October 11, 2020 - Evan Luebbe

10/9/2020: Night 1 of the WWE Draft

October 11, 2020 by Evan Luebbe

The New Day flooding after basically six years; bittersweet!

The first major piece of news is the splitting of The New Day after nearly 6 years together. Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods returned from injury right after Big E defeated Sheamus – virtually guaranteeing his position in WWE as a future world champion by defeating a former four-time world champion, Royal Rumble winner, King of the Ring in The Celtic Warrior. The BootyO’s making an appearance during the match was a nice comedic touch.

Kofi was injured in July when The New Day lost the SmackDown Tag Team Championships to Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro powerbombed him through two tables. Woods sustained a ruptured Achilles tendon in October 2019 at a live event. Nearly a year later, it was great to see him return and look better than ever (he’s only 34 years old, so it makes sense that his body is still able to respond well to that type of gruesome injury).

Immediately after Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods won the SmackDown Tag Team Titles for the seventh time to become 9-time champions overall, it was found out that Kofi and Woods would be moving to Monday Night Raw while E will be staying on SmackDown. Mr. McMahon originally wanted to keep The New Day together until they broke The Dudley Boyz’ record of nine Tag Team Title reigns, but things can change on a dime in WWE. At least this plan was almost seen all the way through.

The Monday Night Messiah is no more; he will be moving to Friday Nights

Seth Rollins will be moving to SmackDown for the first time in his career. The first brand split that took place during his career was in 2016. Rollins was drafted to Monday Night Raw then and has stayed there during each Superstar Shake Up since then and during the 2019 WWE draft. It’s nice that he will finally get to experience a change of scenery.

It’s a positive that Rey and Dominik Mysterio were also drafted to SmackDown so the Mysterio family – including Aalyah – can continue their storyline with Seth. One would reasonably assume that Rollins’ disciple Murphy will also switch brands so those two men can engage in a feud which the Messiah will lose in order to be written off TV for paternity leave (because Becky Lynch is due to give birth to their child in December – congratulations Seth).

Round 2 of the draft; AJ, Naomi and Bianca Belair switch brands

It’s funny because AJ Styles was moved from Raw to SmackDown in June because he had major disagreements with Paul Heyman. That worked out well for a short while – he put over the incoming Matt Riddle and became Intercontinental Champion after returning to The House That AJ Styles Built.

Well as it turns out the Wobbly Walrus (as Bray Wyatt referred to him in the Firefly FunHouse) also moved to SmackDown coinciding with the return of Roman Reigns. As a result, back to Raw AJ goes.

Bianca Belair will be a welcome addition to the blue brand after not finding much of a niche on Monday Night Raw. One has to wonder if The Street Profits will also be switching brands given that WWE typically likes to keep couples together on the same brand whenever possible – Belair and Montez Ford are a couple.

Lars Sullivan was also introduced to the SmackDown fanbase. Vignettes began airing at Survivor Series 2018 to promote his debut, which was scheduled to take place in January 2019 before he left the company for a while due to an anxiety attack. Sullivan got his mental health in order and debuted after WrestleMania 35 – everything seemed to be going smoothly until Sullivan sustained a severe knee injury in June. After spending most of the past 16 months recovering, Sullivan is finally healthy and mentally ready for his push on the main roster to begin.

Miz & Morrison to Raw after a great year on SmackDown

It was announced in December 2019 that John Morrison would be returning to WWE. He made his debut after 8.5 years away from the company and helped his buddy Miz through his time recovering from the emotional wounds The Fiend put him in his family through. Miz & Morrison fit like a glove as a tag team after not being together for over a decade – with some relationships, time doesn’t matter, you pick up where you left off.

Miz & Morrison have become SmackDown Tag Team Champions for a short while, released a rap album, and even wrestled for the Universal Championship in 2020. They were involved in a storyline with Otis once upon a time, but that has apparently dissolved now that they are on separate brands – unfortunately, Mandy Rose is now also on a separate brand as she was moved a couple of weeks before the draft.

WWE; some big money storylines; Roman Reigns leading a stable is imminent; The Rock may be the new endgame of Reigns tenure as Universal Champion

October 11, 2020 by Evan Luebbe

The Mafia-style storyline Roman Reigns mentioned a few weeks ago in which The Tribal Chief portrays a mob boss character and is the leader of a Samoan faction (with The Usos and maybe even a few other members) is beginning to take shape. The Tribal Chief is set to take on Jey Uso inside Hell in a Cell in what will apparently be “the highest stakes match in WWE history” (whatever that means). This will be the second match in the feud between the two cousins, who are also members of the Anoa’i family – right now Jey is buying time for his twin brother Jimmy to heal from an ACL tear he suffered at WrestleMania 36. I would guess that Jimmy might be able to return to WWE in December/January (because ACL’s typically take about 8 to 9 months to heal given the medical technology right now).

By the time Jimmy does ultimately come back, both Usos could be the first members of the stable led by Roman Reigns – being the head of the table and all! A couple of other members may or may not be added a couple of months later. WWE is placing a heavy amount of focus on The Big Dog’s rich Samoan heritage, so it would stand to reason that a potential blockbuster WrestleMania 37 main event lined up by Roman Reigns and The Rock – given the Rock’s deep connection with the Anoa’i family dating back to his grandfather Peter Maivia. If WWE is ever going to do this, now would be the time as The Great One is quickly approaching 50 years old (although with that man’s physique and training habits he might be okay to do the match even at 55).

Where does all this leave The Fiend – because originally, he was the big payoff match for The Tribal Chief’s Universal Title reign. Well first of all if The Rock is ever available to do anything with WWE, Mr. McMahon has essentially no choice other than to make it happen because it is money guaranteed. Secondly, right now The Fiend appears to be beginning a story with Kevin Owens and that will keep him occupied throughout the fall (Alexa Bliss will absolutely be heavily embroiled in that story – becoming a minion of The Fiend). Perhaps both Alexa and Bray Wyatt/The Fiend could be drafted over to Monday Night Raw so they can continue to use all their feud with KO. The rivalry between Reigns and The Fiend will likely manifest at some point (and it is still a possibility that it will happen sooner rather than later – maybe, maybe not). WWE still has quite a bit of time to make this happen considering they are 35 and 33 years old respectively.

The Tribal Chief became aware of the idea to introduce this new incarnation to the WWE universe after watching the movie Gangs of New York and being inspired by the Daniel Day Lewis’ character and how he felt justified to behave the way he did. The alliance with Paul Heyman and the idea of making Roman into the special attraction caps is It off beautifully – The Big Dog is now treated like the box office draw he is, similar to Brock Lesnar (Heyman clearly had a big role in the decision on how to present Roman given that the former executive director of Monday Night Raw has so much input on this storyline).

Reigns talks significantly more than Lesnar, as he should to develop comfortability as a heel and face of the company and Paul is taking a much more subservient role in this chapter of his career. With that said, Reigns is booked almost exactly like Brock. WWE just needs to be somewhat careful to not overexpose Reigns but rather keep doing exactly what they’re doing – because Roman has experienced overexposure several times before and that significantly hurt his development (Charlotte Flair experienced some of this a few months ago and is currently off TV).

A character change might be just what Mustafa Ali needs to become a key element on Monday Night Raw – like Seth Rollins

October 11, 2020 by Evan Luebbe

Mustafa Ali has been officially thrust into the spotlight by emerging as the leader of Retribution. I thought it might turn out to be Kevin Owens since he wasn’t doing much other than getting involved in others’ storylines (which felt somewhat forced). But it doesn’t matter anymore because Owens is oscillating between storylines with Alexa Bliss/The Fiend and Aleister Black but that’s a different story for a different day.

Ali was somewhat involved but not deeply embroiled in the storyline involving Ricochet and Apollo Crews and The Hurt Business. It felt as though Ali was serving as a puppet for Ricochet and Crews to call on when they needed backup against MVP’s stable. This is the situation Mustafa has been in since July 2020 when he was moved to over to Raw from SmackDown.

Let’s retrace our steps now. To do this effectively, we need to go all the way back to the Cruiserweight Classic tournament (called by Daniel Bryan – more on him later in this article) in 2016. Mustafa Ali was defeated in the first round of this tournament, but it materialized into something when he debuted on 205 Live in December 2016. Ali served as one of the top superstars on 205 Live for about two years on the brand, earning multiple matches for the title – including one at WrestleMania 34 (2018) vs. Cedric Alexander and another at Survivor Series 2018 vs. Buddy Murphy (before his name was shortened to just Murphy).

At the end of 2018, Daniel Bryan (the WWE Champion at the time) was fervently asking management to introduce a “hot young babyface” on SmackDown because all the faces who were featured in prominent roles were on the cusp of 40 years old. Mr. McMahon complied with Daniel Bryan’s request because of the level of respect Bryan has earned over the years and Mustafa Ali was brought up to the main roster in December 2018. Elimination Chamber 2019 was an interesting event – KofiMania started there, but that was not even the original plan. The only reason Kofi Kingston was placed in the match is that Ali, who was originally supposed to be in the match, suffered a legitimate injury. It all worked out for the best so it’s neither here nor there.

On March 25, 2019, after a great WWE Championship match at Fastlane, Mustafa Ali’s ring name was shortened to just Ali. For whatever reason, in the last 10 years Mr. McMahon has developed a stigma about having to shorten people’s names (like Antonio Cesaro, Big E Lamgston, Andrade “Cien” Almas, Elias Samsen and Buddy Murphy to name a few). It works for most, but with Ali it took away from the uniqueness of his presentation a little. Ali appeared in the Money in the Bank ladder match, receiving an Intercontinental Championship match as well as competing in the King of the Ring tournament with this name, but it did not stick as he was given the name Mustafa back in November 2019.

Ali was subsequently taken off TV for about nine months before appearing on Monday Night Raw for the first time in his career on July 20, 2020. He struggled to gain momentum for a few months before ultimately turning heel and being revealed as the leader of Retribution (we now know exactly why Ali handed down the offer to join The Hurt Business). This change in character for Mustafa Ali could be exactly what he needs to become a cornerstone member of the WWE main roster. An observer and intuitive member of the WWE universe might have discerned that he might ultimately become a primary attraction based on his tenure as a top cruiserweight.

10/4/2020 – NXT Takeover 31: From the Historic Capitol Wrestling Center

October 11, 2020 by Evan Luebbe

“The Prince” Finn Balor retains his title; Kyle O’Reilly gives an unbelievable performance; Ridge Holland lays the foundation for his first major feud in NXT and his emergence as a major building block for the brand

Nights like these are precisely the reason Finn Balor returned to NXT about a year ago; for matches like these. He proved yet again why he has earned his spot at the top of the card in NXT. I immediately go back to his classic matches with people like Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe. I remember them like they happened yesterday.

Balor’s primary job as a champion – along with the WWE Champion Drew McIntyre and the Universal Champion Roman Reigns – is to elevate other superstars to his level, because his own dream of being champion has obviously already come true. Therefore, being a champion in WWE carries with it the responsibility of being extremely unselfish and being willing to put others over. Balor did an effective job of giving Kyle O’Reilly the most significant spotlight he has ever received in NXT over the past three years. Finn also sustained a broken jaw in two places in one of the hardest-hitting matches in NXT’s history, so the champion will be off TV for about six weeks as he heals. Fortunately, he should be able to talk at limited capacity by the time this is posted.

O’Reilly has mostly been a tag team guy as part of The Undisputed Era along with his partner Bobby Fish. However, Fish is getting a little older and therefore it might be time for Kyle O’Reilly to begin exploring his future as a single star. Also, who can forget the end of the NXT Title match in which Ridge Holland brought O’Reilly’s buddy Adam Cole out to the ringside area – presumably after attacking him – laying the foundation for Holland’s first major feud in NXT. Holland could be one of the primary focal points of NXT for the next several years – he’s a legitimately tough man who played rugby throughout Europe for years before ultimately signing with NXT in 2018. Unfortunately, Holland suffered what looks to be a very serious knee injury on NXT TV this week, so his big push will be delayed.

In other news, when Adam Cole turned babyface at Takeover: 30 in August of this year, the entire Undisputed Era underwent the same character change as their leader. This makes sense for continuity in the storyline. In general, people’s perceptions of reality are very malleable – because two months ago I would have told anyone that I could never envision this group turning face because they were such great heels just two months ago.

Candice LeRae may be onto something in her heel presentation, but Johnny Gargano is a better face; Io Shirai is right where she needs to be; Damian Priest is budding into a gem; Ember Moon may want to change her character to gain more momentum in her second run in NXT

Despite the fact that she took a loss to Io Shirai for the NXT Women’s Championship, Candice LeRae appears to have found her niche as a heel. This was a brilliant story to tell because it’s easy to forget that Shirai defeated LeRae in a number one contender’s ladder match back in April. Candice resonates more with the NXT universe as a heel than her husband Johnny Gargano. Johnny fits so much better as a phase simply because he resonated so profoundly with fans in that role first. Gargano might have more success in his career whenever WWE decides to orchestrate for him to revert back to his face incarnation – while his wife may be onto something with this heel character. Maybe there can ultimately be some sort of tension that escalates between the couple.

Johnny Gargano’s presentation right now may not necessarily be ideal (although it’s not bad by any means – just experimenting with what works), but the presentation of Damian Priest is spot on right now – this guy is a massive superstar in the not-too-distant future (considering he’s already 38 years old). In terms of look and in-ring style, he is very similar to the face of the entire company Roman Reigns, which is very fortunate for Damian. A long-term storyline between these two in the coming years could be absolute money.

Io Shirai is without a doubt one of the best workers in all of NXT, so it’s absolutely the right call to keep the title on her for an extended time. Now that Candice LeRae is out of the way, Shirai can move on to Ember Moon.

There have been advertisements for weeks about a main roster superstar possibly returning to NXT (a former champion). Ember Moon fits the criteria as she was NXT Women’s Champion from 2017 – 2018. Moon was promoted to the main roster in WWE in April 2018 and went on to spend the next year and a half in limbo without a lot of creative direction, before suffering a career-threatening Achilles injury in September 2019 which kept her out of action until this point. It is fitting that she would return to the brand where she experienced the most success – she was a little lost on the main roster, so it makes sense for WWE to orchestrate her return to prominence in NXT. Sometimes you need to go back a step to take two steps forward (it’s clearly working right now for Finn Balor).

The Time Splitter Kushida and Isaiah “Swerve” Scott both delivered breakout performances at Takeover: 31 – easily the best performance for both men since they both debuted in NXT (April 2019)

Velveteen Dream gives incredible performances at every Takeover (the crazy hair was a nice visual), but Kushida has led to the story significantly with some great storytelling. This match probably had the least buildup considering it was a non-title match and the storyline leading to the match just began a few weeks ago – but I give the men in the match credit for doing the best they could with the material they were given.

Isaiah “Swerve” Scott said all that needed to be said during the NXT Cruiserweight Championship match with his facial expressions – which were not too much or too little. Santos Escobar is budding into a very nice heel, although it does seem somewhat odd due to the fact that most luchadors are typically positioned as faces in WWE. But the company could be testing the waters to see how it works.

Another thing that is positive to see is that the Cruiserweight Championship has received much more focus since it was officially recognized as a title exclusive to NXT about a year ago. The cruiserweight superstars are incredibly talented – maybe they will no longer need to make transitions to the main roster like Murphy did to receive prominence in storylines.

Another excellent marketing idea conceived by Triple H and Shawn Michaels was to bring back Halloween Havoc. This idea was most likely generated from the fact that the In Your House events were already revitalized in 2020 with Takeover: In Your House in June. On a personal note, when I think of Halloween Havoc the match from the 1990s between Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio immediately comes to mind – phenomenal (no disrespect to AJ Styles) match, Rey and Eddie clearly had a special bond.