hoping to start a weekly thing again ...

wrestling 015 & tv review 056

WWE

RAW

[ WWE ]

[04th of June, 2018]

[2hr 30min +/-, Pop culture, Sports Entertainment, Wrestling]

Well, I was trying to start it last week but was postponing it too far that I just couldn't make the time for it so here's my attempt to rejuvenate my love for the industry by trying to put my thoughts on the weekly products down.
So here we go!

After the guitar bash on the backside of Seth Rollins, we can safely say that Elias has been one of the most over wrestlers on the Red Brand by playing as an effective heel that we just love to hate and his apparent inclusion into the second title contention is the obvious thing to do to reward his performance on the mic (and on the guitar as well) and in the ring. Whether or not he is worthy of the belt as of now, it still remains to be seen but it is safe to say that the current holder has been following up on the Miz's reign by bringing back prestige to the title and making it look so good and actually something to fight for for once. Having the former SHIELD members helping each other against the heels are a natural progression of the storyline, with the Big Dog continuing on his feud with the Modern Maharaja. This is a worthwhile endeavor for both of them and would be entertaining at the least and putting the Wanderer over albeit with a steel cheat would just increase the intensity between both of them, increase the intrigue for their own feud. Also Seth wouldn't be affected much by eating a pin despite being the Intercontinental Champion since he is the most over babyface on the Monday night show currently (Balor wouldn't fall far behind). Oh, the tag team match was solid and entertaining, as expected.

It is Curt Hawkins' shtick now for being the one wrestler with the longest losing run but at least he's doing something with him and the tease of him almost achieving his first win for awhile after coming back was perfectly played as the now Constable Corbin interfered without any reason, just for the sake of it. There wasn't any, right? 

I am as confused as everyone when the writing team was using Nia Jax as the next Big Show, playing with his character like a coin that's being flipped willy nilly, almost certainly burying her progression against bullying in her journey to Wrestlemania and making it moot as she was inexplicably turned heel last week and now back again by showing compassion when Natalya injured her leg in the ring {kayfabe}. With Ronda Rousey in commentary, I hope this is just an ineffective mind game by being inconsistent from week to week or maybe they're pushing forward with the now babyface Natalya to turn heel on her disciple, scheming behind her back with the Champion. The speed of the Rowdy's punch, though ...

After a string of PPVs seemingly twice a month, having a breather between them once in awhile really helped in at least forcing the creatives to diverse their storytelling a bit from the norm. Having the two contenders for the Money in the Bank match fight each other week after week could be tiring if repeated week by week but at least they're diversifying between the match as we had Bobby Roode against Braun Strowman this week, a solid match between a well rounded wrestler with the biggest monster in the roster, having the dynamic changed a few times during the match. Since wins and losses never matter here, they both came out unscathed in the end.

The pairing of Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt has done wonders for the latter more than the former as one half of the Hardy Boys was teased to be "Broken" but took too long to my liking to cash in on the popularity of that persona (I know it was because of the lawsuit or rather the fight for the name right) while the constant poor booking for the once leader of the Wyatt Family was finally being revitalized after being "DELETED" and rebirth. It is endlessly entertaining to see they traded meaningless banters one after another and bringing life to the Tag Team Division on the RAW Brand. I'm just hoping that they would pull the trigger sooner rather than later for Matt to venture out as a credible single wrestler. 

Speaking of which, the Tag Team Battle Royal was used to determine the team that would fight for the Title held by the Deleter of Worlds, adding a little variety to the match list of the night but certainly showcasing how shallow the roster is right now, with no leading, credible contenders since none of them have been used to further their character development and not just another forgettable pairings! I have hope for Dash and Dawson to bounce back as the top heel tag team of the division after seeing how well they were in NXT. Having the rule for the elimination of one members would mean the whole team would be as well instead of the usual was used to give the spotlight on the threat of Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre and teased the incoming split between them it was the former's fault they were out in the first place. This is also a perfect platform to further the development of the B Team as they came out as the winner of match and earned the opportunity to fight for the Championship for the first time. At least they are the leading act of the division, and who knows, maybe they'll get the belt after all!

Whether it was the writing team or Vince himself, I still wouldn't forgive them for putting Samy Zyan in a tough predicament by making him leading that offensive segment with Bobby Lashley's 'sisters' and forced him to apologize for something that he wouldn't even made up in the first place! Don't sully his name like this, man! He is a future WWE champion! (I believe in him! The buildup for their match in the upcoming PPV definitely could've been better but I still think they would come up with a fun encounter in the ring in the end. The journey sucks, but at least the destination would make up for it.

Even though it was shorter than the male counterpart, the Gauntlet matches last week was great actually and they followed it up this week with a three-way tag team match between Alexa Bliss, Sasha Banks and Ember Moon against the Riott Squad. It was by the number affair as they gave us a solid bout but the shenanigan with Alexa Bliss feigning injury and Bayley jumping in to the rescue were the focus of the match, as the Constable stroked again with an actually poignant and accurate assessment of the outcome and forced Kurt Angel to break it to the celebrating girls of the reversal. The feud between the Boss and the Hugger wasn't handled well ever since it was introduced and I know it will play into the female Money in the Bank match later next Sunday.

I wanted to highlight their segment to highlight their United States Special Olympics as Big Show (hasn't seen him in awhile!) since they used their platform for good. They are still athletes in my eyes, still superior to me.
Having Finn Balor interacted with them was a nice moment though, seeing how happy they were to do his entrance beside him. If the company or Vince still wonder if he's over enough or good for business, I can't see a better example here. His main event match against Kevin Owens was easily the match of the day as the two hardest workers on the roster currently putting on hard-hitting brawl in, around and outside of the ropes, treating the fans with the premium product the company could have manufactured. These two former Universal Champions deserve another go with the title (when it finally return to the main roster and can be seen week after week for once!) and they show their credibility front and center! This might not leave up to their excellent match in NXT but it was an exhilarating watch nonetheless. When they show you holding up the title or the briefcase at the end of show, you are almost guarantee to lose the match. In this particular case, I am really hoping that isn't true.

Execution = around 70% with middling executions that could've been better!

The show could've been better but I am looking forward to see their go-home match next week ...

P.S. I love that they even did a classic switcharoo just how Elias did with the Undertaker in the last minutes, certainly giving me layer after layer of joy from that stunt!

- x -