Playard Wrestling Post

Monday Night RAW this week didn't hurt my brain cells (except Nia Jax's wrestling skills which are as consistent as any Rob Schneider comedy).  Images via WWE.com   Damian Priest Was Like, "I'll Have An Open Challenge, Please?"  And then, it turned out to be a "wrestlers stated their case as to why they should be a contender" cliche starring Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley and the team of RKBro.  To which Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville were like, "how about Damian Priest defending his belt against Drew McIntyre and Sheamus while RKBRO faces the team of MVP and Bobby Lashley".  Cliche aside, the opening scene did a great job of showing a huge importance to the United States Championship which is something that I've been wanting for quite some time.  Rhea Ripley vs Shayna Baszler.  Remember when both of these competitors main evented an episode of NXT? Good times.  Ripley wins with an inside cradle which led to Nia Jax attacking the winn...

Hello, my fellow wrestling fans and welcome to the 5 news week. The post where I report 5 major or minor pro wrestling news, rumours and spoilers of the week that I don't have time to do it separately.  Without further ado, here are the 5 news week.  Some images via WWE.com Alex Zayne On His Career In NXT.  Alex Zayne or Ari Sterling if you're the resident WWE shill like myself, is, of course, known for his time in NXT/205 Live where he's been mostly a mainstay in the cruiserweight division.  Unfortunately, he was one of the dozen people that was released by WWE weeks back due to "budget cuts" (because corporations are CLEARLY struggling with getting that "hard-earned cash", am I right?).  Frank Mandolini of The Last Minute Wrestling Podcast recently caught up with Alex and asked him about his time in the CWC (from Frank's press release):  " I don’t know, I always roll with the punches, that’s my whole lifestyle anyway, so as soon as I got the ...

 The next few weeks should be eye-opening given the NXT as we know it, might be dead after those taped episodes.  Depending on how NXT going forward is being presented, I may end my run of reviewing the yellow brand.  Will see what happens but for now, the question is, how was NXT this week?  I thought it was decent but it didn't blow me away either.  Images via WWE.com Cameron Grimes Celebrates His Million Dollar Championship Victory.  The title above pretty much described the gist of the opening act other than some cash was thrown around the CWC that has Grimes' face on it.  The true babyface move is to give out some actual 100 dollar bills but y'all know that WWE can't write babyfaces properly.  Overall, this was fine for what it was.  Ridge Holland vs Timothy Thatcher.  A short but solid encounter. Thatcher's strength isn't enough to put down the big man as Holland defeated Thatcher with a move that I don't know the name of because I...

Monday Night RAW yesterday didn't piss me off so that's nice, I guess.  Images via WWE.com   Bobby Lashley Confronted By Damian Priest.  Damian Priest was like, "You're a coward for relentlessly damaging Goldberg's arm and I want to challenge you for a match" and a pissed off Bobby Lashley accepted the offer.  My thoughts after watching the segment  was, "Damian's losing clean, right?"  Well, I was wrong. The match ended via a DQ due to an attack from Sheamus aka the man that was once called "the great white".  Priest got some help from Drew McIntyre. With McIntyre, Sheamus and Bobby Lashley being in the same segment, it's almost like a blast from the past if you're a zoomer that thinks 6 months ago is like 10 years ago (moi).  Of course, a tag team match happened and the babyfaces won the encounter with the claymore to Sheamus. I wasn't offended watching all of this unfold and I feel like that's asking too much from WWE...

NXT has once again delivered 2 and a half hours of professional wrestling that I couldn't complain about.  The program had a clear goal, simply deliver.  Oh, and there was a match at the pre-show which I haven't seen of course.  Images via WWE.com Cameron Grimes vs LA Knight For The Million Dollar Championship.  The yellow brand gave those guys some TIIIIIIIME!  I didn't expect the bout to be this fast-paced. What a darn opener.  Thanks to the million-dollar man himself, Ted Dibiase, Cameron Grimes picked up the million-dollar championship as a result of winning the match.  Raquel Gonzalez vs Dakota Kai For The NXT Women's Championship.  I've been very critical of the build going into Takeover due to the fact that the "best friends now bitter rivals" narrative was executed in the most generic way possible.  Did this match deliver though? Not really but it was decent for what it was.  Gonzalez retained the title with an avalanche chingona...

This year's SummerSlam is one big aye oookay in my books. But, this ain't WWE without some over-complicated and head-scratching booking decisions made by the creative overlords.  Did I watch a match at the pre-show? Nope.  Images via WWE.com Randy Orton And Riddle vs AJ Styles And Omos For The RAW Tag Team Championship.  I was probably the only two or five people on this planet that wasn't a fan of the whole "RKBRO" duo.  And while the opening match wasn't the most exciting of the bunch, the right outcome did happen by crowning new tag team champions.  The win was all thanks to an RKO from Randal to AJ Styles.  Eva Marie vs Alexa Bliss.  Talk about a skippable match. Bliss wins with the DDT to which Doudrop humiliates Eva Marie by announcing Marie as the loser of the match.  Maybe she finally ditches that stupid name and calls herself as Piper Niven once again? I'm expecting too much from WWE, aren't I?  WWE 2K22 has its official release wind...

  That CM Punk return was so noteworthy, it blew this entire episode out of the water. That’s it. That’s the opening statement.  Images via WWE.com   Edge Wasn't Playing When He Said That He'll Put Seth Into Darkness.  The show started off with the Rated R superstar saying that Rollins has made the guy find his heart when the blood runs black.  In other words, he'll beat the shit out of Rollins at slamming of summer.  Speaking of "the blood runs black", after Seth Rollins gave a speech on how he can't be on Sethy's level, the man that says "drip" more times than a white dude that streams on Twitch, was covered in black liquid following Gangrel's theme song playing in the background.  Edge ain't f**king around. I appreciated the uniqueness of the segment and how it was a tribute to WWE's continuity (which if you've been watching WWE for a longer period of time then you'll know that WWE acknowledging their storytelling cohesion ...

If you can't tell already, this is the first-ever article of THE Coherent AEW Take where I simply recap the two flagship shows for the elite brand.  The show named after a movie that nobody saw and the show named after a song straight outta 2010 (shout out to Taio Cruz) aka Rampage and Dynamite.  What are my overall thoughts? I had a good time watching both shows. The AEW crowd is literally the best thing about those shows.  By the way, one hour shows f'ing rules.  So, let's get into it, ya smarks.  Rampage.  Highlights.  Christian Cage Wins The Impact And The TNA Title.  What a way to kick off this show? Christian's wrestling style really mixed well with Omega which feels like, at times, they've wrestled each other many times before. Yes, it ended with a distraction finish of some kind but it somehow didn't hurt Kenny Omega's momentum.  Oh, and Christian coming back to the impact zone just feels right to me. Miro's Booking.  His months ...

  The leaf isn't looking too green for NXT as reports emerge that the brand is going back to filming episodes and apparently, the USA network ain't too happy with the decision. If that doesn't scream, "I'm kinda screwed" I don't know what is.  Now, Last week's episode was probably the worst NXT episode in recent memory? The question is, did the ties change this week? Not really.  It wasn't bad but at the same time, it wasn't noteworthy either (besides one particular moment). The show was just there, you know.  Images via WWE.com   Ilja Dragonov vs Roderick Strong.  Hey, look, a good wrestling match. Dragonov won here (thank the lords) with an uppercut to which he calls out Walter (bro, you just wrestled a brutal match and the last thing you want is a beating. Save that energy for Saturday).  He did get his wish after Msk's match over Imperium but Dragonov (along with Msk) took a BEATING from Walter which isn't surprising, of course.  Ca...

Another week, another L for the red brand in terms of overall quality. And they do not need that L considering that it's the final show before this year's SummerSlam event.  Images via WWE.com   Randal Keith Orton And Riddal Are Back Together?  Randy explained his actions last week, stating that he simply doesn't owe anyone an explanation because he's Randy Orton (okay?).  Out came the most obnoxious person in Riddle and he wanted RKBRO to reunite. Styles showed up to hype up his big goof in Omos.  That RKO last week was as confusing as the thought of Jupiter Ascending being a "good movie".    The question is, did the band realigned themselves once again?  The answer was a soft no if you stopped watching the show after the Riddle and AJ Styles match (I don't blame ANYONE that stops watching Monday Night RAW).  However, that became a solid yes after Randy's bout with Omos. Am I the only one that feels kinda mid about this?  It's not terri...