Clash of Champions and the Problem with Raw

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Raw has a tendency to fall a bit flat. On the weekly TV show, I tend to put that down to its mammoth runtime which has both the crowd in the arena and those sitting at home feeling exhausted by the time the main event comes around. It’s just too much wrestling to watch every week, especially when a lot of it is filler. However, on Sunday night that feeling transferred over to Clash of Champions, despite it being a show that had none of that filler.

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27/09/2016 0

Backlash

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While Raw has had a pretty solid start to life in the post-brand split WWE, it has been SmackDown that has caught the eye. Even with their limited roster, they have slowly been putting together a weekly television show that is worth watching. However, even the most ardent of fans must have questioned how that tiny roster would manage when asked to carry a PPV by themselves.

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13/09/2016 0

Kevin Owens

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If you listen to any of the old-timer’s WWE podcasts, then the odds are you have heard someone lament the death of the heel. How in 2016 no one goes for heat and the current crop of talent are too focused on being cool. It’s a view that in some ways is true but falls down when you present WWE’s new Universal Champion, Kevin Owens.

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02/09/2016 0

SummerSlam

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Six hours. That’s how long you would have to spend in front of your TV if you wanted to watch SummerSlam from start to finish. The biggest party of the summer long outstayed it’s welcome, and WWE certainly didn’t help it.

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23/08/2016 0

NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn

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Last year’s TakeOver event in Brooklyn was one of NXT’s crowning moments and arguably features one of their greatest ever matches when Bayley won the Woman’s Title against Sasha Banks. This year they returned to the Brooklyn Bowl with a new look line-up sprinkled with some recognisable faces.

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22/08/2016 0

Cruiserweight Classic First Round

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The Cruiserweight Classic’s First Round is over, and it has quickly become one of the highlights of my wrestling week. A fast-paced show the five to ten-minute matches have given us the taste of how talented some of the competitors in this tournament are.

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04/08/2016 0

SmackDown Live Review

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After Raw’s rather successful reboot on Monday night, SmackDown followed suit with their first proper live show on a Tuesday. While I obviously want Raw to be great, I really want SmackDown to succeed. My wrestling education was birthed in the technical excellence of Paul Heyman’s SmackDown, and it has genuinely pained me to see the Blue Brand fall away over the years.

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27/07/2016 0

Battleground and Raw Review

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It’s the New Era that is part of the New Era… if you know what I mean. Battleground is over, and we are heading into a whole new style of Raw. Before we get there, however, I am going to give a quick rundown of my thoughts on said show. Don’t worry if you’re a SmackDown person; I’ll be doing that tomorrow.

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26/07/2016 0

WWE Draft

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For the second time in its history, WWE has gone draft crazy with last night’s SmackDown Live signalling the start of a New Era – although how that fits into the last one, I don’t know. Like most of these events, the actual show itself was a bit of a disappointment, with the awkward podium sections not hiding that most of the matches were throwaway at best. Even the main event was hardly a classic. However, it’s got us where we need to be and after Battleground we will have an all new WWE. So how does each roster look going into that new world? Continue reading “WWE Draft” →

20/07/2016 0

Cruiserweight Classic First Thoughts

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Last night WWE aired the first episode of the Cruiserweight Classic, their tournament involving thirty-two of the best cruiserweights in the world. It’s entirely new territory for the company, and you only need to glance down the list of names to get excited. In this piece, I’m going to have a look at the first episode reviewing it in three separate areas: presentation, commentary and in-ring action.

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14/07/2016 0