Worlds Collide

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Worlds Collide
Date: January 25, 2020
Location: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Nigel McGuinness

It’s a big night in Texas, and not just because I finally remembered that the show isn’t called When Worlds Collide. This is NXT vs. NXT UK and the card is actually stacked, with a bunch of matches that could be awesome. If they live up to the hype, it’s a show of the year contender. Let’s get to it.

Read moreWorlds Collide

Smackdown – August 25, 2005

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Smackdown
Date: August 25, 2005
Location: Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina
Attendance: 5,000
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

Summerslam has come and gone and that means a lot of things have wrapped up for good. First and foremost, Batista defeated JBL to retain the Smackdown World Title, which means we need a new #1 contender. Other than that, Rey Mysterio defeated Eddie Guerrero (again) to gain custody of his son, but I wouldn’t bet on the feud being done just yet. Let’s get to it.

Read moreSmackdown – August 25, 2005

WWF Monday Night RAW – September 19th, 1994

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Well, after five weeks I am well enough to write up my reviews. And I want to thank everyone for their support. Who knew by going out to get my wife a tea, not even a mile away from our home. while she was sick would lead to an accident in which I received a concussion and whiplash. Anyway, you guys are great and I am back to write about 1994 WWF and maybe more subjects in the future.

 

September 19, 1994

From the Lowell Memorial Auditorium in Lowell, MA

Your hosts are Vince McMahon and “Macho Man” Randy Savage

Read moreWWF Monday Night RAW – September 19th, 1994

Random Rumble Questions

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Hey Scott. With the Rumble around the corner,I was wondering your take on past PPV's.

1. What show had the best Rumble match but had a terrible undercard?
2. What show had great undercard matches but a terrible Rumble?
3.What Rumble were you most apathetic to but it somehow managed to surprise you with how good it was?
4. What about one you were pumped for and ending up being a dud?
5. Any year(s) where you were completely clueless as to who was winning?

Thank you!

1.  Rumble 92.  Flair saved the show.
2.  Seemingly all of them since 2012 or so.  

3.  My rewatch of Rumble 90 a couple of months ago, actually.  

4. The one Daniel Bryan didn't win.  

5.  2010.  The surprise Edge win came completely out of nowhere.  

Becky Lynch/Wrestlemania 35

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Scott – nice and quick questions about The Man for you

1.   Did you enjoy Beckys work and push from becoming The Man to headlining Wrestlemania 35?  I thought she was great in the role and handled the big push well

2.   Would you have done a straight one on one match between Becky and Rousey for WM or would you have gone with the triple threat match like they did?

3.   How would you have followed up Lynch’s big WM win?   Seems like getting dumped into a feud with Lacey Evans did nothing for either of them.

1.  She did well in the role and got over huge, yes.
2.  Definitely a straight singles match where Becky taps out Rousey with the armbar.  
3.  That's where you do the feud with Asuka, since Becky lost to her at the Rumble and it was setting up a natural challenger. 

Post 50

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Hi Scott,

With PCO and Tim Storm seemingly having their best years post 50 I have a couple of questions if you will indulge me.

1.  What is the best match (1v1) you have seen involving a worker over 50?

2.  What is the best run (year+) a worker has had post 50?

Thanks.
Was Minoru Suzuki 50 when he had that match with Tanahashi a few years ago?  If so, that one.  Otherwise, I'd say Tenryu v. Muto from All Japan during that run.  In general, Tenryu's comeback run was crazy great and he was something like 55 at the time and having these amazing matches. 

Strong Style Saturday Thread – January 25, 2020

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The weekend of wrestling BEGINS.  Well, last night, but wrestling on the WWE Network begins tonight.

Tonight is Worlds Collide on the WWE Network, which is baffingly taking place in the US instead of the UK, where people would actually know everyone.  Apparently tickets aren’t selling for the show, surprise surprise, but it should be a neverending lineup of **** matches, or as we call it on Wednesdays, AEW.

DATELINE:  The NWA announced the return of the Crockett Cup in April, which will be their next PPV.  I’m all over that one.

DATELINE:  Daniel Bryan is making eco-friendly t-shirts.  This is what you call a “slow news day item”.

Today’s free match on WWE’s YouTube channel is the 2018 Women’s Rumble match!

Smackdown – January 24, 2020

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Smackdown
Date: January 24, 2020
Location: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

It’s the go home show for the Royal Rumble and that means we need the final push towards Houston. The men’s Royal Rumble is probably as set as we are going to get in advance but there are only give names announced for the women’s match. It’s hard to imagine not getting some names announced tonight and that is long overdue. Let’s get to it.

Read moreSmackdown – January 24, 2020

WWE Friday Night Party Thread, Episode 17 — A THIN (DOTTED) LINE BETWEEN LOVE AND HATE

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We made it!

Tonight, SmackDown comes to you from Dallas as all signs are pointing to the Royal Rumble, starring Brock Lesnar and some other people.  Fortunately, it will also feature Daniel Bryan doing what he best: be a foil for Bray Wyatt.  Say what you will about how WWE botched the rollout, but Bryan has been able not just to *get* what Funhouse Bray/The Fiend is about, but help explore it.  Plus, it helps that he’s trusted AND he listens to Bray, who’s clearly put a lot of thought into this duality.

I bring this up because it’s time to sign a contract!  Tonight, Funhouse Bray and Daniel Bryan come face to face and do some paperwork for Sunday.  Obviously, with something like this, the question isn’t whether a fight will break out, but who will go through the table they use to sign the deal.  I’m betting on Ramblin’ Rabbit.

Meanwhile, ever since King Corbin interrupted a title shot that Roman Reigns had on Nakamura, Reigns has been saddled with getting past him.  Humiliation after degradation seemed to lead to a payoff in December, but alas, the torture continued.  When all seemed to be a broken record, the Usos rode to the rescue and evened the odds!  Now, finally, it’s all in as we get a huge six-man tag featuring Corbin, Roode, and Ziggler against Roman and the Usos!

The Australian Open is in full swing tonight.  There’s college and pro hoops around the dial.  Or, hop on over to my review of the latest BLP show and see if it’s worth a watch.  Or, heck, watch SmackDown, but it seems we all hate the wrestling we love.

All right, guys… you’ve had your instructions.  I answered all questions in the locker room.  Let’s have a good, clean thread, show respect, and come out posting.  Touch gloves and enjoy the weekend!

What the World Was Watching: WCW Saturday Night – December 16, 1995

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–Tony Schiavone and Dusty Rhodes are calling tonight’s action and they are taped from Atlanta, Georgia.  According to thehistoryofwwe.com, these matches took place on November 29.

Read moreWhat the World Was Watching: WCW Saturday Night – December 16, 1995

Best 1 -2 Punch

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On his most recent podcast, Jim Ross said that Austin-Rock was the best 1 – 2 punch of main eventers in history, and it's tough to argue otherwise. The only others that I can think of that could even be in the conversation would be Hogan-Savage before the Megapowers exploded, and to a lesser extent Flair-Dusty in Crockett. Am I missing any other obvious ones?
Misawa-Kobashi?  Okada-Tanahashi?  I’d still vote Rock-Austin by a mile but there’s definitely others in the conversation.  

Royal Rumble optimism

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Hey Scott,


I'm trying to stay optimistic about the Royal Rumble, despite the lack of build and the radar silence on potential entrants. I'm hoping that it's a deliberate ploy to make the surprises we get even better, for Vince to try and blow AEW out of the water (boat
pun intended). Has the wrestling war and the snapping up of free agents made big surprises less likely however? What debuts or returns would get you marking out? Tyson Fury to punch out and eliminate Big Show? Baszler to eliminate a returning Ronda to set
up a programme down the line? The Rock to eliminate Brock?

Rock ain’t coming back, bro.  The insurance companies will make sure of that.  
I think this is finally where it’s time for the Dream to debut.  They were prepping his move to the main roster for the same time as Black and Rick O’Shea but he got hurt and plans changed.  They had promotional stuff ready and he was added to the WWE Champions mobile game as a main roster guy.  

Friday Indie Spotlight Thing: Nobody Puts BLP In a Corner!

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More wrestling, yay!

Today’s show is from Crown Point, Indiana, the home of Black Label Pro. Crown Point is in Northwest Indiana near Chicago, on the shores of Lake Michigan. So, to honor their home, they decided to call this show Crown Point Jewel. Unfortunately, the artwork on the posters was a little too obviously ripped off from WWE’s Saudi Arabia shows and a cease-and-desist followed. Fortunately, the company had a good rename: Nobody Puts BLP In A Corner! And with that, we were underway.

The PG Era Rant for Nobody Puts BLP In A Corner! (Tape runtime: 212 minutes)

From Crown Point, IN, January 18.

Your hosts are Dave Prazak and Sarah Shockey on commentary, with J.Rose as ring announcer.

Read moreFriday Indie Spotlight Thing: Nobody Puts BLP In a Corner!

NXT (cross out “Womens”) Championship.

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So Cageside Seats posted a report that the NXT Womens Championship may now now just be the "NXT Championship". On WWE Backstage, Becky said they should remove "Women" from everything. My question is…. What the hell do you call all of the different titles then? Or are we getting Becky vs Brock and Rhea vs Cole? Is Tessa Blanchard a trendsetter all of a sudden?

I don't really understand the need or rationale for the change, but I don't know that it's a huge deal either way.  

Who Should Be #2?

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If Brock is the first entrant, who would be the most interesting second entrant? John Cena? Keith Lee? Tyler Bate?


… it's gonna be Big Show, isn't it?

R-Truth maybe?  I feel like Brock is gonna throw out a few geeks at the very least before they do whatever storyline comes out of this.  

Goldberg/Hogan Title Match

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Was the Goldberg vs Hogan match for the WCW Championship on a Monday Nitro in July 1998 originally supposed to be at an upcoming PPV, or was it just another hotshot designed to beat Raw in the ratings for one week after the WWF started to dominate the war?  I still can't believe how much money they left on the table by putting that match on Nitro rather than a PPV.  
It was a thing they did to boost ratings for the week, and yeah, it was dumb to not do it on PPV, especially when the building was already sold out before the match was ever announced anyway.