January 5, 2020 - Evan Luebbe

Big Returns to Begin 2020

January 5, 2020 by Evan Luebbe

WWE fans, as well as the company itself, are surely be very excited about the return of The Usos since they had been such an integral mainstay within the company over the last decade. No one can be more excited than Roman Reigns since they are his cousins after all. It’s worth mentioned The Usos saved Reigns from having dog food poured on him again at the hands of King Corbin and Dolph Ziggler.

Speaking of Reigns, wrestling fans would be extremely pleased to see a WrestleMania 36 main event between him and Daniel Bryan. Unfortunately, I think this is wishful thinking. It’s so hard at this point to see a scenario where Reigns beats The Fiend for the Universal Championship since The Fiend is quite clearly the hottest act in WWE and is the company’s no. 1 merch seller.

WWE will be able to capitalize on the fact that The Miz is being mentally beaten down by The Fiend/Bray Wyatt and possibly turning heel because of it. This combined with the fact that he and John Morrison are such close friends, Morrison could be inserted into one of the major programs on SmackDown.

Sheamus also made his return on this past week’s episode of SD. It is so great to see that he didn’t officially retire as some thought he might due to all the injuries he’s suffered throughout his career. In hindsight (which is always 20/20), fans may have been able to see this coming because he was still working like crazy and is probably in the best shape of his entire career, at 41 years old (almost 42).

Dana Brooke is deserving of all the opportunities she gets from this point forward, because she has spent close to 3 ½ years on the main roster and has been underutilized and overlooked. She has more than paid her dues at this point (the most significant thing anyone remembers her doing is being the statistician for Titus Worldwide).

This obviously isn’t the main program here, it’s between Bayley and Lacey Evans, who will likely be booked in a SmackDown Women’s Championship match at Royal Rumble, and Bayley will finally defend her title.

Braun Strowman will likely be booked in an Intercontinental Championship match with Shinsuke Nakamura. Strowman desperately needs a victory at Royal Rumble. Frankly, if I had never watched WWE programming before and someone told me that Strowman had never won a singles title before after being on the main roster for over three years, I would say, “Are you kidding me? That’s a major programming error!”

Stage Set For 2020

January 5, 2020 by Evan Luebbe

Taz will fit right in with the announcing style of Jim Ross and Excalibur. There was an emphasis placed on advancing all storylines in AEW to let fans know which superstars and which stories will be spotlighted to start the decade. The main event was somewhat disappointing because there were no real stakes in the match, so fans did not have a legitimate reason to get invested. I can’t complain much because, as usual, it was a fantastic match.

The night was started in the best way possible, with Cody defeating Darby Allin in a very captivating rematch from Fyter Fest last year which ended in a time limit draw. Arn Anderson being in Cody’s corner provides a feeling of legitimacy like Cody’s matches really matter.

The storyline surrounding Chris Jericho and the Inner Circle continues to be the story in AEW which fans are most invested in (as it should be, he’s Le Champion). He has raised the anticipation among fans for Jon Moxley’s decision by offering him a sweet car and ownership of 49% of the Inner Circle LLC. It’s almost certain that Moxley will reject the offer and keep his babyface persona for now, setting up a huge title match against Jericho at Revolution in February.

Meanwhile, Trent also received a huge opportunity in the form of a match against Moxley.

It was never in much doubt that Riho would retain her AEW Women’s World Championship in the fatal four way, setting up a showdown with Kris Statlander next week. It was a classy move on the part of the company to allow Statlander to maintain her prior commitment for New Year’s Day while still giving her the opportunity to become AEW Women’s World Champion. The AEW Women’s Division still needs some fine-tuning as far as character development.

MJF is very skilled at playing the role of an entitled brat, and in the segment from this past week he laid out his stipulations for Cody to face him at Revolution. The one that stuck out was the fact that he will have to wrestle Wardlow in Wardlow’s debut match in AEW.

Sammy Guevara desperately needed the win he picked up this week over Dustin Rhodes. He’s taken far too many losses already since joining AEW. You can’t be affiliated with Chris Jericho and be a loser at the same time – it just isn’t believable. Guevara was still a bit overstaffed by the impending clash between Dustin Rhodes and Jake Hager.

Chaotic Wedding

January 5, 2020January 5, 2020 by Evan Luebbe

There were two Pay-Per-View-worthy matches on the show this week:

Andrade vs. Ricochet, and;
Aleister Black vs. Buddy Murphy

Andrade will most likely retain the United States Championship against Rey Mysterio next week and WWE may want to book a rematch between him and Ricochet for Royal Rumble since the two men have obvious chemistry in the ring.

The final Raw segment of the decade was a painful one to get through indeed. Hopefully, this doesn’t hurt Bobby Lashley’s credibility too much, and what a chaotic way for Liv Morgan to return to WWE TV.

Highlights: Drew McIntyre showed some personality, Randy Orton gained some sympathy from the WWE universe, Samoa Joe found his niche at least for the foreseeable future until Royal Rumble, aligning himself with Kevin Owens, and a match between Becky Lynch and Asuka has officially been set for Royal Rumble.

Raw and NXT clearly represent the future of WWE while SmackDown is the home of more established superstars and announcers like Greg Hamilton, Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan, The Miz, The Fiend Bray Wyatt, Bayley, and King Corbin.

WWE is clearly ready for 2020.

Confusion and Anticipation Surrounding Brock Lesnar’s Royal Rumble Booking

January 5, 2020 by Evan Luebbe

Confusion and Anticipation Surrounding Brock Lesnar’s Royal Rumble Booking

The two options to face Brock Lesnar at Royal Rumble which appear most likely are Randy Orton and Kevin Owens. Owens seems to make more sense as Lesnar’s ‘Mania opponent because he is currently involved in a featured storyline with Seth Rollins. He is also gaining more support from the WWE universe.

Orton, however, makes perfect sense because WWE could easily end his feud with AJ Styles rather quickly. Orton could also serve as an opponent for Lesnar who could instantly provide a whole lot of credibility and star power. And, he certainly doesn’t need another world title victory at this stage in his career. WWE can also build off their previous match at SummerSlam 2016 where Orton had his head busted open by The Beast.

Other Formidable Options

Another great option to face Lesnar at Royal Rumble would be Aleister Black because of the enigmatic, superstar-like aura that seems to permeate the arena every time he walks out. However, it is doubtful WWE would choose a superstar who is not very established yet (even though Paul Heyman is a huge fan and will likely book him to have a huge 2020). Black has not been around long enough to be considered (like Finn Balor clearly was when he challenged Lesnar for the Universal Championship at Royal Rumble last year.

Meanwhile, Samoa Joe is standing off to the side as the X factor in this whole equation. His excellent work on the commentary team the last several weeks on Monday Night Raw, filling in for Dio Maddin (who decided to leave his role on Raw to once again pursue his in-ring career), has served as an avenue for the WWE universe to appreciate Joe’s impressive mic skills.

Joe would make for a very credible Royal Rumble opponent for Lesnar, not to mention the fact that they have history together. Joe played a believable rival for The Beast in 2017. WWE could always pull a surprise and book Joe to dethrone the WWE Champion, given that he plays the role one might imagine Lesnar what occupy if he were a full-timer.

Changes/Continuations Heading into the New Year

January 5, 2020January 5, 2020 by Evan Luebbe

The Roman Reigns-King Corbin storyline will continue into February according to reports. It’s positive news because this rivalry has produced matches of good quality and Corbin is so naturally gifted at garnering heat from the WWE universe. The only somewhat negative aspect is the fact that Vince McMahon insists on the two men using dog food so frequently. This seems overbearing and a bit much. It makes sense why WWE is doing it but seems juvenile.

It would significantly help Bayley’s credibility as SmackDown Women’s Champion if she defended her title at least once before the Royal Rumble. Becky Lynch hasn’t defended her title in a while either, but at least she has acknowledged this fact and is making it clear that she does not intend to stand for it. At this point, I don’t even know if I remember Bayley defending her title at all since winning it – best-case scenario, it has been once.

WWE pleasantly surprised fans in booking Andrade to win the United States Championship from Rey Mysterio on December 26 at a live event at Madison Square Garden. The last time a WWE title changed hands at a live event was in July 2017 when AJ Styles won the exact same title from Kevin Owens.

It’s great WWE is attempting to maintain the feeling that anything can happen on any given night. The company should do things like this more often. This might give fans more of a reason to tune in to the product. Smart WWE fans who know the intricacies of the product shouldn’t have expected Mysterio to hold the US Title for long given his age (45). It’s nice to see Mysterio being a team player and electing to put over luchadors such as Andrade and Humberto Carillo before he retires from in-ring action.