Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Best Coast Bias: Intercontinentally Known, Locally Disrespected

I'm with Wade; uninvited guests are the worst
Photo Credit: WWE.com
You know what they say...

...wait, this is kinda a family-friendly happy place to talk the pro graps, so let's amend the familiar to something more all ages accessible.

Talk smack?  Get whacked.  Our Intercontinental Champion started off the evening sans podium but with plenty of vitriol for the main he was facing in the conclusion of the show and the one that'd ditched him some 24 hours previous in their tag match to practically giftwrap a title rematch against the evening's opponent and the man he'd beat Sunday that'd pinned him Monday; by the time the show was over Rob Van Dam had beaten him up not only in the midst of his soliloquy but in their match and Cesaro had popped up in the final moments of the show to Neutralize him and Van Dam both.  If only this was filmed in front of the Full Sail crowd; they would've started the post-match chant almost immediately and saved us some time.

Van Dam started off the match hot based on Barrett's bashing of him as a relic and mindless zombie who could only Point - To - Self, even throwing in a running tope con hilo off the apron and boot choke in the corner worked for nearly the entire Langston.  But while Tuesday night is fortunate enough to get title matches, gold and leather is usually safe when it comes to Main Event.  Still, it was a surprise that a wild Cesaro appeared to conclude the evening especially when the Brit was loading up his signature Hammer to put a bow on things.  Fortunately both challengers and Champion alike sort of excel in being able to go full throttle and not pull their shots so if/when the eventual showdown trioka happens, it should be more than a bit watchable.  TWBnomics doesn't know what the exact number plus is when you swap out Jack Swagger for the Fabulous Tony C but it's got to be pretty high: the $16,000 Question is whether Cesaro can walk away from the skirmish with the gold giving Bad News mach 2's hookup to the Rejuvenation Machine or is this just going to be another link in the Heyman's-good-but-not-that-good-for-your-career chain that could lead the Swiss Superman to turn face, unveil the move that garnered his rhyming nom de grapple more than once every 8 weeks, and a DEFCON 1 HOSS FIGHT against His Client Brock Lesnar Who Conquered The Undertaker's Undefeated Streak At WrestleMania.  (If you don't think Heyman's had the land monster's name legally changed to that by now, you're nuts.)

Barrett's effort to firmly put Van Dam in his rearview and get away with talking smack were just as doomed as any tag team's attempt to get over on Erick Rowan ^ Luke Harper has been in recent weeks.  Even without their father figure behind the controls the cultists have proved themselves to be necessary pistons helping to drive the engine in the name of a cause.  Up against Goldust and single-serving partner (presumably) Kofi Kingston, it was safe to say even with Cody looking on pensively from backstage that he was no Booker T, and KoDust was going to be ground into the latter while being lucky to dodge the former.  To their credit (unsurprisingly given that they were both former multi-time Tag Champions) they hung in there for two segments and even managed to pull off some double-team offense in a couple of short instances when they were able to use their relative quickness against the Swamp People.  But lest one forget about that watching a former Natural throw around second rope Ranas and Yoshi Tonics, Luke Harper can dropkick people too, and he's got a lot more mass when he opts to deploy that weaponry.  Rowan handled intermittent bursts of clubberin' while he lead the ring generalship, culminating in picking Kofi off midair with a MURDERDEATHKILL lariat to counter Trouble In Paradise. Cody's look was disappointed, sure, but something more was there.  It's almost as if he doesn't want his brother to succeed without him or something despite setting him up with new replacements that've had lackluster win-loss records shadowing shadowing shadowing shadowing.

It was a Main Event that developed the Intercontinental Title situation and an underneath tag team situation while also developing the ad hoc #1 contenders to the Big Pennies.   It may not've been a hit - but it was damn close.