C.S.

My thoughts on 205 Live: - Cedric Alexander got, by far, the biggest pop of the night when everyone was standing by the entrance being introduced. I wonder if they should've gone with him instead of Swann in the main event. - The Bollywood Boyz aren't as good as some of the other cruiserweights, but they have characters and personality - which is what really matters in the WWE and honestly what the entire division desperately needs right now. To put it kindly, it's been a massive flop since the CWC ended. I'm not sure what the point is of having a tag team or tag team matches on a one-title show like 205 Live though. - Could they have telegraphed Tony Nese and Drew Gulak any harder as jobbers? No entrance, no intro, no personality, no charisma. Heck, Nese wasn't even in the opening entrance segment. (Edit: Yes he was. Apparently he was forgettable even there.) Also, is it just me or is Nese now less muscular and defined than he was during the CWC? Guess he can't risk being Wellness'd. Nese is a great athlete with a good body, but he literally has nothing else going for him. His personality is non-existent. Gulak reminds me of a science teacher. And the promo they cut after their loss was the drizzling shits - with Nese being especially bad as a whiny bitch heel, which is all wrong for his look and body type. Yeah, needless to say, I'm not high on "Mr. Personality" Tony Nese and Drew "Bill Nye" Gulak at all - I haven't been from the very beginning. I hope they prove me wrong. A year of seasoning in NXT is probably what they really need, because neither of them are ready for prime time. - Jack Gallagher is awesome. The division should be built around him. Daivari's brother didn't show much in the ring this week IMO, but he could be a decent heel. - Kendrick vs. Swann was a fun match. A Swann victory seemed obvious to me before the show, but they did a nice job of casting doubt with that Kendrick-Perkins locker room confrontation earlier on. My hope is that Perkins will turn heel and jealously go after Swann. His anointing as a plucky underdog babyface in the CWC was great, but that goodwill has already evaporated, so may as well try something else with the kid now. - Austin Aries was "just there" as a commentator. Definitely not a natural.

Thanks for the heads-up on the Black Friday deal. I just signed up. Can't go wrong for $4 (for the first month). BTW, the Torch has a Black Friday deal of their own - $2 (also just for the first month).

Joe vs. Nakamura in Japan has to be a set up for Nak to regain the title in his home country, right? I'm not a Joe fan, but it really is time to call one or both of them up to the main roster. I'd dig Joe vs. Roman. That feud writes itself IMO.

Thanks. I found another tweet from Road Dogg. What a couple of petty, insecure bitches. Dawson's tweet seems fine and harmless to me. What happened to the days of heels being allowed to, ya know, be heels.

Taz vs. Sabu wasn't the last match on the card, but it was definitely the one promoted the most and used as the "draw." Whether or not you consider it the main event is a matter of semantics, but it was on all the advertising, posters, etc.

What happened? And why was Bubba Ray, of all people, involved? Any screencaps of these tweets?

I can buy it. Keep in mind, Disney isn't just Mickey Mouse. They have many subsidiaries (and Paul did say he was negotiating with one of those). For example, in the '80s, Touchstone Pictures - a Disney company - released movies geared towards teens and adults.

No one will for TNA, that's for sure. Dixie has ensured that. Even people who would have, like AJ Styles, now have a sour taste in their mouths about that wreck of a company. I found it odd that The Dudleys kept referring to themselves as "the greatest tag team of all time." Maybe in ECW, but is there really a case to be made for them overall?

Anyone catch The Authentic Untold Story of ECW? There was actually new information - new to me, at least. I thought it was a fun, breezy show that went by quickly. It really could have gone another hour or two, and I wish it had. The only jarring point was Corey Graves interrupting a great conversation to ask everyone to describe ECW in one or two words. I guess he realized they were running out of time and had to wrap the show up. Graves did a great job otherwise though. It got very emotional in the last couple of minutes, especially with Paul E. and Tommy Dreamer. But Paul mentioning Brock Lesnar at the very end sucked and seemed out of place. That made it obvious that this was filmed before Survivor Series (which it was). Makes me wonder if they didn't know the final booking at that point. Normally I'd scoff at the notion of anyone from WWE watching anything on PBS, but the format does seem too similar to be coincidental.

I get the feeling the show was quietly cancelled. Either someone got upset over the content or (more likely) it wasnt recieving enough views. What about Holy Foley? First five episodes and then nothing. Did WWE also quietly cancel it?

Funnily enough, Heyman "spoiled" the match on Friday and said it was going to go two minutes. Link: http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/11/paul-heyman-brock-lesnar-bill-goldberg-wwe-survivor-series You just made my day!

Anyone watch Story Time yet? It's not bad, actually. Four "road" stories told by the wrestlers themselves, narrated by Gene Okerlund, and given the animation treatment. All in all, it's only 11 minutes long - the perfect length for a "bedtime story," if you ask me.

The Cruiserweight finish actively angered to the point where I had to turn off the show and take a drive somewhere. When I got back, I continued where I left off, which was the Raw vs. SDL men's Survivor Series match. Holy shit, it...never...seemed...to...end. But I'll echo what someone else said: I was rarely bored. Was it goofy as fuck and often illogical? Yeah. Shane looking like Superman was ridiculous. There was a ton wrong with the match, but I can't bring myself to totally hate it either. I wish it had been chopped in half though, with every other match getting a bit more time. I'll admit: I marked out for Goldberg's squash. I loved it. I really hate Brock Lesnar though. In every way, I consider him an albatross and liability. With that said, is there an encyclopedia of reasons to criticize the match and finish? Yes, obviously. But I wasn't expecting it at all. It worked for me for that reason alone. Since 'cowboy hats' brought it up, I won't say anything about Goldberg's son other than he looked really tired - way past his bedtime? Nice father-son moment nonetheless. I'm really happy for Goldberg and even happier that Toronto chanted its ass off for him.

What the fuck.

Should we be reading into anything because Kalisto isn't anywhere on that graphic for 205 Live?

Brock vs. Goldberg will be a 40-minute "epic."

Picked up when it got to the final two, but a boring match otherwise.

A much better idea would be to have everyone wear red or blue versions of their normal costumes - gets the same point across without making them all look like bland jabroni jokes.

Yikes, and you people thought the women's match had rushed pinfalls and shitty psychology...

at the Miz/Zayn finish. At least the "Survivor Series screwjob" finish happened here and not in a "more important" match.

Nikki's attacker? Eva Marie ‏@natalieevamarie Wish my girls on team blue good luck tonight, but also not to get to comfy cuz I'll be back before you know it @WWE #SurviorSeries https://twitter.com/natalieevamarie/status/800469218307121152

I hope not, because his whole appeal is that he's a babyface. Ditto for Foley's. (Obviously Foley was a fantastic heel in his day, but that's not the role anyone wants to see him in now IMO.)

I've literally just watched Survivor Series 88 and that whole show is phenomenally well booked and has some great psychology. Fair enough, but watch '91 or beyond and they're not a far cry from that women's match. I'm not saying the women's match was blameless - there are definitely things to criticize - but I think people have rose-colored glasses about past Survivor Series matches.

I thought the women's match was fine and fun for what it was. Anyone expecting expert psychology or pinfalls that aren't rushed clearly don't remember past Survivor Series matches - they're all like this. Still, I agree with the criticisms - Carmella being pinned by a jobber like Foxy, Sasha being disposed of like a midcarder, and Jax tapping out so quickly - but that kind of stuff is par for the course in a Survivor Series match. Odd that Naomi, of all people, got "protected" with the countout loss. What was with Nikki Bella being replaced? Legit injury or did Nattie attack her?

Kane vs. Luke Harper is on the pre-show right now.