THE WRESTLING REPORT
WWE continues its backslide into mediocrity
Jun 12, 2019, 7:20 am
Photo via WWE.com
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 and Wrestling. Check out the podcast replay of the FM radio shows www.nerdthugradio.com!
In the aftermath of one of the most disastrous WWE events in recent memory, Super Showdown in Saudi Arabia, WWE struggled yet again this week. With an incredibly tepid response to AEW's Double or Nothing, the WWE has fallen well below their own usual standards of quality, the match between Undertaker and Goldberg was easily the worst match in recent history as both wrestlers nearly killed each other doing their finishers with a botched jackhammer and tombstone piledriver, there was literally no way the match could have been worse. Beyond that, there was a 50 man battle royal and the only Saudi on the entire WWE roster won it, a guy who has been on the roster for over a year and has never appeared on either Raw or Smackdown.
Coming into Raw, the bookings made even less sense, with Baron Corbin announcing he has another match against Seth Rollins after losing just three days earlier. So apparently losing a title shot means you get another title shot now? Cool. Kevin Owens came out of nowhere and wanted a match against the champion and got it for no reason either. The Iconics fought a couple of local jobbers for no reason, and then WWE ripped off ESPN and did a split screen interview of Becky Lynch and Lacey Evans, were they scared they might fight?
It's fake. There were other matches, including the Revival getting their titles back, which it never made sense for them to get but at least this time it was a real match. The 24/7 is now officially a joke, it's just a running gag where R Truth just runs around from a bunch of people who also are a joke, this thing is quickly coming off the rails.
Smackdown hasn't gotten much better though, there was another tag match against local jobbers, a meaningless women's match and another awful run between The Miz and Shane and Elias and Drew. The whole best in the World Thing is getting annoying. Big E returns and they book a 3 man tag match against Sami, Kevin Owens and Dolph Ziggler who Kofi will be facing again in Stomping Ground, another loser rematch.
Meanwhile in the Indy scene, Jon Moxley just won a title in New Japan Wrestling in one of his first matches as an Indy wrestler, further hitting home that the WWE is underutilizing it's wrestlers severely. With the WWE going in one direction and the upstart going in the other, it's not inconceivable that change could be on the horizon.
Feel free to check out my digital short story The Wilson House or buy a shirt from Side Hustle Ts where some proceeds help fight cancer or listen to Nerd Thug Radio. Thoughts, complaints, events and comments can be sent to corydlg@gmail.com.
Yusei Kikuchi shook off a rocky start to finish with 11 strikeouts in his Houston debut, and the Astros beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 on Friday night.
Kikuchi — acquired from Toronto on Monday — allowed a double to Yandy Diaz on his second pitch and a two-run homer to Dylan Carlson on his sixth.
Carlson got his first homer in 125 at-bats this season and his first since joining the Rays in a trade from St. Louis on Tuesday.
Kikuchi quickly settled in after that, striking out his eighth batter in a row to end the fifth to tie an Astros franchise record. Justin Verlander was the last Astros pitcher to strike out eight in a row in 2022.
Kikuchi went 5 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and three hits while walking three. He fell two strikeouts shy of his season high and matched his season-low of three hits allowed.
The Astros took a 3-2 lead with two outs in the seventh after Yordan Alvarez hit a bloop single and was followed by a double from Diaz. Second baseman Christopher Morel mishandled the throw from outfielder Carlson, allowing Alvarez to score.
Josh Hader pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his 22nd save of the season and his 22nd consecutive converted save opportunity, matching the second-longest streak in franchise history.
The Astros tied the game in the fourth after Diaz walked, Jeremy Peña doubled, then Jon Singleton singled to score Diaz. The next batter, Jake Meyers, hit a sacrifice fly to deep right to drive in Peña.
The Rays loaded the bases with one out in the eighth inning, but Astros setup man Ryan Pressly was able to get out of the jam with the lead intact.
Rays starter Shane Baz allowed two runs, six hits and struck out five in 5 1/3 innings.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rays: OF/IF Richie Palacios was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right knee sprain and is expected to miss four to six weeks. The Rays called up outfielder Kameron Misner from Triple-A Durham.
Astros: P Verlander (neck) will throw a live batting practice session on Sunday, and if it goes well, he will start a minor-league rehab assignment, manager Joe Espada said. ... RF Kyle Tucker (shin contusion) is slowly making progress, but soreness lingers, Espada said. Tucker has been out since June 3 after fouling a ball off his shin.
UP NEXT
Rays RHP Zack Littell (4-7, 4.18 ERA) pitched seven scoreless innings in a 4-0 win over the Reds in his last start on July 27. Astros RHP Ronel Blanco (9-5, 2.95 ERA) has allowed four runs in back-to-back starts and hasn’t won a start since July 9.