RAW Review: May 30th

Hello! Well, last night was definitely a RAW. I think that's the best, and basically only way to describe it. The thing is, despite what I'm about to say- they didn't actually do many things that were "bad". The problem for last night's RAW was they didn't do much that was "good" either, and indifference is in a way the worst emotion to have after a RAW. This goes back to what the commentators are putting over with Roman, and what's actually true with Cena. Any reaction is good as long as it's loud, whether that's love or hatred- at least it's provoked an emotional reaction. After the 6-Man ended last night, I instantly just went to bed completely indifferent to what I'd just watched and I woke up having forgotten 95% of what happened last night.

Shane, Stephanie & The New Day Opening Segment
I thought we'd be getting something "different" last night. For the simple fact that Memorial Day RAW's are always typically low-rated. Meaning that the WWE wouldn't necessarily be as afraid to try something "out there" as usual. What I wasn't expecting, was this Opening Segment. When you strip everything back from it, it was basically them explaining to everyone how the Brand "extension" was going to work. But of course, it was in New Day's own unique way.

I just have one thing to say about this segment, if they even think about splitting New Day up I'm going to bring heavy weaponry with me when I go to Summerslam in August.

New Day v The Vaudevillains
The match wasn't much, but at the same time I don't think it was meant to be. I hope The Vaudevillains aren't completely pushed aside for The Club after last night, because they've done really well over the last Month or so. With that said, I'm all for Gallows & Anderson being inserted into the Tag Title picture. New Day need fresh opponents, and in Gallows and Anderson we've got the first team in a while where I legitimately think New Day have a chance of losing the Titles (because they probably will).

The Club Backstage Promo
There's not much to talk about, because this was a fairly generic Promo. But when Anderson said "we're just getting started" I thought these two were going to just wreck everything last night. So in that respect I was disappointed, especially as the show progressed and we had so many Tag Matches I thought they must have done this to troll people who had that hope.

Apollo Crews & The Big Show Backstage Promo
Oh My God. This segment was just horrible. Big Show was talking to Crews, one of the best and most natural athletes in the entire company like a child. I just can't they actually did this segment.

The Usos v Fabreeze
The only surprise there was in this whole segment, was the fact they actually protected Fabreeze to an extent. Especially with them wrestling The Usos, the fact Fabreeze weren't just beaten clean like it was nothing is at least something. The stuff after the match was as expected though, and while I still prefer Fabreeze to Golden Truth- I do want to see the Slingshot Powerslam as Golden Truth's finish. It looked great.

Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins Segment
While some may not agree with Rollins returning as a Heel, now that he is- they're actually doing a really good job with him. They know that no matter what Rollins says in a Promo, the fact he's saying it about Roman will mean he's cheered. So what do they do? They don't have him talk. They're literally taking away everything that could make a crowd cheer for Rollins, and despite what some may think that's a good thing. I want Heels to be Heels, and that's probably why I like Miz so much.

On top of that, I'm happy they're seemingly keeping Rollins and Roman away from each other in a physical capacity for now- because that'll make it mean more when they do meet in a couple of weeks time. Again, I'm sick of people wrestling each other- and then them wrestling each other again at a PPV.

Rusev v Zack Ryder
The match wasn't much, but I don't think anyone was expecting anything different. Given the placement of this on the show, it wasn't a surprise to me that Cena didn't come out and interrupt him like many expected. There was a chance they would've had Cena interrupt and then build to these two for the US Title in the Main Event, but it wasn't likely. I'd completely forgotten Titus came out to confront Rusev on Smackdown, but at least it's a thing to get Titus back on TV. He's a nice dad after all.

Charlotte/Ric Flair Reaction stuff
This was actually quite an interesting little video package type thing. The fact they had some proper top level guys talking about it put over how big of a deal this was, and definitely elevated the angle. But then they just couldn't help themselves and had Stephanie get in Charlotte's face and scream at her like she's done to probably about 80% of the Roster at present when we know they're not going to have Charlotte and Stephanie wrestle. Ugh.

Enzo & Big Cass v The Dudleys
This goes back to a point I made in last weeks Review. While Big Cass didn't outright beat The Dudleys in a Handicap Match, he might as well have done. So, heading into this match- had The Dudleys won Enzo would've been confirmed as a complete liability as far as Big Cass is concerned. I know it isn't ideal, and the feud may well have been good if Enzo hadn't have gotten hurt- but he did and as such this feud is just a complete mess now. Hopefully the fact Enzo & Cass won clean means the end of it, but I highly doubt it.

Sami Zayn, Dean Ambrose, Cesaro Backstage Promo
At least this was a bit fun. I'm sick of all of the monotone Backstage Segments we get, usually with Roman. I'm sick of a lot of things, that's what we're learning in this Review. Probably as a result of those damn Canadians.

John Cena, AJ Styles & The Club Segment
I absolutely loved this whole segment. Well, not the whole thing. Cena starting off with all of the Murica stuff was just "meh" to me. I don't mind them when he's wrestling a Foreign Heel, but times like last night it just annoys me and makes me want to vomit freedom. But once he actually got back onto Wrestling, this segment just went from strength to strength.

As soon as AJ came out I knew something was going to happen. When AJ spent basically his whole Promo before The Club came out talking about how much he respected Cena, I just knew he was turning. I wasn't necessarily expecting The Club to be involved, and I thought they'd do AJ asking for a match, Cena accepting, Handshake, Attack. We've seen it done before, and I thought we'd see it again. What we got instead was so much better.

Firstly, I'd like to point out that I was right about The Club and AJ not being done after the segment last week. While we haven't gotten what I predicted, I was right for the first part. AJ turning Heel and fully being in The Club is just absolutely great in my opinion. Heel AJ truly is the best AJ. While I don't necessarily think he's going to beat Cena overall in this feud- it's another chance for AJ to prove himself, this time in a completely different role.

The thing some people don't realise is, AJ without a doubt wasn't brought in to be a "top guy". So having AJ in the ring with Roman was a massive deal, and him delivering to the extent he did could only have helped him. Now he's in there with Cena, and these two could have a genuine Match of the Year Contender at Money in the Bank. In short, wins and losses don't mean much for AJ at present. What does is him going out and having amazing matches and getting good crowd reactions, merch sales etc. to the point where Vince has to view him as a top guy.

Also, given what happened earlier there's a very high chance of AJ, Gallows & Anderson v Cena & New Day. This means two things, Xavier will get to play Cena's Theme on Francesca II and we may well get Cena dancing with New Day. I really want to see one of those things happen.

Dana Brooke v Natalya
This was the literal definition of a filler match. Nothing happened, and then there was a distraction and it was over. Blink and you miss it. The Becky run-in was something at least, and it wouldn't surprise me to see Nattie transitioned out and us getting a fresh 2v1 dynamic, eventually leading to Sasha's return. Which I still maintain was the angle they were building towards before Emma got hurt.

Baron Corbin v Dolph Ziggler
This whole segment ended up being one of the highlights of the night. Which I definitely wasn't expecting. Ziggler's 1005 Holds Promo was fun, although he forgot to say Armbar. Then the "match" actually did something relatively unexpected and furthered the angle in a good way. He kicked him in the groin! It works on so many levels!

Miz Promo
This wasn't much, although the fact he mentioned we're going to get him "updating us" every week suggests to me someone may be attacking him in his Trailer during one of them. It also made me think how much I miss the 24/7 Rule for the Hardcore Title. Just imagine one of the Outcasts sneaking up on Miz while he's sleeping in his Trailer and getting the Pin, only for Maryse to show up and scream Miz awake and he regains it.

Jericho, Owens & Del Rio Backstage Promo
This was another fun Backstage Promo. Jericho and Owens together just work, and I do want a Y2KO run at some point.

Dean Ambrose, Cesaro & Sami Zayn v Kevin Owens, Alberto Del Rio & Chris Jericho
Don't get me wrong, this was definitely a fun 6-Man. But, I just wanted something more from it as an overall segment. I don't even know what that would be, whether it's the 7th Man coming out at the end and clearing house whomever it may be. I don't know, I just felt like it was lacking something especially for the Main Event segment it found itself in. I don't have a bad word to say about the match, but its lack of that little bit extra just capped off an overall disappointing night in the WWE Universe.

That's my main feeling after last night. It's the old parent thing of "I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed". I would have preferred RAW just be completely wacky last night, especially with the predicted low rating. Instead, for the most part we just got a RAW that seemed phoned in and just dull.

Also, going back to a point I raised in my Brand Split Blog from last week, we've got nearly the full roster back now. The only ones out are The Wyatts, Orton and Neville. Yet, we had things like the stuff with Fabreeze and Golden Truth on RAW. THIS IS BEFORE THE BRAND SPLIT. How WWE are going to fill 3 Hours of TV every week Post-Split without completely overexposing anyone with even a shred of credibility left is beyond me.

Thanks for reading as always, hopefully you enjoyed the Review. As just mentioned, I did a Post on the Brand Split last Tuesday when it was first announced so if you haven't already I'd recommend reading it. Thanks again for reading, all I can say is hopefully we have a better RAW next week. Hopefully you have a good week, and if anyone from WWE is reading this- remember. New Day Split = Heavy Weaponry.

WWE: The 2016 Brand Split

Hello! Well, it seems as though a lot of peoples wishes have just come true. In case you've missed it, there was an announcement put out announcing that Smackdown is going live on Tuesday's from around Mid-July. That's one thing, and an announcement that all but guarantees me doing Smackdown Reviews- as well as losing even more sleep. However, I think the thing that caught most people's eyes was this paragraph in the Article (Full Article here: http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/wwe-smackdown-live-usa-1201782569/)

"The debut of a live "Smackdown" comes as two of the WWE's biggest attractions, John Cena and Seth Rollins, are returning from competition injuries. And the company is expected to create strong points of differentiation between "Smackdown" and USA's other live program "Monday Night RAW," according to WWE. A draft will be held before the "Smackdown" launch date to determine which wrestlers on the company's talent roster will be assigned to which program. Each show is expected to feature a separate cast, plots and writing teams."

I can't remember the exact Post it was, but in one of my recent ones I actually said I'd be against a Brand Split. My reasoning behind that, was I viewed the Roster as too thin to give us 5 Hours of TV a week, with unique rosters for basically half of it- and that was BEFORE we got like 10 people being released. Most RAW's scrape the bottom of the barrel for a segment or two every week with the full Roster at its disposal. However, provided they do the Brand Split in the "right" way, I can actually see it being a success- as I'll be discussing throughout this Post.

Consider this a sort of broad overview for how I see the Brand Split taking shape, as well for want of a better way to describe it an "FAQ" section for what I see as points to discuss prior to the Brand Split.

Will the World Heavyweight Title come back? 
In short, I fucking hope not. Having two "World Championships" was always a stupid idea, and with it finally gone the last thing I want is for it to be brought back. I've already seen some people talking about it, and their argument was "well, people on Smackdown need something to go after". IT'S WRESTLING! In "shoot" Sports, people aim to reach the highest level whether that be winning the Premier League, Superbowl, World Series etc.

In Wrestling, that highest level is obviously the WWE Title- but beyond that, Titles mean as much as the WWE want them to mean. There's literally no reason (other than the WWE not wanting them to) that the US/IC Titles can't be treated as an Upper-Midcard Title that all the Smackdown people crave. Especially with Cena coming back next week, and likely winning the US Title again- they've got a chance to properly elevate the Title before we reach Mid-July.

While I don't expect Cena to end up on Smackdown once the Draft's done, the same argument can be made for the IC Title by having someone like Orton win it on his return. In short, Midcard Titles can be more than Midcard Titles. Especially in the case of a Brand Split, having some top tier stars feuding over the IC/US Title's can only help.

How will the Titles be divided? 
As previously mentioned, the obvious way to go is to have the US and IC Titles split up- but beyond that I don't see any reason why the WWE, Womens and Tag Titles have to remain exclusive to their own respective brands. Especially in the case of the Tag Division, it's just too thin to successfully split up and achieve even a modicum of success.

Will the Bragging Rights PPV come back? 
I've seen literally nobody ask this question, but I thought I'd just bring up the fact this PPV was a thing. To be honest I actually liked the concept, but the execution for the 2 (?) years they did it was horrendous. For what it's worth, I could actually see this return. However, given the lack of emphasis there's been on Survivor Series matches over the last 5 or so years barring the one in 2014 I can see us getting RAW vs Smackdown in November.

Who will be the Authority Figures?
I don't think this one really needs too much explaining. It'll of course be William Regal and Teddy Long.

Who will be the "Top Guys" on each brand? 
I'm going to do a "Full Draft" at the end, but I figured this question was worth its own section. For RAW I'm going with;
- John Cena
- Roman Reigns
- Seth Rollins
- Bray Wyatt
- Brock Lesnar (when he's around)
- Kevin Owens

And for Smackdown;
- Dean Ambrose
- Randy Orton
- AJ Styles
- Finn Balor (I'd say he's nailed on to debut before Mid-July)
- Sami Zayn

Feel free to tell tell me your own splits for the "Top Guys", but in my opinion this is about the best there can be. Smackdown will be more focused on the "New Era" stuff and primarily on just plain Wrestling. I'd also expect some, if not a lot of crossover between Smackdown and NXT. Joking aside from the "Authority Figures" question I can legitimately see either Regal or Triple H in charge of Smackdown despite the obvious Shane/Stephanie divide.

With that in mind, I've put AJ Styles, Balor and Sami Zayn on Smackdown. These three could really make Smackdown something special every week. Especially in the AJ Styles/Finn Balor case, I'm expecting these two to start feuding as early as the Night after Money in the Bank- and with no Roman on Smackdown it'll become pretty much the story to focus on during Smackdown.

However, you still need some "mainstream" appeal which is why I've put Orton on Smackdown- because whatever else can be said about him he's one of the most recognisable faces to "casual" wrestling fans. Then I've put Ambrose on Smackdown because in what I expect to happen he'll have the Money in the Bank, so putting a divide between him and Roman would be a smart move in my opinion.

That leaves RAW as the "flagship" show, with of course Cena and Roman at the top of the pile. However, there'll still be people like Kevin Owens and The Wyatts to satisfy the more "smarky" fanbase. In short, Smackdown will be the "Sports" show and RAW will be the "Entertainment".

Will the Cruiserweight Title return?
This is again a question I haven't really seen asked, but with the Brand Split coming into effect I can actually see it happening. We've got the Cruiserweight Series coming up, and from the way the Adverts for it have come across to me, it's for an actual Title. I'd love it if they had someone like Neville return from injury, enter the Tournament, win it, and then bring it with him to Smackdown. This goes back to my point about having crossover between Smackdown and NXT.

How will they fill 3 Hours of RAW every week with a Brand Split?
In short, I have absolutely no clue. WWE are going to have to really get their act together as far as building a really strong Midcard before July. Because, despite what Vince may be desperate for, we can't just have Roman and Cena on screen for 3 Hours every week. There needs to be actual compelling stories going on in the Midcard for RAW to be even remotely watchable with half of the roster gone.

How will they handle the Women?
The interesting thing from the WWE.com article about this was, to me, the fact they had Roman, Cena and Sasha Banks as the picture for it. It's actually really interesting timing as far as the Womens Division goes, because had they announced this a few months earlier, I'd have predicted we'd get a Womens Title and Divas Title on separate brands. I made this point close to a year ago in one of my Divas Division burials, there's way too many Women on the Roster. My immediate thought was to have the Womens Title for the "Womens Wrestlers" and have the Divas Title for the "Total Divas".

They've of course done away with the Divas Title now, and with all of the stuff about how they're called Superstars now I can't see it changing. But with the number of Women that they've got, combined with the need to fill air-time I can see the Women getting even more spots on both shows than they currently do.

Who'll be in charge of RAW and Smackdown?
Obviously Vince McMahon is the ultimate authority. However, I would hope he gives Triple H almost complete autonomy over Smackdown. The separate writing teams will be interesting, and I'd assume that the Ryan Ward bloke who used to write NXT would stick with Triple H on Smackdown in the scenario mentioned above. Also bonus points if they get Paul Heyman in as a sort of consultant to either team.

What are the small changes that I want to see?
We've obviously got the big stuff, but to properly divide the two almost everything needs to be different.

- Completely separate Commentary Teams. Get Saxton off RAW and put King back on, move Saxton to either a Backstage Interviewer or Ring Announcer with Eden gone- and have the Smackdown Commentary team as Mauro, Graves and Tom.

- BLUE ROPES. PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD BRING THE BLUE ROPES BACK.

- Camera Work. I've noticed it a lot in the NXT Tapings since they've gone back to Full-Sail Post-Mania, a lot of things like the Entrances are shot completely differently. Make it another point of differentiation between the two.

- This one may be too far from a logistics viewpoint, but I'd love it if they changed the lay-out of the Ring Area between RAW and Smackdown. Have RAW as it currently is, but for Smackdown move the Commentary Team.

There's probably a few more that will no doubt be brought up to me on Twitter, but these are the ones I initially thought of.

Will the Brand Split be a success? 
This is the ultimate question, and one which is impossible to answer given how fresh the news is. Does it have the potential to succeed? Absolutely. Do I think it'll succeed? Provided they do even half of the stuff I've talked about in this Post, yes.

Right then, it's Full Brand Split time. I'm just going to go by alphabetical order, because that's simply put the easiest way to format it.

As previously mentioned there'll be a few on both in the WWE, Womens and Tag Champions- so at the time of writing this;
Both
Roman Reigns
Charlotte (and by proxy Dana Brooke)
New Day

Let's dive in then;
RAW (Men)
Alberto Del Rio, Baron Corbin, Bo Dallas, Braun Strowman, Bray Wyatt, Brock Lesnar, Cesaro, Chris Jericho, Curtis Axel, D-Von Dudley, Dolph Ziggler, Epico, Erick Rowan, Heath Slater, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, John Cena, Kevin Owens, Luke Harper, Paul Heyman, Primo, Roman Reigns, Rusev, Seth Rollins, Titus O'Neil, Zack Ryder.

RAW (Women)
Alicia Fox, Becky Lynch, Lana, Naomi, Natalya, Nikki Bella, Tamina.

Smackdown (Men)
Aiden English, AJ Styles, Apollo Crews, Big Cass, Big Show, Bubba Ray Dudley, Darren Young, Dean Ambrose, Enzo Amore, Fandango, Goldust, Jack Swagger, Kalisto, Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows, Miz, Neville, R-Truth, Randy Orton, Sheamus, Simon Gotch, Sin Cara, Tyler Breeze.

Smackdown (Women)
Emma, Eva Marie (mainly in the scenario where Graves and Tom do Smackdown Commentary), Maryse, Paige, Sasha Banks, Summer Rae.

That's of those currently on the Main Roster, but as previously mentioned by the time the Draft comes about I'd expect Finn Balor to be included on the Smackdown list. I've left off people like Ryback who'll be gone pretty soon, and the Women are interesting because half of them are injured, but I've included all of them anyway.

Thanks for reading as always. This is the first "extra" Post I've done for this Summer, and there'll be more to follow depending on what topics there are to talk about. On subjects such as this one, debate is always good- so feel free to tell me your opinions on either what I've written or just the Brand Split in general either in the Comments or on Twitter. Thanks again for reading, hopefully you have a good week. GET EXCITED EVERYONE! This Summer of Wrestling is shaping up to be a really interesting one.

RAW Review: May 23rd

Hello! With Extreme Rules in the books, all of the attention is now on Money in the Bank in around a Months time. Especially after just how fucking weird MITB was last year, I'm sort of half hoping/half expecting a really good one this year to make up for it. This is contradictory to what I've said a couple of times, but I'm expecting a good build as much as I'm expecting a good actual PPV for next month. For the simple fact that even WWE's completely inept writing staff can't completely kill a character in a Month, and that's all they've got to try with Rollins, Cena, The Wyatts and Orton.

I do think we're on for a string of top quality PPV's as far as match quality goes with all of the names mentioned above returning, so if the build can even be described as "decent" for MITB, Battleground & Summerslam- we'll be on for a really good summer. There's quite a few things to discuss from last night's RAW, so I'm just going to jump straight into the return of Crossfit Jesus to his home. RAW's Opening Segment.

Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Shane McMahon Segment
If Seth had returned to RAW in any other way, it would have been a massive disappointment. THE 15 MINUTE ROLLINS PROMOS ARE BACK BAYBAY! This is the first point of contention from what I've seen, as far as reactions to a segment go. Basically, a lot of the reactions I saw were pissed that Rollins is still a Heel for the Roman Reigns feud.

I did think they were going to go for a bit more of a "blurred lines" dynamic, as opposed to Seth coming out and burying the crowd on his second night back. However, turning someone on return has been done a million times now- and I hate most of them because it makes absolutely zero sense. Seth isn't going to be a Heel long. It'll be up until MITB, where Triple H fucks him over for the Title- and they build to either Seth/Triple H or Seth/Triple H/Roman at Summerslam. So basically, stop complaining. I'm just happy we're going to get Seth's turn actually on TV and built up to- rather than him just suddenly showing up after 7 Months out and deciding he wants to be a good guy.

This is the thing some people forget, especially in this era where people want instant gratification with everything. There's always going to be a next week.

The actual segment I thought was decent, the fact there was 7 Months between Rollins Opening the show means I was infinitely more tolerant of his Promo than I was around September/October time. We got the match set for Money in the Bank, and that was that for both guys on the night. Great. You're not overexposing Seth on his return, which was my main concern seeing as he took up about a third of the air-time before he got hurt.

We also got the weirdest "You've still got it chant". I don't even know who it was for. I'm assuming Shane, but all he did was do his Entrance that he's now been doing for around 3 Months, and made a match. YOU'VE STILL GOT IT.

Sami Zayn v Sheamus- MITB Qualifier
I was expecting an alternate route for Sami and Owens to qualify for MITB, but I'm happy with how this match played out nonetheless. Firstly, even if you're not a Sheamus Fan- around this time even if you would've understood if Sheamus got a push. He's in one of the standard Summer Blockbuster Films for christ sake. They've barely even promoted it on TV, and that's really annoying to me- because they did the same with Batista and Guardians and they haven't learned from it.

My thing with Sheamus has always been, because he's seen as Triple H's "gym buddy" or one of Vince's guys who he wants to be the next Cena- a lot of people have simply written him off. He's a damn good wrestler. If Sheamus was doing exactly what he's done in WWE in New Japan, people would absolutely LOVE him. All this is to say, Sheamus was really good in this match, Sami was really good in this match, it was a really good match.

Sheamus attacks Apollo Crews
I'm not sure if Sheamus is going to feud with Apollo Crews, or he's going to be feuding with the "new era" in general. It's actually an amalgamation of a few ideas I've pitched in my Booking Blogs, mainly by "Booking Wrestlemania 32" one from a year ago. Where my basic idea was that Sheamus would feud with NXT as a brand in general, taking out the likes of Xavier Woods, Kalisto, Neville who at the time were some of the more recent call-ups. On the basis of Sheamus wanting to eliminate the "future" of the WWE, and show that he IS the future. Then it'd build to an NXT Star eventually fighting back in Finn Balor.

They could go down that route. Especially with how "off" The Dudleys/Enzo & Cass feud is now given the fact Cass has basically beaten them both on his own, having Sheamus just go crazy and attack Enzo & Cass, Apollo and any other "new era" guys would make for an interesting angle in my opinion.

New Day v The Social Outcasts
Nobody does self-aware quite like New Day do at the moment. The stuff with the Cake and all of the jokes being about who's getting smashed in the face with it was fun. They're probably going to make fun of WWE Weddings next, maybe save that one for Smackdown to make fun of King.

The match was decent. The thing with New Day is, Enzo & Cass aren't ready for a full blown feud yet. Gallows & Anderson are pretty much the only Tag Team that New Day haven't beaten, and they're going to be kept busy by the angle with AJ and soon to be Balor for a while yet. In short, New Day have hit a bit of a ceiling as to what they can actually do. With two spots left in MITB, there's still a hope for either Big E or Kofi- but for now all they can do is keep being themselves. After all, that's what got them to the point they're at now.

Cesaro v The Miz- MITB Qualifier
I was surprised by the general lack of shenanigans across all of the matches tonight to be honest. I was sure that Owens would interfere in Sami's match, Sami would interfere in Owens' match and Miz would get himself DQ'd in this match. It seems as though they're getting all of the Title stuff out of the way on Smackdown, with Kalisto getting his Rematch for the US Title and it being Cesaro/Miz for the IC Title- which means Cesaro's not winning the Title like I thought he would.

The match was decent on the whole. Miz continues to be one of the highlights of 2016 for me, Cesaro's in MITB as one of the "power" guys which are always needed. Really good segment.

Seth Rollins, Stephanie McMahon Backstage Promo
The Authority Angle is basically dead, but they still need to keep the Rollins/Stephanie dynamic on TV because of the upcoming Triple H feud. In short, this segment had a job to do and it did it well.

Chris Jericho v Apollo Crews- MITB Qualifier
I suppose I should start off by saying, what was the fucking point of the Sheamus attack? I thought they did to sort of level the playing field as far as "Health" goes for this match so when Jericho won Crews would have an excuse. Nope, he came out and was completely no-selling it.

The actual match was pretty good, apart from the obvious moment where Jericho nearly took Crews' head off on the Lionsault. I'm assuming the spot was meant to be Jericho goes for the Lionsault, Crews catches him on his Shoulders and he transitions into the position for his finisher but Jericho slips out. What we got instead was a result of either Crews being too slow to get up, or Jericho being too fast on the Lionsault. I'm not sure who's fault it was, Crews was obviously fine because they carried the match on, so let's just move on quickly.

Baron Corbin & Dolph Ziggler Backstage Segment
THIS FEUD ISN'T OVER! It's funny actually, after the Cody Rhodes news I did almost a mini-blog on Twitter talking about how most of the guys who came in during the Mid-2000s are surplus to requirements because there's a new "vision" now. Dolph is the next one that I can see asking for his Release. I know he just signed a contract probably about a year ago now, but he must be getting sick of, well everything now.

The implication in this segment was Dolph saying he could out-wrestle Corbin, and the words "technical wrestling match" were said, so that can only mean one thing for their match next week. THE 2ND EVER JACK THWAGGER THENIOR INVITATIONAL!

Big Cass v Bubba Ray Dudley
Yup, Enzo Amore's back. This may be a contrarian opinion, but Enzo just seemed a bit "off" to be last night. Not in the "usual" Enzo way of being for want of a better word "weird"- but just a bit "off". It also seemed to me that Cass was getting a bit annoyed with Enzo, because he was about to have a match, which we all knew was in a short segment and Enzo was dicking around and generally just being Enzo.

The match was basically as expected. I'm not really sure where they go with this feud to be honest. Cass has basically destroyed The Dudleys by himself, and it's building up to a Tag Match. So, basically if Enzo & Cass don't win said Tag Match then Enzo's confirmed as a liability and Cass should ditch him.

Charlotte & Ric Flair Promo Segment
I sometimes go to bed thinking one thing about a segment, wake up to do the Review and my opinion's completely changed. This isn't one of them, for the simple fact that as of writing this I still haven't made my mind up about it.

In short, I'm not sure if I thought this segment was absolutely amazing- or just bad. It does have to be said that this is the segment that really stuck with me from last night, and that's a rare occurrence for a Womens segment. You knew it was going to be a weird segment right from the start, all three were just sort of tentatively going through their lines in anticipation of what was about to happen. Charlotte was completely thrown off by the crowd at one point, and given how much her voice was shaking it sounded like she was about to cry.

Charlotte's Promo just felt so rushed. It's like she had a 20 Page script, and she was told to deliver all the lines in 2 Minutes. The delivery was definitely off from a TV sense, but in a way I think it added to the overall effect. Charlotte delivering her lines at a Million Miles an Hour, to me at least was her sort of finally getting what she's wanted to say off her Shoulders and wanting to get everything out while she can. That's how I'm thinking of it at least.

Overall this segment DEFINITELY did its job. The one thing I wish they would've done is half-way through Charlotte's Promo they just cut to Dana looking awkward in the corner. I'm assuming given they put over the fact it was Charlotte that approached Dana for Extreme Rules that Dana is basically going to assume Ric's role. I'm fine with that, we've seen in NXT how good of a heater Dana can be. So in short, one of the weirdest segments in recent memory.

Dean Ambrose v Dolph Ziggler- MITB Qualifier
This match definitely showed Corbin! It was a decent match on the whole, I don't think anyone expected anything less to be honest. This was the only match where I was 100% sure on who was going to win, so that did take a bit of the jeopardy out of the match for me- but that's my only real criticism.

Shining Stars Promo
I do have to laugh at the fact that Epico & Primo literally debuted a week ago, and they're already back to doing Promos. I said it in my Extreme Rules Review about Corbin, but it's equally applicable to these two- with the number of returns due they're going to have to really fight to not get completely lost in the shuffle.

AJ Styles & The Club Promo
Everything that happened in this segment is fitting with what I've thought would happen between now and the end of Money in the Bank. They're showing tension between AJ and The Club, but they're not going all out on it yet- and that's all for a reason.

Kevin Owens v AJ Styles- MITB Qualifier
Firstly, just because AJ lost this match doesn't mean he's not going be in the MITB Match. There's still two spots left, and in the most likely scenario from my perspective AJ gets another qualifier and wins it via interference from Gallows & Anderson. It's basically all building into the story of Gallows & Anderson turning on AJ because he can't get the job done on his own, as was shown again last night. If this doesn't happen, and Balor hasn't debuted as The Club's new leader to feud with AJ by the end of the night after MITB feel free to call me stupid- but for now I can still say with somewhat certainty that this angle makes perfect sense.

The actual match was really good, although I think I said this the last time these two wrestled- did anyone really expect anything different? Owens in particular is just absolutely amazing, and while Ambrose is likely to win the Briefcase, assuming there's no member of New Day involved Owens would be my pick for it.

Thanks for reading as always. Last Night's RAW was weird, just because there was a lot more Sports than there was Entertainment for a change. There really wasn't many talking segments last night, and the focus was almost exclusively on the in-ring action and the MITB Qualifiers- which I'm more than fine with. The next stop on the road to MITB is picking up a certain John Cena, so that's something to look forward to- and the Review for that will be up this time next week. Thanks again for reading, hopefully you have a good week. #CakeLivesMatter. No? Okay then.

Extreme Rules Review

Hello! Well, last night was definitely interesting. That's probably the best way to describe it to be honest. There was a lot of good points from last night, and quite a few aspects of last nights PPV that were simply put horrendous. So, in short- a pretty standard WWE PPV all things considered. There's a lot of different stuff to discuss, so I'm just going to just dive right in today.

Pre-Show: Miz Promo
I don't usually review stuff like this for PPV Reviews, but I'm making an exception for this. This Promo was absolutely amazing. For those of you who haven't seen it, it's on YouTube presumably- to borrow a phrase from Miz this Promo really is "must see". I've said it so many times now, Miz is ridiculously underrated by so many people who can't see past his early years and WWE Title run. He's just absolute gold.

Pre-Show: Big Cass & The Dudleys "thing"
I won't say this was a complete waste of a segment, but it wasn't far off. I knew Enzo wasn't going to return on a Pre-Show, but an Enzo return was the only thing that would've made sense within the context of the segment to not make it an almost complete waste.

Pre-Show: Baron Corbin v Dolph Ziggler- No DQ Match
This match was a weird one right off the bat. They only started the match with about 10 Minutes left on the Pre-Show, so I thought they might do a thing where they started the actual PPV with Corbin and Ziggler brawling all over the arena. You know, something different. As it is, we got pretty much a standard RAW match between these two- the No DQ stipulation didn't even come into play until the finish unless I'm mistaken and Corbin got the win.

I wish Corbin would have absolutely destroyed Dolph, as I said in my Predictions. The simple fact is, he's already on the Pre-Show for the last PPV before the return of Rollins, Cena, Orton and the Wyatts. That's not even including possible debuts, in short with how low Corbin currently is on the totem pole- to keep him even slightly relevant he needs to look like a proper monster. I'm fine with him winning like a Heel with the low blow, don't get me wrong. But, if Corbin's pushed off TV with all of the returns between now and MITB it'll really annoy me. Although, I can see Corbin in the actual MITB match- because they always have a proper "power" guy in the match with that role mainly being filled by Kane.

The Club v The Usos- Tornado Tag Match
I'll open this section by saying I absolutely love Tornado Tag Matches. It was probably on Reddit, I saw something that said the last one before last night in WWE was on NXT and it involved Hunico & Camacho. In short, the stipulation needs to be used a lot more than it is. I just love the chaotic nature of them, and this match could definitely be described as chaotic at times.

This isn't a surprise to anyone who's seen Gallows since his release from WWE in 2010, but he's infinitely better than he was before. Anderson's barely scratched the surface of what he can do at this stage, and fair-play to The Usos they were really good last night as well. That's the thing though, The Usos are just Tag-Team Cena. Their match quality is always up to a certain standard, their characters are just absolutely horrendous. At the time, I loved the finish as well with The Usos appearing to be injured- because I described the logic behind it in my Predictions. But, as I'll discuss more later on- they couldn't even give me that.

Rusev v Kalisto- US Title Match
I knew exactly what the story they were going to tell in this match was going to be. With that in mind, I thought they did about as well as they possibly could have done. Both guys knew what their role was, and they played them really well. I am slightly worried about where Kalisto's headed now. I'm expecting him to use his Rematch Clause tonight to just get it out of the way, clearing the path for Cena to get it next week. That'll leave Kalisto free to do some flippy shit in the MITB Match, but after that I can't see WWE doing much with Kalisto- apart from him just going back to being a Lucha Dragon.

I just wish they would've done the Ref Stoppage idea I pitched in my Predictions, which it looked as though they were going to do at one point.

New Day v The Vaudevillains- WWE World Tag Team Championship Match
This match was just absolutely genius. Whomever was putting the match together presumably knew that this match was one of the ones where people (well, at least me) were thinking the finish could be a swerve and The Vaudevillains could win. So what do they do? Put Xavier Woods in the match. It was just an amazing decision, so whoever thought it up- you get a Gold Star.

The false finish with The Vaudevillains hitting the Whirling Dervish on Xavier is the first one since the one with Rollins and Neville where I've legitimately thought we were getting a "shock" outcome and the crowd completely bought it as well. The actual match was decent, I still wish Big E would stop doing those Middle Rope dive spots though- because he is going to kill himself on one of those.

If I had to talk negatives, firstly Kofi/Big E winning MITB is completely out of the window (if it was ever not) with New Day retaining. That's just annoying on a personal level, because as I said in my Predictions if it was ever going to happen for Kofi it would've been this year. Secondly, the more I think about it the more I wish The Vaudevillains would have won. I think it was Extreme Rules last year (yes, I know they switched the order) where WWE decided to actually go all in on a relatively fresh Heel Tag Team and put the Titles on them. That Team was of course New Day.

Since Enzo got hurt, The Vaudevillains have been great- and while it's obviously bad for Enzo it's the best thing that could've happened for The Vaudevillains. They've been getting legitimate heat from Crowds ever since, so imagine if they were the ones to have ended New Day's nearly year-long Title run to just keep the momentum going.

The Miz v Cesaro v Kevin Owens v Sami Zayn- Fatal 4-Way for the IC Title
This year's been a pretty bad one as far as legitimate Match of the Year Contenders go. Understandably given the fact Cena always has a couple (minimum), Rollins has been out, Orton's been out etc. This match is the second best match I've seen in WWE all year, with the first obviously being Zayn/Nakamura.

Fatal 4-Way's are hard to get absolutely spot on, for the simple fact that it either becomes a 1v1 match with two people sleeping or a complete clusterfuck so easily. I said it in my Predictions, everyone in this match knew exactly what their role was in this match- and as we saw they played it to absolute perfection.

I just absolutely loved this match. There wasn't a bad point to it. They furthered the Owens/Zayn feud perfectly (next stop MITB), Cesaro looked absolutely amazing, and Miz got the relatively cheap win while still looking good enough to not be considered as a completely weak champion. I don't think I've done this match justice to be honest, it's one of the very few matches in recent times where I'd happily just watch it over and over again.

Dean Ambrose v Chris Jericho- Asylum Match
From one of the best matches of the year, to one of the worst. Especially if we're talking what was expected of the match vs what we actually got. The Thumb Tacks spot was cool, and I've got full respect for Jericho for actually doing it. That's where the positives end, and I really wish that wasn't the case because I had really high hopes for this.

I know it would probably have been too close to Lethal Lockdown, but having a Roof on the cage would've made things infinitely better. It's an Asylum Match, unless you're one of Hugo Strange's creations sent to kill Jim Gordon- you shouldn't be able to get out of an Asylum. Not only that, having a Roof would've meant Ambrose or Jericho wouldn't have had to climb the cage every 2 Minutes to retrieve a weapon because they'd have been dangling from said Roof.

This match was just way, way too gimmicky- and fucking hell did it drag. They literally just picked one weapon up at a time, did some stuff with it and just repeated that, doing a circuit around the ring with all the weapons bar one for 25 fucking minutes. I don't usually put too much into what Alvarez says because he makes half of it up for "clicks", but if he's to be believed they took out a segment to give this match 10 extra Minutes. Just, why? As I said, the Thumb Tacks spot was cool, the preceding 25 Minutes was excruciating. It's a shame as well, because this was probably the best built feud heading into last night. Especially if last night was Jericho's last night (or second last if he does RAW tonight) of his current run, because since he turned he's been great.

Charlotte v Natalya- Submission Match for the Womens Title
I said in my Predictions that there simply wasn't going to be a finish for this match that wasn't an Anti-Climax. I wasn't wrong was I? With that said, I think the finish was about as good as it possibly could have been.

I said it in my RAW Review, Dana Brooke was in a nearly impossible situation after Emma got hurt- because as much as she's improved she can't swim on her own yet. Now, she's ended up in an even better situation than the one she was in with Emma. She's going to be on RAW every week, and doing her usual "heater" stuff on the outside with- or being managed by Ric Flair while she wrestles. Emma's injury is obviously unfortunate for her, but seemingly in a theme as of late with Kalisto and Big Cass their partner getting injured is the best thing that could've happened for them.

Roman Reigns v AJ Styles-Extreme Rules Match for the WWE Title
I was a bit annoyed about this match last night, I won't lie. However, with the benefit of sleeping on it I actually really liked this match. Of course Roman kicked out of 7 Billion finishers, did anyone actually expect he wouldn't? AJ looked absolutely amazing last night, and especially now he's presumably out of the WWE Title picture he can really kick on. Also, I feel like it's worth saying Roman more than held his own- which is probably going to get lost in all of the "Super Roman" discussions as a result of last night.

The reason I'm largely positive after this match, having thought about it- is the fact it'll make perfect sense for when Gallows & Anderson turn on AJ next month. AJ's going to be in the Money in the Bank match next month, The Club are going to be holding the Ladder for him with the ring cleared- and then push him off. Then the next night on RAW, AJ comes out to ask "Why?"and we get Balor's debut as they attack AJ once again. The question is why would they turn on AJ? Because he can't get the job done, which Gallows & Anderson can of course- because they beat The Usos earlier on in the show. It would've been a lot better had The Usos just been out hurt for the Main Event in my opinion playing into that, but at least they sort of protected the Styles Clash onto the Chair via Uso interference.

That's AJ taken care of for a while, and for Roman he's of course got his hands full with Crossfit Jesus now. That's right, Seth freakin' Rollins returned- and it was absolutely fucking great. The best bit is, as I've just shown with the Balor stuff- it's clear what they're going to do and they're all the better for it. Triple H is going to be back on TV now Seth's back, Triple H fucks over Seth at Money in the Bank- and they build to Seth/Triple H at Summerslam. I'm not sure where that leaves Roman with the Title for Summerslam, the likely options are Orton, Bray and Brock.

Overall I did really like the PPV. We had two top quality matches with the WWE and IC Title matches, and with the exception of the Asylum Match every match was at the very least decent. I'm expecting this to be a common theme for the next few months really, especially with Cena and Rollins back we're likely to get at least one MOTY Contender for the next few PPV's- but the builds will be shite. Because WWE.

Thanks for reading, as always when there's a PPV Review- the RAW Review is up the next day. So hopefully you'll be back here tomorrow for it, after we hopefully get a good RAW to mark the second coming of Crossfit Jesus. Thanks again for reading, lets end on a positive. As we saw last night in the Asylum Match. WE ACTUALLY SAVED A PLANT! PLANT LIVES MATTER!

Extreme Rules Predictions

Hello! It really is that time again. It feels like the last PPV was yesterday, partially because Payback and Extreme Rules are taking place within 3 weeks of each other- but mainly because there's been hardly any storyline progression in most of the feuds in the last 3 weeks. I mean, a lot of stuff has happened don't get me wrong- but you'd be really pushed to explain how at least half of the angles heading into tonight have actually progressed storyline wise.

Seeing as it's relatively big news, before I start off the Predictions I'm just going to put my thoughts out there with regard to the Cody Rhodes news. Cody's only 30 Years Old. A lot of people seem to forget that fact given how long he's been around as a Wrestler. The simple fact is, and it's one Ryback spoke about a lot in that Tumblr Post- Cody's "value" to the company has steadily declined since he was in Legacy and therefore so has the amount of money he's been making. Yes, Cody's been great in all of the gimmicks he's had since- but his general exposure on TV has never been the same he had in his Legacy days. That's just a fact.

Since the Stephen Amell stuff at Summerslam, I'm fairly certain "Stardust" has literally won 2 Matches- and I can't remember the last time he was actually on RAW. In short, as far as TV exposure goes Cody's basically hit rock bottom. I don't know if Cody's going to wrestle somewhere else, just with his name value let alone the fact he's a damn good worker he'd basically have his pick of the litter with regard to different promotions.

In short, Cody will only ever be of some value to the WWE again by leaving and building up his reputation again. You only have to look at Doc/Luke Gallows for proof. He was on Superstars if he was lucky before he was released from WWE back in 2010- but now, whatever can be said about how Gallows & Anderson have been booked they're two of the most featured guys consistently on RAW and Smackdown and will continue to be over the next few months as a minimum. Basically, leaving WWE in a weird way is at this stage the only avenue he's got left to actually be treated "properly" by WWE.

Right then, with that said there's 8 Matches to predict so I'll just jump into it.

Pre-Show: Baron Corbin v Dolph Ziggler- No DQ Match
I'm just going to throw this out there now, tonight is one of the easiest PPV's to predict on paper in quite a long time. That of course means WWE are going to throw a "curve-ball" in the midst basically just to fuck with us and everyone who bets on Wrestling. So it's actually going to be an extra prediction to predict the match that WWE will fuck with us in.

This is one that'll be low down on the list in that regard, for the simple fact that this was the match did for it at Payback. I said in my Predictions for Payback that Dolph had a proper chance of winning, and he of course did end up winning- but this month anything less than a Corbin win will be a swerve for the sake of a swerve and just monumentally stupid. Not only that, I want Corbin to absolutely destroy Dolph.

I doubt he will, and speaking from an overall card sense- having a lot of weapon usage and stuff like that on the Pre-Show is probably a bad move. But just from a character perspective for Corbin, given he's been featured sporadically- when he does appear he needs to make a massive impact.
Winner: Baron Corbin

Rusev v Kalisto- US Title Match
One of just two matchws on the whole card, including the Pre-Show without any sort of stipulation. I think that basically sums up how Kalisto's US Title run has gone- and just in general how the Title's been treated whilst on Kalisto. Rusev's sudden resurgence and push toward the US Title coinciding with Cena's return isn't a coincidence. However, regardless of if Rusev holds the US Title for 2 Weeks, 2 Months or 2 Years- he needs to take the Title off of Kalisto tonight.

I do believe that Rusev will win, and there's a 99% chance they play up the injury angle that they did in midweek to explain why Kalisto wasn't on Smackdown and Rusev just being too much for an injured Kalisto. If they did it like the Owens/Zayn match at Takeover where Owens won the Title by having Rusev just destroy Kalisto non-stop to the point where the Ref has to "throw in the towel" for Kalisto I'd absolutely love it.
Winner: Rusev

The Club v The Usos- Tornado Tag Team Match
The placement of this match on the card will be quite interesting to start off. This is either going to take place early on, and The Club destroy The Usos to make it actually "1 vs All" in the Main Event. Actually, quick aside- Roman's thing is "1 vs All" but he's got more allies than anyone else on the Roster. Think about that. The other option is this takes place directly before the Main Event and they either do the same thing with regard to having The Usos taken out- or they all take each other out making it (seemingly) a true 1v1 Match. More later.

The fact The Usos beat Gallows and Anderson clean on RAW makes me relatively expectant of a Club win. However, I don't know what goes on in WWE's heads most of the time- and it wouldn't surprise me that they've worked out some twisted logic of having The Usos win make sense.
Winner: The Club

New Day v The Vaudevillains- Tag Title Match
This is one of the matches where I think there's a realistic chance of fuckery in regard to the expected outcome and what WWE will give us. New Day have been Tag Champs for almost a year now, and it would be over a year were it not for the fact that Titus is a nice dad. Despite the fact New Day are one of the Merch sellers in the company, I think their time as *engages hip swaying* WWE World Tag Team Champions may be coming to an end soon. Especially given the fact that Enzo is surely coming back soon, and I would assume they're getting the Tag Titles soon- which would mean they need a Heel team to beat in The Vaudevillains.

If they do end up losing the Tag Titles, I'd absolutely love it if either Kofi or Big E won Money in the Bank- especially if it was Kofi. Given New Day's current importance to WWE with regard to Merch sales and general popularity- this is probably the last chance Kofi has to get pushed to the "next level". Anyway, I'm predicting New Day- but I'm definitely not ruling out The Vaudevillains basically.
Winner: New Day

The Miz v Kevin Owens v Sami Zayn v Cesaro- Fatal 4-Way for the IC Title
Firstly, I actually think this has a really good chance of being the Match of the Night. Not just because of the obvious involvement of Owens, Cesaro and Zayn- but the fact everyone knows their roles and how to wrestle the story I'm expecting to be told tonight to perfection.

Miz is going to win tonight, I'm certain of that fact. But it wouldn't surprise me if he takes a load of moves right off the bat and only reappears right at the last second to pick up the win. The Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn story is going to play out in such a way where they're both negatively affecting each others careers within kayfabe- with the eventual pay-off coming at Summerslam with a stipulation match billed as the "last time ever" that they'll wrestle.

Tonight it'll be both guys getting close to winning the Title, but fucking each other over allowing Miz to retain. Next month it'll be them both fucking each other over in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match- and that'll basically just keep going. The one person who I don't want Miz to pin tonight is Cesaro, because after tonight they're likely going to branch off from Owens and Zayn and feud 1v1 again.
Winner: The Miz

Charlotte v Natalya- Submission Match for the Womens Title
I said this in my RAW Review as well, the way this feud has been booked and just generally played out- there's not going to be a satisfying outcome in this match tonight. Either; Charlotte beats Nattie clean- which would be a huge anti-climax given how the feud's been booked, Charlotte cheats to win in some way- which would be a huge anti-climax given how they've built the match up or Nattie wins the Womens Title which would just be so fucking stupid.

I am expecting Charlotte to retain, and I don't think this will be one of the matches where WWE swerve us with the outcome because the Womens Title to the WWE is probably their 2nd most important Title at the moment.
Winner: Charlotte

Chris Jericho v Dean Ambrose- Asylum Match
I'm fearing the worst tonight. Plant Lives Matter. As we watch this match unfold, don't forget that fact. If something does happen tonight, and another Plants life is taken- be prepared to take appropriate action.

This is my predicted "swerve" outcome for tonight. The annoying thing is (unless I'm mistaken) we don't actually know when Jericho's done with this WWE run. If Jericho is done after tonight, and they're going to kill him off with a Plant to the Head tonight then of course Ambrose is going to win. But, given the fact we don't know that- and with this being in my opinion the feud with the best build for tonight I'm expecting Jericho to win just piss everyone off.

A Jericho win tonight would be perfect in my opinion, because it'd keep this feud going for another month- and it would get Jericho even more heat than he currently has. Imagine Jericho's Promos after he's beaten Ambrose in what is literally his match. If Jericho is done after tonight, then I'd expect the New Day match to be the "swerve" match- but this is the one I'm going for you stupid idiots.
Winner: Chris Jericho

Roman Reigns v AJ Styles- Extreme Rules Match for the WWE Title
If this wasn't already obvious, given some of the reactions I saw after Payback- Roman Reigns is in fact going to pin AJ Styles tonight. I still can't believe some people were actually getting worked up about that. The discussion, and prediction for tonight is only about what happens in the build-up to AJ getting pinned. I don't even care how little sense it'd make, I still want Gallows and Anderson to align with Roman. Which you could argue would make sense with regard to who Roman wants to align with if The Club beat The Usos therefore proving their superiority to them (I know it's tenuous).

There's of course the Finn Balor stuff, and I do think there's a much bigger chance of him debuting tonight than there was for Payback. My thing for this match, and just the feud- I just want there to be some storyline progression. I don't care how the story is progressed, whether it's Balor debuting and fucking AJ over, Roman aligning with Gallows & Anderson, Gallows & Anderson turning on AJ, or even something a bit more left-field like a Rollins return which has been rumoured today. I just want something, because we had nothing at Payback.

If I had to predict the match, AJ's going to look amazing again, the match will actually be pretty fucking good, Roman will kick out of 7 Billion Finishers including a Styles Clash onto a Chair and eventually The Club turns on AJ to allow Roman to win (but they don't align with Roman). That's my preferred direction for tonight, but as previously said I just want something.

I've not been a big fan of the build for tonight, but at the same time there's not a single match tonight that doesn't have at least the potential to be the overall Match of the Night in my opinion. I think that's going to be a theme of the next few months, because with the number of returns due over the next month or so- the PPV cards are going to be absolutely stacked especially heading into/for Summerslam.

Thanks for reading as always, when these Predictions show up there's always a Review not so far behind- so hopefully you'll be back here tomorrow for it. I do have reasonably high hopes for tonight, and hopefully you'll be tagging along on Twitter to watch it all unfold. Let's just hope for the best, and if not Finn Balor- at least No Way Jose interference in the Main Event.

RAW Review: May 16th

Hello! It really is that time again already. Last Night was of course the Go-Home show for Extreme Rules, and as I've said a number of times WWE simply just had to do more for most of the angles on the card. I will admit, I didn't have high hopes for last night- because Go-Home shows are never good- and the matches announced prior that I saw on Twitter (Usos/Club & Kalisto/Del Rio) didn't exactly enthuse me. However, what we got last night was something that I definitely wasn't expecting given the general quality level in this "new era" so far.

AJ Styles & Roman Reigns Promos
This segment, specifically AJ's Promo nicely sums up this RAW to me. I can't say for definite, but I'm fairly certain AJ had a complete mind-blank halfway through his Promo. For those of you who have watched it, when he had that giant pause I practically heard Vince yelling "COVER FOR HIM" in Cole's ear. Overall this segment was decent though, Roman did his job pretty well in-terms of selling the match on Sunday and getting the "Bloodline" name out there for him and The Usos. I just want more out of a Promo Segment for the Main Event of a PPV on the Go-Home show, but maybe that's my problem given neither guy in this is a great promo.

Sami Zayn v Cesaro/Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens v Cesaro & The Miz
Look, WWE has made a lot of stupid decisions recently- but if you thought they'd give away Zayn/Cesaro for Free as the first match on RAW just before a PPV...

The actual Zayn/Cesaro match wasn't much, but that was literally the point- and it was just a way to get to the now standard dysfunction Tag Team match dynamic we've had with these four for pretty much the entire build to Sunday. The difference last night was of course getting Sami and Owens facing Miz and Cesaro, so basically the two separate feuds we have going into the 4-Way. It's been a while since we had a dynamic like this one, so I was all for it personally. Zayn and Owens in particular knew exactly how to play the whole angle off, and the dynamic between the two is obviously a really good one. I thought overall the match was pretty good, and it was of course ended by Kevin Owens winning the match all by himself.

Chris Jericho Backstage Promo
Jericho's great. I realise that's not exactly an "out there" thing to say to all of you Stupid Idiots, but he is. The one thing I wish we'd get from Backstage Promos involving Renee now is having EVERYONE take a shot at her Dog. That Owens thing last week was just amazing.

The Shining Stars v Two Jobbers (One of them being Mr. Kennedy apparently)
Firstly, I'm fairly certain the two jobbers were John Skyler and Corey Hollis who we've seen on NXT a few times. But then Cole called one of them Mr. Kennedy and it just threw me off completely.

I'm not going to bury this nearly as much as most people probably will. For the simple reason, Epico & Primo are doing their absolute best with probably one of the worst gimmicks of all time. I won't bury Epico and Primo for trying their best with what they've been given, I will bury whomever came up with this fucking horrendous idea for a gimmick.

I was wondering the "Puerto Rico" vignettes would translate into a live performance, and aside from renaming them "Puerto & Rico" I had nothing. We didn't even get that, and the extent of the gimmick is Epico & Primo holding a Flower and wearing unbuttoned shirts. I have no idea what their Promo was even about, they were equating the Ring to Puerto Rico and how it would be their Paradise while they were in there or something. It's just like, what? If the Ring is Puerto Rico whilst they're in there, surely they should be friendly with their Opponents right? That was literally the point of the vignettes "So come to Puerto Rico, the Shining Star of the Caribbean".

I'm putting way too much thought into this, I do realise that- but this segment just massively annoyed me. I'd give it a month before Epico & Primo are off TV to be repackaged again.

Dean Ambrose, Chris Jericho Segment
The segment was pretty good I thought, Ambrose's Promo was a bit "meh" at the start- but he grew into it as the segment progressed. The "Asylum" Match looks pretty stupid in my opinion, it's basically Lethal Lockdown but with "themed" (worse) weapons. The stuff with the lights and the Cage lowering as Ambrose did his Promo would have been great were it not for the "menacing" music that made me burst out laughing. I'm not even sure why, but the music really did blow the segment for me. Which is a shame because overall I thought it was a pretty good segment.

We have less than a week to protest against this match, it's not a lot of time- but if we do it strategically I think we can get this barbaric match called off. I WILL NOT STAND FOR ANOTHER PLANT DEATH ON SUNDAY. PLANT LIVES MATTER.

Dana Brooke v Becky Lynch
I'm not saying Dana Brooke was perfect last night, because that would be a blatant lie. However, considering the situation she's now found herself in- she needs a degree of leniency at the moment in my opinion. She's been called-up while still pretty green, to mainly be Emma's heater/Tag-Partner to reintroduce Sasha to team with Becky. What she's now got to do is stand on her own two feet and get over by herself straight away, and as much as I like Dana I fear she may sink rather than swim.

Becky did her best, but the match just didn't really "click" which is understandable for the reasons stated above. The problem now, is how do they actually do this angle that they presumably had planned for Sasha to return and help Becky. Of all of the Women available to team with Dana, I'd love Summer. Especially because of hers and Sasha's history in NXT that I could play up in my head- even if Commentary won't.

The Dudleys & McMahons Backstage Promo
I found this funny, The Dudleys went into the McMahons Office and asked for a Squash Match.

Fabreeze v Golden Truth
I refuse to call them Breezango, so on here they shall only be referred to as "Fabreeze". We literally had 5 Months of build to this, making it I believe the longest angle that WWE currently have going on- and it's for that exact reason I knew Golden Truth would lose. The only thing that would make it better is if last night was the end to the whole angle. 5 Months building up to Truth & Goldust teaming, they do it once and decide it's just not for them.

New Day's "Time Travel" Segment
I was going to say that this was the sort of segment that you either loved or hated, but then I thought about it and realised I was pretty indifferent towards it. The good stuff like Kofi turning back into a Jamaican and saying 2009 was his best year and the "Sticky Keyboard" comment balanced out the general stupidity and/or cringeworthy factor of the segment.

There's two things that I wish we could've gotten out of this segment, more "meta" stuff like Big E coming out to Dolph's Music and absolutely refusing to emote, Xavier yelling "It's Morphing Time" and all of that stuff. The other, I wish they kept the Black & White Filter on when The Vaudevillains attacked New Day. I don't know why, I just think it would've looked cooler.

The Usos w/Roman Reigns v Gallows & Anderson w/AJ Styles
Right, this is the first segment in quite a long time that's annoyed me. Like, not sort of a "blow it off" annoyance- actively pissing me off. I said last week that WWE were getting dangerously close to blowing the Gallows & Anderson angle before Balor's even debuted, and I'm officially declaring this angle to have jumped the shark as of last night.

I said in my RAW Review where Gallows & Anderson first debuted, that the WWE had something special here- and they needed to try their absolute best to not fuck it up. It seems as though WWE read that and thought, you know what we need to do now? Fuck it up! My main issue with the angle has been the fact Gallows & Anderson have been put on the same level as The Usos, rather than have The Usos booked "up" to Gallows & Anderson- Gallows & Anderson have been booked "down" to their level.

What we got last night, with the fucking Usos beating Gallows & Anderson clean in the middle of the ring was just beyond idiotic. If I were booking, I wouldn't have even had Gallows & Anderson wrestle yet- and even if I did have them wrestling I DEFINITELY wouldn't be booking them to lose clean to the fucking Usos.

I'm not suggesting "The Club" should be on the nWo level of Wins to Losses, but especially early on- surely WWE realise that they need to be booked better to be established as proper threats before they can lose matches. The worst bit is, Gallows & Anderson losing did nothing for anyone. The Usos didn't even come out of the match looking good, because Gallows & Anderson have been booked so poorly that within kayfabe they're probably above them.

To cap it all off, Post-Match they gave away literally the best spot they could have done on Sunday in my opinion both in-terms of impact and crowd reaction in the Styles Clash on the Chair to Roman on Free TV on the Go-Home Show. I don't know who booked this segment, but whoever did- please make yourself known so TNA can hire you. You'd fit right in there.

Big Cass v D-Von
This wasn't much, but it did the job. Cass got the quick win to make himself look good, D-Von did the job well- and overall this was just a very quick segment that did what it was meant to do well.

Alberto Del Rio v Kalisto
This was the second segment that just had me laughing when that's definitely not what its intended purpose was. The match was decent, but what really had me laughing was Rusev's attack on Sin Cara. He just kept attacking him, and attacking him, and attacking him, and attacking him, and attacking him- by about the 3rd Minute of Rusev just rag-dolling Sin Cara I was just laughing. It was hilarious, it was the living embodiment of the "He's already dead" thing from The Simpsons.

The stuff with Kalisto & Rusev after was good, the kick from Rusev to the back of Kalisto's head looked brutal- and I'm just hoping Rusev destroys Kalisto on Sunday.

Charlotte & Natalya Contract Signing
I said this the last time a Womens Contract Signing Main Evented RAW, you can't just shoehorn a Womens Segment into the Main Event and go "We're giving them a chance".

Especially with Natalya being in there, while she's a good wrestler she's nowhere near charismatic enough to be in the Main Event of a RAW. Nattie is about as good at emoting and putting emotion into her Promos as Captain Holt is in Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Everything's said in exactly the same tone no matter what the content of her Promo is, and it's just absolutely infuriating.

Charlotte was better, and she's definitely improved since her last RAW Main Event appearance Promo wise. Being a Heel has definitely worked for her, and as I've said so many times now- the annoying thing for me is the fact there's no jeopardy in this feud. If Sasha, or even Becky were in this feud instead of Nattie I'd believe there was a chance of Charlotte dropping the Title. As it is, we've got Nattie and it's just so "meh".

I think the end to this segment nicely summed up it all up. I was more into the possible Shane/Ric fight than the Nattie/Charlotte one. We actually got a "STEPH-A-NIE" chant before we got a chant for Nattie last night. IMAGINE THAT! PEOPLE WERE CHANTING FOR STEPHANIE MCMAHON IN THE MAIN EVENT SEGMENT OF THE GO-HOME SHOW FOR A PPV OVER THE TWO PEOPLE ACTUALLY IN A MATCH ON SUNDAY!

Also, surely Charlotte could have put up a bit more of a fight before she tapped to the Sharpshooter last night. It wasn't even fully on and she was tapping. I know she wasn't in a match, so she just wanted the move off etc. but come on.

I said this last week as well, the ending to the Charlotte/Nattie match on Sunday is going to be such a huge anti-climax it'll actually be funny. Nattie's not getting the Title, Ric's banned from ringside- so Charlotte's either winning clean (huge anti-climax given the build) or Charlotte's going to cheat in some other way (huge anti-climax). Unless they do have Nattie win, which would be the stupidest option of the three.

This RAW was by far and a way the worst so far of the "new era". Speaking of which, two of the people given opportunities in Shane's "new era" in Apollo and Corbin weren't even on the show last night. So it's going well. I do have reasonably high hopes for the overall match quality at Extreme Rules though, which I'll go into greater detail in during my Predictions out on Sunday.

Thanks for reading as always, as just mentioned- the Extreme Rules Predictions will be out on Sunday so hopefully you'll be around for those. Then we've of course got the Extreme Rules Review on Monday and then we're back here again this time next week for another RAW Review where hopefully we'll have had a lot more storyline progression than we did coming out of Payback. Thanks again for reading, hopefully you have a good week- and remember always PLANT LIVES MATTER.

Fulham: 16/17 Summer Window Preview- Ins

Yep, it's officially that time of year again. The time of year where we can all get really optimistic about who we'll sign, have a million and one players linked to us- and then end up doing nothing until Deadline Day where we panic buy. With the expected changes in-terms of volume of players in and out this summer, much like last summer there's a discussion to be had when it comes to new players in pretty much every position.

So here we go, I've turned into the best Scout in the world yet again- so if any of Fulham's Scouts are reading this feel free to pass this work off as your own. I'd love to sign almost all of the players on this list (with a few included because of the inevitable links with us), because otherwise I wouldn't have listed them- but in some cases they're more of a conceptual player as to what we need and a player that would fit said requirements.

Anyway, there's a lot of players to discuss- so I won't ramble aimlessly anymore.

Goalkeeper

Daniel Bentley (Southend/Free Agent)
Of all of the positions, Goalkeeper's the one where I'd say we're most secure. Between Bettinelli, Lonergan and Joronen fresh off signing a new contract there's not a massive need for a Keeper. However, should there suddenly be a need for one- I'd look no further than Bentley. To me he's the best Keeper in League 1, and with his Contract situation being up in the air at the time of writing this- the possibility of getting him basically for Free is mouthwatering to quite a lot of Clubs I would assume. As I said, there's not an urgent need for a Keeper- but he was worth mentioning.

Defenders
This is the obvious area that needs to be addressed this summer. If we could even halve the goals we concede for next season, we'll already be in a pretty good position to get Playoffs given our Goalscoring potential. It does look like we're trying to get our business done early in this window, between the Parker and Joronen Contract Extensions- and the Defence would be top of my list in-terms of getting the signings in early.

Especially with how last summer went, with us blindly chasing Lewis Dunk for basically the whole summer- only for him to turnaround and sign a new Contract with Brighton we need to get the Defenders business done early. I'm not saying we should overspend, but within reasonable financial constraints- we should put in offers that actually have a chance of being accepted early on. Rather than do the usual Fulham thing of haggling over who buys the player's plane/train ticket to bring him to Motspur Park.


Left-Back
With Garbutt going back, Tim Ream most likely being off and Sean Kavanagh (if he's even classed as a Left-Back now) being a lightweight I think it's safe to say we're basically Left-Backless in-terms of next seasons squad at present. I believe that Slavisa is going to bring players in with multiple systems in mind, with a 3/5 at the back being one of them. As such, any incoming players capabilities as a Wing-Back has to be taken into account for the Left and Right-Back positions.

Rico Henry (Walsall)
This may well turn into a non-runner should Walsall go up in the Playoffs (which I'd assume they're favourites to do), but if they don't- or maybe even if they do I'd be all over Rico Henry this summer. This kid is special, and I'm not just bandwagoning onto him after he was up for Young Player of the Year at the Football League Awards- he's been on my "radar' if you want to call it that for quite a few months now.

With Garbutt obviously going back to Everton regardless of how he performed, I made a point of keeping an eye out for Left-Backs with next season in mind and Rico Henry is the player I've just kept coming back to. I'd wager at least 20 of the 24 Teams in the Championship, and perhaps even a few Premier League clubs will have an interest in Henry this summer- so it'd be quite a coup should we pull it off. As I said, this is the time of year where we're allowed to be a bit optimistic/ambitious.

James Husband (Middlesbrough)
This is of course the obvious Left-Back to which we'll most likely be linked this Summer. Given Husband's two relatively successful Loan Spells, his suitability as a Wing-Back which he showed with one of the best individual performances of last season at Bristol City and crucially for me Boro going up- I'd say we've got a decent shout of signing him. I'd be all for Husband signing should it come off.

Ikechi Anya (Watford) 
As I've already said, tactical versatility is going to be a big part of Slavisa's recruitment policy in my opinion. Enter Ikechi Anya, who can literally play anywhere along the Left-Hand side of the pitch. In my mind when I see how we line up next season, Anya's the starting Wing-Back when we're playing 5 at the back (presumably in Away Games) and then when we want to go more attacking Anya pushes up to Left-Mid and we have Husband or another Left-Back playing behind him.

If fit, Fredericks as one Wing-Back and Anya as the other would be a massive asset to us because we'll actually be able to hit teams on the break with their Pace which (apart from Fredericks) we've been lacking for a while now.

Anya's the obvious link given Slavisa's Watford connection, but even if it's not him as long as it's a player of the same mould I'm all for it. I've also made a point of limiting the number of Watford Players to one Defender, one Midfielder and one Attacker- because it's just lazy to talk about players who Slavisa's managed previously.

Right-Back
A more defensively solid Right-Back is needed in my opinion. Fredericks will be great as a Wing-Back provided he remains fit, but with doubts over his ability to remain fit- and when we go 4 at the back doubts over his defensive ability it's clear to me we need to be in for a Right-Back this summer.

Tendayi Darikwa (Burnley)
The first of the players I'm re-talking about from last summers "Ins" Blog, and it's someone who I'd be really keen on signing. Darikwa made the jump from Chesterfield to Burnley last summer, and he started off as a Starter for them and that was that. I'm not sure if he got injured, his performance levels dropped- or it was just a tactical tweak from Sean Dyche but he hasn't played for Burnley since January with Lowton coming in and playing Right-Back.

Given the fact he was out of the team at Championship level, and especially with the new TV Money coming into play for Burnley with their Promotion- for the right offer I'd have to assume Darikwa's available. As such, I'd be tentatively putting out feelers on the Darikwa front because should we be able to get him I'd be over the moon.

Centre-Back

Michael Madl (Sturm Graz)
Yes, he counts because as of writing this he's not technically our player. I do think it's a formality at this stage, and we're just waiting to have our Embargo officially lifted which I would assume will be soon. Unless of course we're not able to show proof as to our ability to stay within the FFP Regulations which is what's needed to get the Embargo lifted. If that was the case though, I'd expect Slavisa to resign and another Relegation Battle next season- so let's not go there unless we have to.

Brede Hangeland (Free Agent)
I've said this a few times on Twitter, and I'll obviously repeat it here. I've got a really weird feeling that we're going to re-sign Hangeland this Summer. I can't see Palace extending his Contract again, and it may just be because of the Baird Loan- combined with Parker's new contract and importance to us during the run-in but I think Slavisa may value a character like Brede in the Dressing Room.

The debate would obviously be a lot about whether Hangeland could still do a job, and whether he'd be worth his wages. His First-Team appearances have obviously been limited at Palace, but there was one game in particular on TV against Watford where I thought he was absolutely outstanding. Especially when considering the fact that at the time Ighalo and Deeney were on fire.

He wouldn't be a 46+ game season player, I'm not saying he would- but as the Central Centre-Back of a 3 (so Strikers couldn't get in behind him that easily) in a scrappy away game in Midweek against Burton Albion I'd absolutely hang my hat on him coming up big for us.

I don't think there's been many players in the last 10-15 years who have just "got" Fulham quite like Hangeland did, so as we attempt a most likely massive rebuilding job- having someone like Brede around the Club in any capacity would be good in my opinion.

Shane Duffy (Blackburn)
Paul Lambert's resignation was, to me, and I'm sure a lot of other people a massive advert from Blackburn saying "Our Players are available". We of course bought Cairney off them last summer, and I can see us going back to the well this summer either with Duffy (or Hanley of course) or another player I'll discuss later. I'd happily take Duffy or Hanley, and really it's just personal preference from what I've seen of both and what I know about both of them.


Timo Letschert (Utrecht)
This is probably THE most ambitious player on this whole list. That's of course funny because 95% of you have probably never even heard of him. So, let me introduce Timo Letschert to you. He's just an absolutely phenomenal defender, I suppose that's the main thing that should be said. I was looking at Eredivisie Defenders, because I remembered Brentford signing Bjelland from FC Twente- and Letschert just jumped out to me.

He's played a massive part in Utrecht's rise from 11th in the 14/15 season to 5th in the season just gone, and at present in the Playoffs for a Europa League spot. In the process he's ended up being rated as the (joint) best Defender in the Eredivisie by AD Sportwereld. So he's got some pedigree to him, capped off with him being in the Dutch Squad when they played England back in March.

Should Utrecht qualify for the Europa League (they drew 0-0 in the 1st Leg of the Semi's last night) this would become even more of a Non-Runner than it probably already is. However, I thought I'd just put his name out there- because signing someone like Letschert in-terms of general ability would be a massive step toward securing us defensively and I'd pay whatever was required to get him.

Ragnar Klavan (Augsburg)
I'll freely admit I didn't know anything about Klavan prior to him being linked with us, but looking at his Stats for Augsburg last season in both the Bundesliga and Europa League I'd be all for him signing should it come off. As with Letschert, albeit to a lesser extent I'd be surprised if we could actually pull the move off- but it'd be a massive statement of intent from us this summer should we be able to sign him.

Also, if he doesn't sign- it's only because of Stafylidis getting in his ear. So let's not be too disappointed if he doesn't eh?

Midfielders
We need a completely fresh approach to the Midfield for next season. For too long now, there's been an imbalance in the sense that we've either been too attacking and left ourselves exposed or too negative. The negative tactics worked for that week where we got three 2-1 wins with us just packing the Midfield, but that won't work over the course of a season and I don't think that's how Slavisa wants his teams to play Football anyway. Especially with the number of Midfielders I'd expect to be leaving- now is a real chance to completely re-work our Midfield with Wide-Men who can play wide and for the love of god a PROPER HOLDING MID.

Centre-Mids
Scott Parker's extension is one thing, but he can't play every game next season- I think even he'd freely admit that. As such, the only Centre-Mids other than Parker that I can see staying are Christensen (although Slavisa seems to fancy him wide) and Tunnicliffe. In short, we need to bulk up both in-terms of squad depth but also just physical stature. It's going to be interesting to see how we balance the "ugly" side of the game that is needed at this level, with the "ball-playing" side that Slavisa seems to value highly. I'm discussing a variety of players who would fit into either side of that, but balance is key.

Rohan Ince (Brighton)
It's worth the discussion because he was here on Loan, and we're in desperate need of a proper Holding-Mid to just make us a more defensively secure unit. More so in Home Games, my idea would be to have us playing what would in essence be a 4-4-2 and when we're attacking the Full-Backs would push up overlapping with the Wingers, we'd have one Ball-Playing Centre-Mid (Cairney) to keep the move flowing and then a Holding-Mid would be sitting back with the two Centre-Backs in case we're caught out.

As I said in my "Squad Assessment" Post though, I can't see Ince wanting to stay given the fact he was on the Bench (if he was lucky) for such a chunk of his Loan Spell- and the job for Slavisa/Rigg/Whomever else will have a hand in Transfers is to find a player like him.

Stefan Ilsanker (RB Leipzig)
With that in mind, enter Stefan Ilsanker. The reason I'm using Ilsanker specifically as the player to discuss as an alternative to Ince is because I've seen his name talked about on Friends of Fulham a bit with us supposedly being linked to him. I've got no idea where the supposed link has come from, because searching Twitter I've seen absolutely nothing about it- but I'd be all for the "rumoured" move should it come off.

For those of you unfamiliar with the story of RB Leipzig, they're basically a Corporate Club bought just outside of the German FA's (?) jurisdiction to stop the Fan Ownership rules coming into play- and Red Bull have basically bankrolled them from obscurity into the Bundesliga next season. For a team just promoted some of the players they've been linked with (Leno, Volland and Breel Embolo to name just three) are ridiculous. With Red Bull wanting Leipzig to compete with Bayern in the near future, I think it'd be safe to assume there'll be a high turnover of players from the ones that got them up- and that could of course mean Ilsanker being available.

Kevin McDonald (Wolves)
McDonald's partially on here because he was linked with us last summer, but mainly because he'd be in my opinion a phenomenal signing- especially for most likely a discounted fee which is seemingly what the case would be given his supposed falling out at Wolves. It was funny really, we'd just come off the back of beating QPR 4-0 and O'Hara was still in his Honeymoon phase at the Club- and McDonald came to the Cottage and just dominated. Given the previous links to him, I'd be surprised if there wasn't at least some rumours around him this summer- and I'd love it if those rumours came to fruition.

Adlene Guedioura (Watford)
The second Watford player on this list, and one that I could really see Slavisa wanting to go after this summer. With Watford seemingly wanting to really build a properly competitive Premier League team, I'd expect the fringe players like Guedioura (and Anya, although he's been starting recently I believe) who survived last summers mass changes to be on the out this summer.

I'd have loved it to be Almen Abdi, but unfortunately I don't think that's possible- but Guedioura's definitely someone who can do a job at this level. While he's not the youngest nowadays at 30, we need experienced heads in the side and Slavisa's obviously familiar with him.

Steve Sidwell (Stoke/Free Agent)
Let's face it, there's going to be links with him. Given the fact Stoke have Loaned him out, I think it's pretty safe to assume he's not going to get a contract extension there- and us along with Brighton and Reading are the three teams I'd expect to be linked heavily with him this summer. I don't want Sidwell back, and had I not been ill in January I'd have vocalised that then as well. Thankfully it doesn't seem like a Sidwell return would be on the cards with us supposedly nixing a move for him in January based on stats (or something like that, it was a weird month).

Tom Carroll (Spurs/Free Agent) 
This is another of the potential signings that can definitely be classed as "ambitious". As I've already said, Slavisa definitely seems to want to emphasise the "Ball-Playing" part of Football in his teams- and with Carroll seemingly being up on a Free this summer it'd be a real statement of intent were we to go after him. We definitely wouldn't be the only takers for him this summer should he leave Spurs on a Free, and there may even be Premier League interest- but I'd love it if we could sign him.

Conor Hourihane (Barnsley) 
Another of the players I suggested signing last summer who's making another appearance. He's reached double digits in Goals and Assists for Barnsley in what is now last season (10G 12A in the League/11G 17A total). Hourihane is obviously someone who I've rated for a while given his appearance in last summers version of this, and as a creative force to hopefully supplement Cairney's it would be great to see him in the team next season.

If Barnsley go up in the Playoffs this would become a complete non-runner, because going up Barnsley wouldn't sell one of their key players- and I reckon Barnsley will go up. However, if they don't there'll probably be a lot of takers for him.

Wide-Midfielders
Firstly, don't confuse having Wide-Men with just having Pace. Yes, I've suggested Ikechi Anya- and that's also why the names to follow are mainly Right-Sided players. However, Pace isn't everything for Wingers. You just have to look at Burnley really, they've gone up with Scott Arfield and George Boyd as their Wide-Men- and I don't think either could be described as "Pacey".

What we need is just intelligent footballers, crucially who are best used out wide. To me, the main positive of signing specifically a Right-Mid would be that Tom Cairney wouldn't be required out there in an "everyone fit" situation. If we play Cairney consistently centrally, either as a #10 or as I suggested above as the "Ball-Playing" Central-Midfielder in a 4-4-2 I think it'd be a safe bet that Cairney would be able to better his Goal Tally from last season and hopefully reach double digits.

Johann Berg Gudmundsson (Charlton)
This is one that I'd hope we could get done early, which goes back to the stuff in the Michael Madl section about the Transfer Embargo. While Iceland aren't likely to rip up any trees this summer in the Euros, given the new rules that mean (I think) the best 4 of the 6 3rd placed teams get through to the Knockouts- that's something Iceland could do given the Group they're in.

As such, Gudmundsson is likely to be busy for a section of the Summer and would presumably miss a bit of Pre-Season as well. Of all the names in this section of the Blog, Gudmundsson would be my #1 choice- because I just fundamentally believe he's an absolutely phenomenal talent. Especially at just 25, and with Charlton being in the state they're in we should be able to get Gudmundsson for a pretty reasonable fee considering the individual season he's had at Charlton in the midst of complete anarchy. The added bonus to Gudmundsson is the fact he can play as a #10 as well as on the Right, which goes back to what I've made a point of in-terms of options with versatility in mind.

Ben Marshall (Blackburn)
I've seen us linked with him recently, and this goes back to what I said in the Shane Duffy section about Blackburn most likely selling their best assets again should the right offer come in. Marshall's a player I'd be really keen on getting in, especially for the rumoured 1.5 Million that I saw talked about in relation to him when the rumour came out. It's all down to personal preference when discussing who people would prefer out of Marshall or Gudmundsson who are the two most realistic options for a Right-Mid signing this summer in my opinion.

One bonus to Ben Marshall, should he sign, is the fact that I believe he's ended up playing as a Full-Back at times for Blackburn. It all goes back to tactical versatility as I've said a number of times.

Nathan Dyer (Swansea)
Fresh off his rather limited role in Leicester's Title win, Nathan Dyer will be headed back to Swansea under a completely new regime to the one he left. That could mean he gets a second chance at Swansea of course, but I think it's more likely that Guidolin brings in his own players meaning Dyer would be even more surplus to requirements than he was last summer.

It feels like Dyer's been around forever, but he's still only 28- and his Pace and Dribbling Ability would have a massive impact in the Championship. This one's definitely in the "ambitious" column, but I wouldn't completely rule it out.

Lee Chung-Yong (Crystal Palace)
Lee Chung-Yong was someone who I was keen on signing in the January before last when he was still at Bolton. As it is, he went to Palace in Pardew's usual recruitment policy of signing a load of wingers and building them up in their own head and convincing them they're world-beaters to the point where there's a short-term reaction on the pitch from them in the absence of tactical knowledge.

Between Sako, Bolasie, Zaha and I believe even Dwight Gayle in recent times out on the Wings for Palace- combined with Lee's comments about Pardew in recent times I think it's safe to assume he won't be at Palace next season. I don't know where he's going to end up, but I definitely wouldn't be opposed to it if he's in a Fulham Shirt next season.

Attacking-Mids
Tom Cairney is hopefully going to be our primary "Creative" Midfielder next season. In a 4-4-2 he'd be the "Ball-Playing" Central Midfielder and when/if we go to a 5-3-2/3-5-2 he'd be the most advanced of the three in Central Midfield. Especially if Gudmundsson came in and his ability to play as a #10 this category would be largely moot, however there's still some names worth discussing.

Nick Powell (Man Utd/Free Agent) 
The fourth and last player that I had on last seasons list that's making an appearance in this years. I was going to suggest him as a Loan, as I will with another player in this category a bit later on- but when I checked his Contract status I saw his Contract's up this Summer. Nick Powell on a Free would be a massive signing for us. It hasn't worked out for him at Man Utd, and I don't even think he's had a good time of it at Hull- but if he gets a run in a team and his confidence back he can be a real force at Championship level in my opinion.

Chris David (Go Ahead Eagles)
I'm really torn on this one. I'm predominantly bringing him up because there was those rumours of him being at the Bolton game and talking to Slavisa. My thing with him is, you can make the argument that David didn't work out because he wasn't fancied by Magath/Kit. Except for the fact that when we loaned him out to FC Twente, he wasn't even used in their First Team in a Sub capacity for the most part- and was playing for their "Jong" team for the majority of it. That to me says there's an issue with him as a player, and it's not the Managers lack of enthusiasm over him that's the problem.

Should he come back, I'd obviously get behind him and hope for the best. Predominantly as a Cup/Depth player, I wouldn't even mind it provided he's got his head on straight after the rumoured attitude problems he had during his previous run here. I've got full faith in Jokanovic to make the best decisions in the Clubs interest, I'll just say that.

Alex Pritchard (Spurs)
This season's pretty much been a Non-Starter for Pritchard. I think he was injured for a patch, and then he weirdly went to West Brom on Loan- had a couple of Sub Appearances, and then picked up a Hip Injury to end his season early. Pochettino seems keen on him, so I don't know whether he would even be available to be Loaned next season- but if he is we should at least insert ourselves into the mix to sign him.

Strikers
With 15 Goals and 6 Assists in the League having a 99% chance of leaving in Moussa Dembele, and the recent rumours of a further 21 Goals and 9 Assists leaving in Ross McCormack- the need for a top quality Striker is evident.

However, between the Mitroglou money and the £7 Million initial budget that's being banded around at the moment- then factoring in the cumulative fees we're likely to get for the likes of Matt Smith, Ben Pringle, Jazz Richards, Tim Ream and another dozen players who would command fees despite being surplus to requirements which should add up to at least £2-3 Million and then possibly another £12 Million from McCormack- we should without a doubt be in a position to spend big on a Striker.

It's all about how we distribute our Funds this summer, and the Defence in particular we can't afford to do on the cheap. However, just with the way the market works- especially if we look to the Continent for a number of our signings we can build a really good Defence while still being able to pay big money for a Striker.

The 4 names I'm about to list off cover the two possible avenues I think we're going to go down to sign said Striker, and should we sign any of the Strikers in this section I'd be absolutely over the moon.

Nemanja Nikolic (Legia Warsaw)
This is a name that a lot of you probably don't know, because he's spent the majority of his Career in his native Hungary- and then moved to Legia Warsaw last summer. I think Reading were interested in him at one point as well, and with his Goalscoring Record it wouldn't surprise me if there's a lot of interest in him this Summer. His record of 27 Goals in 36 Games in the Polish League is just absolutely outstanding, and he's exactly the sort of Striker we need to come in- in that he'll be ready to hit the ground running right off the bat.

As far as a Transfer Fee would go, I believe Legia Warsaw signed him for around 400k- and in our need for Goals I wouldn't even flinch if we had to pay 10 times that to bring him in this Summer. As with Gudmundsson, the one downside to signing Nikolic would be his presence at the Euros with Hungary and a delay to his Pre-Season Preparations- but I'd say he would be worth the wait.

Matej Vydra (Watford)
The last Watford player on the list, and one who I think has a really good chance of signing for us this summer. Given the fact he was Loaned out to Reading, and he didn't even do too well there- it might be a reasonably safe assumption to say he's surplus to requirements at Watford. There could always be a chance whomever Watford bring in with Quique Sanchez Flores departing as of today fancies Vydra- in which case this would become moot. However, I think- or rather hope that wouldn't be the case.

I was desperate for us to sign him last summer, and if you go back to my Deadline Day blog from last summer you'll know I was really hoping we'd get him. As it is, had we signed him last summer Dembele probably wouldn't have got as much exposure to the First-Team as he did so I suppose it worked out pretty well in that respect. But of course now, Dembele's most likely off this summer- so hopefully it comes full circle and Vydra comes in for next season. While it hasn't worked out amazingly for him at Reading, I don't have a doubt in my mind that Slavisa could get the best out of him.

Nahki Wells (Huddersfield) 
I was talking about Wells with a Huddersfield Fan not so long ago, and I got the impression that he'd be a Striker along the lines of Rodallega. That comparison's in the sense that he's not what you'd describe as "clinical", but his Goal Tally of 17 for last season speaks for itself. The other point was that should a team come in for him with 4-5 Million, it would be really hard to turn down from a Huddersfield perspective. End of the day, we need Goals to either compliment McCormack- or replace his Goals as well as Dembele's and Nahki Wells scores goals.

Jonathan Soriano (RB Salzburg)
If we're talking absolute "Dream Windows", Jonathan Soriano is the absolute top of my list Dream Player for us to sign this Summer. Outside of the "Top" Leagues, Soriano's without a doubt in my mind the best Goalscorer in Europe. His Goalscoring Record in the Austrian Bundesliga is just ridiculous, if we want to make signings based off of "Stats" here's some pretty convincing stats in favour of signing Soriano;

You could of course make the argument he's in the clear best team in the Austrian Bundesliga, so he'll score goals for fun- were it not for the fact his record in the 13/14 and 14/15 seasons in the Europa League was just as prolific (12 Goals in 11 in 13/14 and 8 in 12 for 14/15).

He wouldn't be cheap, and he's probably the most ambitious name on this list apart from Letschert. However, given the fact he's 30 and has made a name for himself in the Austrian Bundesliga I doubt his price would be completely out of range for us. Especially if we did end up selling McCormack for 12 Mill.

This obviously isn't a definitive list of players, and the majority of our signings this summer almost definitely won't feature in this Post- however this is my Wishlist. There will no doubt be some completely left-field signings along the lines of Mattila on the basis of Stats, but this Summer's just massive for Fulham. It's our 3rd "rebuild" in as many years, and this one is the most important one for us in-terms of the need to get it "right". Pretty much all of the names I've talked about on this list would go some way towards us getting it "right" in this window.

Thanks for reading as always, I know these last two Posts have been long ones- but hopefully they've been worth the read. These Posts are very close to going on Summer Holidays now, with just my End of Season Awards to come- so hopefully you'll be back here for that one. Thanks for reading as always, hopefully you're able to sit-back and enjoy the best time in the Football season in the Playoffs. Hopefully we'll be in the mix for them next season, with a few of the players I've mentioned playing a part.