Riot 545: New Year Revolution!

[Quartz]

I've got thoughts.

 

- 2 solid opening promos. I think Jeromes' did a better job establishing his goals and expecations and linking it back to his match later in the night. Leo's wasn't terrible either, as it did connect with other universe elements.

 

Leo vs Jerome

 

- Leo, in your match, I recommend losing that opening bit in your music where it's just talking or save it for PPVs or something. I think opening straight with "I AM THE GOD OF" or just getting on with it could improve it a lot. Love Jerome's music lol. I said it before, but again, Leo's new style and moveset fits him so much better than last season. Valiant effort from Leo but another solid victory for Jerome. Interested to see who steps to the plate next.

 

- Really cool stuff from Doc and Antonio. Very serious. No music. No horseshit. I really like Doc's method of video promo. You'd think plastering that much text on the screen wouldn't work but It's better than 1 sentence fading out quickly. Good explanation of the heel turn and meaningful promo from both.

 

- Again, I have to say, the Flojo/Elsa promo ticked all the boxes. Give it an UP. FloJo explains her motivation clearly, both women reference previous encounters. Makes it all feel connected.

 

- El Parca gives reasoning for his booked match being scrapped, so that' good. Better than just not appearing. Oh shit! Legit surprised to see Damian Bourne answer his challenge. Haven't seen much of Damian this season and he's back in the ring. No surprise to see Parca win, championship loss vs someone who's definitely rusty. We'll see if Damian actually turns this into something.

 

- Tucker and Mantis working a real program, this segment had a reason to be here, furthers their story. Didn't hate it. Moooooving on.

 

- John Cena follows us on Twitter.

 

- Tibby articulately shows why Ted is the Jay of referees. Dupree lays down the law, with 4 mentions of mapled flavored snacks. What else is there to say, ticks all the boxes once again. Furthers a story between two established characters and Dupree is always entertaining.

 

- Interesting turn of events as Tre has to face his old rival. Popped @ "but whose side is he on!" in the promo. I wish Cort and Jehst shared a console, their interactions are always hilarious. Teasing a Cort face turn, perhaps? Kasstianity changes us all.

 

FloJo vs Elsa

 

- New Flojo has a kind of presence. The fact she made it to the finals + the new aura is more serious and I don't hate it. Troupe Represent! The pacing of these matches has been perfect so far this show imo. Nothing too long or overly squashy outside of maybe Damian's match. Elsa with an FPR break after her sig. Allowed Flo to get the hit back so good on ya at least. FloJo needs to get back to basics on these resets. When someone bumps you, you can't just hover them and attack straight away. Back up and reset fairly. Other than the 1 or 2 FPR things, this was a fun competitive match. Elsa just not going for the kill at the end confused the hell out of me. Gratz to Flojo.

 

- Parca sets up his future and match with Blacksmith.

 

KD vs Elliot Parker

 

-KD kicks things off with a crapple as you'd expect, we'll see how Elliot responds. In kayfizz and out KD seems know he's outmatching the rookie, going for pins after every big move. Kinda neat. Run moves galore from Elliot early in the match. KD breaks Elliot in half with an OMG. Elliot beaten to a pulp. Still needs to work on his spacing and initiating offense out of a reset, that's what kills him in this one. KS looking strong in Season 15.

 

- Empress is out of control. Good video work as always. She seems determined to get that rematch oe way or another. Ashley is the women's champion, and I know she won it with a cash in, but I'd still expect her to put up more of a fight in these segments. I feel like she's annihilated every time.

 

- Ominous RP from... someone in Philadelphia?

 

Doc vs Tre Golden

 

- Was looking forward to this. I LOVE Doc's new heel mannerisms and entrance. Perfect turn with a great buttrock tune. Slight hovers from Doc early in the match. Give your opp some room fam, but I do like the aggressiveness. Green breaking out all the new heel moves on Tre. I guess not resetting after someone bumps you is a new trend, Doc is doing it now too. Ope, and there's Tre doing it. LOL

 

Tre wins by DQ so good heel work and I enjoyed the ending sequence a lot, but man that no-reset shit was so distracting throughout. Both guys totally toeing the line between "aggression" and flat out not resetting. It was competitive though, so if that's your thing then this is the one for you. The distracting non-resets took a bit away for me personally.

 

- Ohmahgawd Ryu shoots on the world. Got a few pops out of me for sure.

 

- Kind of a creepy, but well blocked segment with Caine, are we teasing my hero Solomon JOINING this shitbag of a cult? Oh my goodness. Would certainly add credibility, to their underlings.

 

- The Valkyrie segment was strange. Heel Valk embodying the things people say about her was funny, just meta enough and just over the top enough to warrant a pop from me... but then "Heather stands herself up immediately"... was Heather sitting in the ring with Valk? Was she in the crowd? Suddenly she was just there. Strange. That being said, the rest of the promo did it's job. I'm here for a Heather vs Valk feud with the usual roles reversed.

 

- I remember 2 years ago when I joined this place, falling in love with H2O vs Tibby for the LHW title. What an evolution it's been in both characters from then and now. As for the promo, it wasn't what I was expecting, but one thing H2O and Tibby both do well is set the scene and really allow you to visualize what they're explaining.

 

I am the Main Event.

 

- This is more along the lines of what I was talking about earlier with Ashley needing to look like a threat. Right now, other than beating Emp in the cage, it hasn't gone that way. Hopefully this scene starts her on the road to looking like a true badass like the champ needs.

 

I enjoyed the show overall. Nothing major happened, but it moved int he right direction as we gear up for the Clash

[B-17]

Grimm. You piece of shit. You smashed my car, fuck nugget. I'm gonna RIP off your jason mask and shove it up your penis.

[Kassidy Hayes]

hearing valk realize the truth

 

[EMP]

Thank you for the Review Jake.

 

It was a pleasure and an honor working with Dupree. So Thank you as well Durpree.

 

As for the Video we were trying to keep it on the shorter side didn't want to have a 5 min beat down. But, I have learned from previous comments about having a balanced feud and things are in the works. As you can see by Ashley's RP at the end of the show.

[Justin Jehst]

Yeah I apologised for the fpr break, it happened to me against Blacksmith last season as well (after a finisher no less). Held RT to drag away from the ropes, oops nope gonna magnetise to their legs for grapple move. Only fair to pick up n give Gooch a free hit.

[B-17]

Nothing screams monster more than getting your ass beat by a meaty, dancing, sweat ball of a man.

[B-17]

Nice video work by Doc and Ant.

 

I wish the roles were reversed however. Ant had shown more heel tendencies in the past and Doc was a very good babyface. It's Shield ish in the sense that it was unexpected. But I find Ant a lot less of a sympathetic character.

[B-17]

Getting Scumbag Flojo vibes. The kind of bitch that stands outside the movie theater yelling spoilers.

[B-17]

Jesus Christ it's Damian Bourne.

[B-17]

So proud of Jehst he did the stand and stare, but was so surprised it worked didn't follow up.