WRESTLING REPORT

Clash of Champions is shaping up to be a great event.

Cory De La Guardia
Sep 4, 2019, 6:07 am

Born with a comic book in one hand and a remote control in the other, Cory DLG is the talent of Conroe's very own Nerd Thug Radio, Sports. Check out the podcast replay of the FM radio shows www.nerdthugradio.com!

Raw started off strong with a contract signing between Seth Rollins and Brawn Strowman getting interrupted by AJ Styles and the rest of the OC. Ziggler and Roode came out and helped The OC beat down Rollins and Strowman after the match which was actually some smart writing. Lacey Evans and Natalya put on a great match, although there wasn't any story built from it, so it was a curious pairing. A Sasha vs Becky Lynch match looks promising they are both great wrestlers but the rivalry feels rushed a little bit. After all of that build up of how tough Cedric Alexander is supposed to be, he then loses to Baron Corbin? That's confusing at best. Is anyone else over the Viking Experience? The end to the Samoa Joe and Ricochet match was confusing but portrayed well, setting up a triple threat match into the finals of the King of the Ring on the Raw side. The Bayley heel turn at the finale was a great move that while they've been hinting at it, they haven't over sold it and it was a great moment.

Smackdown also came out strong with Bayley reminding everyone she's fighting Charlotte Flair for the title at the upcoming pay per view. Thankfully Elias eliminated Ali in the King of the Ring tournament, Ali is just one of those guys who keep getting a push that feels undeserved and this run in the King of the Ring was no different. Aleister Black asking people to come fight him during a King of the Ring tournament kind of feels like a missed opportunity, doesn't it? The tag match between Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross against Fire and Desire was exciting and a great preview for a potential rematch at Clash of Champions. I feel like the Randy Orton and Kofi Kingston rivalry has dragged on forever and am ready for it to be over. As happy as I was Ali was eliminated, I'm equally disappointed Chad Gable remains in the King of the Ring tournament. I'm so over the 24/7 title, at this point it's a massive joke and while sometimes it's fun, it's also never going to be taken seriously. The finale to Smackdown finally paid off the Roman Reigns lameness that they've been running for awhile and while Eric Rowan comes out of this great, I'm not sure if this is a good enough payoff.

Clash of Champions is setting up as an exciting pay per view with a lot of the rivalries building up rather well and potentially a lot of titles could change hands with most of them on the line.

Feel free to check out my brand new comic book Another Day at the Office email me for details or buy a shirt from Side Hustle Ts where some proceeds help people struggling with cancer or listen to Nerd Thug Radio. Thoughts, complaints, events and comments can be sent to corydlg@gmail.com.

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THE WRESTLING REPORT

The Wrestling Report: Survivor Series is this weekend and everyone seems unprepared

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Born with a comic book in one hand and a remote control in the other, Cory DLG is the talent of Conroe's very own Nerd Thug Radio, Sports. Check out the podcast replay of the FM radio shows www.nerdthugradio.com!

Coming out of their first pay per view in their new weekly format, AEW came out resetting the stage. After the big betrayal of Cody Rhodes by MJF during the Jericho championship match there was still some great sizzle between all of these guys in the middle of the show as Jericho and MJF cut a great promo and then Cody Rhodes tried to run out there and get revenge but suffered the wrath of the Inner Circle and the numbers game overwhelmed. The crowd is in it with these guys and they have done a great job of signing talent that really grabs the energy and uses it. Moxley, the guy WWE had no business letting go, continues just burning up all the tape he gets recorded on and there is no doubt he is the guy that is a superstar regardless of who has belts and who doesn't. All you need is a ring and a microphone and Moxley is going to win over crowds and steal shows. I honestly have been massively impressed with the formula All Elite Wrestling has put together and while they are doing subtle differences like posting win/loss records and things of that nature they are really staying more true to wrestling than WWE feels in a lot of ways these days.

Survivor Series is already this weekend, making that Crown Jewel event seem even more poorly planned in the WWE calendar. Survivor Series has long been one of the iconic WWE events, alongside Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania and Summer Slam. These have long been the main four and nowadays with all the crazy scheduling and over booking, Survivor Series got almost zero buildup coming out of Crown Jewel. There have only been three RAWs since the Saudi Arabia event and one of those continued the NXT takeover event, which at least did lend to the Survivor Series matches, and four Smackdowns but one of those is the NXT invasion episode because a contingent of the Fox roster had trouble getting out of Saudi Arabia on time. So with little fanfare and troubled writing, Survivor Series is here and honestly I'm struggling to muster the energy to care. There hasn't been consistent rhythm or momentum since the brand split and subsequent draft and perhaps their biggest splash was Fox bringing back CM Punk to the WWE Backstage show, where oddly enough he has no relationship with WWE. I'm curious if WWE is starting to think they have too many masters now.

Feel free to check out my brand-new comic book Another Day at the Office email me for details or buy a shirt from Side Hustle Ts where some proceeds help people struggling with cancer or listen to Nerd Thug Radio. Thoughts, complaints, events and comments can be sent to corydlg@gmail.com.

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