IMG Credit: WWE

205 Live
Date: April 3, 2018
Location: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness

It’s go home week for Wrestlemania and that means it’s the go home show for 205 Live as well. In this case we have a Cruiserweight Title match set for Sunday’s Kickoff Show, which means they might be able to set up some extra stuff this week. It’s hard to say what else is going on, but Buddy Murphy is being pushed strong as well. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

The opening preview focuses on Hideo Itami/Akira Tozawa vs. Lucha House Party. It’s a smart move to focus on things other than the title match as they need something to go with after Sunday. We’ll also get a preview of the tournament final.

Opening sequence.

Akira Tozawa/Hideo Itami vs. Gran Metalik/Lince Dorado

Itami and Metalik start things off with Hideo wasting no time in taking him to the mat and posing. Instead of following up, Itami shoves Dorado in the face, allowing Metalik to score with a superkick. Dorado comes in for two off a standing moonsault but it’s off to Tozawa to kick Metalik down without much effort.

The backsplash connects but Metalik reverses into a crucifix for two of his own. A hard right hand drops Metalik again and the villainous dominance continues. Metalik gets in a right hand and is promptly kicked down. A kick of his own is enough for the hot tag to Dorado, who strikes away as well. Itami’s demands for respect earn him the Golden Rewind and a big flip dive to the floor drops Itami again. Tozawa adds a dive of his own and a BIG twisting corkscrew dive from Metalik drops everyone at once. Back in and Itami goes for Metalik’s mask and everything breaks down, drawing the double DQ at 7:27.

Rating: C-. I wasn’t feeling this one but you can see the Tag Team Title feud being set up from here. Itami is better in this role as Tozawa has more than enough charisma to make up for Itami’s severe lack thereof. Lucha House Party is a nice team in this role and that’s all they need to be until we get a big threat to beat them down.

Itami and Tozawa leave the masked guys laying.

Drew Gulak isn’t disappointed that his match with Mark Andrews has been canceled due to injury, but he wants Andrews to be healthy. He had a PowerPoint presentation ready about why he would keep the Gulock (dragon sleeper) on for a long time, but one slide summed it up: because he could. If you step to him, you tap out. Serious Gulak is a fun Gulak.

Andrews says he’s coming around the world to make things right against Gulak.

Tony Nese vs. Jonathan Pierce

Pierce brings it to Nese to start but Nese moonsaults over him and nips into a kick to the ribs to take over. That’s enough for Pierce who tries to walk out but gets clotheslined for his efforts. Back in and a springboard into a Lionsault gets two, followed by Pierce getting caught on the top. The running knee in the corner ends Pierce at 2:56.

Kalisto is checking on his buddies when he runs into Buddy Murphy. Buddy says tonight isn’t personal but Kalisto is standing in his way of being Cruiserweight Champion.

Kalisto vs. Buddy Murphy

It’s an early stalemate to start until Murphy uses the size to run him over, meaning it’s time to crank on the arm. Back up and Kalisto tries a headscissors but Murphy cartwheels out in a bit of a surprise. Kalisto goes up top for a spinning armdrag (not much of a move for such a big start) and it’s another stalemate. With nothing else working, Murphy slaps on an abdominal stretch but Kalisto climbs the ropes and spins onto Buddy’s back for a sleeper. Cool counter.

A DDT gives Kalisto two and they head to the apron with Murphy suplexing him onto the apron in a sick crash. Back in and a hard Irish whip into the corner keeps the pressure on Kalisto’s back but a spinning kick to the head drops Murphy. Kalisto springboards into a reverse hurricanrana but Murphy drops him back with an electric chair for a sweet counter. A hurricanrana driver gives Kalisto two and it’s back outside, this time with Murphy hitting a monkey flip onto the announcers’ table.

That’s only good for nine as the fans are WAY into this. Back in and a powerbomb gets two on Kalisto as we get 205 and FIGHT FOREVER chants. Kalisto’s rolling kick to the head sets up a Code Red for two of his own as the fans are losing their minds over these kickouts. Back up and a bad looking Murphy’s Law (Murphy didn’t get underneath him enough) is enough for the pin at 14:49.

Rating: B+. This is the kind of match that the show should have been built around in the first place. These guys were beating the heck out of each other with as many high impact moves as they could think of until one of them couldn’t get up. I have a blast with this and Murphy is clearly the top challenger for whoever comes out of Wrestlemania as champion. Check this out if you have the chance.

Drake Maverick talks about how many great things have come from the Cruiserweight Title tournament. He pleads with us to make sure to see the Kickoff Show because Cedric Alexander and Mustafa Ali are going to tear the house down. That’s the match that everyone is going to be talking about. As usual, Maverick is a heck of a hype man and has some incredible emotion in his promos.

We get a long and very well done video on the Cruiserweight Title match. Both of their paths to the title match is chronicled, including how they’re both ready to win the title on the grandest stage of them all. Ali is making his pay per view debut on Sunday, which is quite the way to start.

Overall Rating: B. The main event and final hype video alone are worth checking out and I want to see the Cruiserweight Title match. This was a solid episode of the show and showcased what these people are capable of doing. It also makes you feel like so much of the first year was such a waste as this style is as entertaining as you can get. Really solid show here and the title match should be a blast.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/23/new-paperback-kbs-grab-bag/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Well that was….eventful. There was a lot to be seen at this year’s Wrestlemania and for the most part, I thought the good more than outweighed the bad. There were some major, major surprises and I was shouting at a lot of things, albeit mostly in a shocked way rather than an angry way. Since it might take me a few days to get the review up, here are some live thoughts from throughout the evening.

My seat was looking mostly straight at the ring post on the right hand side of the ring on the opposite side of the hard camera.  Of note: when I was at Wrestlemania XXX, I was in row 27, seat 15.  This time, I was in row 27, seat 15.

After a VERY long delay at WrestleCon (Totally worth it this time around. Again, report to come I promise.), I got to the stadium, got inside, bought an overpriced Sprite and got into my seat as the entrants were coming to the ring for the Andre Battle Royal. I like Matt winning, though I was worried Bray would steal it from him. This was Bray’s LONG awaited face turn and hopefully it sticks this time around. He could certainly use it. Nothing to see here, including any major callups.

I’m glad Cedric won the Cruiserweight Title. The guy is that good and the match was entertaining. Ali can get it later, though hopefully not after a heel turn as he’s that good. It was around this time that I started getting into the show, partially because I got some food in between matches to wake me up a bit.

The women’s battle royal….erg. My issue isn’t with Naomi winning but rather Bayley having it won and WWE deciding to go with the surprise. Bayley and Sasha have been in a good feud as of late while Naomi has been doing absolutely nothing. Bayley winning and advancing their feud made sense while Naomi winning felt like pulling a name out of a hat. That got on my nerves, which was better than how uninterested I was throughout the match. Peyton Royce was a nice appearance, but then again when isn’t she?

Hey we have pyro again. It’s about time and I can go with not having it every week, but not having it at pay per views is dumb. AT LEAST for the big shows.

The two women singing America the Beautiful are “the future of music” and they’re doing a cover? Be original people.

The opener was rather strong and I had a good time with it, though I’m not sure what the point was in Balor’s entrance. I’m sure Miz will get it back soon enough and move up the ladder towards the most days as champion. The match was a good choice for an opener as the fans have something to cheer and it’s a nice way to go about things.

Asuka tapping out shocked the heck out of me and I screamed at the finish. I like the choice here as Asuka gets knocked off and makes her eventual title defenses have more of a point. I know the rumored match was Rousey vs. Asuka for the title at Wrestlemania next year, but now you don’t have to worry about being bored because “she has to keep the title until Wrestlemania to protect the streak”. Not so much now, and I like that a lot.

And then we have the big middle finger to the fans. Rusev is one of the hottest things in the company (there was a 12 month RUSEV DAY calendar for sale at the Superstore) and he takes the pin from Jinder to give Mahal the title. Mahal winning is bad enough (though I guessed it because it would be the dumbest winner they could choose) but this was WWE saying “you will not cheer someone we don’t want you to cheer so sit down and bask in what we know is greatness”. People, including me, were ticked off here.

That brings us to the mixed tag and I’m not sure where to start. Let’s get this out of the way: Rousey looked great and my love of her is fully restored (not that it ever really went away). She’s still rough around the edges and needs ring time, but the fire was there and she looked like a killer, which is exactly what she was supposed to do. Other than that you have the proper ending, but you know where I’m going next.

Yes they really did have Stephanie go toe to toe with Rousey and even get the upper hand multiple times, including blocking the armbar. We’re supposed to take this seriously and just roll with Rousey manhandling HHH but STEPHANIE MCMAHON can hold her own. This was at least mostly negated by the ending, but my goodness I was nearly laughing at how ridiculous this was. The match was a lot of fun overall, though it did go one save of a submission too long.

The Bludgeon Brothers winning was fine, though I’m not sure how much of an impact it had. This felt like it was over before it started and while it got its job done, it wasn’t exactly what I was hoping to see. Not bad or anything and the Usos looked good, but I’d have preferred this to be two on two.

I’m not sure what Undertaker vs. Cena means, what it was, or what it was supposed to be. I think I liked it (DEFINITELY liked it more than a 20 minute match) but that’s what we get after all these weeks? Undertaker is awesome and Cena should watch his mouth? It was a bad story and a more confusing match than anything else, but what we got was certainly shocking. Oh and no Undertaker doesn’t still have it, at least not based off of that. We saw him in a three minute sparring session, not a regular match.

On a side note: I know I don’t think much of Undertaker coming back again and again, but that entrance will never stop being the most mesmerizing thing you’ll see at a wrestling show. Oh and one more thing (which I can’t take credit for): Undertaker went from main eventing Wrestlemania to beating up a fan.

Bryan is back….and there isn’t much more to say about this. Shane took a beating, Bryan got the hot tag, the fans loved it, he kicked them both a lot, shrugged off both finishers, and gave Sami his two finishers to win. What else is there to say about this one? See you Monday Sami and Kevin.

I really didn’t like Nia beating Alexa that way. As I said (along with many others), this should have been about a minute long and a complete squash. Alexa is going to get crushed in the end, so let Nia look impressive in the process. At least Nia FINALLY wins a title though, and that’s more than she’s ever managed to do before.

Styles vs. Nakamura was underwhelming, but completely acceptable. The biggest problem though is the post match heel turn. WHY DIDN’T YOU DO THIS AT FASTLANE??? OR ANY TIME BEFORE THE MATCH??? Nakamura was defeated 100% clean in the middle of the ring and now we have a likely rematch (assuming WWE doesn’t put them on different brands and waste another angle) where Nakamura will probably win. Have this be a DQ or something and then do the rematch, or do the heel turn first. Don’t have AJ win and then set up the rematch. Think this through people.

I actually like the Nicholas (who is referee John Cone’s son in case you were wondering whose kid he was) idea as it’s the closest thing they can have to Strowman winning by himself while still having a partner. To those people who say this is burying the belts or whatever other complaints you might have, please stop and think about this for a second. Strowman won them by himself because he’s one of the top stars in the company and needs something to do. This was intentionally being silly, not acting like it’s some brilliant idea. It’s not that bad and it’s not going to last long.

The main event is a case of waiting and seeing, though unfortunately it’s likely going to be waiting and seeing Reigns winning the title next year. I’m sure something is going to happen tomorrow night (maybe a surprise title change or an announcement of another match, but I REALLY hope they don’t just vacate it) but above all else, I like what they did here. Reigns simply wasn’t right to be champion at the moment and while I’m sure we’ll get ANOTHER year long build to his title win (NEXT TIME FOR SURE!), this wasn’t the right time. Lesnar winning is more headscratching than anything else, but I’d like to see what they do tomorrow.

Overall I liked the show, but again it’s too long. Cue the Raw Women’s Title match down to a minute, don’t do the US Title, have Nicholas be in the front row and drop a few minutes off of Rousey’s match and the show is that much better. It’s not a classic by any means, but it was a good show and had a ton of memorable moments. I had a good time and the set looked INCREDIBLE.

A few quite notes:

Beach balls made their return in the main event, along with the Wave. A fan shouted that if the people hate wrestling this much, go somewhere else because there are people who want to see it. He was given a DELETE chant because wrestling fans are stupid.

The small screens in the farther away sections have a bit of a time lapse so if you’re watching them instead of the ring, it’s rather confusing.

Rusev and Bryan were the most over all night by a wide margin.

The shorter ramp is great and needs to be the norm.

I won’t be going to New York as the idea of being in that city makes me break out in hives. There is however another potential big show on my radar, though it’s WAY too early to be for sure if I’m going to I won’t say which one.

It was a good night overall and Raw/Smackdown should certainly be interesting.

Ask away with any questions you may have.

Obviously there won’t be any review up tonight but I’ll have some live thoughts when I get back to the hotel tonight.  Until then, use this post to talk about the show and head over to Steel Cage Forums for the live discussion thread!

https://steelcageforums.com/showthread.php/265-WrestleMania-34-LD-The-House-of-the-Rising-Sun

IMG Credit: Ring of Honor Wrestling

Ring of Honor
Date: April 4, 2018
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana

So this is the go home show for Supercard of Honor, which must have made for an odd taping. The stuff that can give away storyline advancement and results likely stopped right in the middle, but at least we’ll be getting something important tonight. Expect a lot of Bullet Club, which you should be used to by now. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Briscoes vs. Kenny King/Dalton Castle

Non-title with Marty Scurll on commentary. Dalton tries to suplex Mark to start but gets taken into the corner for a stomping. Kenny and Jay come in with Briscoe actually trying a sleeper of all things. That goes nowhere as Kenny flips away and we take a break. Back with Dalton throwing Jay down but Mark getting in a slam to take over.

Jay elbows Dalton in the face as everything breaks down with the Briscoes beating Castle down on the floor. Back in and Jay breaks up the hot tag as Marty is in his glory by ripping on everything Castle does. The Briscoes knock them outside in a heap again and we take a second break.

Back again with Dalton fighting out of a bearhug and diving over for the hot tag to King. A spinebuster gets two on Jay but a hard lariat gets the same on Kenny. Jay’s superplex into Mark’s Froggy Bow gets two with Kenny making the save, sending Marty into hysterics at the cheating. Cue Silas Young to yell at King and the distraction sets up the Jay Driller to end Kenny at 16:18.

Rating: C+. This was more of a spectacle than a big match and that’s perfectly fine. There’s something cool about having all of the champions in a single match, even if the Briscoes didn’t have a real threat here. At least it wasn’t a title match, which wouldn’t have made much sense. As a bonus, they used the match to set up something at Supercard of Honor. Well done, even if the match wasn’t anything great.

Post match Marty loads up a belt shot but hands it to Castle instead.

Quick recap of the Kingdom’s issues with Bully Ray.

Cheeseburger vs. Kikutaro

Kikutaro is a masked Japanese comedy guy and the Dawgs are on commentary. They pose to start and Kikutaro grabs an early rollup for two. The referee gets whipped into the corner but raises a boot to stop Kikutaro with the announcers calling this garbage. Kikutaro grabs a suplex but stops to do his own commentary, bringing the Dawgs in for the DQ at 2:43. Thank goodness.

Ray comes out for the save.

Women’s Title tournament recap.

Women of Honor Title Tournament Quarterfinals: Mayu Iwatani vs. Deonna Purrazzo

They hit the mat for an early standoff until Deonna runs her over and grabs a running hurricanrana for two. That earns her a running dropkick to the floor but Iwatani’s charge hits a raised knee. Back from an abrupt break with a chop off with Iwatani putting Purrazzo down. A big dive to the floor is countered into a Fujiwara armbar with Purrazzo letting go in a hurry. As Colt asks, why would you let that go when you can do it until eighteen or nineteen?

Back in and some rolling German suplexes have Iwatani in more trouble but she gets in a dragon suplex for a breather. Mayu slugs away until Deonna pulls her down into the Fujiwara. A rope is grabbed though and the bridging dragon suplex sends Iwatani to the semifinals at 9:43.

Rating: C+. Purrazzo is one of those wrestlers who can give you a good match but doesn’t really stand out all that much. She’s certainly good and knows how to handle herself in the ring but I can barely remember anything she’s done. Iwatani’s Stardom resume alone guaranteed her a semifinal spot, which is kind of annoying given how big a deal Purrazzo was to the early days of the division.

The Briscoes are ready to beat two great singles wrestlers at Supercard of Honor.

Jay Lethal wants the Tag Team Titles.

Kenny King wants to keep the TV Title.

Silas Young wants to win the TV Title.

Adam Page is VERY intense about beating up Kota Ibushi.

Punishment Martinez promises to send Tomohiro Ishii south of Heaven.

The Young Bucks drew a big house and now they’re tearing it down.

Marty Scurll is ready to take the World Title.

Dalton Castle will look fantastic and retain.

Here’s Cody to insist that Bullet Club is FINE. This Saturday he’s facing Kenny Omega and has a question: can you name a great Omega match that didn’t involve Chris Jericho or Kazuchika Okada? Omega is that great indy band that you swear is awesome but can’t remember any of their songs. The reality is that Cody leads the Bullet Club while Omega says Cody is a reject from WWE. Omega is a reject from its developmental system.

That gets a BIG gasp (as it should) but here’s Omega to interrupt. He liked that Bullet Club is fine line, but wants to know why Cody didn’t bring it up with the leader of the team. As for Brandi, who kissed him at the 16^th Anniversary Show, he was confused. It went on so long that Omega thinks she wants to do it again. The brawl is on with security and the Bullet Club running in for the save to end the show. Cody was on fire with that promo and the segment made me want to see them fight so well done.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/23/new-paperback-kbs-grab-bag/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Overall Rating: C+. I liked parts of the show but at the same time it didn’t feel like much of a go home episode. Cody vs. Omega was good but other than that, I’m having to think of what’s actually on the pay per view. As usual, there’s a good chance that this was taped before a lot of the matches were announced, making this more of a last episode before the pay per view than a go home show. That’s rather annoying, but not exactly shocking. It’s not bad though and did well enough, which is better than you can expect at times.

I’m still in New Orleans and of course I was taking in Takeover: New Orleans on Saturday. This show had the match that I was looking forward to more than any other in the unsanctioned match between Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano. The whole thing looked great on paper but of course that can be deceiving. I mean, I’ve never seen it be deceiving at a Takeover but there’s a first time for everything.

I’ll be doing a full review when I get the chance (I’m a bit backed up as you can tell) but here are some highlights from the night.

From the NXT Taping for this Wednesday:

1. Kairi Sane b. Lacey Evans – Insane Elbow, 8:10, C.

Not much to say here but the fans HATED Evans far more than I was expecting them to. There were multiple chinlocks and Sane came back with her usual, including the Insane Elbow for the pin. It wasn’t bad but you could tell they were kind of rushed for time. Sane’s music is really, really catchy.

2. Heavy Machinery vs. Tino Sabbatelli/Riddick Moss went to a no contest – 6:20, C+.

I was actually digging this one as Heavy Machinery is a fun team. Sabbatelli and Moss…well they have a nice car. I really can’t get into these guys, even though I like Sabbatelli a lot from Breaking Ground. However, none of this matters because WAR MACHINE ran in and wrecked everything. They’re officially the WAR RAIDERS (really not feeling that one) but other than that, it’s the same team it always has been.

The opening song was good, but the entire audience was supposed to have glow sticks. Mike Rome said everyone should have gotten some but probably 90% of the audience had no idea what he was talking about. A WE WANT GLOW STICKS chant started up but didn’t get anywhere.

On to the regular show.

1. North American Title Ladder Match. My goodness what a performance from everyone. I was gasping multiple times and the spots kept getting bigger and bigger. Ricochet and Dream are complete stars and you could see Carter’s face saying “I left TNA for THIS???” after every big bump. Incredible match that completely sucked me in from the start. Oh and Kentucky FINALLY has a cool wrestler! It’s only taken thirty years.

2. Women’s Title. This was stuck in the death spot but dang if they didn’t fight their way out of it. Baszler had to win here as Moon has nothing to gain from being in NXT anymore. I’d be stunned if she’s not in the battle royal tomorrow and on to getting beaten up by Asuka some more. That bit with Baszler banging her shoulder into the post was great and making me cringe at the same time. Good match, but nothing was following that ladder match.

3. Tag Team Titles. I LOVED the finish here as it opens so many doors. The Undisputed Era needed some help with Fish’s injury and the turn is something that should have happened a few months ago. Strong is someone who fits in perfectly with the team and I could easily see them using the Freebird Rule. Oh and Dunne is going to want some revenge. Say with the help of some friends. Perhaps…..oh I don’t know…..from Mustache Mountain?

4. NXT Title. Black was crazy, crazy over with the fans singing the song. Almas wasn’t exactly popular but it was clear that the fans appreciated what he was doing. I wasn’t sure who was going to win this one but Black winning was the right move. Almas and Vega are ready for the main roster and I could easily see why they would be heading up in short order. I could have gone for a longer Almas title reign, but Black is ready.

5. Unsanctioned Match. I don’t say this very often but they owned me on this match. I wanted to see where everything was going and I wanted to see how one of them could actually lose. This was a pure roller coaster with the two guys beating the heck out of each other, the crutch, and then Gargano being one step ahead of him to win. Outstanding match and one of the best I’ve ever seen live. You could also see Luke Gallows and someone who looked a lot like Jerry Lawler watching from the floor behind a lot of the seats.

Also of note (not sure if this made air): Shane McMahon was in the front row with his kids for at least the second half of the show. Goldust and Jeff Jarrett were there for the tag match, before which Shane ran over and hugged them both.

Overall, this is one of the best shows I’ve ever seen and possibly the best Takeover ever, which is covering A LOT of ground. Gargano is having the run of a lifetime right now and has Wrestler of the Year locked up for me at this point (which doesn’t say much as we have nine more months). This was outstanding with the Tag Team Title match being rather good and still the worst thing on the show. I loved this show and it might actually surpass Dallas as the best Takeover ever. Full review up….at some point.

And everything else.

Overall Thoughts

I’m pleasantly surprised by the card so far. There’s a potentially great show in there, but again the run time is just going to kill it. Thankfully the ramp shouldn’t be quite so long this year, which could legitimately shave a good fifteen minutes off of the show. Some of the matches are classics waiting to happen and if that’s what we get in New Orleans, we’re just that lucky.

Then there’s the elephant in the room with John Cena vs. the Undertaker. I’ve made no secret of the fact that I don’t want to see this match. WWE had their chance to do this match several times (“Wrestlemania XXX”, Wrestlemania XXXI”, “Wrestlemania XXXIII” and probably more) but they chose to go other ways, like giving “Total Divas” a storyline instead. I don’t need to see Undertaker doing this again and it would be nice if he stayed retired.

The ONLY thing I could live with here is a brawl which sees neither coming out ahead. There doesn’t need to be a future match and there doesn’t need to be a match here. Just let it be over and done with while Cena does some stupid antics for part of the night, basically being the unofficial host for the show. But yeah, there’s going to be a match and Cena is likely winning. There’s no way around that and I have no idea why I’m supposed to get excited about ONE MORE FIGHT when there’s probably a three disc DVD set of Undertaker’s ONE MORE FIGHT ready to be made.

Overall, I’m excited, and that’s a nice feeling to have.

Blink and you should miss it.

Raw World Title: Brock Lesnar(c) vs. Roman Reigns

This should be five minutes long. Really that’s what I see when I look at this. With Lesnar leaving for the UFC all but guaranteed, it makes next to no sense to have him be competitive here. If you want Reigns to be THE GUY (THIS TIME FOR SURE!), the answer is to have him do what no one else could (well save for Goldberg in that still annoying run): beat Lesnar, but do it so fast that it’s all anyone remembers.

So yeah of course Reigns should win here. If nothing else he needs to as I can’t bear the idea of seeing him given this kind of a push for another year. Besides, once he wins the title, WWE can realize that he’s already beaten everyone around and there’s not much of a point in doing this whole thing in the first place. Lesnar isn’t going to care about working a short match so make Reigns look like the giant slayer in the short form rather than the long and do something interesting.

That leaves so many possibilities.

Raw Tag Team Titles: The Bar(c) vs. Braun Strowman/???

So who ya got? This is one of the biggest questions marks on the show as there are several ways you could go with the partner. You could have Alexa Bliss to play off their chemistry in “Mixed Match Challenge”, Curt Hawkins to pay off the losing streak, James Ellsworth for the funny cameo or Elias to bring back their recent one sided feud.

Since it’s WWE and they’re not the most subtle organization in the world, I’ll take Elias, who has done nothing in recent weeks (other than be awesome of course) but was involved with Strowman a few weeks back, to team with Strowman and win the titles. It doesn’t make a ton of sense but with Elias promising to be at “Wrestlemania” and not saying what he’s doing, they’re telegraphing it pretty hard. I’m not sure what sense this makes for Strowman, but putting him in this match in the first place didn’t either so why stop there?

It worked so well last time.

US Title: Randy Orton(c) vs. Bobby Roode vs. Rusev vs. Jinder Mahal

If there was ever a nacho break match, this is it. Rusev is the only interesting one of them in the first place and calling him interesting is a stretch as WWE barely allows him to do anything. That being said, I can’t imagine them giving him the title because he’s from Bulgaria and there aren’t nearly enough potential WWE Network subscribers there. It’s not like he’s crazy popular in the United States and could sell you merchandise and draw ratings to make up the difference. That’s just lunacy.

Alas, I think I’ll take Mahal to win. WWE LOVES pushing this guy for various annoying reasons and while it seems like the perfect time to have Rusev (the smart pick) or Orton (the safe pick) win, I’ll take them to go with the dumbest idea they have and give it to Mahal. After all: the 1.3 billion people weren’t interested in him as WWE Champion, but as UNITED STATES CHAMPION, it’s a totally different situation. As much as I’d love a fast RKO or for Rusev to CRUSH, it’s likely Mahal because WWE doesn’t like the fans that keep watching every week.

Snap, crackle or pop.

Kurt Angle/Ronda Rousey vs. HHH/Stephanie McMahon

Please don’t do it, please don’t do it, please don’t do it. PLEASE don’t let McMahon be competitive with Rousey here. You don’t have a chance like this ever day (or every few years even) and the last thing that WWE or Rousey needs is to have to sell for McMahon, no matter how great her trainer says she is or how AWESOME it is that she works out at night and has three kids and is a media queen who got where she is entirely by herself or whatever her latest campaign is between receiving all those totally awesome awards.

Again, I’m going to give WWE the benefit of the doubt and assume that they won’t manage to screw up what should be unscrewupable. Rousey can be beaten down for a bit (preferably by HHH) but this match needs to end with Rousey grabbing McMahon’s arm and snapping it like a twig. That’s what this story has been calling for and that’s where it needs to go. Angle vs. HHH is irrelevant. Just give us the Rousey that can be a big deal and go from there.