Eyes On WWE: The 5 Best WWE Events Of 2017 So Far

By @TrueGodImmortal 

The year isn't close to being over, but much like we did with the top 5 wrestlers so far this year, I wanted to take a look at the top 5 WWE events of the first half of 2017. Let's get into it.

5. Wrestlemania 33

-While this Mania had one of the worst main events ever with one of the worst finishes ever, the majority of the undercard was truly superb. With 13 total matches on the night, including the three on the preshow, there was a huge margin for error, but for the most part, the matches didn't disappoint. Neville vs Austin Aries was great, and the opening match of AJ Styles vs Shane McMahon stole the show without question. Seth Rollins vs Triple H was a really good match as well, and I definitely enjoyed Chris Jericho vs Kevin Owens. The Raw Women's Fatal 4 Way was solid, and the return of the Hardy Boyz is one of the best moments of the year and the Ladder match for the tag titles were fun as well. I was even pleasantly shocked by the short but fun Goldberg vs Brock III match as well. Wrestlemania was average for a big time Mania with a roster like this, but so far this year, it ranks in the top 5, but with the stacked card for NXT Takeover Brooklyn and Summerslam, it'll likely fall out of that top 5 in the next month or so.

4. Extreme Rules 

-I debated on putting the NXT Takeover in San Antonio or even the Money In The Bank PPV in place of the 4th or 5th selection, but couldn't justify it due to finishes and the overall card. There wasn't a consistent flow on those cards, but I can confidently say that I really enjoyed this event surprisingly enough. The Miz vs Dean Ambrose was solid, the Tag Team Steel Cage match was solid for the most part as well minus the strange ending and rules, I liked the mixed tag team match, the submission match for the Cruiserweight Title was good, and the main event was excellent. With a solid card match wise, Extreme Rules was better than expected.

3. Elimination Chamber

-This is actually the best WWE main roster event so far during the year. Surprisingly enough, this was a mostly solid card that saw some matches shock me. The tag team turmoil match was solid, I enjoyed Becky Lynch vs Mickie James, Naomi vs Alexa Bliss was solid, Randy Orton vs Luke Harper was a damn good match, and the Elimination Chamber Match was easily one of the best matches so far this year (more on that match tomorrow). While not a perfect event, this was one of the best of the year without question and my favorite WWE main roster event of the year.

2. NXT Takeover Orlando 

-It was tough choosing between the most recent NXT events because they were both so good. The reality is, this event is on par with my top choice as well, and if you chose this event, I wouldn't be mad at you. The opening 8 man tag match was a lot of fun, along with the Aleister Black match, the epic triple threat tag team title match, and of course the slept on main event between Bobby Roode and Shinsuke Nakamura. Overall, this event doesn't have a bad match, and that's what earns it the no. 2 spot. Why can't I give it the no. 1 spot? Well, let me get into that with my top selection.

1. NXT Takeover Chicago 

-The absolute best event this year and only one has come close. This event blows every WWE PPV out of the water without question and it proves once again that even as their talent roster loses vital members that they can replace them with viable stars. With Shinsuke Nakamura, Tye Dillinger, and The Revival gone, NXT recovered and delivered the best event of the year so far. The opening match of Roderick Strong vs Eric Young was actually a pretty good contest, and I enjoyed the Women's Triple Threat match very much too. While some criticized it, I really enjoyed the Bobby Roode vs Hideo Itami NXT Title Match as well. However, what gets this event at no. 1 is having two of the best matches of the year on the card. The amazing Tag Team Title Ladder Match between DIY and Authors Of Pain and the classic between Tyler Bate and Peter Dunne are two of the best matches that we've seen this year without question (more on that in the next article), and that solidifies NXT Takeover Chicago as the best event of the year so far.

-True 

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Eyes on the Ring 1:47 AM  No comment

Eyes On Extreme Rules: PPV Preview

By @TrueGodImmortal 

Baltimore, MD will get another PPV and it happens to be the Raw exclusive Extreme Rules. Usually, Extreme Rules comes with a lot of great matches and excitement and honestly, this year it is devoid of it. Why is that? Well, aside from the absence of a Universal Title match, it lacks the star power, the actual Universal Champion, good stipulations, and it feels like a forced card honestly. With a few rematches that came from Payback, this PPV doesn't look too promising, but could we be wrong? Could we see the next chapter of Goldust and R-Truth and their breakup? More Enzo/Cass vs The Revival business? Only time will tell. Let's take a look at the announced card so far.

*Rich Swann and Sasha Banks vs Noam Dar and Alicia Fox

-This feels like an attempt to get Sasha's help in getting the Cruiserweight storyline over. I'm not interested in this match at all, but I think it could really have some good momentum and could be a fun watch for all. Swann and Noam have in ring chemistry and this could be fun to see. I don't expect Sasha and Alicia to get much ring time, but I do expect Swann and Sasha to pick up the win. Hopefully Swann gets another shot at the Cruiserweight Title, but I find it unlikely after this match. Swann and Sasha pick up the win.

*Submission Match 
Cruiserweight Championship
Austin Aries vs Neville 

-Aries and Neville have a solid feud. I like both and I think they could put in quite the classic feud if given the right push and promotion. However, it's been relegated to not being as prominent and honestly I hate the idea of a Submission Match instead of the other two choices I had. A Ladder or TLC match sounds like the perfect culmination to this feud or any title feud in the Cruiserweight Title picture, but unfortunately, that's not the plan here. I think Neville ends up retaining unfortunately, and Aries somehow gets one more rematch, in a 2 out of 3 Falls contest at "Great Balls Of Fire" in which Aries finally wins. Neville retains.

*Steel Cage Match 
Tag Team Championship
The Hardy Boyz vs Cesaro and Sheamus

-The Hardyz aren't Broken yet. They need to be. It seemed like we were getting the Broken Hardyz after Cesaro and Sheamus turned heel, but they've held off due to the Impact lawsuit and battle. Honestly, I'm surprised Cesaro and Sheamus are still together, and honestly, I don't expect them to win this match. I think the team to defeat the Hardyz are the team that is currently out of commission until the next month or so, The Revival. I predict the Hardyz retain here in a solid yet slightly sloppy contest and then Cesaro and Sheamus move on to feud with another face team, or they do what I thought they would have by now and broke up. The Hardyz will retain the championships.

*Kendo Stick On A Pole Match
Women's RAW Championship 
Bayley vs Alexa Bliss 

-There's not a match on this cars that been horribly built quite like this one. After the terrible promo between the two on RAW this past Monday, and the lack of empathy for Bayley as a main roster face, one has to assume that the eventual plan is going to be Alexa vs Sasha Banks, the biggest star on the roster for women. Bayley just isn't working as the sympathetic face and while I expect her to get her share of "revenge" in this match, I think we see Bayley come up just a tad short and Alexa continues her blissful reign.

*Intercontinental Championship 
The Miz vs Dean Ambrose 

-Nothing says Extreme Rules like a match that could end in a disqualification..... and cause the champion to lose his title. It's honestly a stupid stipulation and that's the basis of this entire card really. Nothing on this card really sticks out to me as being solid minus the mega main event and this match was one we watched for months on Smackdown just a few months prior so it was very pointless for it to be here yet again. The stipulation makes me believe Ambrose will win cleanly and retain, making the Miz look weaker by design since he couldn't even get Ambrose to get himself DQed. However, I'd rather Ambrose retain cleanly than to lose it on a disqualification. So, I predict Ambrose to retain.

*Fatal 5 Way Match For No. 1 Contender Spot
Samoa Joe vs Finn Balor vs Bray Wyatt vs Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins 

-The only match I'm interested in seeing on this show really. This match will be the MOTN and in reality, there's essentially nothing about this match that is predictable. The booking has been done very well, and it seems that even after unnecessary wins over Finn Balor and Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns still isn't a favorite to win. Samoa Joe has momentum, Bray Wyatt has momentum, and even Finn Balor had momentum too. This match essentially could go either way, but based on the Heyman and Balor promo, there's a small feeling within me that Balor will end up walking away with the victory and going on to face Brock at the next PPV. Still, there's money in a huge Samoa Joe vs Brock match as well, and those two are my top choices. Either Joe or Finn win, and we get an actual dream match of sorts no matter how it turns out with those two. If Reigns or Bray actually do win, it would actually feel slightly like a waste, but you never know with WWE. Seth is the long shot to win, but he could pull out the victory too in a slight swerve. However, I predict Finn Balor wins, with Samoa Joe as my fallback pick. It should be a great match regardless.

There may be more matches added as the week progresses, but as of now, Extreme Rules doesn't seem to be very enticing, but who knows, WWE tends to surprise from time to time. Will this end up as a great event? I guess we'll have to tune in and find out.

-True

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Eyes on the Ring 1:44 AM  No comment

Eyes On Extreme Rules: The Fatal 5 Way No. 1 Contender's Match

By @TrueGodImmortal 

I'm not excited at for WWE Extreme Rules. There's a chance I could be in attendance since it's in my hometown of Baltimore, BUT the likelihood of this is getting smaller by the day. The only thing that has me considering finding a way to go is this main event that was just announced for the PPV on Monday Night RAW. In what was a shocking, but somewhat necessary move, the WWE shifted focus from Braun vs Reigns (due to a Braun injury) to this newly found concern for a Universal Title shot. Forget the fact that both Seth and Finn asked for a shot the week prior and instead competed in a great TV match for a shot at the IC Title. Forget that. Conventional wisdom doesn't matter in the WWE really, it seems like the WWE had to regroup fast and they basically did the best they could.

However, when you take a look at the competitors in this match, who deserves the victory? This is a tale of 5 different stars put into one mega main event, and their victories would mean many extremely different things. So who deserves to face Brock Lesnar at likely, wait for it, Great Balls Of Fire? Let's take a look.

*Samoa Joe

-The biggest shock in this match honestly needs to win it. This is my first choice for winning the match. Do I think he will win? Not necessarily, but going with what the WWE needs in a marquee match, just the concept of Samoa Joe vs Brock Lesnar is enough to put asses in seats as they say. However, this is WWE and his chance of realistically winning is about 20%. He will likely lose and go on to fight Seth Rollins at that PPV, which would be a bit unnecessary and drags the feud on a bit too long, but once again this is WWE. If I had to choose however, I'd pick Samoa Joe as the guy I want to win most.

*Finn Balor

-Honestly, this is a really top pick to win. Granted, I'm not really expecting him to win this honestly for one reason: Bray Wyatt. The worst part of this entire match is that the winner is more than likely going to be Roman Reigns to set up the Brock vs Reigns rematch that we don't want. However, it's assumed that the winner of this match will go onto Great Balls of Fire to fight Brock, so it's very possible Finn gets a huge surprise win to fill in for Braun Strowman, who will be gone for about 6 months. Brock Lesnar vs Finn Balor is a huge matchup and Balor never lost the Universal Title, so he already has a claim to the rematch. If WWE wants to give the fans what they were asking for the night after Mania (since the fans were asking for Balor), then this is the route to go. Whether WWE pulls the trigger is really hard to tell.

*Seth Rollins 

-I honestly think the best overall performer on RAW is Seth and the truth of the matter is, there's no denying that he could pull off a big time matchup with Brock at a B show. However, here is the issue: Seth has had a triple threat and a one on one match already with Brock. I think he has about a 25% chance of winning this match (not going to go Scott Steiner with the math here), but when you look at the fact that Brock will likely be coming back as a monster face (probably), I think Seth being fed to Brock in a losing effort is not a good look for him. Plus, Samoa Joe vs Seth Rollins will likely continue after Extreme Rules. So, I don't see Seth winning, but another Brock vs Seth match could be fun.

*Roman Reigns 

-So..... let me just say this. No. Not a chance. I don't want Reigns to win at all. He doesn't need to win. He doesn't need another match with Brock nor does he need a title run. It's just NOT WORKING. However, this is WWE, so if the plan is to build to two huge matches and a feud for Brock in the summer, I expect them to make Reigns win, and have the title match end in something controversial at Great Balls Of Fire, leading to a huge rematch at SummerSlam with a No DQ stipulation. Unfortunately, since WWE is pretty stupid about booking Reigns the right way, I fully see Reigns winning this match, likely with a pin over Bray Wyatt if this does go how I expect it.

*Bray Wyatt

-The sleeper pick. Notice how Bray is riding a wave of momentum? Honestly, I think they will halt his one on one feud with Finn, if he is able to win this match and finally give us that Bray vs Brock match. However, that match just doesn't feel like it's necessary now. Bray has really a win over Orton in House of Horrors and he's been standing tall on RAW recently, but I just can't see him in the long run staying as a huge contender to the top title, even when it's regularly defended again. Bray could win the match, but Brock vs Bray is just not a match that really jumps out at me now after their momentum both went down. I don't see Bray winning, but all signs would point to him walking away with the victory if the WWE push system stays consistent.

So who wins? Logic would say Balor or even Joe, but WWE logic says Bray or Reigns (the two options I don't want to see). I'd love to see Balor vs Brock or Joe vs Brock, but something tells me WWE nor Brock sees the money in those matches, so we will likely see Roman Reigns win.... AGAIN. Unfortunately. Guess we'll see on June 4th.

-True

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Eyes on the Ring 1:53 AM  No comment