Hello friends! As always, if I’m missing anything that can be accessed without too much trouble, @ me on twitter: henrytcasey.
What I Watched
- Monday Night Raw, 12/25
- Joey Janela’s Big Top Adventure, 12/25
- Riptide: Black Water, 12/25
- SmackDown LIVE, 12/26
- 205 Live, 12/26
- WWE LIVE at Madison Square Garden, 12/26
- NXT, 12/27
- NOVA Pro: Such Great Heights 12/28
Upcoming Watch List
- Beyond Wrestling: Heavy Lies The Crown, 12/31
- Monday Night Raw, 1/1
- SmackDown LIVE, ½
- 205 Live, ½
- Progress Chapter 60: Unboxing 2 ¼
- NJPW Wrestle Kingdom, ¼
Non-WWE Match of The Week:
CCK (Chris Brookes & Travis Banks) & Jinny vs Mike Bird, Wild Boar and Jimmy Havoc
Riptide: Black Water, 12/25
For the first time here (since I watched the previous matches after the fact), I’m giving a win to a match from Brighton, England’s Riptide. This match gives you everything that the promotion does well: highlighting talents that may not have gotten a lot of attention prior (Bird, Boar), excellent pairings (CCK & Jinny), fantastic camera angles and moody atmospherics.
Oh, and the crowd at Riptide elevated this match, as it tends to. I didn’t expect that YAS QUEEN could work as a pro wrestling chant, but well done, Brits.
Honorable Mentions:
- Jonathan Gresham vs Sonjay Dutt ©, NOVA Pro: Such Great Heights 12/28
- The Ugly Ducklings (Lance Lude & Rob Killjoy) vs Arik Royal & David Starr, NOVA Pro: Such Great Heights 12/28
- Sage Phillips vs Logan Easton LaRoux, NOVA Pro: Such Great Heights 12/28
Non-WWE Segment of The Week
Sage Phillips vs Logan Easton LaRoux Hype Package
NOVA Pro: Such Great Heights 12/28
A lot of indie promotions think they can cut corners, and not make hype packages. Virginia’s NOVA Pro didn’t do that, though, at its end-of-year event, using footage and voice-over narration to elevate this rivalry.
Honorable Mentions:
- Ethan Page • A Holiday Special Speech, 10/24
- A Christmas Greeting from MJF, 10/24
- Stokely Hathaway comments on intimidation games, 10/24
WWE Match of The Week:
Johnny Gargano vs. Aleister Black vs. Killian Dain vs. Lars Sullivan for the number 1 contendership to the NXT Men’s Championship
NXT, 12/27
The excellence of this match, considering the skills of the men at hand, is almost an afterthought. So, let’s focus on the finish of this. So, watch it beforehand, and come back.
I gotta give NXT credit here. To use the streak of the talented man from Amsterdam (thanks, Nigel) to develop a new feud is great, but what’s excellent is that the Undisputed Era vs Aleister Black is a long-term developed feud, as the man formerly known as Tommy End ruined the debuts of both Fish and O’Reilly, and knocked Cole out of this tournament.
Also, this finish sets up Gargano to face Cien at the Philly TakeOver, and we know those two can go. And that should be an excellent place to bring Ciampa back.
Honorable Mentions:
- Cedric Alexander, Mustafa Ali and Akira Tozawa vs Enzo Amore, Drew Gulak and Ariya Daivari, Street Fight, Monday Night Raw, 12/25
- Smackdown Tag Championship #1 Contenders Match, SmackDown LIVE, 12/26
- AJ Styles vs Kevin Owens, SmackDown LIVE, 12/26
- Roman Reigns vs Cena, WWE LIVE at Madison Square Garden, 12/26
- The Bar vs Rollins and Jordan in a Steel Cage, WWE LIVE at Madison Square Garden, 12/26
WWE Segment of the Week:
Shayna Baszler chokes out Kairi Sane
NXT, 12/27
OH MY GOODNESS! @QoSBaszler just showed up to make a STATEMENT to both @KairiSaneWWE AND #WWENXT #WomensChampion @WWEEmberMoon! pic.twitter.com/FQfjtiseME
— WWE (@WWE) December 28, 2017
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Honorable Mentions:
- Merry Mizmas, Monday Night Raw, 12/25
WITH A PASSION 