Cero's Mid-Week Wrestling Review (March 25, 2015)

[cero2k]

Mid Week Wrestling Review
March 25, 2015

Good: Kevin Owens man, why is he not in the HOF already? The whole main event was really good, they made me doubt myself and there were several spots where I thought Balor was walking out with the title. Great selling from Balor and Owens too.

Bad: I don't know what it was exactly, but this show didn't feel as big as it should have. Balor/Owens was huuge, even taking most of the show, but the overall show itself didn't feel that big.

Change: I wanna say that I could have made some change on the ending to Bliss vs Sasha, just because it feels like Bliss shouldn't get another shot at the title, and I felt that there's no one left for Sasha, other than Becky which we didn't see today.

Good: The good i'm giving to the Son of Havoc vs Angelico match, I was honestly not expecting that swerve and I was marking out at the finish. I had been waiting soo long to be happy for SOH, and they day is finally here.

Bad: I think the only bad was the small confusion that I got from the Alberto/Texano match where Striker kept saying the rope was legal as in other DQs are still in effect. This made me wonder if the finish was supposed to be super vicious that Texano couldn't wait the 5 count or if he simply had no way to escape.

Change: I just would have had Puma's win be less directly related to Konnan's aid. I'm good with the help because Cage, even in defeat, still looks like an unstoppable monster, but it's pretty obvious that he had the win and Puma only had his big win due to Konnan and Hernandez.

Good:

Bad: Supercard Of Honor 9 is this weekend. ROH 100% failed at promoting the show, it's like having to follow two completely different promotions at the same time. ROH really needs to get their shit together when booking dates and shows.

Change: There wasn't much to change, the show was pretty good. I think the change I would have done was to do a better thing with the KRD other than that video thing.

Good: The original cut of the promo from AJ, Paige, and particularly Nikki Bella. Video in case you didn't see it, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvB59287Svs

Bad: Smackdown

Change: Make it a recap show for every single match in WM, there's no point in running storylines in a show that no one sees and you already closed on RAW.

Promotion of the Week: This one is actually kinda hard, ROH had a really good show, NXT and LU had 'big' shows this week, but I think that NXT failing to make it feel like a big show hurts them enough to put LU on top, for yet another week.

MVP of the Week: Kevin Owens, he was just glorious this week, and considering guys like Balor, Dalton, Roddy, Jacobs, Puma, or Son of Havoc, who I all LOVED this week, Owens takes it just for being amazing.

[Big Red Machine]

Change: I wanna say that I could have made some change on the ending to Bliss vs Sasha, just because it feels like Bliss shouldn't get another shot at the title, and I felt that there's no one left for Sasha, other than Becky which we didn't see today.

They could build Emma up. Also, did Charlotte ever get a rematch after losing?

Bad: Supercard Of Honor 9 is this weekend. ROH 100% failed at promoting the show, it's like having to follow two completely different promotions at the same time. ROH really needs to get their shit together when booking dates and shows.

I definitely agree. The Decade break-up seems like it will be totally ignored on TV, and not building up Joe vs. Jay is inexcusable. If it wasn't for these two things, I'd be fine with SCOH being a DVD-only show like the Atlanta show was.

[cero2k]

Change: I wanna say that I could have made some change on the ending to Bliss vs Sasha, just because it feels like Bliss shouldn't get another shot at the title, and I felt that there's no one left for Sasha, other than Becky which we didn't see today.

They could build Emma up. Also, did Charlotte ever get a rematch after losing?

Bad: Supercard Of Honor 9 is this weekend. ROH 100% failed at promoting the show, it's like having to follow two completely different promotions at the same time. ROH really needs to get their shit together when booking dates and shows.

I definitely agree. The Decade break-up seems like it will be totally ignored on TV, and not building up Joe vs. Jay is inexcusable. If it wasn't for these two things, I'd be fine with SCOH being a DVD-only show like the Atlanta show was.

well, they'll build Emma, but she just turned heel on Bayley. and Charlotte did get her title shot two weeks after the NXT special, they closed the show. I think they'll simply make some weird 3way with Bliss and Becky until the new blonde comes in.

exactly! it's like Joe doesn't even exist in the TV version of ROH

[Big Red Machine]

Change: I wanna say that I could have made some change on the ending to Bliss vs Sasha, just because it feels like Bliss shouldn't get another shot at the title, and I felt that there's no one left for Sasha, other than Becky which we didn't see today.

They could build Emma up. Also, did Charlotte ever get a rematch after losing?

Bad: Supercard Of Honor 9 is this weekend. ROH 100% failed at promoting the show, it's like having to follow two completely different promotions at the same time. ROH really needs to get their shit together when booking dates and shows.

I definitely agree. The Decade break-up seems like it will be totally ignored on TV, and not building up Joe vs. Jay is inexcusable. If it wasn't for these two things, I'd be fine with SCOH being a DVD-only show like the Atlanta show was.

well, they'll build Emma, but she just turned heel on Bayley. and Charlotte did get her title shot two weeks after the NXT special, they closed the show. I think they'll simply make some weird 3way with Bliss and Becky until the new blonde comes in.

exactly! it's like Joe doesn't even exist in the TV version of ROH

It's not that he doesn't exist. He was on TV last week or the week before, and he' wrestling Kyle this coming weekend. They just didn't have enough time between this show and SCOH for the TV to air in order to hype the show up- but then again, it really wouldn't have helped in the case of the Joe match because the show's been sold out for week, and it's not an iPPV. I think the only reason they even put Joe's title shot there was because 1) No one else was really ready (although Elgin could have been if they wanted to go that way, and whichever guy didn't eat the pinfall at the Anniversary Show could have been as well), and 2) it is their biggest show that Joe will be on. The other buildings (aside from Chicago, which was way too soon to do it) are all relatively small, and the biggest of them- San Antonio, I think- already has Del Rio in Del Rio's home town.
Of course you could argue (and I probably would) that they should have done the Joe vs. Jay match in Hopkins because it's Joe's last show, it isn't sold out yet, has no other big attractions (i.e. Del Rio or New Japan guys) and it's a market that normally wouldn't get something so big, so this would push DVD/VOD sales for that show.

What I think will happen with Joe and Jay re TV is that as the Joe stuff starts to air on TV, they'll hopefully have the VOD ready and really push that on the TV show.

For the NXT stuff, I don't think doing Bliss and Becky in a three-way with Sasha is a good idea. Bliss got her chance and lost. The loss elevated her a bit, but she needs to be rebuilt. They need to take the time to do a singles program with Becky, by the end of which they can have both Emma and Bliss built up again, and once that is done, Bayley will fresh again and they can go back to her, (at which point Sasha should be called up, anyway, so they can give Bayler her big win, then feud her with Becky).

[Big Red Machine]

According to Dave, Joe vs. Briscoe and Lethal vs. Liger will both air on the 4/11 TV show, which makes sense as it gets both matches on TV and gives them two weeks to instead of one to turn the 4/4 tapings into TV-ready shows.
I guess they're banking on people wanting to see both of those matches in full as well as Daniels vs. Roddy and Elgin vs. Kazarian to push the DVD/VOD sales.

[cero2k]

According to Dave, Joe vs. Briscoe and Lethal vs. Liger will both air on the 4/11 TV show, which makes sense as it gets both matches on TV and gives them two weeks to instead of one to turn the 4/4 tapings into TV-ready shows.
I guess they're banking on people wanting to see both of those matches in full as well as Daniels vs. Roddy and Elgin vs. Kazarian to push the DVD/VOD sales.

my problem is mostly that for instance, if i only follow ROH on tv, I would have no idea about SCOH or Jay v Joe up until i saw the commercial this week, and then I'd had no idea why or how they get there. I would google the show and see all these matches that make no sense considering what i'm up to on the tv product.

[Big Red Machine]

According to Dave, Joe vs. Briscoe and Lethal vs. Liger will both air on the 4/11 TV show, which makes sense as it gets both matches on TV and gives them two weeks to instead of one to turn the 4/4 tapings into TV-ready shows.
I guess they're banking on people wanting to see both of those matches in full as well as Daniels vs. Roddy and Elgin vs. Kazarian to push the DVD/VOD sales.

my problem is mostly that for instance, if i only follow ROH on tv, I would have no idea about SCOH or Jay v Joe up until i saw the commercial this week, and then I'd had no idea why or how they get there. I would google the show and see all these matches that make no sense considering what i'm up to on the tv product.

I disagree that the matches (aside from Whitmer vs. Jacobs) make no sense based on the current TV. The tag title match was set up on TV and the world title match was set up on both TV and PPV. The others are just matches that should be great. Roddy, Elgin and Ciampa are all continuing their quests to earn title shots. Lethal, who has claimed that he has run through everyone in the locker room, is facing an outside guy for the TV Title.
You're also forgetting that there are two more weeks of TV before the SCOH matches start airing, so there could be build on those shows.

[cero2k]

I disagree that the matches (aside from Whitmer vs. Jacobs) make no sense based on the current TV. The tag title match was set up on TV and the world title match was set up on both TV and PPV. The others are just matches that should be great. Roddy, Elgin and Ciampa are all continuing their quests to earn title shots. Lethal, who has claimed that he has run through everyone in the locker room, is facing an outside guy for the TV Title.
You're also forgetting that there are two more weeks of TV before the SCOH matches start airing, so there could be build on those shows.

but most of those matches i never got to see how they got to set up, so say i wanna go to SCOH live because i follow ROH on tv only, i'll just see what seems to be a bunch of random matches with no explanation or build up, hell say i follow ROH all in but i wanna stay tv spoiler free, watching SCOH spoils the next month of tv, up until this topic i had no idea Decade had broken up, i just thought the Jacobs match was his goodbye match with no real story line behind it. If you have shows like SCOH, or the Anniversary show, all the flagship big shows, they should all be built with tv so you get the payoff at those shows, regardless if it's a PPV, iPPV, or VOD. it's wrestling 101

[Big Red Machine]

I disagree that the matches (aside from Whitmer vs. Jacobs) make no sense based on the current TV. The tag title match was set up on TV and the world title match was set up on both TV and PPV. The others are just matches that should be great. Roddy, Elgin and Ciampa are all continuing their quests to earn title shots. Lethal, who has claimed that he has run through everyone in the locker room, is facing an outside guy for the TV Title.
You're also forgetting that there are two more weeks of TV before the SCOH matches start airing, so there could be build on those shows.

but most of those matches i never got to see how they got to set up, so say i wanna go to SCOH live because i follow ROH on tv only, i'll just see what seems to be a bunch of random matches with no explanation or build up, hell say i follow ROH all in but i wanna stay tv spoiler free, watching SCOH spoils the next month of tv, up until this topic i had no idea Decade had broken up, i just thought the Jacobs match was his goodbye match with no real story line behind it.

1. If you wanted to go to the show, you'd need to go to the website to buy tickets, and all of the information would be right there, including blurbs to explain things.
2. Not all of the matches need build up. It's a sport. Just because two teams are out of playoff contention doesn't mean that a game between them is just cancelled. The match is happening because it's a scheduled match. Whoever wins will get a bit more money, and will move closer to getting a title shot. Roddy has been saying he wants a title shot, and he has recently beaten BJ Whitmer and Kyle O'Reilly. If he beats a guy like Daniels, he'll be one step closer to getting one. It's that simple.
Why is Elgin vs. Kaz happening? Because it's a cool, first time ever match.

If you have shows like SCOH, or the Anniversary show, all the flagship big shows, they should all be built with tv so you get the payoff at those shows, regardless if it's a PPV, iPPV, or VOD. it's wrestling 101

For the most part, you're right, but in this case, there just wasn't enough time for it. They wanted the Anniversary Show to be a PPV and they build up their TV for that. SCOH had to be when it was, and they did a decent job of rushing things to get them ready so that at least some of the build could air on TV before the show. The tapings were on 3/7. They got the first episode ready for the very next weekend. They didn't know that Joe would be leaving TNA until he did, which was about a week before the Anniversary Show. They only have him for a limited time, and they wanted to make SCOH feel like a big show, so they booked Jay vs. Joe for SCOH. Same with the Jacobs thing. It seems to me like they didn't know he'd be leaving so soon, because if they had, they'd have done a break-up angle of some sort with him and BJ at the PPV instead of rushing it at the Milwaukee/Chicago Conquest Tour shows. They did the best they could with the time they had.