Road to WWE Wrestlemania 33: Week 4
This week on the Road to Wrestlemania there was a major twist in the WWE Title picture, and two men are showing no remorse on Monday Night Raw. A lot of people are talking about what happened after Raw. The Rock was in the middle of the ring and called CM Punk to leave him a voicemail. It has a lot of people wondering why and has the McMahon’s left furious. I also find it ironic considering a week ago Samoa Joe revealed that he and Punk have been talking recently. He said Punk congratulated him and left the possibility open to have one more match with him.
Samoa Joe and Kevin Owens have show no remorse these couple of weeks with their actions. Sami Zayn has been inserted into the Seth Rollins storyline for the time being and he’s taking some beatings for it. Owens is trying to send a message to Goldberg and Joe is doing whatever Triple H wants him to. It feels like The Authority are quietly making a return. Stephanie has had issues with Mick Foley these last few weeks which will probably ultimately lead to Foley’s demise. Stephanie also tried getting Bayley to relinquish her title after the controversy that occurred last Monday. Sasha Banks talked her out of it and proceeded to beat Charlotte in a match afterwards. It seems to be that Charlotte, Sasha, Nia and Bayley are all on a collision course to Wrestlemania. Speaking of collision courses I absolutely love the match between Big Show and Braun Strowman. It looked like The Big Show was facing his younger self as The Giant from WCW. When The Big Show was The Giant in WCW he was super athletic and agile. He could kip-up and throw a dropkick like a lightweight. I was shocked to see Strowman do it himself. Raw ended with the Strowman standing tall and being a force to reckon with. It’s nice to see a fresh face main event Raw.
Tuesday Night on Smackdown Live started out with some bad news. Naomi was forced to relinquish her Women’s Title due to a knee injury. This led to a match between Alexa Bliss and Becky Lynch to crown a new Women’s Champion. Bliss captured the title for the second time but it really does leave the title plans up in the air. The women of Smackdown are much better booked then the women of Raw. There are always multiple women’s matches on Smackdown and their pay-per-views. I have enjoyed the rivalry between Natalya and Nikki Bella. It’s been so personal and so fun to watch the insults and physicality. This match planted the seeds for the rumored match between Nikki Bella/John Cena taking on The Miz/Maryse at Wrestlemania. Maryse ended up costing Nikki the match by attacking her with a led pipe. The seeds grew even more when Cena threw The Miz out of the Battle Royal in the Main Event of Smackdown Live. It continued when The Miz came back and threw out Cena to cost him a shot to go to Wrestlemania. The last two participants in the Battle Royal were AJ Styles and Luke Harper and they both went out at the same time which left us without a winner. Daniel Bryan came out and announced that next week Styles and Harper will fight for the right to challenge Bray Wyatt at Wrestlemania. I personally enjoy the storytelling on Smackdown and they making the Road to Wrestlemania fun to watch on their side of things.
Following Smackdown the stars of 205 Live took the ring and are continuing to make their mark in WWE. The Brian Kendrick has been an interesting feud with Akira Tozawa. My prediction is that somehow Taijiri will find his way into this feud and pass the torch to Tozawa. Noam Dar was without Alicia Fox this week but that didn’t stop him for defeating Mustafa Ali. I really love when Alicia Fox is on the show because it makes for fun TV. She’s not being used properly on Raw so her involvement on 205 Live perfect. The show closed out with Tony Nese and Jack Gallagher in a match that had a contrast of styles. I think Gallagher is entertaining and it’s great that he is getting rewarded for his popularity. I do think Tony Nese needs to be elevated even more because he has the look and the skills to be a big time superstar. I almost think he would be better off on the main roster. For now Gallagher has a date with Neville at Fastlane and we have to wait to see how it plays out.
NXT started off with a triple threat to determine the number one contender to Asuka. They are trying their best to build the women’s division back up with the likes of Peyton Royce, Liv Morgan and Ember Moon. I was really surprised to see Peyton Royce get the victory. I thought for sure Ember Moon would be challenging Asuka for the title. We got another taste of the United Kingdom this with Mark Andrews and Pete Dunne. Andrews was a crowd favorite during the UK tournament but Pete Dunne made the most impact. I love what Pete Dunne brings to the ring. He has no remorse, no compassion and he doesn’t lighten up on his opponent. I think this is another competitor who would do well on the main roster. I also think Mark Andrews could go back and forth between the UK division and 205 Live. I really hope Triple H continues to put the UK competitors on regular programming. The Main Event was No Way Jose against Bobby Roode. It’s really good to see Jose get some TV time against a great veteran like Roode. They need to start getting the NXT made talent more involved with the indie talent that they bring in. After the match was over Roode proceeded to beat down Jose until Kassius Ohno made his return to confront Roode. I am really glad Kassius Ohno is back in NXT because he can bring so much knowledge and experience to a young group of talent. I will be curious to see how Ohno affects the title plans heading into Takeover Orlando.
Another week has passed on the Road to Wrestlemania. There have been quite a few seeds planted for matches at Wrestlemania. I’ve seen a lot of complaining among fans about how this years Wrestlemania looks terrible. Well sometimes the best cards on paper are complete garbage and the worst cards on paper turn out to be the best. I say before you start knocking a pay per view take the time to watch it and let it play out. I am enjoying this years buildup to Wrestlemania especially on the Smackdown side. Within the next couple of weeks some of the card for Wrestlemania will become clearer. I am excited for the buildup because when it comes time for Wrestlemania they are going to bring their absolute best. Tune in next to find out to what happens on the Road to Wrestlemania.
Matches of the Week
Raw- Braun Strowman vs. Big Show
Smackdown- 10 Man Battle Royal for the Number 1 Contendership to WWE Title.
205 Live- Jack Gallagher vs. Tony Nese
NXT- Pete Dunne vs. Mark Andrews
