By Graham "GSM" Matthews Randy Orton Addressed the WWE Universe This was your typical monotone Orton promo, but he did an effective job of recapping his rivalry with Roman Reigns and hyping his match with Rob Van Dam for later in the night. This wasn't Orton's strongest promo in recent memory, but nevertheless, I've been enjoying this new aggressive attitude from Orton and it's where he's most comfortable. Anything is better than the cowardly character he was portraying before. Seth Rollins def. Jack Swagger by Count-out Rollins vs. Swagger felt fresh since it's a match we haven't seen before. They worked well together and kicked off the in-ring action portion of this show on a high note. Swagger is still over with audiences and Rollins has been flourishing as a heel. Rollins needed the win more than Swagger, but it was encouraging to see Swagger protected via the count-out loss. It appears they're setting up a Swagger vs. Bo Dallas feud which I'd be fine with as long as it doesn't lead to Swagger going back heel so soon.
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By John Napolitano The ravenous fans of the WWE Universe tend to habitually categorize different time periods in professional wrestling in order to track the evolution of the business. Inquisitive enthusiasts are continuously curious as to what time period produced the best of sports entertainment. These time periods are commonly referred to as eras, and fanatics over the last century have witnessed the Television Era of the 1960s and 70s, the Golden Era which was defined by the birth of WrestleMania and the Rock n’ Wrestling Connection, and the Modern Era of pro-wrestling. The Modern Era can be further dissected into periods of time that the trailblazer of pro-wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment, has conceptualized. These eras within the WWE’s tenure as the premiere sports entertainment juggernaut have been dubbed the New Generation, the Attitude Era, the Ruthless Aggression Era, and the PG Era. The opening and closing of an era is a monumental moment because it signifies the evolution and revamping of pro-wrestling internally, culturally, and creatively. For example, the New Generation, featuring budding superstars like Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, and Razor Ramon was a refreshing change of pace from the Golden Era, which saw Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, and the Ultimate Warrior constantly claiming victory over their adversaries. By Graham "GSM" Matthews El Torito and Hornswoggle def. Slater Gator I understand why WWE would want to turn Hornswoggle face with his new movie coming out soon, but to completely forget about their history together is asinine. Yes, the commentators referenced their rivalry, but to throw that out the window to have them team up makes zero sense. Plus, Slater is (or was?) on a winning streak, so the decision to have him lose here, much less have him be the one to take the pinfall loss for his team, was mind-boggling. Basically, he went from defeating Seth Rollins on Raw to getting pinned by Hornswoggle. Hardly anyone watches Superstars so the loss will go unnoticed, but it still stupid booking that didn't need to happen. Emma def. Alicia Fox As noted last week, these two work very well together and I was happy to see a rematch between them take place. Although it wasn't as good as their initial encounter, they once again got a sufficient amount of time and had an enjoyable bout. It was nice to see Emma score the victory, but Fox's post-match crazy antics have grown tiresome and lost their luster a long time ago. By Graham "GSM" Matthews The Vaudevillians def. Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady in an NXT Tag Tam Tournament Semifinal Match While there wasn't anything overtly special about the match, I'll take it over any Ascension squash match. It's a step up for NXT's tag team division from what it was before, though that's not saying much. Amore and Cassady are far and away the most over team NXT has at the moment, so the decision to have them clean here was mind-boggling. As much as I don't care for their feud, having Sylvester Lefort and Simon Gotch cost them the victory would have at least made sense from a storyline standpoint. I like The Vaudevillians, but they don't have as much potential as Amore and Cassady in my opinion. Triple H Addressed the NXT Universe Though it's been known for weeks, it was great for the Takeover 2 event to finally be made official by Triple H on this show. The three championship matches lined up for the show make it must-see and the current (unconfirmed) card looks awesome. The contrast between Triple H on the main roster and on NXT is amazing. It'd be interesting to see him bring this babyface ambassador to TV at some point, although I will admit I love his current heel persona. |
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