Wrestling Thursday: Table Setting

With the weird scheduling caused by the Greatest Royal Rumble behind them, WWE can finally focus on properly building to a PPV, and it showed this week, as the run up to Money In The Bank begins. This is Wrestling Thursday

Raw

Why Owens Why

With Sami Zayn already announced for a MiTB qualifying match, KO had to know he was getting one. I am, again, confused about the booking of KO. On Sunday, he wanted to go back in the ring and fight. Now he demands a spot in the MiTB while Braun is in the ring. I hate booking smart guys making stupid decisions. Of course he got a qualifying match with the one guy no one wants a qualifying match with.

Surprisingly competitive

It's a indictment of WWE's treatment of KO that I was super surprised at how competitive this match was. Braun sold for KO, and KO had some great moments. Of course Braun won. That was a given. And a shame, because KO is great at ladder matches. I'm hoping for a second chance match.

Silly vs. Serious

Titus Worldwide is a silly stable. No Way Jose is a silly character. Putting them in with the Revival and Corbin, possibly the three least silly people on the roster, was an interesting clash, which actually kinda worked!

Triple Eclipse

So this was great. Sasha, Ember, and Ruby are all top notch performers, and all worked well together. And the right woman won. Moon needed the win, and I think we all need to see her in a MiTB ladder match. You just know she's going to deliver an eclipse off of a ladder, and it will be spectacular.

Dammit, WWE

Putting Gable in with Jinder was always an iffy idea. I think they should have built him up more before matching him up with a man so much bigger than him. Jobbing him out so soon is even worse. Chad Gable is an incredible worker.

Why are they a tag team?

I was able to accept Drew and Dolph as a duo. And I think that had to have been the plan. Two guys who have each other's back and are out to change the landscape. I think someone (and by "someone" I mean Vince) fell in love with the way their finishers combine, and now they're a tag team. That doesn't strike me as a great use of either of them. Especially Drew. Drew McIntyre should be winning championships. Also, Rhyno and Heath were there, and Heath was the only one of the four to acknowledge that he knows Drew.

Okay. FINE.

So, yeah. Fine. Elias' heel work is so great, I am now okay with Roode as a face against him. And this feud has been entertaining. But long term, he's gotta turn heel.

Rollins is magic

How much of a roll is Seth Rollins on? He got a fun match out of Mojo Rawley, that how much. Seth is just clicking on all cylinders right now.

Brotherly love

Every time Bo Dallas and Bray Wyatt are in the ring together, it's super weird. Because they're real life brothers, and they look so much like each other. And Cole even threw in a "no brotherly love here," when Bray hit Bo, which would only work as a sly reference in Philly. I enjoy both of these teams. And I really hope creative figures out what to do with Axel and Bo, as they are great.

Finn Win!

Well, dang. The triple threat qualifying match main event was super good. And it almost all makes sense. Finn winning? That's awesome. Sami losing? Makes sense, with a possible match against KO in a second chance scenario. Roman losing because of interference by a dastardly heel? Well, here's the problem...

On paper, this makes sense. No one likes Jinder. He's both a great heel and a mediocre worker who looks roided up. But I think the segment of the fandom that is dedicated to booing Roman is still going to do it. Which means Roman is probably stuck feuding with Jinder in matches that will be bogged down by the Canadian's ability and will make everyone mad.

Smackdown

Miz is IN

Well, Miz didn't go for the US belt. Instead, he beat the US champ for a spot on MiTB. While Hardy has been great in ladder matches, I am very much fine with him sitting this one out - if he does - as he is not, physically, the lightweight highflyer he once was. And Miz should have a title. He works best with a title.

Iconic loss

As much as I'm enjoying The Iconics' work, Peyton had to lose here. Beating Charlotte should always be a huge deal. Especially in a match that matters. That said, the recent news that she's probably going to have surgery soon and is likely to miss the PPV makes this decision interesting. I'm gonna guess an Iconic attack will next week will put her on the shelf in the storyline.

Woe is Woods

Where is Woods trading wins with members of The Bar leading to? That's my main question here. Is this even about the New Day, or is it a path to breaking up the Bar so they can have a blow-off match and Sheamus can retire with the career ending injury he's been carrying for months now.

The Women's Devolution

What the hell was that soft focus porny entrance Rose got? This is the women's evolution? And the Cory Graves obsession with her - which is basically his thing with Eva Marie transferred to a new target - is just super gross. Look, WWE. I know Mandy Rose is good looking. Everyone knows Mandy Rose is good looking. But "Look! Hot!" is a terrible gimmick to saddle a young, improving worker with. Gah.

Also, what the hell is going on with Becky losing all the time? Obviously something's afoot. Hopefully, a mega push soon? Especially with Flair out for a few weeks, this may be the time for a Lynch renaissance.

It's Rusev Day!

Hey! Rusev got a clean win over a major star in a main event! Sure, he was all evil and stuff. But this has to be a good sign, right? Maybe someone finally figured out that "is super duper over" is supposed to lead to "is pushed." One can hope. Match was very good, with Bryan selling the cumulative damage from his epic GRR performance and the Cass beatdown from last week.

205 Live

Alliance coming?

With Drew Gulak on commentary for a match in which the two guys who are most similar to him in outlook and moveset are losing to the guys who embody everything he hates, I gotta believe an alliance is in the offing. Which could be great. Evil ground based attack dudes could really work.

Nese Squash

Tony Nese is getting to squash jobbers. Which is nice, but 205 live doesn't have many spots, and I'm not sure where he can go at this point.

Contenderphy

Both Murphy and Ali are terrific, and they got the time to go all out. This was great. Murphy's wins solidifies him as the next contender. Ali's day will come. I am certain of that.

NXT

Dreams of Ricochet

Velveteen Dream and Ricochet feuding is awesome, because either one of them can be the next NXT champ, and the result of the feud may determine that. And also because the matches will be absolutely stellar.

EC3 Squash

Raul Mendoza never had a chance, but that's kinda his role now. EC3 is all that and several bags of chips. He is ready for a title feud right now.

Team Kick and Trauma

Everything about this storyline is working right now. Dakota being able to dispatch Borne fairly easily shows her to be a top echelon talent. And then there's Shayna, who is just a terrifying monster bully.

Shayna is the kinda heel monster Big Van Vader used to be back in the day. Evil and powerful and dominant. I honestly can't remember a woman being booked that way in WWE, and that makes it fresh and exciting.

Heavy Duty Beatdown

Yeah. As previously stated, War Raiders are here to be the new Authors of Pain, while Heavy Machinery are a fun time pair of funsters. This was a solid match for what it was, which was essentially a squash, highlighting how dominant War Raiders are going to be.

The Best Heel In Wrestling

As I wrote, Shayna is doing amazing heel work right now. But Ciampa is on another level. He is the best heel in WWE right now, even better than Shinsuke. He doesn't have entrance music, because he doesn't need it: The boos and jeers from the audience are his entrance music.

Kassius Ohno, on the other hand, is continuing his role as player-coach. He's here to elevate the younger talent right now, and to tell good stories while he's at it. If his physique was closer to what Vince likes, his size and ability would probably have already lead him to stardom. But it is what it is, and he seems to be making the best of it.

Final thoughts

This was a very solid week of wrestling, with good matches and mostly good storytelling on all four brands. Moving to a more reasonable timeline is helping with pretty much everything.

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