WWE Wrap-Up
This week in WWE: Seth Rollins shines bright in Raw’s Gauntlet Match
Feb 21, 2018, 3:16 pm
The Architect lasted over an hour on Raw’s big Gauntlet Match. Photo by WWE.com
This is a weekly look at the action in the WWE:
Raw
Raw opened with a Gauntlet match featuring all seven competitors from the Men’s Elimination Chamber Match. Shield members, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, started the match. The two went for over 20 minutes until Rollins rolled up Reigns to eliminate Reigns. Rollins, then, faced John Cena for almost 40 minutes. Cena did all he could to put away an exhausted Rollins, but nothing worked. Rollins finally put Cena away with a Stomp. Elias rushed to the ring to attack an exhausted Rollins, and he was successful eliminating the man who was in the Gauntlet match for over an hour.
Finn Balor was the next competitor to enter the match. Elias looked to dominate the match, but a Coup De Grace to his injured ribs allowed Balor to pick up the win. The Mizterouge distracted Balor as Miz, Balor’s next opponent in the match, attacked him from behind. Balor looked to put Miz away with a Coup De Grace, but a pair of distractions from The Mizterouge helped the Miz pull Balor off the ropes and hit him with a Skull Crushing Finale to put him away. Unfortunately for Miz, the final entrant in the match was none other than Braun Strowman. Miz tried to run away, but Strowman was not having it as he chased him back to the ring. Miz did all he could, even hitting Strowman with a Skull Crushing Finale, but the Monster Among Men picked up the win after a Running Power Slam. The entire Gauntlet match took two hours, making it, according to Michael Cole, “The longest match in WWE history."
The one, the only, Jeff Jarret was revealed as the latest member of this year’s WWE Hall of Fame class. Before her match on Raw, Asuka spoke about her match with Nia Jax at Elimination Chamber. Nia Jax tried to surprise her from behind, but Asuka was ready. Jax got the last laugh, though, hitting her with a Samoan Drop and a barrage of Leg Drops. Needless to say, Asuka’s match on Raw never happened. Titus Worldwide did it again, surprising The Bar with a win after Apollo rolled up Cesaro. A Six Women’s Tag Match saw Sasha Banks, Mickie James and Bayley defeat Alexa Bliss, Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose after Banks submitted Bliss with a Banks Statement. Absolution did not take too kindly to their loss and began attacking the winning team. When it looked like they were going to turn on Bliss, Mickie James came in from the outside to help out her former partner.
Smackdown Live
AJ Styles opened the show explaining how he’s beaten all four of his opponents at Fastlane individually, but a Fatal Fiveway will be a difficult challenge. Baron Corbin reminded him that it was him who defeated Styles for his United States Championship. Kevin Owens made his presence felt, too, when he came out to insult Corbin. Shane McMahon had enough of their childish banter and issued a pair of matches—Kevin Owens vs Dolph Ziggler and the main event, AJ Styles vs Baron Corbin. Dolph Ziggler was impressive the whole match, but a distraction from Sami Zayn allowed Owens to hit Ziggler with a monster Super Kick and win the match. Jinder Mahal and Bobby Roode exchanged words in the ring. Per usual, Mahal tried to instigate a fight between Roode and Randy Orton. It worked, as Orton came out and a brawl between the three ensued where Mahal got the last laugh.
Charlotte, Naomi and Becky Lynch tagged against The Riott Squad. Ruby Riott pinned Lynch after hitting her with a big kick. Sami Zayn “thanked” Kevin Owens backstage for getting him out of the rut he was in. He vowed to “lay down” for Kevin Owens at Fastlane so that he can become the WWE Champion. In a rematch from last week, The New Day defeated Benjamin and Gable. The Bludgeon Brothers did what they do every week—destroy whatever enhancement team gets in their way. The Champ that Runs the Camp, AJ Styles, defeated Baron Corbin in the main event after a Phenomenal Forearm. Owens and Zayn congratulated Styles by attacking him from behind. Corbin got the last laugh, though, as he hit both men with a pair of End of Days.
Just as I suspected, Raw blew this week out of the water with their go home show. The two hour Gauntlet Match totally paid off. Of course, the star of the match was Seth Rollins, the guy who is coming off of a bland tag team run. Rollins needed a boost, and boy, did he get it. I do not think he will win on Sunday, but this match did so much for him it should propel him to a great match come ‘Mania. Mickie James helping Bliss on Raw was interesting, but I totally expect her to turn on her on Sunday.
The Blue brand seems to be building to another multi man match at Fastlane, a Triple Threat for the US Championship. Frankly, I think that match sounds great. I cannot say I’m crazy about Orton or Mahal, but Roode defeating both men would be huge for him. Fastlane is still a few weeks away, but we already have some interesting matches on the card. I expect something big to happen within the next few weeks in the women’s division. Hopefully it is some sort of heel turn, the women deserve an awesome match for theSmackDown Live Women’s Championship.
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Astros keep doing this, and it’s getting hard to ignore
Jun 25, 2025, 10:01 pm
While the rolling Astros have a week of possible World Series preview matchups against the Phillies and Cubs, it’s the Rockets who made the biggest local sports headline with their acquisition of Kevin Durant. What a move! Of course there is risk involved in trading for a guy soon to turn 37 years old and who carries an injury history, but balancing risk vs. reward is a part of the game. This is a fabulous move for the Rockets. It’s understood that there are dissenters to this view. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, including people with the wrong opinion! Let’s dig in.
The Rockets had a wonderful season in winning 52 games before their disappointing first-round playoff loss to the Warriors, but like everyone else in the Western Conference, they were nowhere close to Oklahoma City’s caliber. While they finished second in the West, the Rockets only finished four games ahead of the play-in. That letting the stew simmer with further growth among their young players would yield true championship contention was no given for 2025-26 or beyond.
Kevin Durant is one of the 10 greatest offensive players the NBA has ever seen. Among his current contemporaries only Stephen Curry and Nikola Jokic make that list. For instance, Durant offensively has clearly been better than the late and legendary Kobe Bryant. To view it from a Houston perspective, Durant has been an indisputably greater offensive force than the amazing Hakeem Olajuwon. But this is not a nostalgia trip in which the Rockets are trading for a guy based on what he used to be. While Durant could hit the wall at any point, living in fear that it’s about to happen is no way to live because KD, approaching his 18th NBA season, is still an elite offensive player.
As to the durability concern, Durant played more games (62) this past season than did Fred VanVleet, Jabari Smith, and Tari Eason. The season before he played more games (75) than did VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, and Alperen Sengun. In each of the last two seasons Durant averaged more minutes per game (36.9) than any Rocket. That was stupid and/or desperate of the Suns, the Rockets will be smarter. Not that the workload eroded Durant’s production or efficiency. Over the two seasons he averaged almost 27 points per game while shooting 52 percent from the floor, 42 percent from behind the three-point line, and 85 percent from the free throw line. Awesomeness. The Rockets made the leap to being a very good team despite a frankly crummy half-court offense. The Rockets ranked 21st among the 30 NBA teams in three-point percentage, and dead last in free throw percentage. Amen Thompson has an array of skills and looks poised to be a unique star. Alas, Thompson has no credible jump shot. VanVleet is not a creator, Smith has limited handle. Adding Durant directly addresses the Rockets’ most glaring weakness.
The price the Rockets paid was in the big picture, minimal, unless you think Jalen Green is going to become a bonafide star. Green is still just 23 years old and spectacular athletically, but nothing he has done over four pro seasons suggests he’s on the cusp of greatness. In no season has Green even shot the league average from the floor or from three. His defense has never been as good as it should be given his athleticism. Compared to some other two-guards who made the NBA move one year removed from high school, four seasons into his career Green is waaaaaay behind where Shae Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, and Devin Booker were four seasons in, and now well behind his draft classmate Cade Cunningham. Dillon Brooks was a solid pro in two seasons here and shot a career-best from three in 2024-2025, but he’s being replaced by Kevin Durant! In terms of the draft pick capital sent to Phoenix, five second round picks are essentially meaningless. The Rockets have multiple extra first round picks in the coming years. As for the sole first-rounder dealt away, whichever player the Rockets would have taken 10th Wednesday night would have been rather unlikely to crack the playing rotation.
VanVleet signs extension
Re-signing Fred VanVleet to a two-year, 50 million dollar guarantee is sensible. In a vacuum, VanVleet was substantially overpaid at the over 40 mil he made per season the last two. He’s a middle-of-the-pack starting point guard. But his professionalism and headiness brought major value to the Rockets’ kiddie corps while their payroll was otherwise very low. Ideally, Reed Sheppard makes a leap to look like an NBA lead guard in his second season, after a pretty much zippo of a rookie campaign. Sheppard is supposed to be a lights-out shooter. For the Rockets to max out, they need two sharpshooters on the court to balance Thompson’s presence.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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