Post by kc on Jul 2, 2019 4:43:33 GMT -5
cruiserweight title match - ***1/2
— hey, anything from the 205 live guys is good, even if it’s restricted to the pre-show. fun spots from all three. i figured tozawa would take the fall to protect neese. nice to see them finally pull the trigger on gulak. i wish buddy murphy would return to the brand for more bangerz~! with everyone.
raw women’s title match - **1/4
— i liked this better then their mitb encounter. i didn’t catch any “notable” botches from lacey, which was a plus! nice work/selling to becky’s mid-section. finish seemed abrupt with Lacey tapping out almost immediately. i’m hoping both becky and seth move onto new challengers after extreme rules. i would love sasha banks to make a badass (or should I say boss) heel return to challenge for the belt at summer slam, but lynch probably get involved in the bliss/nikki cross angle. maybe build up ruby riott as a legit challenger again and have her and becky put on a 10+ min match for the title on a ppv?
owens/zayn vs. new day - ***1/4
— i was kinda hoping this would be the hot opener to kick off the main show. i loved owens not playing around starting off the match with super kicks. the right team won. nice tag match.
united states title match - ***3/4
— this was my most anticipated match on the card. 06-07 obsession with indies me is grinning ear to ear. nice battle of styles with joe’s explosiveness and power against richochet’s speed and quickness, perfect opponent/style of match for joe. i thought the finish could’ve been better in a way to protect joe more. not a fan of hot-shotting the u.s. belt recently (understandable due to the Mysterio injury). i would’ve liked to see a feud come out of this, instead joe drops a midcard title and moves up to challenge kofi for the wwe title. doesn’t make much sense haha. i’m all for a joe/kofi feud, but would definitely like to see a rematch between joe and ricochet sometime down the road. motn thus far.
smackdown live tag title match - ***
— armdrag cut a great promo on the pre-show about the tag division being a “joke”. yes movement is in full effect with daniel being the hometown boy. otis’ mannerisms crack me up, so good. in the beginning, i thought the bryan/rowan pairing was strange but i really like this team. good tag match. weird to think this is the longest match on the show so far, and a few minutes could’ve been shaved off. predictable outcome but heavy machinery came off at threats. good job, nice finish with the champs sneaking out the win.
smackdown live women’s title match - **3/4
— solid match with bayley adding a nice defense to her title reign and i’m enjoying the developments in the bliss/cross “friendship” storyline. bliss busted out some cool stuff within her move set. big fan of her now that she’s back in the ring full-time. i wonder what’s next for bayley. mandi rose? nxt callup? kabuki warriors triple threat? (good lord!), ember moon in a match out of respect?, sasha heel return and rekindles the feud in a classic at summer slam? we’ll see, i’m hoping for a decent reign throughout the summer/fall for bayley.
reigns/mcintyre - **1/2
— i understand reigns has to get his win back from super showdown, and i assumed this would be longer than their 10 minute wrestlemania match. it was a hoss battle, but felt so damn long and it brought the match down for me. things were okay down the stretch but shane o’mac is on my tv waaay to much in 2019 (not just talking this match, i know he has to be in drew’s corner, but just in general). why not have drew avenge is loss at ‘mania (so you could possibly set up a big time rubber match at summer slam maybe) and they could’ve even protected the big dawg with overwhelming interference from shane, but nope. taker returning on the following raw was weird and the tag at extreme rules seems random. maybe this will lead to drew carrying undertaker through a match at summer slam?
wwe title match - **1/4
— i feel like there has been an overkill of cage matches as of late (miz/shane at mitb, women’s title match on the nxt following this ppv). i would think these guys were better suited for a 2/3 falls match, but they already wasted that on a smackdown prior to the ppv. a ladder match would’ve been fun, but then again that’s a tough call since mitb was just last month. i couldn’t get into this and the crowd was so flat! it just seemed like your typical run-of-the-mill cage matches, with the exception of the unique finish - which I should’ve expected due to kofi’s crazy “touch the floor spots” in past royal rumbles. the outcome was predictable, everyone had to know kofi would retain. i see kofi beating joe at extreme rules, which should be a better outing than the recent ziggler defenses. we’ll see if joe can redeem himself from the last time he challenged for the title in the somewhat underwhelming styles’ encounters. i want to see randy orton go full blown viper-heel, run it back to 2009 where he put kofi on the map and challenge for the title at summer slam/feud throughout the fall. i forgot about balor too. they need to finally pull the trigger on anadre as ic champion and maybe shoot finn to the title picture, even if it’s for a brief time (like winning a battle royal, four way, and he could even get the shot in the same night on smackdown - hmmm maybe once they move to the fall? kofi/balor could have a banger of a main event on the debut episode.
universal title match - *1/4
— i was racking my brain with possible ref surprises, and nothing really sat well with me. lacey evans was underwhelming, but an okay heel/stack the deck option i guess (like, seriously, who else would’ve corbin, as a heel, chosen?). as soon as she came out I was just knew becky evening up the odds was just a matter of time. crowd hated on this and started becky chants a minute into the match haha. this was slow, and corbin should not be main eventing ppvs (don’t think there was much of a choice looking at the rest of the card though). at times it reminded me of an attitude era main event with the special ref changing the rules, slow counts, etc... the overbooking didn’t really help this one. we got our becky/seth feel good moment to end the show and now we’re getting a mixed tag for all the belts at extreme rules (which will probably be the main event once again! no! unless the taker match trumps that, which still would be lack luster. i understand rollins needs to be fed a heel challenger, and we all knew he would face corbin - but after super showdown, this, now extreme rules, maybe have one final blow off match on a raw and move on. rollins/styles was great and now that aj is heel you could get some more great matches since it would be an entirely different feud. brock cashes in at summer slam? miz turns heel(?) since he’s doing nothing, but i’m proud of him for getting over as a face this past year. finally push lashley into a monster heel we’ve all been wanting? (not quite sure how the matches will turn out though). what about owens and zayn? although, i wouldn’t mind seeing them do some fun stuff with the usos in the tag division for a hot minute. hell, even build up to a big time face vs face match in reigns/rollins later on down the road. how about mcintyre!? oh wait, bray wyatt! i would love that but don’t want to see him lose upon returning and kill off the epic build they’ve been doing recently. rollins has suitable challengers to make for a lengthy reign.
———
stomping grounds was an okay show. better than super showdown aka sweet saudi blood money III (if that means anything haha). undercard was good but the main event title matches really brought the show down. i have a hunch extreme rules will be the same way, but hopefully it’s all in a good buildup to an awesome summer slam.
— hey, anything from the 205 live guys is good, even if it’s restricted to the pre-show. fun spots from all three. i figured tozawa would take the fall to protect neese. nice to see them finally pull the trigger on gulak. i wish buddy murphy would return to the brand for more bangerz~! with everyone.
raw women’s title match - **1/4
— i liked this better then their mitb encounter. i didn’t catch any “notable” botches from lacey, which was a plus! nice work/selling to becky’s mid-section. finish seemed abrupt with Lacey tapping out almost immediately. i’m hoping both becky and seth move onto new challengers after extreme rules. i would love sasha banks to make a badass (or should I say boss) heel return to challenge for the belt at summer slam, but lynch probably get involved in the bliss/nikki cross angle. maybe build up ruby riott as a legit challenger again and have her and becky put on a 10+ min match for the title on a ppv?
owens/zayn vs. new day - ***1/4
— i was kinda hoping this would be the hot opener to kick off the main show. i loved owens not playing around starting off the match with super kicks. the right team won. nice tag match.
united states title match - ***3/4
— this was my most anticipated match on the card. 06-07 obsession with indies me is grinning ear to ear. nice battle of styles with joe’s explosiveness and power against richochet’s speed and quickness, perfect opponent/style of match for joe. i thought the finish could’ve been better in a way to protect joe more. not a fan of hot-shotting the u.s. belt recently (understandable due to the Mysterio injury). i would’ve liked to see a feud come out of this, instead joe drops a midcard title and moves up to challenge kofi for the wwe title. doesn’t make much sense haha. i’m all for a joe/kofi feud, but would definitely like to see a rematch between joe and ricochet sometime down the road. motn thus far.
smackdown live tag title match - ***
— armdrag cut a great promo on the pre-show about the tag division being a “joke”. yes movement is in full effect with daniel being the hometown boy. otis’ mannerisms crack me up, so good. in the beginning, i thought the bryan/rowan pairing was strange but i really like this team. good tag match. weird to think this is the longest match on the show so far, and a few minutes could’ve been shaved off. predictable outcome but heavy machinery came off at threats. good job, nice finish with the champs sneaking out the win.
smackdown live women’s title match - **3/4
— solid match with bayley adding a nice defense to her title reign and i’m enjoying the developments in the bliss/cross “friendship” storyline. bliss busted out some cool stuff within her move set. big fan of her now that she’s back in the ring full-time. i wonder what’s next for bayley. mandi rose? nxt callup? kabuki warriors triple threat? (good lord!), ember moon in a match out of respect?, sasha heel return and rekindles the feud in a classic at summer slam? we’ll see, i’m hoping for a decent reign throughout the summer/fall for bayley.
reigns/mcintyre - **1/2
— i understand reigns has to get his win back from super showdown, and i assumed this would be longer than their 10 minute wrestlemania match. it was a hoss battle, but felt so damn long and it brought the match down for me. things were okay down the stretch but shane o’mac is on my tv waaay to much in 2019 (not just talking this match, i know he has to be in drew’s corner, but just in general). why not have drew avenge is loss at ‘mania (so you could possibly set up a big time rubber match at summer slam maybe) and they could’ve even protected the big dawg with overwhelming interference from shane, but nope. taker returning on the following raw was weird and the tag at extreme rules seems random. maybe this will lead to drew carrying undertaker through a match at summer slam?
wwe title match - **1/4
— i feel like there has been an overkill of cage matches as of late (miz/shane at mitb, women’s title match on the nxt following this ppv). i would think these guys were better suited for a 2/3 falls match, but they already wasted that on a smackdown prior to the ppv. a ladder match would’ve been fun, but then again that’s a tough call since mitb was just last month. i couldn’t get into this and the crowd was so flat! it just seemed like your typical run-of-the-mill cage matches, with the exception of the unique finish - which I should’ve expected due to kofi’s crazy “touch the floor spots” in past royal rumbles. the outcome was predictable, everyone had to know kofi would retain. i see kofi beating joe at extreme rules, which should be a better outing than the recent ziggler defenses. we’ll see if joe can redeem himself from the last time he challenged for the title in the somewhat underwhelming styles’ encounters. i want to see randy orton go full blown viper-heel, run it back to 2009 where he put kofi on the map and challenge for the title at summer slam/feud throughout the fall. i forgot about balor too. they need to finally pull the trigger on anadre as ic champion and maybe shoot finn to the title picture, even if it’s for a brief time (like winning a battle royal, four way, and he could even get the shot in the same night on smackdown - hmmm maybe once they move to the fall? kofi/balor could have a banger of a main event on the debut episode.
universal title match - *1/4
— i was racking my brain with possible ref surprises, and nothing really sat well with me. lacey evans was underwhelming, but an okay heel/stack the deck option i guess (like, seriously, who else would’ve corbin, as a heel, chosen?). as soon as she came out I was just knew becky evening up the odds was just a matter of time. crowd hated on this and started becky chants a minute into the match haha. this was slow, and corbin should not be main eventing ppvs (don’t think there was much of a choice looking at the rest of the card though). at times it reminded me of an attitude era main event with the special ref changing the rules, slow counts, etc... the overbooking didn’t really help this one. we got our becky/seth feel good moment to end the show and now we’re getting a mixed tag for all the belts at extreme rules (which will probably be the main event once again! no! unless the taker match trumps that, which still would be lack luster. i understand rollins needs to be fed a heel challenger, and we all knew he would face corbin - but after super showdown, this, now extreme rules, maybe have one final blow off match on a raw and move on. rollins/styles was great and now that aj is heel you could get some more great matches since it would be an entirely different feud. brock cashes in at summer slam? miz turns heel(?) since he’s doing nothing, but i’m proud of him for getting over as a face this past year. finally push lashley into a monster heel we’ve all been wanting? (not quite sure how the matches will turn out though). what about owens and zayn? although, i wouldn’t mind seeing them do some fun stuff with the usos in the tag division for a hot minute. hell, even build up to a big time face vs face match in reigns/rollins later on down the road. how about mcintyre!? oh wait, bray wyatt! i would love that but don’t want to see him lose upon returning and kill off the epic build they’ve been doing recently. rollins has suitable challengers to make for a lengthy reign.
———
stomping grounds was an okay show. better than super showdown aka sweet saudi blood money III (if that means anything haha). undercard was good but the main event title matches really brought the show down. i have a hunch extreme rules will be the same way, but hopefully it’s all in a good buildup to an awesome summer slam.
