SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Opening Segment – HIT: The performances from Daniel Bryan and Kevin Owens were good in this opening segment. They had a difficult job of making the fans who still want to see Kofi Kingston getting the WWE Title shot at Fastlane want to see Owens instead. They did their best in this difficult situation. Owens was likable and clearly positioned as a babyface. Bryan was amusing in the way he was putting Owens down. But, this does feel rushed. This feels like the start of what could be a very good feud between these two. However, if this is just a way to save Kofi to face Bryan at WrestleMania, then this feud won’t continue beyond the PPV. Or will it? I am leery where this goes after that. But, the segment was good enough to get a Hit.
Usos – Miz & Shane – MISS: My biggest takeaway from the confrontation between The Usos and The Miz and Shane McMahon was how cool the Usos are juxtaposed to how terribly uncool Miz and Shane are. I don’t understand why anyone would cheer for Miz and Shane over Jimmy and Jey. But in this case, the Usos are being positioned as the heels for some reason. But, they come across so much better than the supposed babyfaces. I didn’t like the match with Miz vs. Jey. I mean, it was ok, but I didn’t like Jimmy cheating to try to help his brother win. Again, I don’t like positioning the Usos as heels. I really hope this comes to an end at the PPV with Shane and Miz finally splitting up.
U.S. Title Four Way – HIT: I enjoyed R-Truth’s two week US Open Challenge. I am a little bummed that it is over now, but having Samoa Joe win the US Title was the right way to go. The fatal four way with Joe, Rey Mysterio and Andrade all coming out to accept Truth’s open challenge was a very good match. It made me want to see more of Mysterio vs. Andrade even after already seeing them a lot (and apparently they will face at the pre-show for Fastlane which is disappointing that it isn’t on the main show). I suspected that Truth would pull off the victory in the end, so Joe winning was a nice surprise.
Joe’s Interview – HIT: Joe’s interview backstage after his Title win deserves a Hit. The script was good. The performance was strong. I loved his line about not pandering to the masses of the unexceptional. The interview helped to drive home the importance of the Title change. His lines about John Cena made it seem like they may be going for Joe vs. Cena at WM which I would take. It would explain why Truth was talking about Cena the last two weeks. If this is the route they are going, I really hope that Cena is fully engaged over the next month to make the match feel much bigger than anything Cena has been involved in over the past year or so.
Ricochet & Black vs. The Bar – MISS: Four talented workers are in a match that only goes 6 minutes, half of which is on a commercial break? How am I supposed to get into it? I don’t care that we got to see that half on split screen. We aren’t really seeing the whole match which was too short regardless of the commercial situation. WWE also needs to pick a brand for new talent and stick with it. If Ricochet and Aleister Black are facing the Raw Tag Team Champs at the PPV, then they shouldn’t be on Smackdown. That should make them fully established as a Raw team. I am ok with an initial call up where they appear for a few weeks on both shows, but at some point sooner than later, they should be assigned to a specific brand. That should have come already for these two if they are getting Title matches on one show. The fact that Shinsuke Nakamura & Rusev attacked them after the match, with The Hardy’s saving them after that suggests that they are not done on Smackdown. But, they are clearly not done on Raw either.
Rose – Asuaka – MISS: It feels like WWE didn’t lay the groundwork for Mandy Rose being a deserving challenger for Asuka’s Women’s Title, so they overcompensated by having her beat Naomi in under a minute. But, that wasn’t believable at all. And then they undercut her credibility after the match by having Asuka beat her and Sonya Deville up pretty easily.
Charlotte – Becky – HIT: Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch played their parts well in the show closing segment to hype their Fastlane match. It was nice and straightforward as opposed to the convoluted mess on Raw. Becky was able to get the better of Charlotte in the end despite her leg and shoulder injuries which gives her fans hope that she will be able to overcome those injures and defeat Charlotte on Sunday. I’m not sure I want to watch a match with Becky limping around the entire time. That might make for a good story, but it doesn’t make for a pretty match.
For another view from the original Hitlist author, compare Jason Powell’s views to mine by visiting prowrestling.NET’s “Hitlist” section here.
Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com’s WWE Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw and Smackdown each week. Email him at jmezz_torch@yahoo.com. Follow him on Twitter @JonMezzera.
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