Dolfan in NYC Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 Crown Jewel this week. Raw sets up the final matches for that show, but on Tuesday we have the Breakout Tournament finals: And since Riyadh is a ridiculously long flight away, Smackdown has been pre-taped. Here are the spoilers, taped last Friday: Spoiler Kevin Owens def Austin Theory. Grayson Waller was on commentary. Shotzi & Charlotte Flair def. Piper Niven and Chelsea Green in a non-title match. Solo Sikoa and Paul Heyman cut a promo about Sikoa’s match against John Cena at Crown Jewel. Cena interrupted, exchanged words with Sikoa and laid him out. Donnybrook Match: Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince & Kit Wilson) defeated Brawling Brutes (Ridge Holland & Butch) LA Knight cut a promo about his match with Roman Reigns at WWE Crown Jewel. Reigns interrupted, and they exchanged words. Officials separated them before they could brawl. Bianca Belair def. Bayley. Belair slammed Bayley through the announce table after the match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norwegian Rudo Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 Creeds face Alpha Academy tonight, and according to Meltzer this is a permanent promotion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eivion Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 5 minutes ago, Norwegian Rudo said: Creeds face Alpha Academy tonight, and according to Meltzer this is a permanent promotion. That is rather random, especially since they have been building them wanting to reclaim the NXT tag titles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolfan in NYC Posted October 30, 2023 Author Share Posted October 30, 2023 It better not end the same way the last one did. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 Did you mean to post that in the horror thread? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blitzkrieg Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 I'm a bit bummed that they're apparently not going to be using "Chrome Hearts" since it was apparently just some random stock music they had given them in NXT. Hopefully it'll at least be better than Gargano's current theme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greggulator Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 Dear lord Creeds vs. Alpha Academy ruled. That dive sequence was absolutely bonkers. Felt like Steiners vs. Brad Armstrong and Bam Bam Bigelow or something like that. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
For Great Justice Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 Yeah Creeds/AA was 100% my kind of jam and wow that ruled Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eivion Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 Dom/Ricochet was good though the post match was a little weird. Alpha Academy vs. Creeds was a great debut/showcase for the Creeds and super fun match all around. Was nice seeing the Creeds show the strength and skills a bit whenever they faced off with Gable while Otis was a powerhouse who could take them both on at any time. The Creeds finish is pretty great in general, but it looked amazing and got a huge pop from the crowd by being done on Otis. Miz TV was solid. Was interesting seeing Miz come out with the face representation by the time it ended. He is an entitled asshole so I'm curious to see if they can make it work. At the very least they definitely made Miz/Gunther a match people are interested in. The segment also served as a nice lead in to DIY vs. Imperium which was good. Candice/Xia ending in referee stoppage was unexpected. Could go either way in being legit or worked. If it the latter then i would have preferred they just presented it as a knockout. That would have done far more for Xia than what happened here. I lean towards work with the backstage medical check with Indi and DIY. Rollins/JD started off well and was pretty solid overall though it went a few minutes too long. Its nice that Seth wanted to put JD over some, but it didn't need to be this much. Drew managed to JD get in some impressive shit and still come across as a beast in half the time or less. Chelsea/Nattie was kind of dumb but also fun at times. Chelsea and Piper coming down as Hart Foundation was great. I especially loved Chelsea doing the Bret giving sunglasses to kids bit. Match probably could have shaved a minute or two off, but it did its job and wasn't a bad win for Chelsea who probably needs it with tomorrow's title defense. Priest/Sami was solid while it lasted. Screwy finishes normally bother me, but the post match made up for it while the big moments for Cody and Sami. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaos Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 Miz would feel like a very WWE choice to end Gunther's reign. I'm guessing all of this Nakamura stuff is to set up Orton's return at Survivor Series, as that seems to be the night they have him slated to return. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziggy Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 Miz last babyface run was surprisingly some of his best work character wise and inring wise. I can't believe how drawn in to him I was as a Babyface and it was over the IC Title but I don't think under Hunters creative control that he would be the one to take it off Gunther. It really shouldn't be something that's pretty much a lifer and already has as much stock and credibility that it wouldn't mean much for Miz to dethrone Gunther. It should be someone like Gable or Reed or someone like that who would be a made man and would also continue to have good matches against Gunther after the switch. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porksweats Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 3 hours ago, Chaos said: Miz would feel like a very WWE choice to end Gunther's reign. I'm guessing all of this Nakamura stuff is to set up Orton's return at Survivor Series, as that seems to be the night they have him slated to return. Miz would tie up Jericho's record of 9, and subsequently a 9th reign for Miz leaves the door open for him to lose it and get it again for an all time record of 10 IC reigns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eivion Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 I don't really see Miz ending the reign. If anything the feud feels like its happening to stall. Guessing they want Gable's or whoever's big moment in dethroning Gunther to be at Royal Rumble or Wrestlemania. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolfan in NYC Posted October 31, 2023 Author Share Posted October 31, 2023 Like I noted last week, GUNTHER passes Pedro Morales for Longest Time As IC Champ Ever in about a 100 days or so. That would be mid-February, right before Elimination Chamber. I think he gets the record and drops it at Mania (I'd bet to someone who's not even main roster yet... Melo, Bron, or Trick... likelihood probably in that order.) And then he's never Intercontinental Champ again in his career *AND* make a big point about that. He's beyond the IC title. Build him over the Spring to move up to main event level, possibly shedding Kaiser & Vinci along the way. Then, hopefully, the big, final step at SummerSlam next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 (edited) If you have 3 heavyweight titles, he should def have one of them, especially if they are planning more big European shows. Edited October 31, 2023 by odessasteps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobra Commander Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 which champion has more of a logic puzzle for "how to get the title off of him without it seeming like a letdown" between Reigns and Gunther? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iron Moose Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 (edited) 33 minutes ago, Cobra Commander said: which champion has more of a logic puzzle for "how to get the title off of him without it seeming like a letdown" between Reigns and Gunther? oh, absolutely Reigns. Gunther, you can break the glass for Ilya or Bron, or do a multiman or ladder where someone else wins without him losing. Reigns has a lot more emotion and identity wrapped up in his story. And Gunther still has room to ascend. Edited October 31, 2023 by Iron Moose 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolfan in NYC Posted October 31, 2023 Author Share Posted October 31, 2023 50 minutes ago, odessasteps said: If you have 3 heavyweight titles, he should def have one of them, especially if they are planning more big European shows. Or he could win one there. . . 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eivion Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 (edited) If Roman finally loses the belt at Wrestlemania then Gunther should beat that person for the belt at Bash in Berlin or Summerslam. I don't think Gunther needs to shed Kaiser and Vinci on his way to the top. They just have use them less as goons to beat or more legit threats as a tag team. The Ring General holds more weight with a team behind him. Edited October 31, 2023 by Eivion 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
For Great Justice Posted November 1, 2023 Share Posted November 1, 2023 If you’re not watching NXT you’re really sleeping on a tremendous little show. It’s the best it’s been since it’s pre-AEW heyday. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramo2653 Posted November 1, 2023 Share Posted November 1, 2023 That was a great show tonight. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eivion Posted November 1, 2023 Share Posted November 1, 2023 (edited) Creeds/Lotharios was a plunder match but brutal and kind of crazy with the shit they were doing to each other. I loved it and hope they don't do that again for a couple of years and in an arena with 10000+ next time. Disappointed Tiffany/Fallon didn't happen, but Stratton's beatdown on Fallon was a solid heat building segment. Dom/Frazer was good stuff. Dom vs. high flyers is always fun as a styles clash. Was nice to see Dom kind of pick up the win on his own somewhat as well. Wes Lee's return was unexpected but welcome. Still feels like Wes could easily move above the the NA title right now. Still excited to see what he and Dom can do this time around as Dom has only gotten better and better in his NXT run. Bron/Stone was the right kind of squash it needed to be. The save by Von Wagner post match was nice. The MetaFour Haunted House stuff was dumb but amusing enough. Still not as good as the one with Trick, Melo, and Chase from two years ago. Chelsea/Piper vs. Thea/Jacy was shockingly good. Chelsea and Piper are a way better time than Chelsea was with Sonya. Thea and Jacy have good chemistry as well, and I loved the attitudes from them. Was good seeing them take it to the champs early on, and Thea's FIP segment was pretty solid. Easily the best Women's tag titles match in months. Kelani/Lola was pretty solid and easily the best match of this year's Breakout tournament. I continue to dig Lola's attitude and dug her in control over Kelani's. Kelani has some decent enough selling though is maybe a bit over reliant on her athleticism, not quite toning it down enough to put over Lola's leg work. Still, both women busted out some nice moves and looked impressive here. Will be interesting to see how they look with another year or two. They are probably the furthest of the newer crop of NXT women sans maybe Dani Palmer. As predicted Ilja/Melo III was the least of their matches and still built into something pretty darn good. Even knowing it was coming, Trick coming out towards the end felt like a big moment. Segments were short and solid outside the Haunted House which is always a feature for Halloween Havoc in NXT. We only got five real matches, but they were all well worth watching and mostly good. Not sure what was MOTN though my favorite was probably the women's tag titles match if only for being such a pleasant surprise. Shotzi & Scarlett had wonderful costumes once again while they were around. Dug them switching over to Alba & Isla as hosts. Their outfits throughout the night were pretty neat as well. Kind o want the four to come together for a witch faction now. Anyways pretty good show all around for good matches, fun segments, and decent flow. A definite step up from Part 1 which wasn't anything approaching a bad show itself. Edited November 1, 2023 by Eivion 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammerva Posted November 3, 2023 Share Posted November 3, 2023 On 10/31/2023 at 3:35 PM, Iron Moose said: oh, absolutely Reigns. Gunther, you can break the glass for Ilya or Bron, or do a multiman or ladder where someone else wins without him losing. Reigns has a lot more emotion and identity wrapped up in his story. And Gunther still has room to ascend. Ilja is the logical choice to be Gunther for the title. You even have the storyline already set up with him being the only man in the WWE to actually beat Gunther. The problem with that is that you have to acknowledge NXT pre 2.0 which seems to be happening less and less and NXT UK which I am not sure they even remember that existing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted November 3, 2023 Share Posted November 3, 2023 Still come piped in crowd buzz (I think) but this leaked dark match doesn't have the normal quick cuts so you can actually get a look at Bull Buchanan's kid in peace. More importantly, listen to what he comes out to! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammerva Posted November 3, 2023 Share Posted November 3, 2023 Matt Tremont loses one Buried Alive match on the indies and they are already taking his damn music. To Brooks Jensen? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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