blitzkrieg

Obvious reactions are going differ from city to city but Washington was completely down with Jacob last night. It got to the point where I think he definitely was playing to the crowd a bit in the main event. Will be interesting where they go with the friction between Jacob and Solo. Miz has definitely been on a heater lately. I'm not sure how long Miz continues to do this but he's just so good at making things make sense in matches. Also cool to see Knight busting out new stuff with the box jump leapfrog in the corner. I'm not sure if the elbow off the top was planned or a makeup for Miz not cleanly taking the BFT but was a nice twist. Agree that Tiffy/Nia seemed to be a way to cement Tiffy as a babyface as she wrestled cleanly and basically took a monster of a beating from Nia. I liked the vibe of Charlotte picking Tiffy for WM and it makes the Elimination Chamber a lot more interesting. There really isn't a clear cut favorite in the mix for me. The main event did a good job of serving two masters: getting Priest in the EC and doing it without taking any of the momentum off Jacob. Also shout out to the Profits promo where they continue to bring the fire. Would love Los Garza to get a win instead of just looking great in matches. But more importantly, tag team wrestling is cool again! Miz/Knight actually might have been my match of the show but enjoyed everything and thought it was a good show. Next to NXT, Smackdown might be doing the best job of using all of their roster the best.

Last two qualifiers are: Priest/Braun/Jacob this Friday and Finn/Seth on Monday.

If I had to explain to someone what a Summer looks like, she probably be pretty close to my description.

Thought Bayley and Cora had a pretty good match. Felt like they didn't get super fancy with anything which sometimes seems a problem in Bayley matches and also allowed Cora to play to her strength of just being a good heel. Roxanne coming out as Bayley the Hugger was a nice bit and something I wish we had seen more of in their feud up to this point. Big (basically) clean victory for Cora over Bayley to justify Cora being put in the Women's Title match at V-Day. Great facials from Roxanne as she deals with this. While I admit that the 3-Way for the NXT Title seems a bit like a placeholder match, I've really enjoyed Waller and Theory's time in NXT. Hopefully whether they finally split them up or not, they at least find something for them to do on Raw in the future. The triple threat tag team match was really fun and good. Okay Briggs maybe shouldn't be attempting to throw dropkicks but besides that it was really good. Fraxiom basically can't have a bad match at this point, so looking forward to what they can do with Briggs/Inamura. Solid match between JDC and Lexis King. Switching to the single fall is probably the best for the Heritage Cup nowadays. Nikkita would probably be a great opponent for Zaria to get over her power if not for the NXT's crowd thirst. Will say the camel clutch with the splits was a creative spot by Lyons. Still the F-5 from Zaria was pretty impressive. Liked the earlier promo by Eddy to challenge Trick for the strap match and Trick's short and sweet acceptance. Hope they at least bring up Eddy having won a strap match at V-Day. Course this seemed mostly just a setup for Ricky Starks to show up. Not much to the promo but the surprise appearance will be enough to generate talk. Main event was okay, I don't think Tony or Ridge are really the best opponents for each other to show off their strengths. Was a little surprised to see Izzy not cause Ridge to win but was paid off with Spears and his group ultimately laying out Tony. Tonight felt a little less packed than most episodes of NXT but it wasn't a bad thing. V-Day feels like the most build the matches of a PLE have gotten in NXT in a long while. There's also very much a feel of "Who is potentially going show up for it?" besides the new stable they're teasing obviously showing up at some point. That said highlight of the show was definitely the 3-Way tag match.

Liked the subverting of Jey's celebrations from last week with Gunther interrupting. Poor kid in the front row that took Gunther's jacket to the face. Like the idea that Gunther in trying to prevent Jey from picking him made the decision for him. Will be interesting to see what they do for the next month or so. Enjoyed the Iyo/Dakota vs. Liv/Raquel matchup. Both teams have good internal chemistry and they drew the crowd into the match. The elevated Codebreaker was nice and I also appreciate that the default for Liv and Raquel is just Raquel using Liv as a weapon. I too was trying to figure out where Liv got busted open. Was expecting Rhea/Iyo at Elimination Chamber but the Raw after is close enough. Should be a banger. Bayley and Lyra went for it and some of the things they attempted didn't quite work or come across cleanly but I'm okay with matches looking like a struggle. Had some nice moments like Bayley not getting her rope Stunner but getting it later or Lyra not cleanly getting her rope walk spinning DDT earlier only to nail it flush on the outside. Agree with Elvion that I wouldn't have minded a little bit more interaction between Roxanne and Bayley. They did do a digital exclusive between Roxanne and Raquel to build to that match next week. Always a good city for AJ Styles. Until they really pull the trigger on Dom, this will always be a great spot for him. Liked them teasing Styles/Bron for the future. Main roster Creeds work so much better as heels than faces. It's also cool to see how well the crowd has taken to the War Raiders. The finish was a bit wonky but I'm fine with them building this one out a bit. I do wonder if I'm LA Knight if I get annoyed at how effortless Julius makes the box jump superplex spot always look. Not a whole lot of meat to CM Punk's promo but it bled well into Paul coming out. Plus Punk is always good for at least one great line and him dropping the "I didn't even know whose music that was" as a wink to all the Def Rebel music criticism was great. Paul and Rey had one or two spots early on where they weren't on the same page but they eventually hit their groove. Paul's finisher on Rey looked really impressive but I agree but definitely falls in the "probably can't hit it on everyone" territory. Think Raw on Netflix has probably settled a bit into it's groove in terms of format. Enjoyed all the matches but similarly to the Rumble build, the Elimination Chamber qualifications are kinda taking over the whole show. It's cool that we got the tag title match and they're still slow building Ivy/Lyra but I wouldn't mind maybe 1-2 other storylines going on.

Haze Jameson being the name for Hayley Montoya who is a former University of Buffalo volleyball player. Would imagine the names will be popping up on LFG and Evolve.

Just in time for the Amsterdam show next month.

I'm not sure what it says that Karrion Kross is doing some of his best work on Twitter.

Jey winning the Rumble does give him a reason to yeet across Raw and Smackdown. Liked that Jey and Cody was kept pretty short before Tama and Jacob came out and Jacob PREACHED. Piper and Bianca are always great in the ring. Bianca's ability to tease and execute the KOD on larger opponents will never get old. Cool to see KC² moved to Smackdown since that's where the tag team titles reside. Also liked the follow up on the Rumble by having Tozawa show up to face 'Melo. Liked seeing DIY get to do their shtick in front of a live audience. Enjoyed the actual tag match and liked seeing the fire from PD. Pretty Deadly out cheating DIY for the victory was pretty fitting, look forward to a title match between the two down the road. Not really sure where things go with the Miz but he's been really entertaining so far on Smackdown. Still kinda hoping that they put Zelina back with Andrade. Loved Miz just stirring the pot with Cody while Shinsuke lurked in the background. Happy Drew was a nice change of pace and I thought Jimmy did a good job keeping up with him. I'm not sure what was the better shot, Drew calling Jimmy "Jey" or LA Knight dropping the "Oh I forgot to get my stuff in" at Drew. I thought the actual triple threat match was really good, all 3 guys seemed to have really good chemistry with each other. Loved combining Knight's "box jump" superplex with Drew's "Tree of Woe into a German suplex" spot. Not super surprising that Drew picked up the win. KO is so good. Akira and Melo had a good match and were given plenty of time. I was kinda expecting Akira to pick up the win after Melo's recent losses but maybe the ship is being righted. Truth remains a national treasure. Do feel like Charlotte is getting more comfortable with things every time she comes out. Tiffy still isn't great on the mic but the crowd wants to cheer her or at least chant "Tiffy Time." I still think Rhea/Charlotte is the bigger match but Tiffy/Charlotte probably could have some heat to it. With Nia getting her rematch next week, my prediction of Nia wining the Elimination Chamber and facing Tiffy at WM might be shot. Alexa has been off for two years so I probably shouldn't hold it too much against her and Candice that their match was kinda slow and awkward. The small package spot was...interesting? Alexa teasing the Sister Abigail and then finishing Candice off with the Sister Abigail into the DDT was at least an interesting spot. There was a glitch during the match which hopefully at least hints at her being brought into the Wyatt Sicks sooner than later. Enjoyed the fire that the Street Profits brought in their promo. Will never be disappointed for them scheduling a Los Garza/MCMG match. The main event was alright. Appreciated Cody selling that he was banged up as he should after the Rumble match. Cool to see Jacob busting out the handstand reversal to Cody's Cody Cutter attempt. Wasn't expecting Solo to return, will be interesting to see where things go with Jacob's recent emergence. Does he still love Solo? Enjoyable show but it did feel a little long. Would love a little bit more variety in Smackdown's main event scene. Next week's card does look stacked though.

Shockingly the Nemeths/Fraxiom match was probably a better match than the Rascals/Fraxiom match. Agree that the finish was a little wacky. Arianna Grace also was amazing on commentary. Was also great to see Tyson Dupoint get to wrestle Ace Austin. With how packed NXT tv is, it's great to see wrestlers get reps against experienced talent. Also was great to see Ali going around and planting seeds for his "coalition."

Wait, am I running the WWE Vault?

Jayce and Stephanie had me remembering that I was surprised that they had Fallon win the NA Title instead of Jayce. Really enjoyable match outside of the awkward bit with Jazmyn toward the end. Nice to see Zarya showing a little bit more personality in the backstage segment. The perfect payoff for Lexis's face turn is an even douchier Lexis King. Not surprised by Lexis instituting the rule change for the Heritage Cup matches and honestly probably for the best with the show being on CW now. Definitely wasn't expecting Fandango JDC showing up. The back and forth between the two was fun. CW synergy with Tony on Wild Cards! Ridge/Stacks was a fun little match. Liked the misdirection with Izzi not costing Ridge the match this time. I assume that we get an actual Izzi betrayal next week with the cage match. So are OTM injured? Either way, in one of those things that I love about NXT, it was great how Inamura getting NQCC to agree to a match was completely done in the background of a shot. Inamura/Briggs vs. NQCC vs. Hank & Tank should be a fun match. Love the chemistry between Gigi, Tatum, and Shotzi. Thought the match was enjoyable and a good way to still showcase Sol and Zaria not being on the same page. That submission move that Tatum busted out was crazy. I do have to wonder how much of the Bayley/Roxanne part was them hitting beats that they couldn't get to last week because of the boo'ing. That said it was strong work between the two of them. Orlando loves the Queen a little bit more than Cleveland. I thought Charlotte did a good job of being a cocky heel, giving people their flowers before saying she was better than them. Was wondering how Cora would get interjected into things and the kendo stick certainly did it. Loved Cora getting that last shot in on Bayley which resulted in her demanding to get "that bitch" in the ring and Ava hitting her with the deadpan, "Which one?" Think Karmen continues to look good in working her kicks into her offense. Was a solid, but not spectacular match. Was expecting Jaida to distract Kelani but Kelani being her own worst enemy by going all Bob Backlund on Karmen was a nice twist. You know that Stephanie is a bad ass because even the NXT parking lot doesn't mess with her. I really enjoyed the main event and I think most of that probably goes to the work of Waller and Theory. They did a good job of controlling the match but also a great job of bumping for Oba and Trick. I'm not always high on the CWC audience but the dueling chant for Trick and Oba was fun. Imagine I wasn't the only person expecting Trick to get the pin to set up a 4-way at VD, so was happily surprised for Eddy to interfere and allow Grayson to pick up the win. The strap has kinda came out of no where but hopefully they at least mention his strap match with Dijak eventually. Very intrigued by the apparent promise of a new faction in NXT. Every week they fit so much in a two hour period and it flows so amazingly. Probably not the best in-ring action show but they advanced a lot of storylines going into Vengeance Day.

He seems to be already off to a good start:

With how things are currently being run in the 'E, I could also just see KO being off TV for a couple months. Survivor Series would be an extra long break but I could certainly see a face bringing him back because despite not knowing if they can trust him, they know he can get the job done. KO's brilliance at being able to control whether the crowd hates him or not makes him such a valuable player. On the Duke Hudson release, I feel like he's very much in the category of people that probably could spend a year or two reinventing themselves and end up back. His character work during the Chase U stuff was great and he got himself in the best shape of his life. I think he be a great fit for TNA if they were interested, he also would be a pretty logical fit for TMDK in New Japan.

Shame that Waller and Theory didn't make the Royal Rumble sizzle reel when they were showing local news coverage. The reaction when Jey wins the title is going to be insane. Loved the crowd, loved the emotions from Jey, and will admit getting a little choked up when Jey got choked up. The build up to Gunther/Jey at WM begins and I hope that Gunther lives up to his promise because the heat will be insane. I'm going to miss hearing Von Dutch on Raw. How do live in a world where Kaiser's rolling DVD isn't called the Kaiser Roll? I like the variety that we've seen in the three matches Penta has had so far on Raw. Will say that I could use a little less of the chop/punch exchanges. I will admit I laughed at Pat going "The interview just got butchered" when Dunne came out. Charlotte's theme remains a banger and boy does Cleveland hate Charlotte. There must be a lot of Andrade fans there? Do like the storyline of Charlotte/Rhea. Dig the new New Day entrance. Fun match between them and Lee/Rey. I was surprised that they were doing Rey/Paul next week with them being in Cleveland, so I feel responsible for Logan Paul showing up. New Day win, New Day win! Liv and Iyo have surprising chemistry. Wasn't expecting Liv to win this but maybe I get my Iyo/Rhea match at Elimination Chamber. I don't usually have an issue with what Seth is wearing but that was a very interesting choice. Punk and Sami had a great match with a lot of logical work and calling back to spots earlier in the match. Loved seeing the "Sami" chant when Punk had Sami in the Vice. Punk forcing Sami's face to the WrestleMania sign while shouting at him to look at it and calling him "ska boy." And as all great Sami stories go, Sami comes close before ultimately falling to defeat. Did not expect the KO attack but it makes sense in KO-logic. Also appreciate KO selling the effects of the ladder match despite showing up. The video kept glitching for me a bit but I didn't have any actual buffering issues. First time they've had problems so far, so I'll chalk it up to "things happen."

Feel like the Charlotte backlash really started when Becky/Ronda became Becky/Ronda/Charlotte and has never really fully subsided since then.

Should be in every Rumble hype video for all time.

Excited for the announcement of Evolve. Hopefully this is a step up from what Level Up was. Optimistic with them showing both NXT and WWEID talent in the promo package. Plus it's safe to say that it'll attract a lot more eyes on Tubi than Level Up ever did.

I basically skipped most of the NXT 2.0 era but I've only ever seen him do the top rope version. The run up the ropes version that Bron done is pretty much an every match staple for him at this point. Does anyone out there really do the spiking version that Scott did?

Word is that Luka didn't request a trade but there has to be some behind the scenes stuff, right? Like you don't make this trade simply for basketball reasons.

Cena had a great promo on the post-show announcing that he'll be in the Elimination Chamber:

It really was a great and brilliant idea of the "He missed the tag...wait no he MEANT to miss the tag." I also liked Ciampa doing the crawling under the ring to grab Shelly's leg in a SUPER obvious manner so that the camera could track what he was doing. It's a spot that's done so much that it felt right subverting how it's usually played for a surprise. Also put me in the massive minority that actually like Jaida's new theme but as that she's only had it for like two weeks, I didn't realize that it was her till she came out. Really not crazy about Finn's new theme. Did like that AJ went back from his last heel theme. Is it crazy that Nikki Bella's return has gotten zero mention? Honestly I kinda want a Nikki/Roxanne match at Stand and Deliver.

Enjoyed the Women's Royal Rumble, especially the fact that I can't remember a Rumble where there were consistently so many people in it. Granted there were a couple times where you could see people having to hold off or not do spots because there were too many people in the ring. Love Roxanne getting the Iron Woman spot this year, setting the new record. Also liked the Roxanne/Giulia/Stephanie faceoff with Bayley/Charlotte/Bianca. Nice to have Alexis back. I'm pretty indifferent to Charlotte winning and honestly I think this year didn't really have any strong favorites. I do think that we get Charlotte/Rhea and not Charlotte/Tiffany. I think it's probably still more likely that we get Nia/Tiffany at WM. MCMG and DIY probably have a better match in them but I think they did well with the time and the spot that they had. I feel like MCMG just by the nature of their offense do a good job of luring people into their matches. Street Profits return was surprising and I think they probably end up more as tweeners than outright heels. Still cool how much tag team wrestling is getting focused on these days. The ladder match was a little slow and plodding but I felt it suited things. I'm glad that for the most part they didn't go with a lot of crazy high spots or ladder contraptions or use anything besides the ladders. There were a couple brutal looking spots. Thought it was the perfect ending with KO getting caught up in trying to end Cody's career and instead getting the nasty Alabama Jam through the ladder. Look forward to a future confrontation between Sami and Cody over Cody's lack of compassion or concern for Kevin after the match. Thought the Men's Royal Rumble was well paced and very different than the Women's Royal Rumble. Rey and Penta starting was nice even if there was the questionable non-elimination with Penta. Crazy the luchadors that they have in the 'E right now and you didn't even have Dragon Lee in the match. Great to see Joe Hendry get his shine on a major stage. Jacob and Bron got to be the monsters that they should be. Unlike most, probably, I'm fine with Braun eliminating Jacob just because Jacob is going kill him the future. Loved the ultimate chaos of Punk/Roman/Seth as it leads to a lot of possible routes to go with things. Surprised that we got John and Jey as the final two and it's cool to see Jey win and get his moment. Like previously said I feel like Cena's quest to get a World Title shot can be played out for almost the full year. Fun show with a lot of great moments. Plenty of stuff for highlight reels, like Grace's Rolling DVD on Piper, but nothing that'll probably overall go on the all-time list. Will be interesting what direction they go with Elimination Chamber on the men's side as you have the potential for that to be as deep and star-studded as the Rumble.

Love the little things last night with Miz vs. Andrade. Miz rolling toward the turnbuckle when Andrade went for the moonsault so that Andrade couldn't hit the second moonsault. Andrade hitting the kick that he misses to set up the elbow earlier in the match before hitting the elbow later on. Also, obviously, Andrade winning with the elbow that always looks like it should end the match. Sami winning a match with the Blue Thunder Bomb, Andrade winning with the spinning elbow, Gable hitting someone with a moonsault on Speed... We're living in crazy times, feels like anything can happen.

My Women's Rumble pick is Iyo and at this point my Men's Rumble pick is either Punk or Paul. With Cena being around for the whole year, I feel like you can kick the can pretty far with him finally earning a title shot.