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WWE WrestleMania 35 Preview/Predictions
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
NXT TakeOver: New York (or TakeOver: Brooklyn V?) came, conquered and impressed everyone in all its glory.
300-pound Heavyweight Hanson performed a handspring back elbow and a top rope senton to the floor, Velveteen Dream was the GODDAMN STATUE OF LIBERTY and the main event between Johnny Gargano and Adam Cole delivered more wows than a summer blockbuster.
To be frank – WrestleMania will pale in comparison to its NXT counterpart and that’s to put it nicely, despite the fact that Mania will run more than twice the amount of time and contain more than three times as many matches.
Below are our predictions to shape Mania into a halfway decent show. If you’ve followed the Raw side (without falling asleep), the build has been abysmal while SmackDown has held themselves together better thanks to Kofi Kingston’s journey, but there are still some flaws here and there.
Let’s get to it.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown Live 3/7/17: Vices By Vipers
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 3/7/17)
Vices By Vipers
– The opening video recapped the last month, aka Randy Orton’s “master plan” to sacrifice himself into The Wyatt Family to get a shot at the WWE Championship, which ultimately culminated with arson. Definitely one of the more darker angles in recent years, with the image of Orton’s pose with a fiery background probably something that’ll follow his career in the years to come. It’s still hard to determine ideologically that Wyatt wasn’t turned babyface by Orton’s actions judging by his sympathetic “Oh my god, my house is burning down” reaction. We guess this new episode will help out with that.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown Live 2/28/17: A Flaming Invocation
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 2/28/17)
A Flaming Invocation
– As plenty of past episodes have, we opened with a close-up of a monitor backstage that aired last week’s “controversial ending” of the Battle Royale to determine the challenger for WWE Champion Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania 33. In reality, something appeared botched because it looked like Luke Harper had thrown AJ Styles to the floor first, even though they were supposed to land at the same time. To cover that up, of course, they only showed us the hard camera angle. which had both guys falling out of view. In the room with said monitor was Commissioner Shane McMahon, General Manager Daniel Bryan and Styles himself. In chickenshit heel fashion, Styles tried to get by without wrestling on the show. Bryan shuts that down quickly and proclaimed Styles was lucky to even get this chance. We went for a funny as they had Styles badmouth Harper for not showering or discovering Dove, but Harper crept on him from behind. It’s like all those teen dramas. Or that time Stone Cold Steve Austin did it to Stephanie McMahon. Things ended as Styles walked away in disgust, as Harper cautiously got in the “friendly” Authority’s faces and… thanked them. Well, we guess he’s supposed to be a babyface trying to right his past wrongs, so this fits that. Either way, a good start.
WWE Elimination Chamber 2017 Reaction
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
Back in the Pay-Per-View fold after a year’s absence, the infamous Elimination Chamber was all a part of the blue brand’s WrestleMania build.
With Royal Rumble winner Randy Orton in the wings for a Title shot, six of the best would battle it out to see who he’d face, a few in the first Chamber match of their careers.
On a night where a few undercard talents had their moment, other bouts got lost in the shuffle, but as always, SmackDown delivered when it counted.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown Live 1/24/17: Brother Vs. Brother
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 1/24/17)
Brother Vs. Brother
– The General Manager Daniel Bryan/Miz/Maryse backstage segment was another perfect example of chemistry done right. For months, Miz had been at his boss’ head ever since he was criticized in that infamous Talking Smack promo. There was no better way to set up a Lumberjack Match than have Miz boldly claim he “paid all of the locker room’s salaries with star power.” Bryan, apple aside, was all wits, as he used Miz’s statements against him to give him a WWE Intercontinental Championship rematch, but under his rules to prevent outside interference. Welcome to the world of logic. None of that on Raw.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown Live 12/20/16: Straight Shooter
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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 12/20/16)
Straight Shooter
– The WWE World Heavyweight Championship match between Champion AJ Styles and James Ellsworth felt overdue, but this was probably their way to finally silence Ellsworth’s surprising push. The fans obviously would side with Styles here since Ellsworth isolated himself when he betrayed Dean Ambrose at TLC. The awkward heel-heel dynamic didn’t last, because Styles laid him out with a martial arts array of strikes. Bam, three-count. Now, post-match was where things bettered. It seemed they looked to get heat on Styles as he annihilated Ellsworth with attacks that used the ring frame, barricade and steel steps. Styles’ promo afterwards set up the main event, as he looked towards 2017, but Dolph Ziggler interrupted him to remind him he had a shot next week with him. The Ziggler-Styles exchange was solid, as Styles pushed that Ziggler was known for losing, while Ziggler mentioned that Styles needed four tries to defeat Ellsworth. Baron Corbin also fit here as he claimed he should’ve had the Title match and not Ziggler. Eventually, Corbin laid Ziggler out with the End Of Days.
WWE TLC 2016 Reaction
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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 11/8/16: Going Chinternational
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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 11/8/16)
Going Chinternational
– Since we seen Team Raw get along badly yesterday, this was about where Team SmackDown Live stood. In another edition of a Glasgow, Scotland WWE show, the opening in-ring segment with WWE World Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles, Baron Corbin, Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, Dean Ambrose, James Ellsworth and SmackDown Live Commissioner Shane McMahon was fine as the show start. We also might add that the addition of Tom Phillips to commentary to make it a four-man booth is simply overkill. Styles assuming he was team captain fit his personality. Corbin not wanting to be involved fit his “Lone Wolf” character. The Wyatts coming down for blood also fit them. Ambrose/Ellsworth served their purpose as the only babyfaces involved until Shane came down and booked a Six-Man Tag between Ambrose/Corbin/Ellsworth and Wyatt/Orton/Harper to “get some issues out of the way.” It was the same “gotta get on the same page” angle we seen with Team Raw. That said, the idea of Ellsworth as the “mascot” should be fun, especially with Styles’ forever disapproval.
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.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown Live 10/18/16: The Chin That Got The Win
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 10/18/16)
The Chin That Got The Win
– The opening video took us back to last week when Dean Ambrose and a Referee shirt caused havoc for WWE World Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles, who looked for an “easy night” as he gave James Ellsworth a “chance at a Title opportunity.” Sure enough, as Ambrose was still irate with Styles’ cheap tactics, he gave him his own medicine as he deliberately screwed him over multiple times to allow Ellsworth to beat him. That brought us to the real main event WWE World Heavyweight Championship match where Styles would defend against Ellsworth.
Pro Wrestling Opinion 