Road to WWE Wrestlemania 33: Week 2
This week on the Road to Wrestlemania there were things that I was happy to see and things that just make me shake my head. Monday Night Raw saw the in ring debut of Samoa Joe. In the opening segment he signed his contract and cut a really great promo. He was interrupted by Roman Reigns who challenged him to a fight which took place later in the night. I think Joe had a great in ring debut on Monday Night. He got the win after Braun Strowman interfered in the match. Earlier in the night Mick Foley made Reigns vs. Strowman for WWE Fastlane. The biggest disappointment is that Goldberg will be challenging Kevin Owens for the WWE Universal Title which no doubt set up Goldberg vs. Lesnar 3 at Wrestlemania 33 for the title. I feel like this does nothing for the future of the business and this is the part of Wrestlemania season I despise. The one thing that I enjoy is watching Sami Zayn and Chris Jericho. They have had good matches and I foresee Jericho defending the United States against Zayn at Fastlane. The tag team division is slowly starting to heat up again. The Club is feuding with Sheamus and Cesaro but interference from Big Cass cost Sheasaro a chance to win back the tag titles on Monday Night. Next week we will see another title match as Charlotte defends the Raw Women’s Title against Bayley.
Tuesday night Smackdown took place from Seattle which is near the hometown of Smackdown GM Daniel Bryan. He was cutting a great promo before he was interrupted by The Miz, Baron Corbin, Dean Ambrose and AJ Styles. Bryan set up a fatal four way between the four that Corbin ended up winning. I like that they are pushing Corbin because he’s hungry and wants to be the best. Another thing I enjoy is all the women of Smackdown being involved in high profile feuds. There will be three women’s matches at Elimination Chamber which is really unheard of but it’s great to see them getting a chance. The Main Event of Smackdown featured the legendary rivalry of John Cena and Randy Orton. I love how overtime Orton has been able to evolve himself a little bit here and there. He was in Evolution as the Legend Killer and had some really memorable matches. He led Legacy and became the Apex Predator that became one of the all time greats in WWE history. Now he is in the Wyatt Family and making a push towards the WWE Championship.
Once Smackdown was over it was time for 205 Live. At the beginning of the show we learned that Tony Nese was injured on Monday Night Raw and was unable compete in the fatal five way. Mustafa Ali and Ariya Daivari competed to see who would replace Nese in the match. Ali won and moved on to the main event later in the evening. The fatal five way ended up being a really great match. I was pleasantly surprised that Gentleman Jack Gallagher won the match and earned himself a Cruiserweight Title shot against Neville. I think Gallagher is the most entertaining person in the Cruiserweight Division. I honestly hope he becomes Cruiserweight Champion and gets a match at Wrestlemania.
The fallout from Takeover San Antonio continued as Sanity attacked Tye Dillinger after he refused to join them again. Tye had some help in the form of Roderick Strong and No Way Jose which led to a 6-man tag later in the evening. Sanity ended up winning the match but I think a feud between Roderick Strong and Eric Young might be brewing. The Revival had an awesome 2016 but were left off Takeover. They are still down in NXT but this week they called out The Authors of Pain and got a sneak attack on them to make their point. The new NXT Champion Bobby Roode came out and celebrated his glorious win. I will be interested to see who his challenger is at Takeover Orlando. Nakamura is currently injured and there is no one that really stands out as the number one contender. Next week on NXT, the United Kingdom Champion Tyler Bate will defend against Trent Seven in what should be an excellent match,
This concludes weeks two on the Road to Wrestlemania. This Sunday is Smackdown’s final pay-perv-view before Wrestlemania. Everyone on the show will be fighting to get a spot on the biggest show of the year. Tune in next week to find out what takes place in week 3 on the Road to Wrestlemania.
Matches of the Week
Raw: Sami Zayn vs. Chris Jericho and Samoa Joe vs. Roman Reigns
Smackdown: Baron Corbin vs. AJ Styles vs. The Miz vs. Dean Ambrose
205 Live: Jack Gallagher vs. Noam Dar vs. Cedric Alexander vs. Mustafa Ali vs. TJ Perkins
NXT: Sanity vs. Tye Dillinger/Roderick Strong/No Way Jose
