Sunday 17 June 2018

WWE Money in the Bank 2018 Preview

Money in the bank 2018 official poster.jpg

WWE Money in the Bank 2018 will be taking place this evening at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. After the terrible event that was Backlash, I'm worried about this event, especially as it's following TakeOver the night before. The Money in the Bank ladder matches looks good tho, so let's take a look at the card.

The Bludgeon Brothers vs Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson 
Smackdown Tag Team Championship
The match on the Kick Off Show looks like it could be a decent one. I'm going for The Bludgeons to win.
Predicted Winners: The Bludgeon Brothers

Daniel Bryan vs Big Cass
Their match at Backlash wasn't great so hopefully this one will be better. I'm going for Cass to win.
Predicted Winner: Big Cass

Bobby Lashley vs Sami Zayn
I like Zayn but I don't really care about this match, especially as the reason for this feud makes no sense. Er..fuck, Lashley to win, I suppose.

Predicted Winner: Bobby Lashley

Roman Reigns vs Jinder Mahal
Hopefully this will not be the main event and I think that Reigns will win.
Predicted Winner: Roman Reigns

Carmella vs Asuka
Smackdown Women's Championship
Unless Carmella has some help, I think that Asuka will destroy her
Predicted Winner: Asuka

Nia Jax vs Ronda Rousey
RAW Women's Championship
This is surprisingly a tough one to call. I can see Nia winning as I think it's way too soon for Ronda to be Champion. However, Ronda will probably win.
Predicted Winner: Ronda Rousey

Seth Rollins vs Elias
Intercontinental Championship
Seth is the man right now and I think he'll retain.
Predicted Winner: Seth Rollins

Ember Moon vs Charlotte Flair vs Alexa Bliss vs Becky Lynch vs Lana vs Naomi vs Sasha Banks
Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match
This should be a good contest. I can see most of them winning but I'm going for Ember Moon to win.
Predicted Winner: Ember Moon

Braun Strowman vs Finn Balor vs Hollywood Miz vs Rusev vs Bobby Roode vs Kevin Owens vs Samoa Joe vs One of The New Day
This is a hard one to call. I would like to see them use this as the vehicle to break up The New Day. I like the team but I feel that they're ready to go on to bigger things. Anyway, this might be from left field but I'm going for Samoa Joe to win.
Predicted Winner: Samoa Joe

AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura
Last Man Standing for the WWE Championship
I am worried about this match and I shouldn't as Styles and Nakamura are awesome. I think that Nakamura will win although, if they end this in a draw by dick punch, I will lose my shit like this:

My favorite table flip gif

Anyway, it will be a while before I review this. A combination of work, moving house and struggling to watch and then type some terrible wrestling has led to this at the moment. Hopefully, it will be better than the last event. Although, to be honest, that won't be too hard.

Saturday 16 June 2018

NXT TakeOver Chicago II Preview

NXT Chicago 2018.jpg



NXT TakeOver Chicago will be taking place this evening at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. I'm a bit behind on NXT so I don't really know all that is happening. However, after looking at the card, it looks like it will be a good event. So, let's take a look.

Shayna Baszler vs Nikki Cross
NXT Women's Championship
This should be a good match as Nikki is awesome and is shown to take some serious bumps. I would love her to win but I think that Shayna will win and then Nikki can join SaNitY on Smackdown.
Predicted Winner: Shanyna Baszler

The Undisputed Era vs Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch
NXT Tag Team Championship
It seems a little weird seeing Roderick Strong as a heel, especially after seeing those WWE videos about him last year. However, it has fun to watch. I can't see him and Kyle O'Reilly losing this one.
Predicted Winners: The Undisputed Era

Ricochet vs Velveteen Dream
This has a strong possibility to not only be the match of the night but one of the matches of the year. It's a really tough one but I'm going for The Dream to win here.
Predicted Winner: Velveteen Dream

Johnny Gargano vs Tommaso Ciampia
Chicago Street Fight
Like their match in New Orleans, this should be another enthralling contest. It's another tough one to call but I think they will continue this feud for a little longer do I'm going for Ciampia to win.
Predicted Winner: Tommaso Ciampia

Aliester Black vs Lars Sullivan
NXT Championship
To be honest, whilst I love Sullivan, I never thought he will get the opportunity to become NXT Champion. I think that he and Black will have a good match and I'm going for Black to retain here.
Predicted Winner: Aliester Black

It will be several days before I watch this and publish the review so until then, I hope you guys enjoy the show.

WWE Backlash 2018 Review

WWE Backlash took place at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on Sunday 6th May. It's been a busy month with Wrestlemania taking place followed by The Greatest Royal Rumble the week before. It's been a mixed bag so will Backlash be an improvement? Let's take a look.

The match on the Kick Off Show was Bayley taking on Ruby Riott. Riott hits a brutal right hand, giving her the advantage. Riott's friends, Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan, help Riott out with keeping Bayley down. Bayely hits a springboard crossbody to start her comeback. Bayley comes close with an elbow drop. However, a distraction by Liv Morgan gives Riott to hit the Riott Kick and get the win. This was a pretty good match between the two.
Winner: Ruby Riott (1 for 1)

The first match of the show was Hollywood Miz challenging Seth Rollins for the Intercontinental Championship. Miz sends Rollins crashing onto the floor to get the advantage. Rollins stops the momentum with a X-Factor. Miz goes on to hit 2 Skull Crushing Finales but it's not enough. In the end, Rollins manages to hit the Blackout to get the win. This match was really good and a great way to start the show.
Winner: Seth Rollins (2 for 2)

The next match is for the RAW Women's Championship as Alexa Bliss challenging Nia Jax for the RAW Women's Championship. Bliss goes after Nia at the beginning but Nia starts to use her strength to dominate the match. Even though Alexa gets some offense in, Nia gets the win after hitting a Samoan Drop. This match was decent but it felt like they copied bits of it from their Wrestlemania match.
Winner: Nia Jax (3 for 3)

Our third Championship match is Randy Orton challenging Jeff Hardy for the United States Championship. Hardy goes for the Twist of Fate early on but Orton stops it and goes on to get the advantage after drop kicking him off the apron. The match goes back and forth before Orton goes for the RKO. However, Hardy gets out of it and hits a Twist of Fate followed by a Swanton Bomb to get the win. I thought the match was pretty good.
Winner: Jeff Hardy (3 for 4)

Next is a concert by Elias but he gets interrupted by The New Day then Aiden English and Rusev and then No Way Jose with Titus Worldwide and Breezango. Holy shit. Elias gets interrupted for a 4th time when Bobby Roode appears out of thin air and hits Elias with a Glorious DDT. I felt that the segment was far too long and pointless.

Anyway, back to the wrestling. The next match is Daniel Bryan taking on Big Cass. Bryan uses his speed to go right after Cass. However, Cass hits a spine buster and then keeps Bryan down with punches and slaps. Bryan avoids a big boot and manages to get Cass to submit to Yes Lock to get the win. Afterwards, Cass beats up Bryan. I can't believe I'm saying this for a Daniel Bryan match but it wasn't very good. Big Cass just did moves that were very basic and the ending seem to come out of nowhere.
Winner: Daniel Bryan (4 for 5)

 Our next Championship match is Charlotte Flair challenging Carmella for the Smackdown Women's Championship. After Charlotte is dominant at the beginning, Carmella manages to hit a brutal kick to the head then slows the match down with a chinlock. Charlotte gets back into it with multiple Flair chops. However, in the end, Carmella takes advantage of Charlotte injuring her knee while attempting a moonsault to kick the knee then fold her in half to get the win. Like the last one, this match wasn't great. Plus it seemed weird that Carmella won clean.
Winner: Carmella (5 for 6)

Next is a no disqualification match between Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles  for the WWE Championship. They spend the first portion of the match throwing each other into the barrier  and the steel steps. The match goes back and forth before Nakamura remembers that it's a no disqualification match and sends Styles onto a chair with a reverse exploder suplex. Later on, Nakamura gives Styles his usual low blow but Styles returns the favour. In the end, Styles and Nakamura kick each other in the balls and the match ends in a no contest. This match was pretty shit and the definitely the worst of the three they have had so far. As for the ending, that was fucking abysmal.
Winner: No Contest ( 5 for 7)

The penultimate match is Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens taking on Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley. Owens and Zayn manage to wear down Lashley but Strowman gets tagged in and completely destroys Owens and Zayn. In the end, Owens and Zayn turn on each other and Lashley pins Owens after hitting a vertical suplex...? Since when has that been a finishing move? Anyway, Strowman and Lashley, who are the faces by the way, beat up on Owens and Zayn some more. The match was well...meh.
Winners: Bobby Lashley and Braun Strowman (6 for 8)

The main event is Roman Reigns versus Samoa Joe...? Oh, for fuck's sake. Anyway, Joe attacks Reigns before the bell, which ends with him sending Reigns all over the announce tables. When the referee manages to get them in the ring and ring the bell, Joe continues to be dominant. Eventually, Reigns manages to recover. Joe goes for a muscle buster but Reigns stops it and hits a Spear to get the win. The match was quite good but it shouldn't have been the main event.
Winner: Roman Reigns (7 for 9)

I thought that Backlash started well then it came very close to being called up as evidence against WWE for Crimes Against Wrestling. Holy shit, some of the matches seemed weird and some of the endings are complete atrocities. Money in the Bank is next and, with the expection of the ladder matches, I'm seriously worried about the event.