Saturday 25 November 2017

NXT Takeover: War Games Review

NXT Takeover: War Games took place last Saturday at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. Not only we will get to see a match not seen in almost 20 years but the crowning of a new NXT Women's Champion. So, let's take a look.

The first match was between Kassius Ohno and Lars Sullivan. Sullivan is dominant early on, shaking off any offence Ohno manages to get in. After an impressive pop up powerslam for 2, he misses a top rope diving headbutt and this gives Ohno the chance to make a comeback. However, it was not enough as Sullivan avoids a discus elbow to hit the Freak Accident to get the win. This was a short yet enjoyable match.
Winner: Lars Sullivan (1 for 1)

The next match was Aleister Black taking on The Velveteen Dream. In the early going, Black puts Dream through a technical masterclass. After they both do mind games to each other, Dream gets the advantage with a running clothesline. Dream gets some near falls and comes close to winning after a death valley driver. Black goes on to get the win after hitting the Black Mask out of nowhere. Afterwards, Black says Dream's name. This match was really good and a lot better than I thought it would be. I also loved the mind games they were doing to each other. As for Dream, he finally got Black to say his name so, I guess mission accomplished?
Winner: Aleister Black (2 for 2)

Our first Championship match is a fatal 4-way between Ember Moon, Kairi Sane, Nikki Cross and Peyton Royce for the vacant NXT Women's Championship. The match goes at a fast pace with one highlight being Ember powerbombing Nikki on the floor. Other highlights include: Kairi spearing Peyton; Peyton, Kairi and Ember doing a tower of doom; Nikki hitting a swinging fisherman's neckbreaker on Kairi; and Peyton hitting Nikki with a fisherman's suplex. In the end, Ember hits the Eclipse on both Nikki and Peyton and pins Nikki to get the win. This was a good match and congratulations to Ember Moon on finally becoming the Champion.
Winner: Ember Moon (2 for 3)

The penultimate match is for the NXT Championship as Andrade "Cien" Almas with Zelina Vega challenges Drew McIntyre for the NXT Championship. There was a great bit when Zelina tries to hit a hurracarrana but McIntyre stops it mid move and puts her on the apron. Almas does get athe advantage  but McIntyre starts his comeback only a couple of minutes later. After some back and forth, Zelins manages to hit the hurracarrana on McIntyre while the referee was distracted. Almas follows that up with a Hammerlock DDT but that somehow only gets 2. Eventually, Almas hits a hangman's DDT to become the NXT Champion...wait, what the fuck? I honestly did not see that coming. The match was pretty godo, although I feel that the spot with Zelina interfering should have ended the match. I am surprised that McIntyre lost the Championship so soon but it might mean that he might get called up to the main roster in the new year.
Winner: Andrade "Cien" Almas (2 for 4)

The main event is SAnitY, The Authors of Pain and Roderick Strong and The Undisputee Era int he first War Games Match since WCW Fall Brawl 1998. Highlights of the match include: Bobby Fish hitting a wheelbarrow suplex on Eric Young, Akam and Razr chucking everyone from one ring to the other.; Killian Dian hitting a senton dropkick on Akam and Razr; a super tower of doom involving everyone; and Alexander Wolff sending Razr through a table with a German suplex. In the end, Adam Cole manages to hit the Shining Wizard on Eric Young to get the win. This was a good match and I really enjoyed it.

I quite enjoyed NXT Takeover: War Games. Most of the matches were good and we got a couple of surprises as well. Unfortunately, I don't know if Survivor Series will be the same.


Sunday 19 November 2017

WWE Survivor Series 2017 Preview

Image result for survivor series 2017 poster



WWE Survivor Series 2017, which has now become a mash up of Bragging Rights and Clash of the Champions, will be taking place this evening at the Toyota Center in Houston? We will get to see some dream matches plus who is the better brand, RAW or Smackdown? Or, are you like me and don't really care about that? Anyway, let's take a look at the card.

Kailsto vs Enzo Amore
WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match
The match on the Kick Off Show could be a good one. Whilst I have mixed feelings on Enzo, he has been interesting as Champion so I'll think he'll win here.
Predicted Winner: Enzo Amore

Hollywood Miz vs Baron Corbin
Whilst this is a heel vs heel match, I feel that it could work here. Miz is a joy to watch right now so he'll probably act a little like a face and go on to get the win here.
Predicted Winner: The Miz

Charlotte Flair vs Alexa Bliss 
I do feel sorry for Natalya but I feel that this match would be a better contest. This is quite a tough one to call but I think that Alexa will find a way to win here.

The Shield vs The New Day
This is one that has the possibility to be the match of the night. Whilst I enjoy The New Day, I think that The Shield will be victorious here.   
Predicted Winners: The Shield

Cesaro and Sheamus vs The Usos
This is another one that has the possibility to be the match of the night. I'm going for The Usos to win here.
Predicted Winners: The Usos

Team RAW (Alicia Fox, Asuka, Bayley, Nia Jax, Sasha Banks) vs Team Smackdown (Becky Lynch, Naomi, Carmella, Natalya, Tamina)
Survivor Series Elimination Match
I have mixed feelings about this one. Whilst some of the talent involved are good, I feel that they have some rapid eliminations. Anyway, I'm going for Team Smackdown to find a way here.
Predicted Winners: Team Smackdown

AJ Styles vs Brock Lesnar
Like Natalya, I feel sorry for Jinder Mahal but if you had a choice between Mahal vs Lesnar or Styles vs Lesnar, what the fuck would you rather have? Anyway, whilst Styles will be awesome as always, I feel that Lesnar will get the win here.
Predicted Winner: Brock :Lesnar

Team RAW (Kurt Angle, Triple H, Bruan Strowman, Finn Balor, Samoa Joe) vs Team Smackdown (Shane McMahon, Randy Orton, Bobby Roode, Shinsuke Nakamura, John Cena)
I can see this match being a long one but hopefully it will be fun as well. I feel that Team RAW will win with maybe a little help from Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens.
Predicted Winners: Team RAW

I will get to see this over the week so until the review comes up, I hope you enjoy the show.      

Saturday 18 November 2017

NXT Takeover: War Games Preview

NXT Takeover: War Games will be taking this evening at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. We will get to see a new NXT Women's Champion plus the return of a match not seen in over 20 years. So how will it go? Let's take a look.

Kassius Ohno vs Lars Sullivan
This could be a good match and I feel that Lars will continue to be dominant here.
Predicted Winner: Lars Sullivan

Aliester Black vs Veleteen Dream
I'm interested to see how this match goes. I would like to see Dream win but it's more likely that Black will win here.
Predicted Winner: Aliester Black

SaNitY vs The Undisputed Era vs The Authors of Pain and Roderick Strong
War Games Match
For the first time in WWE history, we will see a War Games match. A tough one to call but I feel that The Undisputed Era will find a way to win here.
Predicted Winners: The Undisputed Era

Ember Moon vs Peyton Royce vs Kairi Sane vs Nikki Cross
Fatal 4-Way Match for the NXT Women's Championship
This is a match that I'm really looking forward to and it's probably the toughest one that I've had to predict in a long time. I can see any of them winning, even Royce who was been impressive this year. Putting aside my Scottish bias for Nikki Cross, I really want Ember Moon to finally win it. However, I feel that Kairi Sane will go on from winning the Mae Young Classic to becoming the Champion.
Predicted Winner: Kairi Sane

Andrade "Cien" Almas vs Drew McIntyre
NXT Championship
Whilst Andrade has been good since Zelina Vega came onto the scene, I honestly don't think he'll win this.
Predicted Winner: Drew McIntyre

Due to a busy weekend, I won't get to see this til next week. Until then, I hope you enjoy the show.

Watching Smackdown Live in Manchester

Last week, me and my girlfriend went to the Manchester Arena to watch the taping of Smackdown Live and 205 Live. Even though I've been a wrestling fan on and off for over 25 years, this is only the 3rd time that I've been to a WWE event. I've been to a Smackdown taping in Manchester 2 years ago with my girlfriend; and a RAW house show in Liverpool with my brother earlier this year. I was really looking forward to it as we would get to see a WWE Championship match. As for my girlfriend, she isn't really a fan of wrestling so I was hoping that she would enjoy it.

To recap the night, I've changed the format a little bit putting it into bullet points.
We were supposed to be on the upper tier but we got moved to lower tier facing the stage. It was unfortunate that the arena was half full (as seen below) but with RAW being in the same city the night before, very few people would have been at both. The only reason I went to the Smackdown taping was because I saw RAW earlier in the year. So most people would have gone to one or the other.

  • The night started with Breezango taking on The Colons. I don't care about The Colons but it was nice to see Breezango, who got the win.
  • Smackdown itself started with Shane McMahon and The New Day patting themselves on the back for what happened on RAW the night before. This was interrupted by Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn and I did mark out for that.
  • Zayn versus Kofi Kingston was pretty good and Kofi won. Owens responds with briefly attacking Kofi then bailing. Apparently him and Zayn were supposed to get beaten up by The New Day and that they were sent home.
  • Rusev vs Randy Orton was fun although I wished that Rusev won. Having Aiden English as his hype man is fun to watch and I forgot how good English's voice is.
  • Becky Lynch vs James Ellsworth was pretty decent although I feel that the TV PG rating might have limited what they could do.
  • Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin challenging The Usos for the Tag Team Championship was a disappointment because it was far too short. The match ended with Gable chop blocking Jey and Benjamin scratching his balls while the match ended in a count out. I was looking forward to this but I wasn't happy with the ending. Plus isn't Gable doing a chop block a heel move?
  • AJ Styles vs Jinder Mahal was the best match of the night and Styles won, which very few people expected to see. I do feel sorry for Mahal but I would rather have Styles face Lesnar than Mahal.
  • Next was 205 Live and a lot of people round me left. It was just after 9pm at this point and a lot of these people had young children with them. I suspect that the time plus the possibility that they might not heard of any of the 205 wrestlers would have been a factor.
  • It didn't help that 205 Live started with the Zo Show which felt like it went on for hours. Having the UK wrestlers in the ring effectively brown nosing Enzo was weird, especially with Tyler Bate. Thankfully Bate saw sense and this led to him facing Enzo in the main event.
  • The other matches featured some of the UK wrestlers and to be honest, nothing stood out. I haven't watched it on the Network yet so I might have a different opinion then.
  • Having said that, we got the debut of Jack Gallagher's new theme and his promo was pretty good as well.
  • Enzo Amore vs Tyler Bate was quite good. I was gutted that Enzo won but he lost to UK Champion Pete Dunne the night before so him losing again wouldn't look good.
  • The last match was Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin taking on Shinsuke Nakamura and Bobby Roode. I'm a big fan of Roode and it was pretty cool to see his entrance live. Nakamura and Roode won to end the night.


Overall I really enjoyed the night and more importantly,  so did my girlfriend. WWE only come here twice a year and it's something that I recommend that you go to if you're a fan from the UK.