Blog Archives
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 12/2/15: Squash Olympics
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 12/2/15)
Squash Olympics
– In the first of many squash matches to build up key players for NXT TakeOver: London, we had Baron Corbin take on “Perfect 10” Tye Dillinger. For this show, we had a change of heart from Dillinger’s commentary fanboy, Corey Graves, who now claimed he doesn’t like him anymore and needs a new barber. Corbin was in usual destruction mode since he was gearing up for Apollo Crews at TakeOver: London, stemming back from getting attacked by Crews the week after he interfered in Crews’ NXT Championship shot. It all makes sense. It wasn’t a total loss for Dillinger, who worked in quick bursts of last-minute offense to salvage something, but the end result was as expected.
Notes In Observance – WWE Smackdown 11/26/15: Turkey Edition
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 11/26/15)
Turkey Edition
– The opening segment between Roman Reigns and WWE World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus was paint-by-numbers in terms of selling their Tables, Ladders and Chairs match at (where else?) TLC. We liked the idea of Reigns starting out by talking about growing up with his Uso cousins and how they bounced around the house, transitioning into the dastardly events that led to him losing his first Title in less than five minutes at Survivor Series. Sheamus was energetic on the mic, giving us glimpses of his old babyface days, going for the jokes, but something still didn’t click, even with all the canned heat. How many jokes did Sheamus make about Reigns’ short reign? Geez. Reigns tried to gain the advantage by challenging Sheamus to a fight while the heel Champion turned it down and called out Reigns’ failures once again, before Reigns described the weapons conveniently in the ring as a visual aid to what he looked to do at TLC. This didn’t advance the feud in any way, just reminded us of what we already knew. Yawn.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 11/25/15: Vintage Cole
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 11/25/15)
Vintage Cole
– The contract signing segment with NXT Champion Finn Balor, Samoa Joe and Michael Cole (of all people) provided a fiery beginning to the hour, giving us enough to whet our appetites for NXT TakeOver: London on Dec. 16 for its biggest program, appropriately so. For nostalgic purposes, the image of Cole standing in the Full Sail-bred NXT ring was a meme waiting to happen. His “Can I Have Your Attention Please?” opening line can only be met with one word: vintage. In short, he was put in charge of the night by General Manager William Regal, who had successful surgery. This was his only appearance on the show, so it wasn’t a theme by any means. He also gave the news that Regal initially turned down Eva Marie’s request for a NXT Women’s Championship match against Champion Bayley last week, but WWE Corporate insisted the match was official. Full Sail didn’t hold back and showered boos upon any Eva Marie mention. As for the actual contract signing portion, it was Joe who got the focus, which made sense since he needs to go into this match with momentum galore. Baylor also had the chance to speak his two cents, stirring up banter about “friendships and trust,” waiting to get his hands on Joe when the bell rings at TakeOver: London. Joe reached WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens-esque heat by simply coming down to the ring, signing the contract, not making eye contact with Balor and heading back up the ramp. That would’ve been good by itself, but the ramp attack made it even better, as it proved Joe was setting Balor up for a trap, ending with him laying Balor out cold via a Kojita Clutch. There was no denying that Joe was a badass here and the best part of it all – he needed no words, just action. This is how you book Joe to his fullest potential. Not so sure about the 18 instant replays of Joe signing the contract and leaving, but the desired effect was scored anyway. The announcement of Joe fighting Tommaso Ciampa next week was also a welcome one, since it allows Joe to stay hot.
Notes In Observance – WWE Smackdown 11/19/15: The Final Four
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 11/19/15)
The Final Four
– Given that Survivor Series was three days away when it aired, a big focus was on the Semifinals and Finals of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tournament and its final four competitors – WWE United States Champion Alberto Del Rio, WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns. To ensure interaction between all parties involved, it was announced on Raw that they’d be special guests on MizTv. As for the actual segment, it carried on the theme of interrupting Miz and tension was teased between all the heels, only for the faces to band together and allow Ambrose to punch out Miz. Oh yeah, R-Truth even showed up and pleaded his case to become Champion in another “Whoops, this one is on me” moment that was slightly less funnier than when it happened on Raw. All in all, this was a time-killer, but it was interesting and had a good amount of laughs to get by 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 – WWE Smackdown 11/12/15: Overfed
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 11/12/15)
Overfed
– With no rush, it was dark, creepy in-ring promo time from The Wyatt Family as they looked to follow up on getting laid out by Undertaker/Kane on Raw, which we still didn’t agree with. Liked that each member had the chance to talk, though what they said held no substance. Why are we supposed to believe anything Bray Wyatt says about Undertaker and Kane living inside him when they just annihilated him three days before? With it being Survivor Series, this was the time for a four-on-four match. The idea of Taker/Kane against two Wyatt Family members is dumb. The Wyatt Family is a force together. Why not use that to their advantage?
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 11/11/15: Choices And Actions
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 11/11/15)
Choices And Actions
– Coming off the heels of Samoa Joe’s turn (see what we did there?) on NXT Champion Finn Balor last week after Baron Corbin interrupted an NXT Championship match between Balor and Apollo Crews to attack Crews, we had plenty of questions and the ultimate one would be answered: Why, Joe, Why?
Notes In Observance – WWE Smackdown 11/5/15: Wyatt Noise
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 11/5/15)
Wyatt Noise
– We started with Zeb Colter/WWE United States Champion Alberto Del Rio cutting a promo onstage, as they addressed the nature of their working border union, or Petoria or something. Colter accused the crowd of being haters. They might as well call it Amexica. Well, that promo was ultimately pointless. The following match between Del Rio and Neville was competitive and lengthy as we saw Del Rio try to ground the high-flyer, while Neville fought back valiantly. The spike-rana spot was tough as it looked like Del Rio landed right on his head. Del Rio’s new finisher takes too long to set up but was boldly put over as a deciding factor. Del Rio heeled it up a little bit more by attacking Neville post-match, setting up Jack Swagger’s save. Boom. Logic.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 11/4/15: Samoan Dropped
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 11/2/15)
Samoan Dropped
– The opening video excellently hyped the big NXT Championship main event match between Champion Finn Balor and Apollo Crews. For any indy wrestling fan, this was a dream match come true in terms of styles and pace. We had the proper buildup and Crews even got to display some personality via hype video documentaries, so all we needed was the stage.
Notes In Observance – WWE Smackdown 10/29/15: Ring Of Horror
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 10/29/15)
Ring Of Horror
– The opening video highlighted how The Wyatt Family recently “stole the souls” of The Undertaker and Kane on consecutive nights in a narrated style that actually came off well, felt very 90’s throwback. It’s a welcome change of pace.
Pro Wrestling Opinion 