From a business standpoint, WWE should maybe look into pairing up two superstars from opposing friends (could be men or women) in a match to freshen things up for the show of shows. One example of this occurred in 2017 when Bray Wyatt was supposed to have a match with Finn Balor, but Bray was sick (Roman Reigns was forced to miss this pay-per-view too with a case of the mumps), so he was replaced with AJ Styles. Styles put on a great match with Balor that night, probably the best of the night. It may be a way to freshen things up for WWE aside from the superstar shakeup every year after WrestleMania.
Evan Luebbe
Finally, a Title for Samoa Joe
It’s encouraging to see Kevin Owens maintaining his heelish tendencies, as cited by him calling the WWE universe a “pretentious jackass.” He is being positioned as the babyface in this feud with Daniel Bryan because Daniel cannot go face after he has been so much of a heel. There’s plenty of reason to be confident in the ability of Kevin Owens to personify a good babyface, as he has mastered this role on the independent scene. It’s great to see Owens strategically incorporating the roots of his WWE character into the new role he is being asked to fulfill.
The next topic is Samoa Joe winning the United States championship. It’s about time WWE pulled the trigger on Joe and put a title on him because they were running out of opportunities with Joe already having been on the main roster for two years and being just a week from turning 40 years old. He absolutely deserves it. Corey Graves has said this, and I completely agree, that he “expected Joe to be in WWE a decade ago.” It will be extremely exciting to see what’s next for the Samoan Submission Machine, especially as WrestleMania rapidly approaches.
One other interesting topic of discussion is the return of the Hardy’s, particularly Matt. While one could’ve easily predicted Jeff’s return at some time, it was unclear as to whether Matt was retired, or not. It’s great to see him, and worth noting that he mentioned he wanted to work with Roman Reigns before retiring.
Side Note: There has got to be a plan in place for Kofi Kingston to challenge Daniel Bryan for the WWE title. Can I get an AMEN to that!
Ciampa Storyline Takes a Turn
The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic got kicked off this week with four great opening round matches. It is disappointing that Tommaso Ciampa will be forced to miss Takeover: New York with a severe neck injury. He will undergo an anterior cervical fusion procedure, which is of particular interest to me because it is a type of spinal fusion surgery, and I have had that procedure done on my entire spine. Enough about me, WWE already has a storyline in place for Ciampa’s return.
I was also surprised to officially learn today – the final date Ronda Rousey is scheduled to work for WWE is the night after WrestleMania.
Hoping Balor Brings out “The Demon”
Finn Balor has had an extraordinary career in the wrestling/sports entertainment industry, traversing the world – mainly in Europe and Japan, and being most known in Japan for being a founding member of the Bullet Club. This was before being introduced in NXT’s lineup in 2014, and subsequently debuting on the main roster in 2016. He became the first-ever Universal Champion at SummerSlam in 2016 by defeating Seth Rollins. WWE had big plans for Balor. The plan was for him to hold the title for about the same length of time as Kevin Owens held it. That got derailed when Balor sustained a shoulder injury that would keep him out of in-ring competition until after WrestleMania 33. WWE proved that they never quite viewed Balor in the same light after his injury. His booking has been inconsistent to put it mildly. He came close to breaking that mold a few times. The first being at The Royal Rumble 2018 when he entered the match at number two and lasted all the way to be one of the final four in the match. The second was at The Royal Rumble 2019 when he gave Brock Lesnar a run for his money.
The WWE has never gained confidence in Balor, for whatever reason, to carry him as a main (or, an event superstar). Balor is the current Intercontinental Champion right now and does not have a WrestleMania opponent. He deserves to have a high-profile, singles match against another great opponent, maybe someone like Johnny Gargano. We all should be very hopeful that Balor brings out “The Demon” aspect of his character at WrestleMania. This would mark the first time The Demon has been introduced on a stage other than SummerSlam on the main roster. Personally, I think it would elevate him in a big way to bring some of the Sting element into his character.
Roman R-E-I-G-N-S Returns, Ric Flair’s 70th & Rousey Steps Up
Roman Reigns has never strayed too far from any fan’s mind from the time he was re-diagnosed with leukemia to right now when he announced his return. I had absolute faith in him that he would come back sooner rather than later. I was getting very emotional when he was talking in the ring. I could hardly even look at the TV because it would make me cry. It stirred up feelings of the support I have received over the years with the neuromuscular condition I have (I don’t like the wording of “disease” because I view it as more of a case of “dis”-“ease” within the body. But anyway, that was a great way to open the show and get positive emotions flowing through the WWE universe right from the start. It was also great to see Reigns deliver a few moves as he and Seth Rollins proceeded to save Dean Ambrose from the attack by Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, Elias, and Baron Corbin.
It’s important to note that WWE is trying to devalue the character of Dean Ambrose a little bit before he leaves the company. His return to TV is also sure to increase viewership for Raw as it was tanking without its top star, probably because his polarizing presence forces people to respect him combined with the fact that one can feel the energy Reigns permeates into an arena when he walks out – they don’t need to see him.
It was beautiful to see Ric Flair (or should I say the stylin’, profilin’, limousine ridin’, jet flyin’, kiss stealin’, wheelin’ dealin’ son of a gun) electing to give back to the business some more, even on his 70th birthday and letting Batista have the spotlight. This makes perfect sense because Batista was a part of Evolution with Flair. It also makes perfect sense from the standpoint of Batista wrapping up his career because he has said on multiple occasions that he would like to have one more big feud with Triple H before he officially retires from in-ring competition. He even turned down being inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2017 for this reason. So expect a match to be made for WrestleMania between Batista and Triple H. I imagine Batista has more left in the tank than The Undertaker.
Ronda Rousey did a great job furthering her storyline with Becky Lynch this week by giving Stephanie McMahon an ultimatum saying that if Becky Lynch is not reinstated and put into the match at WrestleMania, then she will basically relinquish the Raw women’s championship. Lastly, the four call –ups from NXT may indeed be here to stay. This is great to see because the business is evolving right before our eyes. All of these guys bring a different feel to WWE. It’s a shame they had to make a name for themselves at the expense of The Revival, but that’s the way it goes in WWE. It will bring new and fresh matchups. It’s very exciting to see and gives one hope that the future of this industry is in good hands.
Lio Rush looked very good too. WWE may overlook him because of his size, but it’d be a crying shame because he’s incredibly talented.
Side Note: I love getting information about how the company is doing in terms of TV viewership from Forbes.
Will Kofi Get a Championship Match & Keven Owns’ Stunner Performance
First off, it’s great news for Kevin Owens to be getting a WWE title match as the first opportunity he gets following his return from injury. How can one help though not to have their heart go out to Kofi Kingston. This is a massive blow to not only Kofi but the entire New Day. This is not at all an indictment on Kevin Owens – it’s a statement of how everyone in the WWE universe is going to resonate and feel for Kofi Kingston. Vince McMahon surely orchestrated this on purpose to incite an emotional response from the crowd. Maybe he will elect to give Kofi a championship match down the road in the coming months.
It is doubtful that Kevin Owens will wind up facing Daniel Bryan for the WWE title at WrestleMania (it may be John Cena), but it’s encouraging to see Vince pushing him again as a legitimate title contender. A couple other matches to potentially look forward to at WrestleMania are AJ Styles and Randy Orton as well as Rey Mysterio vs Andrade. The latter may be one to keep an eye out for because it has the potential to steal the show, even though it is destined not to be a very publicized match.
It also needs to be noted that Kevin Owens became the first superstar that I’ve seen since Stone Cold Steve Austin to beat an opponent with a Stunner. Tom Phillips’ commentary was great when he said, “Oh Hell Yeah”. I am extremely impressed with Kevin Owens’ new demeanor in the ring as well as backstage in his interview. He seems extremely focused and confident, and I think Vince is attracted to that. He is clearly focused on his wife and two kids as the primary priority. Kevin looks like he is very healthy stage of his life after having five months at home with his wife and kids. He has reconnected with what is most important in his life.
Another Chapter – The Best Story Going on WWE – Gargano & Ciampa
This week’s episode of NXT was fantastic yet again. Triple H does a great job of pairing two guys or girls together and letting a rivalry develop organically between them rather than forcing it, which Vince McMahon is guilty of from time to time on the main roster. This trend hints that a little bit more patience is employed down in NXT as opposed to the main roster, and this is evident in the budding rivalry between Keith Lee and Dominik Dijakovic.
Another chapter was written in the best story going on WWE TV between Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa for about 2 ½ years. Ciampa, the current NXT champion, proposed that the former North American champion enter the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic with him at NXT Takeover: New York and they win the NXT tag titles.
They Weren’t Too Into The Action
I don’t have much new content to write about from Raw this week. I don’t want to waste my readers’ time going over something that I have gone over many times in the past. With that being said, I am a huge fan of the way WWE is evolving how they open Monday Night Raw each week in 2019. As I have mentioned before, it was getting kind of stagnant. Triple H is doing an excellent job running things and seems to be much more in tune with today’s generation of wrestling fans. Another thing I am happy to see is how they are seamlessly transitioning between segments and not taking a break to settle everyone down. I’m also extremely excited for the future with probably the top four guys in NXT all debuting last night.
The future looks bright for WWE as Triple H may be implementing his version of a WWE territory system in which superstars are virtually interchangeable between brands. This will be a great way to freshen things up. It’s unclear as to how much or how often they will do this, but I am excited for something different at least on occasion. In terms of the crowd last night, they weren’t too into the action but that’s going to happen sometimes. One more thing for fans to potentially get excited about is the imminent return of Kevin Owens and who his WrestleMania opponent may be.
Black is Head and Shoulders Above Them All
SmackDown Live this week was arguably better than Raw. They need to up their game if they are going to be moving to Fox in eight short months. The NXT guys who were just recently brought up really add a new element to WWE TV, specifically Aleister Black. Everything about him screams future WWE champion. Every one of the NXT guys who debuted is a future champion, but if you ask me, Black is head and shoulders above them all. We got another visit from God’s greatest creation Mandy Rose. I did not, however, expect for her to pin the champion Asuka, but in hindsight it was a great idea. Mandy is extremely over right now.
Lastly, I need to talk about Kofi Kingston again. I about lost it with sheer excitement when Kofi became the number one contender for the WWE title at Fastlane. No one deserves it more than he does at this point. Another added benefit to this is that The New Day can be involved to deal with Rowan to add another element of interest to the feud.
The Future of the WWE Since He is Only 23 years Old
All I can say about Velveteen Dream is that he is the future of the WWE since he is only 23 years old. It totally makes sense to put the North American championship on him considering how much momentum he has accumulated in recent times. I’m a little surprised that Triple H elected to take the belt off Johnny Gargano, since it’s not like he has any negative momentum going. He didn’t do anything wrong to lose his title, Velveteen is just very hot right now. That’s just the way the business goes in wrestling, and I’m sure Johnny knows this. I also feel I need to mention the documentary type special that was put together on the WWE network about Mark Henry. It was really profound and deeply resonated with me. Well done WWE.