Welcome to the second monthly review of 2018, where we look at what has happened during February in WWE. During this month there has been logging of wins, draws, DQs and no contest matches and this is the focus for us in this column. We’ll look at Raw and Smackdown as separate brands, then an overall conclusion at the end. So without further ado, lets get going!
Note : Raw had one more event this month (Elimination Chamber PPV), which skews the comparisons between brands a little. Unfortunately this will happen next month as well due to SmackDown having a PPV. Look forward to the first quarter review where things (should be) even on April 1st!
Raw – February 2017
Headlines : Asuka dominates the women’s division (again), The Miz is a (unlucky) workhorse and no-one is perfect.
Unsurprisingly, Asuka once again dominates and her streak continues. 3 wins in a row (8 for 2018) leaves her the one of three wrestlers in WWE who have wrestled in January and February and remained undefeated (Kofi Kingston 3W-0L, Cedric Alexander 3W-0L). On the flip side, Alexa Bliss has (finally) won a match in 2018, having not defended her title since the end of 2017. The Tag Team Division on Raw is as unpredictable as always – the defending tag champs have had a string of wins and losses in February (2W-2L). After winning on Raw at the start of the month, Elias found himself on the wrong end of a losing streak, ending up on 1W-3L for the month and being (regularly) destoryed by Strowman.
Finally, lets take a minute to think of The Miz. After winning his first match on Raw this month, he then went on a 5 match losing streak. However, I personally believe that he is the cog that keeps Raw winning and he deserves his own mini paragraph.
Random fact : Bayley has wrestled the most in the women’s division this match (3W-2L) and has won the same amount of them as Asuka (3W-0L).
SmackDown – Februrary 2017
Headlines : Incosistent win/loss/booking, a good month for Tag Teams/Factions and Naomi has lost her flow.
So February saw the return of John Cena to SmackDown in an attempt to draw numbers. And help him to get to WrestleMania. However, that didn’t help the booking of SmackDown, with inconsistencies right, left and centre. We didn’t see Carmella wrestle at all during February, nothing from Natalya and a whole host of other wrestlers. The confusing booking of Dolph Ziggler continued, along with Baron Corbin starting to gain some traction. In the Women’s division, Ruby Riott (2W-L0) had a better record than Women’s Champion Charlotte (2W-L1). Naomi has still only one win to her name in 2017, compared to Liv Morgan who has a 1W-L1 record in February (3W-2L for 2018). The New Day and The Riott Squad both had a good month, picking up wins and The New Day going undefeated in February. Will it continue into March? Who knows!
Random fact : Baron Corbin has a better record in February (2W-1L-1NC) than Royal Rumble winner Shinsuke Nakamura (1W-0L)
Overall thoughts and predictions for March 2017
Last month I said to invest heavily in Asuka, Nakamura, Miz and Strowman as we get closer to WrestleMania. However, other than Asuka, WWE booking is as consistent as the reliability of UK weather predicting. In February there has been so much booking which doesn’t make sense, with only small glimmers of hope for the future. SmackDown is going from bad to worse, with Rollins, Asuka and Strowman standing out strong on Raw. The absence of Carmella from February I believe will continue into March as well. Her Money in the Bank briefcase will be cashed in on/after WrestleMania.
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