Last Week in Wrestling

Hello everyone and welcome back to Talk Wrestling World, I hope you are all well and good! So I originally didn't have a post planned for today. With so much currently going on in my personal life I was planning on taking a few days to a week away from blogging but I've decided that I want to keep myself busy and because I know its likely I will be taking a lot of time off next month I wanted to try and make sure I was uploading as regularly as I can throughout the next two to three weeks. In today's post I have something I haven't really uploaded in a while but one I knew would be quick and easy to write and go down pretty well with everyone. It's been well over a month since I last uploaded a "Last Week in Wrestling" article but I thought today would be a good day to bring it back and have a nice little catch up in regards to pro wrestling as I run you through some of the highlights from last weeks wrestling events. In today's blog post I'm also going to taking a look at some of the things to look forward to this week in the crazy world of wrestling. Merging two posts together is something I really want to start doing more often. This will include adding RAW and Smackdown LIVE highlights to one single post but you will see those uploaded more later on in the month. I do have a couple of Money in the bank prediction posts coming up over the next week also. For now, any recent blog posts will be linked bellow including last weeks RAW Review and my full WWE Extreme Rules highlights. Finally, you can let me know what you thought of the events that took place last week and your favourite match and wrestler of the week were by leaving a comment bellow or by dropping me a tweet over at @TezangiVictoria.

WWE Extreme Rules 

We kick start things off today by taking a look at the WWE and what it had to offer last week and of course the first thing we have to touch on is Extreme Rules. Honestly, it was pretty decent. Better than I expected, we had a couple of matches that really did standout and I felt as though the booking decisions were pretty much all the best they could have been. The night saw two titles change hands, the Intercontinental and the RAW tag team championships and I have to say that I felt as though they were both the right decisions. While I love the Hardys more than anything in the world it felt right for the titles to change hands and for Cesaro and Sheamus to become two time champions. The pair's recent heel turn has put them back on track and given them a purpose. They once again feel exciting and unpredictable and I'm loving how strong they look week in and week out. I've realised I haven't touched on how impressed I've been with their growth as an actual team. They are both fantastic in ring performers and great singles competitors but we really have seen them grow so much stronger as a tag team. Their chemistry is so strong and I find myself genuinely looking forward to both their matches and promos/segments. I'm one hundred and ten percent excited to see what the future holds for both superstars and following their strong performance both on RAW and at Extreme Rules things are looking real good. They had a dominant performance last week and having the Hardys absent from the show on Monday was exactly what Cesaro and Sheamus both needed. The exact same could be said for the Intercontinental championship and its new opener. The Miz and Dean Ambrose put on yet another solid match at the pay per view last Sunday and I was over the moon with the end result. I will always be a huge Dean Ambrose fan but there is no denying the fact that the Miz is the best Intercontinental champion we have had in some time and he really is the man that can bring the most to that title. No one makes it feel as important as he does and I don't doubt that his seventh reign will be as strong as his previous'. The following night Miz remained a big talking point when he took part in what was my favourite segment of the week. He really was a standout last week and I couldn't be happier to see him with the IC title back on his shoulder. As for the pay per view as a whole it was okay. The main event was fantastic and I loved the surprise win from Samoa Joe. The work from the women's divison over on RAW was disappointing as whole but the women's championship match at Extreme Rules was particularly bad. However, putting that aside it was a good night and I really enjoyed the show rating it a six and a half to a seven out of ten.

RAW and Smackdown LIVE 

During last weeks episode of Smackdown LIVE the reveal of the first ever women's Money in the bank briefcase was made and honestly I really liked the design. They didn't go for a tacky stereo-typically girly colour and the white and gold theme made it loo really classy. The opening to the show was decent. The focus was again on the women's divison and the up and coming historic women's money in the bank ladder match. I have already written a full post listing five reasons why you should be excited for that and I will link that post bellow. This was a good little part of the build up and worked so well fitting into the night. Every women has a valid argument and you can see potential for every women to take the win so when the pay per view does roll around its going to be really interesting to see who actually takes the win. We also saw Lana finally debut for Smackdown live during this opening. I was surprised to see her given a one on one title shot against Naomi rather than seeing her added the money in the bank ladder match. The later did seem to be the best option for her but I'm still looking forward to her singles in ring debut in a couple of weeks time at the pay per view. She was of course very over and the reaction from the crowd really did speak volumes. Keeping that in mind it will be really interesting seeing how she is booked at Money in the bank. As for the rest of the show last week we saw Jinder Mahal make an epic entrance (yes, I'm still riding the Jinder Mahal bandwagon). He was able to pick up more momentum in a singles match against Mojo Rawley but I'm really hoping he gets something stronger during the show this week because he really does need it. Shinsuke Nakamura also picked up a pinfall victory over the United States Champion Kevin Owens during the one on one main event. The match was as good as could be expected and while I'm not sure about the end result (I still feel as though Owens should have walked away or got himself DQ'd) it was a really good main event and I can't complain. 

As for Monday Night RAW, we actually got a really good show. Again, the booking decision in the opening match was terrible and had me beyond frustrated however the match itself was really good. Reigns and Wyatt have a good amount of chemistry and were able to deliver a really strong opening contest. The night was full of really strong segments and most the matches made sense and the booking worked. Big Cass was attacked and while I still believe he could be revealed as Enzo's attacker I do want to see them remain as a team. I still think that there is plenty more they could do with the pair including a feud with the Revival who I hope are revealed as the attackers over the coming weeks. Samoa Joe continued to make an impact and gain momentum while a new feud between TJP and Neville looks to have kick started. 

Other News 

Over in NXT it looks as though Roderick Strong will be next to step up to challenge Bobby Roode for the NXT championship. The pair were involved in a segment this past week and while I'm not expecting the title to change hands I honestly cannot wait to see this mini feud develop and their singles match for the title when it rolls around is sure to be an epic one. This is for sure a feud to keep your eyes on over the coming weeks. Still in regards to the WWE, Brock Lesnar is still mourned to be facing Braun Strowman at the Summer Slam pay per view in a couple of months time and he is still rumored to be facing Roman Reigns for the title at Wrestlemania next year. I will be talking about both these rumors in an up and coming blog post so keep an eye out for that. There have also been talks of Lesnar facing both Finn Balor and Seth Rollins in the near future. As I mentioned in a post last week there really is a story there for both of those feuds and I really hope the WWE are able to get it right there with both of those rumors also. Also, Matt Hardy and Reby welcomed their second son to the world last week. Austin Aries is looking to be taking some time away from the ring as I'm sure most of you are aware of by now too. 

Outside of the WWE now and first we focus on NJPW where another five star match took place once again involving Okada this time when he took on Will Ospreay in the finals of the best of the Super Juniors. Now, I do actually need to go back and re-watch this match because I did watch it super late one day last week when I couldn't sleep. This really was a fucking epic match and I am going to be talking about this in more detail in a future match. If you haven't seen that match then seriously go and check it out its one hundred percent worth the watch! NXT also toured the UK Last week stopping off at Download festival for the weekend. 

In the week ahead we do have a lot to look forward to. I'm going to be paying extra attention to Lucha Underground and getting some posts done focusing on that. We also have a rematch between Sheamus and Cesaro and the Hardys for the RAW tag team championships as well as Brock Lesnar who should be appearing on the show tonight! I will be live tweeting throughout RAW, Smackdown and hopefully NXT this week. If posts are not uploaded at the usual times its simply because I'm super busy this week and I don't want every post to be as rushed as this one was!