Wrestling Thread!

[kamikazekeeg]

Saxton is fine, IMO. Just a straight play-by-play guy. He's definitely better than Cole.

He is, but he just feels so bland.  I don't mind Cole on commentary, he's usually fine and feels like he has abit more personality.  I always hated JBL usually.  There's being a heel and then there's being obnoxious.  Ranallo is probably the best they got and I think Graves is usually pretty right on with what I heard in NXT.  I am surprised to see Lawler go though after getting reinstated.  Reading more on it, Lawler isn't leaving at least, he's just leaving commentary on Smackdown.  Seems like he's just stepping into the role that Booker T has right now.

http://www.cagesideseats.com/2016/7/20/12240682/jerry-lawler-new-job-key-analyst-wwe-pre-shows-kickoff

[doafan]

Am more concerned about the fact that Like Harper might have announced his retirement from the company via Twitter, he wasn't part of yesterday's Draft so it might be true, honestly I want to see him back but that injury and the independent movie that he filmed took his past weeks away from the WWE universe 

[kamikazekeeg]

Am more concerned about the fact that Like Harper might have announced his retirement from the company via Twitter, he wasn't part of yesterday's Draft so it might be true, honestly I want to see him back but that injury and the independent movie that he filmed took his past weeks away from the WWE universe 

Damn, I was wondering why they weren't talking about Harper at all in the draft.  I thought he was a pretty solid big guy wrestler as he was always fairly quick.  I'm curious if it's actually a retirement or just kayfabe shenanigans, because it looks like he was still playing up things on twitter through the month, so unless something surprising came up, he should've been coming back next month.  Really don't want to see him go, because he's basically the best of the Wyatt family next to Bray.  Rowan is fine, but not very interesting in style and Bron is just simply big dude and is abit limited in his style as most guys his size tend to be.

[doafan]

Damn, I was wondering why they weren't talking about Harper at all in the draft.  I thought he was a pretty solid big guy wrestler as he was always fairly quick.

He is a solid wrestler that's why I had the idea until I saw that message at his account that maybe he would appear at Raw to make a team with Braun Strowman, that way they can still be part of the Wyatt Family in that brand, it would be a good idea since have never seen Strowman by itself in the company, hope that Harper can manage one way or another to still be part of the WWE 

[kamikazekeeg]

Well, tomorrow we got the last WWE PPV with the combined roster, so lets see what we got...

WWE Champion Dean Ambrose vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins (Triple Threat Match) - I feel like Ambrose will lose it, Rollins will get it back, that way for the start of the brand split, RAW retains the belt for awhile and they can really get Rollins back into the thick of it.  I'm cool with this.  I like Ambrose, but I like Rollins a lot more lol

John Cena, Enzo Amore & Big Cass vs. The Club - A weird matchup, but this could be fun I think.

Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens - This will also be a good match, but I hope this is them dropping the feud for awhile.

The New Day vs. The Wyatt Family - This one could be alright, both are competent groups, and it seems like they are trying to play up the weird mind games stuff with Wyatt, as they had a match before and Xavier was practically being hypnotized.  I don't think this is for the belt and they probably won't drop the belts anyways.

Sasha Banks and a partner to be named vs. Charlotte & Dana Brooke - Kinda done with anything Charlotte, but I'm curious who will be Sasha's partner.

Intercontinental Champion The Miz vs. Darren Young - Don't care too much about this in particular, but I hope The Miz loses it, I hate him lol

United States Champion Rusev vs. Zack Ryder - Maybe Rusev loses it, I'm not sure.  I feel like Ryder deserves it after getting shafted by The Miz for the IC Belt.

Becky Lynch vs. Natalya - I like Becky, but this is such a stupid feud.  I hope Becky wins at least, they've been treating her like shit.

The Usos vs. Breezango (Kickoff Match) - Could not care less.

[kamikazekeeg]

Came into the show just as the women's match started and whoa! Bayley is Sasha's partner! Maybe she will get called up sooner than later! Short but sweet match, I'm cool with that and it's nice to Bayley, even if it's only for this match.  It sounds like she'll be sticking in NXT for at least abit longer, maybe get another go on NXT Women's belt against Asuka.

I like the mindgames angle with Wyatts and New Day, though not sure what the point is when Wyatt and Rowen are going to Smackdown.  Maybe this how they shake apart the New Day and they lose the belt because of it? Might be an interesting angle.

Rusev vs Ryder was okay, but it kinda went how I expected with Rusev retaining.

I really hope KO and Zayne are done for abit after this. Both are great, but there's only so much they can do with each other after all these matches. Oh shit, botch by Zayne, could've been real bad.  Unfortunate botches today as Big E took a nasty fall onto his head jumping through the ropes, but getting caught up.  Botch aside, that match was great. Even if I am getting tired of them battling, they give it their all.  Really selling the story of the match too which is awesome.

Was Natalya a heel before this?  This feud makes no sense, especially since they were apparently friends.  A mixup in a match and that's all over with? Zayne and Owens made sense, this does not lol And another loss for Becky and I assume the end of a feud that no one wanted.

Don't really care about this Darren Young angle with Backlund, but I really want him to win over Miz lol I feel like Miz retains, only because they need a belt to go to Smackdown, since Rusev is taking the US belt to RAW and New Day have it for Raw also and I bet anything Rollins wins it tonight, taking it from Ambrose. Shenanigan DQ.  Meh. Miz retains for Smackdown.

Enzo is truly a gem.  Always so much fun on the mic. Great tag team action with Cass also utilizing their size differences.  Incredibly smart stuff. Great match, lots of good spots, but man that ending was super sloppy by Cena lol

Missed the Highlight Reel with Jericho and Orton, used it as my break time, so I don't know if anything cool happened there.  I am hoping Orton RKO'd Jericho just because it's Jericho lol

The best thing about this Triple Threat match with the former Shield mates is that there's a 66% chance I'll like the outcome lol Ambrose could retain, Rollins could take it back, and I'm positive they won't give it to Reigns, because that would be disastrous for the start of the new era happening now. Oh wow, Ambrose won! Very nice, I'm cool with that. Smackdown take the belt!

[doafan]

Will leave my impressions after the event cause I totally forgot to add them before the event, lol 

* The Usos vs. Breezango (Kickoff Match): Didn't saw it and I don't regret it.
* Sasha Banks and Bayley vs. Charlotte & Dana Brooke: Started to watch the show when this one was practically ending.
* The New Day vs. The Wyatt Family: Would like to say that I enjoyed this one but since the Wyatt Family was separated this match make no sense to me, was watching the cellphone instead of watching the match, to bad that they didn't put the belts on the line here.
* United States Champion Rusev vs. Zack Ryder: Saw only the results of this one, was expecting to see Ryder as the champ.
* Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens: The best fucking match of the Battleground event, at my opinion they totally stole the show also it was me or Sami cried at some moment of the match ?, saw this one at the computer cause my cable provider was experiencing problems with the service so need to watch it again to see if am wrong or not, I swear that I heard an announcer saying that he did it also had to admit that didn't expect the result of this one but I love it just hope that with this we can finally close this feud if not forever just for a while.
* Becky Lynch vs. Natalya: This feud makes no sense so I went to the bathroom and to the kitchen.
* Intercontinental Champion The Miz vs. Darren Young: Saw this one only for Maryse, she looked so freaking hot to bad that they didn't focus the camera on her that much, about the match I didn't put my full attention on it so can't say that I saw it.
* John Cena, Enzo Amore & Big Cass vs. The Clu: Enzo is nuts maybe not as crazy as the lunatic but damn he was the best of the six wrestlers in the ring, was expecting to see Styles team as the winners but after seeing Amore's performance definitely theit team had to won this one, will rank this one as number three.
* WWE Champion Dean Ambrose vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins: My wife was more excited than I, she is kinda obsessed with Dean right now about the match it wasn't the best but indeed was very cool to see the three of them in the ring and making team to beat the hell out of Reigns, if I have to rank the matches this should be number two.

[kamikazekeeg]

Yeah Zayne was showing a lot of emotion at the end of the match, where he flung KO into the turnbuckle and then collapses against him and Zayne holds him like "I've beaten my friend, now I have to finish him." He sold the shit out of it and then finished it back and looking like he was broken up.  Not all out crying, but he made the match seem important, which is what mattered.

*EDIT*
Totally forgot it was Balor's debut on RAW tonight.  He was put into the running for the brand new WWE Universal Champion Belt that RAW is making cause the belt to Smackdown last night.  Balor was great.  I don't think they'll give him the belt on his first go, but having him in the running is great.  He fought it out in a Fatal 4 Way that was really good and then he'll face the winner of the next Fatal 4 Way to be #1 Contender.  It'll either be Jericho, Reigns, Zayne, or Sheamus.  I'm hoping Zayne of course, cause Balor vs Zayne would be awesome since I never saw them fight in NXT, but again, both are the new guys and I'm unsure if they'll give them their due.  I'm worrying about Reigns winning and we get another freaking Reigns vs Rollins thing.  I'm so hoping not.

I'm fine with Balor vs Reigns tonight, but Reigns better not win.  I don't want to see Reigns vs Rollins yet again. I know Rollins will end up winning it, but Balor vs Rollins at Summerslam would be sick.

Small design aspect that changed for RAW that feels pretty different, is that the commentator table has been moved from ringside to somewhere away from the ring and slightly more elevated.  This takes away something that has been a key element in wrestling for as long as I've been watching since the 90's.  Maybe they'll bring them back in to ringside for PPV matches, but no longer are people thrown out of the ring and then able to use the tables for big upset moves.  I wonder if Smackdown has plans for the same.  All I know is that I can't wait for a brawl to happen its way up there and destroy the new setup lol

Glad that Sasha became champion.  She's great and I'm glad we are done with Charlotte shenanigans.  They got old quite awhile ago.

After that, I missed everything else as I ended up working on getting a spare computer working, but turns out Balor beat Reigns! He gets a championship shot at Summerslam! Yes!

[kamikazekeeg]

And we get out Smackdown Live start tonight.  "6 Pack Match" for the #1 Contender against Ambrose at Summerslam.  The 6th member of this match will be chosen out of a Battle Royal tonight, with Wyatt, Cena, Styles, Ziggler, and Corbin already to go in the 6 Pack Match.  I assume it's basically just a free for all match like a fatal four way or triple threat.

I wonder if they are going to create their own women's championship belt, like RAW created their own men's championship belt, though the women's side of things is very small.  Only 7 wrestlers currently.  Then again, I realize that RAW only has 9.  I wonder if we'll start to see a talent influx soon.

Also Smackdown is getting their own PPV "Backlash" on September 11th and RAW is getting"Roadblock" for December 18th.  Summerslam is mixed and so might Clash of Champions, though no one is sure about that being that it's right after Backlash.

[kamikazekeeg]

Enzo continues to be just the best.  I don't know if there's a better new personality than him.

Also, wow, Mixed Gender Tag Match.  I wonder how this will go.  Flair and Jericho vs Banks and Amore.

[burningdoom]

"I want to make a certified G deposit in Sasha's bank."

lol. Enzo just keeps killing it every week!

Toto, I don't think we're in the PG-era anymore.

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

Paul Heyman: "Orton is not man enough to put the RKO on Lesnar."

BOOM!

"RKO! RKO! RKO!"

How awesome was that last night?! That RKO literally came out of nowhere!

And then the escape into the crowd, awesome.

It felt a LOT like DDP vs. Macho Man with DDP's guerilla tactics he was using (since Mach was in the nWo at the time).

[kamikazekeeg]

"I want to make a certified G deposit in Sasha's bank."

lol. Enzo just keeps killing it every week!

Toto, I don't think we're in the PG-era anymore.

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

Paul Heyman: "Orton is not man enough to put the RKO on Lesnar."

BOOM!

"RKO! RKO! RKO!"

How awesome was that last night?! That RKO literally came out of nowhere!

And then the escape into the crowd, awesome.

It felt a LOT like DDP vs. Macho Man with DDP's guerilla tactics he was using (since Mach was in the nWo at the time).

It's made better when you remember that he's a Smackdown guy, so it's basically him invading the rival brand, simply to RKO their biggest guy lol I loved that.  I wasn't super excited for their match before, but now I'm hoping for something cool.

[doafan]

About the last Raw show from July have to say that didn't liked the fact that Stephanie blamed Reigns for losing the match against the lunatic to be quite honest I was expecting that at least tried to figure it out how to recover it, don't like either that they decided to create a new belt instead of bringing back the old World Heavyweight Championship what I did liked is that Kevin and Sami didn't had another of their classics fights, really expect that the feud between these two can have a break for a long time and about Balor's what can I say, loved his performance and the results of his matches.

About SmackDown was expecting a bigger celebration for Ambrose but I guess that it was ok also I was highly surprised to see a new female champion in an aired show, some friends say that this will be WWE primary show, guess that they are kinda right since Cena and Styles are there but they need better ot try something better to do it, haven't seen the two latest shows cause am kinda busy this days repairing my wifes vehicle but really expect to see them this Saturday or Sunday.

[doafan]

SummerSlam is almost here so before I forget to leave my comments will leave them right now, where I have to say first that am kinda surprised and sad at the same point that Sami Sayn is not at the following list anyway and as always am not interested in all the matches so will gonna leave my impressions on those that for sure am gonna watch :

Brock Lesnar (with his wife) vs. Randy Orton: Singles match
Finn Bálor vs. Seth Rollins: Balor of course is my favorite here, to bad that the one that will fight against Rollins is the normal Balor and not the demon king but since he will fight against this version at tonight's Raw show am ok with that, at least for now.
Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler: Despite the fact that at my home we love Ambrose, my wife is kinda obsesed with him and I have to follow her decisions, I do want to see Dolph as the new champ, is not a lie that he deserves to hold the belt for a couple of months, the guy really knows how to do his job well done.
Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte: Singles match for the WWE Women's Championship
John Cena vs. AJ Styles: Really expect and want to see Aj as the winner here, even when there are no title on the line I do expect to see a great performance from the phenomenal from Cena I can't and I don't expect anything cause he always use the same moves from each event/show.
The Miz (with Maryse) vs. Apollo Crews: Singles match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
The New Day vs. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson: Want to belive that after the surgery or treatment that Big E received from the "doctors" he well be unable to be part of this match, being honest I'll be surprised if he appear at one of this month shows, he practically went nuts and am also sure that the only thing that he
Enzo Amore and Big Cass vs. Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens: I'm expecting a lot of this match and practically it's because of the past promo from Kevin against Cass where he said that he used to respect the big guy when he was part of NXT and now he doesn't because he is carrying the dead weight of Enzo, guess that the fat of Owens kinda spoke more that usual cause some people think the same way, I really don't give a shit just want to see him kicking Jericho's butt.
Rusev (with Lana) vs. Roman Reigns: Singles match for the WWE United States Championship

[kamikazekeeg]

Lesnar vs Orton could be alright, but I don't expect too much out of this.  I like Lesnar, but I've had my fill of him over the pas year or so.  The Beast is cool, but I don't think he himself is as interesting as say an Undertaker type of tough guy.  I am interested in all the RKO's out of nowhere that should happen lol

Balor vs Rollins is probably the match of the night.  I don't know who I want to win more, though I expect it to be Rollins.  Balor is too new to suddenly win their new belt, but I wouldn't be against it.

Ambros vs Ziggler.  Not a big Ziggler fan, but this could be alright.  I think Ambrose will retain, though I wouldn't hate it if Ziggler won.

Cena vs Styles should be another good match, but I hope Styles wins and this is kinda it.  Styles needs to move on to someone else.

New Day vs Club.  I think we are getting to the point that a tag team championship changeup should happen.  No sure if it should go to them, but I'd be good with seeing some heel champions running with it for abit.

Amore/Cass vs Jericho/Owens - I'm not a Jericho fan, but this should be a fun match.

Miz vs Crews.  Just lose it, Miz.  I have no interest in you.  I don't have any in Crews really either, but I'm not annoyed by him lol

Rusev vs Reigns.  This could be an alright match.  I think this is the level that Reigns needs to stay at for awhile.  He's not top level material, so keep him going around this level for awhile.