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It was a unique experience to witness WWE from the Performance Center when the first few shows happened. But the novelty has really worn off and I do wonder if WWE should consider a little off-season while the whole calamity passes for the sake of all its fans.
Welcome to this week's edition of Best and Worst, where we separate the good from the bad immediately after WWE's weekly programming airs. This week, a lot of things happened and one cannot fault WWE for trying even when they are in the position that they have been placed in.
But there is a flashback almost every week and it reminds us of the times when the world was a different place. And before I begin this week's review, let me take a moment to wish you guys all the best with the sincere hope that the world goes back to normal very soon indeed.
#1 Drew Gulak defeats Shinsuke Nakamura
One is supposed to be impartial when reviewing one of WWE's shows but c'mon, it is impossible to be impartial with regard to someone as talented as Drew Gulak. He is someone who's never gotten his due even though he is one of the most talented men in the ring and is also a very versatile performer who can do everything from PowerPoint presentations to being Enzo's sidekick with the utmost ease.
A win over Shinsuke Nakamura is no mean feat at all and it was great of Nakamura to lay down for him and launch Gulak to the next level, in a sense, to help his friend Daniel Bryan out.
I just wish that there was an audience in attendance to make this moment feel even more special and to really establish Drew Gulak as a legitimately big star.
#1 Worst: The Triple Threat situation
I just thought that choosing to end with The New Day and The Usos wasn't really the best choice. I had attended a WWE Live Event back in 2016 and they were working together even back then.
And there's no doubt at all that they can put on the best matches when they are paired against one another, but there's only a limit to how much someone can really take. Shorty G and King Corbin put on some great matches but there came a point where all of us grew tired of seeing them work against one another, I thought.
But the main reason why this entry makes it to the 'worst' list is that every long-time WWE fan could see the main event ending with both teams being added to the match at WrestleMania 36 in a triple threat affair. WWE has a way of making things very predictable indeed and this is not the best course of action, in my opinion, especially in the main event.
In any case, the ladder match stipulation was good and different. The match should be very good.
#2 Best: A Firefly Funhouse match
Well, Lucha Underground had been doing it for a while when they were still around and yes, even Impact Wrestling has done it more recently. We saw AEW adopt the approach too when Matt Hardy made his way to the company recently as well. In fact, Bray Wyatt himself did it in the House of Horrors match as well.
It does seem that WWE will adopt a more cinematic approach when it comes to the match between Bray Wyatt and John Cena. This has a whole bunch of advantages and the biggest one is probably the fact that Bray Wyatt can unleash his creative side and his demented mind and showcase how a match in a horror movie setting may feel. And the best part is that he is likely to win the match if it is happening in his wheelhouse, you know?
John Cena does not get affected too badly either because he will not lose a wrestling match in this case but a clash of nightmarish proportions.
One even wonders if this match was made in response to AEW doing the whole Broken gimmick with Matt Hardy.
#2 Worst: Reliving a match from years ago
Yes, I know that I said the same thing last week and I even said the same thing the week prior. I said the same thing on RAW as well, but what can I do really? Much of the show was taken up by a Roman Reigns vs. Triple H match from WrestleMania years ago and it was not the best match either.
I have had the honor of reviewing many Roman Reigns matches and many Triple H matches too, and both men will agree that this wasn't necessarily their best outing. There was a great spot with Stephanie McMahon midway through the match, but that is about it. I genuinely thought that with the number of matches available in their library, they would have chosen a better match.
Also, is Roman Reigns even going to be a part of WrestleMania this year with all of the rumors that are going around, I wonder? If not, this was a bad move. Why build anticipation for something that isn't going to happen at all?
#3 Best: King Corbin pushes Elias
We've seen a very goofy side to King Corbin thus far, with only glimpses of the man who is a bully and a savage underneath it all, in my opinion. And because of the same reason, while he gets a lot of heat, a lot of people don't take him seriously as a character.
I really thought that King Corbin snapping was a great touch and the fact that the cinematic approach we spoke about in the Bray Wyatt segment was used to depict Elias falling from a big height was really well done. Nobody would really care for an Elias vs. King Corbin feud before this but now that Elias has taken the big fall, the WWE Universe will be firmly on his side waiting for The King to get his due.
Elias has been one of those superstars who has been prominently featured but has never been a character that fans can gravitate towards, but this segment and King Corbin may change all that and push him to where he belongs.
#3 Worst: The whole SmackDown Women's Championship build
The opening segment on WWE SmackDown was probably the weakest thing on the entire show. Tamina showed up after many months and while she was made to look very dominant indeed, she lacks the expressions that make someone like Shayna Baszler so very special and so unique indeed.
As Naomi, Lacey Evans, and Tamina came out one after the other, one could see that they were just distractions from the central match at hand. And this was a match between Sasha Banks and Bayley, both of whom seem to be on the same page for now, and who should have ideally shown some signs of a few cracks heading into the big match.
I really have nothing else to report from the rest of the show, because the Alexa Bliss match was fun and Nikki Cross on commentary was cool but neither was really too groundbreaking. The whole Otis and Mandy Rose thing is proceeding in much the manner that you or I would expect.
It was a strictly average show.
