On Episode 168, Dave wraps up some events from last week in the WWE, reviews the Bakersfield House Show from February 18, concludes his four part review of Wrestle Kingdom 11, and conducts and excellent interview with Eric Jackson of the San Francisco Wrestling Watching Club.
We begin by reviewing last week’s installment of Smackdown Live. The Valentine’s Day edition saw some key developments as we draw ever closer to WrestleMania. This included a rematch from Elimination Chamber as Becky Lynch took on Mickie James. Meanwhile, the new Smackdown Women’s Champion, Naomi, disclosed that she sustained an injury during her title win over Alexa Bliss. What would this mean for the Title moving forward? In the Main Event, there was no rest for the deserving as both John Cena and AJ Styles exercised their respective rematch clauses and challenged Bray Wyatt in a Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship. Who won and what shocking announcement did Randy Orton have for the winner as far as the WrestleMania 33 Main Event was concerned? We let you know on Episode 168.
After paying his respects to the passing of two legends, George “The Animal” Steele and The Russian Bear, Ivan Koloff, Dave moves on to 205 Live. Rich Swan returned to action against Noam Dar, Gran Metalik made his 205 Live debut against Drew Gulak, and Neville took on TJ Perkins in a hard hitting Main Event. Who prevailed? Tune in to Episode 168 to find out.
It is then on to NXT as the NXT Tag Team Champions, the Authors of Pain, dismantled some enhancement talent, then were challenged by the former champs, DIY, who were in turn attacked from behind by The Revival? Confused? We help to keep it straight on Episode 168. In the Main Event, we saw the first ever defense of the UK Championship as Tyler Bate defended the title against his good friend, and Tag Team partner, Trent Seven. Who won and why does Dave think the addition of the UK Championship to NXT programming is such a great idea? Find out on Episode 168.
Dave then reviews the Bakersfield House Show from February 18, 2017, where he and his sone attended and had 7th row seats! The Raw branded event saw matches such as Neville defending the Cruiserweight strap against Rich Swan, Gallows and Anderson defending their Raw Tag Titles against The New Day and Cesaro and Sheamus, Bayley teaming up with Sasha Banks to battle Charlotte and Nia Jax, Samoa Joe vs Sami Zayn and, in the Main Event, Roman Reigns battling Braun Strowman. Curious as to the outcomes? Tune in to Episode 168 to find out.
Dave then concludes his four part review of Wrestle Kingdom 11. The American Nightmare, Cody Rhodes, made his NJPW debut against Juice Robinson, Roppongi Vice looked to unseat The Young Bucks for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, and Hiromu Takahashi took on Kushida for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. Dave has all the details for you here on Episode 168 as we conclude our review of Wrestle Kingdom 11.
We wrap things up on Episode 168 with a great interview Dave conducted with Eric Jackson of the San Francisco Wrestling Watching Club. Eric explains what the club is, what it does as far as pro wrestling and local communities, and various other topics of conversation. Dave and Eric discuss many aspects of the current state of the industry, the white hot state of the Indy scene, and try and take some stabs in the dark as to several current WWE story lines. We think you will greatly enjoy the interview and if you are a wrestling fan in the Bay Area, please get in touch with the SFWWC and check them out.