wrestling / Columns
Watry’s WWE Super Show-Down Review
No introduction. Let’s do this.
Backstory
This is my WWE Super Showdown review from this past Saturday morning. I was actually in Wisconsin Dells over the weekend, so my chance to watch didn’t actually come until Monday night. To those of you who whine and cry about spoilers hurting things in 2018 and it being impossible to avoid, no. I did it. Went to the Dells all weekend, stayed off anything wrestling recently and got to enjoy the event spoiler free days later. It can be done folks. Next week will be my monthly READER FEEDBACK column from September…
WWE Super Showdown
– Was there a Kickoff Show? No clue. I only watched the four hour event from Australia. Right off the bat, amazing scene. Awesome pyro and great introduction. Nobody in entertainment does a ‘spectacle’ quite like WWE. Nobody.
– Nice way to start things off: The Bar taking on The New Day for the Smackdown LIVE Tag Team Championship! Yay! Or no…hard to get excited for anything including a predictable tag victory for Yester Day. Might as well get that junk over with early. No complaints.
– Charlotte using her rematch clause for the Smackdown LIVE Womens Championship was always going to be on second or third. The reason I say that is because this had funky finish written all over it. I would have gone with a count out, but the DQ works too. Fits into the WWE Title story line as well. Becky is too good as champ right now, and it makes little sense to keep having The Woooomen in WWE lose so may times. The cheap end is fine. There is more to come.
– Am I the only person who smiles when John Cena comes to the ring these days? The dude is so freakin’ under rated in his career and now that he is a special attraction there is a different aura when he steps into the squared circle. I beliebe he makes the Mount Rushmore Of Wrestling. I also believe his full-time days are done. It is indeed special and unique anytime he wrestles. I still enjoy the entance, the goofy grin, the usual moveset, the wins, the whatever. John Cena is the man. Good job having that rub off on Bobby Lashley. WWE has paired him up with Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Jinder Mahal, Roman Reigns, and now John Cena. Heck, you could even add in Brock Lesnar a little. Don’t tell me the company isn’t trying with him (and Lio Rush included as of late). Easy win over Elias and Kevin Owens who had an incredible segment last week on Raw. SuperSonics 4 LIFE BROTHER!
– Cool moment for The IIconics winning in Australia. Yeah, it was *just* a pointless tag bout but still. Beating Naomi and Asuka is an upset in my book. Since there is not much to say about the actual match, I will say this. It’s a darn shame that The IIconics and Asuka are doing all of nothing right now. This ‘feud’ is my definition of nothing, for the record. Naomi? Eh, never got it. Asuka losing at WrestleMania 34 is NOT what I would have done, but I get it. Since then, I don’t get it. We certainl did not need that waste of a Carmella title run, and we certainly do not need to see Asuka fooling around with Naomi. The IIconics deserve more of a spotlight also. Sorry for the quick rant. Not good.
– AJ Styles over Samoa Joe to retain the WWE Championship. Fine match. I am sure this story line will continue. In my mind though, time to move on. AJ will retain regardless, and the whole family thing has not helped television ratings one bit. In fact, they have HURT them. The blue brand could use a nice shake up. Hopefully, that happens at the 1,000th show next week. if I were WWE, I would have a major event planned that plants seeds for future weeks. Almost like a mystery or whodunit. Get some buzz going again. FOX is only one year away folks…
– Rowdy Ronda Rousey and The Bella Twins wiped the floor with The Riott Squad. Rousey is great, so I have no bad words to say about her. The Riott Squad never stood a chance anyways. Filler stuff. Since I avoided the topic last week, here are my quick thoughts on the Brie/Liv Morgan controversy. I am not going to ‘hate’ on either Bella. I said two weeks ago they were rightfully called legends in the women’s division, and I still stand by that. On the opposite spectrum, Liv is VERY inexperienced, and it is no secret she is still learning out there. My two cents on the kicks incident from RAW: I believe Brie has shown some rust since returning and may need to work on stuff a little bit more. Maybe just slow down for a second. At the same time, it is beyond ludicrous for me to pretend to know the ins and outs of being a professional wrestler. Thus, my critique only means so much. As for Liv, she did indeed put her head down and lean into the devastating strike that caused the concussion. A simple misuce that sadly resulted in a brutal scene. Daniel Bryan confessed to recently doing something similar but since he is an internet darling, he will be excused. Owen Hart, the man that many want in the WWE Hall Of Fame, nearly paralyzed Stone Cold Steve Austin aftre being specifically told not to do something…and then doing it. Seth Rollins? One of the best in the industry today was (falsely) labeled as reckless three years ago. I could go on forever. It happens. If it KEEPS happening, okay. Until then, it was an errant kick tbat Rob Van Dam did to his opponents on a nightly basis during his career.
– Same with the IIconics, it must have been an emotional moment for Buddy Murphy to win the Cruiserweight Title at Supe Showdown. Personally, I don’t care about 205 Live or any of this, so cool?
– Loved the brawl with The Shield and The Pack Of Wolves. That is my name for them at least. Good stuff. Hard hitting and intriguing all the way to the final sequence. I admit; I thought this was building to a Dean Ambrose heel turn and actually still do. Not convinced all of this reverse BS is not being used as mind tricks to swerve the audience. We shall see. Either way, I thought The Shield would win, and they did. Next chapter with those three will be something to keep an eye on.
– Obviously, I am disappointed in Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz being so short. Anti-climatic. Too fast. No fun at all. Figured we were headed towards a Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles battle at some point. Very shocked it is happening at WWE Crown Jewel. Feels out of nowhere and almost like a one off that won’t lead to anything in the aftermath. The Miz could/should interfere and get his D-Bry feud back on fire as it was a few weeks ago.
– Last. Time. Ever. When Triple H vs. The Undertaker was initially announced, I thought it was awesome but surely would be used as a spectacle. Kinda like John Cena vs. Triple H at The Greatest Royal Rumble Event in April. Two big names dueling but no real story or reasoning. Then the feud began to be featured on television…and I still was not entirely hooked. Then it got personal! I got suckered into the hype and began getting goosebumps every time the “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie” promo would air. All the talk of Shawn Michaels and Kane returning was pretty much a side story, so that was just the icing on the cake. What we saw on Saturday morning was…interesting. The final clash was worthy of the build in front of the 70,000 fans on WWE Network. I just don’t know about this DX vs. Brothers Of Destruction thing. Like many, I believe HBK is the greatest ever. Seeing him wrestle in 2018 is not even close to what I had envisioned in March 2010. I am sure WWE will win me over with this by the time he does return (if he does). Still though, just puts a weird awkward mark on the respectful handshakes in the post-match segment and attack afterwards.
SUMMARY: Finally got a title change on one of these WWE Network international specials. Good show. Not sure it will be remembered for much, outside of the John Cena cameo and Last Time Ever main event.
Cheap Plugs
Nodq.com
@JustinWatry
Thanks.
