Lowenthal's Lowdown - WWE/TNA Week of May 5

By Greg Lowenthal

So this week's post PPV edition of the Lowdown is going to be extremely critical because I have seen a few improvements as of late. Let's start off with Raw shall we?

I believe that this edition of Raw had some great impact and left no doubt in my mind that the WWE is upping its game in terms of bringing more creativity to the masses. But I'm pretty disappointed in their development of the Bray Wyatt character. But let's do some match judging shall we?

I'm giving the opening match on this week's Raw an A plus. A 20 man Battle Royal is always exciting to watch, especially when a belt is at stake, like the United States Championship was. And having a guy like Sheamus win it allows him to get back into the WWE World Heavyweight Championship title picture, something he hasn't done in a while.

While the 3MB-Los Matadores feud is getting stale, it had a great moment with El Torito doing an Airplane Spin a la Gorilla Monsoon. It was amazing to see how much strength he had in lifting Hornswoggle. That was a B plus moment for me.

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The Alexander Rusev character isn't getting much in the way of challenges. All I see right now is a squash match wrestler (that's when a wrestler wins matches by simply defeating their opponents very quickly and without much competition from the opponent). In order for him to develop further, he needs a challenge. I feel guys like the Big Show or the Great Khali would seriously challenge his skills and maybe force him to bring his "A" game.

Daniel Bryan is a serious champion as of late and his match with Alberto Del Rio was one to watch. He might have been injured but Bryan is something we haven't seen in a while - a fighting champion. Randy Orton was a paper champion (he rarely defended his belt and he was FAR too whiny to really have any effect as the Champion).  So as a result, this attitude Bryan has is the main reason why I want him to stay champion for a long while. A Plus on both ends.

Raw gets an A overall.

SmackDown was entertaining but really only had one great moment. 

The Roman Reigns-Mark Henry match was a highlight reel of personal vengeance and powerhouse titans clashing in a match that provided us with a rare spectacle-Reigns was injured heading into the match and it showed me just how vulnerable he really is. But like the powerhouse he is, Reigns powered through the pain and delivered not only an impressive Samoan Drop, but he delivered the Superman Punch followed by the Spear for the emphatic win. SmackDown gets an A plus for that one.

Impact Wrestling featured a nostalgia moment between Bobby Roode and Eric "Showtime" Young. The two men WERE scheduled to fight each other but MVP threw in a twist. While I wasn't able to see who he picked, I'm sure it will improve the odds for both the participants. 

So that's the Lowdown for this week. Stay tuned for next week's edition.