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 10/22/15)

Prince Pretty’s Here

– The opening segment with WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins-Corporate Kane saw both guys rub in each other’s faces about this show being potentially the last for each as respective Champion or employee. Corporate Kane informed Rollins that he had a match coming up next and if he tried to flee, “somebody” would keep him right where he was. After Rollins walked away, New Day’s Big E/Kofi Kingston approached Corporate Kane and said how disgusted they were that Xavier Woods was taken out and they were “only two unicorns now.” Um, okay, these are supposedly three badass/funny heels? It doesn’t work in this instance. Anyways, this was a good way to set up the main event, as Corporate Kane booked them to take on Roman Reigns/Dean Ambrose to “cheer them up” as he played the world’s smallest trombone. That said, there was also high energy in this segment, to give the impression that the show was starting off with a bang.

– The Rollins-Cesaro match had the surprise factor of the latter being revealed as Rollins’ opponent, carrying off the opening segment. We had Stardust/The Ascension sitting in the crowd with a “Stardust Section” sign for some odd reason. Is he targeting Cesaro for his next feud? God, we hope not. Anyways, this was a good match once things kicked into second gear after some messing around outside the ring. Rollins sold like crazy for Cesaro, who looked great in his offensive prowess. The Pedigree finish was expected though the way he caught Cesaro off-guard by knocking him off the top rope was a decent lead-up.

– The Miz’s backstage promo hyped the MizTV segment for later and promised that Summer Rae would “drop a bomb.” Miz’s word use of “pretty awesome” probably meant one person – Tyler Breeze aka Prince Pretty. It was rather obvious.

– Paige’s in-ring promo shed some light on the accusations cast towards her of attacking Natalya last week. Paige brought up believing she was genuinely happy to have Charlotte and Becky Lynch with her when they came up. Charlotte/Lynch came out and Lynch brought up both insults Paige threw at them during her “pipe bomb.” Charlotte took the mic and told Paige she had her moment already of winning her first Divas Championship and said Paige didn’t respect her and she was three days from her first title defense and it was again about Paige. Team Bella’s music hit and they talked about Nikki’s reign as Nikki said she was purely focused on getting her Title again. After Charlotte challenged Nikki to step in the ring, Paige took over and said she’d have to go through her first to get to Charlotte, setting up the match that followed. This was actually a pretty good match since it was allowed to slow down and be about Nikki essentially breaking down Paige to her limit, while Charlotte/Lynch stood at ringside, never cheering Paige on. We expected Nikki to get the win and sure enough, the Rack Attack assured us of that. Could’ve done without the drama, but it’s expected at this point.

– The MizTV segment with Dolph Ziggler, Summer Rae, The Miz and Breeze started off rough when we got more senseless drabble regarding this awful quadruple romance storyline where everybody basically dated one another at different points. Ziggler was initially sending Summer gifts and giving hints he wanted something more not too long ago, why would he suddenly not want it anymore? Ugh. Luckily, things got way better once the main roster was properly introduced to Breeze, which they got right in terms of showing off his “gorgeous” looks and vicious side, with how he attacked Ziggler with his selfie stick. Obviously, the new coming out of this looks promising with a Ziggler-Breeze feud, but could Summer be any more of a ho? We see she has a “type” as well, since you really can’t deny that Breeze is essentially a more flamboyant, self-obsessed version of Ziggler. All in all, a solid segment that did what it had to in order to get Breeze over and we’re interested to see where it all goes. On that note, we’re just baffled this wasn’t saved for Raw, where it would’ve made bigger waves.

– The Sheamus/King Barrett-Lucha Dragons match was a way to push the heel trio for their Six-Man Tag on Sunday, who also cut a pre-taped promo together. We saw some cool moves from Kalisto and Rusev ended up playing a role, but the Brogue Kick ended it all. Next.

– The Bo Dallas-Ryback match started with a Dallas promo that mentioned John Cena’s United States Championship open challenge and that he’d accept for his “Bomericans.” Good lord. Ryback came out to interrupt this truly touching moment. You know the rest.

– Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens’ backstage promo responded to the match and while he put Ryback over as a respectful beastly figure, he tooted his own horn by saying he wasn’t any of those things and yet he was Champion. Renee Young called him arrogant, which Owens turned into a good line – that he’d turn Hell In A Cell into the Kevin Owens show and that the belt didn’t exist before he held it. Bold words. Finally, Owens got to talk.

– The tag team main event between Ambrose/Reigns and Big E/Kofi Kingston had enough action to be fun and when the heels looked to duck out, The Dudleys threw them back into the fold. Kingston sold the Superman Punch/Spear insanely. Decent match to end the show. A Bray Wyatt fog promo reminded Reigns he couldn’t outrun his fears, giving him the slight mental edge heading into HIAC. If that’s not a foreshadowing of Reigns winning, what is?

Quick Results

• Seth Rollins def. Cesaro via pinfall
• Nikki Bella (w/Alicia Fox, Brie Bella) def. Paige via pinfall
• Sheamus/King Barrett (w/Rusev) def. The Lucha Dragons via pinfall
• Ryback def. Bo Dallas via pinfall
• Roman Reigns/Dean Ambrose def. Big E/Kofi Kingston via pinfall