Memorial Day Weekend Recap (5/27/16 - 5/30/16)

Friday (5/27):

• Went to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner
• Walked around Target for bit
• Played L4D2 with Dan and Corinne
  
  

Saturday (5/28):

• Went to IKEA, it wasn't terribly crowded. We bought a new door mat, a container for plastic bags, and a splatter guard.
• Ate at Suzuya, this small Japanese dessert cafe
• Went to 169 Market to buy ingredients to make Bicol Express. It was a minor success.
• Bought Overwatch and played for a bit

Sunday (5/29):

• Watched "The Nice Guy" starring Russel Crowe and Ryan Gosling. We opted for this move over "X-Men: Apocalypse" (we never wanted to watch the movie anyways). This was a great buddy film.
• I wanted to eat at this Guam restaurant, Red Ricem, for lunch. Vince couldn't find his wallet so we had to go back to the theaters to get it. When we got back, I saw that they were closing early. We went to Hot N Juicy Crawfish for lunch and ran into Joel, Pam, John, and Jonathan, who also just got out from Hot N Juicy crawfish earlier.
• We walked around Town Square and Fry's for a while before heading home

Monday (5/30):

• We stayed home the whole day
• We gave Yumi and Tsuki a bath
• I got restless and decided to go to the gym early, which was nice
• Got home to watch Monday Night RAW on Taima, which was pretty much a throwaway episode, save for a few segments and the main event match. Nope, I'm not making a Monday Night RAW post.

What to expect for Tuesday Night Smack Down!:

Ha, I had to make this because we had a 3 day weekend. Seeing how Monday Night RAW was incredibly disappointing, I'm hoping Smack Down will step up this week, especially now that they addressed Smack Down going live and each brand having a unique roster. Money In The Bank is shaping up to be an even bigger PPV with those feuds carrying into the draft.

The biggest and newest angle to happen, which looking back now was wasted on a holiday episode, was having AJ Styles and John Cena in a program. What was thought to be a friendly face vs face rivalry turned into The Club vs Cena. Yup, Styles officially aligned with his good brothers to be, well, The Club, but for reals this time. Funny how this feud is the New Era vs The Old Guard when Cena and Styles are both in their late 30s. I was excited for the heel turn but Vince wasn't because they just killed off the hottest babyface opposite Reigns, who they still refuse to make him into a full-blown heel.

Despite what was advertised last week, they didn't feature a 7th MITB qualifying match. Instead, they had a 6 man tag team match with Ambrose, Zayn and Cesaro vs Jericho, Owens, and Del Rio. Team Indy Darlings won, with Ambrose pinning Owens after Dirty Deeds for the win. Speaking of which, it was mentioned on commentary that Ambrose was the odds-on favorite to win MITB. And as much as everyone wants to see the Shield Triple Threat happen, I personally think it's too soon for it. Rollins and Reigns need to build up their feud and Ambrose needs to get more wins again to get out the mid-card. Then again, they can't afford to hold it off and another freak injury happens by then. So I see another heel like Owens or Jericho winning it, or Zayn or Cesaro winning it. 

I don't have faith in WWE to push Ambrose again :/

"DAE think Ambrose is dull?"

So. It's finally happened. Fans are turning against Ambrose. Frankly, I'm surprised it's taken this long. And it's quite sad to not only see it happening but knowing the exact point when it started going downhill.

His match against Lesnar at WrestleMania was the make-or-break match for Ambrose, coming off from losing his IC title on RAW, losing at Fastlane, and losing at Roadblock. Realistically, Ambrose physically couldn't defeat Lesnar so everyone expected the two to go all out with their match, use the weapons that Ambrose picked up a few nights earlier, and maybe at the end, earn some form of respect from Lesnar and Heyman for being tenacious. This match had high expectations and it sadly became one of the most disappointing and forgettable matches coming out of WrestleMania 32. Lesnar dominated Ambrose easily and the only weapons used were chairs, a kendo stick, and a fire extinguisher. Neither Foley's Barbie or Funk's chainsaw were used by Ambrose and there was no blood, even for a match involving Lesnar.

Immediately following the aftermath, with no acknowledgement from Ambrose on his match against Lesnar, he entered a feud with Jericho. He resumed a program that was once hinted last year, when Jericho was Ambrose and Roman Reigns' third man against The Wyatt Family at Night of Champions. Jericho emerged from WrestleMania as the top heel after defeating AJ Styles in the rubber match (which seriously confused and pissed off everyone). Their feud was rebooted over Jericho's talk show getting cancelled by Shane and replaced with the Ambrose Asylum. After the death of Mitch the Plant and Jericho's $15k jacket, the two would go on to have matches for Payback and the first (and probably last) Asylum Match at Extreme Rules. Although Ambrose has won over Jericho twice now, the victories no longer mattered.

To date, Ambrose has had 3 back-to-back disappointing matches. It's hard to admit that, and it's getting harder and harder to defend why he should be worth investing when there are better, edgier babyfaces like AJ Styles and Sami Zayn on the main roster, new NXT talent getting called up, and a number of talent like Seth Rollins and John Cena coming back from injury. It looks like WWE is trying to build up Ambrose again, as he's 1 of the 7 qualified competitors for the MITB ladder match. He and Kevin Owens are big favorites to walk away with the briefcase, although most want to see Ambrose win so that they can build towards the much anticipated Shield Triple Threat match that was suppose to happen at WrestleMania before Rollins' injury. Even Dave Meltzer from Wrestling Observer admitted that "Ambrose's star has fallen after the Lesnar program."

This past week, WWE revealed that they are reintroducing the brand split. A draft will take place on July 11 before Smack Down goes live on July 19. My first thought was that Ambrose should absolutely go to Smack Down. Since WWE will never see him as a top guy for RAW, he and other talent will have a better chance at Smack Down. Besides, Ambrose seems to be given a lot more to do on WWE's B-Show, which seems fitting seeing how he has been headlining the B-Show team for the weekend live events for the last few months.

It's selfish but I want to see Ambrose win MITB. I would love to see either Owens or Zayn walk out as Mr. MITB but Ambrose needs this badly for his character and credibility. I can't see him feuding with Jericho again or anybody else. It'll be even better if he and Rollins are both chasing Reigns' for the title. It's just so weird that The Shield is heralded as the beginning of the New Era and yet Ambrose has to work his way to the top and fall back down whereas Rollins and Reigns are given those opportunities to stay at the top.

r/SquaredCircle Exchange!

Ever since Vince introduced me to Reddit and the /r/SquaredCircle, I grew to be a somewhat active "wredditor" in the subreddit. I really enjoy reading the random conversations and observations, although my comment history shows that I fervently defend Ambrose most of the time. They announced that they were going to do their 2nd annual gift exchange. This is where wredditors are randomly matched to gift and be gifted. I signed up because I was eager to participate in such a community event. I was matched with a giftee who liked women wrestlers and... Wrestlepalooza? I messaged him to see if he was open to getting indie stuff like ROH or PWG and he said he was interested in PWG. So I set out to get 3 gifts for him, based on his gift preferences.

I got him a "Queen of Hug Style" XXL shirt from Red Bubble and a PWG "Eleven" DVD (which features Candice LeRae's most talked about match). I wanted to get him an official 8x10 print of Becky Lynch or Bayley, however, I saw that those kind of prints are more valuable if they were autographed by them. I decided to send him artwork instead.

I made a simple looking "NXT 4 Horsewoman" artwork done in Illustrator. Looking back on it now, I'm actually not happy that I don't have Charlotte and Bayley doing their signature pose with their arms and hands. I had Sasha and Becky pose with their hands because they looked quite plain without it. I think I might go back and revise it at some point :/

I'll update the post when my giftee posts the pics after receiving the package (which I stupidly forgot to do on my end before mailing it out) and when I get my gift from my Santa, who alerted me via Twitter that he sent it out last week. It's almost a week and I'm getting impatient. I mean my Santa lives in California, it shouldn't take a week to mail something right??

-----

Cool! Derek got my gift today via USPS!

And I just got my gift from Santa, Joey!

Personally, I was a little sad that I didn't get Kevin Owens figure or a Becky shirt but I was incredibly glad I got The Shield blu-ray :D The other stuff was an Undertaker comic, a DVD about British Pro Wrestling, and an autobiography book written by The Dynamite Kid. He took a while to ship the stuff to me but I'm glad I got it before the deadline.

"A Title I Never Lost": Monday Night RAW (5/23/16)

Seth Freaking Rollins kicked off the special 1200th episode of Monday Night RAW because of course he would. Rollins went at length about how he's back to take back the title he never lost and that even though he got a lot of loving fan support, he doesn't need anybody to win (plus he threw all the fan letters in the trash and set it on fire!) His former brother, Roman Reigns would show up with the title, prompting Shane McMahon to come out and quickly setting both Reigns and Rollins as the main event for the upcoming Money In The Bank PPV. The rest of the show focused on 5 MITB qualifying matches. The results can be found here.

Want to know the best part of Rollins' return? They significantly downplayed Reigns. Yes, Reigns came out with the title and trash talked (off mic) with Rollins but other than that, he didn't say a word. He didn't even cut his usual "THE GUY" promo. All the talking was done by Rollins and Shane, who had to give a rundown for the audience on what Rollins has accomplished prior to his injury. Rollins reappeared in a backstage segment with Renee but got distracted when he saw Stephanie. He went in for a hug but Stephanie stopped him, saying that a lot has changed and so has their business relationship. Rollins did state he didn't need anybody, so it was telling how sad he looked when he didn't get a warm welcome from his "mother."

Unlike last year's MITB, which drew criticism for hastily putting in Dolph Ziggler, Sheamus, Kofi Kingston, Neville, Roman Reigns, Randy Orton and Kane, this year, they made the effort to have those entrants earn those spots in qualifying matches. 5 spots were filled tonight with 2 heels and 3 faces. No word if the remaining 2 spots will happen on Smack Down or next week's RAW.

• Zayn defeated Sheamus (who randomly started to feud with Apollo Crews)
• Cesaro defeated The Miz
• Jericho defeated Apollo Crews (who no sold the beatdown he got from Sheamus backstage)
• Ambrose defeated Ziggler (in a technical match)
• Owens defeated AJ Styles (CLEAN!)
  

This lineup is already interesting for several reasons: Cesaro is going to put on a spectacular show as usual. Owens and Zayn are involved so there's a damn good chance they're just going to find any opportunity to beat each other again. Ambrose and Jericho are squaring off again, meaning there's a scary chance Jericho could screw Ambrose over and win the match he created 11 years ago.

• RAW also marked the much-welcome return of Big Cass' tag team partner, Enzo, which meant they were resuming their feud against "Bub and Devon Dud." Enzo addressed the concussion and said it was a hard sneeze. I'm now extra worried for Enzo.
  
  
• Not sure if this is will be an actual feud, or it might be WWE's way of trying to quickly move on from Adam Rose being released, but the Social Outcasts attacked New Day as they were celebrating Raw's 1200th episode. Oddly enough, there were signs of The Vaudevillains.
  
  
• Charlotte, Dana, and Ric came out for an in-ring segment about the state of the Women's Title. It got off to a very shaky start, mostly because Charlotte got annoyed with the crowd chants, but Charlotte finally split from Ric Flair. She addressed the issues of how everyone thought she couldn't win without Ric and she wanted to prove them all wrong. This prompted Ric to cry of course and tearfully leave. Looks like Charlotte is making her own version of the BFFs with Dana on her side.
  
  
• Styles and Owens was the main event qualifying match. Before it started, Styles came out to praise Reigns for being a worthy opponent (the audience booed of course) but he also talked down about Gallows, Anderson, and The Usos for interfering and costing him the match. Gallows and Anderson came out to confront Styles and ended with him breaking up with The Club. Gallows and Anderon didn't take this split amicably.

This was a great episode of RAW that's quickly establishing the next PPV with matches and storylines that will organically build towards it. Now the biggest question is who will win the briefcase. Prior to Rollins' return, the popular choice for getting the briefcase was Owens just so he can screw with Zayn and Reigns. But when JBL mentioned on commentary about the possibility of all 3 Shield members being in the title picture, now it's shifting to Ambrose to be the favorite to win.

Speaking of which, Ambrose seems to have a slight attitude change following Extreme Rules. His match against Ziggler was technical, just like their previous match for the Survivor Series WHC tournament, and he looked quite serious. His fallout interview however showed Ambrose coming off quite indifferent. Seems to foreshadow something here.

WWE Extreme Rules 2016 PPV

Last night was WWE's Extreme Rules, the 2nd PPV to quickly follow Payback in the month of May. This was a more satisfying PPV than Payback and best of all, no on-screen injuries occurred! The results can be found here.

Rusev won over Kalisto to become a 2-time US Champion. RuRu came out looking like a monster heel again with his newly modified and brutal looking Accolade. I didn't think resetting him (and Lana's) character would do him any good but it turns out did.

The best match of the night was hands down the IC Title Fatal 4 Way match. Zayn and Owens' hatred for each other was the backdrop for this match, which probably wouldn't have been interesting if it only involved Cesaro and Miz. There were so many great spots, so many nearfalls, and Miz didn't look out of place at all amidst these former indy stars. I was really rooting for Cesaro to win, so I was a bit bummed when he didn't. Miz retaining makes sense because this leaves it open for other guys to go after the title and it frees up Owens, Zayn, and Cesaro.

The Asylum Match was the longest match of the night, clocking in at 26 minutes. It turns out that a short segment was cut from the show and added to Ambrose and Jericho's feud, resulting in an unfortunately long and drawn out match. I'll be honest here; I was bored watching this drag on. I didn't like that every "weapon" they grabbed was literally used once. It wasn't until Ambrose spilled thumbtacks unto the ring that it started building up. Ambrose dropped Jericho unto the tacks AND did Dirty Deeds on him to get another win. I have serious respect for Jericho, who went above and beyond to help put Ambrose over when WWE or Lesnar couldn't for WM 32. This one spot saved it from being the worst match of the night.

No, that goes to the Women's Title match with Natalya and Charlotte. Their match was actually quite good but due to the Asylum match running longer than it was suppose to, their match was shortened to under 10 minutes. Natalya looked like she was winning until she was distracted by Flair's entrance theme playing with Dana Brooke (poorly disguised as Flair) entering the ring to distract Natalya. Charlotte does the Figure 8 and forces Natalya to tap. Charlotte, Ric, and Dana all celebrate in the ring. Another title defense for the new Women's title that ended with Flair interfering.

The main event with Styles and Reigns was fantastic. They brawled outside the ring, unto the kickoff show's glass table, destroyed tables and barricades. Gallows and Anderson and the Usos showed up towards the end of the match and everyone was doing everything to make sure they're guy would win. Styles even went berserk and hit The Bloodline in the back with a steel chair. Just as Styles was getting ready to hit the Phenomenal Forearm, Reigns tackles him in mid-air with a spear for a definitive win. It was expected that Reigns would retain and he was getting showered in boos.

AND THEN CROSSFIT JESUS RETURNED

Rollins came back way earlier than anticipated, probably as quick as Cena's return (which is next Monday). He's going to get such a huge pop on Monday Night RAW. We're all cheering for a returning heel and are actively booing the company's top babyface champ. If Reigns is being intentionally built to be this kayfabe powerful, then it would make his defeat even more satisfying. There's no other person than can take him down a notch than the former champ who never lost his title.

Weekend Recap (5/20/16 - 5/22/16)

Friday (5/20):

• Went to at Grape Vine Cafe for dinner
• We went to Sport Chalet and bought some stuffs. They're slowly closing the store.
  
  

Saturday (5/21):

• We looked at some houses with a new realtor, recommended by Josh and Tanisha. Unfortunately, 2 of the 4 houses we were suppose to look at were taken off the market. Also, until Vince's parents comes back from Philippines, we can't look at any houses without them.
• We spent the rest of the day just grocery shopping at Wal-Mart and Costco

Sunday (5/22):

• Vince left early to check up on his parents place while I stayed at home. We pretty much stayed home the whole day.
• Vince beat Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. This was a damn wonderful game.
• Watched WWE Extreme Rules, which I will make a separate post

What to expect for Monday Night RAW:

SETH FREAKING ROLLINS!

CROSSFIT JESUS HAS RISEN!

"Extreme Payback": Monday Night RAW (5/16/16)

The go-home show for Monday Night RAW was split evenly between actual wrestling matches and promos and segments, which was effective but somehow underselling Extreme Rules this Sunday. The results can be found here.

The major highlights were:

• The Miz and Cesaro vs Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. This was a seriously fun match that played up both of the respective heels and faces either refusing to cooperate or trying to one-up each other. This is also the first time in a long while since "Steenerico" teamed up years ago. The match ended with Zayn pinning Miz and winning the match, only to end with Owens superkicking Zayn in the face. Owens vowed to take back his title.
  
  
• Dana Brooke vs Becky Lynch. Due to Emma's badly-timed injury, Dana stepped up to carry on the feud with Becky. While I can commend Dana for taking over, it really puts a damper on Emma and Becky's feud, which was building up quite nicely from last month. And Dana, who I thought improved the most on NXT before getting injured, didn't look too confident in the ring either.
  
  
• The New Day had a time machine segment (actually it's just a giant refrigerator box with stuff glued on) to make fun of The Vaudevillains' bygone era. They briefly stopped in 2009, where Kofi emerged to his old theme song and spoke with his Jamaican accent. Kofi cried out "2009 was my best year!" before they dragged him back in and emerged in the past, where everything was black and white, where Booty-Os are named Derriere Squares, and there were no video games. The Vaudevillains ruined the fun segment and stood tall over The New Day.
  
  
• Ambrose (sporting a shiner) called out Jericho and challenged him to having a rematch at Extreme Rules, which Jericho accepted. While Jericho was doing his "Gift of Jericho" pose ("Drink it in, Deeeeeeeeean."), Ambrose said he had a gift for him as well and gazed up as a black steel cage was lowered to the ring, complete with cheesy horror music and strobe lights. Ambrose suddenly went into menacing Moxley-ish mode and introduced the first ever Asylum Match, where there will be no escape and Jericho will never be the same again.
  
  
• The Usos defeated Gallows and Anderson, because of course they would. The Usos have started dressing in darker clothes and darker face paint, which complements Reigns' current tweener persona. The most surprising part was seeing Styles finally giving into temptation and using the steel chair to attack Reigns. AND THEN PERFORMING THE STYLES CLASH ON ROMAN ON SAID CHAIR. It was a amazing spot. Which makes it all the more frustrating knowing that Styles will not be a new champ this Sunday.
  
  
• Kalisto vs Del Rio was looking like one of their usual matches until Sin Cara and Rusev got involved in a backstage segment that spilled into the ring. Del Rio won the match and quickly left as Rusev went into the ring and dominated over Kalisto. Rusev looked like a monster heel again and it was fantastic.
  
  
• The main event ended with Charlotte and Natalya doing a contract signing with Shane and Stephanie in the ring. Charlotte was not happy seeing that the contract officially included banning her father from ringside, so Ric had to sign as well. A furious Ric Flair threatened Shane, who said he respected him too much to try to fight back, but it didn't stop Stephanie from slapping him. Charlotte was ready to lunge at Stephanie but Nattie caught her and did a sharpshooter. Ric and Charlotte slithered away and Raw ended with Nattie holding up the Women's belt up high.
  
  

So that's that. There's still Smack Down and two house shows left before Extreme Rules. Here is the complete card:

• Pre-Show: Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin in a No DQ match
• WWE World Title match: Roman Reigns vs. A.J. Styles in an Extreme Rules match
• Asylum Cage match: Dean Ambrose vs. Chris Jericho
• Women’s Title match: Charlotte vs. Natalya in a submission match
• U.S. Title match: Kalisto vs. Rusev
• IC Title match: The Miz vs. Cesaro vs. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn
• Tag Title match: New Day vs. The Vaudevillians

Note: I'm actually more worried for Ambrose's match than I thought. To me, it seems nearly parallel to his feud against Lesnar in WrestleMania, where it had a great buildup and a lackluster match and ending. If they're going through the effort to have Ambrose be the poster boy for Extreme Rules with a match tailored for him, he better win this match. Then again, Ambrose has been known to lose in most gimmick matches...

Weekend Recap (5/13/16 - 5/15/16)

Friday (5/13):

• Went to to try O-My Sushi for dinner. The sushi was really good and it was all prepared by one sushi chef. 
• Went to Sport Chalet and bought a freakin Olympic barbell set at 30% off. We don't even have a house yet and we already bought gym equipment!
• Walked around Downtown Summerlin while eating gelato before heading home.
  
  

Saturday (5/14):

• Woke up early to do more house viewings. The first house we saw was a fixer-upper, which we absolutely didn't want. The second house already accepted an offer :/
• Went to Seafood City to buy ingredients to make Kare-Kare
• Pretty much stayed at home the whole time as Vince finished up Dark Soul 3

Sunday (5/15):

• Finally watched "Keanu." That movie is only enjoyable if one is familiar with Key & Peele. That said, this was an enjoyable movie and I hope to see them in more TV and movie roles.
• We grabbed some lunch at Tropical Smoothie
• Hanged out with Joel, Pam, and lil Sorscha. Forced everyone to watch TMNT III :D

What to expect for Monday Night RAW:

It's the go-home show before Extreme Rules this Sunday! I'm actually pretty excited for tonight due to the numerous and most importantly interesting storylines that are playing out. All the title matches have feuds that have been building up pretty well in the last few weeks. As for the midcard feuds, there's Becky and Emma's feud, possibly another rematch between Ziggler and Corbin, and finally there's Jericho and Ambrose, whose feud opened and closed the show last week (to very mixed reviews). Jericho put Ambrose in a straitjacket on Smack Down last week (which stupidly offended Tumblr fangirls for some reason), which is leading many to believe they might have a strap stipulation match.

Unfortunately, the injury bug has struck again. Styles didn't wrestle on Smack Down last week and was removed from the weekend house shows due to an injured ankle but he'll still be able to compete this Sunday. Emma suffered a back injury and has to undergo surgery for a ruptured disc. Sadly, this means her feud with Becky will be carried over to her recently called up partner, Dana Brooke. And Ambrose is sporting a shiner after Jericho did a Codebreaker on his face. I have a feeling that Ambrose is going to lose this feud to Jericho (thanks to 50/50) and probably get a win next month for MITB. Either he wins against Jericho OR... he enters himself in the MITB match with the other entrants.

"The New Error": Monday Night RAW (5/9/16)

This was another somewhat enjoyable episode of Monday Night RAW. I say "somewhat enjoyable" because a majority of the matches, while entertaining, had finishes that didn't make sense. I get that they have 2 more weeks left before Extreme Rules. It just seems like 50/50 booking is at play again. The results can be found here.

So here are the weird finishes to the following matches:

• Ziggler lost to Corbin
• Charlotte (C) lost to Paige
• Miz (C) lost to Zayn
• Rusev (#1 Contender) lost to Sin Cara
• Ryder lost to Owens
• New Day (C) lost to Dudleyz
• The Club lost to The Family via DQ
  
  

All the champs - with the exception of Reigns of course - just randomly lost in their respective matches. Corbin winning shouldn't be a big deal if it weren't for Ziggler randomly winning at Payback. Rusev lost to Sin Cara - SIN CARA - thanks to Kalisto interference. Miz lost to Zayn, making the IC title match a fatal 4-way. Ryder lost to Owens, once again reinforcing Ryder's almost pointless WrestleMania moment as a 1-time IC Champ. The most baffling is the third hour, which saw The New Day losing to The Dudleyz and the last-minute main event with Chris Jericho and Big Cass, set by Stephanie McMahon at the beginning of the show, never happened due to Ambrose's surprise appearance. The only other surprise was Dana Brooke making her main roster debut backstage in a segment with Emma and Becky Lynch.

The Reigns and Styles storyline is getting better and better each week. It's actually getting harder to tell if Styles would remain the steadfast babyface when everyone is using every opportunity to destroy each other. I mean both teams were nearly booed last night, though Reigns and The Usos got a much louder reaction. Speaking of which, it's important to note that the Bullet Club is now present across several promotions. The original leader, Finn Balor, is in NXT, "The Club" with Styles, Gallows, and Anderson is in WWE, and the remaining Bullet Club faction is strong in both NJPW and ROH, along with new additions Adam Cole and Adam Page.

I want to point out something quite odd here. The show started off with Jericho bragging about destroying Ambrose AND Mitch The Plant, whose death saddened the Twitter/Tumblr fans last week. WWE is not one to ignore something like this so they had Jericho display a quick montage of all the screenshots of everyone crying over Mitch, all while emphasizing numerous times that he severely injured Ambrose. When Ambrose returned, he destroyed Jericho's light up jacket which apparently costs $15k. Ambrose is exacting revenge on Jericho... over a potted plant. This was humorous to watch - and props to Jericho and Ambrose for doing their best to make this silly feud serious -  but it robbed the audience of a totally new main event match with another NXT newcomer against a legend. Did WWE intentionally move Reigns and Styles to the 2nd hour so that The New Day, The Dudleyz, Ambrose and Jericho will close out the third hour, where their ratings normally tank? AV Club thought their silly feud was the "shining star" of the show and F4W thought it was building up their feud well enough, while others have understandably thought this was getting sillier and stupider.

To be honest, I don't fucking care. I'm just happy see Ambrose every single time, regardless if he wrestles or not. It's easy to lose faith in the guy with how he's being booked and all but I can't not be entertained by him. Let's see how the go-home show next week will reverse all the 50/50 booking leading up to Extreme Rules. Also, I'm getting that damn poster... unless Ambrose is featured in Money In The Bank, I'm getting that too.

Weekend Recap (5/6/16 - 5/8/16)

Friday (5/6):

• Went to Flame Broiler for dinner. Biko ran out of the door when Vince was getting his wallet. So he gave Biko to me while I was waiting inside the car. She stayed in the car even when we went to Sports Authority.
• Played some Overwatch

Saturday (5/7):

• Woke up early morning to watch "Captain America: Civil War." That movie easily exceeded "Avengers: Age of Ultron" and they made better use of their huge cast with primary and secondary characters.
• Walked over to Celestial Comics to grab a few free comics. It was Free Comic Book Day. We used to look forward to this event. Now, not so much.
• Went home to rest a bit before looking at another new house with Vince's parents and a with a new realtor. It was a unique house but we really didn't like it. We have to look again.
• Went to eat at Gen for an early Mother's Day dinner. Then we walked around Galleria at Sunset before heading home.
• I passed out and fell asleep for 3-4 hours before waking up around midnight. Then I went back to sleep.

Sunday (5/8):

• Went to buy some groceries at Costco and Trader Joe's and got new food for the kitties at PetSmart.
• Watched ROH Global Wars. Count on ROH to give you surprises and push people in the right direction.
• Somewhere around Sunday evening and Monday morning, SOME ASSHOLE SMASHED MY WINDOW TO BREAK INTO MY CAR. You know what's funny about that? Aside from stealing my prescription sunglasses, it's been nearly exactly 2 YEARS SINCE MY CAR WAS LAST BROKEN INTO. IN THE SAME SPOT!

What to expect for Monday Night RAW:

The major storyline centers around Reigns and his Usos Roman Empire vs Styles and his Not Bullet Club. So there will be more of that gray area between both teams. I've grown from not liking to Reigns to being indifferent to him, mostly because I'm just tired of being frustrated with him. WWE is clearly pushing their guy and even spinning it that it's fun to boo Reigns. His feud is only interesting because of Styles' involvement and whether Gallows and Anderson are going to be loyal to him or to Balor, should he get called up at some point.

The other storylines are getting some development as well, especially in light of last week's Black Friday. This explains why Fandango has been getting some screen time as of late and why Darren Young suddenly has Bob Backlund as his life coach. However, it doesn't explain why there has been a lot less screen time for the women's division. The main feuds are Charlotte vs Natalya and Becky vs Emma. Sasha hasn't had a TV match in nearly a month. Tamina and Naomi are apparently out due to an injury and Paige and Summer Rae are not being used.

It was recently confirmed that Kalisto will be defending his US title against #1 contender Rusev at Extreme Rules, meaning that the US title is most likely to change hands. I don't mind Rusev getting the title because his character has blossomed into this wonderfully talkative and charismatic heel instead of the generic foreign brute. 

As for Jericho and Ambrose, well, there's not much happening on that front. To be honest, while I was glad that Ambrose finally got a PPV win, I felt that the match wasn't their best. I'm not sure if there will be a Jericho vs Ambrose II and if there is one, I see it happening as a Pre-Show. Besides, there's nothing at stake here except for Jericho's ego. Add to the fact that this whole feud started when the Ambrose Asylum replaced The Highlight Reel. Oh and Mitch The Plant's death.

WWE's Black Friday 2016

"Black Friday" is a term that is usually associated with retail and consumerism. That feeling of dread leading up to Thanksgiving that reminds you that you have to buy your Christmas presents ASAP. This definition does not apply to WWE, although it does share that same feeling of dread. WWE's version of "Black Friday" marks the day that a lot of talent are "future endeavored," where they are released from the company.

They haven't done a spring cleaning like this in a while. It was believed that they would let the talents' contract expire if they choose not to renew it. However, no one expected WWE to sign on the likes of AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Doc Gallows, and Karl Anderson from NJPW. Not to mention NXT signed on various talents to their performance center, from other indy promotions, and most recently veterans from TNA. With WWE declaring this year being the "New Era," with a slew of talents getting signed up or called up from NXT, along with their current talent being put into new storylines and challenges, it was inevitable that WWE had to take a look and see who to keep and who to let go. In this case, some talents already felt they were not being utilized creatively and chose to either leave amicably or not to renew their contract.

This is the list of the future endeavored so far. I've also included other notable names who were released prior to Black Friday.

Wrestlers Released

• Hornswoggle
• Alex Riley
• El Torito
• Cameron
• Santino Marella
• Wade Barrett
• Damien Sandow

Other Talent Released

• Zeb Colter
• Kyle Edwards (released last week)
• Rich Brennan (released last week)

There are other talents who are expected to be walking out the door at least this year. Titus O' Neil will not be renewing his contract, especially since he came back from a lengthy suspension for grabbing Vince McMahon's arm when Daniel Bryan announced his retirement. Ryback made it clear in his Tumblr post that he doesn't care if WWE releases him before his contract ends in September. And there are other talents that have been mysteriously absent recently, such as Heath Slater, Adam Rose (still under suspension for violating the wellness program), and Jack Swagger. Vince seems to be waiting for a major name to be released and he thinks it could be someone like Dolph Ziggler or Randy Orton.

It looks like that's it for now.

"The New Era": Monday Night RAW (5/2/16)

Now that Payback, the "first PPV of the New Era," has past, Monday Night RAW showed no signs of slowing down as they geared up for their 2nd PPV this month, Extreme Rules, which is a mere 2 weeks away. Unfortunately, the episode was a mix of rushing storylines and long segments. The results can be found here.

The major highlights were:

• Shane and Stephanie agreeing to work together to run RAW. She even presented Shane with a newly framed old photo of him and their dad that was crushed by Vince as a way to make amends.
  
  
• The siblings were interrupted by Kevin Owens who once again invokes his rematch clause for the IC title, only to get interrupted by Cesaro. Shane gives them a match (with Miz and Maryse on commentary). It resulted in a no contest once Miz interferred and Sami Zayn showed up. Zayn is now eyeing the IC title.
  
  
• Enzo's accident and concussion diagnosis was addressed by New Day. As a result, the Vaudevillains were awarded the match and will be facing against the New Day for the Tag Team Championship at Extreme Rules. The Vaudevillains got a heated reaction, proudly taking credit for Enzo's accident. The Dudleyz came out and said the tournament should just be restarted to find anther contender while Cass came out to declaring that he's going to avenge his family, resulting in an 8-man tag team match. Big Cass and The New Day defeated The Vaudevillains and the Dudleyz.
  
  
• Emma and Becky had a match! The two were originally suppose to have matches leading up to Payback but for some unexplained reason, their feud was put on hold (they feuded only through Twitter) and were never put on the card. Emma got a win over Becky with a freaking Michinoku Driver. WWE is clearly protecting Sasha, she hasn't had any televised matches on RAW or Smack Down in a while.
  
  
• A last-minute battle royal match was set up to determine who would be the #1 contender for Kalisto's US title. Notable faces included Apollo Crews, Baron Corbin, Curtis Axel, Bo Dallas, former League of Nations trio, Damian Sandow, and the return of Titus O'Neil. Notable absences were Heath Slater, Jack Swagger, and Ryback. Rusev and Ryder were the final 2 and, seeing how Kalisto's a face, Rusev emerged as the #1 contender. The reason why Ryback was not included  was due to ongoing contract disputes. It looks like Ryback will be joining Barrett on leaving WWE once their contract is up this summer.
  
  
• Stephanie was a guest on the Ambrose Asylum and said that he can ask her anything. Even though Ambrose saw through Stephanie's nice girl act, he agreed to have her on his show. Ambrose's "investigative journaling" eventually broke Stephanie and she decided to undo Shane's changes and cancel his show on the spot. Just as he taking his leave along with his beloved potted plant, Mitch, Stephanie announces that she was also bringing back The Highlight Reel, prompting Jericho to make a surprise entrance. Jericho one-upped Ambrose with The Codebreaker. And if that wasn't bad enough, Jericho took Mitch and slammed him unto the back of Ambrose's head. Twitter and r/SC were pretty upset.
  
  
• The now infamous (ok, not really) Chicago Screwjob was addressed. Not only that, referee Charles Robinson was addressed onscreen as "Lil Naitch," a nickname that was only used by online wrestling fans. Natalya was upset about screwed over and ended up doing a sharpshooter on Ric Flair. After the segment, Stephanie talked to Charlotte and Ric about setting up a rematch, this time making it a submission match to decide if the Figure Four or the Sharpshooter was superior. Also, Stephanie has banned Ric from being at ringside for the match.
  
  
• The main event saw Roman Reigns and The Usos vs As Styles, Gallows, and Anderson. The alignment of faces and heels are blurred, thus making their motivations completely understandable. In the 6-man tag team match, Not-Bullet-Club emerged victorious over Roman Empire. Gallows and Anderson gives a chair to Styles to take out an exhausted Reigns but he refuses to. The Usos takes the chair instead to attack Styles, resulting in Gallows and Anderson attacking them. Styles finally uses the chair to take out the Usos, which is the only thing Reigns sees when he recovers. He angrily Superman punches Styles, sets up the announcer's table and powerbombs Styles through it.

After breaking it down like this, there really was a lot of progress made, it was just a chore to get through 3 hours. I have to admit it that I'm liking this new storyline that Reigns is caught up in. It doesn't involve the Authority and the conflict is internal, or in this case, a faction that was made famous at NJPW who is now on the main roster. Extreme Rules appears to be having some Payback rematches and new matches being set up. Prepare for more stipulations! 

Speaking of which, looks like Ambrose is the poster boy for Extreme Rules! It doesn't mean he's main eventing a match or is the primary focus though. The Wyatt Family was the main focus for Payback but due to Wyatt's injury, they were unable to change the promotional materials, which is why the art direction is all about spooky woods instead of the shattered glass motif from the video packages. I found that odd considering they were able to quickly change the Toronto network special "March to WrestleMania" to "Roadblock" featuring Ambrose and HHH. With the Ambrose Asylum cancelled and Mitch killed off, hopefully Ambrose's feud with Jericho will be taken a lot more seriously.

Weekend Recap (4/29/16 - 5/1/16)

Friday (4/29):

• Went to Wahoo's for dinner
• Went to Sports Chalet to buy some stuff from their closeout sale. Vince got a new yoga mat and I got a new blender bottle.
• Went to Vivido for some gelato

Saturday (4/30):

• Our plans today were thrown out the window. We had an appointment to view the house that Vince and I loved with his parents. His dad called about 4 hours before the appointment and said we need to cancel because it's raining outside. IT'S DANGEROUS APPARENTLY.
• We went to Seafood City to buy ingredients for Pork Belly Menudo
• When we got home, Vince's parents called back and JUST NOTICED that it wasn't raining 3 hours later and asked if we can un-cancel the appointment! Vince had them call the real estate agent, which was rescheduled for Sunday.
• Went to Sports Authority and found out they were closing this Friday. We can't buy their tiny tents yet!

Sunday (5/1):

• Did a donut run
• We checked out the house today. We saw the open house right next to it but we didn't like it. We're pretty set on this house and unfortunately, so are other people.
• We wanted to watch "Keanu" but we couldn't find the time to do it before or after the house viewing. Maybe next weekend.
• We talked about it and asked Vince's parents to put in a an offer for the house. If we get the house, I'll panic about expenses.
• Watched WWE Payback, which I'm not going to make a separate post for. I'll talk about it here.
• Watched Vince played Dark Souls 3 til I fell asleep

What to expect for Monday Night RAW:

Last night's Payback was mostly enjoyable. I say mostly because the first match of the night damn near killed the audience and the event itself when Enzo Amore suffered a concussion following a freak accident that knocked him out and basically cancelled the contendership match. Zayn and Owens unfortunately had to follow that match and they did a great job on bringing the audience back. Owens was the MVP of the night because he cut a promo after defeating Zayn, did commentary for the next match which was for the IC title (Owens appears to be gunning it for the third time), and he and Zayn's fight hilariously spilled over to Cesaro and Miz's feud. 

Other highlights include Ryback doing CM Punk's "entrance" in the preshow and basically saving Kalisto's life, Ambrose winning (finally!) over Jericho, Charlotte and Natalya's match thrown out the window to make a Chicago screw job, and Stephanie and Shane restarting Styles and Reigns main event match until Reigns officially retained. Shane and Stephanie's drama is carrying over to Monday Night RAW (with HHH out of sight for some reason), so we'll get to see how that plays out.