Tag Archives: Smackdown Live

Possible Surprise Entrants in First-Ever Women’s Royal Rumble

WWE announced that for the first-time ever, the women will get their own Royal Rumble match at the 2018 ‘Royal Rumble.’

It was unknown how many women would appear in the Rumble at first. Most assumed they wouldn’t get the same amount of entrants as the men (30), but the early word is that they will get 30 spots in this year’s Rumble.

The WWE’s RAW & Smackdown Live brands don’t have anywhere near 30 women on those rosters, so there will be some surprise performers getting in the match. I assume NXT may get a couple spots. but this list will not try to guess those. There are plenty of young, talented ladies down there in NXT and those who aren’t signed, but appeared in the ‘Mae Young Classic’ last year, will end up in this match.

We made a list of some former WWE women superstars (or divas) that could appear as a surprise entrants in the first-ever Women’s Royal Rumble…and the likelihood of their appearance.

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Top 10 WWE Matches of 2017

I started to compile a list of the ten best wrestling matches of 2017. The list of contenders was loaded with New Japan matches, a couple from Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and not many from WWE.

This year has just been an insane year for great matches all over the world. I decided to save that list for later this month and just focus on WWE with this post.

I was surprised there weren’t many top matches with women wrestlers in WWE. The top ten matches in WWE the last two years had plenty of contenders from the women’s division. I think when you have a belt on Alexa Bliss for most of the year (on Smackdown and RAW), and every brand PPV usually only has one women’s match (usually just the title match), you’re cutting down the opportunities for women to have great matches.

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Review: WWE Survivor Series 2017

I don’t always review WWE pay-per-views, but I usually do them for the ‘Big Four’ events. ‘Survivor Series’ would need to be a great show to surpass the previous night’s ‘NXT Takeover: War Games’ event that was insanely good.

I didn’t have high hopes for ‘Survivor Series’, but there were some matches that intrigued me. Brock Lesnar vs. AJ Styles was the match I was most looking forward to watching. I guess there were also certain match-ups in the main event that we’ve never seen before like Braun Strowman & Shinsuke Nakamura and Triple H & Bobby Roode that occurred, which were pretty cool.

Was the 2017 ‘Survivor Series’ worth all the hype?

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Toy Crazy: Mattel’s WWE Elite Series 55

I’m a self-confessed vintage toy nerd. I collect vintage wrestling action figures from the 80’s & 90’s. I started purchasing some vintage toys out of nostalgia. Well, WWE and Mattel sucked me into their new stuff. I now buy a few figures a month. You can view photos of my collection on my Instagram account.

The lineup in WWE Elite series 55 is the second series with the new packaging. The lineup is a bit underwhelming. New collectors will enjoy the ‘American Badass’ Undertaker flashback, but it’s too much like the Elite 18 figure. Also, Enzo and Cass have had too many elites in the last year, so these might sit at retail, especially Big Cass.

The WWE Superstars included in Elite 55 are Neville, James Ellsworth, The Undertaker, Enzo Amore, Big Cass & Brock Lesnar.

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Toy Crazy: Fall/Winter 2017 WWE Funko Releases

We covered some upcoming Funko releases back in May. Those figures are already in my collection and look fantastic. Funko is set to release even more pop vinyl figures before Christmas this year.

We have reviewed a lot of Mattel’s WWE Elite figures, but Funko has also released some pretty solid figures in the past. I’m a big collector and you can see some of my collection on my Instagram, @vintagetoybob.

I’ve plugged another site in my previous Mattel/Funko posts, but if you’re looking to order Funko figures, I’d trust DCtoys.net. I’ve bought from the seller before and he is highly reputable. The best of the best for sure. You can use code ‘AAFWWEBUNDLE‘ for free domestic shipping on any order over $36.

Here are some pictures of Funko’s Fall/Winter 2017 WWE POP! vinyl releases.

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Toy Crazy: Mattel’s WWE Elite Series 54

The lineup in WWE Elite series 54 is the second series in a row without a single flashback figure. It’s a smart move by Mattel, since there are plenty of other elite lines that they could throw old school wrestlers in these days. Walmart’s ‘Then, Now, Forever’, Target’s ‘Hall of Fame’ and even the Toys R Us ‘Network Spotlight series can be used to do just that.

The WWE Superstars included in Elite 54 are Charlotte Flair, Rich Swann, John Cena, The Usos and Bray Wyatt.

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Toy Crazy: Mattel’s WWE Elite Series 53

The lineup in Elite 53 is the first full lineup without any flashback figures in a long time. It’s a smart move by Mattel since there are so many exclusive lines that are only flashbacks. They will eventually run out of older guys if they include two or three per series. Also, it feels like we are a bit behind on elite of some of the guys that appear on TV more since the brand split.

The WWE Superstars included in Elite 53 are Alexa Bliss, Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens, The Miz, Big E and Heath Slater.

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Review: WWE SummerSlam 2017

After last night’s NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III, the WWE main roster had to put on a PPV to follow up that amazing show. I wouldn’t say they failed to do so, but the show was too damn long.

If you count the pre-show and the main card, it was SIX HOURS LONG! You could watch two NFL football games, or roughly four football matches (I didn’t want to exclude my International readers). It wasn’t as long as Wrestlemania and thank God.

SummerSlam had five title changes, which could be a record. I know Michael Cole mentioned that this show has the most title matches in one night in the history of WWE. It may or may not be correct since WWE announcers have spewed bullshit records in the past (I’m looking at you Matt Striker).

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Toy Crazy: Mattel’s WWE Elite Series 52

The lineup in Elite 52 is pretty good. It updates some current guys and two long-awaited flashbacks from the Attitude Era.

The WWE Superstars included in Elite 52 are Braun Strowman, Ken Shamrock, D’Lo Brown, Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods and Seth Rollins.

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Toy Crazy: Mattel’s WWE NXT Series 1

The NXT lineup was announced either at last year’s San Diego Comic-Con or Ringside Fest (I can’t quite remember). Collectors have been anxiously waiting.

When it comes to store exclusives from Mattel, they just all of the sudden appear there without any announcement. That happened with the NXT series at Target, with both elites and basic figures.

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Toy Crazy: Mattel’s WWE Elite Series 51

The lineup in Elite 51 is above average. Any set after Elite 50 was going to be a little underwhelming. That set was fabulous.

The WWE Superstars included in Elite 51 are A.J. Styles, Mankind, Scott Hall, Roman Reigns, Berzerker and Sami Zayn.

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Toy Crazy: Summer 2017 WWE Funko Releases

We covered some upcoming Funko releases back in April. Those figures are already in my collection and look fantastic.

I’ve plugged another site in my previous Mattel posts, but if you’re looking to order Funko figures, I’d trust intheringcollectibles.com. I’ve bought a ton of stuff from them and they always pack shipments very well. You can use code ‘paulyp‘ for a discount.

Here are some pictures of Funko’s Summer 2017 WWE POP! vinyl releases.

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