FMKK

As someone who hasnt had the chance to see this yet, does the comment from Charlotte/Ashley about it being her brothers dream suggest that she doesnt actually want to be in wrestling but is bound by family duty?

Someone mentioned on Twitter that Cena was treated like Chris Jericho here. Truly terrible booking to make the biggest star in the match seem like just another guy. I honestly thought they'd brought him back to shoot a Mania angle with Braun but there was nothing.

Awesome clash of the titans match. Both men were portrayed as the biggest stars in the company, with tremendous power and fight and yet opposite personalities. I forgot how much I liked Batista before I watched this. Guy had patchy moments but he brought it for the biggest matches. It seems criminal that these two didn't headline a big four PPV together, instead playing second fiddle to an Edge stunt show here and Shawn's retirement at Mania. If this match was today they'd probably have three or four finisher kickouts so I was glad to see that the finishes were relatively protected. They worked the match evenly, with both guys running through their power spots as well as trying to wear down their opponents with leg work. The crowd was a bit quiet at the start but they were really into it by the final minutes, especially the submission attempts and the finishers. Match was portrayed as super even, Cena did an amazing power reversal into the FU but couldn't cover in time to win because he was hurt. In the end, Batista just edged it with a big kill shot, catching Cena coming off the top with a powerbomb before finishing him off with a second. Great heavyweight battle between the biggest stars of the era, avoiding the traps of the 'self-conscious epic' or the finisher spamming that other such clashes would suffer from in later years. ****

I get that you're not impressed with Finn and that there's nothing I could say to make you change your mind, but... Finn vs. AJ was excellent. I know you'll credit it to it being AJ and negate Finn's performance, but that was fantastic. IIRC his match with Reigns on that RAW where he earned a spot in the Universal title match was pretty good too. He was also super over in NXT and is super over on RAW. How has Nakamura been a flop on the main roster? They built his debut as one of the selling points for that one PPV in which he debuted on, gave him various title matches and has been featured as one of the top guys on SDL beating some fo the big names on the show. The fact that he hasn't won the title yet doesn't mean he's been a flop. He's been a flop in terms of performances. I liked him in New Japan but if you were to believe his greatest advocates he was going to be at worst the 2nd best worker in the company behind AJ. That hasn't really materialised and he's been accused of coasting a good few times. His high points have been good but not great TV matches with Cena and Orton as well as maybe the second Jinder match depending on personal preference.

Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins (WWE Raw, 29th May 2017) Strong PPV quality main event here between two guys who know each other well. I liked the flashes of Reigns acting like a bully heel here, pushing Seth's head into the corner and talking shit to him. His selling was on point as always, highlighting his superiority to Rollins as a worker - Seth wasn't bad here but there were points where he would kinda make gestures towards selling but then run through all his high spots anyway. Reigns' drive-by into the post looked vicious, as did him throwing Seth into the barricade. The superman punch counter to Rollins coming from the top was picture perfect. One thing I will say for Seth is that his flying moves - standing moonsault, frog splash, missed Phoenix Splash - all looked really graceful. There were a few bits that people may not like where big shots weren't sold so that they could go back-and-forth but Roman is able to make those look like desperation/instinctive strikes rather than just go-go-go workrate exchanges, the buckle bomb into superman punch combo being the prime example. Good clash of the babyfaces match and I'd like to see them hook up some time with Roman as the heel. Going back through some of these Reigns matches to prepare for arguing that he's been the WWE worker of the year over AJ and Braun. This match is a good example of the quality TV performances he was putting on around the first half of the year that stand him in good stead. Probably Rollins' best singles match of 2017. ****

The Ibushi match from Invasion Attack 2015 in really highly thought of, though I'd have to go back again to give a fair assessment of it. There's about three or four matches each with Okada and Tanahashi and a couple with Naito as well. But the Suzuki G1 match is the standout of the New Japan tenure imo.

No reason they couldn't go back to Joe with a no DQ or something to freshen it up

Miz vs Reigns was a really fun match as well. Excited to see who Roman works with the Intercontinental Title. I feel like Joe is a potential feud but they'll probably save him for post-Mania given his strong record over Reigns on TV this year. I want to see Reigns vs Elias

Roman Reigns vs The Miz, Raw, 20/11/17 Intercontinental Championship Match This match came out of a really fun MizTV segment with The Shield earlier. Miz stalls to start but gets his clock cleaned by an awesome uppercut. Reigns dominates with power early on and the crowd chants "Roman, Roman!" Miz runs away from a superman punch and takes over with a DDT on the outside. Reigns beats the count out at the absolute last second. Reigns might have the best punches in WWE. He fights out of a Miz chinlock with another big uppercut but Miz stays on top with his backbreaker-neckbreaker combo. Miz running desperately towards each corner to keep on offence is great. Of course he inevitably misses one charge and crotches himself. Yes! Kicks are dodged and it's a Samoan drop for Miz. Awesome counter to a superman punch where Miz hooks Roman's knee then kicks him in the head. Double-axehandle attempt off the top is met with a superman punch that finally hits to pop the crowd big. The Bar run out for a distraction allowing Miz a close nearfall with the Skull Crushing Finale. The crowd is right into this as Seth and Dean run out to take out the tag champs. Miz takes his eye off the ball to see what's going on outside and walks right into a spear to give Reigns the Intercontinental Championship. Really fun match and it's nice to see a hot crowd that's fully into Reigns. Another strong TV performance from him as he sold the outside DDT beautifully and used his sweet strikes to set up hope spots. Miz was great here too. He knew Reigns was bigger and stronger and it really came through with his tenacity to stay on top when he got the opening. He was running around like a madman when he had Reigns in the corner and pulling out all the stops to cut off his comeback spots. Great fun and the ending will hopefully set up a rematch where they can get 20 minutes plus because they have a great match in them. I'm excited to see Roman working competitive IC title matches with guys lower down the pecking order a la Cena with the US title in 2015. ***1/2

To me this one was in the **** to ****1/4 range rather than the tip top ratings others have for it. Still a great performance from AJ and the best Brock has looked probably since the Reigns and Undertaker matches in 2015.

I thought Paige came off super well on the mic last night, especially when she was playing to the crowd. She looked really happy and confident, a long way from the nadir of the Del Rio mess.

I don't know how anyone can still pretend that Reigns isn't great tbh.

I second this. In terms of consistent in-ring performance, I think only Roman gives him any competition. There's a real interesting discussion to be had as to who's been WWE's wrestler of the year. Lots of people are saying AJ but I think they're sleeping on the great series of TV matches Roman was having around spring/early summer while AJ was stuck in the mediocre programme with Owens. It's a real tight call

I think AJ reinventing himself in New Japan is a real plus in his case. As is that fact that his strikes look like they actually hurt. Both guys are awesome bumpers but AJ smokes Shawn in terms of impactful offence

That was a strange show last night. Good matches the whole way through the card until the old guys and the overbooking at the end left an ageing orange egomaniac to win at the end. WCW 1998 redux

Havent followed NXT in a long time but Ive been slowly catching up on War Games and I'm all in on Velveteen Dream!

HHH looks like if Bobby Roode was left under a heat lamp overnight

Almost has to be a cool down match in between, I think. That’s what the ten minute promo is for!! Oh god, Stephanie is going to talk again...

It makes me want to see a feud between babyface Alexa and heel Charlotte. Alexa is an interesting prospect as a babyface because she should by rights be a good underdog face but she's so great at conveying a heel personality. Charlotte definitely needs to turn again though.

This match just seems a little awkward. Not sure if it's the flat crowd or the size disparity between the two.

I can see him going heel on Kurt instead

Too busy shouting "sweeeet" after every two count to get into nearfalls.

Fair play, that was a decent performance from Corbin

One heel jaw jacking with a guy's pregnant wife, the other heel using his lackeys to take control. Odd dynamic for the crowd to get into.

Bathroom break match. I love Miz but hes not going to carry Corbin to anything good.