December 8, 2019 - Evan Luebbe

Miz Involvement

December 8, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

The Miz has been seamlessly integrated into the storyline between Daniel Bryan and Bray Wyatt. It makes perfect sense to do this after a few weeks of backstage encounters between Bryan and Miz. Maybe Daniel will end up facing Wyatt at Royal Rumble. Despite the fact that Miz is getting him at TLC, Daniel Bryan is the larger protagonist of the current story with Bray Wyatt/The Fiend. The Miz is more of a supporting character at this point.

King Corbin is doing an excellent job of integrating the King gimmick into his character; he’s doing that almost as well as Booker T did years ago. The King accomplished exactly what he set out to do and that is embarrassing Roman Reigns. Hopefully, Vince McMahon doesn’t opt to try to execute a Dog Collar match between Corbin and The Big Dog, because adding this gimmick to the match may be a little over-the-top.

The December 6 edition of SmackDown on FOX was the first time since The Revival came to the main roster that WWE has made its intention of establishing them as a legit tag team (even though they have been Tag Team Champions twice before). They may even go on to win the SmackDown Tag Team Titles from The New Day. They are beginning to establish themselves as top guys; it will also serve as a good excuse to get the titles off The New Day.

Lacey Evans may have officially been established as a babyface this week, talking about her daughter and the fact that she is a former Marine. She benefited from working with a top-notch heel like Sasha Banks.

Fortunately, I was wrong a few months ago when I talked about how Sheamus might have retired after ‘Mania in April due to his ongoing spinal stenosis. He is back and will now be going into singles competition. Sheamus is almost 42 years old, so he might not be a world champion again because his health might not hold up, but he can’t be used as a very reliable superstar to put over some of the young on the roster.

Side Note: WWE may have finally figured out what to do with Elias because his character seems to have a whole lot more direction now that he is back as a face.

Also, Mustafa Ali and Shorty G got the proverbial short end of the stick this past week because their single’s credibility took a little bit of a blow. It’s okay because The Revival significantly benefited and is established as a legit threat in the tag team division.

Title Match on December 18

December 8, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

There will be an NXT Championship match on December 18 to compete with AEW and Chris Jericho’s title defense (maybe WWE came up with it first). I could see this turning into a fatal four-way match between Adam Cole, Keith Lee, Tommaso Ciampa, and Finn Balor at Takeover: Portland in February 2020, which is a fantastic idea.

I want more Keith Lee – bottom line. He possesses the two most important qualities any superstar could possess.

His is physical in-ring abilities are outstanding and,
He has developed a special connection with the WWE universe in a relatively short time.

He has all the makings of the next Roman Reigns, and I don’t throw that moniker around lightly!

Rhea Ripley’s impending NXT Women’s Championship match is all but set; it just doesn’t have an official date yet. She’s another superstar who has major star power.

AEW Primary Goals

December 8, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

AEW has two primary focus points in the early days of the company’s existence.

Focus Point 1

The first is to provide a platform in the wresting industry that has a very real feel to it and one in which superstars can honestly and authentically be themselves. This will serve to create a level of vulnerability and relatability, and thus marketability for the AEW superstars. The characters – both men and women – appear very close to the human beings they are in real life

This seems to be working very well, as evidenced this week in the segments of superstars like Cody Rhodes, Chris Jericho, and Jon Moxley. For Jericho, it does not have to be explained much – all you have to do is watch him, whether it’s in the ring or during a promo – and you will see his true character. Moxley is now able to reveal the full dimensionality of his character as opposed to the one-dimensional character of Dean Ambrose at times in WWE.

All Cody wants to do is fight MJF (since he can’t challenge anymore for the AEW World Championship). Fans will be waiting with anticipation for the day Cody gets his hands on that entitled brat.

Focus Point 2

The second focus of AEW is the creation of new stars in wrestling. Chris Jericho, while he is a little older, does not like to build his act around nostalgia. An example of this occurred this week when he reminded a few fans of The List of Jericho from his WWE days for just a second, but quickly told them to go back to 2016.

Plenty of young stars have had main event matches on AEW Dynamite, including Scorpio Sky, MJF, and Darby Allin. Jungle Boy will now get a title match with Chris Jericho on December 18, the last Dynamite of 2019 (Christmas Day will be skipped), adding to the list of stars Jericho has helped establish.

It must be appreciated what AEW did on December 4 to establish its Women’s Division. Superstars like Nyla Rose and Brandi Rhodes were highlighted and given adequate airtime to further develop their storylines.

BTW – Ray Fenix is making waves as a potential breakout star.

John Morrison WWE Return

December 8, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

John Morrison has officially signed and will be rejoining the company after 8 years away. He could certainly be used in a mid-card role – perhaps he could return as a potential challenger to AJ Styles’ United States Championship or Shinsuke Nakamura’s IC Title – you never know.

Which brand Morrison ends up being featured on really depends on whether Vince McMahon chooses to use him as a heel or face. If he winds up on Monday Night Raw, then he will be used as a babyface in all likelihood because that particular brand already has a plethora of heels, with Bobby Lashley, Drew McIntyre, Brock Lesnar, and the emerging heel Seth Rollins. On the other hand, he may be more suited to be a heel if he is featured on SmackDown, a brand that already has plenty of faces.

Seth Rollins Confusing Character

December 8, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

This was an entertaining episode, just a few too many matches. A few of them are decently entertaining and serve to establish a superstar’s dominance for the foreseeable future. However, seeing that many in one three-hour show becomes a bit repetitive.

Seth Rollins is developing a new wrinkle to his character that is very perplexing yet intriguing and marketable as a result of his encounter about a month ago with “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt. He seems to be playing the role of a character who cannot seem to get over with the WWE universe no matter what he does.

This level of unpredictability regarding Seth’s character could potentially lead Monday Night Raw to gain more viewers each week because it will constantly have the WWE universe wondering whether he will be a heel or face every week. However, it feels organic because his character seems to still be very genuine and his actions don’t seem to be with malicious intent. He is just being very blunt with people, maybe a little too much, and I along with many others can relate to that personally.

Lana started off the night with Kevin Owens by using her chaotic personality and somewhat annoying voice to make a surprisingly entertaining mess out of the first segment. One almost has to have sympathy for Bobby Lashley because of the predicaments Lana seems to drag him into, like getting arrested this week. Who knows? Maybe this storyline will organically lead to him turning face.

AOP is on a tear. There is always the possibility they could align with Seth Rollins and create a new Shield. Another reason for this (besides the fact that just last week when they attacked Kevin Owens, they chose to leave Seth alone) is because AOP used to wear the same vests that the Shield wore back in their heyday. They discarded that attire for whatever reason.

Maybe I misheard it, but I think Kevin Owens cussed on Raw. I love it! Edgy programming!

Randy Orton seems to have turned reluctantly into a face. He has expressed to WWE management how he really prefers to be a heel. Unfortunately, Monday Night Raw needs faces. There are already plenty of heels on the Raw side of the roster, with guys like Brock Lesnar, Bobby Lashley, Drew McIntyre, along with Seth Rollins sometimes playing the role of a heel.

Raw dwindled a little bit in the face department, so they needed an established superstar like Randy Orton to turn face right now. Apart from the three main who competed in the six-man tag match this week, you’d be hard-pressed to find many other faces on Monday Night Raw. Orton’s impending rivalry with AJ Styles will seemingly begin at TLC, and Drew McIntyre next in line after that.

It’s so great to see The Kabuki Warriors finally being treated somewhat similarly on the main roster to how they were in NXT (separately). They are both obviously talented enough to deserve a push like this. The spotlight they are being thrust into doesn’t seem too big at all for either of them.

Punk vs. Rollins at WrestleMania 36 a Possibility?

December 8, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

With Seth Rollins calling out CM Punk on Twitter recently, a seed has at least been planted in Punk’s head to get him to think about the possibility – however small it is – of a WrestleMania 36 dream match with Rollins.

I’m not insinuating by any means that it’s going to happen, because at the moment Punk is contracted with FOX and not WWE; but Punk has willingly nudged the door open just enough to get the WWE universe excited about the possibility. This is obviously an ideal scenario for Vince McMahon considering the amount of money that would be involved.

NXT Superstars Highlighted at Survivor Series

December 8, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

WWE could use the momentum built at Survivor Series by Keith Lee to launch him into Superstardom, especially given that he was put over on-screen by Roman Reigns. He feels like he has the same level of presence about him as a singles star that The Shield had as a trio. Bask in his Glory.

Adam Cole has also been extremely impressive given the amount of travel he has had to endure over the month of November. Not a lot of human beings on planet Earth have the level of fortitude and drive to endure that and immediately go out and perform physically up to that level. Fortunately, WWE has several superstars like this.

The final NXT superstar I will mention is Rhea Ripley. What makes her so great is that she knows all elements of her character like the back of her hand and does not ever behave in a way, especially on-screen, to contradict that.