#can’t wait for Randy and the pins to eventually get here as well >:))

[solarcircuits]

Doodles I did cus my Karen plush arrived today :DD

[sheerbeautyreigns]

DESIRE

Part 35

Things get heated in Vegas.

Paul gently stroked Joe's cheek, hoping to wake him. He groaned, moving his head off Paul’s chest. “Baby,”

“Huh?” Joe moaned, keeping his eyes closed. “Let’s go to bed. It’s almost one.” Paul nudged him a little more urging him to get up. He was so cute when he was tired, eyes squinting, trying to avoid the light, his hair messy. He threw off the robe that he had been wearing and crawled in under the covers, closely followed by Paul. His face warmed seeing Joe immediately pull the covers up over his naked body. Paul lay behind him, wrapping his arms around his waist. Joe nodded off pretty quickly while Paul was just happy to lay holding him until he eventually drifted off.

It was almost 8:30 when Paul woke up. He rolled onto his back and looked to his left. Joe was lying on his stomach, head turned to face him. Strands, of hair had fallen in front of his face. Paul could just about see the fresh stitches on his temple. He knew it was a simple accident but it didn’t stop him being pissed off about it. That and the fact that he didn’t find out about the Wyatt attack until the last minute. He had to contain his anger sitting next to Vince watching it all unfold. He knew Joe could take it but he had become so protective of him in recent weeks that he would do anything in his position of power to give him anything. He could also see the fresh scratches and bruises that had appeared throughout his arms, side and back.

Paul had always found marks sexy but only when he was causing them. It made him think about the first time when he looked at Joe in a different way. It was back in 2014 when The Shield were up against Evolution at the Payback PPV. That time when he, Randy and Dave beat Joe with kendo sticks, followed by a steel chair. Not only that but the very next night when he was beaten with a steel chair. It turned him on immensely and he had been paying special attention to him since but he never made a move until after they got to know each other better during their 2016 feud.

“What are you thinking?” came Joe monotone voice against the pillow. Paul’s eyes trailed up to his. “Just looking at your battle scars.” A lazy smile crept across Joe face. “I dread to think what they look like this morning, much less feel.”

“At least you can rest until Sunday.” Paul said trailing his fingers gently down his spine, down to the base of his back. “I’ll need it.”

“It’ll be worth it baby, to see you with that title again. It’s been too long.” Paul re-assured him. Joe cast his eyes downwards. “It is what you want, isn’t it?”

Joe hesitated before answering. He turned on his side, wincing a little. “I just feel bad for Drew.” He pursed his lips. “I mean, it was meant for him wasn’t it?”

“Yeah but he doesn’t know that. It wasn’t fully decided until I spoke with creative.”

“He’s worked so hard for it-” Joe started. “Hey, look, we all know how hard he’s worked. He’ll get it one day but not just yet. It’s your time understand?” Joe really did feel troubled by this whole set up. He felt that this was just being given to him because of his relationship with Paul and he knew a few people would realise that. Joe always wanted to work for his title shots. “Do you understand?” Paul asked again. Joe nodded.

“I don’t want you overthinking this whole thing or losing sleep about it. Just rest up this week and do what you do best on Sunday.” Paul said placing a kiss on his lips before crawling out of bed, naked. Joe turned on his back and smiled, checking out his sweet ass as he went into the ensuite.

He listened as Paul ran the bath and thought about what he had just said. Seemed he would have this no other way. Joe himself agreed that he had busted his ass for almost a year with no sign of a title shot so true, it was his time. He just felt bad that he was getting in over Drew considering how well they had become acquainted in the last month.

Paul came out of the bathroom and came towards him. “I’m running you a nice relaxing bath baby. It’ll help, if only a little.” He said sitting at Joe’s side as he sat up. “You’re too good to me.” The young man told him. “It’s only temporary, while you’re hurt. Wait until I get you to my place next week.” Paul smirked with a dark glint in his eye. “Can’t wait.” His lips curved into a smile as Paul’s hand curved around the back of his neck and motioned him towards him for a slow, sensual kiss. Joe got up off the bed. “Check on the bath.” Paul advised, smacking him on the ass.

Joe eyebrows furrowed as he checked out his back in the bathroom mirror. It was as bad as he thought it would be. Hopefully creative didn’t have any nasty surprises in store for him come Sunday.

Carefully he eased himself into the bath. The heat of the water increased the pain in his back initially but he started to feel more relaxed as he lay back. He cupped the water in his hands, releasing it onto his chest and lay with his head back, eyes closed. It was so relaxing, he almost fell asleep again. Paul appeared at the door. His face softened when he saw Joe in the tub. He looked so peaceful. He couldn’t imagine wanting to hurt him like he’d done in the past but maybe he’d feel different in a week.

Paul watched with pride as the referee counted 1, 2, 3 when Joe pinned Bray. A huge smile spread across his face as the referee handed him the Universal Title. Joe was so overcome with emotion as he took hold of the belt. He had worked so hard for this and had just taken part in one of the hardest fought and best matches of his career. He felt banged up, still sore from the attack on Raw but he didn’t care.

His eyes met Paul’s first as he arrived backstage. Paul nodded at him with a smile just as he was bombarded by the other wrestlers congratulating him. Once he worked his way through the crowd, he got to Vince, who was almost on the verge of tears as he hugged him and finally Paul, who pulled him into a bear hug. “So proud of you.” Was all he said. Joe knew he was just keeping things low key as not to draw any attention. There would be plenty of time for talk later. All Joe wanted to do now was shower. He made his way, with his belt to the men’s locker room. A few of the guys were already in there, Colby, Tom, Matthew, Claudio, Kevin and Drew. Joe immediately went over to Drew and hugged him. “What a match!” Drew said with a smile, clearly glad that it was over. “You guys put on a hell of a show.” Claudio chimed in, putting his arms around both men. “We must celebrate!” He said throwing his arms up in the air. The others agreed, even Colby. Joe only had plans to go back to the Venetian with Paul. “Whaddya say Joe?” Drew asked. He couldn’t deny that smile. “Sounds a plan.” He said giving in. He barely ever went out for drinks with the guys and they were in Vegas. He grabbed his phone from his bag and quickly called Paul.

“What’s up?” Joe hated interrupting him while he was working. “Listen, some of the guys want to take me out for drinks. They kinda goaded me into it. Do you mind?” Paul was quiet for a moment. “No problem babe, I’ll be here another while anyway and you deserve it. Where are you guys going?”

“I’m not sure yet, somewhere on the Strip I’m sure. It’ll only be for two or three anyway.”

“OK cool, let me know where you end up.”

“Love you.” Joe told him to which Paul replied “Love you too.”

Everyone agreed go to the Dorsey at The Venetian since it was central Strip. They all freshened up and agreed to meet there around eleven. While Joe was changing into a his black suit and black shirt, he heard the door open. Paul was early. “Look at you.” He cooed seeing how good Joe looked. He rarely got to see him in a suit. “Makes me wanna keep you here.” He said pulling him in for a kiss. “I won’t be late. Just thought it’d be nice since we’re in Vegas. You wanna join us? We’re just actually going to the Dorsey downstairs.”

“Aww babe, I”d love to but its been a long day so I’ll just have a drink here.”

“You sure?” Joe checked. “Yeah, I’m good. Who’s out anyway?” He asked. “Kevin, Tom, Matthew, Claudio, Drew and Colby. Just a few of us.” Paul pulled away. Joe could see the look change on Paul’s face. He placed his hands on his hips. “I thought you and Colby were no longer on speaking terms?” Joe shifted. “Well, there’s just the odd hello here and there. It’s kinda unavoidable since we work together.” Joe tried to reason with him.

“Doesn’t sound like it.” Paul said. He looked annoyed. “Claudio just suggested drinks when we were all in the locker room. I could hardly say no?” Paul walked out of the bedroom into the living room area with Joe in pursuit “Look, I should’ve told you when I first mentioned drinks but I…” Paul stopped and turned to face him “You what?” Joe backed away a little “I was worried you might be annoyed.” The young man was frustrated. “You’re right. I am. I specifically asked you not to get involved with him-”

“We’re just going for drinks with friends. That’s all! Don’t you trust me?” Joe asked, searching his eyes. Paul’s eyebrow furrowed “Don’t you?” Joe asked again, his eyes starting to look a little glassy. Joe swallowed, backing away and going back into the bedroom. Paul’s look said it all. He could hear Joe starting to gather his things in the ensuite. “What are you doing?” Paul asked coming into the bedroom. “You clearly don’t trust me so I’m done.” Joe was visibly upset. “I’m sorry baby. Don’t go-” He said grabbing Joe arm. “No, not this time. I was so fucking stupid to think I could try this again.” He said zipping up his bag. He was angry now. Paul grabbed his arm again, this time not letting him go. “Look, look! I’m sorry I upset you. You know how I feel about Colby.”

“There’s nothing going on. I can’t believe you don’t trust me with him.” At that moment, Joe phone rang. He took it out of his pocket. It was Drew. Paul eyed the phone before Joe answered. “Hey, I’m just held up a little. I’ll be down soon.”

Paul took a few steps back. “Y’know what? You do what you want. See if I care.” Joe scowled at him before grabbing his bag and leaving the room. He was seething. He blinked his eyes hard as he walked towards the elevators, trying to ward off tears. Luckily, reception was quiet since it was Sunday night and he was able to get himself a room. He quickly dropped his bag off and went down to the bar. The guys were all sat around a table in the corner. “About time!” Tom announced as he approached the table. “Sorry guys!” Joe apologised forcing a smile. “Have some champagne! Time to celebrate!” Claudio said, already filling a glass for Joe. They all toasted to his win and a good night for them all in general.

“Where’s Paul?” Drew asked whilst the others were all chatting amongst themselves. “He’s upstairs.” Joe simply said, taking a swig of his beer. “Didn’t care to join us for a drink?”

“You know what he’s like. Anyway, I don’t wanna talk about him.” Joe called to the passing bartender “Can I get another round?” The bartender got to work immediately. Drew looked Joe over. Something seemed off, like he was hiding something.

An hour passed and everyone was moderately drunk. Joe was in mild conversation with Colby when his phone rang. Colby could see it was Paul, just before Joe put it away. “Aren’t you gonna get that?”

“No, It’s fine.” Joe shrugged. “Listen man, tell me if I’m out of line but…you seem different tonight. Are things OK with you and Paul?” He asked cautiously so the others wouldn’t hear. “No, they’re not.” He said before sighing. “Do you want to talk about it?” Joe looked him in the eyes “Actually, no. I just wanna have a good time with you guys and forget about it.” Colby backed up “It’s cool man, whatever you want.”

It was around 1am when the guys decided to call it a night and go to their respective hotels. “Hang on for a moment.” Joe told Colby as the others left.

“I didn’t want to come off as a dick earlier. You know that’s not me.” Joe started apologising as they stood in the lobby area. “Hey man it’s all good. Despite what’s happened between us over the past month or so, you know I’m always here for you.”

“Appreciate it man. Where are you staying?” Joe asked. “Here. I’ve never stayed here before, thought I’d treat myself.”

“Well It’s been a long day. I’m shattered.” Joe said as they walked towards the elevators. “At least were here tomorrow for Raw so can chill for a bit.”

“Well, this is me.” Joe said as they stopped at the 10th floor. “You gonna be OK? I don’t mind keeping you company…” Colby offered. Joe eyes trailed in his direction as the elevator stopped and the doors opened. He didn’t need to say anything. Colby stepped out into the hallway and walked to Joe’s room in silence. Nothing had been touched. It just looked like he’d left his suitcase in and came down to the bar which meant that he had probably been in Paul’s room beforehand.

Joe closed the room door behind them and set the key card aside. Colby walked into the living room area and looked out the window, taking in the night view. Joe followed, taking off his jacket and setting it on the back of the chair. Quietly he moved behind Colby and placed his hand on his right shoulder, urging him to turn around. Without a word, he kissed him gently on the lips. Colby reciprocated momentarily but moved away slowly. “What’s the matter?” Joe asked. “I don’t want to regret this.”

“You won’t.” He leaned in to kiss him again, more forceful this time. “Joe, please-”

“I thought you wanted this?” Joe searched his eyes. “I do but, you’re drunk…pissed off with Paul. I just…you’ve gotta understand where I’m coming from?” Colby was being reasonable. Joe moved away, lowering to the sofa. “I do. It’s not fair on you man.” Colby joined him on the sofa. “Do you mind me asking what happened?”

“Things got a little rocky a couple of weeks ago when I went to stay at his in Connecticut so I left earlier than I had planned. I thought that was it but last Friday, we talked and ended up spending the weekend together in Denver.”

“When I told him I was going for drinks tonight, he was fine at first but he got pissed off when he heard you would be there.” Colby rolled his eyes “It’s just drinks with friends. What does he think is gonna happen between us?” Colby shook his head in amusement. “He doesn’t trust me when it comes to you and I can’t live like that. I had to make a choice.”

“So that’s why you walked out tonight?” Colby pursed his lips. “Yeah. I had enough.” Joe let out an exasperated sigh. “I’m just tired man.” Joe leaned forward and lowered his head into his hands. Colby could see that he was starting to cry. He moved closer and put his arms around Joe “Aww man, don’t cry.” Joe buried his head into his friends shoulder and sobbed quietly. “I hate to see you like this.” He stroked the back of his neck, gently rocking him. Joe moved away, rubbing his eyes. “I’m sorry. I just feel like a mess.” Colby took hold of his shoulders. “Listen to me. I don’t want to see you upset. You’re not a mess. You’re a brilliant man and my best friend. You deserve the best.” Joe blinked and nodded. He felt ashamed. He didn’t want Colby to see him like this. “Just get some sleep man.” Joe nodded standing up. He stood up and got undressed down to his boxers while Colby pulled back the covers on the bed and moved the cushions aside. Joe brushed his teeth and came back into the bedroom. Colby forced a smile. “Will you stay a while. Just until I fall asleep? I don’t wanna be alone.” Joe as asked timidly.

“Of course.” He nodded. Joe got into the bed and watched as he undressed, neatly setting his shirt and trousers aside before turning off the lights. The room was now bathed on a red glow, coming from the nearby Hi-Roller outside. Colby climbed in next to Joe, who was lying on his back, eyes lowered to his chest. Colby moved closer, allowing Joe to lean his head into his chest for comfort. He placed his hand on Joe abdomen. There was something so soothing lying with Colby, hearing his light breaths and feeling his heartbeat that it didn’t take Joe long to nod off.

Joe awoke around nine the following morning. The room was bright since the curtains hadn’t been drawn. He had been lying in the same position as he had fallen asleep in. Colby started to stir, moving his head. He groaned, opening his eyes slowly.

“What time is it?” He asked groggily. Joe grabbed his phone from the night stand. “It’s just gone nine. Thanks for staying.“ Joe turned in to face him. “No worries. You feeling a bit better?” Colby asked, stroking his cheek. “Rested. So glad we don’t have to travel today.”

“I know. What are you gonna do?” Colby asked, stroking Joe forearm. “I don’t know. I never made plans. I normally just chill with Paul.”

“Why don’t we go somewhere for a big breakfast. There’s a place I’ve been to before called the Peppermill. Wanna go there?”

“A big breakfast sounds perfect about now.” His stomach rumbled at the thought. Colby laughed upon hearing it. His hand trailed down to Joe stomach where he tickled him. Joe laughed aloud, squirming, trying to fight him off as Colby climbed on top of him, continuing to tickle him. He grabbed Joe by the wrists and pinned him to the mattress. Joe could feel his cock getting very hard as Colby did this.

“What are you gonna do now?” he teased, lowering his head closer to Joe. Their eyes met. Without hesitation, Joe lifted his head off the pillow and kissed Colby. Within seconds, they were entangled in a passionate kiss, hands roaming each others bodies, scrambling to take their boxers off. Joe rolled over onto his stomach, arching himself up on his knees. Colby climbed behind him and prized his ass cheeks apart, leaned forward and started to tease his opening with his tongue. Joe moaned at the warm wet feeling. “So good…” He looked behind and all he could see was Colby’s head buried in his ass. He dripped his saliva around the opening and lined the head of his cock up with the opening of Joe’s hole. He eased his way in as Joe lowered his head, breathing deeply. In no time their bodies were rocking the bed, slowly at first, then becoming more steady as Colby picked up the pace. “Aaaah fuck. Jesus!” Joe let out, trying to maintain his balance. All Joe could hear was the slamming of Colby”s balls every time he thrust into him along with his grunts. He sure had stamina when it came to fucking. Colby gripped his pelvis tightly, steadying him as he came hard in his ass. Joe buried his head into the pillows below as Colby shuddered behind him breathlessly. He eventually released Joe, rolling back onto his heels. He watched as Joe rolled over onto his back, strands of hair strewn across his damp forehead. He smiled lazily at Colby, watching as he leaned down to kiss him.

“I don’t know about you but I need food.” Colby said getting off the bed. “I’m gonna go freshen up in my room and I’ll meet you at like 10:30 in the Lobby?”

“Sounds perfect.” Joe said getting off the bed. He followed Colby to the door. “Hey.” Colby turned around. “Thanks man.” Joe kissed him again before letting him leave. Joe smiled to himself as he walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. He went to the bedside to plug in his phone. He pursed his lips upon seeing a couple of unread WhatsApp messages from Paul. A horrible feeling invaded the pit of his stomach as he opened them.

11:30pm - I’m sorry about tonight. I do trust you. I don’t want to lose you again.

8:45am – Hope you’re OK? I want to make things better. Can we talk?

Joe exhaled setting the phone down and went to take his shower. All he could think of was that it was too late for Paul to say he trusted him. Why didn’t he say it to his face last night? Again, Paul had him wrecking his brain. He didn”t know how things might pan out with Colby since he was known to sleep around. He probably wouldn’t want anything serious. It was too soon anyway. He decided he was gonna just play it cool in the meantime and see how things pan out.

When he came back into the bedroom, his phone had just stopped ringing. It was Paul. He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

One thing that was certain, Paul wasn’t the type to give up on something so easily. He would probably see him this evening for Raw and part of him wanted to get this over with.

“I was wondering if I’d hear from you at all.” Paul started. “I’m not long up.” Joe said walking over to the window. “Good night?” Joe hated this small talk. “Yeah, was a nice change.” There was a moment of silence. “Are you at the Venetian still?” Paul asked.

“Yeah.” Joe started pacing around the room.

“Can I see you?” Paul eventually asked. “I have to head out soon.”

“When you’re free?” Paul pushed. “OK. I should be around one.” Joe told him. He was already dreading this conversation. “OK come up to my room.” Paul said before ending the call.

[hazyheel]

Smackdown Live 4/2/19 Review

We started the night with a new installment of the Kevin Owens Show, with Randy Orton and AJ Styles. Owens confronted Orton about his interference in the match last week, and Orton simply said that no one wanted to see Styles vs. Kurt Angle. Styles responded by saying that the RKO is the only move he knows. Orton again insulted Styles’ indie roots, saying that he was just wrestling in high school gyms, the same argument he always had. Styles then brought up Orton’s drug suspensions, which seemed to bother him a lot. Orton completely ignored that point, saying that Styles wasn’t in WWE because he wasn’t good enough, and that he is the new corporate bitch now that Cena is gone. Owens then just walked out of the ring, as the two started to brawl. Orton countered the Phenomenal forearm with an RKO, and Styles stayed on the mat.

Grade: B+. Even though this was really just a rehash of what they have done the past few weeks, it is entertaining, and I like it. it is a personal feud, Randy seems into it, and I think they can put on a great match. I’m looking forward to it, probably the most out of the non-title matches.

Next was an 8-man tag, pitting the Usos, Ricochet and Aleister Black against The Bar, Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev. Seeing Ricochet and Cesaro start out the match really made me think about the sheer amount of raw talent in this match. I mean, at least 6 out of 8 of these guys are amazing wrestlers, and I would argue that all of them are above average. The match didn’t have much to it, but there was a fun finisher fest, and the Usos got the pin on Rusev. But after the match, Alexa Bliss showed up, and announced that all of these teams will be against each other for the Smackdown Tag Team Championships at Wrestlemania. They brawled, and Ricochet and Aleister Black stood tall as usual.

Grade: B. Oddly fun match. Reminded me of the multi man matches of New Japan. Plus, I was hoping that the Smackdown Tag Team Championships would have a match, but it should have been to unify them with the Raw belts. Should be pretty fun though.

The Iiconics then came out to address their match on Sunday, basically running down the normal “we can pin anyone to win the belts.” I really like them on the main roster, they are having a lot more success than they did in NXT, and I like them a lot. I don’t think, nor really want them to win, but if they did I wouldn’t be heartbroken.

In an interesting booking choice, the Miz took on SAnitY in a 3 on 1 handicap match. Glad to see those guys again, but they really should be in the fatal 4-way rather than Black and Ricochet, just because Black and Ricochet are already in a wrestlemania weekend match. Before the match, Miz cut a promo saying that his match is about proving that he is a good family man, and proving that he is a better man than Shane McMahon. Shane McMahon came out to start the match himself. Miz was doing quite well, but Shane then announced that the handicap match was also falls count anywhere. Miz then brawled with his opponents through the crowd, backstage and eventually outside, before smashing Eric Young’s head with a cart and pinning him for the win.

Grade: D. The action was fine, but there was no reason for the Miz to win here. I get keeping him strong, but beating a three man team in a no DQ match? That is too much, especially when two of his opponents are pretty big guys. This was an absolute burial of SAnitY, and it made them look like shit. They used to be dangerous, but the Miz kicked their asses the entire match. I just can’t stand that. Miz should be an underdog, but he looks like he will definitely win on Sunday. But maybe that is what we are supposed to think.

Then, Becky Lynch emerged from a cop car and cut a promo on top of the announce table. She recounted her previous year, about how it seemed like Rousey and Flair were going to take the main event of Wrestlemania 35, but she was able to throw a wrench into those plans and become the champion that she was meant to be. She gave a rousing (no pun intended) speech about how she was going to go to wrestlemania as a bit of an underdog, but with all the love of the fans. Then she dropped her Mic, and took in the applause.

Grade: B-. Becky’s writing has gone downhill for a while now, but she is still a pretty good anti-hero. She is charismatic enough to draw people to her, and she is still a pretty interesting underdog. She is hot as hell right now, and the fans want her to win really really bad.

Then, we had an 18 person mixed tag team match, pitting Carmella, Asuka, Naomi, Nikki Cross, Heavy Machinery, R-Truth and the Hardy’s against Lana, Sonya Deville, Mandy Rose, Zelina Vega, Andrade, EC3, The Good Brothers and Shelton Benjamin. Lacy Evans had a cameo in the very beginning of the match, and it was basically a greatest hits match. Otis hit the caterpillar, R-Truth and Carmella had a seven second dance break. Everyone started to brawl and the match was thrown out, and they did that over-the-top-rope fight thing that they do before the rumble and stuff. Otis was being creepy towards Rose at one point, jiggling around before being thrown out by Shelton Benjamin. Nikki Cross acted crazy, and even attacked Benjamin, taking him out of the ring. Asuka was the last woman standing, aiding Jeff Hardy by attacking EC3, making those two the “winners.” Then Asuka threw Jeff over the top, to make a point I think?

Grade: D-. I like greatest hits, and I like that they actually used the people in the Battle Royal for a match, rather than having a weird lumberjack stip. But I still don’t really care about the battle royal.

Samoa Joe then came out for a match against Ali. I fucking hate that they took his first name, Mustafa Ali was an awesome name and that is how he became a star on 205 Live. He and Andrade have been robbed. It is only a matter of time before Aleister Black just becomes Aleister. Anyway, the two had a strike based match. Joe rolled out of the way of a 450 splash and locked in the Coquina Clutch for the win.

Grade: B. Decent match for how short it was. If it had more time then it could’ve been a great match. Looking forward to the US Championship match.

And in the main event, we had the contract signing for the WWE Championship match. Rowan was flanking Daniel Bryan, while Xavier Woods and Big E backed up Kofi. The crowd was super into Kofi, chanting straight through Daniel Bryan’s promo. Bryan told the crowd to never become complacent like Kofi had, and told them not to sit on the sidelines of your own life. He said that Kofi waited until he was handed an opportunity. The crowd had none of it. Kofi then stood up and said that he watched Daniel Bryan become the WWE Champion. He never minded that he didn’t have a 1 on 1 WWE Championship match because he was a company man. He didn’t complain, because it wasn’t his time, but now is his time. He said that Bryan knows what comes next in this tale, because Bryan lived it. He said that Bryan was scared, and rightfully so. Kofi then signed the contract, and they squared off to end the show.

Grade: A. Kofi is cutting the promos of his life, Bryan is the perfect cocky and insulting heel. What could be better? The fans are firmly behind Kofi at this point, and he needs to win at Wrestlemania. I don’t know how much of this push was supposed to go to Mustafa Ali (I refuse to just call him Ali) but it is definitely benefitting Kofi much more. Any other year, I would have loved to see this in the main event.

Overall Grade: B+, on the weaker side.

Pros: Opening Promo; 8-man tag; Becky Promo; Joe vs. Ali; Contract Signing

Cons: SAnitY burial; mixed tag match

[placetobenation]

RIP Jon Huber.

Words can’t do justice. To all that knew him, he was a devoted father, husband and wrestling superstar. Gone far too young at the age of 41 due to a non-COVID-19 lung issue. We’ll always remember Brodie Lee, Luke Harper and Jon Huber.

Kudos to All Elite Wrestling for a tremendous tribute Wednesday night on TNT. Extremely well done on every front.

This one's for you #BrodieLee pic.twitter.com/2wNFJEK82y

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) December 31, 2020

A tribute to #BrodieLee #AEWDynamite pic.twitter.com/ZptMKH1Hst

— All Elite Wrestling on TNT (@AEWonTNT) December 31, 2020

The WWE also released a tribute after AEW’s show.

Husband. Father. Friend. Superstar. WWE Superstars & friends pay tribute to Jon Huber. (via @WWE) pic.twitter.com/8CUd1fQnwZ

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) December 31, 2020

RAW

RESULTS

Keith Lee defeated Sheamus to win shot at WWE Championship

Gran Metalik defeated The Miz

Shayna Baszler defeated Dana Brooke

AJ Styles defeated Elias

Mustafa Ali defeated Ricochet

Charlotte Flair defeated Nia Jax by DQ

The Hurt Business defeated The New Day, Jeff Hardy & Riddle

WHAT is @AlexaBliss_WWE thinking? WHAT is @RandyOrton thinking?!#WWERaw pic.twitter.com/tBXlzsBHve

— WWE (@WWE) December 29, 2020

Alexa Bliss vs. Randy Orton

That was something I will say that. I didn’t know whether to love it, hate it or just walk away from it. Yes, it was some sight seeing Alexa Bliss call out Randy Orton, begging him to light her on fire as he did to The Fiend. Of course, we don’t know whether Orton dropped the match to a fully engulfed with gas Bliss as the show ended. It was indeed a true cliffhanger in that mode. But, do we really believe that Orton would now intentionally murder two people on national TV? I’m not quite sure, other than shock value, what the WWE is looking for with this angle. We’ll all see Monday night for the next episode of RAW.

Thumbs Up:

Keith Lee vs. Sheamus was as good as expected. I really did think it was going to be Sheamus going over in this one, but I do think it works better having Lee get another shot at McIntyre while Sheamus stews the defeat and puts off an encounter with his BFF for a bit.

.@AliWWE: "Join RETRIBUTION. What is your decision?@KingRicochet: #WWERaw pic.twitter.com/PJcAGuQDjs

— WWE (@WWE) December 29, 2020

AJ Styles vs. Elias was very good. Good to see two “bad guys” go at it and just get after it without the old heel cliches. Mustafa Ali vs. Ricochet was its usual good stuff. I wish they would come to a resolution to the matter as its not helping either side with the same ol’ story each week. I’d like to see a darker side or Ricochet in my mind. Take off the masks from RETRIBUTION and form a true stable that has a chance to do something.

They were right all along…@mikethemiz is ONCE AGAIN Mr. Money in the Bank! #WWERaw @TheRealMorrison pic.twitter.com/Xvt6T6VHYl

— WWE (@WWE) December 29, 2020

The Miz getting his Money In The Bank briefcase back is a good thing. Having him lose to Gran Metalik to bring him down wasn’t needed. It only would’ve made sense to bring The Miz down if they had dragged it out for a couple of weeks. Having him down for about an hour or so did nothing. They need to build The Miz up to more than a cartoon character of comedy to truly be a challenger worthy of Drew McIntyre’s WWE Championship.

Thumbs Down:

Charlotte Flair vs. Nia Jax – I just can’t get behind anything that Nia Jax is doing these days. Charlotte Flair is The Queen, but there’s no flow or chemistry when these two get together. Why waste it? And another thing. Let Shayna Baszler be a bad ass by herself. It would work better for her.

Angel Garza. Please, I’m begging them to stop the romancing the rose storyline. It’s been old since they started it back around WrestleMania. It’s even older now. It’s doing nothing to move Garza forward. At least he got the 24/7 Championship victory over R-Truth on Tik Tok!

NXT

RESULTS

Bronson Reed defeated Isaiah “Swerve” Scott

Grizzled Young Veterans defeated Breezango

Mercedes Martinez defeated Valentina Feroz

Pete Dunn defeated Roderick Strong

Lucha House Party defeated Legado del Fantasma

NXT North American Championship Match: Johnny Gargano defeated Leon Ruff to retain the title

.@Lady_Scarlett13 likes what she sees.

#WWENXT @WWEKarrionKross @ArcherOfInfamy pic.twitter.com/mUjkxY9r29

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) December 31, 2020

Thumbs Up:

Pete Dunne vs. Roderick Strong. The rivalry continues between the Kings of NXT and The Undisputed Era. Dunne’s look really good the past couple of weeks in singles competition against TUE. As for Roddy, well, he continues to be Strong.

The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic is back!#WWENXThttps://t.co/JJ72EIWNb1

— WWE (@WWE) December 31, 2020

Another year of the Dusty Rhodes Classic. Adam Cole and Roderick Strong make an interesting entry. I’d love to see WWE bring in a few teams from outside NXT to make things interesting too.

"It means something to me. To me, it's proof. Not only proof that I belong in the ring with you, but proof that I belong at the top of #WWENXT." You deserve it, @KORcombat. #WWENXT #NXTAwardMatch @FinnBalor #NXTYearEndAwards pic.twitter.com/JyI8HPBvse

— WWE (@WWE) December 31, 2020

A wild brawl just broke out between @WWEKarrionKross & @ArcherofInfamy on #WWENXT! pic.twitter.com/bVm6lB7sHt

— WWE (@WWE) December 31, 2020

Balor vs. O’Reilly. That’s about as good as it gets on the mic with these two. You could feel the passion, the reality, the urgency and yes, we’re ready for round 2! Adding Karrion Kross into the mix with Scarlett just puts it over the top. Doomsday is here. Tick. Tock. Oh, hi Damien Priest. That was a very good segment!

Rhea vs. Raquel vignette. The Last Woman Standing match is going to be awesome. Let’s just say that New Year’s Evil is stacked folks!

Highway Robbery:

Shotzi Blackheart over Pat McAfee for Breakout Star of the Year. There’s no bigger Shotzi fan than me, but even I can admit that McAfee took NXT by Storm and is a star in the making. He proved it on the mic, behind the scenes and yes, even in the ring during WarGames. Here’s hoping the WWE doesn’t keep him on the shelf too long.

Lucha Like!

Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado showing up to take on Legado del Fantasmo was a cool surprise. Long live Lucha Libre! Pretty cool week for Gran Metalik with wins on both RAW and NXT over 48 hours.

Meh:

Year-end awards presentation. They were kind of just there. Obviously, the tie-in with Balor vs. O’Reilly for the match of the year was a home run to set up their in-ring promo. All the rest, I could’ve done with online.

Johnny Gargano’s curse-breaking win over Leon Ruff did what it needed to do. That’s about all.

SMACKDOWN

RESULTS

Non-title Intercontinental Championship Match: Big E defeated King Corbin by DQ

Big E & Apollo Crews defeated Sami Zayn & King Corbin

The Riott Squad defeated Tamina & Natalya

Carmella & Bayley defeated Sasha Banks & Bianca Belair

Otis & Daniel Bryan defeated Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura

Kevin Owens defeated Jey Uso

Another level:

.@WWERomanReigns just sent @FIghtOwensFight crashing inside the #WWEThunderDome!!!#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/Xz2e8JCqqH

— WWE (@WWE) January 2, 2021

Sure, on its face, another Kevin Owens vs. Jey Uso match seems like filler. But, oh no. Not when the Head of the Table is involved! First off, Owens and Uso beat the snot out of each other with KO getting the expected knockout victory. Then, and you could see Roman Reigns foreshadow it earlier in the show by saying “they” don’t understand, “they’re” trying to take away what we have, Reigns was going to get Owens for making a match against Reigns’ wishes. Every week, they take the best angle in the WWE up a notch! It’s the very first attack through the ThunderDome crowd! I’ll be honest though, I thought Adam Pearce was in danger of an attack too. Maybe that’s next week?

Thumbs Up:

.@WWEBigE and @WWEApollo pick up the win on #SmackDown! pic.twitter.com/5tXhcI6UqE

— WWE (@WWE) January 2, 2021

I like the way they are bringing a lot of people into the mix for Big E’s Intercontinental Title run. Sami Zayn as former champ, King Corbin as first challenge and now Apollo Crews as friend and Open Challenge acceptor for next week will keep it fresh. Zayn is awesome no matter what and making Big E look strong out of the gate will eventually make him a contender for Roman Reigns’ Universal Championship.

The Riott Squad keeps winning. After months of going nowhere, it’s good to see Liv Morgan and Ruby Riott on a winning streak even if it is beating Tamina and Natalya with the help of the annoying one, Billie Kay. There’s got to be a better way to use Billie, right?

#SmackDown Women's Champion @SashaBanksWWE has encountered an obstacle in this tag team match… a negative one! pic.twitter.com/9lqE7jV4Om

— WWE (@WWE) January 2, 2021

Sasha. Carmella. Bianca. Bayley. Getting them all together in the same ring makes Friday night a winner for all of us. Loved that Carmella gets the pin to get her some juice back after losing at TLC. Damn, Reggie has some moves! Can’t wait to see him in a ring soon too!

WOAH. @SonyaDevilleWWE is BACK on #SmackDown! pic.twitter.com/AcId1KWFDV

— WWE (@WWE) January 2, 2021

Sonya Deville is back! That’s good for business although we do need an explanation as to how one loses a loser leaves town match and then returns back so soon. We know the reality of it due to her stalking case, but how the WWE plays it on TV will be interesting.

I could’ve done without the drums and the predictions, but that was one helluva beatdown by Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler on TSP. The Dirty Dawgs deserve some gold in their future!

Interesting:

Otis & Daniel Bryan teaming up was fun. Chad Gable + the YES movement sure is inspirational. Will it be more than a one-time effort? Even Otis looks better with Bryan, Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura in the same ring. The three amigos salute at the end was hilarious!

Annoying:

Billie Kay’s gimmick.  

Parting Shots:

With so many tag teams forming on the fly in the WWE these days, I’d love to see an old-school Crockett Cup tournament in the WWE. Take it across all three brands, maybe bring in some indy teams as well and I think it would be a fun event for 2021. There’s absolutely room to make some odd and unique pairings and match-ups instead of the old and tired matches.

Coming up this week:

RAW Legends Night WWE Championship Match: Drew McIntyre vs. Keith Lee

NXT – New Year’s Evil hosted by Dexter Lumis NXT Championship: Finn Balor vs. Kyle O’Reilly Damien Priest vs. Karrion Kross Fight Pit Match: Tommaso Ciampa vs. Timothy Thatcher Last Woman Standing: Rhea Ripley vs. Raquel Gonzalez NXT Cruiserweight Championship: Santos Escobar vs. Gran Metalik

SMACKDOWN Intercontinental Championship Match: Big E vs. Apollo Crews

Thanks for letting us share our thoughts! Shoot me an email at jcrowe567@gmail.com. We’d love to hear your comments and suggestions! You can also check out my blog, The Crowe’s Nest as we delve into more pro wrestling, sports entertainment and the World of Sports. My apologies ahead of time – I AM a Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins fan! If you’re not down with that, I’ve got TWO WORDS for you… NEW ENGLAND

[duhragonball]

Sorry about all the weird asks you been getting, Here is an actual question: What do you think of Bray Wyatt's current fiend character?

Technically, this should be addressed on the wrestling blog, but I get them mixed up myself all the time, and let’s be real: duhragonball > buttdawg >>> imatlasarrestmeplease.  

In any case, I don’t have strong opinions about The Fiend, because I stopped watching WWE in October 2018, before The Fiend’s debut.   I think I have a general idea of what the character is supposed to be, but it’s probably not fair to judge it on hearsay.    So take this with a few hundred grains of salt.  

From what I understand, Bray Wyatt sort of dropped off the map for a while, then returned at... was it Summerslam ‘19?   I think it was.    He came back as the Fiend, who’s sort of like when Mick Foley switches from Mankind to Cactus Jack, only in this case The Fiend no-sells everything and he’s super strong.    Also, the Bray persona has become like this Mr. Rogers pastiche, and may not fully understand the Fiend’s actions.   

I have no idea how this Firefly Funhouse thing works.  I watched a pirated video of the John Cena “match” at WrestleMania 36, mostly because I wanted to understand what nWo Cena was supposed to be about.    I still have no idea, but I’m a huge nWo mark, so I was satisfied to see John rocking the black-and-white, even if it makes no sense.   

Actually, let me talk about nWo Cena for a minute here, because that’s been on my mind for a while, and I think it does sort of tie into Bray’s WWE career.   Okay, so for anyone who doesn’t know what I’m talking about, Cena and Bray had a match at WrestleMania 36 which was like some sort of Twilight Zone thing where Cena kept quantum leaping into different eras of wrestling history.   He found himself in the Hulkamania era, then he relived his own debut in 2002, and for some reason he was on the set of WCW Monday Nitro, circa 1997.   There, he was wearing an nWo shirt, indicating that he was supposed to be a member of the legendary heel stable, the New World Order.   

What struck my fancy about this was that I saw John wearing the shirt and for a moment I imagined how cool it would have been if Cena really had been part of the nWo.   The group had this amazing start in the summer of 1996, but by 1997 it was running on fumes, and in 1998 they had absolutely no idea what to do with it.    After that, they just kept breaking up and reuniting over and over, trying to recapture the old magic.   There were a lot of problems with the nWo, but I think the biggest one is that there was no clear identity of the group.   Somtimes it was a bunch of cool dudes having a violent party, and other times it was Hulk Hogan’s personal cult.  Other times it was just Hall and Nash wearing matching shirts.    It didn’t matter in the early years, but when the group got older and the older members moved on, there was nothing to define what was left.   

I’ve only been watching New Japan for about a year, but I’m already impressed with how Bullet Club has managed to avoid the same problem.   Let’s face it, they’re a baldface ripoff of the nWo concept, but they have defining characteristics that don’t just rely on a specific person.   Prince Devitt (Finn Balor) was a founding member, but he’s been gone for years.   Then AJ Styles was their #1 guy, and he left.   Then Kenny Omega was their leader, and I showed up a few months after he left.     I thought the BC was doomed to decline after that, but then I saw how dominant their new leader, Jay White could be, and then they replenished their ranks with KENTA.   Generally, Bullet Club is a gaijin stable, so that sets the tone for their act rather than any single person.   If a Canadian leaves, you just get a New Zealander to replace him.   But with the pandemic keeping most of BC out of Japan, they adapted again and brought in EVIL as their new top guy.   It’s impressive to me, because NJPW figured out a way to make the nWo an evergreen angle.   They can sell those T-Shirts for the next fifty years.   

But I still miss the classic nWo, and I liked the idea that in some AU, John Cena might have formed his own nWo revival around 2011 or so, and they could have done it right.    Imagine someone with Cena’s prestige and longevity doing a heel stable like that, and when his time is over, he hands it off to another big star who can carry the torch.  “If only they had John Cena,” I thought to myself.  “He could have righted the ship.   He could have fixed it.”

Which brings me back to Bray Wyatt, because the vibe I get is that Bray’s fans seem more focused on what could be, and what might have been.   Bray’s entire WWE run feels like a running effort to fix Bray’s entire WWE run.   He started as Husky Harris in NXT, then they brought the entire NXT roster out as a new heel stable, the Nexus, and had them run roughshod over WWE, except they were mostly too green for that role, and they kept losing big matches to Cena and Orton.    Then CM Punk took over Nexus and they became his faceless sidekicks, and then they vanished altogether when Punk moved into his Pipebomb era.  

Then Husky came back as Bray Wyatt, and everyone loved the gimmick.   I never cared for it personally, because I never saw much of Waylon Mercy, and I’ve never watched “Cape Fear”.   But people loved it.   But he kept losing the big matches.   Then he comes back as The Fiend, and now he’s like invincible or something, and it seems like he’s finally on track to get the success people wanted him to have before.  

Only, I don’t think it’s worked out that well.   They made him invincible, but they don’t seem to know what to do with that.    This led to that Hell in a Cell where Seth Rollins got ���disqualified” in a no-DQ match.    They literally couldn’t decide how to end the match, or who should win, so they just stopped it for no reason.    That’s a long-term WWE problem.    Vince can’t make up his mind, so he just doesn’t put anyone over.    He didn’t want Seth to look weak losing to the Fiend, even though the Fiend is literally a monster, and he didn’t want the Fiend to win the title because he’d eventually have to lose it later.    Except the Fiend did win the title eventually, only to lose it to a 50 year old Goldberg in Saudi Arabia.   So Vince’s efforts to protect the Fiend at HiaC were ultimately pointless.    

I’m not sure where the Fiend character is now, but I think he may have turned face, and Alexa Bliss is his girlfriend?  Sith Apprentice?    I see people saying she’s possessed?   Well, whatever, I like what she’s done with her hair lately.   Every time they revamp Bray, I always hear fans suggest that they’re finally going to have Sister Abagail debut.    No one even knows who or what Sister Abagail is.    She’s just a name Bray used to mention during his creepy promos, and I think Randy Orton desecrated her grave one time.    Wrestling’s pretty great.  

Here’s the thing, I’m 100% in favor of a real, live SIster Abagail character.   I’ve written a 600,000-word novel about a background character in Dragon Ball Z, and at least thirty chapters were devoted to the Shockmaster.    I remember in 1997, when everyone thought Kane was dead, and then he finally showed up and set everything on fire for the next twenty years straight.    I still want to know who the Black Scoprion really was.   If Sister Abagail turns out to be an on-screen character, it’d be amazing.   Maybe Alexa Bliss is supposed to be turning into Abagail somehow.   She needs to dress up more like a ghost, though.   

The problem is that--right now-- there isn’t a Sister Abagail, so until the real thing is introduced, it’s just a hypothetical that everyone can pin their hopes and dreams on.   “Oh once they pull the trigger on Sister Abagail, Bray will finally get the push he deserves!”   “Yeah, that last Fiend match wasn’t so hot, but it’s all building up to the big payoff when they finally bring out Sister Abagail.”   “Sister Abagail will fix it, she can right the ship.”  

What I’m worried about is that one of these years Bray’s going to retire from wrestling, hopefully on his own terms, but his fans will still be waiting for a dream storyline, long after his actual career has passed them by.   I guess there’s problems with his run, mostly systemic problems with WWE’s booking philosophies and indecision, and fans are praying for a miracle to fix it all, like John Cena in an nWo shirt.   And even if they did bring out a Sister Agagail, it would never live up to the fans’ expectations.    It just feels like everyone’s setting themselves up for a disappointment.  

And that’s one of the reasons why I quit watching WWE.   At some point I realized that there just isn’t going to be a light at the end of the tunnel, a big match that somehow makes up for all of the dumb ideas and bad finishes I’ve seen over the years.    I’m all about AEW and NJPW now, and those promotions aren’t always perfect, but they are a lot better about meeting my expectations.  

I guess, when all is said and done, my big opinion on the Fiend is that I hope Bray lets his WWE contract expire and shows up someplace else.  He’s a great talent, no denying that.   I just don’t trust WWE to do right by him creatively. I think they want to push him, but they don’t know how to push guys anymore.   

[phawareglobal]

Lori Heaton - phaware® interview 211

Pulmonary hypertension caregiver and author, Lori Heaton discusses her daughter Maddie's twenty-year journey of courage and strength living with PH. Maddie conquered cancer and lived on to receive two separate lung transplants. Lori details wisdom learned being Maddie’s caregiver through hard-gained lessons which she calls "difficult blessings."

My name is Lori Heaton. I was a parent caregiver to my daughter Madison Heaton. We are from Provo, Utah. Maddie was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension in 1997.

After we found out that she had an ASD, we got treatment at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah, but her primary cardiologist was Dr. Ivy at Children's Hospital Colorado in Denver. It was 1997, and so when we got the diagnosis we were told to go home and make her comfortable for whatever time she had left, because there were no good options for treatment for pulmonary hypertension other than lung transplant and they didn't recommend it in a four year old. That's why we were told just to go home and make her comfortable.

When we found out about Dr. Ivy. His program was only two years in the making when we came along. She was placed on IV Flolan (epoprostenol) immediately, because her pressures were really high. Any oral medications would've been ineffective for her advanced disease. Maddie, I felt was kind of one of the early pioneers in testing out these new therapies. Whenever any new treatment got approved, she would try it. So she went from IV Flolan to IV Remodulin (treprostinil), but the problem was she just would get a lot of line infections.

In 1999, we found out that she had leukemia. They recommended chemotherapy, but they had their reservations, because some of the chemotherapy drugs are hard on your heart. Since her heart function was compromised from the pulmonary hypertension, they were reluctant to give her any chemotherapy. We wanted Maddie to have every chance to live. Again, we made a hard decision to put her on the chemotherapy.

How chemotherapy works with leukemia is they do a bone marrow biopsy and they see how many leukemia cells are in the bone marrow. Her bone marrow, I think was impacted like 95% with leukemia cells. Immediately, they started her on very aggressive chemotherapy, and within three weeks she was in remission with no leukemia detected. She went through the 18 months of chemotherapy and she did pretty well. The whole time, she was battling pulmonary hypertension too and like I said, struggling with a lot of IV line infections which every parent knows is a big deal and it's scary. So when Ventavis (iloprost), the new inhaled therapy came along, she tried that. This was about when she was in middle school when she started that and she was trying to go to school, which is always a challenge with kids with pulmonary hypertension, because they can feel fine for a couple of weeks and then be out for three weeks because they're sick. Or they just don't have the energy to go full time. In the '90s, homeschooling wasn't as popular as it is today. And there wasn't a lot of options for homeschooling as there is today, so that was always a challenge.

She started on the Ventavis when she was in middle school. You have to nebulize like five times a day. And it can take anywhere between ten to 20 minutes. So she would always have to schedule time in between classes, during classes, any activity had to be interrupted by her doing her nebulizer treatments. She had really hard time complying with the schedule. It was just hard. She started to feel as much tethered to her nebulizer as she did with the permanent IV and so she did that for a couple of years and then decided to go on the subcutaneous Remodulin (treprostinil). She was always kind of reluctant to do that as well, because of the site pain that we had heard was so severe. She did that for about five years.

By this time, she was a young adult. As everyone knows pulmonary hypertension is a progressive disease. So by the time she was 20 years old, she had pretty much run out of all the options for treatment. She had gone through all the oral medications, she had gone through the IV medications and the inhaled and basically she was looking at a lung transplant for her only option and that was scary. I knew that it would be trading old problems for new problems. I was just hoping that a cure would come before we were faced with a lung transplant, but here we were.

We met with the transplant people at the University of Utah. At that time, Maddie had transferred from Dr. Ivy's care to Dr. Elliott's care, who's an adult pulmonary hypertension specialist in Salt Lake. He really recommended that we go find out about lung transplantation, and he said "I'll refer you anywhere you want to go, but the most important thing is family support. You need to have that big family support wherever you choose to go." Since we are all here, we chose the University of Utah and we were really impressed with their program.

So they did all the testing. They had to determine whether a heart lung transplant would be the best thing for Maddie or just repairing the hole and doing a bilateral lung transplant. She went through all the testing, they came back and decided that they could just repair that hole and then do a bilateral lung transplant, and then she got listed. Maddie and her younger sister were living down in St. George which is in southern Utah. It's about a 300 mile trip up to Salt Lake, so Maddie had to relocate. But she had an older sister living in Park City, which is only a 20 minute drive to the University of Utah, so she moved in with my daughter Janae while she got listed.

I think she was on the list about 42 days when she got the call. They have you come in and then you have to wait because they have to get the lungs from wherever they're coming from and then they have to make sure that the lungs are viable enough for them to be transplanted. If they're not, then you are sent home and you get put back on the list. It's called a dry run and it happens a lot. When she got the call, it was like five in the morning. She was up here and we were down in St. George and they said don't come up until we know it's a go. My husband Randy and I were just sitting there waiting on pins and needles until we heard that it was a go. Then it was and they wheeled her into the operating room while we were still on the road.

We got there and about six hours later the thoracic surgeon came out and said she did really well and she was only on a ventilator like six hours. She spent about two weeks in the hospital which is about average. It's hard because it's a big surgery with a lot of pain and then they put you on anti-rejection drugs and then they have to titrate them so that the dose is enough to suppress the immune system from rejecting the new lungs, but not enough that it puts her at risk for infection. It's a process and you don't feel well, because these are really heavy duty drugs. You adjust and you get better, but the thing is, back when she was little, I thought I will never put her through a transplant. But you know what, it was her decision, of course, because she was an adult by the time.

These kids, they want to live. They just want live and they want to have a normal life and she was able to have a good life. She was able to live an active life and not be tethered to an IV. And she could breathe. It's huge. But like I said, the anti-rejection drugs put you at a really high risk for an infection, any type of infection. She got a fungal infection in her lungs. Fungus, they're just really common. We breathe in fungal spores every day. People with regular immune systems it's no big deal. But people with weakened immune systems, it can make you sick. She eventually kind of went into chronic rejection, which is just scarring of those small bronchioles in the lungs.

She ended up in the hospital again. They put her eventually on life support. I remember the day that they admitted her. The doctor said, "you may not make it long enough to get another lung transplant and so I need to have you sign a living will." I think up until that point that was like the hardest thing I'd ever had to do. What's a living will is her wishes in writing so that we know what she wants us to do if she can't speak for herself. Eventually, she was put on life support and the thing about life support, the ventilator breathes for you but it doesn't treat the underlying disease and so her lungs were still progressively getting worse. Just like the doctor said, she wasn't going to make it long enough to get a lung transplant. But then she did.

It was a miracle that she was able to get a donor while she was still in the hospital. They urgently rushed her into surgery, and she was so sick from being on life support that giving her another double lung transplant was too risky. She wouldn't have survived the operation. So they gave her a single lung transplant. They told us that people can live a fairly normal life with one lung.

She did well with that and the recovery was quite a bit longer this time just because she was so sick going in that she kind of had to dig out of a hole basically. But she did, she did really well and again she was able to go to college and she was thinking about what she wanted to do with her life and what career options were available to her. She was literally given another chance to live. She wanted to travel. I always thought, even when she was little, that she knew that she wouldn't be here on this earth very long. She wanted to experience life.

Her and her sisters are very close and so they traveled around a lot. It was a few months before she passed away, she found some really cheap tickets to Amsterdam and she had always wanted to go there. So she booked the flight, and planned the trip and she went with her sisters and some friends and it was a really amazing trip for her, but she got sick over there. In her mind, it was just a cold. The transplant doctors had given their blessing for her to go, but they gave her some antibiotics and some steroids and things just in case. She got a respiratory infection basically there and she took the meds that were given to her and by the time she got home she was feeling fine. But then shortly after she just started getting progressively more short of breath and she was diagnosed with having another episode of rejection.

The doctor wanted to do a bronchoscopy to look down into her lungs to see what was going on. So in June, she had another bronchoscopy done. What happens with chronic rejection, those small airways scar, so you hold on to the Co2 which is the bad stuff that you're supposed to blow off. Well, she wasn't able to. She wasn't able to get rid of the Co2 and so it built up in her blood to where she went into respiratory arrest right after the bronchoscopy and went on life support. Basically, she couldn't come off because she only had one lung, and it was bad. Basically, there was no other choice for her. So we had to make the really hard decision to take her off life support. On June 21st of 2017 we had her removed from life support.

I had started writing a book even before she passed away, because even though this is a story that doesn't have a very happy ending, there were some really good things that I learned from being Maddie's caregiver all those years. I just wanted people to know that, you can go through hard things and still come out okay on the other end. You can learn good things. It's a book that just chronicles Maddie's life through pulmonary hypertension and the things that she taught me. It's about all the things that you can learn from going through hard things. It's for anyone who wants to become a better person through the adversity that they've gone through.

Each chapter focuses on a blessing that I had learned. One is faith or perseverance or living in the moment or being an advocate or learning to be happy. Things like that. It was something that I had thought about for years and years, but the timing just had to be right. The timing was right now. It is called Difficult Blessings. You can find it on Amazon and on Barnes & Noble. If any of you are a friend of mine on social media, if you want to contact me directly, I can actually even sign a copy for you. So it's been a little over a year and I'm a lot better than I was last year, but I think about her every day. It's like a part of you is missing. But the thought of her being able to breathe again, it's comforting. She went through a lot in her life, but she was always happy. She never complained. She lived most of her life on one type of invasive therapy or another. But you learn to adapt and you learn to make these kids happy and try to give them a normal life. It’s a tricky thing trying to give someone a normal life who's on an IV 24/7. It's a challenge but you do. And there's thousands and thousands of parent caregivers that are doing that.

My name is Lori Heaton. I am aware that my daughter Madison Heaton was rare.

Learn more about pulmonary hypertension trials at www.phaware.global/clinicaltrials. Never miss an episode with the phaware® podcast app. Follow us @phaware on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube & Linkedin Engage for a cure: www.phaware.global/donate #phaware #YoungWithPAH #ClinicalTrials @antidote_me  Click here to order a copy of Lori’s book, “Difficult Blessings.”

Listen and View more on the official phaware™ podcast site

[junker-town]

What we learned from 2017 WWE Battleground

Remember when SmackDown was great? It feels like WWE doesn’t want us to remember that SmackDown was great.

WWE’s Battleground started out great, immediately cratered, rose from the dead, stayed level for a bit, then went on a murderous rampage using boredom as its weapon of choice. It was even more exhausting than getting through that sentence of mixed metaphors.

Let’s try that again:

Ah, the efficiency of a meme.

Alright, let’s get started on what we learned, other than that the goal of SmackDown now feels like it’s to punish people who dared to enjoy SmackDown more than RAW.

Aiden English def. Tye Dillinger (Kickoff Match)

I ignore kickoff match results a lot here because they ultimately end up not mattering, but you should watch Aiden English vs. Tye Dillinger. It was one of the better matches of Battleground, and that’s not a backhanded compliment even if it might come off like one. They gave two talents who don’t get enough time on camera, well, time on camera. There were near-falls, English getting to sing his full song prior to Dillinger’s entrance, and maybe most importantly, a match that was good enough to make us want to see an eventual rubber match between the pair.

What we learned: Watching the kickoff can be a good thing, even when you’re accidentally exposed to Jerry Lawler on a pre-show roundtable while waiting for the match to begin.

The New Day def. the Usos to become SmackDown Tag Team Champions

This match was great. Big E sat things out, which meant Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston were the New Day alignment of choice. That doesn’t always bode well for them, since E is the muscle, but here, Woods shined. He and Kofi toughed out everything the Usos had, and to the heels’ credit, they didn’t bail this time when New Day wouldn’t go down. Instead, the Usos got increasingly violent, with a barrage of kicks — some inventively thrown — and a powerbomb to the outside that took Kofi out of the proceedings long enough for everyone to forget he was in the match.

Man, just watch this match if you haven’t already. And watch it again if you already did.

What we learned: WWE isn’t finished with New Day as a successful tag team, as they’ve moved on from being the longest-reigning tag team in company history while holding the RAW Tag Team Championships to SmackDown Tag champs. Doing so with Big E on the outside for moral support — and not rule bending or cheating — went a long way toward making sure we know that this iteration of New Day are pure babyfaces.

The Usos will get another shot at these titles, but whether that’s in the next month on the road to SummerSlam or at SummerSlam itself is unknown at this point.

Shinsuke Nakamura def. Baron Corbin after getting kicked in the junk

Shinsuke Nakamura is great. Baron Corbin is really good and getting better. These two did not work together as a pair at all, maybe because both require their opponent to look like the offense they are taking hurts, and neither seemed willing to do that for the other. Also because Nakamura is wrestling at half-speed and even the Philadelphia crowd wouldn’t get behind him. What a mess.

What we learned: These two have potential together, and this won’t be the last time they face off either in this feud or in a future one, so WWE better figure out what will make it work as well as the backstage attacks and the Money in the Bank assault did.

Natalya def. Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Tamina, and Lana to become the no. 1 contender to the SmackDown Women’s Championship

This was a surprise, but it wasn’t a bad one. Becky Lynch took down both of Tamina and Lana — she tried to make it Lana and then Tamina, but Tamina wouldn’t allow that to happen and therefore had to be eliminated first. Natalya then snuck up behind Becky and rolled her up to make it Nattie vs. Charlotte Flair, who was the presumed winner heading into this and also at this stage of the match. Instead, Natalya won, meaning we’ll get SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi vs. Natalya at SummerSlam.

WWE.com

What we learned: SmackDown remains willing to put women other than the Four Horsewomen (on this show, that means Charlotte and Becky) in their women’s main event. Natalya vs. Naomi also means WWE can find another way to feature Charlotte and Becky, who do not need a title attached to them in order to be put on a SummerSlam card. This is the unexpected route, but also one worth waiting until Tuesday for to see what else SmackDown has up their sleeve for their women’s division.

That being said, if Charlotte and Becky aren’t at SummerSlam either facing each other or in some kind of high-profile moment (helping put eyeballs on the Mae Young Classic, setting up a future showdown for the next Big Four event that brings Monday’s and Tuesday’s rosters together) and WWE is content with the one SmackDown women’s match on their six-hour August show, then you’ll my tone change just a little bit.

Kevin Owens def. AJ Styles to regain the United States Championship

Remember that “land of contrasts” meme from the beginning? There’s no turning back after this — I have like, one more unqualified positive thing to say about Battleground after this paragraph. You got almost 900 words in before here, so that’s a pretty good deal, and unlike with Battleground itself, I had the courtesy to warn you about the change.

HOW DID WWE MAKE AJ STYLES VS. KEVIN OWENS FOR A MAJOR TITLE ACTIVELY NOT GOOD

Two of WWE’s best performers are sleepwalking through this feud, and when they finally have a match that seems to be rising above all of that, it finishes ugly and unconvincingly well after it should have if this was the angle they were going with. Kevin Owens threw AJ Styles into the ref — that was fine, especially given it was a blind throw, so Owens could always pretend it was an unfortunate accident. The ref was down forever, which is not unexpected, and missed AJ Styles putting Owens into his submission.

The ref apparently also was blinded by this attack, literally, as he kept looking directly at Owens and Styles for an uncomfortably long amount of time without performing any of his ref duties, instead way overplaying the idea that he was woozy after taking a hit. This all dragged on and on until Owens pinned Styles by putting his shoulders down mid-submission for a lame finish that also means this feud and Kevin Owens pretending he’s an evil foreigner because he’s Canadian and fighting for the United States Championship has to go on at least one more pay-per-view cycle, and possibly two.

What we learned: WWE is very capable of missing layup after layup.

John Cena def. Rusev in a Flag Match

The build to this was a jingoistic waste of the time of anyone exposed to it, but at least the match had its moments. It wasn’t good when they were trying to pull the flags down from the poles they were on in the ring, but once they did and the action switched to outside of the ring, this was MTV’s best attempt at accidentally creating an MTV The Challenge course for its wrestlers, and that was fun.

Like everything else that didn’t quite go right at Battleground, however (there’s one of those qualifiers I warned you about!), this just went on far too long for too little payoff.

What we learned: WWE is very capable of missing layup after layup. Oh, right, I already used that one.

Rusev and Cena are two of WWE’s top performers, and they stuck them in a match no one outside of people who legitimately believe America has problems with Bulgaria — [lowers sunglasses] who’s an ally, by the way — cares about.

Stop with the lazy “evil foreigner” gimmick you perpetually broken clocks posing as writers. They’re creatively bankrupt, alienating to the international audience you’re also supposed to be catering to as an international promotion, and at a time when said international audience probably sees Rusev as the face given what America currently stands for, also just needlessly tone-deaf.

Breezango’s attackers did not reveal themselves at Battleground but they did attack Breezango once again

This was great, even if we didn’t learn the identity of Breezango’s assailants as it was implied we would. The Ascension tried to take credit for the attacks once again because, just like before, they know that it’s their best shot at performing on a WWE pay-per-view and collecting the paycheck that comes with that. When they left the room, the lights dimmed, Tyler Breeze was assaulted, and then the lights went out once more before we saw Fandango laid out beside him... only to be slowly dragged away by whomever — or whatever — attacked him.

What we learned: THE FASHION FILES ARE NOT ACTUALLY FINISHED WITH THIS IS JOYOUS NEWS BURIED WITHIN A SEA OF MEDIOCRITY

Sami Zayn def. Mike Kanellis

I’m not one to complain about a Sami Zayn victory, but (qualifier!) what is Mike Kanellis doing out here losing his second match in WWE when he and his wife, Maria, are supposed to be these big new heels?

This felt like a television match where things will escalate because of the defeat, however, so I don’t want to get too worked up about the result. Like with the women’s result, let’s see where they go from here with it.

What we learned: The Kanellis’ better not show up on Tuesday billed from somewhere besides the United States.

WWE Champion Jinder Mahal def. Randy Orton in a Punjabi Prison match after the Great Khali returned to WWE and held Randy Orton in place on the outer cage with his intensely large arms that contain the strength of a literal giant

I’d write something like “this match sure did happen” to signal to you my ambivalence about it, but given how difficult it was to see within the Punjabi Prison structure, I honestly can’t confirm to you that a match for sure did happen.

Yes, fans, as you can clearly see here at the Punjabi Prison... something is... I think something's happening? Something's happening. http://pic.twitter.com/nZkR9cnOlg

— TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) July 24, 2017

Let’s just say that this went so well that the former WWE writer who came up with the concept of the Punjabi Prison match apologized for doing so on Twitter on Monday morning.

What we learned: The Great Khali poked his head out from backstage, signaling that the Summer of Jinder will continue unabated for at least one month more.

I swear WWE if you book Super Patriot John Cena against Jinder Mahal at SummerSlam I will... what’s that? I already bought SummerSlam tickets and will be forced to see that live? Touché, WWE. Touché.

At least Braun Strowman will be there, too.

[placetobenation]

Thumbs up!

That’s how I look at this week. First off, some personal news. Sorry I missed everyone last week. Unfortunately, I had a medical situation where I was diagnosed with a minor stroke. Luckily, my wife got me to the hospital in time for the best of care and we are now moving forward. The good news is that it could’ve been a lot of worse and I’m still here, lucky to be back with you this week, giving me great distraction to what’s been a very stressful 7 days.

As for the WWE, that too is a thumbs up good week. The Payback PPV was highlighted by Roman Reigns winning the Universal Championship over The Fiend and Braun Strowman along with Keith Lee’s clean victory over Randy Orton. Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax winning the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles with a bizarre double-submission by Baszler surely sent the former tag champs into a spiral.

RAW was solid too but NXT and SmackDown for me was off the charts! From top to bottom on both Wednesday and Friday nights, both NXT and SmackDown had me glued to my seat. Of course, the highlights being the incredible finish to the NXT Championship Iron Man Match as well as Bayley’s turn on best friend Sasha Banks. We’ll get into those in our show recaps. But it wasn’t just those moments, it was show flow, attention to details and adding personality and personal items into the storyline. It makes a HUGE difference.

Finally, Friday night was my first venture into the WWE ThunderDome. Originally, my daughter and I were confirmed to be on the video wall last Friday, but real life got in the way. So, one week later, we were active participants among the over 900 fans in the ThunderDome. How was it, you may ask? Well, I thought it was a great experience. It’s not something I would do every week because being part of a live event is exhausting. But, every once in a while, I would absolutely do it. In addition to being able to be part of the crowd for 205 LIVE and SmackDown, we got special backstage access to WWE Superstars Jeff Hardy, Cesaro and Drew Gulak. It had that old school live event feel just for us. So, that’s a good thing and I hope they continue to tweak it moving forward because all-in-all, it was fun to be a fan again at a wrestling event, even if it was from my own house.

Now, on to the week that was in the WWE.

Star of the Week:

WHAT ARE YOU DOING, @itsBayleyWWE?!?!?! The #SmackDown #WomensChampion just unleashed a relentless assault on her best friend @SashaBanksWWE!!! pic.twitter.com/PZyZAyXjmu

— WWE (@WWE) September 5, 2020

Bayley – No question here as Bayley upstages Roman Reigns and Keith Lee. There’s no more wondering where and when the BFF’s will break up. The SmackDown Women’s Champion has had enough with Sasha Banks and her heinous attack on Banks puts her right atop the heel chain in WWE and we love it!

RAW

RESULTS

WWE Championship #1 Contender’s Qualifying Match: Keith Lee defeated Dolph Ziggler

Mickie James defeated Lana

WWE Championship #1 Contender’s Qualifying Match: Randy Orton defeated Kevin Owens

The Viking Raiders & Cedric Alexander defeated Bobby Lashley, MVP & Shelton Benjamin

The Riott Squad defeated The IIconics – The IIconics have to split up

WWE Championship #1 Contender’s Qualifying Match: Seth Rollins defeated Dominik Mysterio

Tornado Tag Team Match: The Street Profits vs. Andrade & Angel Garza went to a no-contest due to RETRIBUTION interference

WWE Championship #1 Contender’s Match: Randy Orton defeated Seth Rollins & Keith Lee

Loved it:

enTITLEd.@RandyOrton will see @DMcIntyreWWE for the #WWETitle at #WWEClash of Champions! #WWERaw pic.twitter.com/DbXLT0HMo2

— WWE (@WWE) September 1, 2020

Randy Orton – Not only did Orton regain his #1 Contender’s status, but he didn’t it following a loss to Keith Lee at Payback, used Aleister Black to do his bidding and pinned Seth Rollins to get his WWE Championship Match. Orton is not only getting himself over but getting Lee up the ladder as well. The Legend Killer continues to be one of the top performers in the WWE right now.

Wow. @WWEAleister was not done with @FightOwensFight yet. #WWERaw pic.twitter.com/RqUmO1Z5cp

— WWE (@WWE) September 1, 2020

Asuka – Give me more! In the ring, on the mic, on commentary, she’s entertaining as hell. Sure, we don’t expect her to lose to Mickie James, Natalya or Lana in the near future, but at least she’ll make it exciting. I wonder if we get her alter-ego clown character as some point too! That would be interesting.

Blow us all away, @35_Dominik! #WWERaw pic.twitter.com/P7BDCwv2U2

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) September 1, 2020

Dominik Mysterio – It’s still early in his WWE career, but he continues to impress. Getting a tag team win with his father over Rollins and Buddy Murphy at Payback for his first win was awesome. Then, just 24 hours later, he holds his own in a #1 Contender’s Match with Rollins. Even with Rey injured with a torn triceps, it looks like we’ll be getting a healthy dose of the Mysterio family with Rey’s wife Angie and Dominik’s sister now on with on-camera roles. Good stuff so far. Hope it continues.

Why?:

YOU'VE GOTTA BE JOKING US!

@PeytonRoyceWWE just threw @BillieKayWWE into #RawUnderground against @jessamynduke AND @MarinaShafir!#WWERaw pic.twitter.com/XjQ5W0AlKz

— WWE (@WWE) September 1, 2020

Teach us how to say goodbye.#WWERaw @BillieKayWWE @PeytonRoyceWWE pic.twitter.com/e198SBAB1m

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) September 1, 2020

The IIconics – Was there a need to split them up? Having Peyton and Billie Kay go their separate ways – maybe against each other after the RAW Underground fiasco – seems a bit forced. Who knows, maybe they will surprise us but a feud between them doesn’t seem that appealing.

No Sasha & Bayley follow-up – They’ve been on almost every show for months yet now, when things are getting intriguing between the besties, we get nothing from them about losing the tag titles to Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax. We needed to hear SOMETHING from them and not let it wait until Friday night. The Women’s Tag Team Championship is on all shows and it deserved a few minutes on Monday night.

RETRIBUTION – Why are they now attacking the tag teams – The Street Profits and Andrade & Angel Garza are this week’s targets after the Mysterios got it last week. Even poor Zelina Vega got beat up too! We need more than a two-minute interruption each week. This club needs some direction, some depth and someone explaining what the hell they are doing there. It’s been over a month now. Also, isn’t it funny how things just go right back to normal after RETRIBUTION attacks? Funny, huh. Finally, how inept is security that they can’t keep 5-10 people out of the building when they run in a pack?

Welcome:

Nobody wants it with these two.#WWERaw #RawUnderground @MarinaShafir @jessamynduke pic.twitter.com/sK3TXTQrJq

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) September 1, 2020

Jessamyn Duke – Duke makes her RAW Underground debut, alongside fellow Four Horse Women Marina Shafir’s second bout. I know it’s building to the eventual stable, but will it only be on RU or on RAW as well. Just having them on RU seems like a waste since it’s never been explained other than a side show.

NXT

RESULTS

Street Fight: Breezango & Isaiah “Swerve” Scott defeated Legado del Fantasma

Candace LeRae defeated Kacy Catanzaro

Timothy Thatcher defeated Bronson Reed

Fatal 4-Way 60-Minute Iron Man NXT Championship Match: Adam Cole and Finn Balor tied at 2 pinfalls a piece over Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano – Balor and Cole face-off next week in sudden death match for NXT Championship

LOVED IT:

WAIT A MINUTE!!! WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!?! @AdamColePro & @FinnBalor are tied at 2 as time expired!!

#NXTTitle #WWENXT #NXTSuperTuesday pic.twitter.com/xxtdTqjS5x

— WWE (@WWE) September 2, 2020

The entire show – No fluff. Wrestling in-ring was excellent. I’m sure some will quibble with the tie between Cole and Balor for the title, but I don’t mind it at all. The final few minutes led to a frantic final seconds which is all you can ask for. Now, we get Balor vs. Cole next week for all the marbles and how can you be mad at that?! Personal development with Candace LeRae/Tegan Nox using Kacy Catanzaro/Kayden Carter’s relationship was excellent. Setting up Rhea Ripley vs. Mercedes Martinez in a steel cage next week was short and sweet, exactly what it needed to be. The 6-man street fight was awesome including a double dive off a forklift by Fandango and Swerve which lead to the ultimate pin by Scott over Escobar. Wonderful stuff. Plus, Reed vs. Thatcher moved things along for Thatcher’s eventual NXT North American Championship Match while pushing Austin Theory back into the physical mix with Reed worked too. All-in-all, a very entertaining two-hours.

#WWENXT #NXTSuperTuesday @WWEFandango @swerveconfident pic.twitter.com/PgMracBJGT

— WWE (@WWE) September 2, 2020

Wade Barrett – While we do miss Mauro Ranollo at the NXT announce desk after his mutual parting of ways with WWE, Barrett is a welcome edition with insight and knowledge. Plus, he’s got a few good one-liners to boot. 

SMACKDOWN

RESULTS

Heavy Machinery defeated The Miz & John Morrison

WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship Match: Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler defeated Sasha Banks & Bayley to retain titles

Universal Championship #1 Contender’s Fatal Four-Way Match: Jey Uso defeated Matt Riddle, Sheamus and King Corbin

LOVED IT:

With @HeymanHustle by his side, the NEW #UniversalChampion @WWERomanReigns has spoken on #SmackDown. pic.twitter.com/VgLRcQz4dL

— WWE (@WWE) September 5, 2020

Roman & Paul – Starting the show with an epic shootlike promo from Paul Heyman and Roman Reigns was perfect! Adding some reality to Heyman being bounced from RAW power to the Reigns storyline, saying it was Roman who brought Paul back in was classic. Dropping the reality line about Corey Graves being Carmella’s last boyfriend was hilarious. It’s stuff like that that brings it home.

"Hey Big Dog, I made the family proud too!" – Jey @WWEUsos #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/FfbFd1CmRD

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) September 5, 2020

Roman & Jey – Adding Jey Uso to the #1 Contender’s Match, thanks to Paul Heyman after Sheamus’ attack on Big E, brings in a family, personal matter to the forefront. It’s the best storyline they could’ve chosen going forward. Do we expect Uso to win, of course not. But having Reigns bad mouth his cousin and then ultimately beat him up at Clash of Champions is pure evil and will add to his badass appeal. Plus, the main event was on point giving me everything I could ask from from Uso, Matt Riddle, Sheamus and King Corbin. Good work all around.

OH MY GOD!! #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/BKAoBUvY9P

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) September 5, 2020

Bayley’s breakup – Want more can we say about this one. We knew it was coming, for months, and yet it was still OMG shocking! The way it played out with Sasha Banks having a knee injury and Bayley seemingly there for her BFF and then beating the holy hell out of her is something we thought Banks could do, but not Bayley. Well played Hugger! Now we can look forward to them beating each other’s brains out for months ahead and that’s good for us!

#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/x664UVUPIB

— WWE (@WWE) September 5, 2020

Who’s that girl – It was only a few seconds but we are intrigued who that leggy, fur-wearing WWE Superstar is. Effective tease to say the least.

Funny:

Otis & John Morrison – Having Morrison steal the money in the bank briefcase had some intrigue and then having Otis hand him his lunch, literally, in that briefcase was laugh out loud funny. Otis is just lovable and plays it well.

Sami Zayn – The dude is just plain gold on the mic. Love him in the middle of this Intercontinental Title feud with Jeff Hardy and AJ Styles!

OUCH:

Wow. @WWEBigE just felt the power of The #CelticWarrior @WWESheamus. #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/ryEcj7OYVX

— WWE (@WWE) September 5, 2020

Poor Big E – I would love to know how much money a year WWE spends on damaged cars! This time, Big E is the latest victim after a White Noise from Sheamus leaves him hospital-bound and out of the #1 Contender’s Match. There will be a New Day of Vengeance ahead for Sheamus I’m sure whether it be from Big E or the returning Xavier Woods.

Parting shots:

If you haven’t watch 205 LIVE, give it a chance. This week’s episode had some quality in-ring performances from Daviri & Mansoor and was climaxed by a Legado del Fantasma attack on Ever-Rise and Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch. Whether it be on 205 LIVE or NXT, simply loving the old school feel of Legado del Fantasma, led by Cruiserweight Champion Santos Escobar. They’re getting it done in and out of the ring these days.

Coming up this week:

RAW: Drew McIntyre’s response to Randy Orton

.@FinnBalor and @AdamColePro are on a collision course for the #NXTTitle after a dead heat conclusion to an unforgettable Iron Man Match on #WWENXT. #NXTSuperTuesday Full results

https://t.co/3pjqYFs1Qf pic.twitter.com/5OY1Ifu06t

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) September 2, 2020

NXT: Super Tuesday II NXT Championship Match: Adam Cole vs. Finn Balor Steel Cage Battle of the Badasses Match: Rhea Ripley vs. Mercedes Martinez

SMACKDOWN: TBD

Thanks for letting us share our thoughts! Shoot me an email at jcrowe567@gmail.com. We’d love to hear your comments and suggestions! You can also check out my blog, The Crowe’s Nest as we delve into more pro wrestling, sports entertainment and the World of Sports. My apologies ahead of time – I AM a Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins fan! If you’re not down with that, I’ve got TWO WORDS for you… NEW ENGLAND

[placetobenation]

THAT. JUST. HAPPENED. #WWEBackstage pic.twitter.com/TDd5n0qk25

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) November 13, 2019

“Just when they think they have all the questions, I change the culture. I’ll see you next week.” – CM Punk on WWE Backstage Tuesday, November 12

In less than one minute of air time on Fox Sports 1 Tuesday night, CM Punk returned and blew up the wrestling industry once more! Not since the pipe bomb incident and his subsequent leave from WWE back in 2014 have we seen the man named Phil dominate the conversation. FOX Sports and WWE confirmed that Punk will now be a contributor to WWE Backstage on a regular, but not every week basis. This is huge news for WWE on two fronts. One, it gives the immediate buzz during Survivor Series build and two, it keeps Punk away from AEW, which reportedly did meet with him and offer a big-money contract. Now, since Punk’s contract is reportedly with FOX and not WWE, it will be interesting to see if the WWE plans to try and use him in a role other than on WWE Backstage, which unfortunately for them, is seen of the least watched platform they are on, as opposed to the USA Network and FOX.  I for one, like many of you, have been waiting for Punk to return as he is one of the generational talents that you will stop what you’re doing to watch or listen to on a weekly basis. I’m hoping they use him well, let him speak his mind and make it an awesome experience for him and us as fans and viewers. Because if they do, hold on to your hats. If they don’t, it will be very short lived!

Now, as for the week that was in the WWE, it continues to be centered around NXT’s involvement in the Survivor Series. After a very disappointing, and yes, taped, RAW from Manchester, England, we got solid shows from NXT and Smackdown. I think what the WWE has to do in the final week leading up to Survivor Series itself on November 24 in Chicago, home of CM Punk of course, is to do more than the run-ins it has been doing the past couple of weeks. Give me more storyline and emotion. Introduce the NXT superstars to those in RAW and Smackdown that may not know them. It may eventually get more eyeballs on to the product on Wednesday night, which is one of the big benefits if done properly.

We’re going to start a new feature to TWITW (This Week In The WWE). It’s the star of the week and this week, it’s an easy one.

Star of the Week – CM PUNK

For obvious reasons stated above. Punk sent shockwaves through the industry not so much for what he did, appear on screen for less than a minute, but what could be in the near and extended future. Count me in! Who knows, maybe a reunion with Colt Cobana could be the next near impossible thing we’ll see.

Now, on to the shows!

RAW

RESULTS

WWE Women’s Tag Team Title Match:: Champions The Kabuki Warriors defeated Becky Lynch and Charlotte

Drew McIntyre defeated Sin Cara

WWE 24/7 Title Match: R-Truth vs. The Singhs went to a no contest

Seth Rollins defeated WALTER @ 4:20 (DQ)

Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, & The Street Profits defeated Imperium

Andrade defeated Cedric Alexander @ 3:50

Erick Rowan defeated Nigel Kickpads @ 1:00 via pin

Non-Title Match: RAW Tag Team Champions The Viking Raiders defeated Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews

Randy Orton, Ricochet, & Humberto Carrillo defeated The OC

What we loved:

Humberto finally wins – We’ve been harping on this for a few weeks now and it was great to see Humberto Carrillo finally get a win on television. Albeit, it’s in a six-man tag match, but a win is a win.

NXT UK – Great way to introduce the mainstream audience to NXT UK’s most powerful entity, Imperium and its leader, WALTER, especially with the show coming from Manchester, England. Too bad WALTER vs. Seth Rollins fell apart after only four minutes only to lead to the predictable tag team match.

What we didn’t love:

The vibe – Because RAW was taped last Friday after a Smackdown taping in Manchester, you could tell the crowd just wasn’t into it, especially towards the end of the show. It’s almost as if the WWE was treating it as a throwaway show. That’s something they should NEVER do, especially when they treat Monday nights in such high regards.

Where was Natalya – I know they gave the obligatory Natalya couldn’t be there due to family obligations, but why not throw in there that Natalya and Charlotte Flair are getting a tag team title match soon. It seems as if they are defaulting to Becky Lynch and Flair as a team when ever they need a quick fix. I don’t like it especially since we’ve seen them as a team a lot lately. Make your champions special. I liked the team of Flair and Natalya together and it gave them a purpose, a storyline to get behind. Stick to it.

NXT

RESULTS

NXT Cruiserweight Champion Lio Rush defeated Angel Garza

Xli Li defeated Aliyah

Non-Title Match: Keith Lee defeated North American Champion Roderick Strong

Swerve Scott defeated Bronson Reed

Ladder Match for The Advantage in War Games: Io Shirai defeated Mia Yim

#SmackDown Women's Champion @itsBayleyWWE just DROPPED @QoSBaszler on #WWENXT! pic.twitter.com/ONpe5pxjGp

— WWE (@WWE) November 14, 2019

Yeah. We're ready for this.@FinnBalor @SuperKingOfBros #WWENXT #NXTTakeOver pic.twitter.com/Da8aeb15NT

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) November 14, 2019

What we loved:

Climbing the ladder – Kudos to Io Shirai and Mia Yim for delivering another awesome NXT main event. Every week, these main events have given us quality matches that leave us wanting more. Yim getting busted open with a broken nose and the closing run-in by NXT Women’s Champ Katie Lee Ray, put the WOW in this one. And then to boot, we get what seems to be a thumbs up to KLR for her spot on Shayna Baszler’s Survivor Series team leading to…

Welcome home Bayley – It was short, sweet and effective. Bayley returns to Full Sail as the former NXT Champion takes out the current NXT Champion Baszler on the stage to avenge Baszler’s beatdown of Bayley on Smackdown. Straight to the point and well done.

Balor vs. Riddle – Yes, please. More of this! Talk about your way around not having Balor vs. Johnny Gargano, well here it is. This could be an epic match to come!

Keith Lee – Not only does he continue to get better and better each week, but now his win solidifies his team for WarGames and sets himself up for a future North American Championship title shot down the road. Really good stuff.

What we didn’t love:

Balor’s spotlight – Kill it already. Whoever is following Balor with the spotlight, it ain’t working! It makes it look minor league, especially in a small building like Full Sail.

Got us thinking:

Angel Garza and Lio Rush’s wife – Something watch as we could get more in this cruiserweight battle that saw round one goes to Rush.

SMACKDOWN

RESULTS

For Spots on The Survivor Series Team: Mustafa Ali & Chad Gable defeated Robert Roode & Dolph Ziggler

Smackdown Tag Team Title Match: Champions The New Day defeated The Revival (DQ after interference by Undisputed Era)

Heavy Machinery defeated Jimmy & Johnny Kickpads

Non-Title Match: Bayley vs. Nikki Cross (No contest after NXT interence)

Team Smackdown (Nikki Cross, Sasha Banks, Dana Brooke, Carmella) defeated Team NXT (Dakota Kai, Rhea Ripley, Mia Yim and Tegan Nox) – Nikki Cross wins spot on Team Smackdown for Survivor Series 

What we loved:

The dog mascot – Sure, we thought, probably like most of you, that it was going to be Roman Reigns in the mascot costume. But, pleasantly surprised when it wasn’t as Reigns came straight down to the ring in the middle of the match. Maybe we’ll get a surprise reveal to a returning star later at Survivor Series. That would be a nice payoff. Either way, some unpredictability is good.

#TheNightmare can't scare #TheBoss. #SmackDown @SashaBanksWWE @RheaRipley_WWE pic.twitter.com/nhfc2oSp4G

— WWE (@WWE) November 16, 2019

Highlighting the SS teams – A lot of the time was devoted to building out the Smackdown teams, including forty minutes at the top of the show for the men and then the main event before MizTV for the women. It’s nice to see spots getting earned in the ring for Survivor Series rather than just being thrown together in a promo or graphic reveal.

At #SurvivorSeries, @WWEDanielBryan will willingly step into the darkness when he battles #TheFiend @WWEBrayWyatt for the #UniversalChampionship. https://t.co/d2iqO0jp2E pic.twitter.com/9Fgqb5GNAx

— WWE (@WWE) November 16, 2019

Someone says YES – It wasn’t Daniel Bryan that says YES, but Universal Champ Bray Wyatt that says YES! to a match with Bryan at Survivor Series. We still get Bryan in that clunky not a face, not a heel position, but we’ll get a great match between these two at SS while the fans try to decide who to cheer for as both are well liked at the moment. The possibilities are there and let’s not forget how Sami Zayn and Shinsuke Nakamura could still get involved with all this.

What we hated:

It’s not that we really hated anything this week, it’s more of a wish. With Smackdown moving to FOX, we expected something really different and we just haven’t seen it. Outside of the NXT invasion that was brought about due to “travel issues,” we haven’t really gotten the creative changes we thought were coming. Maybe with the change from Eric Bishoff to Bruce Pritchard, things are delayed. But much like we haven’t really seen too many Paul Heyman changes on RAW, maybe we are expecting too many drastic changes to a company that can’t really deliver that “edge” we may be looking for since it is, after all, sports entertainment, and it’s a public company that delivers to major, national sponsors on major, national networks so a pushing of the envelope has to be pushed softly and not with a Myles Garrett over-the-head helmet shot.

Parting shot:

Aside from Triple H, isn’t it refreshing to see a brand supremacy battle not being waged with a McMahon vs. McMahon vs. McMahon as the theme? While we love Stephanie McMahon as the ultimate heel villain when she really turns it on and not trying to be a brand ambassador, it is nice to see the superstars telling the story. Kudos for not defaulting into a tired storyline WWE. Thank you!

Thanks for letting us share our thoughts! Shoot me an email at jcrowe567@gmail.com. We’d love to hear your comments and suggestions! You can also check out my blog, The Crowe’s Nest as we delve into more pro wrestling, sports entertainment and the World of Sports. My apologies ahead of time – I AM a Patriots and Red Sox fan! If you’re not down with that, I’ve got TWO WORDS for you… NEW ENGLAND!