RAW LD, February 4th 2019 - The Beginning of the End?

[FunKay]

Confession time; Kurt Angle was probably the first wrestler I fell in love with as a fan. I loved Undertaker when I started watching wrestling in 2001. He was inherently cool (even as the American Bad-Ass he was... well, bad-ass). But Angle just captivated me. The combination of goofiness and ruthless intensity made him both likable and a force to be reckoned with. Him versus Stone Cold from SummerSlam 2001 is my first favourite match and still holds a special place in my heart, and the fact that it was followed up with stuff like the Milk Truck and that time Angle took Austin to a bridge, threatened to push him off it, only to shove him into a paddling pool are some of my fondest childhood memories of wrasslin'. I continued to watch in awe and appreciation of Angle's WWE career and his move to TNA got my attention and made me a (very) casual viewer of their product for quite some time. I even teared up watching his Hall of Fame announcement/video package.

Tonight, he has a big announcement. Most of us suspect he's going to kick-off a retirement tour of sort, and if that is the case... well, its going to be emotional for me personally. Sure he's not quite the same Angle he once was, but I've enjoyed his recent run as GM and as a part-time performer more than most (him and Ronda versus Triple H and Stephanie is one of the funnest matches in WWE history, fight me). If this is the end, I thank you for absolutely everything Kurt. Now go kick ass like only you can.

...

Oh yeah, there's other stuff too, right?

Uh, how will WWE handle the Dean Ambrose situation? Indeed, will they steer into it, or avoid it like the plague? Who are the final team to qualify for the Women's Tag Team Championship Elimination Chamber? How is Seth Rollins going to respond to Brock Lesnar's attack on him last week? Can Jeff Jarrett (bloody hell!) knock off Elias in his first WWE match in two decades? Oh, and "The Man" comes around once more tonight as she and Stephanie McMahon have some words, probably featuring a certain "Rowdy" Women's Champion...

[Jack-Hammer]

Finn Balor also has an Intercontinental Championship match tonight against Bobby Lashley.

Allegedly, Rollins is dealing with some sort of injury issue that was going on prior to last week. I haven't read what it is, only that it's referred to as an "issue" in the various reports, some of which have stated that all the F5 bumps that Rollins took last week further aggravated things but take that for what it's worth. At any rate, the supposed plan is for Rollins to take it easy for the next month with speaking roles only as he wasn't at any of the house shows over the weekend.

I expect Balor will win the IC title at WrestleMania, I wouldn't mind it happening as part of a ladder match or something as it'd give an excuse to have a big spot fest on the show that doesn't happen often for the big show.

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

You are a good LD starter FunKay. I'll be watching tonight because Kurt Angle is announcing something. I'm a Kurt fan and liked his work in TNA as well, he had some barn burners with AJ Styles in that company as well as a great feud with Jeff Jarrett.

[BaconBits]

I’m thinking they’re going to turn an injury into a work with Rollins like they did for Becky when Nia injured her.

[BaconBits]

Steph is dressed like the single mom who drinks boxed wine at her kid’s soccer game.

[BestSportsEntertainer]

What exactly is the point of the injury angle?

[BaconBits]

What exactly is the point of the injury angle?

I think itâ??s an attempt to get Becky more over.

[Skairipa]

Oh my god Becky got to beat up Steph, a clear sign they fully trust her to be the top woman. Not even Charlotte has gotten that honor.

[BaconBits]

The angle would work better if Becky was actually consistently selling it.

[BestSportsEntertainer]

Could this be the way they add Charlotte?