I was really surprised that Bliss won the Fatal 4-way. Not in a negative way, but I was just expecting Nia to take the victory considering how much they have been building her back up over the past month. Part of me even wondered if it was a sign that they actually wanted to put the title on Nia, but wanted Bayley to…

You know, you got to admire the level of respect Kurt Angle has towards referee John Cone. He could have send security to remove Braun from Raw, especially after he started assaulting other talent, called the cops or just organized the locker room. Instead he chose to send Iron Steele John Cone to politely ask Braun…

While I was initially hesitant on them running Ambrose/Miz again, that Miz TV segment sold me completely on this feud. Furthermore, when I started to think on their initial feud, it was actually pretty brief and while delivered two really good to great matches, it did feel like it was cut off short due to the Rumble…

I think people are really overlooking the New Day acquisition here as it still viewed as a tag team. Which is true to an extent, but it also has three individuals who can fit really well in the upper mid-card. In addition, I wouldn't put it past SDL to finally give Kofi that opportunity at the top spot.

I do think there is an interesting comparison between how Raw and SDL seem to be approaching the Shakeup, and I don't claim one as the better approach. It feels like Raw threw everything out there, while SDL is taking a more phased approach.

In a way, this feels like such an Ambrose thing to hold back, if true, as I think Young would be pretty much announcing it to the world.

AA has never faced the New Day? Besides, Primo and Epico are really good workers so hopefully SDL will be able to utilize them better in that role.

That was a really weird way to introduce Charlotte, especially considering tthat they were in Boston and she is a heel. I'd understood if they teased Sasha only to have it be Charlotte, but to tease it to be Charlotte only to reveal it to be Charlotte was an odd approach to take.

I meant representation in that she was the most consistently presented top woman on the show. Not even going to the most recognizable, but the person who was given the time, shown to be important and was the dominant in that she rarely lost. I'm not claiming they didn't push other people at the time, Bliss is a good…

My argument on Nikki is based on a few things. First, she was probably their biggest female star, who despite not being involved in the title picture, was constantly featured and given a lot of time. Second, she probably won the most out of all the Smackdown women and was the clear victor in her feuds/matches. Third,…

Just to promote it, SBNation's Charlotte Wilder, with no previous experience with wrestling, watched Wrestlemania 33 and liveblogged it. It's genuinely heartwarming and delightful, capturing so many things that make wrestling great, so I thought to post a link about it here:

I thought Mania and this episode highlighted an interesting flaw in the SDL approach. For me, it seems likely that they had a long-term plan for both the WWE and women's title since the beginning of the Draft with Bray/Orton and Nikki Bella having her moment at Mania. At least those were among the top options. Yet,…

One thing I have to give credit to Smackdown over Raw is that they made me really uncertain about the almost certain trade of AJ Styles. On Raw, they're basically telegraphing that Charlotte and New Day are moving to SDL as they've gone out of their way to make them seem redundant and not being able to currently hang…

I'm still trying to figure out the Usos/Shane confrontation on Talking Smack as the Usos literally barged in mad about being ignored, but expressing complete willingness to take it easy and collect paychecks. And apparently wanting to get rid of the titles as their shoulders are getting sore from carrying them.

On the coming soft draft, as already mentioned, it is supposedly only a few superstars traded between the shows. At the moment the almost certain draft choices would Charlotte to SDL, which would explain her vastly reduced status on Raw, and based storylines Styles to Raw. After that it becomes a bit more uncertain.

I have to keep reiterating my love for the Raw commentary team which is rapidly becoming my favorite wrestling commentary I've ever listened to. They all just gel together so much and I really love how, while he is still often mocked by the other two, Byron will go after Graves when he becomes too infatuated with the…

My favorite part was when they explained how they had been both friends and enemies at NXT, which was completely and utterly false.

It was a small-ish thing, but I loved that Braun backed down after Brock invited him to bring it. Braun is ultimately still the bad guy and while he has fought and beaten big guys before, it is great to be reminded that he has that fear for people who might be able to physically challenge him.

Overall, I thought this was a weird episode of Raw. It wasn't bad in anyway and I thought it had really effective segments, but it was somewhat hindered by them doing the soft draft next week, which means that this week felt like it was killing time waiting for the shakeup.

Considering this is referred to as Smarkamania due to the supposed superfans in attendance, I often wonder if they actually realize the messages they are sending. They reject Roman Reigns by making him one of the most over performers on Raw while then starting to do waves during the last match which has people they…