SmackDown "Goes Home" for the Royal Rumble...

A Good Friday to You Enthusiasts!

 

How is everyone doing? Good? I hope so. The Royal Rumble is soon upon us and is it me or is the buzz just starting? I remember last year’s. It was practically electric come show-time. I don’t expect that for this year, given everything, but the sense of anticipation is still very strong. It’s probably just tempered by curiosity. There are a lot of loose ends dangling and we’ll see if any of them are addressed come Sunday.

 

As for the Wrestling Grapevine, there are some stirrings but what caught my eye was some news on Aleister Black. There’s talk that he is still very much a part of the WWE roster but has been given plenty of space to account for the dismissal of Zelina Vega, his wife. An interesting show of tact from WWE, if I may say.  I hope they appreciate what they have in Black. I’m not familiar with his previous incarnation of Tommy End but I have found Black compelling from the start. I like his dark yet approachable way. I hope he’s working adamantly on his return and more importantly, I hope that he’s allowed creative clearance to make his own way. Given how things are going, I would say he could definitely make himself an admirable case. Let us pray a happy medium can be found.

 

Some lead in to tonight’s SmackDown comes courtesy of Goldberg. Apparently he had an interview with FOX Sports and had some fodder to keep a shot at a match/feud with Roman Reigns alive. He’s got mad beef from his football days. He’ll use that to create a way to hate Reigns’ face. Social Media commenters aren’t too impressed with this angle but I find it fun. Yes, it’s a stretch but I’m a big fan of shit talk and Goldberg was letting it fly, even if it is all BS. I’m not sure what to expect from Goldberg’s final appearances but it will be on him to make them fun. There’s a lot of fan anxiety about Goldberg either defeating McIntyre or winning the Rumble. I don’t expect this because I don’t think WWE is suicidal. They may make bad moves but they make them thinking they’ll work. They have to be aware of their track record enough to not go on a senseless kamikaze mission. It’s doubtful they have an angle valid enough to allow wins for Goldberg but there could certainly be “hijinks” that allow for rematches or stipulation matches. They just have to play out his contract. It’s on him to make it interesting.

 

That takes us to tonight’s SmackDown. This is the last hurrah before the Rumble. Michael Cole is going to try to have a sit-down with Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns. And Bayley will face off against Bianca BelAir for an “Ultimate Wrestler” match. We’ll see what that amounts to. For everything else, we’ll have to wait and see. Funny tweets get retweeted and as for Likes, well don’t feel the need to hold back. They should be swinging for the bleachers, getting us all hot and bothered for Sunday. RAW wasn’t horrible but there was plenty to ridicule and to be honest, I had fun doing it. SmackDown has been steadily respectable for the past month or so. It’s kinda hard to believe but nice to see. Don’t skewer ‘em unless they deserve it but enjoy yourselves out there.

 

See You in a Bit,

-Nicole Alexis (^_~)