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 12/27/16)

Hail The Crown 

– The opening video recapped Neville’s aggressive heel turn at Roadblock: End Of The Line, as they worked in promo soundbites that put over his frustrations. On Raw, Neville defeated TJ Perkins and challenged WWE Cruiserweight Champion Rich Swann to a match on 205 Live. After Swann accepted, Neville ambushed him from behind and hit the Red Arrow. They’ve begun to have Neville act like “Mr. Anti-America” to justify his heelish ways, or more like a shrugged response to fans’ cheers. It’s so-so, but at least a Neville-Swann match had our attention. Then, there was also a “Gentlemen’s Duel.” More on that below.

– The Cedric Alexander-Tony Nese match was more of the usual in the ring, though they used this as the chance to further Drew Gulak’s misogynistic comments against Alicia Fox (Alexander’s girlfriend) last week. Not sure why Gulak wore a suit out there as he looked like a poor man’s Niko Bellic from Grand Theft Auto IV. This was Chicago of course, so when Fox began a cheer at ringside several times, she was the loudest one. Alexander’s respected, but Fox may drag his coolness factor down. Alexander showed off some of his athleticism before we dove into the finish. Fox and Gulak had words, as Fox reverted back to her overdramatic crazy self and screamed Gulak to the ground. Ugh. Of course, that set Alexander up to be distracted when Fox got ejected upon Gulak’s complaints that he was hit for a Face Palm Strike to pin Alexander. We get what they tried to do, but that came off bad.

– The Fox/Noam Dar backstage segment continued Dar’s descent into creepy territory, as he presented a mistletoe and asked for a kiss, only to be slapped silly. Not sure why Fox would give in to his request for another slap, we’d just run away, but it is what it is. The creeper character kind of works for Dar. Sort of a step back from last week when he charmed her by being there for her when she got knocked to the ground. Alexander will probably have words for this.

– The Renee Young/Neville Sit-Down Interview segment looked to get a closer glimpse into Neville’s new persona. His reasonings here made sense, as he was “overlooked” for the Cruiserweight Classic and felt he was discriminated because of where he came from. We liked that he provided some backstory where Swann used to do chores for him and worship him like an idol in Japan. He also used the fact that he was used to taking on 300-pound guys as a reason for feeling he was above the Cruiserweights. He got angry when Young misunderstood “doddle” and effectively ended things. We got what we were promised and some light main event hype while at it. Of course, the “foreign” angle’s tiresome, but it’s not the worst thing either.

– The Mustafa Ali-John Yurnet match saw a reset button for Ali, who was now a babyface. Chicago was a good place as any, especially since that was his hometown. Not sure of what to make of Yurnet, who the broadcast team put over as an NXT talent, but his multi-colored hair and tattoos were unique. Not much in the way of action as Yurnet possibly played possum to nurse a groin injury, before Ali set it down and pinned him with the Inverted 450 Splash. He does come off as a Middle Eastern Perkins, but his post-match promo was a step in the right direction. He claimed he came to prove the people wrong for their judgments of him based off name and appearance, but they proved him wrong in the process. Good stuff. Hilariously, Aries wanted to name his finisher the “Oh-Fifty-Four.”

– Ariya Daivari’s hype video put him over as an adaptive individual and we liked that they showed footage of his brother (also named Daivari) to his claims that he was better than he ever was. It’d be cool if Daivari returned for a future family angle. Daivari mentioned his accomplishments of appearing on Raw and Hell In A Cell, but that was laughable at best. He continued his feud with “The Extraordinary Gentleman” Jack Gallagher, as he called his loss to him a fluke and that it’d never happen again.

– The Gentlemen’s Duel between Daivari and Gallagher was entertaining thanks to Gallagher’s character, as he walked us through the duel rules. He had a table presented with available weapons like ropes, lead pipes, umbrellas, wrenches, candlesticks and even a tea pot. He allowed Daivari to choose any weapon and he went with the lead pipe while he himself chose the umbrella. Funny. He sensed Daivari’s attack and had it scouted as he poked and tripped him with the umbrella. Daivari battled back as he used the table and beat him down in the corner. The crowd actually chanted “Scoundrel” at him, which was a good sign he’s getting over. Gallagher answered back as he avoided Daivari’s wrench attack and hit his headbutt/running dropkick to clear him from the ring. Gallagher won by an apparent forfeit, but that felt more like an angle than anything. Good stuff though.

– Tajiri’s hype video put the vertex over for his in-ring skills, kicks and lots of mist of course. His return was set for next week. Yes.

– The Neville-Swann main event thankfully saw a more serious Swann, as he smiled upon his entrance, but didn’t dance or want to shake hands. He came at Neville aggressively to start things out. Neville answered back as he tossed Swann into the apron again, which began the damage to Swann’s lower back. Neville overshot a plancha, but Swann reached his arm out to look like the move glanced him. Lull point where Neville relied on rest holds and the crowd chanted for Aries. It apparently worked though because the crowd chanted “USA” at Neville. Ugh. Swann hit a huracanrana on Neville as he was on the top rope and then a Phoenix Splash to the outside. Neville kicked out of a Tiger Bomb, superkick and Fantastic Voyage by Swann, which was good because it showed Neville was resilient upon all of Swann’s moves. Neville missed a twisting 450 off the second rope and was hit with Swann’s kick for a near-fall. It was Swann’s lower back that did him in as he couldn’t take advantage of having Neville down while on the top rope. Neville grounded him on the turnbuckle, hit an enziguiri and followed with an impactful superplex to get the win. It almost looked like a brainbuster-plex. A good finish, as Neville needed the win to keep his credibility and it set up a Title match scenario too. On the other side, Swann was more serious and almost pinned him at several times, but selling the lower back gave him an out here. Neville’s post-match attack was good, as it furthered heat on him. It took several officials to get him off Swann before he shouted for his crown. While he make a King outfit? God, we hope so.

Quick Results

• Tony Nese (w/Drew Gulak) def. Cedric Alexander (w/Alicia Fox) via pinfall 
• Mustafa Ali def. John Yurnet via pinfall 
• Gentlemen’s Duel – “The Extraordinary Gentleman” Jack Gallagher def. Ariya Daivari via forfeit 
• Neville def. Rich Swann via pinfall