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Review – AJ Mendez Brooks – Crazy Is My Superpower
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.
And The Slammy Goes To…
By Anthony Zevoteck
The end of 2015 is upon us and that means one thing: the Slammy Awards have arrived.
A nearly 20 year tradition, WWE’s show of celebrating “the best of the best” has always been my favorite just out of seeing if who I like get a “golden grappler,” also making Raw more fun simultaneously.
This piece explores my hopes for 2015 Slammy winners.
Notes In Observance – WWE Raw 4/6/15: Triple Threat
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 4/6/15)
Triple Threat
– Another week of Raw, another rough night for Byron Saxton. Interesting, considering all the “heat” he had from Vince McMahon last week, that he was right out there with JBL and Booker T again. He was starting to settle in on Smackdown as the heel color commentator, but being thrust so quickly as the “makeshift new voice of Raw” is a tough role and you can see it through his work. The awkward pauses of dead air in the introduction had everyone rolling their eyes yet again.
– WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins had a downright great night. He had some mega heat, which helped the first segment along, as we started the show with him, J & J Security, The Big Show and Kane. Shocking, we know. Rollins’ comment about Kane “being at WrestleMania” drew some laughs – emphasizing that Kane’s role as a team player in The Authority was minimal at best. Here came Randy Orton to basically say the same thing. Oh no, Kane is so angry. He just booked himself in a match against Orton. Oy.
– WWE needs to be thankful they even have Show and Kane the way that they do. Without them, who on earth would be the main event heels? They’ve been in the spotlight for much too long, but given the circumstances, they’re making the most of what they’re being given. That said, the Orton-Kane match was below average action, just as it sounded on paper. Kane’s blatant DQ whimpered the crowd down, understandably. This was probably to sell his “anger.” Either that or they’re trying to build Kane as a possible contender for the World Title down the road. Dear God – don’t go there, WWE.
– The broadcast team bringing up AJ Lee’s retirement with a snapshot of her farewell tweet and picture of her famous Chuck Taylor boots was at least nice, but it wouldn’t had hurt to produce a video package of her career highlights. Would’ve been both cool and appropriate.
– Seeing Rollins and Kane argue backstage was interesting – as Kane argued Rollins’ success was owed directly to him, while Rollins felt Kane should step down as Director of Operations. It was a solid “clash” and what led to the next match – selling the viewer on a hook to see just who Rollins would face thanks to Kane.
– Good idea to recap Brock Lesnar’s chaotic rampage last week. Keeps things fresh to new viewers. Interesting to also see the WWE Network advertised for free for April. Is this going to be an every couple of months thing?
– Seeing Neville as the one who would face Rollins was a cool moment in the idea that viewers most likely said, “Oh, snap! There’s one of the top NXT guys and he’s taking on the World Champion! I have to see this!” and Neville’s entrance was very Chris Jericho-esque, but a bit more sharp and fancy. Anyways, Rollins sold the moment excellently, even getting on the mic to try to get out of the match. Neville did more than hold his own – flashing his crowd-pleasing aerial maneuvers, but this felt like a death mission for him the moment he came out. Creative pretty much relied on his NXT accolades to get him over in the match, but to casual WWE viewers, they just seen a guy who lost in his second match. Sometimes, a slow, protected build can do more wonders for a guy rather than a memorable performance in one particular match. Why send him out to a loss in his second Raw match? This was an instance a run-in, DQ or countout would’ve helped.
– John Cena’s promo was another instance of him making the United States Championship sound important and giving opportunities for other guys to come take the belt. Stardust answering the call wasn’t the biggest reaction-causing moment, but the match was very solid. At the least, there’s been some effort of just presenting quality wrestling on Raw, and that’s good. A couple of believable near-falls towards the end, although the result was never really in question, especially with the Cena-Rusev rematch announced for Extreme Rules. It’s a good gimmick though for a weekly show.
– The Bella Twins-Paige/Naomi match left a lot to be desired, especially on Naomi’s performance despite her latest push. Her ring work was so sloppy here, downright cringe-worthy stuff. Charlotte & Co. can’t come soon enough.
– So, the Prime Time Players are back… cutting horrendous campy “comedy” promos ripping on other teams like The New Day and The Ascension. We like the PTP, they just need to find some new material. Maybe Rufus “Pancake” Patterson should make his long-awaited return.
– The Ryback-Luke Harper match was okay, not much to rave over. Ryback got the win to look good for the triple threat main event later and Harper continues to be overlooked.
– The New Day promo talked about the negative crowd reactions – Big E particularly stole the moment here, but the cemented heel turn didn’t happen here, as they just mockingly started the clap again, which got the chant going again.
– The Lucha Dragons-Xavier Woods/Big E match pushed on the continued (almost encouraged) negative reaction for the New Day while Lucha Dragons continued their momentum. Short and sweet, fun match. Also good to see Tyson Kidd/Cesaro/Natalya keeping an eye on a backstage monitor, making it feel important.
– The Roman Reigns-Show match was pretty much what you’d expect – with Show dominating for Reigns to come out on top again. With the triple threat contenders all winning their matches, this was not the least bit shocking. That’s a problem for a three-hour wrestling show. Almost a nap-inducer.
– Nothing says “Give Divas A Chance” like a Battle Royale match next week with all six of the Divas, right?
– Reigns’ promo was on the short side and hyped the main event. They’ve kept him mostly silent to the company’s biggest audience. You have to wonder the logic in that.
– Sheamus’ promo was more of his recent obsession of picking on the underdogs, which brought out Mark Henry – someone his “size.” Their match was likely more of a glorified squash for Sheamus – who looked good in the push of his new attitude. He’s been the heel that’s provided the breath of fresh air WWE desperately needed on the “heel scene.”
– The Bray Wyatt fog promo was just needless rambling about nature and fear. He’s back in a holding pattern again.
– Ryback’s promo also hyped the match and he put over the other competitors. Pretty textbook stuff. It was like we could see they were obviously going to have all three competitors cut promos before the match.
– The Damien Mizdow-Miz match was okay, though it felt rushed with little to no hype. This was something you could’ve saved for Extreme Rules, as this is a PPV-worthy match. That said, Miz winning by grabbing the tights likely leads us down the road to an Extreme Rules match.
– Orton’s promo also hyped up the main event well and said he’d get to Rollins and beat him for the Title. He was arguably the favorite heading in, considering the competitors.
– The Reigns-Orton-Ryback triple threat main event match was ultimately lackluster as The Authority made their way down and got into the match, allowing Reigns to dive on to all of them and get knocked out, while Orton RKO’d Ryback for the pinfall. The finish was the only cool thing about the match. Rollins’ immediate Curb Stomp on Orton was cool to see. Rollins finished the episode like he started it – out on top. He’s sort of carrying the show at this point, a good thing for everybody.
Quick Results
– Randy Orton def. Kane via DQ
– Seth Rollins (w/J & J Security) def. Neville via pinfall
– United States Championship – Open Challenge – John Cena (Champion) def. Stardust via pinfall to retain
– Paige/Naomi def. The Bella Twins via pinfall
– Ryback def. Luke Harper via pinfall
– The Lucha Dragons def. Xavier Woods/Big E (w/Kofi Kingston) via pinfall
– Roman Reigns def. The Big Show via pinfall
– Sheamus def. Mark Henry via pinfall
– The Miz def. Damien Mizdow via pinfall
– Winner Gets WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match at Extreme Rules – Triple Threat – Randy Orton def. Roman Reigns, RybackÂ
Remembering AJ Lee
By Richie SeriniÂ
Contributing Writer
As you’ve all heard, WWE Diva and three-time Divas Champion AJ Lee (April Jeanette Mendez-Brooks) has retired from in-ring action.
The news did drop out of the sky – anyone with the WWE App was probably in complete shock upon seeing the update that stated her official retirement, essentially a big loss for the Divas division.
Or was it really?
It could be a big chance for the other Divas like Naomi, Natalya and Paige to show they can carry the division at the top.
It’s also a big welcome mat for the leading NXT Divas like Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Bayley to get their long-awaited call-up and grab that oh-so-famous “brass ring” Vince McMahon loves to talk about and not just grab it, but keep a firm grip on it.
Particularly, “The Boss” Banks has potential to become the next AJ. At the age of 23, she has the most time to improve and if Creative books her properly, she can easily surpass Lee’s 295-day reign.
After all, this is where “Give Divas A Chance” comes in, right?
However, AJ leaving isn’t all good things for the company. AJ was a top draw – one of the top main roster talents, actually bringing some life to the Division right before WrestleMania, giving Paige that needed push to take on the Bella Twins. Not to say that losing her will lead to huge rating drops and massive loss of ticket sales, but it could have an effect.
Nevertheless, fans will have to deal with the loss as it is, mainly because wrestlers are performers – and they have real lives outside of the ring and goals to fulfill.
AJ is a regular human being like you. She enjoys video games and comic books. She is a nerd but she is also a big fan of independent wrestling too – just like her husband, Phillip “CM Punk” Brooks.
For her time in WWE, she has made the most of it. Let’s remember her amazing 295-day reign as Divas Champion, winning Diva of the Year Slammys in both 2012 and 2014, being Raw general manager at one point, and her “on-screen relationships” with Daniel Bryan, Punk, Kane, John Cena and Dolph Ziggler.
Her departure will sting just a little bit. Nobody could capture charisma on the mic like her and it will take some time for someone else to come up and steal the show, but rest assured, all eyes will be fixed on the Divas, and maybe that’s what AJ wanted this whole time.