Hi Dave
Thumbs down
best match – Cena vs Owens
worst match – Tag match
Typical WWE, just when they are about to create something new and big with Kevin Owens, they have to make sure Cena gets his win back, and make Owens just another guy. They just can’t pull the trigger. They were so close this time…
Death, taxes, and WWE screwing up pushes…
Dan Cerquitella
Oklahoma City
WWE Battleground
Thumbs Up
Best Match: Kevin Owens v John Cena
Worst Match: New Day v Prime Time Players
Can a couple of AARP members save SummerSlam? That’s the question WWE is going to ask itself in the next month. The influx of young talent seems to be intriguing the passionate, smaller, vocal fan base. But the larger, more casual wrestling audience does not seem to be buying into the youth movement. Rather than chance a bad entry into the fall season, WWE is going back to the well with the Undertaker AND Sting (although not together in the same match). Will it work? Probably for a one-time pop, although fans are going to be conflicted on how to feel about Lesnar as a tweener.
Does Cena topping Owens once more mean they’ve temporarily put on hold the “Cena works hard to get over the young guys” movement? Is it moving back into the main event mix? Or is this a sign they’ve slowed their interest in Owens? Or is Sting going to face Cena? Or does the booking even make sense these days?
So the divas all put over how excited that Stephanie is giving them a chance. So Stephanie is the new Dusty, as far as promos putting over the boss.
Jeffrey Cohen
Flushing, NY
Thumbs down.
Best match: Toss-up: Cena-Owens
Worst match: Lesnar-Rollins
Lesnar-Rollins was decent until Undertaker interference that essentially negated the match.
I understand the set-up (Lesnar-Undertaker rematch), but don’t think this was right the way
this was handled. This was a TV ending, not a pay-per-view or special-event ending.
Unacceptable.
Wyatt-Reigns was very well done, and with the right finish this time out. Cena-Owens always
delivers — the question is what’s next for Owens after Cena’s clean win.
–Mike Omansky
Thumbs down
Best match: Cena vs Owens
This show was basically to set up an angle at the end. Stephanie just comes off as tone deaf to this whole women’s thing and her promo was so well rehearsed it was unbearable.
Cena vs. Owens was good again but they blasted through a two year program in seven weeks.
Mike Hiscoe
Thumbs up to Battleground, booking aside.
Best match: Cena vs Owens III
Worst match: King Wade vs Truth
Was not excited for PPV aside from top 2 matches. Better than expected in ring. Opener was strong enough to start the show. Orton winning got the crowd going. Bray vs Roman was a match that I could’ve cared less for. However, the match more than over achieved and I’m happy both guys delivered that performance. Only thing I would change was how much Reigns took before losing in the end. Can’t believe Cena won…over it. Match and finish killed main event till #GONG. Don’t understand people calling Taker’s return, a heel turn. Flair hit low blows on guys and last 10 years and got cheered. But I do understand the criticism in the logic of Taker waiting 16 months to avenge The Streak being broken. Or am I really supposed to believe that Brock’s destruction of Kane was the catalyst?
I’ve watched the first four, G1 matches. Will have to watch Tanahashi vs Ibushi after work. Tenzan should not be here. Him tapping out Doc was ridiculous. Fale’s shoulder was up after 1 and is regressing to Nelson Frazier like levels. I liked Naito’s new look and attitude. And I really enjoyed Styles vs Shibata. Four stars.
James Brown
Thumbs Down
Best Match : Cena v Owens
Worst Match : Lesnar v Rollins
I’m 18 months behind on audio from the website and it’s amazing how
many of the issues raised from that period are still relevant today.
I do so love Stephanie’s champion of feminism act. ‘Give diva’s a
chance’ this from a company that has mocked and ridiculed women for
supposedly being ugly and fat nonetheless Sasha grasped this
opportunity with both hands. She’s heads and shoulders above everyone
but Becky in ring and the swagger she carries herself with will get
her over with the crowd. Charlotte needed the win more than Sasha,
it’s what happens next that is the key to whether this is a lame
attempt to placate fans or a genuine effort to change the perceptions
of Women’s wrestling.
Cena v Owens was devoid of psychology. It was a series of moves
interspaced with the burial of finishers. This was ROH or TNA 10 years
ago. We’ve moved on.
The phycology of the main event on the other hand was perfect. Brock
throws Rollins around, Rollins starts targeting the leg to slow the
big man down. The finish diminished Brock’s position as the companies
biggest star, it took away his heat and once the Undertaker jobs at
Summerslam, what exactly will be achieved? And where does this leave
Rollins? In a title v title match against Cena?
M B Mehdi, England
Hey Dave,
Thumbs down, like Tna PPV bad
Best Match: Divas Match
Worst Match: Owens/Cena (will explain why)
Barrett/R Truth- The less said the better.
Orton/Sheamus- Solid opener. No surprise the hometown crowd was behind Orton, and the boo/yea sequences were pretty entertaining.
New Day/PTP- Another solid match. Xavier Woods is very entertaining outside of the ring. I have to give props to the New Day for going from a defunct gimmick to being one of the most over acts on the roster.
Wyatt/Reigns- No complaints here either. Physical bout, and for right now the right guy went over. I enjoyed when Wyatt pandered to the crowd, it blows my mind how they’ve completely misused him.
Divas match- Best divas match on a WWE main card event in a long, long time. Although Charlotte won, this really was a showcase for Sasha Banks. My GOD did Brie look out of place in this match. She got a lot of heat, but not good heat. More you’re annoying, stay out of the way heat.
Let the ranting begin.
Owens/Cena III- As far as the match went, it was the worst of the three with easily the worst finish. Can someone explain to me how Owens TAPPING OUT in the middle ring does him ANY GOOD??!!
This is not a knock on Cena, cause quite frankly he’s done his best work this year. This had Vince all over it. Who gives a rat’s ass what Owens looks like, he’s one of the IF NOT THE BEST HEEL ON THE ROSTER. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but they protected Rusev better than this. The only way they rehab Owens after this is if they do a submission match at Summerslam (Austin/Bret style not cartoonish I quit with mic style) and Owens does to Cena what no one in the WWe has been able to do since Kurt Angle back in Feb 2004…make Cena actually give up.
Now they wonder why when the big events come they constantly go to the well for the over the hill part-timers…BECAUSE THEY KEEP JOBBING OUT THE UP AND COMERS.
Main Event- Speaking of over the hill…I mean the match was fine. But who in their right mind wants to see Lesnar/Taker? They in the span of one night killed the heat of two of their biggest stars.
Where does Rollins go from here?
Shame, Summerslam is in my hometown (Barclays is a 10 minute train ride) and I’m looking forward to takeover a lot more than summerslam right now. Oh well, let’s see in 5 weeks. Will send notes next month from attending.
Alexander Cerrano
Thumbs Up
Best Match: Cena/Owens
Worst Match: Prime Time Players/New Day
Orton/Sheamus: Really good match here. The hometown Orton crowd certainly helped and the wrestlers responded. Both of these guys generally give you a good effort, but they usually only reach a certain level. This went above that usual level. Good drama towards the end and the right guy won.
Prime Time Players/New Day: Fun match but definitely well below what we’ve seen from the tag division over the last couple of years from teams like the Usos, Harper & Rowan, and Kidd & Cesaro. Xavier’s commnetary on the outside of the ring was hilarious and my favorite part of the match. Still think the belts go back on New Day sooner than later. Well, just as long as Titus doesn’t win any more awards.
Wyatt/Reigns: This feud lost me early on, but the wrestlers got me into the match. A little slow at times, but hard-hitting and very entertaining overall. Reigns continues to string together good match after good match. The character and promo questions are still there, but the guy can work. Definitely the best Bray in a while. It felt like he mattered again. Good use of Harper. A waste to have him on the sidelines.
Charlotte/Sasha/Brie: Good effort overall and fun throughout. The Sasha/Charlotte dynamic from NXT to the main roster can give you headache, but that didn’t take away from the match too much. And unfortunately that’s been the norm for the Divas from a character standpoint for a while. Whether the NXT women are having the impact they could have is still a question, but it’s still much better than anything the Divas have done in a long time. Man, I hate that name “Divas.”
Cena/Owens: What can you say? Another great match. Even the Canadian Destroyer didn’t look awkward this time. I wish the matches had been spread out some more, and I wish the other guy would have won, but I still go home happy. It probably isn’t over, anyway. Perhaps Cena/Owens/Cesaro/Rusev at Summerslam, and Owens leaves with the belt then?
Rollins/Lesnar: Good while it lasted. This answered the “why does the guy wait so long to interfere?” question we usually have. And with Brock being so dominant, Taker coming in early made sense. I’m fine with this. Brock couldn’t get the belt back already. And it’s Undertaker, a legend, and still the most over guy in the company (which isn’t necessarily a good thing). Plus I didn’t want to see Taker’s career end with another year off and one more match. This should be the sendoff he deserves and that will draw money. I would have liked Brock to put up more of a fight, and an actual finish to the match (or announcement, at least), but a hot ending nevertheless. Very excited for tonight’s Raw, so it worked for me.
Jeffrey Kleinberg
Massachusetts
Hi Dave,
Thumbs up.
Best match: Rollins vs Lesnar
Worst match: Brie vs Charlotte vs Sasha
Thought every match was good to great, but the Divas match felt a bit clumsy. A lot of people will look to Brie’s involvement as the reason, but I don’t think the booking helped, as she was always the ‘odd one out’. Had she had more time one-on-one with either Charlotte or Sasha, she would have been fine. Sasha was undoubtedly the star of the match, though.
The finish obviously hurts the Lesnar/Rollins match, but they told a story and executed everything perfectly.
Big irritation for me is these Cena/Owens matches, which I feel are greatly overrated. Spot, near fall, rest, spot, near fall, rest, repeat … it becomes very dull watching they don’t actually build any heat for the finish. We’re just waiting for the one move that will finally end the match. The crowd heat was generated by who the fans wanted to win, which they had decided before the bell. During the match, they did nothing to generate any interest, other than, as I say, performing a big spot (some looking very contrived) leading to a near fall.
In terms of storytelling, I thought Sheamus/Orton and the tag title match put the Cena/Owens match to shame.
Thanks,
Nick Draper
Wimbledon, England
Slight thumbs down
Best match: Tanahashi/Ibushi
Worst match: Naito/Fale
Well, this was the opposite of what I expected to send in, in terms of the thumbs down. I expected that I’d at least give this show a slight thumbs up. When the 19 shows were announced, and then they announced that they were splitting the blocks up and giving each their own shows, this is what I was afraid of. Splitting the shows creating a lack of depth on the card that leads to ultimately disappointing shows. There’s really nothing remarkable about this show other than the main event being a very good match and Shibata vs. AJ being a complete disappointment. The six man with Elgin was good, I enjoyed seeing Elgin break out the old Rick Steiner powerslam and German suplex in this match. Whether or not he did that as a tribute to the Dogfaced Gremlin, who really knows but it was cool to see.
Tanahashi/Ibushi had a really hot finishing stretch, Ibushi’s second rope German looked incredible here. Not really sure what happened with Shibata and AJ. It wasn’t the injury, or even that Shibata lost the match (I expected him to). The way the whole match played out was very flat and just didn’t click with me which is sad because that was the match I was most looking forward to from this show.
Ricky Schmidt
Thumbs up, as they are for pretty much every New Japan show.
Best Match: Tanahashi vs Ibushi
Worst Match: Goto & CNJ vs Takahashi & Hall
1) 10-Man Opener: Exactly what you’d expect, was a notch above most opening tags but went too long. (**3/4)
2) Hirooki Goto & Captain New Japan vs Yujiro Takahashi & Cody Hall: Hall is so green. He starts beating on Captain but runs out of moves and tags out. Goto was the highlight despite not doing much. Not worth my time. (**)
3) Shinsuke Nakamura & ‘Loose Explosion’ YOSHI-HASHI vs Karl Anderson & ‘Bad Boy’ Tama Tonga: Decent action, but these tags to start G1 shows are going to be so draining by the end of it. (**3/4)
4) Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii & Gedo vs Michael Elgin, Satoshi Kojima & Ryusuke Taguchi: Ishii and Kojima are so awesome, and Elgin looked good here. Builds next day of matches nicely. (***)
5) A Block: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs Doc Gallows: Who thought this was a good way to open G1?!? Slow Tenzan, bad Gallows (name ONE good Gallows match in New Japan) and just an uninspiring way to start the tournament. (**1/4)
6) A Block: Togi Makabe vs Toru Yano: I actually enjoyed this for what it was. Believable near-falls, which is all you can ask for from Yano. (**3/4)
7) A Block: Tetsuya Naito vs Bad Luck Fale: The match of mixed opinions – I was in the middle. Naito was good but Fale wasn’t the best opponent for him to introduce his new persona. If the goal was to get Naito over as slow and lazy, they failed because Fale was slower and lazier. (**1/2)
8) A Block: AJ Styles vs Katsuyori Shibata: Beautiful, beautiful match that was too short to be on the level of some of last year’s matches. Great action from start to finish. (****)
9) A Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kota Ibushi: This was the match the show needed at this point. This could have headlined the finals, or any show in the world. It seems the debate with these New Japan main events is whether they are match of the year level, and in my opinion this absolutely is on that level. Ibushi is electric and there is nobody better in big matches than Tanahashi. Amazing to see after months with Yano how much the fans ADORE him. They really have something special. (****3/4)
Overall a great show, but some guys seemed tired and unmotivated. The tags have potential to be a positive impact on the show, but they failed to deliver tonight as there was too much generic stuff and Cody Hall. The first three G1 matches were disappointing to some extent, but you can’t give a show with a final two matches like that anything lower than a thumbs up. Looking forward to the next 18 shows.
Brian Jackson
Thumbs in the middle
Best Match : Tanahashi/Ibushi
Worst Match : Hirooki Goto & Captain New Japan / Cody Hall & Yujiro Takahashi
Last two matches saved the show. Tanahashi/Ibushi was a legit MOTYC and could have been even better had Ibushi remembered to sell the leg Tanahashi was working on since the start of the match. Really super performance from Tanahashi with him pulling all the stops including the best sling blade i’ve ever seen spiking Ibushi right on his head. Styles/Shibata was excellent but was way too short. It looks like Shibata isn’t 100% and they had to scale down the moves, but still it was great with counters and stiff looking kicks/forearms/suplexes. Other block matches were ok. Tenzan/Gallows was ok for what it was. Naito/Fale was very sloppy but Naito did try his best to try drag Fale through. Yano/Makabe was fun for a short match with few roll-ups which i could have bought as match enders. Tag matches were ok, nothing great. Usual run of mill stuff
Siva Punisamy