#she came back . i could more than accept losing that friendship if that means AJ got to come back and continue living .

[studiousbotanist]

@angeltannis started crying at this message ;_; thank you so much baph . its weird, like . i'll feel fine - i'll be fine !! but the second its acknowledged its like its Real and then i'm like ohhhhuhhhh fuuuuuck i miss my friend !!!!!!! the love is recieved . i miss my friend .

[hazyheel]

WWE Monday Night Raw 6/24/19 Review

Seth Rollins came out to start the night, for a promo obviously, and Becky Lynch quickly came out to join him. Rollins “gave Corbin credit” for picking Lacey Evans as the ref, because she did anything she could to screw him over, but he didn’t account for the best backup on the planet in Becky Lynch. Lynch then went on to call out Evans for tapping out as fast as she could. Corbin’s music hit, and then Evans attacked Lynch from behind. Rollins tried to pull Lynch off of Evans, but she pushed Rollins aside and beat her down. Corbin then attacked Rollins. The faces took down the heels, and Corbin got on the mic to claim that Lynch was basically defending the Universal championship herself. He also told Rollins to go home and make “The Man” a sandwich. They trash talked a bit, until Evans challenged Rollins and Lynch to a mixed tag match at Extreme Rules, for both of their championships. The faces accepted, under the condition that it would be the last time either of them could challenge for the belts. Then everyone left.

Grade: C. I was kinda into that match if it was the main event of Raw. it was different, there were stakes, and it meant that Corbin and Evans would be gone. For a pay per view, probably the main event, I just groaned. Especially Extreme Rules, because this was not an extreme match at all. But it is kinda cute seeing Rollins and Lynch together. They seem to be pretty happy. I also noticed that they are only calling Rollins Lynch’s boyfriend, rather than Lynch being a girlfriend. I dunno, I just think it makes lynch seem more badass.

Then we had a big 8-man elimination tag match. Xavier Woods, Big E and the Usos vs. The Revival and The Planets tag team champions. This is supposed to be “champions versus challengers,” which is weird because The New Day lost their match last night. Scott Dawson quickly tagged himself in, and had some tension with Daniel Bryan. This was compounded when Bryan tried to hit Woods with a suicide dive, but hit Dawson instead. This caused Wilder to give Bryan a european uppercut while Bryan hit the ropes, allowing Bryan to be rolled up by Woods and eliminated. The Revival quickly hit a shatter machine on Woods to eliminate the new day, so it became a normal tag match. They do this a lot now, more 2 out of 3 falls matches and elimination matches because Vince McMahon doesn’t let anyone wrestle during commercials anymore, so they have to find some other way to get you excited enough to keep watching the show. Which is extra odd, because the Usos were hitting a suicide dive as we came back, but I guess it wasn’t part of the match. There was an interesting finish where Jey got a blind tag, but the Revival didn’t notice, so Dawson went to superplex Jimmy while Wlider was up on another turnbuckle. Jey then crotched Wilder on the turnbuckle, and after Dawson hit the superplex, Jey jumped off of Wilder’s back to splash Dawson and get the win.

Grade: C+. Decent match to open everything up, but I hate that both sets of tag team champions were pinned. But it sets up some matches for extreme rules probably. Hopefully Heavy Machinery can challenge rather than the New Day, but we will see.

Then they had the Miz walking through a hallway before Miz TV, which I only mention because Abbey from the Firefly funhouse was in the background. So thats fun. Miz welcomed both R-Truth and Carmella as guests on his actual show, and apparently Miz had the 24/7 championship rule suspended during the interview. Miz showed Truth winning the belt back at Drake Maverick’s wedding. Truth talked about how he lives in paranoia with the belt now, and he can’t even have sex. He also thought that police coming up to his house to tell him that his car was on fire were superstars disguised. Drake Maverick then came out, saying that Truth ruined his wedding, and his young marriage, because they haven’t had sex. (He was studdering that he hasn’t... he hasn’t... as the crowd chanted “what” which was the genuine best use of the what chant) He then challenged Truth to a singles match for the belt, and Truth accepted.

That match was next, with Truth winning with a flatliner right away, and then being chased around by the jobbers. After Maverick lost, he was interviewed by Charly, and he just cried. 

Grade: B-. This was funny, especially the stuff about Truth mishearing the word consummation as constipation. I think it is odd that they keep suspending the rule, as it was suspended for the match as well. The fact that the match wasn’t actually anything definitely hurt the grade here, and it was weird seeing an actual segment for it. I feel bad for Drake though, poor guy.

Backstage, Evans and Corbin seemed to think that their best strategy to take out their Extreme Rules opponents was to focus on Becky. Okay then.

Then we had Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre and Shane McMahon, in a tornado tag handicap match. Reigns tried to overwhelm them with sheer aggression, but the numbers quickly became too much for him. They beat the crap out of Reigns, giving him two Claymore kicks, and spear from Shane. As Shane went for the Coast to Coast, the Undertaker showed up to make the save. I think that the match ended in a DQ, but I don’t really know for sure.

Grade: C. W-what? Why? Who? When will this tag match happen? Why is it happening? I really don’t know. The match was fine, and I was certainly shocked that Taker showed up, but I am so confused and distraught. I just do not get it. The beatdown itself was fine, I just don’t know where this is going.

Then there was a tug of war between Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley. Strowman won, and Lashley attacked Strowman afterwards. He even attacked him with the rope, so we will probably get a bullrope match for Extreme Rules. 

Grade: D-. A worked tug of war is lame. This was boring, I don’t like this feud. The only reason that it doesn’t get an F is because I kinda like the idea of a big man bullrope match for extreme rules.

AJ Styles was then welcomed back to the ring from Charly, who asked why he wants to challenge Ricochet. He said that he wanted to fight the best of the best. Just then, he saw the goodbrothers partying with the conga line. Styles admonished them for not taking the competition seriously, even though they have a match with the Viking Raiders.

That match was next, and the two teams traded control back and forth. Not much happened in particular, and the Viking Raiders won with their finisher.

Grade: B-. Not a bad match. That’s all I have to say about that.

Backstage, Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross were talking about how Cross screwed Bliss out of her match at Stomping Grounds. Bliss did not be outwardly mean to Cross, but didn’t say that it wasn’t Cross’s fault. She just said that Bayley is good at manipulating people into being angry and stuff. I like where this is going. Bliss wasn’t hugely pissed, but you could tell she is annoyed. So burn, very good. 

Natalya and Naomi talked to Nikki Cross about how Bliss isn’t a good person. Bliss then walked in and confronted everyone, which ended with Naomi challenging Bliss to a match. 

Then we were supposed to have Heath Slater vs. Mojo Rawley, but Truth showed up before the match with the people in tow. Slater was able to land a neckbreaker and win the belt for himself, only to lose it right back to Truth, who then lost it to Cedric Alexander, who then lost it to EC3, who then lost it back to truth. I enjoyed this, just fun. 

Ricochet was then interviewed about winning his first championship. He was just happy and grateful.

Before the Sami Zayn vs. Kofi Kingston, Kevin Owens and Zayn asked Kofi some interview questions that sorta vaguely insulted him. Kingston said that Owens had a zit, and Zayn said that Kofi was a paper champion who always needed help from the New Day. Kingston then pointed out the flaws in Zayn and Owens’ friendship, while saying that the New Day are brothers. Seems like foreshadowing to me. 

Into the match, Kingston vs. Zayn. Owens was helping out Zayn when he could by attacking Kingston while the ref’s back was turned. Zayn was in control for almost the entire match, even hitting a good looking Michinoku Driver. But eventually Kingston rolled him up for the win.

After the match, Owens challenged him to another match right away, and Kofi actually accepted. So then they had a match, where Owens was very much in control. However, Kingston still won by giving Owens an SOS on the ramp and winning unceremoniously by countout. Then out of nowhere, Samoa Joe attacked Kingston and threw him around on the ramp before choking Kingston out.

Grade: B-. I get the point of this, they made Kingston into a huge underdog here, fighting off dastardly heels and barely surviving, only to beat beaten down afterwards anyway. I think that this means we will be getting a Samoa Joe championship match, but he should earn it in a number one contendership match. Especially since he just lost the US championship last night.

They then announced that it would be Reigns and Taker vs. McIntyre and Shane at Extreme Rules. I figured.

Then we had Naomi vs. Alexa Bliss. This match was quick, as Naomi accidentally hit Cross with a baseball slide. Bliss then won the match and continued to attack Naomi. She then tried to get Cross to attack too, and Cross pushed both women down. Natalya then ran out to stand with Naomi, and it turned into a tag match. Cross had a nice looking hot tag where she took down both opponents. Cross even hit the swinging neckbreaker for the win, but Bliss was the one who got the pin.

Grade: C+. A couple meh matches that furthered the Cross and Bliss storyline. I think it will be a while before the turn, and I’m okay with that. Slow burns are awesome.

And in the main event, we had a returning AJ Styles vs. Ricochet. They were grappling a little bit, when AJ just suddenly took him to the mat. And as they were wrestling, the Good Brothers came out, although not looking particularly friendly for either of them. Anderson did try to get involved, but Styles quickly told them to beat it. So they restarted the match and had a mix of both fast paced striking and submission holds, even pulling out some moves that were reminiscent of indie wrestling. At one point, Styles hit an awesome reverse DDT which looked really brutal. In the finish, Styles hit a Phenomenal Forearm for the win.

Grade: B+. Good match, but this is nowhere even near what they can do. This definitely sets up Styles for a United States Championship match on Pay Per View. That is when they should cut loose. Sucks that Ricochet lost in his first match as champion. Still, they put on the match of the night. 

Overall grade: C

Pros: Main event

Cons: opening promo; handicap match; tug of war; 

[hazyheel]

Wrestlemania 35 Predictions

Another year, another very stacked Wrestlemania. Around the time of the Royal Rumble, I was actually pretty worried about this card, but it shaped into what looks to be one of the better cards of Wrestlemania history, at least of the ones that last 10+ hours. Either way, lets get into the predictions.

Starting out with the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, which oddly enough has a story attached to it. A few weeks ago, Braun Strowman got into a confrontation with Colin Jost and Michael Che, two people who are definitely not wrestlers, because Jost implied wrestling was fake. After weeks of Strowman destroying gifts sent by the pair, he goaded them into also entering the battle royal. I don’t know what the hell is actually happening. I don’t know how that story will affect the match, but if Strowman throws the two out of the ring to win, I think that would a deflating, but ultimately satisfying way to end a pointless pre-show match. But, I am going to take a risk here and say that EC3 will win, because he has been booked to shit lately, and he really needs something. While Strowman is in a similar predicament, he can recover easier due to his monster status. Hopefully EC3 gets the win, and turns it into something.

The Wrestlemania Women’s Battle Royal has no story, so I’ll just guess. Lacy Evans has yet to be announced for the match, but there is no reason for her not to be in it, so why not? She should be given some sort of a role, and if the rumors are to be believed, that role will be as an actual wrestler. She will need momentum going forward, and hopefully this is how she gets it.

And the last match that definitely shouldn’t be on the pre show, Buddy Murphy vs. Tony Nese for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. The two formed a friendship last year after both failed to advance in the Cruiserweight championship tournament, and had been supporting each other and tagging together all last year. However, that friendship began to fall apart when Murphy won the cruiserweight Championship at Super Show-Down, and then Nese won a tournament to be crowned the number one contender. They began to brawl backstage, which puts together an interesting element to this heel vs. heel match. It should really be a great match, but not one that Murphy should lose. I could see it happening, but it doesn’t really need to. Murphy is really at the top of the division right now, and WWE needs to build up a babyface to beat him, rather than just a random betrayal. But this is certainly a match that I am looking forward to.

Into the main card, we come to AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton, whose feud is basically WWE vs. The Indies. Orton told Styles that he wasn’t good enough to get to WWE earlier, whereas Styles told Orton that he couldn’t last on the Indie scene if he had tried. And that is mostly it. So, this match will probably be pretty good because Orton is a heel, and AJ is awesome, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the whole point of it is for WWE to beat the Indie scene in a clash of icons. I think Orton comes away with the win here, which isn’t all that bad due to his scary and cool heel character right now, but its annoying to think that a storyline that vince booked himself about how WWE is better than the indies, may actually make Vince feel like he won something somehow.

Next, it is Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre. The two had a bit of history from last year as the Shield took on various combinations of heels in 6-man tags, but the brunt of the story came after Roman returned from his cancer treatment. McIntyre began to attack Roman before his matches on Raw, saying that he was not ready to be back in the normal roster yet. He challenged Reigns to a match, telling him not to accept it because he will destroy Reigns, but Reigns accepted anyway. It will probably be a super fun match, but an obvious one. Reigns will win in a hard hitting match.

Kurt Angle is having his retirement match on Sunday, against rival Baron Corbin. Corbin constantly undermined Angle’s position as General Manager of Raw, even stealing Angle’s job at one point. Eventually, Angle helped to take Corbin out of that job as well, and the two separated. But when naming his opponent, Angle asked for Corbin due to unfinished business. Corbin then continued to tell Angle that he was too old and fragile to win the match. Also, funnily enough, the WWE fans’ hatred of Corbin is constantly used in the feud, because he tells fans he does not care if they say he isn’t good enough to retire Angle. That makes me laugh. If it was anyone else, I would have said that Angle would lose. But since it is Corbin, and I really don’t want to see him win and neither does anyone else, I think Angle will win here and ride away into the sunset. This is probably a bad booking decision, but it feels necessary. I would not be heartbroken if Corbin won though, because maybe he will be booked better in the future. Probably won’t be a good match. However, there is a possibility that John Cena will return and be Angle’s last match, in which case Cena should win. But, for the purpose of this prediction, I’m calling Angle as the winner.

Shane McMahon is taking on the Miz in a Falls Count Anywhere match. This feud stemmed oddly from both their experience as a tag team and Miz’s desperate attempt to get his father to accept him. Miz felt indebted to Shane after he subbed in for miz at Crown Jewel (can’t believe that this show is somehow still relevant.) in the world cup tournament. Shane said he was the best in the world for a few weeks, before that just sort of faded out. The two were able to team together at the Royal Rumble against the Bar, because Miz begged Shane to help him win a belt and make his father love him (?), and they won the Smackdown Tag Team Championships. They held the belts for a month, losing them to The usos at Elimination Chamber, and again in a match at Fastlane. Shane then attacked the Miz brutally for making him lose the belts, and blamed their failure entirely on him. He even attacked Miz’s dad. Shane said that he was sick of people using him, challenging Miz to a Wrestlemania match, which Miz then requested to make a Falls Count Anywhere match, for no reason in particular. Could be a fun hardcore match, probably more storytelling than wrestling, but I am sure that it will be fun soap opera stupidity. Also, I hope Miz’s dad gets involved!

Then we have Triple H against Batista in a No Holds Barred match. Batista and Triple H had a confrontation at Smackdown 1000, but it did not escalate. However, months later, at Ric Flair’s birthday, Batista spoiled the fun by attacking Flair. He then challenged Triple H to a match, in a very long and bad promo involving Batista saying “give me what I want” and triple h saying “I’m gonna kick your ass.” In a roundabout way, the match became No Holds Barred. Batista’s whole point of challenging Triple H was that he manipulated Batista early in his career, and he does nothing but manipulate people. That makes him seem much more like a misunderstood face rather than a heel, so this is definitely a bad story. Triple H’s career is also on the line for some reason. Anyway, I don’t really care about this match, but I think Batista will win, and he will have one last run with the company, until like Summerslam or something. It is really just Trips’ time to retire.

Onto the title matches, Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder take on the Revival for the Raw tag team championships. No real build up here other than Hawkins’ 3 year long losing streak. I am voting with my heart here and saying that Hawkins and Ryder are gonna pull it out and become champions. Just have hope and it will happen guys.

In the smackdown tag division, The usos defend against Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura, the Bar and the Wrestlemania debuting Ricochet and Aleister Black. This match also came out of nowhere, with a random 8-man tag on smackdown being made into a fatal 4-way tag team match by Alexa Bliss last week. So, nothing huge in terms of story, but I feel like Ricochet and Aleister Black are gonna win here. They have been teaming together for a long time now, and winning tag belts on the main roster has been teased since they debuted. So, I think this is their time, and hopefully they can revitalize the tag division on the main roster. 

And in the women’s tag division, The Boss n’ Hug Connection are taking on the IIconics, Nia Jax and Tamina and the reformed Divas of Doom. The story started at Fastlane, when Banks and Bayley successfully defeated Jax and Tamina in their first title defense. The heels attacked the champions, until Beth Phoenix left the commentary table and intervened. Natalya ran down the ramp to her aid, but they still lost. The next night, Phoenix returned to action, reforming the Divas of Doom and challenging Bayley and Banks to a Wrestlemania match, which was accepted. The two teams relationship dissolved over the coming weeks, and Tamina and Jax gained entry to the match be beating the teams down during that time. Also, the IIconics accused the Boss n’ Hug connection of avoiding smackdown live. In response, Banks and Bayley fought Royce and Cay on smackdown, with the heels getting an upset win with a dirty pin. So, we come to another Fatal 4-way. I think that Banks and Bayley should retain, because their initial title run hasn’t been that long. Also, I want the Sky Pirates to beat them :)

And in a match that really means nothing to me, Bobby Lashley takes on the Demon version of Finn Balor for the Intercontinental Championship. Ugh. This feud has gone on for too long. Balor has been going for the title since the Elimination Chamber, where he pinned Lio Rush in a two on one handicap match, winning the championship. However, in a rematch on Raw, Lashley regained the belt due to a distraction from Rush. Now they are having another match, and Finn is gonna be wearing the makeup. I don’t know why they feel the need to announce this, its better as a surprise. Anyway, Finn should win because Lashley has been boring lately. They don’t have much chemistry together, so I don’t expect much from this.

And now for a dream match, Samoa Joe vs. Rey Mysterio for the United States Championship. While the two had faced off in fatal 4-ways for the belt in the previous months, Mysterio had not won any and even passed out in the Coquina Clutch. However, Mysterio did score a pin in a recent tag match, booking the match for Wrestlemania. In a similar booking situation as the Women’s Tag Match, Joe shouldn’t lose the belt here, because he should have a long reign on top.

And now into the several “main events,” Seth Rollins takes on Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship. The two have had on and off feuds for a couple years, but the main story comes from Brock’s previous opponents as champions. Rollins won the Royal Rumble, and proceeded to speak about the types of Wrestlers that Lesnar had issues with: smaller, quicker wrestlers such as AJ Styles, Daniel Bryan and Finn Balor. The feud also showcased Seth’s resilience, as he was hit with several finishers and still be able to stand up to Lesnar. He has also stated on several occasions that he will do whatever it takes to win. This may result in a heel turn, but hopefully not. I think Seth should win the match, whether he turns heel or not, because Brock just cannot hold that goddamn belt anymore. Let it goooooooooo. But I would rather have Seth lose here than either of the two entries ahead of it, so Lesnar could win, but it should be Seth.

For the WWE Championship, Kofi Kingston finally gets his shot against the dastardly heel Daniel Bryan. Kofi lucked his way into the elimination chamber match, pulling out a great performance in the iron man before the match itself, evening pinning Bryan during that match, and then nearly winning the Elimination Chamber. Kofi was supposed to be in a singles WWE Championship match at Fastlane, but was once again screwed out of the match. Kofi then had to fight in several gauntlet matches to get this match, and it is about damn time he got a title shot. I love that they are comparing Kofi’s rise to Bryan’s rise 5 years ago. Kofi really needs to win this match, because he totally deserves it. He is such a good wrestler, and I never thought that he would hang in the main event. Now that he has the opportunity, he shouldn’t lose this. This is probably the match I am most looking forward to.

And in the real main event, Women’s Royal Rumble winner Becky Lynch battles Raw Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey and Smackdown Women’s Champion Charlotte flair in a winner takes all match. The story here is kinda wild, with Lynch only entering the match because of an injury of another competitor. She eliminated Charlotte last to win the match, and challenge Rousey for the Raw Women’s Championship the next night. Vince McMahon tried to remove her from the match and replace her with charlotte, but Rousey refused to fight anyone other than Lynch, so she vacated the title. The next week, they announced a match for Fastlane between Lynch and Flair, and if Lynch won, she would be added to the match. Lynch won when Rousey turned heel and attacked her, giving Lynch the win by DQ. Charlotte then beat Asuka for the Smackdown Women’s Championship, making the match winner take all. They then brawled in the coming weeks, even being arrested on Monday. This should be really an awesome match, and Becky will finally get the belt the she deserves.