WWE fans shouldn’t expect Vince McMahon to book another Aleister Black-Buddy Murphy match for Royal Rumble. Given that it would be the fourth one-on-one encounter between the two men, it would seem a little redundant at this point. It provides even less credibility to the feud that Black has won each of their encounters with a swift Black Mass.
Judging purely by the match itself, one would think Aleister was being portrayed as being unequivocally superior to Buddy in the ring. However, WWE clearly has major plans in 2020 for Murphy, since he aligned himself with the Monday Night Messiah Seth Rollins and The AOP. This will clearly be the dominant faction on Monday Night Raw for the foreseeable future, probably until someone steps up to them at WrestleMania 36.
Yet another layer has been added to “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt’s story, and he doesn’t even need to be involved. The Monday Night Messiah is leading a cult-like faction akin to The Wyatt Family from several years ago, and his demeanor is similar to that of Bray Wyatt during that time.
The somewhat heelish nature of Buddy’s character may have more potential to be guided in the right direction from an alliance with Rollins than anyone else on the roster.
On another note, Aleister Black’s very enigmatic personality would make him an excellent candidate to provide a foil to The Undertaker at ‘Mania. He would make for a perfect opponent for Taker because he could pass the torch to Black. The young star is also more than capable of carrying nearly the entire match, which is a prerequisite any of The Undertaker’s opponents at this stage in his career.
Paul Heyman maintained the strong booking of Drew McIntyre this week, having him pick up a victory against two very credible opponents in Randy Orton and AJ Styles. He is also continuing to show off his very likable personality and gradually getting over with the WWE universe.
Becky Lynch is gripping fans by adding an intriguing level of vulnerability to her character. She is making herself extremely relatable heading into her Raw Women’s Championship match with Asuka. Unfortunately, WWE at the moment doesn’t seem to care too much about this rivalry – but Becky is certainly putting her 100% effort into it and that is to be applauded.
Hopefully, Ricochet can build momentum again in 2020 with a strong showing in the Royal Rumble match because he has clearly lost a significant amount of momentum since the summer of 2019. Fortunately for him, it is still salvageable.
The storyline between Rusev, Lana, Bobby Lashley, and apparently now Liv Morgan is working even though it’s not my cup-of-tea. Morgan got a nice pop from the WWE universe. Vince McMahon is capitalizing on the fact that the drama of soap operas can be very captivating and entertaining.
The what’s-in-the-cage question regarding Erick Rowan will likely be answered at Royal Rumble. Vince McMahon likes him very much and would like to continue his push so fans will be seeing more of him.