Category: Wrestling Television Musings

RAW (June 9th, 2025) – Nobody Can Handle The Truth

It’s the RAW after Money In The Bank, where a couple people won briefcases that they’ll have to carry around for months on end until their eventual scripted cash-in takes place where they will win whatever title they will challenge in cheap fashion… oh and R-Truth was hired back after his contract ran out earlier in the month and fans protested because WWE wouldn’t re-sign him.

Well, they did re-sign him. And the first thing they did was have him cut a promo where he adopted a more serious demeanor and is now going by his real name. Yes, it took a contract expiration and a fan riot for WWE to free Ron Killings from this one-note joke character that he’s been playing for years and give him one last hurrah as the serious competitor that you only really saw ages ago when he was in TNA or even early on in his last WWE stint. Where they go from here is anyone’s guess, but whatever happens from hereon out, I hope it was worth it.

In other news, GUNTHER made Jey Uso pass out to win back his World title and end this YEET experiment that has been going nowhere. I’d imagine they need GUNTHER to hold a title so that they can fast track that rumored Goldberg match, but in any event, Jey Uso as the World Champion was worth a shot, but clearly not something that had anyone excited. Oh well.

Also, Nikki Bella made her return, teased future involvement, and got into a spat with Liv Morgan, who is supposed to be the heel in this program, but actually got more cheers than Nikki. That can’t be a good sign… also, the backstage bit where Nikki and IYO SKY is exchanging pleasantries and IYO claiming that Nikki “paved the way for the rest of us” felt so dirty and so wrong. I’m not going to deny Nikki was a major player back in the day, but let’s be real; the Bellas on top was not exactly a high point in the women’s division and it took the influx of NXT talent to really give the WWE women some actual worth. There is a reason why a lot of those Diva segments back in the day were called “designated piss breaks.”

Also, we have tournament matches for the King and Queen of the Ring titles, whose finals will be held at the next WWE Blood Money show at Saudi Arabia. And speaking of which, CM Punk – who once told some WWE Superstar to go suck on a blood money soaked dick in Saudi Arabia – will be challenging John Cena for the title at said Blood Money event. What a world we live in.

And that’s about it, really. To tell the truth – no pun intended – I didn’t watch the show… I’m only going by bits and pieces I’ve seen online as well as some recaps here and there. Haven’t renewed my Netflix subscription because I’m presently in the middle of a Paramount run, which may or may not continue if this Strange New Worlds thing ends up being worth a follow for the next couple months.

A friend did offer a recording of this Friday’s Smackdown show if I wanted to watch. Apparently, the big John Cena vs. Ron Killings rematch is taking place there. Should be fun to do a musings on… maybe give Impact a bit of a spotlight in a couple weeks.

AEW Dynamite (June 11th, 2025) – Half A Spectacular

Hey, look… an AEW Dynamite musings.

No way in hell am I sitting through FOUR HOURS of wrestling programming in a row in the middle of the week no matter who’s booking this thing, so you’re just getting the Dynamite portion of this summer spectacular or whatever they called it… which is fine by me, because I’m told that the Collision portion of the program is where things fall off a cliff. I guess I’ll take their word for it, but anyway… a brief summation of what I’ve seen.

We open with a Will Ospreay/Swerve Strickland match that ends in a 30-minute time limit draw, which then brings out the Death Television Riders to beat up Swerve and Ospreay eats a tacked Superkick for good measure. The match was your usual Ospreay goodness/hackiness… whatever floats your boat. This is followed by MJF mocking the fomer Sin Cara before the Hurt Business come out to beat a bunch of guys in a six-man, which was a thing that happened. At this point, it’s just the Hurt Business beating the shit out of dudes, which is fine. But this thing with MJF? Doesn’t work for me, brother. I think we’re at the point where MJF feels like someone you add to an act that’s hot and you want to kill it.

And so this is followed by Hangman getting ambushed by the DT Riders or whoever and Moxley cutting a quick promo before some guys come out to run off the DTRs. After a forgettable women’s match – no, seriously, I know someone made a return and it’s their first match back, but considering how talent gets signed and showcased for a couple weeks before shoved into the back of the corner, it’s not worth getting back. And finally, the show ends with a contract signing between Kenny and Okada, with Okada seemingly associated with Don Callis because… sure, why not?

By the way, Kenny, Ken Shamrock called. He said he wants his fake blood capsules back.

Look, the one thing you can’t say is that they’re not building towards this All In show in Texas. I wouldn’t call it a great show because a lot of the stuff on here is just “meh”, but it’s putting in the work to get people interested in this show. Apparently, from what I’ve been told, the Collision portion of the program is where things supposedly fall off a cliff. I guess I’ll take their word for it.

Saturday Night’s Main Event (May 24th, 2025) – Endless Commercials = ABSOLUTE CINEMA

So WWE put up the recent edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event on Youtube for those of us outside of the U.S. who lack the ability to watch this thing on Peacock… even though up here in Canada, we do indeed have NBC to watch this shit. Is this even on Netflix? Anyway, I gave it a watch… the show was mostly commercials, which was “absolute cinema” as the lame kids call it. And indeed, while you folks had commercials, we had a blank screen. It was truly riveting… almost as riveting as these bullriding events that are also on the WWE channel.

I realize it’s a TKO thing and all, but if I were subscribed to WWE on Youtube, I’d be wondering why the fuck am I getting videos about a sport I don’t care about? It’s bad enough that these people are deluded enough to think that the WWE/MMA crossover appeal is wider than it actually is – which is virtually nonexistent – but now who is going to watch RAW and think, “Gee whiz, you know what’d be cool? CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre in a bull riding contest.” Unless one of the bulls almost kicks one of those guys in the head and they retaliate with a Terry Funk-esque promo, there’s no appeal to this shit, folks.

Anyway, regardless of my quibbles, I saw most of the show… which was just there. Joe Tessitore and Jesse Ventura welcomed us to the show, ran down a bit of the card, and passed it on our regular announce team of Michael Cole and that fucking idiot Pat McAfee… who can go fuck himself.

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RAW After Mania (April 21st, 2025) – Well, It’s A Raw After Mania Alright…

Well, some twelve hours after the Ramblemania post went up, you’re getting the RAW After Mania musings, because that’s also a thing we do around here. Also, this is Night Four of the Buy One Get One Free All You Can Eat Extravaganza that’s set to conclude tomorrow with NXT, which I will not be watching.

Anyway, I’ll save the proper show musings for after the break to avoid spoiling days-old programming for those who haven’t seen it yet. Though, for what it’s worth, just watch Night 2 and wait until they upload the main event of Night 1 to Youtube.

Continue reading “RAW After Mania (April 21st, 2025) – Well, It’s A Raw After Mania Alright…”

AEW Dynamite (April 16th, 2025) – Springin’ Breaking’

So we’ve got ourselves a special episode of Dynamite last night… and you know what? This was worth getting out of the hospital to watch… I’ll need to update the banner one of these days, but I can safely say that for the first time in a long time, I enjoyed an episode of Dynamite from top to bottom without much cause for complaint.

Well… almost.

This episode is special, for it is the 289th episode of Dynamite, which surpasses the 288 episode run of WCW Monday Nitro on the Turner networks. Regardless of what you think of the show’s quality as of late – and I’ve had more than my fair share of issues – that is quite the accomplishment and AEW should be applauded for reaching this point. There’s a part of me that wishes AEW chose a better venue – possibly the Mall Of America if that still exists or Club La Vela – but that’s okay. The current arena set-up looks pretty sweet, too. And there’s always the breaking of WCW Saturday Night’s 1992-2000 run in about 198 episodes.

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Smackdown (Feb 21st, 2025) – Aw Shit… Here We Go Again…

Yeah, so Dwayne is back… and he’s here to announce that New Orleans will be hosting next year’s Wrestlemania. I’m sure that will make Ricky Starks Saints very, very happy and I hope he gets a spot on the card. Sadly, Dwayne decides to call out Cody, says that he wants his soul, and he’ll expect an answer at this coming Saturday’s Elimination Chamber PPV. So we went from Dwayne and Cody being antagonistic to being buddy buddy and back to being antagonistic again. Will Cody refuse Dwayne’s offer and continue his babyfacing ways? Or will we get that Homelander Cody that people want? Or maybe this is how we’re getting JOHN CENA to turn heel by having him be Dwayne’s Corporate Hollywood stooge to go after the title at Mania 41?

I guess if you wanted to add some last-minute intrigue to whatever Cody was going to do for Mania, this is a way to do it. It’d be nice if this shit actually made some semblance of sense instead of whatever the fuck Dwayne is doing – or is this one of those twenty steps ahead things that he likes to tease? I remember being twenty steps ahead – it’s usually not bad until you realize that you forgot what the first ten steps were in the first place. I’m not sure if this is supposed to get me more excited for Mania or not, but either way, I’m not up for watching Moana or whatever that movie is called in any capacity… not that I’d need much to be ambivalent over; it is a Disney product, after all.

As for the rest of the show… admittedly, I didn’t watch the whole thing because three hour Smackdowns can go fly a kite (this is allegedly supposed to be a temporary thing; we’ll see.) I did catch some of the main-event six-man that saw Jacob Fatu accidentally kick that Solo guy, so chances are we’re building towards an eventual match between those two, which would be nice to see. I don’t see how much more out of this Bloodline juice you can get now that Roman is doing other stuff with other people while all you’re left with are the B-team members that nobody really cares about… and the sooner that we can get Jacob Fatu away from those B-team folks, the better off he’ll be.

Oh, and now Kevin Owens is camping out in front of Sami’s house… because that’s a thing he does now… cool.

Change Of Plans And Also AEW’s Australian “Grand” Slam (Feb 15th, 2025)

(Yeah, I couldn’t fix up a proper banner for this show, so you’re stuck with the Bots banner.)

Quick change of plans regarding video reviews, which are somewhat lagging due to a variety of factors… not the least of which is that we got hit with a couple hefty snowstorms and I’ve spent most of my days clearing out nature’s own white stuff that people snort whenever they’re on the wheel. That, and I’m going to be busy with stuff… so we’re reducing things down to a 2-vids-a-week schedule (Tuesdays and Fridays) for the next c ouple weeks at most.

I also got a chance to sample the recent AEW Grand Slam show from Australia that took place this past weekend, thanks to a timely DVR recording that I wasn’t aware that I made, but it was there. Long story short; if you were an Aussie wrestler challenging for a championship and your name isn’t Toni Storm, you weren’t winning the match. That’s the case with both Buddy Matthews and Harley Cameron, hometown kids who challenged for titles and lost while the “real” star of the show, Timeless Toni, got both her win and her title back from Mariah May.

I’m somewhat dismayed by this show, which is the usual great wrestling hampered by poor booking or creative choices. You have a Mox/Cope title match and your big idea to push this thing is to have Mox choke Cope out during a six-man brawl. You have Harley Cameron, who is literally one of the most entertaining character on the shows in recent weeks and someone who put in the work to improve her stuff, catch on with the crowd who generally seem to like here… and you have her lose in a nothing match against the walking drywall that is Mercedes. I felt like that could’ve been a match where you pulled a swerve and give Harley the shock title win… you know, something to keep the crowd happy after all the rigmarole with the promotion and arena switches.

And then there’s Kenny Omega, who challenged that Takeshita guy for his International World All-Atlantic American Western States Heritage Championship belt at the PPV… but first, we need to have a tournament to crown a contender to challenge Takeshita for the title at some random TV taping before facing off against Kenny at the next PPV… why?

And so, once again, we’ve got an AEW show that’s high on the quality wrestling matches, but the booking leaves VERY MUCH to be desired. This isn’t exactly enticing me to fork over money for the next PPV and while I’m sure it’ll feature the usual fantastic wrestling, I feel compelled to re-iterate that we’re in a day and age where you can get great wrestling pretty much anywhere and everywhere these days. You need more – MUCH MORE – than great wrestling to stand out. And that’s where AEW is struggling right now.

Anywhoo, this week, TNA will hold a live edition of Impact at Full Sail, which is where NXT used to reside. The show will open with a concert played by that one fellow there…

Alright, who said his name? I want answers, dammit.

TNA Impact (January 23rd, 2025) – “Say His Name” Shouldn’t Apply To REDACTED

The first LIVE episode of IMPACT in eight years opens with newly minted TNA World Champion Joe Hendry coming out and sending out an open invitation for anyone from anywhere to step up and challenge him for his new title. This immediately brings out Santino Marella – yes, for those who don’t regularly watch TNA, SANTINO MARELLA not only got to keep his name, but he is also the on-air authority figure for TNA – who not only congratulates Hendry on his title win, but also introduces his first challenger for the World title…

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AEW Dynamite (January 22nd, 2025) – Death Television Riders

This past Thursday, TNA aired their first live episode of Impact in eight years and while I haven’t gotten around to watching it yet, I will give it a watch this weekend and hopefully have some thoughts up shortly after posting the Genesis PPV musings this coming Wednesday.

But in the meantime, we have this baffling AEW Dynamite show that continues to chug along. Nice that they’re embracing smaller, more intimate arenas… though I’m sure some will scoff as to how far they’ve fallen since their early years. Let’s be fair, though; some of AEW’s best work happened when there were no crowds in the audience; something that couldn’t be said for WWE or TNA for that matter. (And I tried re-watching those 2020 COVID shows… they are not pleasant for a variety of reasons.)

Continue reading “AEW Dynamite (January 22nd, 2025) – Death Television Riders”

TNA Impact (January 9th, 2025) – This Post Is All About Joe (And Other Stuff Too, I Guess)

On the flip side, I also saw a little bit of last week’s Impact, which featured a tremendous video package on Joe Hendry, giving the viewer some background on the guy’s early days, his efforts to get into the business, his songwriting, and that sort of stuff. It’s the kind of video package that is designed to get you invested in someone who is challenging for the World title at the next big PPV event and for what it’s worth, I think they’ve hit the mark. One thing you can always count on from TNA is that their video packages have been excellent at getting you up to speed on things and this was no exception. There’s a small part of me that thinks all this hyping up Joe will mean that they will do the thing that probably should have been done at Bound For Glory when Joe was at his hottest and not this “third time’s a charm” bullshit that they’re going for here.

In addition to a good video package, Joe Hendry got the main event slot, teaming up with Rhyno to take on and defeat the Nemeth Bros. in a pretty solid main event. Part of me wonders how things are going to play out now that JBL has been announced for a future RAW segment. Does he still make his presence felt at the PPV or has the role of wrestling outlaw god guy gone over to Ryan Nemeth of all people? Because if that’s the case… woof.

Like I said, I didn’t catch the whole show, but apparently, more matches were named for the Genesis PPV, which I believe is this weekend. I’ll probably give that a watch and post some musings if it turns out to be a good show with good booking… but not until I get the Ramble out of the way first.