But before we get stuck in, here's the news we got this week (not much really);
- Championship news with Alexa Bliss winning the RAW Women's Championship off of Sasha Banks this week on TV, continuing Sasha's inability to defend that championship successfully. Why? Well, rumblings about setting this up for Total Divas to use the belt as a focal point has been brought up....
- JBL has stepped down from his commentary position on SmackDown! LIVE to focus on his charitable efforts. As of writing there is no news on who will be replacing him.
- A couple of injuries this week. Samoa Joe has sustained some sort of knee injury at a house show this week and is reportedly going to be out for a little over a month or so, and Xavier Woods sustained some sort of sprain, so nothing too bad which is the good news.
WWE Mae Young Classic
Episode 1
Best Match on MYC E1: Abbey Laith vs Jazzy Gabert
The Mae Young Classic is here with the first round in its entirety, and here on the first episode, the best match came in the form of Abbey Laith taking on 'The Alpha Female', Jazzy Gabert.
The story of this match can be summed up as 'holy shit Jazzy is a fucking monster', and it was very well told. Both women's facial expressions sold this story, especially on the part of Laith who portrayed the early parts with some confidence, especially with this slick splits spot, and also the later desperation and frantic need to capitalise on every window of opportunity she had.
With Gabert being dominant for the majority of the match did mean we didn't get to see a whole lot of offence from Laith. But, saying that, having her on the back-foot fighting up was a great way to get support from the fans that is sure to help later one.
Another nice touch came with Laith using Mae Young's patented Alligator Clutch to win the match and go on to the next round.
This was a really good and well done match, a great choice to cap off the first episode. Whilst it's sad to see Gabert go out, I do like Laith and look forward to seeing how she fares in the next round.
Episode 2
Best Match on MYC E2: Sarah Logan vs Mia Yim
Episode 2 now and the best match this time around was the Kentucky strong Sarah Logan heading up against former TNA Knockout Champion, Mia Yim.
I will say that out of the four tournament matches covered on this edition, this is probably the weakest. The most I remember of this match was Yim kicking the ever loving shit out of Logan. I can't recall much of Logan being on offence, which is a shame because I was looking forward to seeing how she'd fare.
Eventually, the match came to a close with Yim winning with an Eat Defeat right on the money;
Decent match here, but like I said, there are better matches here in the field.
Episode 3
Best Match on MYC E3: Piper Niven vs Santana Garrett
Another small/big dynamic here in the tournament, with Santana Garrett taking on Piper Niven, but less of a dominant powerhouse though.
Piper can move like nobody's business, with Santana keeping up for quite a pacey match here in the tournament. Niven did have the upper hand for most of the match, with Santana resisting her power, but not to the extent of Laith/Gabert from a couple of episodes ago. Unlike that one, the bigger woman would win, with Niven laying Garrett out with a sit-out powerslam;
Nice match here on Episode 3, I prefer Laith/Gabert but this was also an enjoyable watch.
Episode 4
Best Match on MYC E4: Kairi Sane vs Tessa Blanchard
The main event of the first round (or that set of tapings at least) taking the cake here on Episode 4 as the tournament's most hyped entrant, The Pirate Princess, Kairi Sane, takes on the woman with Horsemen blood, Tessa Blanchard.
This was a really great match, with Kairi putting on a hell of a show. This is my first time seeing her and I have to say that she is very good indeed. Tessa meshed really well with her, and although they perhaps didn't have the time available to put on a barnburner that I feel they could have, this was still awesome.
Kairi's elbow drop was one of the most talked about things going into this match, but bloody hell that flying forearm off the top was equally as beautiful. JR seemed to call every fucking strike that took someone off of their feet a Superman Punch, and that irked me a little, but this was seriously on par with Styles in terms of form and execution.
But of course, it was the amazing elbow drop that finished the match off, much to the enjoyment of the crowd in Full Sail;
Hands down the best match of these first four episodes released so far. Kairi did not disappoint in any way, and Tessa did great job working with her to make that a reality. Definitely recommend checking this one out.
Monday Night RAW
Best Match on RAW (28/8/17): Cesaro vs Seth Rolllins
How do you fill time between pay-per-views with the tag champions? Mix 'em up in singles competition of course! We two matches come of this procedure on RAW this week, with this contest between Cesaro and Seth Rollins being the best match on the card.
I think that Cesaro/Ambrose from the other week was a better match than this. That felt more exciting with more near falls and some really good pure wrestling coming out of nowhere to liven up a pretty dull episode. There wasn't too much out of the ordinary playbook this time around, which lent to this not being as exciting to watch. The main thing I popped for was that Cesaro ended up winning straight from a nasty looking uppercut straight up. I like it when that happens. Its a fun match here on RAW if you're wanting something to watch, with these two guys being great in-ring workers putting on a match above the average of what you get on RAW.
SmackDown! LIVE
Best Match on SD! (29/8/17): Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable vs The Ascension (Konnor & Viktor)
AIN'T NO STOPPING ME NOOO-Oh they went with a different song. Okay.
Shelton Benjamin is back competing in a WWE ring after years away from the company, with his new tag team partner, Chad Gable, taking on Eddie Money lovers, The Ascension.
This was a quick little match here on SmackDown!, reintroducing ol' Shelty to the audience with him getting the hot tag and the eventual pin to claim the win. I'm not sure whether it was intentional, but there was a bit of miscommunication/Shelton doing as he liked, going against Gable's plan for a double team. This could either be just to show that they aren't totally familiar with each other, or perhaps planting the seeds to Benjamin breaking out on his own later on. I found it interesting at least.
So yeah, Benjamin hit the Jumping Complete Shot for the win. Bit of a tame finisher in my opinion but its not too bad.
205 Live
Best Match on 205 (29/8/17): Tony Nese, Noam Dar & Drew Gulak vs Gran Metalik, Cedric Alexander & Enzo Amore
GRAN METALIK IS STILL HERE! Lovely to see him getting this much TV time over the past month, and here he is teaming with Cedric Alexander and 205 Live's newest addition, Enzo Amore, to take on the team of Tony Nese, Drew Gulak and Noam Dar.
It's your fairly standard six man tag here, but with some good wrestling, especially watching my boy Metalik showing why he is called 'The King of the Ropes'. Another touch I liked was seeing both sets of teammates on the apron mouthing off to each other across the ring early on in the match, it's something I've never really thought about, but seeing it here made the animosities between both sides come across better and made for a more engaging viewing experience.
Eventually things boiled down to Enzo picking up the win, putting his feet on the ropes to secure a pin. This was another little something about this match I liked. It is clear to near everyone that Enzo is not a great wrestler, so having him this way got across this mentality as well as giving him a win. It was a fun little match here on 205, a nice something if you're looking for something like that.
NXT
Best Match on NXT (30/8/17): Roderick Strong vs Bobby Roode
Honourable Mention(s): Peyton Royce vs Ruby Riot
It's a new set of tapings here at NXT, and I was so excited coming out of Takeover: Brooklyn III that this was the first episode I have stayed up to watch (airing at 1am here in sunny ol' England Towne). I was sure not to be disappointed as not only did Ruby Riot and Peyton Royce have a good match, but the main event of Roderick Strong taking on Bobby Roode was a great match too.
Roddy got his vengeance in this match, taking the first few minutes seeking and destroying the back of Roode with a variety of backbreakers, a focus on the match developing with seeing him apply the Stronghold submission and would eventually lead to Roode's downfall. Bobby got his fair share of offence in, highlighted with him landing his beautiful spinebuster on the outside.
Roddy's retribution would come in the form of not one, but two End of Heartache backbreakers, easily the coolest move in his playbook, looking absolutely devastating
to everyone he delivers it to. Really great, exciting match here on NXT, one that I recommend checking out.
Ring of Honour
Best Match on ROH TV (Episode 310): Jay White & Jonathan Gresham vs War Machine (Hanson & Ray Rowe)
We've got a great tag team match here from Ring of Honour, with Jay White and Jonathan Gresham teaming up to face the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, War Machine.
It occurred to me in this match that Gresham has gotten a lot better since debuting in ROH sometime last year (?). He's more vocal, more expressive and has a better air of charisma about him. I was really high on White coming off of his match with Will Ospreay at Mayhem in Manhattan, but he hasn't quite lived up to continuing this trend. Perhaps when he returns to New Japan he might find his niche.
Having said that, this match was really exciting. There were plenty of near falls and kick outs that made this seem like a pay-per-view worthy match in my opinion. With each one, I was rooting more and more for Gresham and White to win. They found themselves on top of things several times in this bout, but there were certainly times where War Machine had their way with the two smaller men.
War Machine are just fucking beasts, accentuated by their new badass finisher, an assisted pop-up powerslam, aptly called 'Thor's Hammer'. That brought this great match to a close and made for a tantalising start to the episode.
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. It was a real good episode this week so I'd recommend it.
Lucha Underground
Best Match on LU (S3E33): Son of Madness vs Son of Havoc - Biker Brawl Match
We're in the lead to Ultima Lucha Tres now, and this week we have a match for one of the seven ancient medallions, pitting Son of Havoc against his new rival, Son of Madness, in a Biker Brawl match - meaning that it was no disqualification but also there was some bikes at ringside.
This was a very spotty match, some pretty goddamn brutal. Like a minute into the match, Madness hit with a double footstomp to the outside that looked deadly. How Havoc retained breathing function after that, I have no idea. Most of this match took place outside the ring, going into the audience for a fair bit before they would get back in between the ropes. Lots of weaponry use here in the match, predominantly trash cans, like biker's have. The weapons led to a pretty hype finish, with Madness looking to clock Havoc with a claw hammer, only to have a bottled smashed over his head before Havoc ascended to the top and pulled off a picture perfect Shooting Star Press. So pretty.
A really good match here on Lucha Underground, but, will it be able to top the charts this week....?
The Verdict
Best Match of the Week: Kairi Sane vs Tessa Blanchard - WWE Mae Young Classic Episode 4
Although the average match quality of the first round might not have been outstanding, this match was head and shoulders above the rest. Kairi came off like the star WWE has built her to be, in the process making Tessa look real good in that ring. If you are interested in this tournament, I would recommend watching it all regardless, there are some great characters and the presentation of it is wonderful. Plus, I can't get that theme song for it out of my head. Shoutouts to Strong/Roode from NXT, the tag match from ROH TV and the Lucha Underground match, they were all incredibly exciting too.
With another week in the books, here is how the leaderboard looks, populated by a lot of newcomers to the blog this week. But, Kenny Omega still leads the charge by quite a considerable lead.
And now to present 'The Best Promo of the Week', and whilst Dolph Ziggler topped his mental breakdown from last week on SmackDown!, the best we got this week was the confrontation between Roman Reigns and John Cena is a fantastic segment;
That's all from me for this week folks, I hope you are all enjoying yourselves in whatever part of the world you are in, in whatever walk of life you are from. Us graps-fans gotta stick together, and I wish you all the best for the next few days. Seeya!
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