RAW And Smackdown LIVE Best Bits of the Week

Hello everyone and welcome back to Talk Wrestling World, I hope you are all well and good and have had a great day so far. I know, I know, I know it's been a while. I mentioned in last week's post (the last post I uploaded) that I was going through some stuff and it meant that I was finding it difficult to get on top of things and while I promised I would return to normal last week it just didn't happen and my problems just got worse so I decided to take a longer break and try and get myself back feeling more...me. And so that brings me to now, and with one week left until the Fastlane pay per view, I thought I would come back a week later with a brand new blog post idea. Now, if you have  been following my blog for long enough you will know that I usually uploaded a RAW Highlights and a Smackdown LIVE Best and Worse Moments post every single week the following day after each show. I love writing these posts. I love going back and taking out and talking about some of the best moments from two of the biggest shows in wrestling. However, sometimes it can mean that I'm deprived of being able to upload new and original content and so this month I want to shake things up a little allowing me to have Tuesdays where I can upload a creative post or another top five considering they always go down so well. Today, I'm going to be trying something a little different and combining both RAW and Smackdown reviews in one post. Every week throughout the month of March I will be uploading my RAW and Smackdown LIVE best bits of the week where I run you through five or more of the standouts moments across the two shows. This is something I'm excited to try and I did have a lot of fun writing this post this morning. Now, I am planning on writing and uploading more posts this week but I don't want to go promising anything because I am still trying to get back to normal but there really is a lot going on at the moment. I will be live tweeting throughout the shows this week and I of course plan on live tweeting throughout Fastlane and uploading a full review on the show also. As far as seasons go I do still want to go ahead with Smackdown season. It's something I'm super passionate about but by the looks of things, it's going to be taking place later on in the year. I will be writing a lot of posts on Wrestlemania throughout that season as always so make sure to keep an eye out for those posts. For now, you can let me know what you thought of this weeks episode of Monday night RAW and Smackdown LIVE by leaving a comment bellow or by dropping a tweet over at @TezangiVictoria.

Kevin Owens & Goldberg Come Face to Face ahead of Fastlane

This Sunday Live on the WWE Network Kevin Owens will defend his WWE Universal Championship against the legendary, Goldberg at the Fastlane pay per view in what is set to be one of the biggest main event matches of twenty seventeen. Here we have two superstars from different eras with a different attitude and very different motives battling it out for what is now one of the most prestigious titles in the WWE today. The announcement was made several weeks back that these two would collide in the final pay per view before Wrestlemania and during last night's show the pair came head to head only six days before their huge title match. With Goldberg kick starting RAW he made his way down to the ring picking up that usual epic reaction from the live crowd and once with a mic in his hands the former champion himself would make it perfectly clear that he intends on defeating Owens this weekend and taking the Universal Championship to Wrestlemania in his highly anticipated singles match against the Beast, Brock Lesnar. Now, in my personal opinion, I would love to see Goldberg and Lesnar battle it out for the title at Mania. I know it's something that has really divided opinion. While many sit alongside me and think this is a brilliant idea there are of course plenty of fans who detest the idea and trust me I understand both sides completely. Both men are part-timers and having the title on one of them I know isn't going to go down well with a great deal of the WWE universe and it does create problems here and there. However, while having one of these men as champion may noot be the best move, in the long run, it does make an epic Wrestlemania match and it does certainly draw in the fans, plus, I honestly cannot see the WWE giving Owens the victory this weekend. In last night's opening segment both men looked strong. There was no physical contact between the pair but both men were solid on the mic and said what they needed to say. Owens, as usual, played the perfect smug heel bringing up all he has achieved since his main roster debut and while I would have liked a little more it was a decent opening and a weaker segment didn't take away from the fact this is a match I really am excited to sit back and watch this Sunday.

Battle of the Power couples Begins 

For my next point, I'm going to stay on the topic of show openings and take a look at last night's Smackdown LIVE opener that saw the feud between the Miz and John Cena heat up and really get started. For weeks the WWE have been hinting that the two superstars would be kick-starting a feud heading into Wrestlemania and last night the foundation was set. During last weeks a main event battle royal to determine who will face Bray Wyatt at Wrestlemania we saw Miz eliminate Cena in what would be a focus point in their feud moving forward. This week's episode of Smackdown LIVE kick starts with the former Intercontinental champion hosting another episode of Miz TV alongside wife Maryse and special guest, the one and only, John Cena. As we all know, these two superstars have an interesting history and it's even more interesting seeing the pair reunite their feud at this stage of both their careers. Miz, in particular, has come extremely far since the pair last feuded and while the Miz was WWE Champion back then he now feels a far more established, respected and all round stronger superstar. The pair spoke of their history last night and it was clear there was great chemistry there. The segment flowed and both men looked and sounded very strong. There was no weaker man here and I found myself genuinely interested in what both men had to say and what was going on. We all know the Miz and Cena are fantastic mic workers and know exactly how to captivate and entertain an audience. Now, after Maryse decided to belittle and slap Cena around the face that automatically became the cue for Nikki Bella to of course make her way down the ring and even up the numbers standing alongside her man. Of course, we were all expecting this. The rumoured mix tag team match between these four superstars at Wrestlemania is something the whole wrestling community has been talking about and quite frankly complaining about for weeks now and after what happened during last week's show between Maryse and Nikki what transferred last night was sure to be expected. Now, I'm going to come out and say it... I do not have a problem with this match heading into Mania. Now, of course, I would love for both these men to involved in a much bigger match at Wrestlemania but the fact of the matter is is that this just works. We get more talent on the Mania card actually wrestling, there's history and chemistry between them all and it's a match that does get people talking and generates attention and to be honest I personally really am looking forward to this match. It might not be the best wrestling match but it will be entertaining and I'm hoping the build up will change the opinions of certain fans.

Orton Burns Down the Wyatt Compound 

Up next I have to talk about what was possibly my favourite promo/segment produced by the WWE...ever. Taking place on last night's episode of Smackdown LIVE we saw the relationship between Randy Orton and current WWE Champion Bray Wyatt descend in what will go down in iconic fashion. I actually fell asleep pretty early into the show last night because I had a long day but I woke up and the first thing I did was catch up and it was that closing segment that had me pretty much speechless. I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting it at all. I personally would have saved this segment for maybe next week or the week after. I've always known Orton will be turning on Wyatt at some point, we all did, but I don't think anyone quite expected it to happen this week and so soon after him declaring that he will not be facing Wyatt at Wrestlemania. To think that Luke Harper and AJ Styles were battling it out to compete in the main event of Mania against Bray and then this happened later on in the show just didn't make complete sense to me. It all happened too soon in my personal opinion but the segment was so strong, so entertaining and conducted so well by both men that I cannot complain. Orton was brilliant. Plain and simple. He has not looked this strong, not been this entertaining in a very long time! You can tell that he is loving working this storyline and it translates so well. Everything he did in this segment was done so well. The way he looked down the camera, the way he spoke, the look in his eyes. I was completely captivated and invested in every single thing he did. Burning down the Wyatt compound and everything he said about Sister Abigail was just brilliant. It showed that he really had learnt a lot about Bray and knew that his actions would really really effect him. It felt so personal and so intense and I genuinely was hooked from start to finish. And what made this even better way Bray Wyatt himself. Someone give this man an Oscar! His facial expressions, everything he said and how he said it, the fact he cried, everything he did was fantastic and it made this segment ten times stronger. I felt his pain and the whole thing felt so intense and personal. I cannot talk high enough about this segment and it actually made me more excited for next week's episode of Smackdown LIVE than this Sunday's Fastlane Pay per view.

Will Seth Rollins Make it to Wrestlemania?

The feud between Triple H and Seth Rollins screams Wrestlemania. Years in the making the story here is fantastic. It writes itself. I have said it time and time again that this is a match I can completely invest in. We have two extremely talented superstars from a different generation battling it out in what is one of the strongest and best told stories from the WWE in years. It's the match that Rollins has needed for a while now and one that works amazingly well. Again, I cannot praise this enough. However, a second knee injury has left Rollins Wrestlemania dreams shattered and with it rumoured he will be missing his second Wrestlemania in a row this week on Monday night RAW he took part in in an in-ring interview with Corey Graves to address his injury. The interview as a whole I thought was fantastic. Rollins has definitely had his good and bad days on the mic and this week we saw the best mic work from him. You could feel his emotion and everything he said had everyone listening more and more. He spoke of his previous knee injury and what is currently going on and moved on eventually to explain that doctors have said it is unlikely he will be able to make it to Wrestlemania. The news that Rollins is unlikely to be cleared in time for April second was devastating. There is nothing worse for Seth than to be told he could be missing his second Wrestlemania in a row and you could really feel how devastated he was during the segment on Monday. However, after he made the announcement Rollins was joined by the game, Triple H who had a few harsh words for the former champion. Adding insult to injury, Hunter knew how to twist the knife just a little more and it gave this segment the little push it needed to feel bigger. Personally I wasn't a fan of Samoa Joe being out there also but it made sense and allowed Triple H to show off his new shiny toy. The king of kings concluded the segment with one final warning to Rollins that he best stay away from Wrestlemania, or it would be the last thing he ever did. However, Seth would come back with a quick reply that had the crowd on their feet and right behind him once again promising that he will be at Wrestlemania regardless of whether the doctors clear him and that if it is the last thing he does in the WWE than he will take the game down with him. I am hoping that Rollins can perform at Mania and the segment alone did leave me very excited for what is to come between these to men, best be known this feud is far from over.

AJ Styles & Luke Harper Battle it out for the Mania Main Event

During last week's episode of Smackdown LIVE, we saw a great battle royal main event to determine who will face Bray Wyatt for the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania after Randy Orton announced he was refusing to take part in the the Mania main event against his leader. The Battle Royal was far better than I was expecting it to be and those last five minutes really were fantastic. However, the booking decision meant that there was no winner come the end of the night with Luke Harper and AJ Styles both touching the floor at the same time, however, I have no idea why this was even a talking point because the whole world knows full well that Harper won that match and so

everything that happened after just pissed me off. You guys know how much I love Luke Harper and his booking has been fantastic recently and the push has been seriously deserved and long overdue. Last night, Harper and Styles were set to battle it out with the winner, of course, going on to take part in the main event of Wrestlemania against Bray Wyatt for the WWE Championship. Despite the fact I hate that Harper was screwed over twice I loved this match. Both are very different superstars but together they just worked amazingly well and delivered the standout match of the night without a shadow of a doubt. I, of course, was not happy with the result. I do believe Harper should have got the win but seeing where the night went I can see why the decision was made and it does make sense and work. What I'm hoping, however, is they find something strong for Luke going into Mania and the push doesn't stop here.

I had a lot of fun writing this post and trying something new. Like I said I'm so happy to be back blogging and hopefully the month of March is much better than February for me. I will be live tweeting throughout Fastlane this weekend including the kick off show so make sure you are following me over at @TezangiVictoria. You can let me know what you thought of this post and this weeks show by leaving a comment bellow.