The Dart Posted March 1 Share Posted March 1 I was just looking at some house shows from 2019 where the main event was Strowman vs. Corbin. Good luck for when you get to that era. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted March 1 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 1 1 hour ago, The Dart said: I was just looking at some house shows from 2019 where the main event was Strowman vs. Corbin. Good luck for when you get to that era. Are either of those men less "main event" than Solo? Ultimately, that's where we're going to end up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dart Posted March 1 Share Posted March 1 (edited) I suppose it depends on what else is on the show. A show with a main event with Solo Sikoa in 2024, could have an undercard with Rey Mysterio, Kevin Owens, Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, Bayley, Charlotte Flair and AJ Styles. A main event of Strowman vs. Corbin in 2019 might have had an undercard with all those guys too, but I think the one I looked at Strowman vs. Corbin was the biggest match on the show. To be fair, I think it was in a fairly small arena, but it really looked like a bad lineup. Edited March 1 by The Dart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dart Posted March 1 Share Posted March 1 (edited) Double post error. Edited March 1 by The Dart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted March 1 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 1 20 minutes ago, The Dart said: A show with a main event with Solo Sikoa in 2024, could have an undercard with Rey Mysterio, Kevin Owens, Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, Bayley, Charlotte Flair and AJ Styles. I don’t think so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dart Posted March 1 Share Posted March 1 "Could" being the key word. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted March 2 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 2 13 hours ago, The Dart said: "Could" being the key word. In the same way I “could” grow wings and fly to Spain, maybe. If Roman does a house show any time soon (and we’ll get to exactly how long ago that’s been) he’s not on the undercard. I was probably too vague in my first reply so let me rephrase ; when we get to 2023 there are some shows where Cody vs Solo is the main event. I don’t know if pretending Solo is main event is worse than the average of Braun and Corbin in 2019. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted March 5 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 5 JUNE 2018 They sure try and give Tokyo their best at times - even if it’s not the Dome. And NXT takes on Europe, not just the UK. There’s another wave of UK guys getting NXT trials and somewhat of a watershed moment for me - as a lapsed fan, I’ve reached the point where I start seeing names on NXT cards that have made it to main roster but that I can’t confess to ever having watched wrestle. MAIN EVENTS - SMACKDOWN AJ's having a rest, 2nd-3rd in Waco and Arlington - REALLY?? - Daniel Bryan vs Big Cass is the main event. 9th in Huntsville Jeff Hardy vs Samoa Joe vs Shinsuke Nakamura vs The Miz for the US title goes on last but 10th in Tupelo and 16th in Dubuque its Bry vs Cass again. 23rd/24th in Albuquerque and Fresno Jeff vs Joe vs Nakamura vs Shelton Benjamin is the main, 25th in Bakersfield its Jeff vs Joe vs Shelton vs Rusev. 29th the champ is back - AJ Styles vs Samoa Joe tops two huge nights at Sumo Hall, next night (dork alert) its a rematch from the 2004 TPI - Styles vs Joe vs Bryan. THE CARDS In Waco and Tupelo it's The Bar vs New Day of Big E & Kofi (repeats night 1 in Japan) and a 5-way of Jeff Hardy vs Samoa Joe vs Shinsuke Nakamura vs The Miz vs Shelton Benjamin (JESUS) for the US title. In Arlington and Huntsville it's a four way (repeats in Dubuque) and all three New Day beat Shelton/Sheamus/Cesaro. In Texas Carmella vs Charlotte continues alongside Asuka, Becky Lynch & Naomi vs Lana & The Iiconics (repeating in Tupelo). It's The Bludgeon Brothers vs The Usos vs Rusev & Aiden English for the tag belts, Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows vs Eric Young & Alexander Wolfe and Andrade vs Sin Cara which was probably pretty good. Mella vs Charlotte, the tag title, Club vs Sanity and Andrade vs Sin Cara (which repeats night 1 at Sumo Hall too) are all unchanged week 2/3. Week 4 is a bit depleted - there are two rounds of Bludgeons vs Club, Sin Cara vs Primo, Andrade vs Tye Dillinger (repeats night 2 in Tokyo) and Becky vs Sonya Deville, New Day vs Bar continues and its twice Rusev vs Miz. Shelton vs Dillinger goes down in Dubuque and night 1 in Tokyo only after Shelton's lost one match to a native (see below). Finally in Bakersfield there's a welcome return midcard to Daniel Bryan vs Miz which repeats night 1 at Ryogoku, VARIATIONS In Huntsville only Bryan's off so Cass is back beating Dillinger, plus Becky beats Mandy Rose by DQ leading to Lynch/Asuka/Naomi vs Lana/Mandy/Sonya. Unique to Dubuque (LOL) its Bludgeons vs Usos vs Club and Rusev Day vs Sanity. Ryogoku Kokugikan plays host to Mella vs Becky for the belt, Asuka & Naomi vs Billie Kay & Lana, Hideo Itami vs Shelton and Bludgeons vs Club vs Usos vs Rusev Day on night 1, and Mella vs Asuka (DQ finish), Becky & Naomi vs Billie/Lana, Hideo knocking off Miz, Sin Cara upsetting Benjamin, Usos vs New Day and Bludgeons vs Club vs Bar vs New Day on night 2. MAIN EVENTS - RAW 1st-3rd in Alexandria, Baton Rouge and Lake Charles there's another odd choice of main - Seth Rollins vs Elias for the ICT. Then The Big Dog is back - Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman & Finn Balor beat Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn & Jinder Mahal 8th in Jackson MS and 10th in Bossier City either side of Reigns/Rollins/Balor teaming in Monroe where Seth does double duty. 15th/16th in Peoria and Champaign the babyface team is Reigns, Balor and Bobby Lashley. 22nd-24th in Boise, Salt Lake City and Anaheim Reigns & Rollins finally start butting heads with Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre. 29th in Rapid City Ziggler vs Rollins 2/3 falls goes on last, next night in Bismarck its back to the tag. THE CARDS It's still Braun Strowman & Bobby Lashley vs Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn plus Finn Balor vs Jinder Mahal week 1 plus Nia Jax vs Alexa Bliss for the title and Sasha Banks, Bayley & Dana Brooke vs Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan, tag title is Bray Wyatt & Matt Hardy vs Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel (repeats in Monroe), there's No Way Jose, Apollo Crews & Titus O'Neil vs Curt Hawkins & The Ascension and Bobby Roode vs Mojo Rawley on two shows but not the third, for some reason. Week 2 adds Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre vs Titus Worldwide and there are two rounds of Sasha, Bayley, Ember Moon & Natalya beating Alexa & The Riott Squad and Bray vs brother Bo plus Baron Corbin vs Chad Gable and Cedric Alexander vs Kalisto for the CWT every night. Seth Rollins vs Elias for the ICT and Roode vs Rawley continue. Week 3 "The Deleters Of Worlds" are back with The Revival, Roode beats Corbin, Dolph & Drew beat Tyler Breeze & Fandango, and Zack Ryder beating Mojo by DQ leads to Ryder, Gable & Goldust vs Rawley, Hawkins & Mike Kanellis ; in Peoria its Authors Of Pain vs Heath Slater & Rhino, which comes back round in Rapid City, Elias challenging Rollins is still rollin, rollin, rollin. Into week 4 we have two chunky midcard rounds of Lashley/Strowman/Balor vs Jinder/Owens/Corbin, a repeat of Bliss vs Banks (repeats in Bismarck), Bayley & Dana Brooke vs different Riott permutations, Rawley vs Jose and B-Team vs Worldwide vs Breezango, Cedric vs Kalisto continues. Week 5 has two nights of Matt vs Mojo, Lashley vs Jinder occurs in Anaheim and Bismack. VARIATIONS In Monroe only Ember & Nattie beat Morgan & Logan, Ruby's off and the title match is Nia vs Bliss vs Bayley vs Banks. Anaheim has Crews vs Kanellis, Mojo & B-Team vs Jose & Breezango and some big tags - Balor/Strowman/Roode vs Owens/Corbin/Elias and Alexa and the Riotts losing to Banks, Bayley, Brooke and Ronda Rousey. Unique to Rapid City is Roman Reigns vs Jinder before intermission, Lexi vs Nattie for the belt, Dana vs Ruby one on one and Braun vs Roode vs Corbin, next night in Bismarck Braun & Bobby knock off Corbin & Elias, Bayley & Natalya beat Liv & Sarah and AoP beat Slater & Rhino and Worldwide in a 3way. MAIN EVENTS - NXT Two shows before the tour - 1st in Sebring it’s Aleister Black, Johnny Gargano & Ricochet vs Tomasso Ciampa, Velveteen Dream & Lars Sullivan - boy, does one name stick out there - and 2nd in Fort Pierce having just defended against Otis it’s Adam Cole vs Tucker (battle royal winner) for the NAT. Tour kicks off 8th-10th at Download, it’s Gargano vs Ciampa top of 11 matches on Friday night, Pete Dunne defending the UK belt against Ciampa on Saturday then that same six man tag on the Sunday. Monday 11th in Paris Black vs Sullivan for the belt goes on last, next night in Antwerp it’s Black/Gargano/Dunne vs Ciampa/Dream/Sullivan. 14th they’re in Louisville for Black vs Sullivan again, next night in Evansville Aly & EC3 beat Lars and the Dream. 22nd in Venice Black defends against Fabian Aichner, not many of the same crew wrestle next night in Largo where a random EC3 and Otis go on last with Wesley Blake & Steve Cutler. 28th in St Petersburg Shayna Baszler vs Dakota Kai for the women’s title goes on last, next night in Orlando Black defends against Cutler, 30th in Cocoa it’s Cole vs EC3. No B shows. THE CARDS - SO TO SPEAK Aleister Black vs Lars Sullivan repeats as a title match including the undercard of Friday at Download. A huge upset in Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong vs Pete Dunne, Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch repeats Sunday and in Paris, which comes between Kyle & Roddy losing to Burch & Lorcan non title (boo) in Fort Pierce but beating them in Antwerp, Louisville and Evansville. Candice LeRae & Dakota Kai vs Bianca Belair & Lacey Evans repeats in Paris and Antwerp as does Shayna Baszler vs Nikki Cross for the title which also occurs in Louisville. It’s Heavy Machinery vs Steve Cutler & Wesley Blake both Friday and Saturday of Download and in Paris plus War Raiders vs TM61 repeats in Fort Pierce, Louisville and Evansville. Would have been better in Japan. Its Raiders vs Forgotten Sons in Sebring and Venice. VARIATIONS Sebring get Machinery vs TM61, Fly Kicks (Kai & Steffanie Newell) vs Taynara Conti & Reina Gonzalez, Raul Mendoza vs Marcel Barthel and two notable rare wins for certain talents in Kona Reeves vs Fabian Aichner and Aliyah vs Jessie Elaban. Fort Pierce, it’s Kairi Sane vs Belair, Kai pins Rhea Ripley (!) and its Kassius Ohno & Aichner v Chris Dijak & Brennan Williams. Download Friday, it’s O’Reilly & Strong vs Pete Dunne & Tyler Bate, LeRae vs Belair, Kai vs Evans and the best of four first round matches in a UK contender’s tournament (yet another) I imagine was Travis Banks vs El Ligero. Download Saturday has Black vs Blake (double duty for Wes) and Cole vs Barthel for respective belts, Ricochet vs Aichner, Velveteen Dream vs Ligero, Cross & “Tegan Nox” vs Baszler & Isla Dawn and Candice & Fly Kicks vs Belair, Evans & Nina Samuels - yes, Tegan worked twice too. Sunday Download is a night of established stars losing to Brits, Machinery lose to Mark Coffey & Joe Coffey, Sons lose by DQ to Dave Mastiff & Ashton Smith and Blake also loses to Kenny Williams (double duty again), Aichner puts over Bate plus there’s Baszler vs Candice for the belt and Cross vs Belair. Paris see Gargano & Ricochet vs Ciampa & Dream (oof) and Zack Gibson vs Tyler, in Antwerp it’s Machinery vs Aichner & Barthel and Cole vs Gibson for the NAT. Louisville get Ohno vs Dream, Cole vs Mendoza, Candice & Kairi vs Aliyah & Vanessa Borne and EC3 vs Aichner, next night in Evansville it’s Cole vs Ohno, Mendoza vs Aichner, Kairi & Cross vs Baszler & Borne and Candice vs Aliyah. Venice it’s Lio Rush vs Mendoza, Evans vs Elaban and Kairi & Kacy Catanzaro vs TayReina. In Largo, Cross vs Kai vs Ripley and Aliyah vs Xia Li. St Petersburg it’s Otis & Angelo Dawkins vs TM61, EC3 vs Chad Lail and Candice vs Reina, next night in Orlando all three Era are upset again, this time by EC3 & Machinery, there’s Ohno vs Ciampa, Kairi vs Conti and Kacy & Jessie vs Aliyah & Reina. Finally in Cocoa all 3 sons beat Ohno, Aichner and Mars Wang, it’s Sane & Li vs Borne & Evans, Aliyah vs Elaban and a rather odd Otis & Kacy vs Adrian Jaoude & Taynara. TVs 4th Raw in Houston has a dark main of Reigns, Rollins & Lashley vs Elias, Jinder & Zayn. Next night's SmackDown from Corpus Christi is followed by Bryan & Jeff vs Miz & Cass. 12th in Memphis Club vs Bar and Bryan vs Miz sandwich the taping. Saturday 16th, TakeOver : Chicago at the AllState (11,000) is notable for Ciampa beating Gargano in a streetfight I remember as far too long (35 minutes) and rather over the top. Money In The Bank next night (15,000+) has Alexa interrupt Jax vs Rousey for a same night cash in and Braun win the men’s briefcase. Next two nights there are tapings at Royal Albert Hall for an NXT UK Network special - highlights of night 1 are Trent Seven and his two mates upsetting all three of Undisputed Era and Gibson beating Banks to win the contenders tournament, then Tuesday night is loaded with help from “main” NXT (Black, Cole, Ricochet, Dream) and looks at other natives (Noam Dar, Charlie Morgan etc) in a TakeOver in all but name including the first Baszler vs Toni Storm match, Dunne beating Gibson in the main and shockingly in the opener Moustache Mountain taking the tag belts from Strong & O’Reilly. Meanwhile 18th Raw in Grand Rapids, Ziggler finds himself back in his natural spot, unseating Rollins for the ICT. Tuesday in Toledo Dillinger curtain jerks with Shelton, on the show proper forgotten man Rusev wins a gauntlet to earn a crack at AJ, and dark Jeff beats Miz yet again. Thursday's Full Sail taping has a Santana Garrett sighting, jobbing for Dakota, and after the Era beat Ricochet & Mountain in a six man, for a subsequent episode they tape Rod 'n' 'Reilly winning the belts back, plus Kairi becomes top contender to Baszler. Finally 26th SmackDown is bookended by Club vs Bar and Big E & Kofi vs Joe & Miz. It's really jarring reading some of these episodes of Raw as they twiddle their thumbs and look for filler while they wait patiently for the champ to be available again. Roman Reigns vs Jinder Mahal, anyone? I thought not. NON TITLE WHINING Beaten on TV this month : Alexa (Raw Womens Champion) by Natalya DEPARTURE After putting Danny Bry over at the PPV Big Cass is let go without being wished good luck in future endeavours. Apparently drunk and disorderly was the infraction that they didn't like, he was allegedly hitting hit hard for most of the European tour. Here's a bit of Ronda at Anaheim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted March 7 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 7 JULY 2018 NXT:UK starts it's TV tapings. I mean, there's been a UK championship for over 18 months, it's probably fair that Pete finally gets to be champion of something instead of it being some strange homeless orphan title. Like the WCW title was, LOL. MAIN EVENTS - SMACKDOWN 1st they wrap the tour in Taipei - its again AJ Styles vs Samoa Joe, then 9th in Augusta (ME) its back to Shinsuke Nakamura. 14th in Canton AJ defends against Nakamura and the revived Rusev, 16th in Reading he tags with Daniel Bryan against unlikely partners Joe & The Miz. 21st/22nd that three way repeats it St Louis and Springfield (IL) then 23rd in Carbondale its back to Styles vs Joe, as it will remain until month end, 28th-30th in Wildwood, Hershey and Estero. THE CARDS Over the first three weeks Carmella vs Naomi for the title repeats in Augusta and Reading (plus St Louis) and Andrade vs Sin Cara runs on all three shows in the States - consistency is suddenly rare. Daniel Bryan vs The Miz recurs in Taipei then returns as a singles match all three nights of week 4 as does New Day vs The Bar, and week 4 also sees Shinsuke Nakamura vs Jeff Hardy every night as a straight defence of the US title and consistent tag title matches of Bludgeon Brothers vs The Usos vs Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows - Sin Cara vs Andrade of course continues. Month end those pair are finally divorced from each other as Sin Cara starts beating Tye Dillinger and Andrade loses to Rusev, plus there's Becky Lynch & Lana vs Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville - Lana's turned babyface. Plus there's a welcome return for Little Jimmy - R-Truth vs Shelton Benjamin is every night - finally, two further rounds each of Nakamura vs Hardy and Mella vs Naomi, and its still Bludgeons vs Usos vs Club and New Day vs Bar. VARIATIONS - A FAIR FEW Taipei has Bludgeons vs Usos vs Club vs Rusev & Aiden English, Benjamin vs Dillinger, Becky/Asuka/Naomi vs Mella/Lana/Peyton Royce and the otherwise booked-strong-in-Asia Hideo Itami jobbing to Sin Cara (!). In Augusta US title multi-mans continue with Jeff vs Samoa Joe vs Miz, there's Bludgeons vs Club as a straight tag, Becky & Nikki Cross vs Peyton & Billie Kay and Rusev vs Dillinger. In Canton it's Jeff vs Shelton in singles, Bryan vs Joe (FUCK), Usos vs Bar, New Day (Big E/Woods) vs Eric Young & Alexander Wolfe and Asuka/Becky/Naomi/Nikki vs Mella/Lana/Mandy/Sonya. Reading has new US champ Nakamura vs Jeff vs Shelton vs Rusev, Bludgeons vs Bar vs Usos, all three New Day vs Young/Wolfe/Killian Dain and Asuka/Becky/Nikki vs Lana/Mandy/Sonya. In St Louis it's Asuka/Becky/Nikki vs Lana/Iiconics, in Springfield there's Mella vs Becky with a DQ finish as we start the build to SummerSlam and Asuka/Naomi/Nikki vs Lana/Iiconics. In Carbondale we see Randy Orton vs Rusev, in Hershey a title three way of Mella vs Naomi vs Asuka, then it Estero some great one offs - Nakamura vs Hardy vs Orton for the US title and Asuka & Becky vs Fire & Desire because Lana is tagging with Rusev against Andrade and... the real "queen," Zelina Vega. MAIN EVENTS - RAW 1st in Fargo we're still at Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins vs Drew McIntyre & Dolph Ziggler. The new loop is all over the place - 6th at the Wells Fargo in Philly it's Reigns, Braun Strowman & Finn Balor vs Baron Corbin, Kevin Owens & Elias. Next night at MSG the babyface team is - get this - Reigns, Braun and The Undertaker - then 8th in Bridgeport it's Reigns, Strowman and Bobby Lashley. 13th/14th in Charleston and Wheeling Roman tags with Bobby Roode to beat Dolph & Drew, then we return to "The Shield" vs McIntyre & Ziggler 21st and 22nd in Louisville and Pikeville and 27th in Columbus (GA) then abridged six match cards 28th/29th in Tallahassee and Daytona Beach are topped by Reigns/Rollins/Balor vs Drew, Corbin and Jinder Mahal. THE CARDS Depending on what's on last two of the first four shows each have Dolph Ziggler vs Seth Rollins vs Finn Balor for the ICT and three have Bobby Lashley vs Jinder Mahal, tag title of Bray Wyatt & Matt Hardy vs Apollo Crews & Titus ONeil vs Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel for the tag belts and Cedric Alexander vs Buddy Murphy for the CWT plus in the big cities there's Ronda Rousey vs Nia Jax rematches along with Bayley, Ember Moon & Natalya vs Alicia Fox, Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan. There's also two rounds of Bobby Roode vs Mojo Rawley and three of Gran Metalik, Lince Dorado & Kalisto vs Brian Kendrick, Drew Gulak & Jack Gallagher. Mid month we switch to Braun Strowman vs Kevin Owens no DQ, Balor vs Baron Corbin (which comes back round in Columbus), Lashley squashing Mike Kanellis after he's just lost to Chad Gable too, Alexa Bliss vs Nia vs Sasha Banks for the belt, Bayley/Ember/Nattie vs Morgan/Logan/Mickie James and No Way Jose vs Curt Hawkins (which repeats in Columbus too). In Kentucky - and what a weekend show title match this is - new tag champs Dallas & Axel defend against Heath Slater & Rhino, the womens title is now Alexa vs Nia vs Nattie, it's Zack Ryder getting to beat poor Mike before his job to big Bobs, Roode beats Elias, Jose is losing to Mojo, Authors Of Pain beat a rather random Gable & Tyler Breeze and Bayley & Ember beat Morgan & Fox - nice that they've thawed Alicia off for a few matches, largely because Ruby Riott is injured. Month end we move to Bliss vs Moon vs Natalya, three nights each of AoP vs Ryder & Gable and friends again Banks & Bayley vs Fox & Morgan, plus two of Jose & Titus Worldwide vs Hawkins & The Ascension and a hard-hitting sounding Wyatt vs KO. VARIATIONS Fargo has the end of a few runs - Braun & Roode vs Corbin & Elias, Bliss vs Banks for the title, Matt vs Mojo, AoP vs Worldwide vs Slater & Rhino and Bayley & Nattie vs Morgan & Logan. Philly has the only singles Ziggler vs Rollins rematch for the ICT. Bridgeport throws all the women together - it's Ronda/Nia/Bayley/Ember/Nattie vs Bliss/Mickie/Fox/Morgan/Logan. In Charleston it's "Deleters" vs "B-Team" for the tag belts and Elias & Jinder vs Titus Worldwide vs Slater & Rhino vs Revival, next night in Wheeling those six teams meet in one 12-man tag won by the baddies. Finally in Columbus, Worldwide vs Ascension happens as a straight tag before combining with Jose/Hawkins for the rest of the loop. MAIN EVENTS - NXT Thank Christ for the Undisputed Era otherwise some of these would be incredibly weak shows for the few hundred in attendance. 12th in Sanford its Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly & Roderick Strong vs Street Profits & Babatunde Aiyegbusi (Commander Azeez/Dabba-Kato), next night in Tampa Rod 'n' Reilly defend the tag belts against TM61 then 14th in Crystal River Cole defends the NAT against the woefully out of his depth Kona Reeves. 19th in Daytona Beach the Era beat Raul Mendoza & Heavy Machinery, next night in Ocala the women go on last - it's Shayna Baszler vs Candice LeRae (who won an opening battle royal). Big guns head to Cali - 26th in San Diego its Tomasso Ciampa vs Aleister Black for the belt, next night in Riverside Black and EC3 beat Ciampa and Velveteen Dream, 28th and 29th in Vegas and Phoenix its the title defence again. B shows - 26th in Largo its War Raiders vs Steve Cutler & Jaxson Ryker (Chad Lail finally settles on a gimmick name) then next night in Jacksonville they beat Cutler and regular partner Wesley Blake. A lone show 28th in Fort Pierce full of C list wrestlers is topped by the Raiders vs Adrian Jaoude & Cezar Bononi. THE CARDS Shayna Baszler vs Xia Li repeats for the belt in Crystal River and Daytona though neither lasts long while Shayna repeats with Candice LeRae in Ocala, San Diego and Vegas. Identical cards in San Diego and Vegas mean we also repeat Johnny Gargano & Heavy Machinery vs all three Undisputed Era, more of EC3 vs Velveteen Dream, Kairi Sane & Jessie Elaban vs Vanessa Borne & Taynara Conti, Kassius Ohno vs Kona Reeves, here's a turn up - Lars Sullivan vs Tyler Breeze, and Brennan Williams vs Marcel Barthel. Those two big towns alternate with Riverside and Phoenix where it's Cole vs Breeze for the NAT, O'Reilly & Strong vs Machinery for the tag belts, Candice & Kairi vs Baszler & Tay, Ohno vs Barthel, Kona vs Brennan, Gargano vs Sullivan and Borne vs Elaban. Street Profits vs TM61 repeats in Jacksonville and Fort Pierce. It's War Raiders vs Adrian Jaoude & Cezar Bononi in both Sanford and Daytona as well as on last in Fort Pierce, plus the Raiders against Wesley Blake & Steve Cutler both in Crystal River and Jacksonville's main event. It's funny reading the Raiders/War Machine being about at the same time as Heavy Machinery, who'd I'd say I earmarked as "Poundland War Machine" a bit like the AWA had the Powers Of Pain and the WWF had Demolition because neither could have the Road Warriors... but that's doing an injustice to Hawk, Animal, Warload and Barbar. VARIATIONS In Sanford its Kairi vs Taynara one on one, Ohno beats Mars Wang then Danny Burch straight after, plus it's Candice & Elaban vs Reina Gonzalez & Aliyah. Tampa sees Baszler vs Nikki Cross, Dream vs Williams, EC3 vs Kona, Nick Miller vs Blake vs Montez Ford and Candice/Elaban/Xia vs Bianca Belair/Borne/Lacey Evans. In Crystal River, Tomasso Ciampa vs EC3, Raul Mendoza vs Fabian Aichner and Kairi & Jessie vs Reina & Rhea Ripley. Daytona see EC3 vs Jaxson Ryker, Burch upsets Lio Rush and it's Lacey & Vanessa vs Nikki & Jessie. Ocala get Aichner vs Barthel vs Tony Nese and Gargano, Dominik Dijakovic & Mendoza vs all three Forgotten Sons. in Largo it's Reina vs Xia, Cross & Marina Shafir vs Aliyah & Rhea and Dijakovic vs Aichner. Jacksonville, Cross vs Reina and Nese vs Mendoza. Finally in Fort Pierce, Luke Menzies (who will be Ridge Holland) beats Wang and Shafir drops Aliyah. TVs 3rd SmackDown in Omaha Andrade vs Sin Cara and all three Sanity vs all three New Day (double DQ) bookend the televised stuff and they dust Kane off as he and Bryan re-unite to beat the Usos to earn a title shot at Extreme Rules - ugh. Plus James Ellsworth goes to a non-finish with Asuka in a rare (for WWE) man vs woman match. 9th Raw in Boston Reigns/Rollins/Braun vs Drew/Ziggler/KO is a great Coliseum main, night after Becky & Naomi vs The Iiconics opens, Jeff vs Miz closes, and on the show proper Asuka puts Ellsworth out of his misery in a lumberjack match and Bryan/Kane/New Day beat Sanity & the Bludgeons in the "Big Red Machine's" last match on weekly TV. 15th in Pittsburgh its Extreme Rules which somehow manages to be both incident-packed and forgettable. Highlights of 10 (mostly short) matches are the B-Team relieving Bray & Matt of Raw's titles, Nakamura beating Jeff for the UST, Braun losing to KO in a cage match even though he's spent much of the last 12 months beating Reigns, Reigns HIMSELF doing yet another fucking televised loss (to Lashley) and Ziggler vs Rollins for the ICT in an Iron Man match I have no memory of at all. 17th SmackDown in Wilkes-Barre Usos vs Bar and Miz vs Bryan are the dark matches, Wednesday at Full Sail Keith Lee gets on TV beating Barthel, Tyler Bate upsets Roddy, Ciampa beats Black for the big belt then dark Black vs Gargano goes to a brief no contest. 24th SmackDown in Evansville Naomi beats Sonya first, Styles/Bryan/Jeff beat Nakamura/Bar on last, but most importantly Lynch beats Carmella to earn her title shot at SummerSlam, starting the chain of events which will lead to her becoming The Man. 28th//29th are the first two NXT UK tapings in Cambridge - I wont bore you with too much of it but on the Saturday El Ligero vs James Drake is a dark opener, Joseph Conners vs Kenny Williams goes unused midway (probably because Conners is so beige) and the highlight for TV is Pete Dunne vs Noam Dar for the belt. On the Sunday Killer Kelly vs Millie McKenzie is the dark opener and Dunne vs Burch for the belt is the last (televised) match of the weekend. Finally 31st SmackDown in Tampa Titus beats Kanellis for the curtain jerker, Styles beats Nakamura on last, and on the TV proper Zelina beats Lana and... Charlotte returns to TV and drops Mella to get herself added to the title match at SummerSlam. Trouble a brewing. NON TITLE WHINING Beaten on TV this month : Carmella (SmackDown Womens Champion) by Becky, again by Charlotte. We'll let them off for these, in hindsight. The greater good. DEPARTURE James Ellsworth again outlives his use as Carmella's lackey and is let go. Did you know he was still there before reading this entry? Ronda vs Nia from MSG https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFD5OPyf43k Some of Taker's appearance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFM7j7Nf58U Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Statto Posted March 7 Paid Members Share Posted March 7 I was at the first Cambridge taping - the Conners vs Williams match didn't make TV cos about 90 seconds in Conners smacked the back of his head on the canvas and couldn't continue. IIRC he wasn't badly hurt and might have even worked the taping the next night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted March 7 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 7 3 minutes ago, Statto said: I was at the first Cambridge taping - the Conners vs Williams match didn't make TV cos about 90 seconds in Conners smacked the back of his head on the canvas and couldn't continue. IIRC he wasn't badly hurt and might have even worked the taping the next night. Thanks for the context! According to WrestlingData Conners didn't have another match until the 25/08 taping at the NEC - which I went to, and we'll cover next post. Not that I'll mention the three matches Conners had over those two evenings, he's beige as anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Statto Posted March 7 Paid Members Share Posted March 7 It's one of the only things that really sticks in my head about that show, the others being: - The fact that from the balcony of the Corn Exchange we could only just about see the ringposts on the nearside of the ring, nothing of the apron or ringside area. Naturally most of the ringside action took place in the area where nobody in the balcony could see it. I heard on the second night (which I didn't go to) they started the show with a kayfabe-destroying announcement that the wrestlers wouldn't be doing any fighting in that bit tonight so nobody in the balcony need worry. - Poor old Johnny Saint forgetting his lines whilst coming out to assert his GM authority during a confrontiation between (IIRC) Noam Dar & Zack Gibson. Having told them to pack it in, he froze up and said "Right... Carry on" and disappeared to the back leaving them standing there unsure what to do. A minute or so later he re-emerged with "Actually... You two in my office, now!" They edited it really well for TV but thenceforth Sid Scala (who I think might have worked that first taping as a jobber, sans Del Boy gimmick) was appointed Assistant TO the General Manager and did all the talking, with Johnny initially standing in the background but quickly becoming an unseen figurehead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted March 7 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 7 2 hours ago, Statto said: Assistant TO the General Manager Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted March 8 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 8 (edited) AUGUST 2018 FUCK ME, the king is dead, long live the king. The interminable reign of Bore-ck Lesnar is finally put to bed by Roman Luger at the 27th attempt. But the real action is on the other side. Welcome to the greatest heel turn there never was. WWE tries to make Becky Lynch into a heel by having her turn on Charlotte, despite being fully justified in doing so. One of the most tone deaf decisions in recent years, leading to one of the most exciting developments in forever. The Man is about to come around. Plus, NXT:UK makes me endure three Joseph Conners matches in two days, souring me on the brand forever, and presents Australia vs New Zealand for a "UK" championship. MAIN EVENTS - SMACKDOWN 4th-6th we're still at THE main event for the next few months, AJ Styles vs Samoa Joe for the WWE title in Pensacola, Albany (GA) and Gainesville (FL) then again 11th-13th in Greenville, Florence and Columbia (SC) and 20th in Atlantic City, then 25th-27th in Halifax, Saint John and Peterborough. THE CARDS A largely settled week 1 has Shinsuke Nakamura vs Randy Orton vs Jeff Hardy (repeats in Atlantic City) for the US title and Bludgeon Brothers vs Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows for the tag belts plus twice it's Carmella vs Naomi vs Asuka for the title and Becky Lynch & Charlotte vs Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville. Otherwise it's Daniel Bryan vs Shelton Benjamin (nice little wrestling match, that), a 10 man of The Usos, New Day & R-Truth vs Sanity & The Bar, three nights of continuation of Rusev vs Andrade and three of Tye Dillinger vs Aiden English - two of which are followed by English talking his way into losing to Sin Cara too. In South Carolina we switch to Nakamura vs Hardy one on one, and Mella vs Asuka going to a DQ followed by the old impromptu tag of Asuka/Becky/Charlotte vs Carmella and The Iiconics. We revert to New Day vs The Bar, pick up a mixed tag of Rusev & Lana beating Andrade & Zelina Vega, Dillinger is losing to Shelton, still Bludgeons vs Club. Charlotte vs Carmella resumes in Atlantic City and then into Canada where post-SummerSlam a DQ results in Charlotte & Asuka vs Mella & Becky as the attempt to make Lynch a heel continues. It’s Nakamura vs Hardy vs The Miz for the US title and New Day vs Bar is now for the tag belts. With a torn bicep about to sideline Rowan, Luke Harper vs Karl Anderson as a singles match runs Atlantic City/Canada, and the last week of the month continues Mr & Mrs Rusev vs Andrade & Zelina and Dillinger vs Benjamin. VARIATIONS Fire & Desire, Becks, Charlotte and Asuka all have Albany off so its just Mella vs Naomi, then in Gainesville instead of English vs Sin Cara the extra match is Becky vs Mandy going to a DQ precipitating the usual tag. Atlantic City has a few one-offs - Truth vs English, Dillinger/Usos vs Shelton/Bar, a New Day vs Sanity six-man and Asuka/Lana/Naomi vs Zelina and Fire & Desire. MAIN EVENTS - RAW 4th/5th in North Charleston and Savannah its still Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins vs Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre. 10th-12th in Salisbury, Norfolk and Roanoke Reigns challenges Ziggler for the ICT with a predictable DQ finish. 26th in Rochester - THE CHAMP IS HERE! - and boy, are we setting the stall out - Reigns vs Braun Strowman for the belt goes to a non finish. 31st we have the first night of a tour in Osaka, and Reigns beats "The Monster Among Men" by DQ. THE CARDS Bobby Roode vs Kevin Owens and Bobby Lashley vs Elias (repeats in Roanoke) are the highest profile undercard matches early month plus Ronda Rousey & Natalya vs Alexa Bliss & Alicia Fox is rightly given semi-main status - Ronda's a star. There's also Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel vs Bray Wyatt & Matt Hardy vs Baron Corbin & Jinder Mahal for the tag belts, Cedric Alexander vs Buddy Murphy for the CWT, Sasha Banks & Ember Moon vs Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan, Chad Gable, Heath Slater & Rhino vs Curt Hawkins & The Ascension and No Way Jose vs Mojo Rawley. Sure feels like more talents are just treading water compared to SmackDown. Week 2 we're back to Braun Strowman vs KO in street fights, and three nights of Bliss vs Moon for the belt (ANOTHER DQ finish) leads to two instances of Moon/Nattie/Banks/Bayley vs Bliss/Fox/Morgan/Logan - gee, Alicia did real good out of Ruby being injured. We're back to Finn Balor beating Corbin, the "Deleters Of Worlds" beat The Revival and Roode slums it tagging with Zack Ryder, Titus O'Neil and Apollo Crews against Jinder, Mojo and Authors Of Pain. Roode's back with Jinder in Rochester and Osaka, B-Team vs Deleters vs Revival for the tag belts, Balor returns the favour for Corbin and biggest of all, Drew McIntyre & Dolph Ziggler are in there with Seth Rollins and.... Dean Ambrose. He's back, physically, even if mentally, we all know today he's already eyeing the exit door by this point. VARIATIONS In Salisbury only the 8-woman tag has Dana Brooke take Nattie's place. Rochester has a whole slew of new runs - Akam vs Tyler Breeze in singles for reasons unknown, Ryder/Jose/Slater/Rhino vs Hawkins/Ascension/Mike Kanellis, Sasha & Bayley vs Alexa & Alicia, and here come some more returns - Ember tags with The Bella Twins (getting rust off on the way to Evolution) to beat the fit again Ruby Riott and her two lieutenants (fuck knows why they thought the Bellas should be babyfaces by this point). Finally in Osaka Bray beats Jinder after he's already lose to Roode, it's Cedric vs Drew Gulak vs Akira Tozawa for the CWT, another big "for the natives" event in The Riott Squad losing to Sasha, Bayley and Kairi Sane, and new champ Ronda vs Alexa in the SummerSlam rematch. MAIN EVENTS - NXT 2nd in Lakeland we've got Kyle O'Reilly & Roderick Strong vs Street Profits for the tag belts, next night in Casselberry Adam Cole vs Kassius Ohno for the North American, then 3rd in St Petersburg Tomasso Ciampa vs EC3 for the big one. 9th in Tampa Johnny Gargano & Heavy Machinery beat all three Era, next night in Citrus Springs those goodies face Lars Sulliivan, Mark Coffey & Joe Coffey (fucking YAWN) and 11th in Cocoa though there is a tag title defence, on last is Kairi Sane, Nikki Cross & Jessie Elaban vs Shayna Baszler, Bianca Belair & Lacey Evans. 16th in Lowell Ciampa defends against Dominik Dijakovic, next night Pete Dunne vs Velveteen Dream goes on last in Asbury Park. 24th in Bartow Cole vs Raul Mendoza goes on last, next night in Largo Shayna's with buddies Marina Shafir & Jessamyn Duke facing Kairi, (hello you) Deonna Purrazzo and... Io Shirai. 30th in Jacksonville its new North American champ Ricochet vs Shane Thorne of TM61.. huh... next night in Fort Pierce it's Ciampa vs Dream for the big belt. THE CARDS - SUCH AS IT IS Kyle O'Reilly & Roderick Strong vs Street Profits repeats in Lakeland and (no DQ) St Petersburg. Adam Cole vs EC3 for the NAT belt, Pete Dunne vs Velveteen Dream for the UK belt and War Raiders vs Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch all repeat on those North East shows. Dream vs Brennan Williams repeats in Cocoa & Jacksonville, Heavy Machinery vs Wesley Blake & Jaxson Ryker split wins in Bartow and Largo. VARIATIONS - ODDS AND SODS Lakeland has a random mixed tag of Johnny Garagno & Candice vs Adrian Jaoude & Taynara Conti, Nikki Cross vs Bianca Belair, Grizzled Young Veterans vs Blake & Steve Cutler and Dakota Kai vs Reina Gonzalez. Casselberry has Cross challenge Shayna Baszler, EC3 & the Profits vs Dream, Marcel Barthel & Tony Nese, Kairi Sane/Kai/Jessie Elaban vs Belair/Lacey Evans/Vanessa Borne, Raul Mendoza & Morgan Webster vs TM61 and Kona Reeves vs James Drake. In St Petersburg Elaban & Machinery beat Jaoude, Cezar Bononi & Tay, plus there's Lars Sullivan vs Dominik Dijakovic and Kona vs Williams. Tampa see Raiders vs TM61, Forgotten Sons (Cutler & Blake) vs Joe Coffey & Mark Coffey, Kai vs Borne and Burch vs Mendoza. Citrus Springs has Reeves vs Luke Menzies, Belair vs Elaban, Williams vs Barthel and Cross & Xia Li vs Reina & Rhea Ripley. In Cocoa Kyle & Roddy defend vs TM61 and there's Kona vs Mendoza. Lowell has a tag title match Kyle & Roddy vs Moustache Mountain, Kairi & Dakota (Damage CTRL!) vs Baszler & Evans, Belair vs (hello you) Deonna Purrazzo and Sullivan vs Zack Gibson. In Asbury Park it's Shayna vs Sane for the belt, Dakota & Deonna vs Belair & Evans, Gargano vs Sullivan and Gibson vs Dijakovic. Bartow, Kassius Ohno & Dijakovic lose to Burch & Lorcan, there's Kona vs Sullivan, Cross vs Aliyah, Barthel vs Humberto Carrillo and Elaban & MJ Jenkins vs Belair & Evans. In Largo, Mendoza vs Carrillo and future tag team champions Kacy Catanzaro & Lacey Lane beat TayReina. In Jacksonville it's Carrillo vs Menzies, Keith Lee vs Kona, Lacey vs Lacey (ROFLCOPTOR) and Shayna, Marina Shafir & Jessamyn Duke vs Kai, Cross and Io Shirai. Finally in Fort Pierce there's Cole & Strong vs Street Profits, Ripley defends her new UK title against Kacy, Lee vs Dijakovic, Lio Rush vs Fabian Aichner and Aliyah does the job in the first singles win on the road for Io. TVs 6th Raw is notable for Ronda crushing Alicia en route to SummerSlam, Next night in Orlando Fire & Desire lose to Asuka & Naomi on first and Styles & Jeff vs Joe & Orton goes on last. Wednesday at Full Sail is the first round of the Mae Young, dark, Britt Baker (!) beats Tesha Price (Fallon Henley today) and the 1st round proper features first or only appearances on the Network for Tegan Nox, Joshi legend Meiko Satomura, Deonna beating Priscilla Kelly (who you may not recognise as Gigi Dolin), Aerial Monroe (b/k/a Big Swole), Mercedes Martinez going over Ashley Rayne (Madison Rayne ex of The Beautiful People), a very welcome return for Kaitlyn, another entry in the Toni Storm vs Jinny rivalry, Xia going over Karen Q (Wendy Choo today), Mia Yim (Michin) going over Allysin Kay (you may remember as Sienna in TNA), OZ/Ice Ribbon regular Hiroyo Matsumoto beating Rachel Evers (Rachael Ellering), Nicole Matthews beating Isla Dawn and Xia Brookside having the honour of losing to Io. Thursday, Kaitlyn puts Mia over in her last wrestling match, Rachel beats Karen in a mid show bonus, Ripley beats Tegan by stoppage when the Welsh lass suffers a very real injury knackering plans for her to win the tournament, dark Elaban/Jenkins/Brookside beat Allysin/Reina/Vanessa Kraven and Candice & Aerial beat Jinny & Killer Kelly, then in the semis Meiko puts over Toni and on the fly, Ripley puts over Io - her performance calm under crisis winning her big plaudits. 13th Raw in Greensboro has a dark match that would definitely mark Coliseum's Tag Team Mega Match Of The Month - Ambrose/Rollins/Balor/Strowman vs Ziggler/McIntyre/Corbin/KO. Next night in Greenville Usos vs Bar and Styles/Gallows/Anderson vs Nakamura/Joe/Orton bookend the telly. Saturday night at the Barclays (14,600+) Ricochet beats Cole and Kairi beats Baszler to win their respective titles and Ciampa beats Gargano in a dreadfully overblown Last Man Standing match - they're always garbage anyway but this was interminable. Next night at SummerSlam (16,000) a ton of stuff happens - Miz beats Bryan (sensibly), Rollins wins the ICT back from Ziggler, Ronda crushes Bliss to win the Raw Womens title, Charlotte wins the SmackDown belt and Becky turns on her afterwards and gets cheered for doing so, and finally Reigns beats some bloke called Brock Lesnar to liberate the Universal title in a short match somewhat tainted by Braun teasing but not actually cashing in. Tuesday's SmackDown has the Bludgeons drop the belts to New Day so Rowan can go off for his surgery, Becky cut a heel promo nobody boos, and dark matches of Asuka vs Rose and Bryan vs Joe. 25th/26th as part of Insomnia (video games, not raving) at the NEC, NXT:UK does two days of tapings (see below) - on the Saturday Kelly goes over Charlie Morgan (big upside missed there) dark, several matches are set up for future episodes (to get filmed the day after) and the Womens title tournament starts, then a dark main has Dunne & Tyler Bate beat Mark Coffey & Wolfgang. On the Sunday, Wild Boar & Tucker vs Jack Starz & Jake Constantino is a dark opener I nearly couldn't be bothered to copy and paste, Dunne retains his title against Jordan Devlin, and Ripley wins the new NXT UK Womens Championship going over Toni in the final despite arriving to the building not expecting to get further than round 2. Finally 28th SmackDown in Toronto has Truth & Dillinger beat Young & Wolfe before TVs and Styles & Jeff beat Joe & Orton after them. NON TITLE WHINING Beaten on TV this month : Dallas & Axel (Raw Tag Team Champions) by The Revival DEPARTURES I don't think so. A PERSONAL NOTE I went to the NXT UK tapings at the NEC, because it was an easy trip from mother's house and it gave me an excuse to mark the birthday weekend. Or, if you prefer, the 27th anniversary of Perfect vs Bret at SummerSlam 91. Let's get the obvious out of the way - these tapings were exhausting. 16 matches (especially) and 13 on the Sunday were too much. Excluding the Womens title finalists, there was no excuse for wrestlers working twice a night with so many talents on hand, especially not if those guys are Wolfgang, Joseph Conners or Saxon Huxley. Even though it was meant to be the "step up to the big leagues" for the wrestlers, seeing them stripped of their licensed themes which I was used to from indies, or otherwise tweaked ("Bomber" instead of "Bastard" Dave Mastiff, El Ligero simply being "Ligero" for reasons) it felt like watching the TNA debuts of guys that had lost something in their migration from the big time, several of whom were a bit bland to begin with. Quite a few guys were too obviously just there to lose, or not especially interesting, or perhaps in there with the wrong opponents. Given how much I loved plenty of these guys in their normal promotions, it's possible my expectations were too high. That said... Devlin was in fine dickhead form beating Ligs on Saturday before falling to Dunne on Sunday, Grizzled Young Vets were an obvious highlight, it was fun seeing Toni vs Jinny brought into a new environment, and in Rhea Ripley we got to see the arrival of an undisputed star in the making, upsetting Storm in a manner which was unpredictable and yet completely logical (necessitating a rematch for later). It was however not without irony that in Toni, Jinny, Ripley and Dakota, only one of the semi-finalists for the UK Womens Championship was actually from these shores. Oh well, happy birthday to me. Edited March 8 by air_raid typo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted March 11 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 11 (edited) SEPTEMBER 2018 A new bro shows up in NXT, the new trios feud escalates on Raw, Becky takes over, and the MMC kicks off. MAIN EVENTS - SMACKDOWN Still AJ Styles vs Samoa Joe 1st-3rd atop huge 10 match shows in Cleveland, Kalamazoo and Saginaw and 8th in Amarillo then 9th/19th in Lubbock and Beaumont The Miz gets shots at the belt. Saturday 15th before the PPV it’s Styles vs Joe in Houston then Monday in Oklahoma City it’s AJ, Jeff Hardy & R-Truth vs Joe, Shinsuke Nakamura & Randy Orton. Styles vs Joe rolls on 22nd-24th in Tucson, Las Cruces and Colorado Springs though for reasons unknown at the latter they go on first and the tag title on last. THE CARDS Shinsuke Nakamura vs Jeff Hardy for the US belt and Daniel Bryan vs The Miz are awesome support matches in week 1. Tag title is still New Day vs The Bar, and Charlotte vs Carmella continues to break down followed by impromptu Charlotte & Asuka vs Mella & Becky Lynch… hmm. There’s also The Usos vs Eric Young & Alexander Wolfe, Rusev & Lana vs Andrade & Zelina Vega, R-Truth vs Shelton Benjamin and twice Naomi vs Mandy Rose - we aren’t quite yet at Mandy trying to steal Jimmy, but it’s coming. The Texas run week 2 has a lot of the same except there are two nights of New Day vs Usos vs Sanity vs Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson and Truth vs Luke Harper and three of Naomi & Asuka vs Mandy & Sonya Deville ; still the mixed tag, Nakamura/Hardy and Charlotte vs Mella (with a finish this time). Anderson vs Harper repeats in Amarillo, Houston and Oklahoma City. Either side of the PPV it’s Charlotte vs Becky vs Carmella with different champions going in, New Day vs Sanity vs Bar, Bryan vs Miz returns, it’s Asuka & Naomi vs The Iiconics, Shelton vs Tye Dillinger, still the mixed tag (which repeats in Colorado). In those arid states week four it’s again Nakamura vs Hardy vs Randy Orton, twice New Day vs Usos vs (rotating members of) Sanity, Lynch vs Flair is now a straight rematch, it’s Asuka, Naomi & Nikki Cross vs Mella/Billie/Peyton, twice Rusev vs Andrade, Harper swapping wins with Dillinger and back to Truth vs Shelton. VARIATIONS In Cleveland it’s Sonya rather than Mandy that Naomi beats. Amarillo, Miz beats old/current mate Truth and the tag title is New Day vs Usos vs Sanity. Unique to Houston is Nakamura vs Truth. The Usos have Tucson off so it’s New Day vs Young & Killian Dain. MAIN EVENTS - RAW 1st in Shanghai it’s again Roman Reigns vs Braun Strowman for the U belt with a DQ finish atop a superb card. Same bout and finish 9th-11th in Birmingham, Mobile and Biloxi, 14th/15th in Edinburg and Corpus Christi and 21st-23rd in Butte, Billings and Loveland. 30th in Abbotsford we finally kick off what’s been building on TV - The Shield vs Braun, Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre. Coincidentally “Butte” is what I think of the finish to the title matches. THE CARDS In Sparky Plugg territory we have new tag champs and a new title match - Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre vs Bray Wyatt & Matt Hardy vs Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel. There’s Sasha Banks, Bayley, Ember Moon & Natalya vs Alexa Bliss, Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan (ref’d by Dana Brooke), still Finn Balor vs Baron Corbin no DQ (depressing result which repeats in Abbotsford), plus Kevin Owens vs Zack Ryder and Cedric Alexander vs Buddy Murphy for the CWT (which both also return in Abbotsford) and a pretty random Bobby Roode & Chad Gable vs Jinder Mahal & Mojo Rawley - these cards aren’t a patch on what they took to Japan and China. In Texas we have Ronda Rousey on the road again with Alexa, Roode & Gable now beat The Ascension, former WWE Champion Jinder is putting over No Way Jose (though he avenges it in Abbotsford), it’s Ryder, Titus O’Neil & Apollo Crews vs Mojo & The Revival, tag title and Balor/Corbin unchanged. In Montana/Colorado, Balor v Corbin goes to a DQ leading to Finn & Bobby Lashley beating the Baron and KO. Our 8-woman tag is now Bayley/Ember/Nattie/Dana vs Mickie James and the Riotts, Jinders back in form teamed with Authors Of Pain vs Apollo, Heath Slater & Rhino, Mojo beats Tyler Breeze and the B-Team beat Dash & Dawson (ew). If you’re wondering why Corbin is suddenly back in favour - early October is when start the slow, sad crawl towards him facing Kurt at Mania 35. Fun fact also - this is the last month we see Matt & Bray team, and the reason is hilarious - the writers are fed up with BOTH of them constantly submitting dozens of ideas for their characters and decide the two of them together is a really, really, really, really bad idea. VARIATIONS Shanghai is loaded - there’s John Cena/Lashley/Balor vs Elias/Jinder/Corbin, Ronda/Sasha/Bayley/Nattie vs Alexa/The Riott Squad, Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose vs Ziggler & McIntyre, Roode vs Wyatt, tag title of B-Team vs Worldwide vs Revival and Cedric vs Drew Gulak. Unique to Abbotsford, and in stark contrast, after beating Ryder Kev has to face (and lose to) Lashley, AoP beat Roode & Gable, Breeze goes over Mike Kanellis and hardly any gals with star power have made it to Canada ; it’s Nattie/Ember/Dana vs Ruby, Sarah and Alicia Fox. MAIN EVENTS - NXT Some big cities here - 6th in Buffalo and 8th in Warren OH it’s Tommaso Ciampa vs Johnny Gargano vs Adam Cole for the NXT title either side 7th in Pittsburgh and 9th in Detroit, Cole, Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong vs Ricochet & War Raiders with Ciampa vs Dominik Dijakovic underneath. 13th in Dade City Ciampa defends against Velveteen Dream, next night very few of the same wrestlers are in Tampa, on last is (Damage CTRL!) Kairi Sane, Io Shirai & Dakota Kai vs Shayna Baszler, Marina Shafir & Jessamyn Duke. 15th in Venice its one of those random mixed tags NXT love - Ricochet & Kacy Catanzaro beat Dream and Vanessa Borne. 21st in Sanford it's Ricochet and Street Profits vs Dijakovic and TM61, next night in Largo Gargano vs Dream is back on. 27th in Lakeland its Ricochet vs Dream for the NAT, next night in Casselberry Kassius Ohno beats Cole by DQ, then 29th in Fort Pierce Ochet and EC3 beat Dream and Lars Sullivan. B shows - in contrast to those settled bigger cards, 6th in Crystal River it’s Fabian Aichner vs Raul Mendoza 2/3 falls (for some reason), 7th in Daytona Beach it’s Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan vs Street Profits (announced as top contenders), next night in Cocoa Burch/Lorcan beat Humberto Carrillo & Mendoza. THE CARDS That big city week 1 has two iterations each of Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong vs War Raiders for the belts (which repeats in Tampa), Johnny Gargano vs Lara Sullivan, either Candice LeRae vs Shayna Baszler (which surprisingly goes 50/50) and Dakota Kai & Nikki Cross vs Aliyah & Vanessa Borne or a tag of Candice & Nikki vs Baszler & Borne, plus Kai beating Aliyah. It’s twice Tyler Breeze vs Dan Matha alternating with Matha losing to Dominik Dijakovic and all four nights see Heavy Machinery vs Wesley Blake & Jaxson Ryker. Otherwise... Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan vs Raul Mendoza & Humberto Carrillo repeats in Cocoa and Dade City, it's Keith Lee vs Kona Reeves in Venice and Lakeland but Lee loses to Lars again in Largo and Casselberry, there's Reina Gonzalez vs Xia Li in both Venice and Largo. VARIATIONS Buffalo has Ricochet vs Luke Harper (!) for the belt and Breeze vs Marcel Barthel, then in Warren it's Sullivan vs Barthel and Ricochet vs Breeze. Citrus Springs see MJ Jenkins & Jessie Elaban vs Reina & Kavita Devi, Keith vs Humberto and Lacey Lane vs Lacey Evans. Daytona get Fabian Aichner vs Carrillo, Taynara Conti vs Gonzalez (TayReina explodes!), Tony Nese vs Kona and Io Shirai vs Bianca Belair (ooo). Cocoa - Evans vs Elaban, Lee vs Aichner, Jessamyn Duke & Marina Shafir vs Io & Kacy Catanzaro. Dade - Gargano & Machinery vs Adam Cole and the rest of Era again, Ricochet vs Aichner, Kairi Sane & Candice vs Duke & Shafir and Reina vs Jessie. Tampa - Dijakovic vs Sullivan, Kassius Ohno vs Luke Menzies, Brennan Williams vs Mendoza, Aliyah vs Elaban. Venice - Raiders vs TM61, Ohno & Dijakovic lose to Street Profits, Io & Dakota vs Belair & Evans. Sanford - Rod 'n' 'Reilly defend against Mendoza & Carrillo, it's Rhea Ripley vs Nikki Cross for the UK belt, Matt Riddle vs Aichner, Cole vs Keith, Burch & Lorcan vs Reeves & Menzies, Io & Kacy vs Aliyah & Kavita and Tay vs Vanessa. Largo - Baszler/Duke/Shafir beat Sane/Kai/LeRae in an eliminator, EC3 vs Nese, Jessie & Machinery vs Ryker/Blake/Evans. Lakeland - Baszler/Duke/Shafir beat Kairi/Io/Xia, there's the first (but not the last) of Riddle vs Ohno, Machinery vs Burch & Lorcan is back on, plus Reina vs Deonna Purrazzo. Casselberry - Ripley defends against battle royal winner Elaban, Profits vs Blake & Ryker. Finally in Fort Pierce - Lee vs Nese, Duke & Shafir vs Jenkins & Conti, Mia Yim vs Aliyah and Mendoza & Lane vs Reeves & Borne. TVs 3rd Raw in Columbus Drew 'n' Dolph win the tag belts from the B Team and The Bella Twins continue to shake rust off beating Liv and Logan... the infamous match where the useless Brie knocks out Liv cold. Next night in Detroit local hero Rhino beats Kanellis before the show then Charlotte vs Becky vs Carmella is the dark main. 10th Raw in N'awlins Nikki beats Ruby Riott and Ronda gets on telly tagging with fangirl Nattie to knock off Alexa and friend-again Mickie. Next night in Lafayette the Usos beat Young & Dain dark, on the show proper Brie beats Maryse by DQ when Miz jumps in, on the way to their mixed tag at Hell In A Cell, and Bryan beats Miz after the show. Hell In A Cell that Sunday is, to be fair, a belting show with 7 matches all being of real consequence. My personal highlights are "Stone Cold" Becky Lynch winning the belt from Charlotte nice and clean then refusing to let "babyface" Charlotte raise her hand, and Hardy vs Orton delivering a compelling and violent Cell match with a breathtaking finish that left me thinking EITHER would deserve another title run. Most newsworthy is yet another Reigns vs Strowman match where they pussy out of a decision - after multiple distractions from their four buddies, Brock Lesnar marches out and lays waste to both after guest ref Mick Foley is incapacitated by Heyman. Two nights later on SmackDown dark matches disappear in favour of 205 and Mixed Match Challenge sandwiching the show proper. Thursday 20th at Full Sail Dijakovic vs Matha is a dark opener, Victor Orchant (who longtime indy fans will remember as Vordell Walker) tapes a DQ loss to Lars when EC3 interferes and Britt Baker gets squashed by Baszler. 24th in Denver Nattie and the Bellas lose to the Riotts and an emerging, unsettling Reigns/Corbin title feud continues as Corbin/AoP lose to The Shield. Finally next night, still in Denver (they keep giving back after that Lakers debacle, don't they??) Becky crushes "brave" babyface Lana and hilariously gets cheered for doing so, and "Mahalicia" tapes their first match in the MMC - I'll go to my grave insisting they missed a killer t-shirt idea with that pairing. NON TITLE WHINING FUCK MY EYE - none. DEPARTURES I dont think so. Edited April 19 by air_raid Can't take my freedom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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