On this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw, we saw a rare appearance from “The Beast” Brock Lesnar, another great match from Seth Rollins, the debut of Heavy Machinery, and another message from Ronda Rousey that was lacking in entertainment to a certain degree. Now, regarding the segment featuring Brock Lesnar, despite the fact that it featured Vince McMahon and Paul Heyman was great as always on the mic, I wasn’t that entertained by it. It kind of took me back to the days just a few years ago when WWE was hopelessly trying to position Roman Reigns in the same role they are currently trying to position Finn Balor. I know the role works a lot better for Balor, but it just feels a little soon to me for them to be doing another story like that. Maybe I am just being a downer. All the hatred of Reigns from a few years ago really rubbed me the wrong way.
Seth Rollins does not appear to be from this planet. His stamina and pure wrestling ability is simply off the charts. I love the sheer passion with which he wrestles his matches. The suicide dives, superplexes and falcon arrows, bucklebombs, curbstomps and whatever else are quite a spectacle to watch. He has also improved a lot on the mic in recent times. Seth cut a brilliant promo this week relating himself with the WWE universe by telling them that he was from a town not much different than Oklahoma City, where they were at that night. He basically told the universe that he had the business in his blood and that it was deeply ingrained in every fiber of his being. I have really grown to resonate with him on a deep level in all aspects.
I’m not sure if my opinion matters much, but I have a strong inclination that Seth Rollins will add a Royal Rumble victory to his resume this weekend. I know I said a few weeks ago that it would be a cool idea for Ambrose to win, but he has now lost momentum and it is all on the side of Rollins. Ambrose will still last in the match for quite a while since he is a top-tier superstar, but he won’t be winning by any means. He doesn’t have enough momentum going. Don’t be surprised either if someone like Johnny Gargano enters the Royal Rumble. Switching topics again, I think that Heavy Machinery will be great for the tag team division. They strike me as being able to do for the tag team division what a person like Kevin Owens did for the singles system division in WWE, namely to provide comic relief and add humor into storylines.
Side Note: I am thrilled to see that WWE is starting to take serious notice of Apollo Crews. If he’s not at the point yet where he is winning matches, it’s a huge step in the right direction for him to be even getting matches against superstars the caliber of Bobby Lashley. Speaking of Lashley, Lio Rush has worked wonders for his character in terms of being taken seriously like he should be. I have also heard rumors of a third match potentially being added to the Wrestlemania card. In addition to Seth Rollins and Brock Lesnar facing off for the universal championship, and Ronda Rousey defending her Raw women’s championship against Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair in a triple threat match, Lashley may defend his intercontinental championship against a returning Kevin Owens in a strong upper – mid-card match to help improve the depth of the Wrestlemania card.