Henry's World

NXT's next Takeover heads across the pond as the seaside resort of Blackpool hosts an exciting night of wrestling. NXT Takeover: Blackpool Card Moustache Mountain(c) vs Grizzled Young Veterans- NXT Tag Team Championship Match Takeover: Blackpool opens with a bang, as two of the best British teams in the world collide for the tag team titles. The pairing of James Drake and Zach Gibson has proven to be dynamic thus far, with the two quickly working their into title contention. Does this arrogant, talent young stars have what it takes to unseat Trent Seven and Tyler Bate? Drew Gulak vs Matt Riddle After coming up short in his pursuit of the NXT Championship, Matt Riddle has go on a path to prove himself, hosting open challenges each week. His last open challenge two weeks ago was answered by former Cruiserweight Champion Drew Gulak, who chose not to wrestle Riddle, instead attacking the "Original Bro" with a lead pipe before forcing Riddle to pass out to the...

The past couple weeks of American Dad episodes have been fairly sub-par, but a Hayley-Roger rivalry and Klaus' run as a car mechanic help turn things around this week. I always enjoy when a sitcom addresses the status quo of its characters, as "Pride Before the Fail" does this week. It turns out that Hayley is close to graduating from Groff Community College, and desperately wants to do whatever it takes to stay in school, where she feels extremely comfortable. It's actually a pretty decent meta storyline, as Hayley represents the writers, totally at odds with the idea of leaving her safety blanket and entering the outside world. Roger steps in, initially to help Hayley, but later goes against her in an attempt to procure her room, as Rogu's ska band has taken over his attic. Gotta admit, the biggest wasted potential in this episode was not hearing what on Earth the tiny alien was doing up there to ruin ska, of all things. Hayley attempts to flunk her way ou...

Tonight, blood will certainly be spilled, as Jon Moxley challenges Shinsuke Nakamura for the Universal Championship. Plus, Kane looks to get revenge against Aleister Black in a Hell in a Cell match, Ruby Riott and Becky Lynch settle their rivalry and more! And now, Raw presents...............................Bad Blood! Universe Mode Bad Blood May 26th, 2019 Location: Austin, TX Official Bad Blood 2019 Theme Song- "Blood in the Water"- Shaman's Harvest Adam Cole(c) vs Ricochet- Steel Cage Match for the United States Championship Early and often, Adam Cole looked for the cheap way out of this match. Cole would make multiple attempts to escape the cage, but was prevented at every turn by Ricochet. The challenger would use the cage to his advantage, slamming Cole's head off the steel again and again. Eventually, this would lead to Adam Cole taking a nasty fall off the side of the cage into the ring below. Ricochet climbed to the top of th...

Rivalries are settled and new ones begin in Season 5's next pay-per-view offering. Extreme Rules 2019 Card Adam Cole(c) vs Ricochet- Steel Cage Match for the United States Championship After a controversial match at Backlash that saw the Undisputed Era get involved, Adam Cole and Ricochet will face off once again for the US Title. This time, they will face off inside of a Steel Cage, as all interference will be prevented and a rightful winner will be crowned. Bobby Lashley vs The Miz Desperate to kick start his career, The Miz cheated his way to a win over Bobby Lashley a few weeks ago, using a low blow to get the pinfall. Lashley got his revenge, Spearing Miz through a table, leading Goldberg to set up a rematch. To add to the stakes, this will be a Money in the Bank Qualification Match. The Bar(c) vs The Authors of Pain- No DQ Match for Raw Tag Team Championships Cesaro and Sheamus came out on top over Akam and Rezar at WrestleMania III, but the former champ...

After last week's "Hamerican Dad!" turned out to be one of the worst American Dad episodes I've ever reviewed, can AD turn it around this week? Kind of. I will give "Demolition Daddy" credit that if finds a fresh and interesting character pairing to anchor the main storyline, as Roger lures Snot into the world of demolition racing. This entire plot centers around Snot's father, a character who we've never actually seen before. Roger had a close connection with the man, because of course he did, and tries to get Snot to follow in his father's footsteps. The biggest problem with this entire set-up, and the storyline as a whole, is that we haven't seen Snot's father before, and have no real attachment or understanding of his character. When Mrs. Lonstein or Roger talk about him, it means nothing, though I will at least give credit that it does follow Snot's character for him to do whatever it takes to live up to his father. Roger...

Tonight is truly Judgment Day for Sami Zayn, who must put his WWE Championship on the line against the unstoppable force known as Samoa Joe. Plus, Asuka and Ember Moon settle their feud and big rematches between Seth Rollins and Johnny Gargano and John Cena and Daniel Bryan! And now, SmackDown presents.....................Judgment Day! Universe Mode Judgment Day May 12th, 2019 Location: Phoenix, AZ Official Judgment Day 2019 Theme Song- "Dangerous"- Royal Deluxe American Alpha vs Andrade "Cien" Almas and ??? As Chad Gable and Jason Jordan watched on, Andrade entered with a cocky grin, pleased with his selection for a partner. Almas' partner was....................the Glorious One, Bobby Roode! For as much as Almas and Roode share similar mentalities, they did not have any experience as a tag team, and it showed. Former champions American Alpha were dominant, slowly wearing Almas down with a wide selection of double team mo...

SmackDown's first pay-per-view of Season 5 sees Sami Zayn defend his newly won WWE Championship against one of the most feared members of the locker room. Judgment Day 2019 Card American Alpha vs Andrade "Cien" Almas and ??? After successfully defending his Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania III, Andrade would defend it again, defeating Rey Mysterio on SmackDown. After the match, Chad Gable challenged Almas to one last match for the title, but the challenge was refused. The next week, Gable and new SmackDown draftee Jason Jordan reformed American Alpha, hitting Almas with the Grand Amplitude. Eventually, the match would be decided, as Almas will team up with whatever partner he can find to face Gable and Jordan, and if American Alpha win, Gable gets one more chance at the Intercontinental Championship at Money in the Bank. Finn Balor vs Kofi Kingston Since being drafted to the blue brand, the New Day have clashed with the Balor Club a number of...

Gotta admit, that episode title pun is about as bad as anything I could've come up with. Still, it does set the stage for one of the laziest American Dad episodes I've seen, so I suppose it fits. What is there for me to say about "Hamerican Dad!". The A-plot is entertaining enough, as Stan and Roger clash over Stan's ham club. There really isn't much to this storyline, as the two characters spend most of the episode clashing against each other, before bonding at the end. It's the sort of conflict you've seen over and over again on American Dad, but this time, it feels so much worse to me because the Stan and Roger relationship has been explored so many times in the show's history. This episode feels like it has no right to exist, with the only truly memorable moment being Roger's Bob Fosse parody that is actually quite good. The idea of "Roger and Stan sabotage each with poison ham" may sound interesting on paper, and there is ...

Tonight, the Backlash from WrestleMania is felt, as the Raw brand takes center stage. Jon Moxley faces Roman Reigns in an incredibly personal Street Fight, Becky Lynch faces her biggest challenge yet in Nia Jax and in the main event, Aleister Black gets his third chance to defeat Shinsuke Nakamura, with the Universal Championship on the line. And now, Raw presents.............................Backlash!   Universe Mode Backlash April 21st, 2019 Location: Liverpool, ENG Official Backlash 2019 Theme Song- "Love Runs Out"- OneRepulic Adam Cole(c) vs Ricochet- United States Championship Match Ricochet had quite a few things working against him in this match, as Adam Cole's constant work on the head of Ricochet would see the challenger busted open early on. As "The One and Only" bled buckets, he fought on, hitting Cole with an incredible springboard Phoenix Splash that could have won him the United States Championship. Unfortuna...

With WrestleMania III in the back mirror, Season 5 of Henry's Universe Mode officially kicks off with Raw's Backlash, which will take place on April 21st, 2019. Let's take a look at the card. Backlash 2019 Card Adam Cole(c) vs Ricochet- United States Championship Match After defeating Pete Dunne, new champion Adam Cole tossed the United Kingdom Championship aside, before bringing back the United States Championship. His first challenger would be recent Raw draft pick Ricochet, as "The One and Only" was able to defeat Baron Corbin to become number one contender. The Bar(c) vs The Revival- Raw Tag Team Championship Match Cesaro and Sheamus did what many thought was impossible at WrestleMania III, using their tag team expertise to defeat the Authors of Pain. But with Akam and Rezar nowhere to be found, The Revival have stepped up to be the first to challenge the new champions. Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder negotiated their way into a title match by boa...

I spent a long time thinking for some kind of Newman's Own sponsored joke, but I couldn't come up with anything good. But if you're as bad at telling jokes as I am, don't fret. Introducing Newman's Own Joke Machine, that comes up with the cutting insults and killer one-liners so that you don't have to. Available now for $150,000,000. Steve and Snot episodes are generally among American Dad's best, and "Mom Sauce" is no exception. The show lays out their dynamic early on, as we constantly see Snot having to turn to Steve for everything, from pencils to birthday parties.  But then Snot mysteriously gets rich, and the real fun of the episode begins. The "poor person gets loaded" plotline is one that has appeared many times on sitcoms over the years, and whether it succeeds or fails generally depends on the show's depiction of said rich person. American Dad doesn't disappoint, as Snot jumps from buying his friends pizza to zoomi...

Guys, I think I might be turning into Terry Funk. By that I mean constantly going back on my word, not getting blown up by landmines. At the very least, I'm not turning into Shawn Michaels, unretiring simply because I got offered a blank check. And before you ask, Prince bin Salman is just a personal friend who offered me a loan, nothing suspicious about that. Yeah, Henry's Universe Mode is coming back. You probably guessed where I was going with that terrible stand-up routine, so I might as well get to the point. I gave an honest effort to make a different series work, but the issues I faced making the first point of The Revolution completely soured me on that series. It's easier to go back to what I know and try to make improvements rather than start something new from the ground up. HUM really struggled near the end last time, and then when I tried to transition into weekly shows, everything fell apart. Now, with a month or two off, I'm ready to give it another ...

You know, I once tried to make it in musical theater. If only I had watched this episode beforehand, I would've known I needed a leather jacket to truly make it. Alas, those dreams are for a more pretentious soul than mine. "Stompe Le Monde" is a wild episode of American Dad, one that starts with Stan's previously unknown uncle dying and ends with wanton destruction of many Sonic Drive-Ins. It's a crazy a journey as it sounds, one that left me just struggling to keep up. The family to use the new inheritance to travel to New York City, but Stan quickly blows the money on the rights to Stomp, which is apparently a real musical. The whole town of Langley is very excited to see the new show, but Stan has no idea what he's doing, never once hiring a director or even rehearsing. Why this only came up literally minutes before opening is anyone's guess. The Smith Family is forced to go on the run, and are attacked by many ferocious coyotes off-screen. In ye...