What's up everyone? This week on UnWrest, you will get my big thoughts on Raw, Smackdown, NXT, ROH, and Impact Wrestling. In addition, we have a Podcast Recommendation and a match that ends up in the Atlantic Freaking Ocean.
Let's Do This!!!
Raw Thoughts
- Well, that show happened. I really don't know what else to add really. If you missed Raw, you didn't miss a whole lot. It felt like WWE just gave up knowing they had nothing to combat the return of Monday Night Football.
- Ax handles as weapons aren't exactly kendo sticks or baseball bats. Weird overall opening segment. The Shield gets some heat back but at the expense of most the locker room (including AOP who WWE decided they cared about again). Meanwhile, Strowman continues to get lukewarm receptions as a heel. I'm a little skeptical of his long-term effectiveness as a heel.
- Nikki Bella wrestled. Golf clap. It's as I said on Twitter: The Bellas are over. Over with young and non-fans alike. Overexposed. Overbearing as a unit. But they are truly over. Let's not forget that. Vince sure won't let us. And hey, they have a purpose for being on the show: exposure. And that's more than a lot of other overpushed acts have had to offer over the years.
- Apparently, Drake Maverick couldn't find the Kid Size gear for managing the AOP this week. That's better than the alternative: him actually find it to wear again.
- Ziggler/McIntyre beat The B-Team. And thus passes The B-Team into obscurity. The Ascension welcome you into their domain.
- Glad to see Chad Gable on TV again along with Bobby Roode. Seems like one of the two will turn on the other eventually. How about these two turn heel and work to their strengths? Nah. It'd never work.
- Kevin Owens claims he has carte blanche to do whatever he wants now. So, he can go to Ring of Honor and be relevant again?
- I've written in the past about not wanting to see Ronda Rousey on TV wrestling every week. But apparently, I'm in the minority. Look at this from Twitter when I asked the question:
65% of the 31 voters wanted to see Rousey wrestle every week. That's a large amount of people. My question is what will happen to Ronda's value if that were to happen? Ronda could be overexposed to the point where she becomes just another wrestler on the roster. How do you preserve her star power if she's on TV wrestling every week against the other women on the Raw roster?
By the way, Rousey looked decent in her match this week (despite the tag match not needing to exist anyways).
- Mick Foley cut another fun Foley promo this week. Mick was indeed on fire showing the kind of passion and desire that reminded me of some of his best work in the past. I look forward to seeing Mick referee the match on Sunday (although as I wrote earlier this week, I have dubious suspicions why he was put into the match).
- Finn Balor is basically an after-thought now at this point.
- Decent ending to the show with Roman getting a one-up on Braun. I agree that something like that needed to happen. And the way it went down didn't do much to harm Strowman in my opinion. "Strowman got caught and was dropped through the stage. Simple. Roman caught him. Sunday, he may not be so lucky." That's your story.
As far as Twitter goes, here are the votes as they came in.
So, using that to judge Raw, Raw passed the test 58% to 42%. As for my personal grade, I put it more on the D side myself. I felt that the show could have done a LOT more to build up to Hell in a Cell and overall felt like essentially throwing the towel in to the Week 1 Monday Night Football games.
SmackDown Live Thoughts
- Jeff Hardy spoke a bunch of gibberish to start off the show. We get it. Jeff is going to do something insane off the Hell in a Cell. That's been telegraphed time and time again over the last couple weeks. Do we really need one of these monologue speeches? By the way, the crowd barely reacted to the "obsolete" part of Jeff's song. Not everyone watched TNA/Impact, folks. And by not everyone, I mean most people.
- Poor Nakamura has nothing to do Sunday. This may be a blessing in disguise. Just keep him away from the security dogs.
- Randy Orton has not hit an RKO for a long time. That needs to be more of a plot point in this feud. It's almost as if he knows it will get a pop. So, he's not using it. Good heel tactic.
- I enjoyed AJ Styles' promo from the side of the ring. I thought that was an interesting choice to put the interview at. Standard stuff for the most part as far as the content of the promo, but the environment definitely made me pay more attention.
- Charlotte was attacked by Daria (I mean Becky Lynch in costume) after her match with Sonya Deville. First off, Becky is still a face to the audience. Secondly, Charlotte is in a bad position as a character and a performer working against the crowd interests while still being a face. Third, Sonya Deville still needs work.
- Samoa Joe reading "Night Night AJ" ran the risk of being hokey and possibly a bad moment, but Samoa Joe and WWE masterfully pulled it off to make it work. Credit to Joe for his delivery. And credit to WWE for the post-production work they obviously threw into this segment to make it entertaining.
- I just couldn't get into The Bar vs. Rusev Day. It was just decent for the most part, but it didn't get into the next gear that I wish it would have gotten to. The Bar continue to be mostly irrelevant on SmackDown Live since coming to the brand.
- R-Truth is, on the other hand, one of the most relevant names on SmackDown thanks to his shenanigans over the last few weeks. Truth and Carmella make a fun duo right now. Of course, you are just waiting for Carmella to turn on Truth at the drop of a dime, but it should be fun while it lasts. As for Andrade Cien Almas, it's always good to be on TV. And it seems like Vince wants him to be on every week at this point. I think a U.S. Championship reign might be in his future.
- The main event was basically a long segment working in several moments to add heat to the Mixed Tag Match at Hell in a Cell. I really don't like that they went so fast from Bryan colliding with his wife to the two of them overcoming Miz and Maryse seconds later. If WWE had built this better, the Bryan and Brie spot should have ended the show a week ago, and the heels getting beat up should have ended the show this week. This was still a fun way to end the show, but it could have been so much better.
The grade for SmackDown Live from Twitter voters went like this....
Personally, I give the show a C+. It was another average show that didn't deliver much that was memorable in the ring. But I felt like the show did well to remind viewers of what the big matches are for the brand and to maintain whatever status each match had going into it. Other than seeing Rusev Day get the #1 Contendership for the Tag Titles, there really wasn't much on this show to make someone regret not watching it.
NXT Thoughts
- Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan returned to tag team action for the first time since NXT Takeover Chicago 2. These guy had a hot match with O'Reilly and Strong that night, and I hope they get back on track. They looked really good against the jobbers, which means the jobbers did their job both figuratively and literally.
- They show a commercial for Rousey vs. Bliss II at Hell in a Cell. I swear Rousey looked like Evil's sister in that match.
- I HATE that they gave Ciampa music for him. The entrance with no music made him unique compared to the other wrestlers on the roster. Now, he's just like everyone else. BOOOOOOOO! Ciampa denies doing anything to injure Aleister Black as he planned on doing it at NXT Takeover Brooklyn. But someone beat him to it. He does say that everyone should follow his example. Ok, then.
- Shayna Baszler won a squash match over her opponent and put the clutch on her afterwards. They are showing that she's still extremely dangerous, maybe now more than ever.
- Heavy Machinery are doing a backstage selfie promo about who attacked Aleister Black. They mention that they don't believe Ciampa from earlier. Ciampa walks over and gets into an argument with them. Regal walks over and tells Ciampa that he wants to talk to him now about the investigation. Good little segment here. This helps build the overall show and the storyline to reference it repeatedly throughout the show.
- Lars Sullivan beat Raul Mendoza in a mostly one-sided match. Sullivan is going to be a big deal in WWE when he gets called up. Mark my words. Vince McMahon loves big guys who look like monsters. Sullivan fits that bill to a T. It's basically going to be Snitsky 2020. Watch your babies!!!
- It's official: Kassius Ohno WANTS Matt Riddle. He tells Riddle that when his new toy arrives, send him his way... bro. I'm anxious to see if Riddle lives up to the hype that some wrestling pundits are giving him. (I may watch one of his matches with Minoru Suzuki on YouTube to see what he's about.)
- My favorite main event match of the week happened here with Bianca Belair going to a double countout with Nikki Cross. I love Nikki Cross. What can I say? Crazy women are a thing for me. Lol. But I also legitimately love her mannerisms in the ring with her opponent. She can work a fun match with any other woman on the roster. Meanwhile, Belair continues to impress with her impressive feats of strength and cocky attitude throughout the match. The postmatch brawl also helped make the match even more memorable. I want more. And THAT'S how you properly do a non-finish.
Overall, NXT was a beacon of light on an otherwise dull week in WWE programming in my opinion.
ROH Thoughts
- We're still at the Center Stage facility in Atlanta, GA. The first match starts IMMEDIATELY after the video opening ends. It's a decent match in which Kazarian pins Mark Briscoe with a crucifix pin. After the match, The Briscoes and Punishment Martinez in a unique alliance beat down SCU.
- I wanted to like the Iron Man Match between Jonathan Gresham and Jay Lethal more. But it seemed to be an Iron Man match that should have been a regular match. Cut 10 minutes off this match and reduce the silly attempt at the end to add drama to the match (including both the very late pinfalls and the 5 more minutes), and this is a MUCH better match. As it is, it was just good. I've seen these guys have better matches.
Overall, it was a good show. But it was somehow a disappointment considering what I was hoping for. It was still better than both Raw and SmackDown though.
Impact Wrestling Thoughts
- Where do I start? Austin Aries, Moose (who the crowd called "Deuce") , and Killer Kross started the show on couches talking about how they own the show. KM and Fallah Bahh come out and confront Moose about betraying his friend, Eddie Edwards. Then, Aries offers a peace offering: Aries vs. Bahh for the Impact Championship. Not really a great segment overall. The purpose of the opening segment of this type is to get people invested in the rest of the show. And I felt like this was just a little flat. Sure, it promoted the match for the main event, but it just felt by the numbers and haphazard at that.
- Lucha Bros. Pentagon Jr. and Fenix teamed up to face and defeat Trevor Lee and Caleb Konley. I can see why WWE is interested in snatching up the Lucha Bros. These guys are great athletes and would definitely help sell merchandise. I can see youngsters now buying Pentagon's mask and yelling "Cero Miedo."
- I got a good chuckle out of the Joe Hendry song for Katarina called "Access Denied." Thanks to the video, I just put together that she used to be Katie Lea Burchill once upon a time in WWE. She lost her match after a quick rollup being distracted by the music video. That's a good comedy spot.
- Speaking of comedy spots, the entire night saw KM and Fallah Bahh interacting with several Impact personalities in the attempt to get Bahh ready to face Aries for the title. Now, I dig this. These segments were quick and helped set the narrative for the entire show. As much as I didn't like the opening segment, I enjoyed the continuing misadventures of Bahh and KM.
- I like the new LAX versus the OGs storyline. Basically, the OGs are back complaining that Konnan replaced the original LAX with a new LAX. Or at least, that's what I've picked up from this story. Also, I'm just glad to see Konnan back on TV period. He was one of the unsung WCW performers in my opinion. I know things didn't exactly go well during his run in TNA a decade ago. But it's just a good thing to see him working for the company again, albeit under better management.
- Kongo Kong (or knockoff Umaga from the looks of him) took on Brian Cage. Brian Cage is a monster. The things he is able to do should not be possible. This guy has the look and the ability that Vince McMahon would love to have on his roster to job to Roman Reigns and destroy his credibility. Hey. It worked for Bobby Lashley, right?
- The main event of Fallah Bahh vs. Austin Aries was ok. Bahh works like Rikishi, just a little more goofy in some of his mannerisms. Aries gets a decent win over another bigger wrestler (size wise), and it puts more heat on his new stable with Moose and Kross. I can't hate on it too much.
Again, this was a decent episode of Impact. But it wasn't the most exciting either. They pushed a couple stories forward, but this was hardly a can't-miss show.
AND YOUR WINNER OF THIS WEEK IN WRESTLING TV... NXT!
2) ROH
3) SmackDown
4) Raw
5) Impact Wrestling
_ _ _ _ _
PODCAST Recommendation for the Week: For this week's Podcast Recommendation, I am going to recommend the always-NSFW podcast WHAT HAPPENED WHEN which focuses on the September 14, 1998 episode of WCW Monday Nitro. This episode is huge as it as a classic Billy Kidman vs. Juventud Guerrera match, another classic in Sting vs. Goldberg for the WCW World Championship, some Warrior goofball stuff, and some guy from Charlotte returning after being off TV for several months to reform some group called the Horsemen. Obviously, it's a big show, and the commentary is off the rails hilarious at times. (For a good companion podcast, listen to 83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff as Conrad and Eric review the Warrior's debut with WCW and the abysmal Fall Brawl 1998 event.)
_ _ _ _
<<Rewind<< Match of the Week- Going back to WCW for a second, I'll be honest: I missed A LOT of 1999-2001 Monday Nitro when it aired live. I lost interest in it as WWE's quality continued to grow as WCW's continued to falter. Ironically, when WCW hired Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara from WWE's writing staff, it completely destroyed WCW's credibility (whatever was left of it at the time in any case). But there were some cool moments to be found in this time period. After picking up the WWE's The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro Vol. 3 for dirt cheap at FYE, I found this funny cool match. Ric Flair and Lex Luger vs. Vampiro and Sting. This match takes place on one of Nitro's episodes on the beaches of Daytona Beach, Florida. And thanks to the power of YouTube, you can now watch this match for yourself. Enjoy!
Sting and Vampiro vs. Lex Luger and Ric Flair
That's right. Luger and Sting fought on the beach, in the ocean, and in front of a bunch of drunk college students on Spring Break.
Next Week: A Cleaner and A Phenomenal One face A King of Strong Style and.... YOSHI-HASHI. :/
_ _ _ _
Well, that's it for this week's UnWrest. I hope you all enjoyed it. A bit of programming to go over here. Here's a schedule of blogs to look out for in the next few days
Tomorrow: Destruction in Hiroshima featuring Kenny Omega defending the IWGP Heavyweight Championship vs. Tomohiro Ishii! This is going to be amazing.
Sunday: WWE Hell in a Cell (blog will be posted immediately following the show).
Coming Soon: ROH/NJPW War of the Worlds 2014.
- UnWrest Focus: Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat, 1989
Have any thoughts or ideas? Let me know. Until next time, which I hope will be tomorrow, take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness.
Let's Do This!!!
Raw Thoughts
- Well, that show happened. I really don't know what else to add really. If you missed Raw, you didn't miss a whole lot. It felt like WWE just gave up knowing they had nothing to combat the return of Monday Night Football.
- Ax handles as weapons aren't exactly kendo sticks or baseball bats. Weird overall opening segment. The Shield gets some heat back but at the expense of most the locker room (including AOP who WWE decided they cared about again). Meanwhile, Strowman continues to get lukewarm receptions as a heel. I'm a little skeptical of his long-term effectiveness as a heel.
- Nikki Bella wrestled. Golf clap. It's as I said on Twitter: The Bellas are over. Over with young and non-fans alike. Overexposed. Overbearing as a unit. But they are truly over. Let's not forget that. Vince sure won't let us. And hey, they have a purpose for being on the show: exposure. And that's more than a lot of other overpushed acts have had to offer over the years.
- Apparently, Drake Maverick couldn't find the Kid Size gear for managing the AOP this week. That's better than the alternative: him actually find it to wear again.
- Ziggler/McIntyre beat The B-Team. And thus passes The B-Team into obscurity. The Ascension welcome you into their domain.
- Glad to see Chad Gable on TV again along with Bobby Roode. Seems like one of the two will turn on the other eventually. How about these two turn heel and work to their strengths? Nah. It'd never work.
- Kevin Owens claims he has carte blanche to do whatever he wants now. So, he can go to Ring of Honor and be relevant again?
- I've written in the past about not wanting to see Ronda Rousey on TV wrestling every week. But apparently, I'm in the minority. Look at this from Twitter when I asked the question:
65% of the 31 voters wanted to see Rousey wrestle every week. That's a large amount of people. My question is what will happen to Ronda's value if that were to happen? Ronda could be overexposed to the point where she becomes just another wrestler on the roster. How do you preserve her star power if she's on TV wrestling every week against the other women on the Raw roster?
By the way, Rousey looked decent in her match this week (despite the tag match not needing to exist anyways).
- Mick Foley cut another fun Foley promo this week. Mick was indeed on fire showing the kind of passion and desire that reminded me of some of his best work in the past. I look forward to seeing Mick referee the match on Sunday (although as I wrote earlier this week, I have dubious suspicions why he was put into the match).
- Finn Balor is basically an after-thought now at this point.
- Decent ending to the show with Roman getting a one-up on Braun. I agree that something like that needed to happen. And the way it went down didn't do much to harm Strowman in my opinion. "Strowman got caught and was dropped through the stage. Simple. Roman caught him. Sunday, he may not be so lucky." That's your story.
As far as Twitter goes, here are the votes as they came in.
So, using that to judge Raw, Raw passed the test 58% to 42%. As for my personal grade, I put it more on the D side myself. I felt that the show could have done a LOT more to build up to Hell in a Cell and overall felt like essentially throwing the towel in to the Week 1 Monday Night Football games.
SmackDown Live Thoughts
- Jeff Hardy spoke a bunch of gibberish to start off the show. We get it. Jeff is going to do something insane off the Hell in a Cell. That's been telegraphed time and time again over the last couple weeks. Do we really need one of these monologue speeches? By the way, the crowd barely reacted to the "obsolete" part of Jeff's song. Not everyone watched TNA/Impact, folks. And by not everyone, I mean most people.
- Poor Nakamura has nothing to do Sunday. This may be a blessing in disguise. Just keep him away from the security dogs.
- Randy Orton has not hit an RKO for a long time. That needs to be more of a plot point in this feud. It's almost as if he knows it will get a pop. So, he's not using it. Good heel tactic.
- I enjoyed AJ Styles' promo from the side of the ring. I thought that was an interesting choice to put the interview at. Standard stuff for the most part as far as the content of the promo, but the environment definitely made me pay more attention.
- Charlotte was attacked by Daria (I mean Becky Lynch in costume) after her match with Sonya Deville. First off, Becky is still a face to the audience. Secondly, Charlotte is in a bad position as a character and a performer working against the crowd interests while still being a face. Third, Sonya Deville still needs work.
- Samoa Joe reading "Night Night AJ" ran the risk of being hokey and possibly a bad moment, but Samoa Joe and WWE masterfully pulled it off to make it work. Credit to Joe for his delivery. And credit to WWE for the post-production work they obviously threw into this segment to make it entertaining.
- I just couldn't get into The Bar vs. Rusev Day. It was just decent for the most part, but it didn't get into the next gear that I wish it would have gotten to. The Bar continue to be mostly irrelevant on SmackDown Live since coming to the brand.
- R-Truth is, on the other hand, one of the most relevant names on SmackDown thanks to his shenanigans over the last few weeks. Truth and Carmella make a fun duo right now. Of course, you are just waiting for Carmella to turn on Truth at the drop of a dime, but it should be fun while it lasts. As for Andrade Cien Almas, it's always good to be on TV. And it seems like Vince wants him to be on every week at this point. I think a U.S. Championship reign might be in his future.
- The main event was basically a long segment working in several moments to add heat to the Mixed Tag Match at Hell in a Cell. I really don't like that they went so fast from Bryan colliding with his wife to the two of them overcoming Miz and Maryse seconds later. If WWE had built this better, the Bryan and Brie spot should have ended the show a week ago, and the heels getting beat up should have ended the show this week. This was still a fun way to end the show, but it could have been so much better.
The grade for SmackDown Live from Twitter voters went like this....
Personally, I give the show a C+. It was another average show that didn't deliver much that was memorable in the ring. But I felt like the show did well to remind viewers of what the big matches are for the brand and to maintain whatever status each match had going into it. Other than seeing Rusev Day get the #1 Contendership for the Tag Titles, there really wasn't much on this show to make someone regret not watching it.
NXT Thoughts
- Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan returned to tag team action for the first time since NXT Takeover Chicago 2. These guy had a hot match with O'Reilly and Strong that night, and I hope they get back on track. They looked really good against the jobbers, which means the jobbers did their job both figuratively and literally.
- They show a commercial for Rousey vs. Bliss II at Hell in a Cell. I swear Rousey looked like Evil's sister in that match.
- I HATE that they gave Ciampa music for him. The entrance with no music made him unique compared to the other wrestlers on the roster. Now, he's just like everyone else. BOOOOOOOO! Ciampa denies doing anything to injure Aleister Black as he planned on doing it at NXT Takeover Brooklyn. But someone beat him to it. He does say that everyone should follow his example. Ok, then.
- Shayna Baszler won a squash match over her opponent and put the clutch on her afterwards. They are showing that she's still extremely dangerous, maybe now more than ever.
- Heavy Machinery are doing a backstage selfie promo about who attacked Aleister Black. They mention that they don't believe Ciampa from earlier. Ciampa walks over and gets into an argument with them. Regal walks over and tells Ciampa that he wants to talk to him now about the investigation. Good little segment here. This helps build the overall show and the storyline to reference it repeatedly throughout the show.
- Lars Sullivan beat Raul Mendoza in a mostly one-sided match. Sullivan is going to be a big deal in WWE when he gets called up. Mark my words. Vince McMahon loves big guys who look like monsters. Sullivan fits that bill to a T. It's basically going to be Snitsky 2020. Watch your babies!!!
- It's official: Kassius Ohno WANTS Matt Riddle. He tells Riddle that when his new toy arrives, send him his way... bro. I'm anxious to see if Riddle lives up to the hype that some wrestling pundits are giving him. (I may watch one of his matches with Minoru Suzuki on YouTube to see what he's about.)
- My favorite main event match of the week happened here with Bianca Belair going to a double countout with Nikki Cross. I love Nikki Cross. What can I say? Crazy women are a thing for me. Lol. But I also legitimately love her mannerisms in the ring with her opponent. She can work a fun match with any other woman on the roster. Meanwhile, Belair continues to impress with her impressive feats of strength and cocky attitude throughout the match. The postmatch brawl also helped make the match even more memorable. I want more. And THAT'S how you properly do a non-finish.
Overall, NXT was a beacon of light on an otherwise dull week in WWE programming in my opinion.
ROH Thoughts
- We're still at the Center Stage facility in Atlanta, GA. The first match starts IMMEDIATELY after the video opening ends. It's a decent match in which Kazarian pins Mark Briscoe with a crucifix pin. After the match, The Briscoes and Punishment Martinez in a unique alliance beat down SCU.
- I wanted to like the Iron Man Match between Jonathan Gresham and Jay Lethal more. But it seemed to be an Iron Man match that should have been a regular match. Cut 10 minutes off this match and reduce the silly attempt at the end to add drama to the match (including both the very late pinfalls and the 5 more minutes), and this is a MUCH better match. As it is, it was just good. I've seen these guys have better matches.
Overall, it was a good show. But it was somehow a disappointment considering what I was hoping for. It was still better than both Raw and SmackDown though.
Impact Wrestling Thoughts
- Where do I start? Austin Aries, Moose (who the crowd called "Deuce") , and Killer Kross started the show on couches talking about how they own the show. KM and Fallah Bahh come out and confront Moose about betraying his friend, Eddie Edwards. Then, Aries offers a peace offering: Aries vs. Bahh for the Impact Championship. Not really a great segment overall. The purpose of the opening segment of this type is to get people invested in the rest of the show. And I felt like this was just a little flat. Sure, it promoted the match for the main event, but it just felt by the numbers and haphazard at that.
- Lucha Bros. Pentagon Jr. and Fenix teamed up to face and defeat Trevor Lee and Caleb Konley. I can see why WWE is interested in snatching up the Lucha Bros. These guys are great athletes and would definitely help sell merchandise. I can see youngsters now buying Pentagon's mask and yelling "Cero Miedo."
- I got a good chuckle out of the Joe Hendry song for Katarina called "Access Denied." Thanks to the video, I just put together that she used to be Katie Lea Burchill once upon a time in WWE. She lost her match after a quick rollup being distracted by the music video. That's a good comedy spot.
- Speaking of comedy spots, the entire night saw KM and Fallah Bahh interacting with several Impact personalities in the attempt to get Bahh ready to face Aries for the title. Now, I dig this. These segments were quick and helped set the narrative for the entire show. As much as I didn't like the opening segment, I enjoyed the continuing misadventures of Bahh and KM.
- I like the new LAX versus the OGs storyline. Basically, the OGs are back complaining that Konnan replaced the original LAX with a new LAX. Or at least, that's what I've picked up from this story. Also, I'm just glad to see Konnan back on TV period. He was one of the unsung WCW performers in my opinion. I know things didn't exactly go well during his run in TNA a decade ago. But it's just a good thing to see him working for the company again, albeit under better management.
- Kongo Kong (or knockoff Umaga from the looks of him) took on Brian Cage. Brian Cage is a monster. The things he is able to do should not be possible. This guy has the look and the ability that Vince McMahon would love to have on his roster to job to Roman Reigns and destroy his credibility. Hey. It worked for Bobby Lashley, right?
- The main event of Fallah Bahh vs. Austin Aries was ok. Bahh works like Rikishi, just a little more goofy in some of his mannerisms. Aries gets a decent win over another bigger wrestler (size wise), and it puts more heat on his new stable with Moose and Kross. I can't hate on it too much.
Again, this was a decent episode of Impact. But it wasn't the most exciting either. They pushed a couple stories forward, but this was hardly a can't-miss show.
AND YOUR WINNER OF THIS WEEK IN WRESTLING TV... NXT!
2) ROH
3) SmackDown
4) Raw
5) Impact Wrestling
_ _ _ _ _
PODCAST Recommendation for the Week: For this week's Podcast Recommendation, I am going to recommend the always-NSFW podcast WHAT HAPPENED WHEN which focuses on the September 14, 1998 episode of WCW Monday Nitro. This episode is huge as it as a classic Billy Kidman vs. Juventud Guerrera match, another classic in Sting vs. Goldberg for the WCW World Championship, some Warrior goofball stuff, and some guy from Charlotte returning after being off TV for several months to reform some group called the Horsemen. Obviously, it's a big show, and the commentary is off the rails hilarious at times. (For a good companion podcast, listen to 83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff as Conrad and Eric review the Warrior's debut with WCW and the abysmal Fall Brawl 1998 event.)
_ _ _ _
<<Rewind<< Match of the Week- Going back to WCW for a second, I'll be honest: I missed A LOT of 1999-2001 Monday Nitro when it aired live. I lost interest in it as WWE's quality continued to grow as WCW's continued to falter. Ironically, when WCW hired Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara from WWE's writing staff, it completely destroyed WCW's credibility (whatever was left of it at the time in any case). But there were some cool moments to be found in this time period. After picking up the WWE's The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro Vol. 3 for dirt cheap at FYE, I found this funny cool match. Ric Flair and Lex Luger vs. Vampiro and Sting. This match takes place on one of Nitro's episodes on the beaches of Daytona Beach, Florida. And thanks to the power of YouTube, you can now watch this match for yourself. Enjoy!
Sting and Vampiro vs. Lex Luger and Ric Flair
That's right. Luger and Sting fought on the beach, in the ocean, and in front of a bunch of drunk college students on Spring Break.
Next Week: A Cleaner and A Phenomenal One face A King of Strong Style and.... YOSHI-HASHI. :/
_ _ _ _
Well, that's it for this week's UnWrest. I hope you all enjoyed it. A bit of programming to go over here. Here's a schedule of blogs to look out for in the next few days
Tomorrow: Destruction in Hiroshima featuring Kenny Omega defending the IWGP Heavyweight Championship vs. Tomohiro Ishii! This is going to be amazing.
Sunday: WWE Hell in a Cell (blog will be posted immediately following the show).
Coming Soon: ROH/NJPW War of the Worlds 2014.
- UnWrest Focus: Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat, 1989
Have any thoughts or ideas? Let me know. Until next time, which I hope will be tomorrow, take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness.
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