WrestleMania go-home weeks are always interesting in that there’s this big mystique around them because we’re headed into the Granddaddy of Them All, but in reality they are rarely very good. For the couple weeks prior to and especially the last week before the big show WWE just kind of limps their way to it – the card is set, the big angles are already shot. So there will be a brawl here, a contract signing there. I don’t know what type of person is watching RAW the Monday before Mania that hasn’t made up their mind if they are watching it.
So the art’s in having an entertaining show without giving too much away. And for the most part I think WWE succeeded at that this week.
It helps that the Mania card is ridiculously appealing. I mean jesus f’ing christ at this thing.
RAW (4/2/18)
This show had a brawl, a face-off, a few promos, a few nothing matches, and oddly enough an absolute banger of a singles match. Outside of that singles match there was nothing exactly blow-away great, but overall I liked it.
The Triple H & Stephanie / Angle & Ronda face-off brought all that this feud has brought: Steph being condescending, Ronda being awkward but over, and Triple H owning Angle with cheapshots because sometimes you just need to know your place. Steph was in full Mania hard sell mode… I love her using terms like “direct report” – she is SUCH a corporate goon. I wonder what genius is writing Ronda’s stuff and how hard they are cringing when she flubs it – the “Are you a righty or a lefty? I still want you to be able to sign my checks” line was SO inspired.
Bayley vs. Sonya Deville was kind of just a passable wrestling match but gee did they get some time. Crowd was actually into all the big spots, maybe not the rest of it. The Bayley/Sasha thing post-match was definitely a thing that continued this story.
Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor was a special match and might be getting MOTY chatter if this was Mania. They avoided all the critiques I usually have of them – didn’t waste time early, weren’t working light, upped the intensity, and as per usual holy SHIT at that finish. These two just tearing it up with chain wrestling and rope-running as Miz crowed about his newborn was some special television. And then these athletic freaks of nature just kept things moving with cool, brilliantly timed stuff that all felt like legitimate attempts at winning a wrestling match. The slow-mo replay of Finn’s superkick, Seth’s superplex falcon arrow, and the SummerSlam 2016 outside powerbomb callback were highlights. The crowd was flipping out for everything too, going wild and creating massive near falls off of signature moves we all know had no chance at ending it. The Finn reverse cradle into the Seth schoolboy to setup the curb stomp finish was AMAAAAAZING.
Miz bragging about his swaddling skills and acting like he’s some upstanding babyface now that he has a baby girl on commentary was awesome too. This douchebag is so going to cheat his ass off at Mania.
Alternate Reality Braun Strowman (BRAINS STROWMAN) was some mildly amusing sports entertainment. Cannot believe this Braun partner thing has turned into a legitimately compelling part of Mania. What a card.
HUMONGOUS WONDER NUMBER EIGHT!
Matt Hardy vs. Goldust in 2018 was delightful. Not great, felt out of place, but solid as hell. Punches and selling, brother.
Corey Graves putting over Mahal’s Andre Battle Royal loss as leading to his WWE Title win was hilarious.
Big John promo was a great Big John promo – filling in the plot hole as to why he wouldn’t just join the Andre Battle Royal, putting over the full-time roster, hyping the Mania card. WWE gave such incredible blue balls on that Undertaker chant. I love how cocky they are in 2018 – Cena vs. Undertaker would’ve been THE Mania match just a couple years ago, but this year they’re just like “Eh, rest of the card speaks for itself – maybe you’ll get it, maybe you won’t.”
Elias vs. Heath Slater was actually a fast-moving squash with some cool shots by Elias, but more than anything it was a match about commentary: Corey Graves making a BoJack Horseman reference, Michael Cole taking shots at unlicensed bootleg WWE merchandise. Tremendous.
Curt Hawkins’ campaign to be Braun’s tag partner finally getting some airtime is great.
The Nia Jax interview was OK but I don’t think I’m the target audience. I’m also not sure WWE is the right company to do this kind of angle with any tact. Will it be cool when Nia wrecks Alexa? Yes. Do I REALLY REALLY want Nia to wreck Alexa? Eh. Not yet.
Not positive that Dana Brooke taking heat for a lengthy amount of time was the best choice for so late in the show, but here we are. Asuka at least is an awesome corner woman and hot tag. And Mickie took that Nia Jax ass-kicking like a champ.
The Roman/Brock stuff was a Go-Home Segment, yes it was. Much better than the one leading up to Mania 31, at least. Roman using his words (“All y’all full-time talent gonna protect this part time bastard?”) and parting the WWE tag division like the Red God Damn Sea was kind of incredible.
If this really is it for Brock – I’m ready. End it. The invincible appearing once-in-a-while champ is cool on paper and I’ll probably respect it years later, but the whole shtick is kind of dead. Time for a spear.
SMACKDOWN (4/3/18)
A similar show to RAW with a bit less oomph because, you know, SmackDown.
The Daniel Bryan/Shane McMahon hugging bit was fun but man oh man do Bryan and Shane have some of the all-time worst promo chemistry I’ve seen in WWE. Shane just never feels like he wants to be there and I’d say Bryan has never been a good promo guy but the last two weeks have shown otherwise. Get these guys together and it just flops. Cannot wait until Shane-O-Mac turns on D-Bryan because he’s already basically the third most unlikable guy on SmackDown Live.
Knowing SmackDown’s luck though Shane will turn down going heel ’cause of his kids or some shit.
Charlotte vs. Natalya had a few flubs but was another solid TV match between these two, while the Carmella MITB tease was a solid bit. Has Charlotte taken the Flair bump off the top before? I honestly can’t remember but I dug it.
Asuka’s a great freakin’ promo eh? The ability of her to come in with imperfect English and get over just by being colorful, emoting, jumping around, stretching the hell out of every word she says, and oh yeah kicking ass is so awesome.
The AJ/Nakamura promo bits were kinda neat. AJ’s delivery of the “He sort of patted me on the head, as if I was a dog” line cracked me up. They’ve handled this whole “Dream Match” build real well, haven’t they?
As a sidenote, I kind of want to see a Nakamura vs. Cody match. It’s two guys who have worked their ways into top positions in other countries despite having no discernible wrestling talent.
Jinder Mahal vs. Rusev was a decent match helped along by Rusev being over. This would’ve probably shat the bed even a year ago but Jinder has come a long way.
So on this show, we found out that Big E carries his tablet in his pants and his laptop in Kofi’s.
The Corbin/Mojo/Dolph/PRIMO!!!!! vs. Ryder/Tye/Breezango 8-man was classic WWE 5-minute multi-man zaniness with a bunch of guys nobody really cares about all that much.
I wonder if Baron Corbin still complains about his spot backstage ala Breaking Ground or if he’s given up. Attempting to be a 2-time Andre Battle Royal winner might be one of the sadder things in wrestling.
The Owens and Zayn invasion/promo saw these jokers FINALLY adding some juice to the Mania match. Sami Zayn as a fired up heel promo was good stuff, especially his attempt at a “WE DESERVE IT” chant. Love KO still trying to sell his WWE-branded KO-Mania 3 shirt despite being fired.
Nakamura & AJ vs. Gable & Benjamin was OK. Nak threw some nice kicks. Benjamin threw some nice knees. There were also a couple heel control segments and some holds and stuff. Gable took a heckuva bump off that Phenomenal Forearm.
Post-match got the point across. Nakamura seemed rock hard that AJ used his own shtick on him.
MIXED MATCH CHALLENGE (4/3/18)
We have finally arrived at the Mixed Match Challenge Finals and like most matches in this tournament the verdict is that it was pretty good. The Charlotte/Asuka snippets were GREAT while Bobby and Miz had weirdly good chemistry. Dug Miz, Bobby and Charlotte just goofing around early and Asuka being all “MMYYYYYY STTREEEAAAAAKK!!!!” Charlotte’s spear out of nowhere on Miz was tremendous, Asuka hit what must’ve been the stiffest hip attack of all-time on her, and Asuka setting up the finish on Roode is so awesome.
Miz hamming it up for the post-match promo was great, again gong full babyface with a goodnight message for his daughter, talking up charities, and a WOOF WOOF chant for the rescue dog charity.
Overall, I thought the MMC peaked with weeks like one and two. Balor/Sasha vs. Nakamura/Natalya was the wrestling match of the tournament, Braun/Alexa vs. Sami/Becky the gimmick match of the tournament.
Godspeed, MMC – you lost a little steam towards the end there but were a solid experiment. Plus, rescue dogs! Hell yeah!
Let’s do it again.
205 LIVE (4/3/18)
I wonder if this is where young KENTA always thought he’d end up when he made the big move to America – his fellow signees working the American Dragon or going for the IC Title at WrestleMania, while he works in front of people heading for the exits post-SmackDown, not even managing a spot in the Andre Battle Royal.
Wrestling is fun. Wrestling is tragic.
Like most of the Lucha vs. Puro matches, Metalik/Dorado vs. Itami/Tozawa wasn’t anything great and Itami continues to underwhelm, but it was a solid little match with some fun spots and moments that abruptly ended via DQ which is a perfectly acceptable thing to do.
Tony Nese squashed a guy and it was OK. These squashes aren’t a bad way to re-introduce some of the floundering 205 Live guys, though I miss those video packages.
Kalisto vs. Buddy Murphy was a match in which Drake Maverick or let’s say Adam Pearce walked up to Kalisto and Buddy Murphy Tuesday afternoon and said, “Sup bros. You’ve got 20. Go kill it.” This thing was an excellent match and was even more impressive because it was between two guys with no real story other than the mystique of 205 Live actually being an entertaining wrestling show now.
A lot of WWE TV matches have a formula to them that I respect and enjoy, but this felt like a classic 2005 ROH match or something, two guys going buck wild to get noticed and doing a bunch of cool junior heavyweight shit along the way. Cool stalemate spots early, both guys preventing each other from gaining any momentum, getting pops and light 2-0-5 chants off of freaking headlocks. Kalisto is a magic man who can just flip and handspring his way out of any troublesome situation, while Buddy is a guy proving that every good thing people said about him is true – developing a character you can buy into is the next step, but the dude can just flat go.
Once Kalisto nearly died on the apron suplex this thing just got crazy with all kinds of good stuff – Buddy bumping on his head off the basement rana, the Kalisto springboard reverse rana being blown but nobody caring because the match was so good, a MONKEY FLIP on the COMMENTARY TABLE which was an all-time great spot, a perfect Code Red by Kalisto, and Buddy catching a rana with a powerbomb then kneeing Kalisto in the face for a near fall that led to big 2-0-5 and FIGHT FOREVER chants. Loved Buddy desperately fighting to hit his finish and finally getting it to pull off the win.
This is Awesome, Fight Forever, standing ovations, etc might be overblown these days but when you’re pulling that stuff on 205 Live it is EARNED. Tremendous match.
NXT (4/4/18)
Heck of an NXT – great match, great squash, great hype videos, and a sweet closing angle with the first in-ring appearance of some guy named Ricochet.
Roddy Strong and Peter Dunne are great and AoP is capable, but I was still shocked how much I dug the Dusty Classic Finals – this was a hell of a professional wrestling match with a great atmosphere, hot crowd, Roddy and Dunne bringing it to the AoP, tons of action, and the crowd just losing their shit over the possibility of their heroes winning. It really was building towards a great peak before the Undisputed Era run-in. Awesome stuff.
The North American Title video package had some cool presentation with each of the six guys doing something unique, highlighted by EC3 poolside and Lars Sullivan THROWING AROUND CINDER BLOCKS. The Johnny/Ciampa and Almas/Black videos were phenomenal too – a good night for NXT production.
Is it Vanessa Borne or Vanessa Bourne? The letterhead says Borne, the entrance video says Bourne. WHICH IS IT!?!?!
Borne vs. Kairi Sane was actually a really fun compact squash – Borne is improving and Kairi just flat rocks. The crowd bought into her comeback big time and she is so good at getting her charisma across. Very cool stuff.
Killian Dain vs. Lars Sullivan meanwhile was a REAL brief little hoss fight that needed more intensity – should’ve had Oney Lorcan agent the match or something.
How about that post-match Ricochet run-in though? What a star. Percy Watson’s COMPLETE SHOCK over EC3 running out, as if that wasn’t obviously going to fucking happen, was kinda great too and cracked me up.
MAIN EVENT (4/4/18)
Mustafa Ali & Cedric Alexander teaming up vs. Tony Nese & Ariya Daivari on MAIN EVENT right before their big WrestleMania match is a weird thing but here we are. Ali & Cedric actually might have some potential as an actual tag team in the heavyweight division if they ever wanted to go in that direction – two likable fellas doing cool stuff and taking heat. Fun tag match here, with Ali selling well and popping folks and Cedric doing a great hot tag. Even Nese and Daivari brought it more than usual. This was the first Main Event Match Worth Watching in a while.
The Revival vs. Gallows & Anderson was like 5 minutes long but a solid little match. Babyface Club has potential that I don’t think will ever be reached in WWE. Gallows taking a Shatter Machine was pretty cool.
WWE TV Match of the Week: For me, Balor/Rollins just edged out Kalisto/Buddy which just edged out the Dusty Classic Finals. But what a week of wrestling!
WWE TV MVP of the Week: Buddy Murphy is the MVP on the WrestleMania go-home week. Incredible.
WRESTLEMANIA TIME LET’S GO
RAW: 7/10
SmackDown: 7/10
205 Live: 7/10
NXT: 9/10
