Well, if we wanted shock and awe this week, we certainly got it.
From Batista’s return by assaulting Ric Flair and setting up the stage for a match against Triple H at Wrestlemania, to Roman Reigns’ amazing news that his leukaemia is now in remission, both shows certainly had enough surprising developments this week.
I felt as though most of the majority of RAW was mediocre, and that the only things that were really interesting was Roman’s return (which I am including the brief run in he and Seth Rollins did after the Dean Ambrose / Drew McIntyre match), and Batista returning in the end.
So with RAW not having much to talk about, the focus this week is definitely on Smackdown, although I will throw in a reference to the current situation with the RAW women’s championship.
The blue brand saw two big returns: Kevin Owens, last seen on RAW being injured by Bobby Lashley, and Matt Hardy (reuniting with brother Jeff to defeat The Bar). Hardy appears to have shed the “Woken” persona and converted back to being ‘normal’ as a tag team with his brother. Both returns seemingly came out of nowhere, although Owens’ return had been teased via video packages for weeks it wasn’t clear where he would end up.
Because the ‘Woken’ Matt Hardy gimmick was really a product of the former’s own creation, it was doubtful that it would have continued usage in McMahon’s WWE, and it’s clear that the tag division needed some shake up. Why else would you make your own 49 year old son a tag team champion on that brand? I’m predicting perhaps the Hardys vs. the Usos vs. the Bar vs. the New Day at Wrestlemania for the Smackdown tag titles.
As for Owens’ return, the long game seems to be a slow build to getting Kofi over, despite what happened on air. Vince McMahon gets heat for being ‘out of touch’ but you have to say this latest booking is rather ingenious for the 73 year old Chairman. By removing Becky Lynch and Kofi Kingston from their respective title matches, they have simply set the stage for them to be competing for the title at Wrestlemania: Kofi Kingston for the title at Wrestlemania (perhaps most likely in a Triple Threat with Daniel Bryan and Owens) is now a distinct possibility, as is Lynch in the Ronda Rousey / Charlotte confrontation.
Despite the eventual reinsertion of Becky Lynch into the RAW women’s title picture, this past week’s segment was somewhat self defeating if you’re going to have Rousey demand that Lynch be reinstated. The original narrative was to have Lynch continue causing so much ruckus that the McMahons would be forced to put her back in the match. Having the champion basically do Lynch’s job for her dilutes that narrative.
One final thought, at this point it would not be surprising for me to see Vince putting Roman Reigns in the Universal title match with Seth Rollins and Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania. It would be a repeat of Wrestlemania 31 when Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract.
An average professional doing the 9-5 grind who really loves wrestling across all platforms. Here's hoping wrestlers finally get some basic workers rights in 2021.
Recent Comments