Right Hook Weekly Review (8/12/2024 to 8/16/2024)

Monday Night Raw 8/12/2024

The opening segment with Ripley, Priest, Dom, and Liv was great. While this sometimes feels like a teen comedy or teen drama, they are making it work. Sorry if it cannot be non-stop action with no interest all the time hokey/corny stuff is ok. Do not believe me? Look at some things from the very beloved attitude era.

Whoever has been behind these god-awful names for teams and factions like the New Catch Republic, No Quarter Catch Crew, and the new Pure Fusion Collective needs to be fired because how are these considered good names?

Orton and Gunther’s face-to-face was excellent. Gunther cuts deep with Orton, but Orton dishes it back. There is not much to say here I would not expect less from these guys. McIntyre comes out, setting Gunther up for an RKO, but McIntyre leaves himself open for Punk to attack him with his belt while McIntyre is trying to escape.

Bronson Reed destroying Miz with multiple Tsunamis was simple and exactly what was needed to continue making him this monster that cannot be controlled.

Then came our main event, a two out of three falls match for the Intercontinental title between Sami Zayn and Bron Breakker. Sami and Jey Uso’s will never get old to me, but Bron Breakker coming out and asking if Austin had any dogs is a sign that he is a fan favorite and a big deal, which is undeniable with him.

Zayn wins the first fall with a Helluva kick to go up 1-0, but Breakker ties it up with that hyper-fast spear, setting up the final fall. The last part of the match did not disappoint with Breakker catches Zayn mid-air with a killer spear to retain his IC title, ending a rather good show.

NXT 8/13/2024

The opening match with Ethan Page and Joe Hendry on NXT was good. It seems like there may be something substantial with Hendry, and Page has been making the most of these opportunities, which is nice to see. Wes Lee’s attack on Hendry will lead to one of them challenging Page for the NXT championship.

Wes Lee’s promo was solid, and the interaction with Lee, Dunne, and Hendry setting up a triple threat match next week to decide the number 1 contender for the NXT championship will be must-see. Oba Femi made it clear that he is ready for the main roster. He is meant for big arenas and stadiums, period.

Frazer and Axiom losing the titles to Chase U was okay. It was a nice moment for Holland after these past couple of years, especially after accidentally injuring Big E. It was a fine moment for him, Chase U may be popular, but hopefully, they will not be long-term champions if they want to give the tag team division the much-needed boost it used to have.

AEW Dynamite 8/24/2024

With All Out just a week and a half away, this week’s Dynamite was another “two steps forward, three steps back” show. The match between Mercedes Mone and Hikaru Shida for the TBS title was another disappointment. Mone’s new finisher was not well received and needs to be changed as soon as possible. The post-match segment with Baker was underwhelming, and hopefully, their upcoming match in London will be better.

Hangman Page vs. Jay Lethal was a solid match, as expected from Lethal. Page won, further setting up a potential rematch with Swerve in the future, with or without a title involved.

The Young Bucks vs. The Acclaimed for the tag titles was unremarkable, just another routine match from the champions, who finally defended their titles. FTR came out to stop the Bucks, leading to Acclaimed’s loss. If this leads us to a potential match between Acclaimed and FTR, it may be a hard pass for me, and this should have happened over a year ago.

Swerve Strickland vs. Wheeler Yuta was decent. Hopefully, at All Out, we will finally see the long-awaited end of Blackpool Combat Club somehow. Swerve won the match with multiple house calls, resulting in a referee stoppage. Danielson came in to check on Yuta but was hit with a significant house call, ending Dynamite with Swerve and Nana standing tall.

Friday Night Smackdown 8/16/2024

The show opened with the Nia Jax championship celebration, which was lackluster. Pretty Deadly is the kind of team that makes you want to change the channel. However, seeing Mischin interrupt the celebration means she is Nia’s next challenger, while opening up the Nia & Tiffany frenemy situation.

I am not sure if Triple H and the company are responding to AEW’s presentation of Black Excellence with their champions (Swerve, Mercedes, and Athena) or trying to make good from the fallout with Bobby Lashley. Still, the DIY vs. The Street Profits tag match was a good sign. Sadly, the crowd did not seem to be into DIY. I feel bad for Ciampa because I do not understand why they are not connecting.

Hopefully, this is a genuine effort to highlight more African American talent because the crowd was for The Profits in this match. It was a great match and win for Ford and Dawkins. I called last week for Street Profits vs. The Bloodline (Tama Tonga & Jacob Fatu). All I have to say is, SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!

Solo Sikoa’s call out of Roman Reigns was so good because it is simple, which makes for great pro wrestling. I hope we get Reigns vs. Tama Tonga match that I have been waiting for that for years. I liked the Punk and Drew feud on Mondays over the bracelet.

Reigns wanting the ula fala back from Solo works here, where he gets it back for a second, only for Jacob Fatu to attack Reigns. with Fatu doing this in a walking boot is just incredible. Solo, Tonga, and Fatu power bombing Reigns through the table and standing tall with Sikoa still having the ula fala, leading to an exciting Smackdown next week in D.C.