CRZ
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|  #1 Posted on 7.1.16 2135.53
Reposted on: 7.1.23 2138.41 | Mauro Ranallo was fairly effective in his debut on the USA Network debut of WWE's Thursday offering, but perhaps an even more surprising commentary change was Lawler working a little more on the heel side tonight. We'll see if that goes somewhere. Ranallo had already worked in "rolls on," "championship" instead of "belt," and "two thousand sixteen" instead of "twenty sixteen" although I did hear some rogue pronouns...I'm sure he'll get some notes.
The second hour was pretty much the two title matches. Charlotte retained against Becky Lynch after heel shenanigans by both Ric Flair at ringside (placing Charlotte's foot on the bottom rope before she "tapped") and Charlotte herself (using ropes for leverage to score the pinfall) and the ref missing everything as is often the case. A longish match with a not-terribly-satisfying ending - as was the main event intercontinental title match, with Kevin Owens and Dean Ambrose battling to a "double countout" and setting up a street fight by brawling all over the arena in an extended postmatch.
I believe USA went 30 seconds long, so adjust your DVRs accordingly for future viewing - this show might occasionally spill into the third hour.
The show started with an extended John Cena promo. He had a Band-Aid on his shoulder so clearly he was already injured. This led to a non-title match for US Champ Alberto del Rio where - get this - he lost to Kalisto and received a hearty endorsement from John Cena...and inspired this widely-distributed tweet:
There was also an insufferably long "everybody interrupts MizTV" segment which led to an insufferably spontaneous eight man tag. HOLLA
Throw in a lot of RAW Rebounds and I think that was the whole two hours.
It was OK, better than the usual SmackDown, but I'm still not finding motivation to catch it as it airs. It'll be interesting to see how the station change affects ratings - and if tonight's show is a floor...or, like Impact on POP, a ceiling.
It DID get me to start this thread, I suppose.
Were you suckered into watching it, too? | Promote this thread! |             | Tenken347
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| #2 Posted on 8.1.16 0744.36
Reposted on: 8.1.23 0756.10 | I usually catch Smackdown, because there's usually one match worth watching on it. There were two this week, so hey, sky's the limit. That's actually not fair, as this was probably the best two hours of wrestling television that WWE has produced on the main brand in, like, a year.
Originally posted by CRZ
perhaps an even more surprising commentary change was Lawler working a little more on the heel side tonight.
I caught that, too. It might just be to give Ranallo something to work off of, but either way I thought it was kind of a nice change of pace. Ranallo himself was pretty good, but that booming "sports announcer" voice of his needs to come down a couple notches. Truthfully, the main event seemed to legitimately take him by surprise a couple times while they were destroying the ringside area. Still, I liked him, and I couldn't believe that he was actually calling the names of moves during the match, something that hasn't happened on Smackdown in I'm sure I don't know how long. Don't worry - it won't be long before he's got somebody in his ear making sure he sounds as stupid as everyone else.
| BigDaddyLoco
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| #3 Posted on 8.1.16 0753.42
Reposted on: 8.1.23 0756.39 | I liked the Ranallo-Lawler dynamic, but I doubt Lawler will follow the product enough to keep up.
I'm not positive who said it but the corporate line of the night was "She is striving to be the best Diva in Sports Entertainment". Goodness.
| pieman
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| #4 Posted on 8.1.16 0833.24
Reposted on: 8.1.23 0845.17 | Originally posted by CRZ
Were you suckered into watching it, too?
Nope, watched the Celtics lose to the Bulls.... | Matt Tracker
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| #5 Posted on 8.1.16 0843.36
Reposted on: 8.1.23 0845.54 | When I remembered it was on, I turned in to see Owens/Ambrose, who should wrestle every week. So I expect an injury to either any day now.
I like the new announcer. | J. Kyle
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| #6 Posted on 8.1.16 1702.40
Reposted on: 8.1.23 1705.00 | Strikeforce never DIE of course I watched. Mostly for Mauro who did well.
Will be sad when Ranallo is homogenized and reduced to an awful shell of himself like everyone else.
(edited by J. Kyle on 8.1.16 0503) | CRZ
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| #7 Posted on 8.1.16 1703.57
Reposted on: 8.1.23 1709.33 | Originally posted by J. Kyle
Will be sad when Ranallo is homogenized and reduced to an awful shell of himself like everyone else.
Pessimist | J. Kyle
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| #8 Posted on 9.1.16 2136.22
Reposted on: 9.1.23 2137.10 | Originally posted by CRZ
Originally posted by J. Kyle
Will be sad when Ranallo is homogenized and reduced to an awful shell of himself like everyone else.
Pessimist
Kinda sorta. I remember when JBL felt like a breath of fresh air from the dreck of Late Lawler/J.R. commentary, and now every week thirty seconds into any JBL/Lawler/Saxton/Cole combo I'd kill to get J.R. mailing it in back.
(edited by J. Kyle on 9.1.16 0936) | | ALL ORIGINAL POSTS IN THIS THREAD ARE NOW AVAILABLE |
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