It’s another edition of the weekly coverage in the land that is WWE. Last night we got a “Saturday Night’s Main Event” under the title of WWE Roadblock. Referring to “Roadblocks” for certain wrestlers on their way to WrestleMania. I get it, but Meh. Should have just called it Saturday Night Main Event on the WWE Network.
The show was good, but felt lacking and very predictable. As Bill covered in his review of WWE Roadblock, The New Day were spot-on hysterical. I am telling you, when they manufacture those Booty-Os , someone better call up the OU or RCBC and make them Kosher. I want to proudly present my children with breakfast featuring unicorn-riding wrestlers on rainbows. Sheamus and Barrett were not at the top of their game. During the match I wondered if Sheamus was injured because he just looked sluggish. I hope it is not burnout. Barrett we know just recuperated from injury, it was to be expected he appeared more careful. Kofi and Big E. put on a hell of a show, and agreed, Kofi was wearing his main event gear last night. Hard to believe some time ago he WAS main-eventing against Randy Orton. You know, the whole destroying the car bit?
The NXT Tag Team Match was good, a bit sluggish at the start but the live crowd had a positive effect on the match. Really enjoy watching The Revival. Dash and Dawson remind me of some of the classic teams. Enzo and Big Cass are way over. Wish they got the win, but it was not to be.
We also got Sami Zayn vs. Stardust, and I am convinced the audience was chanting “This is Awkward.” Speaking of chants, there were a lot of “CM Punk” and “JBL” chants. Stardust completely owned the match, and then Zayn hit his two big signatures and called it a day. Don’t get me wrong, Cody Rhodes puts on a great show, and both take some great bumps, but this match felt all sorts of wrong. Either miscommunication was rampant, or maybe they just didn’t jive well. Wasn’t a good showing for Zayn, but hopefully this will be forgotten rather quickly.
Speaking of chants, it is just me, or is the “This is Awesome” chant starting to feel a bit forced or overused?
I was surprised to see a match between Chris Jericho and Jack Swagger. I was really surprised Jack Swagger was still employed. I was even more surprised as to how a Canadian crowd was really into the “We the People” chant. I was amazingly surprised as to how good of a match Jericho and Swagger had together. Lots of moments where they teased a Swagger win. No titles on the line here, so it could have been plausible for Swagger to pull out the upset, maybe by AJ interference or some sort of Jericho mishap. Got to hand it to Jericho, certainly knows how to put people over, even when they lose.
Speaking of losers, the rest of the card featured losers, despite the inner child in all of us hoping the losers would be a winner.
Let’s start with Luke Harper and Bray Wyatt. There was no chance in hell Brock Lesnar would lose. None. Once Bray left the ring, Harper became Suplex fodder for Brock. The match was a complete waste.
When it was announced Charlotte and Natalya would have a match, I got to thinking we might get a good match. Once they pulled the gimmick of putting the Diva’s Title on the line, any and all possibility of a Natalya victory was quashed. Same goes for Dean Ambrose. As much as we hoped Ambrose would win, the brass in WWE would by no means take Triple H and/or Roman Reigns out of the main event.
Here is the problem. Natalya and Charlotte had a match of the year candidate. Natalya, despite having been with the company longer than any other Diva on the roster, put on the match of her career. The near-falls, and near-submissions were well played, however every time the announce team reminded us the Divas title was on the line, we remembered there was no chance Charlotte would lose. They could have done something crazy like Natalya winning and then drop it tomorrow night on RAW.
Instead, we got a crap finish involving Ric Flair. Really degrades Charlotte, having daddy essentially causing distraction after distraction on a weekly basis. Has to stop or Charlotte will not be taken seriously anymore.
Then, we have our main event. Triple H vs. Dean Ambrose. Again, falls under the heading of “great match, but we know what is going to happen.” The false finish was a gut-wrencher, and once that took place, you knew this one was ending quite soon. They could have done the false finish a whole lot better.
In my world, the ref would have counted three, the bell rung, and mass hysteria would ensure. Dean Ambrose would be champion… for a few minutes, and then the “rematch” would begin. Then we get the table crashing spot, following by Pedigree, and Triple H would “retain” the championship. Ambrose is the Mick Foley of our era. Takes the sick bumps, always competes every week, gets a ton of fan support, but just falls short of winning the big one. Maybe one day he will, Mankind/Foley did win the title after all, and when he did, it was glorious.
But now, we have Brock vs. Ambrose, which will be hard to watch, and Triple H vs. Roman Reigns, which no one will watch. Bray Wyatt, his role is questionable now. Maybe he will interfere and cost Brock the match, which is the only possible way I could see Ambrose winning.
Tonight on RAW, we will see some big pushing towards the main event storylines, and fans better get ready to have “BIG MAIN EVENT” shoved down their throats. I am usually not as critical as I am now, but I am honestly feeling disappointed at the set up this year for WrestleMania. To reiterate a point I made last week, if you want to enjoy WrestleMania 32, the focus on the undercard matches. Focus on the guys who do compete each and every week, title or not.
We will be watching for Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. We will also be looking forward to seeing Kalisto, unless it is Ryback he defends the United States Championship against. I want to see some sort of multi-man ladder match, for something. Otherwise this year’s Andre the Giant battle royal will feature EVERYONE on the roster because there just are not a whole lot of matches being pushed. Instead of a one-on-one between Zayn and Owens, you can get a crowd super-pumped with an eight-man Intercontinental Championship Ladder match. Add in Dolph Ziggler, The Miz, Stardust, and Neville. There you go. Let’s have a Fatal-Four Way for the Tag Team Championships between The New Day, The Dudley Boyz, The Usos, and the surprise debut of The Golden Truth.
There is potential for some great undercard matches. That is where the real money is.
