| High-Fly-Flow really takes it out of you |
- Kenny Omega has confirmed that he is staying with New Japan for another year, so no #30 Rumble entrant for this guy
- Big Show has returned to Monday Night RAW, and he's looking cut! He was announced as another of the Rumble participants, with us at the end of SmackDown! now having 22 confirmed entrants, leaving 8 up to the imagination.
- Pete Dunne and WWE United Kingdom Champion Tyler Bate have been pulled from appearances on Rumble weekend, so perhaps we might be seeing them when a certain countdown hits 0...
- It's been confirmed that Shane Thorne of TM-61 will be out with injury for 7-9 months. Shame really, I was starting to come round to the team, and now what the hell's Nick Miller gonna do?
Monday Night RAW
Best Match on RAW (23/1/17): Seth Rollins vs Sami Zayn
It's time for RAW's go-home show, and the best match that it had to offer was the contest between Seth Rollins and Sami Zayn, with Rollins' Royal Rumble spot on the line.
Uber technical in the opening minutes of this contest, with Rollins and Zayn going hold for a surprisingly long while, you don't usually get it to the extent of this on RAW. It was all nice and clean until Rollins just straight up elbowed Sami in the face, putting a pretty abrupt stop to that.
It did have the usual sort of build during the match, moves getting gradually more and more impactful, and again, they went to an extent you wouldn't really expect on a typical episode. Rollins seemed to really land some big shots on Sami, especially the Kenny Omega-esque bicycle knees, sounding like a proper connection was made.
Rollins was hitting Zayn with loads and he kept kicking out, and that lead to the two of them finding themselves on the apron and performing a big spot I'm not too sure I've seen before, and something I would've thought to be reserved for PPVs;
Whilst that looked and felt like a definitive end to the match and Zayn's face, Rollins didn't manage a pinfall due to distraction via music, that of Triple H in fact. This allows for some recovery, and for Sami to get a roll up pin and winning! Zayn is now in the Rumble instead of Rollins.
No idea what they're planning with Rollins for the Rumble, but I can see whatever it is leading to him facing Triple H at 'Mania. Real good match this, surprisingly so you could say.
SmackDown! LIVE
Best Match on SD! (24/1/17): Luke Harper vs Randy Orton
It's Tuesday, you know what that means; SmackDown! LIVE is on!
This week we had this internal clash of The Wyatt Family pitting Luke Harper versus the newest addition and Bray Wyatt's new best friend, Randy Orton.
Pretty quick off the blocks this one, especially in comparison the the aforementioned Zayn/Rollins, but it fits with the story, with tensions rising high between these two following losses due to Harper interference.
Pretty rough going this one, you weren't gonna be seeing a whole lot of chain wrestling and fancy technicalities. Rather, there was a fair chunk of time devoted to action at ringside, with Orton going ham, egg and cheese on Harper's back.
Harper did get to showoff dominance is this one mind, promptly booting Randy in the face after what happened in the video above. I'm enjoying Orton's latest run on SmackDown!, its letting him interact with people he probably wouldn't have before, like the tag division, and working differently with those he's encountered before. It's great! Seems to elevate those he goes up against.
Orton would claim a victory in this one, landing his fabled RKO, which Luke Harper sold like a Stone Cold Stunner which made it look cooler than cool;
And for the lovers of slo-mo;
Nice match here, and we ended with Harper getting laid out by Bray in the ring and left there in the dark. It will be very interesting to see what happens with the Wyatts in the Royal Rumble Match.
205 Live
Best Match on 205 Live (24/1/17): Cedric Alexander vs Neville
We're on 205 Live now, and we were given the main event of Neville taking on Cedric Alexander ahead of his Crusierweight Championship match at the Rumble. Whilst the crowd weren't the best, this was a really good match.
Although Neville kept up his in-ring reign of terror, spending a fair amount of the match with the upper hand and asserting his dominance, Cedric had his flurries and impactful moves peppered throughout this match. One of the best moments of the match was Cedric's usage of the Spanish Fly, which came from essentially nowhere and was really sweet to see;
There were some great sequences and high spots in this match, but the build to finish was my favourite part of the match. If just a single move were to identified in the whole thing, it would be Neville nope-ing the fuck out of Cedric's sunset flip powerbomb attempt.
Rings of Saturn! What a goddamn horrific submission that is, and it suits this rejuvenated Neville perfectly.
Overall, it was a really cool match, and like I said about the crowd, its a damn shame they were a tad dead. Cedric's getting great at playing the plucky babyface, and facing the murderous Neville was a great move.
NXT
Best Match on NXT (25/1/17): Ember Moon vs Liv Morgan
Taking us down to Florida now, it's Ember Moon facing Liv Morgan.
We started off with some nice technical wrestling back and forth in the opening, with both women putting on an impressive display. One thing that stood out to me in this one that I haven't massively noticed before is Ember Moon's power game. A good few times in this match she hoisted Morgan up and chucked her about, with the most impactful of which being this instance;
Moon would soon win the match, landing her 'Eclipse' diving stunner finisher, which I think will always be cool. Nice match here on NXT, nothing massive, but solid.
Ring of Honour
Best Match on ROH TV (Episode 279): Dragon Lee vs Will Ospreay vs KUSHIDA
I've been looking forward to this match since it was revealed in last week's preview, a triple threat between 3 of my favourite junior heavyweights/cruiserweights, Dragon Lee, Will Ospreay and KUSHIDA.
Things kicked off with a bang, with a quick sequence of all three whipping and dragging and flipping, ending in a stalemate; good stuff.
Although Dragon Lee received the lightest reception from those in attendance (though they weren't the liveliest bunch until things started to really get going), he got some of the best reactions. Whether it was raw power moves or his acrobatics, he got people on their feet. Ospreay was his ever flippy self and weaved in his agile manoeuvres amongst all the madness to great effect. KUSHIDA, despite also being able to fly about, played a much more grounded game in contrast to his opponents flashier performances, which enhanced the match's taste of variety.
My personal highlights were Dragon Lee pulling off a huricanrana on the apron, flinging KUSHIDA onto Ospreay at ringside that got a massive cheer from the crowd, and also KUSHIDA catching Will out of the air and putting him in the 'Hoverboard Lock' Kimura submission. For some reason they decided to show some bits from the Cole/O'Reilly ROH Championship match from WrestleKingdom in the middle of this match so the flow had a bit of disruption, but the match was still highly entertaining despite this.
I thought this match was awesome, I love all these guys in this match and its always a treat when they appear on ROH TV, and having them all come together in this match was wonderful.
As always, you can catch ROH TV for ZERO DIMES at www.rohwrestling.com/tv/current or on the Fite TV app.
The Verdict
Best Match of the Week: Dragon Lee vs Will Ospreay vs KUSHIDA - Ring of Honour TV
Definitely try and check this one out readers, continuously exciting from bell to bell. It's a breath of fresh air in what has felt like a week of sort of drawn out, grinding matches that although still great, tend to drag sometimes. I highly recommend it.
With another week catalogued, the leaderboard now looks a lot like this. And now for the segment 'The Best Wrestling Quote of the Week', starring the stylin'. profilin', son of a gun;
'What does "it's lit" mean?' - Ric Flair
That just about does it from me for this post my dear readers, and I look forward to speaking with you again soon. This time next week, we'll have a Rumble winner crowned, and possibly a WrestleMania main event ready to go. Who knows what it will be? I just hope that you, yes you, have good time. Seeya next week!
No comments:
Post a Comment