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.
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