Monday Night RAW in Pittsburgh kicked the “Road to Wrestlemania” into high gear this week. While there was the requisite “seriously, dude?” moments — e.g. Braun Strowman vs. Colin Jost, that bizarre “farewell address” from The Shield — this episode actually did a lot of good table setting for Wrestlemania. Here’s four ways the WWE successfully built to Wrestlemania last night.
1. Using Undercard Talent to Elevate Storylines:
One thing WWE has done effectively is implement undercard talent to help drive home points of a storyline. Famous examples of this would be The Undertaker assaulting David Flair at a training session and then decimating him in the ring leading up to his Mania match with Ric Flair; and when Kurt Angle fought Marty Jannetty.
RAW used some undercard talent to drive home multiple storylines. First, the “hiring” of Shelton Benjamin to jump Seth Rollins by Paul Heyman was vintage heel manager. It’s a classic move that never gets old. The storyline worked even more effectively since it’s no secret that Brock and Benjamin were tag partners in OVW, and Heyman managed Benjamin for a while. Benjamin also wrestled a more Brock-style match, proving that Rollins could be someone with a similar skill set to Brock.
Dana Brooke, in some of her legit best work in WWE, drove home the point that Ronda Rousey has no respect for pro wrestlers, and that is she is the T2000 reborn. Brooke’s promo echoed the storyline WWE is pushing, while also reaffirming her “fighting for a chance” character.
Apollo Crews was used effectively to make Kurt Angle’s final match in Pittsburgh be markedly better than anything he’s done in the ring in the past six or so months. This match also helps give me steam to the Angle retirement tour.
2. The Dean Situation:
WWE’s use of Dean Ambrose last night was perfect. His going out to avenge Roman after Drew McIntyre injured him was true-to-character for Ambrose. It was an impulsive, emotional decision. It makes perfect sense for Dean to fight for Roman — and yes, we’ll bury his “Bane” promo deep into the ground — he’s his brother, even more so than Seth. Dean’s match with Drew McIntyre was undeniably Ambrose’s best singles match in forever. Maybe since his matches with Chris Jericho? This match made Drew McIntyre look like a monster — willing to destroy anything and anyone — to get his way. It’ll be great motivation for Roman to avenge Dean, and hopefully set up a barnburner between these two. Also, it would be an ideal way for Dean to exit the company.
3. Legends Matches That Won’t Steal the Spotlight:
We’ve got two legends matches booked for Wrestlemania now — Kurt Angle’s Retirement Match, and Triple H vs. Batista.
Let’s talk about Angle. The announcement came as a bit of a surprise, but let’s be realistic, it needs to happen. Angle is an all-time great, however you can see how much the last 20 years has done to his body. It’s time for him to ride off into the sunset on the grandest stage of them all. Who should he take on? Most of Angle’s greatest rivals have either been long-retired, or have passed on. While one final match between he and Samoa Joe, John Cena or AJ Styles would great (in theory), I would not be shocked if we see his final match be against Baron Corbin — a match we’ve been predicting for months.
As for Batista and Triple H — the execution definitely lacked (although ‘Guardians of the Independent Scene’ was great), but the result was what we all wanted. Batista did look a bit nervous out there, and can you blame him — he hasn’t been in front of a live wrestling crowd to cut a solo promo in years. The repetition of “give me what I want” went a bit long, but Batista’s final line ‘I can end my career on my own terms — by ending your career’ was PERFECT. Triple H making this a no holds barred match makes complete sense.
Both of these matches will work well (to varying degrees) as attraction matches, and not ones that’ll take the shine off of Brock vs. Seth Rollins, Becky/Ronda/Charlotte, or the eventual Bryan vs. Kofi match. Those feuds are red hot, and these will draw the passing fans back in.
4. Making Tag Team Wrestling Great Again?
While the current tag team scene of WWE is nowhere near the heights it reached in the ’80s and the Attitude Era — it’s a hell of a lot better than it was say, a few months ago when the Revival kept loosing to The Lucha House Party. Since then the WWE has done a good job and placing an importance on tag team wrestling. Right now the Aleister Black & Ricochet/Roode & Gable/Revival feud has been pretty terrific. Also let’s not forget Smackdown’s got some strong tag feuds potentially building too. All and all — WWE is getting this division back on track.
On the women’s side of things — we’ve got our first hot feud. Right now if you’re saying we’re getting The Boss & Hug Connection vs. The Samoan Slaughterhouse vs. The Divas of Doom — I’m in on that. That’s a strong feud. I mean I’d rather take Nia and Tamina out of this match, but that’s probably not happening. This is a strong feud which will work as a good Mania match, and reaffirms Sasha and Bayley’s proclamation that they’ll fight anyone, anywhere.
Smackdown Live has a lot of strong feuds running too, so this Wrestlemania is shaping up to be good — something we haven’t said this far out from a Wrestlemania in quite some time.
