TPWW Forums - View Single Post - Clash of Champions 9-25-16 "Nothing about this PPV interests me"

**Mr. Nerfect** · 09-26-2016, 07:35 AM

Here are my thoughts, even though my analysis is apparently over-the-top these days:

* Overall, I agree with every decision on this show from a booking standpoint. Weird, I know. If I were predicting in Tipsters this year, I'd actually have gotten a very high score for this show, with me only being off on the outcome of Cesaro/Sheamus and the technicality of who gets pinned and by what method in the tag match, etc. The particulars, if you well.

* The New Day going over Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson makes sense because, ahem, Luke Gallows has actually been kind of shit since he's arrived in WWE. He's got this cool charm about him when he's hanging around, but in the ring he often looks clueless. I love that roundhouse kick he does, and the Chokeslam was sick, but he's quite limited. The Good Brothers, and to a degree, AJ Styels, were brought in as opponents, I feel. AJ Styles has completely exceeded the expectations of Vince McMahon, while Gallows & Anderson probably haven't. The New Day are approaching Day 400, have a fucking cereal out, and it's sad that this matters as a particular, but are probably the only over credible black act in the company. Apollo Crews hasn't connected in the personality department, R-Truth is comedy filler, Darren Young vs. Titus O'Neil fucking bombed, etc.

* Gallows & Anderson will be fine, by the way. Their best use is as scary back-up for a top heel. They don't need the belts to do that.

* I wish TJ Perkins kept his CWC theme, but the video game thing, while hokey, is at least some sort of motif. I liked the match with Kendrick. I thought Perkins kicking out of Sliced Bread #2 was a cool deal, because no one ever really kicks out of that (I didn't watch the whole CWC thing, so I apologize and reverse myself if it has), and it was sort of a "look how tough this kid is" stamp, because they never fucking do it. A bit of miscommunication, but that's life. I liked the flow of Kendrick looking for the Captain's Hook, and Perkins got the win, as he should have, and got the use the Kneebar, which hopefully gets over.

* Michael Cole was awesome on commentary for this match. He really tried to amp up the sports element of his presentation. That Cole knows how to do it somehow makes him more contemptible. My favorite part of this package was actually Kendrick headbutting Perkins after. The crowd actually booed on cue too. Kendrick being a sore loser has put him down a path of darkness and actually tells a story. He's not one and done. Perkins doesn't even look particularly stupid, which is rare for a deer-in-the-headlights babyface. A good piece of business using that extra-short interviewer too.

* Cesaro vs. Sheamus was probably my match of the night. Cesaro is fucking killing himself trying to get over. After that spot, they recovered extremely well. Holy shit, that's organic pro-wrestling. Cesaro is, for my money, the best in-ring guy they have. His facial expressions during a match are awesome. He doesn't always do shock at a kick-out -- sometimes he looks like a killer on the prowl. He usually does the neck-crank taunt, but the way he worked it into this match after the dive was awesome. I haven't read the views of others, but if people are criticizing this, I have to disagree. Best match on the show.

* I'm not entirely down on the booking. At first my gut was "this is fucking stupid," but then I thought "at least I am going to remember this." After going 50/50, the damage has already been done. This won't be their last match. No one was really tuning in for the climax to that rivalry. I wouldn't have done it that way, but it doesn't revolt me. The "let them fight" chants implied more interest from the crowd than there was heading into this match, you know? It almost felt like they were building up to Hell in a Cell, but I'm sure that won't be the case.

* Sheamus vs. Cesaro might have been the match of the night, but Chris Jericho was the VIP of the entire evening. That man is just on a whole other level. He's over on such a different plain to everyone else. The crowd loves him, but they boo him even though they love him. The guy is a maestro. Sami Zayn showed up and did his usual routine too. The outcome is simply that old-school "heel wins the first match" mentality of booking. I doubt their issues are over. By the way, Jericho's face after winning this match did more to put over Sami Zayn than anything he did in the match.

* I liked the line Kevin Owens had telling Mick Foley to not interrupt him. Such a smarmy prick. Mick Foley's line of "I like that chip on his shoulder -- all the greats..." also did more to put Kevin Owens over than anything Kevin Owens said in that segment.

This is where the show dropped off for me:

* It felt like the crowd was being polite to the women's match. It felt too...choreographed? I really loved the Triple Threat at WrestleMania, but this felt like a bunch of Triple Threat conventions splashed onto the screen. How many times are we going to see Sasha Banks catch the third girl in the headscissors to position her for the double-double-knee thingy? How many times are we going to see the two girls that supposedly like each other face-off and then the heel pulls one good girl out? How many times are we going to see the three girls fighting each other on their hands and knees. I don't know if I've even seen that particular last spot before, but I feel like I have.

* I'm glad Charlotte retained. She is the one hitting her character out of the park right now and she just got back the belt. Sasha Banks should never smile. She looks way too...human when she does it. She loses "The Boss" with that smile. I haven't heard much of Bayley on the main roster, but in the hype video, backstage segment and during the match itself, I've heard "I belong here" way too many times already. People in Orlando and Brooklyn won't turn against her, but I can see a Chicago or Philly shitting all over the "I'm such a plucky underdog" thing a lot more than I could have prior to her call-up.

* Holy fuck did that crowd not give one fuck about Roman Reigns. Wow. Not even "We want Lana" chants that I could detect. Even those corner clotheslines were only counted along to very quietly. The thing is, this was actually a pretty good match from an in-ring standpoint. I've actually noticed that a lot of Rusev's matches don't involve him kicking out of eight finishing moves. I like that about the guy. Reigns is also particularly good at setting up his routine spots in really inventive ways. But holy fuck have they fucking ruined him. This wasn't "polarizing," this was a heat vacuum. I don't want to say you could hear a pin drop, but if Lana were to slip Rusev a pin during the match, you'd hear it slide across the canvas. If Roman Reigns was Vince's vision, I hope he is happy with himself. I am now actually behind Reigns just because I feel so sorry for him.

* By the way, my only real knowledge of this feud is the SummerSlam recap and the hype video. Roman Reigns came off like a fucking dick in it. It starts with him blatantly ruining Rusev's wedding segment with Lana to crack shit jokes about their sex life. Seriously, who does that? He also can't act that routine out. He looked awkward as hell. The way they've presented Reigns, you actually hate him when he isn't completely annoying at something, because you want to hate him for being annoying. The dude NEEDS to turn heel on RAW.

* Michael Cole: "Roman Reigns has always faced adversity" (paraphrased). No, Michael Cole -- Roman Reigns is a third generation star who was handed a meaty contract and picked out to be the golden boy when his football career didn't take off. If that's not the entire truth, that's at least the perceived truth, and that's what counts. Let the guy be the heat magnet he is supposed to be, for fuck's sake.

* Pet peeve: Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens mainly seems to be about Triple H's love. How anyone is supposed to look good in that is beyond me. A bunch of boys fighting for daddy's sweet affection. Ugh. Rollins also didn't really turn face -- he just got out-heeled. It's hard to feel sorry for him. You even see him acting like a heel in this match's hype video. It's pretty awks.

* I'm going to try and not rant on Owens, but I've really come to the conclusion I'm not high on the guy. My feelings are very similar to Cool King's, except I think he's a better talker, but his verbiage during the chinlock? "You'll fade to Black. Get it?!?" Who is he trying to pop? What's the psychology there? He's trying to be ha-ha funny while he's working with a guy who is struggling to get over as a babyface. There's a difference between trash-talk and actually having these rehearsed lines that you whip out because you're having a walk in the park with a guy.

* The match itself was the same "spot that never wins a match, kick out, grab my face in shock" routine that the WWE style has become. Everyone is trying to do HBK/Taker, but no one is HBK or Taker. I honestly fail to see how there is any drama in any of those spots. One guy kick-outs, the other guy hits a move, the other guy kicks out. Okay. Are people actually at home spitting out their drinks? I don't get it. The leg was worked just so that there could be one spot later in the match where the leg gives out. That's WWE style psychology these days. Everything is so...functional. Tension isn't built by telling a story, it's by doing a call-back to a "line of dialogue" earlier. You only sell a leg injury so you can't get a pin after a Frog Splash later in the match because "remember the leg injury!".

* The ending sequence was actually pretty sweet though. I don't like Rollins using the Pedigree (it doesn't even really suit him), but I like his inventive ways of hitting it out of nowhere. A telling sign of just how disinterested the crowd really was in this though, is when they start the count on the phantom pin. They keep counting after Rollins had broken the pin. They were doing it to keep themselves awake, folks.

* Chris Jericho showing up was amazing. The crowd immediately gets invested, and he makes Rollins look better than he has looked the entire match. "My best friend! This is my best friend!" "We are the champions of the world!"

Match of the Night: Cesaro vs. Sheamus

Performer of the Night: Chris Jericho

Overall Thoughts: I honestly thought that the matches would deliver more than they did. Not everybody can have a barn-burner every night of the week, but the card looked really fucking good. My thoughts heading in were "RAW has shittier television but better PPVs; SmackDown has better television, but more banal PPVs." Well, Backlash blew this out of the water and their television has been better, and a lot of that has been built around Heath Slater.

09-26-2016, 07:35 AM	#14
Mr. Nerfect Posts: 61,562	Here are my thoughts, even though my analysis is apparently over-the-top these days: * Overall, I agree with every decision on this show from a booking standpoint. Weird, I know. If I were predicting in Tipsters this year, I'd actually have gotten a very high score for this show, with me only being off on the outcome of Cesaro/Sheamus and the technicality of who gets pinned and by what method in the tag match, etc. The particulars, if you well. * The New Day going over Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson makes sense because, ahem, Luke Gallows has actually been kind of shit since he's arrived in WWE. He's got this cool charm about him when he's hanging around, but in the ring he often looks clueless. I love that roundhouse kick he does, and the Chokeslam was sick, but he's quite limited. The Good Brothers, and to a degree, AJ Styels, were brought in as opponents, I feel. AJ Styles has completely exceeded the expectations of Vince McMahon, while Gallows & Anderson probably haven't. The New Day are approaching Day 400, have a fucking cereal out, and it's sad that this matters as a particular, but are probably the only over credible black act in the company. Apollo Crews hasn't connected in the personality department, R-Truth is comedy filler, Darren Young vs. Titus O'Neil fucking bombed, etc. * Gallows & Anderson will be fine, by the way. Their best use is as scary back-up for a top heel. They don't need the belts to do that. * I wish TJ Perkins kept his CWC theme, but the video game thing, while hokey, is at least some sort of motif. I liked the match with Kendrick. I thought Perkins kicking out of Sliced Bread #2 was a cool deal, because no one ever really kicks out of that (I didn't watch the whole CWC thing, so I apologize and reverse myself if it has), and it was sort of a "look how tough this kid is" stamp, because they never fucking do it. A bit of miscommunication, but that's life. I liked the flow of Kendrick looking for the Captain's Hook, and Perkins got the win, as he should have, and got the use the Kneebar, which hopefully gets over. * Michael Cole was awesome on commentary for this match. He really tried to amp up the sports element of his presentation. That Cole knows how to do it somehow makes him more contemptible. My favorite part of this package was actually Kendrick headbutting Perkins after. The crowd actually booed on cue too. Kendrick being a sore loser has put him down a path of darkness and actually tells a story. He's not one and done. Perkins doesn't even look particularly stupid, which is rare for a deer-in-the-headlights babyface. A good piece of business using that extra-short interviewer too. * Cesaro vs. Sheamus was probably my match of the night. Cesaro is fucking killing himself trying to get over. After that spot, they recovered extremely well. Holy shit, that's organic pro-wrestling. Cesaro is, for my money, the best in-ring guy they have. His facial expressions during a match are awesome. He doesn't always do shock at a kick-out -- sometimes he looks like a killer on the prowl. He usually does the neck-crank taunt, but the way he worked it into this match after the dive was awesome. I haven't read the views of others, but if people are criticizing this, I have to disagree. Best match on the show. * I'm not entirely down on the booking. At first my gut was "this is fucking stupid," but then I thought "at least I am going to remember this." After going 50/50, the damage has already been done. This won't be their last match. No one was really tuning in for the climax to that rivalry. I wouldn't have done it that way, but it doesn't revolt me. The "let them fight" chants implied more interest from the crowd than there was heading into this match, you know? It almost felt like they were building up to Hell in a Cell, but I'm sure that won't be the case. * Sheamus vs. Cesaro might have been the match of the night, but Chris Jericho was the VIP of the entire evening. That man is just on a whole other level. He's over on such a different plain to everyone else. The crowd loves him, but they boo him even though they love him. The guy is a maestro. Sami Zayn showed up and did his usual routine too. The outcome is simply that old-school "heel wins the first match" mentality of booking. I doubt their issues are over. By the way, Jericho's face after winning this match did more to put over Sami Zayn than anything he did in the match. * I liked the line Kevin Owens had telling Mick Foley to not interrupt him. Such a smarmy prick. Mick Foley's line of "I like that chip on his shoulder -- all the greats..." also did more to put Kevin Owens over than anything Kevin Owens said in that segment. This is where the show dropped off for me: * It felt like the crowd was being polite to the women's match. It felt too...choreographed? I really loved the Triple Threat at WrestleMania, but this felt like a bunch of Triple Threat conventions splashed onto the screen. How many times are we going to see Sasha Banks catch the third girl in the headscissors to position her for the double-double-knee thingy? How many times are we going to see the two girls that supposedly like each other face-off and then the heel pulls one good girl out? How many times are we going to see the three girls fighting each other on their hands and knees. I don't know if I've even seen that particular last spot before, but I feel like I have. * I'm glad Charlotte retained. She is the one hitting her character out of the park right now and she just got back the belt. Sasha Banks should never smile. She looks way too...human when she does it. She loses "The Boss" with that smile. I haven't heard much of Bayley on the main roster, but in the hype video, backstage segment and during the match itself, I've heard "I belong here" way too many times already. People in Orlando and Brooklyn won't turn against her, but I can see a Chicago or Philly shitting all over the "I'm such a plucky underdog" thing a lot more than I could have prior to her call-up. * Holy fuck did that crowd not give one fuck about Roman Reigns. Wow. Not even "We want Lana" chants that I could detect. Even those corner clotheslines were only counted along to very quietly. The thing is, this was actually a pretty good match from an in-ring standpoint. I've actually noticed that a lot of Rusev's matches don't involve him kicking out of eight finishing moves. I like that about the guy. Reigns is also particularly good at setting up his routine spots in really inventive ways. But holy fuck have they fucking ruined him. This wasn't "polarizing," this was a heat vacuum. I don't want to say you could hear a pin drop, but if Lana were to slip Rusev a pin during the match, you'd hear it slide across the canvas. If Roman Reigns was Vince's vision, I hope he is happy with himself. I am now actually behind Reigns just because I feel so sorry for him. * By the way, my only real knowledge of this feud is the SummerSlam recap and the hype video. Roman Reigns came off like a fucking dick in it. It starts with him blatantly ruining Rusev's wedding segment with Lana to crack shit jokes about their sex life. Seriously, who does that? He also can't act that routine out. He looked awkward as hell. The way they've presented Reigns, you actually hate him when he isn't completely annoying at something, because you want to hate him for being annoying. The dude NEEDS to turn heel on RAW. * Michael Cole: "Roman Reigns has always faced adversity" (paraphrased). No, Michael Cole -- Roman Reigns is a third generation star who was handed a meaty contract and picked out to be the golden boy when his football career didn't take off. If that's not the entire truth, that's at least the perceived truth, and that's what counts. Let the guy be the heat magnet he is supposed to be, for fuck's sake. * Pet peeve: Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens mainly seems to be about Triple H's love. How anyone is supposed to look good in that is beyond me. A bunch of boys fighting for daddy's sweet affection. Ugh. Rollins also didn't really turn face -- he just got out-heeled. It's hard to feel sorry for him. You even see him acting like a heel in this match's hype video. It's pretty awks. * I'm going to try and not rant on Owens, but I've really come to the conclusion I'm not high on the guy. My feelings are very similar to Cool King's, except I think he's a better talker, but his verbiage during the chinlock? "You'll fade to Black. Get it?!?" Who is he trying to pop? What's the psychology there? He's trying to be ha-ha funny while he's working with a guy who is struggling to get over as a babyface. There's a difference between trash-talk and actually having these rehearsed lines that you whip out because you're having a walk in the park with a guy. * The match itself was the same "spot that never wins a match, kick out, grab my face in shock" routine that the WWE style has become. Everyone is trying to do HBK/Taker, but no one is HBK or Taker. I honestly fail to see how there is any drama in any of those spots. One guy kick-outs, the other guy hits a move, the other guy kicks out. Okay. Are people actually at home spitting out their drinks? I don't get it. The leg was worked just so that there could be one spot later in the match where the leg gives out. That's WWE style psychology these days. Everything is so...functional. Tension isn't built by telling a story, it's by doing a call-back to a "line of dialogue" earlier. You only sell a leg injury so you can't get a pin after a Frog Splash later in the match because "remember the leg injury!". * The ending sequence was actually pretty sweet though. I don't like Rollins using the Pedigree (it doesn't even really suit him), but I like his inventive ways of hitting it out of nowhere. A telling sign of just how disinterested the crowd really was in this though, is when they start the count on the phantom pin. They keep counting after Rollins had broken the pin. They were doing it to keep themselves awake, folks. * Chris Jericho showing up was amazing. The crowd immediately gets invested, and he makes Rollins look better than he has looked the entire match. "My best friend! This is my best friend!" "We are the champions of the world!" Match of the Night: Cesaro vs. Sheamus Performer of the Night: Chris Jericho Overall Thoughts: I honestly thought that the matches would deliver more than they did. Not everybody can have a barn-burner every night of the week, but the card looked really fucking good. My thoughts heading in were "RAW has shittier television but better PPVs; SmackDown has better television, but more banal PPVs." Well, Backlash blew this out of the water and their television has been better, and a lot of that has been built around Heath Slater.