It’s bad when you sit through an entire show and don’t really remember much about it after it has just ended. The show peaked at the beginning. It seemed like a show that was sinking the entire time. At around the start of the 3rd hour, it seems like they actually ran out of content.
1. The Undertaker and Shane McMahon segment was the best part of the show, and I can’t even called that segment great due to the fact it’s hard to take the entire feud seriously. It is being booked straight up, as if Shane is a legit threat to the Undertaker. The son of the owner, that isn’t a full time wrestler and has been away for 6 or 7 years. It’s one thing to use Brock Lesnar or the Rock after 7 or 8 years, and have them come off as realistic threats, but Shane is a hard a sale. It’s even harder to take the stipulations seriously, when Shane is clearly just an on-air talent with a Brock Lesnar like schedule. If Shane wins, he will be running Raw, but the show will still be written poorly by the same people, and Vince and Stephanie will still be making the same dumb behind the scenes decisions. That being said, Shane “Highlight Reel” McMahon had a moment when he dropped an elbow on the Undertaker through the announce table last night. The brawl that led to the big spot, eh. Shane and his weak offense and punches is a glaring problem to me. Same issue I have with Dean Ambrose and his “fired up” attack. The mic work before was decent, except for the Undertaker line about Shane being Vince’s “b*tch” since birth. It sounds like more of a Rock line and is sort of a weak comeback. It may have set the match bar too high, Shane must top the elbow now. If he doesn’t fly off the cage or through the cage, fans might walk away disappointed.
2. Kalisto vs Ryback is not really intriguing to me in anyway. Out of all of the guys on the roster that Kalisto could light it up in the ring with, they chose Ryback? So the segment last night was just meh.
3. Kevin Owens vs “The Lost and Gimmick-less” seems like a waste. Instead of having a solid one on one Kevin Owens match up with Sami Zayn, we have those two guys in a ladder match with guys that are barely ever on TV and Dolph Ziggler. This match is would probably be a better match for Kalisto and the US Title. I don’t understand having the workers the caliber of Zayn and Owens in this sort of match. The crowd got very restless in this 6 man match that felt like it would never end.
4. The divas Title match should be good if given time. Charlotte, Becky Lynch, and Sasha Banks are excellent workers and this match should be one of the best of the night. As for the segment on Raw it made Charlotte look strong going into Mania, but that is it. It was the usual overbooked mess we normally see.
5. Total Divas promo match….it is a way to get more people on the show I guess. Glad Paige and Emma are being used. The match last night was bascially an angle to have Eva Marie return. I like her look, her in ring skills aren’t there yet, but neither are Brie Bellas, and Eva looks way better than her. Throwaway segment for a preshow filler match at Mania.
6. Jericho and AJ Styles slowly teasing their 4th match….oh wow. AJ Styles is begging for a match vs Jericho even though he beat him 2 out of 3 times between the Royal Rumble and Fast Lane. So they delayed the Jericho heel turn to after all of that…so I am not sure where they going with this match. Ryder getting a win over Jericho was nonevent.
7. Big Show and Kane vs “No Direction” was just hype for the irrelevant Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
8. New Day vs League of “Heels with nothing to do” is basically a New Day face turn. That’s all. Sheamus and crew haven’t been relevant as a team…ever! Kofi vs Alberto Del Rio wasn’t anything special last night. If Sheamus and crew won the titles back when Sheamus was WWE Champion, well that might have helped their credibility. Jonathon Coachman coming out at the end to announce ESPN Sportscenter is doing all day media coverage is a nice touch for the WWE. But too bad, its for THIS SHOW!
9. Brock Lesnar and Heyman come out for the traditional “Heyman talks and Lesnar earns his money by standing there and repeatedly hitting the taunt button on the controller” segment. I really don’t under Lesnar “appearances”. They hype up the 10 times he shows up on Raw a year and basically 8 of those appearances are just THIS. Dean Ambrose comes out with a wagon and grabs some weapons. We will disregard the wagon, some people liked this segment. It did nothing for me.
10. Triple H and Stephanie came out twice to talk. It is hard to sell the Rock coming out cutting a promo twice, so this just felt like overkill. Out of content, “lets have Triple H and Stephanie come out twice for a promo and let’s have 3 Roman Reigns and Triple H brawls” Seriously the ending segment felt like a retake of the original segment an hour earlier. The backstage thing with the Dudley Boyz setting a trap for Triple H to get the upper hand was silly. It may lead to more with the Uso’s and the Rock getting involved at Mania. With all that being said, this main event feels like it is DOA. Reigns was cheered in December for beating down Triple H. Somehow, they have booked him to the point he is being booed every time his face is shown.
Triple H vs Roman Reigns is a hard sell. Triple H isn’t Brock Lesnar. Last year the WWE got away with this because a match with Lesnar is easy to sell. Anybody against Lesnar is basically an underdog, so that match is easy to book and the crowd buys it regardless. Plus they had the entire MITB in their back pocket with Seth Rollins. This year all of those factors are missing. This was a lackluster go-home show, but that is fitting since this is a pretty lackluster Wrestlemania at least on paper!
