This is our new weekly article on the blog, where the nerds offer 10 takeaways for the week just gone. Anything is on the table, any promotion is able to be discussed and the floor is yours, nerds!
1. ROSS - AWESOME RAW VISUAL
WWE often gets called stale for its diretion and production, but I absolutely loved the visual of Seth Rollins getting taken out by Aleister Black on RAW this week. Right up there with the Drew McIntyre creep from behind on the Undertaker last year.
2. ROSS - DANIEL BRYAN vs AJ STYLES
I don't think it is hyperbole to say that Daniel Bryan vs AJ Styles is a match of the year contender. I'm actually looking forward to watching it back on the Network commercial free. The realism of the match gave me ROH feels and that is a great thing. Two thumbs up.
3. ROSS - MIZ AND MORRISON MUSIC VIDEO
Have you SEEN the Miz and Morrison music video? Get around it, fellas.
4. MATT C - BRIAN BOY CAGE
I loved that Brian Cage looked like a late 90's Brritish Bulldog.
5. SHAFI - AEW DARK PRAISE
I've started watching AEW Dark the last few weeks and I have enjoyed the way that it gives storylines to some of the lesser stars and allows them to round out their characters. The first time I saw QT Marshall I thought that he was a jobber with little upside.
Whilst I am never going to buy a PPV because he's on it I am now invested in what he is doing with Allie, Dustin and Brandi as his story has been allowed to play out over several episodes of AEW Dark and Dynamite.
Watching Dark has enhanced my enjoyment of Dynamite and I recommend it to anyone.
6. BRUM - FTR (FRAMING THE REVIVAL)
The 2 biggest teams in AEW are ostensibly face teams (the Champs and the Bucks). Adding another face team to that top tier (FTR) is perfectly fine as long as their arrival is framed in an interesting enough way and gives fans something to chew on.
The aftermath of their Dynamite match ended in a staredown with all 3 aforementioned teams. All good - everyone loves a dream match or 2.
However, the dimension that I found particularly interesting was the Spears/Tully/Arn dynamics. After their usual finish, the Shatter Machine (now given the incredible name of The Goodnight Express), they hit Arn and Tully's old finish of the assisted piledriver.
Not only that, but Tully and Arn's scouting and appreciation of the performance, with Spears' paranoid stares in the background set up some intriguing narrative beats.
Doing that in a tag team's "A Story" is rare in wrestling. Doing it in their "B Story" is fucking outstanding.
7. BRUM - A GUNN WITH NO AMMO
I used to bleat on about it in the old WedHead2Head articles (hopefully JCH brings these back when we get back to normal) but Austin Gunn is the most annoying babyface I can recall.
It's incredibly impressive how punchable he can be in the limited screentime he has. All he did this Dynamite was mug a bit whilst his Dad talked, but he made MJF likeable in comparison.
Also, who was that third Gunn? Bryan? Angus? Bart Jr?
8. BRUM - CHARACTER VOLUME: ENTERTAINMENT VS LONGEVITY (AND WHY MATT HARDY CAN FUCK OFF)
Though I wax lyrical about subtlety in professional wrestling, I'd be a liar if I didn't acknowledge that sometimes, the things that work best are the things that have been dialled up to 11.
A great example of this is the Broken Matt Hardy character. His 2016-17 TNA run was genuinely a breath of fresh air and one of the most memorable things in wrestling over the last 5 years.
However, the issue with a character which is so on the nose and both literally & figuratively loud, is it can start to grate very quickly.
And apart from the Hardy Boyz reunion intermission, this has been his character for nearly half a decade and over 3 different wrestling companies. He can rename himself after as many Middle Eastern capitals and make up as many silly back stories as he wants, but the character that we're looking at now is Broken Matt Hardy and it's gotten very very annoying.
You may think I'm being unfair by calling for a character reinvention of a guy who has reinvented himself way more than most. But that's the point. The reason for this need is because the character that he's chosen is too "loud" to have anything more than a short fun shelf life.
Wrestlers need to be careful with this. Big characters are fun and shouldn't disappear but you shouldn't overmilk them, or they can turn from "fun" to "fuck off" quicker than you can dilapidate a boat.
9. BRUM - PRO WRESTLING CONCENTRATE
Most of the time, you want to dilute a story over a few weeks to make it easier to consume and have a slow burn. However, as long as you only do it sporadically, a juicy hot narrative injection can give you a rush like no other.
Last week, NXT impressed me by not doing the big faction reveal to end the show. After that, I expected doubt to be raised over the next few weeks around Fantasma's relationship with the masked lads with him eventually turning heel.
For 2 weeks straight, I'm both wrong and elated that I'm wrong. NXT smashed this segment out of the park, and they did it at a hundred miles per hour. To recap, in a 5 minute window, they did:
- Entrance by Fantasma Interrupted by Spud
- Good babyface promo by Spud
- Set up title rematch
- Tease Fantasma and Spud vs masked lads
- Fantasma turns on Spud
- 3 on 1 beatdown
- Masked guys unmask to show Mendoza and Wilde
- Phantom Driver on Spud
- Fantasma then unmasks!
- Fantasma gives himself a new name and gives their mission statement (this was produced brilliantly by the way)
- They hit their new triple team finisher
5 minutes! Madness. But none of it felt rushed. Brilliant work all round.
10. ROSS - TICK TOCK
The ending of NXT this week was absolutely fantastic. The visual of the hourglass sand clock whilst Scarlett looked on onimously was fantastic. Kross didn't even need to be involved - the crowd chanting fall and pray as Cole looked around expecting an attack was brilliant.
He's the longest reigning NXT Champion of all time - but the clock is ticking.
Commentaires