...Well this has all gone to shit. Between Mandy being a horrible actress and the reveal of Naomi executed poorly. This has run its course.
The Mandy angle played out like a badly acted attitude era segment. Everything was terrible.
Eh, what about merch? Do they get downside guarantees like the WWE does? WWE does healthcare too so I don't see how that matters at all. Less dates is less exposure and while I don't particularly like the WWE's organ-grinder schedule, they run enough TV/live dates to get people exposure.
God did I love Becky Lynch's throat punch. It was just beautiful.
If PPV's weren't co-branded, this probably would have been on PPV. But because Smackdown only gets half the matches on a card, most of those likely title matches, the reality is Almas probably wouldn't make it into most PPVs. So he really needs to shine on Smackdown until he either gets a belt or becomes a legit main eventer.
That said it certainly was a PPV quality match (like you would expect from these two). Hopefully this is helps him get to where he actually can get on PPVs.
Last edited by XPac; 01-15-2019 at 10:58 PM.
I imagine if AEW can actually survive it's business model, it'll end up a lot like WCW. They'll likely start attracting the older more established talent to high end contracts with limited dates, forcing WWE to create new stars. Which they can easily do now that they have NXT.
AEW will likely have to end up spending millions... which is OKAY so long as they're making millions. They just need to avoid the same pot holes WCW did.
Good point, didn't even think of that. I think there should have been more of a build to it though. I can't remember when it was, maybe a year or two ago, but Smackdown used to have these "pay-per-view" feels to certain weeks. Titles were on the line and everything. I think it was on the off months due to Raw having that monthly pay-per-view. Anyways, I would like to see that brought back, especially if they don't have the television time on actual pay-per-view events.
In hindsight YES this match should have had more build up. Hopefully this is the start of something bigger, because they definately stole the show.
And aside from the match qualtiy, the fact that Almas won was kinda cool. Between Ali beating Bryan awhile back and Almas beating Rey, I do feel as though Smackdown at least is making good on the whole Fresh Start thing the McMahons have been hyping. RAW not so much, but Smackdown I think is showing some effort here
That's sex appeal for you.
I hope it's the start of something too. I think they can do a lot with some interesting match types.
I'm enjoying the fresh feel that Smackdown is doing with certain characters. Some of them have a lot of potential but some of them are falling horribly flat. In some cases, that's due to the writing, in others, that's due to the wrestler.
Raw is just starting with the fresh feel and has quite some way to go. Lashley becoming Intercontinental Championship was a step in the right direction along with pushing Balor as a main event talent.