Solid Brawl. I think this show highlighted a strength of the Brawl format, which is you can put out a show that acknowledges its own brevity without it feeling like a rushed effort. I liked that Natrone Rice brought up the ULTRATITLE Tournament and periodically throughout the program references were made to a larger show that wasn't reproduced for the SportsCenter-type audience catching the recap. NFW Brawl shows do this often, but it seemed to work especially well for a show that didn't have a ton of meat on the bones.
Kudos to Colin on the 6-Man. I enjoyed it. I liked that there were spots where Nova and Harmen were really operating as a unit, because in the robust NFW tag scene all the teams really feel like more than the sum of their parts, and an ongoing challenge for Ford and I is to make Superfly Express feel like a real team with its own identity instead of just High Flyer + Nova. Also loved the ongoing confusion with Doc C about which guy is Harmen. When I came up with the idea of Harmen breaking Nova's nose with a headbutt on accident and the facemask thing, I didn't even think about how that would play into it, so I really loved seeing that develop. Granted, in theory Nova has a bushy horseshoe of blonde hair circling around his bald head and a beard that verges on ZZ Top-like, but hey, let's roll with it. In fact, I just got an idea. >=) Right here. As you read this. It's a little bit like we're hanging out together.
DRS vs. OSS was really short, basically a brawl (ON BRAWL, HUR-HUR-HUR) followed by...I forget, actually. But both these teams are in really interesting positions right now, OSS trying to ride the wave back to a title shot and DRS floundering in the wake of a huge shake-up on the last show. This may not have amounted to much, but it keeps the tag scene on everyone's minds, and I like how Brawl has always been a vehicle for the tag division to shine.
Atken/Ryan was...sad. Brunk's gotta go handle business, I understand, but I don't think Dan Ryan's most ardent detractor would wish upon the Ego-Buster a limp-wristed knee sprain exit on a Brawl show. It's like Bret Hart leaving the WWF after hurting his wrist during a house show in Des Moines. Were I a fan, I'd almost HAVE to believe there's more coming, or something. On the flipside, I like that the match went in a way where it appeared that Phil Atken made a calculated decision to attack the knee and get the end result he wanted. I think that's a much better play than having JJ or someone run down and attack Ryan, especially since Atken is now facing down a f*cking World Heavyweight Championship shot in what, his second match back? I swear, if we have an Eric Dane/Phil Atken WHC match, I'm pretty sure e-Vegas will implode on itself.
Finally, LOVED how Teddy got over in the Alexander/Bryant match, even though the TV Champ retained. This was the best of all outcomes. Jack's star continues to rise (similar to Impulse a few years ago), and Alexander shows how he can dominate physically under the spotlight.
VOSS SCALE: BRA1/2
