This week has been full of tantalising teasers and numerous rumours running rife. That can only mean one thing, we’re on the road to WrestleMania, and more immediately, the Royal Rumble.
So, what did the go-home shows before one of the most anticipated Rumbles in recent memory have in store?
And was it good or bad?…
#1 Bad – Same old, same old
This week’s Raw saw Chris Jericho and Roman Reigns compete over the United States Championship for the 237th time this year. The build to the Reigns vs. Owens Universal Title match this Sunday has felt like it’s been going on forever, with the Jericho-in-a-shark-cage stipulation having been announced over a month ago.
The feud has been going round in circles for weeks and the U.S. Title has been used as a meaningless prop during multiple title matches between Jericho and Reigns. I’m looking forward to this angle coming to an end.
The only saving grace this week was Kevin Owens’ typically entertaining commentary where he continually berated Byron Saxton.
#2 Bad – Cluttered and chaotic
Every year before the Royal Rumble we get a segment with multiple thrown together to preview what the 30-man match will be like, and this year was the turn of New Day, Enzo, Cass, Rusev, Jinder, Titus and Braun Strowman.
In a cluttered, chaotic segment, nobody really had the opportunity to showcase themselves and it was just an opportunity for the commentators to get in their “it’ll be every man for himself” and “friend vs friend, foe vs foe” shtick to promote Sunday’s show. Strowman also got this year’s role of “who could possibly eliminate him?”.
#3 Bad – Bloody terrible
To be fair, Goldberg has had some great promos since returning, but unfortunately, this week was by far his worst.
He was clearly tongue-tied and could not get his words out, probably losing focus due to the stream of blood running down his forehead from head-butting a door prior to his promo. The segment improved when Heyman and Lesnar interrupted and Goldberg did find his feet, and things looked to get even better when The Undertaker appeared in the ring and the three men came face to face in the ring for the first time.
However, the broadcast then abruptly ended before any physical interaction was had, making for a very anti-climatic ending to the go-home Raw.
#4 Bad – Ellsworth again
It seems like ever since James Ellsworth was given a full-time contract he has gotten worse and worse, and that was evident on this Tuesday’s Smackdown in a painfully bad segment with him and Carmella.
WWE aired footage from last week where Carmella took Ellsworth clothes shopping to give him a new look, and yes, it was as bad as it sounds. Ellsworth is far and away the worst on the roster for segments like this and nothing he does feels natural. The segment itself went on for too long and tried too hard to be funny and failed miserably.
The only slight positive from this was Carmella, who I think has developed into a confident performer who is comfortable in her on-screen persona. As for Ellsworth, well, I’d rather spend my time watching a puddle evaporate.
#5 Bad – Rich is poor
I enjoy much of Rich Swann’s work, he is naturally charismatic and fun to watch in the ring.
However, he should not be WWE Cruiserweight Champion.
Ever since he won the gold, the prestige of the championship, which wasn’t high to begin with, has fallen dramatically and he himself hasn’t performed well in his role. It’s more than likely that his promos have been written for him, but lines like “you’re not the king, you’re a jester” have been cringe-worthy.
I fully expect him to drop the title to Neville and revert back to a mid-card level, which he is much more suited to.
#1 Good – Mustafa Ali
Something I did enjoy from the cruiserweights this week, maybe the only thing, was the focus on Mustafa Ali.
Ali has stood out for me in recent weeks and it was nice for WWE to recognise his impressive performances and put the spotlight on him on this week’s Raw. A short video package on Ali was shown prior to his 6-man tag team match and he would then go on to pick up the win for his team with a reverse 450 splash.
While this was good to see, it did come in another meaningless, multi-man match involving the cruiserweights and I’ll be surprised if many people were talking about Mustafa Ali after Raw, which is a shame.
#2 Good – Mickie explains her actions
This Tuesday saw Mickie James address her attack on Becky Lynch and explain why she helped Alexa Bliss.
I enjoyed Mickie’s promo, she didn’t miss a step after being away from WWE for a while and made sense in her explanation for her actions. Mickie explained that she has a problem with Becky and the other ‘four horsewomen’ for claiming that they started a women’s wrestling revolution, which she feels undermines all of her accomplishments during her tenure in WWE.
This segment did exactly what it had to, it established Mickie as the heel and explained her reason for returning. It certainly looks like Mickie James is going to shake up the SmackDown women’s division.
#3 Good – The Champ is not a chump
As they always seem to do, John Cena and AJ Styles had an intriguing and controversial confrontation on this week’s SmackDown and continued to blur the lines between fiction and reality.
Cena cut a typically passionate, yet slightly heelish, promo on Styles, as he undermined AJ and spoke down to him quite condescendingly whilst claiming that he was too good for the independent wrestling scene and was built for WWE. Styles was not in a good mood to begin with, and to be honest, I can see why.
Styles had shown some footage of Cena on an American talk show where he and the presenters referred to AJ as ‘some guy from Atlanta’ that Cena will defeat this Sunday.
AJ was clearly upset by this and continued to voice his frustrations on this week’s ‘Talking Smack’.
He claimed that he is continuously disrespected by everyone, including being towards the back of the Royal Rumble poster, and he deserved more, especially considering he is the WWE World Champion. Styles’ rant felt very real and I imagine it was, which made what he said this week fascinating to hear.
#4 Good – Who will take over NXT?
This Saturday’s NXT Takeover match card is far from the most stacked card that they have ever put on, yet I find myself intrigued by the current state of NXT.
There is a clear lack of depth on the roster currently, with most of their top talents having been elevated to the main roster during 2016, which makes for an opportunity for a whole host of talents to step up and be the face of NXT.
The build to Takeover: San Antonio has been fairly average, although the emergence of Nikki Cross as a much-needed threat to Asuka’s NXT Women’s championship has been a highlight.
There is also an opportunity for the likes of the ‘Authors of Pain’ and Andrade Cien Almas to showcase themselves this Saturday. Like I said, I’m not overly excited about this upcoming Takeover, but I am interested to see who can break out from the pack and establish themselves as NXT’s next big star.
#5 Good – Rollins out of the Rumble
In what must go down as a shock, Sami Zayn defeated Seth Rollins on this Monday’s Raw and has now taken Rollins’ place in the Royal Rumble match.
This has been met with a slightly mixed response from fans, but personally, I think this was great. Rollins doesn’t need to be in the Rumble as he is already expected to be facing Triple H at WrestleMania, so having Triple H cost him his place in the Rumble furthers their feud while also giving Sami Zayn a much needed big win.
It’s sensible booking all around in my opinion.
It was also great to see a lengthy, high quality match on Raw that actually meant something and was unpredictable.
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