WHERE CHATTERS GO TO TALK ABOUT OFF TOPIC STUFF!
Ok, so how did these two events actually go? Did I nail my predictions, or was I so far off, you might as well never read my previews again? Let's find out! (note, matches listed in same order I previewed them, and are not in PPV event order.)
NXT Takeover Singles match Adam Cole vs. Pat McAfee While Pat McAfee did get to show off his wrestling training, ultimately, Adam Cole got the bette r of him, in a match that significantly better than I thought I was going to be. Winner: Adam Cole Grade: A- NXT Women's Championship Io Shirai (c) vs. Dakota Kai Well, I am 0-2 so far, lol. Io Shorai gets the win, and retains the title. Scary moment though, as Shorai was doing a back somersault, and one her arms gave out, causing her to land very awkwardly...she nursed the arm the rest of the match. Winner: Io Shorai Grade: B+ NXT North American Championship (5-Man Ladder match) Bronson Reed vs. Damian Priest vs. Cameron Grimes vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Velveteen Dream Make that 0-3. This was essentially a Money In The Bank match, only with the NXT NA Championship on the line, instead of a briefcase. The match was fine, and was as good as you expect a MITB style match to be...however, I am downgrading it a little because of the very confusing ending. Winner: Damien Priest Grade: B+ Singles Match Finn Balor vs. Timothy Thatcher Woohoo, I finally got one right. Too bad the match was on the PPV itself though, it probably should have been on the Kickoff show. I wasn't impressed. It was a BAD match per se, it just felt like something you could see on any given Wednesday night on NXT, rather than something special saved for a PPV... Winner: Finn Balor Grade: B- Triple Threat Tag Team Match for NXT Tag Team #1 Contendership Breezango (Fandango/Tyler Breeze) vs. Oney Lorcan/Danny Burch vs. Legado Del Fantasma (Joaquin Wilde/Raul Mendoza) This was the only match on the Kickoff show. It belonged there, just like the Balor/Thatcher match, and for the same reason. Felt like a TV taping kind of match instead of a PPV level one. Winners: Breezango Grade: B- NXT Championship Keith Lee (c) vs. Karrion Kross Ok, remember how I predicted that Keith Lee would be promoted to the main roster soon? Well, as it turns out, that call up is happening a LOT sooner than I expected...as in, he is going to be on RAW tonight. So, the logic I applied to the Io Shorai/Dakota Kai match should actually have been applied to this match instead, because it looks like Keith Lee has finished with NXT. Winner: Karrion Kross Grade: B Out of 6 NXT Takeover matches, I only got 2 right. Let's hope I did better with Summerslam... SUMMERSLAM WWE RAW Tag Team Championship Street Profits (c) vs. Andrade/Angel Garza The WWE continued to tease tensions between both Andrade and Garza with their manager, Zelina Vega. As such, they did not win the titles here. Winners: Street Profits Grade: B WWE Championship Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Randy Orton This was a very nice, fun, violent match. I thought they would give it to Orton, but they kept the strap on McIntyre. Winner: Drew McIntyre Grade: A WWE United States Championship (Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin banned from ringside) Apollo Crews (c) vs. MVP Once upon a time, midcard title matches were part of the PPV itself...not so much with the US Title, and if this match is any indication, there is a good reason for that. This match was terrible, and it's good that it was aired on the kickoff show instead of the PPV itself. Winner: Apollo Crews Grade: C- Street Fight (Basically, anything goes) Seth Rollins vs. Dominik Mysterio I don't understand the booking here. For Dominik's debut, they just continued what they have been doing week after week on RAW: Seth Rollins relying on Buddy Murphy to help double team Mysterio...This match was actually pretty good, but Seth Rollins is a hell of a performer. He doesn't need Buddy Murphy at all, and I am tired of seeing the same old plot week after week when it comes to them...Buddy needs to just...go away. Winner: Seth Rollins Grade: B+ (This would have been an A, except for the constant Buddy Murphy interference) WWE Raw Women's Championship WWE Smackdown Women's Championship Sasha Banks (c) vs. Asuka Bayley (c) vs. Asuka NAILED IT! Bayley got the win in the first match, thanks to Sasha Banks interfering on her behalf, which directly led to a pinfall...Bayley retains the Smackdown Women's title...HOWEVER!!! During the RAW Women's title match, Bayley didn't exactly return the favor. She gave a half-hearted attempt to help Sasha out, and it didn't work...what is unclear, is if it was meant to or not...Either way, Asuka is wearing gold again... Winner(s): Bayley, Asuka (new RAW Women's Champion) Grade: Smackdown match: A-, RAW match: B+ WWE Universal Championship Braun Strowman (c) vs. Bray Wyatt Less than stellar match...but the best part of this match is what happened after it was finished. Bray gets the win, and becomes the new Universal champion...but then, out of nowhere, Roman Reigns jumps into the ring, and beats the crap out of both Wyatt and Strowman equally... Winner: Bray Wyatt Grade: A- (B- for the match itself, but bonus points for surprising the hell out of me with the return of Roman Reigns. Dammit, WWE. There weren't even HINTS online!) Hair vs. Hair Match Mandy Rose vs. Sonya Deville This ended up being changed to a "Loser leaves WWE" match instead of hair v. hair. Didn't really matter though, same result. Mandy gets the win, but more importantly, she got to showcase her actual WRESTLING skills. This might be the start of a significant push for her as a wrestler, and not just as a pretty face. Winner: Mandy Rose, then Otis came down and they celebrated. Grade: A-
Comments
When and where? Saturday, August 22 at 7pm EST on WWE Network (kickoff show at 6pm) Singles match Adam Cole vs. Pat McAfee Yes, the former NFL punter. it would be easy to assume Adam Cole gets the easy win here, but...Whenever the WWE has "Wrestler vs. celebrity" type matches, the celebrity is the one who comes out on top the majority of the time. I don't know how, or who else will be involved...but Pat McAfee will somehow, inexplicably, end up on top in this match. Winner: Pat McAfee NXT Women's Championship Io Shirai (c) vs. Dakota Kai Io Shirai is a better wrestler than Dakota Kai is, plain and simple. However, with Kairi Sane deciding to return to Japan to be with her family, moving Io Shirai over to RAW soon to reform the Kabuki Warriors with Asuka seems like a natural storyline just waiting for the proper time to happen...but in order to move her to the main roster, she has to drop the belt. Winner: Dakota Kai NXT North American Championship (5-Man Ladder match) Bronson Reed vs. Damian Priest vs. Cameron Grimes vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Velveteen Dream If it weren't for the controversy surrounding Velveteen Dream right now, I'd say he wins this...but, well...given what he has been accused of doing, no way the WWE puts the strap on him. This could realistically be won by any of the four remaining wrestlers in the match, but if I had to pick one, it would be Johnny Gargano. Winner: Johnny Gargano Singles Match Finn Balor vs. Timothy Thatcher I don't even need to describe this match to predict the winner here... Winner: Finn Balor Triple Threat Tag Team Match for NXT Tag Team #1 Contendership Breezango (Fandango/Tyler Breeze) vs. Oney Lorcan/Danny Burch vs. Legado Del Fantasma (Joaquin Wilde/Raul Mendoza) Fandango and Tyler Breeze HAVE to be rewarded at some point for moving off the main roster down to NXT, so why not now? They can't stay jobbers forever. Winners: Breezango NXT Championship Keith Lee (c) vs. Karrion Kross Keith Lee is going to get called up to the main roster soon. But not quite yet. As such, no way he drops the title to Karrion Kross. He's the biggest star on the entire NXT roster, he isn't dropping the NXT Championship until the WWE decides it's time to call him up...my best guess is that January's Royal Rumble event will likely be his call up...He's keeping the belt until then. Winner: Keith Lee When and Where? Sunday, August 23rd at 7pm EST on WWE Network (Kickoff show at 6pm) WWE RAW Tag Team Championship Street Profits (c) vs. Andrade/Angel Garza The WWE has been teasing tensions between both Andrade and Garza with their manager, Zelina Vega. I suspect that their team is about to break up, with one of them turning face in the near future. As such, I expect them to not win the titles here. Winners: Street Profits WWE Championship Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Randy Orton Randy Orton is performing both in the ring and on the mic at a level he hasn't been at in years. I have mentioned in previous reviews that I think the WWE will give him one last title run...That title run starts this Sunday, and will last probably until Wrestlemania. Winner: Randy Orton WWE United States Championship (Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin banned from ringside) Apollo Crews (c) vs. MVP Part of me thinks that MVP has a secret member of his Hurt Business faction, and that they will interfere in the match on MVP's behalf...but that would probably mean that MVP wins...I don't think MVP wins though. He is just an old-timer nostalgia act, I can't see them giving him an actual meaningful belt. Winner: Apollo Crews Street Fight (Basically, anything goes) Seth Rollins vs. Dominik Mysterio Seth Rollins is the overwhelming favorite...which is exactly why he will lose. If this is going to be Dominik's debut match in the WWE, if they have ANY hopes of him carrying on his father's legacy, then they have to book this as Dominik being WAY better than they've let on so far. He is a fully trained wrestler, and he will be in the WWE for a long time. Rumor has it that he even already has a new name waiting to be used...Prince Mysterio. The WWE is going to go all out to establish Rey's successor as a bonafide star. Winner: Dominik Mysterio WWE Raw Women's Championship WWE Smackdown Women's Championship Sasha Banks (c) vs. Asuka Bayley (c) vs. Asuka Technically, these are two separate matches. That is, Asuka has to wrestle twice on Sunday. I am combining them here, because I think these are really two halves of a single story being told. Both my wife and I suspect that the team of Bayley and Banks is going to break up, due to a betrayal. Either Bayley will screw Sasha somehow in the RAW title match, or Sasha Banks will screw Bayley somehow in the Smackdown title match, "totally accidentally". Basically, we both suspect that Asuka is probably going to get screwed out of one of the titles, but end up winning the other. Then, probably at the next PPV, Payback, which conveniently is only like a week after Summerslam, wouldn't you know...Bayley and Sasha are already booked to defend their WWE Women's Tag Team titles against opponents TBD. Anyone wanna bet it's gonna be against Asuka and a freshly called up Io Shirai from NXT? Winner(s): Asuka, either Sasha Banks or Bayley, but not both. WWE Universal Championship Braun Strowman (c) vs. Bray Wyatt Honestly? I don't have the slightest idea who is going to win this match, I am not even really leaning in one direction or another. I can legit see either man winning this...I expect this to be a very violent, power based match, with very little technical wrestling involved. My wife is convinced that Alexa Bliss will be involved in this match. As you may recall, she has been placed in this storyline starting with the swamp match between Wyatt and Strowman last PPV, and it's not exactly clear yet what her role is. Is she really Sister Abigail, and ultimately loyal to Bray Wyatt/The Fiend, or do her loyalties remain with her mixed-tag team partner Braun Strowman? Alexa very well could be the deciding factor in this match...but for which wrestler? Winner: Hell if I know...Umm, a draw or no-contest maybe? Hair vs. Hair Match Mandy Rose vs. Sonya Deville I don't remember EVER seeing a face lose a hair vs. hair type match. The entire purpose of a hair vs. hair match is to teach the heel a lesson, to humiliate them in the middle of the ring for being a dastardly heel... Winner: Mandy Rose, then look for Otis to come out and help hold Sonya down while Mandy cuts her hair off. |
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February 2021
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