WWE Wrap-Up

This week in WWE: Raw continues to show why it's the best show

This week in WWE: Raw continues to show why it's the best show
Braun Strowman took his savageness to another level when he laid out Kane and Lesnar. Photo by WWE.com

This is a weekly look at the action in the WWE:

RAW

Roman Reigns opened Raw recounting his victory over Samoa Joe. Jason Jordan, who cannot seem to get a clue, came to the ring to congratulate Reigns, and to say that the two, along with Rollins, are the three most dominant men in WWE. This prompted a reunited Balor Club to come to the ring. Jordan and Balor exchanged words prompting Kurt Angle to schedule a six man tag between these men as the main event. Sasha Banks and Bayley defeated Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville of Absolution after Banks trapped Rose in the Banks Statement. Broken Matt Hardy deleted Hurt Hawkins. After his win, Bray Wyatt appeared in the ring and the two shared a stare off where the two just laughed like the lunatics they are.

Elias performed a new song for the Memphis crowd to welcome back The Miz. The former Intercontinental Champion went on to talk about how Reigns is a bad champion, and how he made the championship what it was. Enzo Amore explained how Cedric Alexander tagging with Goldust was “the closest he is ever gonna get to Gold.” Sure enough, his statement proved to be right as Amore was able to retain his Cruiserweight Championship over Alexander via a count out. Backstage, Amore was tended to by the medical staff. It appears he sustained a leg injury in his match against Alexander. The Bar confronted Kurt Angle. He has not given them their proper rematch against Rollins and Jordan. Angle then explained that they will get their rematch at the Royal Rumble. The Miz, then, asked Angle for the opportunity to challenge Reigns for the Intercontinental Championship at the 25-year anniversary edition of Raw in two weeks. Titus O’Neil and Apollo Crews absolutely upset The Bar after O’Neil rolled up Sheamus.

Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar hyped up the Royal Rumble main event. As they were leaving the ring, Kane attacked Lesnar and dragged him backstage where Strowman was waiting for them. Strowman attempted to murder the two when he dragged down production towers on top of them, much to Heyman’s horror. Rhyno tried to teach his partner, Heath Slater, another lesson in “toughening up” when he challenged Samoa Joe. It did not end well, though, as Joe submitted him via the Coquina Clutch. After the match, Joe announced he will be entering the Royal Rumble. Alexa Bliss instigated a fight between Nia Jax and Asuka. This resulted in Jax attacking Asuka as she made her way to the ring for a match. Jason Jordan’s hot headedness cost his team the loss in the main event when he distracted the referee and prevented him from seeing a tag between Rollins and Reigns. Balor hit Rollins with a Coup De Grace to win the match. As the losing team tried to make sense of the loss, The Miz and The Mizterouge attacked them. The Miz hit Reigns with a Skull Crushing Finale, and they mocked him by hitting him with the Triple Power Bomb.

Highlight of the Night:

Braun’s attempted murder. Braun Strowman is a monster. Paul Heyman’s dramatics made Strowman’s attack that much better. It seems every polarizing attack is either by Strowman or it involves him somehow. The best part about it is that they seem to get better every time.

Smackdown Live

Renee Young interviewed AJ Styles to get his reaction to last week’s announcement that he will be facing both Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. Of course, he was interrupted by Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn who promised they will become the first Co-Champions. Shane McMahon came out and explained that since Styles will have to defend his title in a handicap match at The Royal Rumble, then Zayn and Owens can handle being in one themselves. Therefore, they will be taking on Nakamura, Orton, and Styles in the main event. Becky Lynch took on Ruby Riott in her first TV match since being written off in November. Her comeback would be a sweet one as she submitted Riott with a Disarmer. The Bludgeon Brothers absolutely destroyed the Ascension in their tag match. Mojo Rawley defeated his former partner, Zack Ryder, to advance in the United States Championship Tournament, where he will face Bobby Roode.

Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin came to the ring to talk about how they were robbed last week go the Tag Titles. Daniel Bryan addressed their concerns, and, eventually, Gable’s mouth got them put in a Two out of Three Falls match at the Royal Rumble. Aiden English announced him and Rusev will be entering the Royal Rumble. They would then go on to lose against Breezango after Fandango rolled up Rusev. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens tried to escape their Handicap Match by getting counted out. McMahon raced to the ring to restart the match, with the added stipulation of no count outs. Owens found another way around the match by using a chair to get them disqualified. McMahon came back out and restarted the match, now a no disqualifications match. Orton and Nakamura teamed up to take apart Zayn to pick up the win.

Highlight of the Night:

The Rusev Rumble!  Rusev and Aiden English are two of the most creative talents on SmackDown. They showed that again when they announced their entrance in the Royal, I mean Rusev, Rumble.

How Do They Compare?

This week was not even close. Raw continues to show us why it is the better show. SmackDown feels like a rehash every week, and it is taking his toll. What was once the best show in the WWE is now damn near unwatchable. With Raw’s 25 Year Anniversary Show coming up, I do not see them giving up any of this momentum. I am not sure what SmackDown can do to get the momentum back. Not rehashing the same thing every week would be a good start, though.

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The Warriors beat the Rockets, 104-93. Photo by Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images.

Stephen Curry closed his eyes and rested his tired head on Jimmy Butler's right shoulder as the superstars shared another postgame moment.

This time, with Butler injured and wearing street clothes — a full-length fur coat at that.

“Well first, he had a fantastic coat on,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “I thought he was going to be way too hot in that thing.”

Sidelined for Game 3 of Golden State's first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets, Butler had a front-row seat to watch his teammate take over Saturday night in a 104-93 win that gave the Warriors a 2-1 lead.

Curry scored 36 points with five 3-pointers and had nine assists and seven rebounds in nearly 41 minutes. He had been determined to do more if Butler couldn't play after injuring his pelvis and suffering a deep gluteal muscle contusion in a hard fall during Game 2.

Butler and Curry can compare notes on their injured backsides, given that Curry has dealt with a bruised tailbone multiple times. For now, Curry appreciates the support, whether Butler is in uniform or not.

And the fur Butler was wearing?

“I almost didn't need a hot pack on the sideline sitting next to him. There was plenty of heat emanating from him,” Curry said before adding, “He's a savvy veteran, high-IQ guy, he's got a presence whether he's active or not where his voice matters, and we needed him to lift everybody up on the bench and give us that energy. His presence matched the fit for sure.”

Kerr wasn't ready to guess whether Butler will be able to play in Game 4 on Monday night.

“He’s literally day-to-day. We have tomorrow off. It will be helpful for him to have another day, and then it’s a night game,” Kerr said. “So he gets a few extra hours. So we’ll see. I have no idea right now if he’s going to play.”

Butler had been set to go through his pregame routine, which he does out of sight on the team's practice court and not the playing floor before games at Chase Center. He had an MRI exam Thursday in the Bay Area a day after he was hurt in Houston.

“We had to have Jimmy’s back while he was out,” said Gary Payton II, who scored 11 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter. “Hopefully we get Jimmy back for Game 4 and get back to our regularly scheduled program.”

Jonathan Kuminga, who didn't play for three straight games before rejoining the rotation in Game 2 when Butler got hurt, was in the starting lineup for his fourth career playoff start.

Butler went down hard when he was fouled by Amen Thompson late in the first quarter and then missed the rest of the Warriors’ 109-94 Game 2 loss on Wednesday night.

Butler tried to secure a rebound when Thompson undercut him and sent the Warriors star’s feet high into the air so that he came down straight onto his tailbone. Both players thudded to the floor and Butler grimaced in pain, grabbing at his backside. He stayed in briefly to shoot two free throws before going to the locker room.

Kerr appreciated Butler's insight on the bench.

“Jimmy is so smart. He reminds me so much of Andre Iguodala," Kerr said. “Incredible basketball IQ and then the ability to communicate what he’s seeing to his teammates on the bench. I thought Jimmy was important for us tonight in that regard. He was talking to guys throughout the game, and giving them advice, giving some help, and that was big.”

In the Game 1 win against the Rockets, Butler had 25 points on 10-for-19 shooting, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals in 42 minutes. The Warriors are 26-9 since Butler made his debut at Chicago on Feb. 8, including 23-8 in the regular season, a play-in tournament win over Memphis and the three games against Houston.

“We know they are still dangerous without Butler, so that doesn’t change anything as far as that," Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “We didn’t make them pay, especially with the paint shots.”

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