Vince Russo’s The Brand Recap – TLC Analysis, Asuka’s Underwhelming Debut, Angle Looks Rusty in Return, More!

On today’s show Russo’s co-host Jeff Lane and Big Vito will break down Sunday’s TLC PPV.

Speaking about Asuka’s main roster debut, Vito says that there was no bang for your buck with Asuka. He thinks she has a good look but she’s lacking the ‘it’ factor. He thought this match was Emma’s coming out party, and he believes she carried most of the momentum in this match. Even though WWE made a big deal out of Asuka’s debut, if you didn’t know her from NJPW or NXT days, Vito doesn’t think you’d be very impressed with that debut.

In regards to the Elias segments, Vito thought this was nothing more than filler. It was obvious that WWE needed to kill time on this show and we saw 3 women’s matches and 2 CW matches as well, which is strange for a PPV show. He thought the Elias segments were fine, but there was nothing important to see there. Lane says Jordan just looks like a guy you want to hate, and he doesn’t see him succeeding as a babyface right now.

Vito says that Jason Jordan is simply not ready to be in the big leagues of professional wrestling right now. His timing is not good and he works way too fast in the ring, rushing to get in all of his spots. Vito likes Elias as a believable heel, but he believes Jordan will be stuck in the midcard or lower until he figures out how to improve his timing in the ring.

He thought the Cruiserweight tag match was clumsy and he couldn’t believe how many superkicks were utilized during this bout. He says there used to be a time when a superkick was a finishing move, but now it’s an over-utilized move and holds no credibility at all. In addition, he thinks it’s crazy that Jack Gallagher is allowed to use a headbutt given how dangerous that move can be. He thinks someone will eventually get seriously hurt and then WWE will realize that it should be banned.

Vito thinks that Alexa Bliss is a great talker, but her backstage promo (in which she talked about her butt) was a bit corny on Sunday night. He thought both Bliss and James worked hard in a good back and forth match, and he suspects Bliss will carry the RAW Women’s Title until WrestleMania. He also thought James was going to retire during her post-match promo, but her emotions were probably just running high because she knows her career is winding down.

Although Enzo Amore is a phenomenal talent on the mic, he has clear weaknesses in the ring. Kalisto isn’t a great technician in the ring either so this disappointing match wasn’t all Amore’s fault. Vito says this was not a good match and he was thrilled when it was over. Kalisto was nothing more than a transitional Cruiserweight champion and now his 5 mins of fame are over.

Vito understands that the Balor/Styles matchup was very exciting for a lot of hardcore fans, but Balor does nothing to excite him so this match didn’t really excite him either. Given that Balor was RAW’s representative in this match, Vito wasn’t surprised that he won.

Speaking about the main event match, Vito says he had no problem with Kurt Angle dressing like a member of The Shield because this entire match was build around The Shield’s team environment.

In terms of Kurt Angle’s return to the ring in the main event, Vito thought Angle looked like someone who hadn’t wrestled in a while. He looked bewildered and his timing was off throughout, and quite frankly he just didn’t look like someone who belonged in the ring. Vito says that it’s tough to step back in the ring after a lengthy absence, so he gives credit to Angle for stepping in at the last minute.

He goes on to say that there were several missed table spots during this match and those can be very painful to take. He actually thought Angle was coming back in a milk truck but we got a garbage truck instead. Overall, he thought this match felt as if all the talents tried to squeeze in 100 spots and they ended up doing 105.

Vito grades the show somewhere between a D+ and C.

That sums up today’s episode of Vince Russo’s The Brand. You can listen to the show yourself anytime here, and I’ll catch ya tomorrow for another recap!