Spiritof

Black said Dream's name. He SAID HIS NAME!!!

So simple, so awesome.

This should be in the mix for match of the year. A star was born.

Personally, I think the Velveeta/Black feud is the best thing going right now, and these two guys have barely touched one another.

Also, leave Booker T alone. The man is a genius.

I don't want to see wrestlers be unsafe, I do enjoy the stiffer style of NJPW, but I think there's a way to split the difference and still remain safe. I'm thinking of matches in the style of Black/Ohno from NXT a couple of weeks ago. Enjoyable match, that I was invested in, but I didn't think that either one of them had legit hurt the other one.

I do think the things WWE could take from NJPW that would help them is to emulate certain parts of the presentation and booking. I love the chaotic feel NJPW has going on around the ring, with all the camera men, tables and just general people buzzing around outside the ring. The crowd also seems to be much closer to the action, versus WWE ring where there seems to be a void between the crowd and the ring. Production seems to care more about making sure no one sees a camera man, instead of creating some spontaneous moments, where a performer might crash into a camera man. I also think (but I've thought this for a long time) they need to gut the number of PPVs and make them feel like a HUGE deal. I'd love to see 4 a year with an actual build to something special. All the gimmick match PPVs could just be rolled into the regular weekly product, but the big PPVs need to be built to feel big.

A little simulated spontaneity and chaos doesn't have to mean the performers have to kill themselves, Samoa Joe and Brock Lesnar (and Paul Heyman) are doing that sort of thing right now, Cena/Owens, Lesnar/Goldberg have done it in the past. It can be done, I just think WWE needs to loosen the cap on the bottle just a bit, let some storylines breath, and rethink how they present the product.

Kind of haven't posted any WWE wrestling thoughts in awhile, due to not really having any, and having just now finished watching the NJPW Dominion from a couple of weeks ago, but I gotta say:

WTF WWE?

I mean really, does no one within WWE watch this stuff? The entire time I kept thinking, WWE, you have all this talent, and could absolutely put on shows of this caliber, if you would just let them loose. NJPW matches feel like they are a more pure expression of the performers in the ring, WWE matches feel like a soft focus version of the same match and way too tightly controlled.

But really, there's more to it than just the match quality, NJPW is kind of killing it presentation-wise too. They shoot their stuff with a sharper eye at making it feel like a big time actual fight, less theatrical, and more gritty. WWE looks like a circus performance, too formulaic, too many performers trying to hit their marks, and it desperately needs a complete overhaul from the way it is currently presented.

All in all I just get a much greater sense that NJPW trusts their talent while WWE wants to control their talent. It's a sad/weird thing to watch two of a similar thing look and feel so radically different.

The drive is tomorrow, right?

I always liked when the drive was on a Saturday, not sure I'll be able to listen to much while at work if it's tomorrow.

I am just totally down with how Cedric carries himself in the ring, how he moves, and how he sells. I can see him being a cool face or a despicable heel. He's the total package if they foster him the right way.

As far as TJP goes, I'm pretty neutral on him overall. Not a fan of the dabbing and showboating, and find him much more appealing when he's focused like he was in the his final two matches. I agree that he needs a better mix of finishers instead of that leg bar (that he went to about 5 too many times last night). Sadly, and it crossed my mind at the start of the show, I think he won primarily because he's an English speaking wrestler and WWE needs someone who can cut a promo. Ibushi and Metalik both need translators and that just doesn't pair well with the way WWE likes to build matches. If these guys were all massive, heavy weight, brutes they might have been able to work something out (i.e. Brock Lesnar), but I think they were looking for someone they could easily insert as the division's face, and who could cut promos in the ring versus other English speaking talent. That left it down to TJP or Sabre Jr and they went for TJP. Not that there isn't a VERY welcome spot for Ibushi and Metalik (or a Tozawa or a Dorado), but just not as the 1st champion of a new division.

And as a funny aside, I loved the way, after the belt was introduced by HHH, the trophy became one of the biggest non-factors of the show. After he won the belt I don't even think that TJP touched or even acknowledged the trophy. Kind of a fat waste of money on WWE's part.

Am I the only person with a HUGE man crush on Cedric Alexander right now? I hope WWE sees the same amount of $$$ as I do with this guy. His potential is nearly unlimited from where I sit.

I kind of wanted the exact opposite final match as what we got, but I'm ultimately very pleased with how it all came together in the end. I even like that Grape Ape belt (just a little).

(also, it felt really good to cancel my subscription right after the tournament ended and put down "CWC is over and so am I" as my reason for cancelling)

I think it's going to take a few weeks for The Usos to build on their heel turn. It hasn't even been a week yet, and the real heat will come when Alpha returns. I think slapping Heath Slater's wife on the next episode of Smackdown would go a long way. Maybe kidnapping a couple of his kids?

But yeah, after last night's PPV, I'm a bit more invested in Smackdown than I am RAW. I really think that if they would really strip down the show and make it something closer to a main roster version of NXT, they could have something. A show that's heavy on the wrestling matches and light on backstage promos would definitely be more appealing to me. I'll always lean towards a product that tells it's stories in ring versus microphone promos. It's the primary thing that makes the CWC the most compelling thing WWE has going in my book.

Color me surprised, that was actually a super solid PPV.

I might be in the minority, but I wasn't super happy with Slayno winning the tag belts. Not that they should never win the belts, but making them the 1st Smackdown tag team champs just doesn't feel right to me. I actually (and I never thought I would ever say this) thought that the Dark Usos should have won. It would make more sense for a previous championship team to win, they would get legit heat for violently taking out American Alpha, Hype Bros, and denying Slater a contract. It would also set up eventual feuds with Alpha and Bros. A wasted opportunity and giving the belts to essentially a comedy team doesn't give the belts the sort of prestige that they deserve, right from the get-go.

Everything else I felt was pretty top shelf. Ambrose/Styles was easily the match of the night, kind of thought it was going to turn into a 60 minute draw, but the outcome was genuinely surprising, pleasant, and instantly had me craving the rematch. Almost too sweet.

Probably just taking time off to go get a tan.