Every week, Kevin Eck will run down his burning thoughts from "RAW," "SmackDown Live" and the rest of the pro wrestling world.
‘RAW’ thoughts
Am I the only one who …
… hates how WWE announcers have to play dumb when a No. 1 contender’s match ends without a winner?
When the Braun Strowman vs. Kane match for the right to face Brock Lesnar for the Universal Title at the “Royal Rumble” pay-per-view next month resulted in a double countout, the announcers all wondered what would happen to the title match. Not a single one of them suggested the possibility of a Triple Threat match, a scenario any halfway intelligent wrestling fan would know was a strong possibility.
I get that WWE wanted to end the show with a bit of a cliffhanger, but it just made the announcers look clueless.
Even before the non-finish happened, I suspected we’d ultimately be getting a Triple Threat at the “Rumble.” There was no way Kane was beating Strowman, and Lesnar vs. Strowman just happened in September at “No Mercy” and I didn’t think WWE would go back to that matchup, especially since it would mean that Strowman would once again have to lose (or at least fail to win the title). Plus, I think a Triple Threat with three monsters will make for an entertaining match, even though we all know Kane will be the one doing the honors for Lesnar.
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… thinks Paige should probably doing all the talking for Absolution for now?
Paige has been killing it on the mic since she returned; her Absolution cohorts Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville, not so much.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m all for Rose and Deville getting an opportunity to speak and be more than mute underlings, but their performances this week were borderline cringeworthy. Rose’s delivery was awkward and I’m not sure that what she said really made any sense. As for Deville, her delivery wasn’t bad, but the dialogue she was given was terrible. She said some nonsense about “a symphony of carnage, and the music is about to start.” Come on, who talks like that?
Having worked for the WWE creative team, I know there is a temptation for the writers to wax poetic in hopes of getting a pat on the head from Vince McMahon, but not every character should speak in metaphors. The writers need to focus on staying true to the character’s voice rather than trying to be clever wordsmiths. Deville is badass with an MMA background. I just didn’t buy those words coming out of her mouth.
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… thought Roman Reigns did not do a good job of selling his arm during his match against Cesaro?
Reigns is a good worker and way better than he’s given credit for, and he and Cesaro put on a heck of a match. But Reigns’ inconsistent selling of his right arm — which Cesaro targeted the entire match — took me out of it somewhat.
Reigns would be heavily selling the arm one minute, and then firing away with right hands the next. And after he won, Reigns raised his arms in the air in celebration, not even wincing a little bit.
… thinks "The Wrestling Observer" should rename the “Most Underrated” category in its annual awards “The Cesaro Award?”
Cesaro, who has won the “Most Underrated” award the past four years in a row, showed yet again why he is deserving of a bigger push. I love the ass-kicking tag team of Cesaro and Sheamus, but the “Swiss Superman” really should be a singles main-eventer.
… is getting a huge kick out of the dueling promos between Bray Wyatt and “Woken” Matt Hardy?
When the two of them start laughing maniacally, I can’t help but laugh along with them. I’m really looking forward to a series of matches between these two, at least one of which had better take place at the Hardy Compound. How great would it be to see Husky Harris come out of the Lake of Reincarnation?
Dear Vince: Please don’t mess this up for us. Just remember the old saying — if it’s “Broken,” don’t fix it.
‘SmackDown Live’ thoughts
Am I the only one who …
… wondered how AJ Styles knew to have the video footage cued up of the Singh brothers accompanying Jinder Mahal to the ring for Mahal’s match against Triple H in India over the weekend?
So Styles would’ve had to know ahead of time that the Singhs were going to interrupt his promo and say that they were finished with Mahal and wanted to be in Styles’ corner for his match against Mahal at “Clash of Champions.”
Either that’s bad storytelling or Styles had one of Matt Hardy’s premonitions.
… thought Byron Saxton was way over the top when accusing Daniel Bryan of being biased against Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura?
Bryan has been the fairest WWE authority figure in the history of WWE authority figures. If anyone would deserve the benefit of the doubt, it’s him. Plus, did Saxton forget that Shane McMahon basically came right out and said that he was going to screw over Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn at “Clash of Champions?”
I know Saxton was just saying what he was told to say, but he lost a lot of credibility. Wait, is it possible to lose something you never had?
… thought it was weird that Bobby Roode had his robe on while sitting in on commentary during the Baron Corbin vs. Dolph Ziggler match?
Why wouldn’t Roode wear street clothes since he wasn’t wrestling? Even if he was planning to interfere in the match — which he ultimately did do — he still didn’t need to be in his ring garb.
Fortunately, Roode didn’t make like Ric Flair in a bar (or on an airplane) and did have his trunks on under his robe. It would’ve been “a little Roode” if he hadn’t.
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… noticed that the Riott Squad’s storyline continues to mirror Absolution’s?
On “RAW,” the women’s roster banded together and finally got the better of Absolution. The next night on “SmackDown Live,” the women’s roster banded together and finally got the better of The Riott Squad.
Who’s booking this crap — Phil Connors?
… marked out when Colin Delaney made his first appearance on WWE TV in nearly a decade?
OK, I didn’t really mark out. I was more like, “Oh, wow, that guy still wrestles?”
By the way, Delaney clearly has beefed up a bit since the last time we saw him on TV. Perhaps he’s having some of what Jinder Mahal’s having.
Miscellaneous thoughts
Am I the only one who …
… wasn’t the least bit surprised that Triple H defeated Jinder Mahal in Mahal’s home country of India?
Of course the nearly 50-year-old, part-timer and boss’ daughter’s husband went over the ripped, 31-year-old (who just had a six-month reign as WWE Champion) in a place where Mahal is a national hero.
Triple H’s weapon of choice should be a shovel instead of a sledgehammer.
… LOL’d during the Chris Jericho-Kenny Omega press conference for New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s Wrestle Kingdom 12 when an irate Jericho yelled at a reporter, “What are you laughing at, f—face?”
I’m pretty sure that guy made the list. I wonder when the “What are you laughing at, f—face” t-shirts” go on sale?