August 10, 2019 - Evan Luebbe

NXT Takeover: Toronto II / Goodbye Johnny?

August 17, 2019August 10, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

This was an excellent Takeover event, even though there weren’t any title changes. Mauro Ranallo was bouncing all over on commentary as usual with references to people like Kawhi Leonard and Rick Ross (not to mention the “Mamma Mia” chants from the crowd).

Johnny Gargano’s rivalry with Adam Cole can be described in one word: legendary. Tommaso Ciampa should be incredibly proud that this great story ensued immediately after his neck injury. It’s also very interesting to find out that Adam Cole loves to scuba dive courtesy of Mauro Ranallo.

It’s also fascinating that Shayna Baszler is not getting stale at all as NXT Women’s Champion. She is a two-time Women’s Champion and has held the gold for quite a while during both reigns. Candice LeRae and Io Shirai also had one of the best women’s matches in quite some time despite the fact that it was not set up to be one of the primary attractions on the card.

It also appears to be a sign that WWE will incorporate their partnership with Evolve into future storylines given that Austin Theory was shown on camera to be in attendance at Takeover. It also got some big pops from the crowd to see Matt Riddle do a little tribute to CM Punk by giving one security guard a GTS during his battle with Killian Dain and Montez Ford doing a tribute to The Rock with a Rock Bottom.

Rollins possible character development after SS Brian or women’s tag title great idea to develop uncertainty regarding Roman Reigns and get people speculating.

Buddy Murphy Push

August 12, 2019August 10, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

We (the WWE universe) should be extremely excited that Murphy’s Law will potentially be enacted in the WWE maybe even as soon as this fall after SummerSlam. His name has been brought up twice now. It was brought up once involving the Roman Reigns situation and again several weeks ago by Shane McMahon when he was discussing the Kevin Owens situation. He may very well be a pivotal start of the future. Moving on, Murphy may have given away Daniel Bryan and Rowan as the guilty party in the Roman Reigns incident, as they were expected to be revealed as the culprits. This match, which I discuss in Superstar Sagas, should be a great one.

It was also a genius move for WWE to book the Aleister Black – Sami Zayn match to take place on the go-home episode of SmackDown Live right before SummerSlam. It surely got more of a spotlight than it would have at the pay-per-view. If it were to have been booked at SummerSlam, it probably would have ended with a quick Black Mass kick from Black. He is a guaranteed future WWE Champion by the way, with his stoic demeanor and his extremely elaborate entrance.

Side Note: One last thing to take note of from SD Live this week is how well the match between Kofi Kingston and Randy Orton is being positioned. Orton will unfortunately not win this feud, however it will serve to help Kofi gain major favor with the WWE universe, because Orton is being portrayed as a terrible human being who seeks to hold others down while he has gotten all the glory in his career. WWE is seeking to establish Kingston as a legitimate main event player (which the WWE universe has had a little bit of a hard time buying into after 11 years of Kofi being a mid-carder. Fans may not have been sure if he would be simply a transitional champion or if WWE was serious about pushing him).

Kofi Kingston will nonetheless be remembered as one of the greatest WWE superstars of this era. It has also been very smart of WWE to allow his WWE Championship reign to marinate for a while so he can be established as a legitimate main event caliber talent. This did not work a couple of years ago with Jinder Mahal, but I’m optimistic it will succeed with Kofi because the WWE universe already had a great amount of respect for the work he has put in over the last 11 years. It just may take a while for fans to get used to his title presence.

Tony Gonzalez & Goldberg

August 12, 2019August 10, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

Tony Gonzalez’ Pro Football Hall of Fame Speech

Before I get into discussing Monday Night Raw, I wanted to address something Tony Gonzalez said during his speech over the weekend at the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony, which is absolutely true for every sport, including WWE.

In essence, he said that “Hall of Famers in any sport do not get there because they are necessarily more athletic or smarter than anyone else but more so because they have chosen to be guided by their hearts in life and are bold enough to follow their passion.” This idea struck a chord within me and I thought it might hit home for people who read this.

RAW

Goldberg’s Redemption

So Dolph Ziggler isn’t deranged and there has been a point behind his incessant criticism of Goldberg’s most recent match with The Undertaker at Super Showdown in June. It’s somewhat surprising that WWE has decided to go through with this match considering Ziggler does not have quite the level of star power as the typical opponent of Goldberg. The vast size discrepancy will also play a role in the optics of how this match may be viewed, but that shouldn’t matter too much. These men will surely be able to make this an entertaining confrontation at SummerSlam.

This reminds me of the match in 2003 between Chris Jericho and Goldberg, which seemed a little odd with regards to the booking at the time, but the two men were able to make a solid match out of it.

I see this essentially being a squash match for Goldberg to help instill confidence in his in-ring ability. It will probably be a quick match too, as several matches on the card should be – if each match is given 15-20 minutes then fans will get worn out. Some stories are capable of being told in a short amount of time. Aleister Black vs. Sami Zayn and “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt vs. Finn Balor may be shortened too, so as to elevate Black and “The Fiend” and as a sendoff for Balor.

It also can’t be understated how unselfish it is of The Miz to willingly sacrifice a SummerSlam moment for Goldberg to be able to experience what will surely be one of his last few, maybe even his last.

Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross have the potential to not only elevate the Women’s Tag Team Championships back to a level of prominence they were receiving shortly before WrestleMania but take the prestige of them to new heights.

The Kabuki Warriors are just flat out not over enough and do not resonate with the WWE universe enough to be able to carry the women’s tag team division.

Meanwhile, every member of the WWE universe is paying attention to the friendship between Cross and Bliss and how it will end. Everyone knows that Alexa will wind up betraying and ultimately making a bitter enemy of Nikki, but people are curious to see how it will go down. Simple storyline, but just enough to keep people hooked.

Side Note: Maria Kanellis is a little bit annoying, but something about her is very captivating. I can see why Paul Heyman likes her mind so much. Rey Mysterio and Andrade also obviously have a ridiculous amount of chemistry together in the ring, which can never be undervalued.

XFL Draft and Vince McMahon

August 12, 2019August 10, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

Another event that will be happening regarding Vince McMahon but not necessarily WWE aside from SmackDown’s big move to Fox is the draft for the XFL, which begins play in 2020. 70 players will be drafted to each of the 8 teams. College players who are potentially eligible for the NFL draft will also be eligible for the XFL draft.

The only reason I even mentioned this is because it will shortly take up a large portion of Vince McMahon’s time and that means he will need to delegate some of his responsibilities with WWE to Shane McMahon, and Triple H. This should not be a worry at all (if anything I see it being a positive because Triple H has a real provision for what he would like the WWE to look like and represent in the future.

Just look at the state of NXT as a prime example. This was probably a reason behind the hiring of Eric Bischof as the executive director of SmackDown Live and the promotion of Paul Heyman to the same position on Monday Night Raw.

Kevin Owens

August 12, 2019August 10, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

The match between Shane McMahon and Kevin Owens is also crucial for the future of WWE. This may be the start of a massive push for Owens culminating in a WWE Championship victory at ‘Mania. In my book, he should be either just as big of a deal, or nearly as big, as Roman Reigns because he resonates with a gigantic portion of WWE’s fan base, which encompasses all demographics. He possesses a natural sense of humor that WWE has struggled to find since John Cena.

It seems that Kevin Owens was well on his way to becoming a massive star in the company in 2016 when he won the Universal Championship in a gigantic surprise on Raw. He then lost the title to Goldberg shortly before WrestleMania 33. Owens went on to have a match at WrestleMania 33 against Chris Jericho for the United States Championship in the wake of the festival of friendship (one of the greatest storylines I have ever seen play out).

Kevin ended up being criticized by Vince McMahon for the way that match went down because Vince was not happy with the way the match was executed for some reason. Since that point in time, Kevin Owens has been involved in storylines that could have had real potential but have never clicked with the WWE universe. While I don’t know whose fault it is, it doesn’t seem to be Kevin’s fault. He’s a one-of-a-kind performer and entertainer and his talents should be used efficiently.

A big part of WWE’s storylines and an awful lot of energy from the creative team should be dedicated to making SD Live the Kevin Owens show.

Gronk Legit Possibility

August 12, 2019August 10, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

Mojo Rawley has made news recently by making it public that he and Rob Gronkowski have had serious discussions regarding Gronk’s potential involvement in WWE. Rawley has even issued a quote saying that “he’s ready to do something at some point.” I would imagine nothing will happen for at least another year, considering Gronk needs time to heal from the multitude of injuries he has accumulated throughout his NFL career. There is also a possibility he will fill in as possibly a part-time tight end for the Patriots this season considering how much the team is struggling to find a good tight end.

This would be a massive acquisition for WWE and it also seems like a perfect fit for Gronk. He naturally has a more than adequate level of personality and star power. He is also an ideal size to be considered a major threat and is young enough, at 30 years old, to become a big part of the company for a long time (even if he doesn’t do it on a full-time basis, which is a possibility given how many injuries he’s already had).

A storyline for his introduction into the company practically writes itself, because he can simply be paired with his best friend and win the tag team championships (he will have a better opportunity to elevate the tag team division as Daniel Bryan recently was unable to do).

Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan

August 12, 2019August 10, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

Roman Reigns’ SummerSlam opponent has been rumored to be Daniel Bryan. This comes as a little bit of a surprise because I, as well as most of the WWE universe, was leaning in the direction of a match with Samoa Joe (which may still happen), but a match with Daniel Bryan may be even better. Reigns has talked about this for at least a couple years now. It’s been since his match against Bryan at Fastlane 2015. And, it’s nice to finally see it come to fruition, especially when considering Bryan and Reigns have not worked together since Bryan’s return to in-ring competition at WrestleMania in 2018.

This should be a fantastic change of pace for Reigns because he has not had a ton of experience working with smaller, more technical performers who can actually wrestle like Bryan. There is also a real story there for the two men to work with, and they can make it very interesting.

The booking of this match comes at a good time for both of these guys because they are looking to change directions in their respective careers. Reigns is in the process of trying to find a new niche for his character after his second successful battle with leukemia gave him a new perspective on life. Bryan, on the other hand, is at sort of a career crossroads and is pivoting in his WWE career after an unsuccessful attempt to elevate the SmackDown tag team division.

Length and Justification for SS

August 12, 2019August 10, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

There are two things WWE should look to do at SummerSlam to make sure the entirety of the show goes over smoothly.

First, they need to be careful about how long the show goes. You don’t want the main event starting after midnight as was the case at WrestleMania because then the vast majority of people watching will not care enough to tune in for that long.
Second, the commentary team needs to justify, and provide reasoning, as to why certain superstars are left off the card. It would be too much to feature everyone on the show, so the commentators will need to at least mention superstars who are not performing, as this will help maintain their credibility despite the fact they are left off the show.