Sorry for the lack of wrestling blogs as of late. I’ve been so busy with my Clark Kent job that finding time to write has been next to impossible.
I never thought that I would say this about a Money in the Bank event, but the 2017 incarnation, for the most part, was a failed deposit. Every match had an anti-climactic finish, except for the WWE title showdown between Jinder Mahal and Randy Orton…And that’s not an endorsement.
Samoa Joe is the number one contender for the WWE Universal Championship and will challenge Brock Lesnar on 7/9 at Great Balls of Fire. Joe defeated Bray Wyatt, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and Fin Balor in the Fatal 5-Way main event, last night, at Extreme Rules.
The finish saw Finn Balor hit Roman Reigns with the Coupe de Grace, only for Joe to pull him away from the cover and apply the Coquina Clutch. Balor passed and out and the referee called for the bell.
Finn Balor was the favorite to win the match from a booking perspective since it was teased on Raw a couple of weeks ago that Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar are watching Balor with a vested interest. The match would have made sense being that Balor never lost the Universal Title.
WWE will make history at Money in the Bank on June 18th. Charlotte, Becky Lynch, Natalya, Carmella, and Tamina will compete in the first-ever women’s Money in the Bank ladder match. Shane McMahon made the announcement last night after a fatal five-way didn’t happen when a brawl ensued between the participants.
Two weeks ago, British wrestling standouts Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate tore the house down in a superb encounter at NXT TakeOver Chicago. If you’re unfamiliar with WWE’s U.K. initiative, watching this match will serve as the perfect introduction.
Seemingly, however, online drama coming after the match has fans voicing their displeasure at journalist Dave Meltzer, who, based on his popular rating system, gave the Dunne vs. Bate match 4 ¾ stars out of 5.
We’re talking about a smidge of a point away here. Yet, a lot of fans are left shaking their heads wondering what would this match had to have done to earn five stars. 4 ¾ is an excellent score, however, there is a bigger issue here.
Backlash was the first SmackDown Live PPV since last month’s “Superstar Shake Up.” The Allstate Arena in Chicago hosted the nine match card. The two main pieces of business were Jinder Mahal vying for the WWE Championship and the WWE in-ring debut of Shinsuke Nakamura. Despite the slower pacing of the matches, was the blue brand able to deliver?
Randy Orton knows how to cause drama of the off-screen variety. In fact, he’s something of an artist at it. Last weekend, Orton retweeted a message from his original trainer in OVW, Rip Rogers, that criticized the current style of independent wrestling.
“Every Indy match now: handshake, drawn out move exchange, this is awesome chant, strike exchange, dive, no sell Indy strongstyle, dive, more strikes, no sells, dive, flippy floppy sequence, dive, hit everyone with each other’s finisher, then Humpty Dumpty, we all fall down. Fight forever chant, rinse and repeat until every move is useless and means nothing, dive, take unsafe shot that looks like shit and hurts like hell then roll-up finish. Handshake and hug after match. Everyone’s hand raised. All these guys chant. Go home and type on social media thanking your opponent and company for the match and telling others they should book these guys…dive.”
The night before the Summer Slam 88, a Mega Powers’ promo hyping their match against the Mega Bucks got me hooked on professional wrestling. The actual matches were ancillary as it was all about the drama and interviews ending in “whatcha gonna do.” Three years later, my wrestling fandom got flipped turned upside down by an amazing match between two all-time greats.
The Intercontinental Title match at Summer Slam 1991 between Mr. Perfect and Bret Hart completely changed how I looked at wrestling. I didn’t know anything about booking or storytelling at the time, however, the match was a masterful display of the art.
As someone who has watched, practiced and promoted professional wrestling for almost 30 years, I’m accustomed to the ridiculousness that the genre has to offer. Weird and zany names come with the territory.
So, when I heard that WWE’s July pay-per-view is titled Great Balls of Fire, I thought it was a rib and no sold it. Then, my podcast partner in crime Frank D ensured me that this was no ruse. The name of the show is legitimately called Great Balls of Fire.
Jinder Mahal is the number one contender for the WWE Championship…There is no punch line here.
Mahal, who hasn’t won a match on television since September 12 of last year, will face Randy Orton for the title on Sunday, May 21 in the main event of Backlash. For the uninitiated, Mahal is pretty much the Glass Joe (Punch-Out) of WWE. Continue reading
The tumultuous relationship between WWE and Mauro Ranallo has come to an end as both parties agreed to a settlement. Both JBL and Ranallo sent statements to Newsweek in an attempt to make the bullying story go away quietly. Continue reading
