Opinions

Wrestle Review: Fire and Ice

Andy Sullivan

Fire and Ice, hot and cold…hot takes, cold takes. There’s plenty of that in the world and especially in the wrestling world. One bit of hot news broke Thursday afternoon when it was reported by basically every online wrestling source that Cesaro has left WWE. It was immediately suspected that Claudio Castagnoli (Cesaro’s given name) will be in the Face of the Revolution ladder match. How cool would that be? I don’t think it happens, but it’d be cool.

And now for some ice. I read Vince McMahon and Pat McAfee are about to start a program that might perhaps culminate in a WrestleMania match. This would be yet another head scratcher for WWE. They’ve been known for those lately. About the only saving grace for Smackdown last night was that Roman Reigns segment to close the show. That man continues to carry the mail for WWE.

The CM Punk/MJF interaction on Dynamite Wednesday was interesting. For God’s sake, he got Tony to feel for him. And he’s an on-air detractor of MJF. I think we’re in the midst of a double-turn because the fans seemed to be booing Punk. Punk kept asking “is it true”? It’s going to be satisfying when the double turn does happen, I’m saying at Revolution.

Buddy Matthews’ appearance on Dynamite was a pleasant surprise. He seems to have joined House of Black with Black and Brody King. Let’s just not make this group into the next Nightmare Collective. Remember them?

The Face of the Revolution ladder match is complete after Orange Cassidy qualified Friday night. Orange joins Wardlow, Keith Lee, Powerhouse Hobbs and Ricky Starks.

Kayla Sparks pulled off the Rick Rude Friday night. Remember that time Rude appeared on Raw in ’97 and on Nitro the same night? Sparks was in the crowd on Smackdown to take part in the Los Lotharios kiss cam. Great thing to do during Covid, by the way…. She then competes against Serena Deeb on Rampage later that night.

I will end on one saving grace for Smackdown last night. In between the mess that is Johnny Knoxville getting an intercontinental title shot at Mania and all the other mess on Smackdown, we had a fire promo from Roman Reigns. Coincidentally, Britt Baker had a fire promo on Rampage. Roman has been operating on another level on this current run. He’s really been the bright spot in WWE as of late.

Don’t forget to check out my podcast, Blendertainment, available wherever you get your podcasts. Also, a week from tomorrow is Revolution so I’ll have my thoughts on that next weekend. Enjoy wrestling!