SmackDown Leads Us into the Saturday Night: Main Event...

How’s It Going, Enthusiasts?

 

Happy Friday! Goodness, this has been an eventful week, hasn’t it? Well, it appears to be ending on a more hopeful note but there’s a lot going on outside of the Ludwig Kaiser/El Grande Americano II incident. This is probably gonna be a long post so, perhaps get into it after the show. This Memorial Day Weekend is jam packed! Let’s break it down.

 

We’ll start in the Realm of AEW as they’re getting ready for their Double or Nothing PPV that’s going down on Sunday. They had a double-header show this week holding both Dynamite and Collision together. Per usual, I’m overseeing The Future and if I didn’t know better, we got our first tastes of what’s to come in the Part 1 of the showdown between Kyle O’Reilly and Jon Moxley. As we know, O’Reilly ain’t scared of Mox. If anyone’s got Mox’s number, it’s O’Reilly so this was a loaded match in that respect. It was no surprise that it went the distance and I appreciated how O’Reilly had no problem dishing out Mox’s own medicine as he was willing to go for the “eye gouge” and whatnot. He locked Mox up in an ankle lock at the end but Mox did not tap. That left it more or less at a draw but it’s enough for O’Reilly to “finish this” on Sunday.

 

Well, it was also enough to “trigger” Mox and that came out in the post-match Push-up Session held with the Riders of Death backstage. We’ve seen this version of Mox before and it’s always entertainingly unsettling. He credited O’Reilly for pushing him to the next level. It’s this sort of challenge that pushes a competitor to the top of the mountain and with all the marbles on the line, do we think Mox is gonna miss? Um…miss no. Lose his shit, possibly 😉

 

This is what I love about Our Man Moxley. The way he plays this “character” is fun ‘cause we all know who lurks underneath and that guy is fucking crazy. That’s why, if properly executed, The Future stands to be a great time and from what I saw, I did not underestimate. He’s starting to work up to a 6.5 again. I have to commend him for chilling at a 4-5. He’s been measured and even admirable in his own special way but this O’Reilly guy is getting to him. And I like how it’s just ‘cause he’s a better technical wrestler. Is there an “underlying truth” there that haunts Mox? Very good and very promising. The Future remains Bright, my friends. By all means, please proceed.

 

Elsewhere, we have a little subplot in the Evolution of Will Ospreay and I hope that what is before us is just the beginning and not end. I say this because as Ospreay is getting the hang of freestyle execution, he appears to be getting ahead of himself. He had a fine match with Katsuyori Shibata and dispatched him in respectable style. So, naturally, Samoa Joe had to take the opportunity to say something prior to their face-to-face slated for Sunday.

 

Ospreay had a few things to say himself but what stuck out to me was how he seems to feel that his “training” is complete. After working with Mox and the Riders for about a week, he’s now the “assassin” he’s always known himself to be? That’s a bit quick, id’nt it? I just hope that’s on purpose ‘cause that’s kinda the problem I have with Ospreay.

 

He’s a great high-flyer, no doubt. That’s not the debate. But is he out there “slaying”? Personally, if we’re talking like that it’s PAC, hands down. That little beast is nutz, seriously. I can’t speak more highly about him. The only thing in his way is his size, really and it’s ‘cause of that short stature that he’s so gnarly. But Ospreay is talking as if he’s learned all he needs and can now rise to the upper echelons with all the other greats. Uh…hold on there, mate. I hope Samoa Joe uses his veteran expertise to “humble him”.

 

If Ospreay gets served up a loss, how he handles it is where the story is. If he realizes some humility, I can more easily root for his development but if he wins and moves on like that’s it, then this story is lame. There’s some possibility if he acts like he doesn’t need Mox anymore but I can’t say he’s “figured it out” just yet. I wasn’t that impressed but I can recognize the potential. We’ll see where it goes.

 

Outside the ring, a few things caught my attention. MJF has been mouthing off recently and of course, I started listening when he started talking shit about Aleister/Malakai Black. Most think this is indicative of an imminent return of Black to AEW and if so, that’s fine. He’s gotta eat and stay sharp in this interim but I still feel confident that this “release” is temporary, more like a hiatus. Black’s mystique is tailor made for WWE. Creative just has to catch up. In my opinion, that’s the real question. If they ever do. You see how they often “have nothing for” popular or niche talent.

 

If AEW can make up the difference, all power to them. You know I like Black and think his final years can be great ones but I have the feeling he kinda has to meet it half-way. I’ll never know the particulars but let’s see if he can make his last hurrah a superb one. I know it’s possible but we’ll have to wait and see if it manifests. I’ll push for him any way I can.

 

In other AEW news, Mick Foley has made the official jump to the realm. For now, he’s partnering with Renée Paquette on some sort of show but what I heard recently has AEW toying with the idea of another match. If you’ve seen his Hot Ones episode, there’s no doubt there are a few screws loose with Foley. We love him for it but…he’d totally get back in the ring and I feel for all the wrong reasons. It’s because of this that I’m avidly against it. Let him co-host with Paquette and then let’s get him a starter garden or something. Have him foster some puppies, something that keeps him safe and sound. The man does not need to have another match and I don’t need to see it. He can sit in on commentary but he doesn’t need to wrestle. Maybe toss someone a chair or give someone a hint at some mischief but that’s it. Let him grow old with grace.

 

Over in the WWE Universe, there’s a fair bit going on as well. There’s the Saturday Night: Main Event coming up but what’s been working up some buzz are the possible returns of a few wrestlers. The most notable was the almost guaranteed return of Baron Corbin/Bishop Dyer. The word was that the ink just dried on the new contract until Corbin/Dyer squashed that noise on social media.

 

Now, we could believe him but you know this world. Is it just a feint to keep the return a surprise? Hard to say. The simplest explanation is that an agreement couldn’t be reached but who knows. Most would love to have him back, myself included so, let’s just hope it’s all smoke and mirrors until the time is right.

 

As for the other rumor of return, there’s been reports that Enzo Amoré and Big Cass are due back to WWE. At a glance, this could be infuriating given the recent releases. They let Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods walk just to reacquire Enzo & Big Cass 🤨 Yeah, that’s what we’re missing. Yet, WWE is a Heel Company. For me, the only way this works is if it is the “fuck you” it’s supposed to be. They come back mega-heels just to piss everyone off. Enzo has enough kitsch for that to work and Cass just has to work on his comedic relief 🤷‍♀️ It could work. I don’t know for how long but the possibility is there. They’ll have to work their asses off if they want to earn general acceptance but it’s possible.

 

Okay, let’s breakdown the Kaiser/Americano sitch. Wowzers. This went from “What the fuck is his problem” to “He should have beat him up…” in like 12 hours. So, I’ll just assume you already got the info but from what I’m hearing, Kaiser had the right to defend his lady’s honor, especially if some fucker threaten to call ICE just ‘cause he’s making out with his girlfriend.

 

I don’t like PDA either but I wouldn’t have said anything. Whatever, people are gonna do what they’re gonna do. As long as their clothes were on and nothing explicit was going on, follow the general rule of minding your business. Keep your pseudo racist views to yourself.

 

For Kaiser’s sake, I hope the second story is the truth ‘cause the first one had Kaiser looking like some jock asshole. Yet, if what I picked up is mostly true, that sounds like it was just the “offended” party’s take on the situation. Naturally, one such as that would leave out the ICE comment that would have led most to confrontation. “I didn’t do anything, Officer. I was just trying to get back to my apartment and these foreign miscreants were slobbering all over each other, and I get ‘punched’ for requesting some decency…”

 

Whatever went down, the last I heard was that Kaiser was cooperating with authorities and keeping WWE and AAA Brass abreast of the situation so, hopefully it all gets settled soon. However, if the second take of the story is mostly true, most are sure Kaiser will be so over in Mexico. I kinda like him more too if it’s true. He’s at least trying to learn the lessons from history.  

 

The only thing about it is that the second story is coming straight from the IWC so…who knows about the validity but it definitely makes more sense overall. You’d think Kaiser would know better than to mouth off to some random guy unless he was drunk or something. Which could have been a factor. That’s usually what leads to sloppy PDA in an elevator but given his career, why risk it? The new take appears to be holding up so, let’s just hope it’s true enough so that we can move on in good faith.

 

All right, I touched on all I wanted to. Told ya it’d be a long one. As for tonight, SmackDown doesn’t quite send us home but sets us up for a nice 2-hour Saturday Night: Main Event. We can expect  Shinsuke Nakamura try to get a little payback on Talla Tonga for being so rude last week. Carmelo Hayes has a few words for Trick Williams’ lemon-pepper stepping ass. Tiffany Stratton will call out the Ladies’ Locker Room for a challenger for the US Championship. Rhea Ripley will give an answer to Jade Cargill’s call for a Championship rematch. Gunther will tell us how he feels about getting duped into a match with Cody Rhodes at Clash in Italy. He was all set to ruin his day. This development is most upsetting.

 

I don’t have to cook today but I will be tomorrow but we’ll see if it matters. It doesn’t take that long in theory but there are steps to it…we’ll see. Regardless, enjoy the full weekend of wrestling and you’ll hear from me tomorrow when I give a brief rundown of SNME. I’ll keep it short, I promise.

 

See You in a Bit,

-Nicole Alexis (^_~)