Reverse Hipster's Top 5 WWE Highlights
5. (NXT) Carmelo Hayes vs. Darr NXT Championship
Melo vs. Darr is a very interesting matchup. They are both excellent wrestlers who are about the same size. I also like that Noam was rewarded with a title match for his victory at Night at Champions. The match was a great technical bout, and Noam Darr pulled out all the stops, legal and illegal(via Lash, Jackson, and Mensah), but that just made it look better when Carmelo retained his NXT Championship.
4. (Raw) Seth & AJ vs. Damien & Finn Balor
This was an excellent start to Seth Rollins's reign. All four members contributed to what ended up being an electric tag team match. However, Seth Rollins was clearly the leader of the match. Seth had the crowd behind him, and he was the match leader pushing the pace and winning it. Early on, Seth has established what to expect in his reign, and that is a workhorse champion who will deliver night in and night out.
3. (SmackDown) Roman Cuts off the Usos
Jimmy's anger with Roman has been festering for a minute, but it finally boils over on SmackDown when he confronts Roman for the disrespect. Jimmy gave him an ultimatum either show them respect or lose the Bloodline. Roman tried to punk Jimmy, and Jimmy mushed him. Jey begged them to calm down, and Jimmy actually threw out the olive branch. Roman didn't take it, though, and Solo took his side, attacking Jimmy. Now it's Solo and Roman vs. The Usos. How long can Roman keep his title without the Usos?
2. (Raw) Ronda & Shayna vs. Sonya Deville & Chelsea Green vs. Bayley & Iyo vs. Shotzi & Raquel Women's Tag Team Match
The Women's tag division always looks good in multi-woman matches, and this was no exception. Every team got their stuff in and had a moment to shine, making the fans believe that they would become the new champions. The physicality of this match stood out from the rest of the card. I give the credit for that to Ronda. She doesn't get her proper credit, but she is always willing to take hard spots for her opponents. Whether having an opponent jump off the top rope onto her while Ronda performs an armbar or being the one suplexed in a powerbomb suplex off the top rope, Ronda is always game.
Ultimately, Ronda was rewarded by catching Shotzi in an armbar and winning for her team. Ronda and Shayna can pick up where Naomi and Sasha left off and make these titles mean something. Shayna had one of the best tag team runs with Nia Jax, and based on backstage reports, Ronda is very passionate about these titles. Ronda is a Vince Darling, the first Woman to ever main event and one of the few to beat Charlotte in dominant fashion. Her clout and credibility could push the division. Shayna is a Triple H Darling, one of the most dominant champs in NXT history. Also, Deville and Green didn't win the match but performed well and embodied what it means to commit to being a tag team.
1. (NXT) Gigi Dolin vs. Jacy James Weaponized Steel Cage
This hardcore war of a match was exactly what this feud needed. When Gigi and Jacy's feud cooled off, people started to lose faith in them and question them as wrestlers. However, nobody should be doing that now. These women put each other through hell showing the depths of their hate for each other and their passion for wrestling.
Jacy slammed Gigi through garbage cans and whiplashed Gigi's head on a bed of chairs with a neck breaker, and still, Gigi wouldn't give up. Jacy showed a lot of resilience too, so Gigi had to take it up a notch by throwing Jacy off the top rope into a table before pinning Jacy for the win. Excellent match. I hope NXT can capitalize on the immense amount of momentum they have built.
Rob’s Top 5 Highlights (AEW and Impact)
5. Bully Ray, Impact Wrestling
Bully Ray certainly isn’t doing anything to raise Impact Wrestling’s average work rate, but I hate to admit that he greatly increases their story quality. The Bully Ray character has a unique feel and clear direction. He returned this week and cut a great promo to open the show, targeting Impact Champion Steve Maclin and anyone else on the path to becoming the number-one contender.
4. Bullet Club Gold, AEW Dynamite
Jay White and Juice Robinson finally got time to speak and talk about their faction. White is good on the mic, and if given more time, I think he should be able to get the Bullet Club Gold faction over and maybe recruit some new members too. They wasted no time targeting FTR, and now, the tag team champs have a fun and novel feud while Bullet Club Gold is engaged in a more meaningful way.
3. Don Callis and Konosuke Takeshita, AEW Dynamite
Don Callis got one of the loudest reactions I can remember in the last few years. Of course, it was negative, but that’s exactly how he should be received. Callis can transfer all of that heat to his new protege Konosuke Takeshita. Takeshita has shined in every opportunity in the ring for the last year, but with Callis as his mouthpiece, he can live up to the expectation of storytelling in AEW too.
2. The Forbidden Door Opens, AEW Rampage
It was almost like the Forbidden Door came early this year. Out of nowhere, we were watching Emi Sakura, Zack Sabre Jr, and Katsuyori Shibata on AEW television. I have said recently that Rampage should be a place where stars from other promotions can randomly show up to have an Indy wrestling dream match. This was the super version of that, and I have to applaud AEW for recognizing Rampage has been a chore to watch and changing it up.
1. El Hijo de Vikingo vs. Dralistico vs. Komander, AEW Rampage
A couple of weeks ago, I said El Hijo de Vikingo should just get to do whatever he wants on AEW Rampage, and well, I’ll repeat that after this match. Someone described Vikingo as someone’s 2K custom moveset wrestler come to life, and it’s true. A number of times during this AAA Mega Championship match, I shouted expletives out of pure shock and amazement. Vikingo hit a Phoenix Splash from the middle rope from outside of the ring to inside and a reverse 450 into a hurricanrana. If that doesn’t make sense, it shouldn’t, and you have to watch it. I think the match also benefitted Dralistico and Komander, who are on AEW more regularly to capitalize on the momentum.
Rob’s Lowlights (AEW and Impact)
1. CM Punk, AEW Dynamite
Tony Khan confirmed CM Punk will be at the first AEW Collision in Chicago, Illinois. Anyone online was already aware of this, so it didn’t really spoil the surprise. However, I think AEW would have been smarter to shock the fans by having him show up at Double or Nothing or Forbidden Door before Collision. Overall, I’m most upset that it seems like AEW management is welcoming back Punk with open arms after causing so many problems in the locker room. It seems like their strategy for in-fighting is to split up those fighting into two different brands. As far as that strategy goes, it seems like an idea that is either just dumb enough to work or the kind of dumb that will go down in infamous wrestling history.
Reverse Hipster's Bottom 5 Lowlights
5. (NXT) Tiffany Stratton's Celebration
I'm a big Tiffany fan, but I still recognize she has a way to go with her promos, and that was really apparent during her celebration. However, if I know Tiffany is not a great promo yet, then so does WWE, which begs the question of why WWE would give her a monologue with nobody to feed off. Also, I know Tiffany didn't perform the promo in the best way it could have possibly been done. However, unless she totally changed the words of the promo, it didn't seem like the source material gave her much to work with.
4. (NXT) Blair Davenport Reveal
Blair Davenport's reveal fell flat, or rather it had the same effect as if she had just returned without the attacks. The attack angle didn't work because there was no deeper level once she revealed herself. There was no story to the attack, so her unveil led to more questions, meaning the attacks were pointless.
3. (Raw) Gunther's Possible Cash in
Gunther recently told Riddle he wanted him to win MITB and cash in on him so that he could beat Riddle up. This promo makes no sense for several reasons. First, why would Gunther want anyone to challenge him for his title, especially with MITB, where they could attack him in an unfair fight? Second, if Gunther wanted to fight Riddle for the title, he could just do that without MITB. Third, and most importantly, WWE should never have another midcard cash-in again. Going for a lower-level title makes zero sense when you could go for the biggest prize in the entire WWE. Anyone who would go for a midcard title is in kayfabe, saying there is no circumstance in which they could see themselves winning the world title.
2.(SmackDown) The New Undisputed Title
I like the New World Heavyweight Title, but the Undisputed Title needs to look better. The Blue Universal title was beautiful and a big merch seller. The Universal title was completely left out design-wise when this new title was created. This new title just looked uninspired and bland. The most visible part, the middle, is the worst part. The center of the title looks like mustard wood. WWE should have looked at their other successful new belts like the Women's Raw and SmackDown or the NXT Woman's Title.
1.(SmackDown) Lacey Evans
Lacey has a new military gimmick, and she looks badass. Her background makes her credible, her look makes her intimating, and she has the promo and attitude to match. Lacey is only missing one small thin...Booking. She continues to be held back by her creative plans. Lacey's creative is a paradox. On the one hand, they put so much work into finding a military character when she could have just kept her original gimmick, but fine, they finally found a good military character. However, then they are shitting on their own efforts by booking Lacey as a weak loser who is all talk.
Money in the Bank would have been the perfect debut for this character. She wins her way to a major PPV event where she can show off her athleticism, and she doesn't even have to win the match to be successful. But no, she lost her qualifying match like a loser. I understand Zelina winning the match. Zelina is in a hot faction, and she's coming off a title match and is very popular right now. However, did Lacey have to face Zelina? Lacy could have beaten Shotzi, whose downfall started at last year's Money in the Bank. Lacey has proven to be better than Shotzi in Money in the Bank, anyway.
Rob's Best Show of the Week
AEW Rampage came from out of nowhere with their Championship Friday show. Even though the matches didn’t really have stories going in, fans were treated to the match of the week from El Hijo de Vikingo and rare United States appearances from Zack Sabre Jr. and Katsuyori Shibata. Every match on the show was good and inherently meaningful because it was a championship match.
Reverse Hipster's Best Show of the Week!
NXT was the best show of the week. The Woman's division had the best highlight of the week in a cage match. The men's division had the number five highlight in a World Title match. The midcard just added Ali to the picture, which the NXT fans went crazy for, and NXT got tons of other feuds heating up. There is just too much to compete with in NXT.
Which Show Was Better?
NXT
Rampage
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