Money in the Bank – Thoughts

Who is our new Mr. Money in the Bank!?

03-20-14 WWE NXT Notes

02-27-14 NXT ArRIVAL

 

Our first LIVE event on the WWE Network! Did they pull it off…?

Schedule Change

Hey everyone, just wanted to let you know I will be doing NXT reviews on Wednesdays after the show has been posted to youtube. I’m getting tired of getting these messages before the show and have the signal come back as the show is on.

Sorry for the inconvenience but I need to protect my sanity.

– Mascara De Fuego

NXT Season 3 Thoughts & Review [11.23.10]

It’s Great Puma here, MDF is on vacay…or perhaps he couldn’t stomach this show anymore.

Striker introduces the ladies to the ring.

It’s WWE Trivia time.

There were two parts; NXT questions followed by WWE questions. Yes, one of the questions was “Which WWE Superstar is known as “The Game”? I’m not making this up.

*AJ wins as usual. They should hire her based off being such a great fangirl alone.

Smackdown Thoughts & Review [10. 22. 10]

They advertise Orton vs. Kane in a champ vs. champ match.

The Smackdown and Raw participants in the Bragging Rights main event are in the ring. Teddy Long says he’s going to allow the wrestlers make the matches. Miz and Big Show start the match making process:

6-Man tag team match: Miz, Ezekiel and Sheamus vs. Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio and Big Show.

Edge gets on the mic and says he wants a one and one match with CM Punk. Lovely.

John Morrison says he wants to take on Alberto Del Rio. Interesting.

Jack Swagger says he wants a match with Santino. Cobra vs. the Soaring Eagle?

Michael Tool is part of the announcing team, which is very unfortunate.

Miz, Ezekiel and Sheamus vs. Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio and Big Show.

• Rey is sporting this obnoxious psychedelic zebra print. It’s hurts my eyes.
• Sheamus and Rey start the match off.
• Sheamus dominates Rey in the beginning with his usual power moves.
• Kofi is tagged in and hits a nice springboard flying cross body for a two count.
• Rey hits a busts a sick seated senton off the ring apron onto Sheamus on the outside.
• Ezekiel is tagged in and he cleans Kofi’s clock with power moves.
• Did I mention Rey’s colorway gives me a frakkin’ headache?
• Show is tagged in and destroys Miz with HUGE back body drops.
• Miz comes off the top turnbuckle but gets caught by Show and is blasted with a giant chokeslam.
• Show tags Rey in and Rey launches of Show’s shoulders and splashes on Miz for the duke.

WINNERS: Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio and Big Show

–Entertaining match for what it was. It’s sad that Ezekiel Jackson is reduced to a grunting muscle head. He comes off pretty well-rounded and smart on Twitter and it’s a shame they don’t allow him to show that side of him. I won’t even discuss the misfortune of Kofi Kingston. It’s a damn shame someone so talented and with strong fan support is held down in the midcard.

Huge big ups to Striker for the “Avengers Assemble!” and Secret Wars references. Glad he’s a Marvel fan. Does this loss mean that Raw is going to win at the Pay Per View? I say why not and I think it’s a perfect opportunity for Miz to cash in. More on that later.

CUT TO THE BACK:
Josh Mathews is with Dolph Ziggler and Vicky Guerrero. Josh replays Dolph’s beatdown at the hands of Daniel Bryan from the lastest Raw. Dolph slings a lame diss or two at Daniel Bryan and takes off. Cool beans.

Jack Swagger w/ the Swagger Soaring Eagle vs. Santino

• Swagger toys with Santino and kills him mat work.
• Santino is thrown out of the ring. The SSE threatens to pounce but Hornswaggle Smurf comes out to the rescue.
• Santino gives the SSE the COBRAAAA! Hornswaggle Smurf splashes the SSE from the top of the ring steps.
• Santino rallies but is caught in the ankle lock. Tap out.

WINNER: Jack Swagger

–Wow. Swagger, a former World Heavyweight Champion is now relegated to mid-card comedy match duty. Glad to see the Cobra on a Friday night. I think an eagle would win in real life though. Just putting it out there.

Dashing Cody Rhodes Grooming Tips
Chapped lips. The solution? Lip balm…and moisturizing lip gloss (if you’re by yourself). Lip gloss is rejuvenating and it opens the doorway to your own success and happiness. And knowing is half the battle.

Alberto Del Rio vs. John Morrison

• ADR kills Morrison’s back with a nice round house kick.
• ADR concentrates mostly on Morrison’s back with wear down holds and hard knee drops.
• ADR does a nice falling bump when Morrison sidesteps him in the corner.
• ADR hits a beautiful bridging German Suplex for a two count.
• ADR counters Starship Pain by getting the knees up and goes into the Cross Arm Breaker. Tappy tap.

WINNER: Alberto Del Rio

–Very solid short match. I wish this were longer since both of them could definitely go. I was surprised to see him come out in a regular ass blue Smackdown t-shirt. I’d imagine he’d have some blinged out silk version of the Smackdown tee. Oh well – that’s just random nitpicking.

ADR’s bump from jumping feet first into the corner was very solid. Most great wrestlers have a go-to/signature bump off the turnbuckle. I look forward to seeing ADR doing that bump again. I’m a bit surprised to see ADR dominate most of the match. I think Morrison’s character has gotten a nice little reboot and it’s surprising to see him get beat so clean.

Edge vs. CM Punk

• Both men give the fans a short but very nice chain/mat wrestling at the start.
• Huge “EDGE” chant from the crowd. Odd and also refreshing to see/hear.
• Punk avoids Edge’s rope splash. Damn it. I like that move a lot. Hopefully it’ll surface again in this match.
• Edge catches Punk off a springboard with a rolling powerslam. Nice.
• Great crowd participation with the exchange of blows. How ECW of them.
• Edge counters the GTS into an Edge-O-Matic.
• Punk counters a possible spear with a knee to the gut.
• Edge stops Punk on the second part of his knee in the corner-bulldog combo with a nice short-arm DDT.
• Edge pushes Punk off the top rope from the superplex position.
• Edge gets the crazy eyes and preps the spear.
• Miz and his gimp run in, pull Edge out and slam him into the barricade.

WINNER: No contest?

In a very cool sequence of events:

• Tyler Reks comes in and gives Miz his inverted F-5.
• Morrison runs in and hits Reks with his tilt-a-whirl DDT.
• ADR interrupts and smacks Morrison with his enziguiri in the corner.
• Big Zeke enters hits his finisher.
• Swagger runs in and hits the ankle lock on Zeke.
• Santino tries to be Captain Save-a-Ho but gets Swagger Bombed for his efforts.
• Sheamus busts in and hits a bro-kick on Swagger.
• Big Show comes rumbling down and takes care of Big Zeke with a chokeslam.
• Sheamus blasts Show out of the ring with a Bro-kick.
• Rey streaks in and smashes Sheamus with a 619.
• Punk catches Rey with the GTS.
• Edge. Spear. Huge pop.

–The Edge vs. Punk battle was okay. I’m positive they held back a lot to build to entertaining Bragging Rights finisher sequence. I’m hoping the Bragging Rights match lives up to that finisher sequence. That shit was super predictable but entertaining as hell. The only thing missing was a plancha off the top rope lucha spot. Perhaps they’ll save that for the PPV.

LayCool are in the ring looking like the Hart Foundation. Layla is the Anvil and McTaker is the Hitman. Wow.

LayCool vs. Natalya & Kelly Kelly

• LayCool wrestle WITH their Hart Foundation gear!
• Natalya with a nice butterfly suplex.
• Natalya slaps on the Sharpshooter. Layla taps.

WINNERS: Natalya & Kelly Kelly

–Interesting – Kelly Kelly didn’t do anything at all. I consider this a handicap match win for Natalya. Layla’s Anvil beard must have been held with super spirit gum. It stayed attached the whole match.

Kane vs. Randy Orton

• Kane counters the RKO with a huge boot.
• Kane threatens with chokeslam but the GONG sounds and the arena goes dark.
• The lights come back on and Orton is in the RKO pounce position.
• RKO. One. Two. Three.

WINNER: Stone Cold Orton

Kane goes apeshit and looks frustrated.
The Gong sounds and the rung turns blue with ‘Taker lighting effects.
Taker CLIMBS out from under the ring and pulls Kane down to hell. Dope.
The arena goes dark again and the show ends.

–Very cool way to end the show. As long as we never see the Urn flashlight again I actually think the Kane-Taker feud still has legs.

I didn’t expect the Orton-Kane match to have a proper ending. Both wrestlers have way too much momentum in their own storylines and on their brands to drop a match to each other clean.

The Show Overall

Smackdown is a very entertaining wrestling show as long as Alberto Del Rio, Edge, Rey Rey and Kofi are involved. Throw in some great RAW talent like CM Punk, Santino and John Morrison and you’re bound to strike gold somehow.

That Bragging Rights finisher sequence had to have been the highlight. They booked Tyler Reks perfectly by keeping him from wrestling a full match and allowing him to take out the Miz. I really hope the guy can do more than his F-5-like finisher. Big Zeke looks powerful but I’m afraid the WWE is going to push him as a one-dimensional big man. The WWE rarely creates compelling Black wrestlers and I don’t see them doing anything interesting with Ezekiel either. I hope I’m wrong.

Although I still prefer a Smackdown only show, this episode was filled with intriguing match ups throughout the episode. Punk vs. Edge and Morrison vs. ADR are two matches that I definitely want to see again with much more time allotted to them. I look forward to next week when they’ll solely focus on the Smackdown roster and all the great possibilities that stems from their wealth of talent.

*all pictures courtesy of wwe.com

Smackdown on SyFy Thoughts & Review [10. 8. 10]

The opening promo was dramatically strong. The way they use a dramatic film trailer voice to hype the matches really adds interest. Raw could definitely take a page or two from this.

Damn it. I watch Smackdown so I don’t have to see and hear Michael Cole. I guess he’s part of the Smackdown announce team tonight. Toolsauce.

Teddy Long introduces Edge to a huge crowd pop.

Jack Swagger and his Swagger Soaring Eagle (SSE) come out and cut a promo:

• Swagger says Edge embarrassed him and his mascot last week. Edge makes a “flipping the bird” pun. No bueno.

Edge vs. Jack Swagger

• Sick mat work by Swagger at the start.
• Huge spear by Edge on the SSE.
• Nice back body drop/arm ringer sequence by Swagger.
• Interesting splash on Swagger while he was in the 619 set-up position on the ropes. I hope Edge keeps using it.
• Huge tornado DDT by Edge. It looked pretty devastating since both men are above six feet tall.
• Very sick sequence where Swagger caught Edge off the top rope into a belly to belly suplex that finished more like a uranage.
• Very dope counters at the end. Too many to describe.
• Edge finally hits a spear.

WINNER: Edge

–I wish this match went longer. This was way better than their encounter at the Hell in a Cell pay per view. Hopefully, they’ll allow Swagger to get a win or two on Edge to make the feud even. Looks like Edge is a face on Smackdown. The pop was deafening. I hope CM Punk wasn’t the other half of the trade. I think an Edge-CM Punk feud would be incredible.

Dashing Cody Rhodes Grooming Tips
This week’s installment is about avoiding dirty rotten teeth. The solution? Use an electric toothbrush. Now we’re all one step closer to dashing.

–He forgot to mention flossing. That is all.

Layla w/ Michelle McCool vs Kelly Kelly w/ Natalya

• Seriously. I can’t describe the wrestling here since I’m focusing on other things. These are the two hottest women in the WWE in the ring at the same time. Win.
• Solid Thesz Press by Kelly Kelly.
• Layla hits her Layout Neckbreaker and that’s all.

WINNER: Layla

Layla tries to run in the ring after the match but is almost put in a Sharp Shooter by Natalya until McCool pulls her to safety.

–Short match. It did what it was supposed to do, which is to push the feud between Natalya and LayCool.

Big Show sprints to the ring in a new “Knockouts Served Daily” t-shirt. He has a mic:

• Show talks about being captain of the Smackdown team for the Bragging Rights pay per view.
• He brings out the mascot for Team Smackdown, Hornswaggle.

Show’s interrupted by the Dudebusters:

• They try to convince Show that they’re his guys for Team Smackdown.
• The Dudebusters threaten to get traded to Raw and be a nightmare for the Big Show.

Show ends up double chokeslamming them. Cue the music.

–I’d actually like to see the Dudebusters on a PPV since they can wrestle their asses off. Unfortunately, the casual WWE fan isn’t paying to see them on a PPV.

Dashing Cody Rhodes & Drew McIntyre vs. Kaval & Kofi Kingston

• Kofi gets destroyed by DCR and Drew at the beginning of the match.
• Kaval gets tagged in and kills DCR with a brilliant Tajiri-handspring cross body after rebounding off the ropes. Very dope.
• Drew hit a brutal kick on Kaval while he had DCR in his hanging Dragon Sleeper.
• DCR hits the Crossroads on Kaval after Drew trips Kaval from the outside.

WINNERS: Dashing Cody Rhodes & Drew McIntyre

–Crap. The last thing I want to see is Kaval being fed to the likes of Drew McIntyre. Great to see Kaval light up the match for the minute or two he was in the ring.

–Kaval’s music is alright. It sounds like a video game score. I would have used something that sounded like the Apocalypto soundtrack.

Paul Bearer introduces Kane and drops a giant turd on The Undertaker in the process.

• Kane talks about how he’s more powerful than ever as eerie sound effects and special effects lighting are added to enhance the mood.
• Awesome ‘Undertaker’ chant from the crowd during the promo.

–Huge heat – no pun intended for the Devil’s favorite son. I hated the way that match went at the pay per view. It’s a shame I am no longer interested in the feud.

IC Title Match: MVP vs Dolph Ziggler

• Crazy extended collar and elbow tie up that brought both wrestlers on their knees. You don’t see that everyday.
• Very dope and snappy fireman’s carry by Ziggler.
• Very nice overhead belly to belly by MVP.
• DOPE exploder suplex by MVP. I haven’t seen him do that in a while. So glad to see that suplex in the WWE.
• Ziggler falls out of a suplex and slaps on the sleeper. MVP reaches the corner.
• Kaitlyn comes down in a very tight dress. Good god.
• Kaitlyn grabs MVP’s leg while going for the Ballin’ Elbow and Ziggler hits the Zig Zag.

WINNER: Dolph Ziggler

Vicky comes out looking dejected. Drama, son! My inner-mark actually feels sorry for her.

–Vicky Guerrero’s expressions are classic. She’s the most interesting part of that duo. And yes, I am player hating on the fact that Dolph gets to get his sports entertainment on with Kaitlyn on a weekly basis. Lucky bastard.

I like how Striker mentioned MVP possibly being gassed. I hope the WWE starts to have conditioning play more of a role during the matches from now on. This means Show needs to knock fools out in five minutes or less before he gasses out and loses his matches. Paul Heyman would approve. But this ain’t happening any time soon.

CUT TO THE BACK:

• Josh Mathews is interviewing Alberto Del Rio.
• Huge zoom in on Alberto Del Rio’s prick smile. Classic.
• ADR craps on Rey Mysterio in English and Spanish.
• ADR says he’s going to leave Rey as a pile of dog trash.

ADR comes out in a classic Rolls Royce. Classy.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Rey Mysterio

• Nice spot where ADR misses a drop kick and flies feet first through ropes.
• Sick drop kick onto ADR’s arm while it was against the ring post.
• Awesome plancha by Rey off the top turnbuckle to the floor on ADR.
• Brutal running dropkick on ADR’s face against the bottom turnbuckle.
• Awesome springboard enziguiri by ADR while Rey was on the top turnbuckle.
• ADR hits another enziguiri on Rey’s left arm.
• Huge sunset flip powerbomb off the top turnbuckle by Rey. Close two count.
• Nice rolling powerslam by ADR. Not Goldust-nice but it was pretty solid.
• Rey lauches off the top turnbuckle to hit a giant hurricurana on ADR to send him into the ropes primed for a 619.
• Ricardo Rodriguez interferes while Rey goes for the 619.
• Rey hits another ‘rana on ADR and sends him crashing into Rodriguez.
• Rey goes off the top rope with a Rey Frog Splash. One…two…three.

WINNER: Rey Mysterio

End of show.

–Holy shit. Great match with the story of Rey working on ADR’s left arm established early on. This was a pay per view main event quality match and I feel lucky to have witnessed it. This match perfectly built up to a huge finish and it wasn’t overbooked at all.

Despite the interference, I would throw this into the hat for match of the year considerations. That might be overdoing it but there wasn’t a single boring second throughout the whole match. Both men brought their A-games and I could watch these two wrestle for many more months to come. Bravo to both wrestlers.

Observations and Notable Points

EDGE TRADED FOR WHOM?
I hate the fact that the announcers don’t mention who Edge was traded for. I think that’s a cheap way to hype Raw and a dangerous way to disappoint the fans if Raw ends up with a midcarder with no upside. That being said, CM Punk has been touring with the RAW crew this week so he’s probably the other wrestler involved in the trade, which is actually awesome for wrestling fans and CM Punk.

The Show Overall
What a difference a week makes. Even though this wasn’t the strongest show, it still looked and smelled like Smackdown since it wasn’t used to promote a pay per view with added starpower from Raw.

With Edge added to the mix the matches are going to be pretty spectacular. Unfortunately, an equally strong worker, CM Punk, is probably going to the other brand in the trade. The show has lost a lot of steam since they screwed the pooch on the Kane and Undertaker feud. But I guess the show will pick itself up with the addition of a blue mascot and the Swagger Soaring Eagle. Shoot me.

This week was a mediocre show that featured a good opening moment and an awesome main event. The show was saved at the end by its arguably two best performers in Rey Mysterio and Alberto Del Rio. I’m assuming that CM Punk is gone but Edge is more than adequate to fill the void. Rey, ADR, Swagger and Edge is a nice little quartet to build a wrestling show around. Throw Kofi, Cody Rhodes and Kaval in the mix and you almost have an equivalent to the glory days of the Smackdown Six. This was a lackluster show but the future of Smackdown is certainly golden.

*all pics courtesy of wwe.com

Smackdown SyFy Debut Thoughts & Review [10. 1. 10]

New intro.  I can’t say enough about the special effects used for the finisher sequences.

Oklahoma City.

Awesome.  Two wrestlers are already in the ring.

Smackdown Thoughts & Review [9. 24. 10]

Bloomington, Illinois

Smackdown Thoughts & Review [9. 17. 10]

The show starts off with Christian’s Peep Show

Christian is interrupted by Ricardo Rodriguez. Alberto Del Rio comes out in another two toned Bentley. [Huge heat!]

Christian calls him a cheap fajita, all sizzle and no steak. He wonders if he’s the boring guy in the video packages or this great fancy guy in the ring.