Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 8/17/16: Brooklyn Bound
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 8/17/16)
Brooklyn Bound
– With NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II just within reach on the calendar, it was one show left and it promised a face-to-face encounter between NXT Champion Samoa Joe and Shinsuke Nakamura. How could you not get excited about that? On the surface though, we could tell it’d be one of those “special” episodes that served as a preview show to an extent.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown Live 8/16/16: Styles Crash
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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 8/16/16)
Styles Crash
– The opening backstage segment with Commissioner Shane McMahon, General Manager Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton and Heath Slater was a fine open to the show, as we saw Orton officially sign off on the contract that ensured that he and Brock Lesnar would battle at SummerSlam, only five days away. Slater continued to use his “Free Agent” gimmick more to the comedic side, as he presented Bryan/Shane a fruit basket (likely stolen from a funeral parlor, funny) since he recalled them close to signing him, before they said no because of how they were dissed. We were left with how Orton “had an idea.” Wonder what that could possibly be. At least there was a tie with Slater to Lesnar. It’s actually pretty smart to have the one guy who could bounce back and forth between shows interact with the two feuding guys on separate shows.
Notes In Observance – WWE Raw 8/15/16: Finding Demon King
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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 8/15/16)
Finding Demon King
– The opening video made it apparent Raw’s biggest storylines were that of the quarrel between WWE United States Champion Rusev and Roman Reigns as we saw last week when Reigns ruined a “Celebration Of Love” and Lana ended up covered in cake. Also seen was Seth Rollins’ new quest to find out who his SummerSlam opponent Finn Balor really was. Alrighty then.
Notes In Observance – WCWC 8/13/16: Too Many Grapplers
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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 8/13/16)
Too Many Grapplers
– We started it off with a passionate backstage promo from the lewd, tattooed Adam Thornstowe who addressed his opponent Matt Striker that their last match was a classic, but this time he’d take him down. He also hit on the interviewer lady, who seemed to dig it.
Notes In Observance – TNA Impact Wrestling 8/11/16: Title Vs. Titles
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 8/11/16)
Title Vs. Titles
– The opening video looked back at last week, as Ethan Carter III overcame Maria, Moose and The Miracle’s shenanigans in the Finals of the TNA Bound For Glory Playoffs to become the guy who’ll main event BFG for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Mixed into it was a story of opportunity for TNA original/TNA King Of The Mountain Champion “The Cowboy” James Storm, as he had the first chance in five years at the World Title and we saw snippets of motivation behind his words. He would battle TNA World Heavyweight Champion/TNA X-Division Champion Lashley in a battle of “Title Vs. Titles” with two men fighting for three belts on the line. The stakes just get bigger, don’t they?
The RSN Wrestling Podcast – TNA
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*An RSN Wrestling Podcast Exclusive*
Check out the latest episode of The RSN Wrestling Podcast, as PWO’s own Nick, “The Mastermind” Sal and “Big Guy” Rich take the time out to discuss all things TNA, from the early Asylum days to the many faction warfares in its heyday to that time Impact competed against WWE Raw on Mondays in 2010.
The Knockouts, Dixie Carter, The Miracle, Ethan Carter III, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, you name it, it’s spoken of!
Watch Below:
Notes In Observance – WWE CWC 8/10/16: The Epitome Of Strong Style
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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 8/10/16)
The Epitome Of Strong Style
– If you’ve just caught onto the Cruiserweight Classic, good for you. The first round finished up last week and appropriately, the opening video showcased the many highlights it provided. It was reminiscent to the slow-motion video packages on the NXT episodes that are post-TakeOvers. In short, 32 men in this tournament that represented 16 countries was now down to 16. Little did we know the fun would truly start at this point.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 8/10/16: Psychological Warfare
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 8/10/16)
Psychological Warfare
– We liked how the show opened out of the usual realm, as Bobby Roode walked out of General Manager William Regal’s office with a smile on his face now that he knew of “something great.” He left it at that and walked away. Yummy, some light drama and anticipation.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown Live 8/9/16: Channeled Energies
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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 8/9/16)
Channeled Energies
– The backstage segment with Randy Orton and Alberto Del Rio provided nice hype for their match later on in the show. as Orton mentioned he was focused on his SummerSlam opponent Brock Lesnar and looked forward to taking Lesnar to Viperville, to which then Del Rio walked up and made light of the city name. It was basically a little war of words between the two. On paper, Del Rio was a notable name that Orton could defeat en route to SummerSlam.
Notes In Observance – WWE Raw 8/8/16: Botched Vows
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By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at then bottom of the post.
(Aired 8/8/16)
Botched Vows
– As SummerSlam inched closer, Raw’s big stories were the Finn Balor-Seth Rollins feud over the WWE Universal Championship, the Roman Reigns-WWE United States Champion Rusev and the interbranded clash between Randy Orton and Brock Lesnar, as each man trespassed each other’s show to deliver their finishing move. The opening video highlighted last week’s happenings in regards to these feuds.
Notes In Observance – WCWC 8/6/16: The Ol’ Switcheroo
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By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at then bottom of the post.
(Aired 8/6/16)
The Ol’ Switcheroo
– Last time we saw Matt Striker in a West Coast Wrestling Connection ring, he rubbed elbows with the likes of The Wrecking Crew to become a true despicable heel. This time around, Striker was around for pure comedy, as him and Ian Sutton had one of the strangest opens to a WCWC show in a long time. Striker did succeed in his mocking antics of the ring announcer and the dance-off bit with the Referee was chucklesome, but Sutton didn’t really get over from this. The most we remember from this match was a ringside child fan riding Striker like a horse and toy bow and arrows, before Striker pinned Sutton by surprise and Sutton responded by hog-tying Striker. What exactly was the goal here?
Notes In Observance – TNA Impact Wrestling 8/4/16: Ass-Kicking Destiny
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 8/4/16)
Ass-Kicking Destiny
– Bound For Glory was all the rage, as the opening video showed us how the BFG Playoffs (a tournament to determine who’d fight for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at BFG) Finals came to be, as Ethan Carter III defeated “Broken” Matt Hardy after it was set up by Jeff Hardy, while The Miracle inched closer to Championship gold by any means necessary as he beat Drew Galloway, with accidental help from EC3. This set up the inevitable EC3-Miracle rematch and the stakes couldn’t be bigger. Certainly had a “big fight feel” to it.
Notes In Observance – WWE CWC 8/3/16: Sounds Of Violence
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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 8/3/16)
Sounds Of Violence
– The Cruiserweight Classic rolled on, as we saw in the opening video footage of how Zack Sabre Jr., Tony Nese, Drew Gulak and The Brian Kendrick all advanced to the Second Round last week. Previewed for this episode were appearances by the likes of Rich Swann and Jack Gallagher, with the “marquee” bout being the match between Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa, well-regarded as partners in NXT in line for a Tag Title shot, but opponents on this night.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 8/3/16: The Wait Is Finally Over
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 8/3/16)
The Wait Is Finally Over
– At the time Hideo Itami got injured, he was arguably in the running for an NXT Championship reign. A year and a half later, he was back from the shoulder injury and possessed a fury of self-justice and redemption. The opener between Itami and Sean Maluta was all about Itami’s return while at the same time let Maluta soak in the NXT spotlight, since he came over from the Cruiserweight Classic. Also liked that the camera panned to Zack Sabre Jr., Tony Nese and Drew Gulak in the crowd to hype the CWC, as they were each First Round victors. Maluta wasn’t a complete afterthought, as she showed off some fierce kicks, but the purpose was obvious from the get-go and Itami didn’t miss a beat. Commentary smartly brought up that his career pre-injury had mirrored Finn Balor’s and was on route to Championship contention before he was sidelined possibly by Kevin Owens. Itami’s signature running knee finisher ended it.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown Live 8/2/16: Returning The Favor
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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 8/2/16)
Returning The Favor
– The backstage segment with SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon, General Manager Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton was a good follow-up to Raw’s ending, since we saw Orton’s surprise RKO on his SummerSlam opponent Brock Lesnar, before he was chased away by security. Luckily and logically, we opened up as Shane reprimanded Orton for his actions. That went down the drain once Shane praised it as “awesome.” Really, Shane? Anyways, with all the security presence to keep Lesnar out of the building, that basically meant that Lesnar would appear. The part that followed where WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz/Maryse complained to Bryan/Shane about the way they were treated was okay, but one big hurt to his argument was that while he complained about not being celebrated by the locker room in the ring after he retained the IC Title at Battleground like they did with WWE World Heavyweight Champion Dean Ambrose was that Miz himself was one of the people holding up Ambrose on their shoulders. Yikes. The lack of logic here. Anyways, this led to a half-assed announcement where Bryan booked a triple threat between Apollo Crews, Kalisto and Baron Corbin to determine Miz’s #1 contender. This was then followed by the authoritative duo running into Ambrose, who made it known that he was about to head to the ring to address his #1 contender, Dolph Ziggler.
Notes In Observance – WWE Raw 8/1/16: Like A (Certified) Boss
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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 8/1/16)
Like A (Certified) Boss
– Things started with a blockbuster debut for the new Raw brand, highlighted with Finn Balor as he outlasted Roman Reigns after he won a previous Fatal Four-Way to earn the spot at SummerSlam to fight Seth Rollins to crown the first-ever WWE Universal Champion and with WWE Women’s Champion Sasha Banks as she beat Charlotte to end her 300-plus day reign. Mark this a new era, as we looked forward to seeing how Raw would follow their first episode, as it was the better show last week.
Notes In Observance – WCWC 7/30/16: Banned From Ringside
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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 7/30/16)
Banned From Ringside
– We were off to a good start with the “Rock God” Ricky Gibson-“Adrenaline” Adrian Matthews opener. This was Matthews’ second match with the company and looked to gather more momentum at Gibson’s expense, who commentary had mentioned was on a slump. Interesting that they also speculated Greg Romero’s absence had something to do with the losing streak. Matthews also appeared smart in that he was aware of Tubbs’ tactics even before the bout, as he warned Tubbs not to get involved in his pre-match promo. A big plus of the hour was the great chemistry by Morty Lipschitz/Kris Kloss on commentary, as Lipschitz continuously denied any wrongdoings by the heels (particularly Tubbs), much to Kloss’ dissatisfaction. The action was good in the ring too, as Gibson-Matthews meshed well. Matthews put in a more memorable performance for sure and the win surely helped him out. The finish was fine too, as it showed Tubbs trying to help Gibson out with the cane and how it backfired when Gibson got the cane dropkicked into his face and that led to Matthews’ finisher. Make that two straight losses for Gibson, as we wonder if he’ll separate from Tubbs anytime soon.
Notes In Observance – TNA Impact Wrestling 7/28/16: Game Changer
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 7/28/16)
Game Changer
– Bound For Glory always features some sort of convoluted tournament and this year’s installment wasn’t bad by any means since it featured the right people. It cleverly meshed the Hardy saga with the Ethan Carter III-Drew Galloway feud and The Miracle thrown in there with Moose, his insurance policy, to add to the fun. The opening video highlighted how each competitor made it to the Semifinals of the BFG Playoffs and hyped the bouts of Matt Hardy-EC3 and Galloway-Miracle.
Notes In Observance – WWE CWC 7/27/16: Rope Biter
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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 7/27/16)
Rope Biter
– WWE’s Cruiserweight Classic continues to impress, as the internet-catered 32-man Cruiserweight tournament has brought us some nice bouts behind the credible commentary team of Mauro Ranallo and Daniel Bryan. With a keen mix of established independent stars and relative unknowns, they’ve collaborated into something special. This episode promised action from the likes of Zack Sabre Jr., Tyson Dux, Harv Sihra, Drew Gulak, Tony Nese, Anthony Bennett, Raul Mendoza and The Brian Kendrick. Gonna be fun.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 7/27/16: Flipping The Switch
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 7/27/16)
Flipping The Switch
– The Shinsuke Nakamura-Wesley Blake match was an easy way to keep the undefeated Nakamura just that while we also saw a quarrel between Blake and Buddy Murphy, who were convinced that one could upstage the other. Blake challenged Nakamura, while Murphy claimed he could beat “a favorite to win the CWC.” As for Blake, his new theme music was eh and commentary mentioned a “new look,” but he still looked the same to us. Anyways, this was reminiscent of Nakamura’s squash over Murphy and didn’t give us anything new, but Nakamura’s always a treat to watch. The follow-up was also fun since we saw NXT General Manager William Regal come out and formally announce that Nakamura would face NXT Champion Samoa Joe at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II. Oh, snap.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown Live 7/26/16: Superkicking The Glass Ceiling
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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 7/26/16)
Superkicking The Glass Ceiling
– On the SmackDown side of the WWE Brand Split, we were promised live shows on Tuesdays and a crew led by Commissioner Shane McMahon/General Manager Daniel Bryan. As for the announce team, gone were Byron Saxton and Jerry Lawler, replaced with JBL and David Otunga. Mauro Ranallo is great as always, but that’ll take some getting used to. SmackDown started in similar fashion to Raw, but with Shane/Bryan backstage as they led the camera to the ring, already filled with roster inhabitants. Of course they hit Bryan’s music so the crowd had an excuse to chant “Yes!” and act all crazy on camera. SmackDown also had new generic rock music and a montage for its theme. Shane revealed that SmackDown would have its first exclusive Pay-Per-View on Sep. 11 entitled “Backlash.” After that, they introduced WWE World Heavyweight Champion Dean Ambrose and announced the goal was to find him an opponent for SummerSlam, which would be done via a Six-Pack Challenge, that’d involve Dolph Ziggler, John Cena, Baron Corbin, Bray Wyatt and AJ Styles thus far. The last contestant would be decided though an impromptu Battle Royale. Not a bad start to the show, since it set the table for what we could expect and this played into the “Break The Glass Ceiling” mission objective of the show.
Notes In Observance – WWE Raw 7/25/16: Banking On The Future
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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 7/25/16)
Banking On The Future
– With the WWE Brand Split officially in play now, we were curious to see what changes would come about to the flagship brand and it was apparent early on that they were serious about this thing. Right from the opening video that highlighted WWE World Heavyweight Champion Dean Ambrose’s successful defense at WWE Battleground, we saw big visual changes – a new theme, show montage, Corey Graves replacing JBL on the announce team, which had its table relocated again near the stage a la NXT and the old draft days in 2002-2003. We were okay with this.
WWE Battleground 2016 Reaction
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By Nicholas Jason Lopez
In many ways, Battleground personified the end of the modern era in WWE as we knew it.
With the last quarrels left to settle before the official WWE Brand Split took place, this marked the final time Raw and SmackDown superstars would appear in the same ring together.
The same rule was also in play for the main event, which put The Shield’s former members in an anticipated triple threat match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship for the first and last time.
Washington D.C. was primed for a long night and came to life when they needed to, but with nothing truly groundbreaking outside of a Sami Zayn-Kevin Owens classic, a notable Women’s Division debut and Randy Orton’s return, this Battleground left us with a slight case of trenchfoot, ready for the new era to truly take over already.
Notes In Observance – WCWC 7/23/16: Fight Fire With Fire
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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 7/23/16)
Fight Fire With Fire
– With a handful of talent deflected over to the West Coast Wrestling Connection’s sister promotion, Paragon Pro Wrestling, this episode marked the end of a two-year tradition in the form of Jeff Akin, as this was revealed to be his last broadcast. With his departure came the on-air debut of Kris Kloss (not Kriss Kross, don’t jump around) as the new play-by-play announcer. With a voice muffled somewhere between The Miz and Joey Styles, he’d take some getting used to. It did help that Morty Lipschitz provided color commentary in contrast to Kloss, who sympathized with the faces.
Notes In Observance – TNA Impact Wrestling 7/21/16: Bound For Destruction
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 7/21/16)
Bound For Destruction
– The Hardy saga continued in the opening video as we saw Jeff Hardy atop a valley mountain, the same one where he infamously injured himself on the motorcycle to cost him and Matt the TNA World Tag Team Championships, but this time he was next to Matt, who dared him to try it again and rooted for him to fail. This was everything great about the Hardy story to this point, that Matt has continually bragged about how he now owns Jeff and this was a nice tie-in to one of Matt’s biggest personal gripes to cost him success as he looked to make him pay now. Jeff complied and the camera cut away before he landed, to raise the suspense. Smart for TNA to continue to showcase the best thing they have going now, while the rest of the show catches up, though they’re not far.
Notes In Observance – WWE CWC 7/20/16: Da Bomb
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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 7/20/16)
Da Bomb
– if you’ve yet to check out the WWE Cruiserweight Classic, what are you waiting for? Luckily, you have us to rely on, but for real, watch it. Between the Full Sail University crowd, the uber-credible commentary team of Mauro Ranallo and Daniel Bryan and emphasis on wrestling first and foremost with names known on the indy scene, what’s not to love? Anyways, this episode featured more First Round action from this 32-man tournament. The First Round match between Tajiri and Damian Slater seemed to favor the WWE Japanese veteran upon first glance, but they did a swell job with Slater’s hype video, as we learned of his underdog-to-veteran status in Australia. Early on, there were smooth technical maneuvers exchanged. Tajiri got an advantage with his stiff strikes and kicks, from his Strong Style background and he utilized his submissions from his mixed martial arts background. Slater was okay, but didn’t do anything memorable, as this was all Tajiri, who also brought out his signature Tarantula submission and handspring back elbow, which eventually led to his Buzzsaw Kick, a logical finisher for the veteran to advance, which set up the Second Round match where he’d take on Gran Metalik. Oh, that’ll be fun.
Notes In Observance – Lucha Underground 7/20/16: Ultima Lucha Dos Part III
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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 7/20/16)
Ultima Lucha Dos Part III
– We wish we could write about Lucha Underground’s second season with more enthusiasm, but we cannot. Now don’t get us wrong. In terms of what makes the show work (cinematic elements, outrageously stellar in-ring action, diverse roster, etc.), we still had plenty of that here. Where things didn’t go as smooth was in the long-term storytelling. Where season one ended with Catrina/Mil Muertes in a stranglehold of the Temple branded a “Much Darker Place” was perfect as a start for season two and the show carried on like it usually does, until we hit the abomination that was Lucha Underground Champion Matanza Cueto and his disappointing debut where he simply and senselessly took down LUG’s greater warriors (Pentagon Jr., Fenix, Cage to name a few) and his slow, no-sell style began to affect the top of the card and in turn, the show. The fact that Matanza is still involved with this Championship was sickening. Albeit, one thing handled correctly was the use of Pentagon Jr. to this point. He disappeared after being destroyed by Matanza and Vampiro began to torture him to prepare for another battle, to which then he won his way to the one-on-one match. Pentagon is arguably LUG’s hottest act and it was no surprise he’d be involved with the Title. At least they got that right. Anyways, this episode left us a bit helpless, but we’ll get to all that excitement shortly. The opening video reminded us of season two’s good parts and set up how we got matches like the Lucha Underground Trios Championship battle between Champions The Worldwide Underground against Drago/AeroStar/Fenix, Ivelisse against Taya, Pentagon Jr. against Matanza and then the “Dream Match” in Rey Mysterio and Prince Puma.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 7/20/16: Fight Night
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 7/20/16)
Fight Night
– This episode was hyped in the opening video as “Fight Night” and rightfully so, because there were three noteworthy matches – NXT Champion Samoa Joe-Rhyno, American Alpha-Authors Of Pain and Bayley-Nia Jax. Should be an easy, fun episode.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown Live 7/19/16: You’ve Been Drafted
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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 7/19/16)
You’ve Been Drafted
– The big day was here. From this point forward, WWE was set to go live on Tuesdays for SmackDown and used the first episode as the platform for the WWE Brand Extension Draft, where Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon/General Manager Mick Foley and SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon/Mick Foley would make their respective picks. We got some explanation as far as why Raw got three picks for every two SmackDown picks, from it being related to the number of hours of the shows. Okay then. It shouldn’t had been a surprise that Raw’s first pick was Seth Rollins, who could use the bragging rights. Definitely a big one right there. SmackDown’s first pick of WWE World Heavyweight Champion Dean Ambrose was also big, yet logical given his standing as a major Champion. WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte being Raw’s next pick put big emphasis on Women’s Wrestling and we’re all for it. Charlotte looked like a big star alone for that. AJ Styles as SmackDown’s next pick was a good catch for them, as he can propel far on the blue brand. The night’s biggest pop came from Finn Balor as Raw’s next pick. That gives Raw must-see ability there. This was then interrupted by John Cena, unpicked at this point and apparently he had a match.
Notes In Observance – WWE Raw 7/18/16: Holy Foley And The Yes Man
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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 7/18/16)
Holy Foley And The Yes Man
– With Battleground six days away and the WWE Brand Extension Draft even closer (the next day), there was a feel for change in the air. What better way to bring that out than to start the show with a long-winded talking segment that involves the McMahon clan? Original stuff, guys. The one saving grace here was that it served a purpose for us to find out who Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon and SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon each selected for their respective General Managers. Are you keeping up with the authority figures? Hope you like it, because there’s a lot of that here. There were also some half-assedly explained Draft “rules” – Raw got the first pick and for every two SmackDown picks, Raw would get three. Why? We don’t know. Better news was that six picks would come off the NXT roster. Oh, make them good. After some pointless sibling bickering, Steph announced that Raw would feature a new cruiserweight division exclusive to them. She then introduced her GM, which was Mick Foley to a nice pop. Foley’s promo here leaned more towards the humbled and appreciative as he used his experience when he partook in the Monday Night Wars to compare it to nowadays. That’s a bit of a stretch, but okay. More or less, the segment was stolen when Shane announced his pick, none other than Daniel Bryan. Yes, that one. The place went bonkers as you’d imagine. Bryan’s promo revolved around the “underdogs” and there were some moments where he stuck it to Steph, as she had her own responses that underdogs always end up at the bottom despite their rise. So, some more pointless bickering to end it but we got our big news.
Notes In Observance – WCWC 7/16/16: #FollowThat
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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 7/16/16)
#FollowThat
– Social media swag was the mission objective of the backstage promo with Ethan HD/Kate Carney, as this hyped the WCWC Legacy Championship match to come where Champion Eric Right would defend against Ethan HD after the two went to a 15-minute draw last time out. Right, who nursed an injured arm, barely escaped with the Title and now had to face Ethan again, who lacked uncertainty as he was eager and confident as far as his chances. Carney as usual was great as she yelled at Pat Kelley for his introduction of her and then Ethan promised a “Plan B.” We’d see that in full fruition later on, but a nice foreshadow here.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown 7/14/16: The End Of The Taped Era
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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 7/14/16)
The End Of The Taped Era
– A SmackDown novelty the past few weeks, we had another “promo mash-up” as a cold open to the show, which previewed the Kevin Owens-WWE World Heavyweight Champion Dean Ambrose/Sasha Banks-Dana Brooke matches and the MizTV segment that’d star Darren Young/Bob Backlund. This was also regarded as the “end of an era” by commentary, as this was the last SmackDown to air on Thursdays, since from this point forward, it’d be live on Tuesdays. As for the promos, they were fun. Owens focused on a card Sami Zayn gave him last December for his son that had $20 in Canadian money and how it was horrendous since they were best friends at the time and promised to send Zayn to a hospital if he stuck his nose in his main event match with Ambrose. Good stuff. WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte did most of the talking in her open promo outside of a limo with Brooke as she again referred to Banks as a “Nicki Minaj knockoff” and Brooke swore that lightning wouldn’t strike twice. Next was WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz/Maryse, as they prepped for MizTV and he lightly insulted his soon-to-be guest. Lastly, we had Ambrose who soaked in the last Thursday SmackDown as he embraced the chance to do something he loved with someone he hated. All sounds about right and then some simultaneous hype. Hopefully they keep these cold opens when they go live.
Notes In Observance – WWE CWC 7/13/16: Kota’s Gonna Kill You
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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 7/13/16)
Kota’s Gonna Kill You
– Nothing goes better together than cruiserweight action and Summer weather. The wrestling community was eager for something like this, since it’d been a long time since cruiserweights had been highlighted. Arguably, TNA was the last company to do something similar with their World X Cup back in 2008, but their semi-yearly tradition ended that year. WWE picked up that slack, as it was announced months back that 32 competitors no more than 205 pounds would compete in a tournament. This has the sounds of a Triple H idea and we were pumped, as this was likely a cool new way to introduce world-caliber talent to the WWE faithful. The opening video explained the significance of cruiserwrights in wrestling history as footage of Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio hit our screen. The goal of this was explained as “unique and exciting competitors step out of the shadows and into the spotlight.” Ya damn right. Some familiar faces like Johnny Gargano and Cedric Alexander were also shown. Sweetness. It was 32 men, 16 countries and 1 prize. Let the fun begin.
Notes In Observance – Lucha Underground 7/13/16: Ultima Lucha Dos Part II
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 7/13/16)
Ultima Lucha Dos Part II
– We were in week two of Ultima Lucha Dos‘ three-week spectacle, as the opening video showed us that here we’d see Night Claw’s impending debut and a Death match between Mil Muertes and King Cuerno, which was demanded by Catrina after Cuerno cheated his way to pin Muertes upon their last bout.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 7/13/16: Balor Vs. Nakamura
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 7/13/16)
Balor Vs. Nakamura
– Ever since the moment we were introduced to “The Challenge” and the idea of Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura in a match together became a reality, we knew we were in for something special. They had faced each other in Japan, but now on an NXT platform, this was a “dream match” of epic proportions. This was rightfully hyped to the moon, given a two-week period of nothing but great video packages that explained the depth of their longtime friendship and what it meant for both their careers. For Balor, he needed to distract himself from an uncertain future in NXT since he had done everything one could do so far. For Nakamura, it was about how he needed to get past a challenge to beat one of NXT’s top guys to prove himself to be a Championship contender down the road. The opening video reminded us of all of that, even with a Mauro Ranallo voice-over, so they really went in on this.
Notes In Observance – TNA Impact Wrestling 7/12/16: Destination X 2016
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 7/12/16)
Destination X 2016
– Say what you want, but “The Final Deletion” was one of the more unique storylines in TNA history. From its simple yet deep story of a brotherly rivalry mixed with Matt Hardy’s character evolution into darker territory and top-notch cinematic elements, there was a lot to like here. How does one follow-up a “Final Deletion”? The opening video did a solid job, as we saw Jeff Hardy wake up in a bed, as Matt paraded around with a black garbage bag filled with “materialistic remains of Brother Nero” as he stood upon a boat, where one of his drones dropped off a yellow tank top, what Jeff wore before he was deleted. A “Public Deletion” was hyped for later in the show. We saw more of those entertaining thematics.
Notes In Observance – AML Wrestling LIVE! 7/11/16: The Axcellence Of Execution
Photo courtesy of Eventbrite.
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 7/11/16)
The Axcellence Of Execution
– This review covers Episode #66, which featured Team Axcellence against The Geordie Bulldogs, taped back in March at “Never Enough” from Yadkinville, North Carolina. There was a logical story headed in, evidenced by both teams’ back-to-back promos. Basically, TA sought revenge against the team that previously beat them as they looked to be on the road to gold, with AML Tag Team Champions The Heatseekers a clear target. GB played nice “English Punk” heels, as they insulted TA for their “pretty looks” and were eager to beat them once more. The match itself was okay, got better as it went along. As you’d expect, the heels bent the rules wherever possible to fit in some cheap shots and played the crowd nicely. Eventually, TA built up a strong comeback with some slick double-teams and with the crowd on their side, they came to life at the finish, which involved the Russian Leg Sweep Blockbuster. Made sense to brand this as a signature win for TA, as this was something that could propel them into a Title shot against the unstoppable Heatseekers. All in all, good match. Was every spot perfect? No, they could’ve caught each other better on the suicide dives, but that’s pure nit-picking.
Notes In Observance – WWE Raw 7/11/16: Rollins The Reporter
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 7/11/16)
Rollins The Reporter
– We applauded the Battle Royale opener to decide who’d challenge WWE United States Champion The Miz at Battleground that featured the likes of Darren Young, Apollo Crews, The Usos, The Dudley Boyz, The Vaudevillains, The Ascension, Dolph Ziggler, Baron Corbin, Alberto Del Rio, The Golden Truth and Jack Swagger. It switched things up and also gave us Young’s long-awaited “re-debut,” who now had Bob Backlund at ringside. Thankfully, Crews also got a televised entrance and even Corbin was pushed like a beast here to the end. Miz’s pre-taped promo was well-delivered and he stood on commentary, even if he messed up a few lines. The finish was okay, just wasn’t a fan of how Young was the winner mainly for how he stood in the background as Crews/Corbin went over the top rope together. Perhaps it wasn’t the planned finish? Crews looked like he tried to hold on, but fell with Corbin. Luckily, the crowd bought into it and they chanted for Young as he and Backlund celebrated in the ring. Young was later hyped for a SmackDown appearance on MizTV, so that could also be fun.
Notes In Observance – WCWC 7/9/16: Tag Team Supremacy
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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 7/9/16)
Tag Team Supremacy
– On paper, the Cole Layton King-Gangrel match sounded too soon, since they’ve tried to establish CLK and Gangrel’s one of the top WCWC talent. On the other hand, Gangrel had the experience to carry CLK to a respectable effort in the ring. Morty Lipschitz also provided commentary as the voice of The Wrecking Crew and probably to “scout” Gangrel as he pursuits Grappler III’s WCWC Pacific Northwest Championship. The match ended up nothing special, but the finish was smart since they had CLK get himself blatantly disqualified with brass knuckles to get him over as a rule-breaker and commentary did good as they talked him up as this big rich guy who also apparently owns his own stadium. There’s a strong JBL vibe from CLK and we’d love to see what more he could bring down the road. At least the DQ loss saved him from a pinfall loss and also set up the post-match angle where he aimed to take Gangrel out permanently with a neck injury with a chair, but was run off by Jeff Boom/Adam Thornstowe, who’d compete in the main event Fatal Four-Way Elimination Tag to decide the new WCWC Tag Team Champions that would also involve The Bonus Boyz, JJ Garrett/”The Rock God” Ricky Gibson and Marcus Malone/Mikey O’Shea. While it was cool to see Boom/Thornstowe here, it also probably hinted that they wouldn’t win the belts since they’d be in a feud with CLK more or less. Boom/Thornstowe were viable contenders in that match, so it made us wonder who might get the nod.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown 7/7/16: Scarf Hold
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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 7/7/16)
Scarf Hold
– Just like last week, we had a cutesy promo mashup package to start things off, as Chris Jericho sought his lost scarf and mentioned that Sami Zayn would get “it” later in the main event. Zayn’s response promo questioned the result if he actually beat him. We also had an encounter between Seth Rollins and Jey Uso (actually didn’t know which Uso it was until he dropped his name) in the parking lot, as Rollins made a joke that the Uso family fell apart and insulted Jey’s father Rikishi for his posterior-esque career. Just like that, Jey challenged Rollins and it was on. Say what you want, but two matches were announced in one minute, so we had something to look forward. Will they keep these when SmackDown goes live?
Notes In Observance – Lucha Underground 7/6/16: Ultima Lucha Dos Part I
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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 7/6/16)
Ultima Lucha Dos Part I
– Lucha Underground concluded last year with “Ultima Lucha,” their WrestleMania, so to speak. In what was originally thought up to the series finale now turned into what should be a yearly tradition as LUG got renewed for a second and third season. With Ultima Lucha Dos now upon us, it was time to get hyped. This episode started the festivities as it focused on the “4 A Unique Opportunity” Tournament, a concept from Dario Cueto that involved Cage, The Mack, Son Of Havoc and Texano. It wasn’t a bad way to use these guys, as they were all in that same “nothing doing” scenario and could easily be pushed to the top of the card with the right timing. This was what the opening video highlighted. It appeared as if ULD would be split into three parts.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 7/6/16: Flips And Fists
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 7/6/16)
Flips And Fists
– Whenever NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival and American Alpha meet, magic happens. Plain and simple. They bring something new to the tag team wrestling table, with inventive spots to showcase their contrasts in styles. Revival are known to be old-school rule-bending heels with more emphasis on their strikes while AA pride themselves on being premier athletes with a repertoire of suplexes and submissions. Give these two teams 20 minutes and they’ll give you the world. AA eventually got to hold the gold, but quickly lost it at TakeOver: The End, which made Revival the first two-time Tag Champs. We knew a rematch would come for the former Champs and they made it even better as it was announced to be a 2 Out Of 3 Falls match. That was set to happen on this episode, as evidenced by the opening video. Safe to say expectations were mightily high.
Notes In Observance – TNA Impact Wrestling 7/5/16: The Final Deletion
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 7/5/16)
The Final Deletion
– If TNA has done anything right in years, it has actually been the pseudo-cinematic feud between “Broken” Matt Hardy (derivative of his “Big Money Matt” character) and Jeff Hardy. To this point, Matt and Jeff had clashed several times with Jeff getting wins, but now Matt was eager for “The Final Deletion” and it was to take place from Cameron, North Carolina. We had to know what we were in for when we saw an old man cutting a disclaimer promo in Spanish not to repeat what we’d see. The opening video was actually kind of brilliant, as it showed Matt and Reby planning a “fiesta” for Maxel and Matt needed the event documented. It was epic, as the old guy was also revealed to be Señor Benjamin, Matt’s gardener.
Notes In Observance – WWE Raw 7/4/16: Independence Dud
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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 7/4/16)
Independence Dud
– WWE and holidays never mix if you seek quality television. It was the Fourth Of July and America celebrated it’s 240th birthday with greasy grilled goodness and such. WWE threw on a three-hour Raw with the agenda of half-assedly pushing Battleground with holiday filler. It worked in some ways and was missable in many others. Case in point – the opening segment was your general locker room food party. The Golden Truth performed on stage before The Vaudevillains forced them off and then Aiden English had food thrown at him. WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz/Maryse warned everybody not to let it end in a food fight and sure enough, that’s what happened. Kevin Owens also got pied by someone in the face off-camera, Heath Slater went through a table, Darren Young sat with other heels and we knew we were in for one of “those” nights.
Notes In Observance – WCWC 7/2/16: Arm Strong
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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 7/2/16)
Arm Strong
– The Tag Team Qualifier opener between “The Rock God” Ricky Gibson/JJ Garrett and Azul Angel/Ian Sutton was an obvious move to get Mr. Tubbs’ latest tag scramble of clients into the fatal four-way that will also feature Marcus Malone/Mikey O’Shea and The Bonus Boyz. Did find it interesting there was more talk about Greg Romero’s disappearance, since it makes us think perhaps a return/babyface run in his future? Anyways, the Angel/Sutton team was about as mismatched as you could get (a hillbilly and a luchador? Make your own joke here)and the in-ring action was mediocre to average as the most interesting aspect of it was seeing how Garrett/Gibson interacted and it worked for the most part, as “opposites attract.” Doubt anybody was shocked to see Gibson get the pinfall with the Power Ballad.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown 6/30/16: The Best Fighting The Best
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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 6/30/16)
The Best Fighting The Best
– We’re actually fans of SmackDown’s occasional “cheesy promo mash-up cold open” where they’ll announce a match and then mash together promos from the competitors with fancy music in the background. This episode was one of them, as it was announced that a fatal four-way between Cesaro, Apollo Crews, Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio would determine who’d fight WWE United States Champion Rusev later in the show for the belt. Cesaro’s promo was probably the coolest since he literally drove a van in his secret agent suit, rolled down the window and “invited his opponents to an uppercut party.” Crews put over his underdog status being the reason he could win. Sheamus questioned Crews’ involvement in the match (assumedly to presume their feud) and proclaimed he’d have fun kicking off Crews’ head before ultimately dethroning his old buddy Rusev. Del Rio finished it off as he made fun of Sheamus’ hair problems (given their tensions on Raw, this wasn’t new) and dismissed Crews as a threat. True – this could be cheesy as hell, but we got a big match and heard from all the competitors in the first two minutes. Job done.
Notes In Observance – Lucha Underground 6/29/16: The Prince Vs. The Student
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 6/29/16)
The Prince Vs. The Student
– It’s everybody’s favorite time of the year – Ultima Lucha time. At least Ultima Lucha Uno had us that way. Season two has been a mixed bag of ups and downs, but the train’s near a solid stop, it’s up to LUG to take it upon a smooth sail. The opening video focused on Mil Muertes’ “rebirth” thanks to Catrina in spite of King Cuerno’s hunter mentality to take him down and a battle was set for them. Also in that package was highlights of what closed last week’s show – a bold challenge from Prince Puma to Rey Mysterio and Mysterio’s humbled acceptance. Ultima Lucha Dos was upon one week’s wait and the hype was on.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 6/29/16: Exclusive Comments
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 6/29/16)
Exclusive Comments
– Carried off last week’s word-exchanging segment, the ring was a blank page ready to be filled with the art of wrestling from the likes of Alexa Bliss and Carmella. We liked how both ladies went into this match nearly at each other’s heads and left it elevated. Bliss was put over by Corey Graves as the only person not pinned in the triple-threat #1 contender’s match a few weeks back against Nia Jax and Carmella. On the other hand, Carmella had the crowd’s full support. Bliss’ enraged facial expressions were a big plus to this match’s start and helped things get off to a nice start. Basically, the match’s story saw nice in-ring work from both ladies. Carmella had a more submission-based offense, while Bliss bent the rules wherever possible and targeted Carmella’s left arm from the mid-way point of the match on. This actually became really good towards the end with a swift trade of close near-falls and we were actually pleasantly shocked to see Bliss go over with the Twisted Bliss (once known as the Sparkle Splash) for the one-two-three.
Notes In Observance – TNA Impact Wrestling 6/28/16: Tonight, Tonight
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 6/28/16)
Tonight, Tonight
– As of this show, TNA’s biggest storylines were Ethan Carter III/Drew Galloway earning respective World Title shots (which would happen on this night), the continuation of the Hardy brother saga as Jeff outlasted Matt in Six Sides Of Steel with a definitive dive off the top of the cage and with Dixie Carter absent thanks to Billy Corgan, The Miracle was granted a shot at the TNA X-Division Championship (a plan to get to the TNA World Heavyweight Championship via “Option C”) and used cheating tactics to win the Title. This episode would advance all those storylines and more as we saw in the opening video.
