So last night Smackdown, obviously started with Daniel Bryan, great atmosphere to start the show as you would imagine, he explained how hard the last two years have been seeing doctor after doctor and getting knockback after knockback and how his wife Brie kept him going, he said he doesn't exactly know when he will be back, but there was a big clue later in the show....
Bryan started the show and he also finished it with Owens and Zayn, the pair were delighted for Bryan and hugged him, Bryan then showed what happened last week with them and Shane....and then fired them!, Then the beatdown began, now it wasn't as brutal as what they did to Shane but they still hit him with a helluva kick and a powerbomb on the apron, Bryan had to be stretchered out.
So, remember a while back were I mentioned New Japan and tournaments? The annual New Japan Cup wrapped up earlier today (accounting for time zones in my area) and this years winner is, surprisingly, Zack Sabre Jr.
Traditionally, the winner gets their choice of title shot: IWGP Heavyweight Champion, IWGP Intercontinental Champion, or NEVER Openweight Champion. Zack chose the IWGP Heavyweight title shot, so my body's ready for Okada's record-tying 11th defense April 1st at the Sakura Genesis PPV.
Goldberg to be inducted by Paul Heyman, Dudley Boyz by Edge & Christian, Ivory by Molly Holly
Greatest Royal Rumble card
50 Man Royal Rumble Match
Participants TBD
Triple H v.s John Cena
The WWE Championship, Universal Championship, Intercontinental Championship, United States Championship, Raw Tag Team Championship, Smackdown Tag Team Championship, and Cruiserweight Championships will all be defended at the show in some capacity.
Only confirmed participants in these title defenses are Miz/Rollins/Balor/Joe in a Ladder Match for the IC Title and Sheamus/Cesaro (for now) v.s The "possibly both Broken" Hardy Boyz for the Raw Tag Titles.
VAGUE RUMOR: WWE and Hulk Hogan have apparently been talking, possible comeback of some variety after the Hulkster's fall from grace in 2015.
Good news, American New Japan fans: New Japan is going to San Francisco and the Cow Palace July 7th for their G-1 Special: Fighting Spirit Unleashed event. Not part of the 2018 G1 Climax, but sort of a prelude.
It is fairly polarizing, but personally I can dig this kind of kooky stuff every so often to break up WRESTLING IS SUPERDUPERSERIOUS and MOVEZ AND WORKRATE YO.
To be fair, the bar was set fairly high for absolutely mental tomfoolery with the first two Deletion encounters (Final Deletion, Delete and Decay. Haven't got to see Total Nonstop Deletion yet)
It is fairly polarizing, but personally I can dig this kind of kooky stuff every so often to break up WRESTLING IS SUPERDUPERSERIOUS and MOVEZ AND WORKRATE YO.
To be fair, the bar was set fairly high for absolutely mental tomfoolery with the first two Deletion encounters (Final Deletion, Delete and Decay. Haven't got to see Total Nonstop Deletion yet)
I can see why it's polarizing. I can get behind it without much issue, it's a weird mix of backyard wrestling, Ministry-esqe setups, and a bit of silliness mixed in. The wrestling itself isn't really the point, but the way WWE has been for a while that should be fine for them.
Final Deletion was quite silly, but was a good watch to me if for nothing else than seeing Matt un-broken for a few seconds in a reaction.
a Bobby Lashley return. From what I've seen of his work in Impact/TNA/GFW/whatever this week, he seems to have improved considerably, especially thriving as a heel.
The Cena-Undertaker build up is crap and the match is happening at least five years too late, they are both at the end of their careers so I don't think it will be a great match, I know people have been asking for it for years but the moments gone....long gone.
The Cena-Undertaker build up is crap and the match is happening at least five years too late, they are both at the end of their careers so I don't think it will be a great match, I know people have been asking for it for years but the moments gone....long gone.
EDIT to account for Smackdown, the current WrestleMania 34 card:
WWE Universal Championship
Brock Lesnar(c) v.s Roman Reigns
WWE Championship
AJ Styles(c) v.s Shinsuke Nakamura
WWE Raw Womens Championship
Alexa Bliss(c) v.s Nia Jax
WWE Smackdown Womens Championship
Charlotte Flair(c) v.s Asuka
WWE United States Championship
Randy Orton(c) v.s Bobby Roode v.s Jinder Mahal v.s Rusev
WWE Intercontinental Championship
The Miz(c) v.s Seth Rollins v.s Finn Balor
Tournament Finals to crown the new WWE Cruiserweight Champion
Cedric Alexander v.s Mustafa Ali
WWE Raw Tag Team Championships
Cesaro & Sheamus(c) v.s Braun Strowman & TBD
WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championships
The Usos(c) v.s The New Day v.s The Bludgeon Brothers
Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
Currently announced participants include: Dash Wilder, Scott Dawson, Baron Corbin, Mojo Rawley, Tye Dillinger, Matt Hardy, Tyler Breeze, Fandango, and Dolph Ziggler.
WrestleMania Womens Battle Royal
Currently announced participants include: Sasha Banks, Sarah Logan, Liv Morgan, Ruby Riott, Becky Lynch, Natalya, Naomi, and Bayley.
Mixed Tag Team Match
Triple H & Stephanie McMahon v.s Kurt Angle & Ronda Rousey
HOLY BEJEEZUS HE'S BACK (If Owens and Zayn win, they are reinstated. Wrestling logic)
Daniel Bryan and (possibly Shane McMahon depending on if the diverticulitis thing is a work) v.s Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens)
Still to be announced but c'mon we all know it's happening
John Cena v.s The Undertaker
So my thought on Wrestlemania are....well I'm quite happy with everything, Styles v Nakamura and Charlotte v Asuka are the two matches I'm most looking forward to seeing, rest of the card looks good without being wow, intrigued by Rousey's debut, the build up to the show has been generally good too IMO, this weeks Raw was pretty average though.
So overall I'm looking forward to it, I mean its Wrestlemania, how can you not be excited!
So if Braun somehow wins the titles at wrestlemania by himself will Kurt make him choose a mystery tag partner on Monday or the day of mania before his match?
So if Braun somehow wins the titles at wrestlemania by himself will Kurt make him choose a mystery tag partner on Monday or the day of mania before his match?
He has one, but he won't tell us who since Sheamus failed to beat him. If it's a current active roster member (so, Elias) I'm guessing we find out on Monday, but if it's a big name returning/joining we probably won't know until right before the match, kind of like when Booker T debuted in TNA as Sting's partner.
I was thinking more along the lines of Samoa Joe or Neville (and Mysterio before his injury). Joe was supposedly expected to be ready by mid-March and Neville was rumored to be in negotiations at the beginning of the month. I don't know how big of a pop Neville would get but Joe would probably get a decent one.
Current NXT Takeover New Orleans card: NXT Championship
Andrade Almas (c) v.s Aleister Black
NXT Womens Championship
Ember Moon v.s Shayna Bazler
NXT Tag Team Championship
...and Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Finals
Bobby Fish/Kyle O'Relly (c?) v.s Authors of Pain v.s Pete Dunne/Roderick Strong
(TL;DR, originally scheduled finals at the latest NXT tapings went to a double DQ, a tag title match was to go to the winners, that's why it's a triple threat)
Ladder Match to crown inagural NXT North American Champion
Adam Cole v.s EC3 v.s Killian Dain v.s Lars Sullivan v.s Velveteen Dream v.s Ricochet
Unsanctioned Match If Johnny Gargano wins, he is reinstated because WRESTLING LOGIC
Johnny Gargano v.s Tommaso Ciampa
I decided to really put my WWE Network subscription to use by re-watching the Attitude era as I was rather young during that period so I forgot/didn't understand most of it plus I rarely got to watch the PPV's (only chance was when we briefly had a magical box that gave us every channel for free). I decided to start in January of 1996 as that year is when a lot of the key players rose to prominence (HHH, Stone Cold, Mankind, The Rock). Plus the already established guys like Brett, Shawn and the Undertaker.
Despite only being up to WM12 I've noticed a few things already.
- 90's wrestling merch. was hideous. Not only were the designs bad but they were only available on a "one size fits all" sweatshirt.
- I forgot the WWF Hotline was a thing. Did they actually get people to pay $1.49/minute to find out answers to pointless questions?
- Goldust was creepy as hell
- Who thought Isaac Yankem was a good idea? Thankfully for Glenn he eventually turned into Kane.
- Tag Teams were seemingly ignored for a period. After Billy Gunn got injured they did a tournament to decide the new champions and it barely even gets mentioned on Raw. The matches take place on some other show not available on the network.
- It's hard to get used to hearing Vince be the face commentator.
- People that criticize current WWE for being unoriginal with PPV names must have forotten that "In Your House" was the default PPV name for awhile.
Current NXT Takeover New Orleans card: NXT Championship
Andrade Almas (c) v.s Aleister Black
NXT Womens Championship
Ember Moon v.s Shayna Bazler
NXT Tag Team Championship
...and Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Finals
Bobby Fish/Kyle O'Relly (c?) v.s Authors of Pain v.s Pete Dunne/Roderick Strong
(TL;DR, originally scheduled finals at the latest NXT tapings went to a double DQ, a tag title match was to go to the winners, that's why it's a triple threat)
Ladder Match to crown inagural NXT North American Champion
Adam Cole v.s EC3 v.s Killian Dain v.s Lars Sullivan v.s Velveteen Dream v.s Ricochet
Unsanctioned Match If Johnny Gargano wins, he is reinstated because WRESTLING LOGIC
Johnny Gargano v.s Tommaso Ciampa
The only match I'm not excited about is Moon vs. Baszler since I wasn't impressed with their first match.
NXT Championship
Andrade Almas (c) v.s Aleister Black
Pick: Almas. I think Black is positioned as being good enough to not need to hold the title prior to moving up, plus with Vega at ringside it could easily be a dirty win for Almas.
NXT Womens Championship
Ember Moon v.s Shayna Bazler
Pick: Baszler. This is a tough one as I don't know if there is much purpose keeping Ember in NXT, but at the same time I don't think Baszler is quite championship level yet. She could just be a transitional champ though.
NXT Tag Team Championship
...and Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Finals
Bobby Fish/Kyle O'Relly (c?) v.s Authors of Pain v.s Pete Dunne/Roderick Strong
(TL;DR, originally scheduled finals at the latest NXT tapings went to a double DQ, a tag title match was to go to the winners, that's why it's a triple threat)
Pick: Not a clue.
Ladder Match to crown inagural NXT North American Champion
Adam Cole v.s EC3 v.s Killian Dain v.s Lars Sullivan v.s Velveteen Dream v.s Ricochet
Pick: Anyone that's not Killian Dain. It seems like he's there for a spot or two, Sanity should be called up so there is no point giving him a title. Sullivan has also been rumored for a call up so I would put his odds at slim to none. So that leaves 4 real possibilities and you could make a very good case for each one.
This match should be a blast.
Unsanctioned Match If Johnny Gargano wins, he is reinstated because WRESTLING LOGIC
Johnny Gargano v.s Tommaso Ciampa
Pick: Gargano. He has to win this one or he will stop being the "lovable loser with alot of heart" and become the "loser that at least tries".
Once again I think the main roster will have a hard time topping the NXT crew.
Earliest I remember watching wrestling was the Triple H Randy Ortan feud in 2008? Where Triple h “broke” into Randy’s house with a sledgehammer I think that was during Randy’s punting phase.
