On the Blue Brand, everything is different. Maybe it is the fact that they have only two hours to fill. Maybe it is the fact that they have tag teams worth watching. Maybe it is because they have the top woman and top guy in the business. Maybe it is the writers. Maybe they just look amazing because RAW has looked so bad.
Whatever it is, it is working.
AJ Styles has finally taken a well-deserved break from carrying the title and the show as Becky Lynch and Daniel Bryan have clearly risen to the top of the card, but The Phenomenal One is still going to be unbelievable in his match against The New Daniel Bryan at the Rumble.
While those two could steal the show any week, it seems very unlikely that Bryan is dropping the strap anytime soon. His heel turn cannot be called anything other than an absolute smash success. It came out of nowhere. Provided fresh angles and has led to some brilliant promos.
Sure, nobody needed to see Vince McMahon insert himself and make AJ slap him, but the feud has been excellent, and Bryan will be great carrying the strap into WrestleMania against whoever they choose to pit against him.
And as great as those guys have been, the show is still dominated every week by The Man. The rise of Lynch has been organic and meteoric. She is the top person in the entire company right now and if the build is not to her vs. Rousey at WrestleMania then that will be one of the biggest misses in the company’s history.
She has ascended on her own merits, but the fact that Charlotte Flair and Asuka have stayed at the top with her should not be lost. Those two have helped Lynch — and Rousey — rise and have taken the entire women’s division to heights it has never seen.
The blue brand also offers the only worthwhile tag division as The Bar continues to be excellent as comedy or as serious competitors. The Usos are far too good to be wasted in a dumb storyline, but it is still nice to see them on a weekly basis.
Obviously The Miz and Shane McMahon are not a real tag team and they are moving toward a payoff at WrestleMania, which is a good spot for The Miz who should be in the WWE Championship picture in the next year.
All of that does not even cover the solid work of Samoa Joe, Andrade, Rey Mysterio and Randy Orton.
Tuesdays are loaded while Monday is struggling mightily. Hopefully a post Mania shuffle can fix that because every week longer it goes, the more apparent it is that Monday’s can be DVR’d and fast-forwarded through while Tuesday’s are must-watch for any big-time wrestling fan.
RAW Top 10
- Brock Lesnar
- Finn Balor
- Ronda Rousey
- Bobby Lashley
- Seth Rollins
- Sasha Banks
- Elias
- Drew McIntyre
- Apollo Crews
- Roode and Gable
Smackdown Top 10
- Becky Lynch
- Daniel Bryan
- AJ Styles
- Asuka
- The Miz
- The Bar
- Rey Mysterio
- Andrade
- Samoa Joe
- Randy Orton
Overall Top 5
- Becky Lynch
- Daniel Bryan
- Brock Lesnar
- Finn Balor
- AJ Styles
