WWE Week in Review: Staredown City on RAW, Cena & Styles shine on SmackDown

With the 2017 WWE Royal Rumble and NXT TakeOver: San Antonio just days away, let’s take a look back at the go-home editions of Monday Night RAW, SmackDown Live, 205 Live and NXT.

Okay, everyone. The road to WrestleMania 33 is all clear.

The 30th annual WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view is just a few days away and we’ve got NXT TakeOver: San Antonio before that so it’s certainly going to be a busy weekend for WWE. But that doesn’t mean there wasn’t plenty going on in the go-home episodes of Monday Night RAW, SmackDown Live, 205 Live and NXT.

While there were some segments and matches that I could have done without, I was pretty happy with how things played out on the WWE schedule this week. We were treated to a good title match on Monday night and a few other surprises on the flagship that made for an enjoyable viewing experience but SmackDown Live just continues to be the better show each and every week. The way they’re pushing some of these guys has been brilliant and I’ll certainly explain myself once we get to that portion of the review. And we got some great promo work on Tuesday night as well from two veterans who’ve been around the block a time or two…and with each other at one point…but that’s not what we’re getting into today.

This week also saw the best match and arguably the best overall show that we’ve seen since 205 Live debuted and with a big match this Sunday and a big debut coming next week, the cruiserweights are finally gaining some momentum. NXT had a decent week as well as they build towards TakeOver and I’m wondering if we’ve seen the last of one of their big stars.

So let’s get into the week that was in WWE.

WWE Monday Night RAW

This was a very fun go-home show ahead of Sunday’s Royal Rumble and while I didn’t get as excited about the ending as some people did, I still had a good time on Monday night.

Roman Reigns kicked off the show and is still in much need of work on that microphone. There have been times where I thought he was getting better but creative making him stick with this “I’m the guy” thing is unfortunate for everyone involved. Thankfully, Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho stepped in to make the save. Actually, it was mostly Owens this time around as Jericho was a little off but KO accepting the United States title rematch on Jericho’s behalf was very well done and just adds another layer to this arc that continues to grow and grow with these two.

The feud between Anderson & Gallows and Cesaro & Sheamus kept on this week as Gallows took on Cesaro in what turned out to be a decent match. It’s a little unfortunate that the tag team title match is on the preshow this Sunday, especially since we’re getting a four-hour show, but at least they’re somewhat on the card. The booking of this whole thing has been a little strange but it’s been working for me and this job did what it was supposed to do.

Oh, Sami Zayn, why did you announce your intention to enter the Royal Rumble in front of the authority figures? And seriously, who asks for that? I thought if you wanted in, you just had to say you were in. I mean, Big Cass did it later on and nobody batted an eye at it. But when Sami Zayn does it, watch out. While it was a little silly, it did make the match between he and Seth Rollins mean something as the two had to battle it out for a spot in the Rumble. And it really was a great match but that was to be expected from these two. It’s a little strange that a big-time player like Rollins is out of the Royal Rumble match but seeing as how they’re building towards him and Triple H at WrestleMania anyway, why waste the spot on him? I’m sure they’ll come up with something for him to do on Sunday and I’m sure it will be done well. In any event, the Rollins/Zayn matchup was very solid and did good things for both guys.

I said it last week and I’ll say it again today. People are going to start turning on Bayley if she doesn’t pick it up soon. They made the choice to go with pre-recorded segments this week and she was still dreadful. You can’t watch this promo and tell me it was good. You just can’t.

THIS is how you do a pre-recorded promo.

Nia Jax got herself another squash win on Monday night and was confronted by Sasha Banks afterwards. It was announced that these two will meet on the kickoff show. Outside of Charlotte, it wasn’t a strong showing for the women’s division on the red brand this week.

The cruiserweights got a little time in and we saw the RAW debut of Mustafa Ali, who impressed a lot of people in the CWC and could be a big-time player in the division. I thought he’d get used a little more in the match but he did pick up the pin in the six-man tag following his impressive reverse 450 splash.

WWE Cruiserweight champ Rich Swann picked up a win over Noam Dar, who had Alicia Fox with him at ringside this week and now I’m back on her side again. I’m constantly changing my mind on this whole thing but I liked it this time around.

The eight-man tag match really did nothing for me. I think we all understand that Braun Strowman is a big, strong guy that is one of the favorites to win the Royal Rumble this Sunday. But before I finish that thought, I just can’t stand Enzo. I’ve never liked what he does and I never will. Rusev is better on the mic than he is and that’s unfortunate as the Bulgarian Brute should be so much more than what he is. But back to Strowman. I know this segment was used to fill a little time and get The New Day out there for the kids and such and I know he was just put into the match to show his dominance without burying anybody that WWE would call “important”. But if he’s supposed to be this monster that was ready to stand up to Brock Lesnar, why wouldn’t he do the same with Big Show? And might I add that Big Show looks fantastic. But I just didn’t get behind the staredown, which is one of two big ones that happened on Monday night. Just go at it for a minute and be done with it. Is anybody really looking that forward to seeing these two brawl on Sunday?

I don’t think anyone was expecting Roman Reigns to win back the United States title from Chris Jericho in their match, which was okay, but I was interested to see which direction they’d go leading into his WWE Universal Championship match with Kevin Owens. So Owens got Jericho disqualified but saved the title. Okay, that’s about what I expected but I really thought it would end up being Reigns to go up in the shark cage. Instead it was Owens and the whole thing was glorious.

And Owens getting out might have been even better, especially when he found out that the match with Reigns this Sunday will be No DQ. Good stuff here.

It’s never been a state secret that I’m not with the whole return of Goldberg thing. I wasn’t a fan of his in WCW. I wasn’t a fan of his first run in WWE and I’m not a fan of his now. I understand why people like him and have liked him in the past but I’m just not one of those people and Monday night was a perfect example of why. There’s this huge segment about to happen. But before we get to it, we have to watch him walk. Seriously, why can’t he be ready at gorilla like everyone else? I will admit that him standing in the sparks and blowing the smoke out has always been pretty cool but it just about ruined the night. Or maybe he got that gash on his head from banging it against a door as he’s been known to do. Either way, I don’t know if the blood on his head soaked through to his brain, or maybe because he’s only cut one good promo in his life, but he botched his time on the microphone. He tried twice to get out what he wanted to say and just couldn’t get through it. By the time he got around to the third attempt, I was out of it. Paul Heyman made the save with his usual brilliance and actually brought Lesnar with him. Okay, business picks up a little bit but as someone who has no interest in seeing these two ever wrestle again, I probably didn’t get as jacked as most people did. But I’ll admit that the addition of The Undertaker to the mix was a pretty cool moment. No matter my feelings, these are still three huge names in the industry. But as I said with the Strowman/Big Show thing, give me some action. I know that they want people to tune in on Sunday to get that kind of thing but come on. Staredown City just didn’t do it for me.

As I said earlier on, I liked the episode as a whole as I thought it did a nice job getting us ready for Sunday but I was just hoping for a little bit more in some of the segments. The flagship show seemingly has the bigger storylines heading into the Royal Rumble but bigger doesn’t always mean better, does it?