Casual Friday, 7/15/2022

 Hey, it’s Friday afternoon and I’m feelin’ CASUAL! After taking the pug to the vet to make sure her brain isn’t melting (not yet!) and getting the laundry done, it’s time to sit down and talk about some wrestling…

But we just spoke yesterday! And Friday has TWO significant shows on it, AEW Rampage (AKA Fyter Fest Night Two) and WWE SmackDown! But there’s a reason here, boys and girls. I’m going to be switching to a weekly Casual Friday format for the blog for a while, as I attempt to teach myself about things like SEO and blogging and also maybe submitting blogs to sites for, like, money! I know, it’s a reach! But because of that, this will be the last casual Friday of the old era, the Attitude Era if you will. We’re moving into being Ruthlessly Aggressive about doing this as a legit gig, so buckle up and let’s get to it.

Some Stuff To Talk About This Week!

Man, that first night of Fyter Fest was amazing! 

I think we have three more shows coming up over the next week or so, and there are some great looking matches on there. Jericho versus Kingston in whatever a “Barbed Wire Everywhere” match is. Darby Allin versus Brody King. The criminally underrated Private Party versus the perfectly highly rated Lucha Bros tonight on Rampage. And a lot more TBD, I’m sure.

Back to Wednesday, though. Orange Cassidy versus Wardlow was a fantastic matchup, one that I didn’t immediately understand on paper. In practice, it would easily have been the match of the night on any other card. Wardlow proved his ability to be a straight man in a comedy atmosphere, and Cassidy once again showed his speed and technical prowess. 

Moxley versus Takeshita was a brutal back and forth, perfectly paced and designed to make Moxley retain his aura of menace while also allowing Takeshita to look like a badass.

The main event was also something special. The way the Young Bucks, Swerve In Our Glory, and Hobbs and Starks were able to all mesh together and keep the frenetic pacing of that match going the entire time was something else. There were so many good spots, even my glowing review wasn’t enough to highlight every single great idea these six guys put out there. In the end, even after Swerve teased a heel turn, Strickland and Lee emerged as our new AEW Tag Team Champions. I’m very interested to see where all this is going. Remember when the Hardy Boys were all but guaranteed to win the tag belts a few weeks ago? Simpler times…

Raw certainly was a wrestling show! 

The build to SummerSlam continues as we got an appearance from the Beast Incarnate, Brock Lesnar. He spoke a bit to the audience, Paul Heyman, and MitB holder Theory before murdering Chad Gable and Otis. That’s why he gets the big bucks, folks!

Rey Mysterio and Finn Balor had a really good match, which I guess is expected when you say those names but it doesn’t diminish that at all. I’m hoping for a Dominik’s Soul on a Pole Match at SummerSlam between the Judgment Day guys and Edge and Rey, but I won’t hold my breath. Still, my inner fantasy booker has been hoping for a Dom heel turn since…well, since I booked that in my Journey of Wrestling game last year.

Carmella and Bianca Belair and Becky Lynch continued building what I think might be a triple threat at SummerSlam, as Mella beat Bianca via Becky distraction and countout. I guess Carmella is what passes for a WWE World Championship contender these days.

Ciampa and Miz continued to build towards their match against, I believe, Logan Paul (playing a good guy because WWE) and AJ Styles. In a tag match featuring AJ and Ezekiel versus Miz and Ciampa, Ciampa lost by way of beating AJ up too much and getting disqualified, our second non-finish of the night.

Alexa Bliss and Asuka won in a really short tag match, and Dawkins ate a pin from Olmos in a match that went from being Jimmy Uso versus Angelo Dawkins to being the Street Profits with R-Truth versus the Usos and Olmos. It was fine, although I don’t understand having Dawk eat another pin when you have Truth RIGHT THERE.

A tag match main event featured Lashley and Riddle against Seth Rollins and Theory, and ended in…Riddle getting a clean (-ish) win over Theory after a returning (?) Dolph Ziggler superkicked Theory and helped Riddle get out of a leveraged pin. It seems a little close to SummerSlam to introduce new players in the game, especially since Theory versus Bobby Lashley is one of the few matches that’s actually been announced for the PLE, but I’m curious to see where this goes. I like the theory (no pun intended) of Dolph deciding to manage Theory, because he had a great cash-in once and wants to see that legacy continue.

Last week’s Rampage had some action!

We saw Konosuke Takeshita take on Eddie Kingston in a match that would set Takeshita up well as a challenger for Jon Moxley. He looked great against Kingston, with a lot of hope spots and some tough looking strikes taken and delivered by both guys. 

Jonathan Gresham turned on his partner and future opponent Lee Moriarty in their match against Tully Blanchard’s newest proteges, the Gates of Agony. Two big dudes who were there to beat up Moriarty while Gresham walked out, the Gates guys played their part well enough and we got a Ring of Honor heel champion to face Moriarty on Dynamite (and, if Dave Meltzer is to be believed, to face Claudio Castignoli at the PPV as well!)

Mercedes Martinez and Serena Deeb won an extended squash that mostly served to show that these two CANNOT COEXIST (™) as a team. 

And, in the main event, Orange Cassidy beat Tony Nese to save Swerve Strickland’s position as an AEW wrestler. A good match, if a little long, and probably the best thing of the night.

Last Week’s SmackDown was also a wrestling show I watched!

After a solid half hour of Roman Reigns talking with Paul Heyman, and a Theory appearance that led to nothing despite Michael Cole nearly talking himself into an aneurysm about the threat of Theory (who Roman no-sold perfectly), we got into a rare double squash from the Viking Raiders, who defeated Jinder Mahal and Shanky before the New Day appeared to challenge them and also get beaten up.

Gunter decided the IC championship will no longer have open challenges, so Shinsuke Nakamura earned a shot by beating his sidekick. For being a short match, that was actually fun! And I look forward to Shinsuke and Gunther at SummerSlam.

A talky segment between Liv Morgan, Ronda Rousey, and Natalya led to a very quick Rousey submission victory over Nattie, paving the way to a SummerSlam rematch between Liv and Ronda, and hopefully the excision of Natalya from this feud.

Max Dupree and his Maximum Male Models, Mansoor and Mace, modeled their new tennis wear in what is fast becoming the best thing about SmackDown. I don’t know if these guys are gonna wrestle and I don’t care.

Lacey Evans established that she’s going full heel by scolding the fans and punching her tag team partner, Aaliyah. The Usos also won a quick squash over Los Lotharios. 

Drew McIntyre defeated Butch, who replaced Sheamus in their scheduled match because Sheamus might have the ‘rona. Drew then threatened to murder both Sheamus and Butch with a sword, and destroyed the ring.

There we go, all caught up! The MATCH OF THE WEEK was definitely the AEW Tag Team Championship triple threat on AEW Dynamite. It is, without a doubt, must -see TV. I’ve already watched it twice and I might try to squeeze in a third before the wife gets home from work!

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’ll be back next week, on location in Newport, Tennessee where I’ll be visiting my dad and sisters!

Have a good weekend!