the fans that Alexa was some manipulative opportunistic wannabe fitness model who didn't love the business, when the whole time Sasha and Bayley were entitled little slugs who thought that because they were fans as a kid that that meant they were owed top spots. 

This is a good match. Alexa looks much more comfortable bumping than she did during her previous run on RAW. We found out later that Alexa spent much of that year she missed (because of Ronda being a sloppy clod) in the ring getting better. The crowd is already spilt on Bayley. The "Let's go Lexa/Let's go Bayley" chants are present early and often. Alexa is trying to work heel here but this is the point where the crowd wants to buy her as a babyface. It's crazy to me how much better Bliss would be in a few weeks as a babyface and how much better Bayley would be in just a few weeks as a full-blown heel. 

Alexa does the "charge into the corner and slap the piss out of her opponent" spot to a nice reaction. Shit gets me every time. Alexa pulls Bayley into the ringpost and gets a pop. Yeah, trying to keep Alexa a heel at this point seems futile. I think a lot of people understood what she'd gone through to come back and didn't want to boo her. Plus she's a magnetic personality. I think people want to like her. 

Then there's the spot I have a huge problem with. Bayley sunset flips Alexa into the corner, causing her to hit her head on the middle turnbuckle. I don't know if Bayley or the agent called for that spot, but someone should've put the kibosh on it. It just isn't smart to have someone who missed a year with concussions taking a spot like that. It makes me wonder if Sasha's irrational hate for Alexa has bled over to Bayley, and Bayley called that spot to try to hurt Alexa. I'm not saying that's what happened. I'm saying that in the past Sasha Banks has been super unprofessional while in the ring with Alexa, and it makes me go "hmmmm." Alexa hits a nice sunset bomb on the outside, but falls victim to some shenanigans and eats the pin. I liked this match a lot, and it made Alexa look credible while still keeping the title on Bayley. Alexa has really gotten pretty good, despite what the Horsewomen stans on social media would have you believe.

 

Next is McIntyre/Reigns. This is during the thing where yet another McMahon tries to convince their audience that Roman Reigns isn't exactly who they want as the face of their brand. The match is fine. There's really no point in giving the blow-by-blow. It's all about Roman "overcoming the odds" against whatever once-promising heel has been earmarked for "Big Dog Duty." This is a sad waste of both guys. Reigns wins LOL. 

 

The conclusion when we return.

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