Eivion Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 (edited) Santos/Owens was good. Santos got a pretty nice showcase with how much control he was given and KO havign to fight constant comebacks. Dug Cruz and Wilde taking out Los Lotharios before the match ebgan. Logan Paul was decent on commentary and in riling the crowd up at random moments. Made the post match forearm from KO pop the crowd all the bigger. The Lashley/Profits promo was alright and a solid way to refocus them a bit as faces before serving them up to Kross's new faction. I'm happy to see the Authors of Pain back. They were a good bruiser team in NXT. Even more happy to see Ellering with them. The Authors can talk fine on their own, but they were at their best with Ellering. Not sure how far this group can go with so many other factions and Kross as the head guy. Still willing to give it a shot as Kross is the only real weak point. Io/Mia was pretty good. The two work well together, and they used much of it to showcase Yim since she doesn't get chances like this often. Butch/Bate vs. Pretty Deadly was good. Happy to see Tyler Bate finally hit the main roster. Wasn't sure that was ever happening. Thought he looked good here, and they did well to give him plenty of attention and moments to show off. AJ vs. Orton vs. Knight was pretty damn good with tons of good action and the crowd into all three guys. The no contest finish would normally annoy me, but I thought it worked well here with pissing off the crowd at the Bloodline and setting up a 4-way for the Rumble. Only thing I feel they should have done was at least announce that to the live crowd. Every match delivered here and the segments were generally decent-solid. The build to the Royal Rumble and the general changing landscape of Smackdown was nice. Good show overall. Edited January 6 by Eivion 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 (edited) That was a really fun show that cooked. Santos vs. Owens ripped. I hated the Lashley promo. They had to make him and the Profits babyface because the crowds loved their heel act... but this promo wasn't badass Bobby. Besides that, I dig that they're gonna feud with Precious Paul Ellering, the AoP, Scarlett, and Kross. I love that Kross is the fifth most over person in this group . It's the only time I've given a fuck about him. I love that HHH is just trying everything with this guy, and I kinda dig that Gang Warz are back. Oh, and that finish/ angle for the main event was the most ECW type booking in awhile . And it was good, Aldis has been great so far. Edited January 6 by Johnny Sorrow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobra Commander Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 back in 1984, where would Paul Ellering have ranked on a list of "people we expect to be on wrestling TV in 40 years" 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolfan in NYC Posted January 6 Author Share Posted January 6 Got hidden pretty well, so I'm not sure if blading is back in WWE or if LA Knight caught a live round. Either way it was colorful main event. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godfrey Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 Hey, Vancouver! I lived there for a 5 years and was sober for some of it Owens and Escobar was solid although the finish was a little odd and looked mistimed. Logan going after the Canucks was classic heel stuff and considering how much Vancouver likes to riot when their team wins or loses he may have been the first heel in legit physical danger in a long time. If my local references are still accurate, Paul and his douche squad with Waller and Theory would be a perfect fit on Granville Kross and AOP with Scarlett and Ellering as managers is quite the crew. Kross is at the point in his career that I'm rooting for him just to get some steam behind him, nothing he's done in WWE has caught on Sky/Michin was good stuff, decent defense for Iyo. I forgot Gallows and Anderson were in WWE until they were mentioned here I enjoyed Pretty Deadly/Butch and Bate, good introduction for Tyler. Now that he's on the main roster stage I hope we can get to a return of Bate and Gunther, it would take some work to get Bate on the level that people would buy him as a challenger but if the Miz can get there then anything is possible. I haven't seen much of Pretty Deadly but their 'cover of a 70s pulp fantasy novel' aesthetic is certainly unique, give them a wizard for a manager and maybe they have something Knight/Orton/Styles had its moments and a sports entertainment finish. Styles is still such a dynamic wrestler, the way he throws his whole body around someone when delivering a forearm makes them look devastating. Maybe they are devastating, Knight got busted open at some point (I can't imagine WWE is going to bring blading back by sprinkling it in randomly in a match that didn't use it but I'm also real dumb sometimes). Fatal 4-way should be fine, all things considered its probably skippable on a show with two hour-long matches on it since everyone on this board can see the finish coming a mile away Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 Missed the show but had heard somebody got color on the Discord. If it was LA Knight? Yeah, I'm going back and watching that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 9 hours ago, Cobra Commander said: back in 1984, where would Paul Ellering have ranked on a list of "people we expect to be on wrestling TV in 40 years" Esp considering he was gone for years and years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godfrey Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 1 hour ago, Curt McGirt said: Missed the show but had heard somebody got color on the Discord. If it was LA Knight? Yeah, I'm going back and watching that. Yeah, Knight got a trickle but I think it was an accident, there wasn't much drama around it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shartnado Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 2 hours ago, odessasteps said: Esp considering he was gone for years and years. Yeah, it was already pretty remarkable that he showed up in '98 managing the Harris Twins against LOD and still in ridiculous shape for that one six man tag. Then showing up in NXT to manage Authors of Pain and now many years after that back in that role on the main roster. That's precious. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 The 98 one at least made some sense, continuity wise. was Rachel ever in NXT? I don’t recall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eivion Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 3 hours ago, Dolfan in NYC said: Got hidden pretty well, so I'm not sure if blading is back in WWE or if LA Knight caught a live round. Either way it was colorful main event. I think AJ just caught Knight with the pele kick. 7 minutes ago, odessasteps said: The 98 one at least made some sense, continuity wise. was Rachel ever in NXT? I don’t recall. She was there around the same time as Deonna Purrazzo. I think they were even going to be a team, but injuries kept derailing that. I'm not sure Rachel ever made tv when she was actually in development. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shartnado Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 15 minutes ago, odessasteps said: The 98 one at least made some sense, continuity wise. was Rachel ever in NXT? I don’t recall. For just a little bit around the same time when Paul was there. Nothing significant came of it. She was on one of the Mae Young Classics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobra Commander Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 i've read one person make a Mike Ehrmantraut comparison for present day Paul Ellering, which isn't the worst energy to bring as a heel manager 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caley Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 I remember when Ellering came back in the late 90s and started calling himself "Mr. Dot Com" and it was such a silly, stupid nickname that it became a running joke with me and my siblings. I still have a piece a TV stand where one of them used a labelmaker to make "Mr Dot Com" and stuck it to the stand. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 I suppose in a way it’s updating him carrying the Wall Street Journal. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobra Commander Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 a manager called Mr. Bitcoin would inevitably end up feuding with every wrestler they manage after they realize their money randomly disappeared one day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 Sadly, a bitcoin/nft gimmick would likely be a face to large percentage of the audience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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