What’s up, CF’ers? It’s time for another edition of Week in Review! We have an excellent week of action on offer here. RAW and SmackDown made some really intriguing developments on the “Fast Lane” to WrestleMania, while TNA presented the fallout from Lockdown. Lucha Underground had the debut of an international star and last but not the least; NXT presented its latest special, Takeover: RIVAL. Let’s discuss all that in...
(Credits to Wrestlinsight Gav!)
Week iN Review
RAW Reactions
(The discussion on Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan will be done in the SmackDown section.)
Talking Point of the Night: Rusev and Lana appeared this week and paid a visual tribute to John Cena’s career. It was a really intriguing package which started at a high, but soon turned its focus onto all of the injuries Cena has battled throughout his career. Neck, ankle, elbow; he’s had it all! The Russian duo then proclaimed that Cena isn’t the man that he was anymore and that he must be tired of all the fighting. And in a recall to Bane from The Dark Knight Rises, Rusev vowed to break Cena’s body and crush his spirit! That was enough to bring Cena out, who retorted that he might be an “old man”, but he’s the guy who’s going to whip Rusev’s ass at Fast Lane. Cena was sporting a black eye, and that became Rusev’s target in their brawl thereafter when the latter poked Cena in the eye and sent him crashing into part of the stage, possibly damaging Cena’s cornea.
This was a well done segment, I felt. It placed both Rusev’s and Cena’s character really well. The former is the new guy trying to make a name for himself at Cena’s expense, but the latter will fight till his very last breath to save his spot. This was obvious, but it was necessary to establish as well. What I didn’t like here was Cena’s ignorance of the United States Championship. It has been that way from the start, but WWE put the title on the line without much fanfare. If Cena doesn’t have a craving for the belt, it would demean the title in my opinion. One could argue, though, that Cena is a million miles ahead of the US Title, but if that was the intention here, it shouldn’t have been put on the line in the first place. This ignorance makes me more confident of a Rusev victory come Fast Lane; at the very least, something that’ll let him walk away with the title. I don’t see a title change happening, and perhaps their ‘Mania rematch will be non title, leading to a more unpredictable outcome.
What was also confusing here was Cena’s insistence on him being an “old man”. There were actually some dirt sheet reports on this issue as well, speaking about how many people backstage found it weird. Surely Cena looks and works like a young man, and he could easily be regarded in the lower 30s if one didn’t know better. The experience factor comes into play, yes, but that doesn’t mean that Cena is a walking midlife crisis. This could just be another way to set up Cena’s loss, although I don’t think anything would be damaging to Rusev at this point. The eye injury should also play a factor in the match up, so I’m pretty sure the “old man” stuff was unnecessary. I’d mark out if a montage was made with the Neil Young song of the same name, though!
Honorable Mention: The rift between Stardust and Goldust continued with the younger brother having an identity crisis. Goldust has suddenly remembered that Stardust is indeed Cody himself, and is repeatedly calling him by his real life name despite the fact that junior doesn’t like it. O…. K…. WWE pushed the idea of Stardust and Cody being two different individuals for so long, but they think that this is the only way to push this long overdue feud. Dusty Rhodes will be there next week to settle things down between his two sons, so that should be interesting. I like Cody Rhodes/Stardust, so I want him to be involved in something substantial, and while I don’t think this is the best way to do this, it is a 1000x better than anything the two did after Cody changed characters.
Curtis Axel lost another match to Dean Ambrose who wouldn’t stay still until he gets an Intercontinental Title match versus Bad News Barrett. Axel is a more than decent hand in the ring, and while it’s good to see him get continued time on RAW, it’s quite inevitable that this isn’t won’t mean anything in the end. There’s no #AxelMania in Curtis’ future. He could have at least had more competitive matches with Dean, but that ain’t happening either. The IC Champ on the other hand, is determined to not give a shot to Dean, and is only focused on delivering some of his patented Bad News via the “BNZ”. It’s got nothing on the sky high podium, but it’s actually nice for BNB to go back to his roots, if you will. He needed this breather, and I hope he steps back in the ring in prime fashion.
Lucha Lowdown
Alberto El Patron finally arrived at LU and he had some things to get off his chest. As one would expect, those things related to his treatment in WWE, and how he has come to a place where the word “equal” means something. Alberto holds the AAA Championship, and he proudly boasted of his accomplishment of becoming the first luchador to hold every single major title in North America. It was a very strong promo, and I for one was quite surprised to see how mature Alberto has become on the mic. Matt Striker put it really well when he said, in reference to Alberto coming out of his suit and tie – “Take it off, my friend! You’re free to fly now!” Bertie held the crowd in the palm of his hands, and he has been automatically set up as the face of the promotion, no questions asked.
But, the jovial mood was short-lived as Patron’s nemesis from AAA, El Texano, Jr., attacked him with a threaded rope and proclaimed that the AAA Title belonged to him. Alberto allegedly won the title off of Texano, who was the longest reigning champion in the promotion. A very intriguing development for sure, and I can’t wait to see it all unfold.
Johnny Mundo and Son of Havoc had a fantastic match, which the former won, but it showed just how far Havoc’s son has come in his in-ring game. He is just so crisp with his elbows, moonsaults and springboards; it’s excellent to see. He gave Mundo a run for the latter’s money, and had the match won if it wasn’t for his desire to please Ivelisse. One minor, minor gripe I had with this match came towards the end where Havoc’s son landed a Shooting Star Press, but only on Mundo’s knees. Johnny had actually suffered an injury on the same body part last week, and it was worked on by SoH during the match as well. He shouldn’t have just brushed it away after the impact.
Fenix picked up a win over Argenis, but had to shake Catrina off of his mind first who had decided to pay a visit. The match was really well done, if only a bit meaningless in the large scheme of things. Catrina is acting like she’s enchanted with Fenix, and it’s a weird twist, to be honest. What’s weirder was the backstage segment with Mil Muertes lifting Cat a couple of inches by her throat when she was saying that Mil needed something. Totally unnecessary! The weirdness continued when Chavo Guerrero came face to face with Mil and they had a bit of a scuffle. Out of nowhere, Mil says that Chavo will pay his debts next week. Ummm… what? This is perhaps the only story so far in LU with which I’ve been left totally confused. As such, I can’t speak for its authenticity just yet.
A Brief Review of NXT Takeover:
RIVAL
1. Hideo Itami def. Tyler Breeze: In a battle of kicks, Itami showed more intent and emerged out victorious. One expects Hideo to be vicious with his kicks, but as this match progressed, you could sense that he was turning more and more aggressive. And why not? He was facing Breeze who was determined to send him packing from NXT, and he wanted to prove that he belonged. The former had also come with a game plan and he sought to negate the very kicks of Itami by working on his knee, but those bursts were short-lived as it only made Itami angrier. Breeze’s performance has to be lauded as well as he delivered some pretty sweet moves, so much so that the crowd that was firmly on Hideo’s side at the start started some duel chants when Tyler hit one of the most beautiful superkicks you’ll ever see. In the end, the man from Japan hit a stunning running kick of his own and got the pin. Excellent curtain jerker!
2. No DQ Match - Baron Corbin def. Bull Dempsey: I’m a fan of Corbin, but I have to admit that he looked really sloppy here. It’s perhaps got to do with his opponent as well, but the folks who were anticipating his performances in a lengthier match must have surely felt disappointed. Discount the botch, there were still many parts of this match that fell flat, even in such a short period of time. Corbin picked up an obvious win with the End of Days, but the crowd turned on him as well. There definitely needs to be some rethinking with him, perhaps even a change to more capable opponents.
3. NXT Tag Team Championship - Blake & Murphy © def. The Lucha Dragons: I might be the only one, but I enjoyed this match. Yes, there were botches, but nothing that couldn’t have been placed in the canvas of the match. Both the teams did really well to play along with those slips and didn’t let it hamper their movements. Blake & Murphy – absolutely horrifying theme music notwithstanding – have improved significantly and their chemistry was visible here. Kalisto and Sin Cara seemed like the lesser team here, by all means, and it’s no surprise that the botches came from their side as well. The ending sequence was also great with Murphy hitting his running suplex and Blake connecting with a textbook Frogsplash. Not too great, but not poor as well.
4. Finn Bálor def. Adrian Neville to become the #1 Contender for the NXT Championship: Both of them came into the match with the same game plan. Ground your opponent, and make it a race to the top rope. It was a bit jarring to see both of them play a technical game in the starting stages, but it all made sense once they came to the final act. As the match progressed, Bálor started to come out of his shell, and that insisted Neville to do the same as well. They connected with most all of their signature moves, and did that with finesse. The decider, though, was Bálor moving to his original game plan and trying to bring Neville down. But the latter perhaps went a little too far, and took one risk too many. The counter to the Red Arrow allowed Finn to hit his shotgun dropkick and then the Coup de Grǎce to pick up the win. The first of the final 3 classics!
5. NXT Women’s Championship Fatal 4-Way - Sasha Banks def. Charlotte ©, Becky Lynch and Bayley to become the NEW Champion: I felt this was a solid put over job by Charlotte. I was a bit surprised to see her play such a minor role here, but if she’s on her way out, it was rightfully so. All of the women had their characters set in stone. Bayley, channeling Sami Zayn from R-Evolution, was ready to do all she could to win the title and went out of her comfort zone. Becky was the relative newbie and she tried to show just how good she really is. And the “Boss” lived by her moniker, and controlled most of the proceedings. The action never felt haphazard and there was a great deal of focus in all the women’s games. The final pin was a bit odd, but Sasha worked on Charlotte’s arm for a long time in the crossface so it could be easily explained. The shake and shove at the end was well done, too, and I’m glad to see Sasha get the title. She has deserved it in more ways than one, and I’m intrigued at the stories that’ll be told with her.
6. NXT Championship - Kevin Owens def. Sami Zayn © to become the NEW Champion: The announcers compared this match to Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena from SummerSlam. While that’s high praise, I think it’s unsubstantiated. Lesnar and Cena are sworn enemies. They’ve been that way from the start of their careers, and it’s expected of them to go all out on each other. But, as for Owens and Zayn, they’ve been friends for 14 years. They’ve fought as well, but they did that with one dream in mind; to one day, make it to WWE. Nobody could have expected Owens to treat Sami the way that he did. KO was a guy who knew that Sami was in this for the same reasons that he was. For him to blatantly try and take it away from him meant much more emotionally than Lesnar/Cena did. The match itself has been totally overshadowed by the actions of KO, and I was frankly dumbfounded at it all, but I was still applauding every minute of it. Such was its effect!
Sami also came in to take something away from Owens. But he could never imagine that his friend had turned into a beast. He tried to show all the passion that he could, kicking out… nah, rolling out of moves till the very end, but the ref had had enough and stopped before KO could inflict more damage. Sami’s biggest asset has always been his heart, and in this instance, Kevin took that very thing away. Perhaps, out of everyone watching. One of the most visually stunning matches you’ll ever see. But remember to invest in their story first. That way, it would mean SO MUCH more. It took the viewing experience to a whole new level. I’m sure there are many out there who wouldn’t have felt as moved by this, and I get them. It’d be a glorified squash for you if you weren’t following Zayn’s career until this point. I can’t expect you to do that after the fact, but trust me, if you do, you’ll be in for a stunner.
SmackDown SentiMents
Talking Point of the Night: A Turmoil was in store for Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns… a Tag Team Turmoil.
Reigns’ cousins, The Usos, started the match up and were initially at an advantage with Roman and Bryan’s constant bickering, but Daniel, in an attempt to show off to Reigns, pushed the ante up and really took it to Jimmy and Jey. He showed a killer instinct here and showed no remorse in punishing the twins. This match went for almost 27 minutes, and was truly an exhibition for all the 4 men. Reigns actually showed up versus his brothers and the game of one upsmanship with Bryan helped him to do something more than his usual fare. Roman tried to stop Bryan at several occasions, but the latter was having none of it. That intensity ultimately let Reigns and Bryan survive, though, as Jimmy tapped out to the Yes! Lock.
Los Matadores and Slater-Gator were made short work of by Daniel and Reigns respectively. The Ascension then appeared, but they clearly had an agenda and punished the Fast Lane opponents all around ringside, leading to an obvious DQ. Then, it was the turn of Kane and Big Show, who thought that it was easy pickings for them. But, Roman and Daniel were out there to not only win the match, but to win each other’s respects as well, and they were ready to work together when their health was in jeopardy. The frustration of not being able to put them away actually caused a rift between Kane and Show, with the latter delivering a WMD punch to Kane! Seriously! This allowed Reigns to hit a Spear on Show, and Bryan followed with a Running Knee to pick up the win.
Oof! What a match! A lot has been made about Bryan and Reigns’ characters over the past couple of weeks, and I think there’s been some misunderstanding here. None of them are turning heel any time soon. Bryan is showing more aggressiveness, but he is heel only for Reigns, if you know what I mean. He’ll go the extra mile just to prove to Reigns, and to the rest of the world, that he deserves to be in the main event of ‘Mania. So, if Bryan punished The Usos, or if he acts like a prick to Roman, I don’t worry. I know that it’s just a temporary means to Bryan’s greater end. Reigns acted all cute when it came to The Usos, but give him any other team, and he’d do the same as Bryan. This match presented a great dynamic, more so than the Handicap Match on RAW, which was a bit overdone. This was a special match, there’s no doubt about it, and everyone should go out of their way to catch it.
Reigns looked really credible here, and although he didn’t even do 25% of the work, he showed extreme confidence in everything that he did. Bryan, on the other hand, looked like the ironman he has always been, and it was a glorious display. The match at Fast Lane is set up beautifully. I truly think that it would be the coming out party for Reigns, and might change a lot of opinions on him. I still wouldn’t want him to main event, but if he truly shows up, I won’t be that fazed either. This was a Turmoil that has raised expectations on all fronts. And while the tag division faced the losses here, the key players looked excellent. Tyson Kidd & Cesaro and The New Day were absent here, but they were probably better being left out.
Honorable Mention: Bray Wyatt picked up a couple of wins; on RAW, over Dolph Ziggler, and on SmackDown, over R-Truth. The Ziggs rematch added a lot to their battle from last week, and showed how willing Dolph is to learn from the past. It almost sent Bray over the edge, but the officials were there to stop him. Bray continues to hint at a “him”, and the slow build is really intriguing. It’d suck if things didn’t work out in the end, but I fully expect Bray to smoothly change courses even then.
Paige also defeated Brie Bella on RAW, and Summer Rae on SmackDown. She got rebuilt real well after the humiliation from last week, and I think the match at Fast Lane with Nikki would be quite good. Only 3 matches and a segment have been announced so far, so if the count remains below 8, I’d expect them to at least get 10 minutes.
Impact Insight
Talking Point of the Night: Kurt Angle came out at the start of Impact, and he invited Bobby Lashley to the ring. And although Angle thanked the latter for helping his team versus Team BDC last week, he also stated that he wanted a shot at Lashley’s TNA Championship. An interruption by BDC saw Lashley throw out a challenge with him teaming with Angle against two members of MVP’s clan.
The answer was challenged by MVP and Samoa Joe. It was a short match, but told a more than decent story within itself. There were some tensions between Lashley and Angle, and while they weren’t totally apparent, they were present enough to interfere during the match. Both Angle and Bobby were able to control some aspects by working on their own, but they faltered whenever it came time for them to work together. In the end, as Lashley was setting up for a Spear on Joe, Angle locked the BDC member in an Ankle Lock instead. This confusion allowed MVP to capitalize and roll Bobby up for the win. Post match, Lashley blamed Angle for their loss, but they both had a role to play.
Austin Aries battled Bobby Roode to gain some advantage in the 20 man Gauntlet #1 Contender’s Battle Royal that’s going to happen next week. They were respectively #3 and #1 on the Top 5 for last week. The Top 5 would get the final 5 spots in the Battle Royal, based on their rankings, and the first 15 would be chosen at random. So, there was a lot riding on the bout. I would have censured the limited time, but these two know each other so well that one would expect them to have an answer to everything that the other is doing. They both had counters for every move the other brought out, but Roode’s work on Aries’ arm at the end made the latter tap out. The announcers excellently hinted at Aries’ Feast or Fired briefcase as the reason behind his surrender as he lives to fight another day. Roode made his intentions clear about capturing the World Title again post match, but was attacked by Eric Young who delivered 2 vicious Piledrivers; one of them on the ramp! It was expected from EY, and I quite like how he attacks Roode when the latter is at his highest.
It seems that too many contenders are emerging for Bobby Lashley’s title, and that’s a very good thing. MVP, Angle, Roode, Aries, all have claims to it and it sets the Gauntlet up real nice. Guys like Gunner and Bram would also be frothing at the prospect, so this sense of urgency is really good to see.
Honorable Mention: EC3 and Tyrus challenged Rockstar Spud, Mandrews and Jeremy Borash to a 3-on-2 Handicap Match, which they accepted. Tyrus’ minimal facial expressions during EC3’s promo were classic. The latter was referring to Tyrus as T-Bone, T-Boy, and all that, and the guy was mildly amused at it all. Hilarious!
The match saw EC3 try to take advantage of Tyrus’ hoss work, and it worked out for him as JB’s death defying stunt gave him the window to hit the 1 Percenter on Spud. Props to JB, though, for that dive! EC3 wanted to scalp Spud (bringing a battery operated razor this time – what continuity!), but the arena went dark and Mr. Anderson stood in between Tyrus and EC3 after the lights came on. He tried to do some forced comedy, and all the viewers collectively groaned.
Matt Hardy gave an update on Jeff after his fall from last week, and poignantly said that Jeff has always smiled through all the pain in the past, but this time, there was no spark. Those words fell heavy, and while they might be a bit too melodramatic for some, it’s not that far-fetched considering Jeff’s antics throughout his career. James Storm then gave Matt a choice to either join The Revolution or face their wrath. Matt chose Option C and attacked Storm, but the numbers game got the better of him. The Wolves came to the rescue, though, and left the Revolution scurrying.
Sub’s Recommendations
1. Dolph Ziggler vs. Bray Wyatt
2. Alberto Del Rio Debuts on Lucha Underground/Johnny Mundo vs. Son of Havoc
3. NXT Takeover: RIVAL
4. Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns go through a Tag Team Turmoil (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3)
5. Austin Aries vs. Bobby Roode
Hey, Sub, Who Impressed You the Most This Week?
Kevin Owens! I was left amazed at his performance on Wednesday, and it would surely take a while to come down from it. I can’t wait to see Zayn get his retribution, and that also speaks about KO’s dedication to his character.
Hey, Sub, Which Was The Best Show Of The Week?
NXT Takeover: RIVAL! Some strong offers by LU, Impact and SD! as well, but RIVAL edges them all out with 3 scintillating matches, and another brilliant encounter. Watch it, if you’re still in the dark!
Welp! I’ve officially crossed 4,000 words on this for the first time, but that’s only a testament to the great week we had here. Some excellent talking points and some very special matches, too. Weeks like these make this effort worthwhile! I’ll see you all after a couple of days with the Year in Review on WWE’s main event scene. Take care!