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WWE Extreme Rules 2019 Preview/Predictions
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
The main roster has been in a place of recovery in recent weeks after the announcement of both Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff as Executive Directors of Raw and SmackDown respectively.
Although Bischoff is expected to begin his role after this event, it has been said that Heyman had his “fingerprints all over” Raw the last two weeks. The first week was complete with Corey Graves swearing on air, a stage explosion/pyro angle and logical storyline developments, a key aspect to Heyman’s creative skills.
This most recent Raw episode felt like more of the same filler we had previously, yet SmackDown was the better show, so who knows if Heyman had his way with the blue brand just prior to Bischoff’s beginning?
Extreme Rules is being looked forward to by many, only because it will mean the end of one era (hopefully the dreadful Wild Card) and the start of a more meaningful one. Enthusiasm is dead with the current main roster product and if anybody knows what to do to rejuvenate it, it might as well be Heyman and Bischoff at this point.
Let the games begin.
WWE Stomping Grounds 2019 Preview/Predictions
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
Stomping Grounds (Or Stomping Ground? We had to literally look at the poster to remind ourselves) comes at a time when main roster television has become uninspired at best. Is it just Lesser Super Showdown aka Less Than And Not Equal To WrestleMania?
It only made sense that last night, the WWE app accidentally let out a notification that the show was “about to begin,” clearly meant for tomorrow night. It was quite a “universal” problem (wink, wink).
We almost wanted it to happen yesterday, just so we can get it over and done with already.
The Wild Card rule continues to drag down Raw and SmackDown in quality and has made both shows feel the same. We have started to forget who is on which show now. What’s the point of a brand split then?
This probably has to do a little bit with SmackDown’s move to Fox in October. Maybe Creative has saved their best stuff for then, but it’s a chore these days to watch. Give us something. Anything.
Outside of the imaginatively hilarious and outlandish Bray Wyatt vignettes, the storylines have become immensely repetitive – Shane McMahon says stuff, Drew McIntyre is angry, Sami Zayn loses, Alexa Bliss is a disgruntled Starbucks customer, R-Truth loses the 24/7 Championship and wins it back (although not this week), Ricochet may or may not win his match and Baron Corbin is simply terrible.
You have not missed much outside of the aforementioned. Shame.
Good, Bad & The Ugly – WWE TLC 2018
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
Welcome to “Good, Bad & The Ugly,” the newest review concept where we’ll break down shows according to three ratings – Good, Bad or Ugly. The results will tally up to give us the Final Decision on the show.
Headed In
– In the midst of a Creative shake-up, we’re still fresh off two big heel turns – “The New” Daniel Bryan (WWE Champion) and Dean Ambrose. Meanwhile, on the Raw side, Ronda Rousey (WWE Raw Women’s Champion) had dominated all before her but a huge obstacle in “Knockout Sensation” Nia Jax, notorious for her punch on “The Man” Becky Lynch. To top it off, we’d have the first-ever Women’s Tables, Ladders and Chairs match for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship between Champion Lynch, Charlotte Flair and Asuka. This should be a fun show, albeit a long one since we have a grand total of 12 matches. What is this, WrestleMania? Even past Manias never had that many bouts.
PWO Intermission – Episode 12 – Jamaican Me Believe In Kofi
*A Pro Wrestling Opinion Exclusive*
Check out the latest episode of Intermission, the 15-minute podcast where Host Nicholas Jason Lopez shoots on social media and talks current wrestling news!
Classy Topics Include:
- Why Can’t He Be Named Donovan Dijak in NXT?
- GARGIAMPA
- Big E/Xavier Woods Should Turn On Kofi Kingston
- WrestleMania 35 Rumor Mill – Kevin Owens Vs. Daniel Bryan, Lacey Evans Vs. Asuka
- Where Was Tommaso Ciampa Watching That Match Though?
Listen Below:
Notes In Observance – WWE Raw 3/6/17: Reclaim The Yard
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 3/6/17)
Reclaim The Yard
– The opening video recapped WWE Universal Champion Goldberg’s defeat over Kevin Owens at Fastlane the night before that lasted just longer than a National Basketball Association shot clock. WWE United States Champion Chris Jericho – once Owens’ best friend that was betrayed mercilessly weeks prior – cost him the belt that he at one point helped him keep countless times. He did that with his simple presence on the ramp, which deterred Owens from his “mind games” strategy of repeatedly stalling for time. We hoped they’d work in actual footage of Jericho helping Owens time in and time out (Dammit, WWE Network, there’s an archive waiting to be used) but they did give us the line from Commentator Michael Cole, so we guess we’ll settle for that. On the other side of the WrestleMania 33 spectrum, this sets up an inevitable Universal Championship match between Goldberg and Brock Lesnar, just what their third match in history needs.
Notes In Observance – WWE Raw 2/27/17: Post Breaker
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 2/27/17)
Post Breaker
– We began with Goldberg, who we know challenges WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens at Fastlane in six days. Cue his classic “walk from the back and snort aggressively” entrance. Goddamn, his pyro gets so bright. Among the fans in Green Bay, Wisconsin looks like an adult woman decked out in WWE Raw Women’s Champion Bayley’s gear. Well, something seems off about that. Not a bad promo from Goldie – “KO talks too much” and “I’m six days away from gold” are things his character should be saying. It’s inevitable, isn’t it? We think people just like to chant Goldberg’s name more than it being an indication that he’s actually over. He sure was throwing a lot of promises out there. Things looked to wrap up there, but we got a KO appearance. Luckily for last week’s sit-down suit promo, we can take the Champ slightly more serious now. Okay, he flubbed “mood” for “mool,” but that can slide. We liked that he sold his credibility and reminded us of how he beat John Cena on his first night on the main roster and scored big wins over AJ Styles and WWE Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose. He even name-dropped WWE United States Champion Roman Reigns. The telling line was that he outright said Chris Jericho didn’t matter. Foreshadowing. We’ll say that Goldberg has gotten better at promos than we can remember. “I don’t speak neanderthal” was a very KO response. Ha. Pick on the hometown, classic heel move. “The Goldberg chant dies” was a pretty morbid way to end the exchange, but that set the table for FL nicely. KO ultimately stands no chance in the long run with Brock Lesnar in the wings and his history with Goldberg.
Notes In Observance – WWE Raw 2/20/17: The Behemoths Collide
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 2/20/17)
The Behemoths Collide
– The opening video recapped WWE United States Champion Chris Jericho’s “Festival Of Friendship” that emanated from Las Vegas. To sum it up, it was a millennial rehash of “This Is Your Life” with a showbiz extravaganza theme to showcase Jericho’s appreciation for his best friend. They did a great job as they drove home the emotion and set up the moment perfectly when Jericho didn’t suspect an attack until it was too late. Loved the closeups on WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens’ sadistic expressions as he betrayed Jericho and was thus, friends no more.
Notes In Observance – WWE Raw 2/13/17: Festival Of Friendship
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 2/13/17)
Festival Of Friendship
– Raw was in Las Vegas, we had a big WWE Raw Women’s Championship rematch between Champion Charlotte and Bayley and above all else, a “Festival Of Friendship” WWE United States Champion Chris Jericho was throwing for WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens. Add up all the ingredients and figure out where it can possibly go wrong. Exactly. To start the show, out came Commissioner Stephanie McMahon, which meant we got the old-fashioned 20-minute talking promo. Vintage Raw. She “gave” General Manager Mick Foley “the week off” and emasculated him without his presence this time. She went for the classic hometown cheap pop. Lord. Here comes Roman Reigns. Just why? This “Big Dog” nickname sounds so forced and won’t ever catch on. He demanded Braun Strowman, even though he’s guaranteed to face him at Fastlane on Mar. 5., like bro, can’t you wait? Real world exercise – ask your boss for your vacation and then a month before it approaches, demand it right now. See how that works out for you. From Steph’s point of view, why on earth would she oblige? We’re reminded she’s a heel and gets the crowd worked up for the prospect of it happening and then does the “boss” thing and prevents it because “she cares.” Cue the boos. She does announce that Strowman would face Mark Henry later. That sounds nice. She’s the boss, so she threatened Reigns and teased taking away the FL match and subsequent WrestleMania bonus. Reigns only got more aggressive in his stance, which drew WWE Raw Tag Team Champions, Luke Gallows/Karl Anderson. This can’t be good. They sucked up to Steph and suggested a Handicap match. Why wouldn’t she? Anderson sported a Club shirt that had similar fonts to the classic Bullet Club tee. Oh, subtle copying. Cue a mini-“brawl” where Referees have to pull them apart before we go to break. Let’s get to the match portion of things. Not much to write here, as the “numbers game” ran the pace, though Reigns powered in some offense. For some reason, the Champs ignored requests from the Referee to not beatdown their single opponent and were disqualified. Meh. Reigns fought out of the Magic Killer and then walked away. The Tag Champs don’t look any stronger and neither did Reigns. What exactly was this supposed to be?
Notes In Observance – WWE Raw 2/6/17: Wild Samoans
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 2/6/17)
Wild Samoans
– One week after Samoa Joe’s riveting debut that involved a sideline beatdown of Seth Rollins, it was probably no secret that the angle would be the focus to open the show. It’s funny how the Rollins-Triple H storyline mulls along through the months, but with big happenings, it heats up. At this time, Rollins was likely to miss WrestleMania, which actually put more heat on Joe and rather than ignore that, they used it to their advantage. The opening video delved into all that, with sleek editing that actually brought meaning to Trips’ promo on Rollins last week and set up the moment well for Joe to attack. We’ll guess Joe will be branded as “The Destroyer” from hereon out. The key as always is the followup.
WWE Royal Rumble 2017 Reaction
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By Nicholas Jason Lopez
While January begins with a countdown from ten to one, wrestling fans most associate the month with the same countdown towards another festivity – the Royal Rumble.
Given the “Big Four” treatment, equivalent in 2017 to a NXT TakeOver event the day before, a two-hour pre-show and a five-and-a-half-hour Pay-Per-View, it was treated as a huge deal.
It probably also helped that it emanated from San Antonio’s Alamodome, with a house count of 52,020. It was practically WrestleMania without being it.
Given the Rumble’s star power of Brock Lesnar, Braun Strowman, The Big Show, Goldberg and The Undertaker, there was an unpredictability headed in that severely lacked the previous few years.
Pro Wrestling Opinion 