MONDAY NIGHT RAW
BEAST SLAYER
Despite Rollins being out of action and Lesnar not being around the build to this feud has been quite good so far. Heyman really out over Rollins during the video package and emphasized the fact that Rollins won’t stay down and Lesnar will need to kill him to put him away. Intense Rollins is the best Rolins and this feud is playing to that strength and Heyman has been in fine form too with some newer material to work with.
TAG TEAM WRESTLING
The Revival vs DIY matches were some of the best in NXT history and their feud carried one of the weaker periods NXT had. With DIY debuting here and needing to make an impression a match with The Revival was a perfect way to get them noticed. While obviously not on the level of the NXT matches this one was very good.
FADE TO BLACK
While I wasn’t a fan of them calling him “moody” I think Black got in everything he needed to in his debut. He got to hit his cool finisher and make his cool entrance, and that’s honestly all you need with main roster fans.
SMACKDOWN LIVE
KOFIMANIA
Smackdown has continued the Mo Mentum of Kofi by giving him the spotlight in the main event. He got the hot tag and cleaned house before pinning Daniel Bryan and getting a title shot at Fastlane. This story has fallen into their laps but they have done well to keep the flame alive.
NXT SPOTLIGHT
The four NXT callups from RAW also got to compete on SDLive. Aleister Black got to look like the star we know he can be against Andrade as he put on a really good match and had the crowd reacting to all of his bigger spots. DIY had another good tag team match, this time with The Bar as they reminded everyone why they were a top tier tag team in NXT. Ricochet was probably used better on RAW but Eric Young made him look good. All four talents got to shine once again and Black, in particular, has main roster potential.
NXT
STARTING US OFF RIGHT
You probably don’t need me to tell you this but Aleister Black vs Roderick Strong was a very good opening match to the show. The style those two wrestle tends to get people excited without burning them out, short and sweet match between two talented wrestlers.
HORSEWOMEN
With her horsewomen by her side Shayna Baszler has become an even bigger tyrant in the NXT women’s division. She hides behind the two when necessary and always uses the numbers game to her advantage. She was already built up as a tough person to beat but now with outside help she looks unbeatable.
DREAM ON
It was never really in doubt but the main event proved Velveteen Dream is a star on the rise. The match between him and Gargano built well to the finish with Dream throwing everything against the wall in desperation as the fans willed him on to victory. There are few people with a connection like that and Dream certainly has it.
