WWA Season 9

WAF
I hated the old Ministry, but am warming to the new one. Bobby Heenan in a ring was fun. *sigh* if only WWE booked Harper like this, loved that angle.

WAF
Im liking the new ministry, and really liking what you're doing with Tyler Breeze. Its great booking for his character - simple story of the Heel getting the upper hand but being set up to get his comeuppance. Should be a good match. Im also liking the sound of the TLC in a Cell match, even if Im not entirely sold on The Rock and Edge not getting a proper match. Luke Harper will make a great Hardcore Champion - he's practically built for that division. If I had to pick one thing I dont like about WAF its the PPV name, its just a mouthful and gets tedious having to read it a bunch of times in one show. Its still shaping up to be a good PPV, hopefully it all comes together.

WAF
WAF this week didn't quite hit the mark, although I am really enjoying Tyler Breeze playing the coward, the Progress Storyline and the use of Luke Harper there was a lot that just let it down for me this week. The show had three great matches with the cage match, the handicap and the hardcore match being really enjoyable to read but it was the other three that ruined the show for me. Although I can see why these matches happened we were left with two number one contender matches that would have been great but didn't start and a bra and panties match (I know this was done for comedic value, with Lita talking about how the division was being respected but I just can't stand the stipulation). If I was a fan going to the shows I would have felt a little ripped off missing out on seeing Edge v Rock and Kidman, Bourne and Gabriel and instead being given Dance off's and non starting matches. This being said, I can see why these matches ended the way they did as they have set up two amazing matches for the PPV. I look forward to seeing how the TLC in a Cell works.

WAF
I was against the idea of Heenan wrestling instead of a wrestler but, the decimation of Heenan paint Breeze as a real bumhole. Further backed up by his biased attempt at playing the ref. Calling the match a tie in an attempt to not defend his title against any of them sealed the deal of him being the biggest bumhole out there but, felt pointless with the rule of every title being defended every week. Speaking of things not making sense, why didn’t Harper just beat the stuffing out of Holly, pin him and take the title back? It’s a 24hour defence title, it would make more sense for him to do that than to wait until the PPV. Still enjoying the semi-seriousness we’re seeing from Marky and I’m not tired of the roulette yet which, surprises me, that being said, two special guest ref matches in one week and both the heel of the story? I’m not sold. I think I’d be more invested in the Progress story if it had nothing to do with Progress, their were other ways to go, whose the best Brit for example, why should I care what four guys I only heard of a few weeks ago did in Progress? The pervert in me enjoyed the Bra & Panties match, the sceptic in me said at the beginning that I wasn’t sold on the championships always being defended and to be honest, I’m finding myself a little board of title matches now.

WAF Feedback
Let’s kick off with the positives. Backstage brawls are always a fresh way to open up any show and a great way to further the PROGRESS feud. I’m really behind the formation of The New Ministry and how powerful they have been booked, it will be interesting to see if there is any recruitment from the modern age will take place. I absolutely love how Tyler Breeze is being used and the defence against Bobby Heenan was again something different. Only real negatives I can find here are the continued use of the roulette wheel, I personally think it only really serves its purpose as a one week theme and the main-event non-starter was also frustrating.

Waf
*markys shows always intrigue me and continue to do so
+ havoc vs ospreay will be a war down the line
+ middleweight #1 contender match is straight out of the csdw playbook big thumbs up

GPW
+ A very intruiging show which asks more questions than it answers, you have my attention and I cant wait to see why this goes
+ I really liked the stipulation in the Barrett vs Melendez match
- I felt the dusty finishes were a touch overused, I get that you're building toward thus huge angle but the midcard needs more attention

GPW – Very supernatural theme throughout, not sure I’d enjoy that as a fan watching as it’s sometimes hard to suspend belief but still an entertaining storyline. Can’t help but feel Brock Lesnar is being wasted in GPW unless he’s part of these issues, but even then there’s only 9 shows in WWA and I’d want to use him every week if possible.

GPW
I think when Prom does simple booking he does it well, Barrett vs Melendez proves it. Im a bit mixed about the supernatural thing - if the ending works well then Yeah, I can get behind it, but its going to need to be good. Might have been overdone this week though. I am enjoying the power struggle between Steph and Dixie, and its fun seeing Russo of all people trying to be the voice of reason.

GPW
Last week GPW had a major issue with show length, it struggled to get across segments without scripting the whole thing and this caused it to drag at points, this week straight away you can feel a more smooth flow to the show and this really helped get you in to the action. We open the show with Dixie v Steph which is great as it allows Russo to get away with murder, pulling some awful matches out of the bag which for me personally isn't a bad thing. Pentagon Jr continues to be a highlight of the show with the video of him burning down the family home giving GPW an OTT Attitude Era feel. This being said I feel like this approach is very hit and miss with the water turning in to blood and the continuation of Kurt Angle being choked out by nothing being a bit too unrealistic for me, I look forward to seeing where the paranormal approach goes as we continue but I have a bad feeling I can predict the end goal. I feel the biggest problem with this show was the matches, every match felt rushed and most of them ended up being non events or squash matches with something strange happening in each of them. Overall the show felt too focussed on hinting at something paranormal without giving enough away for it to be clear. The show sadly suffered from this leaving it stuck in the middle with it being too unrealistic for a wrestling show but not revealing enough to be an original take on what we have seen in WWA.

GPW
It’s nice to see that the flow of the show and the writing style has improved. Shame there was only 4 matches and a segment masked as a match. Enjoying the brothers at each others throat stuff, when one of the players in this story was injured I wondered what you were going to do now, the segment was a good way to go that furthered the rivalry. The McMahon/Carter story line fells like it was show horned in to advance their story but, I feel it is suffering due to the horror element going on. The Gangrel bit with him being scared of blood made zero sense, the guy drinks blood as part of his vampire character

GPW Feedback
Ok, the super natural element really kicked things up a notch and affected almost the whole show. It really feels like a throwback to the attitude era and I love the subtle references between fiction and reality. Although it was slight waste of a match, I thought the whole Pentagon JR, Vampiro & Fenix angle worked superbly and again took another dark approach. Although it’s great, off the wall booking, I think the show would benefit from one or two more developing storylines and the reveal next week has me hooked. Can’t wait to read, although I’m guessing Russo!

Gpw
+ intrigued by ending
- would have liked angle in a more challenging match than fandango but understand why it was done
+ great opening looking forward to Pentagon vs fenix

WWR:
+ I really like the focus on tag team wrestling, I know how hard those matches are to write and yours are really high quality
+ The Samoan Gangsters continue to be a great storyline as does the use of Reigns as a potential member... also the Flair/Sandow bits are really good
- I didn't like the fact that Match 5 and 6 sort of blended into each other in the use of Reigns and Austin, I think it would have been better to have had that match earlier in the show or had a different one
WWR – Enjoyable show, not convinced by a Lumberjack match ending in a countout, thought Lumberjacks were to prevent exactly that! One other bit of nitpicking is the Wasteland match, the rules/concept of the match could have been explained. Unless they were deliberately not said.

WWR
Tag Team Dominance has thrown up some really good matches, especially the Uso's vs MVP and Henry. I like heel Uso's with the Samoan Gangstaz and it was a classic heel turn from Henry - no over complicated shenanigans. I enjoyed Reigns better this week, I like the uncertainty being booked around his involvement with the stable. Cesaro and Eddie would make a great team, so well done. Interested to see what a Wasteland match is.

WWR
WWR has been a highlight of this season, despite results Thunder has created a highly creative federation that keeps you guessing, this week the show didn't quite hit the mark the past 2 have but this being said it was still a good show that pushed us in the right direction for the first PPV. First the few minor negatives that I found, firstly, I think a recap at the start of the show would be useful as WWR is a story driven show and with 7 other federations to read it can be hard to remember what has happened. The second negative is a small one but I really don't know how I feel about the term “slanty eyes” being used, I know that race driven story lines have been hinted at but there is a fine line between entertaining and offensive. My last bit of criticism was the Roman Reigns heel turn, it caught me off guard but this was because before the main event he was fighting against his family and in the time the main event took that all changed, I know that this was probably due to Shane McMahon's mind games and the distrust of the roster but it was a little too out of the blue for me. With the negatives out of the way I can now focus on what I really liked about the show, the Tag Team Dominance Tournament was a good way to have 4 good teams square off and Uso's with their heel persona taking on the Dudleys is a good match for the PPV. As previously mentioned I did enjoyed Shane's use of Family to cloud Reigns' judgement as well as the dissension being hinted between Sandow and Spud, I look forward to seeing where Flair falls if/when this happens. The main event was great, both teams came out strong with Cesaro looking untouchable when he hit the Pop up European Uppercut on Umaga! Overall the PPV is starting to come together nicely, I'm not exactly excited about Big Show v ACH being hinted as ACH has so much more he can offer but the main event could be the highlight of all the PPV matches depending on what a Wasteland match actually is. I have to add that I liked how the word Wasteland was used throughout the show putting it in our head before the reveal. As I said, not Thunder's best show but on reflection still a good effort.

WWR Feedback
Of everything that’s going in WWR at the moment, the booking of Roman Reigns is what intrigues me the most. I love the teasing between joining forces with the Samoan’s and staying as a face so this will be interesting in the coming weeks. Arguably, I would say Thunder has the best tag-team division so great use with the ‘Tag Team Dominance’ tournament. I feel the show would really benefit from recaps on certain things, I really have no idea what some of the matches and stipulations consist of such as ‘Wasteland’ which was also referenced last week.

Wwr
+ loving the tag tournament
+ got a nice cruiserweight division building

Triple X
+ A super show especially in the use of Bray and Sin Cara, the writing for Sin Cara in particular is fantastic as it shows how you can reinvent a character 
+ World War X continues to be a fantastic addition, I hope you can keep it interesting over time
- I felt the Joe/Styles segment didnt quite work, it felt like it was stuck in the middle. As a Contract Signing segment which was treated as a major section I think it would have worked better

XXX
SUPERKICKS FOR ALL! Love the Young Bucks and I really like how you're using them. Alabama Slamma from the top would hurt like hell, but I didnt wince like I did the top rope piledriver - I like it was teased though. Im liking the World War X league and Ibushi vs Tanahashi should have an excellent blow out. LeRae overcoming the odds was a bit too Super Cena for me. You're also booking Wyatt how WWE should be booking him, so bonus points there.

Triple X – Nice touch with the recap, obviously it’s hard to remember every show’s previous week when voting so it does stand the show in good stead. A great show from top to bottom, great use of Tommy End and also enjoyed the main event and genuinely felt aggrieved about having to wait to find out the Gargano v Lee stipulation!

XXX
Really enjoying the main event picture and the work being done in both tag team and divas divisions. The World War X league is great, just like all the other league ideas it’ll be interesting to see what Viper brings to the system. I’m not sure on bringing End and Dante in to the family as they could have had a story on their own without needing to be brought in to the main story. Interested to see what’s going on with Sin Cara and where the Styles/Joe story goes, it will be interesting after the PPV to see what XXX does without one of it’s big stars.

XXX
Simple but effective matches as WWX develops

XXX Feedback
I must admit, the match quality here has really improved and has become a pleasure to read. It’s nice to see such strong presence in tag-team & women division wrestling of which are all starting to progress well. I think the only fault I can find here is the booking of Trevor Lee, having seen very limited glimpse of him, I just don’t believe him as a credible championship contender and would have liked to have seen him built up under the guidance of Bray before challenging.

Xxx
+ love the use of lufisto, a very underrated ladies wrestler
- would have preferred devitt vs o Reilly as a singles match

nXtreme – A flawless show once again, still not a fan of New Day’s losing streak… But still great stuff. The WGTT v Jordan and Gable feud is almost a dream (even if only a short lived one so far), the Peep Show was cool. The main event was enjoyable even if too long, should have done what others have done before and have fewer matches to make the main event longer in a much fairer way. Only nitpicking though, superb show.

nXtreme
I enjoyed New Day again this week, and Im really liking the use of Suicide and there being multiple guys using the moniker. I like using the Peep Show to get a segment over instead of a match, Sabin is excellent. Zayn vs Aries was great, I could read those two going for 60 minutes. I'll get behind Sami Zayn anyday of the week. I can smell a three way for the legend title coming - with those three guys it would be a cracker, Saturn and Malenko were criminally underused by WWE so Im looking forward to see you bring out the best in them.

nXtreme
I thought this was a really good main event. And the rest of the card was very solid, with a shout out to Malenko vs Shamrock.

Nxtreme
So far this season Nxtreme has been putting out my favourite show and this week they kept on delivering. The show started with a nice intro that hyped up the Peep Show as well as refreshing our memory about the nxt factor that has some amazing names taking part. I have to say I was a bit disappointed about Shamrock being the signing that was mentioned on show 2 as I was hoping for it to be someone who was a bit more relevant but the match allowed the Radicalz to show a bit of tension so that was good. The show continues to use Suicide and New Day really well as well as the women's division, the Princess story line has created real tension between the division and as we've seen from nxtreme in the past the conclusion will be great. Sabin continues to impress but for me Christian just doesn't feel like a threat at the moment compared to Edge last season, I like the idea of him trying to get revenge for his best friend but I just feel he needs to build some momentum. The main event was a highlight and with Bennett technically distracting Aries we could end up with a triple threat on our hands after all, Aries looked strong in defeat and Zayn was able to feel like an underdog due to how the match ended. The only criticism I could give this show was the fact that a segment was written like a match, this didn't hide the fact that the show was long and had a lot of segments in a row. Overall a great show that could do with a slight bit of trimming.

nXtreme
I always find it hard feedbacking for Greggers & Enigma, both write their shows so, flawlessly. All of the stories still have me hooked, the Queens and Princess, I’m not sure if calling Becki a Princess is red haring to make us think its her or not. The New Day/Suicides storyline is still building momentum and is still entertaining. The main event picture is an interesting one, am I right in thinking that Zayn is the heel of the piece? If so, bravo for the execution. I can’t even moan about going over the bullet point limit as it was an iron man match. I do have one complaint, I was looking forward to Melinko Vs Saturn Vs ? but, hey ho.

nXtreme Feedback
This season, I feel Gregers has taken a step back from the in-ring action and has really evolved what he does best and that’s storytelling! I really like reading the before / post match segments to read about facial expressions as it really adds to telling the story. Apart from the Suicide gimmick starting to feel a little recycled, I would only argue that the Peep Show almost felt like a match with the length and presentation but apart from that, usual nXtreme quality.

NGPW
Like I said about Greggers, its always hard to review Enigma, the writing is always flawless and I can’t even moan about going over the limit as it was a gauntlet match. I would moan about there being an extra match but, that didn’t count. I was worried because, I had three tag matches that it would be over kill but, seeing Enigma have as many tag matches has put my mind at ease. Enjoyed Raven and Foleys segments, both were a joy to read, as was the Dario passport bit, it seems the Cartel are playing games with everyone.

NGPW
Loved the gauntlet match, especially seeing Lana get killed. Kong looks, well, awesome, and Its good to see Paige be the one to knock her down, even if she didnt win. Cueto showing favouritism to Los Gueros is interesting, we could see a mega stable in the making. Jack vs Cole and Elgin was great, and a good way to get sympathy onto Jack heading into a title match. The double first blood match was brutal. I can just imagine getting hit with a swinging chain and it makes my balls go back inside my body. If that was anything to go by, Prison Yard Warfare will probably end with someone in a body bag. Bring it.

NGPW – Another top show, nice recap at the start. The gauntlet match was a little disappointing to have the double count out ending, seemed unnecessary to bury the rest of the roster for no reason. The rest of the matches were top notch though, I enjoyed the treatment of Cactus Jack being taken out, and the double first blood match was very cool and enjoyable. Only issue is the first and last matches being a little too long but not a major issue.

NGPW
Last week NGPW was my favourite show and I felt that this show did well to progress to the first PPV while keeping the momentum. The opening match was able to make Awesome Kong look stupidly strong but apart from Paige the rest of the division seemed to suffer because of it. That being said, Paige v Awesome Kong is probably the best choice that Enigma has and I look forward to it developing. The choice to have two matches starting the show kicked it off with a fast pace and got us straight in to the action, Puma v Texano was set up well but the demasking story line feels a lot like his previous one from last season with Jay Lethal. The show was really well written with every moment having a point and while I felt the Mick Foley scene in the toilet was a bit unrealistic it was a nice twist to show how the Cartel had pushed him to the limit. Other things I have enjoyed are Raven's heel turn, it hasn't felt forced and has worked really well. My biggest criticism is sadly that certain members of the roster just don't excite me and it will make it hard for me to get behind certain feuds. Overall another good show and one of the best this week.

NGPW
I really liked this show. Every match meant something and the backstage segments were well written and fun. A couple of minor quibbles; can Awesome Kong go 13 minutes, a tag match without tag team partners and I'm not really into the main event wrestlers.

NGPW
+ A fantastic show as always, you have convinced me on Sandman and the main event was simply superb!
+ The use of the faces of foley was great...
- ... No Dude Love?! Honestly the only criticism i have. A fantastic show

MWF – I like the Super 5 match, and the show was fast paced throughout. Didn’t get Tyler Black and Johnny Mundo, seems to be absolutely no reason why they would want to fight each other next week. Enjoyable main event with the three champions competing, and Doug Williams v Kevin Steen would be a superb spectacle as a feud and as a match.

MWF
Back with a bang is right. Its not the easiest show to read but the matches were generally very high quality. It was always going to be tough jumping in at week 3 but Tooze has done a good job - Im already excited for Rollins vs Morrison. I really like the format of the Super 5 match, could definitely see something like that happen on WWE or TNA. Great idea. Shame the show was so short, but I still enjoyed it overall.

MWF
With Tooze being a veteran of WWA I was expecting a lot going in to the return of MWF. The show quickly reminded us of some of it's past but overall the show felt lacking with only a few feuds seemingly being set up. WhIle I look forward to Mundo and Black nothing else really got me that excited, I always look forward to what Steen is doing but Doug Williams isn't a name I'd pair him off with and feel it may be MWF history that carries this feud so we will need to be reminded why we should get behind him. Overall the matches were good but as mentioned before the show didn't quite pack the punch I saw coming.

MWF
That was not what I expected from the veterans return to WWA. It felt rushed, incomplete and unsatisfying. I expected to read MWF’s return and be utterly blown away. The segments were too short with little to no detail, the matches felt thrown together and what happened to match 4? To me, this reads like a new company just starting out, not the return of a long established company. I’m probably being too hard, it’s just I had high hopes for this return, maybe too high.

MFW
Straight into the action. The Super 5 match sounded better than the main event.

MWF
+ MWF is back with a bang! The main event was great as was the general feeling of the show being back
+ I really like the strength in your roster, it might not be flashy but it is just has such great depth
- A bit more formatting would be nice, also you were very unlucky coming up against NGPW this week. Against others you would have had an easy victory in my opinion

EWA
Last week EWA was one of my favourite shows but this week it didn't quite match up, the show length still needs work as we do not need to see everything that is said as long as we get the jist. I also felt that the first match was a waste and would have prefered Corbin to cost Neville much later in the match but I get why this was done. I hope to see CM Punk in action soon as right now he feels a bit wasted as well, I'm enjoying the hunt for the new Heyman guy and I look forward to CM Punk getting jealous and a possible world title match with Galloway at some point. Bayley as a heel is still a highlight and I can't wait for it all to blow up in her face when it eventually does. Okada and Ambrose is the main highlight though without a doubt, it's a feud that doesn't need a title and I'm glad they were kept away from the title scene. I'm also enjoying the announcement of the European title as it's a clever way of giving people things to do at the PPV. Overall a good show that needs a slight bit of a work, a reminder of the Goldrush Tournament wouldn't go a miss as well as sometimes it is hard to keep up with who has done what in previous weeks.

EWA
Between my grumbles, I actually quite enjoyed the show. Match up were pretty well done and could have gone either way. I enjoyed seeing Bayley becoming even more heel like and the set up for Neville and Corbin was well, exsiccated even if the Shamus/Neville match did suffer because of it. I see what your trying to do with the formatting but, as has been said week in and out, we don’t need to know every word that is spoken and the formatting knocks the flow off.

EWA – I like the Heyman/Punk dynamic. I got the story with Neville being laid out by Corbin but it didn’t need to be a 9 second squash match with Sheamus, I’d have said a valiant losing effort made more sense IMO. Enjoyed the show, interesting to see Bayley as the heel, not sure it suits her character. Great use of Galloway.

EWA
This seemed to lack some star power until the last two matches. But I enjoyed those a lot.

EWA
+ Pick Your Poison! Thank You! As many people know the PYP is a favourite of mine and one that is not used anywhere near enough nowadays so it was great to see it
+ You have me very intruiged into what role Punk has in the storyline with Heyman and I can't wait to see where you take it
- I felt match 5 and 6 should have gone around the other way, however I don't think its a big deal. More of a tiny nitpick

EWA Feedback
Considering Samo is a newby this season, he really has taken well to the world of booking his very own shows adding his own identity. It was nice to see the use of injuries used the other way around to get through a tricky tournament match and the little extra’s added to the Pick Your Poison stipulation and the development of Baron Corbin really worked with the show. There are a few little hiccups with the formatting and feel the show could really use with some kind of recap as it’s hard to try and follow 8 promotions without any.