No debate here - Raw and Smackdown delivered the goods this week

Raw and Smackdown have wrapped for the week. I'm not going to go segment by segment this week, but here are some highlights from both shows:

Raw was up against the Presidential Debate, so the show had a strange pace to it. Two big rematches from the previous night's Clash of Champions took place at the start of the show. Roman Reigns and Rusev fought over the US title again to start. Snore. Their match in Corpus from a month or so ago was great, but every subsequent segment between the two has floundered. This match in particular was a very plodding power vs. power match that lacked anything truly interesting. And I think this feud will continue . . . yeesh.

The New Day scored another win over Gallows and Anderson on their 400th day as tag champs. This was a step up from their match at Clash, and was given a little more time as well. (Man, I'd be a tad peeved at these PPV rematches if the WWE Network wasn't such a good value. But if I was paying old PPV prices, I'd be very turned off.)

Bolstering the Raw tag division was the addition of a new team: Sheamus and Cesaro. I like the idea of these two developing as a begrudging duo if the creative team has a long term plan. I don't think it quite makes up for the non-ending to their Best of Seven series, however. Still, the booking here is keeping me on my toes and I expect (based on fan reaction) they'll be the ones to dethrone New Day. File this one under "We'll see what happens next."

Cruiserweight champ T.J. Perkins took on Tony Nese in a ten minute match. Nese is pretty good and he's walking proof that not every Cruiserweight needs to be a circus acrobat. I'd like to see more of him in the future or even as a mid-boss kind of guy on NXT or something. Perkins and Brian Kendrick also exchanged words backstage, and T.J. promised to pay him back for the headbutt he received the previous night following their title match. Perkins will face Kendrick at least one more time and it'll be awesome, count on it! 

Seth Rollins will be nursing some bruised ribs for a few weeks at least, so Chris Jericho and Universal champ Kevin Owens resumed their placeholder feud with Enzo Amore and Big Cass. I'm cool with this - it moves them up on the card temporarily and they get to work with two of the best in the business, which can do nothing but good things for their development as wrestlers. Enzo and Cass are both solid on the mic and Enzo plays a great babyface-in-peril, but they're going to need a few more arrows in their quiver if they're going to make it long-term. If you're in the ring with Y2J and K.O., you can't help but pick up a few tricks. We all know the betrayal from Jericho is coming, which will probably lead to a triple threat, it's just a matter of when . . .

On Smackdown, the Miz continued to be one of, if not the, best heels in the company right now, gloating about his accomplishments in a "homecoming" segment since Smackdown was in Cleveland this week. Dolph Ziggler interrupted him and after a pretty great exchange of promos from both men, put his career on the line for another shot at Miz's title. That's right, at No Mercy, Miz and Ziggler will go one on one in a title vs. career match. I expect Dolph to finally cinch this one out, but even if he loses, don't fret. I lost count of all the times John Cena was "fired" in various storylines over the years. 

Bray Wyatt led Randy Orton on a sheep masked-themed wild goose chase for the extent of Smackdown. This was a pretty goofy series of backstage skits, but I think a younger me (who was a HUGE Undertaker mark) would have eaten them up. I'm not sure if I've warmed to this feud yet, and their non-starter at Backlash was a pretty "meh" affair. At least Eric Rowan got to do something this week.

The main event saw Dean Ambrose get his rematch against A.J. Styles for the WWE title. This was a fantastic match with John Cena at ringside providing commentary and getting involved a bit at the end. "Big Match" John is looking to win his 16th world title, and following the match (in which Styles won) he stood tall, nailing both Ambrose and Styles with an Attitude Adjustment. The three men will meet in a triple threat at Smackdown's next exclusive event, No Mercy. I'd have to review both Styles/Ambrose matches again to be sure, but I think this one fell just short of their encounter at Backlash, although from the crowd's reaction throughout, you can tell there was some continuity. I like when subsequent matches between performers build up over time. Tanahashi and Okada did that very well in New Japan at Wrestle Kingdom 9 and 10.

I gotta mention NJPW once per post, I just gotta.

Those were the stand-out bits for me. What jumped out at you from WWE this week? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @ChrisBComics. Thanks for reading!

You got a friend in me - WWE Clash of Champions results and nitpicking

Raw's first brand-exclusive PPV/special, Clash of Champions, took place last night in Indianapolis. Here's a brief recap and some fanboy nitpicking to start your week!

Big E and Kofi Kingston started the show, defending their tag titles against the former Bullet Clubbers, Gallows and Anderson. This match was fast-paced and a had a few good character moments from members of both teams, but was too short to stand out as anything substantial. The takeaway here for me was how dominant Gallows looked. He seemed to tap into his New Japan self for a bit there. Woods clocked Anderson with the trombone, paving the way for Big E and Kofi's team finisher. The New Day retained, and as of last night, passed the 400 day mark as champions. This was a "meh" match that continued what has been (surprisingly) a "meh" feud.

Next, cruiserweight champion T.J. Perkins faced Brian Kendrick. I'm glad Kendrick got called up to the Raw roster and it's fitting to see him as the first challenger for Perkins' title, as his story on the CWC was one of the most endearing, even though he played the villain role in most of his matches. This was a ten minute match with the usual impressive feats from both men, although they seemed to have slowed down a notch from their CWC performances. This doesn't surprise me, as being on the road and working a much harder schedule means those cruiserweight barn burners we saw on the CWC will be a rarity. Kendrick tapped out to a knee bar submission, and Perkins' reign as the top dog in the cruiserweight division continues. Kendrick kept it classy by headbutting Perkins during the post-match interview. Salty.

The Best of Seven series between Cesaro and Sheamus reached a conclusion in match seven. Well, sort of . . . Both men battered one another so severely that the match resulted in a double count-out. This one got a little more time than the first two matches, and I really like how the wear and tear on both men has been emphasized during the series, resulting in a very stiff, desperate conclusion here that reeked Japanese strong style. Cesaro nearly killed himself during the match performing a Tope Suicida through the ropes to Sheamus at ringside. He landed on his head and it looked pretty nasty. This series has been up and down, but the non-ending here is a real disappointment. As good ol' J.R. likes to say on his podcast, "Fifty/fifty booking isn't gonna help anybody." This could have been a special match, but the ending nuked that.

A grudge match between Sami Zayn and Chris Jericho was the next encounter. Another fifteen minute affair with some really great action from two of WWE's best wrestlers. Sami's swinging DDT through the ropes move didn't connect as smoothly as it usually does, but other than that, these two seem to have great chemistry in the ring. Jericho won the match with a Codebreaker to the back of Zayn, which he surprisingly did not kick out of. Both of these men are waiting in the wings for K.O. to dismiss Rollins. Zayn is his eternal rival and Jericho has the built-in storyline of turning on his "best friend" Owens. Good but not great match last night, but great stuff in the future from both men, I'm sure.

Charlotte defended the Raw Women's Championship against both Bayley and Sasha in the next match. This match went for what felt like about 12-15 minutes as well, and was as great as you'd expect, given who was involved. After being booked to look very strong since her debut, Bayley ends up getting beaten by a simple kick. Something about that felt off to me. Good drama throughout the match with Dana Brooke intervening on Charlotte's behalf as least once and the champ managing the ring well by constantly keeping one of her two opponents out on the floor. Charlotte retained. Good match, but I feel like I got my fill of these particular match-ups on NXT. For viewers who didn't see NXT, this must be pretty thrilling, but by this point I feel like I'm watching all of 2014's best on a 2016 Raw stage.

U.S. Champ Rusev and his opponent Roman Reigns had the crowd restless during their match, resulting in more than one baffling "CM Punk" chant. This was an okay match, but their main event from Raw a month ago was much more exciting. I'm thankful for this feud only because it's kept Roman out of the main event scene for a bit and hopefully will continue to do so. That sounds harsh, but it's only because I'd like Roman to simmer in the undercard for a while; maybe build up a win streak like Goldberg or find something organic about his persona that catches on with people. They want him to be The Rock, but right now he's still Rocky Maivia. Roman won. Rusev was mad. Lana was mad. This felt like the longest match so far.

A commercial aired for Hell In A Cell, which will be the next Raw exclusive special. I wonder if Smackdown will get TLC?

And finally, the main event! Seth Rollins tried to take the Universal title from Kevin Owens in what would have been a really great match, if not for some clumsy interference and overbooking toward the end. They won the crowd over with some high spots and Jericho's intervention set the stage for a triple threat match down the line. Jericho hampered Rollins, resulting in K.O. nailing a Pop-Up Powerbomb to retain the title. Seth seems to be getting over as a babyface, which is good. K.O. continues to be a chameleon that can play any role given, which is outstanding. And now Jericho is involved. The brief bit of action between the three of them at the end has me thinking this will make a good three way match for either a Raw main event or Hell in a Cell.

If I did number grades for show reviews, this would be a solid 6/10. There was some great action here, a very concise card, and the right people went over (except Jericho, but hey). The issues here are the non-ending to the Sheamus/Cesaro match and the decision to have both major title matches end with outside interference. It was a slightly overbooked transitional show, and I feel like the 'E is holding their cards for later shows like Hell in a Cell. Or maybe they plan to save some special moments for Raw, as football season heats up. Anyhoo, thanks for reading. Follow me on Twitter @ChrisBComics for more blog posts and whatnot.

Fast forward to the end - Catching up with a week's worth of WWE

It was quite a week for WWE programming. We saw the crowning of a cruiserweight champion, the announcement of a triple threat match for AJ's title on Smackdown, and a certain Bulgarian Brute returning to (literally) kick Roman Reigns out of the main event. Due to a work-related injury to my right hand, I wasn't able to chronicle things as they occurred this week, so today I'm playing catch up.

The Kevin Owens show chugged along on Raw, with the challenger Seth Rollins getting physical with his opponent before their inevitable match at Clash of Champions, which will be the Raw brand's first exclusive special. I think Rollins as a babyface is working well enough, and if anyone can draw some heat, it's K.O. Meanwhile, the New Day/Gallows and Anderson tag title feud dragged on and Rusev returned from his honeymoon to knock Roman Reigns down a peg. This is good: keep Roman at the U.S. title level for a while and rebuild his character during the fall so he can move up in time for mania next spring. Nia Jax and Bo Dallas continued to dominate in their roles as well, with the latter utilizing a new finisher and bringing a harder edge to his character.

Charlotte's relationship with her "student" Dana Brooke crumbled last Monday night as well. I don't know if Dana being on her own is going to help or hurt her, and I still think she needs a little more seasoning on NXT. (Also, the NXT women's roster needs all the help it can get right now. Asuka alone does not a good division make.)

Smackdown saw the continued evolution of the Usos as heels, as well as the next chapter in the Ziggler/Miz feud. The tag division on this show is very strong, but the midcard/IC title-level stuff is hurting. Baron Corbin is waiting in the wings, Jack Swagger is there, and Apollo Crews is catching on the way I imagine they thought he would.

John Cena made his return and showed the usual fire in his promo exchange with the new WWE champion AJ Styles. Not to be outdone, Dean Ambrose inserted himself, which led to Cena ripping on him as well. These three men have no love for one another and their triple threat match at No Mercy could blow the roof off the place. Both Cena vs. Styles and Ambrose vs. Styles were great matches, so I'm banking on a combination of the two resulting in something even better. Great main events on both brands.

Alexa Bliss became Becky Lynch's first challenger after slithering her way to a victory in a five woman #1 contender match. This is light work for Lynch; a placeholder opponent until the next challenger (Carmella) finishes her current feud. Like I said last week, I think Becky being away from Charlotte, Sasha, and Bayley is helping her character shine similar to Dean Ambrose being away from his former Shield brethren. Bliss is a work in progress, but after watching her on Talking Smack, I think there's potential for her to play a great opportunistic heel. It's going to take time though . . .

NXT wasn't half bad this week. Samoa Joe challenged Shinsuke Nakamura to a rematch, then attacked him in as brutal a fashion as possible without any bloodletting. As good as their first encounter was, it felt like the first match of a series, with both men holding just a little back. Shinsuke's probable next opponent, the equally flamboyant Bobby Roode, scored a decisive win over Andrade "Cien" Almas in the main event, cementing himself as the next man to watch in NXT's main event scene. His GLORIOUS theme music has been stuck in my head for several days. The music department at WWE deserves major kudos for that piece.

The best thing to happen this week was the conclusion of the CWC. This two hour special saw the final four men finish out the bracket to crown the inaugural Cruiserweight champion, as well as a tag match to keep the crowd warm and give the finalists a chance to rest for a few minutes. Maybe it's the I've we've been following this tournament week in and week out for the last couple of monthes, or maybe it's the alternative look of the program, but this felt more important than Backlash last Sunday or even the recent SummerSlam show. There were no harsh words or corny storylines here, just great in-ring action by some of the most diverse group of competitors on the planet.

The results of the CWC also surprised me, as I was sure either Zack Sabre Jr. or Kota Ibushi would be taking the title to Raw next Monday. ZSJ was eliminated by Gran Metalik in a fun encounter, but the match of the night had to go to Ibushi and TJ Perkins. The slow burn of this match, with Perkins blocking Ibushi's kicks and both men wrestling like they've been watching a lot of tape, was an example of how the matches near the end of a tournament bracket should go. I'd easily put this semifinal match in my top three next Dean Ambrose vs. Triple H from Roadbloack and Shinsuke vs. Sami Zayn from two Takeovers ago.

The finals saw Gran Metalik and TJ Perkins put on quite a show, but that Ibushi match overshadowed it for me. Perkins won the match, the tourney, and the title, to close out the show. (The title belt design needs a little work IMO, but hey.) This has been my favorite weekly wrestling show for it's entire run, eclipsing even NXT. The real test will be seeing how the cruiserweights are handled on Raw going forward. I don't want to see them fed to Rusev or Sheamus. I'd like them to stay within their own division, at least for a little while. Anyhoo, it was a great week of wrestling and this is the first year in a while I think the 'E could have a serious shot at taking on the NFL for ratings, as along as they remember what made NXT and the CWC so successful and apply that to their two main shows.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter (@ChrisBComics) and be on the lookout for other content generated by yours truly, including my comic book blog, Back Issue Diving!

The new face that runs the place - Styles triumphs at WWE Backlash

WWE Backlash was not only the first Smackdown exclusive special following the brand split, but it also saw one of the two main shows adopt the NXT philosophy of "a smaller card is a better card". Despite Randy Orton not being able to compete against Bray Wyatt, the show delivered on all of its promised matches and set things up for the fall season quite nicely I'd say. Let's break it all down and see where the roster stands after last night's show.

Baron Corbin defeated Apollo Crews on the pre-show. This makes sense, since Corbin is on the rise as a monster heel destined to blow through Kane on his way to Ambrose, while Crews is in a rut right now, waiting for that right little something to kick-start his character. I'm not sure what they should do with Crews at this point, since there are two many active heels right now to turn him and he's already exhausted his feud with The Miz. More intensity, more something.

Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon opened the main show, hyping up the crowd and boasting about Smackdown's new titles and big match-ups. This wasn't really necessary, but it didn't drag on for too long either.

Becky Lynch, Natalya, Nicki Bella, Alexa Bliss, Naomi, and Carmella competed in an elimination style match for the new Smackdown Women's Championship. Putting this match on so early in the show kinda bugged me, especially since they did the same thing at SummerSlam, but once the action got going, I forgot all about it. There were okay entrances for the ladies, with Naomi's dazzling glow in the dark look being my favorite. Alexa Bliss went for what I think was a Harley Quinn look, but didn't commit enough to the cosplay to pull it off. While the action was a little awkward at times (which is often the case in any match with more than three people), each woman settled into a role and found a part to play. Alexa was the opportunist, Becky was the underdog hero, Natalya was the physically dominant heel, Naomi was the show stealer, Nicki Bella was the expected winner a la John Cena, and Carmella was the aggressive heel. The match came down to Becky and Carmella, the latter of whom tapped to Lynch's Disarmer submission. It's a good move to have Becky be the first Smackdown champ, and she's also the last one of NXT's "Four Horsewomen" to finally hold a title. Cool match.

Backstage, we saw Bray Wyatt attack Randy Orton. He slammed a door onto his leg several times. Nice character move for Wyatt, tough break for Orton.

The Usos changed their manner of dress and demeanor to fit their new heel personas. Their match against the Hype Bros. to advance in the tag title tournament saw then unveil a harder edged style, with slightly less acrobatics and more targeted offense. They haven't gone full "Revival" mode yet, but they did seem to stick to the mat a little more in this match. They beat the Hype Bros. to advance in a pretty good match. Mojo and Ryder have been a fun team on NXT and Smackdown, but I don't see this particular tandem (or at least this version of it) being champs anytime soon. They're babyface gatekeepers for any heel team on the climb.

The Miz and Dolph Ziggler had a great match for Miz's IC title. Miz might've taken some of Daniel Bryan's words to heart as he showed a little more recklessness than usual and even did some things I don't think I've ever seen him do. Ziggler was his usual badass self. Miz's wife Maryse nailed Ziggler with what looked like pepper spray, allowing Miz to finish off the challenger with a Skull-Crushing Finale and retain his title. Great mid-card match and I hope Miz keeps that belt for a looong time.

Bray Wyatt made his entrance for his match against Orton next. Ring announcer Greg Hamilton informed us that Orton would not be able to compete, but Wyatt would have to face Kane in a No Holds Barred match instead. I saw this whole segment as WWE trying to make the most of a lousy situation. The crowd wasn't wild about it, either. (Orton probably sells a lot of tickets, so him not wrestling no doubt irked more than a few fans.) Kane and Wyatt made good use of the no holds barred stipulation, battling all around the ring anf even bringing a chair into play for a sec. Orton did a run in (well, more of a hobble really) and surprised Wyatt with an RKO, allowing Kane to put Wyatt away. It sucks Wyatt had to lose to Kane, but they did announce him as the winner of the Orton match by forfeit, so there's always that, right?

The tag title tournament finals went down next, with Heath Slater and Rhyno taking on the Usos, who advanced earlier in the night. This was a showcase match for Slater in particular, and he proved his ability to draw sympathy from the crowd. There was actually a legit pop late in the match when Slater tagged himself in once Rhyno's own power meter had been depleted. I kept expecting American Alpha to run in and interfere with the Usos, but it never happened. This is good, because with all the interference in the IC title match and the previous Wyatt match, it would've seemed a bit much to have another match settled due to outside interference. Slater and Rhyno triumphed and celebrated int the ring together. Man, the rise of Heath Slater might be the best wrestling story line of 2016 once its all said and done.

The main event WWE title match between AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose was nothing short of incredible. We all know AJ is a monster in the ring by now, but Dean really seems to turn it up a notch for some of his title matches. This reminded me of his match against Triple H at Roadblock earlier in the year. Styles busted out some of his New Japan arsenal, giving the paying fans a little something extra for their coinage. Dean employed his usual bag of tricks, but really carried the acting side of things. While Ambrose might not be the technical wunderkind that Styles is, he has the face of a champion and can be really compelling in long, physical matches. Continuing the theme of nut shots, Styles nailed Dean with a sneaky low blow, allowing him to hit the Styles Clash and win the title. I thought for sure Dean would walk away champ from this one, and I was wrong. I like both guys so I'm okay with the outcome. I also liked how they teased the Styles Clash several times during the match and built to it. That reminds me of AJ's time in New Japan, where the Clash was considered a near-lethal move and put several wrestlers on the shelf (kayfabe). Protecting finishing moves is one area I wish the WWE would improve on.

This was a good show, aside from Orton not getting to wrestle. I would've put the women's title match on later, but in retrospect, it was a really good opener. The small card and the longer matches made this feel like an NXT special, which is perfect. Less filler, more wrestling, matches that matter; these are the things that will help both "brands" build a more trusting, enthralled fan base.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @ChrisBComics, where I plug all of my other stuff like Back Issue Diving and occasionally make a funny.

Smackdown flies solo - looking forward to Backlash

Tomorrow night, the first benchmark of WWE's New Era will be reached when Smackdown has its first brand-exclusive special on the WWE Network. (Or on pay-per-view. I guess maybe some people are still doing that.) It will be interesting to see if they take the NXT route and focus on the six listed matches or if they plan to pad out the show with additional segments or surprise matches. Maybe Baron Corbin could have another match with Kalisto or have his first run-in with Kane?

Last month's challenger Dolph Ziggler gets a shot at Miz's intercontinental title. Personally, I think Miz will be keeping that belt for a while longer, especially with the added heat he has after his savage interview on Talking Smack a few Tuesdays ago. Ziggler is striving for relevancy here, even though he has been on fire lately. The KFC stuff and the weak title match at SummerSlam hasn't done him any favors. He's already wrestled Corbin a few times and there's nothing between him and Apollo Crews, so there isn't much of a place for him to land on Smackdown. Meanwhile, Miz is a greet heel right now and Maryse makes him the full villain package. Let him cheat and scheme his way to a long title run, a la Honky Tonk Man.

Randy Orton takes on Bray Wyatt in a match that has had a so-so build thus far. Like I said on my Smackdown review the other day, I'd like to see how Orton's rematch against Lesnar plays into this feud before I can really call it interesting; there's been nothing but the usual posturing and gimmicky threats so far. If they carry this into the fall and up to Hell in a Cell or something, I imagine they're holding back the physical stuff for later. This isn't the normal formula, but I think Orton should get the first win here and spark something in Wyatt. (Also, what happened to Eric Rowan?)

The Usos big heel turn and their attack on Chad Gable Tuesday has resulted in a semi-final match against the Hype Bros. in the Smackdown tag title tournament. I think if the tourney comes down to the Hype Bros. vs. Heath Slater and Rhyno in the finals then things will really fizzle out, so I think the Usos will beat Ryder and Mojo pretty soundly. Maybe Jordon (or Gable if he's done selling his leg) will intervene during the finals of the tournament. Slater and Rhyno as tag champs while their potential challengers are busy sabotaging each other could be a fun story, but the Usos will most likely win, resulting in either a heel turn by Slater or Rhyno, or a follow up match on Smackdown where they have to fight for their contract in a rematch. I dunno, there's a few ways they could go and they all seem fresh compared to the New Day/Gallows and Anderson stuff on Raw.

Six women will compete for the new Smackdown Women's title at Backlash, and out of the pack, Becky Lynch or Natalya have the momentum to become the inaugural champion. Nikki Bella is helping get Carmella over right now, and Naomi and Alexa Bliss aren't quite there yet. Lynch and Natalya can resume their current feud as a title feud to give this new belt a kick in the pants. Lynch is a fan favorite on the rise who can finally shine since Charlotte, Sasha, and Bayley are all on Raw. I guess she's in a similar situation to Dean Ambrose, who is now a show away from Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns.

Speaking of Dean . . .

Ambrose will take on AJ Styles for the WWE title in the first main event of the first Smackdown brand special. Styles is the best performer in the company right now and the only flaw to his character is that the fans love him too much to hate him, no matter how much he flaunts about his victory over Cena. Much like Ziggler, AJ is a challenger for Dean that will force him to keep up. The build to this match has been an exchange of solid promos and nut shots, but the potential for this to be a great match is much higher than if it'd been on the SummerSlam card. This is also why I'm in favor of keeping the card small--this match could be a barn burner if they let it breathe. I'm expecting Ambrose to retain and for this feud to continue.

Just some quick predictions for Sunday's show as I'm looking forward to it quite a bit. Who do you think is going over? Let me know on Twitter @ChrisBComics. Thanks for reading!

Future Classics - NXT and CWC Quarterfinals results and praise

After a sub-par episode last week, NXT was back to being pretty awesome this week, with two great matches and a pair of showcase matches for Ember Moon and Shinsuke Nakamaure. New guy Steve Cutler got a brief chance to shine as well. CWC did its thang, as usual, and delivered two fantastic matches. WWE Network is killing Wednesday nights.

NXT started with a really great tag match between TM-61 and the team of Tony Nese and Ariya Daivari. Nese and Shane Thorn in particular were impressive in terms of mixing power and agility. The upcoming cruiserweight division on Raw is going to give the main event guys something to really compete with. Thorn and Miller picked up the win with their Thunder Valley double powerbomb thing. It's a slick finishing move.

The next match was where I realized how much I really like Ember Moon and should look up her earlier work in Ring of Honor. She seems like an all around good wrestler with a variety of offense; almost half high-flying anf half- power moves.. Moon took down Leah Von in a near-squash match here, but I'd like to see what she can do in a longer match.

Andrade "Cien" Almas took on Austen Aries again. This match was very good and I would have liked it to go on a little longer actually. Aries is one of the best bumpers this side of Dolph Ziggler and he bounced off of Almas's offense nicely. The match shifted in main event mode with the two exchanging blows while staggering. Aries won with a smoothly applied Last Chancery submission. Great match, and I think the crowd may have cooled off on hating Almas.

Steve Cutler got a shot at the NXT champ Shinsuke Nakamura for some reason. Maybe now he can afford to wash that vest. Shinsuke toyed with him for a bit then Cutler got to have the upper hand for a minute. The King of Strong Style turned it around and finished him off with a crunchy inverted exploder suplex and a knee to the dome. Samoa Joe (on commentary) got to watch the champ raise his former title belt at the end. Joe and Nakamura has such an intense main event and I don't know how they'll top it short of turning things into a bloodbath.

Meanwhile, the Cruiserweight Classic chugged along with quarterfinals action between odds-favorite Zack Sabre Jr. and his longtime rival and training partner Noam Dar. This was a well-paced wrestling match between two technically sound and very patient competitors. There is a stigma against the cruiserweight style among some of the "old school" and it centers around an imagined lack of psychology in matches like this. ZSJ and Dar proved them wrong with this encounter, building to a crescendo by having both men pick a limb and work on it in ways that were effective looking and made sense. Daniel Bryan even called it a "chess match" on commentary, and he wasn't wrong. The technical stuff built to some great near-falls and then some desperate submission attempts by ZSJ. When they rolled out of the ring together in a leglock, I marked out. ZSJ finished off Dar with a brutal Rings of Saturn submission and advanced to the semis to face Gran Metalik.

Rich Swann took on T.J. Perkins in the second match of the show. This was more of a trapeze act than the first match, but they settled into a nice story about Swann's leg giving out over the course of the match. It kept him from scoring several potential pinfalls and it made Perkins' win a bit bittersweet. While the display of respect at the end bordered on touching, it didn't have the personal feel of the ZSJ/Dar match. Perkins goes on to face Kota Ibushi next week.

I'm think Ibushi vs. ZSJ in the finals, but as the news of WWE's cruiserweight signings revealed, we haven't seen the last of the others either. Neville seems like the obvious pick for an inaugural Cruiserweight champ, but will the title be awarded to the winner of this first tournament? Whatever they do, I can't wait to see the cruiserweights on Raw and NXT moving forward.

As always, thanks for reading and follow me on Twitter (@ChrisBComics) for more heedless commentary on geeky things.

A tale of two nut shots - Smackdown Live marches toward Backlash

Smackdown's first brand exclusive network special (are they still called "pay-per-views"?) is this Sunday and last night's edition of the blue show was all about hyping those new titles and progressing a few feuds that are starting to take off. The first segment saw Daniel Bryan host an "open forum" where all six women in the Smackdown Women's Championship scramble got to plead their case. This led to the heels, Natalya, Alexa Bliss, and Carmella cornering poor Becky Lynch before her fellow babyfaces Nikki Bella and Naomi could make the save. This set up a six-woman tag match for later in the night. I'll echo what I said last week: it's good to see all the Smackdown women get a chance to display their characters and evolve a bit from where they were pre-brand split. Lynch is the obvious fan favorite here, and it's hard not to love her. Carmella's heel turn has done wonders for her, but her in-ring stuff is still a bit soft. Alexa tried some interesting stuff in her brief promo during the forum, but she still feels underdeveloped, a la Dana Brooke on Raw.

Daniel Bryan continued to be a thorn in the Miz's side, putting him in a title match against Dolph Ziggler at Backlash. Ziggler sat ringside for Miz's match against Apollo Crews. Crews put in some work here, still impressive as an athlete but lacking in the intensity that I think would make him a real contender. Miz used Ziggler's distraction against him, scoring a pinfall in a formulatic villainous famous. I loved the bit where he used his wife Maryse to retrieve the title for him; she's a human shield against Ziggler's superkick. Shades of Macho Man and Miss Elizabeth. Miz might be Smackdown's best heel right now.

Bray Wyatt sent a spooky message to Randy Orton via pre-taped video. Nothing new here, it's the same shtick Wyatt's used before. This feud seems like a good idea on paper, but I don't know what it'll do for either guy going forward. The outcome of Orton's upcoming rematch with Lesnar might add an interesting wrinkle to the story line.

The six woman tag match got a lot of time, which is always a good sign. Everyone played their parts well, but obviously Becky and Natalya were the stand-outs. Carmella did secure the win for the heels by getting a submission victory over Nikki Bella, so management must be high on her. Nikki got a questionable reaction when she got the hot tag, leading me to think some crowds aren't exactly going to embrace her as the main babyface. Not having Bayley or Sasha or Charlotte around makes this division look second rate, but if they keep giving the women time to grow like this, they'll be able to give the Raw gals a run for their money.

The Smackdwon tag title tournament continued. American Alpha beat The Usos in a surprisingly short match which led to a heel turn attack from the Samoan brothers. Their heel turn has been telegraphed for some time, and I look forward to a long feud with many awesome matches. Expect them to cost American Alpha the titles in the tournament finals.

Randy Orton responded to Wyatt's message. "At Backlash, Bray Wyatt won't know what hit him." He looked sleepy during this segment.

Kane squashed Fandango. The crowd really ate this segment up. Kane's beatdown of the week is becoming a recurring segment until his thing with Baron Corbin takes off.

AJ Styles was acting like a jerk backstage, repeating the mantra he stole from John Cena. "I'm the face that runs the place." Good stuff. Heel AJ has been fun to watch thus far.

Heath Slater and Rhyno beat The Hype Bros. to advance to the finals of the tag title tournament. Slater's saga seems to be catching on with fans, and there was some endearing stuff with his family and kids at ringside. Hopefully he'll get that contract and Rhyno will get that above ground pool he mentioned a couple weeks ago. So . . . if the Usos cost American Alpha the match at Backlash, then that means out inaugural tag champs will be Heath Slater and Rhyno. Huh. What a world we live in.

 WWE champ Dean Ambrose and his challenger AJ Styles faced off in the ring before their match on Sunday. Dean presented AJ with an old bowling trophy and taunted him about getting crotched on the ropes last week. There was a heated exchange of words and both guys are competent enough on the mic to pull it off. AJ paid him back with a kick to the nuts which left the champ lying. I'm liking this feud and I hope we get more than one match out of it. The show ended with Styles doing his "gun to head" Bullet Club gesture over a prone Ambrose. Sunday can't get here soon enough!

While Raw was the easy pick for top show last week, this week both brands seemed to be on equal footing. There are some good talkers on Smackdown and a few talents that are great on their own, but seemed to be locked into feuds that don't work (Wyatt vs. Orton). Overall, good show.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter (@ChrisBComics) and check out my other blogs like Back Issue Diving, Age of Mega, and Gotham Animated.

The K.O. Show

This week's Raw wasn't quite the emotional roller coaster that was last week's, but aside from a rough segment between Gallows/Anderson and the New Day, it was a pretty good show and a nice start to Kevin Owen's reign as Universal champion.

The show started with some backstage politics between Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley. Foley has a little more gravel in his voice this week and seems to be weary of Hunter and Stephanie's possible scheming. Is this the first sign of a return to the ring for Mick? Probably not, but he could nominate a surrogate in his place or even take Seth Rollins under his wing; we'll see how this unfolds.

With K.O. poised as the top dog for the time being, this week was about establishing his challenger, Seth Rollins, as a babyface. I'd say it was a success, especially after his match with Jericho. Rollins has that kind of dynamism built into his move set that works great for a fan favorite; I like the new role for him. Jericho is still playing besties with Owens, but I expect that to implode in on itself. That's two great challengers and countless great matches to look forward to. Factor in Roman at some point and Finn's return sometime next year and I think it's safe to say the Owens title reign could be epic. 

The Charlotte/Dana Brooke stuff isn't going as well as I'd hoped. Dana might need to temper her skills a bit longer in NXT. Bayley came out looking strong for the third week in a row, scoring a victory over the women's champion Charlotte. This match got almost fifteen minutes, a far cry from the Diva matches of yore. Good stuff between the competitors, but like I said, Dana isn't adding anything here.

A more intense version of Bo Dallas got a quick win over a jobber last night. I don't know what the ceiling is with Bo, to be honest. I loved the "Bolieve" gimmick and his upbeat, oblivious mannerisms, but they seem to want to try him out as a more serious heel. He's got the mic skills, and if given time to build his character, could be taken seriously as a U.S. title contender.

Sheamus pulled ahead 3-0 in the best of seven series with Cesaro. Apparently, some of the future series matches will take place at live events. Coupled with the upcoming Orton/Lesnar rematch, I see the 'E is taking serious steps to make their live events matter. The ongoing story here, with Sheamus slowly wearing down Cesaro's back and shoulder, has been great. It feels very old-school, no doubt the brainchild of some of WWE's great backstage talent and road agents like the legendary Pat Patterson. Cesaro has to start picking up some V's here or he's done. It should make for a very tense couple of match to finish the series.

The Shining Stars, Primo and Epico, picked up a surprise roll-up win on Enzo and Big Cass. (I hope this isn't a sign that management is cooling off on these two.) This sets up a TV feud that may get a pre-show match at the next PPV or something. This week's Enzo promo was especially strange. I love it when they go really far outside the box with their trash talk. It's refreshing and a nice change from the usual jibber jabber you here between feuding teams. 

Nia Jax destroyed another local girl, then started a tiff with Alicia Fox. I like Jax calling out the Total Divas girls and destroying them one by one; could be a fun role for her. Like her song says, "She's not like most girls." Braun Strowman also beat up another smaller opponent, although he seems to be making some progress on the card since he actually got to take on someone on the main roster (Sin Cara) rather than a jobber. We have two archetypal monster heels for both the men and womens' divisions. Jax is food for Bailey or Sasha, but I don't know where Strowman is headed yet. Maybe fighting with Roman over the U.S. title if he takes it from Rusev? I dunno . . .

Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson led a segment with the New Day that nearly put the otherwise peppy crowd to sleep. Follow that with another chapter in the Darren Young/Titus O'Neil feud no one cares about, and you have your mandatory half hour of lackluster wrestling content. Both segments were a bust. (WTF are they doing with my former Bullet Club guys? C'mon, man!)

Sasha Banks pulled a fake-out on Twitter yesterday, teasing "bad news". It turned out the bad news was for Charlotte because Sasha is back! (I feel like she never left, but hey.) Dana Brooke came out and they started talking and I got kind of mesmerized by the two beautiful women on my screen and forgot what was going on. 

Longtime rivals Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn met in the main event. These two could wrestle every night for a year and have a unique match each time. Needless to say, it was a good match and a nice epilogue to their spring feud, this time with Owens wearing gold around his waist. Zayn has been teasing a leg injury for his last couple of matches, and he continued that here. I like the week-to-week continuity as it makes the whole thing look less like a circus and more like a series of contests. Plus, with people still reeling from Balor's injury, it stokes the flames of Sami's sympathy inferno. Roman Reigns interjected himself at the end, and Foley gave him the opportunity to fight his way into the title match between Owens and Rollins at Clash of Champions. Do not like. Keep Roman where he was; Owens, Rollins, Jericho, Zayn, and Cesaro will be just fine.

Good show, but obviously not as memorable as last week's with the huge fatal four way and Owens winning the title. Raw has two weak spots right now, in my opinion. One is the undercard stuff that doesn't seem to be catching on and the other is the wonky New Day feud with Gallows and Anderson. Both can be remedied by canning the bad acting and letting the guys tell physical stories in the ring. Look at what Zayn is doing. Or Cesaro. Their providing the weekly soap opera, but without the corny skits.

Thanks for reading! I can be found on Twitter (@ChrisBComics) and on my myriad other blogs, including but not limited to, Gotham Animated. See you tomorrow for some Smackdown results! 

Wrestling word vomit to start the week

That's not a "worked" hug. That hug is a shoot.

Time to play catch up with some recent WWE happenings. First up, the Cruiserweight Classic, which is down to six competitors as of the most recent episode, delivered two big matches last week that were on par with anything you'd see in ROH or New Japan. Gran Metalik defeated Akira Tozawa, eliminating the man who eliminated my favorite, Jack Gallagher. This makes Metalik my new favorite to win. After a fifteen minute highlight reel of both wrestlers' best moves, Metalik finished Tozawa with his finisher, the Metalik driver, to win. I hope Gran Metalik makes future appearances, since the 'E's recent attempts at having a lucha presence on their roster with Sin Cara and Kalisto have kinda flopped. Rey Mysterio left big shoes to fill for anyone taking over the masked man role. Metalik could also probably pull off the "super hero" gimmick that they like to saddle other wrestlers with.

The second match of the show started with a pretty emotional backstage interview with Brian Kendrick. Kendrick has managed to draw some sympathy from the viewers, although he's wrestling like a heel. The announcers have also done a good job of detailing his life story in little bits during his matches. He's had run-in with the WWE's wellness policy before and that's hampered him, but I think he has a lot to offer as a Chris Jericho-esque mid level villain who can put on great main event style matches when called upon.

His opponent, Kota Ibushi is on the opposite end of his career. I've only seen a handful of his matches (most notably his recent Wrestle Kingdom appearances), but it's pretty obvious this guy is wellspring of potential and if treated seriously as a contender the way Shinsuke Nakamura and Finn Balor have, he could be a main event level star.

Kendrick switched from a heel role to an underdog babyface role as the match wore on. Ibushi played the young lion while Kendrick used opportunistic tactics to stay on top, eventually culminating in a wicked Bully Choke submission. Despite wrestling like a heel, Kendrick's promo before the match and his ties to Daniel Bryan and Shawn Michael's wrestling school swung the crowd in his favor. Ibushi was able to play to this without turning himself either; he's a young internet darling foreigner wrestler that the hardcores want to see make a big splash, but those same hardcores also want to see Kendrick succeed. It must've been a tough call for the "smarkier" members of the audience.

The CWC kicks ass. I'm all for presenting the King of the Ring tournament in this fashion or even a second Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. The short run "season" format of airing a tournament this way is a nice compliment to the weekly soap operas of Raw and Smackdown.

NXT was alright too, with the Revival being more dastardly and Shinsuke Nakamura starting off his reign as champion. (The Revival interview on Steve Austin's podcast was great; both guys are wrestling nerds who come from families of wrestling nerds. They're very old school in their thinking and are trying to emulate old southern wrestling more than Japanese strong style or Lucha Libre.)

Alberto Del Rio has stepped away from the WWE, this time even allegedly turning down a hefty sum to stick around. (They're all hefty sums to me, so maybe it was a low-ball offer, I dunno.) As a fan, it's a shame to see him go, but the roster isn't short of talent right now, so I don't think this is a huge blow. If the WWE is worried about their Latino demographic (as they should be, or any North American content generator for that matter), they have Kalisto doing not much at all and he's already proven himself as a guy who can pop the crowd. (Or give Gran Metalik a call!) I like Del Rio, but I feel like he isn't being used when he's there anyway, so it's for the best. Maybe he'll have a real run at ROH this time . . .

Both the possibilities of a Lesnar/Goldberg match or a Lesnar/Shane McMahon match are both pretty tired. As a longtime fan of the WWE, there are always, regardless of which "era" we're talking about, there are always things you can see on the horizon that you know are going to get shoved in your face for months and months of buildup. I never though the Lesnar saga (especially with Paul Heyman on the mic) would become one of those things. I liked when he destroyed John Cena and made a mortal enemy of the Undertaker but I feel like he's hitting that point that Triple H hit for me in the early 2000's where I just can't bring myself to care about his matches. He should be having real matches with Orton, or Rollins, or even a rematch with Reigns. Lesnar vs. Shane is guaranteed to be my sandwich break segment of Raw and/or Smackdown. Same with Goldberg. Do Goldberg fans remember watching Goldberg? Don't let the rose colored lenses of the Monday Night Wars era fool ya.

Thanks for reading my ramblings and follow me on Twitter @ChrisBComics where I shake my groove thing and plug my other blogs.