RIShane

Thanks. Having caught up on it, I can also vouch for the Royal Rumble 97 episode, which takes a while to get to the PPV, but also gives some very interesting insight into what booking a Royal Rumble is like and how they're constructed.

Michael Cole was very happy too:

I see STWW is a slightly controversial topic here, but as someone who only recently got into the archives and quite enjoyed the Undertaker 1995-1997 (which gives a great insight into the time just through retelling some of the crazy ideas they didn't run with) and Paul Heyman in WWE episodes, which episodes have the most unique or interesting information to them?

I also feel she's underrated in the ring, and thankfully has nothing as cringy as Shane McMahon's punches. Her performance at Wrestlemania was a heeling masterclass.

And the growling! ?

That's what was clever about the line, too. On the surface its a dig at Raw's lazy storytelling like the sort we were seeing in 2016 episodes of SDL/Talking Smack, but it seems to be more strongly hinting that when one of them turns on the other (the storytelling so far seems to be suggesting it'll be Becky turning on Charlotte, which I honestly think has a lot of potential though I realise its a controversial opinion), its going to be a proper turn rather than a one-off segment and return to normality.

I wouldn't be so sure about Shayna. She has the Ronda connection which will surely help her on the main roster.

Sure, a Becky heel turn would be risky (I think she's a good enough actress to pull it off especially give her past heel role on the indies, but she also has a lot of love from fans for her work as a face), though I think ultimately the alignments depend on what's happening on Raw with Ronda. If Ronda's staying face all the way through Mania, then Charlotte will most likely turn at some point later this year, while a Ronda heel turn down the line makes a Charlotte extended face run much more likely.

I'm mystified by why there seems to be so much anger online (not here of course) about the Becky/Carmella match at Summerslam changing to Becky/Charlotte/Carmella. They love working against each other, it will make for a better match (Carmella is easier to carry when you have two strong wrestlers rather than one, though I do think she's looked a bit better in her last two singles matches now Ellsworth is gone), it raises more interesting story possibilities than just 'Becky beat Carmella once, beats her again the same way' or 'Carmella cheats Becky', and even raises the intriguing prospect of a proper Charlotte/Becky feud to culminate at Evolution. Even the storyline presented the change as the result of Carmella's actions (insulting Paige) rather than Charlotte demanding a shot, yet it seems to be getting widely perceived as 'proof' that Charlotte is female Roman Reigns because some fans are so annoyed that on paper Becky might not win. While everyone has favourites, its a shame when people put that preference ahead of the story actually being told.

She held her title belt and said that Paige would never get to be a champion again.

Speaking as someone who's been critical of her, I thought Carmella did pretty well tonight to be honest--her promo was good and she was getting more heat than she has for a while, helped by how into Becky and Charlotte the crowd were, and the logical storytelling throughout the main event. One other storytelling beat I like is that Charlotte didn't return demanding the title shot, she genuinely did come back to save her best friend, its just that Carmella being a jerk to Paige lead to Paige creating the match.

As demonstrated by her brilliant trades in the Shake-Up, Paige has been the best GM ever, let's hope she doesn't start spoiling her record so far!

I thought it was a strong episode, with some great promos (I wish that the babies-crying bit in the Miz segment was shorter, but the actual promo was quality) and good story development. Happy to see the Bar back in-action, as well. From elsewhere online I've seen a lot of angst about Charlotte being added to the women's title match, but it means that Carmella doesn't have to be exposed as much in-ring, and they're clearly going to be developing a Becky/Charlotte story out of this, given that the last shot of the show was Becky's reaction rather than Charlotte's celebration. Perhaps it'll be the SDL women's division's main story heading into the Australian tour and Evolution. Also, isn't it cool that in 2018, an episode of SDL can have more women's matches (2) than men's (1) and a women's main-event, and its completely normal? Charlotte's post-match promo is nice, too:

Yup, Sasha is married to Mikaze. As for the team itself, you'd think its to set up eventual tag titles, but who knows. Putting them in a tag team isn't an inherently bad idea as the title scene is occupied, but you'd wish WWE wouldn't have taken such a lame and circuitous route to get them there.

Tim Buckley: Pleasant Street > You Keep Me Hanging On (Dream Letter: Live in London 1968)

Sonja Boon: The Life of Madame Necker

Bayley's other best main-roster matches are probably her Raw main event (2/13/17) and Royal Rumble matches with Charlotte.

S. Schoenbaum: Shakespeare's Lives

A few more Coliseum tapes just got added, including The Hart Foundation (1987), Hulk Hogan: Real American (1989), Jake The Snake Roberts (1987), and what everyone's always wanted... the Ken Patera Story.