Evan Luebbe, Author at Evan Luebbe

Rhea the Champion

December 23, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

NXT’S product mirrored that of AEW Dynamite during the first segment of the night, however, NXT did it a little better. It’s not that the quality of these two matches was drastically different, it’s just that the opening match on NXT felt like it carried a little more weight since the NXT Championship was on the line. The limited commercial interruptions also made it feel like a Takeover match.

Adam Cole is more than worthy at this point to be champion. The return of Johnny Gargano is much appreciated as NXT is clearly a lesser product without its heart and soul.

Rhea Ripley winning the NXT Women’s Championship and ending Shayna Baszler’s oppressive 14- month-long reign as champion was clearly the highlight of the night. Baszler has been women’s champion for most of the past two years, so it was time for a change. The 23-year-old Ripley will be a welcome change of pace to the women’s division in NXT. Baszler may get a call sooner rather than later to move over to the main roster because she’s done about everything there is for her to do on this brand.

Damian Priest clearly has a higher ceiling than Killian Dain and was hampered in the scenario by 50/50 booking.

New Year, New Decade, Same WWE

December 23, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

One thing I have loved about following WWE throughout the past decade is that storylines and products are still basically the same – superstars rotate, management changes and storylines shift but… there’s a “consistency” to it that is oddly comforting.

The storylines that will take Raw into the new decade are: The relationship and possible marriage between Bobby Lashley and the narcissistic Lana (it appears the WWE creative team is transitioning Rusev away from this storyline so he can move on), Becky Lynch’s obsession with redeeming herself after discovering that Asuka has her number, Humberto Carillo, Andrade and Zelina Vega.

The OC will continue to feud with The Viking Raiders while AJ Styles is busy with Randy Orton. The latter of these might continue all the way into ‘Mania season, where Orton and Styles could end up facing each other for the second straight year at the Showcase of the Immortals.

The Seth Rollins storyline is garnering much attention as expected, with The AOP as his henchman. A strong main event will be booked for the traditionally low-rated Christmas episode of Monday Night Raw featuring a United States Championship match between Rey Mysterio and Seth Rollins.

Side Note: I’ve seen Ricochet display his ridiculous amount of endurance before with other companies, so it’s nice to see WWE give him the opportunity to showcase himself. Deonna Purrazzo also got her opportunity out of nowhere, but nonetheless it’s very encouraging. Liv Morgan will also most likely be reintroduced at the very beginning of 2020.

I didn’t forget about Buddy Murphy and Aleister Black. Their rivalry has most likely been put on pause because of Black’s broken nose suffered at TLC.

WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2019

December 23, 2019December 23, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

The final PPV event of the decade was very well-done, especially considering how insignificant TLC typically is in terms of storyline development. This is because of the event’s placement right between Survivor Series and Royal Rumble. Samoa Joe could also be a mainstay on commentary.

The night kicked off on the pre-show with Andrade taking his second loss in a week to Humberto Carillo (that name still sounds suspiciously like Alberto Del Rio). Zelina Vega is reportedly going to leave Andrade and no longer be his business associate since they have recently been arguing about Andrade’s losing ways.

She will align herself with Carillo, who will dominate the main roster like Andrade never could and possibly even get a WWE Championship opportunity. But this is WWE and, Vince McMahon is an abstract thinker, so no one can ever be 100% certain what is in his mind.

TLC was officially kicked off with an excellent ladder match between The Revival and The New Day. Personally, one could’ve looked for Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder to take up the victory and claim the SmackDown Tag Team Championships from The New Day for the second time this calendar year. This could have served as fuel to the fire for the rivalry between the two teams. However, I can’t ever complain about The New Day being Tag Team Champions.

Some major respect needs to be given to Aleister Black for even being able to finish his match with Buddy Murphy with what I’m about 95% sure was a broken nose. Despite that, the work rate in this match was excellent and not hampered at all. Buddy Murphy unfortunately did not get nearly the spotlight deserved simply because of Black’s injury.

Aleister would absolutely be must-see TV if WWE were to put him in that role. He presents his character in a way that it has an underground following but a slightly darker feel to it.

The OC will likely eventually take the Raw Tag Team Championships from The Viking Raiders – perhaps even at Royal Rumble. It was also smart for creative to book the match so that no one took a pin to keep both teams looking strong. For now, The Viking Raiders are unequivocally the top tag team on Monday Night Raw, as they should be.

WWE is very wisely investing its full effort and attention into establishing Baron Corbin as the company’s top heel. He is the best I’ve ever seen at giving the audience a reason to genuinely hate him. He doesn’t do anything cheesy either like bang on the city they are in. Everything he says to get heat from the WWE universe makes perfect sense within the context of his storyline.

This is also one of the best events for Roman Reigns to take a loss, because the WWE universe will likely forget about it rather quickly because TLC is a relatively insignificant event.

I think I might love Bray Wyatt and his seemingly innocent character even more than The Feed. Miz, however, played an insignificant role in this match. A Universal Championship may indeed be in Daniel Bryan’s future – maybe even as soon as next month at the Royal Rumble.

But he should not resurrect the Yes! Movement just because he cut his hair. In this situation, he should take advice from Chris Jericho and try to come to the realization that nothing like this is ever as good in the second incarnation. Nostalgia is not necessary in this situation

For the first few weeks, Rusev seemed to be the only reason the storyline was salvageable – Lashley had no personality and Lana was just annoying. Now however, a WWE Championship may be in Lashley’s future sooner rather than later.

The fact that Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair made their entrances first for the main event was a subtle indication that The Kabuki Warriors were going to go over in the match. The Women’s Tag Team Division is stacked – and it was hurting for star power just five or six months ago. Pretty amazing if you ask me. Although, a lot more women could be featured but are sitting on the sidelines for whatever reason.

A probable Raw Women’s Championship match may be booked at Royal Rumble between Becky Lynch and Asuka since WWE can now highlight the fact that The Empress of Tomorrow has now pinned The Man in a title match at the same event two years in a row.

Lightning in a Bottle

December 17, 2019December 15, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

WWE could have lightning in a bottle with Mustafa Ali if he is used correctly. WWE may want to think about giving him a Daniel Bryan-like push in which the WWE universe gets very much behind him and determines the extent to which he is pushed. His Middle Eastern heritage should be highlighted as well because it will most likely get him sympathy if it’s presented the right way because people with Middle Eastern heritage are oftentimes stereotyped.

Another nice addition to the TLC card could potentially be Shinsuke Nakamura defending his Intercontinental Championship perhaps against Mustafa Ali. Ali defeated Nakamura months ago in a televised non-title match but never received a Pay-Per-View match for the IC Title.

Dana Brooke received a nice spotlight in the form of a match with Bayley this week, but who knows if that will last. WWE appears hesitant these days to give anyone superstar in particular a sufficient amount of TV time to make them into a massive superstar. It seems that WWE’s corporate structure is focused on giving as many superstars as possible – male or female – an equal amount of airtime. No one wants to make anyone into the next Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins Daniel Bryan, or Becky Lynch.

This phenomenon did not exist 20 years ago when there were five or six massive stars in the company. There were people like Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, The Undertaker, Kurt Angle, Triple H, and to a slightly lesser degree Rikishi and Mick Foley.

It was also nice to see Kofi Kingston acknowledge and explain his thoughts on his WWE Championship loss to Brock Lesnar, which enables him to completely move on and onto something better. Hopefully, one more WWE Championship victory is in store for him. He ended up being a much better champion than most would have anticipated.

John Morrison Always Planned on Returning to WWE

December 17, 2019December 15, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

It’s being reported that it was always John Morrison’s intention to ultimately return to WWE. His original plan was to be away from WWE and do his own thing for just a year. However, he got so immersed in what he was doing with other wrestling companies like TNA and Lucha Underground that he simply lost track of time.

But he didn’t leave WWE on bad terms or anything like that. He will surely be a valuable asset to the company no matter what role he has or which brand he is assigned to. He was used as primarily a mid-carder when he was with WWE before, and that worked very efficiently.

End-of-Year Title Changes

December 17, 2019December 15, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

Honestly, it wouldn’t be very surprising to see both the NXT Championship and the NXT Women’s Championship change hands next week in addition to the Cruiserweight Championship changing hands. Angel Garza has a bright future ahead of him, both in WWE and in the form of a marriage.

It was a very smart business move for Triple H to give Finn Balor an NXT Title match this early into his second run in NXT. If he didn’t bring Balor back to win the Title and give him another chance to be the top guy in NXT and carry the brand once again, then I quite frankly don’t know what Finn’s doing back here.

Rhea Ripley definitely deserves an opportunity to see what she can do with the gold. She provides a very believable challenge to Shayna Baszler. Baszler is kind of what Brock Lesnar would be if he were a full-time superstar. The point is that both of these major titles could very well change hands on December 18.

Backstage Scoop

December 17, 2019December 15, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

Seth Rollins also suffered a broken finger in a recent match at a live event against Erick Rowan, so he couldn’t compete in the match he was originally scheduled for against Cedric Alexander. Fortunately, his official heel turn on December 9 turned out to be excellent; better than what was originally scheduled, which was another gradual hint at what was to come. Seth has always felt much more authentic as a heel anyway.

Sometimes WWE is guilty of stretching storylines out over a little too long of a period of time, causing fans to become restless and lose interest in the result. I feared WWE was headed in the same direction with this story. A minor (or at least he would probably call it minor) injury to Seth Rollins gave WWE a reason to pull the trigger a little earlier than they wanted to, which probably turned out for the better.

A great example of the power of the element of surprise and its effect on fans emotionally when they are invested in a storyline occurred in 2018 on the night Roman Reigns announced the return of his leukemia. It took a real emotional toll on everyone in the building and watching at home, including me. This is precisely why Dean Ambrose’ heel turn later in the same night worked so effectively.

Seth Rollins Alignment with the AOP

December 17, 2019December 15, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

Seth Rollins’ gradual shift in character to the dark side has been about as well-executed and well- thought out as WWE creative could have planned. This is Reality Era-style booking because the premise of the story is deeply rooted in the way Seth conducts himself, particularly on social media.

He sticks out his neck for the company he loves. WWE is doing its absolute best to take full advantage of that; and if you asked me, creative’s doing an excellent job. The subplot with Mojo Rawley served to provide a healthy dose of comic relief during the development of a relatively serious storyline.

This Rollins heel turn will also go a long way in establishing The AOP as top villains in the company, potentially getting a title opportunity sooner rather than later against The Viking Raiders for the Raw Tag Team Championships. The feud between Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens was also escalated this week and even though no match between the two at TLC was announced, it would be reasonable for one anticipate a verbal altercation at the very least.

WWE seems to be re-establishing the friendship between Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch; it will also immediately result in them receiving a Women’s Tag Team Title match against The Kabuki Warriors. Vince McMahon reportedly would like both Asuka and Kairi Sane to work singles programs with Becky Lynch in the future, so it will go a long way toward establishing their credibility by working a match with The Man.

Congratulations to Batista on being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. He and Triple H were probably the two most badass superstars of the decade from 2000-2009. Batista’s final match against Triple H at WrestleMania 35 was probably the most well-executed final match I’ve ever seen because he clearly wasn’t hampered during the match or burned out from his career; and it showed because he was still able to give a great performance.

It’s not very much of an upset for Humberto Carillo to beat Andrade. Humberto’s incredible, and Andrade’s booked like a star but for whatever reason hasn’t picked up a lot of signature victories of late.

It was refreshing to see The Viking Raiders face an actual tag team rather than a couple of enhancements, but they still dominated. It was a little peculiar to see the Street Profits conduct a backstage segment right after that beatdown.

Several matches were confirmed for the TLC Pay-Per-View, including the previously mentioned Women’s Tag Team Championship match, Buddy Murphy vs. Aleister Black, the finally divorced Rusev vs. Bobby Lashley, and most likely AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton.

Orton cost AJ his focus in a United States Championship match against Rey Mysterio because he was looming as an ever-present threat to RKO him outta nowhere. All Orton did was go from messing with Ricochet’s head to doing the same thing with Styles; bottom line, it’s entertaining.

Liv Morgan as Sister Abigail

December 17, 2019December 15, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

It’s been rumored for a few months now that Liv Morgan will return to WWE portraying Bray Wyatt’s Sister Abigail who he has referenced for years and she will wear a mask very similar to that of The Fiend. WWE made a bad attempt at this years ago, but it should go more smoothly having an actual woman play the character. Some addresses for Liv’s character are reportedly being designed right now.

This new Sister Abigail character should add an entirely new dimension to Bray Wyatt’s already incredibly innovative character. But then again, it might not be happening because Liv will reportedly be returning to Monday Night Raw.

An In – Depth Look at Daniel Bryan – The Fiend/Bray Wyatt

December 17, 2019December 15, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

A possible scenario for what WWE may have executed in the process of The Fiend dragging Daniel Bryan to Hell on November 29 is for Bryan to not return to SmackDown until after the TLC Pay-Per-View. He would attack The Miz when he finally does return after a sufficient amount of suspense has been built regarding the situation. It would then be revealed that Bray Wyatt has turned Daniel once again into one of his disciples, using The Fiend’s mind games.

Bryan could then reveal he has sympathy for Bray and his mental instability because of the promo he himself cut several weeks ago. Maybe they could then go to Dr. Shelby (since that was hilarious when WWE did it with Daniel Bryan and Kane back in 2012-13) to have him try to resolve Bray’s multiple personalities. This storyline could possibly lead to an intriguing ‘Mania encounter between Daniel Bryan and Bray Wyatt for the Universal Championship.

Because let’s face it, Miz is just a placeholder for now. Daniel Bryan is the one who matters in this rivalry.

This could be a great story for WWE to use to take full advantage of Bray Wyatt’s innovative new gimmick. Couple that with the fact that he is WWE’s new No. 1 Merch seller and you have yourself a major moneymaker at WrestleMania. It may not be the main event, that might go to Becky Lynch and Ronda Rousey, but it will still be a very high-profile match.