Just going into this week of Raw and Smackdown, I know that a lot of my hopes are either going to be confirmed or dashed, or if they book it correctly, it will actually help the audience get more excited for the Royal Rumble this upcoming Sunday. Whether or not that particular outcome will be the case will be examined as we recap these shows. And honestly, this is going to be very personal for me in a number of ways considering that I'm going to be at the Rumble this Sunday, and because I'm such a huge fan of Finn Balor.
Raw begins with a tribute to Dr. King, as well it should, but the first people we see are Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar. Since this is the go-home for the Rumble, you'd have to expect that Lesnar would be there to give that "big fight feel" that WWE so often talks about. So Heyman really brings the David and Goliath angle of Brock vs Finn very literally into play. But instead of being interrupted by Finn, he's interrupted by Vince, who struts his way out and basically is there to agree with Heyman's assessment that Finn isn't ready for The Beast. Then Braun Strowman comes out and tells Lesnar that win or lose on Sunday, Strowman will be waiting for Brock. Finally, Finn comes out and again reiterates that he knows Vince doesn't believe in him, but he still continues to believe in himself and he lays into everyone involved that, if people remember the story of David and Goliath, David still comes out on top. Vince then makes the impromptu match between Finn and Braun for after the break.
So Finn vs Braun is telling a very specific story, and they do it really well by showing that Finn keeps getting knocked down by these bigger competitors but he also keeps getting back up. But one thing happened that was super confusing to almost everyone. There was a moment where Finn came at Braun, Braun caught him, and he threw him to the outside of the ring where he was caught by Lesnar, and Lesnar suplexed him. Everyone online wondered why this wasn't a DQ, and I honestly don't care, but there has to be some consistency, because at the end of the match, Finn hit Braun with the Coup de Grace, but as he was scrambling to get the cover, Lesnar came in the ring and hit Finn with an F-5 and that caused the DQ finish. Otherwise, this was all about getting you to believe in Finn as a legit threat to The Beast. There were even a few reaction cuts to Brock showing that he seemed impressed with Finn, and that was a smart thing to do. Even the booking was smart as far as the DQ because it meant that Braun didn't have to eat the pin, but that Finn could still look tough as nails. So it all worked for me, even if it did have that weird moment in it. Also, I'm not going to lie: anything to sell me on the possibility that Finn might win the Universal Title from Lesnar on a show that I'm actually going to be watching from the stands is something that will make me mark the fuck out.
Then we have the celebration of Bobby Lashley's IC title win. Lio runs his mouth, declares there won't be any open challenges (because no heel really does open challenges), while Bobby poses and shows his ass. But he's interrupted by Apollo Crews, they have what was actually kind of a fun segment when the two of them had a muscular pose-off. Apollo ended up annoying Lashley and a match is made. This is the first match of Raw that really felt like, "Yeah, this is definitely a go-home", and unfortunately, there were more than one. Bobby ended up getting the win thanks to Lio getting involved and that's something we're going to be seeing a lot of until a strong face goes up against him. I think it's interesting that they're starting to invest more time in Crews despite the fact that he's very 50/50 in his booking. And yes, Crews is a lot of fun to watch from an athletic point of view, and he showed more personality tonight in that pose-off than he has since he came up, but I just don't think this kid has the ever-elusive "it factor" that someone needs to really succeed on the main roster. If he left WWE tomorrow to go to Impact or ROH, I honestly wouldn't miss him, and I really do feel bad about saying that, but he's just such a non-factor. I could go on and on about the house-cleaning I think WWE should be doing forever, so I'll just leave that one there. But I'm glad that Lashley has the title, and I said this last week after he won and that's because at least he'll do something with the belt. He's not going to make it as cool or as relevant or as important as Seth made it, but literally anything would be a step-up from what Ambrose did with it while he had it. They could have put it on Mojo Rawley and I'd think, "Hey, at least something different is going to come of this".
Then we had Seth coming out and it's promo time for him to be the face of Raw as he talked a little about the legacy of MLK, but weirdly made it about himself by talking about his struggles of the last few months, and declared that he would be the winner of the Men's Rumble. But when Seth is on the mic, he always gets great crowd reactions, and this is again why Seth deserves the "top guy" spot on Raw because he not only is great on the mic, he's incredibly consistent in putting on good matches. And the match he had against Drew McIntyre was no exception. That spot with the reverse Alabama Slam on the outside, that spot with the Falcon Arrow, that superkick from Rollins, the avalanche brainbuster, the false finishes... this is one of those matches that truly deserved the "This is awesome" chants. A-level stuff from McIntyre and Rollins. They really have incredible chemistry together. I want them to have a good long rivalry, but we'll go into this more when I do my "Hopes and Predictions" column for the Rumble.
Then there was some backstage stuff with The Revival trying to get another match for the Tag belts, and they want a better ref than what they've received and they end up with none other than Curt Hawkins. After the commercial, we got Dean cutting another promo about how he's going to win the Rumble and it will be him bringing justice back to the WWE, but I liked him calling Lashley "Backside Bobby". Then there was a match between Lucha House Party vs Jinder Mahal and the Singhs. This match was another whole lotta nothing with the exception that it so obviously ended with a botch by one of the Singhs who was supposed to save the other from the pin, but whatever. Not a single soul in that place cared.
Then there was Elias having a good time with the crowd again but getting interrupted by Baron Corbin where Elias hit Corbin with the sickest burn yet about his outfit. But, even after Elias also called out the bad idea of another Elias/Corbin match, apparently someone thought that it would be a good idea to have another match. Corbin ended up hitting End of Days (which is literally the only thing I like about Corbin, because that finisher is badass) for the win. So again, another go-home style match.
Then we had the "Moment of Bliss" segment which Alexa was hosting Nia Jax, but pretty much everyone in the Women's division came out to interrupt to say that they were going to win the Women's Rumble match, and it naturally broke down into chaos, and when Alexa was left alone on stage, she got arguably the biggest pop of the night when she said that she was going to be competing in the Women's Rumble match as well. So that's good news that Alexa's been cleared at last, but the good news didn't last because Lacey Evans came out, who is someone who should have been a babyface from the start, but then they created this somewhat gross half-Southern Belle/half-MAGA anti-feminist character that I've found really annoying for all her time in NXT... well, she's ran down Alexa and all the other women as "nasty" and declared her entrance into the Women's Rumble. Whatever. Evans' character won't last long, I hope.
Then we got the first actual match for Heavy Machinery against, naturally, The Ascension. And Otis Dozovic showed off some new and hilarious moves, as well as The Worm, and they just seemed to be having a great time. Tucky and Dozer got the win by hitting The Compactor, and it seems that the main roster just picked up their newest comedy tag team. I have a lot of love for Heavy Machinery, so I'm hoping they don't plateau as just a comedy duo.
Then we got the Tag title match between The Revival and champs Roode and Gable. This was just all kinds of goofy as The Revival basically tried to cheat the entire way through, and each time, guest ref Hawkins caught them. It was only a matter of time until Gable got the stack-up pin and then Hawkins was assaulted by Dash and Dawson. But coming out to make the save was ol' buddy (and co-host of the Major Wrestling Figure podcast) Zack Ryder, who cleaned house and helped his pal onto his feet. Ryder got a nice pop, and hopefully we have another new (well, technically old) tag team.
Then came the main event where Women's champ Ronda Rousey and Natalya tagged against Sasha Banks and Bayley. But before that, we were witness to a rambling and nearly incoherent backstage promo from Ronda about how she doesn't feel that she owes Sasha any apologies for the week before regarding her statements about how she wanted Banks for her challenger for the title and how she implied that despite her earning her shot, Ronda still assumed that she was going to win. Then we were treated to a 70/30 work-shoot promo from Sasha about why she feels disdain for Ronda, and rightfully points out that she was a 4-time champ before Ronda ever came around and how she's basically been handed everything since she signed with WWE. So then the real question of this match is who's playing heel here? It seems like Boss 'N Hug Connection were supposed to be the heels, but Ronda and Nattie were heel as fuck in this match, particularly Ronda. This match looked kind of sloppy for almost everyone involved except for Nattie, who always looks crisp. There were just some weird moments in this match, particularly from Ronda. I don't know if the pre-match promo was indicative of her nerves or what, but this was certainly not her best showing, and the others kind of had to work around it. But I do have to remember that even the best of us are going to have off-days, and Ronda is still really new to this gig. Yes, she's been improving at a near-geometric rate, but this was just not a great showing for her. In the end, Sasha hit the Bank Statement on Nattie to pick up the win, so Ronda remains untarnished by never having been pinned or submitted, but technically, this does count as a loss, particularly if, in kayfabe, Asuka's undefeated streak could have ended during the first season of the Mixed Match Challenge if the Miz had eaten a pin. So if those rules applied to Asuka, they apply to Ronda.
This was a textbook lackluster go-home with a hot entrance and diminishing returns on nearly every match from then on. So, yeah, if I wasn't already invested in everything that was going on, this wouldn't have sold me a ticket or got me a subscription to the Network for the Rumble.
Now onto Smackdown!
SD's go-home started out on fire... Straight Fire... as Becky came out and declared that she was going to win her match against Asuka. She cut a fucking badass promo and then Asuka came out and the two of them faced off while the crowd chanted "Becky! Becky!" and then Charlotte came out to throw some fuel on that straight fire, and Asuka and Becky got into a brawl that seemed like it was going to tear down the arena. Charlotte as a master manipulator is really fun, and the brawl was so out of control that it extended backstage. So yeah, this got me really excited about their match.
Then we got a great video package that recapped the issues between Naomi and Mandy Rose, but the voiceover was in that sultry-voiced female VO that tends to accompany shows like USA's "Temptation Island", and while the package didn't get me particularly hyped for the match, it did make me laugh, because it was a fun little wink to the fact that we really shouldn't be taking this whole storyline too seriously. And I think they did that because we have been taking it a little too seriously, maybe. Obviously the chatter online regarding how gross and unnecessary this story, or lack thereof, has been, so to reframe it in a goofy reality show format was something I enjoyed, even if I didn't enjoy the build to it, or really didn't particularly enjoy this match. First off, this match went on a little too long, but again, that's standard for a go-home, and while there were some good spots from Naomi, I'm not sold at all on Mandy Rose. I'm starting to think that she's Eva Marie 2.0, and that's not a persona that lends itself to career longevity. But since the win came off interference from Sonya Deville, it's possible that this is more of a build towards Naomi having to be in a tag team to go over Rose and Deville. Or maybe next week, she'll take on Deville. Before I move on, I have to briefly discuss the SD women's roster, because it's really unbalanced and too small. The only faces are Becky, Asuka, Naomi and Lana. Everyone else is a heel, and that's going to make good booking tough for the future. I know all eyes are on Becky, Asuka and Charlotte, but that's going to change after Mania, so they better get it together.
Then came Cesaro to face off against The Miz. I made a point about this in my last special post about my hopes and predictions about the Royal Rumble, and I'm going to reiterate it here: I want Cesaro as a singles competitor again. He really is something else. But this was all about how dominant The Bar are together and how they can just lay waste to their competitors. Cesaro picked up the win via Gotch Neutralizer after a distraction by Sheamus. This then led to an attempted beatdown by Shane but then The Bar stepped up and just destroyed this ad-hoc tag team. Shane sold a Brogue Kick like no one I've ever seen, and they were both powerbombed through the announce table. The match wasn't much to write home about, but the aftermath was really where it was at, and it did sell me on the upcoming match.
Then we got a lit promo from Mustafa Ali about his upcoming match with Samoa Joe, but that was nothing, and I mean nothing compared to the promo cut by Daniel Bryan in the "face to face" he had with A.J. Styles that was moderated by Vince. The New Daniel Bryan kept on just dropping truth bomb after truth bomb regarding consumerism, environmentalism and cut what I thought had to be another 70/30 work-shoot on Vince as he just trashed the Baby Boom generation and Vince's hoarding of money and power. It was absolutely fucking savage and I almost couldn't believe my ears at how awesome it all was. It ended with a physical altercation where Bryan got the upper hand in, but after his promo, I didn't care about what happened physically; I just wanted more of this Daniel Bryan, and I keep getting it every week and I'm fucking loving it.
Then came Mustafa vs Joe and while this wasn't the best athletic competition, it told a great story and was actually really hammered home by the commentary that Ali started with a tremendous couple of showings but the honeymoon period is over and he had to wake up to the reality of Joe, who really out-thought his competitor at nearly every turn. Joe would get the win via the Coquina Clutch forcing Ali to tap out, and no one does menacing facial expressions quite like Joe does. This is a rivalry that's just beginning and I'm here for all for it.
Then we got a New Day promo being charming as hell as they're asked the same question that they've been asked every year when Kayla Braxton talked about the every-man-for-themselves aspect of the Rumble match. It just made me happy, and their chemistry together is just great. My wife still doesn't care for them too much, but I still love them.
Then came the main event of Rey Mysterio vs Andrade in a 2 out of 3 falls match where Zelina Vega, who was the difference-maker in Andrade's win last week, was banned from ringside. And for a man who's only a few months younger than I am, Mysterio can still move and work like a man in his 20's. And the chemistry between these two has proven that the prior week's match was no fluke. Individually, these two are incredible, but together, they are the genuine goddamn articles. I watched this match and my eyes nearly bulged out of my fucking skull. There were moves I didn't even see because they were moving so goddamn fast. More Canadian Destroyers, a fucking avalanche sit-out power bomb where I, for the life of me, don't know how Andrade kept his balance as he scaled up to the top rope backwards. It's just amazing the work they can do together. There is a reason that every high-flyer and every luchador regards Rey Mysterio as probably the best who ever lived, and this match further helped to solidify that point. There was a weird botch near to the close of the match, but when you're being as creative as these guys are, it's allowed. It's almost a shame that this match ended up getting schmozzed up by Samoa Joe, but it just solidified that this rivalry will continue. Now I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, a fan of Randy Orton, but that was one of the best RKO's I've ever seen because it really was outta nowhere. But still, I'm hoping we get a match on a future episode or at a PPV with Mysterio and Andrade that's an Iron Man or Falls Count Anywhere because I could watch these guys forever.
So yeah, we're back to something of the status quo of Smackdown being better than Raw again, and there are definitely more than just a few matches at the Rumble that I'm fucking stoked for, so I'll be back late Wednesday/early Thursday with a recap of NXT and possibly sometime on Thursday or Friday with some predictions for NXT Takeover Phoenix, and as I stated in my Royal Rumble Hopes and Predictions column (also found on this site), I will likely be putting up a column about both the Rumble and Takeover on Monday since I'm going to be having a very busy weekend attending those events!! It's going to be awesome!
Until next time, kids...
Raw begins with a tribute to Dr. King, as well it should, but the first people we see are Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar. Since this is the go-home for the Rumble, you'd have to expect that Lesnar would be there to give that "big fight feel" that WWE so often talks about. So Heyman really brings the David and Goliath angle of Brock vs Finn very literally into play. But instead of being interrupted by Finn, he's interrupted by Vince, who struts his way out and basically is there to agree with Heyman's assessment that Finn isn't ready for The Beast. Then Braun Strowman comes out and tells Lesnar that win or lose on Sunday, Strowman will be waiting for Brock. Finally, Finn comes out and again reiterates that he knows Vince doesn't believe in him, but he still continues to believe in himself and he lays into everyone involved that, if people remember the story of David and Goliath, David still comes out on top. Vince then makes the impromptu match between Finn and Braun for after the break.
So Finn vs Braun is telling a very specific story, and they do it really well by showing that Finn keeps getting knocked down by these bigger competitors but he also keeps getting back up. But one thing happened that was super confusing to almost everyone. There was a moment where Finn came at Braun, Braun caught him, and he threw him to the outside of the ring where he was caught by Lesnar, and Lesnar suplexed him. Everyone online wondered why this wasn't a DQ, and I honestly don't care, but there has to be some consistency, because at the end of the match, Finn hit Braun with the Coup de Grace, but as he was scrambling to get the cover, Lesnar came in the ring and hit Finn with an F-5 and that caused the DQ finish. Otherwise, this was all about getting you to believe in Finn as a legit threat to The Beast. There were even a few reaction cuts to Brock showing that he seemed impressed with Finn, and that was a smart thing to do. Even the booking was smart as far as the DQ because it meant that Braun didn't have to eat the pin, but that Finn could still look tough as nails. So it all worked for me, even if it did have that weird moment in it. Also, I'm not going to lie: anything to sell me on the possibility that Finn might win the Universal Title from Lesnar on a show that I'm actually going to be watching from the stands is something that will make me mark the fuck out.
Then we have the celebration of Bobby Lashley's IC title win. Lio runs his mouth, declares there won't be any open challenges (because no heel really does open challenges), while Bobby poses and shows his ass. But he's interrupted by Apollo Crews, they have what was actually kind of a fun segment when the two of them had a muscular pose-off. Apollo ended up annoying Lashley and a match is made. This is the first match of Raw that really felt like, "Yeah, this is definitely a go-home", and unfortunately, there were more than one. Bobby ended up getting the win thanks to Lio getting involved and that's something we're going to be seeing a lot of until a strong face goes up against him. I think it's interesting that they're starting to invest more time in Crews despite the fact that he's very 50/50 in his booking. And yes, Crews is a lot of fun to watch from an athletic point of view, and he showed more personality tonight in that pose-off than he has since he came up, but I just don't think this kid has the ever-elusive "it factor" that someone needs to really succeed on the main roster. If he left WWE tomorrow to go to Impact or ROH, I honestly wouldn't miss him, and I really do feel bad about saying that, but he's just such a non-factor. I could go on and on about the house-cleaning I think WWE should be doing forever, so I'll just leave that one there. But I'm glad that Lashley has the title, and I said this last week after he won and that's because at least he'll do something with the belt. He's not going to make it as cool or as relevant or as important as Seth made it, but literally anything would be a step-up from what Ambrose did with it while he had it. They could have put it on Mojo Rawley and I'd think, "Hey, at least something different is going to come of this".
Then we had Seth coming out and it's promo time for him to be the face of Raw as he talked a little about the legacy of MLK, but weirdly made it about himself by talking about his struggles of the last few months, and declared that he would be the winner of the Men's Rumble. But when Seth is on the mic, he always gets great crowd reactions, and this is again why Seth deserves the "top guy" spot on Raw because he not only is great on the mic, he's incredibly consistent in putting on good matches. And the match he had against Drew McIntyre was no exception. That spot with the reverse Alabama Slam on the outside, that spot with the Falcon Arrow, that superkick from Rollins, the avalanche brainbuster, the false finishes... this is one of those matches that truly deserved the "This is awesome" chants. A-level stuff from McIntyre and Rollins. They really have incredible chemistry together. I want them to have a good long rivalry, but we'll go into this more when I do my "Hopes and Predictions" column for the Rumble.
Then there was some backstage stuff with The Revival trying to get another match for the Tag belts, and they want a better ref than what they've received and they end up with none other than Curt Hawkins. After the commercial, we got Dean cutting another promo about how he's going to win the Rumble and it will be him bringing justice back to the WWE, but I liked him calling Lashley "Backside Bobby". Then there was a match between Lucha House Party vs Jinder Mahal and the Singhs. This match was another whole lotta nothing with the exception that it so obviously ended with a botch by one of the Singhs who was supposed to save the other from the pin, but whatever. Not a single soul in that place cared.
Then there was Elias having a good time with the crowd again but getting interrupted by Baron Corbin where Elias hit Corbin with the sickest burn yet about his outfit. But, even after Elias also called out the bad idea of another Elias/Corbin match, apparently someone thought that it would be a good idea to have another match. Corbin ended up hitting End of Days (which is literally the only thing I like about Corbin, because that finisher is badass) for the win. So again, another go-home style match.
Then we had the "Moment of Bliss" segment which Alexa was hosting Nia Jax, but pretty much everyone in the Women's division came out to interrupt to say that they were going to win the Women's Rumble match, and it naturally broke down into chaos, and when Alexa was left alone on stage, she got arguably the biggest pop of the night when she said that she was going to be competing in the Women's Rumble match as well. So that's good news that Alexa's been cleared at last, but the good news didn't last because Lacey Evans came out, who is someone who should have been a babyface from the start, but then they created this somewhat gross half-Southern Belle/half-MAGA anti-feminist character that I've found really annoying for all her time in NXT... well, she's ran down Alexa and all the other women as "nasty" and declared her entrance into the Women's Rumble. Whatever. Evans' character won't last long, I hope.
Then we got the first actual match for Heavy Machinery against, naturally, The Ascension. And Otis Dozovic showed off some new and hilarious moves, as well as The Worm, and they just seemed to be having a great time. Tucky and Dozer got the win by hitting The Compactor, and it seems that the main roster just picked up their newest comedy tag team. I have a lot of love for Heavy Machinery, so I'm hoping they don't plateau as just a comedy duo.
Then we got the Tag title match between The Revival and champs Roode and Gable. This was just all kinds of goofy as The Revival basically tried to cheat the entire way through, and each time, guest ref Hawkins caught them. It was only a matter of time until Gable got the stack-up pin and then Hawkins was assaulted by Dash and Dawson. But coming out to make the save was ol' buddy (and co-host of the Major Wrestling Figure podcast) Zack Ryder, who cleaned house and helped his pal onto his feet. Ryder got a nice pop, and hopefully we have another new (well, technically old) tag team.
Then came the main event where Women's champ Ronda Rousey and Natalya tagged against Sasha Banks and Bayley. But before that, we were witness to a rambling and nearly incoherent backstage promo from Ronda about how she doesn't feel that she owes Sasha any apologies for the week before regarding her statements about how she wanted Banks for her challenger for the title and how she implied that despite her earning her shot, Ronda still assumed that she was going to win. Then we were treated to a 70/30 work-shoot promo from Sasha about why she feels disdain for Ronda, and rightfully points out that she was a 4-time champ before Ronda ever came around and how she's basically been handed everything since she signed with WWE. So then the real question of this match is who's playing heel here? It seems like Boss 'N Hug Connection were supposed to be the heels, but Ronda and Nattie were heel as fuck in this match, particularly Ronda. This match looked kind of sloppy for almost everyone involved except for Nattie, who always looks crisp. There were just some weird moments in this match, particularly from Ronda. I don't know if the pre-match promo was indicative of her nerves or what, but this was certainly not her best showing, and the others kind of had to work around it. But I do have to remember that even the best of us are going to have off-days, and Ronda is still really new to this gig. Yes, she's been improving at a near-geometric rate, but this was just not a great showing for her. In the end, Sasha hit the Bank Statement on Nattie to pick up the win, so Ronda remains untarnished by never having been pinned or submitted, but technically, this does count as a loss, particularly if, in kayfabe, Asuka's undefeated streak could have ended during the first season of the Mixed Match Challenge if the Miz had eaten a pin. So if those rules applied to Asuka, they apply to Ronda.
This was a textbook lackluster go-home with a hot entrance and diminishing returns on nearly every match from then on. So, yeah, if I wasn't already invested in everything that was going on, this wouldn't have sold me a ticket or got me a subscription to the Network for the Rumble.
Now onto Smackdown!
SD's go-home started out on fire... Straight Fire... as Becky came out and declared that she was going to win her match against Asuka. She cut a fucking badass promo and then Asuka came out and the two of them faced off while the crowd chanted "Becky! Becky!" and then Charlotte came out to throw some fuel on that straight fire, and Asuka and Becky got into a brawl that seemed like it was going to tear down the arena. Charlotte as a master manipulator is really fun, and the brawl was so out of control that it extended backstage. So yeah, this got me really excited about their match.
Then we got a great video package that recapped the issues between Naomi and Mandy Rose, but the voiceover was in that sultry-voiced female VO that tends to accompany shows like USA's "Temptation Island", and while the package didn't get me particularly hyped for the match, it did make me laugh, because it was a fun little wink to the fact that we really shouldn't be taking this whole storyline too seriously. And I think they did that because we have been taking it a little too seriously, maybe. Obviously the chatter online regarding how gross and unnecessary this story, or lack thereof, has been, so to reframe it in a goofy reality show format was something I enjoyed, even if I didn't enjoy the build to it, or really didn't particularly enjoy this match. First off, this match went on a little too long, but again, that's standard for a go-home, and while there were some good spots from Naomi, I'm not sold at all on Mandy Rose. I'm starting to think that she's Eva Marie 2.0, and that's not a persona that lends itself to career longevity. But since the win came off interference from Sonya Deville, it's possible that this is more of a build towards Naomi having to be in a tag team to go over Rose and Deville. Or maybe next week, she'll take on Deville. Before I move on, I have to briefly discuss the SD women's roster, because it's really unbalanced and too small. The only faces are Becky, Asuka, Naomi and Lana. Everyone else is a heel, and that's going to make good booking tough for the future. I know all eyes are on Becky, Asuka and Charlotte, but that's going to change after Mania, so they better get it together.
Then came Cesaro to face off against The Miz. I made a point about this in my last special post about my hopes and predictions about the Royal Rumble, and I'm going to reiterate it here: I want Cesaro as a singles competitor again. He really is something else. But this was all about how dominant The Bar are together and how they can just lay waste to their competitors. Cesaro picked up the win via Gotch Neutralizer after a distraction by Sheamus. This then led to an attempted beatdown by Shane but then The Bar stepped up and just destroyed this ad-hoc tag team. Shane sold a Brogue Kick like no one I've ever seen, and they were both powerbombed through the announce table. The match wasn't much to write home about, but the aftermath was really where it was at, and it did sell me on the upcoming match.
Then we got a lit promo from Mustafa Ali about his upcoming match with Samoa Joe, but that was nothing, and I mean nothing compared to the promo cut by Daniel Bryan in the "face to face" he had with A.J. Styles that was moderated by Vince. The New Daniel Bryan kept on just dropping truth bomb after truth bomb regarding consumerism, environmentalism and cut what I thought had to be another 70/30 work-shoot on Vince as he just trashed the Baby Boom generation and Vince's hoarding of money and power. It was absolutely fucking savage and I almost couldn't believe my ears at how awesome it all was. It ended with a physical altercation where Bryan got the upper hand in, but after his promo, I didn't care about what happened physically; I just wanted more of this Daniel Bryan, and I keep getting it every week and I'm fucking loving it.
Then came Mustafa vs Joe and while this wasn't the best athletic competition, it told a great story and was actually really hammered home by the commentary that Ali started with a tremendous couple of showings but the honeymoon period is over and he had to wake up to the reality of Joe, who really out-thought his competitor at nearly every turn. Joe would get the win via the Coquina Clutch forcing Ali to tap out, and no one does menacing facial expressions quite like Joe does. This is a rivalry that's just beginning and I'm here for all for it.
Then we got a New Day promo being charming as hell as they're asked the same question that they've been asked every year when Kayla Braxton talked about the every-man-for-themselves aspect of the Rumble match. It just made me happy, and their chemistry together is just great. My wife still doesn't care for them too much, but I still love them.
Then came the main event of Rey Mysterio vs Andrade in a 2 out of 3 falls match where Zelina Vega, who was the difference-maker in Andrade's win last week, was banned from ringside. And for a man who's only a few months younger than I am, Mysterio can still move and work like a man in his 20's. And the chemistry between these two has proven that the prior week's match was no fluke. Individually, these two are incredible, but together, they are the genuine goddamn articles. I watched this match and my eyes nearly bulged out of my fucking skull. There were moves I didn't even see because they were moving so goddamn fast. More Canadian Destroyers, a fucking avalanche sit-out power bomb where I, for the life of me, don't know how Andrade kept his balance as he scaled up to the top rope backwards. It's just amazing the work they can do together. There is a reason that every high-flyer and every luchador regards Rey Mysterio as probably the best who ever lived, and this match further helped to solidify that point. There was a weird botch near to the close of the match, but when you're being as creative as these guys are, it's allowed. It's almost a shame that this match ended up getting schmozzed up by Samoa Joe, but it just solidified that this rivalry will continue. Now I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, a fan of Randy Orton, but that was one of the best RKO's I've ever seen because it really was outta nowhere. But still, I'm hoping we get a match on a future episode or at a PPV with Mysterio and Andrade that's an Iron Man or Falls Count Anywhere because I could watch these guys forever.
So yeah, we're back to something of the status quo of Smackdown being better than Raw again, and there are definitely more than just a few matches at the Rumble that I'm fucking stoked for, so I'll be back late Wednesday/early Thursday with a recap of NXT and possibly sometime on Thursday or Friday with some predictions for NXT Takeover Phoenix, and as I stated in my Royal Rumble Hopes and Predictions column (also found on this site), I will likely be putting up a column about both the Rumble and Takeover on Monday since I'm going to be having a very busy weekend attending those events!! It's going to be awesome!
Until next time, kids...
Comments
Post a Comment