Wrestle Review: Winter Came

I’ll be honest with you: Winter Is Coming fell a little flat for me. Maybe it was that last year they had Sting debut as well as Kenny Omega stealing the AEW World Championship from Jon Moxley. Compartitavly, Adam Page retained the World Title (as he should’ve but I’m surprised he did) and there were no debuts. I remember, back in October, I had a friend swear up and down that the former Bray Wyatt would debut on the October 29 episode of Rampage. Two months later and he still hasn’t. Mental health comes first, though. He might debut in 2022. I stress the word MIGHT.

Danielson/Page was pretty great. Everything else? That’s what fell flat for me. The ending did give us the official challenge of Sting, Darby and Punk vs MJF and FTR. Let’s get that match pdq and not on the qt or dl, ok? MJF winning the Dynamite Diamond Ring for the third year in a row was expected. I mean, you really didn’t think they’d have Dante Martin beat MJF, did you? Me neither.

The Owen Cup men’s and women’s tournaments were announced on Rampage with both finals occurring at Double Or Nothing. Martha Hart will be on hand to award the trophy to the winners and probably take a few jabs at WWE. Adam Cole will beat Orange Cassidy Wednesday night as well as Malakai Black defeating Griff Garrison. Nyla Rose will face Ruby Soho in the semifinals of the TBS Championship Tournament. Every time Ruby Soho is mentioned, I think of Taz singing her theme song. And I, in turn, sing the song. MJF and FTR will face Sting, Darby and Punk. Hook vs Bear Bronson and Sammy Guevara vs Cody Rodes Christmas night for the TNT Championship round out a solid week next week. Saturday January 8 Battle of the Belts will see Britt Baker defending the title against Riho. An obvious Baker win.

Smackdown saw the continuation of the Sonya/Naomi feud. At some point, are they going to have a one-on-one match? It’s just that they’ve been dragging this out for more than a bit. WWE Day 1 is shaping up to be a pretty good card. Big E vs Seth Rollins for the WWE Championship has turned into Big E vs Seth Rollins vs Kevin Owens vs Bobby Lashley for the WWE Championship. Roman Reigns defeating Brock Lesnar again for the Universal Championship will happen. Uso’s defending against New Day, Becky beating Liv again, Miz vs Edge in a match that, apparently from what I hear, not many online want to see. I think we’ll see a Charlotte/Toni Storm rematch from their Smackdown clash and Dirty Dawgs vs RK Bro for the Raw tag titles.

Since this is my last column until after Christmas, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas! Have a great week and enjoy wrestling and time with your family. A year without such things will definitely make you appreciate what you have.