WWE Big 2, For Now? Lorcan, Gallagher 5/17-5/23/20

Oney Lorcan/Danny Burch vs. Ever-Rise (Chase Parker/Matt Martel) NXT 5/20

ER: This was a total mugging for Lorcan and Burch, and a fun one. You knew it was going short just because of how quick Burch was running through everything. But they didn't let the increase in speed affect execution, and if anything it made it feel like Burch was running harder into everything he threw. This was a quick and economical beating, with hard edge of fist punches and a great leaping kick right to Parker's teeth in the corner. Lorcan is the hot tag and doesn't drop the beat, using his expected big energy burst to throw nasty uppercuts and finish things with his missile launch horizontal flying uppercut. The only role for Ever-Rise here was to kick their asses beat, and they took a fine ass beating.


Oney Lorcan/Danny Burch vs. Ever-Rise 205 Live 5/22

ER: This is the best of the three (!) different matches these teams have had, with Ever-Rise having their best control segment and it feeling the right level of competitive. Ever-Rise are still a weird team to be in WWE as there is a team nearly exactly like them, with maybe a +/- 5% difference in talent, in every single indy fed in the country that draws 150+. They are a professional team who work matches no different than a tag team you see on almost every indy show you attend, and that is fine because you usually leave your local indy satisfied with that teams' match. I get the sense that just like those same tag teams all across North America, they can work heel or face depending on the night. But this is good, and I like how they focused their control segment around neck work. Parker does nice little things, his stomps are really good, and I dug how both he and Martel threw elbow strikes to the neck, and both bits of offense they did were neckbreaker variations. The Samoan drop/flying neckbreaker combo was a good nearfall, and Lorcan came real close to missing the save, really diving in from the floor with fingertips extended. We already got one match this week where Lorcan and Burch ran these two over, and it was cool to see the two of them work no less aggressively on offense, just allowing more room for Ever-Rise. Burch threw a nice german suplex and cool lariat, and Lorcan's chops and uppercuts sounded loud as hell in the PC. This felt like a WCW Saturday Night tag, and you know that's a good thing.

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WWE Big 3: Lorcan, Gallagher, Gulak 9/22 - 9/28

205 Live 9/24

Oney Lorcan/Danny Burch vs. Drew Gulak/Tony Nese

ER: Man I was cool with all of this. You wanna give me 15 minute 205 Live matches? Sure, make them more like this and then never ever go off the air. I've grown too accustomed to spending my Saturday mornings with you, 205, and I can't bear the thought of you leaving me now. I really liked the progression of this tag, starting out with Burch and Lorcan in control, building to Gulak and Nese separating Lorcan, and then setting off everyone's fireworks down a hot stretch. It lead to two different peaked hot tags (even though crowds do just seem like they are going to be permanently not-hot for 205). Burch and Gulak were a fun start, and Gulak was a real MVP during this whole tag. Everything he did showed more attention to detail than you typically see from these fast paced affairs. He was expert at setting up offense for Lorcan and Burch, while not skimping on little things that are very easy to skimp on when pace quickens. Every time he was supposed to miss something, he looked like he was actually missing something, not just leaning into a move. He had short quick missed clotheslines in ring, and the best was him jumping off the apron into a Lorcan uppercut, and the fact that Gulak looked like he was throwing a lariat off the apron before getting hit. Taking dangerous offense is hard! It would make sense had he merely jumped off the apron into an uppercut, making sure he was taking it as safely as possible. But here he is joining all the dots, showing that movements matter. Lorcan's hot tag was a blast, love how he levels people with that shot out of a cannon uppercut, and he was also the guy tasked with wrangling Tony Nese which doesn't always seem easy. Nese - as we've stated before - seems to only be interesting when his shots don't land cleanly. When things are going as planned and he's all brainless combos, I have no use. But when he's landing knees first on a moonsault or flying recklessly over the ropes to the floor and off Lorcan, I'm more into it. I liked the way the teams would come together, liked the tandem submissions, thought the Doomsday Device looked fantastic, and really liked how the teams worked together.

PAS: This was the least I have been annoyed with Nese maybe ever. All three of his big spots (the moonsault, the dive and the 450) landed with violence and force and he didn't do any of his two step dance spots. Burch is a guy I should like more then I do, but he was fine in his role. This was mostly a great Lorcan and Gulak performance, these guys have been matching up for years and it is so fun that they are getting to do their stuff on the WWE network. They have so many different big moves that look great, and small flourishes which add to a match. The way Gulak fell on the doomsday device was great it felt less like a backflip and more like someone falling off a painting ladder. I am hoping we get one more big Lorcan vs. Gulak singles, before the show ends or the title feud moves on.

NXT 9/25

Oney Lorcan/Danny Burch vs. Ever-Rise (Chase Parker/Matt Martel)

PAS: This was fine, pretty much a semi competitive squash. Parker and Martel didn't show me a ton of flash, but they were solid, and I liked the backbreaker running knee combo.  Lorcan is a fun face in peril, and I thought the summoning to the heavens by Burch was a neat touch. Nothing anyone would remember in a week or two but I am glad to see Lorcan and Burch get a push.

ER: This felt like a more-competitive-than-usual Wrestling Challenge match, like the Smoking Gunns were giving Well Dunn an extra control segment they wouldn't typically get. Ever-Rise were pretty unmemorable on control, nothing offensive but definitely a team that is there to just fill time until Burch and Lorcan get their much more exciting offense in. These matches are important because it gives guys some showcase while allowing them to work on mid-match schtick. This week on 205 and NXT they do they Burch Summoning Lorcan spot and this one captures the better angle, actually seeing Lorcan pop up from behind the apron, like someone Teen Wolfing on a crowded train. Burch throws some really nice punches, nice enough that I think he should throw those instead of his forearms, and he gets to land his nice Zidane headbutt. A win on 205, good showcase here, I think that the interest in these two is ramping up as we go into NXT head to head week.

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