Right Hook Weekly Review (10/7/2024 to 10/11/2024)

The Weekly review is back and quite the chaotic week to come back with this, but here are some things that stood out to me with this week’s shows.

Monday Night Raw 10/7/2024
This week, I’m wrestling with the first two-hour Raw in over a decade, and I’m thrilled! The face-off between CM Punk and Seth Rollins was great. Their feud is going to be epic when it finally happens. Jey Uso and Xavier Woods’ match for the IC title was fine. Bron Breakker attacking Jey Uso hopefully means the rematch is around the corner.

Pete Dunne’s loss in that street fight with Sheamus destroyed him. Dunne has potential, but at this point, it may be a lost cause because of how poorly they have presented the Bruiserweight.

The multi-women tag team match highlighted the big divide in the women’s division, especially for the women’s tag team titles. It wasn’t the best outing.

The main event between Gunther and Sami Zayn was a good match. It could have easily been on a PPV but was well placed for the shorter Monday night Raw for the foreseeable future.

NXT 10/8/2024
NXT’s second episode on the CW could have been much better than the successful debut episode the previous week. Having Sexyy Red on more shows is not a good idea, even though it’s cool that she’s a fan. She shouldn’t be on these shows anymore. It’s a big turn-off.

Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade’s promo was okay, clearly establishing their involvement in the women’s main event picture. Giuila came out, and Stephanie Vaquer’s debut was cool. It set the tone for the women’s championship. Also, I must mention that Nikkita Lyons’ on-screen return interacting with Lola Vice was one of the show’s high points (I’m a guy and can’t ignore this). Hopefully, the match will be decent, but it will probably get ratings because they are both very attractive women.

Now, let’s get to perhaps the week’s biggest disappointment: Tony D’Angelo defeating Oba Femi to become the new North American champion. D’Angelo is a solid wrestler, but the gimmick and presentation are awful, making this feel like a huge step back. There were many different options to dethrone Femi, but hopefully, Femi is now on to the NXT championship.

The main with Randy Orton facing Je’von Evans was a good match. Certainly Evans best match thus far where it wasn’t just moves on moves but was a match where he showcase his potential. Orton wins but gave Evans the seal of approval, establishing another building block for this new era of NXT.

AEW Dynamite  10/8/2024
After last week’s ratings, AEW Dynamite is going head-to-head with NXT, but the timing was terrible, especially for the go-home show before WrestleDream this weekend. Daniel Garcia’s promo about staying with AEW was solid, but how he is presented after this week will tell us if this time will be different or just another hopeful moment before fading away.

The match between the number one contenders for the AEW Women’s Championship highlighted the division’s apparent issues. While I support the women’s revolution in pro wrestling, giving equal TV time to unready talent hurts the division’s potential. It’s okay to admit that some shows would be fine without many women’s segments or matches unless they involve top stars or well-crafted feuds given meaningful time.

Will Ospreay calling out Don Callis was long overdue. Hopefully, this weekend we finally get the break-up separating Ospreay from the family and building a new heel for Callis’ faction, possibly Takeshita.

The tag match with Danielson and Yuta facing Claudio and Pac was mediocre, and the post-match segment was not good. Jon Moxley’s recent performances have been disappointing, and he needs to take a substantial break from TV, much like Chris Jericho, as they are detrimental to AEW’s product.

The upcoming events at WrestleDream, including Swerve’s return and the potential involvement of MVP and Shelton Benjamin, could be significant for AEW, especially if Bobby Lashley shows up. Despite my negative tone, this week’s show was disappointing, especially following the exciting media rights deal they secured last week, which only fuels the justified doubts about the promotion.

Friday Night Smackdown 10/11/2024

Roman Reigns and Jimmy Uso’s in-ring promo was fine. The OG bloodline is over with the fans, and Jimmy mentioning they needed more help led to an overwhelming chanting of YEET. This could only mean Jey Uso may be coming back into the bloodline situation, and maybe the honorary Uce Sami Zayn will come with him.

LA Knight versus Carmelo Hayes was a good match! The United States championship scene is filled with some amazing potential matchups and makes some main event players for Friday nights to keep things fresh for the future, but a damn good match from Knight and Hayes.

Bianca & Jade defended the tag titles against Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson of Meta-Four from NXT was next but interrupted by Kevin Owens, who was banned but trying to explain his actions from last weekend, but Cody came where they were separated. Even Randy Orton, being the peacemaker did help briefly until he and Owens came to blows.

The women’s tag title match was a good attempt to showcase more of the young talent for the division but the time it was given defeated that purpose. Chelsea Green and Piper Niven were ringside and are fine in their place as the comic relief on a show, especially Green. Again, with Belair and Cargill as the tag team champions, they absolutely have to maximize their star power and do a bit more in presenting them, but the rest of this potential division has to step up.

Continuing with the ladies, Naomi vs. Nia Jax was all right. It was a meaningful win for Naomi, which was refreshing. Nia and Tiffany’s frenemy thing has to come to an end here, hopefully at Crown Jewel. Liv Morgan, Dom, and Raquel came out for this match. After the match, they were attacked by Rhea Ripley, which overshadowed Naomi’s win a bit. Hopefully, Stratton cashes in her briefcase at Crown Jewel on either Morgan or Jax.

Jimmy Uso vs. Solo Sikoa was the main event, but we got a look outside the arena where Kevin Owens attacked Orton meaning Owens’s recent switch is going to be a big thing on Smackdown, potentially leading to a title match against Rhodes.

Uso and Sikoa was another solid bloodline match where storytelling was the focus. Sikoa gets the win, but Solo and his bloodline attack Uso, leading to Reigns coming out to help Uso, but the numbers game got to Reigns leaving him down after a Samoan Spike, reinforcing Jimmy’s comment to Reigns earlier about them needing some more help against Solo and his bloodline.