CM Punk was on point this week. He’s getting into a zone on the mic as we get closer to WrestleMania. That’s a good thing. He’s got a match with Finn Balor at Elimination Chamber; a match be blackmailed Adam Pearce into making official because he wants his “pound of flesh” despite thinking Finn deserves an ass whipping more than a championship match.
That’s where the fun ends for me. WWE announced Roman Reigns’ schedule and, shocker, there are no February dates listed. Like I said, not a surprise but still disappointing coming off last week’s huge opening salvo in what I hope is a fantastic build between Roman and Punk. Yes, they have a whole month to build it and the next few weeks belong to Finn, but we’re not capitalizing on the momentum now. I don’t want to see Punk cut promos in the ring by himself, despite how well he carries himself when he does.
WWE truly caught lightning in a bottle a couple years ago for WrestleMania XL. It’s hard not to compare everything to that, even if it’s unfair to do so. It’s just hard seeing how they get anywhere close to that in the near future when building matches like this with one member of the equation off television for a month. Not impossible, but they keep putting themselves behind the 8-ball. No disrespect to Finn, who I believe deserves his moment in the sun, but this following up last week felt like a gut punch. What’s worse, I know they’re not taking that championship off Punk, so now I have to find a reason to get emotionally invested in something where I not only know the outcome, but also know WWE will save its best stuff for the next angle.
Finn said he wants to prove he’s not an afterthought. Yeah, well, he kinda is whether he likes it or not. And that sucks for him, Punk, and the audience hoping for something substantial.
Raw was a letdown from last week. Besides Roman Reigns’ predicable hiatus, several matches just didn’t click. I liked Nattie’s debut and Je’Von Evans continues his ascent. AJ and Becky provided some fun and violence. All of that added up to an uneven affair that failed to capitalize on last week’s momentum.
What say you, Cagesiders? Does Becky team with Nattie to tag against Maxxine & AJ Lee prior to Elimination Chamber? Did you miss Roman and Punk as much as I did? Holla at us in the comments!
