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There’s a ton of wrestling content nowadays and unless you’re a hardcore pro-graps fan, you have to decide what to watch when and what to consider leaving out. That’s where we come in to help.
Every week, we are going to run down the big in-ring happenings for the easily accessible US wrestling. This won’t cover your indie needs, but ReverendKain always has you covered in his weekly Sermon on the Mat for that.
Bear in mind, matches could be added after this posts that would definitely change how worth a show is to watch.
Sunday
Bound for Glory (PPV)
Bound for Glory (BFG) is Impact Wrestling’s biggest show of the year. They’re out of the Impact Zone and filming in Ottawa, Ontario for this one.
The build has been poor given the sheer length of the last set of tapings. (The last set of tapings occurred three months ago and because of that, the last month has been a bunch of filler.) However, I expect Impact to go all out on this one.
Keep a look out for my full preview soon, but the main matches are:
- Johnny Impact (AKA John Morrison) vs. Eli Drake (c) for the Impact world championship
- Gail Kim vs. Allie vs. Sienna (c) for the Knockouts championship
- LAX vs. oVe (Dave and Jake Crist) (c) in a street fight for the Impact tag championships
Originally, Taya Valkyrie and Rosemary were set to have a match, but unfortunately Taya cannot compete at this show nor the following tapings. That’s disappointing because that was the match I was looking forward to well above the rest.
It is likely that Sami Callahan will debut to assist his Ohio boys in that street fight and that should be exciting.
Also, Alberto El Patron returns to Impact. At the very least, that’ll be interesting.
Verdict: I think this will be an exciting show. It’s not the best card ever, and losing Taya vs. Rosemary hurts, but it’s pretty solid and Impact is going to try to go big on this one.
Monday
Monday Night Raw (USA Network)
Both Raw and SmackDown emanate from England this week. Those shows are usually fun but at the same time, they usually avoid huge happenings since these are on tape delay for the American audience.
Last week Braun Strowman returned from death by trash compactor and Samoa Joe returned as well.
There’s not much advertised match wise for this episode outside a Guitar on a Pole match (seriously) between Elias and Jason Jordan. But the brand war leading to Survivor Series has been overall enjoyable. Kurt Angle is opening the show on MizTV and that will probably have PPV implications.
Verdict: If you’re going to watch Raw no matter what, then go for it. If you’re not sure, you can seek out the spoilers prior to the show.
Tuesday
SmackDown Live (USA Network)
Despite being on tape delay, SmackDown is still running some big matches this week.
That includes AJ Styles vs. Jinder Mahal for the WWE championship. Also, the Usos will defend their tag titles against Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable.
A title change for either would be somewhat surprising given it’ll be spoiled for the American audience (if they go on-line). But if anything, spoiling AJ Styles winning the title from Jinder will certainly help pop ratings so I wouldn’t put it past them.
Verdict: SmackDown has been good lately and the two title matches make it pretty must see even if it’s not actually live.
205 Live (WWE Network)
The cruisers continue to do their thing with Enzo as their champ.
Verdict: If you like the cruisers or certified g’s, check it out.
Wednesday
NXT (WWE Network)
Last week, William Regal officially announced War Games for TakeOver. It’s on, baby!
Also, the TakeOver special in two weeks will feature Drew McIntyre vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas for the NXT championship, a fatal 4-way between Ember Moon, Kairi Sane, Peyton Royce, and Nikki Cross for the vacant Women’s championship, and the Velveteen Dream vs. Aleister Black. And maybe an HBK vs. Johnny Gargano Ab off?
They may add on another match to the TakeOver and if so that’ll be addressed in the next couple weeks. Also, Mercedes Martinez, who made it to the semi finals of the Mae Young Classic, has been talking trash about Ember Moon, and that’ll likely lead to a match. Kairi Sane will face Billie Kay tonight. Those should be good.
Verdict: NXT has been consistently enjoyable. It’s worth checking out.
Thursday
Impact Wrestling (Pop TV)
It’s the fallout show for Bound for Glory. If there’s an Impact worth checking out, it’s this one. It sounds like they’re going to do yet another soft reboot with Jarrett gone and Dutch Mantell not as high in creative any more. (Word is Dutch won’t be showing up for this set of tapings.)
Maybe we’ll get new faces (such as Jack Swagger or Sami Callahan). We’ll see where their stories will go next. And mainly, get an overall idea of the newest direction of the promotion... until they have their next soft reboot in a few months.
Verdict: It’s worth checking out to see where Impact is headed next.
If I could only watch one thing this week, it’d be:
SmackDown
The two title matches (and faint rumor that they may be looking to alter the Survivor Series card a bit), has be intrigued.
Bound for Glory is up there. While I’ve been underwhelmed with the most recent episodes of Impact, I have a feeling this will be a good pay-per-view.
There’s a ton of other wrestling out there and we can’t cover it all on here. So if there’s something you’re particularly excited for this week, let your fellow wrestling fans know in the comments.
See ya next week!