What is up everyone,
Hope you all have had a good week. Today's UnWrest is going to do a quick review of thoughts I have about Raw, Smackdown, NXT, and ROH, along with more recommendations for matches in the past to watch and podcasts to listen to. But this week, in addition to my reviews, I'm going to do some fun fantasy booking for the world championship matches on both Raw and SmackDown.
Updates
- There is now a "Table of Contents" for the blog containing links to the major blogs and posts I've made in the last near two months. Check it out and tell me what you think.
- Friday, August 10th, I will be doing LIVE posts on here exclusively for the G1 Climax Block and Tournament Finals shows. If you aren't awake for the live posts, don't worry: the posts will be waiting for you once you wake up. I'll also post reminders on Twitter.
- Speaking of which, twitter.com/cdub1898. Click on Follow and check in on Monday and Tuesday Nights as I will provide live thoughts on Raw and SmackDown along with other big events for side commentary.
Raw Thoughts (Plus SummerSlam Fantasy Booking)
- As I stated on Twitter earlier this week, I thought Raw was a very solid B- show overall.
- I for one liked the Corbin vs. Balor match for what it was: Corbin getting his win back. WWE booking can be overly tedious at times. And a lot of times I disagree with the yo-yo booking where someone gets a win back after a loss. However, if they are going to build Corbin up to face Balor at SummerSlam, they needed to give him a win here. But please WWE: NO DEMON for this feud. The Demon should only show up when the situation calls for something special. This situation doesn't. Let The Demon rest.
- The Seth Rollins/Drew McIntyre match was the best one on Raw, however. The two men continue to have great TV matches. Seth is probably the hottest wrestler in WWE at the moment from a popularity and in-ring perspective. Drew. The thing for me thought is that it seems that Ziggler and Rollins at SummerSlam should be a triple threat with McIntyre in the mix. But in the least, it wouldn't surprise me if McIntyre dumps Ziggler whenever he loses the IC Title.
- RIP AOP. They're done. I'm calling it now. These guys will be off TV and on Main Event until their contracts expire. I will throw in the caveat that they get a mouthpiece manager for them to help get them back to where they were with Paul Ellering. They need an advocate.
- Speaking of advocates, I, along with every wrestling fan with an opinion, have my eyes on the desperate attempt WWE made to make Brock Lesnar the heel and Roman Reigns the face you have no choice but to cheer. I thought Brock's stuff was frankly hilarious because Brock Lesnar was playing a shoot version of BROCK LESNAR! He's an outdoorsman who hates having to be on TV and would rather be sitting on his couch watching something else. So, he reads an Outdoorsman magazine, throws his advocate's phone away when he tries to tell him what just happened in the ring, and blames said advocate for him having to be at the show to begin with. And with Lesnar throwing Angle in an F5 and assaulting Heyman, this again came off as desperate ploys to get Lesnar booed. But it also had a bit of realism to it. Lesnar, if provoked, would probably do some of these things. And let's admit it: A good portion of the crowd WAS chanting for Roman. So, this week at least, the story worked. But what's going to happen to this whole situation? How would I book it?
1) Paul Heyman continues to be Brock Lesnar's whipping boy. I don't think Lesnar needs to be on Raw next week, but I do think Heyman needs to continue being on TV. He needs to come out and still defend his client, despite the fact that he was assaulted last week. Then, you can have Roman tell Heyman that he doesn't believe Heyman's song and dance and thinks he and Lesnar are still in cahoots. I wouldn't have Roman call Lesnar his "b...." or anything. Roman just needs to say that he's getting rid of Lesnar once and for all.
2) Then, the last week before SummerSlam, Brock shows up unexpectedly and beats up Roman while he's in a match, putting more fire on the match. Lesnar just puts Reigns through every piece of furniture possible. Angle comes out to stop Lesnar, but Lesnar beats up Angle and locks in a kimura lock, breaking his arm. Then, Lesnar does the unthinkable: he spits on his own Universal Championship and walks off, dragging it behind.
3) SummerSlam Night- KICKOFF SHOW- Brock Lesnar shows up to the arena with a nervous Paul Heyman about 3-4 feet behind. Lesnar throws his bags at Heyman and tells him "make yourself useful for once." He turns around and Roman Reigns attack him in the hallway. They start brawling each other up into the arena. Every referee and undercard talent on the show tried to break them up with little to no effort. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon come out, no Kurt Angle or Constable Corbin, and yell "ENOUGH! You two want at each other so bad? Well, guess what? We're not waiting until the end of SummerSlam. You two want at it? You're STARTING SummerSlam. So get ready! When this show goes live, this match is on! Oh, and by the way, ANYTHING GOES! THIS ENDS TONIGHT!" There you have now garnered the audiences attention for the match, and you've also stopped the record of crowd hijacks of main events. It also gives you possibly the hottest start in the history of SummerSlam, and a way to get whatever the crowd's feelings about the match out of their system.
4) Reigns beats Lesnar in an absolute war. The show starts off with 10 minutes of nothing but hardcore, hard knocking, brutal action. Chairs, tables, spears, suplexes... all of that. Lesnar needs to be flipping off the audience, pushing down and beating up "working" cameramen, and just completely disrespecting the product. Meanwhile, Roman finally gets his win after bludgeoning Lesnar. That's right. Roman gets his moment...
BRAUUUUUUUUUUUUN!
Strowman walks out with the Money in the Bank Briefcase, cashes in, and beats Roman Reigns for the title. Braun Strowman is the new Universal Champion. So, what do you do with Kevin Owens? It's simple. Stephanie makes the match between Owens and Strowman for the Universal Championship. That match does not go on last, but it will be another new historic moment in SummerSlam history for the Universal Championship to be defended 3 times in 1 night. Strowman beats Owens in 15 minutes to keep the championship, and a new storyline begins with Roman Reigns chasing after Braun Strowman for the Universal Championship.
As for what happens with Paul Heyman? I say give Heyman 3 months off. Then, when he comes back, he manages Drew McIntyre!!! Whenever Ziggler and McIntyre break up, I say put Heyman as the mouthpiece to Drew McIntyre (in a CM Punk sort of relationship) and push McIntyre to the main event scene on Raw.
(Now, I'm not pretending my way is the only acceptable way WWE can do this. They can probably do better if they put their minds to it (and any of you who probably put your mind to it). But I think there are some advantages to this strategy as I mentioned above. Tell me what you think in the comments below.)
SmackDown Thoughts (And Fantasy Booking)
- As I said on Twitter, I am opposed to the newly designed Triple Threat match between Becky, Carmella, and Charlotte. I think multiperson matches are done to death in WWE. And more importantly, I think this is Becky's moment. Or at least, it was Becky's moment. Now, she is sharing it with Charlotte. Maybe this is to help give Becky an out for when Carmella retains her championship, like we really need more Carmella as champion in our lives. But I think the writing's on the wall here.
- Great to see The Usos and The Bar get some TV time to tell their story as well with multiple commercial breaks interrupting the match. That's actually a good sign. The Bar getting the win was a nice surprise too. Now, we're getting The New Day vs. The Bar next week which should be an awesome match, but I don't see how this match ends in any other way than resulting in The New Day vs. The Bludgeon Brothers at SummerSlam.
- Randy Orton gave Jeff Hardy a bath this week as he wiped away the makeup from his face and stripped the shirt off of him. I thought I had turned into the wrong program for a moment. I don't get how Shinsuke figures into all this. He has the championship. He shouldn't want to further antagonize Jeff Hardy even in the presence of Randy Orton. Just weird story telling all around.
- The Miz and Daniel Bryan promos continued to be scathing at each other. Both hit the other with some cold truth, and I think the match at SummerSlam will be epic. The question is "Will Daniel Bryan be leaving after SummerSlam?" I hope not, but if he does, can you honestly blame him?
- Now on to what I believe was the big storyline development of the week on SummerSlam: Samoa Joe made it personal against A.J. Styles. Joe bringing up Styles' family being the victims of Styles' desire to be the champion was frankly brilliant as Styles has been noted for being a family man. Joe attacking that personality trait of Styles allows for deeper storytelling where Joe can point out Styles' hypocracy while Styles can defend his family's honor.
So, how would I book this feud? Here's my roadmap...
1) Styles next week has to respond to Joe by saying Joe is desperate to get into his head. Styles can say Joe can bring up his family all he wants, but it won't matter in the end when Styles is still holding the WWE Championship. I'd have Joe do a pre-taped interview backstage to throw off AJ, and then Joe comes from behind, locks in the Coquina Clutch. Styles goes to sleep.
2) Last week before SummerSlam, Joe and Styles do sit-down interviews to set up their match with both men in separate locations.
3) At SummerSlam, I close the show with Joe vs. Styles for the WWE Championship. This puts SmackDown Live's main title in the main event for a change and has the better chance of keeping a worn-out crowd in Brooklyn engaged. The less beachballs and shenanigans, the better. There are several different ways you can book this: Styles gets the straight up win on Joe after an incredible match. Joe can get in a cheap shot on Styles and beat him for the championship. Styles can catch Joe in a rollup while in the clutch position (ala Piper vs. Bret at WrestleMania VIII). Joe can just straight up beat Styles for the championship.
Here's my thought: Joe needs a win badly in WWE. Joe had a couple marquee matches last year, but Joe doesn't have a big win on the roster. Yet, the audience buys him as this big Samoan badass. At some point, Joe needs at least a small bit of a title run to further validate his standing in the company. Unless Vince is purposefully trying to erase Punk's record with the title, Joe should be the guy to beat Styles now. I am not saying Joe keeps the title until WrestleMania but maybe the Royal Rumble. I'd have Joe beat AJ at SummerSlam, giving AJ all the more momentum to go after Joe. And I mean have Styles go after Joe with a vengeance on TV. Build Styles up again and have him chase Joe.
_ _ _ _
NXT
- I am glad to hear that we are getting a rematch between Mustache Mountain and Undisputed Era. They had AN EXCELLENT series of matches this summer that delivered every single time. In front of a rabid, hot Brooklyn crowd, they have the capability to steal the show and the weekend. My hats off to NXT and WWE for booking the match.
- EC3 is NX3!!!!!! EC3 has not exactly been given a lot to work with prior to this storyline with Velveteen Dream, but I am excited to see what these two do with a lot of ring time in Brooklyn. By the way, the difference in reaction between EC3 and Kona Reeves was alarming. That crowd was definitely not buying the dude as a credible opponent for EC3. However, I will give Reeves credit: when he had EC3 down and got a 2 count, his facial expressions were excellent in that moment.
- The Baszler vs. LaRae match was excellent this week and is probably my favorite match this week (with the noted possible exception of Drew vs. Seth on Raw). They did a great job making both women look great. And I loved the post-match stuff with Saine and Baszler.
- Ciampa = Heat. He's one of the rare guys who can get heat from a whole crowd for the right reasons. Ciampa going down to the floor and mocking the old lady in the front row, saying that he is HER NXT Champion was priceless. Gargano saying "The only reason Ciampa is NXT Champion is because of me" only to get kicked by Black followed by "You Deserve It" chants from the audience was GREAT!!!! The fans were right: Johnny Wrestling deserved it.
All in all, it was a great episode of the show. But that's par for the course.
_ _ _
ROH
- I enjoyed the KUSHIDA vs. Gresham match, but the camera shots of the crowd continue to bother me from these tapings. It's obvious that the arena was mostly empty for these tapings, but ROH hasn't done a great job reducing a Bush-league perception that comes with complete sections of empty seats. As for the match itself, it again was really good with KUSHIDA and Gresham being able to do both technical European and aerial wrestling. I loved the rollup sequence prior to the commercial break in the match. Both guys are solid wrestlers, and this didn't disappoint.
- So Cal Uncensored had a very solid promo backstage about doing the best they can for Ring of Honor over the next 6 months. It had a lot of morbid overtones about death and leaving a good legacy behind, but it was well executed by all three men.
Nothing else on ROH this week validated my clicking on the episode on Honor Club. Again, this series of tapings seem Bush-League due to the problems of attendance.
_ _ _ _
Podcast Recommendation for the Week
I am going to give a shout out to the guys at POST Wrestling for their continuing coverage of the G1 Climax during the tournament. They are providing daily reports on the G1 for all their Patreon subscribers. While I do not always agree with their analysis of the matches, I do find their insight valuable as guys who have been reporting on wrestling for a large number of years. If you want a free sample of their work, subscribe to POST Wrestling on any podcast app (or iTunes, as I do) to check it out.
_ _ _ _ _
<<Rewind << Match of the Week- Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker, SummerSlam 2015
Remember that feeling when The Streak died? Well, Undertaker didn't like that feeling too much either. So, at the moment when Brock was looking to regain the WWE Championship, Undertaker made his presence felt and cost Brock Lesnar the belt. This led to a heated program over the summer, with Heyman cutting scathing promos against The Undertaker and Undertaker resorting to blatant low blows to put Lesnar down. It culminated in a furious brawl at SummerSlam which saw both men clobber each other mercilessly. One of the great visuals was Undertaker and Lesnar both sitting up and laughing in each other's face before continuing to brawl. If you haven't had the chance to see this match yet, take the 25 minutes to do so. It's one of my favorite main events in SummerSlam history, and despite its controversial finish, it lived up to the expectations.
Next Week: He's Got The Madness in His Eyes.... NO HOLDS BARRED
_ _ _ _
Folks, that's going to do it for this week's main UnWrest blog. I have another blog just about ready to post about The Top 5 Wrestlers I NEVER Want To See Wrestle for WWE. I will also be continuing my coverage of the G1 Climax on Saturday as we enter the final week of the tournament.
Until next time, take care of yourselves and spread some awesomeness.
Hope you all have had a good week. Today's UnWrest is going to do a quick review of thoughts I have about Raw, Smackdown, NXT, and ROH, along with more recommendations for matches in the past to watch and podcasts to listen to. But this week, in addition to my reviews, I'm going to do some fun fantasy booking for the world championship matches on both Raw and SmackDown.
Updates
- There is now a "Table of Contents" for the blog containing links to the major blogs and posts I've made in the last near two months. Check it out and tell me what you think.
- Friday, August 10th, I will be doing LIVE posts on here exclusively for the G1 Climax Block and Tournament Finals shows. If you aren't awake for the live posts, don't worry: the posts will be waiting for you once you wake up. I'll also post reminders on Twitter.
- Speaking of which, twitter.com/cdub1898. Click on Follow and check in on Monday and Tuesday Nights as I will provide live thoughts on Raw and SmackDown along with other big events for side commentary.
Raw Thoughts (Plus SummerSlam Fantasy Booking)
- As I stated on Twitter earlier this week, I thought Raw was a very solid B- show overall.
- I for one liked the Corbin vs. Balor match for what it was: Corbin getting his win back. WWE booking can be overly tedious at times. And a lot of times I disagree with the yo-yo booking where someone gets a win back after a loss. However, if they are going to build Corbin up to face Balor at SummerSlam, they needed to give him a win here. But please WWE: NO DEMON for this feud. The Demon should only show up when the situation calls for something special. This situation doesn't. Let The Demon rest.
- The Seth Rollins/Drew McIntyre match was the best one on Raw, however. The two men continue to have great TV matches. Seth is probably the hottest wrestler in WWE at the moment from a popularity and in-ring perspective. Drew. The thing for me thought is that it seems that Ziggler and Rollins at SummerSlam should be a triple threat with McIntyre in the mix. But in the least, it wouldn't surprise me if McIntyre dumps Ziggler whenever he loses the IC Title.
- RIP AOP. They're done. I'm calling it now. These guys will be off TV and on Main Event until their contracts expire. I will throw in the caveat that they get a mouthpiece manager for them to help get them back to where they were with Paul Ellering. They need an advocate.
- Speaking of advocates, I, along with every wrestling fan with an opinion, have my eyes on the desperate attempt WWE made to make Brock Lesnar the heel and Roman Reigns the face you have no choice but to cheer. I thought Brock's stuff was frankly hilarious because Brock Lesnar was playing a shoot version of BROCK LESNAR! He's an outdoorsman who hates having to be on TV and would rather be sitting on his couch watching something else. So, he reads an Outdoorsman magazine, throws his advocate's phone away when he tries to tell him what just happened in the ring, and blames said advocate for him having to be at the show to begin with. And with Lesnar throwing Angle in an F5 and assaulting Heyman, this again came off as desperate ploys to get Lesnar booed. But it also had a bit of realism to it. Lesnar, if provoked, would probably do some of these things. And let's admit it: A good portion of the crowd WAS chanting for Roman. So, this week at least, the story worked. But what's going to happen to this whole situation? How would I book it?
1) Paul Heyman continues to be Brock Lesnar's whipping boy. I don't think Lesnar needs to be on Raw next week, but I do think Heyman needs to continue being on TV. He needs to come out and still defend his client, despite the fact that he was assaulted last week. Then, you can have Roman tell Heyman that he doesn't believe Heyman's song and dance and thinks he and Lesnar are still in cahoots. I wouldn't have Roman call Lesnar his "b...." or anything. Roman just needs to say that he's getting rid of Lesnar once and for all.
2) Then, the last week before SummerSlam, Brock shows up unexpectedly and beats up Roman while he's in a match, putting more fire on the match. Lesnar just puts Reigns through every piece of furniture possible. Angle comes out to stop Lesnar, but Lesnar beats up Angle and locks in a kimura lock, breaking his arm. Then, Lesnar does the unthinkable: he spits on his own Universal Championship and walks off, dragging it behind.
3) SummerSlam Night- KICKOFF SHOW- Brock Lesnar shows up to the arena with a nervous Paul Heyman about 3-4 feet behind. Lesnar throws his bags at Heyman and tells him "make yourself useful for once." He turns around and Roman Reigns attack him in the hallway. They start brawling each other up into the arena. Every referee and undercard talent on the show tried to break them up with little to no effort. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon come out, no Kurt Angle or Constable Corbin, and yell "ENOUGH! You two want at each other so bad? Well, guess what? We're not waiting until the end of SummerSlam. You two want at it? You're STARTING SummerSlam. So get ready! When this show goes live, this match is on! Oh, and by the way, ANYTHING GOES! THIS ENDS TONIGHT!" There you have now garnered the audiences attention for the match, and you've also stopped the record of crowd hijacks of main events. It also gives you possibly the hottest start in the history of SummerSlam, and a way to get whatever the crowd's feelings about the match out of their system.
4) Reigns beats Lesnar in an absolute war. The show starts off with 10 minutes of nothing but hardcore, hard knocking, brutal action. Chairs, tables, spears, suplexes... all of that. Lesnar needs to be flipping off the audience, pushing down and beating up "working" cameramen, and just completely disrespecting the product. Meanwhile, Roman finally gets his win after bludgeoning Lesnar. That's right. Roman gets his moment...
BRAUUUUUUUUUUUUN!
Strowman walks out with the Money in the Bank Briefcase, cashes in, and beats Roman Reigns for the title. Braun Strowman is the new Universal Champion. So, what do you do with Kevin Owens? It's simple. Stephanie makes the match between Owens and Strowman for the Universal Championship. That match does not go on last, but it will be another new historic moment in SummerSlam history for the Universal Championship to be defended 3 times in 1 night. Strowman beats Owens in 15 minutes to keep the championship, and a new storyline begins with Roman Reigns chasing after Braun Strowman for the Universal Championship.
As for what happens with Paul Heyman? I say give Heyman 3 months off. Then, when he comes back, he manages Drew McIntyre!!! Whenever Ziggler and McIntyre break up, I say put Heyman as the mouthpiece to Drew McIntyre (in a CM Punk sort of relationship) and push McIntyre to the main event scene on Raw.
(Now, I'm not pretending my way is the only acceptable way WWE can do this. They can probably do better if they put their minds to it (and any of you who probably put your mind to it). But I think there are some advantages to this strategy as I mentioned above. Tell me what you think in the comments below.)
SmackDown Thoughts (And Fantasy Booking)
- As I said on Twitter, I am opposed to the newly designed Triple Threat match between Becky, Carmella, and Charlotte. I think multiperson matches are done to death in WWE. And more importantly, I think this is Becky's moment. Or at least, it was Becky's moment. Now, she is sharing it with Charlotte. Maybe this is to help give Becky an out for when Carmella retains her championship, like we really need more Carmella as champion in our lives. But I think the writing's on the wall here.
- Great to see The Usos and The Bar get some TV time to tell their story as well with multiple commercial breaks interrupting the match. That's actually a good sign. The Bar getting the win was a nice surprise too. Now, we're getting The New Day vs. The Bar next week which should be an awesome match, but I don't see how this match ends in any other way than resulting in The New Day vs. The Bludgeon Brothers at SummerSlam.
- Randy Orton gave Jeff Hardy a bath this week as he wiped away the makeup from his face and stripped the shirt off of him. I thought I had turned into the wrong program for a moment. I don't get how Shinsuke figures into all this. He has the championship. He shouldn't want to further antagonize Jeff Hardy even in the presence of Randy Orton. Just weird story telling all around.
- The Miz and Daniel Bryan promos continued to be scathing at each other. Both hit the other with some cold truth, and I think the match at SummerSlam will be epic. The question is "Will Daniel Bryan be leaving after SummerSlam?" I hope not, but if he does, can you honestly blame him?
- Now on to what I believe was the big storyline development of the week on SummerSlam: Samoa Joe made it personal against A.J. Styles. Joe bringing up Styles' family being the victims of Styles' desire to be the champion was frankly brilliant as Styles has been noted for being a family man. Joe attacking that personality trait of Styles allows for deeper storytelling where Joe can point out Styles' hypocracy while Styles can defend his family's honor.
So, how would I book this feud? Here's my roadmap...
1) Styles next week has to respond to Joe by saying Joe is desperate to get into his head. Styles can say Joe can bring up his family all he wants, but it won't matter in the end when Styles is still holding the WWE Championship. I'd have Joe do a pre-taped interview backstage to throw off AJ, and then Joe comes from behind, locks in the Coquina Clutch. Styles goes to sleep.
2) Last week before SummerSlam, Joe and Styles do sit-down interviews to set up their match with both men in separate locations.
3) At SummerSlam, I close the show with Joe vs. Styles for the WWE Championship. This puts SmackDown Live's main title in the main event for a change and has the better chance of keeping a worn-out crowd in Brooklyn engaged. The less beachballs and shenanigans, the better. There are several different ways you can book this: Styles gets the straight up win on Joe after an incredible match. Joe can get in a cheap shot on Styles and beat him for the championship. Styles can catch Joe in a rollup while in the clutch position (ala Piper vs. Bret at WrestleMania VIII). Joe can just straight up beat Styles for the championship.
Here's my thought: Joe needs a win badly in WWE. Joe had a couple marquee matches last year, but Joe doesn't have a big win on the roster. Yet, the audience buys him as this big Samoan badass. At some point, Joe needs at least a small bit of a title run to further validate his standing in the company. Unless Vince is purposefully trying to erase Punk's record with the title, Joe should be the guy to beat Styles now. I am not saying Joe keeps the title until WrestleMania but maybe the Royal Rumble. I'd have Joe beat AJ at SummerSlam, giving AJ all the more momentum to go after Joe. And I mean have Styles go after Joe with a vengeance on TV. Build Styles up again and have him chase Joe.
_ _ _ _
NXT
- I am glad to hear that we are getting a rematch between Mustache Mountain and Undisputed Era. They had AN EXCELLENT series of matches this summer that delivered every single time. In front of a rabid, hot Brooklyn crowd, they have the capability to steal the show and the weekend. My hats off to NXT and WWE for booking the match.
- EC3 is NX3!!!!!! EC3 has not exactly been given a lot to work with prior to this storyline with Velveteen Dream, but I am excited to see what these two do with a lot of ring time in Brooklyn. By the way, the difference in reaction between EC3 and Kona Reeves was alarming. That crowd was definitely not buying the dude as a credible opponent for EC3. However, I will give Reeves credit: when he had EC3 down and got a 2 count, his facial expressions were excellent in that moment.
- The Baszler vs. LaRae match was excellent this week and is probably my favorite match this week (with the noted possible exception of Drew vs. Seth on Raw). They did a great job making both women look great. And I loved the post-match stuff with Saine and Baszler.
- Ciampa = Heat. He's one of the rare guys who can get heat from a whole crowd for the right reasons. Ciampa going down to the floor and mocking the old lady in the front row, saying that he is HER NXT Champion was priceless. Gargano saying "The only reason Ciampa is NXT Champion is because of me" only to get kicked by Black followed by "You Deserve It" chants from the audience was GREAT!!!! The fans were right: Johnny Wrestling deserved it.
All in all, it was a great episode of the show. But that's par for the course.
_ _ _
ROH
- I enjoyed the KUSHIDA vs. Gresham match, but the camera shots of the crowd continue to bother me from these tapings. It's obvious that the arena was mostly empty for these tapings, but ROH hasn't done a great job reducing a Bush-league perception that comes with complete sections of empty seats. As for the match itself, it again was really good with KUSHIDA and Gresham being able to do both technical European and aerial wrestling. I loved the rollup sequence prior to the commercial break in the match. Both guys are solid wrestlers, and this didn't disappoint.
- So Cal Uncensored had a very solid promo backstage about doing the best they can for Ring of Honor over the next 6 months. It had a lot of morbid overtones about death and leaving a good legacy behind, but it was well executed by all three men.
Nothing else on ROH this week validated my clicking on the episode on Honor Club. Again, this series of tapings seem Bush-League due to the problems of attendance.
_ _ _ _
Podcast Recommendation for the Week
I am going to give a shout out to the guys at POST Wrestling for their continuing coverage of the G1 Climax during the tournament. They are providing daily reports on the G1 for all their Patreon subscribers. While I do not always agree with their analysis of the matches, I do find their insight valuable as guys who have been reporting on wrestling for a large number of years. If you want a free sample of their work, subscribe to POST Wrestling on any podcast app (or iTunes, as I do) to check it out.
_ _ _ _ _
<<Rewind << Match of the Week- Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker, SummerSlam 2015
Remember that feeling when The Streak died? Well, Undertaker didn't like that feeling too much either. So, at the moment when Brock was looking to regain the WWE Championship, Undertaker made his presence felt and cost Brock Lesnar the belt. This led to a heated program over the summer, with Heyman cutting scathing promos against The Undertaker and Undertaker resorting to blatant low blows to put Lesnar down. It culminated in a furious brawl at SummerSlam which saw both men clobber each other mercilessly. One of the great visuals was Undertaker and Lesnar both sitting up and laughing in each other's face before continuing to brawl. If you haven't had the chance to see this match yet, take the 25 minutes to do so. It's one of my favorite main events in SummerSlam history, and despite its controversial finish, it lived up to the expectations.
Next Week: He's Got The Madness in His Eyes.... NO HOLDS BARRED
_ _ _ _
Folks, that's going to do it for this week's main UnWrest blog. I have another blog just about ready to post about The Top 5 Wrestlers I NEVER Want To See Wrestle for WWE. I will also be continuing my coverage of the G1 Climax on Saturday as we enter the final week of the tournament.
Until next time, take care of yourselves and spread some awesomeness.
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