Road to WWE Wrestlemania 35: Week 9
This week on the Road to Wrestlemania things will be a little different. I usually focus on major storylines, matches being made and I have always given WWE the benefit of the doubt. Going into this years Wrestlemania, the fans have been extremely frustrated and I would like to address some of these issues. Let’s start with Kurt Angle Farewell Match. If Baron Corbin has successfully cashed-in Money in the Bank, had meaningful matches and not been turned into a corporate character he would have been a lot more credible to be Angle’s last match. If Corbin remains Angles opponent and defeats him, then please go back to being the “Lone Wolf” with the attire, the mean streak and the skill set that he came in with. Quit making this talented athlete into a wimp of a heel. He should be doing the same things Samoa Joe is doing. Speaking of Samoa Joe and Wrestlemania. He is facing Rey Mysterio which on any other show would be great, but the company totally put Mysterio’s feud with Andrade on the shelf. Andrade should have been in this match, but WWE continues to make poor use of their international stars.
Another example of WWE’s poor use of their international stars is Asuka. On Smackdown, Asuka lost the Women’s Title to Charlotte Flair in attempt to make the Main Event of Wrestlemania more valuable. When Asuka and Shinsuke Nakamura were in NXT they were booked, showcased and treated the right way. Since their arrival to the main roster they have been used in the worst way possible. Neither of them capitalized off of their 2018 Royal Rumble wins, both lost at Wrestlemania 34 and they both lost multiple championship matches in a row than people who were less deserving of those respective titles. The WWE does not take enough time to understand the long term consequences of their book decisions. Becky Lynch tapped out to Asuka at the Royal Rumble and it was never brought up on Television after that. Asuka’s title win at TLC was not even the real story. The real story was Rousey getting even with Flair and Lynch. If the main focus was suppose to be on the other three women then Asuka should have never been treated like a pawn. From where I sit, this has hurt Asuka’s momentum, value and star power all over again. I really hope after Wrestlemania they do something to correct this mistake and give her something meaningful.
As of this writing, Kevin Owens, Mustafa Ali, Andrade, and the men’s tag team division has nothing meaningful at Wrestlemania. The WWE came under fire several months ago when the dirtsheets were reporting that multiple tag teams were unhappy with the WWE’s lack of direction and creativity for the tag team division. The Revival, Hardy Boyz, The Bar, The Uso’s and other formidable teams should not be in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. They should be competing for the Tag Team Championships on their respective shows. The one bright spot in the tag team division as of late has been the team of Aleister Black and Ricochet. They have been competing on Raw, Smackdown and NXT within the last month. They have won the Dusty Rhodes Classic and will compete at Takeover NYC. I’d love to see them make history and be showcased by competing at Wrestlemania. After all, if you go by booking they have beaten The Revival twice and earned themselves a shot at the Raw Tag Team Championships.
With a little over a week until Wrestlemania I’ll be curious as to what they do with the Men’s Tag Team Division and all of the women who do not have a match at the biggest show of the year. I could think of a list of stars who should have matches and could think of a long list of some of the booking problems heading into Wrestlemania and beyond. I’ve always given WWE the benefit of the doubt, but if I listed all the things going wrong into Wrestlemania you would all be here for a week still reading. With that being said, this has been another week on the Road to Wrestlemania. Next week is the final week leading into the biggest show of the year so stop on by to get my final thoughts on the show.
Raw
Becky Lynch won the Beat the Clock Challenge
Finn Balor defeated Jinder Mahal and Bobby Lashley
Aleister Black and Ricochet defeated The Revival
Sasha Banks defeated Natalya by DQ
Baron Corbin defeated Apollo Crews
Kurt Angle defeated Samoa Joe
Drew McIntyre defeated Dean Ambrose in a Last Man Standing Match
Smackdown
Charlotte Flair defeated Asuka to win the Smackdown Women’s Championship
AJ Styles defeated Kurt Angle by DQ
New Day wins Tag Team Gauntlet
205 Live
The Lucha Bros defeated Humberto Carrillo, Drew Gulak and Gentleman Jack Gallagher
Ariya Daivari defeated Cedric Alexander
NXT
Vanessa Borne/Aliyah and Lacey Lane/Kacy Catanzaro went to a No Contest
Matt Riddle defeated Kona Reeves
Ricochet and Aleister Black defeated The Forgotten Sons to win the Dusty Rhodes Classic
Current NXT Takeover NYC Card
NXT Championship: Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole in a 2 out of 3 Falls Match
WWE United Kingdom Championship: Pete Dunne(c) vs. Walter
NXT Women’s Championship: Shayna Baszler(c) vs. Kairi Sane vs. Io Sharai vs. Bianca Belair
NXT North American Championship: The Velveteen Dream(c) vs. Matt Riddle
NXT Tag Team Championships: The War Raiders(c) vs. Aleister Black and Ricochet
Current WWE Wrestlemania 35 Card
Raw Women’s Championshp: Ronda Rousey(c) vs. Smackdown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch
WWE Universal Championship: Brock Lesnar(c) vs. Seth Rollins
WWE Championship: Daniel Bryan(c) vs. Kofi Kingston
WWE Intercontental Championship: Bobby Lashley(c) vs. Finn Balor
WWE United States Championship: Samoa Joe(c) vs. Rey Mysterio
WWE Cruiserweight Championship: Buddy Murphy(c) vs. Tony Nese
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships: Sasha Banks and Bayley(c) vs. Tamina and Nia Jax vs. Natalya and Beth Phoenix vs. The IIconics
No Holds Barred: Triple H vs. Batista
Falls Count Anywhere: The Miz vs. Shane McMahon
Kurt Angle vs. Baron Corbin
Drew McIntyre vs. Roman Reigns
Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles
Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
