Casual Friday, 6/24/2022

 Well, dear reader, we made it through another week. Welcome to Casual Friday, the best blog of the week. We’ll talk about wrestling news, go over the best matches I watched this week, and overall get you caught up before the weekend. Sounds good?

We here at the Pequeño household are “fostering” another dog, a French bulldog named Finley with some toy aggression issues and a very curious nature. We have three dogs and a cat, but we also have a huge backyard and an accepting nature when it comes to weirdos. And this one…she’s a weirdo.

Charming, right?

Back to wrestling, which is why we’re all here. Let’s get into Some Stuff To Talk About!

Vince McMahon decided the best move after removing himself from his position at WWE was…putting himself on live television! I understand that Vince knows better than anyone that controversy breeds content breeds ratings. So, distasteful as it may be to some, he knew exactly what he was doing when he announced that Mr. McMahon would be appearing live on SmackDown. He didn’t say anything of substance, but that wasn’t the point. It was to show that, despite stepping down behind the scenes, Vince McMahon won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. 

His surprise appearance on Raw was a little less easy to explain. Maybe the old man just likes to be cheered, and knew his theme song would get him a nice pop? Maybe he’s just shoving his very existence in the face of his rivals? Man, I dunno. The less time I have to try and put myself in that guy’s mindset, the better.

The Forbidden Door pay per premium live event is coming up this Sunday night! Hey, now we’re talkin. Some wrestling news about a wrestling show with some of the best wrestlers in all of wrestling. The build has been labeled as questionable by many folks online, and I understand it. They have access to hours of video on all these NJPW talents, why not slap together a few short video packages for those of us who aren’t huge fans of every bit of wrestling in the world?

I’ve been doing a little Google-Fu, and put together a list of some great matches featuring every NJPW talent that will be featured on Forbidden Door. I plan on watching all of them as time allows, and hopefully will find the time to post a nice writeup with some links for ya. If I don’t find the time, I will at the VERY least add the match list to my Forbidden Door preview and prediction post on Sunday.

I don’t want to sound negative about this potentially world-changing event. I’m very excited to be exposed to all this new stuff, and I’m happy to watch an event that so many indie and Japanese wrestlers and wrestling fans are super hype for. Even if the build consisted of just one episode of Rampage where Excalibur just spoke to the camera for an hour while describing the wrestlers and matchups, I’d still be down to watch the show.

Brock Lesnar returned to WWE at the end of last week’s SmackDown, and he will challenge Roman Reigns at SummerSlam. Roman was in the middle of celebrating his hard-won victory over Riddle, claiming he had beaten everyone. No one is left. That cued Brock Lesnar’s theme music, to which I would have replied, “Yes, even this guy. Several times, actually.” But Roman didn’t do that, he just accepted a handshake offer that turned into an F5.

I hear a lot of people say that surprises like this are great for the live crowd, and that we’re dulled to them as a television audience. But I gotta tell you, I was there for this year’s Royal Rumble and the “shock” of Lesnar entering the Rumble match after losing to Reigns wasn’t exactly the arena-shaking moment that recap videos and highlights would have you believe.

I like Brock a lot, especially mercenary-cowboy Brock. He’s clearly having fun in his current role, and I’m sure his kids and their kids and their kids are taken care of for life. But when does WWE elevate new, or even existing, talent to the point where we believe they have a legit chance at winning the main titles? Riddle was probably their best, brightest hope for that. And they blew his shot on a SmackDown in the middle of June.

Christian Cage turned heel! After months of teasing and speculation, Jungle Boy’s mentor finally pulled the rug out from under JB after Jurassic Express’s title loss at Road Rager last week. And what a promo to “justify” his actions on Wednesday! 

It was a perfect decision for his petty, cruel character - one that we’ve seen time and time again rear its ugly head. Using a battle royale elimination from over a year ago as a reason to put himself in a position of trust with Jurassic Express, Cage won them all over and then turned on them when he saw them at their weakest. I love Evil Christian, and I’m looking forward to some great heel work from the underrated Cage in the coming weeks. 

And what about Luchasaurus? Christian talked him out of choking him, but then convinced him to have a backstage meeting as well, and topped that move off with a sly smirk to the camera. I wonder if the “remember Marko” line was a reminder of Jungle Boy’s lack of loyalty, or an implication of the power Cage holds backstage? WHO’S TO SAY?

Money In The Bank is next weekend, and we’ve added several wrestlers to both ladder matches. As of today, we have Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, Olmos, and Sheamus in the men’s match, with another four to be added over the next three shows. On the other side, Lacey Evans, Alexa Bliss, Liv Morgan, Asuka, Raquel Rodriguez are locked in, with between one and three more to come.

That’s not too bad a lineup, given the current WWE roster as a whole. Olmos will almost certainly have someone jump off his shoulders; he’ll also probably Tree Slam someone on their way up the ladder. I believe Shinsuke Nakamura and Sami Zayn have a match tonight on SmackDown to decide a fifth entry, and if Sami gets in he’s my favorite to win the thing. The possibility of a Zayn cash in, maybe a face turn, would be fun. But! He could also secure his place in the Bloodline, by “protecting” the championships by way of keeping that contract in his hands. Surely Zayn would never turn on his beloved Tribal Chief!

The other MitB match will only feature six competitors, I believe. Given the roster, I guess that makes sense. I’d love to see a debuting Io Shirai make her debut in a match that would instantly make her a superstar on the main roster! While the women’s side is a little thinner in championship match options, I think Bianca Belair is in a good position to hang onto her title a while longer. Rhea, once healthy, will be a main event level match with Bianca. A returning Bayley would also make for a good feud, as would a heel Asuka. I think Liv Morgan has definitely earned herself another title shot as well, and maybe the briefcase is the way to get her that shot…maybe even against a transitional heel champ like Carmella?

Unless Charlotte returns. Then all guesses are moot because #LOLCharlotteWins.

Plenty of stuff on the old noggin this week, apparently. But we watched some dang matches as well. So let’s get right into the Five Best Matches I Watched This Week!

Roman Reigns retained his Undisputed WWE Championship last week against Riddle, in a match that was really quite good! Our MATCH OF THE WEEK, in fact! I didn’t get a chance to write about it, but I did watch it the other day and was really impressed with Riddle. That RKO and Floating Bro combo actually got me to bite, which is funny in the grand scheme of things - Roman’s not losing in a regular TV match in the middle of the month and we all knew it. 

On that same night, Jon Moxley and Dante Martin had a great match on Rampage with, admittedly, about the same stakes as that previously mentioned match. Dante wasn’t gonna win, but damned if he wasn’t going to go out there and look good. Mox is known for his willingness to put young talent over, and he’s been doing it in AEW with guys like Wheeler Yuta. This was another example of why I’m looking forward to a second Jon Moxley run as AEW champion - the man deserves everything and more after overcoming what he has recently.

Raw featured an impromptu Gauntlet match featuring Bobby Lashley and Chad Gable that was incredible. I really hope they get a full on match booked, and soon, because this first leg of Theory’s US title challenger qualification gauntlet match (that was a mouthful) was really well done. It’s easy to forget that Chad Gable is a high level amateur wrestler, and that Lashley is as well. Gable is fun as a comedy act, and Lashley is a powerhouse when the match calls for it, but this was different. Two guys with a similar base to draw from matching up in a simple, great pro wrestling contest.

Dynamite had a bunch of fun multi-person matches to set up Forbidden Door, but Penta Oscuro and Malakai Black put on a great singles match, with Black winning to get into the All-Atlantic four way on Sunday. A hard hitting affair, both Penta and Black really went to town on each other, and had some cool spots as well. That Avalanche Fear Factor…my God man, if you wanted to kill Malakai Black you could have just pulled a gun on him!

And finally, because I waded into the NJPW pool last night…I watched the Kazuchika Okada versus Kenny Omega match from Dominion, June 9 of 2018. The one Dave Meltzer gave SEVEN stars out of five. A two out of three falls match that was just…amazing to behold. I don’t know a lot, but I know good wrestling, and THAT was some good wrestling. The story beats, the exhaustion, the selling. All of it, perfect. 

The result of two years of storytelling between Omega and Okada, it was set up as a rubber match to end all rubber matches. After winning the G1 Climax tournament in 2016, Omega lost to Okada at Wrestle Kingdom. They wrestled to a sixty minute draw six months later, and then Okada fell to Omega in a non-title match during 2017’s G1 Climax tournament. Between these matches and their Dominion match, Kenny was also dealing with the breakup of his Bullet Club, as he chose his friendship with Kota Ibushi (you may have heard of the Golden Lovers tag team the two formed) over the Young Bucks and Cody.

After an awesome video package with Ibushi representing Omega’s One Winged Angel (I think - much like Homer Simpson, I have a history of not understanding nuance), and Okada’s trademark coin drop, we went to it. A friggin’ HALF HOUR of phenomenal back and forth wrestling began, with both men hitting whatever they had at their disposal before a series of counters led to Okada getting the first pinfall.

A two minute breather and they went right back to it, with another fifteen minutes featuring so many V-Triggers I lost count. We had a One Winged Angel countered into an Okada Tombstone. A Rainmaker countered into an Omega Uranage. A Michaels/Angle Mania 21 tribute spot. SO MUCH. After some incredible near falls and three V-Triggers, Omega managed to hit One Winged Angel to tie things up.

After the second breather, we got to the final round. An immediate V-Trigger. A Rainmaker by the Rainmaker. Exhaustion was obvious in this round, with Kenny even getting Okada up for a One Winged Angel but dropping before he could land the thing. In the end, revitalized by a crowd desperately chanting his name, Omega hit his finisher and ended the match. 

There is literally no way I could do this match justice, and I have only seen it once. You can search Okada Omega Dominion and read a hundred pieces by a hundred different writers, and none of it will compare to watching this. I imagine it was even better if you really followed the story going in, and I wish I could have. Find it and watch it, y’all.

And that’s it! Sunday will bring the Forbidden Door preview and predictions, and Monday we’ll go over that historic show. I’ll continue watching New Japan, as promised, in between enjoying my wife’s company and some home improvement projects.

I appreciate you stopping by, and would love it if you drop your thoughts in the comments section below. You can also follow me on Twitter @ElOsoPequeno, where I try to remember to post whenever I update the blog. I write a Raw Recap on Tuesdays, Dynamite Details on Thursdays, and the Rampage report with a Side of SmackDown highlights on Saturdays. I also plan to write about any other wrestling that I happen to watch. There’s also a weekly wrap up on Fridays, and I’ll do predictions before any big AEW or WWE pay per premium live events. 

Have a good one!