This week was the penultimate week of television before the biggest show of the year, WrestleMania 33.
As expected, there were still many twists and turns in WWE as we build up to the showcase of the immortals, but were these twists good or bad?
#1 Bad – Wasted feud
Starting with the bad and something that has made no sense to me over the last couple of weeks is the mini-feud between Dana Brooke and Charlotte Flair.
I don’t understand why this has been thrown into the mix this close to WrestleMania, it’s added nothing to the fatal-4-way match and would surely have been a feud they could have done in more detail post-Mania.
Although I’m not a fan of Dana by any means, she’s got a decent reaction on both occasions that she has stood up to Charlotte. But now, unless something happens in the next couple of weeks, it appears as though a potentially breakout feud for Dana has been wasted.
#2 Bad – Bayley beaten again
Anyone who follows NXT will remember the story of Bayley’s journey to the Women’s Championship, it was one of the best stories that WWE has told in many years and led to a genuinely emotional moment when Bayley finally won the title at Takeover: Brooklyn.
Fans of Bayley were hoping for something similar on the main roster, but instead we have gotten almost the complete opposite. Bayley’s NXT journey saw her develop from a naive rookie into a legitimate superstar, but on Raw, she captured the Women’s Championship quicker than she should have and is now being booked as a weak champion, including losing to Nia Jax on this week’s Raw.
I’m a fan of Bayley, but I am hoping she loses the belt at WrestleMania so WWE can hit something of a reset on her character and build her up as the lovable underdog that she is.
#3 Bad – Jax added to Mania match
Bayley’s loss to Nia Jax this past Monday resulted in Nia being added to the Raw Women’s Championship match at WrestleMania, making it a fatal-4-way.
Personally, I’d rather this match have stayed a triple threat between Bayley, Sasha Banks and Charlotte. There is already a story between these three from their history in NXT, and I don’t think Nia really fits into this feud.
Also, no disrespect to Nia Jax, but I don’t think she has done enough to deserve to be in this match. With her sheer size and presence, she has the potential to be a major player in the Raw women’s division, but so far in her career, she has failed to impress.
#4 Bad – More baffling booking
Raw’s tag team division has been dire in recent months. I’m a fan of all the teams involved in the triple threat tag team match set for WrestleMania, but I have had no interest in the build to this match.
The booking has been lazy and unimaginative, as evidenced by the illogical actions of Gallows and Anderson on this week’s Raw. The current tag team champions teamed with Enzo & Cass in a 4-on-2 handicap match against Cesaro & Sheamus with the stipulation that Cesaro & Sheamus must win to keep their place in the WrestleMania match.
A perfect opportunity for Enzo & Cass and Gallows & Anderson to give themselves a better chance of walking out of Mania as champions, no?
Apparently, the champions didn’t think so, they didn’t even attempt to co-exist with Enzo & Cass as they attacked them immediately and inevitably lost the match. Where’s the logic in that?
#5 Bad – Nikki Bella beat up Tyler Breeze
One of the most underutilised talents currently in WWE has to be Tyler Breeze. He was brilliant in NXT but has been booked nothing more than a joke on the main roster.
It was a new low for ‘Prince Pretty’ this past Tuesday on Smackdown Live as he came out dressed as Nikki Bella and would then go on to be over-powered and beaten up by the real Nikki.
It was just embarrassing for a man as talented as Breeze, I understand it’s sports-entertainment and this sort of thing sometimes happens, but it’s now been well over a year since Breeze debuted on the main roster and I can’t recall him ever looking like a legitimate superstar.
#1 Good – Total Bellas Bulls***
Tyler Breeze wasn’t the only person to dress up as Nikki Bella on Smackdown Live, but thankfully, the other one had much better results.
The Miz continues to be the most entertaining performer in all of WWE and, alongside his wife Maryse, starred in a couple of hilarious vignettes that parodied ’Total Bellas’. Miz was great as John Cena, but credit also has to go to Maryse who was shown in the last couple of weeks that she has a lot more talent than she is given credit for.
I’ll post links to the segments below for anyone who missed them, they are well worth a watch.
#2 Good – Highlight Reel
The Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens feud continues to build nicely as we approach their showdown on April 2nd.
This weeks saw Jericho host another edition of the Highlight Reel with his guest, the ‘real’ Kevin Owens. I was intrigued as to what this would entail when it was first announced and I wasn’t disappointed.
Firstly, Jericho revealed a picture of Owens as a teenager wearing a ‘Y2J’ t-shirt and then went on to reveal messages that Owens had sent him, asking him for advice when he first arrived in WWE.
This was great and added a bit of realism to the feud which is always interesting to see. The segment then ended with Samoa Joe distracting Y2J to allow Owens to attack him and then stand tall while mocking the classic Jericho pose.
#3 Good – Unsanctioned Mania match
I often criticise WWE’s booking decisions on here as they tend to not make a lot of sense, but I’ll give credit where it’s due, they did a great job in regards to the Triple H vs. Seth Rollins WrestleMania match this week.
WWE creative have obviously had to change their original plans for this feud due to Rollins’ untimely injury, but they have handled it well. This past Monday saw Triple H offer Seth the chance to face him on April 2nd in an ‘unsanctioned match’, thus relieving WWE of any responsibility should Rollins get injured.
This makes total sense and re-establishes HHH as a ruthless heel, while also giving some protection to Rollins in the Mania match should he still have any weakness in his knee.
An example of sensible, logical booking from WWE, who’d have thought?
#4 Good – Usos win Smackdown Tag Titles
In an interesting turn of events, The Usos defeated American Alpha to capture the Smackdown Tag Team Titles.
Many had expected the two teams to compete against each other at the biggest show of the year, although rumours began circulating in the last week that they would be left off the show, or at best be on the pre-show.
That now looks to be the case, which is a shame as both American Alpha and The Usos are very talented teams and are more than capable of putting on a PPV-worthy match, as they showed on this week’s Smackdown.
Or, could this possibly lead to The Usos issuing an open challenge at Mania?
And who could answer this challenge? Maybe the returning Hardy Boys?
#5 Good – Great matches you might have missed
The aforementioned tag-team title match between American Alpha and The Usos was arguably the best match on either of WWE’s flagship shows this week. However, for those of you who love wrestling but do not always have the time to watch 205 Live or NXT, there were a couple of matches on there this week that are worth checking out.
Firstly, Mustafa Ali continued to impress as he competed in 205 Live’s main event this week against Cruiserweight Champion, Neville. This was a great match, full of impressive high-flying wrestling, including an incredible springboard Spanish fly, which is well worth looking up for those who have the WWE Network.
And while you’re there, check out Andrade Cien Almas vs Oney Lorcan from this week’s NXT, which if I was to choose, I’d say was match of the week, slightly ahead of Neville vs Ali.
HONOURABLE MENTION:
I couldn’t leave you this week without recommending WWE’s Southpaw Regional Wrestling, it’s hilarious.
Check it out on WWE’s YouTube page.
Recent Comments