Cero's Mid-Week Wrestling Review (Feb 5, 2015)

[cero2k]

NXT
Good: Main Event aside (it was a given), good goes to the final Owens/Zayn package. a thing of beauty, along with the two interviews during the show, it got me really pumped for Rival next week.

Bad: Not particularly bad, but why did Emma had to lose to a submission cleanly? and against Carmella of all people. I guess the heel turn is inevitable.

Change: Tied in with the bad of the week. Have Emma lose with some shenanigans included.

Lucha Underground
Good: Weirdly enough, i'm keep myself away from Alberto debuting. I'm giving the good to the build up to Matanza's debut, the whole segment with Cueto and Matanza was pretty good.

Bad: Ivelisse and Son of Havoc tension tease, there's no need to break them up, let's face it. Without Ivelisse, Son of Havoc is nothing, and without Son of Havoc, Ivelisse will get lost in the shuffle unless LU starts bringing more girls.

Change: Being that i just find it weird, i would have changed the whole thing that Catrina and Fenix had going on. I have no problem with the idea of Catrina seducing Fenix, but I just hope that Catrina and Muertes don't split up. I would just change it a little bit so it doesn't play

Ring Of Honor
Good: simple. really simple. Dalton Castle's amazing entrance. The Peacock is here!!

Bad: Mainly just the whole Decade match, it completely lost me.

Change: Just give Castle the win, he was super over and would ROH care at this point to bring Sixx at all anyway? I can see why Castle may not get a full contract with ROH because he's in CHIKARA right now, but he could have gone a match further.

SMACKDOWN
Good: The whole things that Ambrose/Axel/Barrett could be building. I'm not a fan of Ambrose going for the IC title, but the idea of those guys working together has a lot of potential.

Bad: The idea of Ziggler and Ryback teaming up as Big Guy/Lil'Guy is terrible, they're both super over above the main event, and now they're just doing filler stuff again. Bad.

Change: The direction that the announcers were selling for Roman Reigns was bad, instead of telling me that Reigns was manipulated to putting his title shot on the line, just tell me that Reigns doesn't back down from fighting and he's sure he can keep his shot.

Promotion of the Week: Lucha Undergroud takes it IMO. Smackdown and ROH where good for their main events, NXT while having an amazing go home show, also did feel more like a main event show. LU this week not only had great wrestling all around, it ended with a HUGE debut.

MVP of the Week: Week goes to ACH this week. Great match and promo at ROH.

[Big Red Machine]

NXT
Good: Main Event aside (it was a given), good goes to the final Owens/Zayn package. a thing of beauty, along with the two interviews during the show, it got me really pumped for Rival next week.

Good? Just "good" for the Sami-Owens package? Really? You need to rename this segment because just "good" does not do this peive of art justice.

Bad: Not particularly bad, but why did Emma had to lose to a submission cleanly? and against Carmella of all people. I guess the heel turn is inevitable.

Change: Tied in with the bad of the week. Have Emma lose with some shenanigans included.

So what I've heard is that the idea is that giving Emma an embarrassing loss will be the impetus for a change in her gimmick. She's hitting rock bottom before climbing back up (and it also gets Carmella a bigger win than beating a jobber in the process, so it's a good use of the tools they have at their disposal). She might not necessarily turn heel, but she will certainly change after this.

Lucha Underground
Good: Weirdly enough, i'm keep myself away from Alberto debuting. I'm giving the good to the build up to Matanza's debut, the whole segment with Cueto and Matanza was pretty good.

Your attempt has failed! The phone call Dario was making when Alberto walked in on him was part of that whole story.

Bad: Ivelisse and Son of Havoc tension tease, there's no need to break them up, let's face it. Without Ivelisse, Son of Havoc is nothing, and without Son of Havoc, Ivelisse will get lost in the shuffle unless LU starts bringing more girls.

This. So much this.

Ring Of Honor
Good: simple. really simple. Dalton Castle's amazing entrance. The Peacock is here!!

Change: Just give Castle the win, he was super over and would ROH care at this point to bring Sixx at all anyway? I can see why Castle may not get a full contract with ROH because he's in CHIKARA right now, but he could have gone a match further.

With Sixx, they have to pay to bring him eveywhere. With Castle, they don't have to pay to bring him to Nashville because (I think) he's a local guy). Also, Sixx has been on their radar for a long time (according to Corino's commentary, anyway).

SMACKDOWN
Good: The whole things that Ambrose/Axel/Barrett could be building. I'm not a fan of Ambrose going for the IC title, but the idea of those guys working together has a lot of potential.

I think it is the best thing for all involved. You've already got Ambrose, Cena, Bryan, and Orton on the babyface side. Without this, Ambrose will get lost in the shuffle. Yes, it's the Interjobinental Title, but maybe with a babyface who the fans care about holding it, they'll actually make it matter. It will also give Ambrose something to do that will keep smarks happy so that they don't start clamoring for him to win the world title. It's the same reason why I was sure ROH was going to put the TV Title on Cedric last fall.

Bad: The idea of Ziggler and Ryback teaming up as Big Guy/Lil'Guy is terrible, they're both super over above the main event, and now they're just doing filler stuff again. Bad.

I think this is the same idea as the above in that it gives two very over babyfaces something to do for a while because there really aren't any heels for them to face as singles wrestlers. Yes, the Usos have been great, but there's nothing new for them to do right now. Cesaro & Kidd vs. Ziggler & Ryback could actually be really darn good.

Change: The direction that the announcers were selling for Roman Reigns was bad, instead of telling me that Reigns was manipulated to putting his title shot on the line, just tell me that Reigns doesn't back down from fighting and he's sure he can keep his shot.

I've been hearing a lot of people complain about this- not just with Reigns, but with Bryan and Cena too, saying that having the babyfaces getting manipulated by the Authority makes them look like idiots, but I think that the best approach is a combination of the two. Yes, the Authority manipulated theses guys, but they did so by appealing to their nobler, more babyface attributes: Bryan's pride, Cena's compassion, and Roman's willingness to fight anyone. By talking up both, you get the babyfaces over as babyface, and the Authoirty's manipulation of those traits makes them ruthless and devious and evil, rather than just "smarter" than our babyfaces. Like a supervillain using innocent people as hostages.

[cero2k]

NXT
Good: Main Event aside (it was a given), good goes to the final Owens/Zayn package. a thing of beauty, along with the two interviews during the show, it got me really pumped for Rival next week.

Good? Just "good" for the Sami-Owens package? Really? You need to rename this segment because just "good" does not do this peive of art justice.
lol, i know. and this is considering i skipped the awesomeness of the main event.

Bad: Not particularly bad, but why did Emma had to lose to a submission cleanly? and against Carmella of all people. I guess the heel turn is inevitable.

Change: Tied in with the bad of the week. Have Emma lose with some shenanigans included.

So what I've heard is that the idea is that giving Emma an embarrassing loss will be the impetus for a change in her gimmick. She's hitting rock bottom before climbing back up (and it also gets Carmella a bigger win than beating a jobber in the process, so it's a good use of the tools they have at their disposal). She might not necessarily turn heel, but she will certainly change after this.
yeah, that's kinda what i'm seeing coming, and i guess it all depends if Emma is turning or not. I just think that Carmella could have waited on that win and give it to someone like Alexa Bliss. Carmella can only brag from here on, but that will keep Emma babyface. With Bliss, she can certainly turn heel and attack the little pixie dust out of Alexa. I've also heard the idea of Emma being the Kevin Owens to Bayley's Zayn if she wins the title next week.

Lucha Underground
Good: Weirdly enough, i'm keep myself away from Alberto debuting. I'm giving the good to the build up to Matanza's debut, the whole segment with Cueto and Matanza was pretty good.

Your attempt has failed! The phone call Dario was making when Alberto walked in on him was part of that whole story.
ha, yes, you got me. I just didn't want to be obvious about my mark out moment when I heard Alberto walk in the door. Again, this is considering i also skipped the awesome first and last match. i'm an Angelico mark, and i really hope that they eventually bring in Jack Evans to team with him over at LU too.

Ring Of Honor
Good: simple. really simple. Dalton Castle's amazing entrance. The Peacock is here!!

Change: Just give Castle the win, he was super over and would ROH care at this point to bring Sixx at all anyway? I can see why Castle may not get a full contract with ROH because he's in CHIKARA right now, but he could have gone a match further.

With Sixx, they have to pay to bring him eveywhere. With Castle, they don't have to pay to bring him to Nashville because (I think) he's a local guy). Also, Sixx has been on their radar for a long time (according to Corino's commentary, anyway).
to be honest, at this point, i don't think neither Castle nor Syxx are ROH style that much. Castle i think it's the type of comedy that ROH has moved on from, and Syxx is like watching the Carnage Crew all over again, and I feel like ROH has moved on from that type of character too. I haven't seen the spoilers of who gets to the finals, but i just don't see neither guy staying.

SMACKDOWN
Good: The whole things that Ambrose/Axel/Barrett could be building. I'm not a fan of Ambrose going for the IC title, but the idea of those guys working together has a lot of potential.

I think it is the best thing for all involved. You've already got Ambrose, Cena, Bryan, and Orton on the babyface side. Without this, Ambrose will get lost in the shuffle. Yes, it's the Interjobinental Title, but maybe with a babyface who the fans care about holding it, they'll actually make it matter. It will also give Ambrose something to do that will keep smarks happy so that they don't start clamoring for him to win the world title. It's the same reason why I was sure ROH was going to put the TV Title on Cedric last fall.

These guys, plus the Ryback/Ziggler team i think it's the same situation where it's WM season and they just wanna put these guys somewhere in there where they don't disturb the main events, yet still get featured on something for the show with some low effort feud. I'm hoping this is the case and once WM is over, they get back to the saddle and do something relevant. I do believe that Ambrose vs Barrett vs Axel, and Ziggler/Ryback vs Masters of the Universe would be amazing matches. This also brings up another worry. I'm 99% sure Dragon loses to Reigns at FastLame, so do they go with Ziggler vs Dragon or do they leave Ziggler with Ryback, and Dragon vs ( :ymsick: )Sheamus ?

Change: The direction that the announcers were selling for Roman Reigns was bad, instead of telling me that Reigns was manipulated to putting his title shot on the line, just tell me that Reigns doesn't back down from fighting and he's sure he can keep his shot.

[/quote]
I've been hearing a lot of people complain about this- not just with Reigns, but with Bryan and Cena too, saying that having the babyfaces getting manipulated by the Authority makes them look like idiots, but I think that the best approach is a combination of the two. Yes, the Authority manipulated theses guys, but they did so by appealing to their nobler, more babyface attributes: Bryan's pride, Cena's compassion, and Roman's willingness to fight anyone. By talking up both, you get the babyfaces over as babyface, and the Authoirty's manipulation of those traits makes them ruthless and devious and evil, rather than just "smarter" than our babyfaces. Like a supervillain using innocent people as hostages.
that's a good point. I think they could definitely word out things to make it seem more like this, but i can beeleeh dat. The only thing i see here is that past FastLame, the Authority really needs to remove itself from both whatever Dragon is gonna do, and Reigns vs Lesnar. They can just focus on Orton vs Rollins and let Heyman take over the Reigns/Lesnar match.

[Big Red Machine]

Bad: Not particularly bad, but why did Emma had to lose to a submission cleanly? and against Carmella of all people. I guess the heel turn is inevitable.

Change: Tied in with the bad of the week. Have Emma lose with some shenanigans included.

So what I've heard is that the idea is that giving Emma an embarrassing loss will be the impetus for a change in her gimmick. She's hitting rock bottom before climbing back up (and it also gets Carmella a bigger win than beating a jobber in the process, so it's a good use of the tools they have at their disposal). She might not necessarily turn heel, but she will certainly change after this.
yeah, that's kinda what i'm seeing coming, and i guess it all depends if Emma is turning or not. I just think that Carmella could have waited on that win and give it to someone like Alexa Bliss. Carmella can only brag from here on, but that will keep Emma babyface. With Bliss, she can certainly turn heel and attack the little pixie dust out of Alexa. I've also heard the idea of Emma being the Kevin Owens to Bayley's Zayn if she wins the title next week.
Good point about Carmella/Emma/Bliss. Also, this could start bliss on the path to being the next big babyface if you have Sasha win at the Takeover show, then, at the next one, have Sasha beat Charlotte in a rematch in Charlotte's send-off and put Bliss over Emma strong in their feud, you'll be be able to build Bliss up as the top challenger to Sasha by September (or maybe December if you to a Becky turn to set up the September Title match and put Bliss over Bayley. At that point, I'd actually have Bliss win the title and have Bayley be the one to turn heel and be the Owens-type figure.

Ring Of Honor
Good: simple. really simple. Dalton Castle's amazing entrance. The Peacock is here!!

Change: Just give Castle the win, he was super over and would ROH care at this point to bring Sixx at all anyway? I can see why Castle may not get a full contract with ROH because he's in CHIKARA right now, but he could have gone a match further.

With Sixx, they have to pay to bring him eveywhere. With Castle, they don't have to pay to bring him to Nashville because (I think) he's a local guy). Also, Sixx has been on their radar for a long time (according to Corino's commentary, anyway).
to be honest, at this point, i don't think neither Castle nor Syxx are ROH style that much. Castle i think it's the type of comedy that ROH has moved on from, and Syxx is like watching the Carnage Crew all over again, and I feel like ROH has moved on from that type of character too. I haven't seen the spoilers of who gets to the finals, but i just don't see neither guy staying.
Completely agree on both counts. The Carnage Crew "weekend warriors- wrestling is our escape" was a great gimmick for the early days of ROH because of the way Gabe was trying to present the promotion, but their past that point now. With Castle, I didn't even see it as comedy. He was just a gay guy with man servants. So what? If you want us to be pissed that he is mistreating the servants, then we need to get to know them first (Jade Chung was perfect for this) and if you want us to not like him because he's gay, well... it's 2015. Get with the program.
Personally, I really hope Dijak wins the tournament. He's the only one I've seen so far that I've liked in any way.

SMACKDOWN
Good: The whole things that Ambrose/Axel/Barrett could be building. I'm not a fan of Ambrose going for the IC title, but the idea of those guys working together has a lot of potential.

I think it is the best thing for all involved. You've already got Ambrose, Cena, Bryan, and Orton on the babyface side. Without this, Ambrose will get lost in the shuffle. Yes, it's the Interjobinental Title, but maybe with a babyface who the fans care about holding it, they'll actually make it matter. It will also give Ambrose something to do that will keep smarks happy so that they don't start clamoring for him to win the world title. It's the same reason why I was sure ROH was going to put the TV Title on Cedric last fall.

These guys, plus the Ryback/Ziggler team i think it's the same situation where it's WM season and they just wanna put these guys somewhere in there where they don't disturb the main events, yet still get featured on something for the show with some low effort feud. I'm hoping this is the case and once WM is over, they get back to the saddle and do something relevant. I do believe that Ambrose vs Barrett vs Axel, and Ziggler/Ryback vs Masters of the Universe would be amazing matches. This also brings up another worry. I'm 99% sure Dragon loses to Reigns at FastLame, so do they go with Ziggler vs Dragon or do they leave Ziggler with Ryback, and Dragon vs ( :ymsick: )Sheamus ?
Well.. they've been wanting to do that Dragon vs. Sheamus match FOREVER. One year it got bumped to the pre-show and ended in a DQ, one year they did the squash instead of a match, last year they wanted to do it but went with Bryan at Mania because that was the right choice. If they do it this year... it really won't bother me. The match will be great (although I like Sheamus a lot more than most other people seem to.

Change: The direction that the announcers were selling for Roman Reigns was bad, instead of telling me that Reigns was manipulated to putting his title shot on the line, just tell me that Reigns doesn't back down from fighting and he's sure he can keep his shot.

[/quote]
I've been hearing a lot of people complain about this- not just with Reigns, but with Bryan and Cena too, saying that having the babyfaces getting manipulated by the Authority makes them look like idiots, but I think that the best approach is a combination of the two. Yes, the Authority manipulated theses guys, but they did so by appealing to their nobler, more babyface attributes: Bryan's pride, Cena's compassion, and Roman's willingness to fight anyone. By talking up both, you get the babyfaces over as babyface, and the Authoirty's manipulation of those traits makes them ruthless and devious and evil, rather than just "smarter" than our babyfaces. Like a supervillain using innocent people as hostages.
that's a good point. I think they could definitely word out things to make it seem more like this, but i can beeleeh dat. The only thing i see here is that past FastLame, the Authority really needs to remove itself from both whatever Dragon is gonna do, and Reigns vs Lesnar. They can just focus on Orton vs Rollins and let Heyman take over the Reigns/Lesnar match.
Agreed about the Authority staying out of things... especially because that will lead into a Rollins cash-in at Mania much better because it will be a surprise.[/quote]