Last week, SmackDown finished it its last pit stop on the Road to WrestleMania, so this week starts WWE’s all-out push to the biggest event of the year. Monday Night Raw and 205 Live are already in full swing, but SmackDown Live will feature fallout from Fastlane and direction towards WrestleMania. NXT will continue to build its Pay-Per-View for the day before, NXT TakeOver: New Orleans.
Monday Night Raw (3.12.18)
The last episode of Monday Night Raw saw two huge matches be announced while building to the ones already in place. The two matches announced were The Miz defending the Intercontinental Championship against Finn Balor and Seth Rollins, as well as Kurt Angle teaming up with Ronda Rousey to take on Triple H and Stephanie McMahon.
Speaking of Rousey, she has been true to her word so far as to being a full-time performer. She has shown up to Raw every week since her contract signing at Elimination Chamber and she is slowly coming into her own on the mic.
The Raw Women’s Division is getting a lot more interesting, especially with Asuka’s choice to challenge Charlotte Flair instead of Alexa Bliss. Bliss has been exploiting Nia Jax’s insecurities for her own benefit and it seems like it will come back to bite her. Also, the tension between “best friends” Bayley and Sasha Banks only seems to be growing.
The big moment being advertised for tonight’s episode is a “face-to-face” between Roman Reigns and Universal Champion Brock Lesnar. This could be explosive, but that’s only possible is Lesnar decides to actually show up.
SmackDown Live (3.13.18)
After the lull that SmackDown Live has been in since probably SummerSlam, this is the best chance for an exciting episode. There is no reason to slow down with WrestleMania only four weeks away and Fastlane planted the seeds for some interesting stories.
First, Shane McMahon ruined the main event for Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. He pulled both of them off of decisive pinfalls, preventing either Owens or Zayn from capturing the WWE Championship. Now that McMahon has to face Daniel Bryan, things will definitely heat up.
This finally frees AJ Styles to focus on the WWE Championship match against Shinsuke Nakamura, which has been in the making since January 2016 when they fought for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship in Japan. Tonight could be the start of some build outside of “the fans want this to happen again.”
WWE Mixed Match Challenge (3.13.18)
The weekly Mixed Match Challenge tournament continues in the second round with the Robe Warriors (Bobby Roode and Charlotte Flair) taking on the married couple of Rusev and Lana. The winners face the team that is voted by the fans to have a second chance.
205 Live (3.13.18)
The first of two semifinals matches in the WWE Cruiserweight Championship Tournament takes place this week, pitting Roderick Strong against Cedric Alexander. Whoever wins will either face Drew Gulak or Mustafa Ali at WrestleMania for the vacated title.
WWE NXT (3.14.18)
Lastly, the wrestling week rounds out with NXT. The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic is still going, with Heavy Machinery facing the Street Profits while SAnitY takes on Tino Sabatelli and Riddick Moss. The only other match advertised for the night is Pete Dunne defending the United Kingdom Championship against Adam Cole.
