SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Much like fans of Star Wars celebrate May 4th and marijuana enthusiasts embrace April 20th, WWE held their own provincial calendar party this past Monday, honoring Hall of Famer, Steve Austin. When March 16th falls on a day WWE airs programming, it makes for the perfect occasion to commemorate his iconic 3:16 catchphrase. It was only fitting, thusly, that the wrestling world spend several shows this week locked in on a central theme of the Stone Cold character: Don’t Trust Anybody.
The cohesion within Fatal Influence continued subtly circling the drain on Tuesday. It was just last week, viewers will note, that Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid traded off taking thinly veiled shots at World Champion, Jacy Jayne, and their repeated and thankless efforts to help her retain her title. For her part, Jayne remained perfectly oblivious, focused only on the words of support, not the slight derision sprinkled within.
That all carried over to this week following Henley’s loss to Wren Sinclair, where she ultimately relinquished her Speed Championship. Earlier in the night, her and Reid once again played a role in helping Jayne retain her title. As they later commiserated backstage, Henley grew frustrated with Jayne’s elation over still having her belt. She groused that she would have to compete in a tournament just to receive a rematch for hers and that, unlike Jayne, she would not be able to coast into Stand & Deliver without having another match. Jacy remained focused only on herself, telling her friends it was good that they would be fighting again next week.
It wasn’t that long ago that Jayne and Henley were co-leaders of the group with a shared focus. It’d be easy to forget by now that Jacy hasn’t always been the only one calling the shots, but as the weeks pass, it seems more certain that Henley remembers. In the meantime, Jayne will remain trusting her partners as well as her sure-footed standing as the leader of Fatal Influence. With the biggest night of the year for NXT fast approaching, something has to give.
One night earlier on Raw, we got a look at life after the betrayal when Maxxine Dupri and Nattie Neidhart went head-to-head. It remained unclear for weeks what exactly Nattie’s issue was with her former protege. Rather than jealousy, Michael Cole explained to viewers that Maxxine had grown complacent, in Nattie’s opinion, after beating Becky Lynch for the Intercontinental title. We all saw the vignettes of the two deep into training sessions, with Maxxine focused on overcoming her limited in-ring skillset and proving everyone wrong by rising to the occasion against Lynch. Once that box was checked, however, the training stopped. So did the phone calls. Feelings of personal disrespect along with that of the profession Nattie had dedicated her life to led to her turning on Dupri at the worst possible time, costing her the title she fought so hard to secure.
Fast forward to this week, and suddenly Maxxine is back where Nattie first found her – on the losers end of a payday. Following a quick submission loss to her former mentor, Maxxine could be seen sitting dejected backstage, being attended to by two of the least trustworthy members of the locker room, the Vision’s Logan Paul and Austin Theory. Will Maxxine ever learn?
On Wednesday, AEW Dynamite presented viewers with the latest in wrestling’s favorite current trope: the whodunit. This time, it was “Timeless” Toni Storm suffering the brunt of a mysterious attack. Splayed on the locker room floor in her trademark repose, only this time with a pool of blood under her head, Storm was the clear victim of a brutal assault. With a frantic Luther and Mina Shirakawa raving about, viewers were left to wonder who exactly was to blame for the attack. There were various objects within sight pointing towards potential culprits – namely a kendo stick similar to that carried by Hikaru Shida, someone Storm has twice defeated, and a jumbo mallet emblazoned with the name “Megan Bayne.” Attentive viewers, however, may recall that mallet was never wielded by Bayne, but instead by her MegaBad partner, Penelope Ford, when she was dressed as Harley Quinn last year.
Perhaps those are all red herrings and the most likely suspects are the ones found closest to the scene of the crime, one or both of the two you’d never suspect – Luther and Mina Shirakawa. As the saying goes, don’t trust anybody.
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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STRAY OBSERVATIONS
WWE Raw
-As Liv walks us through all of her feelings since joining up with Judgement Day, we’re reminded that everything counts. I love when we’re rewarded as viewers.
-This was far and away A.J. Lee’s most impressive outing since making her return. Are we sure we don’t want an extended program with Bayley?
-I never could square the fact that Becky Lynch was simply done with A.J. With Mania right around the corner, you just knew these two would find each other once more.
-How easy would it have been for that gaggle of agents to NOT get out of the way as Becky ran towards A.J. with the belt?
-Thank you Michael Cole for finally explaining to all of us what the hell is going on between Nattie and Maxxine. Where were you, I don’t know, a month ago?
-Maxxine hanging strong in this match helps her less than it potentially hurts the new version of Nattie. You pulled the trigger on the turn, now commit to it.
-It’s been tweaked here and there, but Stephanie Vaquer’s entrance screams main event.
-That rollover pin attempt has become popular, but Vaquer does it the best.
-The only bummer with a match like this is knowing we’ll either see Raquel suffer another loss or that it will all be for naught once Liv Morgan gets involved.
-I hope Raquel never sees the light. She’s become such a fun heel.
-People complain that Vaquer’s matches have simply been reduced to the Devil’s Kiss spot, but while it’s certainly the part of her match folks anticipate the most, it diminishes everything else she does each time out to say it’s the only part. She’s found a way to build towards it organically.
-Was not expecting to see Iyo here. Everything we’ve seen and heard has pointed towards a Mania showdown between her and Asuka.
-They seemed to hint at Bayley still struggling with her split personality, or at least some ongoing anger issues, but it’s looking like Lyra finally got through to her. If that’s the end of Jekyll and Hyde Bayley, I’m just happy it was addressed.
NXT
-I went back and watched that dropkick three times. I swear, Sol Ruca actually levitated.
-Those corner spots where a wrestler gets ahold of the one about to execute a move and ends up flipping two wrestlers is typically so contrived. I love the way Zaria just ran over and did it without hesitation.
-Jacy Jayne: “I did it!”
-You’d think they could’ve dressed up Sinclair’s introduction a bit more than simply “From Texas.” If the concern was a Houston crowd booing Dallas, why not hype things up a little? “From the Lone Star State, Texas’s own…” You know?
-That was a fun three and a half minutes. Both women brought the energy and told a great story considering the time constraints. Wren as Speed Champion should make for an entertaining run.
-I love a story focused on the direction of Thea Hail’s character. More screen time for one of the most unique performers in NXT is a big plus.
-Commentary really drove home the idea of this being the big blowoff between Dame and Tatum. I don’t see Izzi regaining the title.
-We’re constantly being sold on the hatred between Dame and Paxley, but isn’t the whole point of the feud that those feelings are largely one-sided? For her part, Tatum mostly just wants to be left the hell alone.
-Awesome for this match to take place in a real arena on the road with a larger audience than usual. This final chapter deserves that.
-Paxley rises from the dead on the top of the cage. Great visual.
-Tremendous call back to the finish from Vengeance Day. Izzi was ready this time.
-Booker T is the only announcer I’ve ever heard declare a big match over at the start of the three count game NYY for it to actually be over. Of course he did that.
-Blake Monroe would’ve felt like a real ass if Paxley hadn’t stood directly in front of that trap door. And there’s the new feud.
-Ok, this show more than makes up for the 1:11 of in-ring action two weeks ago. I’m not mad at you anymore, NXT.
AEW Dynamite
-Only one women’s match again tonight and even then we got a different match than advertised (not intentionally planned, though). Still, Shafir-Shirakawa is nothing to complain about.
-Entering with a barbed wire bat set a nice tone, but Shirakawa seemed to forget that she was defending Toni Storm’s Honor pretty quickly as she started mugging for the camera. Is this a clue or just complacency?
-Rough looking table spot, with Mina’s head bouncing right off the floor.
-Shirakawa getting the win was a huge surprise. As much as it was good for her, though, I worry about Shafir following her second consecutive clean loss.
Thanks so much for reading and, of course, for supporting women’s wrestling. Feel free to leave a comment or drop a line via email at jeffp.rush@gmail.com or on Twitter/X @nottherightjeff.
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