SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
JAIDA PARKER vs. KALI ARMSTRONG – HIT:
Man, this crowd love Jaida. You can see why: she has a ton of charisma and works the crowd well. Armstrong, coming in as heel, didn’t really show any heel tendencies until the eye poke at the end, which did lead to the win, in fairness. It’s clear they want to push Armstrong, but with Jaida dominating 90% of the match, it didn’t leave Armstrong looking strong, but a solid match.
NARAKU PACKAGE – HIT:
A good mini recap of last week’s events. Although the package then wandered into Nakamura territory. Very similar to the packages they did with Nakamura on SmackDown. However, it was pretty good hype for next week’s in-ring debut, and Naraku made a point of stating he really wants the title. Not somebody’s soul, not a plane, but the title. It gets a hit for that.
JASPER TROY vs. JACKSON DRAKE – MISS:
Huge size difference! Drake is great, bumps like Dolph Ziggler, which really helped Troy initially and got the crowd into it. Drake wins after the huge slam interference from Lockwood (who looked huge, have the Chyna comparisons hit yet?). The match was super short though, and Troy continues to lack something. He is a bit of a riddle; they are clearly high on him, but at this stage, he would be better served as a Diesel to a Shawn Michaels rather than a solo wrestler.
TRISTAN ANGELS VIGNETTE – MISS:
This was weird. It starts with Angels sounding like a new version of Kit Wilson, then randomly focusing on shearing sheep and farm life before looping back to more Kit Wilson-Esque talk?! They might have been better served to get him in the ring so he can show he can back up the talk.
ZARIA PROMO – MISS:
Zaria stating she’s now alone with no distractions and ready for the North American championship was fine, but when the interruptions started, it started to sound way too scripted and unnatural, as usual. No great follow-up on last week’s debut hype of Lizzie Rain. At least Nikkita Lyons showed a little bit of personality, although it’s faint praise in segments like this.
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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LOLA VICE & MR IGUANA vs. THE CULLING – MISS:
It gets a miss mostly for them making this a non-title match. Wishful thinking on my part, hoping they’d get Lola Vice away from Mr Iguana here. I stand firm that one of your top champs shouldn’t be regularly tagging with a comedy character. Speaking of Lola, she should be considered unlucky not to get the call with the last round of call-ups, as she’s more than ready. Messy finish in this one with Izzy Dame clearly tapping out in front of the ref, then pinning Vice with the running knee, setting up a title match.
HANK & TANK vs. DARK STATE – MISS:
This match was more about the ongoing internal conflict of Dark State than anything. They’re doing a slow burn on a break-up, which I’m OK with as long as they break off the right wrestlers from the group (Shugars and/or Lennox). Hank and Tank look like a 2026 version of Public Enemy. Although popular with the live crowd, taking clean losses like this makes me fear for them, especially when you consider WWE’s attitude to tag teams.
TONY D’ANGELO vs. TAVION HEIGHTS – HIT:
I like both guys. Athletic and explosive. Although the match was short, it was good and enjoyable up until the interference from Cam Hendrix. With Myles Borne countering the Hendrix run in there’s the next North American title program, although I don’t think they should have used a main event match with the world champion as the setup. Then in came my new main man, introducing himself as Mason Rook. The man can move! After getting a John Cena approval nod numerous times this week, it’s clear he’s going to be given every chance.
SOCIAL MEDIA
As a subnote, social media has been doing its usual worst this week, attacking Rook’s appearance. While I agree the gear he’s worn for his two appearances hasn’t been flattering, the criticism has been overall harsh. This might actually swing in his favor, however, as when these critics see him in the ring, they will be more shocked at just how good he is.
In closing, an up and down show. They missed out on capitalising on some of last week’s debuts (Lizzie Rain, Naraku, Angels), but it was a solid in-ring week, and I am unashamedly on the Mason Rook train.
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