Happy Thursday Everyone!
Holy mackerel are AEW loading up those Arthur Ashe shows! As Gorilla Monsoon on this very Blog would say, they’ll have people hanging from the rafters in that stadium for Dynamite and Rampage. It will truly be a happening!
Shout out to Club Bruges last night who managed to hold the mighty PSG to a draw. I’m sure the Belgian fans liked sticking it to the French!
The SmarK Rant for AEW Dynamite – 09.15.21
Live from Newark, NJ
Your hosts are Jim Ross, CM Punk, Tony Schiavone & Excalibur
CM Punk joins us to start, surfing the crowd before joining the commentary team.
Who is the last wrestler/personality to draw as much legit heel heat as MJF? Is it Mr. McMahon?
Not sure what Flair’s plan is, but the tag match next week seems begging for him to show up to seemingly back Sting in his gripe vs Tully…..only to turn on him yet again.
Then they cut to the back for a Naked Gun forehead slap.
Guys, I’m pretty sure that THIS TIME Sting has learned his lesson.
Dynamite
Date: September 15, 2021
Location: Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, CM Punk
Things have been getting big in a hurry around here and that is going to be the case again this week. This time around we have the in-ring debut of Adam Cole, which should make for quite the moment. Other than that, Grand Slam is on the horizon and that should be an even bigger show. Let’s get to it.
… featuring Spaniels.
Tonight we have Dynamite, and I couldn’t find a preview from our friends at the Observer. But it turns out that our friends at AEW actually preview the show on their website. Here’s a run down of tonight’s card from Newark, New Jersey:
And probably lots of angles to set up the big Grand Slam Dynamite next week.
Enjoy the show and talk about it here!
Monday Night Raw
Date: April 16, 2007
Location: Datchforum, Milan, Italy
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
We have a special one here as the show is in Italy for the first time ever. That should make for a cool atmosphere if nothing else and that is almost always a good idea. For once though, Raw is on a roll as we move towards Backlash. If this show can continue that streak, they’ll be able to say…..however you praise something in Italian. Let’s get to it.
Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura are in the booth, concluding the tapings in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Ventura argues that his MIA bracelet will come off faster than McMahon’s Hulk Hogan friendship bracelet.
Mabel vs. Savio Vega ending a PPV. This was so bad it feels like a hard-boiled noir detective should be doing narration over it.
KING OF THE RING QUALIFYING MATCHES (1995):
* Back for more King of the Ring Qualifiers- technically still part of my “Dream Matches” column, haha. And with a special edition of everyone’s favorite wrestling standby: FANTASY REBOOKING!!
This year’s King of the Ring was very well-represented on YouTube. This is the most infamously bad tournament in history, which is hilarious, as “on paper” it looks to be the biggest one ever- while most tourneys are foregone conclusions or are full of mid-level guys, this one had Lex, Owen, Razor, Shawn and even the UNDERTAKER wrestling, with a ton of matches having equal stars. So the disaster that was the ’95 KOTR is a true epic. Come watch as the long national nightmare of Savio Vega in a prominent role begins, plus how NOT to create a new Monster Heel.
Previous tournaments re-legitimized ex-champion Bret Hart and gave credibility to Owen for his feud with Bret. A third tournament could either legitimize another would-be champion (Shawn Michaels, in this case), or set up a challenger for Diesel, who’s coming out of a feud with Psycho Sid. It looks like Bob Holly beating Mantaur is not on YouTube, but I found the rest.
MABEL (w/ Mo) vs. ADAM BOMB:
(WWF In Your House, May 14th)
* This was a strange decision- putting the first KOTR Qualifier on the first-ever In Your House PPV as a throwaway bout. Mabel had just recently turned heel, while Bomb was spinning his wheels as a directionless babyface after splitting with Harvey Whippleman last year. Bomb’s in the red & yellow gear as usual (he only briefly wore other colors), while Mabel’s in black & purple.
Welcome to another ROH Wednesday, as we tackle the next show from our 2003 retrospective in the form of Wrestlerave. We’ll split this into two parts again, so we’ll go on till intermission and then pick up the concluding part next week.
The pattern then seems to be the same. The new champion is then regarded as a fluke (and usually loses some non-title matches along the way) and moves back down the card once they drop the title.
Happy Wednesday Everyone!
Found out today that I’ll finally be heading back to the office after a LONG time of working at home, so these updates might not be quite as detailed from next week regards news and whatnot, but I’ll still make sure to get a thread up every day. I’m quite relieved to be honest as the lack of human interaction was becoming a genuine bummer recently.
The SmarK Rant for WWE NXT 2.0 – 09.14.21
Hey, it’s not like they could make the product any more ice cold, so might as well try a reboot.
NXT
Date: September 14, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Beth Phoenix, Vic Joseph, Wade Barrett
We have arrived as it is time for the all new NXT, featuring a lot of the same people and whatever angles need to be wrapped up. I’m almost terrified of what this is going to include as the usual suspects from Raw are in charge. We have a wedding and a vacant World Title to fill though so let’s get to it.
The PG Era Rant for AEW Dark, Episode 108 (“Japanese Numerologists Rejoice”), September 14, 2021.
WHAT IS EXCLUSIVELY FIRST-CLASS SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT DOING IN THE IMPACT ZONE?
Your hosts are Tony Schiavone and Taz.
TONIGHT! Leyla Hirsch prepares to face Jade Cargill by taking on another person with a foot of height on her in KiLynn King! Fuego Del Sol’s been on the wrong end of many one-sided Dark matches, but now he’s the featured performer! And it’s a six-man tag main event, as Wheeler Yuta, Chuck Taylor, and Orange Cassidy battle Jora Johl, Angelico, and Jack Evans!
PLUS – Anna Jay, 2point0, Shawn Spears, Jade Cargill, and Butcher and Blade!
But first, Alex Marvez interviews both Leyla Hirsch and Jade Cargill at the same time about their Dynamite match. Cargill tells Hirsch she should be thankful. Hirsch counters by saying she’s putting Cargill’s bitch ass in place in her hometown. Cargill laughs it off, and Mark Sterling doesn’t know how delusional Hirsch is for thinking she can beat Cargill AND for being proud of being from New Jersey. Hirsch isn’t laughing, even though Cargill and Sterling are.
