WWE Week In Review: February 18-24, 2019

With some surprising call ups and interesting happening on the Network TV; how did the week go for WWE? Tiffany gives us her take!

Elimination Chamber is in the rearview mirror and now the WWE Universe turns their attention to Fastlane and WrestleMania.

RAW

Triple H: I actually loved Triple H’s segment this week. He always seems like such a proud father when one of the NXT guys/girls gets called up. It’s no secret that NXT is his baby and he has worked incredibly hard to make it successful. He also has to be proud of the fact that he’s getting ready to go into the Hall of Fame as part of Degeneration X, along with HBK, X-Pac, Chyna, Road Dogg, and Billy Gunn.

NXT Guys: I’ll admit that I was very skeptical when Trips made the announcement about the call-ups since Ciampa and Gargano hold the top titles in NXT. It was very well done and it give a cold Main Roster audience a chance to meet some of the top guys in NXT outside of the fever pitch that is WrestleMania weekend.

Baron Corbin vs Braun Strowman: We went from a really great moment for Triple H to one of the crappiest matches I’ve ever seen. WHY is this feud continuing and when are people going to realize that Strowman stinks?! Best that can be said is that Strowman won, so they’re tied. The moment with Heyman was odd, considering that Strowman isn’t going to be involved with Lesnar for the foreseeable future, thank God.

Heyman: I love Heyman as a promo guy, he can really whip up a crowd, but his promos about Lesnar are as stale as they get.

Finn Balor/Ricochet/Lashley/Rush: I LOVED this match, at least the Balor/Ricochet end of it. Lashley is still boring and Rush is still annoying. The match was really great and Ricochet made a great impression on the fans, though you wouldn’t know it by the crowd noise.

Dean Ambrose: Since Dean had three segments, I’m going to put them all here. I’ve said before that I fully believe that the whole ‘He’s leaving after WrestleMania’ is a work and this week helped solidify that. You typically don’t give a departing superstar three segments one with the COO and another top star, a match, and then another segment with another top star. The match against McIntyre sucked because Dean barely got out of the box, but it’s clear that they’re building McIntyre for something big, so this Ambrose Girl isn’t panicking just yet.

As for the Ambrose/Rollins interaction, I have a few theories on what exactly is going on, but I’m going to wait and see how WWE plays it because they have to tread a lightly to keep from getting bashed.

Lucha House Party vs Hawkins and Ryder: I could NOT get into this match. I don’t care about Hawkins or his losing streak and Lucha House Party gets on my nerves. It was a good match, but it seems like WWE’s either building toward a Ryder/Hawkins feud or they’re going to give Hawkins a win on a big stage.

Heavy Machinery and Lacey Evans: I’m going to be blunt and say I can’t STAND Lacey Evans or her gimmick. However, her interaction with Heavy Machinery was fun and made for a funny dynamic.

DIY vs Revival: This was a match straight out of NXT and I loved it. Ciampa and Gargano are an amazing team and putting them with the Revival guaranteed a great match, which is exactly what happened. Too bad the crowd didn’t appreciate it.

Kevin Owens: I’m not a fan of Owens, so I really didn’t pay attention to what he was doing, but he was a great competitor and it’ll be nice to have him back on the roster.

Sasha and Bayley: I loved this segment with Boss-Hug over the Tag Championships. I still hope one set of tag champions will mean a separate show for the women in the near future. Samoan Dynasty’s appearance and promo weren’t a surprise, but Tamina speaking was. This will probably be the big tag feud for the women heading into WrestleMania and I’m fine with that.

Elias vs Aleister Black: Part of the reason I’m not terribly worried about Ambrose after he was squashed by McIntyre is because of this segment, which went very similarly to the Ambrose/McIntyre bout. I was extremely impressed with Black and his Undertaker-esque gimmick and I think he’ll do pretty well on the main roster.

Ronda Rousey vs Ruby Riott: After the BS squash match at Elimination Chamber, I was glad that WWE gave Ruby Riott a chance to have the match she’s capable of having against Ronda Rousey, but Rousey’s performance left a little to be desired, but it was a good match and Riott and her Squad got to show how good they were before the expected finish.

Thoughts: This was a good RAW, especially when compared to previous weeks. The NXT call ups were done really well, though I did notice that they weren’t put up against older, more established guys, they were put with other NXT call ups. Corbin vs Strowman was the only really crap match of the night and a lot of stories moved forward.

The one really bad thing about RAW was the audience. A lot of people have made excuses about the lousy crowd in Lafayette, but to sit there and basically give the wrestlers nothing is just ridiculous, especially when there were a lot of great matches.

SmackDown

Shane and Miz: This was a really great segment, I was honestly surprised that they didn’t have Miz somehow blame Shane for them losing, Miz owned up to the loss like a man. I’m not surprised that there will be a rematch with the Usos, I’d actually been wondering how long the ‘No Rematch’ thing would last, so that will be a fun match for FastLane.

Aleister Black vs Andrade Almas: This was the first of the NXT call up matches and it was a great starting point. Black and Almas had a wonderful rivalry in NXT and it was fun to have it showcased on the Main Roster.

Jeff Hardy and AJ Styles: This was an interesting segment and seems to be sowing the seeds for a potential feud for these two down the road.

The Bar vs DIY: This was a little bit of an aberration from the NXT Calls Ups vs NXT Call Ups that WWE did on RAW…a little. Sheamus was not part of NXT, but Cesaro was in the very beginning.

This was a FANTASTIC match between these two teams! They really tore the place down and DIY got to show what a great team they were. The scary spot with Ciampa’s knee was definitely justified, but there’s been no word that he or Sheamus was seriously hurt outside of giving everyone a scare.

Asuka vs Mandy Rose: I don’t have much to say about this whole segment except: WTF?! I’m not an Asuka fan, but WWE’s booked her championship run terribly and then having her lose in a stupid way to Mandy Rose was just ridiculous.

Charlotte Flair: I know a lot of people have been making a big deal over the injuries Charlotte and Ronda suffered from Becky, but I’ve had to use crutches a few times in my life and Charlotte’s arm didn’t look all that different from how the underside of my arms looked after using the crutches.

That said, I’m glad to see even a little storyline movement since we didn’t get any on Monday.

Ricochet vs Eric Young: This was another NXT vs NXT match up and it was a great one. SaNity has barely been used since their call up, so seeing them get some air time was a lot of fun. WWE seems to really be invested in putting the new guys over because all of them were 2-0 for their Raw/SmackDown appearances.

Six Man Tag Match: This was such a good match, which I fully expected it to be given the people involved. Bryan’s assertion that he wasn’t going to face anyone he’d beaten in Elimination Chamber was interesting and kind of spoiled what was probably going to happen.

Much like last week and Sunday, Kofi was the star and him getting the pin on Bryan was nice, but a little frustrating when you remembered that Mustafa Ali never got his one-on-one with Bryan after pinning him. I honestly don’t think Kofi’s going to beat Bryan at Fastlane, but it was exciting to see him finally get his chance to shine and he’ll have a great match with Bryan.

Thoughts: This was a really good episode of SmackDown, all the stories were moved forward. Mandy Rose vs Asuka was the big clunker of the show because it was so stupid. I’m really excited for Kofi, but I’m not optimistic enough to believe he’ll win.

205 Live

TJP vs Humberto Carillo: This was a really good match. Carillow has got tons of potential, but I hate him being with Gulak and Gallagher. It’s just very cringe-inducing to have white guys trying to ‘teach’ a POC how to do their job the ‘right’ way. I realize that that’s the point, but this gets a little too close to RL politics for my comfort. Still, it was a good match and Carrillo’s definitely making an impression on people.

Tony Nese proved why he’s a good heel with his promo on Dar and him planting his flag as possible challenger to his good ‘friend’, Buddy Murphy. I almost want Nese to win just to see who will be the face and who will be the heel in this.

Mike and Maria Kanellis: This was another really good interview. Kanellis finally seems to be finding his footing in 205, but he definitely suffers from a lack of attention. Hopefully, that’ll change over this year.

Ariya Daivari vs Johnny Lyons: This was a really good match. Daivari is getting a chance to shine out of the shadows of Itami and the other people he’s been a sidekick to. I’m not familiar with Lyons, but he did a really good job selling. It wasn’t a long match, but it’s clear that Daivari is trying to make a name on his own and I hope it works out.

Buddy Murphy: This was a really good promo for Murphy. Murphy tooting his own horn while massaging the facts is classic heel stuff. It’ll be interesting to see who faces him at Wrestlemania.

Mike Kanellis vs Cedric Alexander: This was an AMAZING match! Kenellis proved that he was more than capable of hanging with the top tier talent of 205. My one gripe was the screwjob-ish finish. I love Cedric Alexander, but I don’t want another round of him vs Murphy. Kanellis won the match and should be moving on. I have a feeling that Maria’s going to raise hell about this next week because it was so close.

Thoughts: Really good episode of 205, as usual. Lots of great matches and promos. It’s nice to see them gearing up for WrestleMania instead of Fastlane.

NXT UK

Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster vs Coffey Brothers: This was SUCH a good match, it easily could’ve been the main event of the show. Andrews and Webster should be considered contenders for the Tag Team Titles.  That said, I wasn’t surprised by the Coffey’s winning, they needed a win a lot more than Andrews and Webster did.

Nina Samuels: This was a ‘huh?’ promo, especially since it wasn’t followed by a match.

Jordan Devlin: I was happy to see Devlin bounce back from When Worlds Collide because he was a star in that tournament. I’m also glad that the feud with Banks will continue, I just hope it gets re-started soon.

Kay Lee Ray: This was an interesting vignette for her. I’m not familiar with Ray, but her vignette was very impressive.

Trent Seven: I loved this match. Seven was another one that needed a victory after losing in the tag title tournament. Thorne is definitely a talent to watch, but he was there to put a notch in the win column for Seven, but Seven made him look good in defeat.

Jack Gallagher: There’s been rumors of some of the guys on the Main Roster who are from the UK wanting to go to NXT UK because it’s closer to home and it seems Gallagher might be one of those people. He’d be an interesting addition to NXT UK.

Joseph Conners: I’m going to be honest, Conners gives me the weirds, that might be the point, but I just want to put that out there. I am intrigued by the feud between him and Ligero and Conners claiming that the win was a fluke.

Grizzled Young Veterans: I really liked this segment. GYV have fully embraced being ‘No F**ks Given’ heels and that makes it fun to watch. The potential feud with Lorcan and Burch promises to be a brutal one but hopefully it’ll be more than just a slugfest because both teams are capable of doing it.

Toni Storm vs Rhea Ripley: This was my favorite match this week! Storm and Ripley tell such an amazing story in the ring and this was definitely that. Storm still has trouble making her opponent look like a threat without making herself look stupid, but that’s improving, thank God. I’m thankful that Storm retained, but there really isn’t anyone to step up right now except Ripley.

NXT

Aleister Black vs Roderick Strong: If his dominant performances on RAW and SmackDown weren’t a sign that WWE is high on Aleister Black, his amazing match against Undisputed Era’s Roderick Strong solidified it. Black and Strong had a great match but it’s clear that Black is being groomed for big things after he managed to get a win over Strong. I also appreciate the ongoing storyline of Black and Ricochet being aligned against the Undisupted Era.

Four Horsewomen: I honestly didn’t get this segment. Did Baszler and company honestly think a room full of professional wrestlers and/or athletes were really going to be intimidated by her and her friends? It just made her look insecure and petty.

Bianca Belair: I believe I’ve said before that I’m not a fan of Belair, so I just rolled my eyes through her whiny, sore loser, promo. She’s no longer undefeated and Io Shirai won her opportunity to face Baszler fair and square.

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic: I’m SUPER excited that they’re bringing this back, I don’t remember if they did one last year or who won, but this is always an enjoyable tournament and the names picked are really good.

Mia Yim vs Xia-Li: This was SUCH a good match. Xia Li has improved since her first appearance in the first Mae Young Classic. I’m a huge fan of Mia Yim and I was glad to FINALLY see her get a win since WWE’s booking of her has been questionable, in my opinion. I hated the Four Horsewomen running into another match that didn’t concern them, but I love Yim basically telling Baszler to f**k off, can’t wait for that match.

Candice LeRae, Johnny Gargano, and Tommaso Ciampa: This was a fun little segment that seemed to build on Gargano and Ciampa being friends again, whether Candice likes it or not. I wish they’d find something for Candice to do other than playing the concerned wife.

Matt Riddle: I’m not going to lie, I can’t stand Matt Riddle, so I barely paid attention to what he had to say. I don’t think Ohno’s gone, or done with NXT, but we’ll have to see.

Johnny Gargano vs Velveteen Dream: This was a very good main event for NXT. Gargano and Dream are really good together in the ring. That said, I’m very disappointed that Gargano’s first singles title run was so short, I don’t think Ricochet even got a rematch. Also, Ciampa’s involvement was interesting. It’s looking more and more like the DIY reunion is just another mind game by Ciampa, but we’ll see.

Overall Thoughts: This was a really good week for WWE, all the shows put together solid matches and moved the stories along, and RAW and SmackDown only had one clunker a piece, which wasn’t bad. It’s clear that WWE is really playing it safe until after Fastlane when the WrestleMania build will really start, but this was a fun week.