Road to WWE Wrestlemania 34: Week 2
This week on the Road to Wrestlemania we saw shifts in direction, shocking outcomes and a continued power struggle on Tuesday Night. This week I felt had more of a Wrestlemania feel to it then the two nights after the Royal Rumble. I get the sense that WWE knows they have dropped the ball recently on TV and they are to get the ship in the right direction. Before I begin with all that went down this week here are the weekly results of WWE Television
WWE Monday Night Raw
Roman Reigns defeated Bray Wyatt to qualify for the Elimination Chamber
Finn Balor and Karl Anderson defeated the Revival
Cedric Alexander and Mustafa Ali defeated Drew Gulak and Tony Nese
Asuka defeated Bayley
The Miz defeated Apollo Crews to qualify for the Elimination Chamber
The Bar defeated Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins by DQ to retain the Raw Tag Team Championships
Nix Jax defeated Vanessa Floyd
Mickie James defeated Sonya Deville
Elias defeated John Cena and Braun Strowman for the right to enter Elimination Chamber last
WWE Smackdown Live
Charlotte Flair defeated Liv Morgan
The Bludgeon Brothers defeated Two Jobbers
Bobby Roode defeated Rusev to retain the United States Championship
Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable defeated The Ascension
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn went a No Contest
205 Live
Kalisto defeated Lince Dorado to advance in the Cruiserweight Championship Tournament
Roderick Strong defeated Hideo Itami to advance in the Cruiserweight Championship Tournament(Match of the Week)
WWE NXT
Heavy Machinery defeated Riddick Moss and Tino Sabetelli
Bianca Belair defeated Jessix Hill
Sanity defeated Undisputed Era in a 6-Man Tornado Tag Team Match
The best part of Raw is always when Braun Strowman comes on TV. The end of Raw was epic with Braun Strowman taking out Elias and John Cena after Elias won their triple threat match. When you put Braun Strowman and the Elimination Chamber together you are going to get a recipe for destruction. It was also announced that the first ever Women’s Elimination Chamber will take place and it will feature Alexa Bliss, Mickie James, Sasha Banks, Bayley, Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose. That was followed up with an announcement that a match between Asuka and Nia Jax will take place at the PPV. If Nia wins she is added to the Women’s Championship Match at Wrestlemania. Speaking of second chances at Wrestlemania, there will also be a fatal four way match this coming week to determine the final spot in the Men’s Elimination Chamber Match. Those participants include Finn Balor, Apollo Crews, Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt. I think Hardy and Wyatt will continue their feud all the way to Wrestlemania and Balor is going to get a heavy push for the Intercontinental Championship heading into Wrestlemania. These new few weeks are going to really show what direction the red side is headed to going into Wrestlemania.
The direction of Smackdown has been very clear since AJ Styles won back the WWE Title several months ago. AJ Styles is going to Wrestlemania as WWE Champion. I also think KO, Sami, Bobby Roode and Rusev are going to be heavily pushed over the next two months. I also think the power struggle between Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan will be a focal point this Wrestlemania season. Whether or not Bryan wrestles is still up in their air, but he will have a major roll at Wrestlemania. One part of that struggle is that Bryan made a triple threat match between Sami, Kevin and AJ for the WWE Championship at FastLane. Two days later Shane McMahon announced Baron Corbin will take on Dolph Ziggler with the winner being added to the WWE Championship match at FastLane. The booking of Dolph and Baron has been terrible and that needs to change. They had a huge opportunity to do something huge with Ziggler and they blew it. He came out at number thirty at the Royal Rumble and he did nothing. He had no impact, no major eliminations and didn’t create any excitement. I feel like Smackdown is dropping the ball on a few superstars but over the next two months I am hoping they correct it.
Tuesday Night ended with 205 Live and the continuation of the Cruiserweight Championship Tournament. The two matches that took place were epic and it felt like it had the feel of the Cruiserweight Classic. Kalisto and Lince Dorado had an outstanding match but it was followed by an epic match between Roderick Strong and Hideo Itami. I was shocked the Strong went over on Itami and it makes me wonder if Strong is now leaving NXT for the main roster. That leads me to NXT and the ultimatum that was laid out between Andrade “Cien” Almas and Johnny Gargano. If Gargano cannot win the NXT Championship against Almas then Gargano has to leave NXT for good. I have this feeling that Gargano will lose and be a surprise entry into the 205 Live Cruiserweight Championship Tournament. There has not been much build up for NXT Takeover New Orleans but I amsure in the coming weeks we see which NXT stars will get to shine Wrestlemania weekend. Week two on the Road to Wrestlemania has concluded, and were inching closer to the Elimination Chamber where Raw will have a clearer picture of what’s to come during Wrestlemania season. Until next week be safe. stay strong and remember Controversy Doesn’t Come Without Criticism!
