By Graham "GSM" Matthews The Lucha Dragons def. Heath Slater and Bo Dallas The Lucha Dragons are such a blast to watch in the ring that I'm surprised they're not getting more television time than they currently are. They were given a decent push following their debut on the main roster the night after WrestleMania 32, but we haven't seen much of them since. Nevertheless, this was a nice little showcase for them against two quality opponents (in terms of selling, not in terms of them being credible) in Slater and Dallas. I wish they were doing more with Dallas instead of marginalizing him on Superstars. Hopefully we see The Lucha Dragons enter the WWE Tag Team Championship picture in the near future. Cesaro def. Luke Harper To my knowledge, this was the first one-on-one match Cesaro and Harper have had in WWE, so that alone made this match very cool. As expected, they contested a very good match with plenty of back-and-forth action. We also got a sneak peak at a few new maneuvers we haven't seen from either competitor before, so it added a special feel to the match. It's unfortunate both of their tag partners are currently out with injuries, but it'd be nice if WWE realize the talent they had in front of them with Cesaro and Harper as singles stars.
0 Comments
By Graham "GSM" Matthews The Authority Called Out Intercontinental Champion Ryback With Big Show doing his own thing and Jamie Noble out with an injury (here's wishing him a full and speedy recovery), The Authority seems to be dwindling down, and although I would love if that meant they were slowly being phased out, I doubt that's the case. Noble's injury presents the perfect opportunity, however, to have Brock Lesnar take out each member one by one in the weeks leading up to Battleground. This was a typical promo from them to start the show on a less-than-stellar note, but at the very least, it established the night's two big matches in Ryback vs. Kane and Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose. Sheamus def. Dolph Ziggler Yes, it feels like we've seen these two face each other a million times before, but you can't help but admit that their matches never cease to entertain. This was another good match from the two, and while not their best bout, still enjoyable for what it was. As established before, I'm digging Sheamus' character right now and I'm glad he's picking up wins more often than not as Mr. Money in the Bank, but the Ziggler and Lana pairing just isn't doing it for me. Meanwhile, Rusev continues to look terrible throughout this whole thing and I can't believe he was among the company's hottest acts only a few short months ago. What a shame. By Graham "GSM" Matthews NXT Champion Kevin Owens Interrupted Hideo Itami; Rhyno Attacked Finn Balor It was encouraging to hear Itami will be back in action in the next three to four months and I hope that timetable ends up being accurate. It was also wise to tease him going after the NXT title upon his return to the ring, which is why it was logical that Owens interrupted him. The two had a good back-and-forth on the mic and Owens fumbling over his words only to turn it into a shot at Itami was hysterical. Balor making the save was solid hype for their upcoming title match in Japan and Rhyno attacking Balor set up the main event nicely, so this segment was successful on various fronts. Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady def. Jason Jordan and Sylvester Lefort I usually enjoy the pre-match promos of Amore and Cassady and while I appreciate their effort to incorporate relevant movies into this promo, it was a total train wreck. Unfortunately, the match wasn't much better, and it's not as if it served as a simple squash for Amore and Cassady. The match was mere minutes long and it ended on a roll-up win for the babyfaces, so how much did it really do to benefit them? I guess they're slowly building to Jordan teaming with Chad Gable and usually I'd be in favor of that, but I really wish they'd hurry and get to that point for the sake of adding more depth to the NXT tag team division. By Graham "GSM" Matthews Shinsuke Nakamura def. Roderick Strong When I was initially exposed to the tremendous talents of Nakamura during that New Japan show back on January 4 of this year, I was blown away, so I knew going in this match was going to be something special. Sure enough, it didn't disappoint; in fact, it exceeded expectations in being a truly remarkable matchup. All the nearfalls and insane in-ring action had me sitting on the edge of my seat and exploding with excitement at every kickout like the rest of the live crowd. It was amazing, that's all I can really say to describe it. While it was weird watching Strong losing days after becoming the new No. 1 Contender to the Ring of Honor World Championship, but I can excuse that simply because this bout was so damn awesome. Michael Elgin def. Gedo Elgin is a highly skilled performer, but as I mentioned in my review of Best in the World from this past weekend, the biggest issue he faces is that he isn't connecting with the crowds. That was obviously evident here because the audience was quiet for most of his match, but I'm hoping this heel persona he has will get him to the next level. Then again, the crowd reaction to this match wasn't a good indicator of how he's getting over considering what match this had to follow. |
Categories
All
Archives
April 2024
|