Rambles about the wonderful world of wrestling.
I don’t know how but it’s November and WrestleMania season is suddenly on the horizon. Undertaker is popping up on SmackDown and rumours abound of who is being set up with who. One rumour that has been whispered on a regular basis is whether a certain Hulk Hogan will return for the Superbowl of professional wrestling.
Hell in a Cell. Four words that if WWE had their way would send shivers down your spine. It’s meant to be the ultimate feud ender. The one that leaves its participants broken, beaten and begging for psychiatric help; which is why holding a yearly event based around the theme feels weird. We’ll ignore that, though, and instead get on with our review of Raw’s latest PPV.
Why aren’t they pushing (insert wrestler’s name here)? It’s a question that every wrestling fan asks now and then/once a week/once a day/every hour. From the baffling fact that Roddy Piper never won a World Title to Daniel Bryan’s slow burn rise to the top, wrestling fans always have a guy that want to see given a chance. Few talents on the current roster fit that mould as well as Cesaro.
The build up to No Mercy wasn’t exactly an easy one for WWE’s blue brand. The circus that is the American presidential debate saw them move the main event into the opening slot on the card while Becky Lynch’s injury meant a late change to the Woman’s Title match. For a show which is already quite thin on the ground, SmackDown was suddenly even shorter.
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.
Continue reading “Clash of Champions and the Problem with Raw”
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.
Back in 2010, The Miz became the WWE Champion. Having entered the company as a joke, the former reality TV star reached the top of the mountain and in doing so proved everyone wrong. And he didn’t do this the easy way. This wasn’t a Roman Reigns style anointment from the McMahon’s above. He scratched, and he crawled, and he turned people that had previously hated him into fans. He was truly awesome.
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.
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.
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.
Ramblings About Wrestling 