#1~ Nice slip of the word “mark” by Triple H in the opening promo but how did he forget to mention Tout? 2 problems with the opening segment for me. One is that they had to tease Triple H’s decision for the whole night. It’s completely out of character for this version of his character who always is two steps ahead of anyone. The other is that the opening segment was ridiculously formulaic. Maybe I’ve been watching wrestling too long but those segments used to kick off every show and to me that’s just lazy writing.
#2~ Stephanie McMahon versus Brie Bella (Danielson) is going to be nuclear once they get into the ring. Finally there’s a Steve Austin to Stephanie’s Vince. Not only does this push Brie to the top but it also keeps Daniel Bryan fresh in the fan’s mind while he recovers.
#3~ I still stand by my opinion that Chris Jericho going over Wyatt cleanly at Battleground was the right call. I don’t care if he lost cleanly to Cena at WrestleMania, he was booked extremely strong going into that match & it turned out to be a pretty good spotlight for him too. If Wyatt pinned Jericho at Battleground, what reason would Wyatt have to continue the feud with Jericho? If Jericho lost to Wyatt, we’d get the typical “babyface chases the evil villain ” story and people would be complaining about the staleness of the feud. This is at least something different. Now the monster has a more violent mission to take out the good guy and I wholeheartedly believe that Bray Wyatt will come out on top of this feud.
#4~ I really didn’t think I could dislike The Miz anymore than I did but then he won the damn IC belt and came out in a horrendous white suit, goofy smile & ridiculous sunglasses that look like they were bought at the nearest gas station. Honestly, I missed most of this match because I was complaining about The Miz so much. Even in a match with Dolph Ziggler, Miz is able to make it unwatchable TV. I did catch the last few minutes of Ziggler working his ass off to put on a good showing. At least people LOVE to boo The Miz and root for Ziggler.
#5~ Yea dumping Paul Heyman worked really well for Ryback and Curtis Axel. Not that I’m saying that RybAxel can measure up to Cesaro in any sense of the imagination but then again, when did WWE writers ever consider wrestling ability when writing scripts?
#6~ Paige and AJ should be a good feud now they’ve done away with the “frenemies” bit & Paige can be a full-out heel. We haven’t seen that yet on the main roster and we really didn’t see AJ Lee, the wrestler, as a babyface either. I’m looking forward to what can be a great set of matches and am intrigued to see how both women perform in their new roles. It’s amazing to think that the WWE has more actual wrestling women in their locker room than they do tag teams.
#7~ OK the Stephanie/Brie stuff was golden. Stephanie’s progression from disbelief to anger to fear was excellent. Sure she was a bit over the top at times but then again, what cops would arrest someone on national television? Suspend your belief and enjoy the ride. Between this slow burn of a feud heating up and Ambrose/Rollins clicking at Battleground, the WWE definitely has a few stories rolling right now.
#8~ At first, I was against Dean Ambrose wearing jeans and a wife beater as his ring gear but it perfectly fits his character & watching his entrance tonight I couldn’t picture him in anything else. Cesaro versus Ambrose was a perfect display of what the WWE has in their upper-midcard. There’s so much talent in the WWE locker, I’m just glad some of the best aren’t being left behind.
#9~ The Brock Lesnar was an obvious letdown to anyone who has been on the internet in the last month. RAW was mostly red-hot & the Lesnar announcement should have been the icing on the cake but it was a lukewarm reception from everyone except for the commentary team. This is one of those shows that would be fantastic before spoilers but there’s no getting away from them now.
