Batson's Blog

It's January, which means it's Royal Rumble time. WWE already announced last October that the 2nd ever women's Royal Rumble will be returning this year. What can we expect out of this match?  Probably a female version of the men's match. We saw several returning favorites and NXT surprises at the first ever women's Royal Rumble in January 2018: Beth Phoenix Ember Moon (then NXT Women's Champion) Jacqueline Kairi Sane (2018 Mae Young Classic winner) Kelly Kelly Lita Michelle McCool Molly Holly Torrie Wilson Trish Stratus Vickie Guerrero That's 11 women who competed in the Rumble who weren't on the main roster at the time. Granted, some of those women probably returned because WWE didn't have enough women on their rosters to fill up a 30-woman battle royal. But WWE has stacked it's main roster in 2018.   Billie Kay ,  Peyton Royce ,  Zelina Vega  and  Ember Moon  were all called up.   Maria  and  Mary...

I have a bit of an unusual way to end WWE's Evolution event. I'm still not happy about the Ronda Rousey vs. Nikki Bella match, but it's obviously happening, so may as well make the most of it right? I also mentioned the fact that Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch may not have been the best route to go, simply because they've faced each other so many times in the past couple of months. But that match is also happening. Again, I may as well accept it. The question becomes: how do you end Evolution? Many people suggest that Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair is the way to go. Others point to Ronda Rousey vs. Nikki Bella being the most logical choice to close the show due to their name value. I agree on both points. Becky and Charlotte deserve to close the show more so than Rousey and Bella, but they don't have the name value to the casual fans. I think there's a way to have the best of both worlds, though. Becky and Charlotte will compete in the first (ac...

WWE's Evolution pay-per-view / WWE Network live event is this Sunday. It's the first ever all-women WWE event, so it's been hyped up for several weeks. Considering the hype, you'd think that WWE would've done a better job shaping the card. Take a look at what it is right now:  -    Last Woman Standing match for the SmackDown women's championship: Becky Lynch (c) vs.        Charlotte Flair  -    Raw women's championship match: Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Nikki Bella  -    NXT women's championship match: Kairi Sane (c) vs. Shayna Baszler  -    2018 Mae Young Classic finals: Toni Storm vs. Io Shiari  -    NXT U.K. women's championship match: Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Isla Dawn  -    Trish Stratus and Lita vs. Mickie James and Alexa Bliss  -    Sasha Banks, Bayley and Natalya vs. The Riott Squad  -    Women's battle royal fea...

It was a huge Wrestlemania weekend just over a month ago. Between dozens of wrestling events in Orlando, the WWE Hall of Fame, NXT TakeOver, Wrestlemania 33 (the retirement of The Undertaker!) and, of course, the Raw after 'Mania. One of the bits of news that came out over the weekend was the announcement of a 32 woman WWE tournament.  Details aren't completely clear yet on this tournament.  Will it involve women from the independents?  Will it strictly be women from the independents? Will it be women who are currently in WWE?  Nobody is really sure at this point because WWE didn't release all of those details. I've got to think that it will be similar to the Cruiserweight tournament and the UK tournament.  In both of those situations, almost all of the participants were from the independents and not signed to contracts.  Sure, you had Tajiri (a familiar face from his previous WWE run), but most of the guys were indy darlings -- not having worked in...

It was announced recently that, after her outstanding performance against Asuka at Takeover: Toronto in NXT, Mickie James has signed a new, 3-year contract with WWE and will be assigned to the Smackdown brand. Mickie is one talent who has only gotten better with age. She was a good wrestler when she first signed a developmental deal with WWE in 2003, but since then she's refined her skills, expanded her move set and truly lives in the moment during her matches.  As a result, her matches have psychology and lack the rehearsed feeling that sometimes even Sasha Banks and Charlotte end up having. I'm very happy, as a longtime Mickie fan, that she's getting a second shot in WWE and will, hopefully, end her tenure on a better note. I see a Hall of Fame induction in her future. Meanwhile, there's another former Diva who I hope will attract some interest from WWE: Melina . For several years after being released back in August of 2011, Melina kept a relativ...