This Week in Pro Wrestling: Wrestlemania hype is real, The Miz's clout is growing, King Woods finally returns

IT’S FINALLY HERE ATTACK THE CULTURE FAMILY! IT IS WRESTLEMANIA WEEK! It was an exciting week to build to this point as well. Raw and Smackdown were awesome. So let’s start there.

The Raw truth…

Raw had one of the best opening segments I have seen in a long time. Let’s just say, KO 3:16 just stole the whole damn week. The glass broke and even I was like “HOLY SH*T! NO WAY!” And KO didn’t fail. He came out in his best cosplay version of Stone Cold Steve Austin. He straight up crushed his promo. This is turning into one of the most anticipated segments for Mania weekend. KO has built this up phenomenally. How does Stone Cold take this going into their ‘interview?’ I can’t wait to see.

The Miz had a great night as a heel as well. During the Mysterio’s tag match Miz used this time to capitalize on a moment to humiliate the legend. The unspoken rule of not messing with a luchador’s mask was broken. Miz snatched it off Rey’s head. Big no-no. Miz has indeed raised the stakes for their match at Mania. The Mysterio’s are going to be on a war path toward Miz and Logan Paul. Going into Monday night, the Mysterio’s have to counter with something big to show they’re not backing down.

Seth Rollins is DESPERATE to get his moment at Wrestlemania. So much so, he challenged AJ Styles for his spot against Edge on the grandest stage. This match was nothing short of Mania worthy itself. AJ was all set to go for the Phenomenal Forearm and here comes Edge to ensure he gets AJ at Mania. It cost Seth his last chance at Mania. Seth snapped.

He lost by no fault of his own and he made sure management knew his frustration as the show went off air. What will Seth do now? Per twitter Seth has a meeting with the boss Vince Mcmahon on Monday morning. Is this how we the the Visionary at Mania? Is there a plan in place? I hope so.

Time to layeth the Smackdown…

Smackdown was even better. Brock staked out Roman’s locker room. In the most savage of ways, he just put his feet up and hung around all night waiting for the Tribal Chief to arrive. He waited a while, so we will come back to this.

The return of one of my favorites in King Woods was fantastic. No one expected him to return, much less compete. He stole a victory from The Fight Night crew’s Ridge Holland. It was a glorious moment. The King is back and he got redemption for his injured brother, Big E. (We miss you E!)

It was a rough night for Intercontinental Champion Ricochet though. Both Los Lotharios proved to outsmart the champ and pick up victories over him. They earned the right to challenge Ricochet for his IC title on Mania Friday before Mania in a triple threat match. Even in a triple threat match, Ricochet against a tag team is tough. Should be a high flying one next week.

Brock is waiting and waiting and here comes the tribal chief with Paul Heyman. Roman cut his promo calling out Brock, and Brock responded by coming through the crowd with a chair in hand ready to draw blood. He hit anything that moved with a chair as the Head of the Table made an abrupt exit. Advertised as the biggest match of all time, we will have to wait and see. These two are at their peaks right now and if the match is as good as the build, it may very well be in that conversation with Rock/Austin, Taker/Shawn Michaels, hell even Hogan/Andre the Giant. Only time will tell this coming week.

Don't forget about All Elite Wrestling…

With all the excitement around Wrestlemania, AEW had a pretty good week in Texas this week. CM Punk had a really dope match with Dax Wheeler of FTR. I did not expect what they put out. It was entertaining as hell even with the Gunn Club making a surprise run in.

The match of the night though was Adam Cole and Jay Lethal. These two tore it down in the ring. redDRagon made an appearance with proved too much for Lethal. He had the match under control until they had the ref distracted for Adam Cole to drop the BOOM on Jay. Afterwards, Cole called out Hangman Page who couldn’t help himself in coming to confront Cole. This is going to be a long burn, but damn if it isn’t a good one. I still believe Cole will walk away champion soon, it’s just a matter of when. Page has had a good run, but Cole is too damn good not to have gold around his waist.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman. MJF. The guy who can cut a promo harder than anyone in the world right now, lit the damn mic on fire this week. He got personal when it comes to his new target Wardlow. Wardlow made a deal with the devil, and it shows. MJF cut SUPER deep going after Wardlow’s mother and his status in AEW. The security team holding Wardlow back earned their paycheck this week. This could get a little uncomfortable to watch as I am sure this one is going to get EXTRA violent. Give MJF credit. He takes his role as heel seriously. There is nothing he won’t say, much like Chris Jericho of old.

Speaking of Jericho. The Jericho Appreciation Society made their debut. In dominating fashion, they made light work of their opponents. Eddie Kingston with Santana & Ortiz were not at the show. They will have their revenge, but when and where is something we will have to wait and see.

What an amazing week. So much so I couldn’t cover it all. Hit me up on the social media if you want to discuss this week more. Like, the Jeff Hardy Swanton or Mox/Bryan Danielson spots. Hell even Sami Zayn had a good spot. Hit me up on twitter: @zero2hero or IG: Rproctor23. I will be attending Wrestlemania Saturday night in Dallas, so I may not have an update for next week. Make sure you tune in!

This Week In Pro Wrestling: Edge loses his mind on AJ Styles, RK-Bro's run might be done, AEW doesn't disappoint

What an INSANE week of professional wrestling! I mean, for real SO much happened it was tough to pick out what stood out the most. From Raw to Rampage, there was a lot process. I mean, come on, Tony Khan bought up Ring of Honor. This is HUGE business. Which puts Cody Rhodes to WWE in jeopardy. Let’s dive into it with what is happening in WWE first.

(Disclaimer, I wrote this before the Revolution PPV Sunday night. Will cover those results next time.)

It was some serious Raw dog moments, y’all…

Monday night was one of the better nights in a while for WWE. Raw is clearly the ‘secondary’ show. Sorry folks but it is a fact. Is there a legit chance the Kevin Owens and his best friend Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins end up as Raw tag champs? They have beat both teams going into the triple threat Monday night. KO even called his shot after tomorrow they want their own title v. title match at Mania with the Usos. This is something that needs to happen. That would be a match that could steal the show if given the opportunity in Dallas.

This brings me to, what is wrong with RK-Bro? They lost to the Street Profits. Story-wise to me, where are they going with this? Is this the beginning of the end for the odd couple? We know it’s going to happen, but is it now? Randy can’t be happy right now with the last two outings going into tonight.

Staying on the tag team division, we got a small sample of Becky/Bianca. Bianca definitely left her mark on Becky, literally and figuratively. She made sure to post it on IG how Bianca can utilize her hair. Sheesh, the welts looked tough.

In the surprise of the night, Finn Balor was able to defeat Damian Priest to become United States champion. In what appeared to be a heel turn for Priest, he destroyed Balor afterwards. Finn won the match, but you know this isn’t over. How does Finn respond? While Damian Priest has an alter ego, let’s not forget so does Finn. We haven’t heard from the Demon since he faced off against Roman Reigns not too long ago.

Raw ended in a bizarre fashion as well. Edge has his opponent for Wrestlemania in the Phenomenal One, AJ Styles. But, what we didn’t expect was Edge to straight up crush AJ with a concerto to end the night. Edge lost his mind quick. AJ has to respond in some way this week. And we know he won’t let that go unanswered.

Smackdown had some major moments, too…

And, that was just on Raw! Told you it was an insane week! Smackdown didn’t disappoint either. We have a NEW Intercontinental Champion in one of the people’s favorites Ricochet! With a little distraction from Johnny Knoxville, Ricochet was able to capitalize and put down the Master Strategist Sami Zayn. I jumped off my couch in excitement because even though we love Ricochet, I don’t think anyone was expecting him to win.

The Bloodline decided to flex their muscle on Shinsuke/Rick Boogs as they interrupted them to remind everyone that Wrestlemania season belongs to the Tribal Chief. For me, after that promo, Roman is on a new plain of superstar for WWE. This is potential realized with how they have put together Roman. The Usos then went on to defeat the Viking Raiders in a match for the Smackdown tag titles. So, if Seth/KO win, will The Usos accept the challenge?

AEW’s momentum isn’t slowing down anytime soon…

Sheesh, that was a lot. AEW was no different. Tony Khan opened the show with his ROH announcement, then we got a Bryan Danielson match with a Mox/Bryan promo battle. It’s going to get violent tonight with those two, so be ready. The build to this match has been great. An out of character experience for Danielson.

Jericho and the Inner Circle seemed to have made their peace with each other, but that does not mean he has forgot about Eddie Kingston. Jericho cut another GOAT type promo to get ready for the match tonight. I think this is the perfect time to put a guy like Kingston over if AEW is serious about pushing him, or even setting him up for a ROH run.

Lastly, with all that has happened in WWE/AEW, no story matters more than MJF and CM Punk. You want something that looks deeper than wrestling and is a psychological and goes into dark territory, watch how this story has developed. It all led up to MJF dismantling CM Punk. Leaving Punk in a pool of his blood and then leaving a lasting message, “I am the devil himself!” I can’t tell you who will win this one, but after that showing, I really don’t care. MJF has put himself as a top heel in the world, and Punk the anti-hero because we all remember he left us high and dry for seven years. I hope Punk gets the W, but deep down, I think I am in MJF’s corner.

Like I said in the beginning, a lot happened this week. After the Revolution results, we can analyze it a little bit more. But, ATC family, until next time. If I missed anything or you want to keep the conversation going, you know where to find me on the social media. Twitter: @Zero2Hero and IG: Rproctor23

This Week In Pro Wrestling: RK-Bro's not backing down, Otis is just Otis, CM Punk demolishes

What’s up ATC family?! Did you all catch any WWE/AEW action last week? It seemed uneventful, but a lot happened.

Let’s start with Bobby Lashley squaring off with, Seth Freakin’ Rollins. If you’re deep in this game, you understand there was no way either of those two were going to lose going into their championship matches at the Rumble this coming weekend. Hence the interference by the Hurt Business and my dudes, The Uso’s. Each one added an extra layer to their story. Roman Reigns sent a message, the Uso’s while even banned from ringside (explain later) should be accounted for. The Hurt Business, has been trying to reunite and Lashley wants nothing to do with them. Could they cost the All Mighty his golden opportunity, or is this a smoke screen for them to show they’re capable of getting Bobby Lashley want he wants, the beat the brakes off the Beast Brock Lesnar.

Put some respect on WWE standout Doudrop

Anyone see how Doudrop is holding her own in building her program with Becky Lynch? She doesn’t have to even speak to keep up. Her ability to do it all in the ring with the aggression and impressive move set, should put Becky on notice going into Saturday night. The match should be fun to watch as we don’t know what Doudrop has up her sleeves with her size and heelish capabilities. 

The RK-Bro/Alpha Academy segment was one of the better segments on both shows this week. Our bro, Riddle is just great, and he is even more over with Randy Orton in his….for now. It’s just a matter of time until it happens. You know what I am speaking is true. Chad Gable is finding his way into that Kurt Angle type character, with the skills to go with along with it. All that’s missing is either the three I’s or It’s true, it’s damn true! And Otis is just Otis. He’s great in any way they decide to use him. He’s a peacock, just gotta let him fly. 

Smackdown was big in regards to the Universal title picture. Roman and Rollins now has the Uso’s banned from the ring. If you have been following this story, Roman has yet to beat Seth 1v1. Seth even dropped a Mox reference in his opening promo which was great. These two don’t need a huge build because for WWE, these are the guys, and that includes Brock Lesnar. But, with the emergence of Kevin Owens in Rollins corner, is he the X factor to get Seth his title back? If so, does that put KO as the favorite to win the Rumble? We have to see how this week pans out in the go home shows before the first major PPV of the year for WWE. 

CM Punk and Bryan Danielson highlight some wild AEW antics

Speaking of Mox, the wild thing is BACK! And he came in dropping fire telling people in DC to F**k off and get out of there. His promo was nothing short of phenomenal. You could see he was back in shape and ready to make up for lost time away from AEW. Only to have a great match on Friday night, and then waiting for him….Bryan Danielson? Does Danielson have his eyes locked in on the megastar? What a storyline that could be for Mox to be thrown straight into the main event picture. No warmup, here’s the American Dragon, good luck Mox.

Same can be said for Cody Rhodes. Talk about Pipebombs, Cody spit fire at EVERYONE on Dynamite. Cody is the TNT champion, Sammy Guevara is the interim champion. I think you know where this story ends. Much like the days of old Razor Ramon/Shawn Michaels, we got a ladder match in our future. Those two are sure to light up the arena when they square off in the near future.  

CM Punk made short work of Shawn Spears. Like, he squashed him. It wasn’t entertaining at all. The Chairman, got squashed. Afterwards, Punk got a hand on MJF. The match is coming, it’s all that’s left. Punk is going to address the situation this week, I wonder how he draws MJF into the match. MJF is just living the life as the heel of the world, and he just keeps poking the bear of CM Punk. Is this the week he finally gets his hands on him? I hope not, MJF is just better than you and he knows it, Purple Cobra style. 

Lastly, Hook. That’s all. That’s all need to be said. Hook. He’s great. If you don’t know. Watch Rampage from Friday. Or any of the matches he’s had so far. It’s only up for him. HOOK!

Don’t forget the Royal Rumble is this coming Saturday night. Who do you think is the favorite going in? Who is going to walk out as champions on Saturday night? Drop it in the comments section or hit me up on the social media, Twitter: @zero2hero or IG: Rproctor23 Keep the conversation going!