July 25, 2020 - Evan Luebbe

AEW Dynamite 7/22/2020

July 25, 2020 by Evan Luebbe

Respect to Cody

The reason what Cody has done since winning the TNT Championship at Double or Nothing is so commendable is because he is deliberately making an effort to work on the one aspect of himself as a wrestler that has been criticized at times. This proves that Cody has listened to his critics, taking a hard look at himself in the mirror, and come to the conclusion that the critics have been right to a certain degree. The American Nightmare has therefore taken those remarks to heart and responded by diligently working on the in-ring part of his game. That has to be respected because almost no one would have the integrity to cross-examine themselves honestly like that.

Another thing Cody is doing which is very admirable is that he has recognized that he has such a positive reputation in the professional wrestling business that he has the ability to essentially put over rising talents like Eddie Kingston and elevate them without actually losing his TNT Championship. Not only is he recognizing that but he’s doing it and in the process helping to raise his own stock as well as a young talent.

It’s amazing to watch Matt and Nick Jackson Work

Another reason why many wrestling fans appreciate AEW so much is that the company is willing to do more rugged, workmen-style schemes and include them in the production of Dynamite. That was on display on July 22 when The Butcher and The Blade began their Falls Count Anywhere match with The Young Bucks in a kitchen resembling a butcher shop. If every member of the creative team is talking about an idea and they think it sounds cool, they are willing to try it out. The worst-case scenario is that it doesn’t work – and if that is the case, the idea it is thrown away and the company never has to use it again. But if it does work, the idea is kept for future reference – and sometimes it’s even a home run unexpectedly.

Kairi Sane Returning to Japan

July 25, 2020 by Evan Luebbe

Kairi Sane has officially wrapped up her tenure with WWE at least for now – primarily because she would like to return to Japan to be with her husband – which is totally understandable. The only thing that is somewhat disappointing about this is that she appeared to be hitting her stride in the ring. She had a victory over Bayley on the July 20 Raw episode and is expected to make her final appearance on the July 27 Raw event – because WWE taped two episodes on July 20. A reason for Sane’s departure will likely be given, and she might even put over another superstar because that is customary for superstars who are leaving the company.

WWE Pay-Per-View

July 25, 2020 by Evan Luebbe

The Horror Show at WWE Extreme Rules

WWE has titled this PPV Extreme Rules since 2010. Typically, the company likes to change the name of a particular event every 10 or 15 years to keep it resonating with younger members of the WWE universe. This mid-July timeframe is typically the slowest point of the calendar year for WWE because everyone in the company is gearing up for SummerSlam; 2020 is no exception. Fortunately, WWE is doing well with the pandemic – with this new landscape for businesses, every company is having to come up with creative ways to profit during this time.

One creative concept WWE has used to great effect is the practice of filming matches in different locations as if the match were taking place in a movie (The Undertaker’s Boneyard match with AJ Styles comes to mind). Bray Wyatt has been involved in two of these matches that were filmed like a movie – the Firefly FunHouse match with John Cena at WrestleMania and this Swamp Fight with Braun Strowman. Neither of these matches played like a normal match (the NXT Championship match at Takeover: In Your House between Velveteen Dream and Adam Cole had a typical pinfall finish) – both finished in a way that was not typical, but it looked like Wyatt definitely had the upper hand at the end of both matches.

Return of The Fiend

It will be particularly interesting to see how WWE chooses to present Wyatt and Strowman going forward – because the Swamp Fight on July 19 was technically a Universal Championship match. The WWE universe has to remember the original plan from the beginning of the year was for Roman Reigns to be Universal Champion right now. Vince McMahon, Bruce Prichard, Kevin Dunn, along with everyone else who helps in the creative process definitely has earned applause for having the ability to pivot and make Strowman’s run with the Universal Title much better than anyone could have expected.

Drew McIntyre finishes the Chapter of his Career surrounding Dolph Ziggler

It was a good idea for WWE to do a program, even if a short one, between Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler to capitalize on the amount of history they have (the two men have spent the better part of the last two years in storylines together). However, Dolph never had a legitimate chance to win the WWE Championship. McIntyre has all of the physical ability and the level-headed demeanor to be able to handle the responsibility of being WWE Champion and hold a primary space in the company for a long time.

Women’s Championship Matches

Sasha Banks could be Raw Women’s Champion because WWE is prominently featuring both she and Bayley. Nikki Cross is also absolutely on track to be a Women’s Champion in WWE, but just not quite yet – she needs just a little more experience.

Both Seth Rollins and Rey Mysterio played their respective roles very well in the Eye for an Eye match.

It was somewhat brutal and uncomfortable to watch which was the intention. Even if Mysterio’s career does continue (and there’s a good chance it will), it could be a perfect and unselfish way to go out if he put over someone who is already a big star in WWE like Rollins. Mysterio could allow Rollins to retire him at SummerSlam 2020, or WWE could choose to wait until WrestleMania 37 (cross your fingers the WWE universe will return for that one in Los Angeles), similar to the way King Corbin ended Kurt Angle’s career at WrestleMania 35.

Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura seem to be bringing the best out of each other as performers

This holds true both physically and in terms of personality because the vibe feels loose between the two wrestlers. Both men are comfortable working together and trust one another – one can feel that off of them. That’s why Vince McMahon intelligently opted to make them SmackDown Tag Team Champions, bringing The New Day’s eighth tag team title reign in WWE to a close. This means that Mr. McMahon’s vision for The New Day of making them 10-time tag team champions is 80% complete.

WWE had two options with Matt Riddle:

Book him in a match with King Corbin at The Horror Show at Extreme Rules so Riddle can quickly move on to a program for SummerSlam in which he wins the IC Title from AJ Styles. The company decided not to go in this direction, but it was still an option.
Go right into a program between Riddle and Corbin at SummerSlam while still leaving the door open for an IC Championship rematch between Matt Riddle and AJ Styles. That looks like the plan at least right after the Pay-Per-View, but the plan is always subject to change in WWE because there are so many moving parts.