Mia Yim is working her way toward the NXT Women’s Championship, and she deserves it as well. You gotta love it (credit to Booker T for that catchphrase).
Kushida is also displaying just how technically sound and adaptable he is to any in-ring style. I also cannot wait to see what Killian Dain and the creative team have in store for us. He will most likely be a heel because of his size. The biggest surprise from this week was what appears to have been Bianca Belair’s subtle heel turn.
I have noticed in the past couple nights with Eric Bischoff and Paul Heyman running SmackDown Live and Raw respectively, that the shows are having a bit more edgy feel to them, similar to the feel they incited back in the late 90s when Bischoff was at the helm for WCW and Heyman was running ECW. Both companies served as top competition for WWE. Let me elaborate on the edgy feel I’m referring to here.
Three examples:
Superstars of the Attitude Era like Chris Jericho used to use this terminology all the time and it was a staple. This edgier feel has been sorely missed by fans such as me and it is extremely encouraging to see hints of it coming back with new management in place who are not afraid to use an old school perspective in order to increase ratings for the product.
Another encouraging sign from SmackDown Live in particular is the fact that a new star, Nikki Cross, may have been established, getting an opportunity to host A Moment of Bliss for Alexa Bliss, and a star we don’t see too often, Apollo Crews, received an opportunity to showcase his skills in the ring, which are incredible by the way, against Andrade.
The direction WWE is trending in is very encouraging, in some ways reverting to what worked in the past and combining it with modern day perspectives in order to please their vast and global fan base comprising a little bit of every demographic, age group and nationality.
Paul Heyman’s first week running Raw was a success! The only somewhat questionable decision was force-feeding Maria and Mike Kanellis, but Heyman loves Maria’s mind. This late June – early July timeframe may be the lowest point of the entire year for WWE. The Club reuniting, however, is sure to increase TV ratings because AJ Styles is a top superstar in the company, and character changes from top superstars always garner interest in the WWE product.
This move also provides WWE with a top heel faction to build around and pit top superstars like Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Kofi Kingston against them. The dog days of summer in WWE may officially be over and now we can focus on the build to SummerSlam.
It is so funny, because as I was watching the show and saw The Club again, I thought to myself “I bet The Club will reunite in the coming weeks, because WWE has been subtly hinting at this for weeks now. Gallows and Anderson just need to get their acts together and cut the silliness”.
Now it will be interesting to see the potential of AJ Styles as Raw’s top heel play out. We better enjoy it while we have it because AJ can’t have much longer as an elite performer. I’m surprised he’s lasted as long as he has, at 42 years of age (to provide context, that’s the same age as John Cena). All things considered; I absolutely love this move by WWE. The feud with Ricochet needs to continue, because Ricochet is a budding superstar as a face, something WWE desperately needs.
On a slightly less positive note, what transpired between Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley was very reminiscent of a 2013 incident between Ryback and John Cena, with Ryback driving John into the backstage area through the lights. This most recent incident was most likely done to get Strowman off TV for a while in order to heal up from a probable knee injury, which has hindered his level of speed over the last month or so (Dave Meltzer has also noted the injury on the Wrestling Observer Radio). This may be a good excuse to give Lashley a character overhaul and try something new
Side Note: Miz and Elias had a two out of three falls match (something WWE would like to do more of), which will undoubtedly lead to a Shane McMahon – Miz match at SummerSlam. This feud is continuing to be a detriment to the characters of both Elias and Drew McIntyre. Let’s just hope it’s not beyond repair because they both have a high level of potential to be performers who are heavily relied on for the next decade.
I am still waiting on Bray Wyatt to make an appearance somewhere as he has traveled with WWE for a few weeks, but still has not made his imminent return. It was also a rather pleasant surprise to see the NXT Tag Team Champions Street Profits as they are always a welcome sighting as they bring major energy with them wherever they go.
An applause has to be given to everyone in the entire WWE for making the 24/7 Championship relevant while simultaneously building up R-Truth. I figured it would be an absolute failure and no one would care that much about it.
Another extremely positive thing that is happening right now in WWE is the fact that Cesaro is being booked perfectly: A rugged tough guy who takes wrestling very seriously and punishes anyone who does not approach it as seriously as he does. This may be something to watch out for with Paul Heyman running things, because Paul worked with Cesaro briefly for a short period years ago, so there may be a small amount of hope for Cesaro to receive the push he has deserved for years now.
R-Truth is doing some incredible work and was recently voted as WWE’s most entertaining champion. This is a real testament to Truth, with a little help from Carmella. Vince McMahon has always had a liking for him even now he has been in a comedy role within WWE since 2011 when he received a push, facing John Cena for the WWE Championship and ending at Survivor Series of that year when they faced Cena and his WrestleMania opponent The Rock.
The executive changes within WWE could be the paradigm shift that the company desperately needs in terms of creative development. Let me put it more plainly, the addition of Eric Bischoff to run SmackDown Live as Executive Director as well as Paul Heyman being named to the same position for Monday Night Raw could give each show a creative overhaul which is badly needed, as well as hopefully increasing live event attendance.
Stomping Grounds only got about 4,500 people to attend the event, and Monday Night Raw the following night only had an attendance of about 3,500 (one of the lowest, if not the lowest, attendance for an episode of Raw since the shows premiere episode in 1993). This is why a superstar like The Undertaker is making an appearance at Extreme Roles. This may work in the short term, but will be a detriment to the product if this tactic is relied upon consistently simply because The Undertaker is noticeably slower than he has been in the past just due to the fact that he is getting older (54 years old and had a hip replacement).
Heyman and Bischoff intended to create a distinctively different feel to their respective shows. I have no idea what that means but I cannot wait to find out. This was a very bold move for WWE that should have major positive payoffs given that both men are responsible for some of the greatest storylines in the history of professional wrestling.
One possibility that is worth looking into is Ricochet being pushed as a main event superstar. His lack of size is not typical of a main eventer, but I have a feeling that his feud with AJ Styles will go a long way towards getting him over with the fans. Both men had similar roles years ago (Bischoff’s full-time run with the company ended in 2007, and Heyman ran SmackDown for a short time during that same era). These were on-screen roles, and while there are currently no plans for either man to have a storyline going with their respective roles, there is always the potential for it given how great both men are in front of the camera (I fully assume Heyman will still be Brock Lesnar’s advocate).
I feel compelled to say something about the massive success that Jon Moxley (formerly known as Dean Ambrose) is having in NJPW and AEW. He wrestled his first official match on June 29 for AEW and appears to be getting much more creative freedom and given the ability to improvise on the microphone more than WWE allowed him to do.
This is a character is much more reliant on mic skills as opposed to in-ring abilities, and WWE has a history of being perplexed when faced with the task of managing these characters because Vince McMahon likes to rely too much on micromanagement to allow these characters to improvise on the fly and truly be themselves in order to best get over with the WWE universe.
Not that this is a bad thing at all, I am simply writing down what I have observed and read over the years. Nonetheless, whether it’s with WWE or not, I’m extremely happy that my Cincinnati boy is finally getting the opportunity to be 100% himself.