WRESTLING REPORT
Smackdown and Raw find a rhythm as Wrestlemania comes into focus
Mar 20, 2019, 5:43 am
PHOTO CREDIT WWE IMAGES
Wrestlemania begins to come into focus as the card fills out this week.
This week's Raw had a fairly strong showing with what felt like a limited roster of available talent with No Way Jose even getting television time against Elias. The Ronda heel turn continues to be a mixed bag with a second squash match against Dana Brooke ended with an arm bar this time but still was incredibly underwhelming, even though WWE went the extra mile and injected Ronda's real life husband Travis Browne into the storyline. It's obvious they're laying the ground work to put the title on someone else and give Ronda some shelf time after a year of domination in the women's division but how it all ends will determine if the juice is worth the squeeze, so to speak.
Ricochet, still sporting an NXT logo next to his name, got a single's match against rarely seen Jinder Mahal and Baron Corbin had a match against equally forgotten Apollo Crews. With the announcement of Beth Phoenix coming back for a Wrestlemania women's tag match against the champs Sasha and Bayley, the farewell match with Kurt Angle and the Triple H vs Bautista match the nostalgia factor has been upped to an almost impossible margin for this year's Wrestlemania.
All of that being said, the card is shaping up to feel a little underwhelming, with Kurt Angle's farewell match coming about six months too late, and the second title defense of the women's tag titles against only one current women athlete it feels like there's a lot of underutilization of the talented roster that WWE is boasting these days. When a guy like Braun Stroman goes from regularly main eventing WWE events to being in the Andre the Giant memorial battle royal, it leaves fans wondering.
Smackdown managed to squeeze a fair amount of action into their two hours this week with Sasha and Bailey having a tag match against the Iconics, while giving screentime to Kevin Owens, Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, The Miz and Rey Mysterio Jr. This kind of balance and pacing is something Smackdown has been struggling with focusing too much on their core roster of aged veterans Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Randy Orton and R Truth and not getting enough quality matches into the program. The Gauntlet match was everything it was expected to be with Kofi Kingston putting in a solid hour of work against each member of The Bar individually, Samoa Joe, Randy Orton and Rowan before losing to Daniel Bryan. The build up of Kofi Kingston into legendary status for this inevitable Wrestlemania match against Daniel Bryan in the main event is the kind of storytelling that works when WWE is focused. There have been so many starts and stops in various storylines over the past few months that the programming had started to feel rudderless but this one they're getting right and when things work and the payoff hits home like this Kofi story has, it reminds people why the WWE has ruled the wrestling world for so long. What happens next week is now must see television.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.