SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
With a huge title defense against four other men coming up at Clash in Paris, World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins opened this week’s show along with the rest of his stable known as The Vision. As their promo progressed, they were interrupted by one of the men who will challenge Rollins for his title in less than two weeks, Jey Uso. As Jey had a match against Bron Breakker scheduled for later in the night, he taunted the champion and his stablemate. A hyped up Breakker was ready to go confront Jey until Rollins stopped him. Paul Heyman then proposed that their match later in the night being an Extreme Rules match, which Jey agreed to.
In the show’s main event, the Extreme Rules match featured lots of weapons, chaos, and of course, outside interference. In addition to that, we had a fun match between Iyo Sky and Raquel Rodriguez, Nikki Bella gaining revenge on Becky Lynch, and a big announcement from Naomi regarding her future as Women’s World Champion. As Clash in Paris is literally right around the corner, this week’s show gave you multiple reasons to be interested in it.
Iyo Sky vs. Raquel Rodriguez
Latest developments:
Last week, Iyo Sky faced Roxanne Perez with Raquel Rodriguez hanging out at ringside. After Raquel attempted to interfere, Iyo gained a form of revenge with a Moonsault onto Raquel & Perez outside the ring. As Raquel later had the referee distracted, Asuka & Kairi Sane came out to hold Perez for Iyo to attack her. Perez escaped and then pushed Iyo into the Kabuki Warriors and then pulled her tights while she rolled her up to get the win. Backstage afterwards, Iyo blamed Asuka & Kairi for the loss and it led to an argument between Iyo and Asuka.
This week, Iyo faced Raquel in a match where Raquel nailed her with a Big Boot following a distraction from Perez. Iyo gained revenge by taking out Perez with a Suicide Dive and as she hit Raquel with one, she caught her and then threw her into the post. Raquel went for a Tejana Bomb that Iyo escaped from by knocking her into the turnbuckle and followed that with the Over the Moonsault to get the win. As Raquel & Perez attacked Iyo after the match, Rhea Ripley appeared and helped Iyo fight them both off. Backstage afterwards, Asuka and Rhea argued over Rhea coming out to help Iyo, which led to Asuka telling Rhea to stay out of their business.
Analysis:
As great as Iyo is, Raquel really shined in this match. Although many would say the match was only good because of Iyo, Raquel more than held her end of it. The one spot when she caught Iyo as she attempted the Suicide Dive and threw her into the post was an incredible counter. Even though she lost, this was one of Raquel’s better singles matches she’s had in a long time. It feels like now she stands out more and feels more like the leader in this team with Perez as opposed to when she was more like the sidekick when she was with Liv Morgan.
What also stood out here is how Rhea coming to the rescue of Iyo is causing more dissension between Iyo and Asuka. It feels like this is going to lead to a match next week with Rhea teaming up with Iyo against Raquel & Perez where Asuka & Kairi will end up costing them the match. While the official turn from Asuka & Kairi probably won’t happen next week, it’s clearly going to happen much sooner than later. As there’s no rush for Rhea and Iyo to face each other again, having them team up against a newly heel Asuka & Kairi is a good place for them to be for now. In addition to that, it’s going to make for some incredible tag matches that could easily steal any show they’re booked on.
Grade: B
Finn Balor & J.D. McDonagh vs. Mr. Iguana & Dragon Lee
Last week, Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio teamed with El Grande Americano to face A.J. Styles & Dragon Lee. Americano pulled out a piece of metal that was knocked out of his hands by Styles, but Dominik picked it up and slid it into his own mask that he put on. Dominik head-butted Styles with the loaded mask, and that allowed Americano to roll up Styles for the win. Last Saturday at TripleMania XXXIII as Dominik was about to win the AAA Mega Title, a masked man interrupted the count that was revealed to be Styles. Styles then hit Dominik with a Styles Clash and that allowed El Hijo del Vikingo to retain his title.
With Dominik in their corner, World Tag Team Champions Finn Balor & J.D. McDonagh faced Mr. Iguana & Dragon Lee in a non-title match this week. As Lee had the advantage, Dominik held on to his leg while the referee was distracted. This allowed Finn to hit Lee with a drop kick into the corner followed by the Coupe De Grace for the win. After the match, Dominik, Finn, & J.D. attacked Iguana & Lee and as Dominik was about to put Lee through the announce table, he was attacked by Vikingo. Vikingo fought off Finn & J.D. until he was hit from behind by Dominik with the AAA Mega Title and Dominik then hit him with a Frog Splash.
Analysis:
This match was fine for what it was, but it was clearly used as more of a showcase for the Dominik and Vikingo feud. Between his feud with Styles and now Vikingo, it really feels like Dominik is everywhere right now. With him about to challenge for the AAA Mega Title at the next major AAA show, there’s a strong chance that he could win it. If that ends up happening, then there’s no reason for him to still hold onto the IC Title. As great as he’s been doing with it, Styles being the one to take it from him doesn’t feel as far-fetched of an idea as it did a month ago.
It’s clear from seeing AAA talent on WWE TV and vice versa that this partnership they have is working. This is creating a lot of fun match possibilities in the months to come and really makes the major AAA shows feel like a bigger deal. One major problem that was still noticeable here though was how unimportant the World Tag Team Titles still feel. Even though Judgment Day have them and they’re heavily featured on TV every week, they still don’t feel like anything special. Unless WWE really puts in an effort to put together some credible challengers and feuds surrounding them, then those titles still aren’t going to matter, regardless of the star power of the people who have them.
Grade: B-
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
Check out the latest episode of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post-show covering the latest episode of Raw: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “wade Keller” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)
Becky Lynch vs. Natalya
Latest developments:
Two weeks ago, Women’s Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch insulted and sucker punched Nikki Bella. Becky was confronted backstage afterwards by Natalya, who challenged her to a title match for the following week. Becky agreed to the match, but to a match against Natalya’s partner Maxxine Dupri. Last week despite a strong effort from Maxxine, Becky retained her title after she trapped her in the Disarmher. After the match as Natalya checked on Maxxine, Becky kicked her in the face.
This week, Becky defended her title against Natalya in a match where Becky injured Natalya’s shoulder as she threw it into the post. Becky spent the next few minutes working on Natalya’s shoulder until she fought back. Becky escaped a Sharpshooter attempt by attacking the injured arm again, but Natalya rebounded with a Hibiscus Clothesline. Becky pulled Natalya’s arm back into the bottom rope and then trapped her in the Disarmher to get the tap out win. Becky attacked Natalya & Maxine from behind after the match and as she had Maxxine in the Disarmher, Nikki Bella came out. Becky and Nikki exchanged blows until Nikki put her down with the Rack Attack 2.0
Analysis:
For the potential this match had on paper, it turned out to be a big disappointment. Unless Natalya’s shoulder was legit injured, centering the match around that just didn’t work. After seeing Natalya’s recent work outside of WWE recently, it felt like this match was going to be something special. In reality, the match Becky had with Maxxine last week was even better than this one was. Considering they spent a few weeks building towards this, how it turned out in the end made this all feel like just something to kill time.
The only thing that really stood out here was Nikki getting her revenge on Becky. After what Becky did to her the last time they crossed paths, Nikki had to get back at her eventually. Although not made official yet, Clash in Paris feels like the right setting for their match to happen. With this feud still being relatively new, there’s a strong chance that it’s going to stretch out beyond that. While this likely won’t be as interesting as the feud Becky had with Lyra Valkyria, everything they’ve done so far has been good enough where there is an interest in what more they can do together.
Grade: C
Naomi’s Big Announcement
Latest developments:
Last week, Naomi was scheduled to defend her Women’s World Championship against Iyo Sky. Monday afternoon, it was revealed that Naomi wasn’t medically cleared to compete, and the match was called off. Since then, there’s been a lot of speculation surrounding what the issue is with Naomi. Last Friday on Smackdown, Joe Tessitore announced that Naomi would appear this week on Raw to update everyone on her condition.
Adam Pearce introduced Naomi to the ring this week and before Naomi made her announcement, she told everyone to watch the Tron. On the Tron was footage from a recent episode of Stephanie McMahon’s What’s Your Story podcast where she interviewed Naomi and her husband Jimmy Uso, where Jimmy announced that they’re going to have a baby. Naomi then told Adam Pearce that while she handed over the title before, she wasn’t going to give him shit and then kicked him out of the ring. Naomi told all the women in the locker room that they should be thanking Jimmy Uso and said that on the bright side, the Bloodline continues. She then laid the title down on the mat and maintained she’d be back to pick up where she left off and advised whoever has the title when she gets back to proceed with caution.
Analysis:
After Naomi mentioned several months ago when she was interviewed by the Bellas that she wanted to have a baby soon and her career was winding down, it really felt like this run she’s been on recently was going to be her last. Once she missed her match last week and there wasn’t much talk as to why that was the case, it wasn’t far-fetched to think that it was because she was pregnant. The news of her coming out this week to make an announcement combined with her recent appearance on Stephanie McMahon’s podcast pretty much confirmed it. Out of any pregnancy announcement that there’s been in WWE, this was by far the best and most entertaining one that’s ever been done. For as happy and joyous of a time as this is in her life, it was impressive to see Naomi stay in character the whole time.
From being Tag Champions with Bianca Belair, the feud with Jade Cargill that started her heel turn, winning Money in the Bank, cashing it in to win the title at the end of Evolution, to now expecting her first child, this has been a banner year for Naomi. While it’s disappointing that this great run she’s been on is ending so abruptly, this is the best possible reason for it to end. As great of a heel as she’s been and even still tried to be in this segment, it’s going to be hard for the audience to boo her whenever she comes back. Until then, her presence on the show will be strongly missed. If God forbid this was really her last run and she ends up not coming back, there was no stronger way for her to go out than with the year she had.
Grade: A
Jey Uso vs. Bron Breakker
Latest developments:
Last week, Jey Uso came out to help C.M. Punk & LA Knight as they were being attacked by World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins and The Vision. Immediately after, Adam Pearce came out to announce that Rollins will defend his title at Clash in Paris against Punk, Knight, and Jey Uso in a Fatal Four Way. Over the weekend, it was announced that Jey would face Bron Breakker of The Vision on Raw this week. As Rollins and The Vision opened this week’s show, they were interrupted by Jey. Paul Heyman proposed that the match later in the night between Jey and Breakker be an Extreme Rules match, and Jey agreed to it.
In the show’s main event, Breakker hit Jey with a trash can as he jumped over the announce table. Jey rebounded with two Spears and an Uso Splash, but Bronson Reed interrupted the count and attacked Jey. Knight came out to fight off Reed until Rollins attacked him from behind. Punk then ran to the ring to brawl with Rollins and as he was about to hit him with the GTS, Rollins pushed him into Knight as he fell off the apron through a table. As Breakker set up Jey for a Spear outside the ring, Roman Reigns showed up out of nowhere and Speared Breakker. Jey then kicked Breakker onto a table and put him through it with the Uso Splash for the win.
Analysis:
After not getting a clean finish in the Raw main event in over a month, the Extreme Rules stipulation guaranteed we’d finally get one this week. To no surprise, this was a fun match between Jey and Breakker that featured tons of shenanigans that only added to it. In addition to the great action, this match succeeded in further building the tension between Punk and Knight. After Punk accidentally bumped into Knight as he went through the table and he just shrugged it off, it’s obvious that there’s going to be fireworks between them next week. In all honesty, the issues between them have been the most interesting part of this whole storyline.
What also stood out here was the appearance of Reigns at the end. Even if he isn’t around full time, he just adds so much more to the show and any segment he’s in whenever he does appear. After what he did here to help Jey win and the banter he had with Reed afterwards, we’re definitely getting that match at Clash in Paris. This storyline with Reed wearing the sneakers he stole from Reigns around his neck has added a lot to his character and it’s led to him now getting a match at an actual PLE against one of the biggest stars in the company. While the outcome to that match and also the Four Way for the title are foregone conclusions, the Paris setting and all the talent involved will make both must see.
Penta vs. Xavier Woods
After defeating Grayson Waller and then taking down the New Day immediately after the match two weeks ago, Penta went one on one with Xavier Woods this week. At one point in the match, Penta jumped off the top rope and took out Xavier, Kofi, & Waller with a Cross Body. Penta later hit Xavier with the Penta Driver, but Kofi put Xavier’s foot on the rope. Penta then jumped from the back of Xavier over the top rope onto Kofi & Waller. After kicking out of a small package attempt from Xavier, Penta took him down with the Mexican Destroyer to get the win.
Analysis:
Much like the match with Waller two weeks ago, this was just another match where Penta got the better of the heels. While this storyline is nothing to really get excited about, it at least keeps Penta on the show and gives him consistent wins. This was also another example of how this partnership with New Day and Waller isn’t anything to take seriously. From the constant losses to how they interact with each other, this is nothing more than a comedy act (and not really a good one). Other than being a nice showcase for Penta, there wasn’t much to see here.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.