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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.
Review – Ron Snyder – Wrestling’s New Golden Age
Photo courtesy of Amazon.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) was once signified as the “Be All, End All” of professional wrestling.
By now, that statement has been detracted with talent like The Young Bucks, Colt Cabana and Kenny Omega, all of whom have achieved financial efficiency and without any WWE stints (or pushes in Cabana’s case) to boot.
Ron Snyder’s “Wrestling’s New Golden Age: How Independent Promotions Have Revolutionized One Of America’s Favorite Sports,” released by Sports Publishing, succeeds in its goal to inform and explore just how independent wrestling came to be from its eerie territorial beginnings.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown Live 2/14/17: The Era Of Wyatt
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 2/14/17)
The Era Of Wyatt
– The opening video brought us back to the Elimination Chamber Pay-Per-View, with highlights of all the matches headed in and the big finishes. The most progressive developments were obviously Luke Harper proving himself in the ring with Randy Orton, Naomi taking home the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship and Bray Wyatt finally being WWE Champion.
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 1/31/17: Chamber Music
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 1/31/17)
Chamber Music
– Given that the Royal Rumble was won by a SmackDown guy (that’s Randy Orton, The Wyatt Family-Friendly version in case you didn’t know), the opening video gladly reminded us of all that jazz. WWE took it upon themselves to quote various media outlets with the most generic sentences on planet Earth. We’ll give an example. “That was a Rumble!” – Forbes. No kidding. You’d also be crazy if they didn’t sprinkle in footage of the epic rematch between WWE World Heavyweight Champion John Cena and AJ Styles where history was made and such. However, the Rumble madness is over and thanks to WWE’s killer Pay-Per-View schedule, we’ve got Elimination Chamber in a mere two weeks.
WWE Royal Rumble 2017 Reaction
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
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.
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 1/10/17: End Of Attitudes
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 1/10/17)
End Of Attitudes
– The opening video highlighted the latest developments in the WWE Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose-Miz feud, that began when Miz “outed” Renee Young’s relationship with the Champ. Ambrose got revenge as he attacked Miz dressed as a security guard, although Young was slapped by Maryse backstage. The ultimate last laugh came when Ambrose outsmarted Miz to take his Title and that’s where things were now.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown Live 1/3/17: Dirty Deeds Leads
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 1/3/17)
Dirty Deeds Leads
– The WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz/Maryse/Dean Ambrose in-ring segment greatly setup their IC Title main event match while they had Miz on the mic to credit himself/Maryse as the “it” couple and “ratings spike.” It’s like Edge and Lita all over again. A good followup to last week, when Ambrose/Renee Young got one over on him, as Ambrose pretended to be a security guard to attack the Champ from the side when Miz only requested to be interviewed by Young. Also like the real-life edge that’s thrown in there as they used Young/Ambrose’s relationship as a way to draw more heat for Miz. Maryse also gets to shine as the angry wife who can slap whom she pleases. They also fit in the new year’s resolution stuff, as Miz promised to be “more forgiving” and wanted an apology from Young for her slap. The Miz/Ambrose interaction was solid, as he hid behind his wife when confronted and backed out of the ring. Maryse slapped Ambrose hard too. Easy way to stir up drama. Who’s better than Miz right now?
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