Hello there wrestling fans! I was told to change my cover image, is it an improvement? If it sucks, please let me know in the comments.
Let’s dive right into a subject I don’t talk about often, WWE Smackdown. For a long time I had lost the will to watch Smackdown every week, as more times than not, the show was not being taken seriously.. I have been proven wrong in recent times, as whenever I have watched, it’s been surprisingly good.
What was accomplished on Smackdown? Before we go into that, I noticed a vast absence of talent including: Daniel Bryan, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, Batista, Randy Orton, John Cena & Kane.
As Triple H had offered The Shield an ultimatum, they decided to follow through on their own. I felt it was typical that they booked another 11-on-3 handicap match for The Shield, but as the night went on, I was really entertained by The Shield taking out half of their opponents in ambushes. My absolute favourite was their attack on Fandango. When was the last time someone got powerbombed off the stage through a table on Smackdown? I can’t remember the last time it happened.
Heath Slater’s face as Roman Reigns stared him down, as his fellow 3MB members got decimated, priceless.
The beginning of the program that saw a debate between Heyman and Colter, this was pure gold. You can tell these two guys have grown up in the business and continue to love the business. I legitimately wanted those two to go at it right there and then. Excellent segment, and did you know? Oh you didn’t know? Well i’m going to tell you, Paul Heyman’s client, Brock Lesnar, conquered the streak at Wrestlemania!
If you read the previous installments, you would know that I asked who was going to challenge the Uso’s, and I got my answer, Rybaxel. Can I see them taking the titles off the Uso’s? Not a chance, but who knows? Can Ryback pick up his first championship in WWE?
Another question was answered on the show. I asked, what the hell are they doing with Natalya, and when will they start building Tamina up to look like a threat? Natalya and Tamina had a decent match, better than the divas matches we are usually given, and Natalya made Tamina look strong.
Despite no John Cena, Bray Wyatt kept the feud going by cutting another great promo from within a steel cage. It dragged on a little longer than it should have, but it got us to the tag team match, which saw Goldust and Cody put the Wyatt family over in spectacular fashion, which is fine with me.
The main event match felt like a squash match. Despite The Shield taking on six wrestlers (instead of the original 11), they made them all look really weak. They couldn’t keep The Shield down, and they all got punished, except Wade Barrett, who managed to run away. Barrett is in the final of the IC title this coming Raw, so it makes sense to spare him. The other heels who got beat down have not been featured much lately and/or keep losing, so ended up being used to make The Shield the force to be reckoned with on Smackdown.
Can’t say much more about the WWE today, I will probably have more to say after Raw on Monday night.
I will move on to my predictions for TNA Sacrifice 2014. This PPV does not feel overly special, however, there are some interesting matches I want to see:
- The BroMans (Robbie E, Jessie Godderz and DJ Zema) (c) vs. The Wolves (Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards) – This is the match the Wolves HAS to win, as the Bromans have been doing everything in their power to cheat, or avoid matches with them. I feel the handicap match is there to stack the odds against the Wolves and make their victory (on a live PPV) that little more special.
- Mr.Anderson vs. Samuel Shaw. “Committed” match; loser will be sent to a mental institution. – Honestly, I cannot see Samuel Shaw being committed, because if he was, we would never see him again. I expect Anderson to put Shaw over and end up being committed himself. This would make Christy Hemme defenseless, and she may have to turn to someone else for help.
- Sanada (c) vs. Tigre Uno. Match 3 of the Best of 3 Series for the TNA X Division Championship. – If there is any reason to watch TNA right now, it’s because of these two. To see the X-Division Championship be highlighted in such a manner is refreshing, and I expect the Japanese warrior Sanada to triumph. His vignettes have been building him up nicely to this victory, and I expect the best match yet out of these two. Expect Kenny King to attack Sanada right after the match. It would be nice to see more names in the X-Divison, besides Sanada, Tigre Uno and King in the future.
- Kurt Angle and Willow vs. Ethan Carter III and Rockstar Spud – I don’t know what to make of this one. It feels like a handicap match for EC3 more then anything. Huge upset if EC3 and Spud can overcome two of the biggest names in wrestling today. Angle/Willow to win.
- James Storm vs. Gunner. “I Quit” match – Likely candidate for match of the night. Their previous outings have been nothing short of excellent. This is the best feud TNA have going right now, and this will be the match to decide who wins the feud. Gunner has won much more of these matches then Storm, so although I am really torn on the outcome, I will say James Storm this time. I can’t imagine a former soldier saying “I Quit”, but I feel like Storm will find a way and give us a shock.
- Bully Ray vs. Bobby Roode. Tables match – Is it just me, or has this feud felt a little fake? The reasoning behind Bully screwing Roode in the first place was iffy, and Bully Ray as a face? I just can’t buy him as a face, not after the Aces and Eights, not after pretending to be a face to marry Brooke..Either something else is going on here, or it’s just disappointing. Regardless of the feud itself, this match will be good, but not great, I don’t expect it to be better than Storm/Gunner. I expect Roode to get revenge by beating Bully at his own game.
- Madison Rayne (c) vs. Angelina Love – TNA Women’s Knockout Championship. – I’m calling it right now, Angelina Love will pick up the title on Sunday. The Beautiful People have been running things in the division since Love returned, and I feel like Brittany is going to do something really stupid to cost Rayne the championship. Either that, or Brittany will turn heel and join The Beautiful People. In the case that Madison does win, it will kill the momentum of The Beautiful People and make Love/Sky question their partnership.
- Eric Young (c) vs. Magnus. TNA World Heavyweight Championship. – Eric Young will retain. It will be a good back and forth match until Magnus decides to cheat, this will bring Abyss out to help Eric Young. I want to assume that Samoa Joe will be involved somehow, but exactly how and why eludes me.
I want to finish off this edition by saying that I will not be writing again until Monday. I have to wait until Monday evening to fully digest TNA Sacrifice 2014 and I’m sure I will have comments regarding the event.
Also, I want to note that, as of this article, I will be running my work through a spell/grammar checker, just so all you grammar nazi’s out there can enjoy my articles without finding the need to rip me apart for tiny mistakes. I am trying to improve all the time, and please bare in mind, I type in UK English, so words like colour, favour (etc.) are all perfectly acceptable.
Until next time, I have been a Britsh fan, bringing you the pride of Britain from the comfort of my sofa.
