chaoticnerdreview

[chaoticnerdreview]

Asia, The One and Only Petti With The I

She’s proud to be black. She’s proud to be a woman. She’s even more proud to fully and unapologetically be herself. Asia, someone I’m fortunate enough to call a friend, is slowly but surely making her mark in the sphere of wrestling coverage. With an acute eye for scouting new talent, she wastes no time at all to praise them and spread the word about them as soon as their potential is revealed to her.

Her opinions might be bold at times, and some may even toss them aside for being unexpected, but the truth of the matter is that more often than not, she is correct. Both in predicting how storylines will go or which character will move a certain way, Asia has the skills to oversee the full chessboard of wrestling and anticipate the next move.

A blessing and a curse, this ability makes it difficult to surprise her because every possible shift in the story, she already had it figured out as plan B to Z. Nonetheless, she continues to follow the stories, both in hope for more - and better - and to continue learning more about this magical world of pro wrestling.

Feeling there weren’t enough female voices accurately covering the product, Asia took it upon herself to do so. At first in a podcast with the equally talented Toni, another friend, and then by creating her own blog where she could write more in dept the opinions she carried inside. You can find it here and you can be certain that her number 1 objective is to make sure women in wrestling are treated fairly, equally and receive the praise they deserve.

Drawing inspiration directly from the EST herself, Asia seeks to be the best female voice in the medium of wrestling coverage. While she hopes for a day where other women join her in being as loud to celebrate as others are to tear them down, these things take time. But she’s not afraid to fight through the negativity, in fact, she thrives off of it as it fuels her in the quest for better treatment towards women in general and black women in the specific, since they’re often tossed aside or ridiculed or forgotten.

In this Black History Month, learn from Asia. Be louder, prouder and don’t ever let negativity tear you down. The bEST is yet to come and it’s in your hands to build it.

[chaoticnerdreview]

What Goes Around, Comes Around

It was the year 2018, the day after Evolution where Becky Lynch beat Charlotte Flair in a Last Woman’s Standing match to retain the SmackDown Women’s title. The match was so good - and so brutal - that tears streamed down my face and I felt compelled to write about wrestling for the first time. Because after what those two women created together, as Metallica once sang, in the end? Nothing Else Matters.

Throughout the open letter, that one of them read and responded to, I compared their match to that specific song because the crowd moved the same way they would at a concert. Rising with the intensity of those two instruments playing, in perfect harmony, inside the squared circle. During that match, everything was used as a weapon, not just because the rules allowed it, but because the story required. It was a tale of a friendship revolution, after all.

So close, no matter how far

But what we didn’t know then was that that match wasn’t the end. The song they had just played, masterfully and cohesively, together, would have an encore. Because the wrestling universe stops for no one and everyone’s paths are intertwined, these two met a couple more times. Often as foes, rarely as bitter allies. And that would’ve been it if friendship revolutions had easy resolutions, which is something that anyone who has ever been through one can attest that they don’t.

Couldn't be much more from the heart

Whereas before, during the war of it all, everything could be turned into a weapon to inflict physical pain, because that’s how anger functions, now the weapons come from within. Much more refined from carrying the weight of agonizing memories and words unsaid, these nuclear words and sentences are aimed directly at the power source of each other: the heart. This intentional retaliation will go on for as long as both hold their versions of the story to be true, rooted in their joined, yet somehow separate, belief that the bridge was burned by the hands of the other.

This animosity and gut wrenching Cold War generated enough buzz for the encore. But this time, unlike before, the song played differently. Not because they’d forgotten how to play with each other but because they changed. Both of them, separately, on their own. They’re no longer the same two women who brought me back to wrestling after years of being away. They’re different now and it showed. The intensity, the aggression, the pained expressions that revealed their true necessities to be, not better than the other, but free.

Free from the shackles of a war they both agreed upon. Free, not from each other, but from the monsters they created in the other. Free from the miscommunications and verbal microaggressions. Free from the black whole every ending friendship leaves behind. Free from the pain that the absence of love brings. This was their joined, yet somehow separate, closure. Can they rebuild from here? As long as there’s hope, there’s a chance. Will they play this song again, in a third different way? Absolutely.

Forever trusting who we are

It’s the year 2021, the day after Survivor Series where Becky Lynch beat Charlotte Flair in a Champion vs Champion match. The match was so good - and so brutal - that tears streamed down my face and I felt compelled to write about wrestling again. Because after what those two women created together, as Metallica once sang, in the end?

Nothing Else Matters.

[chaoticnerdreview]

Women’s Wrestling Entertainment: Then, Now, FOREVER

The Royal Rumble is, historically, one of the biggest nights in wrestling. Some might even go as far as to say it’s bigger than WrestleMania purely because all the chaos and unpredictability of the Rumble matches make it 30x times more fun. This year, the theme of this pay-per-view was comic book heroes and in their promotional video, a voice-over asked who would answer the call to save the world. If you watched the show, you know that the answer was, without a shadow of a doubt:

the women.

BAYLEY, THE #1 SHUFFLER

Throughout the years, we’ve heard different opinions and approaches about being the number one entrant. Some people say it’s the most unfair spot of them all and some others say that only the best person in the roster can handle that pressure because they are the foundation for the entire match. Last night, Bayley drew the short stick and yet managed to build an entire cabin. It’s not every wrestler that, at the prime of their career, sets their own aspirations aside to elevate others but that’s exactly what Bayley did. Between making legends look like they’re still a million bucks and absorbing punishment from every single current star, she kept the momentum going by shuffling the action with everyone that stepped on the ring.

A natural ring general, Bayley stayed in the match up until the point where the car could pretty much drive itself to the finish line. And while, regrettably, her elimination was only seen via instant replay due to too much action happening at the same time, she did a masterful job.

NAOMI, ABSOLUTELY GLOWING

For the past year, maybe more, Naomi has been to wrestling the same thing a solar eclipse is to the entire human race: a beautiful phenomenon that only graces our sky every once in a while but everyone stops whatever they’re doing to watch it. With Bayley being number one entrant carrying the weight of leadership in her shoulders, there was no one else that could’ve taken the second spot to help her boost this match right into hyper speed than Naomi.

Blending into the match with a level of understanding only a true veteran has, Naomi countered her Rumble course and easily became one of the iron women’s of 2021 lasting almost 50 minutes inside the ring. And while we were all waiting for her special feet-didn’t-touch-the-floor moment, we couldn’t have prepared to how it would be an ode to black girl magic with the help of Bianca Belair.

BILLIE KAY, COMEDY IS A RELIEF

Comedy is a special kind of gift that only a select few are born with. Everyone can appreciate it but not everyone can naturally make it without it seeming forced. Billie Kay is a fantastic example of someone who was born with that gift. Everything she does, even when she isn’t trying, is funny and the timing with which she delivers her lines - that end up becoming iconic - is a skill not many can master.

Last night, her role was to be our palate cleanser. When the chaos was pilling up, she would come around and lighten the mood. Be it with her facial expressions, her commentary gig for a match she should be participating or her pairing with a legend that happened to elevate both of them. She kept it fresh and added a new layer to it.

RHEA RIPLEY, WISE BEYOND HER YEARS

Seeing everything she already achieved, it’s quite shocking to many fans whenever her age is brought into the conversation but the truth of the matter is that Rhea is, in fact, the future of wrestling. She knows what to do and when to do it. She can carry a match on her back and keep the momentum going. A testament to her expertise was how she was trusted, along with Charlotte Flair and Bianca Belair, to finish a stellar match with a bang.

Having some of the smartest eliminations, one being tossing Alexa Bliss out of the ring before she could let the Fiend in, Rhea demonstrated that there can be a level of respect in a match where it’s everyone to themselves. After eliminating Charlotte Flair and almost falling out of the ring at the same time as Bianca, Rhea brought the action back inside the ring so it could be settled the right way: may the best woman win.

A SYMPHONY OF STORYTELLING AND LEGENDARY RETURNS

Sometimes, because the rumble has already enough action as is, it’s very easy to forget that all the participants are involved in storylines of their own. Last night, that wasn’t the case. Everyone’s story had their moment to shine, either via elimination - like Lana finally getting her revenge on Nia by eliminating her - or via momentary teaming up - with Billie Kay telling Ruby that Jillian was now a part of her team and ending up eliminated by the Riott Squad after joining her former partner, Peyton, against Victoria -, everything had a special moment and nothing was forgotten.

Not even grudges from last year, like Rhea seeking revenge against Charlotte about her NXT title, and not even dream matches, with Mickie James puffing her chest against Charlotte because she’s been wanting to fight her for so long. Nothing was forgotten and, just as she promised she would, Bianca Belair tossed Bayley over the top rope.

On the other hand, as is Rumble tradition, we had massive legendary returns that would’ve certainly tear the roof off of the stadium should fans be in attendance. From Victoria to Jillian, without forgetting Alicia Fox that even won the 24/7 title mid Rumble, everyone performed their part perfectly and neither overstayed their welcome. It was a beautiful symphony with the perfect blend of crescendos and blasts from the past.

And last but not least, because the woman that stays for the end is the one that gets the golden ticket........

BIANCA BELAIR, THE ESSENCE AND THE EXCELLENCE

It’s one thing to say that you’re the EST of something. It’s one thing to call yourself the strongest, the fastest, the quickest, the smartest. It’s one thing to know that you’re all of those things and that you have ever skill to be even better.

But it’s another to show it.

And if there were any doubts that Bianca Belair is the sun, giving us light during these dark times, last night all of those doubts dissipated as the Iron Woman of this year’s Royal Rumble went from entering at #3 to pointing at the WrestleMania sign as the fireworks went off.

The most beautiful flowers grow in the dessert, despite having every reason not to succeed and Bianca Belair is the shinning example of that. Despite everything in her way, she thrived and pushed to be right here. Exactly where she is. Crying out her parents names and saying:

I did it.

[chaoticnerdreview]

Know Your Role, Turtle

As children, we’re told the story of the great big race between a fox and a turtle. Despite it being a fun tale, the lesson we should take away from it is that slow and steady wins the race. It doesn’t matter if you’re the fastest athlete in the world because if you allow your overconfidence to outshine the other competitors in your eyes, you will lose. But if you stay focused on the finish line and consistently work towards it, more often than not, you will win.

Last Friday, Bayley challenged Bianca Belair for an obstacle course to determine which of them is the EST of SmackDown. If you’re familiar with both, you’d probably make the right assumption that Bianca would be the fox in this scenario. Skilled, trained, fast. But what if I told you that the fox was hiding under sheep clothing all along? What if the race was, in fact, yet another Bayley trap?

BIANCA BELAIR AKA THE TURTLE

Here’s the thing you need to know about Bianca Belair. She might be the fastest, the quickest, the toughest, the strongest but she’s not overconfident. This woman knows exactly what her strengths are and not only how to play to them but, most importantly, when. Consistency was the key that opened the door connecting NXT to RAW and her star power got her in the blue brand. However, she is still the new girl.

No matter how good/talented you are or how pristine your resumé looks, whenever you arrive on a new setting, there will always be people standing above you. Some will reclaim their seniority to keep the ranks it took them years to achieve and some will simply downplay you for being new. Even if they were in that position too.

Bianca Belair entered SmackDown right into the top of the pyramid, a golden ticket not many can say they have ever been gifted with. In fact, not too long ago, she got to be in a tag team with the SmackDown women’s champion Sasha Banks and fight against the likes of Charlotte Flair, Asuka, Carmella... This is a sign that her consistency will take the new girl to the mount Olympus of wrestling.

But not so fast because there’s someone that used to be just like her.

BAYLEY AKA THE FOX

Bayley, Bayley, Bayley.

There is something about her that people keep forgetting. Something very dark and very twisted. Bayley is someone that, exhausted of being downplayed by every single person around her, completely skinned herself off of her sheep skin and made a jacket out of it. When you see Bayley laughing, cracking jokes, introducing the world her new Ding Dong Hello show, it’s easy to buy into that. It’s easy to forget that she’s parading herself in a sheep skin jacket. And Bianca, naively, fell into that when Bayley challenged her for an obstacle course.

But here’s the thing about foxes, the really dangerous kind. They wait. They follow the herd around, learn its habits and target the one that’s either weak or dumb enough to stay behind for just one more bite. Bayley is that type of fox. Her eyes are always focused on the finish line and she knows exactly why she’ll arrive first. Not because she’s the fastest but because she’s the smartest. Because she will lure you into playing on her own obstacle course.

Bianca thought Bayley was doing her favour, and admitting such thing was her first mistake. 

Bianca thought Bayley was simply having fun with their measuring contest, and smiling as she accepted the challenge was her second mistake.

Bianca, in her new girl innocence, believed Bayley would simply accept the defeat after she beat the obstacle course time, and that was her final mistake.

In that moment, Bayley stripped off her sheep jacket and revealed what her intentions were all along. Just like Sasha Banks had fallen into the fuzzy jacket façade months before, so did Bianca and the result was the same. Both women fell prey to the fox that no one sees coming. 

Now the question that remains is: will Bianca hide inside her turtle shell and wait until Bayley leaves or will she outsmart the jealous fox by switching roads?

[chaoticnerdreview]

You Will Fall In Line

Before their heartbreaking clash at Hell In A Cell, where Jey Uso ultimately uttered the only two words that could end the match, Roman Reigns had given his cousin a Judas kiss. Claiming everything he was doing was out of the deepest love for his family and how he still loved Jey, despite his defiance. However at Hell In A Cell, after luring Jey and his brother Jimmy into a carefully crafted trap, sealed with crocodile tears and false revelations, Roman’s true colours were exposed for the entire world to see. The ubris, the greed, the corruption.

Yet, his elders crowned him anyway. Even if Jey ripped off his traditional white lei, in fear Roman would take it at the end of the match. The family elders descended upon the ramp and placed a stronger lei around Roman’s neck. Heavier on the shoulders, matching the ones they too carried. He was officially, and unequivocally, the new Tribal Chief. As for Jey, he was left to deal with the consequences.

Opening last night’s episode of SmackDown, we saw Roman Reigns triumphantly walk down the stars to a ring where Jey Uso was already waiting. His body language wasn’t submissive because, as he passionately cried afterwards, Jey would never quit. But Roman played dirty. Roman made it so the only person that Jey would ever give up for was caught in his trap. And, to the surprise of no one, Roman admitted to do so. Not because he doesn’t love Jey, but because Jey needed to understand. And then he ensued a final ultimatum: Jey Uso would fall in line behind him by the end of the night.

Many wondered what that could mean, not only in general but to Jey himself. Some could even see the possibility that Jey would decide to pretend to fall in line, just to bring Roman down from the inside. But what happened later on was merely a confirmation of Jey’s true allegiance: his family. Not the cousin he grew to hate by his despicable actions masked with love but his own family as well as his brother’s family.

The match that would qualify the winner for the Survivor Series team was between him and Daniel Bryan. A man known for being passionate and true to himself. A man that, oftentimes, is seen as one of the few remaining “good ones” in the business. And, at the end of the night, a man that Jey Uso had to beat. Not for himself, but for Roman. Proof of that was the fact that, halfway through the match, Roman accompanied by Paul Heyman walked down the ramp to watch the match at ringside. That action was a pivotal change in Jey’s attitude. And what happened after the bell rung.

Yelling back at his cousin that he now understood, Jey Uso turned Daniel Bryan into a sacrificial lamb at the altar of his new Tribal Chief. In fact, the last we saw of them before the show went off the air was Daniel Bryan laying on a broken commentary table with Jey beside the debris of his destruction. Which brings us to the question: What did Jey Uso understand? What made him change his position from not giving up at Roman’s hands to attacking another man in his name?

The answer, simply put? Sacrifice. In their conversation at the start of the show, Roman said of course he made it so Jimmy would be inside of the cage. Of course he got the one person Jey would give everything up for under a submission. Of course. And in Jey’s mind, the admission, made with such ease and not a single shred of regret, made him realise that resistance would be futile. If he kept going against the new Tribal Chief, everyone else behind him and beside him would suffer. All because of his justified stubbornness to give Roman all the power.

In the end, Jey offered himself to servitude so his own family wouldn’t have to. He doesn’t understand Roman’s motivations, not yet at least, but he understands what he must do. Fall in line so others don’t have to walk on it. And if that means having blood of others on his hands, so be it. As long as his family is safe. But for how long? And if it comes down it, to the inevitable choice towards which Roman is grooming Jey for, will Jimmy understand as well or will he turn on his brother for thinking Jey wanted to destroy him too? Only time will tell.

[chaoticnerdreview]

History Has Its Eyes On You

Five years ago, a match made in heaven took place at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn. Two girls that shared the same dream, the same passion, the same drive, met inside the squared circle in a match that shattered the wrestling ground like no women's match had before. Since that point on, the duo circled round and around each other wherever they went. Sometimes they'd push together, sometimes they'd pull apart but never losing sight of each other.

That was until paranoia and deeply rooted trust issues broke the duo in half. Placing each of them on the opposing sides of the ground they shattered years before. The separation was such that, in a complete shift of the tectonic plaques, they were standing on the very shoes the other had worn five years prior. And in that new alignment, they were set to meet in Hell where only one could leave unscathed.

Wrestling, as any entertainment art, has a dual side to it. The reality that we all hide in a unspoken agreement to pretend it doesn't exist and the fantasy we breathe into existence at every match or every word that happens on screen. Sometimes the two cross, in a juxtaposition almost impossible to ignore. That was the case of Bayley v. Sasha at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn and it was the same at last night's Hell In A Cell.

The reason Brooklyn was so special, and the same that means you can watch the match without any television/story-line context, is the fact that you can see the passion they share for wrestling vibrate through their bodies. The fire they lit together on that arena was enough to have every single fan on their feet, screaming at full lungs and doing the magical three count with the referee in the end. You could feel them. You could breathe them.

Unfortunately, covid-19 deprived wrestling of their physical audience ringside, which to many could've been a detrimental side effect to their performances. But not to Bayley v. Sasha. Never to them. Because everything they need is always between each other. A case could even be made that the two of them, somehow, live in the same frequency. And while a multitude of fans were displeased with the story that drove the duo to Hell, everyone was left speechless after the magic they created inside the Cell.

For context, in the past few weeks Bayley, the longest reigning SmackDown women’s champion that became almost delirious with power, had seemed unsure of herself. While she'd hold up her front and pushed against signing the contract, it was visible that Sasha's raw emotions were getting to her. Making her question every decision she had made, especially if burning the bridge between them had been worth it. Contrary, the once unconditional love inside her now broken heart was enough to fuel Sasha Banks to become more open, more vulnerable, more truthful to herself and to the woman who believed she had been fooling her for months.

When they entered the Cell, Sasha Banks did so willingly in pristine white gear. Exuding confidence because she was familiar with the unforgiving red cage. But that familiarity, mocked by Bayley from the first mention of said match to the moment she entered unknown terrain with 1-0 written on her faithful chair, came at a cost for Sasha Banks. She had been through Hell twice but never walked out of it draped in gold. Both times she had crashed, and burned.

But both times Sasha's reason to enter Hell had been different. And everyone that knows the steel cage knows that you must be clear of your intentions if you want to walk out victorious. The first was a matter of pride and it ended in tears. The second, a delusion with the same ending. However the third, it was a matter of life or death. The life she thought she could still salvage by taking the title away from Bayley or the death of their friendship.

On the other hand, the darkness that had consumed Bayley from within showed in her choice of clothes. Seemingly prepared for a street fight, in black from head to toe, Bayley entered at the disadvantage of never having been to Hell before. Never having suffered the pain of it or endured the deep soul searching it brings. And while her fire to burn Sasha Banks to the ground seemed to be bright at the start, it began fading as the punishment was inflicted.

Now reality kicks in, the kind we are unable to ignore despite our best efforts. We know that those two women who certainly vowed to create one of the best as well as most devastating Hell matches in history, which they succeeded at, are outstanding storytellers. Every detail with them is carefully crafted and masterfully polished to perfection. Which meant that it was impossible to turn a blind eye at every full circle moment they recreated. With call backs to their Brooklyn match from words spoken to transitions made. However, the ending of the match is a clear yet painful upgrade of another moment.

Many consider Hell In A Cell to be an elevation or different type of Iron Wo/Man match and in lieu of that, Sasha searched into the depths of herself to bring back to life something that Bayley used to destroy her in the past. At NXT TakeOver: Respect, Bayley locked Sasha in a submission she had never done before and stomped her neck until Sasha quit the match, thus bringing their match to a 3-2 result, which favoured Bayley. This time, and having lost all respect for the woman that a year or so ago walked out of another cell with her as the inaugural tag team champions, it was Sasha’s turn to stomp Bayley. After locking Bayley into her classic submission manoeuvre, Sasha did so while also using the same chair Bayley had used to almost break her neck before. And she stomped on it. Until Bayley tapped out. And then some more.

At the end of the match, the 1-0 on her chair could be seen in reverse, showing that it was actually Sasha’s turn to win against Bayley’s zero victories inside the cell.

At the end of the match, Sasha Banks sat across the ring from Bayley, mourning the loss of their friendship the same way she had done midway through the match while Bayley, seemingly unconscious, laid with the chair around her neck. After all, Sasha had promised to finish it the way Bayley had started it.

At the end of the match, we’re back exactly to where we started. Another ground shattering moment, where the woman dressed in celestial white conquered the ubris of her opponent.

Some people are destined to meet, as if they both made the same wish upon the same shooting star. But after that, it’s up to them to make sure their encounter is something that changes the world. And if you ask me, Sasha Banks and Bayley already changed the world twice. It’s their destiny, after all.

PS: Dear Pam and Mercedes, thank you. For everything that you are. For everything that you do. For everything that you will become. Thank you for making me cry with Brooklyn and HIAC now. But most of all, thank you for staying true to yourselves, your goals, your dreams because in following your journey, I think I found my own. Continue the good fight, I’ll continue to write about it. Thank you. For everything. Love, S.

[chaoticnerdreview]

Don’t You Dare Be Sour

Dearest Xavier Woods, Kofi Kingston and Big E Got-To-Work-One-Day-And-Lost-His-Last-Name,

For the past 6 years and some fairy dust, being your fan has felt like every time we saw you was Christmas day. It was warm, kids as well as adults had the same bright smiles, and there was a general sense of happiness all around because the three of you, together, showed us how the power of positivity could make everything better.

Perhaps we never quite realised it before, I know I didn’t, but the spotlight you were chasing brought you three together the same way the North Star joined the Three Wise Men. We have Xavier Woods, bringing the gift of music/nerdiness, we have Kofi Kingston, bringing the gift of consistency, and we have Big E, who is basically the gift that keeps on giving. Together, you made sure every single one of us never had to feel alone or unloved ever again.

It was the best of times even through the hardest of times. For all the gold you held, there were countless battles you never told. Because your journey is your own and like Big E said, we only saw about 5% of what your brotherhood is all about. And that’s precisely why it hurts so much, to all of us across the globe, watching you part.

We know your bond will never be broken, we know the 6 years you’ve shared doing the thing you love most will never be erased but, much like yourselves, we secretly hoped it would last forever. And yes, there is some sweetness to seeing that now the New Day will be represented on both brands, thus having twice the dosage, but there is a bitter taste to it as well. We won, but at what cost?

Still, I just wanted to say thank you.

Thank you for believing in your idea, no matter how trembling it may have been at the beginning. Thank you for pushing forward at all times, no matter how many doubters you found in your way. Thank you for continue to get creative, no matter how often you found yourselves in the television equivalent of dark alleys. Thank you for trusting each other, no matter how much this business had been known for being lonely.

Thank you for the laughs, they were countless.

Thank you for the tears, most of them shed at Kofimania, they were meaningful.

Thank you for teaching us the true meaning of brotherhood.

And the list would go on because there’s so much to say, so much to be thankful for, but much like every year, we all know Christmas will come again. And our three wise men will rejoin so all of us can rejoice.

With a heart filled with love that will never dare to be sour,

Thank you.

S.

[chaoticnerdreview]

One Way Or Another: Come Hell or High Water

All of this time, it seems, Bayley had been waiting for the moment Sasha Banks would drop the mask and turn on her as she had done before. Never fully but just enough to make Bayley angry more than once. Yet, contrary to what everyone around them believed, Sasha even accepted to have therapy alongside Bayley to make sure their trust issues could heal rather than carve out a hole in both of their hearts. Something so damaging and vile that no one else would be able to fill, fix or escape from, should the absence of love be unleashed.

And yet, even after that, Bayley never fully healed. But instead of being open about it, she allowed the cracks in the mended bridge to torment her. Whisper in the night that Sasha would turn on her at the first moment. Build false castles of lies and deceit, based on misunderstandings, she, herself, made up in her head but never looking at the bigger picture and focusing only on the same details. After all, Sasha Banks wouldn’t simply drop her mask. It’d slip. And Bayley wanted to be the one priding herself of catching the first sign of a slip up, no matter how minor the mistake, to use it as a ammunition for making the move herself.

One way or another, I'm gonna find you I'm gonna get you

Last night, the two had a golden opportunity to, in a civil way, agree the terms of where - and how - they’d be able to express what neither had the courage to say yet. Sasha Banks, fully confident in her truth and her side of the story, signed on the doted line with enough fire in her eyes to light up Hell In A Cell. However, when her eyes found Bayley, she didn’t get the same fire in return. Instead, she had laughed. Sarcasm. Irony. Every single item on a villain’s speech pattern could be check off during Bayley’s remarks.

Except this time, Sasha didn’t stay by and sighed quietly. This time, Sasha brought it upon herself to be the one trying to refresh Bayley’s memory. Recanting all the instances where she had a change to leave Bayley behind, rotting all alone, or to turn on her, but she didn’t. She was always the one to hold Bayley’s hand and push her up. But all the times Sasha didn’t, much like the one she kicked Bayley off of the pod at Elimination Chamber, were clearly speaking louder inside Bayley’s head as she bowed down, her leg trembling, in a nervous attempt to bring her narrative back into controlled velocities. 

One way or another, I'm gonna win you I'm gonna get you, get you

Despite the fact that her track record isn’t the best when it comes to matches against Bayley, there is no way Sasha’s emotions will stop her from winning this match. So much so that while her voice was shaking, her threats and ultimatums were loud and clear. Bayley will sign that contract, one way or another. And Sasha will win the title, not just because she wants to and she needs to in order to achieve another accolade in her career (meeting Bayley and Asuka in the Olympus of female Grand Slam Champions), but to teach Bayley a lesson.

You see, Bayley might’ve won every title defence for the past year or so and Bayley might’ve won Sasha’s heart somewhere along the way too. But the fact she was willing to throw one away in order to keep the other told Sasha that the person sharing resemblances with her best friend isn’t the same anymore. And the only way to stop her, and perhaps bring back who she was, is to take the one thing she’d sacrifice everything for: the SmackDown Women’s title.

One way or another, I'm gonna see you I'm gonna meet you, meet you

And for all the fire, passion, fierceness in Sasha’s eyes, the opposite can be found in Bayley’s. The way she averted her gaze, attempted to look away and abstract herself when Sasha was talk only serves to reveal how the inside of her mind is filled with lies she told herself. Despite the fact they came from a justified place, the one she never fully healed before, the voices in Bayley’s head shredded any sign of empathy she had, leaving only pain and misery behind.

However, for a brief moment, Bayley looked at Sasha and, in that moment, they might’ve truly seen each other for the first time in a long while. How their reasons had been wrong all along, how they had never truly been on the same sentences and merely on the same page. In that very small crack in Bayley’s dark world, she saw that perhaps Sasha was telling the truth. Perhaps she had been wrong to jump the gun on a crime that wasn’t going to take place after all. Perhaps she’d made it all up and...

One day, maybe next week I'm gonna meet you, I'm gonna meet you

...That was when Sasha pushed the contract towards her. In that instance, whatever hope to find the real Bayley still inside vanished right in front of Sasha’s pleading eyes. Because, as Bayley said as she walked away from the table, she’s not doing what Sasha wants. And if Sasha wants her to sign the contract, she never will. That’s how she was able to be one step ahead in the first place, always being “aware” of what Sasha wanted and never doing that.

But, what Bayley is forgetting, is that someone has already intervened in their path before. And she’d be more than happy to make the match official, with or without Bayley’s signature. At the end of the day, Stephanie McMahon knows what’s best for business, much like she did when she made their matches against Asuka official.

With that being said, these two will meet next week.

Come Hell... or high water. 

(PS: if you still need a reason to hate Bayley because the lack of love she has for her former best friend isn’t enough, go ask Asuka where hers is right now.)

[chaoticnerdreview]

The Tribal Chief’s Illusion Of Choice

The title of this chronicle is, word for word, what Roman Reigns told Jey Uso last night before he exited the ring with the pained expression in his face. Prior to that moment, he had called his cousin into the ring and offered him a choice. A deal with the devil, if you may, because at the end of it, no choice would ever set Jey Uso free. Choice number one would be to attack Braun Strowman, thus aligning with Roman on the vicious attack he was already laying upon him. Whereas on the other hand, the second choice would be to use that very chair to attack Roman instead, who stood across his cousin, with his back turned, waiting.

We don’t have to push the tape too far back to see that someone else was presented a similar crossroad little around a year ago. To attack a sacrificial friend and aligned with the plans of another or to save the back of said friend and bring the other into justice. However, the choice Bayley made couldn’t be further away from the one Jey did. Except, in Jey’s case, he isn’t the one in control. And whatever choice he made, he would lose anyway.

YOU LOVE ME? I LOVE YOU TOO.

From the beginning of this family disagreement, Roman has made it very clear that he does not want to hurt Jey because they’re family. Everything he can - and will - do to someone else will always be twice more than what he will enforce on any member of his family. Not because he doesn’t want to but because, for the man who aspires to be acknowledged as his family’s Tribal Chief, family has a different level of clearance when it comes to punishment.

Having that mindset, Roman has continuously attempted to tell Jey that whatever choices he makes will lead to punishments of his own choosing. After all, if Jey is the one to accept setting foot inside Hell In A Cell, he’s the one choosing to receive whatever may happen inside, correct? It would be if Roman hadn’t been deceiving his cousin with silver tongue lies.

Last night, when Jey Uso hit the chair against the mat only to SuperKick his cousin has he turned around, that choice was conditioned to have the exact same effect as any other. It was a set up. When Jey, with pain dripping from his every pore, smashed the chair against Roman’s back yelling that he loves him too, he did exactly what Roman wanted him to do. Because while Jey might love his cousin, truly, and not want to do this, Roman has already accepted his mind that he must. He just needed to push Jey into a breaking point, one where he’d understand the true life changing choice he’s about to make: conceding the title of Tribal Chief to Roman.

NOW I MUST TURN MY BACK ON YOU.

As if that had been in question at whatever point of this feud, Roman confirmed, as he walked away, that now turning his back on his cousin - and giving him the same level of punishment he’d give to anyone else - is something he must do. In Roman’s mind, it was Jey’s choice, after all. Despite the fact that he gave Jey the illusion of choice, pretending one of them would set him free while the other would destroy. Despite the fact that he had been circling around Jey, with soft spoken microaggressions sugar coated in such a way Jey missed them almost entirely.

But he caught on. To a degree. Jey knew that Roman wasn’t using their family love to keep him safe, as he preached. Jey knew, every single time he repeated it while the chair hit Roman’s back, that he was the only one who still had love for the family. Love for his cousin. A love that had to be pulled away from that chair and held back because it was turning into uncontrollable pain. You can only be spoon fed from a bucket of rotten food for so long, after all. And Jey had enough. Unfortunately for him, the only way out of this is by giving Roman what he wants or hope that, somehow, he can pass the responsibility onto someone else.

Since that is unlikely to happen because, as we’ve seen before, Jey Uso might actually be the current Tribal Chief and that’s why Roman desperately needs his acknowledgement the most, Jey must face his beloved cousin inside the unforgiving steel cage. Of course, without forgetting, that Roman is yet to tell him what the consequences of losing that match will be. Or perhaps, they may have already been made clear last night. When Roman turned his back on Jey at the very end.

[chaoticnerdreview]

Keyword: Used.

While last night’s episode of SmackDown was prominently about the Draft, an absolute devastating rollercoaster of emotions on its own, it also featured a match that fans have been craving for years: Sasha Banks vs Bayley. Many theorised, beforehand, how the match had the potential to not take place because Bayley never accepted the challenge but if there’s one thing about the SmackDown woman’s champion is that she never runs away from a challenging. Only during it or right after, depending on how afraid she is of losing the one thing connecting her to reality. But that’s a discussion for another time.

Now, we shall focus on the fact that this match was a fast paced, intensity packed appetiser for the main course of this feud. It had been teased before, especially by Sasha Banks, but now it’s official: the two former best friends will lock themselves inside the Hell In A Cell cage. Whoever escapes will be the new champion and whoever succumbs to it, well, that person should get used to walking around empty handed.

In the English language, much like any other, there are a certain select number of keywords that mean different things depending on the context they’re inserted one. And today, we’re going to focus on the same one I placed in italic above, which, in that context, means getting accustomed with something through repetition or experience.

BAYLEY: And do you know how I know that? Because I was using you.

By definition, Bayley’s keyword means that she was taking advantage of Sasha for her own profits. In this case, as we all know, by having Sasha closer to her, Bayley could keep her under control, focused on other challenges rather than the title she’s missing to become a Grand Slam Champion, just like Bayley.

And while Sasha Banks has confessed she understands why Bayley would use her, because she’s aware of the fact that Sasha is everything Bayley isn’t, thus needing her by her side to reach full potential, it still doesn’t make it any less painful. Because given the history they shared, the same Bayley claimed taught her to keep Sasha at arms length the second she felt Sasha could return to her old ways, it’s clear they both could use each other but in another sense: they both benefit from having the other by their side because they are, in every aspect, complimentary. 

SASHA BANKS: You used to be my best friend and I used to love you so very much.

On the other hand, the definition Sasha Banks chooses from the same word Bayley shaped into a dagger before stabbing it on Sasha’s back, was to help describe a previous situation and a previous feeling. While it’s hard to believe that Sasha managed to change the curtains of her heart so quickly, what she is telling us is that everything about Bayley’s room in her heart is part of the past. It is no more. What used to be now isn’t truth. Or real.

While before Sasha did everything in her power to help Bayley out of love and friendship, after Bayley tainted those moments by admitting she was using them for her benefit, Sasha Banks counters with the fact that that’s how it used to be. And despite the fact that the two continue using (consuming) the same vocabulary, their different definitions of a mutual word show how polar opposites they are.

In a normal misunderstanding or disagreement, they’d be able to settle it inside a regular match but not this one. There’s one WWE infrastructure where the worst kind of scores are settled, and that’s Hell In A Cell. It is taken into account only when all else fails and when there’s no other way. It’s brutal, it’s devastating, it’s final. And it’s the place Sasha Banks choose to meet Bayley again because everything goes inside the unforgiving steel cage but most importantly: nobody can run. They’ll be forced to face each other and settle, once and for all, what definition will be used (employed) to categorise each of them when the future looks back into the past.

[chaoticnerdreview]

Deliver Us To The Promised Land

I send a pestilence and plague Into your house, into your bed Into your streams, into your streets Into your drink, into your bread Upon your cattle, on your sheep Upon your oxen in your field Into your dreams, into your sleep

Until you break, until you yield

Mustafa Ali.

A name that many appointed as one of the last pure superstars inside a machine with dented teeth that so often chews talent and spits it out into the forgotten lands. A man capable of doing extraordinary things, gifted with the power of gathering crowds behind him with his passionate speech. A human being with so much kindness and grace inside of him that it never fails to amaze those who watch him deal with everything thrown his way.

Mustafa Ali.

A star, like many others before him, that saw his dream cut short by an unfortunate injury that happened precisely at the entrance of the promise land. A wrestler that, despite the setbacks never allowed his light to diminish and kept preparing himself for the journey to begin again. But when it did, it began underneath. In the circle many call the last chance to prove to the machine they’re worthy... Or else. 

I send the thunder from the sky I send the fire raining down

And while Mustafa was stuck repeating the same match week after week, in a continuously loop of aggravating hell, a group found its way into the ThunderDome. A group that, seemingly, had access to everything inside the building. From the lights to the microphones. Everything was in the palm of their hand and they used everything in their power to torment all of those found themselves getting a moment in the golden squared ring.

Many connected this group with the hacker that promised to shed light among the injustices and lies on SmackDown, partly because their speeches, as well as reasoning, were the same. To show the people at home how the people they idolise are nothing but false gods service a prideful being, the dented machine.

I send a hail of burning ice On every field, on every town

This group presented themselves as Retribution, a name attributed for their desire to punish their oppressors as much as they had been punished, due to lack of opportunities or a disdain regarding every dated process. Their wish was simple, to destroy the machine and build a new one. A better one.

Unlike the hacker that focused only on SmackDown before vanishing, Retribution sought to disrupt every limb of the machine. All three brands suffered from their attacks with confused superstars attempting to fight them and others simply fleeing the scene. However, perhaps because RAW offered the most resistance, they began focusing on the red brand.

I send the locusts on a wind Such as the world has never seen On every leaf, on every stalk Until there's nothing left of green

Recently, Mustafa Ali managed to crawl out of the circle he was stuck into and found his way into RAW where some of his friends accepted him with open arms. After all, with all the darkness going around, if there’s someone who can still turn on the light, you’d do everything in your power to get that man by your side. And so did the Hurt Business, fuelled by their selfish desire to rule everything by force.

And last night, it seemed as though the offer of green new pastures wasn’t enough to make Mustafa Ali join the Hurt Business but, as they were surround by Retribution, he joined them. However, in a twist of events that many didn’t see coming and others couldn’t have dreamed of predicting, the bringer of light instructed Retribution to attack instead. After they were taken down, and while many may have wanted an explanation, Mustafa Ali simply raised his hand where light used to be and bawled it into a fist before all light went out.

You see, in the iconic movie Prince of Egypt, Moses doesn’t bring God’s plagues upon Egypt purely out spite for the mistreatment of their people. In fact, if you pay close attention, you see that everything happens due to Ramses pride in refusing to be the member of his family to change tradition. And much like the movie, Mustafa Ali - as well as Retribution - seek only to shed light unto the unfairness of their business and how the machine must change how it handles them. Trapping dreamers that enter it in search for the promised land of opportunities and end up serving as steps for the opportunists who figured out how to rig the machine for their own rise to the top.

While in the beginning this group seemed to be a doomed case of an idea with no finishing line, it now represents every pure talent that saw their path taken from them to be handed to someone else. Now, with the revelation that Mustafa Ali is their leader, Retribution is a force to be reckoned with that won’t stop tormenting RAW until they’re heard and the machine changes.

And if you ask me, I stand with them.

I send my scourge, I send my sword Thus saith the Lord

[chaoticnerdreview]

The Power Of Believing

Last night on SmackDown, Sasha Banks revealed that while she wasn’t medically cleared at Clash of Champions, that wasn’t going to stop her from defending her pride. In fact, to prove how serious she was about the response to Bayley’s betrayal, Sasha removed her neck brace to ensue a challenge. A match scheduled for next week, where Sasha claims she will rid Bayley of the very thing that made Bayley throw their friendship under the bus to protect: The SmackDown women’s title.

However, despite telling Bayley she couldn’t beat her when they’re all alone and, in a attempted check-mate, removing the proof of the attack Bayley is so proud off, Sasha Banks didn’t give us much more. Neither context nor reasons. She simply reinforced what we already knew, what we’ve seen these past weeks. And then she went to Talking Smack.

Confronted by a questioning John Morrison and a prepared Kayla Braxton, who took it upon herself to repeat Bayley’s very words, pushing the dagger deeper into Sasha’s back, The Boss finally opened the gates to the maze.

I BELIEVED IN YOU BEFORE ANYONE ELSE DID

Before their legendary and star making feud on NXT, before their trembling story on RAW/SmackDown, Sasha Banks saw Bayley wrestle in an independent show. When they finally met, Sasha revealed she already knew of Bayley and her talent/potential. And before anyone else believed Bayley could become one of the most accolade wrestlers in WWE history, Sasha Banks believed in her. While their history in NXT wasn’t the friendliest, Sasha believed the adversary standing across from her had not only the potential, the skill and the passion to rise but also to defeat her.

In fact, their track record shows that Bayley has defeated Sasha Banks almost twice the times that Sasha got the win over Bayley. It hasn’t been exactly a fight of equals but it has been a fight where Sasha never stopped believing in Bayley. Being as someone who could rise to the top or as someone who could be the best friend she never knew she needed.

However, and admitting that she’s not surprised Bayley strategically used her to cover all the flaws Bayley has, Sasha Banks can’t forgive this betrayal. If not for all they went through during the years they’ve known each other, for the fact that Bayley seemingly stopped believing in Sasha. Only a coward would turn on her best friend before asking if her fears were justified.

AND I KNOW YOU BELIEVED IN ME

And now this is where it gets painful on a deeper, personal level. While Sasha Banks believing in Bayley was certainly an ego booster, Bayley has said she always believed she could. Thus making it seem as thought Sasha’s faith in her wasn’t fuelling a fire inside, simply confirming the fact that it should exists. And yet the contrary is drastically different.

We’ve talked about Sasha’s bravado before. How she’s able to paint cathedrals inside card castles just by the power her words hold. In fact, the simple mention of her name is enough to turn heads and make people shiver. But we’ve also addressed the fact that it was all a facade. Carefully crafted to keep everyone at enough of a distance for Sasha to inspect them before deciding to either defend or attack. And in all the years she’s been in WWE, the only person capable of not only seeing through, but piercing that facade was Bayley.

When Sasha’s voice trembles saying she knows Bayley believed in her too, its because she knows Bayley believed she could be better than her bravado. Bayley believed Sasha could be more gentle on all her sharp edges, or more patient in times she’d jump into conclusions. In fact, their tag team reigns worked splendorously because both of them believed in each other. In their true potentials. In their true motivations.

Using her best friend to stay on top is a sin Sasha is willing to forgive because, as she said, she can understand that. She can understand how her best friend would trust that having her by her side was more beneficial than not. But the fact that, in crossing her in such a cowardly way, Bayley showed she didn’t believe Sasha was respecting their friendship by not challenging for the title is a crime only punishable with the stripping of said title. Because only when Bayley has nothing left to lose will Sasha be able to see if Bayley truly stopped believing in her or if she only stopped believing in them.

[chaoticnerdreview]

The Tribal Judas Kiss

By definition, a “Judas kiss” is an act of betrayal disguised as friendship or care. It’s the moment when one person knows what will happen next while the other accepts the gift oblivious of what’s yet to come. There have been multiple displays of such in wrestling, one of those being Bayley’s seemingly generous attempt to carry a hurt Sasha Banks out of the ring before brutally attacking her. And now arrives one that it’s too hard to ignore. One that fits the true definition. A kiss, in the cheek, before a betrayal that is still to arrive.

Last night on SmackDown, Roman Reigns was supposed to be crowned as the Tribal Chief of his family. Taking the stage, Paul Heyman brought onto himself the honour of leading the ceremony but Roman stopped it. In his eyes, as well as everyone else’s, he wasn’t acknowledge. While Jimmy Uso threw in the towel for his brother, Jey Uso never spoke the words. Never yielded. Never gave in. And at the end of their, mostly one sided conversation last night, the kiss.

YOU SHOWED YOUR TRUE COLOURS, UCE

Years of being cast as just another one of the twins allowed Jey Uso to sit at the sidelines and watch. Learn. Notice. He stood by people that needed his help and earlier this year, he defended his cousin from Baron Corbin’s humiliation. Jey Uso might not have been a man of many words throughout his career but that isn’t necessarily bad. It simply means that when he talks, people listen. And the fact that he hasn’t stepped outside his colouring lines gives him the advantage of being able to stay true to himself.

However, orbiting around the bigger leagues, Jey noticed the changes in Roman Reigns. Every moment he took a leap somewhere, he was there. Every moment someone tried to defile him, he was there. And, much like everyone else watching, the beating Roman laid upon him at Clash of Champions came as a surprise. But one that, as it seems, Jey was expecting. Last night, he was quick to point out that Roman finally showed his true colours. Meaning all this time Jey had been watching, he felt his cousin wasn’t being truthful to himself and others.

But in showing his true colours, his black tainted heart, Roman offered Jey the gift of making his own loud and clear. If this was to be seen as a battle between good and evil, Jey would be standing on the good side, holding all the light of the world in his hands. Picture Atlas, with the whole world on his back, but in Jey’s case the world doesn’t weigh on him because he’s the one that should be holding it. Rather than a painful task, it’s an honour that only Jey Uso, the man that stayed true to himself, could bear. And because of that, he will fight until he can’t anymore to make sure the world doesn’t fall on Roman’s shoulders. If it does, it will fall to underneath his feet and Roman will crush it just so he can say he’s on top of the world.

 THIS MATCH WILL HAVE THE HIGHEST STAKES

When does a lie become the truth? And when does a truth become a lie? Sometimes what is true for someone, say, the sky is blue, is a lie to someone else that sees the sky in another colour. Sometimes two individuals can be staring at the same object, watching the same story, hearing the same song, and take from it completely opposite messages. And that’s what is happening right now with Roman Reigns.

Roman, blinded by his hubris, his burning desire to be declared Tribal Chief of  his family, sees Jey Uso as a step. The last step he has to climb to achieve greatness. Jey, in Roman’s eyes, is no longer a dear family member. He simply represents every single obstacle Roman ever had to cross in order to be at the top. And feeling that way climbs Roman’s judgement about what is true and what is a lie.

If Jey accepted the match, it’s because he wanted the punishment coming his way rather than it being Roman’s pent up frustrations. If Jey wanted another title shot, it’s because he’s seeking gold rather than a chance to prove himself to everyone that ever doubted him. And if Jey refuses to acknowledge Roman as his Tribal Chief, it’s because Jey wants it for himself rather than knowing it would turn Roman into a dictator.

So how do you attract flies? With honey. You lure them into the trap with promises of sweet rewards in their future and then you get rid of them. To Roman, his cousin is no more than a fly around him that doesn’t go away with a swat. It’s persistent. Irritable. Perhaps even a little bit infuriating. Which leaves Roman no other choice but to lure Jey in with careful words, making him feel that Roman was right for everything he did, gently kiss his cheek as only close family members do and trap him into what Roman knows will be the highest stakes match of their careers.

Question lingering is: Will Jey feel the poison in his cheek in time to fly away or will he get squashed under Roman’s deranged thumb? Will this be a goodnight kiss or a goodbye kiss? Soon, we will all find out.

[chaoticnerdreview]

Look What You Made Me Do

As you can probably tell, the title of this piece sounds familiar. Almost like a song you already heard before. One that played on the radio or maybe you just replayed countless times wherever you go to listen to music. And if you’ve heard this before, you already know what’s about to happen as we dive into what Bayley made Sasha Banks do. Not directly, of course. Because if the former best friends addressed their true fears and intentions, like they were taught in therapy way back when, none of this would be happening. Instead, we’d have them on the same page rather than trying to read from the back of each others essays.

Instead, we have Bayley thinking she’s playing a game ahead of time - and she’s winning at it - because she learned from their past. On the other side, we have Sasha filled with anger and sadness like a overflowing river, sometimes washing one shore, sometimes the other, but always blaming Bayley for whatever she’s doing it. Because after all, she’s only attacking Bayley now because Bayley attacked her first, right?

I don't like your little games Don't like your tilted stage The role you made me play Of the fool, no, I don't like you

Let’s be real for a moment. Everyone spent the past few months at the edge of their respective seats, waiting for the moment Sasha Banks would shed yet another layer of her snake skin and turn on Bayley. Everyone wrote, debated, theorised about the 1001 ways Sasha Banks would fill Bayley up with poison and take the SmackDown Women’s title from her. Everyone thought that... And so did Bayley.

The trauma of all past betrayals generated multiple voices inside Bayley’s mind, clouding her best judgement and feeding her lies. That Sasha was using her. That Sasha was angling her. That Sasha was lying. And before she could attack her, Bayley did it first. It was self defence, after all. Or at least it sounded as such in the picture Bayley painted of Sasha to justify her very own betrayal.

Bayley used Sasha Banks to keep her title and add another one to her list. Bayley was angling Sasha Banks to stay as away from her path as champion as possible. Bayley was lying whenever she said Sasha Banks was still her best friend and nothing had changing. She played Sasha like a puppeteer and when it was impossible to fool her any longer, Bayley ended the game. 

I don't like your perfect crime How you laugh when you lie You said the gun was mine Isn't cool, no, I don't like you (oh!)

In the much anticipated return that occurred a lot earlier than anyone could’ve predicted, Sasha Banks appeared hurt. Not just physically, those injuries had already been disclosed by WWE, but emotionally. After seeing the Boss’s bravado for so many years, it was upsetting to see her so decomposed, completely deprived of all the walls she built. And yet she decided to give WWE, as well as the fans, her version of the facts.

How Bayley was the true idiot for believing that she could be anything without Sasha and that she vowed to pry the beloved title away from hands she thought were holding hers. Sasha couldn’t believe that Bayley would make such a vicious and heartless attack sound like it was her fault, the circumstantial victim. Perhaps because, contrary to everyone’s belief, Sasha Banks did change for Bayley. And she had hoped Bayley had forgiven her past offences rather than use them to build a perfect crime against her.

But I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of time Honey, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time I've got a list of names and yours is in red, underlined

But what Bayley forgot is that Sasha Banks has the ability to reinvent herself. Not like a skin shifting snake, as many labelled her to be, but as a phoenix, rising from the ashes of her own world. She’s done it before and it isn’t necessary to go as further back as next year, where she returned with a list of names to take down as well as new attitude.

Except this time, Sasha isn’t allowing herself enough time away to reinvent. Because the person that burned the world down is a monster that took over her best friend. A lying, cheating, back stabbing creature that feeds off of misery. And no matter how hurt Sasha Banks might be, she can’t allow herself to give Bayley the satisfaction of parading herself with the attempted murder weapon. It isn’t a trophy, after all.

Which brings us to last night, when Sasha Banks still carrying a neck brace, attacked Bayley with the chair same chair that destroyed her and a kendo stick and she would’ve continued had her strength been full. The unbalance between anger and sadness dripping off of her caused to hit Bayley with everything she had while looking like she was at the verge of tears. Because deep down, Sasha Banks is heartbroken. Deep down, Sasha Banks knows she said multiple times Bayley’s friendship was the reason stopping her from challenging for the blue title. But Bayley didn’t listen to her, fooled by the lies circling her mind, and broke their bond instead.

Now, as Bayley painfully learned last night, it won’t be a broken freaking neck that’ll stop Sasha Banks from settling this unfair score because, as Taylor Swift once sang, look what you just made me do.

[chaoticnerdreview]

When Blood Crosses The Line

For years, Roman Reigns has been criticised from the tip of his hair to his toes. Every single detail about him scrutinised, hated, booed, trashed. And for years, he kept his cool because behind him stood an entire family and it was his pride - and honour - to be their front man. Roman knew that the second he stepped outside the lines, he’d be placing his whole family in check and at risk of receiving the same treatment he grew used to handle.

As this was happening, Jey Uso and his twin brother Jimmy became one of the most beloved tag teams of all time. Not just that, but their talent and skilled chemistry made their matches equal parts entertaining as well as elevating to everyone that shared the ring with them. For all the heat their cousin received, the twins were embraced with a general sense of adoration by the fans.

And last night, in a way, they proved everyone right.

Last night, for the first time in years, Roman Reigns gave every single fan around the globe a real, palpable, reason to hate him. And last night, Jey Uso reaffirmed, cemented even, all the reasons why everyone loves him.

ROMAN REIGNS, THE UNIVERSAL CHIEF

Some fans have made the bridge between Roman’s anger fuelled performance last night to the villain everyone can understand, as well as justify, Killmonger. The parallels are uncanny and fairly hard to ignore: both men have a blood right to challenge for the family throne, both men have anger inside due to the way they’ve seen the world perceive them but most importantly, both men claimed victory despite their cousin - and opponent - never admitting defeat or yielding.

In fact, much like with Killmonger’s very own allies, Paul Heyman began the night in full support of his new client or associate but ended it in visible fear of what Roman might do. Blood may be thicker than water but if anything was learned last night, watching Roman Reigns unleash all of his anger on a man that grew up with him, is that pride makes you cross every single blood line.

We’ve watched families battle before, we’ve seen brothers become foes, we’ve seen countless stories but never quite like this one. If it was that simple, Roman would’ve taken the victory when Jey was laying flat on the ring, but he didn’t. He wanted his cousin to acknowledge him, to admit that Roman is, in fact, the new tribal chief of the family. Roman needed his own flesh and blood to not just take a promised ass whooping as an example, but he wanted one of the most beloved members of the family to give him the higher seat. And when Jey refused, because even though his cousin has earned it, flowers must be willingly given rather than forcibly taken, Roman’s anger took him to a whole other level.

Seeing all of this unfold brought Jimmy Uso back from the shadows of his injury time off to throw in the towel and save his twin brother from actually spilling blood for Roman’s crossing of all the lines. In the end, it was Jimmy, not Jey, who gave Roman the satisfaction of being called “tribal chief”. In the end, it was Paul Heyman, not Jey, who placed the traditional Teuila lei around Roman’s neck. In the end, it was Roman’s hubris, not his flaws, that made the whole world despise him.

JEY USO, THE MAGICAL TWIN

While Jey spent all of his life being asked which one he is, a cross every set of twins has to carry, this man has certainly earned his flowers. In fact, the fans have given them to him - and his brother - after countless of classic matches. But never quite like last night, or the SmackDown before it where Jey opened his heart to the masses. 

If Roman can be placed side by side with Killmonger, a very strong case can be built for Jey Uso as T’Challa. Sure everyone thinks this ship might be headed to another harbour called Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson where he presents himself to be the true tribal chief that Roman has to surpass, or succumb to, what if that’s actually Jey Uso? What if the rightful King, heir to the throne, tribal chief of the new generation is the quiet, often overlooked, twin? Much like T’Challa, Jey Uso always seems to choose the diplomacy path before anything else. Much like T’Challa, Jey Uso faced this family challenge head on with a strong sense of responsibility rather than a matter of pride. And, much like T’Challa, Jey Uso never admitted defeat.

Not afraid of a cell match or anything physically, we knew Jey wouldn’t shy away from giving his best while expecting Roman to never hold back in return but what he received crossed every line. Until the very end of the match, Jey faced his opponent as family, as someone who could take his punches but would be benevolent in the end. Except that wasn’t the case because for Roman it was, in fact, a matter of pride. And Jey, in his quiet storm self, would rather take a beating for his family than to give into his cousin’s destructive hubris.

On cue with the suffering of his twin and partner, Jimmy Uso limped his way to the ring, white towel in hand, ready to save Jey from a deranged cousin. Still Jey wouldn’t admit the defeat - or even accept that his brother would do so for him. Until there wasn’t a choice anymore and Jimmy threw the towel, giving Roman what he wanted to hear. But if Black Panther serves as a parallel to this incredible storytelling fuelled match, it may also serve as - in the words of Paul Heyman himself - a spoiler, not a prediction: before the world burns at the hands of the false and hated King, the rightful and beloved Tribal Chief will rise from the ashes of himself  to finish what they started because, “I never yielded! And as you can see: I am not dead!”

[chaoticnerdreview]

If These Walls Could Talk

After Bayley confessed all the reasons that, allegedly, fuelled her heinous attack, everyone was left wondering about the other side of the story. Not the physical results because WWE promptly revealed them but the emotional ones. What was Sasha Banks feeling. What was Sasha Banks thinking. And most importantly, what now?

Despite days of speculation about how long it would pass until those answers were given, and the social media silence only serving for fans to believe it would take awhile, WWE revealed Sasha Banks would be on last night’s episode of SmackDown to speak her mind. Or at the very least, answer some questions. Low and behold, there she was, in the Performance Center, with a neck brace on and the bravado of her Boss character completely turned off. As if during the attack, Bayley had stripped her best friend away of the mask it took years to build.

One of the oldest sayings known in the world is that “hell hath no fury like a woman who’s been scorned” and numerous books have been written about such. But that wasn’t how Sasha Banks presented herself, on the contrary. During the few minutes Bayley allowed Sasha to have the power of speech in her hands, Sasha Banks crumbled in front of the camera - and the millions of fans watching behind it.

You are nothing without me.

If you’ve been following the story of these two best friends from the very beginning, you know that prior to their Brooklyn clash - as well as during the match -, Sasha would continuously tell Bayley that she was nothing but a loser. Years later, when they reunited on RAW, Sasha told Bayley during their famous Hurt Locker moment that she had nothing to do with the choices Sasha made for her career as well as how Bayley had step up her game - or stop being so naive - if she wanted to get ahead.

For all the years they’ve been orbiting around each other, like a Vern diagram that never stops, they’ve exchanged every word Sasha Banks repeated last night. However, it never seemed to weigh on Sasha until now. There were only two times where we saw this Sasha surface, in moments where she was either pleading Bayley for answers or professing her deepest feelings for her. But it never reached this degree. Until now.

Now, we have a Bayley that rather than staying by Sasha’s side and protecting her from harm is the first to inflict it, further pushing the dagger into Sasha’s heart by saying she’s useless. And to this darkness, this monstrous betrayal, Sasha Banks countered with the love that still exists in her heart. With the recalling of everything they lived inside the Performance Center - place she purposely chose to have her interview on. From the way they built it together with their own blood, sweat and tears, to the way the walls hold all of their accolades - including the moment they took over the entire company. Together.

And yet, it seems, Bayley was lying for the past couple months. And yet, it seems, Sasha’s love and devotion weren’t enough for her. Because after years of seeing Sasha take two steps behind while Bayley jumped ahead, Bayley became so frightened of the moment it happened again she began planning on being the one to take two steps back. Except before that, she pushed Sasha off the cliff. Because Bayley knows, in her core, that she truly is nothing without Sasha. Not because Sasha built her, or made her in any way, but because without Sasha, Bayley is a machine in auto-pilot. There is no motivation, there is no heart, there is nothing.

Don’t look at me that way.

And as a response, to Sasha’s complete vulnerability on camera as she struggled to answer the viewers while convincing herself of her own words - proved by the amount of times she had to repeat herself in a lower, more broken, tone - Bayley attacked her once again. From behind, like a lion waiting for the moment a zebra gets too distracted with water. From behind, like a coward who is moving with fear of seeing the look on someone’s eyes. Because if you go back to the moment Bayley lost her mind - and her heart -, she tells you everything you need to know.

It’s one thing to prepare yourself in front of the mirror for a confrontation. Practising what you’ll say, what you’ll do, who you’ll become. And for every minute Bayley spent preparing for the moment she had to push Sasha off the cliff before Sasha pushed her, Bayley forgot to prepare for one thing: Sasha’s eyes. If there’s one thing that is guaranteed to tell you the truth about Sasha Banks, even when her bravado is raging higher than a wild fire, it’s her eyes. They never lie. And if Bayley saw the way Sasha was looking at her during the attack, completely broken and unresponsive, Bayley wouldn’t be able to bring herself to carry on. Because if Bayley saw herself reflected in the truth of the trembling waters in Sasha’s eyes, she wouldn’t be able to continue because she would know that everything she had been telling herself - all the preparations - had been for nothing. It would’ve all been a lie told by the paranoia in her mind.

For that reason, Bayley asked Sasha to look away. For that reason, Bayley didn’t further her attack last night. Because she saw Sasha’s eyes and stepped back instantly. Like a lion does when someone ignites a flame between them and the zebra they were about to hunt. Bayley has voices in her head and the only way for her to believe them - and follow what they say - is if she doesn’t look into Sasha’s eyes. It’s if she doesn’t face the truth.

And the truth is, if we only knew, what the Performance Center walls could say, we would understand why the person that rushed to separate them last night was Sara Amato, their trainer. The woman that brought them together, taught them how to work together, showed them how to change the world together, was the one to help keep them form tearing each other apart.

“I love you. I always have. And I always will. There, I said it.”