Lowenthal's Lowdown - Week of May 3

By Greg Lowenthal

Hey guys, welcome to the Lowdown for the week of April 28. Well I'm quite surprised with what I've seen this week.  The week that leads to a PPV always has some kind of impact for those who are on the card for that PPV. So allow me to give you the Lowdown for this week.

WWE has done really well with building up the Wyatt-Cena feud as of late. They have really been working hard to sell the Wyatt gimmick. What fascinates me the most about it is the fact that even though the Attitude Era may have had some better matches, the match between Cena and Bray Wyatt looks to be promising and full of potential. The interesting part was how Cena delivered his speech from inside the cage. But WWE did something highly unusual. They employed a large group of children for Wyatt's speech to Cena. That in my opinion was an A+ plus moment. But I sense that this gimmick will either lose its edge or gain a bigger edge if once again Wyatt loses to Cena.  

While I didn't watch too much of Raw, I'd have to say it looks like the WWE is learning from its mistakes in turns of the buildup it created towards Wrestlemania. While typically the PPV after Wrestlemania is a let down, Extreme Rules should prove to be a highlight reel of chaos, disorder and at least either new champions or the old ones proving they belong at the top of the mountain. The Kane-Daniel Bryan feud certainly is showing promise and I think if anything develops after ER, I can certainly see it happening.

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Overall, Raw looked more improved than last week. So I'll give Raw a liberal mark of B plus (for now).

Smackdown was the better of the two television shows this week in my opinion. 

First of all, having Titus O'Neil and Big E Langston compete in a non-title match was a crucially key choice for WWE. It allowed Titus to get some measure of retribution after losing a string of matches. But he lost that match due to a disqualification.  While the match itself was lacking in character, it was the post-match beat-down by Big E that really impressed me. Up until now, the Intercontinental Championship belt really hasn't had much in the way of a fighting champion. But the way Big E handled himself after the match was a glimpse of what we could see him do at Extreme Rules against Bad News Barrett (another gimmick I like).

Finally, the idea of a "WeeLC" match at Extreme Rules is an awesome idea. It allows two (clearly talented) wrestlers in the form of El Torito and Hornswaggle to compete against each other and it looks to have a lot of high-flying action and a lot of chaos involved.  I would love for WWE to take this feud to a new angle and make it more exciting. 

Smackdown gets an A+ not just because of the intensity of the show, but for FINALLY making Dean Ambrose defend his United States Championship belt. It's been a while since he faced serious competition and it was refreshing to see that.

Speaking of refreshing, the one match I watched on Impact Wrestling was between Mr. Anderson and Gunnar. It was a classic "catch-as-catch-can" style match. It was great to see a lot of classic wrestling moves and holds being used. This is because it is a callback to the old days of pro wrestling. The icing on that cake was James Storm interfering and hitting Anderson with the Enziguri kick. I was impressed overall and give that match an A+ for the amazing back and forth action the match provided.

So this week was great... However I have some trepidation as to how the weeks after Extreme Rules will be. Look for feuds to either end or continue, new champions emerge or old ones holding onto their titles... and of course, BELIEVE IN THE SHIELD! I know I will be now.

That's the Lowdown for this week. Enjoy.