April 20, 2019 - Evan Luebbe

The Raw Layout of the Land

May 17, 2019April 20, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

Considering Raw historically focuses more on the mic work and promo ability of its superstars, and SmackDown generally provides a heavier concentration on the in-ring work of performers, this dynamic may be in for somewhat of a change with the likes of Andrade and AJ Styles switching brands. A surprising number of superstars switched brands, including The Miz, Ricochet and Aleister Black, The Viking Experience, Cedric Alexander, Andrade, Rey Mysterio, Lars Sullivan, The Usos, Naomi, and AJ Styles. Each one of these will be covered in depth.

The Miz’s rivalry with Shane McMahon will likely be moved over to Raw, which doesn’t make much difference as it will be entertaining on either brand.

It looks like WWE has finally found a home for Ricochet and Aleister Black. They will do just fine and surely are both future champions.

Next is The Viking Experience (I don’t know about you, but I’m not digging that name; War Raiders was a good name). They will be major players in the tag team division, nonetheless. Cedric Alexander has money written all over him. The cruiserweight division is being elevated over the last couple months, and these guys deserve it. Alexander becomes the second cruiserweight to debut on the main roster (the first being Ali, and his name was in fact shortened from Mustafa Ali, as Vince has done with several superstars over the last several years).

Andrade is someone who could be a major player over the next decade or so since he’s the closest thing WWE has to the second coming of Rey Mysterio. This was also evidenced by the fact that Andrade scored a pinfall victory this week over the Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor, and he is surely in for a title match at Money in the Bank. There is a very conceivable scenario where Andrade could win the title and Balor subsequently wins the Money in the Bank ladder match.

My own personal pick to win it this year is Roman Reigns. I’m just putting it out there that it is a conceivable scenario. Several superstars have a realistic chance of winning this year.

Monday Night Raw may be the place where Rey Mysterio wraps up his WWE career because he is 44 and has said publicly that he only envisions himself wrestling for a couple more years. No one can blame him as he has been doing it for 30 years and has given his heart and soul to the industry. In the meantime, however, if they are anything like me, fans couldn’t help but feel bad for him as he was slaughtered by Lars Sullivan. Sullivan is sure to be a major force in WWE for years to come.

The Usos also made an appearance on Raw beating Roode and Gable, so the Samoan Shield with them and Roman Reigns is still a viable option.

Alexa Bliss teased this week that she may be headed to SmackDown but it is likely that she will stay put because she is a perfect fit for the type of contact that they look to create on Raw.

Sami Zayn is flourishing in his new role since returning last week. The new wrinkles to his heel character were inspired by the self-discoveries he made during his time off due to injury. He is blaming WWE’s most passionate fans for his character’s shortcomings. He has corrected these problems in his own personal life and decided to insert them into his WWE character. These character changes were inspired by Robert Evans, the WWE writer who recently quit and is very good friends with Zayn. It’s also genius that he came up with the catchphrase “see you in hell” (being directed toward the WWE universe).

Naomi has also been moved over to Raw, probably a request to be closer to her husband. Anyway, she teamed up with Bayley to defeat The IIconics after Sasha Banks no-showed like she said she would. The obvious question then becomes “will Bayley and Naomi receive a championship match against The IIconics despite the fact that they are not formally a tag team.”

Some strange vignettes have appeared in recent weeks on WWE TV for what I’m assuming will be the return of Bray Wyatt. Wyatt last appeared at Starrcade in Cincinnati, which I attended back in November. It will be great to see him return in any capacity.

It looks like EC3 has finally been assigned to Monday Night Raw after a few months of being in WWE’s version of purgatory. It was incredibly exciting to see AJ Styles come back to Raw after nearly three years away. It was great seeing him build SmackDown Live into what it is today, but the timing felt right for him to come to Raw. Someone like him could be a potential candidate to challenge Seth Rollins for the Universal Championship in the coming months.

Team Switch Highlights & Barrage of New Women

May 17, 2019April 20, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

Kevin Owens, or Big O, did an amazing job filling in for Big E as an honorary member of The New Day. It made perfect sense to pick him, at least for this week, since WWE was in Canada, but he might be able to do it permanently at least until Big E returns. Big E tore his meniscus and is expected to be out for at least six weeks.

Finn Balor should have no problem fitting in on SmackDown Live since they focus so much more on in-ring work. He is obviously one of the best in the world in the ring.

Samoa Joe was not able to appear on Raw or SmackDown this week due to a combination of illness and travel issues, but there is about a 95% chance that he moves to Raw upon his return with the Intercontinental Champion switching brands.

It’s not good for business if WWE features two Midcard champions on one show and none on the other, which is WWE’s flagship show, so expect him to move to Raw with Braun Strowman probably being his first target. Check out the Bleacher Report’s – WWE: 99 Midcard Superstars Who Helped Make the Legends what they are Today.

Andrade can’t get screwed out of a title match with Finn Balor, just because Balor switched brands so he may have to work on both brands for at least a short time.

I don’t think anyone is certain about the future of Lars Sullivan, although I feel he and his big red diaper should be featured on SmackDown. Maybe he will be featured on both brands for a short time too. He is sure to dominate wherever he goes because Vince McMahon undoubtedly loves big men.

A barrage of new women debuted last night, which should add a lot of depth to the women’s division. It appears to be growing at a good pace. The most notable acquisitions were Bayley, Kairi Sane, and Ember Moon. Becky Lynch and The IIconics will presumably be featured on both brands since they have championships which are advertised to be featured regularly on both shows

Buddy Murphy will be the third man from the cruiserweight division and 205 Live to be brought up to the main roster. He will do some good things and probably win at least the United States Championship sooner rather than later. Even when he was an NXT Tag Team Champion with Wesley Blake, I always had a feeling he may become the bigger star of the two primarily because he has a more distinctive look.

I mean no disrespect to Elias, but Roman Reigns is clearly the biggest acquisition in SmackDown history who Vince McMahon was referring to. Roman Reigns should help to boost SmackDown ratings when they moved to FOX this October. This could freshen up his character and gave him the freedom to add some new wrinkles to his persona. However, it looks like the possibility of a Samoan Shield with The Usos is dead for the time being. I never expected WWE to do it now, but I was hopeful. Vince should explore this before they retire considering they are about the same age and they seem to be a close family.

Side Note: Let’s pray Daniel Bryan is not only in good health since we have not seen him on WWE TV since WrestleMania but that he develops an epic rivalry with Roman Reigns.

Some “Amazing” Things

That Kofi Kingston can somehow be taken seriously as WWE Champion while maintaining his full commitment to the New Day.
That pancakes, Bootyo’s, and twerking are accepted and beloved in WWE. I never thought I’d live to see it. I am made fun of constantly by my brother for loving the New Day, and the worst part is – he is three years younger than me.

The Shield should also be mentioned because the WWE network is premiering a special about The Shield’s final chapter this Sunday. It’s scary, yet inspirational, to conceive that Roman Reigns faces an ever-present possibility of his illness returning and will have to receive oral chemotherapy for the rest of his life, as was talked about in part two of the WWE Chronicle about Reigns and his illness.

Stellar Buddy Murphy Performance

May 17, 2019April 20, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

Buddy Murphy will almost certainly do great things on the SmackDown Live roster because he is an extremely talented superstar. I won’t say he’s once-in-a-lifetime, but nonetheless he is special, as was demonstrated this week on NXT TV in a stellar performance Murphy put on in a match against Velveteen Dream.

Another wrinkle Triple H could add to the Johnny Gargano – Adam Cole rivalry that would garner major attention is the possibility of Roderick Strong pinning Gargano next week, causing dissension in The Undisputed Era over who should be awarded a shot at the NXT Championship.

Rollins perfectly positioned & reboot Stroman’s character

April 19, 2019April 20, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

Seth Rollins’ booking has positioned him perfectly to a point where he does not necessarily need a title to be a relevant piece on Monday Night Raw, so WWE should take advantage of this by booking Seth to be the first of the major babyfaces who won a title at WrestleMania to lose, because this is sure to provide at least a temporary jump in viewership for Raw.

On the SmackDown side of things, Rey Mysterio recently talked about the fact that he only sees himself wrestling for a couple more years. This is more than reasonable as he is 44 years old and he has been wrestling since age 14. He has given his entire heart and soul to the industry and deserves a proper sendoff.

The third topic that needs discussing is the fact that Braun Strowman’s character desperately needs a reboot. A move to SmackDown Live would do just that for him. If not, a feud with Lars Sullivan, a rivalry with Samoa Joe could revitalize him in the same way. This may be the route that WWE has decided to go since Joe and Strowman had a confrontation this past week on SmackDown Live. Joe’s intensity brings the best out of his opponents and makes them look very strong, whether it’s providing a suitable challenger to Lesnar or saving AJ Styles’ WWE Championship reign.

Sasha Banks has also stated, rather impulsively I might add, her disapproval with the company for orchestrating she and Bayley’s loss of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships after they are the ones who worked so hard to bring them to the company. This logic completely makes sense, however Sasha’s relationship with WWE is so tightknit and the company has done so much for her in life and vice versa that I have a very hard time envisioning a scenario where the two sides part ways. She will probably come to this realization after some self-reflecting and deep introspection.

Lastly, Dana White has asserted in a recent press conference that the media basically put words in his mouth by insinuating that a fight between Daniel Cormier and Brock Lesnar was imminent and that a fight between the two has not been discussed. Because of this development, Lesnar will probably be staying with WWE, which is not a problem by any means. Lesnar is a great performer but there are complaints of how little he is around, and with good reason. A perfect opponent for him may be Bobby Lashley. Lashley is a very credible opponent who looks like he would have a reasonable chance to beat Brock while keeping him busy outside the Universal Championship picture. The fact is that Lashley has an extensive MMA background is just icing on the cake. There will surely be some entertaining promo segments between Paul Heyman and Lio Rush.