Week in Review

Week of March 20, 2021

Each week, Graham "GSM" Matthews breaks down the latest Raw, SmackDown and NXT broadcasts as well as the occasional pay-per-view events for that respective show's highlights, low points and other noteworthy moments. Awards are also given to the week's best match, most impressive Superstar, and strongest show.

Match of the Week:
Bobby Lashley vs. Sheamus (Raw, March 15)

It's a shame that Sheamus' lengthy storyline with Drew McIntyre will be culminating at Fastlane instead of WrestleMania 37, if only because he's been killing it in the ring over the last year and deserves to have a prominent match on the show. Look no further than Monday's Raw where he took WWE Champion Bobby Lashley to the limit in a non-title affair.

Lashley vs. Sheamus is a match I didn't know I wanted to see until we got it. It was a hell of a hard-hitting outing with both guys having strong showings. Sheamus once again gave it his all before falling short. Lashley has been firing on all cylinders these past few months and deserves to main event WrestleMania.

Superstar of the Week:
Drew McIntyre

If it wasn't already obvious, we found out at the beginning of Raw this week that Drew McIntyre is headed to the main event of WrestleMania 37 to face Bobby Lashley for the WWE Championship. It's a simple story and a match I'm looking forward to considering how great their Backlash bout was.

McIntyre's Raw promo was exactly what it needed to be, followed by his quick decimation of The Miz, who beat him for the WWE title in the first place. The Scottish Warrior's evening didn't end there, however, as he later resurfaced to lay out Lashley and send the message that he has the gold in his sights.

Show of the Week:
Friday Night SmackDown, March 19

The month of March hasn't been stellar for SmackDown, as I've found most of the shows to be subpar. They also weren't doing a great job of building toward Fastlane for the most part, but at least Friday's episode was as good of a go-home show as fans could have asked for.

Of course, the stuff surrounding the Universal Championship picture was the highlight of the night, but I also enjoyed the interaction between Seth Rollins and Shinsuke Nakamura, the Big E and Apollo Crews brawl, and even the setup for Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens. The stuff in the women's division was a misfire to me, but everything else was effective in my opinion.

Other Notable Highlights and Low Points

This Week's Highlights

The Hurt Business vs. The New Day: The sole reason why this is in the "Highlights" column is because of the match quality. These teams had a strong series of matches last year when they collided for the Raw Tag Team Championship, so that didn't come as much of a surprise. That said, New Day taking the tag titles was the wrong call. I realize it was done to set up New Day vs. AJ Styles and Omos at WrestleMania 37, but it feels completely random and a waste of Styles.

Edge vs. Jey Uso: I really liked the video packages that aired throughout the night hyping up Edge's first match on SmackDown in a decade as it made the main event feel more special. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary about the bout itself, but Edge looked good and Uso held his own as he always does. The outcome was never in doubt, but Edge being the special guest enforcer at Fastlane made the most sense and adds intrigue to Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns.

Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns: I've enjoyed every exchange these two have had on the mic over the last month and how they've been able to delve deeper and deeper into their long-running rivalry. This was the perfect preview of Universal Championship clash at Fastlane, and even though it wasn't their best work together, it still sold me on Sunday. The only issue is that they haven't suspended my disbelief enough to make me think that Bryan will win the title.

Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly: This entire angle has been brilliantly booked so far from the breakup to O'Reilly's revenge to the two brawling in the parking lot brawl on Wednesday's NXT. It feels personal between the two and it's going to make their match at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver mean that much more. Most of the show was thrown together due to the reported COVID outbreak, but at least this stood out as being a strong segment that succeeded in what it set out to do.

WALTER and Jordan Devlin return to NXT: It's about damn time! It's been over a year since we last saw these two in NXT and it's awesome to have them back. Devlin's return was advertised in advance and his quick face-off with Santos Escobar was well done. I'm excited for their eventual encounter. As for WALTER, he came back as part of Imperium's program with Tommaso Ciampa. If we're going to get WALTER vs. Ciampa out of this, then count me in.

Dakota Kai vs. Zoey Stark: Despite the video package that aired a week or two ago discussing her background and who she is, Stark still comes off as generic to me, but there can be no doubt that she can bring it in the ring. Once she gets her character down, she'll be a star in NXT's women's division and having so many standout showings up to this point has helped her cause. This was a really fun sprint and Kai never ceases to deliver regardless of who she's up against.

This Week's Low Points

Shane McMahon and Braun Strowman: Just when I thought their rivalry couldn't get any worse, it did. A match between the two was promoted for Raw, and unsurprisingly, it didn't happen. Instead, it was an angle where Shane narrowly avoided facing Strowman and attacked him with... wait for it... slime. Seriously. Who this crap is supposed to appeal to, I have no idea. They're advertised to have their matchup at Fastlane, but I'm guessing they'll end up saving it for WrestleMania.

Asuka vs. Shayna Baszler: This was a WrestleMania-worthy match a year ago, and yet it couldn't have meant less on Monday night. It literally ended in under two minutes. The best thing I can say about it was that Asuka came off as dominant for once, but it shouldn't have come at the expense of Baszler (even though she was the one who knocked her tooth out a few weeks ago). Baszler has fallen far from where she was a year ago and has shown zero signs of bouncing back.

Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose vs. Lana and Naomi: The women's tag team division on Raw and SmackDown remains a mess. These are the only two teams on Raw other than Baszler and Nia Jax and they aren't very interesting. They're both babyfaces to boot, so that hindered this match, which wasn't very good to begin with. It's possible Brooke and Rose are being groomed for the next shot at the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship, but I honestly can't bring myself to care.

Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre announcement: I'm perfectly fine with Lashley vs. McIntyre being the WWE Championship match at WrestleMania, but the way it was announced was so anticlimactic. Unless I missed something, Lashley started the show by casually mentioning in a promo that it's him and McIntyre at 'Mania. It makes sense from a storyline standpoint, but McIntyre should've had to earn it and there should have been more fanfare over him challenging Lashley.

Bianca Belair vs. Shayna Baszler: It wasn't a great week for Baszler. After essentially getting squashed by Asuka on Raw, she rekindled her rivalry with Belair on SmackDown and once again came away looking like a loser. It was a throwaway match due to the interference from Natalya and Tamina, which is disappointing when you consider that this was an NXT Women's Championship match at an NXT TakeOver special two years ago. This didn't really accomplish anything.

Finn Balor and Karrion Kross vs. Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch: It isn't often that NXT falls victim to main roster booking, but this was beyond dumb. Leave the reluctant tag team partner crap to Raw and SmackDown. Balor and Kross had no reason to team up and Lorcan and Burch agreeing to put their NXT Tag Team Championship on the line was illogical. Don't get me wrong, it was an entertaining main event, but it served no purpose in the long run and only got Burch hurt.

Week in Review

Week of March 20, 2021

Match of the Week:Bobby Lashley vs. Sheamus (Raw, March 15)

Superstar of the Week:Drew McIntyre

Show of the Week:Friday Night SmackDown, March 19

Other Notable Highlights and Low Points

This Week's Highlights

This Week's Low Points

Week in Review Archive

2012

2013

2014

2015

Match of the Week:
Bobby Lashley vs. Sheamus (Raw, March 15)

Superstar of the Week:
Drew McIntyre

Show of the Week:
Friday Night SmackDown, March 19