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 …
… thinks fans should be praising Roman Reigns and John Cena just as much as they are Seth Rollins for their performances in the gauntlet match?
Rollins lasted a little more than an hour in the match, and that’s impressive for sure. But let’s not discount the roles that Reigns and Cena played. In addition to holding up their end from a performance standpoint, Reigns and Cena both deserve credit for doing the honors to help re-establish Rollins as a top guy. Defeating Reigns and Cena in succession is as good as it gets as far as elevating someone.
I especially applaud Cena for being a team player. Reigns losing clean to Rollins was a mild surprise, but Reigns will very likely win the Elimination Chamber match and go on to headline WrestleMania, so that loss will quickly be forgotten. Cena, on the other hand, lost to a guy who had just been through a hard-fought, 20-minute match. Super Cena is officially dead. So now the haters can stop chanting “Cena sucks,” right?
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… thinks WWE should break from its usual format more often?
No, WWE can’t do two-hour gauntlet matches every week, nor should it. But shaking things up every now and then certainly makes sitting through a three-hour show more tolerable. Not surprisingly, the gauntlet match was a ratings success.
… thinks Asuka needs an advocate/manager?
Her promo was cringeworthy, but to be fair, the powers that be in WWE put her in a bad situation. It’s no secret that Asuka speaks very little English, so why send her out there on live TV to cut a promo of that length? Asuka needs to put in the work to improve her English, but in the meantime, WWE should give her a spokesperson.
Paul Heyman is the best talker in the business and not only would greatly enhance Asuka’s act, but he also would increase interest in the women’s division as a whole. Here’s an outside-the-box suggestion (which I’m qualified to make because I once served on WWE’s Outside the Box Committee during my time there): Bring in WWE Hall of Famer Madusa to be Asuka’s mouthpiece. Madusa spent significant time wrestling in Japan and I believe she speaks Japanese to some degree, so she could serve as both Asuka’s interpreter and her manager. And like Asuka, Madusa was an ass-kicker in her day, so they’d be a good fit together.
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… is tired of seeing Sheamus and Cesaro lose to Apollo (just Apollo, no Crews) and Titus O’Neil?
I realize injuries have weakened the “RAW” tag team division and that’s why a mid-card act such as Titus Worldwide has been thrust into the title picture, but I wish WWE could find a way to get to a title match between the teams without having Sheamus and Cesaro lose non-title matches to them. No one buys Apollo and O’Neil as legitimate title contenders. By having them beat Sheamus and Cesaro, WWE isn’t elevating Apollo and O’Neil, they’re just lowering The Bar (see what I did there?).
… thinks WWE’s decision to take away the last names of certain characters is weird and unnecessary?
First it was Big E. Langston, then Elias Samson and now Apollo Crews. What’s next, Goldust becomes just Gold? Oh, wait. That already happened .
… hopes WWE doesn’t make Mickie James look stupid by having her trust Alexa Bliss in the women’s Elimination Chamber Match?
No one should trust Bliss, least of all James given their history. I’d love for WWE to book James to see through Bliss’ disingenuous offer of friendship and turn the tables by eliminating her.
‘SmackDown Live’ thoughts
Am I the only one who …
… felt sorry for AJ Styles having to deliver that lame joke about Kevin Owens lancing a boil on his back?
Someone actually wrote that line and believed it was going to get a laugh? Not only was the line not funny, but it also didn’t sound like something the Styles character would say. Now Styles knows how Roman Reigns felt a few years ago.
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… wonders what WWE is doing with Dolph Ziggler?
If that sounds familiar it’s because I literally wrote the exact same thing in this column two weeks ago. At that time I was questioning the logic behind having Ziggler relinquish the United States Title and walk out of WWE only to return in unspectacular fashion in the Royal Rumble match. This time I’m questioning whether Ziggler is a babyface or a heel. When he left, Ziggler was clearly a heel, but he has wrestled as a babyface on the past two episodes of “SmackDown Live.” Oh well, at least Ziggler’s got paid .
… has no interest in a feud that’s based on a meaningless top-10 list?
No one cares about the list, and that was evident by the crowd’s apathetic response to the segment with Jinder Mahal, Bobby Roode and Randy Orton. Moreover, this angle is making me dislike all three guys instead of just the heel Mahal. Are Roode and Orton that stupid that they can’t see through Mahal’s obvious attempt to pit them against each other?
… thinks the tag team title match between The Usos and New Day at Fastlane is going to end in a non-finish with The Bludgeon Brothers and Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable getting involved, thus leading to a four-way match at WrestleMania?
That said, I’d much rather see a straight-up program between The Usos and The Bludgeon Brothers.
… is amazed that Rusev was not on the show for the second week in a row?
On “SmackDown Live” two weeks ago, the crowd chanted Rusev’s name when Shane McMahon talked about giving opportunities to wrestlers who deserve them. McMahon acknowledged the reaction by saying, “Duly noted.” Rusev hasn’t been on the show since. This has to be some kind of a rib.
I’m begging the powers that be to give us more Rusev Day, less New Day. Machka.