Next week is WrestleMania 35! Did the WWE shows help to excite, or further the IWC narrative of being disconnected? Let’s see what Tiffany says about it.

RAW

Women’s Beat the Clock Match: Uh…Okay, that happened. Seriously, what was the point of doing a ‘Beat the Clock’ match with nothing at stake? And why was the Riott Squad sacrificed for that nonsense? These women are going to be MAIN EVENTING WrestleMania, and they do this two weeks out? Seriously?

Finn Balor vs Bobby Lashley and Jinder Mahal: I’m over this feud, seriously over it. It’s just become bunch of petty nonsense and I hope Balor wins at WrestleMania and WWE separates him and Lashley in the Shake-up. The inclusion of Mahal was just silly, especially since Balor ran circles around Lashley and Mahal.

Elias: I don’t like Elias, but him going around New York and playing guitar was funny.

Aleister Black and Ricochet vs Revival: Black and Ricochet have been making quite a splash as a team on the main roster and they’ve done a great job of helping revitalize the RAW Tag Team Division. I have a feeling that Black and Ricochet will be having a VERY busy WrestleMania weekend after that great match with the Revival.

Drew McIntyre vs Reigns and Ambrose: I’m going to be blunt: I think McIntyre is massively overrated. He has no personality and is an average worker and promo at best. The only difference between the McIntyre ten years ago and McIntyre now is that he put on muscle because he’s every bit as boring now as he was as Mr. McMahon’s hand-picked ‘Chosen One’. So I find him being put with Roman Reigns for WrestleMania a little baffling, however since this match will be Reigns’ first singles match since October, it should be a good one.

On the other hand, the treatment of Dean Ambrose is frustrating. We keep being told that Ambrose is leaving, yet WWE keeps bringing him out and putting him in this feud, fighting McIntyre for Roman and getting beat every time. Why are we building a story for Ambrose if he’s leaving in a couple of weeks?  Make up your minds, WWE.

Women’s Tag Team Division: I think we all knew that the re-emergence of the Divas of Doom and the small number of actual women’s division tag teams meant we were headed for a Fatal Four Way match at WrestleMania, but I’m still concerned about how Beth Phoenix is going to do since it’s been seven years since she’s had an actual match. Hopefully, the other three teams will help cover any issues she might have.

Kurt Angle: The Angle retirement tour keeps on truckin’, but I’m still hoping that Baron Corbin will not be Angle’s final match. Kurt can’t go the way he used to, but I don’t think putting him with Corbin, who isn’t exactly a ring general, is the best way to send Angle into the sunset.

As someone who watched Angle and Samoa Joe in TNA, I had high expectations for this match, and it wasn’t the worst match I ever saw, but it was NOT like what they had in TNA, which was sad, though Joe’s face when Angle beat him on a roll up was very hilarious.

Moment of Bliss: Here we go again. As if Moment of Bliss isn’t cringey enough, we had to add Braun Strowman to the mix, just for added face-palming. I get that WWE is wanting to pull in mainstream people, but putting two SNL guys in the Andre is a dumb move. At least put in athletes that aren’t going to stink up the place.

Baron Corbin vs Apollo Crews: I really wasn’t into this match. The point was to build up Corbin to face Angle, but it just made it look like Crews should be facing Angle, not Corbin. Corbin just looked like a petty wannabe.

Seth Rollins: This was the highlight of the night, as far as I’m concerned. Seth more than held his own against Paul Heyman and watching him stalk down Heyman and vow to go to war for the WWE Universe was just fun. I’m not totally sold that Seth will beat Lesnar at WrestleMania, but he made a damn good argument for it on Monday.

Triple H: A lot has been said about Triple H’s influence on the business, not all of it good, but he was definitely a proud man on Monday when he talked about the RAW Women’s Championship main eventing WrestleMania. Turning his attention to his own WrestleMania match, Triple H did a great job of making Batista look like an entitled chump who didn’t have the guts to face him like a man, but sent a letter with more demands, like Triple H put his own career on the line. I’m not sure what the point was since the whole DX vs Brothers of Destruction storyline showed that career-ending matches aren’t binding in WWE, but it does make it feel like there’s more at stake for Triple H than just kicking Batista’s ass.

SmackDown

Kofi Kingston vs Daniel Bryan: Well, it seems as if this convoluted storyline finally seemed to be getting somewhere. Kofi Kingston seems to finally be getting his title shot, thanks to the New Day’s determination…or is he?

Yes, Vince said that Kofi was going to WrestleMania, but nothing was said about the title shot and Vince is not someone to capitulate as easily as he seemed to have at the end of SmackDown.

The Gauntlet Match Woods and E went through was amazing. The best part was the Usos forfeiting rather than try to cost Kofi his chance at the title shot he’d earned. It was a sign of respect between two teams that have had a lot of wars.

I loved that the babyface locker room came out to celebrate with Kofi, which shows how much genuine respect he has from the locker room.

Charlotte vs Asuka: If there was one major flaw WWE has, it’s the inability to leave things alone and the Charlotte/Asuka SmackDown Women’s Championship Match was one of those instances. I get that they wanted to build Charlotte up since she’s become a third wheel in a feud that doesn’t need her, but screwing over the SmackDown Women’s Division to do it was a stupid move. The match was big enough without throwing the SmackDown Women’s Championship into the mix.

Kurt Angle vs AJ Styles: This was the match I was really looking forward to. Angle and Styles had a great rivalry in TNA and if anyone could coax a good match out of Angle at this stage, it would’ve been Styles, so I was furious that Orton ruined it by interfering, but at least Angle got him back, but it still sucks.

Rey Mysterio: I’m still trying to figure out why Dominic is involved in this feud or how Mysterio got a US Title shot in the first place, but the match should be a good one.

Miz vs Shane McMahon: I honestly wasn’t onboard with Miz vs Shane McMahon at WrestleMania. I just didn’t think it was a big enough match to warrant going to WrestleMania, but they’ve definitely done a good job of building this feud quickly, even if some of the promo was a little ‘uh’. I’m not sure how to feel about Shane in a Falls Count Anywhere match, but he and Miz should have a great match.

205 Live

Lucha House Party vs Party of Gulak and Humberto Carrillo: This was SUCH a great match and continued the storyline of Carrillo not wanting to give up his high-flying style just because Gulak and Gallagher don’t like it. Making the loss Gulak’s fault is interesting.

I’ve said before that a lot about this storyline makes me very uncomfortable, but I can see where this is heading: Gulak and Gallagher keep pushing Carrillo to do things the ‘correct’ way until Carrillo snaps and becomes a huge babyface.

Drake Maverick and the Kanellises: I’m a little disappointed that Mike Kanellis is going to stay a heel since his ‘Better than the Best’ thing seems tailor made for a babyface/tweener run, but we’ll see. I am excited to see what will happen next week when Tozawa has Kendrick in his corner.

Buddy Murphy: I’ve said before that few things will wreck a friendship in professional wrestling than going for the gold and that’s proving true with Buddy Murphy and Tony Nese. I loved Murphy playing the arrogant heel that’s forgotten what his former friend did for him. I also loved Nese beating the tar out of Murphy and saying that he’s the reason Murphy was on 205 and not still in NXT.

Cedric Alexander vs Ariya Daivari: This was a really great match, but I’m a little confused as to why Oney Lorcan attacked Alexander. Lorcan is a great addition to 205, but I’m a little confused as to why he attacked Alexander when the only time they’ve been the ring together was in the Cruiserweight Tournament. It just seems nonsensical to me, but it’s another ‘wait and see’ thing, but I’m already skeptical of this storyline.

NXT UK

Jordan Devlin vs Dan Moloney: I don’t have much to say about this match. Jordan Devlin was involved, so it was a show stealer and it was only the opening match. I feel for Moloney, but it’s clear that Devlin’s being groomed for big things down the line, and I hope it’ll include a title run.

Kassius Ohno: Since the debut of the Shield, there’s been a rumor that Kassius Ohno had been slated to be a Hound of Justice, but that was change, though whether he was supposed to be in Dean’s spot or Roman Reigns’ is up for dispute. His promo on Wednesday proved why he would’ve been a disaster in whatever role he was supposed to play. It was just flat and made no sense.

Jinny vs Toni Storm: For whatever reason, and not doing anything to earn it, Jinny is the new #1 Contender for the NXT UK Women’s Championship. Her promo over this was just plain dumb, especially since she hasn’t proven to be anything but an average wrestler.

Xia Brookside vs Rhea Ripley: I think we all knew what was going to happen when Xia Brookside challenged Rhea Ripley to a match, and we weren’t disappointed. It was a great match, but Xia had really no chance against Ripley. The really interesting thing was the debut of Piper Niven, who is EXTREMELY talented. The fact that she’s bad enough to scare off Ripley says something and I’m interested to see where this goes.

Isla Dawn vs Kay Lee Ray: Okay, this isn’t an official thing, but I was very intrigued by this exchange. Even though Ray claims to not be interested in being friends, the fact that there are three Scottish women on the roster is just BEGGING to become a stable like Gallus or be part of Gallus.

Trent Seven Interview: I don’t have much to say about this other than it looks like they’re going to break up Moustache Mountain, which is a dumb thing to do, in my opinion.

European Alliance vs Williams and Jordan: I’m actually kind of excited about this match. Both teams are great mid-card teams and could have a great feud before it’s all said and done.

Mark Andrews vs Noam Dar: This was another fantastic match for NXT UK this week. I love both guys involved in this match and they didn’t disappoint. The only disappointment was the No Contest ending. It’s hard to see who this was covering for, but they full deserved the standing ovation they got when they were carried out on stretchers.

Pete Dunne vs WALTER: Thank god we’re finally getting this match because the build was boring me stupid. I hope Dunne retains but I have a feeling WALTER is going to win it at TakeOver. At least this contract signing didn’t end in a fight.

NXT

Johnny Gargano vs Adam Cole: I’m really excited about this match. Yes, I would have rather seen Gargano finally get one over on Ciampa, but Adam Cole will work. Triple H making it 2-out-of-3 Falls guarantees a barnburner, but Gargano should insist that Undisputed Era be banned from ringside so there’s no question about who the real winner is.

Kacy Catanzaro and Lacey Lane vs Aliyah and Vanessa Borne: This was another good match that got ruined by Shayna Baszler and her goons. I’m not sure what the point of making Shayna look like a punk who has to pick fights with people who aren’t a threat to her is, but I hope it costs her the title because the women of NXT should be doing more than just being her punching bag. Also, where are Belair, Shirai, and Sane, the women who are ACTUALLY feuding with Baszler?

Matt Riddle vs Kona Reeves: This was a giant snoozer, as far as I was concerned. I don’t care about Reeves and Riddle sets my teeth on edge. Velveteen Dream being involved didn’t make me anymore interested in this match or the feud. Dream vs Riddle is already looking like a skipper.

Forgotten Sons vs Aleister Black and Ricochet: It’s the final of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic and the most unlikely tag team in the bracket has been on a major role on three of the five WWE brands. This match was fantastic, as expected from both teams. The biggest surprise of this whole thing was that Black and Ricochet won. I honestly thought, given that they’re likely going to be on the WrestleMania card against the Revival, that they’d have the Forgotten Sons win it, but it looks like the Unlikely Duo is going to have a very full weekend and I’m excited for both of them.

Overall Thoughts: How was the penultimate week before WrestleMania? Not great. At least on the Big Two. RAW and SmackDown were full of misses, in my opinion because WWE/Vince can’t leave well enough alone, especially where it concerns the RAW Women’s Championship Match. I get that this is a historic moment, but I can’t think of a match that’s gotten more overdone and tinkered with than this and I’m almost afraid that WWE’s going to fix it until they break it, and this turns into a flop.

I’m glad that Kofi vs Bryan is finally finalized, but I keep feeling like Vince is going to pull some trick to drag this out to WrestleMania.

The network shows weren’t nearly as convoluted in their builds, thank God, and it made them much easier to watch, even if I didn’t enjoy very much of NXT.

We’re heading into the go-home week for WrestleMania and I’m PRAYING that Vince stops tinkering with things because it’s making too many messes that I don’t think are going to be fixed at WrestleMania.