Is the Cruiserweight Classic living up to early expectations? Who did it better: TNA or WWE? What does the final Raw before the brand extension have in store?
It’s the final week before the draft! A lot has happened so let’s just dive right in.
Coast 2 Coast is cowritten by Josh Rebuck.
1) Who did it better: TNA’s Final Deletion or WWE’s Wyatt Family Compound?
Corey: Haha, I actually am going to have to go with TNA on this one. Theirs had a purpose whereas the Wyatt Compound was just them brawling for a certain amount of time. So yes, kudos to the Hardy brothers!
Josh: I’m inclined to say neither, but since I have to pick I’ll go with the WWE. I know a lot of people were very up on the Final Deletion match because it was different and creative, but I found the whole thing just overly silly. I guess that could be the point, but I was more confused than entertained by what I watched. At least WWE’s version was quick. Also shoutout to Lucha Underground who has this style of storytelling on lock and both companies could probably do with taking some notes from.
2) Finn Balor vs Shinsuke Nakamura finally happened on NXT, what are your thoughts?
Corey: I loved it. It was literally a dream match that a lot of people were waiting to see. Also it will look good to have this as their last match before going to the main roster. Now I’m really excited to see where they both go from here.
Josh: It was good. I don’t think it will go down in the annals of history as an all-time classic, but it was a great match. What struck me the most was that the entire hour of NXT was built around this single match. That sort of blue print should be copied for a show like Raw where they have the option to take an hour of the broadcast and build it towards a single match. Give it the big fight feel treatment. The sort of thing that should happen on Monday with the Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins title match.
3) Impressions from the first episode of the Cruiserweight Classic?
Corey: I really liked what I saw. There was a lot of facial overselling in the first match, but they still gave me a lot of what I wanted which is high-flying action.
Josh: The style is probably the most striking thing about the CWC. WWE did a great job of having it look different from the weekly broadcasts. The first four matches were fine, you can tell who is ready for weekly television and who still needs work wrestling for a television audience.
4) Darren Young is the No. 1 contender for the IC title, what just happened?
Corey: I see creative finally decided to give the gimmick some shine. I’m interested in where this could go because Darren Young has always seemed to have some hidden potential to me, but he just needed the right gimmick.
Josh: The way Young won the battle royal was great! It’s what everyone always jokes about as a viable way to win if you just lie down in the corner and this time it actually worked. Young has some great upside and his promo from Smackdown showed some edge to the character that took it from comedy side act to serious player.
5) Shane is in charge of Smackdown and Stephanie is in charge of Raw, is there more to this story or is this it?
Corey: I am calling it now this is going to build to them having a Raw vs Smackdown at Survivor Series. I’m a little surprised that Shane has Smackdown, but that might be to use his star power to help with initial ratings since they are going live on a new night.
Josh: Nope, I think this is basically the story. It’s a bit of a let down, but probably for the best to just leave this whole angle where it is for now and get on with the brand extension.
Bonus Question: Any predictions for the last Raw before the draft?
Corey: There’s definitely going to be some type of multi-man match as the main event. Hopefully there’s also going to be a debut as well, maybe even from Finn Balor, Shinksuke Nakamura, or both.
Josh: There will be a title change on Raw! Because why not?
Corey Stewart
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