By Haydn Gleed
-Well, I went to my first American Football match last Sunday……..and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I don’t think I’ll be a huge huge fan who will be able to call plays before they happen or anything like that, but I’ve already put money down for the “NFL London” season ticket for the four (potentially six) games next year. To round up my very Minnesota week that started with watching the Vikings beat the Cleveland Browns, I am back in London today with my girlfriend looking at the Prince Exhibition at the O2 Arena. All I need now is some snow and it’ll feel like I’m living in the Land of 10,000 Lakes .
-Did everyone else see the birth of a new superhero on Monday’s WWE Raw? What’s that smell? It’s Trashman! As an aspiring athlete, he was criminally thrown in the back of a dumpster and compacted along with test potions from the nearby science lab. Mixed together along with the heat from his opponents pyro, it created TRASHMAN! He transfixes his enemies to stay in one spot and emerges from a pile of rubbish with a primal scream… OK, I’ve run out of material, but seriously this is how they brought back Braun Strowman after his babyface turn? It was very cringe worthy, but in the long run I don’t think it will do him too much damage. Still, WWE would be wise to change almost nothing about Braun except that now he faces heels instead of babyfaces. Let him be the ass kicker, let him tip over ambulances, let him be Ikea furniture’s worst nightmare – all the things that got him over with the fans in the first place need to stay. He should not be turned into some anti-hero type cartoon character.
-Can someone tell me if Daniel Bryan ever explained why he came to Raw? I’ve watched those segments two or three times and I legitimately can’t get my head around why he was there.
-So Stephanie McMahon is back…….yay, I guess? What I hate most about Stephanie McMahon the character was in plain sight again when she ripped into Kurt Angle and never let him respond. Stephanie acting like an overbearing boss that the fans want to see get some comeuppance for her behavior will never happen from Angle or any other male wrestler. As a consequence, it makes the victim of the rants look weak and the fans left disappointed that the evil, vicious, vile human boss can get away with that behavior. When you undercut your talent and make the fans hate you but there’s no payoff, it turns people off of the product.
-Is there anything in the female Money In The Bank contract that says Carmella couldn’t cash it in on the Raw champion at Survivor Series? #justsaying #justiceforEmma
-Impact Wrestling released a number of talents this week including Rockstar Spud. Spud could be a great addition to NXT and I would argue that he could even make 205 Live better. Spud’s feud with EC3 was one of my favorites in any promotion in the last five years culminating in the outstanding match that I witnessed live at the Wembley Arena TNA tapings. It wasn’t the match in the vacuum that won my vote for best match of the year, it was the pure emotion that came out in that match because of the story told by the wrestlers in the weeks and months that led up to the match. Spud can make you care just from the way he bumps. He reminds me of when Mikey Whipwreck started in ECW in the mid-90s where just by taking punishment you felt sorry for the guy. He can also talk and can make you laugh, cry, feel the passion, etc. I’ve seen him wrestle quite a number of times in Progress Wrestling in the last couple of years and he can overdo the selling and playing the small guy a bit too much, but if they find the right balance with him in the ring and with his mic skills then WWE could potentially have a character that people tune in to see on 205 Live. As for the other talent they let go, in most cases I think both sides are better off without each other. I am high on Robbie E and Jessie Godderz…..when they are not BroMans. I’ve seen some of the work that both men have done away from the terrible gimmick and I have been relatively impressed. It might be negative for them to leave a company they’ve been with for years, but this might give them a chance to explore more of their own abilities away from the comfort of BroMans.
-I returned to Prowrestling.net All Access audio this week with the an audio review of the ROH television show on Wednesday so check that out and let me know your thoughts. I should be back on a weekly basis moving forward with the ROH reviews. Progress Wrestling’s Chapter 56 was released on Thursday on their on demand service so I’m planning on watching and recording a Progress Wrestling audio review within the next week as well, so be on the look out for that.
-Oh one last thing, if you haven’t seen Thor: Ragnarok and you enjoy superhero movies (Trashman The Movie sounds awesome right?) you need to go and see it now, no NOW!
As always, feel free to get in touch if you wish to discuss anything wrestling related @haydngleed or email haydn.gleed@gmail.com
It may have not been evident from just the RAW moments but Daniel Bryan was there to smooth things over with Kurt because,as he mention on SDL to Shane,he thought Shane went too far. Since Kane “injured” Bryan he may feel differently.
Is there anything in the female Money In The Bank contract that says Carmella couldn’t cash it in on the Raw champion at Survivor Series?
It’s a SDL MITB briefcase for the SDL Women’s title.