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CWC EPISODE SEVEN - 2nd Round (8/24/16)


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The last show of the 2nd Round

 

Lince Dorado vs. Rich Swann

Drew Gulak vs. Zack Sabre Jr

Johnny Gargano vs. TJ Perkins

 

Also a reminder that they are taping the quarterfinals this week so spoilers will be out there

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  • I want Swann to win, but Lince Dorado did the Alex Wright, so...I'm fine with him winning.
  • This was really fun. It was fast-paced with lots of dives, and since these guys are pushed as elite high-flyers, it actually makes sense for the match to play out in a way that fits with both guys' stated strengths. I'm not the biggest fan of matches with bunches of dives and high-risk moves done at high speed typically, but this was solid. 
  • The mat work wasn't as strong as in other matches, and they could have cut it out entirely, but Swann did have a nice submission at one point. 
  • Rich Swann looked like he killed Dorado with that Phoenix Splash, fuuuuuuck. It might have been safe, but it looked great as a finish. 

 

  • Man, I loved the opening of Sabre/Gulak with the frenzied mat wrestling. Pissed off Drew Gulak was fantastic. 
  • Sabre Jr. has lovely transitions. Gulak wasn't too far behind with his own transitions. Sabre Jr. is so smooth, though. 
  • Sabre yelling COME ON at Gulak defiantly and getting slapped square in the face in response was fucking cool. I'm a sucker for the
  • "yell defiantly ---> get struck in the head" spot, I guess. 
  • Good work from Sabre in particular to struggle when being put in holds. That Gory Special looked nasty, too. Wow. 
  • Great counter-wrestling is the best. THE BEST. More of this on all the WWE shows, please. WWE style is AWFUL at good counter-wrestling and people having creative transitions. A match like this exposes how bad typical WWE style is in that regard, and it's something that is ultimately very important to me when watching a match. 
  • They had my favorite strike exchange in the tournament so far with those nasty slaps, fuuuuuck me. 
  • This match was insanely good. They need to sign both guys ASAP. Best match of the second round in my view. 

 

  • It's going to be hard to be fair to Gargano/Perkins because I'll be watching it after that last match and I really don't like Gargano. Perkins isn't a guy that I've ever really liked much, either.  
  • They tried to have some creative transitions in this match too, which I appreciate, though they were generally more awkward and far less smooth than in the previous match. Gargano was clearly better with smooth transitions between holds than Perkins was. 
  • I dug Gargano quickly dropkicking Perkins while Perkins did his hanging-in-the-ropes taunt. That's exactly what any wrestler worth his salt should do from a kayfabe standpoint!
  • Gargano's got to stop doing that spear into the ring. It looks like shit and probably fucks up his neck and knees at the same time. 
  • Gargano took a nasty bump - was that supposed to be a counter, or did Gargano just overshoot his target? They called it a counter on commentary, and I initially thought that it was a really nice cover for a semi-whiff. 
  • I appreciate Gargano at least intermittently paying attention to the knee (and commentary pointing out the damaged knee and discussing how it might affect the match). And it actually mattered! Didn't expect Gargano to lose. 
  • This match was solid! Which is high praise coming from me in reference to these two guys. 
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Swann/Dorado was kind of fun, but lacked a needed sense of urgency to make it more.

Gulak/ZSJ was damn good. ZSJ looked way better here than in his 1st round match, letting Gulak stretch him in all sorts of ways while showing that defiance. I'm now disappointed they haven't managed to pin him down to contract yet. The same goes for Gulak. I just love how he went into this with something to prove and came so close to taking it.

TJP/Gargano was solid enough. I'm not big on either guy yet though I don't dislike them either. I like that Gargano's leg came into play though I wish it had just a bit more.

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I liked Gulak/Sabre and came away from it, especially that Gory Special spot, thinking that Sabre's actual great attribute (which I haven't seen to that extent in many of his other matches, tho I'm sure there are people who have watched more of him than me that can tell me I'm wrong) is that those gangly Gumby limbs allow him to be stretched by other people into all kinds of fantastically painful looking shapes.

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They played up Gargano's knee injury from Brooklyn and that's just fucking great.  There are people in this company who are pretty damn good at telling stories.  Which I guess makes it more frustrating when something on RAW doesn't make sense but at least there ARE people employed who are really awesome. 

I liked Sabre Jr. more here than the first match.  I think Sabre Jr. is always better when he's struggling/getting his ass kicked and working for his reversals and submissions. The first match was just him doing shit. This match against Gulak (who I've always liked quite a bit) was much more competitive and Sabre Jr. was better for it. 

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In terms of commentary, Gargano is selling the leg injury from Takeover.  Now this match occurred at least 3 weeks before Takeover.  So was he actually selling the knee from the Ciampa match in the 1st round or did they actually plan the finish of Takeover that long ago.  If so then Triple H needs to book RAW and Smackdown immediately for such amazing long term planning 

I don't know if there is any actual plans for Gulak after this but if you can put Cedrick Alexander on RAW (deservingly so) after a great performance then Drew Gulak is pretty close.  

 

 

 

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I totally called Gulak bringing out the best in ZSJ. Great match between those two with Zack working to his strengths. There weren't any superfluous transitions, everything had a purpose, and he was working from underneath a lot. They did a good job establishing that Zack would win the mat exchanges early, so Gulak used some legal, but cheap-feeling strikes to get the edge. I loved how Drew would hit Zack a couple times then go right to some show-off submission and be all like "See, I'm the better submission wrestler!" Zack played the sympathetic face with some fighting spirit, but also showed he could put anyone away at any time with his technical skill. If he keeps working like that, he'll have a great WWE run.

Gargano/TJP ending up being a lot of fun too. I knew they'd have a good moves-y indy style match one way or the other, but they did just enough with knee injury to give the match a little extra urgency. I'm not sure if they planned this match around the Takeover tag or vice versa, but props to the agents for making it work in whichever order.

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Gulak vs Saber was the only match I liked this week. Saber's strikes and facials were still terrible, but the rest of his work was solid. Good performance from Gulak even though he really didn't sell much. I thought Swan/Dorado was actively bad, and the Ricochet/Ospreay tribute was barf inducing. Gargano/Perkins never clicked for me. Both guys work a pretty similar style, and it was all a little too cute for me. Gargano nearly paralyzed Perkins on that lawn dart throw. Note to noodle arm whimpy dudes; stop doing power spots.

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I need to go back and watch Gargano/Perkins again because did he get hurt in the 1st round match or did he hurt his knee in this match and that's why the finish of the Takeover match or did they know the finish of the Takeover match 3 weeks early and plan it all for that was mind-fucking me the whole match.  

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6 hours ago, hammerva said:

In terms of commentary, Gargano is selling the leg injury from Takeover.  Now this match occurred at least 3 weeks before Takeover.  So was he actually selling the knee from the Ciampa match in the 1st round or did they actually plan the finish of Takeover that long ago.  If so then Triple H needs to book RAW and Smackdown immediately for such amazing long term planning 

This is why I freaked the fuck out over the finish of the Takeover match - it showed that someone actually employed some long term booking (oh and that it happened over two different types of programs.)

And it was clearly from the Takeover show since they had acknowledged the CWC match between Gargano and Ciampa on NXT and they wrestled a match with no mention of the knee

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It is just baffling to me that NXT/CWC can plan things at least a month in advance on not only NXT stuff but also WWE things on commentary meanwhile the rest of the product can barely remember what happened last week.  It is an encouraging thing for the future of this company whenever that is.

 

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I don't understand the hate for the Dorado/Swann match. It was a fun little match that would have fit right in place with a late 90's episode of WCW Saturday Night. It's ludicrous to say they put together a Ricochet/Osprey tribute. Sequences like the one in this match have been around forever. 

As predictable as this tournament has been, Perkins over Gargano was a genuine surprise. 

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I wish that I had paid a bit more attention to really appreciate them setting up a knee injury way early in the taping sequence for the CWC, then planning it correctly so that Gargano's knee injury was inflicted in a show three weeks after it would cost him in the CWC. I don't see why a major wrestling company can't adequately plan stuff like this, but somehow only HHH and the road agents on NXT/CWC care enough to actually do it. 

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23 hours ago, hammerva said:

It is just baffling to me that NXT/CWC can plan things at least a month in advance on not only NXT stuff but also WWE things on commentary meanwhile the rest of the product can barely remember what happened last week.  It is an encouraging thing for the future of this company whenever that is.

 

21 hours ago, Smelly McUgly said:

I wish that I had paid a bit more attention to really appreciate them setting up a knee injury way early in the taping sequence for the CWC, then planning it correctly so that Gargano's knee injury was inflicted in a show three weeks after it would cost him in the CWC. I don't see why a major wrestling company can't adequately plan stuff like this, but somehow only HHH and the road agents on NXT/CWC care enough to actually do it. 

 

CWC/NXT are taped in advance so there's no way crazy-ass Vince can come in and change things on a whim the day of the show.   Raw being live every single week is nothing but a detriment.

Edited by Technico Support
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