Last Week in Wrestling
WWE News
First up we have to talk about the one title change we saw take place this week in the WWE and that came once again from Smackdown LIVE when The Miz dropped the Intercontinental Championship to former champion, Dean Ambrose. I have mentioned time and time again that this feud has been one of my favourites over the past couple of weeks. I will be going into more detail about Smackdown LIVE in just a moment but if we pay close to attention to this feud alone it really has been one of the highlights of Smackdown LIVE. It's one of not many feuds that the WWE have actually managed not to go over the top with, the pace has been perfect and the story development week in and week out has been amazing. During the first show of the year, we saw Ambrose and Miz go one on one in the first Smackdown LIVE main event of twenty seventeen. The match itself was very very strong and without a doubt one of my favourites of the week. It had everything you could ask for from strong wrestling to brilliant storytelling and drama that all fitted in perfectly and would lead to a brilliant episode of talking Smack. I don't think anyone saw the title change coming this week. This was the second championship match that saw the title change hands in the space of a week on Smackdown LIVE. It was such an unexpected move but I have to say that I really did like the decision. The Miz has done such a fantastic job making the IC title feel important again and Ambrose holding that title doesn't feel like a downgrade for him because of that reason. I will admit that I was sad to see the Miz drop the title. He was such an amazing champion and I do feel like the storylines were endless for him as champion. However, I am hoping that the WWE continue to push him, continue working this feud between him and Bryan and hopefully we can see him making his way to the WWE World Championship picture because it does feel like the right time for him without a doubt.
Talking of the Miz he also cut a fantastic promo on this week's episode of talking Smack. The clip was uploaded to the WWE YouTube channel so if you haven't seen that then definitely go and check it out! He once again showed his fantastic mic skill. Everything he said he said with passion as always and I'm confident this will go down as one of the best promos of the year. It didn't feel scripted what so ever, he pushed the buttons on what he could say and I'm sure there was a little F-bomb in there towards the end.
I know we have already spoken so much about Smackdown LIVE but this week in the first week after Xmas and the first week of two thousand and seventeen Smackdown LIVE was without a doubt the stronger show and the best all round WWE show of the week. As always we had brilliant in-ring action, storylines were developed perfectly and the quality of the show was once again noticeably better than Monday night RAW. I mentioned in my RAW review this week that I was not happy with the show at all and that I really was very disappointed. I was expecting a much stronger show this week but it just didn't happen. The Goldberg segment was very disappointing and I didn't like the ending of the show what so ever. I am hoping that this week we will see a stronger episode of Monday night RAW. I believe the WWE will be picking up the pace this week and the shows all round will be stronger with the road to the Royal Rumble pay per view edging closer and closer and really kick-starting. Talking of the Royal Rumble Bayley has been announced as the number one contender for the RAW women's championship after she defeated Nia Jax on RAW. She and Charlotte will go one on one at the Royal rumble pay per view later this month. Baron Corbin also became the first Smackdown LIVE superstar to announce he will be entering the Royal Rumble match.
Wrestle Kingdom Eleven Sets the Bar High
I'm very very new to the New Japan Pro Wrestling scene. Over the years I haven't paid much attention to it dipping in and out here and there. However, I have made it one of my goals to pay more attention to it and other wrestling promotions this year and so this week I did my research, watched a few shows and of course tuned into Wrestle Kingdom Eleven. Now, I know a fair bit about the Wrestle Kingdom shows. I've seen bits of last years and with it being such a highly rated show I wanted to make sure that I watched the entire show this week and trust me when I say I am so glad that I did because I was not left disappointed what so ever. I know the expectations were very very high for this show but in my personal opinion I thought it was just fantastic and I don't doubt for a single second that this will be the show to top in twenty seventeen. Every single match was of a high standard, everything was so clean so crisp and the wrestling overall was amazing. I was completely entertained from start to finish with every single match having me on the edge of my seat. I honestly was made into such a fan within the first couple of hours and even though it was such a long show there wasn't a dull moment. The night did see plenty of title changes something I have heard a lot of people talk about since. I do believe that come the end of the year this will still be one of the shows we name as the best of twenty seventeen and every other show to follow has a lot to live up to. As far as the match of the night I think we can all agree that that without a doubt goes to the main event between Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada. I can honestly say that this was one of the best matches I have ever seen. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time! The spots performed were just mental and the wrestling from both when was of such a high standard. They raised the bar extremely high and put every other wrestler in the world on notice. Topping this bout is going to be extremely difficult and I know for a fact I will be going back and taking a look at again and again throughout the year. I'm also calling this as an early match of the year and it's only the first week of January!
Lucha Underground, TNA and Other
One of my favourite shows of the week this week came from Lucha Underground. You guys know that Lucha Underground is one of my favourite promotions at the moment. I'm constantly talking about here on my blog and over on social media and I do plan on writing much more content on it in the near future including full reviews so if that's something you would be interested in do let me know. On the show this week Sexy Star got back on track when she defeated Mariposa in what was another standout match of the week. We also saw Johnny Mundo defeat the Mack meaning that he will choose the stipulation for the title match. Again, another standout match of the week, I really really did like this match. I was one hundred percent behind the Mack and everything Johnny did just annoyed me even more. He really is a fantastic heel and they both delivered a brilliant performance. I cannot wait to see these guys clash for the title. This week's Lucha Underground did finish with Mil Muertes attack Vampiro. I honestly love both of these men and I thought it was a brilliant way to close the show and I cannot wait to see where this goes next.
In other news, WCPW hosted their first show of twenty seventeen when they went live for Kirby Mania. Now, it may not have gone to plan with a few errors throughout the night but overall we did have a decent show. I was disappointed to see Lucha Underground star Ivelisse not over with the fans. The crowd fell flat during the women's match-up which was a huge disappointment. I'm hoping to see better work for the Women's division this year because I really have struggled to get on board with what we have been given. I'm also hoping to see more of Ivelisse in WCPW. We also saw Joseph Conners work his last WCPW show. It was announced that he along with Trent Seven, Tyler Bate, and Pete Dunn will no longer be able to compete for WCWP because of a contract with WWE, this, of course, is due to their involvement in the WWE United Kingdom Championship tournament. Back onto Kirby Mania and we saw Cody Rhodes successfully defend his Internet Championship against Zack Saber Jr.
And finally, TNA have new owners with Dixie Carter is out and now a minority share holder. We have also heard that Jeff Jarret is making his way back to the company.
NXT and Other WWE Highlights
One of the standout moments of the week for me was without a doubt the news that Chris Hero made his WWE return. This week NXT returned to full sail for recordings and the biggest news taken away from the night was that former NXT star Chris Hero made his return to the company. This is something that the wrestling world really has been talking about for a few weeks. Around Christmas time it was announced that Hero would be returning to the company in twenty seventeen but it was never really a for sure thing and no one knew when and where he would go. Some suspected he would go straight up to the main roster. With his popularity and fan base, the jump straight up to the
main roster would have been fine and considering he had already been through FCW/NXTT it just seemed to make sense to a lot of people. I did mention that I would love to see him go to Smackdown LIVE, he's someone I think the roster really could do with but I was overall just super super happy and excite to hear the news he would be making a return. Now, I wasn't expecting to see this happen so early into the year but I'm certainly not complaining. Again, the WWE have uploaded a clip of his return over on their YouTube channel so you can go and see that! The clip did see him confront Shinsuke Nakamura making it perfectly clear what he was coming after the NXT Championship but he didn't actually say anything. As expected he picked up a huge reaction from the Full Sail crowd. I was surprised to see that the WWE really didn't change a thing with him. They have kept everything from his name to his entrance theme the same that he used when he was last apart of the WWE. I was expecting them to use the name Chris Hero and start all over again but they can definitely work with what they have decided to do. So we will be seeing him work under the name Kassius Ohno and the WWE have uploaded several clips of Kassius' work from when he was last apart of the WWE. I'm very very excited to see what the WWE have planned for him and what twenty seventeen will look like for this amazing talent! Hopefully, they don't fuck it up with him again.
It was also revealed that Wrestlemania next year will take place in New Orleans the same place Wrestlemania thirty was held.
And so that is my first ever "Last week in Wrestling" post. I had so much fun writing this and going back over the past week in wrestling. If this is something you would like to see again next Monday then do let me know! I would love to know what you thought of this week wrestling so leave a comment bellow letting me know what you match of the week, wrestler of the week and highlight moment of the week was or tweet me over at @TezangiVictoria.
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