WWE Smackdown Live January 9, 2018 Results and Review

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I know I’m late, so I’m going to go ahead and talk about this, and then talk about something bigger after. Here we go, the Smackdown show that was better than Raw.

WWE Smackdown January 9, 2018 Results and Review

Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan were having tension yet again. Boring.

Becky Lynch defeated Ruby Riott

Once again, the invading team gets beaten, so why are they so tough? When the NWO invaded WCW, they didn’t just show up and start mounting losses. They were dominant. That’s how you build a feud, not by losing every week. Riott did ok here, but Lynch was able to get the win with her submission, and that’s the end.

The Bludgeon Brothers defeated The Ascension

The Ascension got buried.

Mojo Rawley defeated Zack Ryder

Another burial folks, Rawley had most of the offense here. Not a great match.

Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable demanded Justice, and got a 2 out of 3 falls match for Ruble instead

Ok. Sure.

Breezango defeated Rusev and Aiden English

This was a fast moving match, and English got pinned. This was not half bad. I didn’t like it, but hey it happens.

Aj Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Randy Orton defeated Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn

This match kept getting restarted. Once for count out, and once for disqualification, and each time Shane McMahon came out and stopped things, then restarted them. It’s hilariously bad, and well they lose.

At the end of the day, all of this is awful. Smackdown should have better matches, but they kept having random talking segments, and boredom. Oh well.

WWE Monday Night Raw January 8, 2018 Results and Review Dumpster Fires Keep Burning

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Well, well, another Raw was in the books, and honestly, I didn’t really want to talk about it. However, it is Thursday and I decided that it was time to look into Raw as I watched it on HULU, and well, I’m surprised that I didn’t just give up on the writing of this review. Here’s the reviews overall.

The Balor Club confronted The New Shield

This was dumb. I’m tired of the shows starting with all talking. This was just boring to see, and while it ended fine, it was just stupid. The Balor Club is nothing more than a bunch of jobbers.

Sasha Banks and Bayley defeated Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville

By having the good guys going over on both shows, why are these new factions a threat? They have won nothing big, they aren’t proving to be much of a threat, and well, it’s the absolutely worst thing. This is something that is NOT like the NOW invasion, and it’s sad. This match was fine, but it was hilarious to see the bad guys lose yet again.

Matt Hardy defeated Curt Hawkins

Hawkins loses again. Nothing to write home about here.

Cedric Alexander defeated Enzo Amore via Countout

This was a lousy match, and wow, just terrible. Alexander did do a great deal of moves, and legitimately cut Enzo open over his eye. Amore then seemed to get an ankle injury and got himself counted out. This wasn’t a terrible match, but it was far from good, that’s for sure.

Titus Worldwide defeated Cesaro and Sheamus

This was not shown on HULU

Braun Strowman Attacked Lesnar and Kane

This was after Heyman came out and cut his old promo. I’ve heard it so much, I am tired of hearing it. Braun Strowman came out after Kane and Lesnar fought to the back, and threw a grappling hook onto a set and dropped it on top of Lesnar and Kane. It was hella fake, but hey, it’s WWE, right?

Samoa Joe defeated Rhyno

This was a burial, and well, Joe may have hurt his foot.

Nia Jax attacked Asuka

It is what it is, not a match.

The Balor Club defeated The New Shield

I didn’t really pay attention to this match, but it went ok. The Balor Club won, and that was that.

I get it, this is a weak review. It was a weak Raw, what can I say? There wasn’t much in terms of wrestling, with few matches, and a lot of talking. The roster is huge, and yet we see the same things over and over again. The story lines are lazy, the show is dragging, and it feels like this is 9 hours long. Oh well.

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 12 Results and Review

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 12 - Tokyo Dome - January 4, 2018 

The biggest show that wasn’t WWE happened yesterday and it was Wrestle Kingdom 12 from New Japan Pro Wrestling. I happened to get a handle on it, and well here is my review, as it was 5 hours and 30 minutes long, so here are my thoughts, just straight up. I’m not a follower of New Japan, but the Jericho match had me getting this, so here it is.

The Young Bucks defeated Roppongi 3K for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships

I saw the Young Bucks back when they were just Slick Nick and Mr. Instant Replay at the Viking Hall in Culver City, California. Then I saw them wrestle in FCW in Los Angeles. However, they have come a long way since then, and are very good at what they do. The duo of brothers took on Roppongi 3K and put on a show. This match was everything you’d expect from cruiserweights. They were flying across the ring, dropping kicks, doing everything that Rey Mysterio Jr used to do in WCW and then some. This was not one sided either, The Bucks were not getting an easy win here, they got put through the ringer, and the crowd ate it up, as they were getting close to tapping out, and getting pinned many times. I found this match to be fun, and well worked, with a fast pace you’d expect from the USOS. I’d love to see the Young Bucks versus The Usos, that’s for sure. Great action here, and solid back and forth. The Bucks would win after getting the Meltzer Driver and then a sharpshooter, and that was that. The new champions, and a serious battle.

Chaos (Beretta, Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano) defeated Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa), Michael Elgin and War Machine (Hanson and Raymond Rowe), Suzuki-gun (Taichi, Takashi Iizuka and Zack Sabre Jr.) (with El Desperado, Taka Michinoku and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) and Taguchi Japan (Juice Robinson, Ryusuke Taguchi and Togi Makabe) Gauntlet match for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship

This was an ongoing battle from all levels. I haven’t seen such a train wreck of a beat down in a long time. I am not sure who the guys are, as I haven’t seen every one of these guys, but wow, there’s a lot of back and forth. I have seen a few, don’t get me wrong, but there are some guys I haven’t seen before. I really like Zack Sabre Jr. but everyone else, it seemed like I didn’t really know. Overall, however, this was a great overall back and forth, gauntlet of teams fighting for the 6-man championship. It was entertaining, as it was crazy, and well, I don’t know what I can say, other than there’s a lot going on in this match. Zack Sabre Jr. was my favorite part of this match, that’s for sure. Watch out for the counters, and high spots, including one hell of a Diamond Cutter on Beretta. Beretta won with one of the most insane moves I’ve ever seen, and well, the Dude Buster was swift, and won this for his team. Hell of a match.

Kota Ibushi defeated Cody Rhodes

I remember Ibushi in the Cruiserweight Classic, and honestly, I haven’t seen much of him after the fact. Cody came out with his wife, and his hair dyed completely blonde, in a tribute to his father, which looked great. Cody is one of the biggest independent stars, and from what I heard, he’s pulling more money now than when he was in WWE. Good for him! The two worked well together, and honestly, it was fast paced, hard style, and worked very well for a singles match. I would say that this is the best match I’ve seen Cody work in a long time. Ibushi and Cody worked very well, and wow, what aback and forth match here. I thought this was a longer match than it was, but honestly, it’s not half bad. Rhodes did drill Ibushi with cross-Rhodes on the floor! That was awesome. Ibushi would get the win, with one hell of a finisher, which I don’t know, but it involved a lot of flipping and landing with serious power on Cody. Cody loses, and that’s that. I guess that’s the end of that.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (Evil and Sanada) defeated Killer Elite Squad for the IWGP Tag Team Championship

I’m not familiar with these teams, as I don’t watch New Japan often, but it’s an interesting little showcase. This tag team match was hard hitting, and very interesting. One team was more hard style, while the other team was less so. I did recognize Davey Boy Smith Jr, and he was out wearing his father’s getup, and it was a good thing to see him fight in that garb. This was a great overall match, good back and forth, lots of hard hitting action, and tag team moves. Not much else to say here, it’s a long one, but back and forth, lots of action, and no wasted moments if you ask me.

Hirooki Goto defeated Minoru Suzuki in a Hair vs. Hair Match For the NEVER Openweight Championship

An example of a Japanese hard style match, if I were to find one is this one. Goto and Suzuki put on a show here with head butts, and hard style punches, and elbows. These guys really put the bricks to each other in a show that was much like the UK title matches in WWE. I was impressed with how tough these guys are, and well, I don’t know what else to say about it. Goto practically killed Suzuki to get the pin, and it looked like he was dead afterwards. I was impressed, just wow, he won with a serious beat down.

Will Ospreay defeated Marty Scurll, Hiromu Takahashi and Kushida in a Four-way match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship

I’ve seen a lot of entrances, but wow, Marty Scurll once again proves to be one hell of a talent. He came out with full wings and his complete garb. I liked him in ROH, and now, wow, this is an interesting focal point. He’s great, WWE should look into this, it’s an incredible focus. As far a four way goes, this was an interesting match up with a lot of smart moments. If you like high spots, cruiserweight action, and incredible athleticism, wow. This is an interesting option with a lot of hard hitting moments, and lots of back and forth. This match is as good if not better than 205 live, and I was absolutely floored by how they moved. It reminded me of early Lucha Stuff that I would see as a young kid. Ospreay is perhaps one of the greatest high flyers of all time, he’s so athletic and energetic, with some incredible timing. Scurll, Takahashi, and Kushida are also incredible talents, and had some great moments. This was a good match, and I can say it was the best up to this point in the card.

Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Jay White in the IWGP Intercontinental Championship Match

Another excellent matchup, with Jay White throwing down a lot of action against Tanahashi. I was impressed, both guys worked a fast paced, hard hitting match. Back and forth the two hit each other with everything they had, but honestly, the best part of this was the closing elements, which featured some of the hardest hits and nice overall moves to end. Tanahashi slapped the hell out of white towards the end, which was crazy. Good match leading into the main events.

Kenny Omega defeated Chris Jericho in a NO DQ Match for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship

Here we go, the big one. The only reason I’m covering a New Japan Pro Wrestling show is because Chris Jericho was involved, and the hype was so big, I couldn’t resist. Mind you, this is 3 hours and 26 minutes into the show, if you’re looking at maybe getting a download of Wrestle Kingdom 12 or the DVD or whatever. It’s a long show, but here’s the big match up. Jericho came out with a jacket that had lights, which was really cool. Omega came out like the Terminator, which is cool, but I couldn’t help but wish this was something that we saw in WWE, featuring Omega in the Rumble, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.

Jericho did seem to look a little doughy, and well, it also looked like he had surgery to help his pecs not look so bad. Jericho immediately went after Omega, and then came in the Young Bucks to try and stop him, which prompted all the referees and young lions to come and stop things a bit. The two were ready to go at it from the start.

The match was not an all out brawl at first, and had Omega throwing himself at Jericho, to the point here he even flew through the announcer’s table at one point. It looked like a rookie mistake, and since this was a NO DQ match, Jericho was brutal, at one point even pushing the referee and slapping the Young dragons at ringside around, which are just the trainees etc. He was playing up his heel persona, and it was working, while Omega was recovering from some of the spots he was taking. This match started to telegraph that Omega was going to win, that’s for sure.

As far as a wrestling match is concerned, this wasn’t bad. It had a lot of back and forth, had some hardcore elements with tables breaking, and some spots that you would expect from ECW in 1999. It was also the best Jericho has been since before he left WCW for WWE. This harder style was interesting, but there were points where you could tell that Jericho was blown up, and it was painfully obvious he is the older of the two for sure. This was a long match, with lots of fire back and forth, with Jericho popping up to ruin Omega’s offense here and there, and while it was good, you could see that it was a bit too long and wearing thin. Eventually Omega would land his finisher on Jericho onto a chair, and that would be the end. Omega pins Jericho clean, and that’s the end, the Omega is better than the Alpha, and that’s that. Not exactly what I thought would happen, but hey, it’s the right choice I’m sure. Jericho loses, and that’s the end. Omega needs to be in WWE so he can get buried by Roman Reigns, or hell Jinder Mahal.

Kazuchika Okada defeated Tetsuya Naito in the IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match

The finale, the main event, had Okada taking on Naito, and it was one hell of a fight. I say fight, but it’s supposed to be pro wrestilng. This was no doubt a back and forth affair that just had Okada getting more and more frustrated that he couldn’t put away Naito. Naito was impressive here, going through everything that Okada threw at him, and kept kicking out. I was impressed with how hard hitting this match was, even though there was a pause in the middle because it looked like they were legit hurt.

Since I don’t watch enough New Japan, I can’t comment on the past or present of these guys, but I can say that this was a match that was quite compelling overall. I did not know how the two would walk out of this one, and it had an epic feel to it as the camera’s panned away from the match. I liked it, don’t get me wrong, but I wish I was more invested in their stories. The finish came when Okada wins with a rotating tombstone piledriver and one hell of a clothesline. That’s the end, 5 hours and 30 minutes, and the end.

Overall, this was too long a show for my liking. However, it was well wrestled, had some good moments, and really is a great way to start your pro wrestling viewing. It’s better than most of the WWE stuff I’ve seen all of 2017, that’s for sure.

WWE Smackdown Live January 2, 2018 Results and Review The McMahon Hour Continues

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I didn’t want to watch Smackdown. I really didn’t. Why should I? I could have told you everything that was going to happen, and it’s hard to suspend disbelief when the show seems to telegraphed. But you know what, let’s talk about it anyways.

WWE Smackdown Live January 2, 2018 Results and Review

Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan started the show talking, alongside AJ Styles. That’s it. This was boring to me, but you know what, it’s what I expect now. I just expect being bored by the opening elements. It’s dumb, but it happens, just like Southpark said it would happen.

The Usos defeated Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable

This was an ok match, but there was a big problem. You see, the problem was that you will find Benjamin and Gable would win the titles midway through this match. However, both USOS were complaining and the referees, for the first time ever, went to instant replay and figured out that the USOS were doing twin magic! I hate it. I hated this, and it’s stupid. The Usos would win, simple as that.

The Bludgeon Brothers vs. Breezango

This didn’t go very well. The Brothers beat them down before the bell rang, and out came The Ascension, only to get buried. The arena was as quiet as can be for a wrestling event not in Japan.

Xavier Woods defeated Aiden English

This was a fun back and forth match, and while it wasn’t going to be Aiden English’s night, it was fun to see him fight Woods. Rusev is way over, but he wasn’t in the tournament. English pulled off the win and Brooks threw down some great moves, including the big elbow off the top which would get him the big win here. English loses, and that’s the end of this.

Riott Squad defeated Carmella, Natalya, and Tamina

This was boring to me. The Riott Squad already lost. So why are they cutting promos and winning now? I’m honestly at a loss. Afterwards the women on the roster brawled, and that was that. I don’t see the big deal with them, they aren’t dominant at all.

Sami Zayn defeated Aj Styles

This was a terrible match, if you ask me. Styles always does well, but with Owens on the outside, Bryan on the outside, and McMahon on the outside was not great. It’s sad that this story is so terrible. I do like Bryan going heel, but honestly, Styles isn’t getting any favors losing every week, and he loses here thanks to a distraction, yet again.

Anyways, this is a terrible forward progression, and Smackdown is a B show compared to Raw if you ask me. It’s just dumb. It set up a three way match for the Rumble with Aj Styles versus Zayn and Owens. It’s nothing grand, and that’s the end.

Want to know why Smackdown is the B Show?

Well, on WWE.com, you didn’t get any pictures updated from the show, meanwhile Raw had hundreds of photographs. Funny how that is.

WWE Monday Night Raw January 1, 2018 Results and Review

Asuka Beats Alexa January 1, 2018 - SRC WWE dot com

Instead of joining the New Year with a full 3 hours of Raw, I’m going to be reviewing the HULU edition. Why? Because I read the results, and I don’t want to see 9 hours of Raw. That’s a joke, but if you’re suffering through the full show, then I feel bad for you. It’s a ridiculous amount of talking, and not wrestling. Then again, here’s the 90 minute version and I nearly fell asleep at the end with Paul Heyman and the part time jobber of a champion Brock Lesnar. With that in mind, let’s talk about Monday Night Raw.

WWE Monday Night Raw January 1, 2017 Results and Review

The night opened up with Kurt Angle talking about the Women’s Royal Rumble, and it was basic. I already know the rules. It’s dumb.

Jason Jordan defeated Cesaro

The Bar came out to confront Kurt Angle, and then demanded a title match. He didn’t give them one. Instead, he put in Jason Jordan versus Cesaro, and that wasn’t half bad. It was ok. Jordan is a good wrestler, but I don’t’ want to see him wrestle, let alone defeating Cesaro. This is dumb. It’s lame. Cesaro can’t even defeat Jason Jordan? Wow. Story line wise this is stupid, the match was ok, but wow, the WWE really loves Jason Jordan, and yet I don’t.

Bray Wyatt defeated Apollo Crews

THIS WAS NOT ON HULU.

Asuka defeated Alexa Bliss

This was a clustered match with Asuka beating the champion in a non-championship title match. Alexa Bliss works well with some women, but here, she didn’t work well at all. She seemed a bit confused at times, and the match was clumsy, leading to Asuka winning yet again.

Women’s revolution? Hmm, where were the rest of the women? Sleeping?

Braun Strowman defeated Heath Slater and Rhyno

Strowman buried the tag team, and that’s the end of all of the Nexus guys.

Roman Reigns defeated Samoa Joe

Not a terrible match, mind you, but definitely not a good outing for Samoa Joe, as he loses yet again. He loses here, and Reigns keeps the title. This is not great, because all of this time we’ve been seeing Joe choke out people, and dominate, but now, eh, he’s just talk. He reminds me of Kevin Sullivan’s attempt to beat up Hulk Hogan and Macho Man, only to lose every single time. It’s sad, to be honest.

Cedric Alexander and Goldust defeated Drew Gulak Ariya Daivari

This was not shown on HULU.

Finn Balor, The Club Sandwich Boys defeated Elias and The MIztourage

This wasn’t that bad. However, you knew the Club Sandwich guys were winning, since Finn Balor has been winning against any jobber put against him. Not a bad thing, but not a great thing. You knew who was winning here, and while the match wasn’t that great, it wasn’t terrible either. Elias is so good, and yet he’s not getting wins. Finn is just another Alex Wright clone to me, and well, The Club are just a bunch of, wait for it, NERDS!

Brock Lesnar Earns His Paycheck

Brock Lesnar gets paid 12 million dollars for part time work, and he has to put over Kane here. It’s stupid. It’s just stupid. I’m tired of this.

Raw wasn’t terrible, mind you. But it’s ok. I’ve expected this from Raw, and well, it wasn’t great, but it wasn’t the worst show I’ve ever seen either.