With the WWE moving its base of operations overseas to the United Kingdom from The United States of America for the past week, there were some pretty high expectations from the WWE Universe. After all, when something big like this happens, everyone has their own demands that they want the WWE to fulfil.
This week was no different as the raucous professional wrestling fans brayed out their wants and needs throughout the night after posting about the same wants and needs on the internet in the buildup to the much-anticipated episodes of Monday Night Raw and Smackdown Live.
So, were those expectations met? Well, yes and no. It seems to be a trend every week that the WWE somehow manages to piss off some portion of the WWE Universe with its booking decisions. Well, how else would we have this weekly column, right?
Anyway, like I was saying, there were some expectations which were met while others were very much not.
So, without any further ado, here are 5 things we wanted from the WWE this week and what they delivered – 09th May 2017:
#5 What we wanted: Shinsuke Nakamura booked right; What we got: Shinsuke Nakamura booked right
Professional wrestling fans around the world were appalled when the WWE decided to do an extremely awkward interview segment with Shinsuke Nakamura where he was referred to as The Artist. It was an unmitigated disaster. Then, The King of Strong Styles was kept off WWE programming last week. So, as you might expect, fans were clamouring to see Nakamura at his best this week.
And, that's exactly what we got. With Backlash less than two weeks away and the Japanese superstar advertised as the main attraction of the event, it was integral that the WWE did right by him this week and they delivered with interest.
Dolph Ziggler and Nakamura had a great segment on Smackdown Live to build up expectations and hype up their upcoming clash at Backlash while doing wonders to repair the damage caused by that awful segment a few weeks ago.
#4 What we wanted: No more of The Welcoming Committee; What we got: Even more of The Welcoming Committee
The Welcoming Committee angle is garbage. It is an absolute stinker of an angle that is destroying the reputation of the Smackdown Live Women's division.
Instead of having Naomi and Charlotte building up a Smackdown Live Women's Championship match at Backlash, we got a nonsensical match involving Naomi and Charlotte on the same side to combat this new group of irritating women.
This looks set to continue up until Backlash at the very least and it is an absolute travesty to see some truly gifted women wrestlers being booked so atrociously. This looks like an angle from the pre Women's Revolution days where the women's division wasn't taken seriously.
Make it stop, already.
#3 What we wanted: The real Payback for last week's Raw main event; What we got: Partial Payback for last week's Raw main event
Last week's Raw main event saw some feuds get built up in the perfect fashion – Samoa Joe attacked Seth Rollins while Bray Wyat took out Finn Balor – as the heels cost the babyfaces a shot at the Intercontinental Championship. The next logical step was to have the babyfaces hit back this week.
The WWE kind of achieved that. Seth Rollins attacked Samoa Joe in the backstage area and the two got into a pretty damn good match after that. Rollins would pick up the win by Disqualification, but would then succumb to Joe's Coquina Clutch.
Quite surprisingly, on the other hand, Finn Balor and Bray Wyatt had no interaction on Raw at all. While this may seem surprising, this could be because of Braun Strowman's injury which will see him out for a number of weeks.
Rumour has it that the WWE want Finn Balor to go up against Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship while Roman Reigns gets drafted in to replace Balor in the feud against Wyatt.
This brings us nicely to our next point...
#2 What we wanted: More Roman Reigns vs Braun Strowman; What we got: Strowman injured
The Braun Strowman vs Roman Reigns feud has been extremely intriguing and one of the best things about Raw since Wrestlemania 33 ended. It's safe to say that the WWE Universe wanted to see some more action between The Big Dog and The Monster Among Men.
While we did get that, it was to set up Braun being written off of TV as he takes the time to recover from a legitimate injury which will see him needing surgery. It's a real disappointment and not one that is the fault of the WWE's creative team.
It's an unfortunately, timed injury and we hope to see Strowman back inside the squared circle sooner rather than later. As for Reigns, reports from WrestlingInc suggest he will go up against The Miz in a short-term program. What can we say other than, AWESOME!
#1 What we wanted: Building up Smackdown's major feuds; What we got: Building up the feuds in an inefficient way
The major feuds on Smackdown now are Randy Orton vs Jinder Mahal, AJ Styles vs Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn vs Baron Corbin. All three feuds were built upon extremely well in the opening segment of the show.
The problem arose with the main event, however. A Six Man Tag Team match between the faces and the heels – meant to get all three feuds off the ground – fell flat. No one got enough screen time and the ending was extremely predictable.
I guess this can be considered a job half done with the rest to be completed in the final build up to Backlash.
