Welcome back to my weekly WWE coverage. We are in the midst of our European tour as we inch closer to the Grandaddy of them All. Let’s see what this past week had to offer.
News Bits
- Steve Austin has been confirmed to be appearing at WWE World over Wrestlemania 41 weekend, further fuelling speculation of him making an appearance on the show.
- Roxanne Perez is expected to become a full time member of the main roster imminently, with her feud with Bayley being the catapult up the card.
- The Undertaker’s One Deadman Show will also be appearing at Wrestlemania 41 weekend, though I think it is less likely we will see the Deadman appear at the Show of Shows.
- After the announcement for a PLE called Clash in Paris, WWE have announced another stack of European dates on the road to the event. Most of the events are in the UK, including a Smackdown from Dublin, Ireland and Raw from Birmingham. The Smackdown before Clash will air from Lyon, France.
- For the low low price of $25,000 per person, you can meet and dine with John Cena at a 5 star restaurant over Wrestlemania weekend. John Cena’s biggest heel move since Elimination Chamber.
- Lex Luger very much wants AEW star Sting to induct him into the WWE Hall of Fame and the company is actively trying to get this to happen. Will we see an AEW signed personnel appear on WWE programming in the flesh? It would only be the second time after Billy Gunn’s Hall of Fame induction a few years back.
- Pete Dunne joins Natalya Neidhart on the card for GCW Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport XIII.
- Former WWE champion Alberto El Patron receives a wrestling ban after getting into a physical altercation with a fan at an event in Mexico.
- WWE are bringing back the Slammy Awards! Check out the categories on WWE’s website and get voting, they’re a lot more serious and no longer have stupid joke categories like under Vince’s rule.
WWE Raw – 17th Mar. from Brussels, Belgium
Highlights
Another Great Crowd
Europe continues to deliver the goods as Brussels had a very loud and excited crowd. It really adds a lot to a wrestling show. The crowd was very similar to the one we got for Backlash France, which makes sense considering the geography. They would chant after 2 counts and it was great to hear such passion.
It’s Not Me, It’s You.
The show opened with John Cena breaking up with us. It still didn’t feel real but John Cena cut a straight up heel promo against us, the fans. This was a 20+ minute VENT by Cena who unloads on fans for never appreciating his work and always asking for more. He calls his relationship with the fans an abusive one and it is time that he cuts us off. He says he isn’t a face or a heel, he is a human being. That line went hard.
After aggressively slagging us off for 20 minutes, Cody Rhodes comes out and calls him a whiney bitch. He wants the real John Cena at Wrestlemania, not this version.
It was a great segment. There was a lot still unaddressed, notably Cena’s alliance with The Rock, but it was a great start. This felt like a moment for Cena to unload a lot of withheld issues with the wrestling fans. It’ll be interesting to see if Cena can remain a heel for long, he seemed unsure about the path he has chosen.
Cero Miedo
Penta ended his feud with Ludwig Kaiser with a victory in a No Holds Barred match. It was a very fun match and Penta got another big win. He can now move to bigger and better things. He confirmed what is in his line of sight. The Intercontinental Championship. I’m happy with that.
Rhea Ripley Playing MyGM
Iyo Sky and Bianca Belair had a contract signing for Wrestlemania and they exchanged sharp but peaceful words with each other. Both women signed the contract, but here comes Rhea Ripley who is still not happy with her exclusion from this match. This ends in another physical encounter. Bianca is laid out on the table and Rhea powerbombs Iyo on top of her. Rhea then takes the contract, signs it and leaves with it! Adam Pearce is pissed, they argue backstage whilst Rhea says that it is an official document that has to be upheld.
It was a great segment, I’m not sure about the legal aspect of all this but hey it’s just wrestling. I’m sure both Iyo and Bianca at this point want to get there hands on Rhea too.
El Gablador Strikes Again
I am absolutely loving this new luchador arc for Chad Gable, it is a lot of fun. The LWO managed to defeat the Creed Brothers but we saw a run in from this masked man that Chad Gable claims not to be. It is a fun gimmick and maybe this leads to Chad coming face to face with a debuting Rey Fenix. We shall see.
Bron Breakker retains
Bron Breakker defeated Finn Balor in a great main event for his Intercontinental Championship. Balor once again why he is one of the best wrestlers in WWE, whilst Bron again shows why he is the next big thing. The Judgement Day would come out to try and help their ally but it backfired. Dominik Mysterio would stop Bron from hitting a top rope move, but Balor would fall cock & balls first onto the top turnbuckle.
Bron Breakker wins with the spear. The Judgement Day try to deliver a beat down but Penta comes and makes the save. Penta and Bron have a face to face to close the show. It was a good main event to close what was a pretty solid episode of WWE Raw, but not perfect.
Lowlights
Barely No Holds Barred
Whilst Penta vs Ludwig Kaiser was a great match, why was it No Holds Barred? I mean it makes sense as a blow off match for the feud, but this match barely made use of the stipulation. They fought outside the ring a little bit and used a chair a couple of times but that was it. I don’t need every NHB match to be crazy chaos, but I felt like they could have done a bit more with the stipulation here.
Very Little Women’s Action
My biggest issue with this show though was a serious lack of female presentation. Dakota Kai vs Ivy Nile only lasted 2 minutes and 47 seconds, then we had the contract signing and that was basically it for the women on this show outside of a couple short backstage segments. I believe John Cena’s long promo meant they were cut for time, but surely on Netflix they’re more flexible for time right? I don’t know, but the women deserved a bigger showing here.
That’s Just a Theory
Poor Austin Theory, another person done dirty on this show. His scheduled match with Jey Uso lasted 29 seconds. He attacked Jey before the bell, taunted, Jey reversed a move and ran the ropes, hitting a spear and then winning the match. Yikes. Afterwards again Gunther attacks jey but this time the challenger was prepared. He fights him off and this time even takes the world heavyweight title and holds it up in celebration.
I don’t think this segment did much favours for Jey Uso and it definitely didn’t do much for Austin Theory. I hope WWE rectify this and give Austin Theory something worthwhile soon. Give him an IC title match or something, even if he loses make him look good in defeat.
Whilst we’re on the topic, has anyone felt the build for Jey vs Gunther has been a little lacklustre? I’m not like the rest of the IWC that shit on Jey, I am happy he is getting the opportunity. I just feel like the build has been pretty meh. We haven’t really had a single promo battle between them. Both men cut promos separately and then wrestle someone before leading to the two men having a scrap. It is simple and basic. Maybe that is all it has to be and I’m being whiney. I just hoped for more I guess.
Results & Grades
John Cena “breaks up” with the fans, Cody Rhodes calls him a bitch (A Grade)
Penta defeats Ludwig Kaiser, No Holds Barred (B+ Grade)
Dakota Kai defeats Ivy Nile (C- Grade)
Rhea Ripley crashes the Women’s World Contract Signing (B+ Grade)
Jey Uso squashes Austin Theory, fights off Gunther (C Grade)
Rey Mysterio & Dragon Lee defeat Creed Brothers (B Grade)
Seth Rollins talks about CM Punk & The OTC, teases appearing on Smackdown (B- Grade)
Bron Breakker (c) defeats Finn Balor, IC Championship (B+ Grade)
Overall, I would gave WWE Raw a B Grade.
What is Tozawa Up To?
I’m sorry everyone, but I have no Akira Tozawa news this week. He hasn’t appeared on any programming and he hasn’t dropped anything exciting on the internet. 🙁
WWE NXT – 18th Mar. from Orlando, FL
Highlights
Remaining In Office
Chelsea Green retains her US championship against Sol Ruca and it was done in relatively clean fashion. Her Cabinet Piper Niven and Alba Fyre did make their presence known but Zaria was quick to take them out. This was a good match, Sol Ruca looked good but I am more happy to see Chelsea Green being booked well once again.
Jaida Parker Steps Up
Stephanie Vaquer says she has proved to be the best in NXT now she is double champion and she wants to find a new challenger. Out comes Jordynne Grace as expected but she is attacked by Jaida Parker! She steps into the ring and delivers a fire promo praising Vaquer but promising that she will be the one to bring the festivities to an end.
I thought this was great, Jaida Parker has been making moves in NXT for the past year and a programme with Vaquer and Grace will help elevate her even further. She faces Stephanie Vaquer next week.
A Hot Sprint
Josh Briggs & Inamura didn’t get much time for their win but all 4 men made the most of it. They defeated Hank & Tank in just over 5 minutes but this was an action-packed, physical fight from bell to bell. This was a lot of fun, Briggs & Inamura winning was the right call as they’re probably the second best tag team in NXT right now.
The Face of the Division
The Giulia vs Stephanie Vaquer dream match closed the show and it solidified Vaquer as the top woman in NXT. Deservedly so. Vaquer just has the whole package for me. She is a great wrestler with good understanding of the psychology. She looks great and she has a great connection with the fans. Vaquer absolutely can be a future world champion in WWE. Their match was great, impressive if it is true about the injuries Giulia was carrying into the match.
Lowlights
No One Is Safe
The D’Angelo Family are in control, but the Tron shows that the team of 4 rookies are attacking The Don backstage, which causes enough of a distraction for The Culling to attack and win the match. It just felt like a flat way to end the match. I’m not even hating on the group here, just the booking of the finish.
I will say though, it is hard to believe no one is safe when clearly some people are. Remember when the Nexus debuted and attacked officials and announcers? Or when the Shield did promos they would use their own camera, not a cameraman? Or if Brock Lesnar was pissed he would literally murder anyone in sight? Those are moments when a guy/stable feels real or legit. Like they’re an actual threat. These 4 guys do not have that aura at all.
The group cut a small promo backstage and it was fine, though their reasonings are pretty generic. They don’t like how things are run, they want opportunity so they’re going to take matters into their own hands. We finally have their name. They’re Dark State which is kind of a cool name.
Break Up Witcha Boyfriend
Ashante Adonis is a terrible boyfriend and an even worse manager. Karmen Petrovic is in control of her match, but her BF slides in a chair and tells her to use it, DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THE REFEREE. There was a cool hidden segment behind Jaida Parker’s backstage promo where Karmen and Adonis argue and she walks away from him. I understand this is supposed to make Ashante look shitty, but it also makes him look stupid. If Karmen continues to stay with him, then that makes her look naïve. I don’t really care for this love storyline anyways.
Right Winner, Wrong Opponent
I did not really want to see Ricky Saints vs Ridge Holland. Holland is not a particularly interesting wrestler and the amount of times he just takes a move and stands up almost immediately really pisses me off. Literally towards the finish, Starks hits him with 2 moves and Ridge pops up after both of them, then Starks hits his finish and wins. The thing is Ridge has been around for a while. I know he can wrestle better than this, we saw him do good against Tony D’Angelo inside the steel cage. Starks should have won but he needs better opponents to really showcase how good he can be. They teased Starks vs Shawn Spears which I would be happy to see.
Underground? More Like Underwhelming
Trick Williams disposed of his bitter rival Eddy Thorpe in about 3 minutes in what was a flat, disappointing main event match. I don’t really like the Underground match, I think there is a way to do it well but mostly they put on a wrestling-MMA hybrid but it usually doesn’t look great. Trick seemed completely out of his element in this match and he did not look great. The match was weak and this entire feud has not elevated Trick anymore, nor has it boosted Thorpe.
Trick has just killed time before a rematch with Oba Femi. Eddy got some more screentime for a while but now he has been absolutely punked and KO’s by Trick he is about to slide right back down the card. Probably for the best, but it all feels like wasted time.
What The Fuck Was This?
I’m just going to run through the entire final segment of the show. First of all, earlier on after their promo Dark State said they were not finished causing chaos tonight and went back inside to do some more. Security apparently were happy to let this slide. So after beating Thorpe, Trick calls out NXT champion Oba Femi. The music plays and Oba comes out and they have a tense face to face. Lights go out, the music plays and Dark State enter through the crowd. Je’Von Evans then appears and he gets in-between Femi and Trick, presumably telling them to unite to fight off Dark State. Trick shoves him away, Oba and Trick brawl.
The dozens of NXT guys try to separate them, Trick & Oba take them all out. Dark State’s music still plays, it is dark except for white spotlights and the shaky camera makes this segment barely watchable. Then, Je’Von hits Oba Femi with a cutter and it did not look like an accident, commentary did not try to make it look like it was either. Trick and Evans have a stand-off, Dark State stay in the crowd nodding at what has happened. Trick and Evans are stood side by side looking at the carnage. Vic Joseph says “Dark State have reaked absolute havoc, creating nothing but chaos. No one listened to Je’Von Evans’ warning. He was provoked and dropped Oba Femi.”
Nonsensical
Did I miss something? None of that chaos was caused by Dark State, it was all done by Trick and Oba. Unless we are lead to believe that Trick might be a secret member of the group which would in fact make sense. Je’Von was only attacked by them last week and he only tried to warn Trick this week. How did no one listen to him when he only spoke to one guy! The other guys who have been attacked do not even care about this Dark State nonsense. Je’Von was not provoked in anyway to attack Oba Femi but he did anyways. The whole segment had too many bodies and too many things to focus on. The music still being played was silly and the lighting and camerawork was disorientating.
This whole segment did not make a lick of sense, it was borderline unwatchable and it is honestly the worst thing I have seen in NXT for a LONG time. Shawn Michaels, either drop this shitty angle or get to the bloody point because it is the worst part of every show at this point.
Results & Grades
Chelsea Green (c) w/Piper Niven & Alba Fyre defeats Sol Ruca, US Championship (B Grade)
Stephanie Vaquer interrupted by Jordynne Grace & Jaida Parker (B+ Grade)
Josh Briggs & Yoshiki Inamura defeats Hank & Tank (B Grade)
The Culling w/Shawn Spears defeat The D’Angelo Family (B- Grade)
Jacy Jayne w/Jazmyn Nyx & Fallon Henley defeats Karmen Petrovic w/Ashante Adonis (C- Grade)
Ricky Saints defeats Ridge Holland (C Grade)
Trick Williams defeats Eddy Thorpe, Underground Match (C- Grade)
Trick Williams calls out Oba Femi, Je’Von Evans gets involved, Dark State do Nothing (F Grade)
Overall I would give WWE NXT a C Grade.
Recommendation of the week
Wrestlemania Season is more than just the 2-day extravaganza, but it is about the entire extended weekend of wrestling. This week’s recommendation will be coming from the prelude to Wrestlemania, NXT.
Before Stand & Deliver, we would just get NXT TakeOver [insert city name]. We have had some cracking TakeOver shows but I think maybe the best comes from 2018 in New Orleans. I could recommend pretty much any match on this show, but I think I will talk about the 6-man ladder match for the inaugural North American Championship, for 2 reasons.
First, it is an absolutely stellar match full of action and the high spots you could ask for. Secondly, this is an interesting match because none of the 6 men featured are with WWE anymore, almost 7 years later. Lars Sullivan & Velveteen Dream were both released from WWE after controversies mounted up against both individuals. Killian Dain & EC3 were both laid off in 2020/21 due to budget cuts related to Covid-19, both men not being able to achieve much success in WWE. Both Adam Cole and Ricochet managed to win championships in WWE, but both men have since found a new home in AEW.
The ladder match is a 30 minute highlight reel and is worth your time. Here is a link to check it out yourself.
WWE Smackdown – 21st Mar. from Bologna, Italy
Highlights
Hearing Voices Again
Randy Orton enters to a sing-song of his theme which was awesome. Another loud crowd tonight. Before he can even speak, Kevin Owens interrupts him and apologises for letting his anger blind him. Sami Zayn and Cody Rhodes got what they deserved, but Orton was caught in the crossfire. He says he saved Melo Hayes last week to save Orton from becoming his old self. Owens knows Randy has made mistakes too. He wants them to go after the tag titles at Wrestlemania.
Randy rejects the apology and calls Owens a bitch. He is glad that Owens dropped him on his head, he hears voices again and in Las Vegas, he will kick Owens’ head off his shoulders. It appears that Orton vs Owens is all but confirmed. A very good promo to open the show, Owens tried to peaceful route but I imagine he will try to injure Orton once again after this exchange. I look forward to their match at Wrestlemania.
Was This Good?
So. the split-screen interview between Tiffany Stratton and Charlotte Flair. This is a very peculiar one. Let’s talk positive for now. It had a lot of great intensity and the animosity between both women felt real. Stratton is the champion yet still the underdog against the Queen. She stands her ground and speaks the facts that she is the champion and the hottest woman in the company. Charlotte fires back with venom and asserts her dominance in the interview. She throws insults, belittles her accomplishments and talks over Stratton constantly.
The angle was perfectly fitting of the feud that has been built and Charlotte’s behaviour matches this arrogant, entitled character that she has returned with. However, I think there might be some negatives to this also. I’ll talk about them in the next section.
A Storm is Brewing
Liv Morgan gets a huge victory over Jade in her comeback match thanks to the interference from Naomi. I thought Jade looked pretty good in there, still rough around the edges but she is clearly improving. Liv getting a win was a surprise but a welcome one.
Naomi continues her assault on Jade after the match. It’ll be interesting to see how Naomi goes as a heel, I think that she could thrive in this role.
Smoke Retrieved
The Street Profits first promo as champions is interrupted by Legado Del Fantasma who want a title shot. Pretty Deadly come out and mock them since they have a title shot already and tell them to step aside. Street Profits decide to deal with Los Garzas tonight in an impromptu, non-title match and Pretty Deadly will have their title match next week in their home country of the UK. This match would be the last of the show and it was the best on the show.
Los Garzas showed their athleticism and skill, but it was no match for the champions. They get a clean victory in a great match which this show desperately needed.
The Lines Are Drawn
The OTC/YTC Roman Reigns comes out to much love and fanfare. Punk screwed him at the Rumble, so he screwed him last week. Rollins tried to kill him at the Rumble, so he tried to kill him last week. He offers anyone to come and meet him face to face if they have a problem with him. Here comes Seth Rollins. The Visionary is pissed Roman ruined his chances of ending CM Punk in WWE, but he knows that they have a never-ending story that needs a new chapter.
CM Punk enters as Rollins looks to ready himself for a fight with Roman. He says that “Big Chief” & “Grimace” cannot beat him without the other person’s help. Roman wouldn’t have made it to the Rumble without his help. He thanks Heyman for serving Roman up to him. Roman looks at Paul confused, Punk attacks him and it is brawl time! All 3 men go at each other, officials failing to keep them all separated from each other for too long. All 3 men have a go at being on top and pointing at the Wrestlemania sign, ready to prove who is the definitive Best in the World.
A great hot segment to close the show. I wish more words were said but the fight was what was most important. It seems we are indeed getting a blockbuster main event match between 3 men dripping with aura and star power.
Lowlights
Or Was This Bad?
We’re back to the split-screen interview. This was heavily one-sided for Charlotte and maybe too much. Tiffany really struggled to get a word in as she was interrupted and talked over a lot. It came across that she got legit rattled as her her promo got weaker and weaker towards the end of the segment. Flair went HARD on Stratton and you could make a claim that she buried Stratton on live TV. The current champion looked absolutely outclassed, undermined and out of her depth.
The thing now is that WWE have put themselves into a difficult position. Before, I was open to the idea of Charlotte winning the title so that Stratton can get her revenge over Flair in the future. Now, I feel like Tiffany Stratton has to win, otherwise she is at risk at receiving what I call ‘The Bayley Effect’. Bayley’s character was assassinated so hard in her feud with Alexa Bliss in 2017 that it took her over 2 years to recover properly. I don’t want the same to happen to Tiffy.
How I grade this segment completely depends on how this rivalry goes down. Stratton needs to either win at Wrestlemania, or she needs to win the 2026 Royal Rumble and win a rematch against Charlotte. I am struggling with how I feel about it currently.
Jacob Should Have Turned
Solo Sikoa straight up attacked Braun Strowman with the Samoan Spike in front of the referee and cost Jacob Fatu the match and a shot at the US title. Then later on when Fatu is rightfully pissed, Solo tells him to calm down and he was only trying to help. What? How? You could have tried to distract Braun or the referee. You straight up cost Fatu the match intentionally. This makes Solo look stupid if he is trying to help. If he did it on purpose, then it makes Fatu look stupid for still being associated with them.
The match was good, disappointing finish.
The Worst Attempt Heard
The ring announcer absolutely butchered announcing Chelsea Green’s name. I don’t think it was Lillian Garcia on tonight. I loved the way Samantha Irvin did it, Lillian has been doing a solid re-enactment. If you can’t do it, just leave it behind. It is okay, we will get over it in time.
Bored
They gave Piper Niven vs Zelina Vega 12 minutes. 12! Now I know I was complaining about women representation on Raw and I am glad they rectified that. But is there not another women’s match they could have booked for this long? What I am learning since the inception of the IC and US women’s titles is how weak the Smackdown division is compared to Raw.
Yeah, this match sucked. There was no heat. Even the hot Italian crowd struggled to remain interested in this one. I would understand if this was a long beatdown for Zelina to come back with a shock upset win, but she fucking lost! This was long, slow and tiring. It killed the crowd. The last half of the match was worked solidly but the first half showed some awkward work from them both, mostly Zelina. Sorry ladies, but this wasn’t it.
Results & Grades
Kevin Owens apologises to Randy Orton, it is not accepted (B Grade)
Damian Priest & Jimmy Uso defeat Drew McIntyre & Shinsuke Nakamura (C+ Grade)
Split-Screen Interview with Tiffany Stratton & Charlotte Flair (C Grade)
Braun Strowman defeats Jacob Fatu via DQ (B- Grade)
Piper Niven w/Chelsea Green defeats Zelina Vega (D- Grade)
Liv Morgan w/Raquel Rodriguez defeats Jade Cargill (B Grade)
New Tag Champs Street Profits interrupted by Legado Del Fantasma & Pretty Deadly (C+ Grade)
Street Profits defeat Los Garzas (B+ Grade)
Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns & CM Punk Exchange Words & Fists (B+ Grade)
Overall, I would give WWE Smackdown a B- Grade.
Top 10 of the Week
1) Bron Breakker
2) Finn Balor
3) Penta
4) Ludwig Kaiser
5) Montez Ford
6) Angelo Dawkins
7) Angel Garza
8) Berto Garza
9) John Cena
10) Rhea Ripley
Match of the Week
Bron Breakker vs Finn Balor, WWE Raw
Next Week
Raw
Lyra Valkyria (c) vs Raquel Rodriguez, IC Championship
Jey Uso & ??? vs A-Town Down Under
Cody Rhodes & John Cena Face to Face Again
CM Punk Has Words To Say
NXT
Stephanie Vaquer (c) vs Jaida Parker, Women’s Championship
Stephanie Vaquer (c) vs Fallon Henley, North American Championship
Lexis King (c) vs Je’Von Evans, Heritage Cup
Smackdown
Street Profits (c) vs Pretty Deadly, WWE Tag Championships
LA Knight (c) vs Braun Strowman, US Championship
I’ve been rebooking all of the Wrestlemania’s from 1 to 40. Here is the most recent one!
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