By Jared "JJF" Jackson-Ferrans

Every so often, there comes a talent with the ring ability and x factor to be a high level star, that the WWE just doesn't use correctly. These are the analysations of those talents. Welcome to Missed Connections.​

Coming from Ring of Honor has always been a bit of a security blanket in the WWE that you could, at least, be a serviceable midcarder in the WWE. CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Seth Rollins and Mickie James, aka the former Alexis Laree, all ascended as high as they could go in the company, and Cesaro, Evan Bourne and Kevin Owens have at least proven that a good midcard career was likely if you didn't have attitude problems.

​This means good things so far for the recent acquisitions such as AJ Styles, Samoa Joe and Austin Aries. With that said, the very first Ring of Honor star that made it to WWE was, in fact, used poorly, and the WWE lost out on a man that possessed the skills to be much more than he was. With that, here is his file.

By Graham "GSM" Matthews
​
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Triple H Addressed Roman Reigns

Was it just me or did this sound almost identical to a Triple H promo from 2002? I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but I found it interesting. If that's the case, why not have him come out in his jacket and jeans with "The Game" music and not as Authority Triple H? The small things make the biggest differences. That aside, his response to Reigns from this past week regarding his "broken nose" was well done. Usually, I dislike it when talking segments start SmackDown, but Triple H is a big enough name that it was a good get for the show, similar to Brock Lesnar last week. I'm in the minority that's actually excited about HHH vs. Reigns at WrestleMania. We'll see if WWE does anything to try to change the minds of those that aren't as amped about in the weeks to come. 


League of Nations def. Neville, Dolph Ziggler and The Lucha Dragons

These multi-man matches pitting Neville, Ziggler and The Lucha Dragons against League of Nations in recent weeks have been fun, but I'm still scratching my head as far as what purpose they are supposed to serve. They've been trading wins back and forth, so it's not like League of Nations are building strong momentum. I remain indifferent toward them and an apparent program with The New Day doesn't do anything for me, personally. On a side note, I was happy to see Barrett back in action after a two month layoff due to injury. He got fairly physical in this contest, so it wasn't as if he was protected by his partners.

By RJ Marceau

I can say for the first time since Brock Lesnar returned in 2012 I was shocked and excited when Shane McMahon returned on Raw. I didn’t see any reports but I had a feeling when Vince was telling Stephanie why she deserved the award that it would lead to Shane coming out. When Shane came out I think my heart stopped for a second. As I have wrote before Shane McMahon vs. Kane is one of my favorite feuds of all time especially due to Shane’s daredevil mentality. The pop that Shane got from the Detroit crowd was amazing and Shane deserved the recognition. Once the match was proposed I think the whole WWE Universe knew Vince would say The Undertaker. The Hell in a Cell stipulation adds intrigue to the match because if you have seen any Shane match he excels in stipulation matches. Last Man Standing, Ambulance Match, No DQ or Street Fight, Shane is able to entertain.

Shane McMahon is easily the best untrained wrestler of all time but that isn’t saying much since all his matches involve hardcore/weapon stipulations. Shane is coming back and for a purpose. He wants to gain control of the company that is sinking to ensure that his children and his grandchildren will be able to keep the McMahon family name in the WWE. Vince decided to make Shane’s opponent The Undertaker.

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

American Alpha def. Blake and Murphy

By this point, I couldn't care less about Blake and Murphy, but that would mean I cared about them to begin with. At the very least, they're solid hands in the ring and that definitely showed here, but the stars of this match were undoubtedly Jason Jordan and Chad Gable. As Next Era Wrestling contributor RJ Marceau said in his latest column earlier today, these guys are the hottest act going in WWE right now (yes, I'm talking about the entire company). They're just so much fun to watch in action and this matchup was no exception. They're slowly building momentum to the NXT Tag Team Championship picture and I imagine a No. 1 Contender's match against Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady will happen in the near future.


Apollo Crews def. Christopher Girard

I'm not exactly sure who Girard is, but I was surprised to see him get an entrance, which is more than what can be said for some people on the roster sometimes. It was a glorified squash match at best, but it was another opportunity for Crews to showcase his skills and he is making good progress. Hopefully NXT has a credible opponent in mind for him at TakeOver: Dallas because I don't know where he fits into the card right now.

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

ROH World Television Champion Roderick Strong def. Jonathon Gresham

Two days ahead of Strong's title defense against Bobby Fish at the 14th Anniversary show, I figured there was no chance he was dropping the title here, but it was still a fun match with Gresham having an impressive outing. He's scored his fair share of upset victories in recent weeks, so he was a logical contender to the gold and he almost had me with that one super close nearfall. I was going to question Strong coming off like a babyface during the match after he teased turning heel late last year, but we saw shades of that afterward when he briefly brawled with Fish. Fish has has heel tendencies about his character, so I'm not sure who to root for on Friday.


ROH World Tag Team Champions War Marchine def. Brutal Bob Evans and Tim Hughes (Non-title)

I've never been the biggest fan of War Machine, but I tend to enjoy their matches depending on who they are in the ring with. Evans and Hughes aren't an established tandem in the slightest, so I didn't care much about the match, nor was it all that well wrestled. Thankfully, it didn't go too long and it served its purpose of hyping the upcoming tag title match between them and All Night Express. Speaking of whom, their post-match promo was awful. Kenny King is a great mic worker, but Rhett Titus should never be allowed to speak.