A new year is often met with optimism amongst WWE fans, especially considering that we are edging closer to the road to WrestleMania 33. So what happened in the world of WWE in the first week of 2017?
And was it good or bad?…
#1 Good – Last Man Standing
Arguably, the standout match from this week in WWE came on Monday Night Raw when Sami Zayn faced Braun Strowman in a ‘last man standing’ match.
Their bout was physical and had an ‘Attitude Era’-esque feel to it as they brawled all over the arena. Strowman was brutal as he dished out a beating to Sami, yet Zayn did get in plenty of offence of his own.
I feel both men came out well from this match.
However, Sami Zayn needs a big win soon to re-establish his credibility as an upper-card talent on the Raw roster.
#2 Good – ‘Bring It To The Table’
Something that may have flew under the radar to most fans this week was the inaugural edition of “Bring It To The Table’ on the WWE network.
For those who missed it, this was a chat show hosted by Peter Rosenberg and featured JBL and Paul Heyman addressing a host of hot topics, including many controversial ones such as ‘should Raw be three hours?’ and ‘will Conor McGregor ever come to WWE?’
It was something different for WWE to broadcast on their network and it was fascinating to hear Heyman and JBL break down the fourth wall and comment on backstage issues in the company.
If you haven’t seen this yet, I highly recommend sitting down for half an hour and watching it.
#3 Good – Dirty Dolph
To be honest, I was not looking forward to seeing Dolph Ziggler face Baron Corbin for the millionth time when it was announced for this week’s Smackdown Live. However, this was a great match and was very significant in shaping the immediate future of the blue brand.
Corbin got the win and once again looked strong as his push towards the main event scene continued.
Although, It was Dolph Ziggler that everyone was talking about after the match when he super-kicked Kalisto and then attacked Apollo Crews in the locker room, in a welcomed change of attitude.
I’ve always felt that Ziggler worked better as a heel and this latest turn will hopefully capitalise on the recent resurgence in his career and elevate him into one of Smackdown’s top stars.
#4 Good – Styles/Cena
AJ Styles and John Cena are always great to watch when they share a ring together and this week was no different.
This Tuesday’s Smackdown Live saw the contract signing between the two rivals for their WWE Championship match at the upcoming Royal Rumble event. As they did during their feud this past summer, Styles and Cena blurred the lines between fiction and reality as AJ called out Cena for being a part-timer.
I’m enjoying Cena’s new “because I’m John Cena” attitude as it has made for a fascinating story between him and Styles. With no clear face and heel dynamic in this feud, the fans are left to make up their own minds as to which superstar they support as both men make valid points against each other. Good stuff, WWE.
#5 Good – NXT Tag Team Action
The highlights of this week’s NXT action from Melbourne, Australia were two tag team matches. Firstly, Elias Samson teamed with Bobby Roode to face Melbourne’s own Buddy Murphy and Tye Dillinger in a very fun match. Then, on #DIY put on a typically action-packed match as they defended their Tag Team Titles against TM-61.
The Aussie crowd were loud and energetic throughout this show, but it was these matches in particular that got them invested the most. It’s taken TM-61 a little while to find their feet in NXT but they have put in some great performances recently and this entertaining match in front of their homeland crowd will have helped them even further.
I expect them, and of course #DIY, to be set for a big year in NXT’s tag team division.
#1 Bad – Total Recall
Does anybody actually care about the Natalya and Nikki Bella feud?
I certainly don’t.
It feels more like we are being shown some deleted scenes from Total Divas. The cheap insults they are throwing back and forth at each other have become repetitive and have lost any shock value that they may have once had.
This is by far the worst part about Smackdown Live currently, and that includes James Ellsworth!
Hopefully their match next week will either end the feud or at least transition away from the monotonous bickering we have seen over recent weeks.
#2 Bad – Why?2J
Why on earth does Chris Jericho keep getting multiple U.S. Title shots?
I know he has been arguably the most entertaining member of the entire WWE roster over recent months, but from a kayfabe perspective this makes no sense. Mick Foley should be punishing him for constantly interfering in Kevin Owens’ matches, yet instead he is being rewarded week after week with championship opportunities.
That being said, he had a great match with Roman Reigns this Monday and even threw in a tribute to Eddie Guerrero by attempting to get Roman disqualified by pretending that he had hit him with his championship belt.
All that was missing was the logic behind Y2J receiving yet another U.S. Title match.
#3 Bad – Weak Champion
The current ‘La Luchadora’ storyline on Smackdown doesn’t really have me invested either way.
It’s not terrible, it’s not great, it’s just there.
One detail I didn’t like about it this week however was that Becky Lynch made Alexa Bliss tap out to the ‘dis-arm-her’ in a matter of seconds despite Bliss cheating by interfering in the match that she was not in.
It’s only a small detail that I don’t believe will ruin this feud, but if Becky has already shown that she can beat Alexa even with the help of La Luchadora, then what is their left for her to overcome?
#4 Bad – Change of Plan
Another small detail that slightly irritated me this week is the current direction of Brian Kendrick.
For the past few months he has been obsessed with the Cruiserweight Championship, even going as far to say that this is his last chance to do something great in his career.
But now he has completely forgotten about that and has moved on to a feud with Tajiri.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m looking forward to the Kendrick vs Tajiri angle, but it would have been far better to use Kendrick’s obsession with the championship to transition to a new feud instead of just completely ignoring it.
#5 Bad – Xmas break
While it wasn’t a bad show by any means, this week’s edition of NXT did feel fairly inconsequential.
It was the same with last week’s airing of the Osaka, Japan show, especially considering that the main events of the last two shows had already been aired a few weeks back. This is not a criticism of the action that has been broadcast in the past couple of shows, yet they have just been pre-recorded house shows.
It’s felt like NXT have taken a break over Christmas, which is fine, however, I am looking forward to it getting back to normal next week after this week’s TV recordings.
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