On Friday, a rather nasty storm knocked out power to about a fourth of the city and at the moment, a rather large tree is laying over the power lines at the end of my street. I’ve had to go to a hotel just to get out of the pitch black so things are going to be a bit slow until the power is back up. Odds are there won’t be a Slammiversary review up, or much else other than what I can scrape together. Sorry for the delays everyone.
KB
It’s that time of year again. Starting on July 20, I’ll be posting a new Summerslam review every day until the 2018 edition on August 19. As I do every year, I’ll be redoing both last year’s show and one more that you all get to pick. Use the comments to vote on which one you want me to do. It can be any in the show’s history, save for 2002, 2003, 2013 and 2016, which I’ve done recently enough. Vote away.
KB
So starting this Saturday, I’m going to be doing a weekly Ask KB column over at Wrestlingrumors.net. I’ll be taking a variety of questions and writing out some longer form answers with more historical context etc. Therefore, I need some stuff to answer and as luck would have it, I have an awesome audience who knows what kinds of things to ask. Therefore, I’m looking for some combination of the following:
Trivia
How I would book things/where I see things going
General questions about wrestling
Anything else you guys would like me to answer about wrestling
As usual, any era or company is fair game. I’ll post a link to the column once it’s completed and posted this coming Saturday. Ask your questions in the comments.
KB
What more is there to say about NXT? The promotion, which started off as nothing more than a developmental territory to build up some of WWE’s stars, has taken on a life of its own. There have been more classic matches, more stars made and more great moments there than anywhere else in recent wrestling memory.
The book runs about 450 pages and is available on Amazon both in a physical paperback for $11.99 or an e-book format for $2.99. In case you don’t have a Kindle, there are plenty of FREE apps you can get from Amazon for pretty much any electronic device, all of which are available at this link.
You can pick up the book from Amazon here in paperback and here as an e-book.
Or if you’re in another country with its own Amazon page, just search “KB NXT III” and it should be the first thing to come up.
Also you can still get any of my previous books on the Intercontinental Championship, Monday Night Raw from 1997, 1998, 2001 and the first half of 2014, Monday Nitro from 1995-1999, In Your House, Summerslam, Starrcade, ECW Pay Per Views, Royal Rumble, Saturday Night’s Main Event, the WWF and WCW pay per views from 1998, Wrestlemania, WWE Grab Bag and Clash of the Champions at my author’s page here.
I hope you like it and shoot me any questions you might have.
KB
It was a very good trip (despite falling and possibly breaking my thumb on the concrete as I left Smackdown) and I had a blast. Some of the people I got to meet blew my mind and I can’t believe it actually happened. I’ll be back at full speed tomorrow and catching up on the long list of shows I’ve missed, starting with Takeover.
Thanks for your patience.
KB
You know the drill by now I’m sure. I’ll have live thoughts when I get back to the hotel.
Still in New Orleans so still behind on doing the reviews, but still able to do some live reports. This time around we had the big event show with everything going at a hundred miles an hour and a ridiculous amount of returns, debuts and surprises. That can make for a fun show and I had a pretty good time. Let’s get to it.
Since there’s so much to cover, this is chronological instead of in any order of importance or interest.
Also, the sellout line was COMPLETELY bogus as there was a good chunk of empty seats on the hard camera side. I was opposite the hard camera in the upper deck an at least four seats in the row in front of me stayed empty all night. There were also empty floor seats easily seen.
Stephanie McMahon opened the show and egads this was great. I can live with Stephanie being all stuck up when she comes across as in on the joke and that’s what we got here. Rousey coming out and going from smile to death stare was outstanding and I wanted to see her break the other arm. This was EXACTLY what it needed to be and should get rid of Stephanie, at least for the time being.
Ember Moon debuted in a pretty expected move. It’s the right way to go about things with her as there’s nothing left for her in NXT. The Eclipse is still an outstanding finisher and pinning Alexa Bliss, who was Women’s Champion 24 hours earlier, was a promising start. I’m not sure why she and Nia are now friends, but Ember coming up is a good thing.
Now we go down the other road with Braun Strowman and Nicholas vacating the Tag Team Titles. Why? Because Nicholas is in fourth grade of course! That got a great laugh and so did Nicholas promising to come back to give someone THESE HANDS when he’s done with school. However, it seems that the whole point of this is to crown new champions in Saudi Arabia and if we just have to do the title change one night and vacate it the next, so be it. This got on my nerves far more than Nicholas appearing in the first place and comes off like WAY too much work for what they got out of it.
No Way Jose debuted and won a match in about thirty seconds with a conga line before and after the match. I’ve always been a fan of the guy and he’s the perfect house show opener for years to come.
The Bar is getting their shot at the Tag Team Titles in Saudi Arabia and their opponents are being determined with a mini tournament. The Revival made the finals by beating the Good Brothers and that’s all there is to say here. It’s the right call and hopefully the Revival can pick up some steam. I mean, they won’t, but it’s nice for a week.
Seth Rollins came out and got a great reaction to BURN IT DOWN. Finn Balor interrupted and asked for a title shot, which Rollins granted at a future date. It was Miz’s turn as he came out and said he wanted his rematch at Backlash. Rollins said it was on and a handicap match was teased but Jeff Hardy returned to even things up. That’s a VERY good idea as there’s no need to have him do the Broken stuff. You don’t know how long he has left so put him out there and see what he can do in a last singles run. The six man is set for later.
Sasha Banks and Bayley are still arguing and have a match next week. There’s no much to this but I think Bayley turns.
In a great moment, Paige announced her retirement from in-ring competition due to her injuries. You had to know this was coming but it was very fitting that she did it in the same arena and on the same show that she made her main roster debut. I was there for both moments and it was sad to see her go, but this needs to be done. She got a THIS IS YOUR HOUSE chant and left her t-shirt in the ring for one of the better retirement speeches I’ve seen in a good while.
Elias came out for a song, got an insanely positive reaction, insulted the crowd, and was then mauled by a returning Bobby Lashley. This was another expected debut and one that was also very effective, even if his big move was a delayed suplex. Lashley still looks like a million bucks and he’s learned the character stuff in his time away. He could be a big deal for a few years and that’s always a positive.
Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens tried to get jobs but Angle says he’s not just giving it out. In the line of the weekend, Angle said he’s heard TNA is hiring. If TNA has ever been mentioned on the main shows, the moment escapes me. Anyway they can wrestle each other tonight and the winner gets a contract.
The Authors of Pain debuted and slaughtered Heath Slater and Rhyno. After the match they walked away from Paul Ellering, which doesn’t surprise me. Unless he’s going to come back with another team (not sure who that could be), he might just not want to be on the road every week. We’ll see if he’s back but it’s not like they really need him.
A solemn Roman Reigns came out and talked about taking a beating last night. In what sounded like he was accusing Lesnar of shooting on him or at least going off script, Reigns said that no one would look at him when he got to the building yesterday and Lesnar shocked everyone by re-signing with WWE. It didn’t make a lot of sense and came out of left field to say something like that and I’m not sure I want to know where it’s going. Anyway, Samoa Joe returned, called Reigns out for losing again, and promised to choke him out at Backlash. Joe was great here, showing off the serious emotion that he does so well.
Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt won the other semifinal match over Titus Worldwide and will face the Revival for the title shot next week. Again, not much to say here as it was exactly what it should have been.
Sami and Owens went to a double countout when neither could get to their feet after a superplex. Therefore, no one gets the contract. Now this one interests me as they’re either going to go barnstorming on both shows until someone hires them or do something else. I’d love to see them even go to NXT for a month or two, just to see what happens.
In a funny moment, the Hardys and Wyatt talked in the Woken style about what they’ve been up to with Bray saying that he feels WONDERFUL since Sister Abigail was vanquished. Aside from there being a reason for his face turn, the highlight was the camera panning over to a confused Balor and Rollins. That’s the kind of comedy that works in wrestling: pointing out that while what is being said makes sense in the wrestling world, to an outsider, these are crazy people talking about crazy things. See also Dr. Shelby with Kane and Daniel Bryan.
The trio of midcard superheroes defeated the Miztourage in a match that was everything you would have expected it to be. Post match it was a parade of finishers to end the show. There was no dark match but Rollins called for the fans to throw their beach balls into the ring and a mini party broke out.
Overall, tonight’s show felt like a post Wrestlemania show, but it also felt like they were rushing to get through it. How much stuff tonight was just a way to set up the Saudi Arabia show and Backlash? I know you have to do some of those things, but this felt like they were trying to move as fast as they could, likely so the fans couldn’t take over the show again.
That being said, this show was PACKED with stuff happening, including returns, debuts and matches being set up all over the place. I did like what we got, but there was so much of it that it’s going to take some time to process. On top of all that, there’s the Superstar Shakeup next week, meaning all of this could be completely meaningless. It’s still a fun night though and while there wasn’t one big moment, there were several important moments, making it feel like a special night.
I think something might happen tonight. Talk about it here and I’ll be back with some thoughts after the show.
Well that was….eventful. There was a lot to be seen at this year’s Wrestlemania and for the most part, I thought the good more than outweighed the bad. There were some major, major surprises and I was shouting at a lot of things, albeit mostly in a shocked way rather than an angry way. Since it might take me a few days to get the review up, here are some live thoughts from throughout the evening.
My seat was looking mostly straight at the ring post on the right hand side of the ring on the opposite side of the hard camera. Of note: when I was at Wrestlemania XXX, I was in row 27, seat 15. This time, I was in row 27, seat 15.
After a VERY long delay at WrestleCon (Totally worth it this time around. Again, report to come I promise.), I got to the stadium, got inside, bought an overpriced Sprite and got into my seat as the entrants were coming to the ring for the Andre Battle Royal. I like Matt winning, though I was worried Bray would steal it from him. This was Bray’s LONG awaited face turn and hopefully it sticks this time around. He could certainly use it. Nothing to see here, including any major callups.
I’m glad Cedric won the Cruiserweight Title. The guy is that good and the match was entertaining. Ali can get it later, though hopefully not after a heel turn as he’s that good. It was around this time that I started getting into the show, partially because I got some food in between matches to wake me up a bit.
The women’s battle royal….erg. My issue isn’t with Naomi winning but rather Bayley having it won and WWE deciding to go with the surprise. Bayley and Sasha have been in a good feud as of late while Naomi has been doing absolutely nothing. Bayley winning and advancing their feud made sense while Naomi winning felt like pulling a name out of a hat. That got on my nerves, which was better than how uninterested I was throughout the match. Peyton Royce was a nice appearance, but then again when isn’t she?
Hey we have pyro again. It’s about time and I can go with not having it every week, but not having it at pay per views is dumb. AT LEAST for the big shows.
The two women singing America the Beautiful are “the future of music” and they’re doing a cover? Be original people.
The opener was rather strong and I had a good time with it, though I’m not sure what the point was in Balor’s entrance. I’m sure Miz will get it back soon enough and move up the ladder towards the most days as champion. The match was a good choice for an opener as the fans have something to cheer and it’s a nice way to go about things.
Asuka tapping out shocked the heck out of me and I screamed at the finish. I like the choice here as Asuka gets knocked off and makes her eventual title defenses have more of a point. I know the rumored match was Rousey vs. Asuka for the title at Wrestlemania next year, but now you don’t have to worry about being bored because “she has to keep the title until Wrestlemania to protect the streak”. Not so much now, and I like that a lot.
And then we have the big middle finger to the fans. Rusev is one of the hottest things in the company (there was a 12 month RUSEV DAY calendar for sale at the Superstore) and he takes the pin from Jinder to give Mahal the title. Mahal winning is bad enough (though I guessed it because it would be the dumbest winner they could choose) but this was WWE saying “you will not cheer someone we don’t want you to cheer so sit down and bask in what we know is greatness”. People, including me, were ticked off here.
That brings us to the mixed tag and I’m not sure where to start. Let’s get this out of the way: Rousey looked great and my love of her is fully restored (not that it ever really went away). She’s still rough around the edges and needs ring time, but the fire was there and she looked like a killer, which is exactly what she was supposed to do. Other than that you have the proper ending, but you know where I’m going next.
Yes they really did have Stephanie go toe to toe with Rousey and even get the upper hand multiple times, including blocking the armbar. We’re supposed to take this seriously and just roll with Rousey manhandling HHH but STEPHANIE MCMAHON can hold her own. This was at least mostly negated by the ending, but my goodness I was nearly laughing at how ridiculous this was. The match was a lot of fun overall, though it did go one save of a submission too long.
The Bludgeon Brothers winning was fine, though I’m not sure how much of an impact it had. This felt like it was over before it started and while it got its job done, it wasn’t exactly what I was hoping to see. Not bad or anything and the Usos looked good, but I’d have preferred this to be two on two.
I’m not sure what Undertaker vs. Cena means, what it was, or what it was supposed to be. I think I liked it (DEFINITELY liked it more than a 20 minute match) but that’s what we get after all these weeks? Undertaker is awesome and Cena should watch his mouth? It was a bad story and a more confusing match than anything else, but what we got was certainly shocking. Oh and no Undertaker doesn’t still have it, at least not based off of that. We saw him in a three minute sparring session, not a regular match.
On a side note: I know I don’t think much of Undertaker coming back again and again, but that entrance will never stop being the most mesmerizing thing you’ll see at a wrestling show. Oh and one more thing (which I can’t take credit for): Undertaker went from main eventing Wrestlemania to beating up a fan.
Bryan is back….and there isn’t much more to say about this. Shane took a beating, Bryan got the hot tag, the fans loved it, he kicked them both a lot, shrugged off both finishers, and gave Sami his two finishers to win. What else is there to say about this one? See you Monday Sami and Kevin.
I really didn’t like Nia beating Alexa that way. As I said (along with many others), this should have been about a minute long and a complete squash. Alexa is going to get crushed in the end, so let Nia look impressive in the process. At least Nia FINALLY wins a title though, and that’s more than she’s ever managed to do before.
Styles vs. Nakamura was underwhelming, but completely acceptable. The biggest problem though is the post match heel turn. WHY DIDN’T YOU DO THIS AT FASTLANE??? OR ANY TIME BEFORE THE MATCH??? Nakamura was defeated 100% clean in the middle of the ring and now we have a likely rematch (assuming WWE doesn’t put them on different brands and waste another angle) where Nakamura will probably win. Have this be a DQ or something and then do the rematch, or do the heel turn first. Don’t have AJ win and then set up the rematch. Think this through people.
I actually like the Nicholas (who is referee John Cone’s son in case you were wondering whose kid he was) idea as it’s the closest thing they can have to Strowman winning by himself while still having a partner. To those people who say this is burying the belts or whatever other complaints you might have, please stop and think about this for a second. Strowman won them by himself because he’s one of the top stars in the company and needs something to do. This was intentionally being silly, not acting like it’s some brilliant idea. It’s not that bad and it’s not going to last long.
The main event is a case of waiting and seeing, though unfortunately it’s likely going to be waiting and seeing Reigns winning the title next year. I’m sure something is going to happen tomorrow night (maybe a surprise title change or an announcement of another match, but I REALLY hope they don’t just vacate it) but above all else, I like what they did here. Reigns simply wasn’t right to be champion at the moment and while I’m sure we’ll get ANOTHER year long build to his title win (NEXT TIME FOR SURE!), this wasn’t the right time. Lesnar winning is more headscratching than anything else, but I’d like to see what they do tomorrow.
Overall I liked the show, but again it’s too long. Cue the Raw Women’s Title match down to a minute, don’t do the US Title, have Nicholas be in the front row and drop a few minutes off of Rousey’s match and the show is that much better. It’s not a classic by any means, but it was a good show and had a ton of memorable moments. I had a good time and the set looked INCREDIBLE.
A few quite notes:
Beach balls made their return in the main event, along with the Wave. A fan shouted that if the people hate wrestling this much, go somewhere else because there are people who want to see it. He was given a DELETE chant because wrestling fans are stupid.
The small screens in the farther away sections have a bit of a time lapse so if you’re watching them instead of the ring, it’s rather confusing.
Rusev and Bryan were the most over all night by a wide margin.
The shorter ramp is great and needs to be the norm.
I won’t be going to New York as the idea of being in that city makes me break out in hives. There is however another potential big show on my radar, though it’s WAY too early to be for sure if I’m going to I won’t say which one.
It was a good night overall and Raw/Smackdown should certainly be interesting.
Ask away with any questions you may have.
Obviously there won’t be any review up tonight but I’ll have some live thoughts when I get back to the hotel tonight. Until then, use this post to talk about the show and head over to Steel Cage Forums for the live discussion thread!
https://steelcageforums.com/showthread.php/265-WrestleMania-34-LD-The-House-of-the-Rising-Sun