Road to WWE Wrestlemania 33: Week 5
This week on the Road to Wrestlemania we are heading towards Fast Lane which is Raw’s final pay-per-view before Wrestlemania. Monday Night Raw opened up with Goldberg addressing the WWE Universe about his match against Kevin Owens. Both Goldberg and Owens went back and forth on the mic but never got physical. Someone who has been very physical since his arrival is Samoa Joe. Joe took on Cesaro and they had a pretty aggressive battle. After the match was over Sami Zayn brawled with Joe and then said he would not back down from him. It seems The Authority is slowly creeping their way back into to the scene. Triple H has been poking at Seth Rollins and using Joe as his instrument of destruction. Meanwhile Stephanie McMahon has been at odds with Mick Foley. As we all know Mick has to undergo hip surgery and this is just the beginning phases of him quitting or getting fired. Stephanie has also been trying to stir the pot between Sasha Banks and Bayley. I have a feeling if their is a new formation of The Authority that one of the women of Raw will join them. Raw ended with an all out brawl between Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman. Security Guards were taken out, the ring broke and both men looked defiant as ever. Heading into FastLane this is the match I am looking forward to the most. I think both are going to bring the most aggression they possibly can,
Smackdown started off with an explosive segment between John Cena and The Miz. They rehashed their history and let loose about the present. MizTV ended with Maryse slapping Cena which resulted in Nikki Bella coming out to stand by her man. I am glad they are not blurring the lines of reality and what’s not. The reality is Nikki and John are a couple and The Miz and Maryse are married. I think it’s great storyline because it brings more exposure to Total Bellas and Total Divas. I really felt like Smackdown was pretty stacked this week. They had a 2 out of 3 Falls match between Mickie James and Becky Lynch which ended up being a great match. There was a chairs match between Dolph Ziggler and Apollo Crews that was really interesting and physical. The match of the week for all of WWE was definitely AJ Styles versus Luke Harper. We all know Styles is a great performer but people are starting to see just how great Harper is. Not to many big men can move like a Cruiserweight and have the power that he does. It’s actually a shame that he had to lose. I almost wish the match would have went to a draw so they can both be in the title match at Wrestlemania. However the title picture was really put into chaos during the final segment of Smackdown. Bray Wyatt began to address to WWE Universe when Randy Orton showed up on the titantron. He was at the Wyatt Compound and expressed his true intentions that at Wrestlemania he is coming for Wyatt’s title. He then proceeded to burn the compound right down to the ground. For me this leaves a huge question about the matches at Wrestlemania. Styles rightfully won the number one contendership that Orton gave up but now Orton has changed his mind. Should Orton face Wyatt alone or should it be a triple threat match? I hope those questions are answered next week.
The 205 Live show should be the Alicia Fox show. I swear she’s more over then the entire Cruiserweight Division at times. I am waiting for the day they have a match for the right to date Alicia Fox. One of things I have loved about 205 Live is the commentary of Austin Aries. I hope even when he returns to the ring that he continue to do commentary. He’s been very entertaining outside of the ring which is going to make for a great return inside the ring. When I look at 205 Live the best all around performer in my opinion is Tony Nese. He should not be in six man tags that are meaningless. He should be competing for the Cruiserweight Title or competing against competitors on the main Raw roster. I love the Cruiserweight Division but it’s very frustrating not seeing them compete non-Cruiserweights. I think if they competed against the bigger stars then more people would get behind them. I think that’s part of the reason they put Neville on the show. Neville has been involved with superstars on the main roster and has had some success. I also think 205 Live has been the best thing for Neville. He was wasting away on the main roster and now has a purpose. I would really love to see Kalisto come over as well as some veterans of the Cruiserweight style. This Sunday Neville defends the title against Jack Gallagher which will be interesting match of styles.
NXT featured two title matches this week. The first being for the Women’s Championship where Asuka took on Peyton Royce. I was actually really impressed with Royce. Her in ring skills are really improving and her partnership with Billie Kay. Even though Asuka is still undefeated I have this feeling that she will be called up to the main roster really soon. The other title match was for the NXT Tag Team Championships and it was rematch from TakeOver San Antonio. The Authors of Pain defended against DIY. The tag team division is in a tough spot right now. You basically have DIY, The Revival, and The Authors of Pain. DIY and The Revival both deserve to be moved up to the main roster but if they do who is really left in the NXT Tag Team Division. DIY and The Authors of Pain had another great match until The Revival interfered. They ended clearing the ring of both teams making their intentions very clear. Heading into TakeOver Orlando I got this feeling we are going to see a triple threat match for the tag team championships. I hope Takeover is just as good as Wrestlemania is. Judging from previous years it probably will be.
This Sunday is FastLane which means next week I will have the fallout from the pay-per-view and recap what twists and turns we get on the Road to Wrestlemania.
Matches of the Week
Raw- Samoa Joe vs. Cesaro and Bayley/Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte/Nia Jax
Smackdown- AJ Styles vs. Luke Harper
205 Live- TJ Perkins/Cedric Alexander/Mustafa Ali vs. Tony Nese/Drew Gulak/Ariya Daivari
NXT- The Authors of Pain vs. DIY
