Casual Friday, 7/8/2022

 Hey, happy Friday! Feelin’ casual? Baby Kitten and I sure are.

Yes, that is my freshly washed laundry she’s chosen to lie upon and also shed all over. What’s your point? A lot of stuff happened this last week - hell, a lot of stuff happened TODAY - so let’s dive right in with…

SOME STUFF TO TALK ABOUT!

You may have heard that the Wall Street Journal published an article today about WWE’s Vince McMahon paying a LOT of “hush money” to several women he used to employ. The actual article is behind a paywall but 411mania has a good summary of the story. This whole thing has been a result of an anonymous email that led to the WWE board investigating McMahon paying off a former employee to sign a nondisclosure agreement and, basically, to go away. 

There’s nothing good, or funny, or cool about this stuff. It’s gross to discuss and not related to the fun stuff we enjoy about wrestling. But real life often does its best to get in the way of a good time, and I’m going to find it a lot harder to enjoy WWE programming if Vince is kept around on or off screen. The audacity he’s shown since that initial report is kind of disgusting, putting himself on camera every chance he gets and even introducing John Cena just to get some of that adulation. It’s a bad look!

I don’t know enough about corporate stuff to really try to dive into what can or will be done to Vince with this new information being released. It seems like the board would do whatever they could to distance themselves from Vince as soon as possible, and since SmackDown is only an hour away from when I’m writing this I’ll definitely watch to see what (if anything) goes down.

In our preferred version of news, kayfabe news, Money in the Bank was this past Saturday! I wrote about it a bit, but it’s worth diving into some more. Aside from the two winners of the briefcases, the big news was Theory dropping the United States Championship to (seemingly) move on to bigger and better things with the Money in the Bank briefcase. But then Raw happened, and it looks like he still hasn’t had enough of Lashley. So we’ve got Bob and Theory at SummerSlam, as well as the looming threat of Theory cashing in his title shot during that show. 

I gotta tell you, I’m not a big fan of Theory. I know folks say he was great in the indies and on Evolve, but I don’t see anything special about him on WWE programming. He’s fine. His moveset is unmemorable and I honestly don’t know anything more about A-Town Down than the name. WWE seems to be hitching their horse to the Theory wagon though, and I fear we will have another Cena / Roman style face-shoving on our hands. 

I was happy for Liv Morgan but I don’t think it has anything to do with how she’s been booked. She seems like a lovely person but in kayfabe she took advantage of a hurt opponent and has lost every title opportunity she’s had in the last year or so. Her character these days is “you guys fired my friends, feel bad” and while I do feel bad, that’s not really a personality to build off of. Come to think of it, Alexa Bliss version X.0 has been very similar. Just kind of a pretty face but not a whole lot behind it.

It will be interesting to see where they go with Theory, and how crowds react to being told he’s the new face of WWE. To be fair, John Cena and Roman Reigns got booed plenty, and they both seem to have done well enough since.

AEW has A LOT going on, with Forbidden Door and Blood and Guts out of the way. They have Fyter Fest, one of their annual regular TV events, coming up next week. Dynamite very much felt like a show sandwiched between events. A lot of talky segments to set up future matches or re-establish old rivalries and quite a few nothing matches. AEW has been kinda up and down lately with their TV product, so I hope getting past all those big pay per view matches will let their writers settle down and put together some good stories. I’d feel a lot better if some regular ass matches had clean finishes and started new feuds, starting tonight!

Despite all the drama, we also had some fun wrestling this week. Let’s get to it with…

THE BEST MATCHES I WATCHED THIS WEEK!

1- Last week’s Rampage featured the very first Royal Rampage, kind of a two ring Royal Rumble. There are some kinks to work out in the presentation of this match, but I had a blast watching and thought it was a creative way to get some more use out of the two ring setup. Brody King was a surprising choice to win, and the choke he put on Darby Allin was brutal looking. I didn’t feel like the Moxley / Brody match was an all-timer but it was tough looking.

2- The women’s Money in the Bank match was the stronger of the two, and I suggest checking that out for a fun time with a bunch of dangerous looking ladder spots!

3- The Street Profits and Usos put on a hell of a match at Money in the Bank as well, and despite my complaints about their continuous presence, they showed that they still pair up well and can show out when they are given the stage and the time to do so. I look forward to their inevitable rematch at SummerSlam!

4- Lashley and the Profits versus the Usos and Theory on Raw was a lot of fun too! I’ve said it before but I love how much fun Lashley projects when he’s in the ring these days. It’s infectious, but in a good way. Unlike this rash…

5- Penta Oscuro versus Rush on Dynamite was a great showing with a new face in Rush. I’m a little over the mask removal gimmick, but I hope they are using that to build to something, whether it be a hair versus mask match or the implementation of a rule to disqualify villains who try to remove the lucha mask. It was hard hitting, fast paced, and made me really look forward to more matches between these factions.

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 watch SmackDown tonight while I’m working on painting my basement, and will write about that and Rampage after I watch the latter tomorrow morning. Until then, have a great weekend!

Money in the Bank 2022 Review

 

Image from WWE.com

Hey, that was a decent show! I have always been a fan of these Money in the Bank matches, and even though some uneven booking got us here, the actual part of WWE that makes the product watchable is the superstars, and a pay per premium live event is their best chance to shine. So let’s get into that Money in the Bank show!!!

Money in the Bank: Alexa Bliss versus Asuka versus Becky Lynch versus Lacey Evans versus Liv Morgan versus Raquel Rodriguez versus Shotzi

My guess: Does Liv really deserve another title shot? I think that’s where we’re headed, although a Bliss win would be cool…I WAS RIGHT!

Money in the Bank: Seth Rollins versus Drew McIntyre versus Sami Zayn versus Sheamus versus Olmos versus Riddle versus Madcap Moss

My guess: Man, I really want Zayn to win and hoard the briefcase to force the Bloodline to…ACKNOWLEDGE HIM…I WAS WRONG but there was a surprise entry so I GET A PASS!

A fun match, as Money in the Bank always is, plus the women don’t have as much history to draw from (more on that later) so there are more unique spots available. Raquel Rodriguez tried a cool one where she was gonna lift up two competitors on either end of a ladder, but it didn’t quite work out. Raquel was tossed into a corner, pinned with a ladder, and stacked by every other wrestler as Becks leg dropped the lot of them. Shotzi, who I thought was gonna do some great stuff, only succeeded at almost murdering Alexa Bliss off a suplex into the side of a standing ladder. Fun stuff! Lynch managed to clear the ring and head up the big ladder, but Liv Morgan followed on a smaller ladder. Becks tried to kick Liv off, but she was able to kick off the ring rope and use that momentum to deliver a knee to knock Lynch off her ladder. Morgan hopped over and won her first Money in the Bank contract. Good on her!

Before the men’s match started, Adam Pearce arrived to say how great the build for this match had been…and added a surprise superstar, Theory! So the guy basically lost his way into the match, but in storyline it’s fine because, you know, Mr. McMahon likes him. 

Olmos getting to run wild before being buried under a hundred ladders by everyone else in the match was a highlight, as the big guy was oversold in the buildup to this. It was nice to get a solid payoff for him, and basically write him out of the back half of the match without making him look weak. McIntyre and Sheamus had some fun as well, pinning each other under the upright ladder and escaping in creative fashion. But once Theory was announced, especially since he lost his United States championship earlier in the night, I had a feeling in my gut that he was winning here. And despite Riddle hitting an INSANE top of the ladder RKO on Seth Rollins, the brochacho wasn’t able to fight Theory off during their one on one ladder punch fight and Reigns version 2.0 got the win. 

Both Monies(?) in the Bank get Four stars! Overall I thought the women’s MitB was probably the better ladder match of the night, but I enjoyed both about the same. It’s a fun stunt show and a good time, although the lack of any high flier types did stand out this year.

Bobby Lashley versus Theory © for the United States Championship

My guess: Theory retains, uses the power of the US Championship to challenge Cena at SummerSlam…I WAS WRONG!

A decent match despite my wrong guess, Lashley was able to power out of everything Theory could throw at him. Bob had a bunch of good looking counters, catching Theory out of the air and reversing Theory’s A-Town Down finisher a couple of times. A gentle looking spear by Theory led to him trying the finisher a third time, but Lashley turned that into the Hurt Lock and got the clean submission win and the United States championship.

Three stars! I liked this one a lot, although it did make more sense after the MitB match. You put the belt on Lashley for now, because Raw doesn’t really have a title of its own. Theory can use that contract later if someone takes a belt from Roman Reigns, because he’s not going to be challenging anytime soon for it. And, frankly, I like good guy Bob as champ. He looks cool and he’s believable as a good dude who can beat up groups of baddies.

A quick interview with Liv Morgan let us know she might just keep that contract until Wrestlemania. For now she was gonna go celebrate.

Carmella versus Bianca Belair © for the Raw Women’s Championship

My guess: Bianca isn’t losing to the replacement unless there’s a surprise addition, i.e. Bayley or something…I WAS RIGHT!

A short match that featured the usual Bianca spots - a hair pull by the villain, an impressive stalling suplex. Carmella got a pin after a low superkick, but talked a little too much afterward and ate a KoD for her efforts. 

After Bianca’s win, Carmella attacked during Bianca’s celebration, as this rivalry is just getting started.

Two stars. I was fine with the match as an extended squash, but why have the follow up attack then? Let your powerful amazing champ look powerful and amazing once in a while! Bianca is undoubtedly the best female superstar they have left on their roster and they should be strapping a jetpack on her and sending her (pardon the expression) TO THE MOON!

A quick video recap of Logan Paul (sigh) signing a contract with WWE, followed by an Alexa Bliss commercial for a credit card that was HEARTILY BOOED by the live crowd. Much like in WWE 2K22, you run that ad segment at the peril of dropping a superstar’s popularity!

 

The Street Profits versus the Usos © for the Unified Tag Team Championships

My guess: Profits steal the victory, prompting Roman Reigns to scold the Usos…WRONG AGAIN, DUMDUM

Profits made their entrance from the crowd, which was cool. The first half of this match was basically cut and paste from their last two months of interactions, singles matches, and non-title contests. But once things got going, it was a good one. And, don’t get me wrong, the booking of this was NOT reflected in the match quality - all four of these guys can GO. Ford pulled off a running dive from the ring, flipped over the turnbuckle, and landed on both Usos. The dude can fly! 

Commentary constantly repeated that the Profits have dissension and aren’t getting along, but nothing came of that tonight. We had a spot where Dawkins was dropped from the apron, and Ford was reaching to the empty corner for a tag. Usually that’s good in ring storytelling, but the entire sequence was minimized by Cole and Graves repeating those same talking points. But that’s my fault for listening to commentary, I suppose.

A dramatic stare down and punch fight led to Dawkins being tossed out of the ring and over the beloved lower right corner barricade. 1D finished Ford and the Usos retained.

Four stars! It probably would have been better if the match was a little more condensed, but it was very watchable regardless. I also found commentary really irritating during this match, which isn’t the wrestlers’ fault but is still a part of the match in my opinion. 

A post match replay revealed that Ford’s shoulder was up during the final pinfall, so this feud will continue on Monday night, I imagine.

This creepy video played afterward, leading a lot of people to believe it’s a tease for a returning Bray Wyatt. But the imagery in there, to me, says Edge a lot more than Bray. Religious iconography, the burning LATINOHEAT license plate, Kurt Angle’s medals, the Dudley Boyz glasses…it’s basically a career retrospective. 

Natalya versus Ronda Rousey © for the SmackDown Women’s Championship

My guess: Ronda, hopefully by merciless squash…I WAS RIGHT

Rousey wasn’t going to be losing to this opponent in this match. What the match did do was important, though - Nattie was able to lock in the Sharpshooter a few times and injure Ronda’s knee. Rousey got the win, eventually reversing a Sharpshooter into an armbar for the submission. 

Three stars! It wasn’t a bad match and it set up what came next, as Rousey accepted her title belt but could barely stand up.

Liv Morgan then ran down and cashed in her Money in the Bank contract! Ronda really sold how difficult this was going to be for her, and good on her for some decent acting. The bell rang and my heart sank as Liv was immediately put into an ankle lock. Liv may have some work to do in the ring, but the girl can sell the hell out of a submission. I thought Ronda might remove her leg and beat her with it, but Liv was able to kick the damaged leg of Rousey and roll her up for the pin, the win, and the SmackDown Women’s Championship!

An understanding Rousey presented Morgan with the title and left without incident. Fun fact: Carmella is literally the only winner of the Women's Money in the Bank contract to hold onto it for more than a day. What does that tell you about long term storytelling for women in the WWE? (Thanks for noticing that, Adam!)

The men’s match followed, which we’ve already discussed. So enjoy your holiday weekend, and we’ll see you here … well, let’s say Thursday to recap Raw and Dynamite in one fell swoop. I’ll let you know if I’m gonna do Raw on Tuesday morning via Twitter at Oso (of Let's Watch Some Wrestling!) (@ElOsoPequeno) / Twitter.

Have a great weekend!

Casual Friday, July 1, 2022

 

Well hello dear reader! Welcome to Casual Friday here at the Let’s Watch Some Wrestling blog! I’m your beloved host, Oso Pequeño. We had a little drama this morning, as blog mascot and cutest pug Mudge had to head to the vet for a look. She wasn’t feeling herself, and her back was a little hurty - it was suggested that maybe she took a bad bump. Poor goober. Above is Zelda, middle dog child of the family and an avid stand-up paddleboarder.

But I digress! A lot happened this past week, with more to come over the next couple days! Let’s get things started with…

Some Stuff To Talk About!

AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door was a success! I’m seeing reports that it did around six million dollars between the gate and PPV buys. Not as many as the big four AEW shows, but still a strong showing and proof that plenty of people wanted to see something like this come together. I don’t understand the mindset of folks rooting for this show, and for AEW, to fail. Isn’t it better when wrestlers can choose where they want to work? I think so. Plus, more national exposure to pro wrestling of any kind can make new fans. That will keep the sport alive in all its forms! Everybody wins!

Even though the injury bug took a bite out of what this card could have been (more on that in a bit), what was assembled took me by surprise. Every match on this card was great in its own way; even the women’s match that didn’t showcase NJPW talent still looked pretty damn good. And just think what the card can include next time out. Maki Itoh and Orange Cassidy versus Britt Baker and Will Ospreay! Bryan Danielson versus Zack Sabre Jr.! CM Punk versus Hiroshi Tanahashi! Miro versus Ishii! Kenny Omega versus literally anyone! The possibilities are endless!

John Cena celebrated twenty years of WWE performances! An entire Raw, the go-home show for Money In The Bank, was dedicated to putting over John Cena as a WWE Superstar. Multiple, lengthy video segments. Stars of the past fawning over the man. Current talent singing his praises and cheering his arrival. And then…Vince McMahon putting himself on television again to introduce Cena.

Cena is a larger than life superstar. I love that he’s granted more wishes for kids in the Make-A-Wish Foundation than anyone else. I think he’s great in movies, and I liked him as a performer. He’s willing to put people over, even at this point in his life when he doesn’t need to and clearly doesn’t need to keep showing up on Raw. And he’s just a good dude.

But it’s gross to see that desperate, pathetic old guy known as Mr. McMahon hitch his wagon to Cena right now. It just brings out the cynic in me, which is the last thing I want when I watch the gloriously dumb sport that is pro wrestling. He’s obviously using TV and, in this case, the most popular stars he can get to make sure fans keep cheering for him regardless of what comes out as investigations continue. I realize that without Vince there is no Cena, but at this point in his career WWE needs Cena a lot more than Cena needs WWE, and it’s a bad look for Cena to share a screen with McMahon right now.

Blood and Guts was a messy improvement over last year’s show! I really liked the build to this match, as the Jericho Appreciation Society and Blackpool Combat Club expanded to match up really well this past Wednesday. The variety of weapons used ranged from kendo sticks and tables to forks and bamboo skewers! Bloodshed ran rampant, and there were a number of creative spots to keep us all entertained. If you enjoy the old WCW or NXT War Games matches, this is similar while also being its own unique, bloody thing. Read more about Blood and Guts on the blog HERE!

WWE’s next pay per premium live event, Money In The Bank, is coming up on Saturday night! A nice lead-in to a long weekend here in the States, Money in the Bank has long been one of my favorite matches and concepts since it was introduced. I don’t love the move to a full show around the match but, much like a three hour RAW, once it was put out there it’s there to stay. I’ll likely write a full predictions post tomorrow morning once I’m caught up on SmackDown and Rampage, but I really feel like there’s a lot of mystery around the two MitB matches this year. I have favorites, but one could easily make the case for just about everyone in both the men’s and women’s matches for the championship contracts.

AEW continues to deal with more and more injuries, with Santana being added to the DL during the Blood and Guts match while performing a relatively safe move! I hope everybody heals up and the storylines that were brewing (and in some cases are continuing to build in their absence). I also hope AEW takes advantage of the situation they have been put in by building up some stars that have been flying under the radar. Build up more big attractions on that ever growing roster and you’ll always have a plan B or C when plan A does a Uranage and his leg disagrees with his decision!

I would love to do the top five matches from the week, but this week is an odd one. WWE did literally nothing to sell me on any of the matches from SmackDown or Raw this week, and I watched every one of them! And since we just spoke in depth about both Forbidden Door and Blood and Guts in the Thursday Blog, I think we’re just going to cut things off here for today. If you have the opportunity and haven’t already, I earnestly suggest you take some time to watch both the Forbidden Door show in its entirety, and the Blood and Guts match. You’ll have a great time!

I appreciate your support and if you have any suggestions, drop your thoughts in the comments section below. You can also follow me on Twitter @ElOsoPequeno. Tomorrow morning I’ll write predictions for Money In The Bank, along with any highlights from the Royal Rampage or SmackDown. Enjoy your weekend!

Dynamite Details and Some Catch-Up!

 

Oh, hi there dear reader! Let’s start with where I’ve been! I had a number of things stop me from really feeling the writing this week, including the bummer that our new pal Finley wasn’t gonna work out with our pets at home. She was a bit too dog aggressive and a lot too focused on wanting to eat my cat. While those are things that we could have worked with, we also hit the part in our basement remodel where I take over, painting and installing tile and flooring before the doors arrive. So we had to say no, and Finley promptly found a nicer match with a nice retired teacher with a teen and no other pets. 

I also made the mistake of looking at page views on the blog and sometimes that just takes the motivation right out. I get it, though! I’m not aggressively promoting myself, and frankly I wouldn’t read a review piece super late in the day, either. Because of those things, and because I’ve had life hop in the way, I’m going to reduce my output a bit. I’ll definitely still do PPV predictions, and Casual Friday, and post PPV bits. But the weekly write ups of Raw, Dynamite, Rampage, and SmackDown are just a lot right now, and frankly those were more to see if I CAN do it, in case we find any potential suitors!

Consider this a bit of a midweek wrapup as well as your Blood and Guts review, and also a briefer version of a Forbidden Door wrap!

The Forbidden Door show was AMAZING!

I started writing about it Monday and that’s when things went south for me, but I’ll incorporate what I did put together here. I really loved the show, and as a writer unfamiliar with a lot of the New Japan talent I was surprised at how invested I was. The hard part was writing about it, as I don’t really have any background to tie into my reviews of matches. So rather than try to do that, I just put together my predictions and the results. I am happy to say that I was only wrong on one prediction, but that scored us PAC as a champion so I was both surprised and very happy with that outcome. I think Orange Cassidy versus Will Ospreay was MATCH OF THE NIGHT but there were a number of contenders for it, including Bullet Club versus Dudes with Attitudes (Sting, what are you doing? Stop jumping off things!) and Moxley / Tanahashi. That first match with Jericho’s crew and Kingston, Yuta, and Shota Umino was an energetic blast as well! Now that I’m writing about it I think I’m gonna put this show on again today while I work on the basement…

So AEW went 4-0 for the Buy In, if you count Archer as AEW talent. Maybe there was a separate Buy In on New Japan World that had other NJPW guys going undefeated against, like, the Dark Order and Bear Country. WHO’S TO SAY?

Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, and Minoru Suzuki versus Eddie Kingston, Wheeler Yuta, and Shota Umino

My guess: Jericho Appreciation Society and Suzuki-Gun come out on top with some interference - I WAS RIGHT (except for the interference part)!

PAC versus Miro versus Malakai Black versus Clark Connors for the All-Atlantic Championship

My guess: Miro drags the bastard, the pagan, and the replacement to Heaven’s gate and demands God wrestle him at All Out. - I WAS WRONG but I’m pretty ok with that

FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) © versus United Empire (Jeff Cobb and Great O-Khan) versus Roppongi Vice (Trent Beretta and Rocky Romero) for the IWGP and Ring of Honor Tag Team Championships, winner take all

My guess: FTR keeps collecting titles - I WAS RIGHT

Bullet Club (El Phantasmo and the Young Bucks) w/Hikuleo versus Dudes with Attitude (Sting, Darby Allin, and Shingo Takagi)

My guess: Good guys win - I WAS RIGHT

Thunder Rosa © versus Toni Storm for the AEW Women’s Championship

My guess: Thunder Rosa retains - I WAS RIGHT

Will Ospreay versus Orange Cassidy

My guess: Ospreay stops having fun and murders Cassidy - I WAS RIGHT!

Zack Sabre, Jr. versus A Mystery Opponent Chosen By Bryan Danielson

My guess: Zack Sabre Jr. unless it’s somebody I really like - I REALLY LIKE CESARO SO TECHNICALLY I WAS RIGHT!

“Switchblade” Jay White © versus Kazuchika Okada versus Adam Cole versus “Hangman” Adam Page for the IWGP World Championship

My guess: White retains - I WAS RIGHT!

Jon Moxley versus Hiroshi Tanahashi for the Interim AEW Championship

My guess: Mox wins - I WAS RIGHT!

. . . 

And back to our regularly scheduled Dynamite Details! A fine follow up to that vaguely canonical Forbidden Door show, Blood and Guts delivered on the main and was ok leading up to it. Nothing awful, and some very surprising stuff, but obviously the focus was on that insane War Games adjacent finale.

Opening Contest: Orange Cassidy (w/Best Friends) versus Ethan Page (w/ Dan Lambert)

The rights to “Where Is My Mind” by Pixies lapsed just in time for AEW to snag the rights to Cassidy’s indie theme, “Jane” by Jefferson Starship. The timing between the opening notes, the main hook, and Orange’s entrance were perfect! Best Friends in appropriately weird tie dye gear completed the look. Sadly, Dan Lambert accompanied Ethan Page and got Trent and Chuck sent to the back.

This was a well paced Orange Cassidy style match that really used the momentum from the amazing Ospreay match on Sunday to Cassidy’s advantage. Orange used his pockets for added strength in the ring a number of times, charging up while trying to hit a bodyslam and escaping submissions with the maneuver. Page did some good heel work as well, as he’s always easy to count on for obnoxious facial expressions and great in-ring stuff. Dan Lambert played his part as well, hopping onto the apron and taunting Cassidy while stealing his orange juice, a prop that’s been missing from Orange’s repertoire for a bit. Cassidy attacked Lambert with his trademark “vicious” offense, gently slapping the man outside the ropes as he took a swig of OJ. Cassidy then hit Orange Mist on Lambert and Orange Punch on Page. Charged up, Orange finally got that bodyslam on Ethan for the victory.

After the win, Best Friends joined Orange Cassidy to celebrate in the ring with a hug. YOU GOT TO GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT!

Four stars! A fun victory for Orange with a silly story of using the hands-in-pockets to power up a bodyslam. I liked everything here!

Christian Cage spoke with Tony Schiavone at the arena entrance next, explaining that management told him to apologize for his comments about Jungle Boy’s dead dad. He did so by apologizing that the whole family wasn’t dead so they would be spared watching his matches. Except for JB’s mom, who should call Cage. Good Lord. 

Cage went on to say that, yes, he requested a match. But it wasn’t for him. Cue scary intense new theme music for a scary, intense new version of Luchasaurus!

Match #2: Luchasaurus versus Serpentico

Luchasaurus, now with a darker mask and black gear, went right at poor, terrified Serpentico. The dino hit a wheelbarrow powerbomb, a quick slam, and then locked in a variation of Jungle Boy’s Snare Trap hold for the submission victory.

Post match, Christian Cage had Luchasaurus chokeslam Serpentico before the villains left.

Squash! We don’t rate squashes here! I’m interested to see where this goes, though. Why did Luchasaurus turn evil? Does Cage have some kind of blackmail, or did he just sell the old dinosaur on the benefits of a heel turn? WHO’S TO SAY?

Wardlow and Scorpio Sky had a quick interview with Schiavone that set up a Street Fight for the TNT Championship for next week. 

Match #3: Max Caster and Colton & Austin Gunn (w/Billy Gunn and Anthony Bowens) versus Danhausen and mystery partners FTR

The Gunn Club wanted this match after Danhausen gifted them with an Ass Boys theme song during the Forbidden Door Buy-In show. They did not want the surprise team joining Danhausen to be the reigning AAA, IGPW, and ROH champions, however. Dax and Cash dominated whenever they were in the ring, but Danhausen took the brunt of the offense from the Gunns during a commercial break.

Once we returned to the action, Danhausen managed to slip out of Colton’s grasp and get the hot tag to Uncle Dax, leading into stereo triple German suplexes by FTR and a bonus four for Dax. Danhausen was given the hot tag and went for Go To Sleep, but was surprised by a miraculously healed Anthony Bowens hopping into the ring and attacking him with a crutch. Danhausen avoided that attack and Bowens nailed Austin, getting Danhausen the pinfall win.

The bad guys argued afterward, leading to Billy Gunn shoving his sons and defending the Acclaimed! 

Three stars! FTR surprised the crowd and got a great reaction, and hometown hero Danhausen got the win. We also progressed the move by Billy Gunn to adopt a new family, so that’s an interesting development. A fun time with a finish that was never in doubt.

A video package with Sonjay Dutt, Jay Lethal, and Satnam Singh played next. Dutt challenged Samoa Joe once again on behalf of Lethal, this time for the upcoming Ring of Honor pay per premium live event. 

Match #4: Jade Cargill versus Leila Gray

Cargill just destroyed Gray here in a match set up by Stokely Hathaway and Tony Khan via Twitter. Cargill tossed Gray around, no sold some forearms, and hit Jaded for the 1-2-3.

Hathaway and Cargill shared a microphone to call out Athena and Kris Statlander for being too lazy to accept the open challenge Jade issued, drawing the heroes into the ring. Keira Hogan, Jade, and Leila Gray attacked the good guys, leading the baddies to stand over their victims. Gray offered a handshake to Cargill but was denied.

Squish, squash. 

The Young Bucks, sad that all their friends are out of action, challenged Bishamon (Yoshi-Hashi and Goto from NJPW) to a match on Rampage.

Jim Ross and William Regal joined the announce crew for Blood and Guts.

Main Event: Jericho Appreciation Society (Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara w/ Tay Conti, “Daddy Magic” Matt Menard, Angelo Parker, Daniel Garcia, and Jake Hager) versus the Blackpool Combat Club and pals (Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta, Claudio Castagnoli, Santana, Ortiz, and Eddie Kingston)

I cannot stress how great this match was, for what it was. The Jericho Appreciation Society, in matching red fedoras and mesh shirts, had the numbers advantage throughout because of their win at Forbidden Door. Claudio and Sammy Guevara started things, and we’re gonna be here all day if i try to recap the whole thing. Highlights included:

• A “We, The People” chant broke out when Hager and Claudio faced off

• Jon Moxley carved Daniel Garcia’s forehead with a fork, a la Abdullah the Butcher

• Angelo Parker tried to sneak attack the BCC before getting a “You f***ed up” chant from the crowd

• Moxley introduced a Bag O’ Broken Glass to one of the rings, Wheeler added a Bag O’ Tacks, and Mox eventually got dragged in said glass and tacks by Jericho.

• Mox impaled Menard’s forehead with some bamboo skewers

• Kingston finally entering the match and swatting the entire JAS off with a kendo stick as he made a beeline to Chris Jericho

• Tay Conti attacked referee Aubrey Edwards, knocking her out to steal the key for the cage per Chris Jericho. Ruby Soho, beloved friend of Eddie Kingston, ran down to attack Tay after she undid the lock. Their brawl was highlighted by Tay trying really hard to keep her (poorly selected) skirt pulled down while Ruby attacked her.

• Eddie Kingston and Chris Jericho headed to the top of the cage, followed by Sammy Guevara. Eddie yeeted Sammy onto a table below and laughed like a madman.

• Claudio and Menard joined Eddie and Jericho on the cage, and double submission holds by the good guys led to Menard tapping to Castagnoli for the BCC win. Eddie was initially pissed, as he and Claudio have a history, but he got over it when Moxley interjected. 

• The good guys and referee Bryce stood tall atop the cage to close the show. 

Four stars! This version of Blood and Guts might be the best so far, and definitely did what they set out to do.. There was blood, weapons, fun, violence, and a surprise appearance. There WAS NOT any fire, but the tease of rubbing alcohol led me to suspect that might have been a planned fire spot that just didn’t work out. A blast to watch, so much so that I actually watched twice last night and have every intention of putting this on again as I work on my basement today.

A great opener and a great finish for Dynamite, here are Five Good Things!

• Orange Cassidy versus Ethan Page debuted Cassidy’s new/old theme and kept Cassidy’s momentum rolling. He also busted out some classic Orange shtick, like the OJ and the power derived from putting his hands in his pockets.

• Christian Cage’s cruel promo, and the new Luchasaurus look was good stuff, and has me interested in where they’re going with this and why the big dino turned evil.

• Danhausen and FTR had a pretty decent match, getting FTR some love and Danhausen a victory in his hometown. The post match shenanigans between the Acclaimed and the Ass Boys should spark a fun rivalry featuring Billy Gunn as the torn father figure.

• Blood

• AND Guts! It counts as two because it took up half the show! A crazy, violent spectacle that really sold how much Jericho and Kingston hate each other, and how brutal the Blackpool Combat Club can be.

And that’s it! I’ll be back tomorrow with Casual Friday, and will write a preview for Saturday’s Money in the Bank show on Saturday morning once the card is finalized.

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.

Have a good one!

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!