Welcome to ThunderStruck! Jee-S will be back with me covering the shows next week, but for this week it’s just me all by my lonesome. Enjoy!
WWE Main Event Review 05/01/13
Kofi Kingston defeats Antonio Cesaro with trouble in paradise to retain the United States Championship.
^Fantastic match between these two! Cesaro should have the gold in my opinion, but at least he’s competing in top quality matches with talent like Kofi. I don’t think I’ve seen a match this good on Main Event in quite some time. Perhaps WWE should take my suggestion and utilize the midcard Champions a bit more on the show?
Justin Gabriel defeats Heath Slater.
^And more quality wrestling closes out WWE’s one hour ‘special’ show on ION. I enjoyed the chemistry between these two, and I wouldn’t complain about either of these guys having a run with some gold in the future.
Final Thoughts: Two good matches on a show where we expect to see good wrestling. What is there to complain about? For the first time in quite awhile, I feel like this was the sort of episode we should be receiving each week from Main Event. Good stuff!
WWE Smackdown Analysis 05/03/13
Ryback defeats Daniel Bryan with shell shocked. He cuts a promo about his match with John Cena at Extreme Rules before he faces Dbry and says it was John Cena who lost the match against the Shield after choosing to put himself at further risk against the group.
^Ryback and Daniel Bryan had an awesome ten minute match here. Ryback looked like he could actually pace a match pretty well and showing off his brute strength by lifting Daniel Bryan the way he did for the powerbomb off the mat was very impressive. I liked that Ryback was able to do the meathook clothesline and shell shocked after the powerbombs in succession; allowing the top heel to dominate with his full moveset is very old school and makes the finish more definitive.
Ricardo Rodriguez is interviewed about his match with Zeb Colter. Alberto Del Rio comes into the scene and tells Ricardo to relax and they’ll get ready for his match.
^Ricardo is a great character; I hope WWE keeps him paired with Del Rio for a long time.
Fandango defeats Zack Ryder in a very short match. He does the typical name promo after the match.
^I’m fine with the wrestling ability of Fandango, but the character itself just doesn’t interest me. We don’t get much out of seeing a guy squash the regular jobber. Can we get some competition please?
Kaitlyn tells Natalya and Khali about some flowers and a message from her secret admirer. She’s very excited about it. Natalya brags about how romantic Khali is.
^Well that was awkward. I still think it’s either AJ setting up Kaitlyn, or it’s Big E. Perhaps it’s the continued storyline with Cody Rhodes that just suddenly fell off the map? That’s enough of the speculation.
Zeb Colter and Jack Swagger are interviewed by Renee Young about the match tonight. Zeb talks about competing on Monday night with the flu because he’s a real American.
^Colter is growing boring for me. Sometimes too much is too much, and Swagger doesn’t back up much of Colter’s talk in the ring so it isn’t even really buyable at this point.
Ricardo vs Zeb Colter changes twice after interference thanks to Teddy Long. The match becomes Dolph Ziggler and Big E. Langston versus Zeb Colter and Jack Swagger versus ADR and Ricardo. Del Rio wins the match when he forces Ziggler to tap out.
^A lot of wrestling here to enjoy, but the interruptions became ridiculous. I felt like I was watching an episode of Main Event or something with all the changes happening so suddenly. Why not just book the three way tag match from the beginning? Anyone else notice how similarly AJ Lee holds the World Title in comparison to Ric Flair? Look it up.
The Shield attack Daniel Bryan backstage and cut a promo about taking out Kane tonight.
^Dean Ambrose should be the only talker in the group. Rollins is still alright, but Reigns is awful. You can see from the three which one is really going to be the star. I don’t care who Triple H supposedly has a hard on for; the overall talent of the group is Ambrose and the speedy and talented seller is Rollins.
Randy Orton defeats Damien Sandow. Big Show comes out after the match to distract Orton and Sandow lays out Orton with his neckbreaker finisher.
^Good wrestling match here. Orton looks like he’s put on a couple pounds in his waistline. Orton and Show should have a good match at Extreme Rules; I’d expect a brawl. Sandow losing doesn’t bother me when it’s Orton getting the win, but Sandow needs a legitimate win soon because he’s truly one of the best performers on the roster.
Backstage, Kane says the Shield will pay for what they did to Dbry.
^Just take off the mask already! For crying out loud, we can see your face man! What’s the damn point of it?
Mark Henry defeats Sheamus in an arm wrestling match. Sheamus wants a second go with their left hands but he attacks Henry instead with a punch and a brogue kick.
^And Sheamus once again looks like the heel this week. I wish the guy had more of a character besides just the kickass brawler. It’s almost like he needs to be a permanent heel without talking in order to be more likeable.
Dean Ambrose defeats Kane with help from the Shield. They beat Kane down after the match and hold up the tag team titles to close the show.
^The Shield dominance continues. I love watching Ambrose in matches, and I love even more watching Seth Rollins sell a beating when he gets tossed around ringside. Good ending to a great night with the Shield standing tall. I can’t wait to see these guys in their next match!
We got four good to great matches, a squash match, and an arm wrestling match that ended in a heap of Mark Henry on the ground. Fantastic show! I love that the Shield has become just as important to the show as the World Heavyweight Championship, but I do wish that Dolph Ziggler would close out a few episodes of either Raw or Smackdown standing tall with his newly won title. I’ll be back with the Raw Analysis on Monday. Until next time, you’ve been ThunderStruck!
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