WWE Wrap-Up
This week in WWE: Braun is going to ‘Mania while dreams come true on SDL
Mar 14, 2018, 1:46 pm
Braun caused utter confusion when he won the Tag Battle Royal by himself. Photo by WWE.com
This is a weekly look at the action in the WWE:
Raw
Kurt Angle announced to the crowd in Detroit that Brock Lesnar would not be appearing, despite being advertised. Roman Reigns came to the ring upset beyond belief. He demanded repercussions that he knew would not occur for Lesnar missing another appearance. He raced to the back to “break the fourth wall” and confronted Vince McMahon. After a commercial break, McMahon spoke to Renee Young to assure the audience that Brock WILL appear next week, and to announce that Reigns had been suspended for his “lack of respect.” Sasha Banks, with a reluctant Bayley on her side, defeated Sonya Deville via the Banks Statement. Bayley walked away as soon as the match ended, leaving Banks vulnerable to an attack from Absolution. The Miz hosted an episode of Miz TV to try to instigate a fight between his ‘Mania opponents, Seth Rollins and Finn Balor. The two bantered back and forth, but saw through Miz’s game. They cleared the ring from him before Rollins surprised Balor with an uppercut. The Bar had an “open invitation” for any tag team willing to face them at ‘Mania. This caused a brawl to break out between every single tag team on Raw.
John Cena did what he “was told not to do”: issue a challenge to the Undertaker at WrestleMania. He explained how the only reason the match was not happening was because of Taker’s ego. Angle explained to The Bar that they will find out who their ‘Mania opponents will be after a Tag Team Battle Royal. Balor and Rollins faced off in a singles match. Rollins hit Balor with a monstrous Superplex, but Balor was able to roll him up to steal the win. The WWE announced a Women’s Battle Royal named after The Fabulous Moolah to take place at WrestleMania.
Asuka came out to explain why she chose to challenge Charlotte at Mania, not Alexa. The Champion came out to explain Asuka chose correctly since she would not have been able to beat her. Asuka paraphrased Charlotte’s dad when explaining why she challenged Charlotte: “To be the Woman, you’ve got to beat the Woman.” Mickie James surprised her with a cheap shot. This led to a match between the two that Asuka easily won. Nia Jax defeated an enhancement talent. Alexa Bliss and Mickie James, unaware that the mics around them were hot, spoke foully of Jax after her match. They, of course, ran away when they realized their mistake leaving Jax to run around the arena looking for her former friends. Another promo package aired for the Ultimate Deletion match between Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt. The Tag Team Battle Royal closed the show, and Braun Strowman decided to throw himself into the match to contend for the Raw Tag Team Championships. It came down to Karl Anderson and Braun Strowman. “I’m going to WrestleMania,” yelled Strowman as he chunked Anderson out of the ring to win the Battle Royal.
SmackDown
AJ Styles opened the show celebrating his win at Fastlane and hyping the fans up for his match against Nakamura at WrestleMania. This prompted Nakamura to come to the ring, he explained how dreams come true at Mania, and his dream is to be WWE Champion. Rusev faced AJ Styles in the opening match of the night. Styles was about to lock up Rusev in a Calf Crusher, but Aiden English rushed into the ring to attack the Champion. Nakamura jumped into the ring to help out Styles. Big E and Jimmy Uso spoke backstage about putting their differences aside to challenge The Bludgeon Brothers, who viciously attacked both teams at Fastlane. They decided to work together and tag against The Bludgeon Brothers. They did what they could to get some revenge for their partners, but it was not enough as the Brothers would go on to win the match. Backstage, Sami Zayn spoke about Shane McMahon and Kevin Owens ruining his opportunity to become WWE Champion at Fastlane.
Charlotte and Asuka faced off in the ring to talk about their match up at ‘Mania. Charlotte admitted that she was hoping Asuka would choose her after winning the Rumble. Asuka has never lost, but she has never faced someone like Charlotte. Jinder Mahal defeated Bobby Roode with a Khallas. United States Champion, Randy Orton, jumped into the ring to congratulate him with an RKO. Carmella defeated Naomi after dragging her down from the ropes from her hair and rolling her up. Shane McMahon closed SmackDown with a special announcement: he will be taking a leave of absence as SmackDown Live Commissioner. Before stepping down, though, he scheduled Sami Zayn vs Kevin Owens at WrestleMania. The two thanked McMahon for the matchup by viciously attacking him.
The path is clear to WrestleMania
It was an interesting week. Not many matches were announced, but we do have clarity of where pieces will seem to fit in the grand scheme. The biggest highlight was perhaps Strowman inserting himself, and winning, a shot at the Raw Tag Team Championships. My hope is that he is not forced to find a partner. Looking back to when The Bar helped the Miz and Kane get rid of Braun at TLC last year, this would be an awesome payoff to that.
SmackDown announced no new matches, although, we did get exchanges for both of the top titles. What seems to be clear, though, is that we will see a few multi-men, or multi-team, matches announced in the coming weeks.
Finally, the Fabulous Moolah Battle Royal is a big story. The name is completely tasteless. A quick google search will show you Moolah was an absolute horrible person who probably did more damage to Women’s Wrestling than she did to “push it forward.” That being said, the Battle Royal will allow those left off of the card an opportunity to have a match at ‘Mania. It’s unfortunate that someone like Becky Lynch or Mickie James would have nothing to do at the biggest show of the year, but this seems like the only solution. Like with most stuff in WWE, we have to take the good with the undesirably bad.
It’s May 1, and the Astros are turning heads—but not for the reasons anyone expected. Their resurgence, driven not by stars like Yordan Alvarez or Christian Walker, but by a cast of less-heralded names, is writing a strange and telling early-season story.
Christian Walker, brought in to add middle-of-the-order thump, has yet to resemble the feared hitter he was in Arizona. Forget the narrative of a slow starter—he’s never looked like this in April. Through March and April of 2025, he’s slashing a worrying .196/.277/.355 with a .632 OPS. Compare that to the same stretch in 2024, when he posted a .283 average, .496 slug, and a robust .890 OPS, and it becomes clear: this is something more than rust. Even in 2023, his April numbers (.248/.714 OPS) looked steadier.
What’s more troubling than the overall dip is when it’s happening. Walker is faltering in the biggest moments. With runners in scoring position, he’s hitting just .143 over 33 plate appearances, including 15 strikeouts. The struggles get even more glaring with two outs—.125 average, .188 slugging, and a .451 OPS in 19 such plate appearances. In “late and close” situations, when the pressure’s highest, he’s practically disappeared: 1-for-18 with a .056 average and a .167 OPS.
His patience has waned (only 9 walks so far, compared to 20 by this time last year), and for now, his presence in the lineup feels more like a placeholder than a pillar.
The contrast couldn’t be clearer when you look at José Altuve—long the engine of this franchise—who, in 2024, delivered in the moments Walker is now missing. With two outs and runners in scoring position, Altuve hit .275 with an .888 OPS. In late and close situations, he thrived with a .314 average and .854 OPS. That kind of situational excellence is missing from this 2025 squad—but someone else may yet step into that role.
And yet—the Astros are winning. Not because of Walker, but in spite of him.
Houston’s offense, in general, hasn’t lit up the leaderboard. Their team OPS ranks 23rd (.667), their slugging 25th (.357), and they sit just 22nd in runs scored (117). They’re 26th in doubles, a rare place for a team built on gap-to-gap damage.
But where there’s been light, it hasn’t come from the usual spots. Jeremy Peña, often overshadowed in a lineup full of stars, now boasts the team’s highest OPS at .791 (Isaac Paredes is second in OPS) and is flourishing in his new role as the leadoff hitter. Peña’s balance of speed, contact, aggression, and timely power has given Houston a surprising tone-setter at the top.
Even more surprising: four Astros currently have more home runs than Yordan Alvarez.
And then there’s the pitching—Houston’s anchor. The rotation and bullpen have been elite, ranking 5th in ERA (3.23), 1st in WHIP (1.08), and 4th in batting average against (.212). In a season where offense is lagging and clutch hits are rare, the arms have made all the difference.
For now, it’s the unexpected contributors keeping Houston afloat. Peña’s emergence. A rock-solid pitching staff. Role players stepping up in quiet but crucial ways. They’re not dominating, but they’re grinding—and in a sluggish AL West, that may be enough.
Walker still has time to find his swing. He showed some signs of life against Toronto and Detroit. If he does, the Astros could become dangerous. If he doesn’t, the turnaround we’re witnessing will be credited to a new cast of unlikely faces. And maybe, that’s the story that needed to be written.
We have so much more to discuss. Don't miss the video below as we examine the topics above and much, much more!
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