WWE NXT 08/29/12
Mike Dalton and Jason Jordan take on Hunico and Camacho. Hunico pins Dalton after an angle slam.
^Dalton is very versatile and looks good in the ring. Jordan bores me. Hunico is great at helping other talent improve, but the guy is too good to just be used on the B shows. Good tag team action here.
The Ascension attack the Usos before they can have a match.
^I like this booking. Increasing a tag team rivalry on the B show is a good way to show that you care about your audience and product. I can’t wait to see these teams go head to head again.
Big E Langston Squashes Chase Donovan.
^I just hope with Langston that he gets a bigger storyline than just squashing people every week.
Seth Rollins defeats Jinder Mahal to become the first ever NXT Champion.
^Rollins deserves it. This match was solid, and Mahal held his own fairly well. Unfortunately for Mahal, Rollins’ level of experience is leagues ahead of him and shows through every time they set foot in the ring. I understand the slow push for Rollins, but I’m so excited for his future in WWE.
WWE Superstars 08/30/12
Ryback defeats Johnny Curtis.
^Perhaps this was a confidence booster for Ryback after he botched so badly against Swagger on Raw?
Primo and Epico defeat the Usos.
^I love tag team wrestling, but I wish we would get more than just the four teams that we have. Good match though.
Jinder Mahal defeats Alex Riley using the camel clutch.
^So Mahal loses to Seth Rollins on NXT, and then gets a boost by defeating Alex Riley for the millionth time. Not the best overall show from Superstars, but we’ll take whatever wrestling we can get.
Impact Wrestling 08/30/12
Austin Aries calls out Aces and Eights. Hogan and Sting join him and tell him to calm down. Aries says he wants one of the group one on one to fight him tonight. The Aces and Eights show up on the tron and announce that they’ll be out later on.
James Storm defeats RVD using the last call superkick when RVD launches himself at Storm.
Madison Rayne is squashed by ODB. EY comes out after the match and strips down to a speedo for ODB.
Taz, Al Snow, and Bruce Prichard are shown discussing Chris Lewie from Gutcheck.
Daniels and Kaz are confronted by Hulk and Sting. Hogan tells them that AJ Styles will get revenge eventually. Hogan tells them as champions that they are going to fight where and when and he hopes they get their damn brains beat out.
Samoa Joe defeats AJ Styles in a BFGS match. Joe pins AJ during a submission attempt.
The Gutcheck judges reject Chris Lewie and do not offer him a contract.
Joseph Park signs up to help Hogan and Sting investigate Aces and Eights.
Jeff Hardy defeats Kurt Angle using the swanton bomb. The final five in the BFGS Tournament come to the ring to celebrate.
Austin Aries comes out and so does the TNA locker room. Aries wants to brawl with the best from Aces and Eights. He brawls with the assumed leader and then everyone jumps in. A random guy jumps out of the crowd and pulls his shirt over his face before hitting Aries in the head and then running off. Aries is knocked out to close the show.
Thoughts: I’m bored with the Aces and Eights. The BFGS matches were pretty good, and I liked the outcome of this Gutcheck segment. I really enjoyed the interaction between Sting and Hogan, suprisingly. The two acting like goofballs somehow works far more than I would’ve expected. I’m half expecting Abyss or the Joseph Park character to be affiliated with the Aces and Eights group, but I’m not sure. I can guarantee the one shaped like D-Lo Brown is in fact D-Lo Brown. Ha! Decent show overall, but the Aces and Eights need to be revealed so that the storyline can move forward with matches and rivalries. There’s only so much you can do with a bunch of masked guys attacking the locker room.
WWE Smackdown 08/31/12
Sheamus comes out and puts over Triple H. He goes on to insult Alberto Del Rio but is interrupted by Damien Sandow. Sandow says Sheamus needs an intellectual thrashing. Sheamus tells him to shut up. Booker T comes out and makes a match between the two later tonight.
Rey Mysterio defeats Cody Rhodes. Rhodes tries to rip Rey’s mask off after the match until Sin Cara comes down and makes the save.
Kaitlyn defeats Natalya with Eve on commentary.
Vickie Guerrero interrupts an interview between Josh Mathews and Booker T to complain about Sheamus.
Sheamus defeats Damien Sandow by countout when Sandow refuses to get back in the ring.
The PTP defeat Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd.
Alberto Del Rio is interviewed by Josh Mathews. Del Rio is about to attack Mathews when Kane comes out and apologizes to Josh Mathews. Del Rio runs off but Teddy Long comes out and tells Del Rio he will face Kane right now. Del Rio defeats Kane via the backstabber after a Ricardo distraction. Kane chokeslams Josh Mathews after the match.
Randy Orton defeats Dolph Ziggler in the main event.
Thoughts: I love WWE testing the waters for Damien Sandow in the main event picture. The guy is a far better choice to face Sheamus than ADR. This Rhodes/unmasking storyline has the potential to create some good matches over the next several weeks, and I like the possiblities of teaming Sin Cara with Mysterio until they have a rivalry. The Divas match was decent, but Diva Vickie Guerrero is still annoying to me. I liked the tag team match and the Del Rio/Kane match, but the main event really brought the show to a solid close. Orton and Ziggler have worked good matches a few times in the past, and this one was right there at that high level. I could enjoy seeing Orton and Ziggler do this a few more times before Orton goes off to film the twelve rounds sequel. Great show FULL OF WRESTLING!
News Items:
Tyler Reks: Tyler Reks requested his release from WWE and was granted it. Reks says he wants to be home with his newborn and wife and run a consulting company. I respect his decision, but I wonder if his decision would have been the same if he had a legit push or title run in his sights. One can speculate that he would’ve gone either way, but fame has been known to do funny things to people sometimes.
Stone Cold: Steve Austin has killed all rumors that he will wrestle in 2013. Austin would want things to be his way and be the main rivalry, and we know that won’t happen with the Rock, Brock Lesnar, Undertaker, and Triple H all likely to be on the card. Austin is also recovering from knee surgery.
Team 3D: Devon is planning to part ways with TNA in the coming days. Bully Ray is apparently to compete through BFG before taking off from the company. We all know this could change and Ray could end up staying and Devon could easily sign another deal. I think going back to WWE would be a mistake as the company is notorious for not utilizing tag teams properly.
That’s all for this edition. We’ll have No Surrender predictions up next weekend and I’ll have a special column up the following week. Look for the Raw Analysis to be up Tuesday. Until next time, thanks for reading!
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