FMKK

Would you prefer for them to have jobbed Asuka? Sometimes the right thing and the obvious thing are the same.

The fact that they had to push Tamina as a hoss emphasises to me the need for more larger women to act as credible monster types.

I think she was meant to kick out into Naomi's submission but didn't get up in time. Made worse by the fact that they fucked up the tilt-a-whirl reversal beforehand and had to repeat it.

That Naomi and Alicia exchange was a certified mess

Eliminating Becky super early is rough. I thought shed have to do the majority of the carrying for that Smackdown team. It looks rough without her.

The set piece spots here have been half a step off

Can security eject anyone who chants sweet on every two count please?

Are the camera guys drunk? Super shaky tonight so far

AKA the show with a million card changes. I'm actually pumped for this one. There are at least four matches on the card that could legitimately be MOTY candidates given the right circumstances. Also, Matt Hardy vs Elias and Owens/Zayn vs Fashion Police have been added to the pre-show.

Randomly watched this because I missed it at the time. This made me remember why I hate smark crowds. Two of the best, most consistent workers in the company beat the living shit out of each other in a big gimmick match and sections of the crowd are trying to get themselves over chanting for Cena, Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, NXT etc. That they hate Reigns is well known and the arguments are played out but what exactly is the reason for smarks hating Sheamus? And imagine being the tragic dork who chants ECW at a table spot in 2015. Anyway, I digress. This was an awesome wrestling match. Fought like a real nasty street fight rather than with loads of climbing attempts, I love how viciously both men throw strikes. I also love how Reigns ragdolls when he's beaten down. Some nasty, nasty bumps here - particularly a Samoan drop through a ladder, a White Noise through a table and Sheamus just being pelted into a pile of stacked furniture on the ramp. The superman punch spot at the end was awesome too. Reigns should have won after that instead of the interference BS. When they were actually teasing finishes at the end, the kids at ringside were super into it. Can they just make up the crowds please? I wish Reigns worked in a different era because he has put in some incredible babyface working performances, poor booking aside. The work deserves a better crowd. ****1/4

I thought he was a great second for Carmella and could have been repackaged to fulfil a similar role elsewhere but year plus run in WWE is more than he likely ever expected so fair play.

The Usos vs American Alpha - Smackdown, 21/3/2017 American Alpha are not over at all. They're defending the tag titles here. Commentary mention that Jason Jordan just got married that weekend. Wonder how his wife feels about being Kurt Angle's daughter in-law. Crowd chant for the Usos, even though they're the heels here. Story is that AA out-wrestle the Usos, but they have brawling and experience on their side. AA dominate early, countering Uso attempts at taking control and then Gable works some arm holds. Double drop kicks by Alpha clear the ring before ads. Back with Usos working a chinlock on Gable. I hate how WWE TV matches transition control during the adverts. Ok a replay shows they got control with a stun gun over the ropes on Gable. Would have been nice to see that in the flow of the action. The crowd are actually somewhat into AA's attempt to escape the hold. The Uso's love the spot where the heels blind tag, one of them gets sent out of the ring and ends up in position to pull the hot tag guy off the apron at the crucial moment. They're masters at organising positioning sequences like that. Bizarre spot where Gable gets cleaned out with a clothesline on the floor and they tease a count-out. Why wouldn't the Usos throw him back in when they can't win the belts on count-out? Why wouldn't Gable just lie there? Gable is hung in a tree of woe, but dodges a shoulder charge and gets the hot tag. Crowd is into it well enough but not super hot. Jordan throws great belly-to-belly's and shoulder charges though. He should be way over as a fiery babyface. Angle slam for a near fall, surely accidental foreshadowing. Usos get out of an attempt at that Steiner Doomsday Device flying bulldog, super kick the babyfaces and land the big splash on Gable for a close near fall. Crowd awakened by that. Jordan breaks up one half of a double splash, Gable hits a belly-tob-belly off the top on the other side and then AA hit the flying bulldog. The other Uso pulls Jordan off the cover at the last second but gets suplexed on the floor. Jordan is wiped out on the apron and The Worst Chant Ever breaks out. Gable moonsault off the top cleans out one Uso on the floor, but the other picks him up and flings him into the crowd. Jordan tackles him against the barriacde and rolls him back in, but the other Uso crotches him on the ropes as he's following in and a superkick wins the titles. Fun match. It was harmed somewhat by AA not being that over but the Usos always manage to heat up even an apathetic crowd with excellent finishing runs. The senseless countout spot in the middle harms this, as does the fact that the ending was a bit flat compared to the moves they were hitting before. Still, a fun match that makes me wish that AA had been more over and that these teams would have got a 20-25 minute slot on PPV a la the New Day programme later in the year. ***1/2

Going to randomly revisit this in the coming days because I think there's an argument to be made that The Usos are the WWE wrestlers of the year

In fairness, WWE are a lot better for continuity these days. Far from perfect, but at least they try.

Hell of a go home segment.

Oh, I agree about the card. It's just odd that the gimmick of the show basically became that it changed every 15 minutes. Like Summerslam 99 except the whole way down the card. Yeah, Ric looked great. I really hope this new start in his life sticks.

Change to Survivor Series Card #38472749: Charlotte Flair won the belt so she's working Alexa on Sunday and I assume Nattie goes into the tag match.

I'm not justifying WWE's crazy prices but those are not much different from the shows here in Chile. The first one sold out pretty quickly and ringside and "platinum" (guardrail and floor seats) were $270. Second night didn't sell out but it still got a good number. Seems WWE thought they could get away with it in India too. I don't think they screw us Euros that bad these days, though it's been about three and a half years since I went to a WWE house show so I'm behind the times on ticket prices I think you're talking £30, so around $40

Pinch of salt and whatever, but here's what I saw: https://twitter.com/JustinLaBar/status/930554969819893760

Seriously, what the fuck ? I wouldn't pay that to see an opera at the Palais Garnier. And there would not be any ticket that ridiculously high anyway. Who are these people ? In what Universe are they living in ? For fuck's sake. HHH gonna sell those last remaining front row seats. He headlined the biggest attended WWE show ever so he must be a huge draw, right?

RE the WWE India show, apparently the ticket prices are astronomical. $700 dollars ringside for a house show is ridiculous in any market. So perhaps it isn't a bad mark on Jinder so much as the reality is that no one could draw two houses at those prices.

Dave going through all of Kurt's injuries that he worked through in his career to complain about the Jason Jordan angle last night while completely missing that Kurt's hypocrisy was the whole point of the story was interminably stupid.

I can only hope it leads to a moment where either he or Jordan snaps and gives HHH a vicious beating, but it's a Stephanie angle so it's unlikely anything like that happens and they'll just plod along to a tepid **1/2 match that goes 25 mins at Mania.

Looks let yet ANOTHER card change for Sunday. How many is that now, about 5?

Roman's entrance and promo got entirely babyface reactions