GLITTER & SLAM #2 - Back From HELL.

In this edition of Glitter and Slam we're going to reflect on Charlotte's and Sasha Banks' groundbreaking Hell in a Cell match and touch on the future implications.

This match was like a flawed, but favorite movie one has on the Blu–ray shelf. There may be a couple nagging plot holes, some visual flubs or special effects shots here and there that didn't quite work. Perhaps there were some narrative bumps in the road, but the action was compelling, the casting right on and the characters resonated with the viewer. The ending may have been unconventional, abrupt and not the happy resolution the audience was looking for. Despite of that, the tale sticks in the mind after the ending credits roll. That was Charlotte's victory over Sasha Banks in Hell in a Cell.

(Source: WWE.com)

In my preview I cited the lack of a compelling personal grudge to warrant Sasha's need for their rematch to go down in WWE's most violent structure. The fodder was there, but creative didn't run with it enough. The competitors made up for lost time, however as the cage lowered. Hype and pressure grew exponentially throughout the week. Not only were they the first women ever in the Devil's Playground, they also were the first women to headline a WWE main roster pay-per-view. After the traditional pomp and circumstance of their entrances, the look in their eyes as the cell lowered around them set the tone. It finally hit Sasha Banks and Charlotte what they got into. Then the challenger attacked and Sasha hit the floor before the steel links from above did.

(Source: WWE.com)

They scored points for the pre–match tussle, going into the crowd slugging out with anger worthy of the match. The back-and-forth culminated in Charlotte power bombing The Boss into the announce table the champ set up herself for dishing out some pain.

(Did Sasha leap to her feet compelled to retain her title, or was it the realization she was about to leave with the worst EMT's in the history of the profession? Source: WWE.com)

The clever beginning was almost derailed when the fake EMT's somehow managed to get cables enmeshed in a hard collar around Sasha's neck. They were already treading a thin line with putting Sasha on the stretcher, emulating Mick Foley's condition after his infamous tumble from the Cell roof in 1998.

Luckily a knack for the details from Sasha, who got up at the last second before forfeiting her title due to injury, made the crowd and most viewers forget this god-awful flub as she painfully got into the ring, radiating a win-or-die attitude and the match finally began.

(Sasha Banks let the people see her agony--and her will to win as Charlotte relentlessly brought the pain. Source: WWE.com)

They used the cage, the ring posts, chairs. For every bit of fight Sasha had, Charlotte countered. Reminiscent of the Nature Boy, Charlotte shifted gears from cowardice begging for the cage to be unlocked to her trademark sadism, mercilessly attacking Sasha's lower back, twisting her around a ring post. Yet the champion valiantly fought back. Both showed no fear in using the chain link walls.

Occasionally the bumps appeared mistimed, but both sold the other's offense well. Sasha in particular got the crowd deeper into the palm of her hand, snapping like a ragdoll and arching in pain as Charlotte's explosive attacks continued. Also, in recent memory, I can't recall two wrestlers getting so much mileage out of one steel chair. The dents in it after Sasha came down on her back yet again lent the required amount of seriousness to the proceedings. Then The Boss was able to fight out of a figure eight leg lock folding the chair up and hitting Charlotte with it, before the tables came out.

(If that chair could talk, it would have said "dear god make it stop!" Source: WWE.com)

At the start, the announce table that Sasha was power bombed through from the cage wall seemed to collapse as most do in WWE's high spots outside the ring. The other two didn't break, although Charlotte sold her agony well enough getting dumped on one outside the ring. Had the attention to the little details and storytelling been not up to par this could have been highly embarrassing, but this kept the match from being as great as other contests either woman had in the past.

(Yep. Same chair. Source: WWE.com)

This is a mistake WWE will have to learn from as they didn't take into account, apparently, that these women don't weigh that much compared to their male counterparts. Taking into account that listed weights online are mostly bullshit, Charlotte probably weighs as much as some of the smallest cruiserweight men and it’s unlikely Sasha tips the scale much beyond 130 pounds. Either the wrestlers need to make sure the bumps into the tables are airborne high spots or the props themselves need to be prepared with their bodies in mind to begin with.

(Charlotte's eyes gave the impression she knew it was then or maybe never, getting the opportunistic victory. Source: WWE Network)

In the end, after The Boss's back couldn't take lifting Charlotte for a power bomb, The Queen seized the opportunity and stunned the crowd, earning her third crown hitting Natural Selection for the win. This was a bold move for WWE booking, as they have tended to go for happy, if predictable baby face resolutions to close story arcs much of this decade in World Title matches – especially in a superstar's listed hometown.

Speculation comes to mind about how much Vince McMahon trusts Sasha's back, or if the safe choice of the Flair name was the reason. If one looks a little deeper, this coda took a page from a great past rivalry.

(Ricky Steamboat took the NWA world title from Ric Flair to kick off a trilogy of matches that many--including this author--consider the best of all time. Source: Pro Wrestling Illustrated)

With the exception of the title change at Summerslam, their feud's arc mirrors that of Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat in 1989. Steamboat won the title, fought off the Nature Boy in a rematch, before losing to Flair in the last bout. This trilogy has always been considered must watch viewing for the expert storytelling, technical wrestling, personal heat, and the relentless will to win from both men. Charlotte and Sasha aren't up to this level of expertise yet, as they haven't been wrestling each other for over a decade like Steamboat and Flair had when their feud played out.

The chemistry is there and in time it is not unreasonable to expect timing and skill will catch up to their ability to spin the compelling narrative. In the end, like Ricky Steamboat, Sasha Banks was elevated to a whole new level even in defeat, and Charlotte's legacy as the grand supervillain champion continues to build. From here, as always, more challenges await the Cell's participants as well as WWE’s booking and the rest of the women's division.

(An uncharacteristic downer by WWE standards, Charlotte holding the title may be the best option for the foreseeable future. Source: WWE.com)

Since the brand split Raw has a dearth of solid heels for Sasha to go against. Paige is out after another wellness policy violation and neck surgery. Nia Jax is still exceedingly green and given the skittishness the company has over Sasha's back ailments, one wonders how safe a feud between the monster heel and Raw's top baby face could be.

Summer Rae is sidelined with back and elbow injuries and Tamina is still recovering from knee surgery.

Emma is healthy again, but her comeback appears to be a baby face run. That leaves Alicia Fox, who has not been seen, let alone built up, on Monday nights.

Dana Brooke is relevant as Charlotte's answer to Ted DiBiase's bodyguard Virgil and was brought up to the main roster before she could develop the skills to meet the bar set in WWE's women's division. She isn't ready for a major feud with Sasha, or a title shot, yet and may not be for a long time to come.

Bayley remains as the only other baby face option – and poised to become a mega–baby face – she's the alternative to Sasha down the line for a feud with the heel champion Charlotte. In fact, taking the long view, having Bayley as the one to finally bring down the sadistic Queen at WrestleMania may be the smart business move.

Reaching one summit almost always brings new challenges and they are indeed there for a thin women's roster on Raw with injuries and underdevelopment for some, but Hell in a Cell accomplished its mission. The women prove they belong there, that they can main event a smaller pay-per-view on occasion and sometimes there can be real beauty in violence.

(It is a tough way to go out for The Boss, but due to a thin roster, challengers for Raw's beloved baby face would probably make for lackluster feuds leading into WrestleMania.  Source: WWE.com)

Next time, Glitter and Slam will take a look at Survivor Series and how some of the roster issues in the wake of Hell in a Cell for both brands will affect the first ever women's Survivor Series match between Teams Raw and Smackdown Live.

SD LIVE 200 - 111/2016

Ever since the BRAND SPLIT I have been preaching the Goodness that is Smackdown LIVE.

However, this past Tuesday it seems that USA Network ran a rerun of an Episode of RAW I have never seen in the Smackdown timeslot.

The Spirit Squad? The Head Bangers? WTF? Why? Retro night?

Are the Spirit Squad actually signed to contracts?

Bad enough they were both on SD LIVE, but both teams were fighting for a chance to be on the Smackdown Survivor Series Team? Does anyone believe that? Does anyone believe they stood a chance? What a waste.

Alexa Bliss actually looked good, getting a pin on Becky in a tag team match. Next week it is finally their one-on-one Title Match, I expect Becky to win.

There were two big stories coming out of SD LIVE, and neither of them were about the Survivor Series Team.

Yes, Miz TV was a nice bit, with Daniel Bryan and Miz going at it again. Bryan announced the team of Baron Corbin, Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose and AJ Styles. Good Team.

No, the big stories were this:

Randy Orton has joined the Wyatt Family? Why? Is this an attempt to finally legitimize the Wyatt Family? Or, more likely, mind games by Randy in this feud? Either way, Randy looked terrible against Kane in their match. He looked slow, awkward and uninterested. I wonder what was up, or is this style his gimmick with the Wyatts?

The second big story was Dean Ambrose getting another shot at AJ Styles, and this time succeeding. He pinned AJ – with distraction help from Ellsworth – and received another title shot. However, Ellsworth was banned from ringside by Bryan, so will there be fallout from this?

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Overall this was the weakest episode of SD LIVE since the Brand Split. It was RAW worthy.

RATING: 5.5

AWF Presents . . . The Elimination

I didn’t write a commentary on last month’s show. I just didn’t make the time. On that show there were two major angles that lead into The Elimination:

• The First was then AWF AZ State Champion Alexander Hammerstone hitting AWF Owner Jared with a chair. This forced a suspension and Hammerstone was stripped of the State Title.

• Next perennial favorite R3 won the four-way main event to claim the AWF World Title.

That was a decent show but, even with these two massive events, lagged behind Summer Explosion.

This past event (10/22/2016), The Elimination, was a much better show, almost on par with Summer Explosion.

The Elimination saw all three AWF Titles on the line, a number #1 contender’s match and what turned out to be an epic tag match.

Jakob Austin Young (JAY) versus Ju Dizz
JAY, excuse me (NOT) Justin Bieber, is an AWF vet. Ju Dizz made his AWF debut on this night. And what a debut. JAY (despite being the guy everyone loves to hate) can go in the ring, but on this night he meet a cyclone named Ju Dizz who outclassed JAY, out entertained JAY and well . . . out JAYed, JAY for the victory.

This was actually a very good opening match. I’d like to see these guys match up again.

Mason and Jax versus Super Nicktendo (Nicktendo and Super Chaos)

“and what turned out to be an epic tag match,” this is the match I referenced above. Mason and Jax are the heel team everyone hates, and don’t ask me which one is which. Super Nicktendo is the face team (yes that is their name).

Mason and Jax put on a solid showing as the heels, Chaos always delivered, but the star here was Nicktendo. I haven’t been that big on Nick since his debuted last year, but there is no denying that this was his best match period.

He not only shined in this match, he almost stole the night. Mason and Jax hurt Chaos early in the match, leading to Chaos being taken to the back by refs. Nick continued the match by himself. He took massive punishment, dished out some himself and never gave up. He almost won the match by himself a number of times.

In the end Chaos would return and Super Nicktendo would win the match.

Afterwards, Mason and Jax (sore losers) would destroy Nick and Chaos leading to the ref ejecting them from the building! The building! Awesome angle.

This was an epic match.

#1 Contender’s Match: Big Duke versus ‘The Fifty Year Storm’ Mike Camden

Big Duke has contended for, and lost, the AWF Title. This was Camden’s biggest match since his AWF debut a few months ago. This was a rather brutal and sometimes ugly affair, and Camden outlast, and out wrestled Duke to the Victory.

Good Match overall, Duke’s Best, but Camden is the New Number 1 Contender for the Title.

AWF Tag Team Championship: SouthWest Dream Team versus THE WHIRLWIND GENTLEMEN

I was very broken hearted in this match. I LOVE the Southwest Dream Team. But there opponents were the freaking WHIRLWIND GENTLEMEN! My favorite tag team in the industry today. I want to apologize to Awesome Andy and Danny Gee for not cheering for them in this match (that’s a first). But I also want to thank them, for they and the Whirlwind Gentlemen put on what might be the best tag tem match I have seen this year.

Remy Marcel and Awesome Andy tore it down when in the ring together in great displays of wrestling and athleticism. This was an emotional, passion filled match with two fired up teams that saw Andy gain the pin with a classic wrestling move.
After the match was a classic moment, the champs called The Gentlemen back into the ring, raised their hands and all four received a standing ovation . . .

Match of the night. (Plus I got my Whirlwind Gentlemen hat signed!)

Next up The 6-Man Elimination Match to crown the new AWF State Champion.
This match featured LT vs Chris Evans vs Evan Daniels vs Devin Sparks vs Aydan Colt vs ???

Yes, there was a surprise entrant in this match. Shockingly, this match ran the gambit of a brawl, technical wrestling, high flying and . . . something else I am not sure. Devin Sparks bills himself as the American Kaju from Tokyo . . . and apparently in Tokyo they have remote controls that can stop time in wrestling matches.

Either that, or he stole Vince Mc Mahon universal remote (as seen on the Edge and Christian Show). Anyway, when he used the remote, even one in the ring froze in place, even the ref. Only LT was left unfazed, as he was outside the ring, perplexed as what to do.

Once the control was whisked out of the hands of Sparks, the match continued . . .

Eliminations were slow to begin with, but as competitors started to go many in the crowd started to hated, what could happened . . .

Could the surprise entrant win the title? Could this really happened??? Yes!!

This sixth and final entrant became the new AWF State Champion: Spray Boy Roy!

Most people booed, I love it. Spray Boy Roy is a long time AWF guy who’s out in a lot of work, good for him.

Our Main Event of the evening saw a rematch for the AWF Title: R3 defending against Alvaric Reiner.

This was not a pretty match, but it was fun. Hard hitting, very punishing, but the real story was outside the ring. Alvaric’s henchmen, Mason and Jax, weren’t there to help. But honestly, he seemed better with them.

Someone else did come to ring side though . . . Big Duke. He got ahold of Alaric baton, rolled into the ring when the ref was down, went for Alvaric and . . .

New and first ever 2-time AWF Champion Alvaric Reiner! Thanks to Big Duke knocking out R3.

Big Duke looked like he was shocked at what he did, in a Mock fashion. Did he mean to hit R3 all along?

FINAL THOUGHTS:
The AWF delivered again. Better than September’s show, just slightly under their EPIC Summer Explosion show.

We left the show with some major questions:

How long can Spray Boy Roy hold onto the AZ State Title?

What team is next to challenge the Southwest Dream Team?

Why did Big Duke interfere in the title match?

When will Mike Camden get his title match?

Most importantly, who will be the first to feel the wrath of R3?

RATING: 7.5

EXTREME MIDGET WRESTLING

Yes, this is an actual thing. No, I am not making it up. Yes, I unfortunately attended this yet. However I made a new friend that same night, and what an impact she made on this show.

First I really have to mention this: This show may have been truth in Advertising.

They advertising themselves as:

EXTREME MIDGET WRESTLING, Baddest ‘Lil Show on Earth.

Let me break this down into the truth part.

EXTREME: It was Extreme. That is true. Extremely bad. Extremely Terrible. Extreme in bad test. Extremely not safe for family and anyone of the female gender.

MIDGET: There were midgets. Six in total. The whole show is midget run. Two them, Little Nasty and Little Rampage, doubled as wrestlers and MCs. Even the ring was a midget.

WRESTLING: Well, there were at least two wrestling holds I know that were used the entire night: Suplex and the DDT. Other than that, it was nothing. Lame.

Baddest: Correct! Baddest is the best term that can use. This was the Baddest event I have ever attended – of anything. Train wreck would be a compliment.

‘Lil: It was ‘Lil alright. ‘Lil people. ‘Lil entertainment. ‘Lil Value.

Show on earth: Well, it did take place on Earth. That is true.

I have to get this out of the way up front: I was under the impression that this was a legit Midget Wrestling show. So were my friends, Dave and Jamilyn. While the night was still good, this show was complete crap.

Okay, with all that out of the way, I can get down to spewing the real venom.

EXTREME MIDGET WRESTLING
Extremely terrible. The set up was poor, the ring dilapidated and there were only six wrestlers. SIX! This was so bad, they were loading up the gimmick items under the ring while the crowd was taking their seats! Bell time was 7pm and they were still setting up at 7:15pm!

There were only four ’matches’ the entire night. If you want to call them that, I don’t think they qualify. The only extreme moments came from the use of baking pans . . . multiple baking pans. Not one of these guys seemed like they had been trained, except for KING who had some skill.

These matches were actual a terrible sight to behold.

During intermission, they announced that they were doing a photo session with all VIP ticket holders, and that there would be free t-shirts for VIP ticket holders at the end of the show. How nice. Something this simple can’t be screwed up, can it?

Well, I don’t know. Dave’s picture went well. My pic went okay. The pic Jamilyn had taken went great. Very sexy, model like with her head thrown back. She later told us that her head was back because one of the midgets was pulling her hair. Not good.

The second half of this show gave us the one and only highlight of the night. A masked midget came down, started high-fiving those at ringside, then dragged Jamilyn from her chair and literally threw her into the ring.

We had no idea what the fuck was going on. She went with it though, dancing in the ring with the little guy, then made her way back to her seat. He did spill her $18 drink . . .

Yes, my friend being dragged into the ring was the moment of the night, and she got the loudest cheers of the night.


Fortunately the show ended not long after that.

Hey remember the free T-shirt for VIP Ticket holders? Guess what, they screwed that up to. All they had were XXX-Large shirts. Seriously, everyone received a XXX-Large T-shirt. This group couldn’t even get Photo Shoots or T-Shirts right.

The company I was with was good, but the event was the worst event of any kind I very attended.
Oh, and it was worse than one might even think.  Remember the MCs I wrote about above? During the entire show, except for his match, Little Rampage acted as MC and commentator. He gave a running commentary on each match.

Worse than that, he was sexist a jerk and very inappropriate in a myriad of way. He kept making overly sexual comments and kept asking if there was any women in the audience that wanted to get it on with a little guy.

Twice he asked about mothers who wanted to get it on with a little guy, then segued into talking about the children in the audience. Yes, there were families at this show. Just creepy.

In the next room over some Drag Queen event was taking place. Little Rampage mention this a number of times too. It was as if he was either massively homophobic, or thought that he’d have a better chance of getting lucky there.

Sigh.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

This is the only ‘wrestling’ event I have ever been too where an MC was overtly trying to get laid, security was actually called into action for something, the wrestlers legit threatening the crowd and some who WASN’T a plant was dragged into the ring.

RATING: SHIT

PHX Wrestling - STRAIGHT OUTTA PHOENIX

PHX Wrestling is a new promotion in Phoenix, AZ. Much like Lucha Unleashed I haven’t written about their first two shows just because I haven’t. But I will give some thoughts right now.

They held their first show RISE in September, October saw their second show STRAIGHT OUTTA PHOENIX. If you don’t know PHX is short for Phoenix.

The shows have been a mix of local talent, other regional indie talents and some nationally known talent such as The Whirlwind Gentlemen and the Awesome Willie Mack! On the woman’s side we’ve seen Hollidead and Sage Sin live (or dead) in the ring.

RISE was a mixed bag, but entertaining. STRAIGHT OUTTA PHOENIX was better, smoother and close to epic.

Sage Sin has been announced as Woman’s Champion. She won her match on the first card against Brittany Wonder (due to Aydan Colt). Nothing was said at the show that it was for a title, but they list Sage as Champion.

The Whirlwind Gentlemen and Suede Thompson defeated The Keepers of The Faith and Jack Jameson to when the Trios Title at RISE. They defended the titles (with substitutes for Gabriel Gallo and Jack Manley) successfully in a rematch at STRAIGHT OUTTA PHOENIX.

For their main title, they are currently doing multi-event qualifying matches for a tournament in January to crown the Champion.

RISE didn’t start off that smoothly. The VIP part of the show never happened, and the show started late.
VIP is supposed to be a half-hour pre-show for VIP ticket holders with an exclusive match. For RISE Dave and I had VIP tickets, but the pre-show never happened – no match.

The show saved itself with good matches, and Willie Match!

STRAIGHT OUTTA PHOENIX had any problems with RISE worked out. The VIP pre-show actually happened, but we didn’t have VIP tickets this time. If RISE was a mixed bag, STRAIGHT OUTTA PHOENIX was a bag full of goodies. Literally.

Both shows saw a lot of the talent set up at the tables, doing autographs, selling merch, taking pictures, and being awesome. At STRAIGHT OUTTA PHOENIX I literally left with a bag full of swag . . . gladly emptying out my wallet.

Right now, the Indie Wrestling scene in the Valley of the Sun is scorching: AWF on the West Side; PHX on the East side.

One of these days, when time allows, I’ll check out some of other Indies in AZ.

For now, as long as PHX keep going, things should be good. Their next two shows are scheduled for Friday, November 11th and Friday, December 16th.

If you’re in PHX, don’t miss out.

PHX Wrestling: http://phxwrestling.com

Ace Masters

Wrestlementary October EOM

I’m almost wanting to skip writing these EOM’s because they are becoming redundant: Smackdown Good, RAW bad.

Yep.

So, I’ll apologize up front if this piece is weak and/or lame. Just Blame RAW. (

I have a few things I want to cover, so let’s get started.

FITE TV app.

I can’t believe I didn’t know about this before. I especially want WWE only fans to pay close attention to this and do what I say:

GET THE #$%^&*( FITE TV APP NOW! NOW!! NOW!!!

No really, go get the app and come back. I’ll wait. (

Seriously though, any wrestling fans needs to get the FITE TV app. It’s full of indie wrestling goodness. ALL FREE.

Promotions on FITE TV include Ring of Honor, Paragon Pro, FSW, Full Impact and many more.

LUCHA UNDERGROUND

Okay, I haven’t watched any of this season yet. But I will soon, and will make my comments then.

TNA

I’m still behind (yes, I know). The last episode I watched was the Debut of Arron Rex (You know, the guy who’s never had his IQ checked).

I can’t comment on the current state, but I do have some thoughts up to this broadcast.

Bobby Lashley is solid. Eddie Edwards is always good. EC3 is Awesome. Mike Bennett is getting better, but I still hate the gimmick. He sells it well though. Drew is Drew, and Eli Drake is actually good. James Storm rocks and I love DJ Z. I even love the Bro Mans.

However, down with the Tribunal, Grado and the Hardy’s.

Yes, Broken Matt is just stupid. The whole Obsolete thing is dumb. Matt Hardy attacked a fan and drew blood by biting him? REALLY? Stupid.

I plan on being completely caught up by the end of the November, at which point I will really dive into TNA.

WWE

NXT

Well, I am still behind and am going to skip again. November is my month to get caught up on Lucha, TNA and NXT. Then expect a State of for NXT.

I know. I know.

RAW

The 10/17 and 10/24 RAW’s that I didn’t comment one were the best RAW’s WWE have produced since the RAW after the Draft. They were above average shows at best, but for RAW these last few months, above average equals excellence.

The best thing about the 10/17 RAW was the two big upsets: Dana over Bayley and Bo Dallas over Neville. Dana is already a thing of the past after Hell In A Cell, but I am hoping they do something with Bo Dallas.

Of course the big news is the return of Goldberg . . . yea . . . ( I’ll cover this in a moment.

I know one thing that will improve RAW right now: GET RID OF FOLEY.

Foley is terrible. He killed the cruiserweight division on the night they debuted, and he almost killed Charlotte and Sasha’s Hell In A Cell match. The 10/24 RAW was a decent Go Home show for Hell In A Cell, except for the contract signing.

Contract signings are a mixed bag at best, and they never really seem to add anything to the match. This was no exception, but it almost killed the match. The focus was supposed to be on Charlotte and Sasha, but instead the focus was on Foley. Foley, who took time to chastise the ladies for wanting this match and telling them they don’t know what they are getting into.

This came off very sexist, and all about Foley. There were two other Hell In A Cell matches, but Foley didn’t go out of his way to tell Rusev, Reigns, Owens or Rollins how dangerous the Cell is. He didn’t make a point of trying to talk them out of it.

Foley – a great way to ruin everything.

Another way is the return of Goldberg. Really, who cares? All these people cheering are probably the same people that booed Goldberg and Lesnar’s match at Wrestlemania – You know when Goldberg was booed out the building because everyone knew he and Lesnar were walking out on the WWE?

The whole Brand Shit was supposed to be about making new stars, giving new opportunity and moving forward . . . Instead we get Mr. Heyman’s way back Machine.

And Rusev . . . Rusev? You have Goldberg take out Rusev in a matter of seconds on the 10/30 broadcast? Way to devalue your Top Dog Roman Reigns and everyone else Rusev has beaten (including Cena). How and Why?

Reigns could barely beat Rusev. Titus, Mark Henry, Swagger, Neville, Sheamus, Cesaro . . . the list goes on and on of the guys who Rusev destroyed. Yet Goldberg, 12 years away, could take out Rusev.
Way to shit on your roster.

SMACKDOWN LIVE!

Wow, that was a chunk on RAW, SD Live will be a little shorter.

Simply put, SD LIVE is a far better show. It is firing on all cylinders and seems to be doing everything the WWE promised that the Brand Split would do: Create new stars and give more opportunities.

The return of the Spirit Squad, Curt Hawkins and The Head Bangers aside, SD is living up to this.

Really, who would have thought that AJ Styles would have been champion so soon? Would this have happened without the split? Eventually, but not this soon.

But here is the proof that SMACKDOWN is better, two words, one name:

James Ellsworth.

I am not a huge fan of the Ellsworth beat Styles angle. Let’s be honest, is Ellsworth WWE material, or TNA, or ROH? Nope, and I don’t mean to disrespect the man. Local indie guy, sure! Mainstream prime time player? No. Unless it is as a jobber.

But SMACKDOWN has turned the guy into a Star . . . and a MAJOR STAR at the moment. The crowd is behind him, his merch is selling, he’s headlining a few indie dates and the WWE is reportedly considering signing him.

Nuff’ said.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I will be caught up in November.

RAW = Really Average Wrestling

SD LIVE = Stupendously Daring

As for Ellsworth, good for him. Even if the WWE doesn’t sign him, I hope he’s making some good $$$ off this run, and that it helps him on the Indie scene to make even more coin.

Lucha Unleashed in Arizona

I have never written a commentary on Lucha Unleashed in its nearly two year history. No reason for it, I just haven’t.

Lucha Unleashed debuted toward the beginning of 2015 and the shows are held in the AWF Arena in downtown Glendale, Arizona, and shares a lot of talent with the AWF.

Since its inception there have been four Lucha Unleashed Champions: Exciting Evan Daniels, XXX Lawrence Tyler (LT), Daniel Sanchise and current champ, The King of AZ Chris Evans.

As with the name, Lucha Unleashed tends to lean more toward the Lucha style then its sister promotion. It doesn’t quite have as many hard hitting matches as the AWF, but tends to have more high flying, and speed up action.

The problem is the shows tend to be uneven. They aren’t usually as good as the AWF shows, and tend to be shorter events. While the AWF tends to go from 6 – 9, Lucha tends to end around 8:30.

Lucha does have something that AWF doesn’t have: A General Manager.

Miss June Jackson, who claims to be a mutli-selling singer, started out in Lucha as a manager. Then one show she announced herself as General Manager and took over the show as a heel. As far as I know, no one in power has ever confirmed her as General Manger, but like a good heel she took power anyway.

While she started out as an annoying manager, she’s turn into a very good power-mongering heel General Manager.

Lucha Unleashed is generally a good show, fun time, with great talent and even better ticket prices ($10 at most). Most importantly for many, it’s family friendly.

If you’re a wrestling fan in the Metro Phoenix West Valley, get down to Glendale, AZ and check out Lucha Unleashed. The next show is 11/5/2016.

Facebook: facebook.com/LuchaWrestlingUnleashed