Let’s take a look back at a huge week in WWE with the highlights and lowlights of NXT TakeOver: San Antonio, the Royal Rumble, Monday Night RAW, SmackDown Live, 205 Live and NXT.
It was a big week in WWE. Over five days of action, we got some great matches, some big debuts and plenty to talk about in both NXT and WWE. So let’s not waste any time with an intro this week and get right into the event that kicked everything off, NXT TakeOver: San Antonio.
Image via WWE
NXT TakeOver: San Antonio
When the final card finally came to be for NXT TakeOver: San Antonio, I’ll be the first to admit that I wasn’t overly excited. A few things were thrown together at the last minute, which obviously didn’t leave a lot of time to really build things up but I should have known better and still believed that NXT would find a way to put on an entertaining show and that’s exactly what we got last Saturday night.
As usual, the NXT crowd was hot and the fans got right into it from the start as Tye Dillinger and Eric Young kicked things off. Dillinger was given one last chance to join Sanity but once again refused and he and Young had a solid match. The storytelling, while a little expected, was still good here with Dillinger working to overcome the numbers game that inevitably came into play. Much to the dismay of the crowd, Young was able to pick up the win after about ten minutes of solidly-paced action. Good opener.
Roderick Strong and Andrade Almas put on a better match than I expected. There was a lot of good back and forth with both guys looking very strong in this one. Even with the loss, I thought Almas came away looking very good here and this may have been the best match he’s had since arriving in NXT. And that backbreaker he took was insane. Great follow-up to keep the show’s momentum rolling.
The tag team title match between #DIY and Authors of Pain was surprising on a lot of levels. This really was one of the matches that concerned me going in, as I wasn’t sure Ellering’s boys could put on the type of match that we’ve all come to expect from Ciampa and Gargano every single night but they hung every step of the way. Teams that are built as monsters like these two are usually a bit limited in the ring and while I’m not saying that they’re the best in the world, they really showed me that they could deliver on the big stage. And I was really surprised that they walked away with the titles but getting there was a lot of fun. #DIY was spectacular as always and continue to be over with the live crowds. Really fun match here.
I thought the whole Seth Rollins takeover segment was very good and a great surprise to further the storyline between he and Triple H. Rollins hasn’t been on NXT television in quite some time and it was pretty cool to see this huge feud get some air time here. Fun stuff.
I was hoping that the women’s title match would get a bit more time but the four involved certainly made the most of the time that they did get. Billie Kay and Peyton Royce came through with a nice performance and the double suplex to Nikki Cross off the announce table was awesome. But Asuka was still the star of the night as she continued her dominant run. I thought the ending was a little rushed and I’d still like to see some more one-on-one between Asuka and Nikki but this match was still pretty solid.
The NXT Championship match could have been absolute garbage and I probably wouldn’t have even cared because I knew the entrances from both Bobby Roode and Shinsuke Nakamura would both be amazing and I was right. Obviously this match was never going to be garbage and it was a great end to a great night. Roode and Nakamura put on a hell of a show that told a great story. Both competitors got their fair share of offense in and the pace was excellent throughout. I thought the knee injury angle at the end went on a tad bit too long but it still ended up working in the end. As it was with Authors of Pain, I was a little shocked to see the title change hands but it was a nice surprise.
The TakeOver bar has been set for the year with a surprisingly good show and the next special, which will take place over WrestleMania weekend, will certainly have a lot to live up to. Good start to a big week in WWE.
Image via WWE
WWE Royal Rumble
There were a lot of things that took place at the Alamodome on Sunday night and while I went through everything in my full 2017 WWE Royal Rumble review, I still want to take a quick run through the card.
None of the three kickoff matches were overly spectacular but they all served their own purpose and we actually did see a title change as Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows defeated Cesaro and Sheamus for the RAW Tag Team Championship. Staying with the red brand, Nia Jax basically got a squash win over Sasha Banks and it looks like her big push is coming. The six-woman tag match from SmackDown Live was better than most people are giving it credit for.
The RAW Women’s Championship was up for grabs as the main show got going and while it was a good (not great) match, it’s becoming more and more evident that Bayley just isn’t at the same level as Charlotte. She made a lot of silly mistakes during the match and just can’t match Charlotte’s athleticism. But I suppose you could say that for just about every single woman on the WWE roster.
While I think everyone expected the other world title match to be good, the WWE Universal Championship between Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns went surprisingly well. Both men got really physical and both took some really good bumps as the match progressed. The frog splash from Owens on Reigns onto the table outside of the ring was very good but Owens crashing into that stack of chairs that he had set up earlier the match made me cringe. The inclusion of Braun Strowman in the finish was a little surprising but it worked. Hopefully this one doesn’t get forgotten about on a night that had so many quality matches.
It’s unfortunate that Neville and Rich Swann had to follow Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns because it was a very good match. The power vs. speed scenario came into play here with this new version of Neville but I really enjoyed it. The live crowd still isn’t getting behind the cruiserweight division, which gave the match a little bit of a flat feeling while watching it, but it was very sound and very well put together.
John Cena made history on Sunday night by tying Ric Flair’s record of 16 recognized world titles by defeating AJ Styles in an epic affair in San Antonio. Both Cena and Styles looked amazing in this match as the momentum shifted back and forth on a number of occasions. Each brought out everything in their offensive arsenal and their submission sequence was absolutely incredible. Cena showed a few heelish traits during the match, which I really liked, and I almost thought for a minute that they were going to pull of a double turn but with the night being what it was, that would have been a little difficult. Cena celebrating his win in the crowd with one of his fans from Make-A-Wish was really cool and shows why it’s so hard to turn the 16-time champ to the dark side. Match of the night.
As for the Royal Rumble match itself, there was a lot going on there and while it wasn’t the greatest Rumble in history, it wasn’t completely terrible either. It followed the formula that we’ve seen on numerous occasions with some comedy at the start until someone clears the ring, and as expected, Braun Strowman was that guy until he was shockingly eliminated by Baron Corbin. I did not see that one coming but it was a nice surprise.
The middle of the match was a little slow but the big names that people wanted to see showed up in the last ten and gave us plenty to talk about moving forward. Goldberg and Lesnar had their little showdown and I was as uninterested as I’ve been throughout this whole thing. The Undertaker and Roman Reigns had a nice little staredown after Reigns threw The Deadman out and Luke Harper completed his face turn by attacking Bray Wyatt before being hit with an RKO from eventual winner Randy Orton, who handed out plenty of those in this match, including one on Roman Reigns for the final elimination. Oh yeah, Chris Jericho was in there for just over an hour but spent maybe 5 to 10 minutes not actually doing anything … and it was still great.
We didn’t really get the surprise entrants that we’re used to this year, outside of NXT star Tye Dillinger coming in at number 10 (which almost had to happen to not have the crowd lose it early on) but I was okay with it. Very solid night overall.
Image via WWE
WWE Monday Night RAW
We got an interesting start to the post-Rumble edition of RAW as Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho opened the show. Okay, I suppose it’s not interesting to start the show with a promo but Braun Strowman getting involved was a nice little twist and he had actually some video footage with him to prove that Owens promised him a title shot — a match that we’ll get later on. I think this added a little more depth to Strowman, showing that he’s not just a big, dumb brute. Owens and Jericho were fantastic as always. Good opener.
We’re not done with Jericho quite yet as he’s set to face Sami Zayn in a non-title bout, a match that was very good. But with those two veterans in there, that was to be expected. It looks as if some of the heat is off of Zayn –at least for the moment– and he picked up a clean win here and it’s likely he’ll be in line for a United States Championship shot at Fastlane. I think all of this will be great. I’ve got no problem seeing these two battle again and there’s always going to be something between Owens and Zayn. KO will get involved at some point and that’s never a bad thing. Good for all parties involved.
I’ve been bagging a bit on Bayley lately but she was a little better in her promo time this week with Cesaro and Sheamus. But then she just looked inferior once again as Charlotte and The Club (are we still calling them that?) showed up and won the war of words, especially Gallows’ “NERDS” line. Entertaining enough.
Tony Nese and Mustafa Ali are up next and they just have to start giving these cruiserweights more time if they want to get the WWE Universe into it all. This match didn’t even go four minutes but they made the most of what they got. Nese got the win and his promo with Austin Aries afterwards was pretty solid. I think Aries is going to drop the mic at some point soon and get involved with these guys.
The Seth Rollins-Stephanie McMahon segment that was announced at the Royal Rumble is up next. Now, I’ve never hidden the fact that I’m a huge fan of Stephanie and she killed it once again. But Rollins was able to stay with her and this whole thing is getting very personal as The Architect took some shots at her and even threatened to show up at her house just to get his hands on Triple H. I mean, he brought their kids into this whole thing. Wow. You thought Trips might show up here but we’re obviously setting up for something later. Great promo work from both Seth and Steph here.
It’s time for the six-person tag match between Bayley, Cesaro and Sheamus vs. Anderson, Gallows and Charlotte and I think this was a decent way to keep a couple of feuds going simultaneously. It’s always tough to fit everything in following a big pay-per-view like the Rumble, especially when it was a very RAW-heavy event. So they knocked out two birds with one stone here and for the second time in the night, a champion got pinned as Bayley got the win for her team. It wasn’t a terribly long match and we missed a lot of it with the commercial break but what we saw was decent enough.
Neville’s coronation as King of the Cruiserweights was a nice little segment that kept the feud between he and Rich Swann going and made both guys look great. Swann was being very diplomatic about the fact that he lost at the Rumble but Neville was having none of it and continued his great heel work as he demanded that his rival bow to him, which led to the obligatory brawl. A rematch is coming soon.
Uh oh, Bayley’s back doing more things backstage as she joins Sasha Banks, who’s getting ready for a rematch with Nia Jax. She tries to talk her friend out of going through with another match until she’s fully healed but Banks teases the heel turn that we all know is coming as she tells Bayley that she’s not satisfied with coming up short unlike some people. The turn should be fun to watch.
Following a backstage promo in which Jericho claims Owens didn’t have his back earlier in the night in his match with Sami Zayn, Owens says he really needs Y2J out there with him tonight against Braun Strowman. The tension between these two has returned and the inevitable split is going to be so great when it finally happens.
As for the match itself, it was about what I expected it to be. Jericho was taken out by Braun before the match even got going (with Owens doing nothing to stop it) and dominates Owens early on but the champ got his fair share of offense in as well before we got the expected run-in from Roman Reigns, who hit the Superman punch on Strowman a couple of times before spearing him off the steps. This was the natural progression of this budding feud so it really wasn’t a big shock. Pretty well executed.
It’s promo time again as Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar hit the ring to address the Goldberg situation and I liked the direction he went here. There was even a Hulk Hogan reference in here as he brought up how he had Andre the Giant’s number just like Brock Lesnar had The Undertaker’s, John Cena’s and Kurt Angle’s. Kids played into the mix again as he brought up the humiliation of Brock Lesnar’s Survivor Series and Royal Rumble outings and challenges Goldberg to one last fight — at WrestleMania. Now, I’ve been completely against this whole Lesnar and Goldberg thing from the start and I’m still doubting that they can be the real main event of WrestleMania but this was the right way to get it going if that’s what we’re going to get.
The Nia Jax squash train kept rolling over Sasha Banks with a really awful match that went about two minutes. I know what they’re trying to do here but it’s just not coming off very well, is it? Bayley came out to make the save and all but this whole segment looked rushed to me. I’m sure it’ll pick up as we move along.
And now the necessary filler match before we get to the final segment as Enzo and Cass took on Jinder Mahal and Rusev — I’m sorry, Handsome Rusev. At least the Tornado Tag stipulation make this look halfway interesting but I’m just not invested in this. Rusev is being wasted right now and Cass just needs to get away from Enzo, who would be best suited in the cruiserweight division right now. Maybe a win from Big Cass at the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, which is likely how he’ll be used at WrestleMania, will be the start of his singles push.
Oh joy. Goldberg will be on RAW next week to answer Lesnar’s challenge. Moving on.
How freaking amazing was this final segment? Triple H is out and cuts a very good promo about how he’s trying so hard not to be “that guy” anymore and is merely trying to be a creator. He actually said “create” a lot but we’ll let that go since it worked so well. He even put Seth Rollins over a little bit by saying that he’s trying to create the next Seth Rollins. But it’s time to stop and he takes off the jacket and it looks as if we’re finally going to get some physicality between these two that’s been building for months. Rollins makes his way down to the ring and just when you think that the payoff is coming …. BAM! SAMOA FREAKING JOE!!!
There were so many people that were upset when Joe wasn’t number 30 at the Royal Rumble but this more than made up for it, don’t you think? This was booking at its best and was way more unexpected than him showing up the night before. He proceeded to beat Rollins down and Corey Graves was absolute money in putting him over. What made it even better is that Triple H didn’t even stick around to watch all of it. He’s got a hired gun now to do his dirty work and just adds more and more depth to this program. The only problem here is that Rollins may have seriously gotten injured during the attack and may have to miss some time if some reports are to be believed. We’ll just have to wait and see how this thing plays out and if it’s all a work or not. But this was gold and a great start on the road to WrestleMania.
Overall, I thought this week’s episode was pretty solid. The build towards WrestleMania has begun and they got things rolling with some great segments this week and some good matches in there as well.
Image via WWE
WWE SmackDown Live
Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan kick off this week’s episode of SmackDown Live and are joined quickly by AJ Styles, who’s demanding that his automatic rematch not be in the Elimination Chamber. He wants his one-on-one match for the WWE Championship but he’s interrupted by Dean Ambrose and a match between the two is set for the main event.
With only two weeks to go before Elimination Chamber, they’ve got to build some things pretty quickly so we get the reveal of the six participants in the main event, which will be WWE Champion John Cena, Bray Wyatt, Baron Corbin, The Miz, Dean Ambrose and AJ Styles. That sounds about right. We’re out to the ring and the 16-time champ, John Cena, is here to address the crowd following his historic win on Sunday night at the Royal Rumble. He praises AJ Styles and apologizes for his remarks last week saying Styles was inferior. Awww, that was nice. But business picks up as Bray Wyatt and Royal Rumble winner Randy Orton get into the mix. All right, let’s just get right into it. Wyatt says it’s his destiny to leave the Elimination Chamber as champion and Orton gets his two cents in as well by saying that if Cena does somehow survive, he’ll be waiting. They make their way to the ring to confront Cena but the lights go out and out of nowhere, it’s Luke Harper to complete his full face turn. Or perhaps this is a really big plan to screw Cena out of the title. But either way, I was on board with this segment.
But we’re not through yet as we go right into a tag team match that was pretty solid. Now, what’s strange about this whole thing is that even though John Cena just won his 16th world title, he’s not the focus right now. This entire Wyatt Family storyline has been built perfectly and it just kept moving forward here. Is Luke Harper really against Bray and Orton? And then Cena took the loss just one night after his big win. Been kind of the theme of the week though with a champ getting pinned. But it worked well here and we’ll get a singles match between Cena and Orton next week, which will only further things. Great open.
Poor Carmella is just stuck, isn’t she? Here you have three solid feuds in the blue brand’s women’s division and she’s in squash matches and a storyline with James Ellsworth, who is just wearing thin at this point. But hey, it was at least good to see that he wasn’t completely busted up after the bump he took at the Rumble.
Speaking of squash matches, Dolph Ziggler once again made quick work of Kalisto to show off this more serious version of himself. He even tried to unmask him, which led to Apollo Crews getting involved. So we’ll likely get that match at Elimination Chamber. And I’m just going to keep saying this until it happens: get Kalisto over to the cruiserweight division. He’s got nothing here for him anymore and is just being wasted. Get it done.
We’re set for tag team action in the women’s division with Becky Lynch and Naomi taking on Alexa Bliss and Mickie James. Becky and Naomi are jacked up in the promo they cut beforehand and Naomi hypes her pin of Bliss in the six-woman tag match on the kickoff show at the Royal Rumble. As for the match itself, I thought it had a great pace to it and they were given some decent time to work here. The hot tag to Naomi was perfectly timed and she got another pin over Bliss (theme of the week) to set up the championship match at Elimination Chamber.
American Alpha issues an open challenge for the tag titles but they don’t have one team answer them. They have ALL the teams answer them. We get a massive brawl in the ring and it’s quite obvious what they’re trying to do here but it worked. The titles haven’t seemed quite as important since Bray and Orton lost them so perhaps a huge match at Elimination Chamber can bring some direction back to the division. Tag Team Turmoil has been set for the pay-per-view and could be really entertaining if done correctly. This might seem rushed to some people but with this short time to build anything, it was necessary and this gets everyone some TV time. No harm done.
The Nikki-Natalya storyline continues as Nattie has private security with her when meeting with Daniel Bryan in the back. The two argue so Bryan makes a match for Elimination Chamber. Personally, I really wanted to see all six women involved in the tag match on Sunday involved in the first-ever women’s chamber match but I have enjoyed this feud and wonder if this will be the end of it. Missed opportunity but having three good feuds in the division isn’t a bad thing.
The Miz and Maryse are out on commentary for the main event between Dean Ambrose and AJ Styles and was as great as ever with his comments. Baron Corbin eventually made his way down as the match went on and chatted with Miz a bit, which was pretty entertaining. The match was a little slow at the start but picked up steam towards the end and it was a solid main event. Ambrose seemingly had a win but the ref was distracted with Miz and Corbin brawling on the outside, which enabled AJ to hit a Styles Clash for the 1-2-3. Corbin hit Miz and Ambrose with the End of Days following the match to close out the show. This was a good buildup towards the chamber match and got the four that weren’t in the opener involved with one another. Corbin and Miz are on a collision course for an Intercontinental Championship feud.
Once again, the blue brand looked strong and did a nice job getting things put together for the pay-per-view.
Image via WWE
WWE 205 Live
It’s announced at the beginning of the show that due to his brawl with Neville on RAW, Rich Swann is not medically cleared to compete. But we are getting a tag team main event with Neville and Noam Dar taking on Cedric Alexander and Jack Gallagher.
Following his win on Monday night, Tony Nese was actually able to string consecutive wins together after defeating Lince Dorado in what was a pretty average match. I’m really starting to like Nese’s knee strike finisher and he showed some aggression by attacking Dorado after the match, which brought TJ Perkins out to continue that program. The match wasn’t great but the aftermath was solid.
We get a quick promo with Rich Swann and Neville in the back that just furthers Neville’s aggression as he pushed a guy on crutches to the floor. Good stuff. We also get a video package for Gran Metalik, who will be coming to the division soon. Very excited about that.
But we’ve got another debut to get to as Akira Tozawa makes his first appearance in a match against Aaron Solow. This match went pretty much as expected with Tozawa hitting all of his signature moves in a three-minute win. Brian Kendrick was out on commentary for this one and Tozawa spoke some Japanese with Aries afterwards. Decent debut and that snap German is pretty good.
Alicia Fox and Noam Dar are talking with Neville in the back and I’m very pleased that Neville’s new attitude isn’t just directed towards the babyfaces. He tells Dar to keep his baggage, obviously meaning Fox, in the back as we get set for the main event.
What I like about most episodes of 205 Live is that the main event usually gets a decent amount of time and the matches are typically pretty good, which was the case this week. I thought all four guys in the match looked great and they continued to tell a good story. Neville walked out on Dar near the end and just hates everybody. So good. Alexander got some revenge on Dar to perhaps finally put that thing to bed and Gallagher continues to be entertaining. Good stuff.
Following a nice title match at the Royal Rumble and a little bit of movement on RAW, I thought this was a nice episode. It wasn’t as good as last week’s but I’d like to see some momentum built as we move towards WrestleMania.
Image via WWE
WWE NXT
As it is with most episodes of NXT following a TakeOver event, much of the show was spent reviewing the matches from Saturday night. But we also got a little direction towards the next special in Orlando and kind of a heartbreaking video package in there as well. And I really wish they would stop pretending that these episodes after a TakeOver are live. It’s obvious with the large crowd behind you that you’re not at Full Sail right now so just stop. “The energy in that building was crazy.” Oh, you mean the building you’re still in. Thanks, Percy.
Ember Moon is out to battle Aliyah and we all know that Ember is next in line to face Asuka, especially with the interviews later on in the show. And Ember got a win in this one but it was really Aliyah who made this match what it was. She continues to get better and better and she really impressed me in this match and actaully outworked. It’s still going to be a while before she gets any real shot but I’m looking forward to watching her develop even more.
The recap of Tye Dillinger’s entrance at the Royal Rumble was pretty cool.
19-year-old UK Champion Tyler Bate is out next for his NXT debut as he takes on Oney Lorcan in a non-title matchup. The two got about five minutes to work and were able to put on a pretty decent match. It had some nice spots and a good pace and it was nice to see Bate in front of the NXT fans. Lorcan looked good here as well and those chops a couple of minutes in were vicious. Bate obviously got the win here and it will be interesting to see how much we see of him coming up. He really seemed to enjoy the big crowd following the match.
The final match of the night was the longest match of the night but also the most uneventful match of the night as No Way Jose took on Elias Samson. It’s not that this match was completely terrible but it was really just there to be there. The real highlight of this whole thing was Corey Graves spending his last match in NXT ragging on The Drifter. Absolutely epic rant.
And speaking of Corey Graves, the video package chronicling his career in NXT was so well done and it is a bit heartbreaking that he’s leaving the booth. But he’s become one of, if not the best announcer in WWE and it’s time for him to move on. Great stuff.
This episode was exactly what I expected it to be. We get Bobby Roode’s glorious celebration next week so that should be pretty entertaining.
And there you have it. WIth five straight days of WWE television, we got a lot to discuss and it’s only going to get more fun as we travel the road to WrestleMania. And make sure to check back in with FanSided for the ride there.
More from FanSided
This article originally appeared on 
