After a strong outing for all shows last week, WWE were not able to deliver a repeat performance. RAW’s dismal ratings are being blamed on the NBA, but in terms of the action alone, it’s not surprising that many people tuned out.
Smackdown could have done so much more to build enthusiasm for Money in the Bank, but also had a bit of a wayward week. NXT was perhaps the best of the lot, which isn’t saying too much, but we did see a very promising end to the week’s action from the NXT Women’s division.
Here is what we learned from the WWE this week:
#1 The Samoa Joe Vs. Brock Lesnar segment could have been a bit more original
While it was a welcome change to see WWE attempt to do something a little different with Samoa Joe and Brock Lesnar this week, it didn’t feel quite ‘different’ enough. In fact, the start of RAW was pretty much a carbon copy of the Lesnar vs. Undertaker rivalry of last summer.
The good thing about this feud is that the WWE are willing to portray Joe as the fearless competitor we all know he is. Often, when Lesnar is facing a heel, we get the typical cowardly tricks where Lesnar is rarely met face to face and is instead ambushed by the heel’s associates, a la Seth Rollins a few years back. Joe is clearly a different sort of heel, one that the WWE has been lacking for quite a while. It makes sense for him to just march down to the ring and attack Lesnar, rather than sheepishly approach and wait for an opportunity.
But at the same time, one feels as though the action could have been ramped up even more, this week. Why did we have to start with a Paul Heyman promo, for example? As good as Heyman is on the mic, he is best used sparingly, otherwise everything he says just melts into one.
Considering Joe almost broke the neck of his manager a week previous, Brock should have been in such a livid state that he wasn’t even willing to hang around for Heyman to do his bit before brawling with Joe. The show could have started off with Lesnar marching around backstage, trying to find his adversary with Heyman trying to calm him down.
The WWE could have utilised this rivalry more throughout the night. This is obviously the main focus going into Great Balls of Fire, so why not have the two men constantly interfere with proceedings, cutting to footage of them fighting backstage, or coming out to interrupt matches?
It was a nice attempt by creative this week to make the feud feel special, but it was nothing we hadn’t seen before.
#2 The IC Title feud needs to keep going
The rivalry between Dean Ambrose and The Miz has been exceptional television over the past few months. These two have such great chemistry together both on the mic and in the ring. It has helped Dean Ambrose rediscover his enthusiasm and fan popularity, and has kept The Miz at the very top of the upper-mid card where he belongs.
There are also several other layers to the rivalry that are yet to be finalised. The inclusion of The Drifter, for example, has enabled RAW to showcase a former NXT talent that initially looked doomed to failure. Samson’s time with the developmental brand was a little sketchy, and it really felt like the time wasn’t quite right when they called him up to the main roster.
Now, however, he has a decent place on Monday Night RAW, building a lot of heat for himself with his one-man performances in the ring before matches. If he can keep this up, he will have a very bright future with the company.
And there is also a mini storyline developing between The Miz and Maryse. After The Miz unintentionally destroyed the Grandfather Clock, bought for him by his wife last week, the two have had a very frosty on-screen relationship. While she still visibly supports her husband during his matches, you can tell that she is still very upset with him.
This is a very relatable situation for anyone in a long-term relationship or marriage. While you try your best to outwardly display a perfect harmony between the two of you, there is always something going on behind the scenes. It wouldn’t be wise for the company to go as far as splitting them up, but a little friction between the ‘It’ couple is helping this feuding along nicely.
The action itself wasn’t as good as last week, however. Again, it’s nice to see them trying something different, but there’s a very fine line between effective comedy and unnecessary clownishness, and the whole bear costume thing might have strayed over the line on Monday. That being said, you can’t always have a perfect week, and the feud overall is still worth tuning in for.
#3 Smackdown has a respectable tag-team division again
There were high hopes for Smackdown’s tag team division after the Draft last year. This was mainly due to the inclusion of American Alpha, one of the most entertaining teams to come out of NXT. One also hoped that teams like The Ascension and The Shining Stars would be able to build themselves back up again, after some dismal performances on RAW leading up to the draft.
Sadly, American Alpha turned out to be a bit of a disappointment, and the division as a whole was floundering for the best part of a year. You would have been forgiven for not being able to actually name the Smackdown tag team champions for most of last year.
This week on Smackdown, we were given hope that the arrival of the New Day is going to restore the blue brand's tag team scene to where it should have been originally. It’s quite impressive to think that The New Day have maintained their high levels of popularity for so long. Theirs is the kind of gimmick you could easily get tired of very quickly. A lot of respect should go to the three men involved for keeping their act fresh and engaging.
Their rivalry with The Usos is a very nice accompaniment to the rest of the Tuesday Night action. They don’t even need to wrestle on Sunday night, their promo segments alone are enough to pop the crowd. But it’s not only these two teams that are restoring the division. The Fashion Police have been putting on some great video packages recently, and both men are very talented talkers and wrestlers. It’s nice to see how the WWE Universe has warmed to them in particular.
Add to the mix the returning ‘Hype Bros’ and you have the makings of a very nice division. While RAW’s tag-team scene is focusing on the in-ring talent of guys like The Revival, Sheamus and Cesaro and the Hardys, Smackdown is relying on the more light-hearted, character-based approached, which is no bad thing by any means.
#4 Lana has been practising
There’s a reason why Lana doesn’t receive the same amount of X-Pac heat as somebody like Eva Marie, despite her lack of in-ring skills. Lana wasn’t even supposed to be an active competitor, originally being brought in as a heat magnet for Rusev. The crowd have flocked towards her, owning to her abilities to work the audience and the fact that she clearly cares about doing the best job she can.
Eva Marie is a different story altogether. You get the impression that she doesn’t really care about being a WWE superstar, and is instead using her platform to build her modelling career. This is what angers fans more so than the fact that she cannot wrestle.
Back at Wrestlemania 32, we got a short glimpse into how Lana would fare as a wrestler. The verdict wasn’t great, considering the fact that she struggled to get through a multi-woman pre-show tag team match without hiding her limitations. For a while, we just assumed that she would revert back to being a manager and leave the in-ring work to the other ladies.
Since her return last week, however, Lana’s wrestling career is looking a little brighter. She received a very warm welcome last week, showing that fans are still pleased to see her. And this week she even showcased her brand new finishing move. It’s obviously not fair to judge somebody’s skills on just the one move, but it was executed very solidly and looked like it was capable of disabling an opponent for a three count.
Just with this one move, she has shown some improvement since her last outing at Mania, and hopefully, she has built a decent move set to go along with it.
She will be in the ring with Naomi on Sunday, challenging for the Smackdown Women’s Championship. While it is unlikely she will be walking away with the gold, Smackdown Live has proven recently that literally, anything is possible.
#5 NXT took it to the next level
Considering Smackdown has a PPV coming up on Sunday, and that Brock Lesnar and Samoa Joe are currently involved in a dream feud with each other on RAW, NXT really had no right to stand out above its main roster rivals this week. But that’s exactly what it did, owing to a fantastic main event for the NXT Women’s Championship between Asuka, Nikki Cross and Ruby Riot.
There was a bit of concern surrounding the women’s division after Ember Moon was forced to miss the Takeover: Chicago show due to injury. It looked like Moon was being earmarked as the next champion, so her absence prompted a bit of an unexpected shake-up. Luckily, Nikki Cross and Ruby Riot were more than willing to put their one-on-one feud to one side and step into the title picture alongside Asuka. This week, the three of them reminded us all how good NXT can be when it comes to the females.
Not since Bayley’s attempts to defeat Sasha Banks for the title has the action been this compelling. Ruby and Nikki work so well together, and are now believable women's champions for the Thursday night brand. And while Ruby played her part in the triple threat, it was the conclusion to the match between Cross and the Empress of Tomorrow that has people talking.
One slight issue was that having the referee call for a no contest didn’t make a lot of sense considering this match was fought under no-DQ and no-count out rules. That aside, this was a very nice way for the show to end, concluding a stiff backstage brawl with a spot that saw both women crash through a table. If Ember Moon was expecting to be placed back into the title scene upon her return, she may now be forced to wait.
Thinking longer term, this kind of action between two NXT women makes the future of women’s wrestling in WWE brighter as a whole. When Asuka and Nikki Cross finally get called up to RAW or Smackdown, it's going to feel special. The current roster on the two main brands will feel the effects of having an unhinged Scot or an arrogant Japanese empress within their midst.
NXT always has the responsibility to making sure the week finishes strong, and this time of asking they did just that.
#6 And the Superstar of the week is... Nikki Cross
This was not a strong week for the WWE. Last time round we had two very passable shows and a lot of movement towards new, exciting feuds. These past few days have felt a little stale, which is a shame considering we should all be looking forward to a PPV on Sunday night.
NXT was a breath of fresh air, however, and the two women mainly responsible for this were Asuka and Nikki Cross. It was therefore quite difficult to choose between them for Superstar of the Week, but Cross just managed to pip her rival to the post.
This has a lot to do with what Cross has given to the division overall in recent weeks. As good as Asuka is, the women’s division as a whole has lost a lot of its popularity since the days of the Four Horsewomen. This isn’t great considering Asuka was meant to be the face to take the roster into a new era.
Cross, and to a lesser extent Ruby Riot and Ember Moon, have given the champion more competition, with the Scot in particular showing the willingness to drag the division back to its former glory. Congratulations, Nikki Cross.
Do you love to play crosswords, Wordle or other exciting games? We'd like to connect with you. Fill the form here!
