But first, let us have a quick li'l look at the news we got this week;
- Super hyped from this headline, it has been decided that at Great Balls of Fire, Brock Lesnar will be defending his WWE Universal Championship against Samoa Joe. Fucking awesome.
- Sheamus and Cesaro are your RAW Tag Team Champions once again, following their victory over The Hardy Boyz at Extreme Rules. They're even cooler since they've turned heel and I'm glad to see them doing so well.
- According to New Japan by war of the Wrestling Observer, the damage done by Katsuyori Shibata's injury is reported to have put an end to his in-ring career. This sort of thing is never good news, and it's a crying shame given his rising position in the company. It appears he may be becoming a coach for them in the dojo.
- 411Mania has reported new batch of WWE signings. The group includes Axel Dieter Jr. (who I thought already had been signed), Nixon Newell and Evie who had been seen at the Performance Centre, Thea Trinidad who is the partner of Austin Aries and did that match for the Paige movie, Gunner who was in TNA (for some reason), and CWC competitor Fabian Aichner! I fucking loved Aichner in that tournament, glad to see him and Mendoza being brought back.
- Apparently Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax are joining Total Divas. Mate, if I'm getting more Buddy Murphy then I am perfectly fine with that.
WWE Extreme Rules
Best Match on ER: Bray Wyatt vs Samoa Joe vs Seth Rollins vs Finn Balor vs Roman Reigns - No.1 Contender's Extreme Rules Match for the WWE Universal Championship
We had a decent pay-per-view this past week aside from some questionable finishes, but we did get a cool main event out of it. It's a five way between the top competitors 0n RAW's roster; Rollins, Reigns, Wyatt, Balor and Joe.
This was pretty much a glorified spot fest this, with some room in place for some beatdowns in the middle. There was plenty of dives, some cool sequences and some damn nice spots, like Joe and Balor getting speared through the barricade. Considering that this had the 'Extreme Rules' stipulation attached to it, there wasn't too many weapons used; steps got used, a chair and the announce table. They did get the most out of them steps mind, with Joe and Wyatt using them as a bonding tool whilst they clattered everyone with them.
I quite liked the teaming up of Joe and Wyatt, they looked like a cohesive unit though that would turn out dysfunctional once they turned on each other. Plus, they got some big cheers when they targeted Roman. They took turns getting their sentons in using a chair which were rather self-destructive though, but a nice little team up.
Ultimately, it came down to Joe choking Balor the fuck out having pried him off of Reigns who he'd just hit his footstomp on. I was so happy Joe won, made staying up until 4AM worth it - it had begun to get light outside and birds were chirping, very weird.
Monday Night RAW
Best Match on RAW (5/6/17): Samoa Joe vs Seth Rollins
Following on from his victory at Extreme Rules, Samoa Joe goes one-on-one with Seth Rollins in the main event of Monday Night RAW.
I feel this is the first proper usage of Joe as a monster we have had since coming up to the main roster. He essentially dominated the first 60-65% of the match, beating the ever-loving shit out of Rollins and swatting away his attempted offence. Seth's selling did help that quite a bit, looking like he was damn near killed by everything.
Rollins had a comeback come in the later minutes, just hitting Joe with loads of stuff. Was it too much? Maybe - I think he should moderate his suicide dives a bit more, or give them some variation, we know he's got a sweet tope con hilo on him. I'm down with him doing the frog splash and phoenix splash, though, all good in my book. Wyatt cut him off with an interference (just his weird screen BLEH thing) which allowed Joe to choke yet another victim out.
Good match this, excited to see how they continue to build up Joe as we head towards Great Balls of Fire (never gonna feel right saying that)
SmackDown! LIVE
Best Match on SD! (6/6/17): AJ Styles vs Dolph Ziggler
We're on SmackDown! LIVE now and we have a rematch from last week's match that went a bit awry in the end, it's AJ Styles taking on Dolph Ziggler for a second time.
Quite similar to last week in that these guys did some great in-ring work. These two are very well-versed in wrestling and are two of the crispest workers in the whole entire company. So, when AJ and Dolph go at it in this sort of setting, they put on a great show. Though there isn't masses of story going into this match, with them both being in the ladder match and that Dolph won last week, from how they were wrestling it did feel like a hot rematch. Styles was going full force on Dolph, and compared to last week it felt like Ziggler was going for roll-ups and looking for a quick victory more than before.
The ending sequence was pretty damn cool if I may say so, calling back to last week. In the previous match Dolph managed to get a pin after he had knocked Styles off balance from his springboard. This time around, Dolph went to do the same, but AJ bounced over it and clocked him. They got into the ring and ended with this sweet Styles Clash;
So pretty, good on both men for pulling that off. Another really good match from these two, a proper full out feud between these two could be pretty cool down the line somewhere, I'm sure they'd deliver some even better matches if so.
205 Live
Best Match on 205 (6/6/17): Neville vs TJP - WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match
Kicking around after SmackDown! and we're on 205 Live again. The rest of the show was okay, nothing special, but this main event was certainly one of the better matches we've seen on the show as of late. Here we have my boy Neville defending his WWE Cruiserweight Championship against his former confidant, TJP.
Neville brought his wrath down upon TJP, being as merciless and vicious as ever in his mission of title retention. When Neville is on top, he's at his best. He moves like a predator, especially when he's stalking his opponent from the top rope before he connects with his missile dropkick. It's like watching a tiger/Darth Maul wrestle.
It was a bit weird to have TJP practically play a face in this match despite being a dick heel for the past few weeks, with him even keeping up his cocky mannerisms throughout. But, I suppose when you love Neville as much as I do and support him pretty much all the time, then I wasn't bothered by it at all.
The whole ending sequence was awesome, and here it is in all its glory;
Neville standing and flailing around as TJ went for the knee bar was just great, I can't remember anyone ever doing that before. Plus, that transition into the Rings of Saturn was perfect. Is there nothing Neville can't do?
NXT
Best Match on NXT (7/6/17): Hideo Itami vs Oney Lorcan
Call your doctor because this match was unbelievably stiff. It's Hideo going up against Oney Lorcan in a match where everything must have hurt.
We open things up with a very brief lock up, some simple wrestling. Then, Hideo threw the first blow and slapped Oney right across the fucking face. Then, it was on. Itami took the early momentum, kicking and slapping the ever loving shit out of Lorcan, all of it making me wince. Lorcan's comeback was probably the best in recent memory, just take a look at how malicious this was;
This is all I could think of after seeing that;
Nasty. Lorcan is awesome, such an underrated performer. The guy hasn't had a match at a TakeOver yet and I hope in this new state of NXT we get to see him crop up on the big shows.
The end of this match was rather brutal too. Hideo has all but turned heel at this point, becoming frustrated after losing to Roode at Chicago, and he took that out on Lorcan. He hit a Go 2 Sleep, then another and then a-goddamn-nother. Kassius Ohno then came out to put a stop to it, then the match got called off and things just ended.
Really good match this, just wish it lasted longer. The main even was No Way Jose versus Killian Dain, and if I'd much rather they gave Lorcan/Itami more time and even the main event spot rather than that. Anyways, I'd say check this one out.
Ring of Honour
Best Match on ROH TV (Episode 298): Adam Cole vs Hangman Page
No longer a member of the Bullet Club, Cole seeks revenge; it's Adam versus Adam now on ROH TV with a great match main eventing the episode.
I really enjoyed this match, more than I thought I would. I'm not sure what the taping schedule is for ROH, so this could very well be Cole's last match for the company, and I think would constitute as a nice sendoff for him, similar to Owens (then Steen) having his last match against Silas Young, giving the guy a rub as he leaves.
This match and his one against Kazarian at War of the Worlds has convince me Page is another guy who is criminally underrated and should be given a push. He's a young lad at 25 and could very well be built into someone ROH can use in main events and give some titles too. He's got some cool moves, he's got a good look, plus he's got that Bullet Club endorsement behind him. The Bliz Cliz now have Cody and Scurll as ROH representatives, so I'm a bit wary that Page might get overlooked for them. In my opinion, the best thing to do with him may be to put him with the Bucks and have them go after the Six Man Tag Titles, it would definitely help elevate both Page and the belts if they get the Bucks involved with them. But I digress.
This match felt like it was fought with a lot animosity and really felt like a properly done feud contest. Obviously there's the whole Cole being (super)kicked out of Bullet Club playing a part, but the way these two were going at it made it feel much deeper and personal. As far as I'm aware, the only build we had between these two was the promo to start the hour and that's it. They were tearing into each other and treating this like a serious match-up.
They pulled out some awesome spots in this one. Cole got some sweet superkicks in, the best undoubtedly being when he caught Page coming off of his slingshot lariat. Lethal. They had some outside action that was hella cool, with Cole hitting a flip piledriver (albeit a little shakily) to the floor. Plus, you can never not be amazed by Page's running shooting star off the apron. Page busted out Cole's last shot neckbreaker as a stinging blow to his former club-mate, popping me and the crowd pretty big.
The climax was also very cool indeed. Two finishers and the most charged lariat I have ever seen ended up being Cole's demise, destroying everything he had above the neck. I definitely recommend checking this one out.
As always, you can catch ROH TV for FREE on either www.rohwrestling.com/tv/current, on the Fite TV app, or at www.fite.tv.
Lucha Underground
Best Match on LU (S3E21): Mil Muertes vs Prince Puma - Boyle Heights Street Fight
Christaloo get ready from some wall-to-wall, all over the place action; it's long time rivals Mil Muertes taking on Prince Puma!
This match was pretty much a balls out hardcore brawl that spanned literally the entire arena. There was a Falls Count Anywhere match earlier on in the night, and that didn't go to half the locations this one did. Up the stairs, climbed a fucking wall, into Dario's office, everywhere. This was another one where this was effectively a big ol' spot fest with little rest for the weary, and the two of these beating the piss out of each other using a whole host of objects and manoeuvres.
In regards to distinct moments, I can only really remember the finish and a couple bits here and there, but overall, I remember enjoying this one quite a bit. Having two lads go at it in a massive brawl is always exciting, and with the competitors that you have here in Muertes and Puma it's was a very fun watch indeed.
The Verdict
Best Match of the Week: Adam Cole vs Hangman Page - Ring of Honour TV
Out of all the matches this week, this one stuck out to me the most. I felt that out of all the matches we saw this week, this one told the best story and was the most engaging, and was rather inventive too. Lorcan/Itami was another mind, its just my niggling problem of its length and a bit of a strange ending held it back from top spot. Also, the Extreme Rules five-way and Muertes/Puma are also good watches.
After all that, here's what the leaderboard looks like as this season in BWOTW continues.
Now, there's only one thing left to do, and that is award the prize of 'Best Promo of the Week' and this time around, we have a double whammy winner of this week's MVP, Samoa Joe. First on RAW Talk, and then on RAW itself;
So, that's another week in the books, and now all I have left to do is thank you all for reading and giving my blog some ever so precious screen time on your devices, and to wish you all a very happy upcoming week. Buy yourself something nice. Until next time, all the best!
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