Evan Luebbe, Author at Evan Luebbe

More Royal Rumble Implications

January 19, 2020 by Evan Luebbe

Several more Royal rumble matches were confirmed this week. The Miz and John Morrison have gained the upper hand on The New Day since Miz and Morrison have beaten both Kofi Kingston and Big E in singles matches. The newly reunited team of Miz and Morrison will provide very credible challengers for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships and that should provide more uncertainty than usual that The New Day will retain their titles.

Lacey Evans has now all but officially confirmed her SmackDown Women’s Championship match against Bayley, pinning her in a non-title match. Sheamus is also confirmed for a match for the first time in over nine months against Shorty G, playing his stereotypical role of the bully.

Roman Reigns also won his tables match against Robert Roode and subsequently chose the stipulation for his Royal Rumble match with King Corbin. Hopefully, this will be the final match of their feud. The match will now officially be a falls count anywhere match.

Everyone’s heart goes out to the Johnson family after the death of Rocky Johnson. He had to be extremely proud that it is now perfectly normal to have black tag team champions and WWE, with The New Day currently being champions and being seven-time champions (he and Tony Atlas were the first black men to ever hold these accolades).

Progression in Storylines

January 19, 2020 by Evan Luebbe

DDP just seems to fit on TNT and not anywhere else, because his gimmick hasn’t gotten over very well since his WCW days nearly 18 years ago. He’s not bad as a performer for an old guy. MJF is also maybe the most unlikable heel in the history of professional wrestling. As JR put it, he’s, “A boil on the ass of life.”

It’s completely believable that Chris Jericho nearly took out one of John Moxley’s eyes with the AEW Title because that belt is huge. Sammy Guevara is playing the character of an absolute pig who hits on every (somewhat) pretty girl he sees extremely well.

Darby Allin and “The Bastard” Pac both deservedly got a chance to shine since they are two of the most over acts in the company. Pac is simply very good at portraying a conniving heel, but Allin will be a huge star for years to come because no one has ever had a gimmick quite like his. He creates an almost Gothic aura throughout the entire arena. It is something different and that’s why it will get over (check that, it already is).

Hangman Adam Page’s imminent heel turn is creating quite a bit of suspense; AEW is doing a good job of taking its time in revealing the final transformation. The fact that he and Kenny Omega are now number one contenders for the AEW Tag Team Championships lends itself very well towards telling the story.

In spite of the fact that two singles wrestlers became the challengers for titles (which hurts the credibility of the tag team division a little), it is still the primary bright spot of AEW.

Because Cody is a top executive in AEW, he is at a place with fans in which he can do no wrong. Because of this, he can take 10 lashings from a belt from MJF or forfeit the opportunity to ever challenge for the AEW World Championship, without having his credibility hurt too much. His mic work is superb, and he delved into the psychological processes MJF possibly went through in thinking of each one.

The women’s division in AEW is slowly but surely getting there in terms of character development. Kenny Omega will elevate the division in due time and get them the spotlight they deserve – it just had a tough time getting off the ground.

New No. 1 Contender

January 19, 2020 by Evan Luebbe

NXT UK Takeover: Blackpool II had a great ending that perfectly set out the Worlds Collide event airing January 25 on the WWE Network. The Undisputed Era invaded after the WWE United Kingdom Championship match.

NXT has now graduated to being considered WWE’s third brand. NXT UK also appears to have graduated to being considered as WWE’s developmental brand. Many of the company’s younger superstars have been assigned to NXT UK. Superstars from all over the world – not just the UK – are coming to this brand. This may indeed be Triple H’s grander vision for NXT UK, and it’s starting to take shape.

Superstars from the United Kingdom were put over superstars from the United States for probably the first time as The Grizzled Young Veterans went over The Time Splitters to advance in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. The better match of the night was between the team of Matt Riddle and Pete Dunne going over on Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster (who have shown serious potential to connect with fans).

Bianca Belair more than deserved a second opportunity at the NXT Women’s Championship at this stage in her career. There is no reason she shouldn’t be able to put on an instant classic with someone like Rhea Ripley at Takeover: Portland on February 16.

In other news, Tommaso Ciampa should be getting his life back, because he never lost it.

Value of Lio Rush

January 19, 2020 by Evan Luebbe

Lio Rush played a massive role in getting Bobby Lashley over during the first part of his second stint in WWE with his excellent work on the microphone. Rush’s in-ring ability is also some of the best in the entire company (as seen this past week on NXT) despite only being 25 years old.

Murphy Joining with Rollins

January 19, 2020 by Evan Luebbe

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.

Title Matches for WrestleMania Being Set in the Royal Rumble Match

January 19, 2020 by Evan Luebbe

Roman Reigns will most likely win the Royal Rumble Match and face The Fiend in what should be the main event. Reigns will probably then go on to hold the Universal Title for an extended period. The WWE Championship match should definitely be set up since Brock Lesnar is participating in the match. He shouldn’t earn the victory but rather be eliminated by his ultimate challenger at the biggest event of the year (by someone like Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens, or Samoa Joe).

Reigns – Corbin Update

January 19, 2020 by Evan Luebbe

It looks like Roman Reigns and King Corbin will be working double duty at Royal Rumble. They’ll have a singles match with one another before they both enter the Royal Rumble match. Hopefully, their feud will end here because it already feels like it has dragged on a little (since November). It could also free both men up to take on a new competitor at the February Pay-Per-View right before ‘Mania (which isn’t technically Pay-Per-View anymore). It’ll serve to freshen things up for the WWE universe.

Reigns Back on Top

January 12, 2020 by Evan Luebbe

It’s about time The Big Dog reclaimed his yard in WWE. Vince McMahon did not forget about Roman Reigns (his handpicked face of the company). Instead, he may have swallowed his pride and recognized that he elected to push Roman as a top babyface a little too early for the WWE universe to fully buy into. Now, after Reigns’ second successful triumph over leukemia, Vince spent 2019 building him up as a face in a believable manner.

Now that it’s 2020, Reigns is ready to face The Fiend at WrestleMania and probably defeat him. This time, The Big Dog deserves an extended run as Universal Champion, because unbelievably, he has not held a major championship for more than about two months.

The Miz’s heel turn is now in full swing, making him the fourth man The Fiend has changed as a person and the third man he has turned heel (the other three being Finn Balor, Seth Rollins, and Daniel Bryan). The reason the storyline with The Fiend/Bray Wyatt is so intriguing is that there are so many different layers to it. John Morrison is also a de facto heel by association with Miz.

It certainly looks like we are headed towards a SmackDown Women’s Championship match between Lacey Evans and Bayley, who is working surprisingly well as a heel. I think it’s safe to say that no one was quite sure how, or if, she would be taken as a threat, but she is playing the role in a surprisingly believable manner.

The writing is on the wall for WWE to book an Intercontinental Championship match at Royal Rumble between the champion Shinsuke Nakamura and Braun Strowman. Strowman is pretty much guaranteed to win the recently redesigned IC Title and secure his first singles title in WWE (which is unbelievable). Maybe this could precipitate Nakamura undergoing a change of heart and switching his character to the babyface side of the equation.

In theory, Strowman should be taken way more seriously than he is today. One would think by default that he would be perceived as a major threat to win the men’s Royal Rumble match, but in reality, that idea would seem out of context with his character. It’s incredibly hard to believe, because The Monster Among Men should be (at least one would think) booked similarly to how Charlotte Flair is in Royal Rumble matches

Otis needs to become a major champion in WWE one day because he has money written all over him. It might take seven or eight years to build him as a legit title contender – but it will happen considering that he’s only 28 years old. He will be a force to be reckoned with in WWE for many years to come, but he will likely serve as a comedy act for the next several years.

His storyline with Mandy Rose is the best story going in WWE right now. The WWE universe resonates with it because there is some sort of unspoken quality about Otis that makes him very easy to root for. And the whole gimmick with the cakes is hilarious.

Lee’s Opportunity

January 12, 2020 by Evan Luebbe

Keith Lee more than deserved to be put over by Triple H and earn an NXT North American Championship match against Roderick Strong on January 22. Another side note from this match was the fact that Cameron Grimes is being elevated into the upper echelon of NXT.

The Johnny Gargano injury only serves to provide more back story to his rivalry with Finn Balor. This should be an epic confrontation at Takeover: Portland.

Triple H is in the process of adding yet another layer to NXT by incorporating the men and women of NXT UK. Perhaps this is one of his goals for 2020. I would imagine his ultimate vision is to establish NXT UK on the same footing as NXT currently is here in the States.

Austin Theory is undoubtedly the future of NXT. He is so young – barely into his 20s. And if you didn’t see the Evolve special on the WWE Network in July, you missed out, because Theory became the undisputed Evolve champion unifying two separate titles.

Attempted Wedding Salvage

January 12, 2020 by Evan Luebbe

It may be high time Brock Lesnar uses his nearly God-like status within WWE to be unselfish and ensure the future of the company by putting over a young star–it’s long overdue. Personally, I love Lesnar and the uncomfortable silence he generates from the WWE universe provides a feel to WWE events that no other superstar does. He just shouldn’t be a world champion and hold titles hostage if he is not going to defend them on a regular basis.

WWE keeps him around and featured to the degree that he is because Vince McMahon obviously views him as a major draw. Unfortunately, this does not show much in WWE’s key business metrics like TV ratings or WWE Network subscriber count. The faith from the company in Lesnar is certainly there, but hard evidence is lacking.

One must admit that WWE has exponentially grown as a company since the return of The Beast in 2012 with him being featured in a very prominent role during that entire period. Because of this, it’s reasonable to conclude that there’s some major mainstream appeal to his presence as much as some fans may not want to admit.

It’d be fantastic for WWE to book a Messiah vs. Messiah match at ‘Mania between the Monday Night Messiah Seth Rollins and the Messiah of the backbreaker Roderick Strong. These two men are fully capable of putting on an instant classic with just about anyone. The return of The Big Show was also a fantastic surprise, and he looks great.

Drew McIntyre is clearly letting loose with personality and is getting over with fans as a babyface in a major way. This is the one dimension of his personality that he has lacked over the years, and the sky is the limit in 2020 if he can continue to harness this element. The Claymore Kick while holding the mic on Monday was a nice touch as well.

It’s also worth noting that a face turn for McIntyre would make him a viable candidate to win the Royal Rumble and face Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 36. I not saying this will happen by any means – it probably won’t – but it’s a beautiful piece of fantasy booking.

The Women’s Division in WWE has lost a bit of steam since Ronda Rousey left the company after WrestleMania 35. She is due to return at any time after nine months away. Since then, Becky Lynch has been as hot as ever in terms of her character. She is deserving of every opportunity she gets as a result of finding the perfect gimmick.

One has to miss the time when Bobby Lashley was working with Lio Rush. The Man of the Hour significantly elevated Lashley’s status within WWE, compensating for his believability issue on the microphone.

Side Note: There was also a development in the “Eric Rowan – What’s in the Cage” storyline that creates intrigue and makes fans start to care about what’s in the cage. Now that Mojo Rawley (a superstar with slightly more credibility) freaked out over what was in the cage, this adds another key element to the story. Now people are now afraid of whatever is in there. This story might go somewhere rather than being just another time-filler on Raw.