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Thursday, March 16, 2023

Harold Williams’ Weekly Wrestling: [WWE] 3/15/23

Hello WWE fans, today we will look at the results of recent WWE shows, my idea for the future of the WWE NXT Women's Championship that involves Global Localization, Kane answering the, "Mt. Rushmore of WWE stars" question, my Mt. Rushmore of pro-wrestling, and who I think Bobby Lashley's WrestleMania opponent should be.

RESULTS
WWE Friday Night SmackDown
3/10/23
Drew McIntyre and Sheamus defeated Karrion Kross, LA Knight (w/ Scarlett), and Xavier Woods in a, "WWE Intercontinental Title #1 Contendership Fatal Five Way" match
The Judgment Day (Damian Priest, Dominik Mysterio, and Finn Balor) (w/ Rhea Ripley) defeated Legado del Fantasma (Cruz Del Toro, Joaquin Wilde, and Santos Escobar) (w/ Rey Mysterio & Zelina Vega)
The Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar) (w/ Valhalla) defeated Braun Strowman & Ricochet
Charlotte Flair defeated Shotzi

WWE Monday Night RAW
3/13/23
The Judgment Day (Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio) (w/ Rhea Ripley) defeated Dexter Lumis & Johnny Gargano (w/ Candice LaRae)
Cody Rhodes defeated LA Knight
Bronson Reed defeated Elias (w/ Rick Boogs)
Austin Theory defeated Angelo Dawkins
Seth Rollins defeated Baron Corbin
Bianca Belair defeated Chelsea Green (w/ Carmella)

WWE NXT
3/14/23
WWE NXT Tag Team Champions Gallus defeated Pretty Deadly
Zoey Stark defeated Sol Ruca
Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn defeated Ivy Nile & Tatum Paxley, and Katana Chance & Kayden Carter
Dabba-Kato defeated Apollo Crews
Gigi Dolin defeated Kiana James


Also on this episode, a medical update was given on WWE NXT Women's Champion Roxanne Perez, who collapsed after successfully defending her championship against Meiko Satomura last week.



With Roxanne Perez currently on the sidelines, NXT head Shawn Michaels has stated that a new WWE NXT Women's Champion may be crowned at the upcoming NXT Stand and Deliver event.



This presents an opportunity for many women to become a part of the NXT Women’s Title scene. With her defeat of Sol Ruca, Zoey Stark has already qualified for this title match at NXT Stand and Deliver, as well as Gigi Dolin after defeating Kiana James. Based on this NXT graphic, there is room for two more participants.



I would like to see one of them be Alba Fyre and she definitely has earned it, but it appears that Fyre prefers to be a part of the tag team scene and working with Isla Dawn as of late. They will be in a match for WWE NXT Women's Tag Team Championship at NXT Stand and Deliver.



So I feel that the best alternative option would be for a participant to be Meiko Satomura, who should also win the NXT Women's Championship. Being that she is an international superstar, Satomura would be a beneficial representative of NXT's women's division as its champion. This would also be a perfect opportunity to increase the legitimacy of the NXT Women's Championship in the pro-wrestling industry, during a time that WWE/NXT is interested in expanding the NXT brand to Japan/Asia and other parts of the world.

It would be a boost to the image of the NXT Women's Championship for Meiko Satomura to return to Japan with the title, garnering the attention of the Japan-based pro-wrestling media, and pro-wrestling channel Samurai TV, which is broadcast here by SKY PerfecTV!, a direct broadcast satellite service with over 2 million subscribers.



Along with returning to Japan with the NXT Women's Championship, Meiko Satomura could also defend it in Japan. She is still connected to Sendai Girls, and Satomura could defend the championship at a Senda Girls event in a match that would be broadcast on Samurai TV. With the championship being defended internationally, NXT would have every right to call it the NXT Women's World Championship, making it a championship that could be defended at NXT affiliate events worldwide. Plus, having Satomura as a part of the championship's lineage would be a positive for WWE/NXT years after she eventually drops it.

As for the fourth participant in the title match at Stand And Deliver, I think it should be Blair Davenport. Already known from her work for AEW in the US, for Stardom in Japan, and for PROGRESS in the UK, Davenport hasn't been utilized in NXT as much as she can be.

MORE WWE
Kane was recently asked to name his Mt. Rushmore of WWE stars. Kane replied that it would be difficult to name the four best wrestlers, and instead named the four wrestlers who he felt defined specific eras of the pro-wrestling business: Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, and John Cena. Making the original question broader- who do you name for your Mt. Rushmore of pro-wrestling? I feel that the 1980s pro-wrestling boom was a very significant part of the industry’s history, to the extent that it set the foundation for the success that it has today. So I name four people who in some way represented the companies that were the Big 3 at the time (WWE, JCP, and the AWA):
1- Hulk Hogan
2- Ric Flair
3- Sgt. Slaughter
4- Vince McMahon

With Bray Wyatt currently sidelinded due to physical issues, Bobby Lashley is now without an opponent for WrestleMania. If AJ Styles' ankle has healed (which it most likely has, since it broke in late December and broken ankles usually take 6 to 8 weeks to heal), Styles vs. Lashley at WrestleMania would be a situation where, "plan b" is, "plan BETTER". It would be a bad move to not involve someone on Styles' level of popularity in WWE’s biggest premium event of the year. And a Styles vs. Lashley match is generally fresh, as they have only had one singles match previously, which took place last year.

Thursday, March 2, 2023

Harold Williams’ Weekly Wrestling: [WWE] 3/1/23

Hello WWE fans, today we will look at the results of recent WWE shows, Finn Balor challenging Edge to a match at WrestleMania, Carmella vs. Bianca Belair, and Damage CTRL losing the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship.

RESULTS
WWE Friday Night SmackDown
2/24/23
Imperium (Giovanni Vinci, Gunther, and Ludwig Kaiser) defeated Braun Strowman, Madcap Moss, and Ricochet
Kofi Kingston (w/ Xavier Woods) defeated LA Knight
Shayna Baszler (w/ Ronda Rousey) defeated Natalya (w/ Tegan Nox)
Karrion Kross (w/ Scarlett) defeated Rey Mysterio

WWE Monday Night RAW
2/27/23
The Bloodline defeated The Street Profits
Cody Rhodes defeated Chad Gable
Asuka defeated Carmella
Candice LeRae defeated Piper Niven
Bobby Lashley defeated Elias
Johnny Gargano defeated Otis
Becky Lynch & Lita defeated WWE Women's Tag Team Champions IYO SKY & Dakota Kai to become the new WWE Women's Tag Team Champions

Also on this episode, Finn Balor challenged Edge to a match at WrestleMania. I assume this match is going to happen, and I look forward to it. Balor was left off the card of last year's WrestleMania, and that should never happen to someone with his level of talent. Overall, I'm very pleased with the current WWE administration, and the way that Balor is being utilized these days is a perfect example why.



After the match between Asuka and Carmella, there was an in-ring segment between Asuka and Bianca Belair, and Belair was sneak attacked by Carmella. We're on the road to WrestleMania, where Belair is going to defend the WWE RAW Women's Championship against Asuka, so Carmella involving herself in that segment makes me wonder if the championship match is going to become something like a, "Triple Threat" match between the three of them. I think most fans would prefer to see Asuka vs. Belair one-on-one, so hopefully that won't be the case. But there will have to be new feuds post-WrestleMania, so an option would be to have Carmella interfere in the Asuka-Belair match, with Carmella's interference contributing to Belair losing the championship. That would give a reason for a Belair-Carmella feud. They have had singles matches against each other in the past, but the majority of them were very short- only three of them were at least eight minutes long.

Becky Lynch is the top female name on the RAW roster, so it made sense for her and Lita to defeat IYO SKY & Dakota Kai for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship, but it creates a problem. The members of Damage CTRL are the main heels on the RAW roster, and without gold around the waists of any of the members of the faction, they are going to appear to be less of a threat. So unless there is a plan to disband Damage CTRL in the near future, one of them should win a title soon. SKY & Kai dropped the championship to Asuka & Alexa Bliss last year and regained it five days later, so hopefully something similar will happen in this situation.

WWE NXT
2/28/23
WWE NXT North American Champion Wes Lee defeated Nathan Frazer
Indus Sher defeated Briggs & Jensen
Meiko Satomura defeated Zoey Stark
Sol Ruca defeated Elektra Lopez
Tiffany Stratton defeated Katana Chance
Axiom defeated Hank Walker
Carmelo Hayes defeated Tyler Bate