Wrestlemania XXXIII Preview: Intercontinental Title: Dean Ambrose vs. Baron Corbin
It started last year.
I could see this one being added to the pre-show as they need three matches on there to loosen up some time on the main show. This is the feud built around Ambrose eliminating Corbin from the Elimination Chamber, causing Corbin to CRUSH HIM WITH A FORKLIFT, which meant an Intercontinental Title match at Wrestlemania instead of, you know, death or a lawsuit or something.
I see no reason whatsoever for Ambrose to keep the title here so we’ll go with Corbin winning. He won the battle royal last year and has hit the ground running on the main roster. It’s high time he won something other than the battle royal though and the Intercontinental Title sounds like a great place to start. Ambrose certainly doesn’t need the thing so let’s give it to Corbin and see what he can do out of it (which likely means a bunch of losses but trying is better than nothing).
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Wrestlemania XXXIII Previews: Raw Tag Team Titles: Enzo Amore/Big Cass vs. Cesaro/Sheamus vs. Anderson/Gallows
Gimmickery for the sake of gimmickery.
Anderson and Gallows are defending and for reasons purely of “it’s Wrestlemania”, this is a ladder match. Instead of having Amore and Big Cass win the titles for one of the loudest pops of the night the following day, let’s cram a gimmick into this match that isn’t interesting in the first place. The key to this match is Amore, who can be a javelin with Big Cass throwing him all over the place. Assuming he doesn’t suffer another horrible injury, everything should be fun.
That being said, I can’t imagine Anderson and Gallows keep the titles if DIY is on the way up. Those guys taking the titles on Monday would be a better option, though I have a bad feeling we’ll get Amore and Big Cass winning them here when it’s crammed onto the opening match and forgotten an hour later. I’ll take Big Cass and Amore winning, but I’m far from confident in this one.
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Wrestlemania XXXIII Preview: Cruiserweight Title: Neville vs. Austin Aries
The one I’m looking forward to most. Maybe.
This is the match I’ve been looking forward to more than any other. There’s something about this match that makes me think they’ll tear the house down and almost nothing would please me more. These guys have worked hard and built up a match where I can’t imagine either of them losing, which often makes for the best part of the show. Much like the battle royal, I’d much rather they be on the pre-show for the sake of giving it extra time than cramming it in between Pitbull and a New Day segment.
As for a winner……dang I actually have to pick one now don’t I? I guess I’ll go with Neville as Akira Tozawa can be set up as his next opponent, which should make for a rather entertaining match in its own right. There’s a good reason that these two are going to be in such a high spot on the crowd and it’s a place they’ve certainly earned. As Aries put it, he’s the guy you call on to elevate a show and that’s what he’s going to do here. Give these two twelve minutes and there’s a good chance it’s one of the best matches of the night. Neville retains in a near classic.
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Wrestlemania XXXIII Preview: Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
All aboard!
This one belongs on the pre-show, for the sake of the entrances taking up too much time alone. At the moment there are a ton of jobbers filling out a lot of the spots, meaning this is about what you would expect from this kind of thing. At the moment there are twenty five entrants, though you can almost guarantee five more being added at minimum. As is so often the case, only a handful of them are realistic options.
For my money (and almost everyone else’s), those options are Big Show, Braun Strowman and Sami Zayn, but I’ll throw in Mojo Rawley and the recently added Killian Dain. There’s a real chance to make someone in this battle royal and they’ve been pushing the heck out of Rawley on TV as of late. Throw in how cool he was at Axxess and I’d love to see him go somewhere, especially in a match that doesn’t have to be some big game changer if they don’t want it to be. The rest of the filed will be pure filler, but it could be really interesting to see what surprises they might throw out.
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Last year, NXT held its first Takeover event during Wrestlemania weekend with the instant classic “Takeover: Dallas”. The show stole the spotlight over Wrestlemania weekend and was pretty easily the best show of the four days, possibly even the year. Now it’s time for round two and as luck would have it, NXT is in their own backyard, making this almost like a cross between a major house show and one of their biggest pay per views of the year. You don’t hear something like that very often so let’s get to it.
Sanity vs. Tye Dillinger/Roderick Strong/No Way Jose/Ruby Riot
We’ll start with the most recently added match as Sanity makes a rare appearance at full strength against the combined forces of Tye Dillinger/No Way Jose/Roderick Strong/Ruby Riot. This has been simmering for months now and as usual, it’s a pretty simple idea. Sanity has gone after Dillinger and it was time to even the numbers up a bit as Dillinger was tired of all the beatings. His team came together over the next few weeks and now we have a full on match between the eight of them.
Very simply put, if Dillinger doesn’t get the fall here (it doesn’t matter who it’s over but Young would be preferable), I have no idea what they’re thinking. The fans are dying to explode for Dillinger and what better place is there than this Takeover? Sanity isn’t the most interesting team in the world aside from having a really cool look. While they need the win, I think they can bounce back better. Dillinger has lost so many times already that I’m not sure how many more times he can bounce back from losing on the big stage. I really hope they don’t screw this up as they’re running out of time to capitalize on Dillinger’s popularity.
Aleister Black vs. Andrade Cien Almas
We’ll move on to a pretty big debut with Black making his first in-ring appearance in NXT. He already had a match at the WWE United Kingdom Championship tournament under his Tommy End moniker but this week is the first time we’ll see his new gimmick. Almas has been on a roll lately with the heel character really starting to hit its stride. His match with Oney Lorcan last week was a major highlight and helped set him up for this match against Black.
That being said, this is another match where the winner should be obvious. NXT isn’t going to put Black out there in his debut and have him lose so Almas has next to no chance. That being said, you could have made the same case last year about Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura and that turned out fine. I’m hoping that Black can go in the ring well enough to match his great vignettes though that’s what got Almas in trouble for his debut. But yeah, Black wins here and does so handily.
Women’s Title: Asuka vs. Ember Moon
Asuka won the Women’s Title about a year ago in Dallas and hasn’t looked back since. She’s completely steamrolled over everyone she’s faced and it’s almost impossible to imagine her losing a match. That’s where the story has worked so well. It’s pretty much been acknowledged that Ember Moon can’t hang with Asuka all the way through a match but what she can do is hit the Eclipse, which has been built up as the most dangerous weapon the division has ever seen. It’s almost reminiscent of Steve Austin vs. Shawn Michaels as all Austin had to do was catch Michaels once and it would be over. The question is can Moon get that far.
As logical as it would be to have Asuka lose here and go on to the main roster soon after, I’m really not sure that happens anymore. NXT has done a nearly flawless job of making Asuka feel unbeatable and that’s still the feeling I have here. Moon should be the favorite and the place will go nuts if the Eclipse gives her the title, but I’m actually going with Asuka in my regular prediction almost guaranteed to be wrong. Moon is the best candidate to dethrone Asuka but I actually don’t think she does.
Tag Team Titles: DIY vs. Revival vs. Authors of Pain
I’m very rarely a fan of triple threats but this is a case where the story has been built precisely in this direction, which makes it more than acceptable. Revival and DIY had some incredible matches against each other last year but now they’ve run into a wall with the champions, who run over everything in their path. Having the other teams band together to fight the Authors is interesting and could make for a very good story to the elimination tag, especially if one of the other teams gets to conquer them in the end.
I’ll go with the Authors retaining here as DIY could easily be brought up to the Cruiserweight division while the Revival seem like perfect additions to the main roster tag divisions. The Authors are perfect choices to keep the titles until a new team is put together to slay them. I don’t know who could fight DIY save for maybe Sanity, which doesn’t seem like the most interesting thing in the world. We’ll go with the titles being retained, which would make the most long terms sense.
NXT Title: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bobby Roode
We’ll wrap it up with a rematch as Nakamura, this time on two good knees, tries to get the NXT Title back from Roode, who took it from him in a great match back at “Takeover: San Antonio.” This time around Nakamura knows not to underestimate him, which could make for an interesting change of pace. Roode has looked great since winning the title while Nakamura has spent most of the time rehabbing his injured knee.
I think I’ll go with the champions making a clean sweep as, much like the Revival, there’s no need to put the title back on Nakamura. He’s held it twice already and is more than ready to move up to the main stage. Just let Roode move on and feud with someone new (Dillinger for example) before losing the title at “Takeover: Brooklyn III”. The match will be fun, though I’m curious as to how they could have Nakamura lose to Roode again without some sort of shenanigans, which you don’t get too often in NXT.
Overall, the show looks good but not great. As is almost always the case, it’s going to come down to the performances, which have a tendency to be outstanding. Let the wrestlers do their thing in a logical manner and everything will be fine. The crowd is going to carry a lot of this and that’s what arguably matters most at any given NXT show. Last year set a very high bar but I believe NXT can actually pull something like this off again.
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It’s time for the final pit stop on the Road to Wrestlemania because “Monday Night Raw” has to have its own pay per view because “Smackdown Live” did as well. I’ve made no secret of the fact that I have little interest in seeing this show and I’m worried about how the main event is going to go. There’s some interesting stuff on the card though so hopefully that outweighs the bad. Let’s get to it.
Pre-Show: Akira Tozawa/Rich Swann vs. Brian Kendrick/Noam Dar
It’s a double feud match and there’s nothing wrong with that. The “205 Live” crew has taken a hit in recent weeks as there just isn’t much going on aside from whatever Neville is doing that week. However, there’s some hope in the Tozawa vs. Kendrick feud and Swann is still one of the most entertaining people on the roster so maybe he and Dar/Alicia Fox can do something entertaining soon enough.
As for the winners, I’ll take Swann pinning Dar but this isn’t a case where the winners really matter that much. This match is about getting the crowd ready for the show and the cruiserweights are some of the best possible options to do just that. It probably won’t be a classic or anything but it really doesn’t need to be, which is perfectly fine.
Cruiserweight Title: Neville vs. Jack Gallagher
We’ll stick with the cruiserweight them as Neville defends against his fellow countryman. Neville has turned into one of the best performers on the roster with this new King of the Cruiserweights character as he’s just channeling the hatred and anger so well. Gallagher is a scrappy guy who has looked very solid in the ring at times, though he’s much more over for his character and abilities with an umbrella.
That being said, I don’t buy Gallagher as having a chance in this one. Neville is just on a different level than anyone else in the division and Gallagher is only a step above a comedy character. In theory we’ll be seeing Austin Aries making his cruiserweight division debut and facing Neville for the title at “Wrestlemania XXXIII”, making this match little more than just a warmup for Neville.
Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax
This one depends on what you think they’re going to be doing later on in the show with Bayley vs. Charlotte. On paper, this seems to be a way to set up Banks’ heel turn on Bayley later in the night, which would suggest that Jax beats her and Banks gets upset that Bayley wasn’t there in her corner. This would certainly follow the theory that if you’re about to turn heel, you must lose every match beforehand.
Yeah Banks loses here and WWE continues to sit around wondering why the pops get weaker every time. In theory this helps to set up the four way at “Wrestlemania XXXIII” for the title but that means we have three heels and Bayley for the title. Banks seems primed for a heel turn and since WWE is rather odd at times (read as almost all the time), she’s likely to lose in a huge way on pay per view.
Tag Team Titles: Enzo Amore/Big Cass vs. Gallows and Anderson
Is anyone else starting to get a little tired of Amore’s schtick? He’s described himself as a heel character and it’s starting to show more and more. Unfortunately along with that goes a lot of the spark the team has to offer, which means there’s less and less value in them winning the belts. It seems that we’re getting ready for a Big Cass singles push and that might be better for everyone.
Considering that, PLEASE LET ANDERSON AND GALLOWS LOSE THE BELTS. They’re one of the least interesting teams I’ve seen in a long time as they’re really just there every week and offer almost nothing. The entire division is a mess right now and that makes for some very agonizing segments. As annoyed as I’m getting of Amore and Big Cass, they would be WAY better as champions than more of the Anderson and Gallows mess.
Sami Zayn vs. Samoa Joe
Now this has potential. If you have a need for a new monster (or any monster for that matter) to destroy someone and make it look good, you call on Zayn. These two have been feuding for a bit over the last few weeks and there’s a good chance that this match is going to steal the show. There isn’t much doubt on the ending but there’s some serious potential.
In case it’s not clear, Samoa Joe is going to wreck Zayn here and that’s exactly what should happen. Zayn is the kind of guy who can put up a great fight and come this close before falling victim to one heck of a Rock Bottom and maybe the Koquina Clutch. It’s what Zayn does and he does it as well as almost anyone ever has. Samoa Joe should be coming up on a major match at “Wrestlemania XXXIII” but he has to smash Zayn first.
Women’s Title: Bayley vs. Charlotte
As mentioned earlier, this one is going to be dependent on the Banks match, which I think goes to Jax to set up Banks costing Bayley the title here. If that’s not the case, I still don’t think Charlotte gets the belt back here but I do think she wins. The big sales pitch is that Charlotte has never lost a title match on pay per view and there’s a chance that they could avoid taking the title off of Bayley just yet while keeping the streak alive.
Or, since this is WWE, we’ll go with the reality that is Charlotte becoming six time Women’s Champion because WWE wants to recreate Ric Flair’s record in female form. I have no idea why I should care about Charlotte winning the title again but it seems that we’re heading in that direction. Then, once we’ve gotten the worthless first title reign out of the way, Bayley can start the REAL title reign because that’s how WWE logic goes. Charlotte wins though, no matter how little sense it makes.
Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman
This is a weird one as there isn’t really a good option for the ending. First of all, there’s absolutely no logical reason to have Strowman lose to Reigns via pin. He’s been treated as an unstoppable monster and there’s no reason for Reigns (or anyone) to beat him this soon. Unfortunately, that’s where WWE manages to screw up more often than not. Reigns winning would be the WWE answer and that’s the last thing that needs to happen.
Or there’s option C: Undertaker interferes and costs Reigns the match in retaliation for Reigns eliminating him from the Royal Rumble. That would set up one heck of a showdown at “Wrestlemania XXXIII” and Strowman goes on to do…..well probably to win the battle royal because that’s the best they can think of him for now. I can live with that as long as Strowman doesn’t get pinned by Reigns, who really doesn’t need to get this win.
Universal Title: Kevin Owens vs. Goldberg
This match terrifies me. Owens has recently rediscovered what made him great in the first place but there’s a buzzsaw called Goldberg waiting on him. I know there’s the option of Chris Jericho interfering to cost Owens the title and while that would make things MUCH better than Goldberg just hitting his finishers to win, Goldberg and Goldberg vs. Lesnar DOES NOT NEED to be for the title. The idea of Jericho taking the title from Owens in Orlando is great but Lesnar vs. Goldberg being for the title? Not so much.
Of course Goldberg wins the title here though because WWE has decided that Goldberg vs. Lesnar MUST be for the title for reasons I don’t even want to comprehend. Like I said, if Jericho interferes and costs Owens the match it’s much better, but words cannot describe how mad I’ll be if it’s “Survivor Series 2016” all over again with a match that lasts less than five minutes because Goldberg can’t do anything longer than that again.
Overall, “Fastlane 2017” just doesn’t need to exist. Other than the main event, you could easily see a lot of this show taking place on a few episodes of “Monday Night Raw” and that’s not good for a pay per view. The show has some potentially excellent matches but there are some that are likely to feel like they’re going to drag like a Stephanie McMahon promo marathon. Just please don’t squash Owens. It doesn’t help anyone but Goldberg and I could easily see WWE doing just that.
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We’re two weeks removed from one of the biggest shows of the year and that means we’re ready for another major pay per view which will likely change the way “Wrestlemania XXXIII” looks. That’s right, it’s time for “Elimination Chamber 2017”, a “Smackdown Live” show with two matches containing eighteen wrestlers between them. It’s a rather interesting looking card so let’s get to it.
Kickoff Show: Mojo Rawley vs. Curt Hawkins
It’s quite the change to go from a Tag Team Title match to this in the span of two weeks. I’m not sure if this really is the best they can do but it really does show how limited the “Smackdown Live” roster is in some places. This seems more like a match that should set up a tag team later on but for now, we’ve got the two of them fighting in the battle over who was a better partner for Zack Ryder.
I’ll go with Rawley here as he seems to have the bigger upside since Hawkins’ character has died a horrible death since having an interesting debut. Rawley could be something with his ridiculous charisma but I don’t know if it’s going to be enough to carry him past the midcard. At least he’s getting a shot here but it’s going to take more than the Hammer Time dance. He’ll likely win here though.
Women’s Title: Naomi vs. Alexa Bliss
It makes sense to get some of these out of the way as there are three women’s matches on this one show. We’ll start with Bliss defending the title in a pretty thrown together match, which actually isn’t as much of a layup as it seems. I know Naomi is the athletic freak who always seems to come up just short of winning the big one but Bliss seems vulnerable enough for Naomi to finally pull it off.
That being said, I don’t think she actually does it and Bliss will retain here. Bliss has turned into one heck of a champion and there are a lot of options to take the title off of her in a really big way. Losing it to Naomi at “Elimination Chamber 2017” really isn’t all that big of a deal and I can’t imagine Naomi defending the thing at the biggest show of the year. So yeah, Bliss retains in a match that could range from highly entertaining to a horrible disaster.
Kalisto/Apollo Crews vs. Dolph Ziggler
Can someone explain this one to me without making my head hurt very badly? From what I can gather, Crews and Kalisto have beaten the heel Ziggler now but due to him attacking both of them with chairs, they now get to fight him at the same time. You know, the faces getting the advantage over the heel who is supposed to be the one getting the big push out of this.
Somehow though, Ziggler probably wins here and we completely forget about his losses because that’s how things work in WWE: nothing matters until the ending, which makes things even dumber than they were in the first place. Kalisto and Crews aren’t likely to go anywhere (aside from a big ladder match for the Intercontinental Title) and for some reason WWE still things Ziggler is going to be the big deal all these years later. At least he’ll retain his title as most overrated and uninteresting performer in WWE.
Nikki Bella vs. Natalya
Now here’s the real women’s main event because we don’t know how much longer Bella is going to be around for us to call her fearless and stand in awe of her greatness. Again I’m not sure what the story is supposed to be here as Bella has looked like an idiot for not realizing that Natalya attacked her at “Survivor Series 2016” while everyone else knew it. Then there was something about who sells the most t-shirts and a potential wedding to John Cena because EVERYTHING IS ABOUT BELLA AND CENA GETTING MARRIED ONE DAY BECAUSE….sorry this isn’t “Total Divas” so we’ll move on.
Naturally Bella wins because Natalya is just a wrestler (yeah earlier this week, Bella said Natalya is only a great wrestler. I love that we’ve somehow reached the point where “YOU’RE REALLY GOOD AT WHAT WE’RE DOING!” is the biggest insult that can be mustered and by a face no less. Bella wins of course and I continue to try to figure out what the heck she’s talking about.
Luke Harper vs. Randy Orton
In a way this is one of the more interesting matches on the card, even though there’s only one way it could possibly go. It’s kind of hard to get behind the concept of Harper having a chance here as Orton is on his way to “Wrestlemania XXXIII” but at least we could get a strong performance out of him, as Harper is so often known to deliver. The idea here of Orton taking Bray Wyatt’s attention and Harper turning on the team as a result is interesting but it’s not enough here.
So of course Orton wins and I don’t think there’s an easier match on the show to predict. Orton is on a higher level than Harper right now (and has been for his entire career of course) so there isn’t exactly a ton of doubt to this one, nor should there be. If this were at another show with Orton not coming off winning the Royal Rumble, I might be able to be tempted into an upset pick but it’s just not happening here.
Becky Lynch vs. Mickie James
We’ll wrap up the ladies’ trifecta here with a straight grudge match. James says that she was the one who should get the credit for the Women’s Revolution while Lynch says James left when things started getting tough (of course we know that it was really Stephanie McMahon who started the Revolution by just talking about it). This was preceded by James dressing up like a luchadora, which kind of fits her given how off the wall she can be at times.
I think I’ll go with James here as I can’t bring myself to say WWE will go with Lynch as we head into “Wrestlemania XXXIII”. There’s a logic to having Lynch fight back and regain the title in Orlando but I have a feeling we’re more likely to get a big multi-woman tag or some mess like that instead. Therefore, James wins here and Lynch lives to fight another day, as is the case so often with her.
Tag Team Turmoil
There are so many teams in this match that aren’t worth mentioning so I’ll just go with the defending American Alpha and their most likely challengers, the Usos. There’s just no reason to believe that the other four teams have any real chance of winning so we’ll just go with these guys, assuming there’s no debuting team added on to the end.
That being said, I’ll take Alpha to retain and continue their rather ho-hum title reign. The problem here is the same thing that has plagued so many NXT talents: WWE feels the need to take everything that makes the team work in the first place and then get rid of those things for the sake of….well I have no idea actually. Alpha wins here and prays every night that the Revival is called up and half the roster gets a bad case of the flu.
John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt vs. Dean Ambrose vs. AJ Styles vs. Baron Corbin vs. The Miz
And then there’s this, which depends on how much you believe in rumors and dirtsheets. If you buy into them, this is Wyatt’s all the way and his match with Orton is pretty much set in stone. If you don’t though, you have some options. To get it out of the way, Corbin, Ambrose (already Intercontinental Champion) and Miz are flat out not winning. That leaves us with three viable options.
Cena could certainly retain and go on to face someone at “Wrestlemania XXXIII”, though I’m not sure who that’s going to be. There’s also the chance of putting it back on Styles, though again, who would he face in Orlando? Cena again? I really can’t picture them going with that.
Given that I write for one, of course I’m going with the dirtsheets and picking Wyatt, which unfortunately means we’ll have to hear JBL’s ridiculous commentary talking about how evil Wyatt is going to be. Anyway, Wyatt winning is the logical choice here but I’m really worried about how the rest of the blue side is going to fall out for the big show.
This is one of the weirdest cards I’ve ever seen and that could mean multiple things. This could be a show where everything is a mess and shows off how horrible the Brand Split is or it could be one of the biggest surprises of the year. The whole thing is built around how well the main event goes and with the talent in there, I can’t imagine it being anything but solid at worst. I’m looking forward to the show but it still doesn’t need to exist.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the History of the WWE’s Big Four Pay Per Views, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:
I really need to stop doing these when I’m half asleep, causing me to not post them on here on time. Here it is for the sake of completion though.
This might be my favorite show of the year. There’s something so simple about the idea of a bunch of people being in the ring at once and the last person standing wins a big prize. The main event is one of the most anticipated matches of the year and there’s a lot more to it than just who goes on to the World Title match at “Wrestlemania XXXIII”. There’s a full card on top of the main event so let’s get to it.
1. Pre-Show: Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax
We’ll start with the three pre-show matches, beginning with Nia Jax vs. Sasha Banks. This is your old big vs. little match with Banks coming in with a bad knee and Jax liking the idea of torturing what she sees as the former Boss. Banks is of course ready for a challenge, as she always is.
I think I’m going with Jax here, as it seems that they’re prepping her for a run near the Raw Women’s Title. It’s not the worst idea in the world and Banks is certainly one of those characters who can just talk for all of ten seconds and be back in the fans’ good graces. The match should be entertaining, though I’m not sure how well this is going to go with the size difference.
2. Pre-Show: Raw Tag Team Titles: Luke Gallows/Karl Anderson vs. Sheamus/Cesaro
Oh my goodness I’m already bored just thinking about this match. Anderson and Gallows couldn’t beat New Day for the titles so now we get to watch them chase the belts here even more. Neither team has done anything interesting since they started feuding and I have no real interest in either of them or anything they do.
That being said, I’ll take the champions to retain here because WWE REALLY likes them for reasons that aren’t clear to me in the slightest. Sheamus and Cesaro could be fine as singles wrestlers (as they’ve been for years) while Anderson and Gallows only seem to be better off together. That doesn’t make for a great match but it could make for a rather boring one, which would keep them on the same path they’ve had for months now.
3. Pre-Show: Becky Lynch/Nikki Bella/Naomi vs. Alexa Bliss/Mickie James/Natalya
This is a simple “take everyone and throw them into one match so entrances can take up a bunch of time” match and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s not like there’s really a big challenger for Bliss’ Smackdown Women’s Title at the moment so it wouldn’t make sense to throw out something like Bliss vs. Naomi here. You also don’t want to blow off Lynch vs. James yet so this makes the most sense.
I’ll take good side winning with Naomi pinning Bliss, likely setting up their title match. Naomi might not be the most interesting character in the world but she’s more than capable of being the #1 contender and maybe even a short term champion. The other four can just be there for the sake of being there and there’s nothing wrong with that.
4. Raw Women’s Title: Charlotte vs. Bayley
Somehow, “Monday Night Raw” has managed to botch the most over female since Lita. Bayley should be able to plugged into the title scene, fight against the odds and win the title in a big moment. Somehow though, she’s arguing with Stephanie McMahon about what it means to be a star and reading poetry in a segment that went on far too long. They’ve gotten closer with this “fan vs. star from birth” story but, as usual, it gets bogged down on the main shows.
Charlotte is likely retaining here because for some reason we NEED a four way title match at “Wrestlemania XXXIII” instead of just having Bayley fight against the odds like Daniel Bryan in a sports bra. It’s going to be a big moment when Bayley finally wins the title but it’s just not happening on Sunday.
5. Smackdown World Title: John Cena vs. AJ Styles
Now this is more like it as WWE has managed to turn this into one of the best feuds over the World Title in a long time. Both guys feel like major stars (because they are major stars) and Styles is just beating Cena at every turn. Styles has been Smackdown World Champion since September and has been one of the best performers all year long by miles and miles.
That being said, I think he survives the Cena challenge here, perhaps with someone interfering to set up Cena’s next feud, and allowing Styles to drop the belt inside the Elimination Chamber (Meaning we get STYLES VS. SHANE MCMAHON because we’re just that lucky). Either way, it’s going to be a 20-25 minute classic, as if you would expect it to be anything else.
6. Cruiserweight Title: Rich Swann vs. Neville
Aside from the Royal Rumble itself, this might be the match I’m looking forward to more than anything else. Neville has been on fire since turning heel and Swann has really upped his game in this feud. They’ve made me want to see this match and that’s not something I ever expected to see out of the Cruiserweight Title, either in this generation or in its previous incarnation.
I’ll go with the logical choice and say Neville wins the title here but it wouldn’t surprise me to see them keep the belt on Swann for some reason. Neville has been the better performer in this story and plays his character to perfection but other than Cedric Alexander and maybe the debuting Akira Tozawa, I’m not sure who he could feud again. Neville should win though, and that’s what matters most.
7. Raw World Title: Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens
Let’s get this over with. I don’t remember the last time I was this uninterested in a World Title match and a lot of that comes down to the two stipulations. This match has had a six week build and the big idea is Chris Jericho being locked in a shark cage above the ring. Like really, that’s it. Then, to really hammer the point home, they turned it into a No DQ match, meaning that Jericho would be allowed to interfere anyway. You know, because there’s so much effort and thought put into this thing.
Actually I think Reigns loses here so Owens can drop the belt from a better perspective. Then again, there’s always the chance that WWE will continue to ignore everyone’s feeling on Reigns and set him up for a big face match at “Wrestlemania XXXIII”. I mean, word on the street has him as a face and going over Undertaker there so what do I know? But yeah, Owens keeps the belt here.
8. Royal Rumble
I’m going to get straight to the point here: I have no idea who is winning this thing. It’s very rare that WWE is capable of putting together a match where it really is wide open but they’ve pulled it off here. Looking at the twenty two names currently announced, there are at least seven (Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, Baron Corbin, Undertaker, Miz, Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton) serious potential winners and you could squint your eyes and get up to more than ten.
There are so many stories going around about what might be happening in Orlando this year and that’s what I love about this year’s Royal Rumble: it feels wide open. How boring is it when you’re just waiting around on the one or two guys who could realistically win and the rest is just seeing spots? You have to go back to 2012 at the very most recent where the winner wasn’t mostly obvious and that’s far too long.
Let’s pull a name out of a hat here and go with….Wyatt winning the thing. I know it’s not likely to happen but it’s not like there’s a dominant option out there this year. Wyatt winning and going on to face Orton for the Smackdown World Title at “Wrestlemania XXXIII” has been rumored so it makes as much sense as anything else. I have no confidence in the pick but it’s the best I’ve got.
As is so often the case, the Royal Rumble is going to come down to its namesake match but it has the potential to be something fun. “Wrestlemania XXXIII” is wide open this year and we’ll know a lot more about it the next twenty four hours. The winner isn’t always even the most important thing and that makes for a very interesting battle royal. If the rest of the show is even better, that’s just a bonus.
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It’s that time again as NXT will be taking over another Saturday night before we get to one of the Big Four pay per views. Unfortunately this show hasn’t had the best build in the world and a lot of that is due to a combination of the talent being taken up to the main roster and the two weeks spent on international shows that could have been used on the build towards the matches. Today we’re going to look at the build towards “Takeover: San Antonio” and see if it looks better on paper than it’s looked on “NXT” TV.
Eric Young vs. Tye Dillinger
This feud has served two purposes: showing that Dillinger has a reason to still be in NXT and giving Sanity’s leader his first major feud. The stable has the potential to be something special and Dillinger’s TEN gimmick is getting over like almost nothing has in a very long time. The fans just want to cheer for the guy and he’s more than made up for it in the ring. He’s no Sami Zayn or anyone near that level but he’s doing enough to make it work.
That being said, there’s no reason for Young to lose here. I could easily see Dillinger moving up to the main roster for the Royal Rumble alone while Sanity with Young at the helm could dominate NXT for a good while going forward. Young wins here as he’s the only logical option along with deserving it (that was much easier to say that it should have been).
Andrade Cien Almas vs. Roderick Strong
I always forget that Strong is even in NXT as he just hasn’t done all that much yet. Almas is in a similar place as he’s barely established himself in the promotion. His in ring stuff hasn’t done much to impress me and I’m still not sure why I’m supposed to care about him (though his heel work has been better than his face run). Strong is entertaining though and I’ve always been a fan of the guy.
I’m actually going to go with Strong in what could be considered an upset. Strong is a talented guy and can go with anyone in the ring but neither guy really has a strong personality. Both of them need something to do but I’d rather see Strong knock that smile off of Almas’ face than anything else and that’s enough to give him the nod here. I have next to no confidence in it but I’ll go with Strong.
Tag Team Titles: DIY vs. Authors of Pain
Now this is where things get a little hazy. DIY is on a roll at this point and is one of the best teams I’ve seen in a long time. However, the Authors of Pain have been treated as nearly unstoppable monsters and the logical move would be to see them steamroll the champions for the titles. At the same time though, I can’t imagine DIY losing the belts that they spent so much time winning.
I see this one going along the lines of Sting vs. Vader in 1992: the Authors of Pain destroy the champs and then get disqualified or counted out for going a bit too hard. DIY will probably drop the belts to them later on but I don’t think it happens just yet. They did too much great stuff against the Revival to lose them to a team like the Authors of Pain, at least this early on.
Women’s Title: Asuka vs. Peyton Royce vs. Billie Kay vs. Nikki Cross
This one depends on where you think the title is going after the match as we get closer to the big Wrestlemania weekend show. Asuka has been running through the division for almost a year now and the only real idea is to have the three challengers in one match instead of lining them up one at a time.
That being said, I still think Asuka runs through them all with a fall on one of the Aussies. There’s no reason to have her go over Cross yet but I could easily see the big showdown between Asuka and Ember Moon at the big show in Orlando. They could throw in a big curve ball and have the Aussies basically be the NXT version of Laycool but again, I just don’t see it happening. Asuka retains.
NXT Title: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bobby Roode
The more I think about this match, the more confused I really am about the whole thing. NXT has managed to book a match where it’s hard to imagine either of them actually losing here. Roode has been built up as the big star but Nakamura is Nakamura, as in someone who requires a small cannon to finally put down. On paper this should be a squash it’s hard to not buy into Roode’s schtick.
At the end of the day though, I think it’s going to be Nakamura retaining the title and setting up a showdown with……well I have no idea actually (Kassius Ohno maybe?) but I don’t think Roode wins here. He’s the kind of guy who could get his heat back in the span of about five minutes so Nakamura goes over here after a match which far exceeds expectations.
I think I’ve talked myself into being excited over this show. If there’s a single promotion that can make me believe they can pull off what feels like a lackluster card, NXT is the one. I’m not sure it’s going to work but I’m more than willing to give the show a chance. If they can get most of the matches right and hit the ground running heading into Orlando, everything will be fine.
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It’s time for Roadblock and that means…..no that doesn’t mean we’re a month away from Wrestlemania. No actually it means WWE is really stupid for using the same name twice in a year when there are plenty of other names available for this show. I mean, was Vengeance taken? Or No Way Out? Or We Really Don’t Need to Have This Show But We’re Doing It Anyway? It’s a Raw show and that means we’re likely in for an annoying cameo from one or both of the bosses. Let’s get to it.
We’ll start with the pre-show match between Big Cass and Rusev. This is one of the few matches on the show I’m looking forward to as Cass is clearly on the rise but Rusev isn’t the kind of guy that is going to lose to someone who is making his solo pay per view debut. The match springs from the usual: someone beat up Cass’ buddy Enzo Amore and the big man is out for revenge. There was also something about Amore trying to sleep with Rusev’s seemingly willing wife but that detail might make Rusev seem sympathetic again so we’ll ignore that part.
As much as I want to go with Cass to start his rocket push, I really can’t imagine Rusev losing another pay per view match. It’s also a bit early for Cass to get a win like this, though I’ve heard of worse ideas. This really could go either way, though they would be better off having Rusev win via a Lana distraction or the threat of Amore getting hurt again. If nothing else, I want to see a mixed tag between these four down the line, assuming man vs. woman is allowed.
We’ll knock out a title match next with New Day yet again defending the Tag Team Titles against Cesaro and Sheamus. New Day set the record on Monday (for all intent and purpose) and now they get to defend against these guys again because WE WILL RESPECT CESARO AND SHEAMUS!
I know the obvious move is to change the titles not but I think I’m going to say New Day retains yet again with the big change coming at the Royal Rumble. There’s no reason to keep the belts on them any longer save for breaking the 500 day mark, which means a grand total of nothing. Maybe it’s just that I’m really not a fan of Cesaro and Sheamus but I have no desire to have them be the ones that finally get the belts off New Day. There’s a good chance I’m wrong and I probably am but I’ll say no title change here.
In another title match, Cruiserweight Champion Rich Swann is defending the title against TJ Perkins and Brian Kendrick in a triple threat match. Swann beat Kendrick for the title and both of them have gotten into it with Perkins, who is the only other man to hold this incarnation of the title.
It would seem that they’re setting up Noam Dar as the next challenger for the title and he would seem to match up best against Swann. I’ll go with another title being retained with Swann overcoming the odds. He’s a more interesting champion than both former champions and it would be a really bad idea to take the title off of him already. Either that or turn Perkins heel like he should have been from day one, but for some reason that seems out of the question.
We’ll jump towards the main events now with Chris Jericho facing Seth Rollins in a match that should be for the US Title. Jericho keeps costing Rollins World Title matches against Kevin Owens so Rollins Pedigreed him on top of a car. Instead of assault and battery charges, we get a pay per view match as a result.
I’m going to go with Rollins here, as the big match on the horizon seems to be Jericho facing Owens in some form. Therefore, with Jericho being more than ready to turn mega face for the match, the WWE is almost guaranteed to make him lose because that’s how they get people to cheer for you. So yeah, Rollins goes over and it’s Jericho vs. Owens, likely at the Rumble.
Now we’ll move on to the first of two timed matches on the card with Sami Zayn facing the monster Braun Strowman in a ten minute time limit match. This is about Zayn wanting to be like Mick Foley (I’m still not sure how that works) and not wanting to have to be treated like a baby because Strowman will crush him.
I think this goes to the draw with Zayn showing that he can hang in there with Strowman but barely surviving at the end of the match. Zayn certainly shouldn’t beat Strowman, who could be ready for a huge match down the line, but at the same time you don’t want Zayn to be completely destroyed. Strowman has Zayn done but the time runs out and it’s officially a draw.
In the other timed match we have Sasha Banks defending the Women’s Title against Charlotte in a thirty minute Iron Man match. This is being billed as the final match between the two of them but the stipulation sets up the prospect of a draw, meaning they get one more match.
That being said, I think they’ll put the title on Charlotte again because the big pay per view winning streak ending at Wrestlemania would be a better way to go rather than ending it at a nothing show like this. I like the Iron Man idea but it also brings up the problem of there not being much of a point to watching the first twenty five minutes of the match unless the two of them tear the house down, which of course they’re capable of doing.
We’ll wrap it up with the main event as Universal Champion Kevin Owens is defending against United States Champion Roman Reigns. As much as I can’t stand the idea of a double champion, I have a bad feeling WWE might pull the trigger on another Reigns title run for the sake of trying to be like the UFC with Conor McGregor.
That being said, I’ll actually go for the long shot and say Owens retains to set up a major title defense against Jericho at the Royal Rumble. Unfortunately that match can be done with or without the title so there’s no real need for Owens to hold the belt here. I really don’t need to see Reigns as champion again this soon as it isn’t exactly going to do much for making him into a bigger star.
Overall Roadblock is really just there, much like most Raw pay per views. The wrestling should be fine but WWE is going to manage to make it feel like it’s overstaying its already limited welcome. The main event scene is ice cold right now as I can barely even remember why Owens and Reigns are fighting in the first place. There will be some good stuff but this is just a filler show until we get to the important stuff in January.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book, KB’s Complete Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Volume V at Amazon for just $3.99 at: