WWE Wrap-Up
This week in WWE: Braun Strowman absolutely destroyed everyone and everything
Jan 17, 2018, 2:56 pm
This is a weekly look at the action in the WWE:
Braun Strowman opened Raw giving fans a “story with a happy ending”; a story where Strowman wins the Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble. An upset Kurt Angle came to the ring to fire Braun Strowman for his actions last week. Strowman did what any irrational, pissed, giant would do and absolutely destroyed the security who tried escorting him out of the building. Just when it looked like The Bar was going to defeat Titus Worldwide, Jason Jordan came out and caused a distraction. Crews rolled up Sheamus allowing his team to pick up the win. Braun Strowman continued his backstage rampage destroying Angle’s office and any wrestler in his sight. Cedric Alexander, with Goldust on his side, defeated Tony Neese with a Lumbar Check. Strowman continued his rampage backstage when he flipped over a production truck. Yup, a production truck. Angle found him and promised him he would still be in the match if he stopped destroying things, but that did not stop Strowman from chunking lead announcer Michael Cole into security.
Asuka and Nia Jax faced off. Asuka did the smart thing of trying to ground her with different submissions. None of them worked, until Nia got stuck in-between the steps. Asuka was ruled the winner as Jax could not finish the match. Jason Jordan pitched a match between Seth Rollins and Finn Balor to Kurt Angle. The Rival defeated an unnamed Tag Team in an enhancement match. Elias had a new song for the San Antonio crowd, of course, the song insulted the Spurs.
Roman Reigns took on The Mizterouge in a handicap match. No matter how hard Miz tried to throw off Reigns, it was not enough for his Mizterouge to steal the match up. Sonya Deville upset Sasha Banks pinning her after a monster kick. Matt Hardy defeated Heath Slater with a Twist of Fate. A promo package aired to reveal Goldberg will be the first entrant into the 2018 Class of the WWE Hall of Fame. Seth Rollins and Finn Balor were the main event, and, boy was it a great match. The Bar raced down to get some payback on Jordan, who was ringside supporting Rollins, but ended up brawling with Gallows and Anderson. Jordan swept Balor’s leg and Rollins hit him with a Curb Stomp to win the match.
Highlight of the night: The First hour was absolutely amazing. Braun should get fired every week. Him destroying everything and everyone in his way was awesome. Flipping over the production truck was the freaking cherry on top.
A semi final match in the United States Championship Tournament, Jinder Mahal vs Xavier Woods, opened the show. The New Day chased off The Singh Brothers, and Woods put off a valiant effort, but it was not enough to defeat the former WWE Champion. Mahal advanced to the final after pinning Woods with a Khallas. AJ Styles promised to put an end to Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens’ “Yep Movement” at the Royal Rumble. Mojo Rawley dominated the early part of his semi final match against Bobby Roode. The Glorious one was able to pick up the win, though, with a nasty Glorious DDT. The Singh Brothers congratulated him with a blindsided attack. Mahal promised to beat Roode in the final next week, but Roode said he did not want to wait until next week. Daniel Bryan decided Roode had the right idea and decided to move the match to this week’s main event.
The Riott Squad defeated Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Naomi in a Six Woman Tag match. Naomi avoided getting rolled up by Morgan, but was met with a kick to the face by Riott allowing Morgan to pin her for the win. The Usos were promoting their Royal Rumble match when they were attacked from behind by Benjamin and Gable. Jinder Mahal worked Roode’s core to gain an advantage in the early part of their main event match. They do not call him the Glorious one for nothing, though. Roode was able to endure his injuries and, one glorious DDT later, picked up the win to become the new United States Champion.
Highlight of the night: Bobby Roode finally wins his first title on the main roster. He was, without a doubt, one of the most prolific characters on NXT. Lets see what he does now as a United States Champion.
How do they compare?
Another week, another “that’s it?” episode of SmackDown Live. I’m not going to place all of the blame on the show itself, though, it had to face the duty of having to promote the Mix Max Challenge that premiered that night on Facebook. The tournament matches were good, and Roode winning was an awesome moment, everything else just felt like more of the same. Now, look at how insane the first hour of Raw was. Are all the creative fluids going to the red show? Possibly. Raw has an interesting week ahead of them. Not only will this be their Go Home Show, they will also be celebrating the 25th anniversary of Raw. It’s going to be another great week for the show. As for SmackDown? I am not sure what to expect at this point. At best, we get some gems of wrestling matches. At worst, it is a rehash of the week before. Hopefully things turn around as we approach Wrestlemania.
The Houston Texans have a big challenge in store as they look to start the season with a win against the Colts this Sunday. When these two teams met in Week 2 last year, the Colts dominated the Texans, despite losing their QB Anthony Richardson to a concussion after the first quarter.
Keeping Richardson contained on Sunday will go a long way in increasing the Texans' chances of coming home with a win. The Texans defense will have their hands full containing the Colts backs and tight ends in the passing game.
Scoring touchdowns with their wide receivers could prove difficult, as the Texans allowed the second-fewest TDs (10) to the receiver position in 2023.
Limiting running back Jonathan Taylor will also be a top priority. While the Texans had an elite defense against the run last season, they struggled with Taylor in Week 18 as he almost rushed for 200 yards.
Houston's D allowed only four carries to running backs in 2023 that went for 20 or more yards. Two of which were to Taylor in the final game of the regular season.
Finally, DeMeco Ryans and company have to find a way to get pressure on the QB. They only had one QB hit and zero sacks on Richardson and Garner Minshew the first time they faced off last year.
On offense, the Texans have two big x-factors to watch for on Sunday. The offensive line that suited up to play the Colts in Week 2 last season is completely different from this year.
The o-line was ravaged with injuries to start the 2023 campaign, so we expect a big jump in productivity in the trenches this year.
Another big addition in 2024 is the presence of running back Joe Mixon. The running game only produced 2 yards per rush in Week 2 against Indy last year, so there's clearly room for improvement.
Be sure to watch the video above for our in-depth preview of Texans-Colts!
And catch Texans on Tap (a Texans podcast) live on our SportsMapTexans YouTube channel following every game this season!