Every two years, alternating winter and summer, athletes from nations across the world lay aside their differences to compete in sport.
Like that’s special. We’re seeing this every damn week in WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT.
RAW (2/5/18)
Another fire edition of Monday Night RAW – big surprise. Every match was at least good (not just TV good I’m talkin’ *** y’all), the two (!) Roman Reigns matches were legit great, everything flowed well, and perhaps most incredible they had FIVE women’s segments and all of them were strong. How is this the same company that produces SmackDown Live?
Dug the start of the show – real sports-like feel with the Wyatt and Reigns promos, slick graphics, and an actual match to kick things off.
Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt was great, it’s almost redundant at this point with Roman – the matches are great every time. Sells his ass off, big spots timed right, crowd going crazy, opponent looks like a million bucks even if the spear is always looming. Roman always makes you think Bray should’ve been headlining this company for years. Bray’s a big physical guy so matches up with Roman well, but also liked his character stuff here – the Wyatt pose after Roman threw him into the turnbuckle, his insane reactions to the near falls. The clothesline counter of the Drive-By is always a winner too. Finish was crazy hot too, complex and well-timed sequences based around signature spots along with Roman just headbutting the shit out of Wyatt. So good.
Bonus points to Roman Reigns for selling chinlocks like he’s passing a kidney stone.
I like how WWE’s takeaway of the Mixed Match Challenge will not be the loose fun wrestling, but instead the promos with letters flashing across the screen.
The Revival vs. Balor/Anderson was a great little 5-minute tag match, though I really don’t know why they needed a promo to move from a Finn vs. Dash singles match to a tag. Karl and Dawson were tearing it up, probably trying to impress papa Arn. They kept this sucker moving and we even got a Karl Anderson plancha. Poor Revival – Finn and Karl who in WWE canon aren’t a tag team beat the tag team specialists. Oh brother.
“If you’re good enough to beat Asuka, so am I” – very much enjoyed Bayley being booked as an actual babyface on this show.
The cruiserweight tag was 5-minutes of fun – they got in, got over, and got out. Drake Maverick on commentary was great too, I think everyone knew it would happen but it’s awesome how easily he’s slotted into the WWE machine. Two crazy bumps here: Cedric landing on his shoulder after being clotheslined off the top rope by Gulak, and Gulak taking the lumbar check. Lost in this last year and a half of 205 Live trash is that Cedric Alexander, Mustafa Ali, Drew Gulak, and Tony Nese are all pretty good.
Alexa Bliss calling Kurt Angle out for his SEXISM for making her defend her championship in the Elimination Chamber but not Brock Lesnar was INCREDIBLE TELEVISION. Of course, this is WWE, so as soon as the lady made a legitimate point, they immediately got the crowd to identify with her opposition by giving them a fan vote to see if they want her to defend her championship. The patriarchy, man. Absolutely ridiculous.
That Asuka vs. Bayley teaser right before the commercial was life-changing stuff, wow. The new presentation of RAW was vastly needed. Can’t wait to say it’s tiresome about a year from now.
I liked the Asuka vs. Bayley match a lot, Asuka going long with all the RAW gals has been awesome. Her matches have a credibility to them that was lacking from the division for a while. Bayley pushing Asuka away and throwing a stiff elbow before getting taken down was pretty transcendent shit. Bayley trying to go hard with Asuka was a fun dynamic in general, her jumping into Asuka’s knee and the awkward rana on the outside not so much. I totally bought reverse cradle out of the sleeper near fall at the end there.
The Miz promo was good but to be honest I was distracted by his weird orange baby beard.
Miz vs. Crews was a good little match, but though I love Mike Mizanin MAAAAAN was he working light and slow tonight. It was a pretty good little match around that, with Crews actually getting a chance to shine and Miz just working around his shtick. Dug the finish a lot too, with Miz purposely crotching Crews and finishing him off with a SkullCrushing Finale.
HOW did Roman Reigns have two incredible matches in two hours and WHY are they trying to break his body right before the big Mania match? What a world!
Seth Rollins and Roman (replacing Jordan, who appears to be sidelined for a bit after neck surgery that may or may not be serious) vs. The Bar was GREAT. One thing WWE has managed to do over the last five years has been to make these Roman and Seth fellers into an absolute superstars. The matches are good, but more importantly the matches are OVER. This had Seth tearing it up with Cesaro and Sheamus, Roman and Seth doing some straight babyface double teams on Cesaro, some sweet cut-offs by The Bar, another great Roman sell job during a beatdown from The Bar, a hot tag cut-off of Seth that got such amazing glorious BOOOOOS, and a couple great near falls towards the end before that jackass Jason Jordan got The Shield DQ’d. AMAZING celebration by The Bar post-match too. Excellent tag team wrestling match.
Video package, squash, and promo for Nia Jax – nice.
Mickie James vs. Sonya Deville was a really sweet little match actually – rather than going all WWE TV formula, they just beat the crap out of each other until Mickie managed a surprise cradle. Awesome.
John Cena vs. Braun Strowman vs. Elias was a Triple Threat Match that was very much a Triple Threat Match, though it had the added bonus of interesting characters (who, on the USA Network, are welcome). I did like Elias’ work as a devious/cowardly heel – playing that role in a Triple Threat is probably a lot harder than anybody thinks… it’s not just running away, it’s the timing and mannerisms as you do it. He came off as cowardly but also smart, and when he got his he ate it like a man. Sweet guitar shot on Braun towards the end, and then ELIAS PINS CENA!
I actually do agree with Da Meltz’s point of Cena not coming off as a star… I think it’s fine to de-emphasize him, but Braun Strowman’s powerslam just downed John Cena and Elias just pinned John Cena and none of it seemed like THAT big of a deal.
Strowman doing the “one more time” powerslam shtick with Big John was incredible though. A new king is in town, baby.
SMACKDOWN (2/6/18)
You know, a lot of the beats that SmackDown hits are technically OK but almost nothing has JUICE. This show had two legitimately great matches and another incredible Usos promo, but somehow it was still just boring.
Another opening promo with Shane and Bryan, another gag reflex engaged. Can you imagine getting to a point where Daniel Bryan’s return to the ring might be an actual thing that is happening and scripting it so AWKWARDLY? Who the fuck is in charge here?
The Nakamura reminding AJ Styles “I’m going to beat you at WrestleMania” bit is very good and probably all they need up to Mania. Very excited for Shane McMahon to get involved in this feud and end up the special guest referee or some bullshit.
Charlotte Flair vs. Liv Morgan was enhancement city. Charlotte basically works like Hogan, except not as over. I liked the idea of Liv not being able to hang with her early, but then Liv took over like the heel always does and it just wasn’t good. I like Liv, but I can’t buy her holding Charlotte Flair down in a chinlock just yet.
Another week, another awesome Bludgeon Brothers squash. Guys trying to escape from them continues to be good. Rowan’s crossbody on the outside was nasty.
But THE USOS ARE NOT AFRAID OF THE BLUDGEON BROTHERS. They will enter the arena before they even go to back, they don’t give a FUCK. Amazing.
Another week, another awesome Usos promo. It seemed a little forced early, had the same great cadence but it’s like alright guys what’s the point, but then they started talking about their transformation and winning people over and it SHOOK me. “We went from ‘yeahhh yeahhh they might be aight’ to having MATCH OF THE NIGHT.” UUUUUUUU-SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
SmackDown actually went through with the Top 10 List. And it was very weird. The wrestling fan just wants a fun championship contender ranking system, the galactic brain WWE writer wants fighting amongst peers over how people voted or something. #9 Orton’s gotta be fuming.
You know, Aiden English with Bobby Roode would be a much better fit.
Roode vs. Rusev for the US Title was a real good match. Roode might not have one discernible trait I actually like, but it’s not like the guy can’t work. Rusev meanwhile always makes the most of it when he’s given 10+ minutes – even if the crowd is suspect at first, they’re popping at the end. Roode’s comeback got way over and the Macha Kick near fall was HOT. That the crowd actually popped for Roode’s win over RUSEV DAY is a testament to what these dudes did, good stuff.
RKO OUTTA NOWHERE!!! If all he does is this for the rest of the year, Randy Orton might end up my favorite guy in WWE.
“You got jokes? We got the PUNCHLINES!” – shut up, Chad Gable.
Benjamin & Gable vs. The Ascension happened. Viktor is still good, great hot tag.
Actually Good promo by Sami Zayn right before the Owens match: “Kevin will stop at nothing, but then again… neither will I.”
Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn was Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn having Their Match. And it was good! It was impressive! But we’ve seen it. A lot. And the angle surrounding it really, really sucks. So Owens and Zayn killing each other somehow felt completely empty – thanks a lot, SmackDown Live. A good match that felt cold.
And then they did a double DQ and Daniel Bryan came out and announced that Fastlane’s main event would be a Triple Threat Match. And – maaaaaan. C’mon, D-Bryan. He didn’t seem shocked by that double DQ finish at all. He seemed completely, utterly prepared to read out that Triple Threat announcement. It is as if this entire angle has been written out and everybody is just reciting lines with guns to their head with no room for improv.
Long-term stories are good, but not when they are transparently written to be long, FEEL long, and never feel spontaneous.
Complete, utter trash.
MIXED MATCH CHALLENGE (2/6/18)
Alright – I have a hard time believing Kurt Angle was even in the building for that Bryan/Angle guest ref fan vote.
Jimmy & Naomi Uso vs. Goldust & Mandy Rose was another blast of a Mixed Match Challenge match. More GA-GA, as the boys like to say – dancing, shit-talking, Goldy doing “I’m winded” spots and getting YOU STILL GOT IT chants. The build to the Goldust/Mandy KISS was incredible, love that this show gives these sports entertainers time to actually build to spots and sports entertain. Naomi’s reaction to Naomi touching her hair was incredible too. Finish came together well, what with Goldust’s Crossroads and Naomi’s last-minute save and the Naomi plancha over Goldust. Might not have been at the level of some IWGP Jr. Tag Team Title match, but this was a good time.
LANA IS THE BESSSSST … LANA NUMBER ONE! CLAP CLAP!
205 LIVE (2/6/18)
Ok THIS was the best 205 Live episode ever. Whoa. Two straight-up awesome wrestling matches.
Kalisto vs. Lince Dorado was GREAT. It was two guys who know the Lucha style well and do it especially well matched up with each other. They hit all their classic stuff gorgeously but also were willing to try new stuff too. The top rope frankensteiner, the front powerbomb cradle thing from the top, and the absolutely batshit SPRINGBOARD REVERSE HURRICANRANA were highlights. It had the feel of an old WCW cruiserweight match – not everything hit perfectly (like the rana) but the stuff that did was beautiful and the chaos beyond it was incredible to watch. Got real hectic towards the end too, like two guys that really really needed the win. That’s how ya build up a championship again. Great TV.
Roderick Strong vs. Hideo Itami started a bit quiet but built into something special. Roddy’s selling, both receiving offense and delivering it, stood out to me – he made it feel like a true tournament match, a match he needed to win. The strike exchange on the apron and eventually the floor was wild, highlighted by Itami’s nasty boot to the face and Roddy’s crazy backbreaker to the apron. Some intense, snug work and counters towards the end here just willed a suspect crowd into This is Awesome chants, and these aren’t your bullshit This is Awesome chants – it’s 205 Live, you gotta WORK for those things. Tremendous.
NXT (2/7/18)
A solid show. Even if the Undisputed Era vs. SAnitY stuff isn’t getting me, other stuff is clicking – Johnny, Almas, Black and Dream are carrying the dude division, while Ember, Shayna, Nikki and Belair are carrying the ladies division.
Wild brawl to between Era and SAnitY to start the show – cool! Cool cool cool.
Heavy Machinery vs. Tino and Moss was a match. Tino and Moss feel like they’ve been around forever and just done nothing, but it’s really been just a year and a half. Tino and Otis stand out from this group of four as having a little something extra – maybe THEY should be the team. Tucker Knight’s somersault plancha was neat though, most notable thing he has ever done maybe.
Johnny Gargano got a RAUCOUS reaction and just overzealous cheers – that’s a connection with your audience, baby. Almas interrupting wearing his NXT Title, tailored suit, and a shit-eating grin with Zelina Vega at his side was great. The WE WANT CANDICE chants, pop for Candice, Candice pushing down Vega… alllll the good stuff. Really good segment to set up the NXT Title rematch with Johnny’s career on the line, but the “leaving NXT” stip loses a little juice when the main roster is right there. Remember when Miz clarified that Ziggler would leave WWE if he lost, and not just SmackDown?
That Tyler Bate promo sounded like he was in NXT now.
Bianca Belair is my favorite wrestler. Great confidence and power by her in her squash of Jessix Hill, but also pretty great 30-second jobber heel work by Hill.
Undisputed Era vs. SAnitY was very much a brawl, as wild as one might get on NXT TV. All over the place, big spots, This is Awesome, stuff like that. But I dunno. I wasn’t feeling it. They amped up the craziness towards the end, but for as long as this feud went, WarGames still felt like a better blowoff.
MAIN EVENT (2/7/18)
Not like Main Event ever really blows me away, but this one was particularly lifeless.
Goldust (with Mandy Rose) and Curt Hawkins had a match. Goldy did the run the ropes and get tired spot he did on MMC but without the timing or charm.
Kalisto vs. Ariya Daivari was an Ariya Daivari match. Vince McMahon’s vision of 205 Live continues to be alive with Ariya Daivari.
WWE TV Match of the Week: Reigns/Rollins vs. The Bar, Kalisto vs. Lince Dorado, Hideo Itami vs. Roderick Strong – take your pick. Great week of wrestling.
WWE TV MVP of the Week: Roman Reigns had two great matches in two hours – c’mon. Clear MVP, as he usually is. Hope he doesn’t break before Mania.
Welp, 205 Live has taken a big leap – 2 straight-up excellent matches in an hour that re-established a championship and set stuff up for next week is as good as TV wrestling gets. RAW was great, SmackDown kind of sucked but at least had a few good matches, and NXT was solid. Overall a good week of WWE TV.
RAW: 9/10
SmackDown: 6/10
205 Live: 10/10
NXT: 6/10
