Mainstream 68 Review
Jun 12, 2021 16:11:18 GMT -5
Post by Biggs on Jun 12, 2021 16:11:18 GMT -5
From Tokyo, Japan
*Staring off with Jason Cashe randomness is never a bad way to kick off a wrestling show. Liked the touch with the ring announcer speaking Japanese, though it may cause some continuity errors later in the show. (I know this because I had Graham Stevens later in the show!) In any event, we can chalk it up to there being two announcers, one for the fans in the building and one for the TV audience at home. This is surely the first of many Jason segments for the night, and I'm eager to see where it goes. If the payoff is the granny from last show, I will be a happy man.
Chris Madison vs. Ichiro Fujiwara: Fantastic opening match! I liked the fact that even though this was ostensibly a showcase match for Chris Madison, both wrestlers had a chance to shine. Even though you knew there was no chance Fujiwara was taking home the “W,” it was still an exciting, well written match where the enhancement talent didn't look like a chump. I particularly liked the exchange of holds near the beginning, and you could feel the intensity of the strikes. Also, good use of commentary to sell what kind of head-space Madison was in. All around great work, and sets a high bar early in the show.
*Y'all already know by now how I feel about Julianna's promos. They're good stuff. I feel like a broken record saying this, but using her character's shared past with Skye Healy to frame the promo was excellent, and she made a great point about how Skye had to beat her to validate herself, but Julianna didn't feel the same way about Skye. The dig about how Skye wants to stay in a division she can handle was also effective.
*Jason's second segment of the night was something. The fact that Jason looks for people based on their rear ends is a unique character wrinkle, and I do hope he can come to terms with is bi-curiousness. Funny stuff.
Euphoric vs. Violent Intent – World Tag Team Championship: These two teams are great foils for one another, they just mesh well. The contrast in characters, the contrast in styles, they just work so well together. I also am enjoying the trend of commentary during the matches. It helps to sell stories that can't be told without a mid-match promo. (Though I will disagree with the early pinfalls being disrespectful bit. A lot of times, it's about forcing your opponent to expend their energy early, so even if you know you're not going to win off of it, they still have to actually kick out, wasting precious energy. But I digress.) The Meteora/Backstabber combination was a thing of beauty, but the highlight of the match has to be the finish, with Emma and Sage finally getting the better of Grace and Clarke to become tag champions. Definitely a feel good moment to cap off a well written tag match!
*The post-match promo by Emma and Sage had a lot of good things going for it. I liked how Emma snatched the mic and ran Kinsley off, and I also like the fact that Sage continues to do most of the talking for the team. When Emma herself speaks, it's so rare that whatever she says has more power behind, so it's smart to protect that mystique. Rock solid promo, and a nice shout out to the Heroes for Hire, whom I think will be coming after Violent Intent sooner rather than later.
*Another banging promo from Eli. Puppet Tiger is my favorite “Hotel California” character, so seeing him is always a plus, and I'm not gonna lie, I marked out for the kaiju stomping through the roof. The heart of the promo did a fantastic job of selling Eli and Edwards' past, and did so with Eli's signature deadpan humor. (Loved the bit about the T-Shirt sales.) It also does a good job of selling the difference between fighting Eli Buchanan and Kalidah. The best thing about Eli's writing is that he takes the unbelievable, and makes you believe in it. It's not easy to make otherworldly spooks work (just look at how long WWE has been trying to find the “next Undertaker”) but Eli pulls it off at a high level show in and show out.
James Edwards vs. Kalidah: I really like the fact that this match was so different from everything else on the card. While the announcers were right that we kind of expected more from these two, this feels like a match that can always be revisited, and with a bit more build, could headline a show, so I'm not upset by the relative brevity of it. They gave us enough to leave us wanting more, while also teasing Jimmy Pridmore's return. Not a five-star classic, but a good use of a match to advance a story. Edwards is still undefeated since returning, so it'll be interesting to see what direction he goes in.
Bryan Ford vs. Biggs: I had a blast working with Bryan Ford on our match. He's always easy to collaborate with, and I like to think we put out a quality match together. I know his half was fantastic!
*Don't know what “Segment 7” is, but I figure it may be the resolution to the Cashe sequences throughout the night. Hope we get to see it at some point.
*Skye's promo was okay, but felt below her normal standards to be honest. I'll chalk it up to a short turnaround time from last show, but I didn't hear Skye Healy's “voice” as I read this. Granted, the over dramatic line about her being the laughingstock and butt of her peers' jokes is a perfectly Skye line, and she did touch up on her history with Julianna, but outside of those touches, this honestly felt like it could have been said by anyone on the roster.
Julianna DiMaria vs. Skye Healy – World Heavyweight Championship: Right off the bat, I question why the crowd would be split for DiMaria and Healy. Nothing Healy has said or done should elicit a positive response from the fans, as her character is an overconfident brat who thinks the world revolves around her. Julianna had a very effective face turn in the run-up to her world title win, so that's a baffling choice. That being said, I did rather enjoy the nastiness on display in Healy's wrestling style, as stomping the elbow joint as it's extended could really do some serious damage. It's appropriate for her character after what she pulled to retain the U.S. Title against Chris Madison, and her nastiness is a really good way to portray the character in the ring. Considering she is so entitled, she should think that the rules don't apply to her, so well done on that. For her part, Julianna continues to write well in big match situations. Manny coming out after the match to announce that he's cashing in his ECC-earned World Title shot at Mainstream 70 was a nice caper to the show, and I'm really looking forward to seeing both Julianna and Manny's promos next show to build to their big match.
Match of the Night: There wasn't a bad match in the bunch, even with the “disappointing” match between James Edwards and Kalidah, as that one advanced two storylines in Pridmore's return and Edwards' undefeated streak. This makes it very difficult to pick a winner. I think I'm going to go ahead and give it to Euphoric vs. Violent Intent, because of the feel good moment of the title change. When all else is equal, I gotta go with the match that makes me feel the most, and that match did just that.
Promo of the Night: Cashe was well on his way to earning this one, but the lack of a resolution in the show hurt it. I gotta go with the Hotel California promo, though, as Eli's dry wit is always a pleasure to read. Plus, TIGER PUPPET! FTW!
Overall Thoughts: Mainstream 68 was an absolute success. Every match delivered, and the promo quality overall high. The only knock against the show is that whatever “segment 7” is supposed to be, but I don't grade on what's missing, I grade on what's there.
Final Grade: Easy A, would've been an A+ with segment 7 and a resolution to Cashe's antics.
*Staring off with Jason Cashe randomness is never a bad way to kick off a wrestling show. Liked the touch with the ring announcer speaking Japanese, though it may cause some continuity errors later in the show. (I know this because I had Graham Stevens later in the show!) In any event, we can chalk it up to there being two announcers, one for the fans in the building and one for the TV audience at home. This is surely the first of many Jason segments for the night, and I'm eager to see where it goes. If the payoff is the granny from last show, I will be a happy man.
Chris Madison vs. Ichiro Fujiwara: Fantastic opening match! I liked the fact that even though this was ostensibly a showcase match for Chris Madison, both wrestlers had a chance to shine. Even though you knew there was no chance Fujiwara was taking home the “W,” it was still an exciting, well written match where the enhancement talent didn't look like a chump. I particularly liked the exchange of holds near the beginning, and you could feel the intensity of the strikes. Also, good use of commentary to sell what kind of head-space Madison was in. All around great work, and sets a high bar early in the show.
*Y'all already know by now how I feel about Julianna's promos. They're good stuff. I feel like a broken record saying this, but using her character's shared past with Skye Healy to frame the promo was excellent, and she made a great point about how Skye had to beat her to validate herself, but Julianna didn't feel the same way about Skye. The dig about how Skye wants to stay in a division she can handle was also effective.
*Jason's second segment of the night was something. The fact that Jason looks for people based on their rear ends is a unique character wrinkle, and I do hope he can come to terms with is bi-curiousness. Funny stuff.
Euphoric vs. Violent Intent – World Tag Team Championship: These two teams are great foils for one another, they just mesh well. The contrast in characters, the contrast in styles, they just work so well together. I also am enjoying the trend of commentary during the matches. It helps to sell stories that can't be told without a mid-match promo. (Though I will disagree with the early pinfalls being disrespectful bit. A lot of times, it's about forcing your opponent to expend their energy early, so even if you know you're not going to win off of it, they still have to actually kick out, wasting precious energy. But I digress.) The Meteora/Backstabber combination was a thing of beauty, but the highlight of the match has to be the finish, with Emma and Sage finally getting the better of Grace and Clarke to become tag champions. Definitely a feel good moment to cap off a well written tag match!
*The post-match promo by Emma and Sage had a lot of good things going for it. I liked how Emma snatched the mic and ran Kinsley off, and I also like the fact that Sage continues to do most of the talking for the team. When Emma herself speaks, it's so rare that whatever she says has more power behind, so it's smart to protect that mystique. Rock solid promo, and a nice shout out to the Heroes for Hire, whom I think will be coming after Violent Intent sooner rather than later.
*Another banging promo from Eli. Puppet Tiger is my favorite “Hotel California” character, so seeing him is always a plus, and I'm not gonna lie, I marked out for the kaiju stomping through the roof. The heart of the promo did a fantastic job of selling Eli and Edwards' past, and did so with Eli's signature deadpan humor. (Loved the bit about the T-Shirt sales.) It also does a good job of selling the difference between fighting Eli Buchanan and Kalidah. The best thing about Eli's writing is that he takes the unbelievable, and makes you believe in it. It's not easy to make otherworldly spooks work (just look at how long WWE has been trying to find the “next Undertaker”) but Eli pulls it off at a high level show in and show out.
James Edwards vs. Kalidah: I really like the fact that this match was so different from everything else on the card. While the announcers were right that we kind of expected more from these two, this feels like a match that can always be revisited, and with a bit more build, could headline a show, so I'm not upset by the relative brevity of it. They gave us enough to leave us wanting more, while also teasing Jimmy Pridmore's return. Not a five-star classic, but a good use of a match to advance a story. Edwards is still undefeated since returning, so it'll be interesting to see what direction he goes in.
Bryan Ford vs. Biggs: I had a blast working with Bryan Ford on our match. He's always easy to collaborate with, and I like to think we put out a quality match together. I know his half was fantastic!
*Don't know what “Segment 7” is, but I figure it may be the resolution to the Cashe sequences throughout the night. Hope we get to see it at some point.
*Skye's promo was okay, but felt below her normal standards to be honest. I'll chalk it up to a short turnaround time from last show, but I didn't hear Skye Healy's “voice” as I read this. Granted, the over dramatic line about her being the laughingstock and butt of her peers' jokes is a perfectly Skye line, and she did touch up on her history with Julianna, but outside of those touches, this honestly felt like it could have been said by anyone on the roster.
Julianna DiMaria vs. Skye Healy – World Heavyweight Championship: Right off the bat, I question why the crowd would be split for DiMaria and Healy. Nothing Healy has said or done should elicit a positive response from the fans, as her character is an overconfident brat who thinks the world revolves around her. Julianna had a very effective face turn in the run-up to her world title win, so that's a baffling choice. That being said, I did rather enjoy the nastiness on display in Healy's wrestling style, as stomping the elbow joint as it's extended could really do some serious damage. It's appropriate for her character after what she pulled to retain the U.S. Title against Chris Madison, and her nastiness is a really good way to portray the character in the ring. Considering she is so entitled, she should think that the rules don't apply to her, so well done on that. For her part, Julianna continues to write well in big match situations. Manny coming out after the match to announce that he's cashing in his ECC-earned World Title shot at Mainstream 70 was a nice caper to the show, and I'm really looking forward to seeing both Julianna and Manny's promos next show to build to their big match.
Match of the Night: There wasn't a bad match in the bunch, even with the “disappointing” match between James Edwards and Kalidah, as that one advanced two storylines in Pridmore's return and Edwards' undefeated streak. This makes it very difficult to pick a winner. I think I'm going to go ahead and give it to Euphoric vs. Violent Intent, because of the feel good moment of the title change. When all else is equal, I gotta go with the match that makes me feel the most, and that match did just that.
Promo of the Night: Cashe was well on his way to earning this one, but the lack of a resolution in the show hurt it. I gotta go with the Hotel California promo, though, as Eli's dry wit is always a pleasure to read. Plus, TIGER PUPPET! FTW!
Overall Thoughts: Mainstream 68 was an absolute success. Every match delivered, and the promo quality overall high. The only knock against the show is that whatever “segment 7” is supposed to be, but I don't grade on what's missing, I grade on what's there.
Final Grade: Easy A, would've been an A+ with segment 7 and a resolution to Cashe's antics.
