Badlittlekitten

Maybe it would have landed better if it wasn't as part of a bad WWE segment with Kip Sabian goofing about in the background. It's not the end of the world but that was a terrible way to introduce the biggest (non-Brock) free agent in wrestling. In that one segment, AEW made Miro feel like less of a star than the company he hates even did.

Bryan all the way. His recent WWE heel run cements it for me. I agree with Stiva, the WWE environment hasn't been poor for him at all. He transcends it.

She didn't bring any positives. They had lightning in a bottle the night after the rumble when Lynch confronted Rousey. The crowd went batshit. The hottest star in the all of wrestling coming face to face with the monster badass on a year long undefeated streak. THAT was the match. Flair did nothing but dilute it and ultimately cool it off. I'm not blaming Charlotte for that at all. I agree about Shayna. They've punted on her multiple times now. Vince was never gonna get Shayna Baszler.

So with Styles traded to Smackdown that leaves one less challenger to Drew. What are the chances Corbin gets traded back to Raw and Drew gets the 3-6 month death sentence?

Charlotte didn't add 'tons of heat' to that match, she killed it dead. In fact, the only time the crowd made any noise during the match was moment when Becky and Ronda finally came face to face and started trading shots .

Couple of really good matches on Smackdown. Not a fan of Sheamus taking a pin like that, seemed needles pitting him and Hardy against each other on the first round of the tournament. Braun Strowman sucks.

HHH aside, the answer to this thread is Seth Rollins. In fact, his prominence on the shows the last few years (and Baron Corbin recently) is to me the biggest giveaway that Vince has lost the plot completely.

Axe throwing contests >>>>> basketball.

Didn't Ronda hurt Alexa Bliss? I thought the reason she's only working tags was that they're being careful with her.

Her push has been horribly handled and done nothing but harm, to her and to the division in general. She's pretty much dead in the water when it comes to being the babyface star that they want her to be.

Orange Cassidy.

The shows booked badly if the unanimously cheered babyface is put in a segment where he gets booed.

It's exactly the kind of myopic booking that drives resentment towards Roman Reigns (and Charlotte Flair). Especially after being tossed out of the Rumble by Drew McIntyre (a guy that valiantly fought his way to his Mania spot), answering the challenge with no momentum behind him, saying "I'm next," was just dumb. Obviously the options are limited with Goldberg, but come on. Just set up the feud in a less creatively bankrupt way. How about something heated and memorable. Something worthy of the Main Event of Wrestlemania. Something better than, "I'm next", and the shitty contract signing between two whiny jackasses.

The crowds were in all in on Roman and it still amazes me how they made their top star babyface, a cancer survivor, feel like any other guy after his return. And they had learned nothing. After years of lazy, asinine, tone-deaf booking that portrayed him as an entitled choke artist, his "I'm next" line to 'earn' his Wrestlemania shot against Goldberg just reopened the floodgates of resentment all over again.

Pushing someone is about more than wins and losses. You can hold a championship belt for ten years but it doesn't mean much when the promotion isn't building compelling or credible challengers, or telling stories for the character to sink their teeth into. You're just treading water. Matt D, I'd say it's a mixture, but mostly the latter. Although the primary problem is they simply stopped caring all that much about the women's division the second Ronda left.

I'd almost forgotten what a terrific babyface worker Sami Zayn was back in NXT. Feels like a another world. Funny thing is, his work as a heel manager might be even better. He's a massive loss if he's sitting out these empty arena shows because his mouth and his energy lifted everything out of the dull malaise. It's a shame we might not see what he could have done with the intercontinental title. One good thing they did with him was ditch his indie gimmick. It boggles my mind this guy spent most of his career as a mute in a cosplay luchadore mask. You can add Humberto Carrillo, Shorty G, Ricochet and Cedric Alexander as the latest victims of the 'lose, lose, lose, . . . DANIEL BRYAN!' booking philosophy. Rico/Cedric are a fun team though.

After years of squashing and derailing every potential star they have it'd be funny if Roman and Becky left them in the lurch. I think Roman's pretty much done with them to be honest and good for him. I think Becky will struggle outside, but I'm glad she's expanding her options. That company will forever piss her potential away.

As awful as Steph is, I'd be lying if I said I didn't smile when she appeared on the phone during that otherwise bad HHH anniversary segment. She's a great performer, probably the best they have these days. Which makes her all the more poisonous.

Maybe absence has made the heart grow fonder, but Jinder challenging Drew is about 1000x more interesting than Rollins vs Drew.

I can’t quite believe what I’m watching. Amazing. I love Asuka but I can’t even figure out if I love or hate this but it’s amazing.

That Elite/Inner circle angle was fucking great. Another home run there.

Bryan vs Gulak was fucking great and I’m glad the commentary made the extra effort. Bryan’s head drops were fucking awful to watch but didn’t hurt the match too much. Understandable the crowd were fairly cold for the match as Gulak was a job guy last time I saw him. Hopefully he doesn’t disappear off the planet for the next few months like Buddy and Ali did when Bryan got them over.

Shayna’s awesome. She’s not over yet but I hope they stay on course and have her squash everyone.

Blame from who? Vince? I’d say the opposite.

Brilliant start to Raw. Brock is something else.