Its already time for another UK taping? Man, time flies. Anyway, Merry Olde England and such things. Such things like VIDEO PACKAGES and some cool matches.
First of all, Punk vs Henry III! Another great match, these two work extraordinarily well together. I think I most loved the part on the floor, where Punk did the Jeff Hardy Barrier Run into the bulldog, and then Henry CATCHING Punk and just KONG TOSSING HIM into the barricade. Then the final stretch with the chair and BAM, TOP ROPE CHAIR DROP for the finish. A great little TV series, and I hope they come back to it as a proper feud later in the year.
I enjoyed the Jericho/Punk angle once again. I think Jericho is best these days as a completely disingenuous, almost delusional heel, who spouts off about how Punk is obviously now a drunk and stuff. Also thought the feed cutting off so Punk couldnt rebuff him was another cool touch. I do like this feud now, and they should have a great brawl in Chicago. Babyface Punk matches are so much better when the crowd is super into him.
HOLY JESUS, THE BROCK VIDEO. Hardly needs to be said but man that was an awesome piece. Perfectly re-introduced Brock, perfectly hyped the match. WWE production is so good that whenever they go into serious pieces they just NAIL them. Which is why they should do it more.
Speaking of, I thought Cena was awesome for his part as well. Making it about the difference between the Rock and Brock feuds was cool, and turning back into Serious Asskicker Cena was timely and necessary given that he’s going to get annihilated. I do miss the intense “I WILL FIGHT LIKE A MAN!” Cena promos, he doesnt do them as often anymore. And in general they’re really selling the angle of Cena being affected by losing at Mania extraordinarily well. Cant wait for it to unravel more when he loses at ER.
The Tensai/Cena main event sure was something. Using Tensai in such a big role so soon was actually good as a signal that “Hey guys, you should take him seriously – we are.” I thought he looked good considering the pace, and Cena always looks good being destroyed by a monster. I also love that they had the balls to put him over, it gives him some credibility and makes perfect sense given the Cena angle. Raw really delivered on the main angles this week.
Smackdown was pretty good too. Daniel Bryan was the MOST GIGANTIC ASSHOLE IN THE WORLD once again. Telling AJ “I wish you’d never been born!” and laughing about it was incredible dickishness. They do need to move forward with the angle at ER though, mainly because Bryan is getting massively cheered for abusing this poor woman. Also, AJ’s sad face Acting needs some work.She’s almost at Dixie Carter levels of “I Only Have One Face”.
Having said that, she was otherwise great here, especially with the match angle. Nattie comes out for a babyface match, AJ is just staring into space looking suicidal, Nattie is concerned, but AJ visibly snaps and just KILLS THIS F*CKER. As goofy as AJ beating up on Nattie was, they really made it work, Nattie was legit knocked down and shocked out of her mind, AJ was just WAILING on her until she would wail no more. Again, a part of me wishes AJ was a more…expressive Actor, but its a small complaint because this was a fascinating angle.
I like the changing landscape with even more new characters. Titus and Young have been ruling it on NXT lately (Public Service Announcement: WATCH NXT) and they’ll be a fine heel team. Them vs the Usos was a fun little tag and I’m more impressed with the Usos every time I see them, especially the one that talks (Jimmy?). Why the Usos arent having a major tag title feud right now is beyond me.
Speaking of new guys, Ryback continues to rule. I think the backstage peanut gallery is an intersting twist on the squash match concept and I’m interested to see it pay off in time. Also, CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI ON SD. The mind boggles, in the best possible way. Looking forward to see how Sandow goes as well. The promos are good but they’re the kind of “This has nothing to do with wrestling” vignettes where they ultimately have no bearing on how he’ll be as a wrestler.
Show vs Cody is one of the best angles in the company right now. Alberto vs Show was fun, and Cody comes out and costs him the match, and once again its the BD Kick that does the damage – I like how lethal the move is being portrayed as. And then its main event time, and just to be an even bigger dick, Cody takes out the similarly-sized Khali. Oh no, we’re a babyface down, who ever will replace him? WELL, ITS THE BIG SHOW. Sadly I missed the end of the main event, but what I saw was some great fun, and TV in general was really good this week.
