After a little break for the holiday season, we are back with the best bits from the new year of the new WWE.
Monday Night RAW
The Kingslayer and a King
Seth Rollins has been out here saying what he wants for a few weeks and really putting the WWE to the sword with his meta promos. There was an obvious tension between H and Rollins during this promo but both killed it with their delivery. Triple H searching for the old Seth Rollins gives me hope Rollins is gonna move beyond his current I’m a good wrestler gimmick and get back what made him the architect. He doesn’t need a heel turn but more intensity and anger from him is good.
More of This Bobby please and Thanks
When Rush and Lashley came out to cut a promo I groaned, expecting more flexing and butt pointing I was pleasantly surprised with what we got. Bobby Lashley got to stand there looking tough while Lio Rush talked trash. It plays to both men’s strengths and doesn’t make people want to change the channel like the butt pointing so more of this please WWE.
Crews got to look good
WWE has made an effort to make Apollo look good lately. He was one of the people involved in beating the tar out of Baron Corbin and then was put over strong in the Battle Royal. Which is a surprise as I expected them to give him distraction win over Corbin or something but instead we got a good showing which lead to him having a good match with the Main Event talent and coming up short. This isn’t rewriting the book on wrestling but Apollo is now set up as an interesting midcard with credibility.
SmackDown Live
The Real AJ Styles
AJ Styles has an edge and may be returning to the man that feuded with Shane McMahon. Catchphrase spouting AJ had a decent title run but Something To Prove AJ always delivers fun segments and even better matches.
When a Man meets the GOAT
John Cena came out and reminded me of why I miss John Cena. He seemed to preempt something with his “a man is gonna walk down” line. This lead to THE MAN Becky Lynch coming out to make sure Cena knew this was her company now. These segments always serve to show just how good Becky is as she didn’t look out of place sharing the ring with the face of the WWE.
Earning It
A main event involving five of Smackdown’s biggest stars is a great main event and made the winner really earn their title opportunity. With Ali, AJ and Rey Mysterio bumping like mad and keeping the pace high Orton and Joe got to play to their strengths. A really good TV main event that gave us little moments of an Ali vs Mysterio match that I need to see.
205 Live
The first must-watch of 2019
In 2018 205 Live had some really good matches especially in the main event. This week’s main event of Drew Gulak vs Akira Tozawa is a match that should be watched if you have the time. It isn’t a match of the year contender but it’s a match worth watching
NXT UK
Building Blocks
NXT UK this week continued to build to TakeOver here. They teased a Devlin/Banks match, got more heat on some of themid cardd feuds and kept a big focus on Coffey/Dunne. The card for Takeover is strong in-ring wise and they have built solid logical stories around those matches going into the first ever Takeover UK special.
