Good morning everyone! I have to admit, writing this the night before, it takes some getting used to, typing it for my AM consumers. With that idle banter out of the way, it’s now the blue brand’s turn to get things moving toward WrestleMania once again. Elimination Chamber-and Kofi Kingston’s awesome showing-are very much fading in our collective rear views, but everyone is still wondering: can KofiMania strike again? With Fastlane up next, perhaps the long-tenured New Day Superstar can keep his newfound push going and parlay it into a World Championship opportunity. With Fastlane rapidly approaching, we might just find out on the show. Let’s crack open this Nutshell and find out!

Best Match of the night:

There were a few good matches, but for me I have to go with the main event. That takes nothing away from the Aleister Black blue brand debut. It also does not ignore Mandy Rose and her good outing. It just is the reality that Kofi, along with AJ Styles and Jeff Hardy, worked for the winning half of a very tolerable six man main event to close out the show.

Worst match of the night:

A night after I had plenty to gripe about, I can find little in the way of a bad match to complain about.

Crowd Chants of the Night:

Rematch

Kofi

NXT

Star of the Night

I have a few options, so I will kind of look like the aftermath of a hockey game…just with more stars.

Mandy Rose. She pinned the SmackDown Women’s Champion and looked good in the process.

Aleister Black. Had a second straight great night, giving him a good first week on the main roster.

The same can also be said for Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano. Two nights, two matches, and just like that, wins over some legit tag teams.

Ricochet continues to impress, to no shock of anyone who has ever seen him work.

And then, the absolute star of the evening…Kofi Kingston.

Jobber of the Night:

Maybe it’s not fair to put Eric Young here…but I am putting Eric Young here. If only because he took the loss, in what seemed like the first time we’ve seen him on TV in a long time.

Upset of the Night:

Nothing I could think of, to be honest.

Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:

So, here’s one for you. Kofi Kingston, a former singles champion and now mostly just one third of the New Day, had a heck of a week last week. Great showing in the gauntlet match, even better showing in the Elimination Chamber. Now he gets a one on one match against Daniel Bryan for the WWE World Championship at Fastlane. Maybe holy sh@# is overstating this a bit, but I am seriously happy that he’s getting a shot, and that WWE recognized the momentum he has. Fans want to embrace this, and we get the chance to. Plus, it’s a fresh matchup, as opposed to something we’ve seen before and aren’t desperate to see again so soon.

Noteworthy Moment:

The story of the last NXT call ups continues to be a bizarre one, especially when contrasted with how things have gone for the newest batch. Think about it…no one from the first batch has any signature wins on the main roster yet. And now, two nights in for the most recent call ups, we see several big wins (all are undefeated). There’s a win over the current tag champs, a win over a couple of former tag champs, and some wins over some relatively top talent.

Like, I get that the thought behind the December call ups was that they weren’t the best NXT had to offer…but why bother with them at all, if you are going to undercut them sixty days later?

Overall lowlights:

Not much I choose to complain about, though I will say this (and I think I said it before too). I have seen enough from Miz, Shane and The Usos. That feud can’t be put to bed soon enough for my tastes, which is depressing since you just know that lasts at least until WrestleMania.

Overall highlights:

Loving the NXT graduates, naturally.

Really enjoying watching Kofi get what is honestly a long overdue, and much deserved, push. While I doubt they put the belt on him (wouldn’t that be something?), it should be great fun to watch.

After the final bell:

What a difference from RAW to SmackDown, no? It felt like a much more cohesive show…like, Creative had some time to work things out or something. Just a more enjoyable product this evening.

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