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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 2/7/17: The Latest Chapter
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 2/7/17)
The Latest Chapter
– Announced last week, this was a notable occurrence where the Royal Rumble winner would challenge the current WWE World Heavyweight Champion, nine days removed from said Rumble event. Now, enter Randy Orton and Champion John Cena into these roles and you might have a different reaction to that in 2017. Of course, we’ve all seen their past 34,000 encounters between 2006-2011, so this wasn’t any new territory, but the opening video accomplished an almost-impossible task – it made it feel like important history. We guess all that nostalgic footage also helped out. That was the nature of it all and surely, there was lots of footage at the old video library to rummage through for this piece. Give that Production Employee a cookie, dammit.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown Live 12/13/16: Legendary Contendership
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 12/13/16)
Legendary Contendership
– The General Manager Daniel Bryan/Commissioner Shane McMahon/James Ellsworth opening backstage segment was good and bad news. We saw Ellsworth “sick” and it left Bryan/Shane no choice but to postpone his World Title shot and search for a new #1 Contender. Ellsworth was also reprimanded for his interference in last week’s WWE Intercontinental Championship match.
WWE TLC 2016 Reaction
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
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 11/22/16: Mountie-Bred Madness
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 11/22/16)
Mountie-Bred Madness
– The opening video highlighted Survivor Series, where Team Blue emerged victorious over Team Raw with the “stakes higher than ever.” We saw the bickering between WWE World Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose cost the team an elimination. Another highlight was James Ellsworth’s “revenge” against Braun Strowman as he held down the big man’s feet and prevented him from beating an in-ring count. Of course, Ellsworth was thrown off the stage and through a table, but it counted. The biggest story though – Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton were the sole survivors, as they defeated WWE United States Champion Roman Reigns.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown Live 11/15/16: #900
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 11/15/16)
#900
– It was nice to see SmackDown Live’s 900th episode fall during the Survivor Series go-home week. In the realm of tradition and nostalgia for the blue brand, there was also a purpose. The opening video nicely “relived” various highlights from past talent like Eddie Guerrero, King Booker, Edge, JBL, Booker T and Stone Cold Steve Austin. The DX Bus explosion was shown as was the infamous Gore by Rhyno that took Chris Jericho through the original oval set. It seamlessly transitioned into current storylines where we saw hype for the WWE Intercontinental Championship match between Champion Dolph Ziggler and The Miz, the return of Edge in “The Cutting Edge” and a “Date With The Deadman,” The Undertaker. How lovely. Certainly beats Raw.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown Live 11/8/16: Going Chinternational
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 11/8/16)
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.
WWE No Mercy 2016 Reaction
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
In an unprecedented period where we had five pro wrestling pay-per-views between Sept. 11 and Oct. 11 between WWE, Ring Of Honor and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, we were exhausted by Oct. 9 when No Mercy rolled around.
Luckily, if you look at that nice poster to the side, SmackDown Live had been headlined by the excellent heel duo of WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz/Maryse as he was engaged in a “Title Vs. Career” feud with Dolph Ziggler.
That feud would become synonymous with this show for reasons we’ll explore below.
It also helped that we had a Triple-Threat main event for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship between Champion AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose and John Cena that actually opened the show for a change.
Cool on the surface, but that brought us to the problem – one disorganized card.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown Live 10/4/16: Keeping The Spirit Alive
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 10/4/16)
Keeping The Spirit Alive
– With the star-studded trio of John Cena, Dean Ambrose and WWE World Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles all coming to a head by the end, they were wise to hype this from the opening video. They were set for battle at No Mercy just five days away.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown Live 8/30/16: Talking Smack
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 8/30/16)
Talking Smack
– With the inception of SmackDown Live as this “anything goes” kind of show, there were several moments on this episode that gave it that vibe and we’re all for it. They even managed to push the “Talking Smack” post-show “show” as something to always keep an out for, as they opened with the hot exchange we saw there between SmackDown Live General Manager Daniel Bryan and WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz after Miz blew up on Bryan when he was referred to as a “coward.” It might’ve actually been one of Miz’s best promos ever. Complete fire. Definitely intense.
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