Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown Live 2/14/17: The Era Of Wyatt
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By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 2/14/17)
The Era Of Wyatt
– The opening video brought us back to the Elimination Chamber Pay-Per-View, with highlights of all the matches headed in and the big finishes. The most progressive developments were obviously Luke Harper proving himself in the ring with Randy Orton, Naomi taking home the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship and Bray Wyatt finally being WWE Champion.
Notes In Observance – WWE Raw 2/13/17: Festival Of Friendship
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By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 2/13/17)
Festival Of Friendship
– Raw was in Las Vegas, we had a big WWE Raw Women’s Championship rematch between Champion Charlotte and Bayley and above all else, a “Festival Of Friendship” WWE United States Champion Chris Jericho was throwing for WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens. Add up all the ingredients and figure out where it can possibly go wrong. Exactly. To start the show, out came Commissioner Stephanie McMahon, which meant we got the old-fashioned 20-minute talking promo. Vintage Raw. She “gave” General Manager Mick Foley “the week off” and emasculated him without his presence this time. She went for the classic hometown cheap pop. Lord. Here comes Roman Reigns. Just why? This “Big Dog” nickname sounds so forced and won’t ever catch on. He demanded Braun Strowman, even though he’s guaranteed to face him at Fastlane on Mar. 5., like bro, can’t you wait? Real world exercise – ask your boss for your vacation and then a month before it approaches, demand it right now. See how that works out for you. From Steph’s point of view, why on earth would she oblige? We’re reminded she’s a heel and gets the crowd worked up for the prospect of it happening and then does the “boss” thing and prevents it because “she cares.” Cue the boos. She does announce that Strowman would face Mark Henry later. That sounds nice. She’s the boss, so she threatened Reigns and teased taking away the FL match and subsequent WrestleMania bonus. Reigns only got more aggressive in his stance, which drew WWE Raw Tag Team Champions, Luke Gallows/Karl Anderson. This can’t be good. They sucked up to Steph and suggested a Handicap match. Why wouldn’t she? Anderson sported a Club shirt that had similar fonts to the classic Bullet Club tee. Oh, subtle copying. Cue a mini-“brawl” where Referees have to pull them apart before we go to break. Let’s get to the match portion of things. Not much to write here, as the “numbers game” ran the pace, though Reigns powered in some offense. For some reason, the Champs ignored requests from the Referee to not beatdown their single opponent and were disqualified. Meh. Reigns fought out of the Magic Killer and then walked away. The Tag Champs don’t look any stronger and neither did Reigns. What exactly was this supposed to be?
TNA Turning Point 2012 Reaction
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
So at the end of it all, Turning Point had no Title changes, but the Main Event picture for the next month became well-defined.
A.J. Styles took the ultimate fall and won’t get a chance to compete for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship until Bound For Glory 2013, while James Storm took the #1 Contender spot.
That said, an above-average card delivered an above-average show. Simple as that.
Wrestle Talk Podcast – Reffing it up Feat. Jay King and Nick Ridenhour Ep. 160
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*Courtesy of The Wrestle Talk Podcast With Joe & Rene*
Check out the latest episode from our friends at The Wrestle Talk Podcast With Joe & Rene, as they feature guests Referees Jay King and Nick Ridenhour.
Topics discussed include The Big Show’s goodbye, WWE going live during the holidays, Enzo Amore on 205 Live, what’s up with Dolph Ziggler and Kenny Omega’s injury.
Link Below:
The Shining Wizards – Episode 331: #PrayersUpRicFlairKingoftheRingMoneyMoves
Photo courtesy of The Shining Wizards Podcast.
*Courtesy of The Shining Wizards*
Check out the latest episode from our friends at The Shining Wizards, as they discuss National Video Game Day and their favorite video games, Global Force Wrestling, Raw, Wrestle Pro and an in-depth look at WWE’s King Of The Ring 2002 Pay-Per-View event.
Link Below:
http://www.shiningwizards.com/new/episode-331-prayersupricflairkingoftheringmoneymoves/
WWE Elimination Chamber 2017 Reaction
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
Back in the Pay-Per-View fold after a year’s absence, the infamous Elimination Chamber was all a part of the blue brand’s WrestleMania build.
With Royal Rumble winner Randy Orton in the wings for a Title shot, six of the best would battle it out to see who he’d face, a few in the first Chamber match of their careers.
On a night where a few undercard talents had their moment, other bouts got lost in the shuffle, but as always, SmackDown delivered when it counted.
WWE Hell In A Cell 2012 Reaction
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
Hell in a Cell will be best remembered as the night Ryback got screwed by the referee.
Also shockingly enough, it will be remembered for Sheamus and The Big Show.
The rest wasn’t all that special despite some quality matches.
There are only three weeks until Survivor Series (as opposed to Hell in a Cell’s six-week build), so things will pick up fast.
When Hell in a cell was said and done, it wasn’t as newsworthy as you’d expect, but some matches delivered.
TNA Bound For Glory 2012 Reaction
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
Bound For Glory was quite the newsworthy show.
Rob Van Dam, Tara, Chavo Guerrero Jr./Hernandez and Jeff Hardy all became Champions.
Bully Ray didn’t turn on Sting. Devon turned out to be a part of Aces and Eights.
James Storm and Bobby Roode took part in an absolute all-out brawl that arguably stole the show.
There’s plenty of ways TNA can go after this show and with four Championships changing hands, a new direction seems definite.
The Shining Wizards – Episode 330: Burke And Powers
Photo courtesy of The Shining Wizards Podcast.
*Courtesy Of The Shining Wizards Podcast*
Check out the latest episode from our friends at The Shining Wizards Podcast, which features interviews with Comedian KP Burke and Mega Powers. Topics discussed include Raw on Christmas, Backyard Wrestling, Women Of Wrestling, Jeff Jarrett, Global Force Wrestling, The Mae Young Classic and more!
Link Below:
http://www.shiningwizards.com/new/episode-330-burke-and-powers/
Review – AJ Mendez Brooks – Crazy Is My Superpower
Photo courtesy of Amazon.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
With the Mae Young Classic Tournament here, it’s evidently the effect that women’s wrestling has now had on World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in recent years.
At one point endlessly endeavored as the “Bathroom Break Segment” where fans would evacuate their seats in drones for the concession stands, female talent (branded “Divas”) in the billion dollar company were more accentuated for their looks than wrestling abilities. That known, matches would last about four minutes to the most.
Even though some female pioneers like Trish Stratus and Lita served as an athletic alternative to the rampant eye candy, WWE still treated the majority of women as an undercard attraction, if at all. Valets in bras and panties. Nothing more.
Just before the “Women’s Revolution” graced us with its presence on NXT with the likes of Sasha Banks, Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Bayley, we had Paige, Kaitlyn and AJ Lee. Somewhere between the “PG Era” (shorter matches and irrelevant hosting gigs) and the “Revolution,” Paige/Kaitlyn/Lee also came up through developmental and scratched and clawed to steal the show.
Manopera! Episode 47: SummerSlam 2017 Review
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*Courtesy Of The Bonesaw*
Check out the latest episode of “Manopera: A Wrestling Symposium,” where PWO’s own Nick joins Hosts Chris Butera and “Spaceman” Frank for a discussion of all things SummerSlam 2017 – big matches, frustrating angles, shark cages and all the beach balls you can handle.
Listen Below:
Notes In Observance – WCWC 2/11/17: Chair For A Chair
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 2/11/17)
Chair For A Chair
– We start out with the unfortunate note that Ethan HD/Kate Carney were cut out from the opening montage and their plug for Burger Box disappeared too, so that’s not good. Anyways, Caleb Konley marches to the ring and declares his infinite hate for one Mikey O’Shea, as he promised in a pre-taped promo to squash “the cockroach” for good. Meh. They’ll probably fight again in three weeks. Did O’Shea watch his promo beforehand since he already knew what Konley called him? Also didn’t know O’Shea was from New York, but even so, is being a “New York Cockroach” a redeemable quality? It was noted that Konley won their last two matches, which sounds right. There was a little botch where O’Shea was supposed to catch Konley as he did a cross body to the floor. They covered it well though. Sort of silly to waste a replay on a guy being thrown into the ring post. It’s kind of an everyday occurrence. To answer Konley’s frustrated question of how many times he’ll need to beat O’Shea, approximately 167. Konley brought in a chair, which began a tug of war. O’Shea won it, but the referee came to as he wielded it around. One look at Konley “selling” that he was hit and the bell was rung. Your classic Eddie Guerrero finish. Didn’t they use instant replay on a previous episode though? Couldn’t they just review it? Whatevs. A chair outsmarts O’Shea. Wasn’t much of a match anyways, as they’ve had better encounters in the past.
Notes In Observance – NJPW English 2/11/17: Manifest Destino
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 2/11/17)
Manifest Destino
– The Taka Michinoku-Henare match started things off with a proverbial bang. Michinoku had a variated version of his old WWE entrance music. As commentary sifted through the card, we could tell it could be no less than great. This one was your typical “Young Lion Battles Established Veteran” story, but Henare had all to gain and none to lose. Early mat-based grappling dictated the action as Taka was also under the weather. It was definitely physical, but maybe that’s why it was a bit short. Taka maneuvered a transition to get the pinfall. An anticlimactic finish, but it was what it was with these two. We like the story of Henare showing some frustration after the bell. Gives him some depth.
Notes In Observance – TNA Impact Wrestling 2/9/17: The End Of The Wolves
Photo courtesy of Inside Pulse.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 2/9/17)
The End Of The Wolves
– February 2017 has been a disappointing month for fans of The TNA World Tag Team Champions, The Broken Hardys, but alas, they’ve uncovered something new and crazy for them to explore. We started the show with a peak in the parking lot as the Champs, complete with King Maxel/Queen Rebecca, mainly focused on Maxel’s preferences towards unhealthy carbohydrates. Entertaining as always, there was a hook that “everything would be revealed tonight.” Thank god for that.
Notes In Observance – ROH Wrestling 2/8/17: Taking Umbrage To The Umbrella
Image provided courtesy of Ring Of Honor.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 2/8/17)
Taking Umbrage To The Umbrella
– The Punishment Damien Martinez/BJ Whitmer-War Machine match carried off past quarrels where a match went to the wayside for the purpose of pointless brawling. At least it gives the four something to do, as Martinez’s future’s the most to gain here. It also helped this episode that Colt Cabana was on commentary in classic boastful heel mode. We also liked the little touch that WM wore face paint. It adds to their look, albeit in a “Braveheart” way. Whitmer seems to get “go away heat” and that continued here as not much action occurred. There was a moment where Hanson performed a spot where he repetitively ran his opponents in the corner, to the point the fans did the rally cries with him. It lasted about a minute, legitimately. There were some consistent double-teams on both ends, including an impressive pop-up powerslam by WM. The finish is where things get silly again, because the four men are so into the brawl, the damn 20-count passes them right by. Countouts in ROH are just ridiculous. The only solace taken here was that Martinez/Hanson could make an intriguing singles match one day. Let’s hope they go that route.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 2/8/17: A Stand Against SAnitY
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 2/8/17)
A Stand Against SAnitY
– Well, nothing quite says “Welcome Back To Full Sail University” like the darkness and haunting realism of SAnitY’s entrance. Look Mom, Mad Max has some new friends. Once they get in the ring, we’re subjected to some subtle hardcore dancing from Alexander Wolfe as we wonder what the hell this group is out for so soon into the show. The silence was broken by upbeat Indian music, as The Bollywood Boyz came out with a cultured toy to raise some fun or something like that. Nah, they’re gonna get their asses kicked. In case you wondered, Eric Young/Nikki (not NXT Women’s Champion) Cross would sit this one out. As the match begins, it’s rather hard to not notice Killian Dain’s rampant back hair. Just imagine a furry bear and translate that to a human being. You’ve met your match. Funnily enough, at that point, the Full Sail faithful break out a “Shave your back!” chant. See, they’re not all that resentful. The bout goes on and it’s basically Dain having his way with the fun-lovers. He powerbombed one on top of the other and hit a senton on both. Just, ouch. On top of it all, he hits that sweet move that transitions from an electric chair to the Michinoku Driver. Wolfe never even tagged in, which goes to show that they accomplished the goal to make Dain look scary, though his back hair already did that. Post-match, Cross screamed for Champion Asuka, because well, she’s crazy. Young bragged about his victory over Tye Dillinger at TakeOver: San Antonio and again claimed that “The Perfect 10” belonged with them and it wasn’t a choice anymore. Right. This is like the friendliest group ever.
Notes In Observance – WWE 205 Live 2/7/17: Five For Fighting
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By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 2/7/17)
Five For Fighting
– With perhaps the most intriguing match to date in the Cruiserweight Division, we were set to see a Fatal Five-Way Elimination main event between “The Premier Athlete” Tony Nese, Cedric Alexander, TJ Perkins, Noam Dar and Gentleman Jack Gallagher to determine WWE Cruiserweight Champion Neville’s challenger for Fastlane. It all made sense.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown Live 2/7/17: The Latest Chapter
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 2/7/17)
The Latest Chapter
– Announced last week, this was a notable occurrence where the Royal Rumble winner would challenge the current WWE World Heavyweight Champion, nine days removed from said Rumble event. Now, enter Randy Orton and Champion John Cena into these roles and you might have a different reaction to that in 2017. Of course, we’ve all seen their past 34,000 encounters between 2006-2011, so this wasn’t any new territory, but the opening video accomplished an almost-impossible task – it made it feel like important history. We guess all that nostalgic footage also helped out. That was the nature of it all and surely, there was lots of footage at the old video library to rummage through for this piece. Give that Production Employee a cookie, dammit.
Notes In Observance – Southpaw Regional Wrestling 8/?/86: Doing It For Dewey
Photo courtesy of Bleeding Cool.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 8/?/1986)
Doing It For Dewey
– While the World Wrestling Federation builds to their “Big Event” on the 28th, in smaller territories, the talk of the town’s Southpaw Regional Wrestling’s “Showdown At The Swamp,” (SATS) which takes place Aug. 18 at Municipal Stadium. We got an opening video which was a cool music promo mashup, as “The Banker” Mr. Mackelroy, Impressive Pelvis Wesley, SRW Champion John Johnson, Referee Chip Henderson and Ringside Correspondent Clint Bobski each introduced themselves and what makes them so unique to SRW. It put the Super Bowl Shuffle to shame, maybe even as far as a “shot” at the recent “WrestleRock Rumble.” Even though Co-Host Lance Catamaran didn’t seem pleased when the camera cut to him, it was still a noticeable attempt to have fun. Professional wresting can be so serious these days. Somebody tell that to the WWF please.
Review – Daniel Bryan/Craig Tello – YES: My Improbable Journey To The Main Event Of WrestleMania
Photo courtesy of Amazon.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
If anybody from World Wrestling Entertainment has had an up-and-down career in and out of the ring, it’s Daniel Bryan.
Elevated from “Indie Wrestler Comes To WWE” status in 2010 to an actual main event player in 2014, he went though a journey like none other.
His own “Cinderella Story” occurred between 2013 and WrestleMania XXX where he emerged an Undisputed Champion and married five days later to Brie Bella. It’s literally as perfect as one professional wrestler could dream of, especially one who didn’t fit the “corporate style” of what WWE traditionally spotlights.
How would this all translate in a book? With some help by WWE.com’s Craig Tello, we’d finally get that tell-all where Bryan describes his joyous upbringings and subsequent dream chase, with all the little things in-between.
Notes In Observance – NJPW English 2/7/17: Gunning For Osaka
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 2/7/17)
The Breakdown
– As if you didn’t already know, 2017 was off to a blazing start in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, as IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada outlasted Kenny Omega in that “Six-Star Classic” at Wrestle Kingdom 11 and successfully defended against Minoru Suzuki at the New Beginning In Sapporo. With all the ingredients set and one more show until The New Beginning In Osaka on Feb. 11, we had to hunker down and get through some filler and entertainment mostly by way of fancy tag team matches. The opening video was flashy (and Japanese!) but was right to the point about recent events.
Notes In Observance – WWE Raw 2/6/17: Wild Samoans
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By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 2/6/17)
Wild Samoans
– One week after Samoa Joe’s riveting debut that involved a sideline beatdown of Seth Rollins, it was probably no secret that the angle would be the focus to open the show. It’s funny how the Rollins-Triple H storyline mulls along through the months, but with big happenings, it heats up. At this time, Rollins was likely to miss WrestleMania, which actually put more heat on Joe and rather than ignore that, they used it to their advantage. The opening video delved into all that, with sleek editing that actually brought meaning to Trips’ promo on Rollins last week and set up the moment well for Joe to attack. We’ll guess Joe will be branded as “The Destroyer” from hereon out. The key as always is the followup.
Notes In Observance – NJPW English 2/5/17: The Paintaker
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts on television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 2/5/17)
The Paintaker
– It’s 2017 and New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s all the rage these days, so we figured why not put them in the same review family? Granted, we can only cover the English commentary shows, but by the looks of 2017, there’s quite a few shows already. Where we last left off, we saw the sudden onset of the Suzuki-gun faction, with a fierce return not seen since the days of Nexus. A moment of silence please for that ill-fated group. For an exclamation point, they laid out IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada, as the group’s leader, Minoru Suzuki, laid claim that every Title would soon be theirs. How nice. Now, no matter what they say in it, it’ll still be incredibly difficult to understand the video packages per se, but damn, their production skills are sleek AF and a little extra on the side. So flashy and easy to follow. Everything looks damn near epic. Plus, that voiceover guy? Forget about it. We’re hooked. Also liked the onscreen broadcast presentation graphics of all the matches for this show laid out, as it felt quite sports-like. To the first contest – Kushida/Hirai Kawato against El Desperado/Yoshinobu Kanemaru. Obviously, Kushida will stand out off the bat here, but this was a story all about Suzuki-gun’s return momentum and the Chaos representatives with a goal to shut that down immediately. Also oddly enough, Don Callis fits right in with Kevin Kelly on commentary, though he’s got a big chair in Steve Corino’s absence to fill. A lot of attention was paid to Kushida getting in Kanemaru’s face, conveying that it was purely about Championship gold. The heels began aggressively, with Kawato selling like a Champion, undergoing such punishment. They pulled out this cool spot where Kushida German suplexed one opponent while he held the other in a bridge. They certainly established Kawato’s fighting spirit well here. ED’s single-leg half crab was thwarted when he got to the ropes. Close near-falls towards the end on both sides. All you could ask for here. In the end, ED pinned Kawato with a move similar to a spinning blue thunder bomb. Good for an opener and to continue Suzuki-gun’s momentum. Post-match, they attacked the winners outside. Well, damn.
Notes In Observance – WCWC 2/4/17: Heavenly, But Not So Gentlemanly
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 2/4/17)
Heavenly, But Not So Gentlemanly
– Caleb Konley came out, recently returned from whatever he worked on prior. Instead of being an honorary Wrecking Crew member, he remained a friendly associate. That’s fine, though. Konley shines better as a solo heel act in WCWC. His opponent was Damian Drake in an odd take on “Hero Vs. Villain.” That “story” will happen no matter who Drake’s opponent is, frankly. This was a confusing pairing if the plan wasn’t to put Konley over in spades. We actually wish we could get some advancement with the vague superhero characters in the Midnight Marvels. What if they ever became heels in a “Hero Becomes The Villain” type of thing? Some touch-and-go mat-based grappling dominated the pace early on. This was more competitive than it had any business being, which we had no problem with. Drake has strong potential as a midcarder down the road if they want to go that route. He pulled off an impressive spinning basement enziguiri. We got back into familiar territory as Konley took Drake’s momentum and swung into his side with a long-winded chop before he struck with the Cradle Shot to get the three count. In essence, Konley gets the win and Drake got to show some endurance, but it seems we type the same things every week. Will they finally be serious about a Drake push? What’s next for Konley to do here?
Notes In Observance – TNA Impact Wrestling 2/2/17: Night Of Open Fight
Photo courtesy of Inside Pulse.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 2/2/17)
Night Of Open Fight
– Welcome to the one night in TNA Wrestling where various employees can challenge (or “call out”) others for intense quarrels or whatnot. “Open Fight Night” still remains a cheesy take on “Open Mic Night” and whenever it’s uttered, it’s hard to not automatically think of 2012. Hulk Hogan, Bully Ray and Brooke Hogan much? Anyways, they combined OFN with the former “Feast Or Fired” in that the briefcase holders had the right to challenge for any belt of their choosing. Or most of them. We’ll get to that shortly. To start things off, we got some kooky close-ups of the case holders – Jeff Hardy, Trevor Lee, Eli Drake/Tyrus and The DCC. Talk about close-ups. This just looked plain bad.
Notes In Observance – ROH Wrestling 2/1/17: Battle Of The Jays
Image provided courtesy of Ring Of Honor.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 2/1/17)
Battle Of The Jays
– With Wrestle Kingdom 11 on the back burner (though it aired on Jan. 4 and they’re just giving us the Ring Of Honor followup now), we had a new ROH World Champion and his name was Adam Cole… bay bay. The opening video looked back at Cole’s match with Kyle O’Reilly at WK11 and had him cut a promo over match footage about how “he” effectively concluded the story. Finally, some updated stuff. We were spinning our wheels there.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 2/1/17: End Of Graves
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 2/1/17)
End Of Graves
– With NXT TakeOver: San Antonio officially done, it was time for another post-TakeOver edition. Ultimately, these are notorious with backstage reactions from winners and “dark” matches that were taped before the show, even though it’s supposed to be like they’re happening after TakeOver itself. Strange stuff, but in NXT, we’ll just roll with it and ask for more. There you go. The opening video wasn’t without its highlights, showcased in all of its epic slow-motion glory. To sum it up, Roderick Strong bested Andrade “Cien” Almas, Eric Young (and SAniTY) defeated Tye Dillinger, The Authors Of Pain added Championship gold under their perilous penmanship, Asuka remained on top after she defeated three other women and above all else, Bobby Roode was now NXT Champion and things were set to be more “Glorious.”
Notes In Observance – WWE 205 Live 1/31/17: Gentleman Wrestle Factory
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 1/31/17)
Gentleman Wrestle Factory
– In the land where the guys weigh 205 or less, we had a new king. Ever since Neville returned with a heel vengeance at Roadblock: End Of The Line, his newfound persona has taken the fledgling division and turned it upwards towards casual interest. His defeat over Rich Swann to become new WWE Cruiserweight Champion at Royal Rumble was inevitable and now we can finally get to see what the division will behold under this “Reign Of Tyranny.” The opening video discovered all of those facts and more.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown Live 1/31/17: Chamber Music
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 1/31/17)
Chamber Music
– Given that the Royal Rumble was won by a SmackDown guy (that’s Randy Orton, The Wyatt Family-Friendly version in case you didn’t know), the opening video gladly reminded us of all that jazz. WWE took it upon themselves to quote various media outlets with the most generic sentences on planet Earth. We’ll give an example. “That was a Rumble!” – Forbes. No kidding. You’d also be crazy if they didn’t sprinkle in footage of the epic rematch between WWE World Heavyweight Champion John Cena and AJ Styles where history was made and such. However, the Rumble madness is over and thanks to WWE’s killer Pay-Per-View schedule, we’ve got Elimination Chamber in a mere two weeks.
Wrestle Talk Podcast – Latin Flavor Feat. Chief Attakullakulla And Nick Lopez Ep. 152
Photo courtesy of Wrestle Talk Podcast.
*Courtesy Of Wrestle Talk Podcast*
Check out the latest episode from friends at the Wrestle Talk Podcast with Joe & Rene, which features interviews with PWO’s own Nick and Chief Attakullakulla of Kansas City Xtreme Wrestling and IWA Puerto Rico!
Link Below:
Notes In Observance – WWE Raw 1/30/17: Meet The Destroyer
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 1/30/17)
Meet The Destroyer
– The WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens/WWE United States Champion Chris Jericho/Braun Strowman/Raw General Manager Mick Foley in-ring segment was plenty to take in, but all made sense. We got the happy (yet sore) heel duo as they bragged about their accomplishments, only to get confronted by Strowman himself for a Title shot that Owens promised a month ago. Better yet – Strowman came armed with footage of that occurrence and that left Foley in no other position than to make it happen. It also helped that they had Owens bandaged up from the 65 bumps he took the night before. Also loved how before Strowman came out, Owens did everything but acknowledge that Strowman had anything to do with his victory. Also, #SixtyOneMinuteMan. On another note, what on earth was that green suit Foley wore? Austin Powers, eat your heart out.
WWE Royal Rumble 2017 Reaction
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
While January begins with a countdown from ten to one, wrestling fans most associate the month with the same countdown towards another festivity – the Royal Rumble.
Given the “Big Four” treatment, equivalent in 2017 to a NXT TakeOver event the day before, a two-hour pre-show and a five-and-a-half-hour Pay-Per-View, it was treated as a huge deal.
It probably also helped that it emanated from San Antonio’s Alamodome, with a house count of 52,020. It was practically WrestleMania without being it.
Given the Rumble’s star power of Brock Lesnar, Braun Strowman, The Big Show, Goldberg and The Undertaker, there was an unpredictability headed in that severely lacked the previous few years.
Notes In Observance – WCWC 1/28/17: Legacy Royale
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 1/28/17)
Legacy Royale
– The WCWC Pacific Northwest Championship match between Damian Drake and Champion Grappler III was an alarming mismatch off the bat. Firstly, what did Drake even do to earn a shot at the big belt? We assumed this’d be a squash for the sake of one, but a little background on why he got the shot would’ve sufficed. Hell, don’t even put the belt on the line. It’d build more hope for a Drake upset that could lead to a future Title shot. Drake had the right idea strategically to use his aerials and there was a prominence of that early on, but Wrecking Crew gonna wreck. Jeremy Blanchard war ringside and literally yanked down every effort Drake used to get ahead. We got more downplays of Blanchard’s interferences by Commentator Morty Lipschitz. Hilarious stuff. G3 remained firm as he didn’t take Drake seriously and can you blame him here? Blanchard bounced Drake’s head off the bottom rope, as Lipschitz defended that he “made his hair look longer.” So outlandishly ridiculous, but that’s why we love ya, Morty. Okay, Drake began to fly around for some hope spots, but a missed top rope splash set the stage for the orthopedic boot to end things. Easy finish that you can chalk up to Drake’s inexperience and G3’s dastardly ways. However, with weeks gone by and G3’s victories in the same fashion, nobody ever questions the boot? Gosh, it’s sad when even the kid in the first row has a sign that reads, “Referee, Check The Boot!” and WCWC management don’t.
WWE NXT TakeOver: San Antonio Reaction
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
Even though it boasted the same static screen transitions and synth-powered alternative rock theme songs, there was something about this “TakeOver” that didn’t feel like “TakeOver.”
At least headed in.
With what could be considered a lackluster build to a card with throwaway bouts, it’s a testament to NXT and everything it stands for that even with “in-the-middle” shows like this compared to past TakeOvers, they can still spin yards of gold.
We also dug the ambition to continue the tradition of hard-fought contests, excellent teases and above all else, the element of surprise. While on a lesser level, we still got our “TakeOver” money’s worth.
Notes In Observance – TNA Impact Wrestling 1/26/17: Genesis 2017
Photo courtesy of Inside Pulse.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 1/26/17)
Genesis 2017
– The TNA World Tag Team Championship Three-Way match between Champions The Broken Hardys, Crazzy Steve/Abyss and Bram/Kingston was about as formulaic as you can get in terms of putting a multi-team match together. With the Hardys on this “mission” to become the best team in space/time, it was hard to believe that they’d ever lose this, albeit it was a good attempt to establish other threats in the division. DCC will always be cheating pushovers and Decay are just crazy mofos. Not much of a story to tell, but they’re all here and want to wrestle and it’s Genesis (or Genesis-themed, they’d have you believe) so why not? There was also a good amount of hype towards the next week’s “Open Fight Night” episode, though with little structure introduced besides those goofy briefcases and the idea that anybody can be called out at any time. Isn’t that every wrestling show? Matt Hardy’s “pree-muh-nee-shun” that we’d see them “start a tag team revolution” was intriguing, but alas, it only opened the door for James Storm to drop a reference about that time he led a group of disgruntled midcarders in 2015. Not that 2017 is any different. Shaking our heads. Decay’s only vocal trophy was that they “eradicated Beer Money from TNA.” True as that could’ve been, that wasn’t much of a line. DCC held a briefcase, though we don’t remember what color or that it’ll actually matter. Same for “Nefarious Brother Nero.” On with the match, we suppose. With the silly tag-in scenario for a multi-man underway, the crowd was obviously into the Champs the most. DCC broke rules when they could and Decay was just crazy mofos again. That’s their thing. What don’t you get, child? Matt did break out this cool bulldog/clothesline combo on Kingston (not Kofi)/Steve. The finish was unfortunate for the decayed ones as Steve’s green mist went into Kingston and with not-Kofi out of the equation, Steve took a crazy Twist Of Fate from Matt, while Nero took care of everyone else. Don’t you love that?
PWO Exclusive: “Wind Of Destruction” Makaze Interview Pt. II
Photo courtesy of Dynamo Pro Wrestling.
*A Pro Wrestling Opinion Exclusive*
Check out Part II of our interview with Dynamo Pro Wrestling’s “Wind Of Destruction” Makaze, as the 18-year veteran discusses his scariest moment out of the ring, stories on the road, his moniker significance, influences, what he’d like to see happen in mainstream/local wrestling and more!
Listen Below:
Wrestle Talk Podcast – Battle Scars Feat. Stevie Ray, Angel Medina & Frodo Ep. 150
Photo courtesy of Wrestle Talk Podcast.
*A Wrestle Talk Podcast Exclusive*
Check out a recent episode from our friends at the Wrestle Talk Podcast with Joe & Rene, which features interviews with Dynamo Pro Wrestling’s Luke Roberts/Frodo “The Ghost” Meyer, “The Kingpin” Angel Medina and Stevie Ray.
A product of the Dynamo Pro Wrestling Dojo in St. Louis, Missouri, Meyer rocks a green mohawk and lyric stylings. Also an accomplished musician, he has gone on tour with Twiztid and ABK.
Trained by “Unpredictable” Johnny Rodz, Medina debuted professionally in 1999. Many will remember him as a part of “The Baldies” in Extreme Championship Wrestling until his departure in April 2001. Since then, he has become a seven-time International Wrestling Association Hardcore Champion.
Regarded as one of the most well-known tag team wrestlers of the 1990’s, Ray achieved great success with his brother, WWE Hall Of Famer Booker T, under the team name of “Harlem Heat.” He held the World Championship Wrestling World Tag Team Championships 10 times before he eventually joined the New World Order. Nowadays, Ray hosts a weekly radio talk show on Wednesdays called, “Straight Shooting With Stevie Ray” on KCOH 92.9 FM.
Link Below:
PWO Exclusive – “Wind Of Destruction” Makaze Interview Pt. I
Photo courtesy of Dynamo Pro Wrestling.
*A Pro Wrestling Opinion Exclusive*
Check out Part I of our interview with Dynamo Pro Wrestling’s “Wind Of Destruction” Makaze, as he discusses being a trainer, “dream match” scenarios, his recent injury, the St. Louis wrestling scene and what’s left for him to do in his career!
Stay tuned for Pt. II coming soon!
Listen Below:
PWO Exclusive – Luke Roberts – Dynamo Pro Wrestling Summer 2017 Update
Photo courtesy of Dynamo Pro Wrestling.
*A Pro Wrestling Opinion Exclusive*
Check out our interview with Luke Roberts – Media Relations Director of Dynamo Pro Wrestling, based out of St. Louis, MI. – as he gives us an update on all the summer happenings in DPW as the promotion celebrates its 10 year anniversary!
He discusses highlights of the past decade, what 2017 has established so far, breakout stars and what the future holds for DPW.
Listen Below:
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 1/25/17: Femme Fatale Four-Way
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 1/25/17)
Femme Fatale Four-Way
– The Ember Moon-Liv Morgan match was set up last week as a friendly competition to see who’d “unofficially” face the NXT Women’s Champion coming out of NXT TakeOver: San Antonio. Moon was still undefeated, yet Morgan was the one to challenge her. The story was there at least. They exchanged some chain wrestling and rolled around in package pin attempts for a good 25 seconds. Morgan seemed to have improved a bit as she hit a huracanrana. Moon applied a crossface, though Morgan fought out of it with a pin attempt that took Moon’s momentum back. Morgan laid on a guillotine, but was taken and dumped over the top rope by Moon. A minute later, Moon Eclipsed Morgan to take the win. It’s obvious how Moon’s in a holding pattern until TO:SA, but it also helped Morgan here. She could use more of a gimmick than “tough Jersey girl.” It was enough to make us want more, but what we got was good. They shared sportsmanship after the bell to keep the friendship going.
Notes In Observance – WWE 205 Live 1/24/17: Hostilities Renewed
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 1/24/17)
Hostilities Renewed
– The opening video replayed the last interaction between WWE Cruiserweight Champion Rich Swann and Neville from Raw. The Champ challenged Neville to come down and the heel tried to get away, but was briefly caught when Swann landed a suicide dive. Neville did squirm away, as this was all buildup to their Royal Rumble encounter.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown Live 1/24/17: Brother Vs. Brother
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 1/24/17)
Brother Vs. Brother
– The General Manager Daniel Bryan/Miz/Maryse backstage segment was another perfect example of chemistry done right. For months, Miz had been at his boss’ head ever since he was criticized in that infamous Talking Smack promo. There was no better way to set up a Lumberjack Match than have Miz boldly claim he “paid all of the locker room’s salaries with star power.” Bryan, apple aside, was all wits, as he used Miz’s statements against him to give him a WWE Intercontinental Championship rematch, but under his rules to prevent outside interference. Welcome to the world of logic. None of that on Raw.
Review – Justin Roberts – Best Seat In The House: Your Backstage Pass Through My WWE Journey
Photo courtesy of Amazon.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
Off the top of most professional wrestling fans’ crafty craniums, one former World Wrestling Entertainment Ring Announcer named Justin Roberts was synonymous with sharp suits, short black hair and emphatic introductions. There was also that time he was choked with his own necktie by Daniel Bryan in the infamous 2010 Nexus debut angle that resulted in Bryan’s termination.
Roberts released a blog post not long after his termination that complained about WWE’s public image trickeries as they twisted stories around to come off as a kindhearted company whilst they simultaneously talked down to their own talent and overworked them with little time off and insane travel schedules.
The prime example of this was Connor “The Crusher” Michalek – a sick eight-year old boy Roberts noticed at ringside and helped bring joy with constant FaceTime conversations added with daily communication with his father Steve, who noted that his son had little time left.
WWE portrayed the relationship between Michalek and his favorite wrestler Bryan as close in video packages. The two had interacted a few times, but the close relationship was actually between Roberts and Michalek. We’ll get more into that later on, as we hoped for more details.
Also, just the idea of a ring announcer autobiography intrigued us. Roberts’ WWE tenure lasted from 2002 through 2014. In turn, he experienced various company “eras” and it was cool to finally get his full perspective.
Notes In Observance – WWE Raw 1/23/17: All The Possibilities
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 1/23/17)
All The Possibilities
– The opening video recapped Jeri-KO’s run at the “Top Of The World,” as WWE United States Champion Chris Jericho uncrowned Roman Reigns before WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens powerbombed Reigns through the announce table the week after. It was renowned “The Chris And Kevin Show.” Hmm.
Notes In Observance – WCWC 1/21/17: Feeling The Blackout
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 1/21/17)
Feeling The Blackout
– The WCWC Legacy Championship match between Champion Ethan HD and “Mr. Adrenaline” Adrian Matthews had some build when Matthews earned the right after he beat “The Rock God” Ricky Gibson last week. Matthews had an early advantage as he sent the Champ out of the ring after being spit on. Ethan answered with a body slam on the cold concrete. We cracked up at Commentator Morty Lipschitz’s claim that the Referee “should be disqualified” when he kicked the ropes as he noticed Ethan using them for leverage. Carney provided some outside physicality, as Lipschitz dismissed it as “waking him up.” Hilarious. After a superplex by Matthews, Carney brought in a chair, which was set down by Matthews. Ethan tried to take advantage but got clotheslined to the canvas as Matthews climbed to the top. Carney shoved Matthews off the top rope for the disqualification finish. Sigh. We say this though – when heels get themselves disqualified to retain Titles, why do they get upset that they lost the match? Anyways, Matthews chased Carney backstage and Ethan threatened the Referee with a chair. He put put it down and made like he’d walk away, only to come back and land a Blackout, as the Referee’s face landed on the chair. That was actually awesome. For extra heel points, he lightly kicked the Referee’s head afterwards. If not for the fact we question why he’d be mad in the first place since he retained anyway, still good for shock value alone.
Notes In Observance – TNA Impact Wrestling 1/19/17: Race For The Case
Photo courtesy of Inside Pulse.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 1/19/17)
Race For The Case
– The opening video chronicled Lashley’s World Title contention resurgence as he defeated (barely) Ethan Carter III in a Last Man Standing match to earn a future shot. Some focus was also paid to it being another heartbreaking loss for the “Ass-Kicking Machine.”
Notes In Observance – ROH Wrestling 1/18/17: Rebellious Mediocrity (Of Excellence)
Image provided courtesy of Ring Of Honor.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 1/18/17)
Rebellious Mediocrity (Of Excellence)
– The Six-Man Tag between The Rebellion and Donovan Dijak/Jay White/Lio Rush was a clever followup to a previous angle where Dijak/White saved Rush when he upset Caprice Coleman in one-on-one action. Rush/White continue to impress with their athleticism. Dijak’s finally in a position where he’s free to do more in the ring as a babyface, not tied down to that senseless association with Prince Nana. Dijak easily tossed Coleman out of the ring, while it was noted that Rush wore kinesio tape to sell the left shoulder injury. Fast action on both ends as Rush avoided Rebellion’s onslaught to get a tag in to White. Rush delivered missile-like suicide dives on opposite ends of the ring. The babyface trio then did simultaneous dives to the outside on each side of the ring. Decent finish as we saw Rush hit a frog splash off Dijak’s shoulders (he’s tall so it works) followed by Dijak’s moonsault to pin Coleman. The post-match angle was more of the same, as Rebellion beat down White and teased the same to Coleman before they set him down gently (another tease for him to be recruited) before The Motor City Machine Guns came down to patrol.
