Capping off this three day weekend of major wrestling shows, it’s another WWE PPV Sunday tonight! I know! It feels like we’ve just been here! If you’re counting WWE Starrcade, and really you shouldn’t but in some ways you can, WWE have run a PPV-level show on three of the last four Sundays! That is somewhat overkill! But it comes to a close tonight, as it’s our last big event before the Royal Rumble kicks off WrestleMania season! And before that we have an interesting night of action awaiting us in the form of WWE TLC!
Looking at this card, I can’t help but think this is one of those shows that’ll either be completely spectacular or a total disaster. Just sorta have that feeling. And yannow what, that’s pretty exciting! So let’s get to the previews.
Tables Match: Rusev vs. Bobby Lashley
This is something of a polarizing feud. Anecdotally, I don’t feel like I hear from a lot of people who have been unironically enjoying it. Largely it’s been criticized for being another cheesy, badly done soap opera angle from WWE, with far-from-believable acting and a some particularly over-the-top moments. However, if you were just going by crowd reactions, you’d think it was the hottest angle in WWE right now, as it’s consistently gotten some of – and often, the – biggest pops and jeers alike on a given night.
Ratings-wise, it’s a flop. YouTube views-wise, it’s a smash hit. It’s hard to really know what to make of this, whether or not it can really be qualified as a success. But I can atleast say I expect a hot crowd for this as Rusev and Lashley finally face off in a real match, which should certainly make it a much better experience.
As for the match itself, well, Tables matches are kind of a weird thing. It’s a modern stip with sort of an oldschool basis, in that it’s a match designed around a single big spot that will end things, and the bulk of the match is spent merely teasing and building to that spot. It’s the kind of match that would likely get over huge in the 80s, but tends to fall on it’s ass in 2019. Modern crowds just aren’t conditioned to that. But like I said, crowds tend to be into this feud, so maybe this will be an exception?
As to the winner, well, I don’t think we’ve done all this just to get one match on a B PPV out of it, and the Tables match is hardly considered a big feud ender. This will probably keep going until atleast the Royal Rumble, so the heel goes over to prolong things, Lashley wins.
However I imagine before the night is over, one way or another, and probably not intentionally, Lana will end up going through a table herself. This will likely end up being a key to extending this angle.
