Monday Night RAW

Too Cool

How cool is Ronda Rousey? In the face of 5-year-old taunting from the Bella’s that would usually send a babyface into a blind rage, Rousey only smirked and promised to END NIKKI BELLA. This is how you make a cool ass babyface. They aren’t gotten to by silly taunts, they don’t do stupid things, they just act confident and say cool things. It’s so easy yet the WWE has failed to create many of them. They have struck gold with Rousey she has this aura around her that makes her promising to end people that much more believable.

It’s Time to Walk With Elias

BABYFACE ELIAS, BABYFACE ELIAS. The most charismatic man on the roster is finally getting the opportunity to be the babyface he was meant to be! As anyone who has read this before knows I love seeing Baron Corbin getting beat up so Elias feuding with him and smashing a guitar over his back makes him an ultra face to me. I’ve also been thoroughly entertained by him this year an I can’t wait to see him transition into a face role.

Lio Rush is a great heel

Small thing but man Lio Rush is a great heel, he’s obnoxious as hell, annoying and generally unlikeable. It really adds to the Lashley act.

Lunatic Fringe

On this night when Seth Rollins needed his brother more than ever before Dean betrayed him. Rollins and Ambrose worked through the pain of Roman’s revelation to capture the tag titles and then Dean snapped. After a rollercoaster night, Dean turned on his brother Seth when Seth needed a brother. Dean vs Seth was one of the best feuds going a few years ago and I’m very excited to see it reignited.

“…my real name is Joe”

Roman Reigns dropped a bombshell. He is Joe, he has had Leukemia for 11 years and he has to relinquish the Universal title because it’s back. With this one peak behind the curtains at the hardships, this man faced I feel like he connected with the WWE fans in a way he never had before. For 5 minutes he thanked the fans, was vulnerable and was human. In those 5 minutes, he changed everything! No longer is he 50/50 Roman who gets booed more than cheered, he became a symbol of strength and perseverance that everyone supports 100%. I believe Roman when he says that he will beat this, and I believe him because he is a very strong man with the love and support of millions to encourage him. You better believe Roman will step in a WWE ring again one day and when he does he will be the treated like the hero he is.

205 Live

Another one for Ali’s catalog

205 Live consistently produces good wrestling but ever now and then you get a match that goes a level above and you get a really great match. Mustafa Ali added to his WWE MVP case with another great stipulation match, his match with Buddy Murphy a few months ago was also really good, Hideo Itami and Ali delivered an innovative falls count anywhere match that didn’t rely on crowd brawling but instead was full of cool spots like that tornado DDT and Itami kicking Ali off the table and into the barricade. This match put an end to a grudge feud with the right guy going over and getting to showcase his innovation yet again as Mustafa Ali emerges as a contender for WWE’s best in-ring performer. Also, can it be a rule that the babyface introduces the table in any match because it usually gets the biggest pop of the match?

Mixed Match Challenge

More Silly Fun

Team Aweska vs Mr. and Mrs. Uso had some hugs because everyone loves hugs. Except The Miz. The look of disgust on his face when Asuka hugged Naomi and Jimmy was incredible as was him escaping a group hug. More fun in the other match as Finn and Bobby traded jackets/Robes and each other’s taunt. Silliness but for a non-canon dark match I’ll take what I can get.

NXT

The new Aleister Black

Aleister Black was always a cool character, an extension of Black’s real personality he was a calm, collected badass with satanic vibes and lots of tattoos. Now though he is a man on a mission and finally showing emotion. The new Aleister intent on getting what he wants and kicking the head off anyone that gets in his way is an Aleister that I can get behind.

Act Like A Lady

Lacey Evans performs her “lady” character very well. The character is easy to hate as the modern day fan seeks equality for women’s wrestling while Evans is the opposite and represents an old school way of thinking.

Mae Young Classic

Match of the Year Candidate

Meiko Satomura sharing a ring with Toni Storm was always going to end well. But admittedly they blew away even my high expectations. The booking of Meiko as a final boss in this tournament who toys with her opponent until she decides to turn the switch helped the match. When Meiko flipped the switch and started laying into Toni it fired Storm up who was willing to take whatever Satomura could dish out and overcame it all to win with the Tiger Driver and put her into the final. An absolute masterpiece of a match that built well to the big spots and kept me guessing as to who would win, even though I had read the spoilers.

Rhea Ripley

Rhea Ripley more than likely wasn’t even meant to be in this match with Io Shirai but Tegan Nox’s injury forced them to put together a match on short notice. While she has proved to be more character than in-ring performer Ripley held it together for both matches in a way that most 21-year-olds couldn’t and deserves a lot of respect for her performances.

WWE Evolution 2018

Trish and Lita

Opening the show with arguably two of the biggest stars on the card proved to be a good decision. The crowd was extremely hot and gave these women the reception they deserve and were also really into the match. Both Stratus and Lita looked great in the ring and held up their end of the bargain.

Mae Young Classic Final

The Mae Young Classic has delivered some strong matches throughout and the final did not disappoint. While I have seen criticism from some corners due to the match going 10 minutes I think once it’s a great match who really cares how long it is. Toni winning seems like the right choice as she is possibly a bigger potential star in the US than Io and Shirai doesn’t really need this to get over with the hardcore crowd.

Last Woman Standing

In a similar vein to the recent Kagetsu vs Hana Kimura match from Stardom, this was just violence from start to finish. It only makes sense that after all that’s happened these two would want to hurt each other using as many weapons as possible. While it might not have been the best match of the night it was certainly memorable as these two women went to war.

An Evolution

Put aside your skepticism, put aside Crown Jewel, forget that WWE is rewriting a narrative of women’s wrestling and just realize what a huge night this was for every woman involved and so many women watching at home. For one night the WWE let the women stand up and gave them the opportunity to prove themselves and you bet your ass they did! This was one of the hottest WWE crowds in a long time, it was one of the best Pay Per Views we got this year and it was all thanks to the passion and determination for these women to prove themselves and to have their moment. WWE Evolution was a great PPV, it was a historic PPV and I for one loved every second of it.