Blog Archives
Notes In Observance – ROH Wrestling 2/8/17: Taking Umbrage To The Umbrella
Image provided courtesy of Ring Of Honor.
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 2/8/17)
Taking Umbrage To The Umbrella
– The Punishment Damien Martinez/BJ Whitmer-War Machine match carried off past quarrels where a match went to the wayside for the purpose of pointless brawling. At least it gives the four something to do, as Martinez’s future’s the most to gain here. It also helped this episode that Colt Cabana was on commentary in classic boastful heel mode. We also liked the little touch that WM wore face paint. It adds to their look, albeit in a “Braveheart” way. Whitmer seems to get “go away heat” and that continued here as not much action occurred. There was a moment where Hanson performed a spot where he repetitively ran his opponents in the corner, to the point the fans did the rally cries with him. It lasted about a minute, legitimately. There were some consistent double-teams on both ends, including an impressive pop-up powerslam by WM. The finish is where things get silly again, because the four men are so into the brawl, the damn 20-count passes them right by. Countouts in ROH are just ridiculous. The only solace taken here was that Martinez/Hanson could make an intriguing singles match one day. Let’s hope they go that route.
Notes In Observance – WWE Raw 5/16/16: Flair For The Dramatic
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 5/16/16)
Flair For The Dramatic
– Broadcasted from North Carolina, it was expected that the southern crowd would favor AJ Styles and they treated him like a star. He wasted no time as he referenced endless tweets and accusations from fans and WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns that he used Karl Anderson/Luke Gallows as a “master plan” to get him to the top gold. Convenient that he had time to compose all those tweets in a simple video, huh? Anyways, Reigns’ two cents on this made sense, especially after Styles defended himself when he said he sold out arenas and won World Titles elsewhere all on his own. Reigns continued to play up his tweener side as he reacted to fans’ “Seth Rollins” chants and told them they wouldn’t get him. Both guys played up the later Usos-Anderson/Gallows tag match as they hyped that they’d both be out in their respective corners. It was well-established that their next match would be unlike what we saw at Payback, because this time it was Extreme Rules. The physicality to end things was okay for what it was, as Styles was cocked with a right from Reigns when The Usos emerged behind the Champ after Gallows/Anderson’s music hit. Your usual “combustible elements” to further this feud between “The Bloodline” and “The Club.”
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 5/11/16: The Day The Music Died
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 5/11/16)
The Day The Music Died
– This show had purpose from the first second, as the opening video hyped Finn Balor’s first appearance since he lost his NXT Championship to Champion Samoa Joe at a live event in Lowell, Massachusetts. Oh snap.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 3/30/16: Ready For A Takeover
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 3/30/16)
Ready For A Takeover
– The American Alpha-Corey Hollis/John Skyler was a logical squash for AA to hit their signature moves en route to their biggest match to date at TakeOver: Dallas when they’d fight for the NXT Tag Team Championship against Champions The Revival, who watched attentively backstage. Good energy from the Title challengers here.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 2/10/16: A Friendly Battle
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 2/10/16)
A Friendly Battle
– NXT continues to make moves in 2016, this episode taking place in the CFE Arena in Orlando, Florida, a packed house ready to make themselves heard. The opening video did a good recap of hyping the NXT Women’s Championship match between Champion Bayley and #1 Contender Carmella. This was your “bestie relationship” being tested with a grand prize thrown in the middle.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 1/13/16: Fabulously Over-The-Top
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 1/13/16)
Fabulously Over-The-Top
– 2015 was the year where NXT officially broke into mainstream as wrestling’s hottest promotion/brand and it has been a “back-to-basics” style of booking mixed with Triple H’s resilient ways of scouting the indies and bringing in popular talent that has done the job. 2015 saw plenty of this and it’s paying off in 2016.
Notes In Observance – ROH Wrestling 12/16/15: Primed For A Final Battle
Image provided courtesy of Ring Of Honor.
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 12/16/15)
Primed For A Final Battle
– The Adam Cole-Corey Hollis match served as a basic squash (guess Hollis doesn’t only job in NXT) but we still think Cole gave up more offense than necessary, but it did its job. Cole messed with first-row fans by telling them to get up and move acting like he’d throw Hollis over the barricade only to tease them by tossing him back into the ring. It wasn’t long before Cole put Corey to sleep and as expected, he promised to end Kyle O’Reilly at Final Battle once and for all.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 12/9/15: Full Sailing To London
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 12/9/15)
Full Sailing To London
– Ah, NXT: the one WWE show you can watch lately without getting your intelligence insulted. Feels refreshing. With this the go-home show for NXT TakeOver: London, it was clear the agenda was to give some finishing touches to that card and there was evidence of that from top to bottom. The first match pitted Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady against Corey Hollis/John Skyler, with the usual fun-loving faces in a mood for absolute retribution. They skipped their SAWFT routine and went straight to business, with an amped up demeanor. Cassady’s facial expressions were perfect and Amore even impressed with his hard strikes, ending the bout with their classic Rocket Launcher finisher. The post-match promo was the real money, as they made it clear that the NXT Tag Team Champions Dash Wilder/Scott Dawson tried to end their careers and they had waited too long for their shot to miss it. The lesson – don’t mess with Enzo’s family. Cassady brought perfect rage at the end, as his face was practically about to explode with it.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 11/18/15: A Lesson In Respect
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 11/18/15)
A Lesson In Respect
– The Carmella-Nia Jax match was about Jax having her most tested opponent to date and seeing how she’d fare out. Carmella had the crowd’s support and mounted some offense, but the end result was the same. Didn’t do much to convince us that Jax has more depth than what we’ve already seen.
Notes In Observance – ROH Wrestling 7/29/15: Worst Father’s Gift Ever
Image provided courtesy of Ring Of Honor.
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 7/29/15)
Worst Father’s Gift Ever
– Going off the last time we saw The Kingdom on screen, Adam Cole embraced his opponents after the match, which met disapproval from Maria Kanellis, Michael Bennett and Matt Taven. The question was if The Kingdom was still on board with things, as Kanellis joined the commentary team to deny any problems, also picking on Kevin Kelly for “stirring things up.” Bennett/Taven took on the jobber team of Corey Hollis/Jonathan Gresham and while at first, seemed slightly off their game, they recovered by the match’s finish. Hollis/Gresham were treated more than pushovers here, so it’ll be interesting to see if they pick up any kind of a push later on in the year. The overall consensus here was that everything was all well and good with The Kingdom, but it remained to be seen what would happen next with Cole.
