Retro Spotlight: Paige’s Raw Debut
Monday night on Raw there were a lot of surprises, some awesome moments, but there was one moment that stood out for a different reason. Paige took the microphone after Mandy Rose vs Sasha Banks, Rose and Sonya Deville left the ring, and it suddenly took on a different tone. It’s been an open secret since the turn of the year that Paige was not going to be medically cleared by WWE, and this week Paige herself confirmed that, and announced her in ring retirement from WWE.
What has happened here is a tragedy. Paige was a prodigy, signing for WWE as a teenager, becoming a focal point of NXT and becoming champion. It looked like she was going to be the core of WWE’s women’s division for a decade or more. But in 2016 she got hurt and there was a lot of drama also involving Alberto Del Rio, and for all intents and purposes that was the end of her career.
Injury. Controversy. Unfulfilled potential. That could be the lasting memories of Paige. But it shouldn’t be, because as much as WWE wants to call every women of the last 30 years trailblazers, Paige was a huge part of what started the change in perception over these last few years.
And as a tribute of sorts to SmackDown’s new General Manager, I want to go back to that time period. I want to take a look at Paige’s main roster debut, which will possibly go down as the greatest moment of her career. This is my Retro Spotlight for Paige’s Raw debut. Read More
Wrestlemania Talking Points – 6th-8th April
So I wasn’t going to do this, but after the weekend of content WWE put out, and the sheer number of noteworthy things to come out of Raw, I knew that one Talking Points article covering the whole week would be stupidly long. So welcome to Wrestlemania Talking Points, where I do the same thing I usually do for Raw, SmackDown and NXT and apply it to Wrestlemania weekend. That’s the Hall of Fame on Friday, NXT TakeOver: New Orleans and, of course, Wrestlemania 34. There’s a lot to cover, so let’s do it!
Hall of Fame
D-Von can be entertaining
Full disclosure, I still haven’t watched the entre HoF ceremony, because there were a few people I just didn’t have any interest in. But, the Dudley Boyz speech was phenomenal. They managed to toe that line of humour and seriousness perfectly, while putting over other people all the way. The moment with the original TLC teams reuniting on stage was awesome, and of course they put someone through a table.
Mark Henry calls for Owen Hart’s induction
I completely understand Martha Hart’s hesitancy to allowed Owen to be associated with WWE. This is just one of those cases where the Hall of Fame will never feel complete without him. He was tag team champions with Mark Henry, so Henry used his speech as an opportunity to publicly ask Martha to let Owen in. It was touching to see how much it clearly meant to Henry, it was a truly emotional moment. It wouldn’t be the last of those over the last few days either.
NXT TakeOver: New Orleans
North American Championship Ladder Match
It’s not like anything was massively shocking here, it was just a great match. Everyone got a chance to do their thing and shine, and it really did turn out to be carnage at it’s finest. From Ricochet flying everywhere, to Lars Sullivan manhandling everyone, to Velveteen Dream jumping off the top of ladder. And when all was said and done, there was only one, Undisputed winner.
Queen of Spades… and NXT
It’s been a long time since we had a heel NXT Women’s Champion, but here we are once again. Looking through the list of women to have held that title, it’s an impressive list with a fantastic pedigree that Shayna Baszler has to live up to. She has the character nailed down already, but I’m yet to be convinced by her in the ring. She has some really good talents to work with though, and NXT always does a good job of protecting their talent. I’ll give her time. I know this video is totally unrelated to the match, but I also loved this as Ember’s entrance and there don’t seem to be clips on WWE’s YouTube, so…
A Dusty finish again…
We finally saw the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic trophy awarded, and the tag titles were also on the line. Authors of Pain. Undisputed Era. Roderick Strong & Pete Dunne. One thing I really like about NXT is that they save their biggest angles for TakeOvers – Shinsuke Nakamura’s debut, DIY’s implosion, Adam Cole’s debut. And here we got a new moment to add to that list: Roderick Strong turns heel and joins Undisputed Era. And he dd so by attacking his partner, costing them the trophy and the titles. It’s going to be a good fit for Strong going forward, and they’ll likely dominate Wednesday nights together for the rest of 2018.
Gargano vs Ciampa
What. A. Match. From the minute Tommaso Ciampa walked down to the ring this felt like it was going to be special, and it was. The storytelling was off the charts, the emotion, the allusions. It can be tough for a match that’s been building for as long as this one has to live up to the hype, but Gargano and Ciampa met expectations and more. For Gargano, back to back classics at TakeOvers cements his spot as one of the elite workers in the company. Really, it says all you need to know that this match was the main event with the card on show.
Wrestlemania 34
Grand Slam Rollins
I thought the first four hours of Wrestlemania (including the pre-show) were phenomenal. So it was really tough to decide where to start with these highlights, and I’ve let WWE’s YouTube channel dictate this to an extent. I didn’t think they had the best moments up from the preshow, so even though I thought some moments there were great, I’m going straight to the main card, and Seth Rollins winning the Interconintental Championship to become a Grand Slam Champion. It was a really good match, as expected going in, again with a lot of references to previous encounters. It’s cool that all three members of The Shield are now Grand Slam champs, and I’m looking forward to seeing what Seth does with the title.
The streak… is over.
Even with the main event, this was still probably the most surprising result on the card. I really believed in the booking idea that Asuka would win the title, remain unstoppable and build up to a face off with Ronda Rousey next year at Wrestlemania. As it turned out, Charlotte is still the SmackDown Women’s Champion. It’s going to be very interesting to see where both of these talents go next.
Rousey steals the show
At the time of writing, this clip has nearly six million views on YouTube. To put that into perspective, The Undertaker has 2.5 million, and Daniel Bryan has less than a million. That’s the mainstream drawing power that Ronda Rousey has to WWE, the only question was whether she would be any good. And hell yeah she was. This was the best match on the show, and Ronda came across like a bona fide star. She really could be a difference maker for WWE in so many ways if this was anything to go by, because it was a fantastic match by any standards – never mind that it was her debut and Stephanie McMahon was in it.
Deadman walking
I really wasn’t convinced about Undertaker wrestling agin, and after Wrestlemania I’m really still not convinced. I’ve seen a lot of talk online that he was looking a lot better than last year, but I didn’t think he was moving that well. But, the saving grace was how they brought him back. The teases were well done, and the way the hat and jacket reappeared I really thought was genius.
He’s baaack
Daniel Bryan is back baby! There were issues with this match, nobody can deny that, but above all else it is just plain great to see Daniel Bryan doing his thing again, with no apparent negative consequences. I wrote about this match on Sunday, and I said it wouldn’t feel right if Bryan lost on his return. Well, he didn’t. That was the right call, and it is so exciting to think of all the potential dream matches that lie ahead of him. Welcome back Bryan!
See what I mean? Can you imagine if I’d put all that into an article as well as all that happened last night on Raw, and tonight’s SmackDown, and tomorrow’s NXT? I wouldn’t have gotten the article finished this week. Stay tuned for more posts this week, I have a few more planned, and now we can officially say that 2018’s Wrestlemania weekend is in the history books!
Wrestlemania 34 Spotlight: Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs Daniel Bryan & Shane McMahon
There was only one way I could round off my Spotlights for Wrestlemania 34. And that is with the most hotly anticipated return the wrestling world has seen for many a year. We haven’t seen him in the ring for three years, but he’s back for Wrestlemania. I couldn’t not cover it, it’s the in-ring comeback of Daniel Bryan, as he teams with Shane McMahon to take on Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn!
So there’s been a lot of conflict leading up to this. And I don’t mean conflict between the faces and the heels, that would be obvious. But for months now, Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan have been in a battle of wills over the direction SmackDown should take. And most of the time, those disagreements were over Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, who themselves have been fighting with each other again in the last couple of months. Read More
Wrestlemania 34 Spotlight: Cesaro & Sheamus vs Braun Strowman & ???
Wrestlemania is tomorrow! We’re right around the corner, and there is still one intriguing mystery about the grandest stage of them all. That’s what I’m going to be discussing in this Spotlight, because I’m looking at the Raw Tag Team Championship match between the defending champions Cesaro & Sheamus and Braun Strowman and his secret partner.
Cesaro and Sheamus were put together as an apparently random pairing of two superstars who weren’t doing much. But what a revelation they’ve been. Over 18 months they’ve put on great matches with The New Day, The Hardy Boyz and Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose. The division needed new blood after The New Day’s record setting title reign, and on the Raw side of things the European duo have picked up the mantle and ran with it. Read More
TakeOver: New Orleans Spotlight: North American Championship Ladder Match
This weekend isn’t just about Wrestlemania, tonight we may have the single most stacked NXT TakeOver event in history. Johnny Gargano vs Tommaso Ciampa is my pick to be the best match of the weekend, at the last TakeOver the NXT Championship match got Dave Meltzer’s fabled five stars, we have a triple threat tag team title match that is filled with talent, and we debut a new championship. It is the last on that list that I’m focusing on here, because not only do we have a new title at stake, we also have six men vying for it. And ladders.
It reminds me of the kinds of phrases I used to describe WarGames back in November. Chaos, carnage, destruction; and all in the best possible kind of way. Read More
Wrestlemania 34 Spotlight: Shinsuke Nakamura vs AJ Styles
So it’s about time I got round to writing about the match I’m most looking forward to at Wrestlemania. It’s a match between two of my favourites in or out of WWE (I mean, just look at the image at the very top of this site).
Much like I wrote about the Intercontinental Championship triple threat earlier in the week, it’s a match we’ve seen before. Not in this hemisphere, not in this country. Not on this stage and not with this prize at stake. This time it’s the Royal Rumble winner facing the WWE Champion. But it’s still Shinsuke Nakamura vs AJ Styles. Read More
TV Talking Points – 2nd-4th April
It was the go-home week for Wrestlemania, and with most of Mania already set it felt like a fairly standard Raw and SmackDown. It could be argued that they should have been blow-away shows as a final push to sell you Wrestlemania, but in the Network era that doesn’t matter anymore. So if you missed the shows, what happened?
Raw
The Authority stands tall
Since Ronda Rousey debuted, she hasn’t really shown any weakness. That was until Monday, where Triple H and Stephanie McMahon finally got the upper hand. I imagine Ronda will be getting the win on Sunday, and you can’t expect The Authority to never get the last laugh. And it was a nice example of turnaround being fair play, as Ronda ended up getting put through a table. Just like she did to Triple H at Elimination Chamber.
Brains Strowman
One of the few remaining mysteries going into Wrestlemania is who Sheamus & Cesaro will be defending the Raw Tag Team Championships against. We know Braun Strowman will be in the match, as he won a battle royal a few weeks back to earn the shot. But ever since, he’s refused to reveal who his partner will be. There has been a lot of speculation as to who it will be, ranging from Rey Mysterio to Bray Wyatt to Dean Ambrose to Drew McIntyre. But I think it’s safe to say one person it won’t be is “Brains Strowman”.
Tensions bubbling over
So I wanted to call attention to one rivalry that isn’t going to be a featured part of Sunday, but looks like it will be in the aftermath of Wrestlemania. There have been teases of revisiting NXT’s legendary Sasha Banks vs Bayley rivalry for over a year now, but things have really picked up in the last month. It seems obvious that one of them will be turning heel. Who will it be? I’d have to think we’ll find out in the next week. That in sunless a Superstar Shake-up messes thing long running story up again.
SmackDown
Hug it out
It’s amazing how quickly things can turn around in just a few weeks. Daniel Bryan’s story really is remarkable, and his popularity hasn’t waned a bit. Even the allusions to his previous gimmicks and storylines are as over as they ever were at the time, and I’m sure Dr Shelby would be proud to see Bryan still utilising the practice of hugging things out. I think this was a necessary segment, since there was always going to be the question of how these two would coexist after disagreeing with each other for so long. But also, if there is going to be a heel turn, if will make it all the more of a betrayal after this. It was important for their solidarity this Sunday, but it was also important for story options going forward.
NXT
A Classicly Dusty finish
I loved that Roderick Strong and Pete Dunne were entered into the Dusty Classic. The original Dusty Classic were full or mix and match duos (let’s not forget the inaugural winners were Finn Balor and Samoa Joe) where part of the story was whether they would implode by the end of each match. And this year things were taken one step further, as the whole tournament ended with a controversial finish, as the Undisputed Era caused a double disqualification. This led to not just the tag titles being on the line come Saturday night at TakeOver, but also the Dusty Rhodes trophy. Will the Undisputed Era win the Dusty Classic by winning a single match?
Six man face off
The advertised main event of this week’s NXT was Killian Dain vs Lars Sullivan, two of the contestants in the ladder match to crown the first ever NXT North American Champion on Saturday. But for the second time on the show, we didn’t get a clean finish. Actually, we didn’t get any finish. The rest of the field came out to interrupt the match, and while no punches were thrown, no words were said, NXT did go off the air with the first in-ring appearance of The One and Only… Ricochet.
I fully expect a bumper week next time out as TakeOver and Wrestlemania will be included, and it’s always an extremely newsworthy edition of Raw and SmackDown after Wrestlemania. I’m also doing Spotlights on Mania matches every day this week, and I’ll be posting a TakeOver: New Orleans Spotlight too, so keep visiting the sight to keep up to date with all my latest content!
Wrestlemania 34 Spotlight: Kurt Angle & Ronda Rousey vs Triple H & Stephanie McMahon
History was made at the Royal Rumble this year. Has anyone ever told you that? We were treated to the first ever Women’s Royal Rumble Match, which was really fun. But that was overshadowed by what followed before the show went off the air – Ronda Rousey debuted.
Long term, that could be the real history that was made that night, which is why WWE has been pushing her so hard. It’s difficult to describe the phenomenon that was Rousey at her peak in UFC. She was the female Conor McGregor. In fact, she was kind of Conor McGregor before Conor McGregor became Conor McGregor. She was the biggest draw in MMA, regularly adding millions on to PPV revenues. And she had a mainstream value unlike possibly any fighter before her.
So if she brings that to WWE, she could be a game changer. For all the talk about a women’s revolution, it could be Rousey that really makes Vince push women to the top of the company. Read More
Wrestlemania 34 Spotlight: Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal
It’s Wednesday, which means it’s the third day of Wrestlemania Spotlights! Today I want to write about a match that seemed to have so much potential on paper the first time or two it was made, but has dissolved into… well, into a joke. I’m talking of course about the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
I mean, seriously, has there ever been a more obvious filler match on the Wrestlemania card? It’s not even funny. It’s very easy to forget both that this match is happening, and that last year it was won by Mojo Rawley, with a little help from Rob Gronkowski. Being in this match is a very bad sign, because it’s WWE’s way of getting everyone on to the show. If you’re not in a featured match, you’re in this one. It’s that simple. Read More
Wrestlemania 34 Spotlight: The Miz vs Finn Balor vs Seth Rollins
We have no more Raws before Wrestlemania! We’re getting closer all the time people! So with the final build almost over, it’s time for one more Spotlight. This time round I’m looking at another title match: the Intercontinental Championship triple threat match that sees The Miz defending his title against Seth Rollins and Finn Balor.
First off, I’m excited for this match. These three are all extremely capable performers, I wouldn’t mind whoever won, and they’ve done it before. Literally. This exact match. Just short of a year ago. And it was great. So I have full faith they can do it again on the grandest stage of them all.
Wrestlemania 34 Spotlight: Asuka vs Charlotte
It’s officially Wrestlemania week! This year we have an absolutely stacked card. There could be five legitimate main events for varying reasons. So with that in mind, just like last year it’s not going to be enough to cover the show with a single Spotlight. Once again, I’m going to attempt seven Spotlights in seven days. And this time, I start with the SmackDown Women’s Championship Match: Asuka vs Charlotte Flair.
Asuka vs Charlotte could be one of the best matches on the show. From an in ring stand point, I only have it behind AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura in my expectations. Asuka’s push has been unrivalled in WWE, and Charlotte has clearly been the queen of the company in recent years. It should be one of the featured matches on this year’s extravaganza. But for some reason, the hype just isn’t there. It feels like just another match. Read More
TV Talking Points – 26th-28th March
It was the penultimate week of build to Wrestlemania, and once again I’m a little strapped for time, so let’s get right into the week’s events!
Raw
Laying down the law for the Deadman
While I was very much in the camp that wasn’t sure if I wanted to see Undertaker wrestle again, John Cena has most certainly brought the intensity when calling out WWE’s conscience. Like I’ve said before, he’s attacked Undertaker’s personality and character like nobody in recent memory. And this week Cena brought it again, this time claiming that no response from the Undertaker would be letting down every single fan who’s ever believed in him.
