Wrestle Review: Sea Change Submitted by Andy Sullivan on 04/13/2019 at 01:00 AM
WrestleMania had a lot of cool moments. Seth dethroning Lesnar and Kofi winning the WWE Championship chief among them. I enjoyed John Cena returning as the Dr. of Thuganomics to confront Elias. My friend I was watching with Sunday night simply cannot stand Cena. So, obviously he crapped all over it. I thought it was pretty cool. Oh well.
As stacked as WrestleMania was, the Raw after Mania was....underwhelming. I'll be honest, I was watching a great NCAA Championship game Monday so I watched Raw on HULU Tuesday morning. Lars Sullivan finally debuting and wiping the floor with Kurt Angle was a standout. Speaking of Kurt, it boggles the mind that they had him job to Baldie Corbin in his "last" match. I digress. Lars is a beast. I'm thinking a Lars/Braun feud is a no-brainer. Of course, the Superstar Shakeup Monday and Tuesday could send these guys to separate shows.
Big E is injured and will be out for quite awhile. I mentioned to a friend(the same friend I watched Mania with), that I think Big E will turn on Kofi when he returns. He said "you really want him to be a heel, don't you"? Well, it's kind of a logical move. Especially now that he'll be coming back from injury. So, New Day is a duo now I suppose. This would actually be a great time to split New Day and have Xavier go to Raw and challenge for the IC title or something.
I'm thinking they also might split The Bar. I could see Kofi and Sheamus in a title feud. I didn't say I wanted to see it. I was afraid they were going to blow Kofi's title reign in short order when they announced title vs title on Raw. I bet the Bar getting involved leads to something more than that impromptu tag match Monday.
The Hardy's winning the tag titles on Smackdown was a surprise to me. It also signifies to me that Jimmy and Jey could be bound for Raw in the shakeup. I don't think they'll pull a bonehead move and split Jimmy and Jey. I'll definitely be keeping a close eye on the shakeup. I like seeing new things.
There were a couple other notes to come out of WrestleMania. For one, Sasha Banks appeared to be unsatisfied with WWE but was talked into staying. Dean was talked into staying as well when he originally thought about leaving. He wrapped up his tenure Monday night. I'm halfway expecting something similar from Banks. Now that same rumor is going around with Bayley. I'm going to believe it when I see it. Or rather, don't see them.
Road Dogg has stepped down as Smackdown lead writer. Rumor is he caught heat from his Hall of Fame speech. It was his moment. Should he not have been able to say what he wanted? If that was indeed the issue. I read where he was solely responsible for the idea to give Becky and Kofi the championships. I'm not sold on Brian James wielding that much power.
Eli Drake and Impact Wrestling mutually parting ways will have people saying "he's going to AEW". Let's face it, that's the de facto call of the wrestling fan when someone leaves their promotion. I do wonder how Impact will dissolve the on-air partnership of Eddie Edwards and Eli. Maybe it'll just fade away. I guess the speculation over where the former Eli Drake goes has started. I guess we'll see.
As I type this, I'm on the tail end of Impact. Jordyn Grace/Brian Cage vs Impact and Valkyrie was crazy! Probably the best match of that show.
I mentioned WrestleMania earlier but would be remiss if I didn't mention that historic women's main event. All three laid it all on the line in a killer match! I sincerely hope that's not the last women's Mania main event we see. I know it's not the last women's main event we'll see.
What happens with the shakeup this coming week? Will there be anymore AEW news after their big Turner TV deal was announced? How cool would it be to have Jim Ross back on TBS Saturday nights at 6:05? We are definitely in the midst of a sea change in professional wrestling. I know I'm not the only one interested to see how things shake out.
