I have to admit that I started to tune in to AEW and pay more attention at a point where the Lucha Bros weren’t on TV as much, or really at all, due to either injury or their contract situation, but with everything I’ve learned and seen of Rey Fenix’s over the last few months in videos and social media clips, I’ve been excited to see him debut and get his shot in WWE, especially as a singles star since Penta is shining so brightly over on “WWE Raw.” I’ve really enjoyed Penta’s work, so I was excited to see what Fenix could do. I knew from his entrance with him jumping around on the ropes that I was going to be impressed and have a good time, and I was sadly not disappointed.
I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention how his entrance is ever-so-slightly similar to his brother’s in dramatics, lightning, and his music, so WWE is seemingly keeping the Lucha Bros vibe consistent, but subtly, even if they’re not on the same brand. Which I think is a great thing, to let them shine as singles stars before throwing them back in a tag team, since WWE doesn’t exactly treat their tag teams the best and the division is definitely not the strongest.
As a big fan of “WWE NXT” and all its impressive talent, bringing NXT Tag Team Champion Nathan Frazer up to the main roster for this match was a great call. Everyone knew Fenix wasn’t going to lose his debut match in WWE, and bringing up Frazer for a match on the main roster doesn’t hurt him, in both his stock for a future call up and his status as a champion on the developmental brand. While there one small botch on Frazer’s end that thankfully didn’t end badly when he got his toes caught on the ropes attempting a dive to the outside, everything else went smoothly in the match.
Fenix got to show off his stuff to a new audience, myself included, and so far, he looks like he’s going to fit in well with WWE’s style. I really enjoyed this, and having his first dance partner be Frazer instead of someone everyone assumed, like Andrade or a heel from Legado del Fantasma, was an excellent choice.
Written by Daisy Ruth
Say what you will about Charlotte Flair and Tiffany Stratton, but there’s no denying that they’re both talented wrestlers that have quite a bit of name value and notoriety. In theory, Flair challenging Stratton for the WWE Women’s Championship should be one of the more marquee and exciting matches for WrestleMania 41. Yet, week after week, it feels like the storyline and the build up to the match itself keep going downhill and show no signs of stopping that trend anytime soon.
I will give WWE props this time around for having Stratton and Flair meet each other in a face-to-face encounter unlike their satellite interview, but that’s about where my praise ends. I don’t know if it was a strange coincidence that the two dressed alike or it was supposed to be some sort of message about one copying the other, but it just felt weird to see them both in similar black outfits and added to the weird aura of the segment. Things only went downhill from there though, and while I understand the likely possibility that the segment between the two was cut short at the last minute due to the hostile reaction from the live crowd towards Flair, it doesn’t necessarily fully excuse the cringey, awkward, and uncomfortable mess of words that the two shared with one another. It’s not often that you see Flair get taken aback in the middle of a promo segment, but it was evident in her facial expressions that was the case. Even still with that, she once again somehow managed to outshine Stratton on the microphone in what seems to be becoming a common occurrence. No one came off looking good in this segment, and if WWE doesn’t make a change or think of a new way to produce more interesting and engaging segments between the pair, then it’ll become a memorable build to a WrestleMania match for all the wrong reasons.
Written by Olivia Quinlan
During a backstage segment on “SmackDown,” Aldis announced that there would be a gauntlet match to find opponents for Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez on “The Grandest Stage of Them All”. This will be the first time that the women’s tag titles have been defended a ‘Mania since WrestleMania 38. It will also be Morgan and Rodriguez’s first title defense since winning them in February. As of now, the men’s tag titles are not being defended at ‘Mania (although Motor City Machine Guns won the No. 1 contendership).
The most compelling story in WWE finally has a ‘Mania match. Following Naomi’s match against B-Fab (that was barely a match, but I digress), Jade Cargill hit her attacker with a big boot. She was stopped by security before delivering Jaded. In that moment, Aldis decided it was time to make their match official for “The Show of Shows”.
Naomi and Cargill have been telling an excellent story that has shown us a side of Naomi we haven’t seen before. This character change has been refreshing and is giving her something to really sink her teeth into and keeps her in a prominent story. Cargill gets some direction after being off TV for several months following being pushed through a car windshield. Both women have been set up to deliver a great match at the biggest show of the year. Their story is more intriguing than any of the other women’s matches by far. A fellow writer pointed out that this is the first women’s match at ‘Mania that doesn’t revolve around a title or stipulation (at least as of now).
“NXT” regularly gets praised for the way they handle the women’s division. Many of their weekly shows and PLE’s feature multiple women’s matches. It’s nice to see the main roster making more of an effort by including two women’s matches each night of WrestleMania. The effort will probably cease after that, but we can appreciate the ones we are getting on the biggest show of the year.
Written by Samantha Schipman
I’ll save my full spectrum of emotions for when he actually retires (and believe me, I was ready and waiting for the swerve) but after his announcement Friday night, it does not seem like we’re seeing Kevin Owens wrestle again any time soon. While that sucks first and foremost for him and his family, it also sucks for us, who no longer get to watch him. And it really sucks for WrestleMania 41, which is now down its longest-running and arguably its most personal feud.
I don’t know about anyone else, but my interest in WrestleMania this year was already on life support, and the loss of Owens vs. Orton may have just unplugged it. With the possible exception of Jade Cargill vs. Naomi, which just got confirmed Friday, it was the only Mania match where the build has been consistently high-quality week after week, and Owens in particular has been one of WWE’s most consistent performers. Now he’s gone — who knows for how long, who knows if well ever see him in the ring again, could it be possible his last match just happened to take place against Sami Zayn in Canada? — and at this point, more than anything resembling an emotion, I mostly just feel numb. To be completely honest, I’ve been struggling with enjoying wrestling in general at the immediate moment, and one of my favorite performers leaving to have neck surgery at age 40 isn’t exactly the most helpful development in that regard.
So yeah, the Owens injury is basically the worst. I wish him all the best in his recovery and I hope he does whatever he needs to do for his continued health and happiness, but selfishly, I just really hope he comes back as soon as possible, because wrestling isn’t the same without him.
Written by Miles Schneiderman
This week’s “SmackDown” saw some sizable movement when it came to the storyline of WrestleMania Saturday’s main event triple threat between Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and CM Punk; Punk finally pulled the veil on what he wanted from Reigns and Paul Heyman, which then in turn continued to the stir the pot of insecurity between them, while Rollins had his chance to say “I told you so” in the pettiest brotherly way as Reigns reaped what he had been told by “The Visionary” he was sowing aplenty. Rollins continues to be “The Architect” of The Shield ten years on from their implosion, consistently outlining what will happen if Reigns goes down a path – Reigns, understandably questioning the counsel of a man who stabbed him in the back, disregarded what he said. And now it seems like he will be without his “Wise Man” at the match he supposedly bumped into the main event of WrestleMania.
As Rollins put it, he and Heyman made a desperate deal with Punk – as a result of the fact no one wanted to join Reigns’ side after the years that led to WarGames – and gave him the leverage he needed. Punk betrayed Reigns when it became appropriate for him at the Royal Rumble, which then allowed Rollins to exact his pound of flesh on Reigns (I feel like the history with The Shield is a given and will not be specifically delving into that), and then to go one step further Reigns supposedly gave him the main event of WrestleMania trying to satisfy the deal, only for that not to be the deal Punk wanted, and now he looks to be alone on a night where the odds were hardly favorable to begin with. Now it would be just perfect for Roman of all people to be the one to bring in the outsider – say, a barbarian – for a self-serving alliance of desperation only for that ally to become his ultimate downfall.
But more than anything it was the drama of the way it unfolded – hate it or love it this was pure soap opera within the wrestling sphere, with Heyman dropping tears at the idea he would have to choose (again) between two of his guys; the ex that never worked out for “timing reasons” and the current partner who has their quirks but is safe and secure – the age-old decision. Ultimately, Heyman will be billed as in the corner of Punk, but this is now going to be central to the plot of the match itself. There will likely come a time where he has to choose, and whichever way that goes is sure to have long-lasting ramifications for at least the next year of programming. And Rollins, after spending so long fighting tirelessly against the “Tribal Chief” and Punk, it is a shame that he feels less involved in the unraveling of the plot, but it also makes sense that he would watch on as his opponents tear themselves apart. After all, he has an opportunity to stick it to the both of them should he steal the win.
Written by Max Everett
The leadup to this week’s main event segment started off super slow and picked up a bit in the middle, but came crashing down at the end for me. I always feel like I need to note it could very well be the fact “SmackDown” is still dragging along at three hours and I might be grumpy about it by the time the main event rolls around, but there were some high points with the Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and CM Punk story for me. Paul Heyman waiting on Reigns and getting trolled by Rollins was one, as well as Heyman staring down the camera and telling Punk that no matter what the favor was, his answer was yes, before Reigns arrived.
By the time Reigns finally arrived and he and Heyman got the ring, I noted it was already 10:40 p.m. This is where things really felt like they started to go downhill. Reigns did his usual playing to the crowd in the ring, which was fine, but then Rollins interrupted everything and just felt like he threw things off. I understand why he’s in this feud, but this week he just kind of felt like he was there to eat up extra time. By the time Punk finally got to the ring after being called out by his WrestleMania opponents, “SmackDown” was minutes from over and nothing had been accomplished.
And of course, the favor was what everyone thought it would be after Punk said that being in the main event of WrestleMania wasn’t what his big favor was. He wants Heyman to corner him and leave the sides of Reigns. While Reigns brushed off Punk and said that would never happen even if he let it, Heyman relented. I supposed I understand the shock factor of Reigns’ Wise Man leaving his side, but it honestly doesn’t seem that believable. Now that I think of it, it’s even less believable in a triple threat match where Heyman can’t cause a disqualification to help get Punk the victory or anything. I’m sure Punk’s storyline line of thinking was to throw Reigns off his game, but he also has Rollins to deal with in another corner in that match who is absolutely not affected by this at all.
I found the entire segment to be a bit overdramatic and not worth the time it took up on the show. I can’t see where we’re going from here, unless Reigns is going to somehow fight to get Heyman back before WrestleMania with just two more “SmackDown” shows to go, or we’re leading up to a Paul Heyman on a Forklift Match at Backlash or something. It could be the curse of the terrible WrestleMania build this year, but this did absolutely nothing for me.
Written by Daisy Ruth
