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Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown Live 7/26/16: Superkicking The Glass Ceiling
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 7/26/16)
Superkicking The Glass Ceiling
– On the SmackDown side of the WWE Brand Split, we were promised live shows on Tuesdays and a crew led by Commissioner Shane McMahon/General Manager Daniel Bryan. As for the announce team, gone were Byron Saxton and Jerry Lawler, replaced with JBL and David Otunga. Mauro Ranallo is great as always, but that’ll take some getting used to. SmackDown started in similar fashion to Raw, but with Shane/Bryan backstage as they led the camera to the ring, already filled with roster inhabitants. Of course they hit Bryan’s music so the crowd had an excuse to chant “Yes!” and act all crazy on camera. SmackDown also had new generic rock music and a montage for its theme. Shane revealed that SmackDown would have its first exclusive Pay-Per-View on Sep. 11 entitled “Backlash.” After that, they introduced WWE World Heavyweight Champion Dean Ambrose and announced the goal was to find him an opponent for SummerSlam, which would be done via a Six-Pack Challenge, that’d involve Dolph Ziggler, John Cena, Baron Corbin, Bray Wyatt and AJ Styles thus far. The last contestant would be decided though an impromptu Battle Royale. Not a bad start to the show, since it set the table for what we could expect and this played into the “Break The Glass Ceiling” mission objective of the show.
WWE Battleground 2016 Reaction
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
In many ways, Battleground personified the end of the modern era in WWE as we knew it.
With the last quarrels left to settle before the official WWE Brand Split took place, this marked the final time Raw and SmackDown superstars would appear in the same ring together.
The same rule was also in play for the main event, which put The Shield’s former members in an anticipated triple threat match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship for the first and last time.
Washington D.C. was primed for a long night and came to life when they needed to, but with nothing truly groundbreaking outside of a Sami Zayn-Kevin Owens classic, a notable Women’s Division debut and Randy Orton’s return, this Battleground left us with a slight case of trenchfoot, ready for the new era to truly take over already.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 7/20/16: Fight Night
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 7/20/16)
Fight Night
– This episode was hyped in the opening video as “Fight Night” and rightfully so, because there were three noteworthy matches – NXT Champion Samoa Joe-Rhyno, American Alpha-Authors Of Pain and Bayley-Nia Jax. Should be an easy, fun episode.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 10/14/15: Here To Be A Champion
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 10/14/15)
Here To Be A Champion
– The opening video was your classic “slow-mo highlight reel” of NXT TakeOver: Respect, showcasing NXT Champion Finn Balor/Samoa Joe winning the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament and the impeccable 30-minute Iron Man match between Sasha Banks and NXT Women’s Champion Bayley. If you haven’t seen this show yet, do yourself a favor: watch it.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 6/10/15: Joe Is Gonna Back Elbow You
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 6/10/15)
Joe Is Gonna Back Elbow You
– The opening video highlighted “the most anticipated debut in NXT history” with Samoa Joe’s first match and rightfully so. It would’ve felt like an even bigger occasion had not every match prior on the show been a predictable squash, being that we knew the main event would likely be one.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 5/27/15: Solomon Eats Crowe
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 5/27/15)
Solomon Eats Crowe
– WWE’s utterly slick video production made TakeOver: Unstoppable look like even more of a spectacle than it was; showcasing the athleticism, excitement and unpredictability. Loved the slow-motion capture here.
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