So this month was Wrestlemania, the grandest show of them all, was it? In my opinion… no. Wrestlemania was a bit of a let down this year for me. Maybe it was because of the run time, it was long, I watched the pre-show too as I love a battle royal, which added an extra 2 hours. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it, seeing Kofi Kingston win the WWE Championship was amazing, and something that will go down in WWE History and pretty much guaranteeing him a Hall of Fame ring. Seth Rollins beating Brock and becoming Universal Champ was a great way to start the show, and kick things off. John Cena’s return as the Dr of Thuganomics was a fun segment, yet it saw him burying another star who could use the push. Apart from that, nothing else really did it for me. By the time the main event rolled around, I really didn’t care. It was great that the Women’s title was the main event, a fantastic milestone for the women’s revolution. But to be honest I was bored with the story, and the match itself did nothing for me. Becky becoming Becky 2 belts was what we all wanted to see, and I think she is gonna have a great run as the champ. What makes Wrestlemania for me is the surprises, the returns and special matches, to which this year we really didn’t see any.

Which brings me onto the post-Wrestlemania Raw and Smackdown. Notorious for being a bit off the wall, this year what did we get, Lars Sullivan beating up some veterans and a returning Sami Zayn, who looks really out of shape, and a brief Undertaker appearance. Very tame and boring by previous years standards. What could have been really interesting was the Raw main event between Rollins and Kingston, with both titles on the line, but what was a really good match was spoiled by interference from The Bar, why? What did this do for anything? I didn’t really want to see either champ lose their recently acquired titles, but they could have ended things a lot better, even by ending it with a double count-out after a big spot. This would have been a great start for both champs, showing that they are equals and on the same level. And what is with the 6-man tag match overload! This is becoming far too common.

April 15th and 16th Raw and Smackdown was the Superstar Shakeup, Raw started with a segment with Shane and Stephanie who seem to be best mates again. This segment brought us our first transfer, The Miz, who attacked Shane from behind, mysteriously getting busted open somehow, and seemingly continuing this feud. Then an 8-man tag match which gave us Aleister Black and Ricochet officially joining Raw and NXT
Tag Team Champions War Raiders, now comically called ‘The Viking Experience’, more proof of Vince losing his marbles. 205 Live’s Cedric Alexander was announced that he will be joining Raw via a small promo package, followed by a big signing to Raw, Andrade and Zelina Vega. Let us hope they get used a bit better on the Red Brand. Rey Mysterio was the next to switch to Raw and was treated to an appearance from Lars Sullivan, Rey put up a good fight, despite an awful botch, but eventually succumbed to Sullivan’s power. The Uso’s turned up next followed by a great segment with Sami Zayn, with great participation from the Montreal crowd. Naomi was the first female superstar to join Raw, in a pretty uneventful tag match with Bayley against new Women’s Tag Team Champions The Iconics. EC3 came out next looking for competition, before Braun Strowman literally buried him, with a chokeslam through the titantron area. You have to feel sorry for EC3 after the way he has been treated since being moved up to the main roster, I can’t see him sticking around for long. He would be better suited and find better treatment with AEW. Eric Young was very subtly announced that he was joining Raw, another ex TNA star that has been overlooked since joining the main roster. You can almost see a trend here. Our next female to join Raw was Lacey Evans. After weeks of doing absolutely nothing, she had her first match on Raw, a number 1 contendership match against veteran Natalya. Lacey coming up trumps and securing her first title match, not quite sure of the reasons behind this, but I have given up trying to search for logic when it comes to WWE booking. The main event of the night was dun dun dun… another 6-man tag match, this time featuring the remaining members of the Sheild and a mystery partner vs best buds Baron Corbin, Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley. Thus bringing us Raws biggest signing of the night, The Phenomenal AJ Styles. Personally, I think this is a great addition, and hopefully, we see this leading into a Universal Title feud with Seth Rollins, and an eventual worthy successor to Seth Rollins recently acquired Universal Championship.

Smackdown Live started with a huge reception for the hometown hero Kevin Owens host of The Kevin Owens Show. This weeks guests were Xavier Woods and WWE Champion Kofi Kingston. Big E is injured and underwent Surgery, so was not on Smackdown this week, leaving a spot open in The New Day. This was soon to be filled by Kevin Owens, or now as he’s known ‘Big O’. This was a really good segment, but it has ultimately led us to another 6-man tag match main event. The Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor was the first Raw superstar to make his way to the blue brand and had a good match with Mustafa Ali. Not sure where this leaves Samoa Joe and the United States Championship, as he was not present on Raw or Smackdown tonight. This would leave Raw with only 1 major male title. Next up was a match between Carmella and The Queen Charlotte Flair, he first appearance since her title loss at Wrestlemania. Charlotte won the match with her Figure-8 submission, and then R-Truth was given the Lars Sullivan treatment, Lars cementing his position on Smackdown. Becky 2 Belts then came out for a segment and was interrupted by Ember Moon, then Bayley, then Paige, then Mandy Rose and Sonja DeVille, and finally Asuka and a debuting Kairi Sane, the former NXT Women’s Champion, now in tag-team with Asuka being managed by the retired Paige. Smackdown got a good healthy boost of female talent with no real contender for the Smackdown Women’s Championship or Tag Titles being shown. Buddy Murphy, former Cruiserweight Champion and member of the 205
Live roster, announced himself as a new member of the locker room via a video package, this could be a good move for Murphy, who should get to shine on a bigger stage. So next was the main event 6-man tag match between The New Day and Kevin’Big O’Owens and the team of Cesaro, Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura. This was an entertaining match, but
nothing special, showcasing the return of Kevin Owens, who finished the match with a Stunner to gain the victory. The final segment of the night Vince McMahon came out to announce the supposed biggest acquisition in Smackdown Live history… Elias. He came out to a bum note on his guitar to a mixed reaction of boo’s and cheers. Not shortly after, Elias was interrupted as usual, but this time it was by the big dog, Roman Reigns, who was now a part of the Smackdown Live team. He got straight to work and took out Elias, before giving Vince a Superman Punch for good measures. Roman is what Smackdown needed after AJ Styles’ move to Raw, but I can’t help but feel sorry for Kofi Kingston, as Vince is definitely going to be putting the WWE Championship on Roman soon. Elias is also a good asset
as it could see him rise the ranks a bit further in the main event picture. I wouldn’t mind seeing an Elias vs Kofi feud for the title. Roman reigns I think should maybe stay out of the title picture for a while, it has been Roman overload for the past 5 years or more. It would be good to see him have some mid-card feuds, the build on the newly acquired audience cheers, that Vince has been trying to push down our throats for years. He could have a nice natural run turning him into the crowd favourite face champion that we all know we are gonna get.

On the past few episodes of Raw and Smackdown, we have had some strange video packages, involving some strange mutant sock puppet thing, and some possessed children’s toys. This has got to be leading to the long-awaited return of Bray Wyatt, if it’s not, then we are getting some strange new gimmicky superstar. When this will lead to something eventually, I do not know, if recent video packages are anything to go by (Mojo Rawley), it could be a while.

April 22nd Raw started with HHH in the ring, he was joined by Universal Champion Seth Rollins, and they Bro’d out for a while. Before they had a chance to kiss they were interrupted by Samoa Joe, Rey Mysterio, Big Drew Mac, The Miz, Baron Corbin and AJ Styles, all buying for a title shot. So we were given 2 triple threat matches with the winners facing off for the number 1 contenders spot. AJ vs Joe vs Rey was first, which AJ won, giving Rey with a cool Styles Clash on top of Joe. Naomi vs Billie Kay next, and it was nothing special, just showing that Naomi is here on Raw and showing her dominance. Miz vs Drew vs Corbin triple threat, to which Corbin won after taking advantage of a Claymore on Miz. The Viking Experience, now with another name change to The Viking Raiders. Vince really has lost it, this talented team who ripped apart the indy tag team scene now has to suffer this shambles and a silly Viking gimmick, more signs of how out of touch Vinny Mac is. They faced the Lucha House Party and dominated them ending proceedings with ‘The Viking Experience’ their aptly named finishing move. Next up we had a match between a returning Alicia Fox and Becky Lynch. This was really only to set up a segment with Becky and Lacey Evans, who took out Lynch, continuing their feud. So now we were introduced to Robert Roode, Bobby Roode with a moustache, who is now looking eerily similar to ROH’s Silas Young, maybe a separation at birth. Roode beat Ricochet, giving him his first singles loss on Raw. So finally we were given answers to these strange sock puppet, creepy toys video packages… As I guessed, it is Bray Wyatt. But this isn’t our usual Bray, we were taken to The Firefly Fun House and out comes a cheery Bray Wyatt as a children’s TV show host. And you know what? I fucking loved it, I can’t wait to see what transpires. The main event was AJ Styles vs Baron Corbin for number 1 contendership for the Universal title. Nothing special at all, and AJ wins. Now I’m a big AJ fan, but we all know WWE, so we know they aren’t gonna take the title off Seth for a while. Which means we are gonna see AJ lose. Now I think AJ should have a run as Universal Champion, but all this feud is gonna do is put AJ to the back of the line. Unless we see AJ win at Money In The Bank, only to have the briefcase cashed in on him.

Smackdown Live started with Shane McMahon talking about how Roman punched his dad. What could be my favourite Shane slip up of all time occurred when Shane tried to say Mount Rushmore, but it came out Rount Mushmore, I was nearly crying. Roman comes out to have his say but is eventually beat down by Elias and Shane. Finn Balor vs Andrade was next, even though we saw Andrade drafted to Raw in the superstar shake-up. A great match proceeded between these 2 great stars, Balor picked up the win after some failed interference from Selina Vega. The Pirate Queen Kairi Sane had her first singles match on Smackdown against Peyton Royce and she won it in style with her amazing Insane Elbow drop. Jinder vs Chad Gable was the next matchup, these 2 are both now back on Smackdown and the team of Gable and Roode have been split. However, The Freak Lars Sullivan takes out Gable before he gets in the ring, and then onto the Singh Brothers. R-Truth tried for a little payback, but to no avail, receiving another massive powerbomb. Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair had a face to face in the ring, this was interrupted by Bayley, and set up a number 1 contenders match between Bayley and Charlotte for the Smackdown Women’s Championship. Charlotte won as expected and we get to see this match up again, but it will be at Money In The Bank, Becky 2 Belts now becomes Becky 2 Matches, as she agreed to defend both titles at the PPV. Has The Man bitten off more than she can chew? The main event was Kofi vs Nakamura, which should be a main event match at a PPV. The match ended with Rusev interrupting which led to Big O and Xavier getting involved, they shook off Rusev and Nakamura, only for Kevin ‘Big O’ Owens to turn on Kofi. What a surprise. Never trust a Kevin Owens when he’s trying to be a friend.

29th/30th April Raw and Smackdown were all about who was being entered in The Money In The Bank ladder matches. Raw started with The Goddess Alexa Bliss announcing that the Raw men’s entrants are Braun Strowman, Ricochet, Drew McIntyre and Baron Corbin. The Uso’s then strangely sung their way down to the ring for a match with The Good Brothers, they won and showed everyone a video they recorded of The Revival shaving each other’s backs in the showers. New comedy lows from WWE. Miz Tv was next and this weeks guest was Bobby Lashley. This ended up in a match, to which Shane McMahon interrupted and gave Miz a beat down. The Lucha House Party then attacked The Viking Raiders on their way to the ring, only for them to get destroyed again in the match by the Viking pair, let’s hope this isn’t an ongoing feud. A Moment of Bliss was next, to announce the Raw female entrants for the MITB ladder match. Natalya, Dana Brooke, Naomi and of course Alexa Bliss, last years winner. The FireFly Fun House segment, another strange and delightful episode with the even creepier somehow Bray Wyatt. This has been the best thing about Raw these past 2 weeks, again I can’t wait for more. The Man Becky Lynch was interviewed in the ring by the wonderful Charlie Caruso, to which she called out one of her MITB opponents Lacey Evans, this ended in a brawl to which neither stars got the upper hand, showing that Lacey can hold her own with Becky. The tag champs Ryder and Hawkins defeated The Revival, again burying this brilliant tag team. It was then announced that at Money In The Bank it will be The Miz vs Shane McMahon in a steel cage match. No doubt we will see Shane jumping off the top, he can’t help himself. Sami Zayn continued his abuse of the audience and WWE Universe, I don’t think booking knows what to do with Sami at the moment, but are trying to keep him relevant, maybe they have some plans in the pipeline. Samoa Joe vs Rey Mysterio was next with Rey getting the victory after a dodgy looking pin, so close to the ropes it was unreal. This rivalry continues and I’m not really sure what to make of it or if I am bothered about it at all. Both are great superstars, but this feud is a bit bland. To end the night we had the WWE Universal Championship match contract signing between champion Seth Rollins and AJ Styles. This started well and seemed like these 2 babyfaces had respect for one another. AJ put out his hand to shake Rollins, like a good sportsman, Rollins instead put the title in AJ’s face. It looked like AJ was just gonna walk away, but you could see Rollins was mouthing off, and what does that get you, a punch in the face. A small brawl erupted and AJ was sent out of the ring, Seth paraded but this was shortlived as AJ put Seth through a table with the Phenomenal Forearm. I guess they are making AJ look strong in the build-up, so the loss at MITB doesn’t hurt his standings too much.

Kofi Kingston starts of Smackdown live where he is interviewed by Michael Cole, Kofi challenges Kevin Owens to a title match at Money In The Bank, KO comes out to accept, and the heel KO we all love is back. We then had a good match between Bayley and Becky Lynch. Lynch eventually wins only to get a beat down from Charlotte Flair, her opponent at MITB. A strange moment next, The Hardy Boys come down to the ring to address Jeff’s state of health after their beating from Lars Sullivan. They relinquish their undefended tag team titles, as Jeff needs surgery and is gonna be out for a long time. It kind of felt a bit like this was the last time we would see them, and really they both need to retire before they paralyse themselves. Then Lars Sullivan’s music hits, he comes down and takes out Matt Hardy, and sets his sights on Jeff, only for R-Truth to pop up again and try to beat down Lars with a chair. Unsuccessful this was, and Truth gets another Powerbomb for his troubles. The Smackdown Male entrants for The Money In The Bank ladder match are announced as Ali, Finn Balor, Andrade and
Randy Orton. Ali and Andrade, I agree with, but Balor is Intercontinental Champion and Randy Orton is just boring. I think the positions could have gone elsewhere like Elias, Xavier Woods or even Roman Reigns. Mandy Rose and Bayley are announced as the first female entrants in the MITB ladder match and later in the night Ember Moon and Carmella are announced as the final 2. The Big Dog makes his presence felt next by coming down to the ring to talk. Shane comes out and puts Roman in a handicap match against The B-Team, with Elias as a special guest enforcer ringside. Reigns despite the odds wins the match. Next, we had a tag team match featuring the men’s MITB entrants, Balor and Ali vs Andrade and Orton. The team of Balor and Ali win, this was a pretty good match with Balor and Ali teaming well. To end the show Kevin Owens comes out for the Kevin Owens Show and invites Xavier Woods out as his guest. Kofi comes out instead with fire in his eyes and lays the Smackdown on KO, who has to flee through the crowd to escape Kofi’s wrath.

There we have our rundown of what happened in WWE for the month of April, kind of a lacklustre month, as is usual post Wrestlemania. Comment with your thoughts and lets us know what you think is gonna be happening next.

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