SmackDown LIVE Review

What's going on WWE fans! This is an impromptu review of this week’s episode of the blue brand of this company. 

The Miz cut a very good promo here as he talked about recent events, key moments here were when he said Shane was the worst in the world and not the best. Also name dropping Vince and Kofi here, this was an excellent, fiery promo and a good start to the show. 

Sasha and Bayley were defeated by the iiconics here, I guess we will see a future title match between these two, or perhaps the Australian duo will be added to the multiple team match at Mania if or when it's announced. 

Backstage: Rey Mysterio said he will face Samoa Joe at 'Mania for the US title, after his pinfall win in the tag match last week. 

Kevin Owens hosted the KO show (obviously) his guests were: Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair. Owens was good here, trying to stir the pot, challenging the ladies to fight each other before they were separated by officials. 

Backstage: AJ hyped up the 'Mania match vs. Orton, said good luck to Kofi for his match later. 

From a face promo to a heel promo we go. Daniel Bryan said Kofi was a B+ player. What is this? Wrestlemania 30 again? 

Main event time! Gauntlet time too. 

Kofi overcame The Bar (no pun intended) hitting the trouble in paradise and SOS in separate matches against Sheamus and Cesaro respectively. 

Opponent three was Rowan: this one ended in a DQ win for Kofi, after he was hit with the steel chair and put through the table. 

Opponent four was Samoa Joe. This looked like easy pickings for the US Champion. However, Kofi fought back to win the match after escaping Joe's finishing move via the rollup. After the match, Joe was angry and put his opponent to sleep. 

The faces of the roster cheered him on backstage as they watched on the TV monitor. 

The final competitor in this match was Randy Orton, the closing moments of this was the Viper setting up for the RKO. Kofi escaped the move and rolled him up for the win! Big E and and Xavier Woods celebrated with him in the ring, 

Stop those celebrations! 

Vince walked out and congratulated the winner of the match, Vince was being too nice, I sensed something was up here, and I was right.This is what happens when you've watched WWE TV for many years, you know when things are about to happen in a good or bad way.

Vince said Kofi was headed to Wrestlemania....as long as he won one last match here.  

His opponent? WWE Champion Daniel Bryan. The odds were stacked against Kofi, the crowd willed him on, Bryan stomped on him, setting him up for the running knee for the win. 

Kofi Kingston is NOT going to Wrestlemania. 

Or maybe he will, I don't know, you don't know. I guess they want us to keep guessing and watch what happens as far as the WWE championship picture is concerned in the coming weeks of SmackDown Live! 

Thanks for reading. 

Raw and SmackDown | Review

Welcome to the Raw and SmackDown review. Enjoy the read.

Raw Review | Pittsburgh, PA

Sierra, Hotel, India, Echo, Lima, Delta. The Shield kicked off this weeks episode of Monday night Raw for their farewell address. Roman said the guys are now going their separate ways. 

They did the Shield fistbump for the last time and Seth Rollins remained in the ring, who was interrupted by Paul Heyman, they hyped up the upcoming Wrestlemania match, during this Shelton Benjamin ambushed Rollins with multiple German suplexes. 

I thought the Superstar Shakeup was next month. 

Shelton Benjamin vs. Seth Rollins

Rollins got revenge on Benjamin via the stomp for the win.

Winner: Seth Rollins. 

Next up was Finn Balor vs. Bobby Lashley (Intercontinental Championship) the key moment of this match was when Lashley was put in the drop zone by Balor, Lio Rush then caused a distraction, Lashley speared Balor in mid air for the win. 

Winner: and NEW Intercontinental Champion: Bobby Lashley. 

Ronda Rousey cut a heel promo while addressing her actions at Fastlane. Dana Brooke wanted a title shot but that wasn't happening because Ronda attacked Brooke, the referees and she walked away. 

She clearly doesn't give a damn about her reputation...

Aleister Black and Ricochet vs. Bobby Roode and Chad Gable

The guys from NXT won again here. The Revival attacked them after the match as I was writing this. 

During the Moment of Bliss segment, it was announced that Alexa Bliss will be the host of Wrestlemania. Speaking of announcements: Harlem Heat are the latest inductees in this years Hall of Fame class.

Nia Jax vs. Natalya never got going, backstage we saw Sasha and Bayley fight Nia and Tamina as payback for what happened at Fastlane. 

Batista will face Triple H at Wrestlemania in a no holds barred match. It was announced during the face to face segment on the show. 

Kurt Angle addressed his future, saying he will compete in a farewell match at Wrestlemania but first he wanted a match in his hometown. His opponent? Apollo Crews. Kurt Angle won via the Angle Slam.

Roman Reigns vs. Baron Corbin never got going after Drew McIntyre attacked Roman prior to the match, hitting him with two Claymore kicks. 

Backstage; Dean Ambrose approached Triple H and said he wanted a falls count anywhere match. The Game made the match. 

Dean Ambrose vs. Drew McIntyre (Falls Count Anywhere) This was your usual around the arena standard fight that we've all seen before many times with different superstars. 

Winner Drew McIntyre. 

A very impressive win for the Scot here, with a Claymore kick to Ambrose off the railing. As Ambrose was getting back up to his feet, McIntyre hit him another Claymore as Raw went off the air. 

It was a decent episode of Raw for once, which is rare these days. I'll say no more. It's time to talk about events on SmackDown.

Smackdown LIVE | Dayton, Ohio

Shane McMahon kicked off the episode for the first time as a heel, explaining his actions from Fastlane, its basically your usual heel promo that's been seen time and time again, its 2019! Create something new! Anyway... Miz and Shane will meet at the grandest stage of them all. 

The commentary team said that Kofi will get a Wrestlemania opportunity from Mr. McMahon later on. 

Aleister Black, Ricochet + Hardys vs. The Bar, Rusev + Nakamura (aka League of Nations 2.0) 

There wasn't a winner here as a huge brawl broke out, New Day joined the party and stood tall in the end to send a message to everyone backstage that they mean business. I'm enjoying the serious side of the New Day. Hope it continues.

Randy Orton was out next, running through his and AJ Styles's history, says it's the house that Randy Orton built. AJ interrupted and mocked Orton's celebration pose, called The RKO a fake Diamond Cutter, that was a great line. Orton vs. Styles is happening at WM. it could be potential show steeler. 

Asuka defeated Sonya Deville after Deville tripped up after a mistake from Rose. This was Rose's way of getting some payback from Sunday on Deville. Which could lead to the potential split. 

I'm just going to skip past the Lynch and Flair promo to the next match. because nothing new of note happened here.

Rey Mysterio + R Truth vs. Andrade + Samoa Joe

Rey pinned Joe by rolling him up for the win, technically this earns him a title match down the line. Let's see if WWE mentions it in upcoming episodes. 

Rowan and Bryan defeated Owens and Ali in a good match. I'll say no more about that.

Throughout the show, they were building up to Vince giving Kofi a opportunity. New Day said they always do what Vince wants without complaints and they still don't get awarded for their efforts. Kofi gave an explanation why he is worthy of a title shot, It was revealed that if he wins the gauntlet match (against, Orton, Joe, The Bar and Rowan) then he will go to Wrestlemania. 

Your typical scenario of a face needing to overcome obstacles a heel authority figure puts in front of them. Kofi is heading to Wrestlemania (I think) but it's good they are putting an element of doubt in our minds that it might not happen. I have to say that for me, the Kofi story-line has overtaken the Women's triple threat match as the most interesting and anticipated match in the company right now. no offence to Rousey, Flair and Lynch. That's just my opinion. You'll probably think differently, that's all good.

Its been a decent couple of nights of WWE TV. Thankfully I've made the right decision not to write about this every week, because there's going to be some weeks where it's dull and boring television. 

Catch you here again for the Wrestlemania predictions in a few weeks time or maybe earlier than that if anything new happens. 

Thanks for reading. 

WWE Fastlane | Review

This is your Fastlane review, a lot to talk about here so let's get to it.

New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods) vs. Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura (Kickoff Show)

Winners: Big E & Xavier Woods.

Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade (Kickoff Show) 

This match was changed to a fatal four way for the US title. More on that later on in this review.

SmackDown Tag Team Championship: The Usos (c) vs. The Miz & Shane McMahon

A really good tag team match to start off the show, the collision in mid air between Shane and Jey Uso was well done. Miz cost his team the match by trying to impress his dad at ringside and failed, getting rolled up as the Usos prevailed victorious. 

Winners: and STILL SmackDown tag team Champions: The Usos. 

We knew this team wasn't going to last and someone was turning heel, I thought all along it was going to be Miz but it was Shane who was the heel. 

Just what we need, another heel authority figure (sarcasm) there's your Wrestlemania match folks! 

SmackDown Women's Championship: Asuka (c) vs. Mandy Rose

A competitive match, Rose tripped over the ring apron after Deville was looking for something under the ring. Nothing else to say here so let's move on.

Winner and STILL SmackDown Women's Champion: Asuka. 

Backstage, the New Day went into Vince's office and demanded Kofi be added to the WWE title match, McMahon agreed and the match was set and up next. 

Triple threat WWE Title match 

(Match change) 

Handicap Match

Kofi Kingston vs. The Bar 

Not so fast! Kofi had a match but instead it was a handicap match against the Bar. Woods and Big E ran out in an attempt to support Kingston but their efforts were dented by Rusev and Nakamura. 

The Bar picked up the victory. Could we see a new League of Nations faction formed consisting of The Bar, Rusev and Nakamura? It was a bad group before, we don't need to see that again. 

Winners: The Bar.

Raw Tag Team Championship: The Revival (c) vs. Aleister Black & Ricochet vs. Bobby Roode & Chad Gable

A match I was really looking forward to, didn't disappoint, there were many moments for the highlight reel. The Revival picked up the win via the Shatter Machine.

Winners and STILL RAW tag team champions: The Revival.

Fatal Four way match for the US Championship: Samoa Joe (c) vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade vs. R-Truth 

Fun match, Samoa Joe remains champion, there was no way he was losing as he recently won the title on SmackDown. 

Winner: Samoa Joe.

Women's Tag Team Championship: Sasha Banks & Bayley (c) vs. Nia Jax & Tamina

Beth Phoenix joined the commentary team for this one. 

Winners: Sasha Banks and Bayley.

After the match, the challengers took out the champions, Phoenix attempted to put a stop to the attack, she was then taken out and so was Natalya as she ran out to try and save the Hall of Famer. 

On to the next match we go!

WWE Championship: Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Kevin Owens vs. Mustafa Ali

This was originally scheduled as a one on one match, It was fun to watch, however, overshadowed by messy booking, Great performance by Ali here, it's a shame the crowd didn't give him the reaction he deserved. Recent injuries have derailed his momentum.  

Winner: and STILL WWE Champion: Daniel Bryan. 

Note: Kevin Owens wasn't pinned here, could he get another title opportunity? Let's see...

Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair (If Lynch wins, she enters the WrestleMania Raw women's title match)

Your typical face vs. heel match scenario here, what I mean by that is Becky sold her "injury" well, Charlotte was arrogant thinking she's already won, mocking Lynch in the process. 

While the figure 8 was applied by "The Queen" we saw Ronda Rousey run down, hit Becky, thus ensuring "The Man" won by DQ meaning she is headed to Wrestlemania for the RAW Women's championship to face Rousey and Flair respectively. 

Winner: Becky Lynch. 

Can we just skip past the main event of Wrestlemania already? We all know she's winning. 

Elias is in the ring for what feels like the 50th time on this pay-per-view, this time he gets interrupted by Lacey Evans who does the usual lame walk out and walk back to backstage. 

I know I've predicted Evans to face Asuka at 'Mania but she hasn't even had a match on the main roster yet! Talk about someone who's undeserving. 

If there's women's battle royal at Wrestlemania for a title shot for the SmackDown women's championship, then it's almost a lock she's winning. 

Elias then gets RKO'd by Orton (from outta nowehere, is this 2014 again?) Aj then hits Orton with the Phenomenal forearm to end this segment. 

The Shield vs. Baron Corbin, Drew McIntyre & Bobby Lashley

This was billed as the last time ever we would see Seth, Dean and Roman together as the Shield. It was a vintage match with melee and chaos (hi Sanity!) 

Fantastic that we got to see two triple powerbombs, one to Drew on to the announce table, the other to Corbin for the win. 

Winners: The Shield. 

The show went off the air with the final visual of the event being the Shield fistbump. I was sensing an Ambrose heel turn as a prediction, I believe that time is upon on us on RAW tomorrow night. 

There has been a lot of talk that Ambrose is on his way out of WWE. Yeah, I don't see that at all, not when they've incorporated that in his storyline or whenever he appears on tv. 

That's it for the Fastlane review, catch you for the Raw and SmackDown review for the key moments that occur, probably won't be many to be fair. 

Thanks for reading. 

WWE Fastlane | Predictions

Fastlane will be LIVE from the Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio. 

Match predictions:

New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods) vs. Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura (Kickoff Show)

Winners: Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura. 

Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade (Kickoff Show)

Winner: Andrade 

Raw Tag Team Championship: The Revival (c) vs. Aleister Black & Ricochet vs. Bobby Roode & Chad Gable

This will be an excellent match, I don't see titles changing hands here, Ricochet and Aleister Black will probably be winning the Dusty Rhodes tournament on NXT. 

Bobby Roode and Chad Gable aren't winning this either. 

Winners: and STILL RAW tag team champions: The Revival.

SmackDown Women's Championship: Asuka (c) vs. Mandy Rose

Mandy Rose is making a name for herself on SmackDown. She's not winning here though.

Winner: and STILL SmackDown Women's champion: Asuka. 

Asuka wins here and the build up to her next title defence at Wrestlemania against Lacey Evans will start here. 

Women's Tag Team Championship: Sasha Banks & Bayley (c) vs. Nia Jax & Tamina

Tamina defeated Sasha on Raw so logic says Sasha Banks and Bayley will remain champions here.

Winners: and STILL Women's Tag Team champions: Sasha Banks and Bayley. 

SmackDown Tag Team Championship: The Usos (c) vs. The Miz & Shane McMahon

For me, the Usos are the best tag team in the company. They will be winning here with Miz turning heel in his hometown on Shane after losing the match. 

Winners: and STILL SmackDown Tag Team champions, The Usos. 

The Shield vs. Baron Corbin, Drew McIntyre & Bobby Lashley

Prior to this I was going to pick the heels but after much thought, I've chosen The Shield to win because Vince wouldn't want to book Roman to lose a match straight away after his return from illness....would he????

Winners: The Shield

Look out for Dean Ambrose to turn heel on Roman either here at Fastlane or the following night on Raw to set up a match for Wrestlemania. This seems like an obvious scenario since Seth is facing Brock for the title next month. 

Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair (If Lynch wins, she enters the WrestleMania Raw women's title match)

Now, let me be honest with you here, I am finding this Raw Women's championship storyline boring and predictable. We all know it's going to be a triple threat match. 

Becky has recently lacked a certain aura about her character, notice how the crowds reaction has kind of dwindled over recent memory. Talk about overkill.

I liked the "suspension" angle they had for Lynch because it was kind of different until that lasted for about 10 minutes. WWE writers are lacking creativity (no pun intended) then again, what else is new?

"The Man" is winning here and the main event at 'Mania. 

Winner: Becky Lynch

WWE Championship: Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Kevin Owens

Rowan will play an important role in this match, paving the way for Bryan to remain champion, I wouldn't be surprised if Luke Harper or Sami Zayn returned here. 

Clear winner here: and STILL WWE champion: Daniel Bryan. 

So, there you go. Predictions are now in the archives as it were. Not really looking forward to watching it because it feels like a pointless pay-per-view. Let's see what happens. 

Catch you here for the review. Thanks for reading.