There is so much pro wrestling to consume in 2018 that watching as much as possible makes it all sort of blend in together. Each new match you see is basically every other match you’ve already seen. It’s entertaining, sure, but it takes something more to stand out.
I didn’t expect anything to stand out when it was announced Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens would wrestle the team of Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley. Just another tag team match on just another episode of Monday Night Raw.
But that’s not what it was.
It was everything pro wrestling is supposed to be.
Lashley was great here, yes, but Strowman is a straight up superstar. They worked this beautifully, recognizing that he’s the attraction in the match and building to a hot tag to get him in to run wild.
Did he ever:
How great is that?!?
This is as much a credit to Owens and Zayn as it is to Strowman. It’s not just that we so love seeing Braun do awesome stuff like this, it’s that KO and Sami are so talented as heels we love seeing it done to them.
Look at how Owens sells for those Strowman shoulder blocks and that T-Rex dropkick. Or how Zayn sells for literally everything. In 2018, with how much the curtain has been pulled back and how involved wrestling fans are with every piece of the business, it’s easy to appreciate the heels for being great at being hated. But that’s never been the point. The point has always been to get the babyfaces over.
That’s what they did here, in a big, big way.