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From Bulgaria With Fear
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Anthony Zevoteck
If I began to describe a six-foot tall, 300-pound man possessed with the ability to attack his foes with furious strength and also fly around like a human wrecking ball, you’d probably think it’s the latest James Bond villain or my newest created superstar on WWE 2K16.
That’s not the case however.
The man previously described is best known as current WWE United States Champion Rusev, the big Bulgarian whose already had an impressive career complete with a long once-undefeated streak, a lengthy US Title reign and a freaking tank entrance at WrestleMania 31 before he got to work with John Cena in what fans considered one of the show’s best matches.
Notes In Observance – WWE Raw 4/4/16: The Energy Of Change
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 4/4/16)
The Energy of Change
– Another year, another loud, vocal crowd of “international marks.” Such is the usual with the Raw after WrestleMania, which is now hyped up to the point of a spectacle of itself. As you could probably imagine, the opening video highlighted various happenings of WrestleMania 32 to the tune of Flo Rida’s “My House.”
WWE WrestleMania 32 Reaction
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
Branded as a “seven-hour spectacle” that actually went a half hour longer, this WrestleMania definitely provided the entertainment factor coming from AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas with several noteworthy moments – a broken WWE event attendance record, both Shane McMahon and The Rock’s return, Shaquille O’Neal, the rebirth of the WWE Women’s Championship (retirement of the Divas Championship) to name some.
As it goes with most Manias, some stars were created, but other matches gave us unspectacular finishes and questionable booking decisions.
More on that below.
Notes In Observance – WWE Raw 3/28/16: Bombs Away
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 3/28/16)
Bombs Away
– With a hyped-up Brooklyn crowd, the show got off to the right start with the hot opening segment with Shane McMahon and The Undertaker. Again, while this whole feud/storyline severely lacks strong logic, it does hold a certain entertainment factor to it that can’t be denied. Say what you want. You’re looking forward to this match. That said, their exchange on the mic was entertaining, with Shane proclaiming he was fighting to win to bring change, while Taker was fighting not to lose. Also some nice jabs at Taker’s legacy tarnished two Manias ago. They amped it up by having Shane walk down the ramp and into Taker’s face, to which Taker called Shane his daddy’s bitch, which started the memorable physical exchange. Didn’t think they’d take a chance with Shane’s signature elbow drop through the announce table, but they did it and the crowd went bonkers. This feud actually needed that “aha” moment to get people even more excited and gave us a taste of what could potentially come at Mania.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown 3/24/16: A Beastly Edition
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 3/24/16)
A Beastly Edition
– The opening match between WWE Divas Champion Charlotte and Sasha Banks benefited from the Boston setting for “The Boss” as the crowd seemed more revved up here than in any other segment. Becky Lynch sitting on commentary also helped push the big triple-threat WWE Divas Championship match as did Charlotte’s “Woo Revolution” pre-match promo. The in-ring action was entertaining throughout, though Lynch’s perspective on commentary was a little confusing. She stated that she’d simply be happy to take part in WrestleMania, win or lose. Why wouldn’t she have her eyes fully set on the Championship? That said, the finish was welcome since it involved physicality from all three ladies, giving Banks the lucky win and then they all hit their finishers on each other, but Banks and Lynch hit their moves on Charlotte separately. The main image was Charlotte being laid out.
Notes In Observance – WWE Raw 3/21/16: “This Is Boring”
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 3/21/16)
“This Is Boring”
– So far, this year’s WrestleMania has been immensely lackluster. Blame a lack of star power, but whatever storylines we’ve been given feature glaring logic gaps and all-around foolishness. WWE still boasts the biggest pro wrestling roster and nothing to show for it. You can call this year Wrestle-MEH-nia. You know they’re out of ideas for Raw when they take the majority of what happened on the previous week’s SmackDown, like the exact same opening video, that focused on Roman Reigns’ vicious attack on WWE World Heavyweight Champion Triple H three weeks after Hunter did the same to him.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown 3/17/16: Cincinnati Educated
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 3/17/16)
Cincinnati Educated
– The opening video highlighted Roman Reigns’ Raw return, as he walloped WWE World Heavyweight Champion Triple H all over ringside, the tech area and a backstage table, reminiscent of Hunter’s attack on him three weeks prior that took him out of action.
Notes In Observance – WWE Raw 3/14/16: Changing Of The Guard
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 3/14/16)
Changing Of The Guard
– The idea of WWE World Tag Team Champions, The New Day, turning babyface isn’t bad. Their growing popularity is hard to ignore and they’re three guys being themselves and having fun, nothing forced. That said, they’re turning without “officially” doing it, simply feuding with other heels, The League Of Nations stable. They played babyfaces at Roadblock when they successfully defended against Sheamus/Rusev, but when they came out with their Booty-O’s box and their trombone on Raw, they still drew heat at first. However, the idea of naturally seeing people you don’t like going against people you don’t like even more, you’ll root for the more liked team. Also liked the little backstory of social media bickering and New Day wanting to prove themselves, with Xavier Woods taking part in the match to argue against being called a “Cheerleader.” Did JBL really compare LON to The Four Horsemen? Now, that’s a stretch. Anyways, New Day played for cheers and the action was fine for what it was, but nothing was particularly good or memorable until the end, where New Day used a heelish tactic by having Kofi Kingston distract the Referee on the apron so Woods could score a school boy pin pulling the tights. The money part of it and what’ll make it pay off was the well-done post-match beatdown on New Day by LON, which made the Champs look sympathetic and put big heat on LON. Even liked the little moments where LON humiliated New Day by pulling on each guy’s gear and using it in their attacks.
WWE Roadblock Reaction
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
The risk you run with putting on a WWE Network Live Special so close to WrestleMania 32 (less than three weeks actually) and selling the show as the chance to “shake up WrestleMania profoundly,” there’s a good chance what they sell likely won’t happen.
After all, why jeopardize everything built up so far? That’s the problem. Mania never had a solid build to this point besides for a confirmed Hell In A Cell match between Shane McMahon and The Undertaker with WWE control on the line, one that has made little sense besides the usual McMahon family overtones.
That aside, Roadblock stemmed from Toronto and looked like a glorified house show, with almost every belt on the line for no good reason and that made it even harder to believe anything would change here, but that’s not to say the show didn’t deliver quality-wise.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown 3/10/16: Time To Go Wyatt Hunting
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 3/10/16)
Time To Go Wyatt Hunting
– With a lot of WrestleMania’s build on the back burner to Roadblock, at least it was a treat to see some main roster attention paid to the Sami Zayn-WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens feud. Both Owens and Zayn were introduced as guests on MizTV on this show. Did get a kick out of the interaction between Zayn and Miz, as Miz inquired about Zayn’s side of the rivalry and then “directed” him to cut to the chase. Zayn’s side of things were well-covered, as he explained how him and Owens were essentially brothers and it was Owens who turned on him out of jealousy that he received his big break first. Owens’ portion of the segment had him try to portray himself as the victim and that what he did wasn’t personal, but that Zayn made it personal when he eliminated him at the Royal Rumble. They bickered until Zayn challenged Owens to come to the ring, to which Owens complied, but backed out last moment. Neville interrupted and he made it known to Owens that they had unfinished business. Since this is SmackDown, you know what that means – brief scuffle between the segment participants and an impromptu tag…
Pro Wrestling Opinion 