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 10/29/15)

Ring Of Horror 

– The opening video highlighted how The Wyatt Family recently “stole the souls” of The Undertaker and Kane on consecutive nights in a narrated style that actually came off well, felt very 90’s throwback. It’s a welcome change of pace.

– The opening Wyatt Family fog promo had a feeling of uneasiness and terror upon its duration, laying the foundation for the main event where Bray Wyatt challenged any three souls to take on his monsters and also allowing each member to speak. The gist of it was that their looks weren’t Halloween costumes and they were very real. Also liked the visual effects of Wyatt slowly stroking Undertaker’s famous top hat and Kane’s demon mask, which became a prop for Braun Strowman to use to promise “annihilation.” This was actually well-done and par for the course of a Halloween-themed episode.

– The WWE World Heavyweight Championship #1 Contender Roman Reigns-WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens match kept the show going on strong. The match was cleverly set up with a fun promo exchange between the two where we saw Reigns having the support of the crowd as he reminded us all of how he fought through his detractors and Owens dismissing it as a fluke, when Reigns pinned him on Raw to become #1 Contender. This matchup felt unique and new for a change and the guys were entertaining. This had a great, brawl-like intensity throughout as this played to both men’s strengths in styles, often reliant on big power moves. We weren’t expecting a clean finish but all things considering, it was handled well to have Owens Superman Punched out of the ring only to purposely stay out of the ring to get counted out after getting back up. It protects Owens and also gives Reigns a cheap win to keep his momentum going.

– Dean Ambrose’s backstage segment focused on him being the first to accept Wyatt’s challenge because he took on fear and destroyed monsters. He looked tough by wanting to fight regardless of who’d want to join him. Then, Bo Dallas showed up dressed as a ghost trying to scare him unsuccessfully. What’s a WWE holiday show without campiness?

– Safe bet to say that even though The Tag Team Terror Four Corners match between The Dudley Boyz, Sheamus/King Barrett, The Lucha Dragons and The Ascension had eight men in total, it was two men on commentary whom held our attention throughout in Big E/Kofi Kingston, who now literally had unicorn horns fastened to their foreheads as they cut a pre-match promo that picked on their opponents for not believing in magic. The match itself had some decent action, but that was overshadowed by the distracting commentary, even though we’ll admit their mock commenting was hilarious. It almost sounded like Steve Urkel was calling the action. How can you possibly take it seriously? That said – the finish showed us a hot double-team maneuver by Lucha Dragons to get the win, but that probably means about as much as nothing these days. The ironic thing was that Xavier Woods wasn’t even there and yet The New Day was still the focus, not missing a step.

– The Ambrose-Cesaro backstage segment was about Cesaro being ready to join him in battle with decent comedic chemistry. Bo Dallas unsuccessfully also tried to scare Cesaro.

– The Trick Or Treat Street Fight match between Dolph Ziggler and The Miz was about as cheesy as it gets for a comedy spot bout, as you had things like pumpkins getting smashed with superkicks and use of a bobbing apple station here. There was some ring psychology to this despite the stipulation as Miz targeted Ziggler’s knee, but the babyface fought his way back to win on a sudden roll-up. Ziggler selling the knees almost gave away an appearance by Tyler Breeze/Summer Rae, as Breeze came to pick up the scraps. Ziggler tried to fight instinctively on one leg, but to no avail and we once again seen Breeze leave Ziggler laying. Effective angle to further establish Breeze as a flashy heel.

– So you mean to tell us we won’t get any kind of payoff to the “Who attacked Natalya backstage?” storyline when Natalya has no recollection of who attacked her from behind? Awesome. Sigh. At the least, the Paige-Natalya match helped to establish Paige as slimy and desperate to win. With Sasha Banks on an impending face turn, we’re not quite sure why she and Team BAD were in full-fledged heel mode, cutting a condescending promo on Natalya being an “attention needer” and attacking her after Paige won the match. It did look for a second as if maybe Paige now pledged Team BAD, but that quickly dissipated. Okay, so now Natalya looks extra sympathetic and Team BAD stands smug and proud of their beatdown. Alrighty then.

– The Ambrose-Ryback segment saw Ryback looking for revenge against The Wyatts with Ambrose warning him about what he was getting into and Ryback was all for it. We were beginning to see things coming together. Isn’t it always miraculous how that happens by 10 pm?

– The WWE United States Champion Alberto Del Rio-R-Truth match was clearly a buffer favored towards the newly crowned “MexAmerica” Champion. Based off Zeb Colter’s pre-match promo on the stage insulting the crowd, we now know they’re both heels, but this whole “MexAmerica” storyline leaves a lot to be desired. It’s an odd pairing and the confusing nature of their relationship doesn’t help things. Also, a diving knee drop is a weak finisher. Del Rio needs more than that to be believable. That post-match handshake was also too strange-looking.

– In perhaps the one time this year Mark Henry has been allowed to look good in a segment, it was by instinctively knocking out a ghostly clad Dallas for making him drop his phone. Moving on…

– The Six-Man Tag main event match between Ambrose/Cesaro/Ryback and Strowman/Erick Rowan/Luke Harper was a good ensemble to provide The Wyatts some fun competition. There were some highlight reel-worthy moments, whether it was Ambrose’s many suicide dives, Rowan’s domination at points or Strowman flipping the announce table with ease. Cesaro particularly stood out in a good way here. The finish showed the heels bending the rules to stay in front and they remain as hot as can be headed into Raw. Don’t mess with The Wyatts, yo.

Quick Results

• Roman Reigns def. Kevin Owens via countout
• Tag Team Terror Four Corners Match – The Lucha Dragons def. The Dudley Boyz, The Ascension and Sheamus/King Barrett via pinfall
• Trick Or Treat Street Fight – Dolph Ziggler def. The Miz via pinfall
• Paige def. Natalya via pinfall
• Alberto Del Rio (w/Zeb Colter) def. R-Truth via pinfall
• Six-Man Tag – Braun Strowman/Luke Harper/Erick Rowan (w/Bray Wyatt) def. Dean Ambrose/Cesaro/Ryback via pinfall