Evan Luebbe

Potential Retirement Matches for Goldberg and The Undertaker

Goldberg and The Undertaker may want to consider retiring after they put The Big Dog and AJ Styles over at WrestleMania 36. It makes total sense that neither he nor The Undertaker wanted to retire after the debacle that was Super ShowDown last year, but neither man can live up to his own standards in the ring anymore for more than about five minutes.

From Bill’s perspective, he has done what he came back 3 1/2 years ago to accomplish. His son got the opportunity to see him wrestle several times, and he became Universal Champion not once but twice. It would be the perfect way for him to retire by putting over Roman Reigns. Roman almost, and probably should have, retired The Undertaker at WrestleMania 33. I am not ashamed at all to say I cried after that match because I thought The Undertaker was done. It would have been a perfect sendoff because it was so emotional.

Shawn Michaels was retired by him in 2010, so it would be a fantastic story for The Phenom to be retired 10 years later by The Phenomenal One AJ Styles – who Taker believes is the current-day version of HBK. Styles has even gone so far as to call himself Mr. WrestleMania.

Randy Orton’s Pacing to his Feud with Edge

The Viper is a master of playing the role of a deranged sociopath and giving the WWE universe enough content to emotionally connect with for a week but not too much as to where they can’t digest it. Orton’s rivalry with Edge may have begun over a month ago, but The Apex Predator has done a brilliant job of spacing out the events leading up to their eventual match which will come to fruition at WrestleMania. The WWE universe is still very engaged with the rivalry and is clamoring every week to find out what happens next. Somehow, it still feels like the feud just started. That means fans are interested in what is happening, which is the entire point of sports entertainment

Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley at the Show of Shows

This match is being orchestrated to create excitement surrounding WWE’s third brand so they can hopefully get the edge in the Wednesday Night Wars with AEW (which NXT is consistently losing). This is probably why nearly all the build for this match is taking place on NXT TV as opposed to Monday Night Raw where The Queen resides. Flair even had a match with Bianca Belair on February 26 as a special attraction to get a pop in ratings.

As far as the match itself goes, Charlotte Flair will probably put Rhea over, because, at this point in her career, a victory for Charlotte would not do much to further her status. It goes without saying that it’s already cemented. The best way she can have an impact is by putting over young talent that will be around for at least the next decade. The 23-year-old Ripley is an excellent candidate.

The 2020 Women’s Royal Rumble winner has picked up all the marquee victories she needs to cement her legacy as one of the greatest of all time; now the way she can be of most service to WWE is by elevating younger talent to that level.

Categories NXT

The Dynamic Between Vince McMahon and John Cena

John Cena will now have about five weeks to elevate the status and mystique of The Fiend rather than only two weeks or so. Way to be decisive on the changes to the SmackDown side of the WrestleMania card Mr. McMahon! Sometimes it’s best to let situations marinate and give the audience a chance to look forward to something over a period of time rather than just giving it to them right away. The no-nonsense approach which was used to set up the match was a nice change of pace, given that it’s not usually the method WWE chooses to use. The energy Cena brings to every arena he enters should also be noted by incoming talent.

John brings exactly what Mr. McMahon envisioned when he purchased the company from his father, and that is raw emotion. The strength of human emotion when used for the right reasons has immense power, and Vince McMahon has capitalized on that to build an empire for himself. I believe his ultimate goal is to not only build his own empire but enhance the lives of many others by bringing this level of energy into their lives on a regular basis, so much so that it becomes their dominant state. And maybe, just maybe, they can channel this energy and use it to create a better experience for the world at large.

WWE’s Superb Marketing Decision

It was a very smart marketing decision by WWE to not burn up people’s attention spans by announcing the major WrestleMania 36 plans for SmackDown over a month in advance and capitalizing while anticipation is hottest because of John Cena’s return. This will create as much anticipation for Mania as possible and give fans plenty of time to ruminate about booking possibilities and the potential direction the company could go after Mania. This decision was subtle and will go unnoticed by the large majority of the WWE universe. I guarantee it will be a big reason why this installment of WrestleMania will be very successful.

I feel the company misses out on the potential for massive profits when they don’t advertise matches for an adequate amount of time before the biggest show of the year. When they advertise WrestleMania matches about two weeks in advance, fans don’t have enough time to digest what has even happened, let alone become attached to the storyline.

A bad example of this was two years ago at WrestleMania 34 when John Cena had an impromptu match with The Undertaker (which he obviously lost). However, a good example of this has occurred this year because the WWE universe knows about 8 or 9 matches that will occur. WWE is clearly past the era where the WrestleMania main event can’t be determined a year in advance because there are too many moving parts.

Samoa Joe’s Rough few Months Continue

Samoa Joe has reportedly been suspended 30 days due to a wellness policy violation on top of the head injury he suffered while filming a WWE commercial. Joe is now the third superstar to violate the wellness policy in about three months. However, WWE may be simply giving Joe a slap on the wrist, because if they were serious about this punishment they would have waited until he is healed from his injury to begin his suspension. The company, however, is not doing this – they most likely want to give the Samoan Submission Machine the opportunity to compete at WrestleMania. He has already missed the biggest show of the year three of the four years he has been on the main roster.

Joe has had an incredibly messy few months with untimely injuries piling up and now a wellness policy violation – his first offense (no one has violated more than one). Nonetheless, Mr. McMahon will have the option of including on the Mania card if he so chooses. Samoa Joe is eligible to return to WWE later this month, which gives him a little time to build interest for a match on April 5 in Tampa Bay.

Johnny Gargano’s Heel Turn

It was a smart booking decision by Triple H and Shawn Michaels in NXT to turn Johnny Wrestling heel, and to do it gradually rather than abruptly, for two primary reasons:

  • It gave fans time to acclimate so that Johnny could make it a rather seamless character transition, and;
  • It serves to provide a new wrinkle to the seemingly never-ending rivalry between Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa.

Gargano was a massive babyface for such an extended amount of time that Triple H and Shawn Michaels had essentially no choice but to make this transition gradual. No one would view it as being plausible if it happened on a dime. He developed edge to his character and incorporated the wearable aspect over a period of a few months, and it worked very well. The NXT universe was willing to accept Gargano’s term and found it to be very believable.

Tommaso Ciampa has also essentially turned face for the first time since his DIY days as a tag team champion with Gargano. This is very possible given the timing of a reunion of their team at Worlds Collide. This switch in roles for the two men will give fans a reason to remain invested in their story as I can’t even count at this point how many matches they’ve had over the last three years. Gargano and Ciampa can finally meet at WrestleMania weekend like they were scheduled to do last year but couldn’t due to the unfortunate timing of Ciampa’s neck injury.

WWE SmackDown 2/28/2020

Cena’s Return!

Even Roman Reigns himself has admitted to WWE insider Ryan Satin that he would rather face a future star like The Fiend at Mania over Goldberg. It’s nothing against Goldberg, but he has really nothing to gain – the goal will be solely to put Reigns over as the face of WWE, which the company has tried and failed to accomplish multiple times before.

The Fiend attacked John Cena to set up a WrestleMania clash between them. WWE had the opportunity to book Cena to put Bray Wyatt over six years ago at WrestleMania 30, but the company decided against it. Bray Wyatt is more than ready to get the nod from WWE’s former Franchise Player after lasting a decade plus.

It will be interesting to see whether The Fiend’s loss to Goldberg impacts his WWE status as No. 1 merch seller. It doesn’t matter if he lost the Universal Championship because he is so compelling as a character that he does not need a title to make himself relevant.

Kofi Kingston had a compelling match with Robert Roode, which was surprisingly close given that the match had no stakes. Speaking of great matches on February 28, Jimmy Uso’s Samoan destroyer on John Morrison was unbelievable. WWE is clearly taking a few pointers from AEW, because fast-paced action like this is exactly what AEW brings every week.

Speaking of AEW, Matt Hardy should debut soon as the exultant one of The Dark Order. It’s a dead giveaway that Matt Hardy will reveal himself as the exultant one after the leaders of The Dark Order ended their promo this past week on Dynamite with the word “obsolete.” It’s a word Hardy used all the time when he brought his Woken gimmick to WWE in 2018 (which he used in TNA in 2016 and called it Broken).

Super Showdown 2/27/2020

Goldberg defeats “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt to win the Universal Championship for a Second Time

I believe this was a mistake and a case of Mr. McMahon wanting to revert to his nostalgic attitude he has exhibited in the past rather than sticking to the plan of building the persona of The Fiend. This victory for Goldberg doesn’t do very much for his reputation at this stage in his career, and it basically kills the mystique of The Fiend before WWE even got a chance to showcase its new toy at The Fiend’s first WrestleMania. So now the Saudi Arabia shows are proven to matter with the Universal Title changing hands in the kingdom twice in a row, but the title changes need to make sense within the context of WWE storylines. They cannot be a detriment to one of the company’s biggest potential stars like The Fiend.

The company is doing its best to erase the narrative that these Saudi Arabia shows exist in their own realm of WWE. The company does have time to right its wrong, so the WWE universe does not have to worry too much yet. Perhaps this is just a small hiccup on The Fiend’s road to WrestleMania.

WWE has grown so much from a business standpoint over the last 20 years despite the product not getting much better largely because of the company’s reputation it has built over the years. Mr. McMahon seems to be less and less willing, as time goes by, to create new stars. Maybe he should take advice from Chris Jericho and not be so reliant on nostalgia. The wrestling business is ever-changing, so one needs to constantly reinvent themselves to maintain success.

A perfect example of this is Kevin Owens. With the charisma he possesses combined with his in-ring ability, there is no reason why he shouldn’t be booked like a top-five star in WWE. But instead, WWE is reluctant to pull the trigger with him and is not quite sure what to do with him. Owens is being drastically misused, and rather than putting him in a top-level singles match with Seth Rollins at Mania, the company is hesitant because of the negative reaction it might get.

It’s as if WWE can easily get superstars to a certain level, but when it’s time to make the big jump into mainstream, the company gets cold feet and doesn’t know what to do with the talent.

The Undertaker gets a Victory in the Tuwaiq Mountain Trophy Gauntlet Match

Taker’s perspective: This was a fantastic way to begin building to a WrestleMania 36 match with AJ Styles (this generation’s Shawn Michaels – according to Taker. Pretty hard to disagree with since Michaels and Styles look like carbon copies of each other in the ring). It makes perfect sense for The Undertaker to make his presence felt in Saudi Arabia, as WWE always makes certain to bring back a few superstars from the past at these events.

AJ Styles’ perspective: The Phenomenal One got over in a major way as a heel by dancing when R – Truth was injured and orchestrating for The OC to attack Rey Mysterio before he even got the opportunity to walk out. Styles and The Undertaker at WrestleMania will have serious expectations to live up to because everyone will be comparing the match to Taker’s encounters with Shawn Michaels in 2009 and 2010.

R – Truth’s perspective: Truth was the sentimental favorite to win. He has done everything asked of him over the years and it would have been nice to see him get rewarded in the form of a high- profile victory. But it wasn’t meant to be. Maybe he will get the opportunity to work with Brock Lesnar before ‘Mania like The Beast has requested.

Mysterio’s perspective: Rey Mysterio is nearing his time to retire from in-ring competition. This will be a sad day, but his goal is clearly to put over as much young talent as possible and leave the business in a better state than when he was introduced to it. Styles is not young, but he is younger than Mysterio. The Master of the 619 will ultimately pass the torch to his son Dominic to carry his legacy.

Bobby Lashley’s perspective: The Almighty appears lost and like he is lacking direction for his character without his rival Rusev (who is in the midst of contract negotiations, and WWE probably doesn’t want to move forward with The Bulgarian Brute until they have him under a new contract).

Andrade’s suspension is now over and El Idolo can now resume his United States Championship program with Humberto Carillo. And no one cares anymore about what is in Erick Rowan’s cage because WWE has waited too long to reveal it.

The Miz and John Morrison defeat The New Day to become the new SmackDown Tag Team Champions

It was a smart decision by WWE to go with the fresher act to win the tag team titles. Both superstars are older and have been together before about 10 years ago, but most current WWE fans don’t remember that (or if they do, they are diehard fans). Most of them know that Miz and Morrison were going to win the titles eventually, so the company figured “why wait?” The New Day’s credibility is not hurt at all by this defeat. It will provide the WWE universe with new perspective if they are chasing the titles as opposed to holding them.

 

Angel Garza defeats his Cousin Humberto Carillo

This was a guarantee that Garza will become a regular on Monday Night Raw, and rightfully so because he has an immense amount of potential.

Seth Rollins and Murphy retain the Raw Tag Team Championships against The Street Profits

The Street Profits are an extremely entertaining duo and Montez Ford appears to be the ultimate breakout star of the team (because he is more verbal and has an awe-inspiring vertical leap), but it’s a smart idea to keep the titles with the most dominant faction on Monday Night Raw right now. For now, everything on Raw should revolve around the Monday Night Messiah and his disciples.

However, what might be more interesting is the possibility of Rollins and Murphy dropping the Raw Tag Team Championships to The AOP so Rollins and Paul Heyman can devote more attention to furthering Seth’s singles feud with Kevin Owens (who seems to be in creative limbo right now). This could lead to an ultimate match between them at WrestleMania.

Mansoor defeats Dolph Ziggler

WWE has proven that they will and absolutely should bring out the hometown hero Mansoor every time they go to Saudi Arabia. His next challenge will be to bring that success to the United States.

Brock Lesnar retains his WWE Championship against Ricochet

This is exactly what everyone expected. Realistically, Ricochet never stood a chance against The Beast Incarnate. He found out exactly why Lesnar is a draw, which is the answer to the question “why not me?”

Roman Reigns defeats King Corbin in a Steel Cage

This rivalry went on far too long, but I’m just thankful it has finally come to a definitive conclusion (even if it could have ended at Royal Rumble). Both men will now be able to turn their attention to WrestleMania and their respective programs. Corbin’s is undecided to my knowledge, but Reigns will look to win the Elimination Chamber match and go on to face Goldberg for the Universal Championship at the Show of Shows. The primary goal of this rivalry was to ensure that Reigns is still a fan favorite heading into WrestleMania, so it was a success from that perspective.

WWE’s goal by the time WrestleMania 36 comes around is to have Roman come out a huge babyface. Maybe Mr. McMahon is worried about having him go against a heel the audience loves so much in The Fiend. Perhaps instead Mr. McMahon will go with a Reigns-Goldberg encounter. I’m not saying I love it, but it may be a passing-of-the-torch moment between Goldberg and Reigns.

Bayley retains the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Naomi

Naomi and Carmella have been most likely buying time over the past several weeks for Sasha Banks to heal from her ankle injury. Then she can begin her program leading to ‘Mania on April 5 with Bayley, which was supposed to start right after Royal Rumble.

Jon Moxley on Unrestricted

Jon Moxley was utterly fascinating on AEW’s new Unrestricted podcast hosted by AEW referee Aubrey Edwards and commentator Tony Schiavone. He opened up about topics like the dynamic between him and his wife Renee Young – with her being in WWE and working separately from Jon, how his name originated, and when he felt he hit rock bottom as far as character direction with WWE.

AEW fans would be reasonable to anticipate Moxley winning the AEW World Championship from Chris Jericho at Revolution, and if not, he should get the nod at “All In” in May. He is simply over and beloved by fans all over the world too much to ignore. His regular appearances in Japan have him embraced all over the world.

Menu
Disclosure: This site is not affiliated with WWE – just a diehard fan writing commentary on events.
 
Copyright 2021 Evan Luebbe. All rights reserved.