Blog Archives
WWE TLC 2016 Reaction
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
Two weeks after Survivor Series and two days after Ring Of Honor’s Final Battle, it was easy to view WWE’s TLC with Pay-Per-View fatigue.
Honestly, such is the story of 2016.
Thanks to the “Land Of Opportunity” mindset and the ability to make the most of the little things, the SmackDown Live brand took the TLC branding to a “new extreme,” if you will.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown Live 11/29/16: Proven Loyalty
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 11/29/16)
Proven Loyalty
– The opening contract signing segment for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship match for TLC between Alexa Bliss and Champion Becky Lynch was a good start, as the events were also shown throughout the episode. Renee Young initially mediated, but was a ploy for Bliss to lay in some early insults, eventually hurled towards the Champ. The exchange here was strong, as Bliss continued to deliver her case that Lynch had “dumb Irish luck,” while Lynch argued that she earned everything she got so far. Lynch dipped into the Bad Pun Sea, but luckily they switched it up before eyes could roll. The physicality only made this out to be a typical contract signing segment, but was necessary. Lynch got revenge for Bliss’ attack last week as she initiated the brawl, but it was Bliss who stood tall, since she pushed Lynch off the top rope and through the table. Hey, if it worked for Sheamus in 2010…
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown Live 11/22/16: Mountie-Bred Madness
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 11/22/16)
Mountie-Bred Madness
– The opening video highlighted Survivor Series, where Team Blue emerged victorious over Team Raw with the “stakes higher than ever.” We saw the bickering between WWE World Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose cost the team an elimination. Another highlight was James Ellsworth’s “revenge” against Braun Strowman as he held down the big man’s feet and prevented him from beating an in-ring count. Of course, Ellsworth was thrown off the stage and through a table, but it counted. The biggest story though – Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton were the sole survivors, as they defeated WWE United States Champion Roman Reigns.
WWE Survivor Series 2016 Reaction
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
If WWE in 2016 has taught us anything, it’s that content outweighs logic.
After an hour and 51 minute pre-show came a three hour and 26-minute Pay-Per-View for a total of five hours and 27 minutes of air time.
Nothing screamed “filler” like interbranded 10-man elimination tag matches, with little consequences. Three of them, to be exact.
It’s like watching the World Series between two teams you don’t like. There’s no emotional investment besides the ones who’re directly involved.
Luckily, the best build ironically went to Goldberg-Brock Lesnar, the personification of the overhyped “Fantasy Warfare Just Got Real” catchphrase.
In this case, some things should stay fantasy.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown Live 11/15/16: #900
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 11/15/16)
#900
– It was nice to see SmackDown Live’s 900th episode fall during the Survivor Series go-home week. In the realm of tradition and nostalgia for the blue brand, there was also a purpose. The opening video nicely “relived” various highlights from past talent like Eddie Guerrero, King Booker, Edge, JBL, Booker T and Stone Cold Steve Austin. The DX Bus explosion was shown as was the infamous Gore by Rhyno that took Chris Jericho through the original oval set. It seamlessly transitioned into current storylines where we saw hype for the WWE Intercontinental Championship match between Champion Dolph Ziggler and The Miz, the return of Edge in “The Cutting Edge” and a “Date With The Deadman,” The Undertaker. How lovely. Certainly beats Raw.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown Live 11/1/16: One Last Chance
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 11/1/16)
One Last Chance
– After James Ellsworth cost Dean Ambrose a chance at the WWE World Heavyweight Championship last week after Champion AJ Styles riled him up enough to attack him outside, we were left to wonder how they’d follow up. Would Ambrose pulverize Ellsworth? Ellsworth did a good job as he played a sympathetic pest who expressed sorrow towards Ambrose. The opening in-ring segment with Ellsworth, Styles and Ambrose (we’ll call them the “SmackDown Three”) was a good program advance. It was evident that Styles tried to use Ambrose to get under Ellsworth’s skin and get him to “join the dark side.” Ambrose surprisingly accepted the apology and we got the expected physicality as Styles stood tall to end things.
WWE No Mercy 2016 Reaction
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
In an unprecedented period where we had five pro wrestling pay-per-views between Sept. 11 and Oct. 11 between WWE, Ring Of Honor and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, we were exhausted by Oct. 9 when No Mercy rolled around.
Luckily, if you look at that nice poster to the side, SmackDown Live had been headlined by the excellent heel duo of WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz/Maryse as he was engaged in a “Title Vs. Career” feud with Dolph Ziggler.
That feud would become synonymous with this show for reasons we’ll explore below.
It also helped that we had a Triple-Threat main event for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship between Champion AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose and John Cena that actually opened the show for a change.
Cool on the surface, but that brought us to the problem – one disorganized card.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown Live 9/27/16: Meet The Parents
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 9/27/16)
Meet The Parents
– This episode boasted a WWE World Heavyweight Championship main event between Champion AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose. The opening video wasted no time hyping this huge match. Plain and simple stuff. Oh, there’s that theme we love so much.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown Live 9/20/16: A Prime Time Showdown
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 9/20/16)
A Prime Time Showdown
– With two big main events hyped, John Cena would fight Dean Ambrose and the WWE Intercontinental Championship would be on the line as Champion Miz defended against Dolph Ziggler, we already had a fun show on our hands. After we suffered through what felt like forever the night before, we were welcome to change.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown Live 9/6/16: Done With That
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 9/6/16)
Done With That
– With Backlash five days away, WWE wasted no time getting its first SmackDown Live-Exclusive Pay-Per-View hyped up and ready to go. The opening in-ring segment with SmackDown Live General Manager Daniel Bryan, Becky Lynch, Carmella, Nikki Bella, Alexa Bliss, Natalya and Naomi was a good start to things to hype the Six-Pack Elimination Challenge to crown the inaugural WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion between the ladies, as Bryan stood in the middle of it all. We got to see Lynch talk about her long journey and acknowledge her shortcomings as a kind of motivation. Natalya was a downer who called Lynch “boring,” while Bliss referred to everyone as “whiners” and insulted Bryan for being a “trophy husband.” Carmella got the last words when she bragged about her beatdowns on Bella. Eventually, the heels cornered Lynch and out came Naomi/Bella to back her up. We knew beforehand that we’d see a Six-Woman tag and that was easy to hype right from here.
