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March 26th, 2021, 9:59 PM
#1701
Yeah, i find the thigh slapping thing hard to believe, as well. Still hearing plenty of them on NXT.
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March 29th, 2021, 11:03 PM
#1702
Really random to have MVP sit in place of Samoa Joe on commentary, especially in light of the events to start the show. He was fine in this role.
The Hurt Business promo
Well, the writing was on the wall last week with the implosion of The Hurt Business and we got it here in full form. While there are reasons to suggest breaking them up now doesn't do a lot of good THB lost a fair amount of mojo (mainly due to Alexander and Benjamin) over the last several weeks. To be clear, that's not their fault. That's entirely on the booking for not building a division that allowed them to rise prominently like Lashley did. It was compelling to see Benjamin and Alexander confront Pearce for Benjamin to get a match with Lashley. Certainly showing the hierarchy of champions for each brand, too.
Sheamus vs. Riddle: Non-title Match
This felt problematic in a lot of ways. First, the logic from going away from 3D slides to 3D birds for Riddle's entrance is beyond me. The micromanaging is well on display here lol. The match was pretty much what you would expect: physical and entertaining. I could have sworn these two fought each other recently but it was November when they squared off. The bigger problem was the fact that we got a clean finish (albeit there was the fact Sheamus attacked Riddle before the bell) in a match we're going to see again in two weeks. The fact you had a match here made it painfully obvious that Sheamus was going to win tonight. They could have just bickered for another week to build a match and leave some double there with a fresh match at Mania.
Shane McMahon promo
This was still really bad and really stupid. Prior to the commercial, McMahon said he had some interesting things to share in regards to Strowman. He's clearly a heel because he lied, because bringing up childhood report cards to further illustrate the lack of intelligence Strowman possessed was not interesting.
Strowman vs. Ryker
My word. They seemed to work backwards here as Strowman faced a higher-level lackey in Ellias before facing the real jobber in Ryker. I guess it worked in the sense because Ryker sure as hell wasn't going to be in a PPV match but still, it didn't fit how you would formulaically see a series of events leading up to a "big" match. This match was nothing but filler. Two wrongs didn't make a right here. I guess the progression came in the sense that Strowman announced the match they were going to have at Mania. It is a Steel Cage match, but I guess Strowman proved McMahon right about intelligence. He cited that this cage was going to help keep the goons out and McMahon wouldn't be able to run. This is WWE, so the cage is cheapened. It also calls into question what kind of stunt McMahon is going to do.
The Dirt Sheet, with the world premiere of 'Hey Hey, Hop Hop'
Pretty straightforward segment with Miz and Morrison hyping themselves up leading up to the video. They certainly put effort and extra level of corniness into these music videos they make. It's a good way to build silly heat on them. I like how it played out when Priest and Bad Bunny came out. They talked their smack and then there was the tease that Miz and Morrison (stupidly) were going to be held back because Priest stood in front of Bad Bunny then Priest stood to the side so Miz could put up or shut up. Miz confronted Bad Bunny and we either got an incredibly solid working punch or we caught the B-side with 'Hey Hey, Potato'. Seems like it was the former.
Lashley vs. Benjamin: Non-title Match
The ringside announcer botched his intro because he announced this as a 2-on-1 handicap match when it clearly wasn't. Lashley keeping his backed turn to Benjamin seemed like a move awfully full of hubris or stupidity. You can be the judge. Lashley regained dominance early in the match, highlighted by that cool spot he does on the outside with the opponent's head being darted into the ring post. Benjamin looked good in his hope spots with Paydirt and the running knee when Lashley was in the corner. The added wrinkle was there when Alexander ran at the first hint that Lashley was going to strike him.
Game Night between New Day and Styles/Omos
Funny how Woods got his cheap plugs in via sketch book in the segment before the break. This thing should have suffered a cruel and painful death but, the segment probably was salvaged by the comedic charisma Styles and New Day have. It made Styles look a fool but it was a fitting explanation that Omos provided by saying it didn't matter if they won the games to show they're worthy of being the tag champions and he'd show what he's made of at Mania. If you watch Styles on UUDD, his reactions to losing were very on brand for him.
Styles vs. Woods
I do like how commentary made note that Styles suffered his first loss last week since he's been aligned with Omos. It was a passing comment but I do appreciate the attention to detail there. This match didn't slap the same way as the match with Kingston did last week. It certainly didn't help we didn't get a clean finish here but again, this was the second segment in a row that was utilized to show Omos isn't here to mess around. New Day kind of got what was coming to them as they were being silly and defiant towards Omos, which led to them paying the price. It was pretty simple physicality from Omos but effective. Good progression here.
Alexa's Playground
Took a little while to get the first women's segment of the night. The prologue was Orton saying earlier that he knows he and The Fiend are cut from the same cloth and what it's going to take to eliminate him once and for all. Alexa talked about the history of the Jack in the Box and said the Legend Killer was going to die. That's about it. Part of me wonders if this kind of course corrects what will happen with The Fiend going forward. Part of the intriguing hook before was that we got Fire Fly Funhouse Wyatt and that was fun. It kind of feels like that's gone now and the Playground is taking over. Wyatt isn't going to talk and Alexa is going to handle all of that. If that's the route they actually take, that doesn't seem like a good move.
Shayna (with Nia and Reginald) vs. Naomi (with Lana)
Seems weird Nia's theme played as Shayna was the performer but oh well. Mandy and Dana were at the commentary booth and that went better than Lana and Naomi the week before. There was too much chaos going on with Reginald, Nia, and Lana. That mess led to a distraction finish win for Naomi. I guess we're leading to a triple threat or four-way tag match (with Tamina and Natalya) for Mania. Not inspired about that.
A Flub
Asuka was walking backstage towards the ring to see Riddle pull up on his scooter. They talked about how they were feeling and then Riddle asked if he thought scooters were popular in Japan. Then he chuckled, looked at the camera and said, "I'm sorry, I forgot what I was saying" and then walked off camera. It feels like he certainly got his Sid Vicious moment of forgetting he was live and what he wanted to say but his character absolutely fits to allow for this flub.
Contract signing between Rhea and Asuka
The talking between Asuka and Rhea was fine enough. I like how Asuka talked about how Rhea's overconfidence was going to get her burned but Rhea responded in a pretty fitting way just by throwing the table onto Asuka. The champ sold that spot like she received instant death lol. The segment was a women's segment so it obviously got sideswiped by Nia, Shayna, and Reginald. CAN THEY COEXIST? That's what we're going to find out next week in a tag match between the tag champs and Asuka/Rhea. Ugh. Shayna didn't have a leg to stand on because she literally just lost to Naomi. The early portion of this got ruined with lazy booking.
McIntyre vs. Ricochet
The segment earlier in the show with McIntyre calling out the 24/7 locker room (with Strowman and Riddle in there) was a good display for McIntyre. It made literally everyone but Ricochet look bad. Ricochet came off a little timid but I thought he conveyed that he was up for a fight and wasn't going to sneak up on McIntyre to get it, so I'm fine with that. Ricochet being defiant to MVP prior to the match was fine, as well. Ricochet knew it wasn't about currying favor but making a name for himself. The match was good for some small hope spots for Ricochet but he was there just to bump for McIntyre. It was kind of set up for a weird timing finish for the show with this finishing with 19 minutes left but it made sense (I guess) when Ali jumped McIntyre after he won.
McIntyre vs. Ali
Well, there wasn't immediate followup last week to the severing of Retribution but at least we saw Ali here. Ali working over McIntyre's knee is clearly something they can build off of for the next week or so, if they want, but I don't have high hopes there. The mid-air Glasgow Kiss was a very cool spot and totally turned the tide for the match. These two matches harkened back to how McIntyre was getting over before he won the championship at Mania. That certainly helps when you're building to the big match for the brand.
Confrontation between Lashley and McIntyre
This wasn't particularly a good night on the stick for Lashley but I guess he was serviceable there. I certainly like seeing Lashley and McIntyre beating the crap out of each other. We had one more surprise for the night as Baron Corbin, of all people, snuck up and attacked McIntyre. That led to a beatdown both by Corbin and by Lashley. Why Corbin was here wasn't explained but I imagine this is a silly one-week placeholder for McIntyre. Hey, Corbin had a king's ransom for Riddle back in the day so he knows a bounty when he sees one. The grouping of these three was an unexpected callback to 2019 when they teamed together at Fastlane to face (and lose to) The Shield. This was...okay.
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March 29th, 2021, 11:39 PM
#1703
Her right to choose…
- Rep Power
- 670544