Roman Reigns has never strayed too far from any fan’s mind from the time he was re-diagnosed with leukemia to right now when he announced his return. I had absolute faith in him that he would come back sooner rather than later. I was getting very emotional when he was talking in the ring. I could hardly even look at the TV because it would make me cry. It stirred up feelings of the support I have received over the years with the neuromuscular condition I have (I don’t like the wording of “disease” because I view it as more of a case of “dis”-“ease” within the body. But anyway, that was a great way to open the show and get positive emotions flowing through the WWE universe right from the start. It was also great to see Reigns deliver a few moves as he and Seth Rollins proceeded to save Dean Ambrose from the attack by Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, Elias, and Baron Corbin.
It’s important to note that WWE is trying to devalue the character of Dean Ambrose a little bit before he leaves the company. His return to TV is also sure to increase viewership for Raw as it was tanking without its top star, probably because his polarizing presence forces people to respect him combined with the fact that one can feel the energy Reigns permeates into an arena when he walks out – they don’t need to see him.
It was beautiful to see Ric Flair (or should I say the stylin’, profilin’, limousine ridin’, jet flyin’, kiss stealin’, wheelin’ dealin’ son of a gun) electing to give back to the business some more, even on his 70th birthday and letting Batista have the spotlight. This makes perfect sense because Batista was a part of Evolution with Flair. It also makes perfect sense from the standpoint of Batista wrapping up his career because he has said on multiple occasions that he would like to have one more big feud with Triple H before he officially retires from in-ring competition. He even turned down being inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2017 for this reason. So expect a match to be made for WrestleMania between Batista and Triple H. I imagine Batista has more left in the tank than The Undertaker.
Ronda Rousey did a great job furthering her storyline with Becky Lynch this week by giving Stephanie McMahon an ultimatum saying that if Becky Lynch is not reinstated and put into the match at WrestleMania, then she will basically relinquish the Raw women’s championship. Lastly, the four call –ups from NXT may indeed be here to stay. This is great to see because the business is evolving right before our eyes. All of these guys bring a different feel to WWE. It’s a shame they had to make a name for themselves at the expense of The Revival, but that’s the way it goes in WWE. It will bring new and fresh matchups. It’s very exciting to see and gives one hope that the future of this industry is in good hands.
Lio Rush looked very good too. WWE may overlook him because of his size, but it’d be a crying shame because he’s incredibly talented.
Side Note: I love getting information about how the company is doing in terms of TV viewership from Forbes.