Time and time again in my posts, I write “I say this all the time, but this is good simplistic heel work that has become the exception rather than the norm.” Hopefully saying it so much means that it’s back to becoming the norm. It has me thinking, what makes a good heel? There’s so many different types of heels, so there’s not one blueprint for how to create one. But what do YOU think makes a good heel? I’d like to know what each of you think makes a top heel, and why those characteristics work. I’m interested to see if it’s the same core traits or if it’s all different. Let’s hear it.

KAIRI SANE VS. SHAZZA MCKENZIE
Kairi Sane is adorable. Who ever Shazza McKenzie is, her entrance music sucks, and so do her strikes. She’s stiff as a board in there, and not in the wrestling “stiff” definition. As in stands straight up in the middle of the ring and doesn’t do anything. Obviously this was just a squash win for Sane, but damn, do SOMETHING in there Shazza. Lacey Evans had a good heel moment after the match, she’s getting a nice push and showing the ability to bring a lot of heat on herself. It’s a great feud too, everyone seems to love Kairi Sane.

STREET PROFITS VS. TM61
That launching dropkick the Street Profits landed was pretty awesome. Very interesting that TM61 used heel tactics to win this one. Before their push last year, I thought they seemed liked they’d be better off as heels, and it looks like we’ll get to see if that’s the case.

PATRICK SCOTT VS. KONA REEVES
I don’t know anything about either of these guys, but I wasn’t impressed with anything I saw. Pretty lame match, even for a squash.

Vanessa Borne calls out Dakota Kai for being scared of Shayna Baszler (rigthfully so). Dakota is coming off as a scared little girl.

CANDICE LERAE VS. BIANCA BELAIR
If you’ve read my previous NXT posts you’ll know how incredibly impressed I am by both of these wrestlers, so I was extremely excited for this match. Unfortunately, Candice wrestled toned down and a little off to sell her emotional distress over Johnny’s beating last week. Bianca’s military press was awesome. I’ve never seen that from a woman of her size. Everything about her is awesome, except her shitty theme music. I’d really like to see them wrestle again with Candice going all out.

PETE DUNNE VS. RODERICK STRONG
Undisputed Era saves Roddy from a loss in a great match, and I loved to see Pete Dunne saved from the beat down by Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch. Those guys form an awesome team and I hope to see a six-man tag team match soon. Burch and Lorcan should be built up as contenders for the tag team titles.

Next week we get EC3’s return and Kassius Ohno vs. Tommaso Ciampa. Looking forward to it.

Why has Percy Watson been added to the 205 Live broadcast team?

HIDEO ITAMI & AKIRA TOZAWA VS. THE BRIAN KENDRICK & JACK GALLAGHER
Definitely a different pace depending on who is in control. Such a big contrast in styles, and it makes for a really enjoyable match. The faces’ style gets the crowd fired up whenever they pick up the pace. They’re definitely leading up to Itami turning on Tozawa to set up a match, they’ve now lost two weeks in a row and Itami is getting more and more frustrated. That’s a match I want to see.

BUDDY MURPHY VS. LIAM LOUIE
Jobber squash match stopped after a minute. Murphy must be a monster. Murphy vs. Alexander should be an incredible match.

KALISTO VS. DREW GULAK
Gulak’s counters are subtle but impressive. He doesn’t get sucked into a fast-paced match and just like last week uses Kalisto’s momentum against him. He uses submissions and counters to slow the match to a pace that works in his favor. When he ran at Kalisto in the corner, he got countered. Nigel pointed out the next time, “Look how he walks to the corner.” These subtleties are often overlooked, and it’s what makes Gulak such a talented wrestler. He gets roundly booed for trying to rip Kalisto’s mask off. The pinning sequences were pretty awesome looking, and it earns a “this is awesome” chant. Gulak hits a pretty cool counter into the Gu-Lock for the win. I think we’ll get a rubber match between these guys. I certainly hope so.

The WWE Title match on Sunday is now DQ. You know what that means: nut shots galore!

MIZ TV W/JEFF HARDY & RANDY ORTON
Miz can always generate a lot of heat with the crowd and other wrestlers. I’ll be shocked if by the time it gets back from commercial we don’t have Jeff & Randy vs. Miz & Benjamin.

JEFF & RANDY VS. MIZ & BENJAMIN
Didn’t need to be Teddy Long to call that one. Once again, the Montreal crowd is more interested in trying to get themselves over than the match itself. Someone actually held up a sign that said “Montreal is awesome.” Go home. Is Jeff’s serpent tattoo up his side new? That looks amazing. Double dose of RKOs tonight. Had to expect that Jeff would get one eventually. Good match, Miz got a lot more heat than I thought he would.

God help me, I’m starting to appreciate the Iconics as heels. The New Day is obnoxious.

Did Lana drop her accent in that backstage segment? I’m pretty certain she did.

BIG CASS PROMO
WWE sure seems to use midgets a lot to make fun of guys. I’m pretty sure Cass murdered the poor guy with that boot. He’s got the makings of a top heel.

A.J. STYLES INTERVIEW
The crowd tries to continue to chant AJ’s name over the interview even though they couldn’t get it right the first 15 times. Why did Samoa Joe interrupt AJ to cut a promo on Roman Reigns? Who had 9:06 for the Nakamura nut shot? Come claim your prize at the door. Also, these guys can go through tables and take chair shots and recover right away, but AJ takes a nut shot and can’t defend himself for 2-3 minutes, just letting Shinsuke knee him in the face? Makes sense.

Asuka’s English is definitely better. She can be really entertaining.

XAVIER WOODS VS. SHEAMUS
I don’t think I’ve truly realized what an impressive wrestler Xavier Woods is. He could probably hold his own on 205 Live. In fact, let’s dismantle the New Day forever and make that happen. Even if he doesn’t end up on 205 Live, let’s just dismantle the New Day. Forever.

Absolution is dead. Cien is coming.

CHARLOTTE, BECKY LYNCH, & ASUKA VS. CARMELLA & THE ICONICS
Carmella has perfected her chicken-shit heel persona against Charlotte. Running away when Charlotte is on the attack, tagging herself in when Charlotte is down, it makes the crowd go nuts when Charlotte finally gets her hands on her. She makes you want to see her get her face kicked in, which is what a good heel is supposed to do. Everyone was really good in this match, made for a great main event.

Again, fuck Montreal.

Oh great, they’re in Canada tonight. Corey refers to them as a “ravenous portion of the WWE Universe”, AKA shitheads. Why bother sending Roman and Jinder as the first two guys out to talk? They had to know nobody in this crowd would even listen to their promos and just shit all over them. HEY LOOK AT US BOO LOUDER THAN EVERYONE ELSE! WE’RE SO MUCH BETTER THAN OTHER FANS! Even Braun got shit for coming down to help Roman. It’s gonna be a long and obnoxious show, especially when that six-man tag team match happens.

ELIAS VS. BOBBY ROODE
This was a really good match. Too bad the crowd didn’t realize it, as the morons were busy chanting “fight Owens fight.” The match told a good story, as it focused on the injury to Roode’s throat. They got a lot of time to work and did a good job with it.

AUTHORS OF PAIN VS. JEAN-PAUL & FRANCOIS
That was quick, and also enjoyable. Who does AOP have their first major feud with?

God dammit Seth, stop encouraging them. He calls them maniacs, so they break into a fucking “Ole” chant, and then CHEER THEMSELVES?! Go fuck yourselves Montreal. OH MY GOD SETH SAID MERCI! OH MY GOD I CAN’T BREATH! AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!! Fuck this. I really like the interactions between Seth and Finn, and Finn giving Seth the reminder that he still wants that IC title match. I wonder if one of them will turn heel. Seth has had a big heel run and it made him an even bigger face, so I think if one of them would turn, it would be Balor.

RUBY RIOTT VS. SASHA BANKS
It seemed like the timing of the moves was just a little bit off early on in this match, but eventually they got a good flow going. It didn’t make any sense for Sarah Logan to go after Sasha with the referee looking right at her. There’s three of them out there, why didn’t Ruby or Liv distract the referee first? It’s little things like these that make a big difference in generating heel heat. It generates a lot more heat if they get away with cheating than if they just attack and get their teammate disqualified. These two fight in the corner a lot. That backwards senton by Ruby was awesome. After I wrote about distracting the ref, the Riott Squad proves my point by getting roundly booed as Sarah distracts the ref while Liv helps Ruby out of the Banks Statement, and ultimately their numbers advantage leads to a win. Great match.

I don’t know how I feel about these “Moment of Bliss” segments, they seem too entertaining for a heel.

JINDER MAHAL, SAMI ZAYN, & KEVIN OWENS VS. ROMAN REIGNS, BOBBY LASHLEY, & BRAUN STROWMAN
How about instead of focusing on how loud you can boo, you appreciate the fact you have Roman Reigns, Bobby Lashley, and Braun Strowman on one team. Even if they’re the heels because they’re basically fighting Team Canada here, it’s still a tag team people probably never imagined. But no, “WE MUST MAKE IT ABOUT US! BOO HARDER! OUI! OUI! OUI!” They’d rather boo Roman than cheer KO or Sami. Then the idiots who boo him count along with his clotheslines on Sami?? Have I made it clear how I feel about Canadian wrestling fans? Also, why in these multiple man tag matches does nobody tag in Braun Strowman until they are desperate?? There’s no logic in that. I get that you want the big pop when he finally gets into the match, but it makes zero sense. Strowman’s shoulder blocks are beautiful. Thrilled to see Strowman pin KO.

BARON CORBIN VS. NO WAY JOSE
Baron is great on the mic. As I feared they would, they’re probably now gonna force Titus’ fall into every entrance. You take something that was a huge moment because it was not planned and now try to plan it every time. It’ll be ruined in a week. They did it with J.T. Smith in ECW, after he horribly botched a suicide dive, he started botching his moves and falling in every match. It was terrible.

MICKIE JAMES W/ ALEXA BLISS VS. NATALYA W/ RONDA ROUSEY
They barely showed the match or how it ended as they showed Rousey chasing Alexa around the ring, so I have no idea if this was a good match.

FINN BALOR VS. SETH ROLLINS FOR THE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE
I never get tired of their matches. Balor takes on a little bit of the heel role tonight. What more can be said about these guys that I haven’t already said about their other matches. Incredibly entertaining. I was kind of surprised to see Rollins get a clean win, I thought we might see Axel and Dallas attack.

Goodnight, and fuck Montreal.

Based on the normal heel-face dynamic, Braun Strowman should not be this over. Think of some of the top faces over the years, and the guys who are still most loved today: Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, The Rock, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Daniel Bryan, A.J. Styles… what do they have in common? The answer is overcoming the odds. When these guys were faces, they were always fighting authority figures putting every obstacle they could in their paths. Now think of other faces who have been made out to be invincible/unbeatable/above the rest: John Cena and Roman Reigns. They are both hugely popular and hugely unpopular. The hardcore fan base feels these guys have been shoved down their throats and don’t want “invincible”. They derisively refer to Cena as “Super Cena” and “Big Match John”. They boo Roman Reigns out of the building.

How about someone more similar in style to Strowman in Ryback? He was pushed to the top face spot for a short time against CM Punk. Fans grew to enjoy chanting “feed me more” and were behind him as he destroyed two and three jobbers at a time and faced the top heel in the company. Why did Ryback, who was billed as unbeatable, not suffer the same fate as Cena or Reigns with half the fans? Why doesn’t Strowman?

In looking for the answer, I was reminded of one man. The man whose name was chanted as a taunt as Ryback when his push began, and the one still chanted today at big men who dominate all of their competition: Goldberg. Goldberg broke the mold of the babyface who struggled and persevered for months or years to finally reach the top. He wasn’t “Mrs. Foley’s baby boy” who hitchhiked to Madison Square Garden. He didn’t have the boyhood dream of Shawn Michaels. He didn’t have to be threatened with firings and arrests by Eric Bischoff every week. He wasn’t a third-generation star. The announcers claimed to know nothing about him and played shocked when he dominated Hugh Morrus for his first victory on Nitro. He was billed as an unstoppable machine who tore through his competition. The only words he spoke for a long time were “who’s next”. The fans loved it. He WAS WCW. If you ask someone what they think of when they hear WCW, they’ll either say NWO or Goldberg. Sorry Sting. So why did Goldberg work that way? Why does Strowman work?

I think it’s this simple: we want to see big men destroy things. It’s why even though he’s a heel, people chant “Joe is gonna kill you” when someone steps to Samoa Joe. One problem with Roman, aside from awful mic skills possibly dooming him from the start (though much improved), is that he’s too big to be billed as a sympathetic face overcoming the odds. He’s Ryback’s size. Most men don’t want to see a guy who women find attractive, is 6’3, 285, and doesn’t have the mic skills to entertain them being pushed on them as a guy who deserves there support as he scratches and claws his way to the top.

Staying on Roman for a minute, if he had been billed like Goldberg, I think he would have been a lot better off. No promos, just squashes. I don’t know if anything could have fixed the fact that he won the Royal Rumble instead of Daniel Bryan, that killed him in a lot of people’s eyes. But he’d be in a better place that he is now if they had used the Goldberg formula for a while. It wouldn’t have lasted forever, but it would certainly have helped.

Back to the subject of this post. Strowman is a guy who everyone can get behind. We want to be him. We would all love to be merciless Giants who destroy everything in their path sometimes. Combine that with adding a simple phrase that the crowd can chant along with, “GET THESE HANDS,” and his better than average mic skills and personality, and you have a recipe for success. It doesn’t happen very often. I think of Goldberg, Strowman, and the late Bruno Sammartino as company-backed babyfaces who were pushed the top in this manner. I’m sure there’s guys I’m missing, but not many come to mind.

Why do you like Braun? Or, why do you not like him? What works and what doesn’t about his push? What would you change, if anything?

HHH VS. JOHN CENA

That’s a fuck ton of fireworks. An agonizingly slow start to the match. Not much flow early on, one move then walking around and taunting. Another move then walking around and taunting. Not that I expect these guys to have a cruiserweight-type match, but come on, you’re starting the show, give us some action. Finally it moved more into rest holds and HHH controlling the match, which made the slower pace make a little more sense to set up Cena’s comebacks. Still, it felt like this match never really got going very well, just random moves back and forth until they kick out of each other’s finishers. Cena hits a couple more AA’s for the win, but I was not entertained in the least by this one. Weak start to the show.

CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP: KALISTO VS. CEDRIC ALEXANDER

Both guys show off their athleticism to start the match. Kalisto’s springboard 450 to the outside was amazing. These guys never fail to impress. Kalisto’s moves are incredible, that springboard Spanish fly was ridiculous. Awesome counter by Alexander turning the Salida del Sol into the Lumbar Check for the win. Tremendous match but it seemed like the crowd wasn’t very into it. I wouldn’t be surprised if most of them have no idea who these guys are and didn’t know what to make of that style

RAW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP: DELETER OF WORLDS VS. THE BAR

Nothing special about the match itself, not that it was a bad match, but nothing really stood out to me as truly exciting. It’s going to be fun to see Matt and Bray as tag team champions, I really look forward to the promos they come up with.

UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP: JINDER MAHAL VS. JEFF HARDY

These two gel really well in the ring. But Jesus, what a complete botch on that Whisper in the Wind. Jinder selling a move that missed him by five feet, and selling it 2-3 seconds after it missed him might be the worst botch I’ve ever seen. Ignoring that, it was a pretty awesome match with Jeff ultimately retaining with a Swanton Bomb.

SMACKDOWN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP: THE USOS VS. THE BLUDGEON BROTHERS

Another destruction by the Bludgeon Brothers. I’m surprised we didn’t see any involvement from Naomi. It’s a lot of fun to see these guys just destroy teams.

LADDER MATCH FOR THE INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP: SETH ROLLINS VS. FINN BALOR VS. THE MIZ VS. SAMOA JOE

I was most excited for this match and these guys did not disappoint. Lots of fighting on the ladder, lots of the ladder being used as a weapon, which is what we hope for in a ladder match. The crowd was more into this match than any other before it. Joe didn’t do as much as I expected him to, but I guess with his recent injury history it’s smarter not to do anything too high-risk. The finish kind of came out of nowhere with Rollins racing up the ladder to grab the title just before Balor, but overall this match was awesome. It’s was really cool to see Rollins springboard from the ropes to halfway up the ladder.

Four Saudi prospects beat up Shawn Daivari. That was pretty cool and the crowd absolutely loved it.

WWE CHAMPIONSHIP: SHINSUKE NAKAMURA VS. A.J. STYLES

Excellent heel wrestling by Nakamura. A cheap shot to the knee and unrelenting attacks gave him control of the match. Both guys’ incredible technical wrestling was on display, perhaps even more so than at Wrestlemania. Both were wrestling face then, so this one has a different dynamic and Nakamura is wrestling a bit of a different style. The fast-paced offense and counters by both is amazing to watch. Nakamura’s kicks are nasty. I hope this crowd truly appreciated watching two of the best in the world, two masters of their craft at the top of their games. The crowd got more into the match as it went on, and how could they not? These two are mesmerizing to watch. A perfect heel move with Nakamura hitting the low blow with the ref’s back turned. As I mention all the time, I feel like I have have recognize and applaud simple and logical heel work because it’s become a lost art. I loved the ending with the double count out and AJ going nuts on Shinsuke. That made this feel extra personal and only serves to strengthen their feud, which will obvious continue. This was an excellent match and excellent character development for Shinsuke’s heel persona, and has me begging for more. I can’t wait to see where the feud goes from here.

CASKET MATCH: RUSEV VS. THE UNDERTAKER

Slow match but that’s about all The Undertaker can do nowadays. Taker looks extremely slow and unsteady on his feet. He takes a few of Rusev’s kicks pretty well. If this really is the best he can do, it’s not how we want to remember him. There were definitely some good exchanges and good spots in the match, and overall I found it enjoyable to watch Taker in a casket match. We all know Undertaker has to be done. But who would retire him? We thought Roman did it two years ago. I would have it be Kane.

STEEL CAGE MATCH FOR THE UNIVERSAL CHAMPIONSHIP: ROMAN REIGNS VS. BROCK LESNAR

Suplex. Suplex. Suplex. Suplex. Suplex. Suplex. Suplex. Suplex. Suplex. Sorry I wasn’t counting and figured I’d just keep tying that and it would be a fairly accurate assessment. F-5. Climb the cage. Finally Roman gets some offense going, and the crowd seems to wake up a bit. Superman punch. Superman punch. Superman punch. Spear. Spear. Spear. Fuck, this looks familiar. Paul Heyman was doing the best work of the match. Just as I was giving up on this borefest, Reigns hit a spear through the cage that almost made me jump right up. God damn. Shit match, bitchin finish, Brock still champion. Ah shit.

THE GREATEST ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH
#1 – Daniel Bryan
#2 – Dolph Ziggler
#3 – Sin Cara

Ziggler eliminated Sin Cara

#4 – Curtis Axel
#5 – Mark Henry

Mark Henry eliminated Curtis Axel

#6 – Mike Kanellis

Mark Henry eliminated Mike Kanellis in about two seconds

#7 – Hiroki Sumi, some sumo wrestler

Mark Henry eliminated Hiroki Sumi
Dolph Ziggler & Daniel Bryan eliminated Mark Henry

Ziggler does the Michaels things a couple times, barely keeping his feet off the mat and saving himself from elimination

#8 – Viktor

Daniel Bryan eliminated Viktor. Impressed by Viktor’s moves in his very short showing. As I’v said before, hopefully The Ascension is rebuilt into a dominant tag team and not a comedy act

#9 – Kofi Kingston
#10 – Tony Nese

Nese shows off his skills vs. Kofi. I love this guy.

#11 – Dash Wilder
#12 – HORNSWOGGLE!

Hornswoggle eliminated Dash Wilder. That was funny.
Tony Nese eliminated Hornswoggle. I no longer love this guy. Bastard.

#13 – Primo
#14 – Xavier Woods

This wasn’t one of Kofi’s more impressive rumble saves, but it still looked pretty damn funny.
Kofi & Woods eliminated Tony Nese

#15 – Bo Dallas
#16 – Kurt Angle. Oh it’s true, it’s DAMN true!

Kurt Angle eliminated Primo
Kurt Angle eliminated Bo Dallas
Kurt Angle eliminated Dolph Ziggler

#17 – Scott Dawson
#18 – Goldust
#19 – Konnor
#20 – Elias

Elias eliminated Konnor, Kofi Kingston, & Xavier Woods. That was excellent. Though I would have liked to hear the song he came up with.

#21 – Luke Gallows

Looked like DB came inches from breaking his neck on Angle’s German suplex attempt.
Elias eliminated Kurt Angle. Tear.

#22 – Rhyno
#23 – Drew Gulak
#24 – Tucker Knight. STEAKS AND WEIGHTS!

Tucker Knight eliminated Drew Gulak

#25 – Bobby Roode

Bobby Roode eliminated Goldust
Bobby Roode eliminated Scott Dawson (or Dawson eliminated himself, or he got hurt and took himself out)

#26 – Fandango
#27 – Chad Gable. Gable holding up Tucker Knight on his shoulders was pretty awesome
#28 – Rey Mysterio

Rey Mysterio eliminates Luke Gallows
The 619 is still the stupidest move.

#29 – Mojo Rawley

Mojo Rawley eliminated Fandango

#30 – Tyler Breeze

Mojo Rawley eliminated Tyler Breeze. Cute moment.
YES KICKS!

#31 – Big E. PANCACKES!

Big E eliminated Tucker Knight

#32 – Karl Anderson
#33 – Apollo Crews

Apollo Crews eliminated Chad Gable. I love Apollo Crews, I really hope he finds his niche and connects with the crowd, because he is one of the best wrestlers on the roster.

#34 – Roderick Strong. Back breakers galore. Those look brutal.

Roderick Strong terribly eliminates Rhyno. That was awful.

#35 – Randy Orton. As much as he bores me, I LOVE his powerslam. RKO almost immediately. Didn’t look so good.

Randy Orton eliminated Karl Anderson, Mojo Rawley, & Apollo Crews

#36 – Heath Slater
#37 – Babatunde, a Polish wrestler from NXT
#38 – Baron Corbin. He loudly announces his entrance into the match. God damn. He’s attacks are nasty

Baron Corbin eliminates Bobby Roode & Roderick Strong

#39 – Titus O’Neil. Greatest entrance ever.
#40 – Dan Matha
#41 – BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUN!

Braun Strowman eliminated Babatunde & Dan Matha
Braun Strowman eliminated Heath Slater

#42 – Tye Dillinger

Braun Strowman eliminated Titus O’Neil & Tye Dillinger. Talk about cleaning house.
RKO OUTTA NOWHERE!
Baron Corbin eliminated Rey Mysterio
Randy Orton eliminated Baron Corbin
Elias eliminated Randy Orton
That was an awesome sequence

#43 – Curt Hawkins. Keep the streak going.

Braun Strowman eliminated Curt Hawkins. I love seeing Strowman chase guys down

#44 – Bobby Lashley

Bobby Lashley eliminated Elias. Sorry Cole.

#45 – The Great Khali

Lashley & Braun sliminated Great Khali. Thank god.

#46 – Kevin Owens
#47 – Shane McMahon

Love to see Shane & DB kicking the shit out of KO.

#48 – Shelton Benjamin
#49 – Big Cass, who immediately mauls Daniel Bryan

Shane should stop hurting himself, but shit, the coast to coast is still amazing.

#50 – Chris Jericho

Chris Jericho eliminated Shelton Benjamin
Jericho finally gets his hands on Owens, until Cass kicks his head off.
Braun Strowman eliminated the shit out of Shane McMahon. Should have expected Shane would do something like that.
Braun Strowman eliminated Bobby Lashley, Chris Jericho, & Kevin Owens
Big Cass eliminated Daniel Bryan. Oh no.

BRAUN STROWMAN ELIMINATED BIG CASS!

That was so much fun. That’s how you do a Royal Rumble. Braun was the obvious choice to win. I went with Daniel Bryan. I was close, but I’m certainly not gonna be upset with this outcome. That’s a really cool looking belt that Braun gets too.

A lot of good, some bad. What did you guys think of the show?

CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Kaliso vs. Cedric Alexander

Fast-paced action will wow and entertain the crowd. No way I can see these guys putting on a bad match. It’s possible Buddy Murphy gets himself added to the match, which would be awesome.

Prediction: Cedric Alexander

SMACKDOWN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
THE BLUDGEON BROTHERS VS. THE USOS

We’ll definitely see Naomi getting involved here, but I wonder how much. Will she get hurt? Will the Bludgeons take her captive? Will she throw in the towel? My guess is that she’ll make the referee stop the match somehow to avoid serious injury to her husband. Whatever she does, it won’t stop the severe beating that Harper and Rowan are going to hand out.

Prediction: The Bludgeon Brothers

RAW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt vs. Sheamus & Cesaro

There’s been a lot of push behind Matt and Bray and I certainly don’t expect it to end here. This team has a ton of potential. The Bar will be DELETED!

Prediction: Deleater of Worlds

UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP
Jinder Mahal vs. Jeff Hardy

Just so Jinder can’t say he never got his rematch. They put on a pretty good match on Raw, I expect an even better one here with Jeff putting on a big show for the… big show.

Prediction: Jeff Hardy

GRUDGE MATCH
John Cena vs. Triple H

Billed as a “grudge match” for people who probably have no idea why there’s a grudge. I myself can’t even think back that long. Two legends who can still put on a hell of a show. Cena is the superhero and will be pushed as such to this crowd.

Prediction: John Cena

CASKET MATCH
Rusev vs. The Undertaker

Big rub to Rusev getting to work with the legend. Then he wasn’t working with him. Now he is again. It’s awesome for him and it’s always special to see Undertaker in the ring, but why are these two guys having a match? And a casket match at that, which has always been the culmination of a lengthy and brutal feud? There’s been no build, I don’t think these two have even shared a ring, maybe outside of a Royal Rumble. Cool match, but I don’t get why it’s happening, and that takes away a lot of the intrigue for me.

Prediction: The Undertaker

INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP LADDER MATCH
Seth Rollins vs. Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor vs. The Miz

The match I’m most excited for. All bets are off in a ladder match, especially with guys like Rollins and Balor who go balls-out ever match. Miz is no slouch in these match. I expect Joe to steal the show in this match and shock people with some high spots. Prediction: Carnage, brutality, pain.

Prediction: Seth Rollins

WWE CHAMPIONSHIP
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. A.J. Styles

I wonder if Nakamura will try any low blows. This is a tough match to call. Usually a top face is best suited chasing a championship than as champion. As a face, Stone Cold never wanted to be champ for very long for that very reason, he felt it made his character better. He was right. Then again, maybe they want to see more of Nakamura as a heel before they decide if and when they want to put the belt on him. I don’t feel like a Nakamura title run would be the best thing right now.

Prediction: A.J. Styles

UNIVERSAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar

Rumor has it that Vince wanted to save Roman’s title win for a more accepting crowd. Another rumor is that Lesnar’s deal is short term until he drops the belt. Roman winning the title would certainly be a huge moment and make this show extremely memorable. I couldn’t see him losing again unless WWE is planning to move on from him, and I definitely don’t see that happening.

Prediction: Roman Reigns

50-MAN GREATEST ROYAL RUMBLE
Everybody Else vs. Everybody Else

Braun Strowman is the trendy and obvious choice here. He’s been on an absolute tear. He’s been unbeatable. He won a tag team battle royal by himself. He won the tag team titles (mostly) by himself (sorry Nicholas). Who else could possibly win this match? Is there anyone who always seems to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds? Someone who’s made a career out of it, who seems to capture the hearts and emotions of the entire WWE Universe? Someone who’s triumphs are highlighted and glorified time and time again? The simple answer: YES!

Prediction: Daniel Bryan

Do my predictions suck? Let me know in the comments.

NORTH AMERICAN TITLE MATCH: ONEY LORCAN VS. ADAM COLE
Kyle O’Reilly looks like a random 12-year-old they picked out of the crowd. Roddy gives a lame excuse for joining the Undisputed Era. Definitely the right choice for his character though. The story of the match is Lorcan smartly working on Cole’s injured ribs. The crowd loves Oney Lorcan, I’m not sure why. I like him, but I’m curious to how he’s as over as he is. I would guess it’s because he’s small and scrappy, I can see him reminding people of Daniel Bryan in some ways. Smart heel tactics from the Undisputed Era here. I’m surprised how much I end up praising simple and logical booking and tactics, that it’s seem to become the exception rather than the rule these days. You have a heel faction that is trying to run NXT, so of course it makes sense for them to use their numbers advantage to cheat to win in a title defense. I wonder if we’re going to see Lorcan, Danny Birch, Pete Dunne, and maybe one or more other guys band together against them.

They announce Candice LeRae vs. Bianca Belair for next week. These are two of my favorite wrestlers right now. Both women are the total package and I see huge things on the horizon for them, both in NXT and eventually on the main roster. I’ve seen more of Bianca Belair so I’m more familiar with her, but I’ve also been blown away by what I’ve seen from Candice.

HEAVY MACHINERY VS. TINO SABBATELLI & RIDDICK MOSS
I’m a big fan of Heavy Machinery, not so much Sabbatelli & Moss, but I think my dislike of them is actually heel heat, so they must be doing a good job. Otis Dozovic’s voice is so weird. He reminds me of a pirate from “Hook.” Tino walks out on Moss, probably setting up a match between the two. Heavy Machinery gives us all what we want and calls out War Raiders after the match.

Shayna is shown intimidating Dakota Kai, who cowers like a kitten. I’m not sure what they’re doing with Kai there. They shows clips of Nikki Cross, Aaliyah, and Kairi Sane saying they’re coming for Shayna, then show Dakota Kai acting scared to death of her. How does that do Kai any favors with the crowd?

NXT CHAMPIONSHIP: JOHNNY GARGANO VS. ALEISTER BLACK
Instead we get treated to another Gargano-Ciampa brawl, and Ciampa’s brutal beat down robs us of the championship match. They had an unsanctioned match, so if they’re continuing this feud, what’s next? Iron man match? Steel cage? Hell in a cell? Street fight? Boiler room brawl? Punjabi prison match? Tuxedo match? Crutch on a pole? Judy Bagwell on a forklift? Whatever it is, give me more.

NXT CHAMPIONSHIP: ERIC YOUNG VS. ALEISTER BLACK
This was probably just a way to let the crowd see Sanity one more time before they debut on SmackDown. The hanging dragon sleeper from the top rope is something new and awesome. At least I’ve never seen it before. Black constantly reminds me why he’s my favorite wrestler right now. I’m always thoroughly entertained by his matches. His style is so unique and he seems to be able to put on tremendous matches with anybody. Eric Young has a unique style as well, a lot of innovative moves. I often wish I had watched guys like him and AJ in TNA, but I think I watched one episode of it years ago and could never bring myself to watch it again. Aleister standing tall over the three departing members of Sanity is a fitting way for them to go.

Mauro ends the show appropriately: “DAMN YOU, TOMMASO CIAMPA!”

Damn you, indeed. Thoughts?

GAUNTLET MATCH, STARTING WITH MUSTAFA ALI VS. TJP
Both of these guys wrestle such a fast-paced style, making for a really fun match. TJP slows things down a bit more often than Ali does with his submission moves. It makes more sense for at least one of the wrestlers to try and ground the other when you have two high flyers than for both guys to be going full speed the whole match. Of course with this being a gauntlet match, they need to save some energy as well. The 054 never fails to impress me. Interesting choice to have TJP, the former cruiserweight champion who felt insulted to have to possibly go through four other men to get a title shot, lose first in the gauntlet match.

GAUNTLET MATCH CONTINUED, MUSTAFA ALI VS. DREW GULAK
These two renew their feud from the “old” 205 Live, the high flyer vs. the leader of the “No Fly Zone” movement. Smart wrestling by Gulak to continue to work on Ali’s knee after it was weakened by TJP. Ali gets tossed off the top rope to the outside and at first it scared the shit out of me when he hit the steps. Obviously he was fine or they wouldn’t have let Gulak pull him back into the ring, but god damn, that was terrifying for a second. Gulak’s submission offense is brutal.

GAUNTLET MATCH CONTINUED, DREW GULAK VS. TONY NESE
Nese comes firing out of the gate after his former friend who embarrassed him in the championship tournament, and does a good job at making this match feel personal. That could be a disadvantage for Nese, as Gulak keeps it all business and won’t be distracted by emotions. No sooner had I typed this than Nese neglects to go for a pin when he has the match won and instead gets caught in the Gu-Lock and losing the match.

GAUNTLET MATCH FINAL: KALISTO VS. DREW GULAK
Gulak side-stepping and tossing Kalisto into the barricade on the suicide dive attempt looked nasty. Kalisto’s lucha style vs. Gulak’s technical and submission offense was actually really good. Gulak is good at using Kalisto’s moment against him. Kalisto escapes the Gu-Lock and celebrates a win with Lucha House Party.