Mr Butternut Squash

Nothing is organic in WWE. Pretty sure those interactions were green lit before hand.

Has to be Cody right? Would be a bad look if he doesn't win after all this return hype.

Is Sami Daniel Bryan level over? I havent watched in a while but it feels like the fans that would have revolted against the booking stopped attending WWE shows years ago.

Jesus, calm down.

It was nice to see Danielson cut a proper promo this week. Nowhere near enough of that. 

MJF was always going to struggle after the shoot bollocks but I think he found a nice lane the last couple of weeks. 

Finally catching up with bits of Raw. After a promising couple of weeks under HHH it's become the same dull drag of a show.

I really think it was big mistake taking the US title off of super babyface Bobby Lashley. This tweener bollocks between him and Seth Rollins has left the show feeling rudderless and lacking a centerpiece star. It doesn't help that they've completely cooled off Bianca Belair as a TV presence either. It almost reads as if they've lost faith in her. She just seems to do nothing but sit about at ringside every week.

Hoping Kevin Owens can get back on a hot streak and inject some life into the show.

The Gargano stuff is shameless. Nothing right now in wrestling amuses me more than watching all the desperate tricks HHH is pulling to get his boy over. Not even The Miz can make the audience care about this dork.

1 minute ago, uklaw said:

Am I right in thinking that Gunther hasn’t been pinned or submitted since he’s been on the main roster?

I think you're right. (Although WALTER was pinned at Survivor series a couple of years back.)

His weakest moment was running away from Braun. That's gonna be an interesting match in regards to where they sit in the pecking order.

Looks even better from this angle. 

Top Dolla has to be the most hilariously bad wrestler in recent memory. Just sliding into the ring and running the ropes seems to be a struggle for this lad. Incredible.

Gunther on the other hand is making a strong case for Wrestler of the year. I can't remember the last time a full time wrestler carried as much big match presence as this guy. Proper old school heat in his matches too. I love him. 

The Knight/Wyatt feud was actually quite intruiging at the start. But man, the new Wyatt thing went to shit in record time. Knight burying the gimmick every week pops me tremendously. Knight is class. He's derivative but he gets away with it. It's cool to see a fresh face that's so smooth and confident on the mic. Fuck Chicago and WWE crowds in general though. They're not ever letting WHAT fucking die. Seriously. If you ever find yourself at a show chanting that, put a bullet in your fucking head.

They definitely have buyers remorse over Ronda Rousey. She's had nothing but crap to work with. But I can't blame them for not wanting to feed her proper stars like Bianca and Rhea when she doesn't want to be there and will be fucking off after Mania anyway.

Bloodline continues to be the most effortlessly brilliant thing in wrestling. I love that people still have the faith in HHH to think Sami is taking the rumble. Looking forward to the vicous smark turn around on old banana nose when The Rock and Charlotte win the Royal Rumbles.

I'm convinced Cena vs Roman happened this year. Fucking hell, I'm getting old.

Cracking episode. Dare I say they've been back on form since Full Gear. The show just flowed and felt more interconnected than usual and had the classic show long build to the main event. 

Starks vs MJF was good meat and potatoes stuff. One of those where the sloppiness just added to the general sense of struggle. 

Lovely little promo from Hangman. Hit right in the feels. Reminded me why of why I loved him all over again.

Jericho vs Jobber was a fantastic piece of business. Electric. A nice shake up that  really adds to the "anything can happen" vibe to the show. Jericho's a weird one. Completely gets it in these little moments. But I KNOW once he latches onto Ricky Starks in a tedious feud that is plotted backwards, goes on forever and has no real winner, I'll be sick of him all over again.

Hook and Jungle Boy. My God. 

Mox's delivery of the "Bring your Dark Order buddies" line was such tremendous dickheadry. He's the gift that keeps on giving.

Loved the understated selling from Nick Jackson in the opener. I thought he'd really fucked it. Fun match and another nice twist to keep the series fresh. I cringed when I saw Kenny Omega with a mic though. You can really tell what a bunch of passive aggressive pricks they are. "There's gonna be enough talking on this show as it is". Yeah, alright mate. Get over yourself. It's a shame they seem content with wanking themselves off on spots and workrate when they've shown flahes of being great TV characters in the past.

Pro wrestling is back.

Why on Earth were the Elite ever babyfaces again? Incredible shithousing! And coming off the back of Kenny's "We're human beings struggling to show our art", interview? *chef's kiss*

Between that, Hat and Jade Cargill's brilliant comedic timing, this was the most laugh out loud Dynamite ever.

Best episode in ages.

Talking of boo boo faces, what was up with Moxley last week? Was a massive twat in that MJF segment. Completely mugged him off. Hope the lad gets a nice break.

Hayter stood out immediately as the gobby Brit getting in the faces of all the fans. Glad they pulled the trigger. Hopefully TK follows the "Acclaimed Every Week" formula and keeps her as a regular instead of cooling her off.

Credit to Toni Storm too, who I never previously rated, but thought did a solid job of holding things together while Rosa is doing whatever.

Really curious where the Regal/MJF stuff will go tonight. Bit of a make or break situation for me with MJF. He's been a consistent highlight since the beginning but his character is a mess now. That wanky shoot promo painted him into a massive corner. Going back to his previous character feels like regression. Hoping this is the start of a more serious edge to him. Either that or they fully embrace him as a cool Rock style babyface. I'm so sick of this shades of grey, "cheer who you want!" bollocks in wrestling. It works 5% of the time and usually just dilutes crowd reactions and kills investment in the characters. 

Will we get a fresh break for Danielson? Time to get him away from Jericho and the scrubs and start making some fucking money with him. Criminal usage of him this year.

Buzzing for the Elite being back. Best of seven series of these trios matches though?! 🤢

But yeah, am actually looking forward to Dynamite tonight.

Opening tag was a cracker and The Acclaimed video was a ton of fun. They've easily been the best thing in the company since the Wardlow/MJF feud ended.

Love both guys but I'm cold on Moxley vs MJF. The crowd was too. I just long for some good old fashioned heel vs babyface feuds, instead of this wishy-washy bollocks everyone seems to be doing.

Hey, at least Sarah Logan got some vignettes! Was beginning to think that was a dead concept 

Solid show this week.

Cracking tag title match. No run ins, no interference, no bullshit. Perfect. Is it just me that cringes every time Kofi does his s.o.s move? Self-decapitation city. I don't know where you can go with New Day but they feel very, very stale.

Women's six way was dreadful. The Liv Morgan push has to be the most annoying thing in wrestling. They're desperately trying to get her over with all these hardcore/table spots that should be saved for someone that's actually good.

The Ronda/Shayna team of badass killers has a lot of potential.

The Bray thing has already lost its intrigue, but I'm glad they just plopped him into a normal backstage segment like any other guy. He's a great promo. Him and LA Knight is an off the wall pairing that I'm surprisingly into. As long as they continue to keep all the spooky lore shit in its own world it might be alright.

It's funny how HHH scrapped HITC, MITB etc and is still falling into the trap of empty calender booking. Neither of the Wargames stipulations feel earned. 

Dynamite continues to be a complete mess. Nothing to invest in.

Ass Boys were the suprise highlight. They've turned into a cracking pair of pinballing heels.

I'm obsessed with that Marina Shafir promo posted above. Funniest thing I've seen all year. Fucking art.

Well I liked it. Bray's builds and debuts are always brilliant and this was up there with the best, at least in the moment. I don't want to watch it again incase I hate it. But at stoned a.m. this was genuinely creepy and exciting. Bray is great and it's just nice to look at things that are different and outside of the wrestling universe occasionally. 

The problem with Bray of course is when he enters into the wreslting universe it all goes to shit and he sucks the life out of whoever he works with. One of the most fascinating things about this new era is how this will go - how Bray and HHH will handle it, and if they're any good afterall. I'm quite worried about it to be honest. But yeah. Love Bray when he first shows up.

As for the card, opening sixman tag was excellent and match of the night. I've always loved Sheamus and it's great to see him get this hot run and be appreciated. I don't know what happened to him after he returned a couple of years ago but he's shaken off that stale feeling completely. Gunther's awesome and it's great that he's been pushed so well. Awesome, hard hitting match. Great heels, great babyfaces. This is the second best thing in wrestling.

Liv vs Ronda was an amusing train wreck. Utterly terrible, but entertainingly stiff and violent at points too. I still kinda enjoy Ronda for how weird and idiosyncratic she is, but Jesus. Her selling of the chair shots is the most bush league thing I've seen in a bigtime WWE match. Should've been a squash.

Can't remember anything about the strap match other than Scarlett. She's a superstar. 

Ladder Match was good. The climbing spots seemed more natural to me than usual. Bayley coming good after a lacklustre return.

Edge vs Balor was embarrassing at first. I felt like Cornette watching it. After two hours of tables, ladders, chairs and shillelaghs, the ref shoving the mic in their face and asking if they want to quit inside a headlock was fucking ridiculous. Even Philly were laughing it out of the building. This had the death stench of Edge vs Orton at Mania, but thankfully they picked it up and things got really good when it became an angle. This whole storyline has been enjoyable wrestlecrap. Finn is being dragged down by JD (how do you make Finn Balor look shitty and uncool?), but it's doing wonders for Rhea and Dominic. Brutal chair shot from those bastards to send them nuclear.

Fight Pit wasn't a fight pit and felt like any other Seth Rollins match, which is fine. My gosh, that senton was nasty. 

Overall, thumbs up show. The digestable length is greatly appreciated. Cole is more tolerable now too. Sometimes fun and good even. Graves is insufferable. Still sounds like a Vince drone and gives away every fucking nearfall. 

I'm gonna guess that the AAA World tag team championships, the IWGP tag team championships or the ROH World tag team championships won't be on the line?

Do FTR even wrestle in tag team matches anymore?

Logan Paul aside, another enjoyable episode of WWE TV.

It's not like HHH is doing anything drastic or Earth shattering, but after years of senile Vince and now ADD Tony, its nice to see simple, coherent, big time wrestling television - where the wrestling is good and matters, the titles feel important and the bulk of the roster is being used to its potential. 

Sami Zayn is incredible and I love that he's become the MVP of Smackdown. His story with the Bloodline is some of the funniest, most compelling stuff they've ever done. I can't wait for Roman to come back next week just so him and Sami can have more awkward and brilliant Curb Your Enthusiasm style interactions.

Solo vs Madcap was raw, meat and potatoes stuff in the best way. Some of them forearms and clotheslines were proper tasty. Solo looks legitimately menacing and I've always liked the work of Moss when I've seen him. Badly needs a makeover though.

Like a broken clock, Vince was spot on with the 'Butch' gimmick. Never thought I'd see the day when Pete Dunne would become an entertaining, over, main roster character. It's great. And Sheamus is the man. Cool to see him starting to get those legacy repect pops. Him vs Gunter is money and should main event the next ppv.

Ronda vs Liv on the other hand is a disaster. HHH inherited this mess so I can't fully blame him, but he's done Liv no favours. How are you supposed to make Ronda Rousey chasing Liv bloody Morgan a credible story though? At least Ronda is a badass again.

It isn't completely gone, but I'm glad they've calmed down with fake crowd noise. My biggest gripe right now is the awful entrance music. Whoever is producing this listless, forgettable shite needs sacking immediately. Even Braun's theme has regressed now. It's shocking to me how the Big Picture company is getting such a major element of their presentation so wrong.

Feels like Moxley, Punk and Danielson are keeping me hanging on by a thread at the minute. Can't be arsed with the rest of it.

Just find AEW to be a frustrating, rudderless mess these days. 

I thought it was the dramatic peak of the match. It brought the crowd to their feet and they never sat down again. Moxley's selling was incredible. 

I've little use for Jericho theses days but credit where its due. That was an excellent main event match.

Punk's return immediately injected some big time energy back into the show. Hopefully him vs Moxley hits something near its potential because absolutely nothing else about AEW is clicking for me at the moment. It's been a "good matches" promotion for a while now, which is fine, but I was hoping for more.

Add me to those who were impressed by Rush the other week. Felt like a flashback to when he was the most exciting wrestler on the planet several years ago. Hopefully he'll keep it up and not be a headache. Has all the charisma that Andrade lacks too.

Best thing about the Briscoes being banned from TV is that it forced Tony out of their usual interruption bollocks and allowed the babyfaces their moment and the crowd to soak it in. What a promo. Dax is the fucking man.

Jon Moxley is easily the best thing about Dynamite at the moment. He seems to have taken up the mantle from Danielson and Punk in having fun weekly TV matches and shining up oppenents. Great stuff this week, working heel and reining in Takeshita.

Nothing else is clicking for me at the minute though. It's a shame Christian hasn't come through as a compelling main event level heel. Being a massive try hard has completely taken the edge off him.