WWE vs AEW in a Steel Cage Match - by Big Vin Vader

2019 Mid-Year Pro-Wrestling Update

AEW

All Elite Wrestling has been the biggest news in professional wrestling ever since the venture was announced last year.  More than their roster and the backing of Tony Khan, their television deal and their unbelievable PPV success in recent months have been among the most important developments in years.  Not only are they bringing pro wrestling back to TNT, but they’re also doing so with more momentum built up than any other promotion in years.  They’re pretty much guaranteed to be the U.S. promotion with the all-time greatest in-ring product.  WWE should be worried, having the threat of WCW-like competition, but they clearly are not.  With their recent TV deals with FOX and USA, not to mention the piles of money from the Saudi government, WWE will not be in any financial trouble for the next decade at least.  Unfortunately, fans don’t want wrestling promotions that are monetarily soluble yet insist on shitting on their audiences’ expectations.

Next to their television deal, AEW’s inaugural PPV, Double or Nothing, is their first notable success story as an organization.  While we won’t know until fall how they’ll do on television, DoN did fantastic numbers, selling out the arena and doing the highest PPV buy for a non-WWE promotion in twenty years.  It was also a hell of a show, with no bad matches, and several guaranteed classics.  It was the kind of major PPV show that hardcore fans have dreamed of, and with folks like Kenny Omega, the Young Bucks, and others on the card, the in-ring portion aspect was leagues ahead of anything WWE has put on recently, save NXT.  And the fact that wins and losses and believable athletic competition are to play a greater role in the promotion’s overall goals is an even more promising departure from WWE’s jumbled mess of a product.

But there’s always the question of the casual fans, the ones who tune into RAW weekly, but don’t subscribe to the WWE Network for PPVs.  They don’t have a clue who Kenny Omega or The Young Bucks are, and there’s no guarantee that they’ll see any reason to change the channel to TNT and watch people they’ve never seen when something more familiar and comfortable is available.  Then again, back in the days leading up to the Monday Night War, WCW was largely an unproven commodity, one that catered to Southern audiences with little of the mainstream flash of 1980s WWF.  So there’s a good chance that the more curious fans will do some investigating and check this new promotion out for themselves.  The idea that wrestling fans are dumb and uncultured should have died long ago.  Fans know what they want, and are certainly smart enough to realize when they’re being given crap, and are bound to get fed up at a certain point and make a change.

The bolder part of AEW’s plan is their direct challenges to WWE, particularly the fact that they’ll be running their TV program against RAW on Monday nights.  If there were any doubts that the group had WWE in their sights, Cody made his feelings pretty clear when he destroyed a mock-throne at DoN in a jab at Triple H’s ego.  That whole thing was a little too on the nose and cartoonish for my tastes, but it got a huge reaction from the live crowd, which was the point.  Obviously, AEW poses no real threat to WWE’s financial security and place on top of the wrestling heap.  But they do exist as a serious alternative for the fans who want to watch wrestling, not sports entertainment, and they represent the first mainstream example of this in nearly twenty years (we’re not getting into TNA/Impact today).  The company’s long-term success almost seems secondary at this point in time, simply because everything else is going so right for them and things are finally exciting for fans once again.

Success does seem likely for AEW, however, as their All Out PPV coming this summer sold out in a matter of minutes, with over 150,000 fans in the queue to order at the time.  Sure, a 10,000 sell-out for All In last year was huge, as was 11,000 for DoN.  Now 12,000 for All Out proves that the company isn’t just a flash in the pan, but are catering to an established audience.  AEW’s production style thus far has been just as smooth and polished as WWE’s, and given the fact that there’s no Vince McMahon calling the shots and directing cutaways, I have no doubts that AEW will even surpass their rival on this front.  I’ve watched plenty of terrible-looking wrestling shows, both independent and major, and it really does make a difference in how enjoyable the overall product is.  It may seem like a minor aspect of AEW’s overall presentation and success, but I really do believe that their polished aesthetics will work hand-in-hand with their in-ring and storyline strategies to give their brand a much wider appeal.

NJPW/Moxley

AEW may be the promotion Jon Moxley is most associated with at this point in time, but New Japan Pro Wrestling is where his career revitalization really began.  It’s also going to be the place where he has to prove himself in the coming months, as he’s been booked for their annual G1 Climax tournament, which is hands-down the best wrestling series in the world quality-wise each year.  Moxley stepped out of WWE ready to show the world not only how much he had been held back, but also how passionate he still is about wrestling.  His debut at AEW’s Double or Nothing proved that the wrestling audience hasn’t abandoned their support despite his abysmal recent run in WWE, and also demonstrated that his brawling style has only improved since he’s bulked up and refined his goals.  Then, just a week or so later, Moxley won NJPW’s North American title in a fantastic first match during their Best of the Super Juniors tournament final.  He proved that he can not only hang with the promotion’s stiffer, more grueling in-ring style, but also that there are big plans in place for him. 

The only other success story along these lines I can think of is Cody, who was the first person to step away from WWE, express honest frustration with their system, and find considerable success in the wrestling world.  I may not be a huge fan of Cody’s, but his DoN clash with brother Dustin was every bit the five-star classic it was made out to be, and he seems to have found his place in AEW.  There’s also something to be said in just how successful Cody has been at making me hate him as a character, and he’s tapped into some classic, old-school heel psychology.  Moxley, as Dean Ambrose, was one of my favorites in WWE, and it was pretty damn obvious as a fan that he was being restricted.  So I’m thrilled to see him so well-received and eager to prove he’s capable of more than he got to show in WWE.  His title win from former NXT talent Juice Robinson was fairly brutal, and Moxley showed that he’s willing to tap into his hardcore roots once again.  But there’s still a lot up in the air, and the G1 is just about the most grueling stretch in professional wrestling, with even world-class talent wearing down over the month of shows.  So that, more than any AEW or indie shows will prove just what tier Moxley is at, and the number of dream matches in the tournament’s brackets is impressive.  Likewise his upcoming match Kenny Omega.  His match with Joey Janela at Fyter Fest was a bloody weapons spectacular, and Moxley made it clear he’s willing to do what it takes to get the job done.

Regardless of how Moxley holds up against today’s crop of in-ring talent, the biggest takeaway from his new path is how he represents the solidification of AEW’s challenge to WWE.  Not only did he walk away on his own and into a hugely successful position, but he also did so while openly acknowledging the many issues within the company itself.  His Talk is Jericho appearance and other interviews reveal an intelligent, thoughtful man who was not only discouraged, but disgusted by what Vince McMahon was ordering him to do.  That anyone would doubt scores of other main roster talent are just as miserable as Moxley was recently is foolish, and as far as the fans I know personally, they’ve all just about had their fill as well.  People know things are wrong with WWE’s way of doing things, and now that we have an alternative, things will be more interesting.

NJPW has always been the high watermark of wrestling in mine and many others’ eyes, and it still holds true.  Watching the BOSJ final that included the Moxley-Robinson match was one of the shows recently, along with Double or Nothing, that made me actually, truly excited about wrestling again.  The promotion is doing fantastic, even with the loss of key players Omega, the Young Bucks, and more to Ring of Honor and AEW.  They’re actually developing new stars, while established performers have been given opportunities to shine anew.  The only major issue is the fact that things are getting out of hand as far as spots and injuries, which only distracts from how tremendous the matches themselves are.  

WWE 

For as much as this column started as a WWE-centric outlet, I honestly don’t keep up with them much anymore.  Sure, I’ll watch PPVs when I get the chance, but I’m certainly not calling off work to catch any shows at this point.  And I’ll admit that a good amount of matches actually make a solid impression, but the overall process of WWE fandom has just become too much of a grind for me to really maintain an interest.  Let's briefly go over some of the things that have happened since I last checked in.  I don't have the energy to delve into things too much, and so much has actually occurred that there isn’t space here to touch on everything anyway:

-Brock Lesnar, who was unannounced for the show and not in the match, ran out to win an otherwise excellent Money in the Bank match.  Somehow, this qualified him to hold the briefcase, and he's teased cashing in several times, but nothing has happened yet.  Guess we just have to wait and see if he's booked for another title run at the cost of a younger, more talented and deserving wrestler.  Or maybe he'll lose his cash-in.  Sure.

-Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff have been put in charge of RAW and SmackDown, respectively, and not as characters, but actual creative forces behind the scenes.  Bischoff I have a lot of doubts about, but everyone knows how brilliant Heyman can be when kept on the booking side of the equation.  So I think this is an interesting, if not necessarily smart move.

-WWE returned to Saudi Arabia for the third of ten arranged PPVS.  This one, Superstar Showdown, may not have been bogged down with all of the immediate baggage that last year's Crown Jewel had coming right after the execution of Jamal Koshoggi, but that doesn't mean it was an apolitical event either.  Alexa Bliss and Natalya were actually flown out to Saudi Arabia with the potential promise of a women's match on the show, but were told the day of the PPV that it wasn't going to happen.  So there were still no women booked, and the company's affiliation with Saudi Arabia is just as troubling as ever.  Also, the show was an absolute trainwreck, with some calling it the worst company PPV in years.  Of particular note was an abysmal Undertaker-Goldberg match ("First time ever!") that showed just how out of shape and beyond their prime both men were.  

-Plenty of talent has walked away from the company: Tye Dillinger (Shawn Spears), Hideo Itami (KENTA), Dustin Rhodes/Goldust.  Several others have asked for or hinted at requesting their release but have been denied, including Luke Harper and The Revival, all of whom are capable of so much more than they’re being allowed to do.  

As far as the good things happening right now, there are still a few saving graces that keep me coming back to the shows.  Kofi Kingston is still World Champion, and has had a fairly solid run up to this point, so at least his title win wasn’t just a transitional fluke to cash in on his Elimination Chamber popularity.  Kevin Owens continues to do just about everything right despite the cards creative have been dealing him.  AJ Styles, Daniel Bryan, and apart from his embarrassing Stomping Ground match with Baron Corbin, Seth Rollins all continue to be top-notch workers.  Ricochet seems to have finally found his place on the main roster, winning the US Title from Samoa Joe.  Even if he lost the very next night in a non-title match.

NXT, meanwhile, has been consistently, unfathomably good since the middle of last year.  The booking has been almost perfect (save in the women’s division, it’s about time Shayna Baszler lost the title), and the roster is incredible, stacked with some of the best former indie talents of the last few years.  Johnny Gargano and Adam Cole have had two of the best matches in WWE history on the last two takeovers, and other breakout stars like Matt Riddle, Velveteen Dream and so many others continue to demonstrate just why NXT is on a tier approaching NJPW for quality wrestling.

What it basically comes down to, is that the rest of the wrestling world continues to evolve and challenge the form while WWE remains as stubbornly behind the times as ever.  Not that it’s ever been a secret or question, but it’s more apparent than ever that Vince McMahon’s dated, unique sensibilities are holding back the company’s writers, workers, and everyone in between.  For god’s sake, there was a tug-of-war match on RAW between Bobby Lashley and Braun Strowman.  Who in the hell asked for that?  Moxley’s various podcast interviews have made clear just how unhappy he, and by extension, other members of the roster are with the current system.  Sasha Banks has hinted at her frustrations for some time now, and several writers have quit in the last few months.  These aren’t the signs of a healthy company, and there’s no aspect save financial in which WWE isn’t struggling right now.  Again, they aren’t risking the casual fans who only watch cable, but as far as their long-term and hardcore audience, things are looking too promising elsewhere to really expect them to stick with such a mess of a promotion.

The Long, Worthwhile Road of WrestleMania Part Two - Bug Vin Vader

I look forward to Kevin Owens’ PPV matches more than anyone else in the company, and even on a bad night, he’s one of the all-around best performers WWE has.  So I was trying to be optimistic going into his WrestleMania match, even knowing that he and Sami Zayn would be in against Shane McMahon.  While I was hardly a fan of Shane taking prominent roles in three straight WrestleManias, it wasn’t the worst thing in the world; his match against AJ Styles last year was somehow the best on the show, and his Hell in a Cell blow-off (supposedly) against KO last October was even better.  The story between the three of them is strong, and they even managed to up the stakes by putting Owens and Zayn’s careers on the line.  But it still felt wrong, like the kind of match we didn’t really need to see.  Then came the huge announcement that Daniel Bryan had been cleared to wrestle, and would likely be put into the match on Shane’s team.  That made it all a little better, and while I hate to celebrate his misfortune, Shane getting hospitalized fordiverticulitis and a hernia made things look even more promising from a wrestling standpoint.  Of course Shane got cleared, so it’s still not definite how much of his injury was legitimate or not.  In his absence, Zayn and Owens turned on Bryan and tried to put him out of action too, so the build was going great.  The match itself was pretty emblematic of the mixed nature of the angle, both good and bad at times, and never as great as it could have been.

Bryan came out to a massive crowd reaction, but that was the least surprising thing on the show.  Zayn and Owens skipped out on their entrances to pop out from the ring and attack Shane and Bryan before the bell, laying the latter out with an apron powerbomb.  That was where the trouble with the match started, since that move kept Daniel out of action for the first ten minutes of the fifteen minute run time.  The crowd was pretty pissed at that point too, since this was supposed to be Bryan’s triumphant return, not Shane McMahon taking a beating from the heel team.  Shane was selling his stomach the whole time, and he did look to be in some sort of pain, but definitely not as bad as we were made to believe.  I didn’t remember any of this part of the match, so I had to rewatch it the other night; turns out there was just nothing especially memorable about it.  Once Bryan did recover and make the hot tag, however, the Superdome lit up, and the match picked up a ton of heat.  You would have a hard time telling he was away for two years by how smooth he was in the ring, and yet again he’s one of the most exciting wrestlers in the company at this point.  In the last five minutes of the match, he held his own against both Owens and Zayn, and pulled out a number of his signature spots, with a top rope Frankensteiner standing out in particular.  Finally, Bryan tied Sami up in the Yes Lock and forced him to tap, leaving the heels unemployed.  It wasn’t a bad match, but if Bryan had been in the whole time, even as a handicap match, it would have been the best of the night, no question.

While it wasn’t ever going to deliver the rush that Charlotte vs. Asuka promised, I had been looking forward to Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax for the RAW women’s title regardless.  Bliss has been one of the bright spots in either brand’s women’s division for the better part of two years, with fantastic mic work and the in-ring talent to back it up.  She’s basically been the Miz of the women’s division, attracting legit heel heat while holding the belt for the better part of that time period.  Jax has always been a convincing monster heel, and lately, even if she’s lost her prestige on the card, her character has developed a bit to make her better-rounded.  That all said, this wasn’t going to be a classic match, even with the performers’ contrasting styles on full display.  Instead, we got a ten-minute contest that was about all it needed to be, with both wrestlers getting in some good offense and demonstrating some decent chemistry.  The title change didn’t pick up much of a reaction since fatigue was likely setting in for the crowd by this point, but Nia deserves a decent run with the championship.

I don’t think there was a more anticipated match at Mania than the WWE championship match between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura.  This has been building for well over a year, and has been teased multiple times since Shinsuke was called up to the main roster.  When he won the Royal Rumble this year, it seemed like WWE had finally pulled the trigger on the surefire best possible match they could book.  The build since then was fantastic, with teases but no outright confrontations, and there was interest way beyond what would be expected for a standard face-versus-face match.  Everything was in place, with the biggest factor being that the two participants are among the best wrestlers in the world right now.  Which is exactly why it felt like such a big letdown, despite being a perfectly fine match.  The pace was definitely slower than anyone expected, but the crowd was totally vocal for the first chunk of the action, knowing how capable AJ and Shinsuke are.  They traded strikes and a number of teased finishers, but everything stayed fairly equal as they went along.  A little less than halfway through the match’s twenty-minute slot, however, the crowd started to die down, beginning to realize that this wasn’t going to be the nonstop action and drama they’d been anticipating for so long.  The chemistry between the wrestlers was there, but it just looked like they were being held back somehow, which I’d like to blame on the rehearsal-intensive WWE layout style.  And despite a lot of things failing to connect, they both looked great, with Shinsuke even kicking out of the Phenomenal Forearm and springboard 450 splash.  Unfortunately, this is another match that really didn’t stick with me apart from a feeling of disappointment.  After watching it a second time, I was still let down, but realized that it wasn’t bad by any stretch, just a very different experience from what we were expecting.  AJ eventually won by countering a Kinshasa into a Styles Clash, which was a fine way to close this one out, but the post-match angle got as much heat as anything in the bout itself.  Shinsuke and Styles looked to express mutual admiration, much like Charlotte and Asuka, but Nakamura hit a low blow and repeated knee strikes to Styles.  The heel turn was definitely unexpected, and the crowd was totally mixed on how they should feel.  Personally, it seems like a good move, as it should bring a more ruthless edge to Shinsuke’s character.  Then again, he played a “no-speak-English” card in his promo (certainly scripted by a white man), so maybe he’s just a tired, offensive foreign heel now and that’s the end of it.

I almost don’t want to write about the RAW tag title match, but suppose I ought to say something.  In the weeks leading up to it, there was a lot of talk that Braun Strowman would be alone in challenging Sheamus and Cesaro for their titles, which made sense in a half-baked jokey sort of way.  There was also plenty of speculation that a returning wrestler would be his surprise partner.  What we actually got was Braun pulling a kid out of the audience (who we later found out was a ref’s son) and putting him in the match.  I stopped caring there, and really couldn’t tell you what exactly happened in the match apart from the joke team winning.  Nicholas, the kid, looked terrified of having to do anything, but the whole match lasted less than five minutes anyway, so no worries there.  This was a mess, just a stupid idea in the hopes of getting a little attention for a throwaway match right before the main event.

I made it pretty clear in the weeks leading up to Mania that I was looking very forward to Lesnar versus Reigns in the main event spot, and that continued up to the night of the show.  The plan for Reigns to win the Universal Title had been in place for well over a year, so I had accepted it as inevitable far more willingly than most fans.  On top of that, I’ve moved beyond constantly trashing Reigns and his endless do-no-wrong push, mainly because it isn’t worth the time and energy most fans expend on it.  More than that, I’ve pretty much become a fan of the guy, enjoying nearly all of his main event matches in the last year or so, and it’s hard not to see how good he really is as a wrestler.  One of his best matches in recent years was his previous World title match with Lesnar at WM31, so I came into this one with fully formed expectations.  And even more appealing was the fact that Reigns had been scheduled to take down Brock, who I’ve made it clear I’m no great fan of.  Even as he’s had some great matches over the years, his part-time schedule and ability to simply coast with the Universal Title for more than a year have been constant sources of frustration.  And that’s just looking past his homophobia and general bad attitude.

                I don’t think anyone, Reigns fan or not, could have predicted the sort of weird mess we actually ended up seeing at Mania, and its consequences are still fairly unclear.  The crowd was so ready to hate the match that they started with “this is awful” and “CM Punk” chants before it even got underway; it was the weirdest sort of self-defeating animosity, the kind you’ll only find in wrestling.  You can’t even claim it was fatigue from the runtime causing it, simply because they put so much energy into their vitriol.  Unfortunately, the main event’s problems didn’t end with the crowd reaction since the whole match felt completely off.  It was a typical Lesnar match, with him hitting multiple German suplexes and F-5’s in the first few minutes, all of which Reigns managed to absorb.  They spilled out onto the floor by the announce tables, but instead of ratcheting up tension and teasing table spots, they just threw each other around and looked like they were on totally different pages.  The majority of the match was Lesnar and Reigns trading big moves and kicking out of finishers, but there was no chemistry, and the entire flow just felt wrong.  Near the end, after making it back in the ring and trading some more spears and F-5’s, Lesnar hit Reigns with some legit elbow strikes and busted him open bad.  Even for me, it was a pretty shocking amount of blood, and it covered Roman’s face, the ring mat, and both men’s arms.  Again, it seems so wildly stupid and irresponsible that tiny nicks from blading are banned, but potentially-concussion inducing strikes are the approved method for generating sympathy blood.  And instead of capitalizing on that sympathetic tension, Reigns ate his sixth and final F-5 shortly afterward, ending the match totally against the plan.  Even the anti-Roman legions were shocked by that, and word is the finish was changed the day of the show, so the surprise was legitimate.  That change of plan seems to contradict the assumption that Brock is UFC-bound, as does his newly-signed (though allegedly short-term) contract, so everything is up in the air at this point.

    That was a lot of wrestling for a single afternoon/evening, and it sure felt like it at the time it was playing live.  But it was still a pretty damn enjoyable show, and in my opinion, totally worth the time spent watching.  There were no huge surprises like last year’s Hardy Boyz return, and there were no all-time classic matches.  At the same time, there were no meandering, throwaway segments catering to mainstream media coverage, or unbearable live music performances for the same purposes.  There was plenty of weirdness, a few title changes, and some legitimate surprises on the booking front, so I doubt anyone will remember this Mania as a minor event.  I’ve watched the last four shows live, and while 31 holds a special spot for me, this was definitely the best one since the 2015 incarnation, and at least the low points look to drive some interesting stories in the future.  Some things are already even set into motion, with varying results.       

            The next major show is the so-called Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia, a PPV which has stirred up decidedly mixed reactions.  First of all, nobody wants to see a fifty man rumble match that will last nearly two hours.  That’s way too long, and way too many people in the ring, even if it does mean we should get to see some NXT talent make appearances.  The biggest issue is the fact that there will be no women’s matches on the show, nor any of the female talent on the tour itself due to the cultural restrictions in place.  For a company that constantly touts its role in breaking new ground for female wrestlers, they sure did sell them down the river for a hefty sum of cash from the Saudi government.  Then again, it’s always been about the business, and progressive politics really have no place in wrestling unless you’re getting a soundbite out of them.  It’s like we shouldn’t even be disappointed at this stage.  Also, the Rusev vs. Undertaker casket match is either back on or not.  I can’t keep track, but it seems like WWE haven’t made up their mind if Rusev or Jericho will take part in the match nobody asked for.

            On the positive side, there are a number of matches that look to be pretty incredible on paper.  Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, The Miz, and Samoa Joe are in a four-way ladder match for the Intercontinental Title, which should outdo Mania’s IC match and then some.  Here’s hoping Joe is bound for a big win now that he’s back from injury.  Also, even though I should know better, I’m looking forward to the Universal Title match between Lesnar and Reigns yet again, mainly because this one is a steel cage match.  If this is the time for a title change, there’s no way they wouldn’t up the stakes as well as the brutality for such a publicized show.  Also, it’s not really good news, but the RAW tag titles are up for grabs again after Strowman and Nicholas were forced to vacate them the night after Mania.  That means that match was as much a waste of time as Nikki Bella & John Cena vs. The Miz and Maryse at last year’s WrestleMania.  As much as I want to complain about that, and the Greatest Rumble itself, we all know that I’m gonna watch at least half of it and can’t really complain.

The Long, Worthwhile Road of WrestleMania Part One - by Big Vin Vader

The Long, Worthwhile Road of WrestleMania    follow @Bigvinvader

WrestleMania was, as always, a mixed bag.  I went into the show fairly excited, with Asuka vs. Charlotte and AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura my picks for matches of the weekend; both ended up disappointing in some regard.  Other matches lived up to their marginal potential (looking at the tag title matches), and the Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns main event was just total dead weight despite its promise of action.  And it was an exhausting, seven hour slog counting the pre-show, so the final part of the card was just a blur.  That said, however, I had a blast watching the show, and even when the quality was lagging, something about the spectacle of the whole thing had me on board.  There’s a joy in giving over an entire Sunday to the biggest wrestling event of the year and letting yourself become immersed in the experience.  It’s the kind of exhaustion that you deserve after choosing to spend an entire day on your ass watching nothing but a single wrestling show.  After all, nobody has to stay put for the entire seven-hour stretch, but I know more people who do than give up halfway.

            Top to bottom, 5:00 PM to midnight, there were fourteen matches planned for the show, since just about everyone expected the Undertaker to answer John Cena’s challenge.  That said, I was incredibly into the idea of John getting stiffed and just sitting in the crowd to watch the action.  WWE humored me for a while, and some of the most entertaining moments of the whole evening were the cutaways to Cena sitting in the front row, sipping beer and mingling with fans.  Even better were the mid-match shots of him nodding, impressed, and giving thumbs-up to the action in the ring.  It was great, and on another level, it was Cena watching and admiring the undercard workhorses who never get the spotlight; he was seeing pre-show matches he would probably never view in any other circumstance.  But all of the fun was ruined a few matches in when a ref came out to whisper in John’s ear, and off he went backstage.

            The dual Battle Royals were put on the pre-show, which was about the wisest move they could have made, after dropping the Fabulous Moolah’s name from the women’s bout.  There isn’t really much to say about either, although it was very nice to see some representation of NXT’s women’s division in the latter match.  They also deserve some praise for their surprise choices of winners.  Matt Hardy won the men’s match over Baron Corbin, and when it looked like Bayley had the women’s match on lock after turning on Sasha Banks, Naomi snuck in and snagged the victory.  Nothing too exciting as far as overall action, and given how little has happened to last year’s winner, Mojo Rawley, it remains to be seen if there’s anything to come based on the results.  Also, the women's trophy was clearly shaped like the female reproductive system, complete with uterus and ovaries.  Can't believe I haven't seen anyone mention that.

            In between the Battle Royals was the final tournament match to decide the new Cruiserweight champion, following Enzo Amore’s ouster from the company.  Cedric Alexander was one of the strongest participants in the Cruiserweight Classic, and he’s been a highlight of the division ever since having the match of that tournament against Kota Ibushi.  Mustafa Ali has been a quieter part of the roster since the initial event, but has been putting in some impressive showings.  It made perfect sense that these two would make it to the finals (although I wouldn’t have minded Drew Gulak going further), just as it was hardly surprising that their match ended up on the pre-show.  Despite that, they had a pretty captive audience, and the crowd actually reacted to everything, which made it come off better than last year’s Neville vs. Austin Aries match, even if it wasn’t quite on the same level wrestling-wise.  All told, it was a very enjoyable twelve minutes, and both wrestlers looked great, easily outshining the other pre-show matches.  Ali busted out his great inverted 450 Splash, but Alexander rightfully got the title with a Lumbar Check.  It isn’t an all-time classic, but it was definitely the right match to get me into the spirit of the show and move things along.

            Pretty much everything about the lead-off Intercontinental Title three-way between The Miz, Finn Balor and Seth Rollins was great.  It was one of the matches that seemed like a sure shot in the weeks leading up to Mania, even if its build was somewhat quieter than the other title matches.  It goes without saying at this point just how great Rollins and Balor are in the ring, and there’s no denying how over they are with the fans.  Plus, The Miz has rarely faltered since he first came into the IC belt picture after WM 32, and his terrific heel work has helped restore that title to prominence.  Also of note was Balor’s pro-LGBTQ entrance, a stance which doesn’t smack of the usual WWE cynicism simply because there’s no doubt that Finn is totally genuine.  From there on, there was nonstop action for the entire match, and the crowd was completely hot for the opener.  The pacing was perfect, and these three have great chemistry in the ring, making sure everything went smoothly and looked perfect.  The Miz kept the Miztourage out on his own accord, which proved that he can work a match and hold the crowd just as well when he isn’t a blatant heel.  At fifteen minutes, it was the perfect length, and I can’t think of a better choice to open up the show.  Rollins won his first Intercontinental title after pinning The Miz, becoming a Triple Crown Champion in the process.  Personally, I was hoping for a Balor win since he’s been title-deficient since forfeiting the Universal Championship, but I was fine with any of the three winning.  In hindsight, this was one of the best matches of the night.

               I was honestly looking forward to the SmackDown Women’s title match between Charlotte and Asuka just as much as AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, which is why it was confusing to see it come so early on the show after the IC match.  Ever since Asuka (deservedly) won the Women’s Royal Rumble, it seemed more or less certain that she would go on to challenge Charlotte as they are two of the company’s best all-around performers, let alone in the women’s division.  Plus, there was everything at stake since Asuka was putting her undefeated streak on the line for the title.  Everything about it spelled out a classic.  The match definitely delivered on its promise, and both wrestlers were fantastic, showing some good chemistry and maintaining an equal footing.  They had just shy of fifteen minutes to work, which was about the perfect amount of time, although I wouldn’t have minded it going a bit longer.  Asuka’s in-ring game is nearly flawless, definitely one of the best in the company, and she really seemed to shine here since she was paired with somebody nearly at her own level.   Charlotte always manages to step her game up at WrestleMania, and she pulled out a number of brand new moves that were especially impressive.  There was plenty of high flying, and the right balance of strikes and mat-based work to keep the crowd on edge with them.  This was probably my pick for match of the night, and everything came off so well that the finish was all the more disheartening.  After almost no work on Asuka’s legs, Charlotte got her to tap out almost instantly to the first Figure Eight she managed to lock on.  Not exactly how I wanted to see the streak end (if it had to at all), and even worse was Asuka announcing that Charlotte was indeed ready for her.  Good god.  Still, a very good match I enjoyed all the way through.  Also, this was the first time we saw the horrible 3D-projected graphics they insisted on using throughout the show.  In this case, Asuka’s entrance featured giant 3D Kabuki masks hovering above the ramp.

                The US Title match was up next, which in hindsight should have been the first warning that they were front-loading the card.  This one looked to be nothing special, just a solid title match with the ever-reliable Bobby Roode and Randy Orton, as well as Jinder Mahal for some reason.  There was a lot of excitement at Rusev being added at the last minute, and he’s arguably the most popular wrestler on the roster at the moment, despite floundering with no notable wins in some time.  The possibility of his victory was really what appealed in this match, but instead we got two disappointments back to back.  The match went less than ten minutes, which was smart, and it had some good exchanges between all four competitors, with some decent near falls and finisher spots.  It didn’t overstay its welcome, which is even better given the fact that Mahal actually pinned Rusev after another run-in spot from Sunil Singh.  Nobody was ready for that, and nobody can really claim that it’s how it should have ended.  Even discouraged as I was by this point, I was still having a great time with the show overall.

                From the moment Ronda Rousey appeared at the Royal Rumble and signed with WWE, I had a bad feeling about her role at WrestleMania.  It only got worse as the news broke that they were planning a mixed tag match pitting Rousey and the Rock (ultimately Kurt Angle) against Triple H and Stephanie McMahon.  That just smacked of the worst sort of McMahon family egotism, and it wasn’t hard to picture the Helmsley/McMahon dynasty putting themselves in the main event spotlight.  Not to mention the fact that Rousey had yet to be tested in a wrestling match and Angle hasn’t exactly inspired confidence in his most recent outings for the company.  Luckily it wasn’t the main event, but came fourth.  Still, I carried that predisposition to hate the match with me Sunday night, and it definitely colored my first impression.  It wasn’t a great start to see another absurd entrance from Triple H, with him and Steph riding in on motorcycles like he did the previous year.  Things started slow with Triple H and Angle wrestling for the first few minutes, and it was fine.  Regardless of their ages and whatever shape they may be in, they both know what they’re doing more than most of the roster, and it was more than capable action.  The real problem is that they aren’t the people I want to see wrestling at this point.  Steph was getting in all sorts of cheap shots on Rousey, as you would expect, and it continued even after she’s in the ring.  Despite WWE’s weird mixed tag rules, there was a fair amount of interaction between each member of the two teams, and everything spilled to the outside before long.  It seemed kind of like a mess at this point, with everyone running around after one another and very little actually happening in the ring.  Still, even I got excited through the final few minutes, which had some insane spots and teased finishers.  The crowd was wild the whole time, and it was hard not to get caught up in it as Rousey and Angle blocked stereo Pedigrees, before Ronda locked Steph in an armbar to pick up the win.

                I feel weird about this match, and my thoughts now are totally at odds with my first impression as it played out.  It was definitely too long, lasting over twenty minutes, but there were no dead spots in the crowd’s reaction at any point.  I honestly hated this while it was happening, with the opening between Angle and HHH standing as the worst thing on the card so far.  Even the faster-paced wrestling and big spots that came later didn’t do much for me since I had made up my mind to hate this match before it even started.  Then, after watching the finishing sequence, and seeing the match wrap up, I had a total change of heart.  Really, in just a few minutes’ time I thought back and realized that it actually was a pretty damn great match, one of the best on the show so far.  Everything was laid out perfectly, and despite having four performers with various limitations in the match, it actually went off without a hitch.  This was a great way to introduce Rousey, and she looked way more natural wrestling than anyone could have predicted.  It still remains to be seen what role she’ll actually have on the main roster, but this was beyond promising and gives us all something to look forward to.

                Neither brand’s tag title matches seemed worth getting too excited over, not because of the wrestlers involved, but because Mania is rarely the place for classic tag contests to take place.  True to form, the SmackDown match was just over five minutes long, and ended abruptly with a victory for the Bludgeon Brothers.  Terrible name aside, I’m totally happy with that result, as Luke Harper still stands as the most underrated wrestler on the main roster, and seeing him with any sort of championship is encouraging.  Even if the match was short, it delivered some good action, which is hardly surprising given the years of chemistry between the Usos and the New Day, and Harper and Rowan are a great team of deceptively agile bruisers.  Even if Mania wasn’t the place, it would be great to see these teams have a shot at a match with a more substantial runtime to show off what they really can do.

                After all the fun I had watching John Cena act like a total dork and cheer on the show from the sidelines, it was time for him to get in the ring.  They got this one off to a false start by having Elias come out to greet Cena instead of the Undertaker.  That was a smart move: Elias can drum up some great natural heat, and any appearance from him is good for a reaction, plus he had no other spot on the show.  After Cena dispatched him quickly, however, we got more of those horrendous 3D graphics, this time in the form of crappy-looking lightning bolts zapping the ring, where we saw ‘Taker’s coat and hat from last year.  After they disappeared magically, ‘Taker came running out and brawled with Cena before taking him out with a Tombstone in under three minutes.  That was not the classic pairing they’ve been teasing for years, but it was a really fun, fresh way to handle the situation.  Undertaker looked and moved so much better than he did at last year’s Mania, which was encouraging, and Cena laid down and took a convincing loss as he should have.  My dream angle coming out of this is Cena blaming his being unprepared and drunk on the loss and the feud evolving from there.  That seems unlikely since Rusev vs. ‘Taker in a casket match is booked for the next major show (or maybe it’s Jericho vs. ‘Taker).  Regardless, this was a fun little diversion.

            There was no intermission on the show, although there certainly should have been one.  I’m going to take mine here.

 Part Two coming soon. Follow @bigvinvader on Twitter

Pencilstorm is Going to WrestleMania 34 in New Orleans!! - by Colin Gawel

Say what you want about Vince McMahon and the WWE, but they know how to take care of the press. Pencilstorm WWE writer Big Vin Vader was invited down to the Big Easy to cover Wrestlemania 34 and as editor I insisted on being his + 1 in the name of journalistic integrity. No fake news in our professional wrestling coverage. It's all serious business.

We fly out from Columbus Sunday morning and I will be sure to post a picture on the Pencilstorm facebook page from the Superdome or some place cool. Big Vin Vader will have his recap of the show posted next week right here at Pencilstorm. - Colin

Why I'm Excited for Roman Reigns to Headline WrestleMania (Again) - by Big Vin Vader

Why I’m Excited for Roman Reigns to Headline WrestleMania (Again) 

follow @bigvinvader

There, I said it.  That might be the single most blasphemous statement to most hardcore WWE fans.  At the same time, all of the nonstop Roman hating has pretty much run its course.  I can understand being sick of having him forced as the company's top guy year in and out, but John Cena is privy to just as divisive a reaction.  Let's face it, the RAW I was at last December at the Schott was full of Roman fans; I saw more of his merch than anyone else, and his reaction from the crowd was pretty much all positive.  And let's not forget how into the Shield everyone was, both initially, as well as leading up to last year's botched reunion.  Not to mention the fact that Reigns participated in several of 2017's all-around best matches: his Royal Rumble clash with Kevin Owens was one of my favorites, and the multi-man matches at Extreme Rules and SummerSlam were fantastic, with his series against Braun Strowman not falling far behind. Plus, he had a barnburner of a match with Cesaro on Raw at the end of the year. His promo game has always been somewhat lacking, but that's not for his lack of confidence in delivery.  And the verbal thrashing he laid on Brock Lesnar following last week's so-so Elimination Chamber match points to him improving in that regard to become one of the company's best all-around performers.  So the issue really shouldn't be with Reigns himself, but with the role the company insists on putting him in.  However, if he keeps delivering at this consistent rate, then there should be no real reason to regard the backlash he will undoubtedly continue to get.

People really ought to be fed up with Brock Lesnar's prominent position as the face of RAW, given his reduced schedule, aforementioned homophobia, and general disinterest in delivering enjoyable singles matches.  But he has always been capable of delivering better.  When Brock is pressured to put on a good performance, he can really bring it.  After two wet squib squashes against Goldberg, Lesnar stepped up his game at last year's WrestleMania to deliver one of the best sub-five-minute matches I've seen.  That match also served as a solid reminder of the incredible athletic potential that Brock still possesses yet generally fails to display.  His match with Samoa Joe at Great Balls of Fire was also very good, although it was hampered by its short runtime and predictable outcome.  Basically, he may phone it in more often than not with his part-time schedule, and I certainly don't like him as a person, but he is capable of delivering a great match when he feels compelled to do so.  He's also going to have been champion for a full year by the time WrestleMania comes around, so the stakes are high over the title change whether the fans want Roman to win or not.  And even if a good portion of the fans are opposed to him as Universal Champion, isn't he far better suited to a top spot than Jinder Mahal ever was?  Also, do title belts even really mean much any longer?

If you ask me, people make way too much of the main event position of WrestleMania.  Also, even the term "main event" has been devalued at this point.  Randy Orton won the Royal Rumble last year, meaning he was supposed to take that spot at Mania; his match against Bray Wyatt lasted ten minutes and was seventh on the ten-match card.  The main event isn't even the best match on the show: last year that honor went to Shane McMahon's curtain jerker against AJ Styles.  Hell, I can't even begin to count how many WrestleManias put their worst overall matches in the main event spot.  The way WWE has been running their PPVs lately, the final match is the perfect time to tune out following six hours of programming.  I know I fell asleep multiple times throughout Reigns' last coronation against Triple H at WM32.  All of that considered, why should it really matter if Roman headlines the event for the fourth year in a row?

All of that makes it seem like I'm just dismissing the match off the bat, but as the title of this column suggests, I'm actually looking forward to Lesnar vs. Reigns.  This match has been no secret, having been booked nearly a year ago and unchanged in any way since.  We've had plenty of time to prepare ourselves, and people seemed to will themselves to forget about this, or at least expect a last-minute change.  Obviously all the talk of Lesnar returning to UFC shook things up a little bit, and certainly seemed to solidify Reigns' apparent victory.  But there have been a few notable moments along the way that have looked to make this one something memorable, something less than the expected phoned-in coronation of Roman Reigns.   Also, with the possibility of Brock retiring from wrestling once again, it seems like a sure shot for him to turn in a top-notch performance on his way out.  This is the exact thing to light a fire under his ass and force him to deliver a quality farewell.

More to the point when it comes to anticipating this match, we need to look at its direct precedent: Lesnar vs. Reigns for the WWE Title at WM 31.  Everything about that match was awesome, and it was another perfect example of Roman shining in the main event spot.  Lesnar and Reigns have complementary hard-hitting styles, as well as a shared versatility that keeps their powerhouse moves from clashing in the course of things.  Their match was brutal and full of hardway blood, which was shocking to see but also lent the conflict more drama and made each wrestler look legitimately vulnerable.  Let's be honest, if there's anyone who looks like they could believably hurt Brock, it's Roman Reigns.  And after fifteen or so minutes of incredible, fast-paced action (and don't forget that both men can pull off incredible selling jobs) the whole show was thrown for a loop as Seth Rollins cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase and pinning a weakened Reigns to snag the title.  So technically, the predicted outcome of this year's match isn't even a rehashed finish.  Everything about that earlier match points in favor of this rematch delivering an even better showing, although I'm really hoping they stick with the lean runtime of the earlier contest.

Finally, right after winning the men's Elimination Chamber match, Reigns delivered a career-best promo on RAW, tearing into Brock's part-time schedule and behind-the-scenes attitude.  It was a blistering two minutes, and delivered the sort of scripted heat that's been lacking from pretty much every episode of the flagship show.  In doing yet another fake shoot-style promo, Reigns inadvertently gave voice to a large portion of the hardcore audience that is traditionally against him in every way.  This is smart booking, even though the "things 'they' don't want me to say" shtick feels a little tired.  The way to get Reigns over as a face is to call attention to his reliability, his constant presence and dependability.  Lesnar's part-time schedule has been a subject of much derision from fans, and it was time that somebody brought that into the storyline.  Even more to the point, Reigns called Brock out for skipping Elimination Chamber (not that he was booked) to take photos with Dana White, calling his loyalty in question.  To cap it all off, he called Brock a bitch, which got a big shock reaction from the crowd, so I'd say it paid off to err on the side of bad taste this time around.  That promo helped prove that Reigns is out to prove himself yet again, while also making sure that Lesnar will be out for blood once he gets his hands on his challenger.

So don't talk to me about all of the times Reigns has been forced on fans, or all of the great (possibly even better) wrestlers that have been sacrificed to his various pushes.  What we have here is a sure-shot incredible match that should steal the show, particularly in light of some recent misguided booking decisions.  Consider: there's a very real chance that AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura's dream match will become a triple-threat featuring John Cena.  I'm sure it would still be great, but that isn't what people want or need to see.  And then, likely to be an absolute mess, is the newly-announced Triple H/Stephanie McMahon vs. Ronda Rousey/Kurt Angle.  That's even worse of an idea than putting the Rock in Angle's place.  Stephanie can't wrestle, Kurt barely can any longer, and Rousey hasn't even been tried in the ring as of yet.  This match will be a disaster, emphasized even further by the fact that Stephanie McMahon (along with Rousey) could very well be the first woman to headline WrestleMania.  Think about that before complaining about Reigns winning the Universal Title.

Big Vin Vader covers WWE for Pencilstorm. Follow on twitter @bigvinvader