WWE SmackDown Live #929 Review (6th June 2017)

On 6th June, WWE aired the 929th episode of SmackDown Live on the USA Network, from the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York. The show featured Lana returning during the reveal of Women's Money in the Bank brief case by Shane McMahon with SmackDown Women's Champion Naomi, Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Natalya, Tamina, Carmella and James Ellsworth present and Shinsuke Nakamura faced United States Champion Kevin Owens, as well as appearances from AJ Styles, Dolph Ziggler, The New Day, The Colons and WWE Champion Jinder Mahal. But was it any good? Let's take a look. 

• ICYMI - Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Natalya, Tamina and Carmella brawl from #928, followed up by Shane McMahon announcing the five would compete in the first ever Women's Money in the Bank Ladder match on 18th June. 

Lana debuted on SmackDown LIVE as the Women's Money in the Bank came into focus (13:05)

Lana is back! The crowd (see: males) seemed to love the Ravishing Russian giving her appearance a decent pop and chanting for her as she looked to get a place in the Money in the Bank ladder match. Her interaction with SmackDown Women's Champion Naomi was interesting as the former Funkadactyl came across as a bit of a dick, laughing at the suggestion of Lana being involved in the ladder match and generally being a condescending bitch. I'm not sure whether I was supposed to feel sorry for Lana, but the way the other women reacted to her it was difficult not to. When the newcomer stood up to Naomi saying "I could beat you" the line was delivered like a fiery babyface and got a really good reaction from Rochester. Lana's been wrestling pretty much full-time on NXT house shows in Florida since December (after a run of tag matches on WWE and NXT live events between April and June last year) against the likes of Liv Morgan, Kimberly Frankele and Ruby Riot, so I'm curious to see how see's developed as an in-ring performer. The rest of the segment was pretty unnecessary with Shane McMahon having some clunky dialogue as he unveiled the white Women's MITB briefcase, whilst all the women and James Ellsworth got some promo time. Most fumbled through their words, going over the same old ground, but Ellsworth and Becky Lynch stood out from the pack with some creative phrases.

Carmella, Natalya & Tamina def. Naomi, Flair & Lynch (8:40)

A rematch from Backlash, this bout benefitted from both not being on PPV and being the first match of the show. The crowd was hot for the mostly standard action, with Becky Lynch working as the face in peril and Naomi doing the hot tag. There was some fun stuff, like Lynch going for multiple covers on Carmella and then rolling her round for a good time, whilst Naomi's tag with her speedball kicks, sitout jawbreaker and springboard crossbody is a pretty slick routine that the SmackDown Women's champion has more or less nailed. I've got a lot of time for the Welcoming Committee as a team, they work well together and look convincing when they're controlling the match, with Natalya leading things, but I think it's a case that they're greater than the sum of their parts. It's shame that the structure of the Women's division means that any alliance like this is always going to short-lived. Lana's reappearance tripping Naomi on the apron, leading to a Tamina superkick picking up the victory, confirmed her status as a heel, but also got a pop from the crowd. Overall, this was an okay six woman, with a little more energy than the Backlash bout and arguably with more at stake with the competitors looking to gain momentum heading into Money in the Bank.

• Backstage - Mojo Rawley was upset that winning the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal hasn't opened more doors for him, complaining about not being the Money in the Bank ladder match, with Shane McMahon giving him the opportunity to qualify if he could defeat WWE Champion Jinder Mahal. 

Styles def. Ziggler (7:38)

A first singles victory for AJ Styles in over a month as he got his win back on Dolph Ziggler in a brief encounter. I enjoyed the two worked a much different style of match to what they did last week, beginning with some crisp amateur style grappling, exchanging holds whilst Ziggler repeatedly went for a variety of pinfalls. This theme continued throughout the match with The Show Off seemingly desperate to get the match and pick up a second win over Styles in a row, including a jacknife cover with his feet on the top rope. After the break, the match was full of quick reversals and exchanges with the section in the corner with Styles escaping a superplex and then blocking a tornado DDT. Come to think of it, Styles seemed to always be one steps ahead of his opponent, perhaps learning from the mistakes of the #928 match, with a nice nod to the finish of last week when Styles feigned going for a Phenomenal Forearm, then caught Ziggler with a sunset flip. The finish combined the two major elements of the match with Styles able to counter a roll-up attempt and end up in the perfect position for a Styles Clash to pick up the victory. The wrestling was much slicker than last week's match, but the contest lacked the fire and big main event style near falls. I wouldn't mind seeing the two complete the trilogy before Money in the Bank. 

• The Fashion Files - Bloody hell, I love these skits and this week was no different as Fandango & Tyler Breeze tried to understand The Colons' cologne in a ridiculous slice of TV. The New Day made their Fashion Files debut, looking to get some info on The Usos, leading to some hilarious exchanges as Breezango talked to each other in their heads and Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods looked on confused. Day One is H. 

Mahal def. Rawley (12:24)

This was not a good match, as Mojo Rawley had his first TV bout for seven weeks and looked clumsy and sluggish against Jinder Mahal in a match that was mostly shoulder blocks. I think I counted around six shoulder blocks with Rawley seemingly hitting the move whenever he got some momentum going and then not hitting much else. Mahal didn't look much better out there, being exposed by the calibre of his opponent, with a number of the matches bigger moments looking incredibly awkward, including a terrible clothesline from Jinder and then a blundering spot where Mahal took advantage of the Singh Brother interference. Mahal eventually got the win by raking the eyes as Rawley went for Hyper Drive and then hitting Khallas to deny Rawley a place in the Money in the Bank ladder match. The post-match promo, with Mahal reminding us Randy Orton's hometown of St. Louis was in the USA and claiming to be the antidote to Orton and the audience's sickness, was not bad, but the highlight of this portion of the show was Mahal's new entrance which made him look like a star as the Singh Brother introduced him. If they could find a way to make him continue to look like a star once he gets in the ring and we'll be off to the races.

• VT - A look at Shinsuke Nakamura in a similar style to the video used at Backlash with someone painting a picture of Nakkers spliced in between Shinsuke dominating in the ring.

New Day def. The Colons (9:37)

After just under two months away, The New Day were back in the ring for the first time since losing to The Revival on RAW in April with their match against The Colons acting as a good refresher for those who'd forgot what Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods had to offer. With Big E & Woods tagging this time around (supposedly Kingston is still recovering from his recent surgery) the New Day dominated proceedings against Epico & Primo, with a number of their traditional spots including a brace of abdominal stretches used to get the "New Day Rocks" claps going, before the Midnight Hour closed things out. It was difficult to get too engaged in the match, because it was always going to go one way but it was cool to see the popular trio back in the ring ahead of their title match with The Usos at Money in the Bank. Talking of the SmackDown Tag Team Champions we saw them interrupt post-match to cut an intriguing promo in which they tried to beat New Day at their own game. I think, their jokes weren't supposed to be funny as the two hammed it so much, acting like general dickheads. I think perhaps the segment could've done with an immediate reply as I came away from it feeling a little flat, perhaps due to some awkward structural choice. 

• Backstage - Dasha Fuentes interview with Sami Zayn was interrupted by Baron Corbin who cheap shotted the Under Dog from the Underground, hitting him with a ladder and then throwing him into some conveniently placed ladders near bear.

• Backstage - Naomi demanded Shane McMahon put her in a match with Lana at Money in the Bank with the SmackDown Women's Championship on the line, with McMahon agreeing to the demands. 

Nakamura def. Owens (12:35)

A real waste of a big one on one match-up here as Shinsuke Nakamura put away Kevin Owens in convincing fashion in a short main event that lacked spark. These two showed us their potential together in 2014 at the first ROH/NJPW War of the Worlds event, but unfortunately very little of what gave that bout it's charm was on display here. As a match this was passable stuff, with a loud crowd, with some nice stuff in the corner as Owens pulled Nakamura off the top to hit a cannonball, but mostly the action lacked an impact with Owens in particular looking unmotivated in his role as he phoned in most of his action. The finish couldn't have been cleaner with Nakamura blocking a Pop-up Powerbomb before hitting a spinning wheel kick, reverse exploder suplex and a Kinshasa before pinning the United States Champion in the middle of the ring. WWE seem set on making Nakamura look like a force to be reckoned, seemingly at the expense of putting on matches that people want to see. Baron Corbin attacked Nakamura post-match, ending the episode standing tall after End of Days. 

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 3.93/10

A poor showing from SmackDown this week, which considering the card promised AJ Styles v Dolph Ziggler and Kevin Owens v Shinsuke Nakamura is more than a little disappointing. Whilst Styles v Ziggler was an intriguingly different match to their contest last week it didn't hit the same heights, whilst Nakamura v Owens was overly clinical at points. The rest of the show was mostly mediocre stuff, whilst Jinder Mahal and Mojo Rawley had an absolute stinker. 

WWE SmackDown Live #922 Review (Aired - 18th April 2017)

For the first time in seven years, WWE aired an event for Louisville, Kentucky as the 922nd episode of SmackDown came from the KFC Yum! Center. The main event would see Dolph Ziggler, Sami Zayn, Luke Harper, Erick Rowan, Mojo Rawley and Jinder Mahal (supposedly chosen by a random draw of some kind) battle in a Six Pack Challenge for a shot at Randy Orton's WWE Championship at Backlash on 21st May. Elsewhere the show featured AJ Styles, United States Champion Kevin Owens, Charlotte Flair, Baron Corbin and SmackDown Women's Champion Naomi in major slots on the card, but was it any good? Lets take a look. 

- SmackDown kicked off with Charlotte Flair demanding a title shot, because she was "fastly getting furious" with Shane McMahon. After SmackDown Women's Champion Naomi came out and got into a bit of a scrap with Flair, McMahon booked a match for later on where if Flair got the victory she'd earn a title match next week. 

- Backstage, Natalya, Carmella (with James Ellsworth) and Tamina were upset with Shane McMahon for offering Flair an opportunity, when McMahon no sold their displeasure, Natalya said she had a plan. 

Mahal def. Zayn, Ziggler, Harper, Rowan and Rawley in a Six Pack Challenge to become #1 Contender to WWE Championship 

Okay, so Jinder Mahal is Number One contender to the WWE Championship. He pinned Sami Zayn to earn himself his first title match since he challenged Seth Rollins for the NXT Championship in 2012, with a little help from the Bollywood Boyz. Wrestling in 2017 feels like we've shunted onto some weird alternative timeline and there's no way of getting off. Whilst the match appeared to be completely randomly chucked together, with their only being arguments for Rawley or Zayn to be included (at least based of recent results), as a spectacle the match was a damn entertaining affair. There was plenty of big spots that made the most of the bodies in the bout, including multiple suicide dives from Harper, Rowan powerbombing Ziggler to the outside as well as Zayn hitting a tope conhilo on Harper and following up with an Arabian Press to Rowan. In isolation, there wasn't much wrong with this other than awkward slam thing by Rawley, but I can't help but mark it down for having no explanation why any of these lads were given the opportunity to fight for a title shot. It's something different, but could have been propped up with some more logical booking. 

- Following Mahal's big win, he cut a little promo about how he was going to prove himself, before WWE Champion Randy Orton slowly walked to the ring to confront his new challenger. The segment concluded with another Bray Wyatt promo on the screen, going over similar ground as his one on RAW and still not cluing us up to what a House of Horrors match actually is. 

- A short vignette on Shinsuke Nakamura aired, with a couple of former NXT superstars putting him over. 

- Baron Corbin crashed a Renee Young interview with AJ Styles, leading to a match between the two being booked as the main event. 

- It turned out that Natayla's plan was to bump in Charlotte Flair as she walked past her in the hallway, great work Natty. 

Flair def. Naomi 

A feel with a little build, Flair v Naomi could have been electric on a PPV, considering how both have been presented on RAW and SmackDown since the Draft last summer and whilst we still got a pretty good match between the two here, it was a shame to see it thrown out there. With the two having a title match next week, I worry that WWE is already overexposing Flair in a similar way to how she ended up having WAY to many TV matches with Sasha Banks and Bayley on Monday nights. Inside the ring the two mesh together nicely, being able to match each other athletically and both bringing the fight and building the intensity when necessary. The back and forth chop and kick battle was very cool, as was Naomi's fire-up sequence and whilst some of the ideas didn't always come out looking as good as they could have (rana to the outside, Naomi's stunner thing) the two always seemed capable of recovering. The finish with Charlotte blocking the Rear View with a big boot to the back, before hitting Natural Selection, was nicely done, even if it felt a little more like a near fall than the actual ending. Naomi and Charlotte have a lot of potential together and once they're more familiar and cripsen up in the ring I'd expect an outing a few notches above this. Whether we see that next week or not, I'm not sure. 

- More awkwardness between Charlotte Flair and the odd group of rivals, Natalya, Carmella and Tamina. 

- The Colons (formerly known as The Shining Stars) won a quick match over American Alpha with a distraction finish. The bout did more for Epico & Primo than their entire run on RAW, but having them beat Gable & Jordan so quickly was a little disappointing.

- A vignette of Lana dancing around a chair on the entrance ramp aired, she's coming soon.

- The jumpy Dasha Fuentes spoke with Tye Dillinger, who introduce a video package about himself, which was nice of him. 

- Kevin Owens cuts a promo about being the Face of America, ahead of the first Face of America Open Challenge.

- Kevin Owens def. Gary Gandy in thirty seconds, with Gandy almost completely botching a Pop-Up Powerbomb. 

- Kevin Owens cut another promo about being the Face of America and joined the commentary team for the main event. 

Austin Aries welcomed viewers to watch 205 Live after SmackDown on the WWE Network. 

Styles def. Corbin via countout

Completing a trio of top quality TV matches, AJ Styles and Baron Corbin closed the show off with a physical battle, that saw The Lone Wolf more than hold his own alongside the company's 2016 MVP. The two worked a classic power v speed, brawler v wrestler, type contest with Corbin initially being able to keep up with Styles' pace and absolutely dominating the former WWE Champion, dropping Styles on the apron from a Fireman's carry position as well throwing AJ under the bottom rope and into the big thick ringpost. Just as Corbin showed he could match Styles for pace, we later saw that Styles could brawl like Corbin, as The Phenomenal threw a series of big strikes that resulted in a near fall. The presentation of both men as equally proficient at mixing it up in different styles could have really came into it's own later on in a longer match. After Styles found himself back body dropped onto Kevin Owens on commentary, the finish was a signal to just how high WWE are on Baron Corbin right now as Styles won by countout after sending The Lone Wolf over the barricade with a Phenomenal Forearm. Corbin really wouldn't have been hurt by losing to Styles by pinfall, even falling clean to a Styles Clash or Phenomenal Forearm, so the fact that WWE decided to have Corbin lose by countout goes a long way in showing just how big a star they feel big Baron could be. 

Finally...ATPW Scale Rating - 5.09/10

Three good TV matches and Jinder Mahal is #1 Contender to the WWE Championship. Is there much else I need to say here? 

Review - James Marston 

Twitter - @ATPWrestling 

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Review: WWE Smackdown Live #914 (21/02/2017)

On 21st February, WWE Smackdown emanated from the Citizen Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California, USA for the fourth time. This episode focused on a Battle Royal to determine who would challenge Bray Wyatt for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 33 after Royal Rumble winner, Randy Orton refused to face his Wyatt Family cohort at the Show of Shows. John Cena, AJ Styles, The Miz, Dean Ambrose, Luke Harper, Baron Corbin, Apollo Crews, Kalisto and Mojo Rawley were the chosen ten for the main event, whilst Daniel Bryan, Natalya, Nikki Bella, Becky Lynch and Maryse were also featured heavily on the episode. In the build where The Shield had a Smackdown classic with Christian, Daniel Bryan and Sheamus in February 2014, how would the brand do this time around? Let's take a look. 

The episode kicked off with an emotional moment for WWE Smackdown Women's Champion Naomi, as she was forced to drop the title by General Manager Daniel Bryan, because of injury. It was odd to see WWE bring back the "30 day rule", but the segment itself was compelling, with the fact that the sympathetic Bryan had had to drop two titles due to injury only a few years ago adding depth to the moment. Whilst I'm not a massive Naomi fan, her promo when handing the title back was believable delivered and left a few doors open for her return later down the line. Bryan throwing together a match for the title after Alexa Bliss' interruption was a disappointment, as with so many episodes to fill between now and WrestleMania on 2nd April and a strong Women's division, it would have been much more satisfying to see them competing in a tournament for the title. Plus, Bliss' opponent Becky Lynch had suffered a loss to Mickie James last week, so it's debatable that she hadn't earned her place in the opening match for the vacant championship.

Match 1 

Alexa Bliss

def.

Becky Lynch

to win WWE Smackdown Women's Championship

A decent opener here, with a hot Ontario crowd getting behind Lynch from the start. The duo seem to have a good understanding in the ring and this resulted in some lovely technical wrestling to begin with the pair trading holds back and forth, in a slick sequence. I would've liked to have seen this match really break into the next gear, as whilst Lynch and Bliss have been feuding for a while they are yet to have a definitive, must-see match, that I am pretty sure they are capable of if allowed enough time and pushed hard enough. In the end we got a near fall off an Exploder suplex for Lynch, a little bit of submission based action, before Bliss nailed The Lass Kicker in the throat and grabbed a handful of tights to reclaim the belt she dropped at Elimination Chamber. I'm interested to see how Smackdown's plans heading into WrestleMania will have to be altered with Naomi absent and who from the division has to step up.

• Match 2 - American Alpha (Chad Gable, Jason Jordan) def. Breezango (Fandango, Tyler Breeze) (2:12) before The Usos (Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso) cut a fiery promo in the crowd, signalling their title ambitions.

• The Black History Month vignette took a look at Jackie Robinson, the first African American player in Major League Baseball.

Match 3

Natalya

def. 

Nikki Bella

in a Falls Count Anywhere Match

(14:33)

Arguably, Nikki Bella and Natalya pulled out the best match of the show as they brawled all through the arena and didn't hold back in what a lively scrap. It was cool to see the women like Bella and Natalya, who have been with WWE for almost ten years, getting the opportunity to work a match-type that was almost exclusive to their male counterparts even two years ago. They easily could have rested on their laurels and walked through a match with a couple of weapons spots, but the two really went for it here, starting with kendo stick shots and building to an exciting backstage brawl that peaked with Natalya being shoved face first through a mirror. There's was always a sense that the pair absolutely detested each other, producing some very watchable television. The submission the pair used on the ramp emphasised their distaste for each other perfectly. The finish involved Maryse attacking Bella with a pole, after Bella had been pushed into her backstage, looked to be setting up the rumoured mixed tag match involved the pairs husbands, whilst also giving Natalya some momentum to head into whatever is next for the Queen of Black Harts. There could have been a more satisfying finish that rounded the feud off smoother, but on the whole I didn't have too many issues with the run-in. 

Match 4 

AJ Styles, Luke Harper 

def. 

John Cena, The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Dean Ambrose, Baron Corbin, Apollo Crews (Uhaa Nation), Kalisto, Mojo Rawley

in a WWE Championship #1 Contender's Battle Royal

(24:44)

So, the show concluded with AJ Styles and Luke Harper supposedly both ending up touching the floor at the same time, with Daniel Bryan then putting them in a singles match at #915. There were a couple of issues with how this was done for me, but there were also some positives. Because I'm a mardy bastard let's start with the negatives. The spot that saw both guys hit the floor was ridiculous over-complicated, as Harper attempted to essentially suplex Styles over the turnbuckle, leading to both men hitting the floor. The complicated and risky nature of the spot meant that clearly Styles' feet hit the floor before Harper's and therefore WWE didn't show any replays of the spot in between it happening and the end of the show. My other issue with it, was just how cheated the Ontario crowd was of having seen a #1 Contender for the biggest show of the year crowned, and they clearly weren't happy with that. However, with WWE have five more episode's of Smackdown Live to fill with content, so extended stories that could have been played out over a shorter timespan is almost necessary. It could produce more of a buzz and hopefully created stronger, storyline with increased depth. The next few week's will reveal all. 

The rest of the match took a while to get going, struggling to break out of your generic battle royal gubbins before the first advert break. On the opposite side of the break the majority of the eliminations were used to begin or further storylines, with Dolph Ziggler attacking both Kalisto and Apollo Crews with a chair after being dumped out by Crews, Baron Corbin planting Dean Ambrose with an End of Days on the floor after being eliminated by The Lunatic Fringe and The Miz returning to dump John Cena over the top rope after being eliminated by the 16 time World Champion. Despite a couple of nice sequences that took advantage of the bodies and talent pool in the ring, there was definitely a certain familiarity to the way each of those stories played out, which gave the match an overbearing repetitiveness. If the ending had been a product of creativity when something simple would have been just as effective, the bulk of the match lacked creativity, rarely venturing outside of it's comfort zone. 

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 5.5/10

Show in a Sentence - Some stuff overcooked, some stuff undercooked, not a lot in between.

Review - James Marston

Twitter - @ATPWrestling 

Facebook - /acrossthepondwrestling 

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Opinion: NXT Class of 2016 - Part 3 - Finn Balor, Mojo Rawley, Nia Jax, Sami Zayn and The Vaudevillains.

Part 1 - Alexa Bliss, American Alpha, Apollo Crews, Baron Corbin & Bayley.

Part 2 - Carmella, Corey Graves, Dana Brooke & Enzo & Cass.

Finn Balor – Debuted 25th July

In his very short amount of time active on Raw so far Finn Balor has seen it all and done it all, experiencing a rocket push as won the Universal title in an insanely quick time – less than a month after first appearing on the Monday night show. His victory was like nothing we have ever seen before and truly showcased the power that NXT has now that the developmental brand is televised every week on the WWE Network.

Sure, he picked up a horrible shoulder injury during his crowning match against Seth Rollins at Summerslam but that just means he was never pinned and never lost, meaning it’ll be easy for him to be reinserted into the main event upon his return to action, could he even be in with a shout at winning the Rumble? I just hope they’ve been filming his recovery so we get another sweet, sweet WWE 24 episode too.

He’s undoubtedly had the best career on the main roster of all of 2016’s graduates as not only did he win the top belt on Raw, he also beat Seth freaking Rollins and Roman bloody Reigns clean on his rise to the very top of the company – an unprecedented rise in many companies across the globe, let alone the world largest wrestling organisation.

Rating: A+

Mojo Rawley – Debuted 24th July

I’ll say it now, and you can hate me for it, but I like Mojo Rawley. He’s not the best wrestler in the world, far from it in fact, nor is he the best talker, he just shouts a lot, but the man himself is so damn likable. Seriously, this guy seems to go out of his own way to make others happy and that’s exactly the sort of wrestler I want to support and see do well throughout his time in WWE.

Since his promotion Mojo has continued to in the same vein as he was in NXT; not really doing a great deal, but continuing to remain relevant. He has been paired with Ryder since debuting on Smackdown and sadly their first real break (winning a tag team battle royal) was hit with a lightning rod of bad luck as Zack suffered an injury and their pursuit of the tag team titles is on temporary hold, with little sign on resuming soon.


Hopefully Rawley doesn’t get lost in the wilderness without the experienced head of Ryder by his side but I think he will continue to do just fine, simmering in the lowercard with a few tastes of the midcard every now and then. Not everyone needs to be a main eventer in order to be a success in WWE and, in my opinion, Mojo Rawley is a great example of that mantra.

Rating: C+

Nia Jax – Debuted 25th July

What an odd time Nia Jax has had since appearing on Raw. At first they were having her crush jobbers each and every week, building her as the female Braun Strowman and the next big challenger for the title. She was shaping up to be another Awesome Kong style female, breaking the mould of what a female wrestler is perceived as, but since then things have changed and her fear factor aura has dissipated into thin air.

The reason for this was, after a less than impressive victory against Alicia Fox at Clash of Champions, she was tapped out by Becky Lynch at Survivor Series. Now, I’m no wrestling booker, but surely having your sizable monster heel submitting completely defeats the point of them being a monster in the first place. Surely she should have been built like a skyscraper until one plucky babyface managed to chop her down – instead she was built like a Lego house and crushed before the foundations were even complete.

Nia should be able to recover from her defeat and regain some credibility in 2017, starting with a feud against Sasha Banks. After all, her different stature and style means that she could be an interesting and usable entity in the Raw women’s division.

Rating: C-

Sami Zayn – Debuted 7th March

Okay, so 7th March was actually Zayn’s third debut at the top tier of WWE; first he had a crack at John Cena’s US Open Challenge (getting injured in the process), then he popped up at the Royal Rumble before finally graduating on Raw in order to save Neville from the attack of Kevin Owens. And whilst a vast majority of people wanted Sami at the top of the card fighting for championships right away, he’s been more of an upper midcard fighter, which, for now, is just right for him.

He’s has great matches with Kevin Owens and others since his full time Raw debut and has entered into some interesting stories throughout the year, delivering some of the finest promos of his WWE stay during his current collision with Brawn Strowman. Which as mentioned, is just fine for now. Zayn is so likeable because of the chase, every time you think he’s about to break a boundary, someone or something pulls him back, but we rally behind him, cheer his name and sign his theme song because we forever want him to succeed; so whilst he hasn’t fully achieved his potential yet, I have no qualm he will eventually, so enjoy the ride.

I’m excited to be a part of what is hopefully Sami’s slow ascent to glory and 2017 really could be his year. Smackdown will hopefully come knocking and trade the superstar over to the Tuesday night show where he will shine brighter than ever against the likes of Dean Ambrose, The Miz, Bray Wyatt and more.

Rating: B+

The Vaudevillains (Aiden English & Simon Gotch) – Debuted 7th April

Well if there is one thing wrestling fans love, its being proven right and The Vaudevillains tenure on the main roster has proved so many who were certain the gimmick wouldn’t work on the main roster right. Sadly, the transition for English and Gotch has been the roughest of the bunch and they have settled in as the resident, Ascencion-level, jobbers to the Smackdown tag division, losing to almost every team available.

When they first debuted they were fortunate to awarded a title shot as Enzo suffered and injury in their number one contenders match at Payback but since they all that has been on their diet in pinfalls. I feel bad for the pair as they clearly give everything to the character but it seems it just wasn’t meant to be.

As you may be able to tell I’ve been pretty positive about the future of a majority of the NXT class of 2016 but for these two I’m a little less hopeful. Things look pretty bleak and with another set of tag teams just waiting to be promoted (DIY, Revival, Authors of Pain etc.) I can see them being pushed even further into obscurity. A sad case for the former NXT tag champions.

Rating: F

That’s the lot, hopefully you enjoyed reading whether you agree or not! Here’s to the NXT promotions of 2016 and I look forward to seeing what the 2017 graduates produce and with the likes of Samoa Joe, Shinsuke Nakamura and Asuka waiting in the wings its set to be another great year in wrestling.

Words - Thomas Brady

Images - Thomas Brady

Editor - James Marston

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TV Review: WWE NXT #208 - Mojo Rawley v Samoa Joe

In the penultimate episode of NXT before Takeover: Brooklyn II, a number of the building blocks for the 20th August show would fall into place. With the NXT Champion in action in the main event, how would the yellow brand look to build momentum? 

The main event bout between Samoa Joe and Mojo Rawley was a much stronger affair than I was expecting it to be, with Rawley upping his aggresiveness to match Joe, with a crowd that sided strongly behind Rawley. Despite the new Smackdown performer being slightly off with the timing of some of his offence, the pair were able to put together some nice sequences, highlighted by Rawley's massive leap into an STJoe. The NXT Champion picked up a convincing victory with the Coquina Clutch, however shouting out his 20th August opponent as he locked in the move produced the most interesting part of the show. A very different version of the pull-apart, as Joe was held back by security and officials whilst #1 Contender Shinsuke Nakamura continually wound him up by grabbing his nose. Very entertaining stuff that adds to the build of the upcoming title match. 

Another match would be added to the 20th August supercard, after Andrade Almas had bested NXT stalwart Angelo Dawkins in a couple of minutes. The match was a short squash, although Dawkins did manage a sweet spinning version of the Stinger Splash, with Almas pulling out a complicated hammer lock DDT/leg sweep situation for the victory. It was the confrontation afterward with newcomer Bobby Roode that would produce the intrigue though, as Roode did a brilliant job working the crowd in order to get them on the side of his opponent. Almas is still struggling to get over with the Winter Park crowd, but Roode speaking slowly to him, as he attempted to explain that they'd be having a match at Takeover: Brooklyn II seemed to go, at least, some way towards that. The upcoming match between the two should solidify both men's places on the NXT roster.

A contract signing segment between Women's Champion Asuka and #1 Contender Bayley, hosted by General Manager William Regal was an engaging piece of television as the two rivals attempted to build the tension between them, ahead of their 20th August title bout. The majority of the strain was developed in their body language in the latter portion of the segment, as their initial back and forth on the microphone was let down by Asuka's broken English. It appeared like the Women's Champion got a couple of words in the wrong order or choose the wrong words at points, as I'm not entirely sure what she was attempting to say, luckily it didn't effect things too much as the confrontation that followed was strong enough to cover it up. It is notable however, that the Full Sail Arena seems to be cooling Bayley, perhaps because of the length of her time on the show, when she really should've been called up a few months ago.

It was however clear to see why Bayley had been kept on the yellow brand, as Billie Kay and Liv Morgan's contest was not the greatest showcase for either woman. Honestly, the thing I enjoyed most about the entire contest was the entrances, which had some cool juxtaposition going on. The match itself did very little for though, mainly down to Morgan who seemed to be a step off at most points, with sloppy offence and delayed selling. At 22 years old, there's still time for her to improve, but after two years in the Performance Center, I'd at least be expecting her to handle a three minute squash. I haven't seen enough of Kay to be convinced by her yet, I'm hoping that we get to see her have longer matches against the likes of Asuka, Ember Moon, Bayley and Peyton Royce sooner rather than later to see what she truly has to offer. 

The #1 Contender's to The Revival's Tag Team Championship's got a run out this week also, picking up a swift victory over Tucker Knight and Patrick Clark. As squash tag team bouts go, I found this to be a fun watch with Knight and Clark doing their jobs well, making Ciampa and Gargano look great, whilst also heeling it up nicely to allow the #1 Contender's to make a spirited and exciting comeback. Gargano and Ciampa continue to improve as a team and after only teaming up a year have become one of the smoothest duos around at the moment, with their slick comeback routine and finish on Knight showing just a taste of what they're going to do with Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder on 20th August.

Best of the Rest

• The Authors of Pain (Gzim Selmani & Sunny Dhisa) continued to dominate with a victory over Rob Ryzin & Adrian Nails.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 4.55/10

Some strong stuff on this week's show, like the Joe v Rawley match and Joe's subsequent confrontation with Nakamura, as well as Asuka and Bayley's contract signing and Roode v Almas being confirmed for Takeover: Brooklyn II, as the brand continues to load it's supercard for 20th August. The rating then looks a little harsh, however as always the ATPW Scale takes into account the entire show and unfortunately the show was let down by the Kay v Morgan match that just wasn't good enough. The Women's division has been decimated over the last year with Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks, Charlotte, Carmella, Alexa Bliss, Nia Jax and even Eva Marie departing and some talents are really going to have to keep upping their game to fill that gap. The likes of Kay, the yet to debut Nicola Glencross, Morgan, Aliyah, Mandy Rose and more have the potential to do so, but only time will tell.

All content - James Marston 

TV Review: WWE NXT #202 - Hype Bros vs. Gargano & Ciampa (James Marston)

Following last week's less than stellar episode, and with the huge Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Finn Balor match just around the corner, how would this week's NXT look to get things back on track? Let's have a look.

There was a major focus on the tag team division this week, with plenty of storyline advancement and no less than five teams being involved in one form or another. Considering NXT has less than an hour of screen time each week, to have five tag teams in this position is pretty impressive. The shows main event wasn't the most inspiring match on paper as Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano went over The Hype Bros, however in it's execution it was actually a rather fun and pacy tag clash. The match built nicely towards it's conclusion with the momentum swinging between the two teams numerous times before Ciampa and Gargano were able to hit as Superkick and Knee Strike combination on Ryder for the win. Ryder and Rawley seem to have found their niche as a tag team, using the classic power and speed combo, I'm still not convinced about Rawley but this was definitely a step forward from him. 

The action would continue after the bout, with Ciampa and Gargano staking claim to a title shot, which would be granted by NXT General Manager William Regal for a future show, whilst American Alpha and NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival would interrupt as well, with a Two out of Three Falls title match being booked between the two for next week. Everything was timed perfectly with each interruption getting a big reaction from the Winter Park crowd, whilst The Revival shone the brightest with Scott Dawson doing some of his best mic work to date. An extra twist in the tale came when The Authors of Pain jumped American Alpha and destroyed them in the ring. We haven't seen a lot of Gzim Selmani and Sunny Dhisa in the ring or had an explanation of their previous attack on the duo at the last Takeover event, and with Paul Ellering turning up on the ramp as well, there's a real element of mystery about them, whether this intrigue can be turned into a satisfying pay-off we'll have to wait and see.

Alexa Bliss took a big step towards earning a shot at Asuka's NXT Women's Championship with a convincing victory over Carmella, in the best match either woman has had to date. From the opening exchanges it was clear that both women have been putting some real effort in at the Performance Center, as they looked much more comfortable in the ring and transitioned from hold to hold with ease. Whilst lacked direction in the first portion, with Carmella spending way too much time putting on wear down holds for a babyface, after the ad break was where the match really got going. After pulling Carmella's arm across the ring rope, Bliss focused in on the arm with Carmella selling well both on offence and when locked in submissions. I'd have liked to have seen the injured arm play a little bit more into the finish, but it definitely added to Carmella's fiery babyface comeback. Let's hope we see these two continue to improve over the next few month's, they're going to need to in order to help the brand build it's Women's division back up. 

Andrade Almas would pick up his third victory in a row on NXT, winning a simple squash bout over Noah Potjes (previously known as Noah Kekoa). For me, this was a much better showcase for Almas than we had seen previously in his bouts with Tye Dillinger earlier in the month. It allowed Almas to show off a range of his exciting, high-flying offence against an opponent that wasn't already over with the Full Sail Arena. Potjes also bought a nice aggression to his offence, which added to Almas performance as a babyface. This was still a short, enhancement match, but I was happy to see Almas finally get a proper showcase.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 5.38/10 

This was a much better episode than last week's show, with a number of different divisions getting the time to build their storylines and strength their divisions as a whole. The tag team main event and subsequent segment were strong television fair, which also managed to set up various different avenues for the promotions and performers to travel down over the next month or so. Carmella and Alexa Bliss both had their best matches to date, whilst Andrade Almas got his best opportunity to showcase his skills since joining the company. 

There's lots to look forward to over the next few weeks with The Revival and American Alpha's Two out of Three Falls match and Finn Balor facing off with Shinsuke Nakamura, I'm expecting the next couple of episodes to be another step in the right direction.