Quentin Skinner

That's not the point at all. The commentary team is telling you Cena is busting out new moves to win this match, nobody here or anywhere else is making that narrative up when it's coming straight from the commentary team who we all know has Vince in their ears.

That's not forming your own narrative when the commentary team was putting that over as well. They pointed out during the match that Cena said he was going to bust out things we've never seen from him before. Obviously that was in their minds as well.

Owens is so great at being a hypocrite prick. He did it so well with his promo on Samoa Joe on NXT last week.

Rollins sold shock and fear really well when Lesnar came out, he wouldn't even look Brock in the eyes. I loved Rollins in that segment

I have no idea what's going on with this Rollins/HHH stuff, are they trying to build Rollins as a sympathetic character? If so they are failing miserably because Rollins is still alienating people and talking shit to everyone where HHH and Steph seem justified in their actions. I really don't know how this build will play out, but my guarantee is that Sheamus winds up in the Authority.

That's a great point. Because we've gotten so use to in the past year to these great matches, we forget what NXT used to look like. I remember watching NXT during the Hulu days where basically nobody was paying attention to it and the difference from then to now in terms of how the product is presented, match quality, and crowd atmosphere is ridiculous.

NJPW Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuchika Okada: Wrestle Kingdom 9 (*****) Shinsuke Nakamura vs Kota Ibushi: Wrestle Kingdom 9 (*****) KUSHIDA vs Kyle O'Reilly: BOSJ Final (****1/2) Tomohiro Ishii vs Tomoaki Honma: The New Beginning In Sendai (****1/2) Kota Ibushi vs AJ Styles: Invasion Attack (****1/4) Shinsuke Nakamura vs Hirooki Goto: Wrestling Dontaku (****) Tomohiro Ishii vs Togi Makabe: Wrestle Kingdom 9 (****) Bobby Fish vs KUSHIDA: BOSJ 5/30 (****) Kota Ibushi vs Tetsuya Naito: New Japan Cup (****) Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. AJ Styles: New Beginning in Osaka (****) Kota Ibushi vs. Tomoaki Honma: NJPW New Beginning in Osaka (****) WWE/NXT Kevin Owens vs John Cena: Elimination Chamber (****3/4) Kevin Owens vs John Cena: Money In The Bank (****1/2) Sasha Banks vs Becky Lynch: NXT Unstoppable (****1/2) Brock Lesnar vs Seth Rollins vs John Cena: Royal Rumble (****1/2) Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns: Wrestlmania 31 (****1/4) Finn Balor vs Adrian Neville: NXT Rival (****1/4) Sasha Banks vs Charlotte vs Bayley vs Becky Lynch: NXT Rival (****) Roman Reigns vs Daniel Bryan: Fast Lane (****) Sami Zayn vs Kevin Owens: NXT Rival (****) Kevin Owens vs Finn Balor: NXT 3/25 (****) ROH Roderick Strong vs Hiroshi Tanahashi: War Of The Worlds Night 2 (****3/4) AJ Styles vs Adam Cole: War Of The Worlds Night 1 (****1/2) Roderick Strong vs KUSHIDA: War Of The Worlds Night 1 (****1/2) Bullet Club vs The Kingdom: War Of The Worlds Night 2 (****1/2) Bullet Club vs Sydal, Alexander, and ACH: ROH TV 2/14 (****1/4) Kyle O'Reilly vs Jay Lethal: ROH TV 5/24 (****1/4) Cedric Alexander vs Michael Elgin: ROH TV 4/18 (****) ROH All-Stars vs Bullet Club: Global Wars Night 1 (****) The Briscoe Brothers vs. The Kingdom: Winter Warriors Tour 2/21 (****) Cedric Alexander vs Kazuchika Okada: Global Wars Night 1 (****) Roderick Strong vs. Kyle O’Reilly: Winter Warriors Tour 2/21 (****) Roderick Strong vs. Alberto El Patron: Winter Warriors Tour 1/31 (****) Indies Roderick Strong vs Zack Sabre Jr.: PWG Don't Sweat The Technique (****3/4) Ricochet vs. Matt Sydal: PWG From Out of Nowhere (****1/2) EC3 vs Rockstar Spud: Impact Wrestling 3/13 (****1/4) Chris Hero vs. Biff Busick: EVOLVE 40 (****1/4) Chris Hero vs. Timothy Thatcher: WWN Supershow (****1/4) Chris Hero vs. Drew Gulak: PWG From Out of Nowhere (****) Chris Hero vs Tommy End: PWG Don't Sweat The Technique (****) Other Puro Masato Yoshino and Shachihoko BOY vs Jimmy Susumu and Jimmy Kagetora: Gate of Passion 4/9 (*****) Shuji Ishikawa vs. Daisuke Sekimoto: Big Japan Korakuen 3/31 (****3/4) Akira Tozawa vs Kzy: Champion Gate In Osaka (****1/2) Twin Towers vs Strong BJ: BJw 5/28 (****3/4) Akira Tozawa vs Dragon Kid: Dead Or Alive (****1/2) Joe Doering vs Go Shiozaki: All Japan 1/3 Korakuen (****1/2) Shuji Ishikawa vs. Yuji Okabayashi: Big Japan Korakuen 2/2 (****1/2) TMDK vs. Dangan Yankees: NOAH 1/10 Korakuen (****1/2) Go Shiozaki vs. Kento Miyahara: All Japan 3/27 Korakuen (****1/4) Eita vs. Jimmy Kagetora: Open the New Year Gate 1/12 (****1/4) Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi Vs Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie: DDT Korakuen 4/29 (****) Uhaa Nation vs BxB Hulk: Champion Gate in Osaka 3/1 (****) BxB Hulk vs. Jimmy Susumu: Truth Gate 2/5 (****) Lucha Underground Fenix vs. Mil Muertes: 3/18 (****1/2) King Cuerno/Cage/Texano Jr. vs. Mack/Killshot/Big Ryck vs. Ivelisse/Son of Havoc/Angelico: 4/22 (****1/4) Johnny Mundo vs Alberto El Patron: 5/6 (****) Prince Puma vs Drago: 4/29 (****) 10 Best Matches Of The Year: 1. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuchika Okada: Wrestle Kingdom 9 (*****) 2. Shinsuke Nakamura vs Kota Ibushi: Wrestle Kingdom 9 (*****) 3. Masato Yoshino and Shachihoko BOY vs Jimmy Susumu and Jimmy Kagetora: Gate of Passion 4/9 (*****) 4. Roderick Strong vs Zack Sabre Jr.: PWG Don't Sweat The Technique (****3/4) 5. Roderick Strong vs Hiroshi Tanahashi: War Of The Worlds Night 2 (****3/4) 6. Shuji Ishikawa vs. Daisuke Sekimoto: Big Japan Korakuen 3/31 (****3/4) 7. Kevin Owens vs John Cena: Elimination Chamber (****3/4) 8. Twin Towers vs Strong BJ: BJW 5/28 (****3/4) 9. Fenix vs. Mil Muertes: 3/18 (****1/2) 10. Brock Lesnar vs Seth Rollins vs John Cena: Royal Rumble (****1/2) I'll edit to top 20 later and I'll catch up on CMLL and AAA very soon, I have been slacking with my lucha

I really like Ospreay and Scurll so I'm excited to see them work in PWG. Also heard that the Summer Sizzler match between Ospreay and Matt Sydal was phenomenal.

Well I've been beating this drum for months, but you can see that they aren't using the TV to actually develop talent that needs it, which is a shame. As much as I love watching people like Owens, Balor, Banks, etc, we know they are great, but the other people who don't really know how to work or don't get on TV need to learn somehow. That explains they are putting the NXT "B Team" on the Florida house show loop and the "A Team" is doing the national touring. Those guys and girls really need some learning experience.

That would be ideal. I was really looking forward to the Shoot Nation deal when it was being done on house shows, but it seems like they slowed that roll when it came to putting them on TV. Hopefully they have a change of heart and put Gable, Jordan, Dawkins, and Fulton together on TV, not just Jordan and Gable (even though that would bring some much needed life to a stagnant NXT tag division)

Interested in what is going to happen with Chad Gable, in the little I've seen of him, he has a lot of upside as a worker.

That was the entire narrative, Cena having to pull out things we've never seen from him so he can get the win. I loved how Cena was really getting in to it with the ref. He always really subtly exchanges words with the referee, but Cena has never flipped on a ref the way he did last night. Showed how desperate and frustrated Cena was, it was a great touch.

It makes sense that there is no Suzuki but him not being takes away from some possible matches I would love to see.

Sheesh that final was fantastic, just below MOTY tier for me

Any idea on when Uhaa Nation is debuting on TV? Next set of tapings maybe or do they hold off longer

Reigns was always my preferred choice for the one to beat Rusev

Cena has a good amount of great promos, but the usually follow the same pattern so none really stand out. He has a really good delivery and that's carried him even when maybe his actual content was lacking.

Batista was always good for what he was, but his heel work was phenomenal. I take his peaks over Orton's.

Roddy/Nakamura is going to be on one of these episodes correct?

Rusev was great in his role, but how LONG could a foreign monster heel role work in today's WWE?

This was one of the weaker shows to debut with on DA, but hey it advanced some stories and I'm really looking forward to that Lethal/Briscoe match

I'm really high on Rusev, but I think Owens was the better long term choice because he's so versatile and has the ability to be very effective as a face or heel. You can see this guy just gets "it", whatever "it" may be.

I always feel so much better when RAW doesn't start with a promo, but instead starts with a match. That happens very seldom though.

Hence why in Vince's mind they need to treat every episode like there are new people watching and just do a 20 minute recap promo to start every show.

Bingo