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Showing posts from October, 2021

SmackDown Provides a Beacon Through No-Mans' Land....

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Happy Friday, Enthusiasts!   It’s especially happy for me because I was able to prevent a need to get up early on Saturday so, I’m stoked 😉 As for the rumblings in the wrestling world, there are a few things I can kick around. Let’s jump into it. So, we’ll start with AEW this time around. For whatever reason, the ratings are falling for them. Some say it’s due to the Saturday shows that didn’t draw well and maybe so-so programming. Whether anyone wants to admit it or not, WWE has been pretty solid in recent weeks, even with RAW. Yeah, there’s still repetition but it’s been well-executed and we all know that AEW can put on a sloppy display. So, what I’m getting at is that this shouldn’t be much of a surprise. WWE’s problem has always been content, not talent, not production values. They just aren’t very creative over there. Outside of that, it’s professionally produced television. As for AEW, that’s not always easy to say. They may have more fun and are more open creatively but i

RAW Closes Out Crown Jewel with Its Fallout...

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  How Are You Doing, Enthusiasts?   A storm is finishing up its pass through in my next of the woods. Just glad I didn’t have to drive in the worst of it. So, there’s quite a bit going on in the wrestling world this week. Let’s get started. Going to try and keep this short.   So, let’s start with some non-WWE news as Eric Bischoff continues to not make friends as he calls out CM Punk’s run as being equivalent to Punk shitting the bed. I’m not sure I’d take it quite that far but I would think one would have to expect a tapering off once the thrill wore off. Not sure what else they guy is supposed to do. He’s in his 40s, not getting younger but he is charismatic, I have to give him that but AEW so focused on the wrestling, what are they supposed to do with that decidedly WWE trait? There’s a lot going on here. To say Punk is subversive is a bit of understatement. Bischoff is clearly looking for attention so I’m not sure how much to take from this statement but what is surprising

Say What You Will, Crown Jewel Worked. Now, Back to the Usual SmackDown Business...

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  How’s It Going, Enthusiasts?   So, who caught Crown Jewel? It wasn’t half bad, to be honest. And to be real honest 1 of the matches pleasantly surprised me and that left me a little shocked. I was expecting to cringe. Let’s break it down a bit before getting into Fallout action.   In one case, it looks like someone with access to WWE ears reads my blog because they took some time with Mansoor’s and Mustafa Ali’s match. I was proud of both of these gentlemen because the mild build prior led to a “meaningful” match between the 2 that allowed us to see them both more clearly as performers. Mansoor made it clear he’s here to work and so did Ali by being the good sport by playing the bad guy. WWE is wise not to play the same bullshit they do in the US by often making the hometown favorite lose. Yet, they didn’t just give it to him either and Ali got to be punk-ass and beat him down after. Welcome to the family, Mansoor! That’s how we do it in the WWE Universe. He’s main roster now

The Infamous Crown Jewel IV?

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  How's It Going, Enthusiasts? Doing all right? Well, this is a delicate time in the WWE schedule as Saudi Arabia doesn't have the best rep. out there. Well, as many feel this is an abhorrent display, I'm going to side with the Triple H thinking and say that Saudi fans shouldn't be penalized for the ills of their government. Wrestling should be a political free zone because none of it's real anyway. It's supposed to serve as an escape from all those unpleasant truths. If anything, the Saudi fans are deserving because of them. This is a brief respite from perceived hardships. I say "perceived" because we don't know what it is to live in Saudi Arabia. I'm sure some places and people are reflections of the problem while others are markers of modern thought and progress. No one is in a position to dictate the direction of a culture. Only the culture itself will decide to evolve or not. 'Tis the crux of Human Nature. We do what we want. If that

RAW Escorts Us to Crown Jewel...

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  A Good Monday to You, Enthusiasts.   I hope it finds you well. So, there are some tidbits to snack on in the wrestling world. Shall we have a taste?   First thing is first, AEW appears to be gaining on WWE. Even with a “super-sized” SmackDown­, AEW still gained the bulk of the 18-49 year-old demographic for about 30 minutes. I wouldn’t boast too much if I were AEW, though. Seeing how SmackDown was on FS1 and we got baseball playoffs and the NHL and NBA are waking from their seasonal slumbers there was plenty to distract and moreover not everyone has access to FS1. I am not making excuses for either promotion. I think, going forward, both will have their fans and detractors. What’s becoming clearer is that these promotions satisfy different things. You go to WWE if you like action. You go to AEW if you like pro-wrestling sprinkled with some hardcore action. It’s that simple more or less. They overlap just enough to encourage future invasion but not so much that you can sub one

The Go Home Shows Commence with SmackDown for Crown Jewel

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 Happy Friday, Enthusiasts!   I hope it finds you well. So, this should be a fun night. Both AEW’s and WWE’s schedules are all out of whack due to real sports and performer travel and both companies are doing what they can to stir the pot in the face of it. Well, that’s all fine and good but we have to see which show actually puts on a good one. SmackDown is up first.   What’s also interesting is that Bray Wyatt or shall we say “Windham” has been tweeting today too, teasing the Fiend and all from his WWE account. So, he still has access I see. I think his “release” is a work which is fine but I don’t know how that solves “The Fiend”. I’m not saying it can’t work but his best bet is becoming “The Preacher”. It just completes the trope but I’m always up for thinking in terms of spheres. If I’m wrong, prove me wrong.   In any case, let’s take a brief inventory shall we. So, Tony Khan has the most money and a broken rib. Roman Reigns thinks CM Punk is old and slow and on a side

RAW Takes the Reins As It Preps Us for Crown Jewel....

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How Are You Doing, Enthusiasts?   My Monday got off to a shaky start but it stabilized by afternoon. So, it’s kind of a slow news day, wrestling-wise, which should keep this post brief. I’ve gotten most of the stuff that was on my chest out so, I don’t see the point in senselessly blathering. As much as I can do it, I try to keep it to a minimum.   Anyway, so we're in a weird space seeing how Crown Jewel is this year’s October PPV. SmackDown will be a Go Home Show with RAW bringing up the rear. SmackDown is supposed to be “Super-Sized” with an extra 30 minutes tacked on which may be kinda fun. I was enjoying myself so much last week that I didn’t even realize that Seth Rollins and Edge was the final segment. I was ready for more so, if they can put together another engaging SmackDown filling the time should be easy. I have no idea how to feel about all this so I don’t have much to say. Let’s just see if it all serves its purpose.   That did lead me to watch AEW Rampag

SmackDown Makes It Clear that Focus Is Now on King & Queen of the Ring

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 How’s It Going, Enthusiasts? I’m on a brief vacay again but I’ve budgeted my time more efficiently this time around. So, there’s some stuff but again it’s stuff that’s pending more than anything else. Yet, there are a few things that I can chat about like MLW. I’ve only heard of them and I assume that Jacob Fatu is a part of the “Bloodline” technically but that’s about it. Word is Will Osprey will join them soon and they had an hour of television on Vice last night. You know what, I liked it! I liked it more than I like AEW. What I saw looked more like what I would do with a wrestling promotion and I enjoyed the wrestling news segment too. Just to the point wrasslin’. I’m down. The action was good and the presentation simple. The only notes I have for them is to work on the camera work. There was a lot of times they had other cameramen in the shot. Makes it clear everyone is new to that, but that’s okay. I like the junior feel of it. Get the feeling they’ll learn. I’ll watch the next

RAW Brings the WWE Draft to a Close...

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  A Good Monday to You, Enthusiasts.   How is it going? This has been one of the smoother Mondays I’ve had in some time. I pray it remains uneventful. As for the We, we have the last half of the WWE Draft to witness. There are some other rumblings but with us being in No Man’s Land for the WWE Universe, not much caught my interest. This should be another short post.   What did catch my eye were the ratings for AEW’s Rampage . They made it to about 622,000 viewers. It’s the lowest tally so far but still leading for their target audience so, not all bad. I think it’s too early to gauge whether this actually means anything yet. Since I’m a WWE Fan, I don’t really see the need to watch AEW but I have been circling back to matches that get a lot of good press on Twitter. That’s the sort of thing that interests me. How many people are just catching the highlights or just watch specific matches. I find my interest isn’t held when I watch Dynamite but I do appreciate a good match and

SmackDown Begins the Draft...

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How Goes It, Enthusiasts!   The WWE Draft is upon us so that’s the talk at the moment. There are some other rumblings but it’s a bit of a slow period in general in the wrestling world. It’s all right, though. It does happen. This should be a brief post. There’s one or 2 things I can talk about.   First, the talk of Bray Wyatt returning to wrestling has been churned up. I believe his non-compete clause is coming up. Many thought he may debut at AEW this week in honor of the fallen Brodie Lee f.k.a. Luke Harper but that did not come to pass. I hear that Rampage was taped this week so, if he were to show up there, I think we would have heard the rumors by now.   Well, I’m beginning to think his release was a work. I don’t know much about Wyatt’s history prior to WWE but he’s very WWE. I don’t know if he’d even work in AEW. He’s not a great wrestler but he can put on a good match and he’s entertaining so, WWE seems like the best place for him. Many feel he’ll end up at Impact