Evan Luebbe

Inside Scoop on Seth Rollins and AJ Styles’ Draft Movement

The pivotal reason WWE flipped Seth Rollins and AJ Styles between brands is because AJ complained a few months ago about having to perform on Friday nights and therefore miss his son’s high school football games – which makes sense. That was the easy part of the decision by the company. The difficult part was that losing Styles from a SmackDown perspective is a massive loss. Well, aside from being several inches taller, Seth Rollins is basically a carbon copy of Styles – both from an in-ring perspective and in terms of the level of charisma both men have. Whether they were performing in empty gymnasiums 14 years ago or wrestling for the Universal Championship at Money in the Bank 2019, one could tell they would both turn into something special one day.

If Seth was going to SmackDown, that meant Murphy as well as the Mysterio family would also have to come over to maintain continuity within the storyline as opposed to abruptly ending that storyline – which WWE has invested a significant amount of time and effort into formulating. The goal of this storyline is to make it so that when this story finishes, Seth Rollins has no allies anymore and can therefore be written off TV for a few months so he can take paternity leave. He will then be able to help care for his child with his fiancée Becky Lynch without feeling like WWE needs his presence to present a good product. This will enable Seth to be fully present with his child and that will benefit everyone involved.

SmackDown 10/16/2020: Season Premiere: Reigns/Uce Project Authentic and Relatable Characters

Seth Rollins will likely feud with Daniel Bryan after his Paternity Leave

Seth Rollins should fit like a glove on SmackDown considering he is probably one of the top three stars in WWE (in addition to Roman Reigns and Randy Orton – the reason I don’t put Brock Lesnar in there is because his contract with WWE expired at WrestleMania 36 and Mr. McMahon did not renew it). SmackDown has historically focused on placing a heavier emphasis on in-ring action going back to 2002 when Michael Cole and Taz called the action with a slightly more frenetic tone to their voices.

The members of the WWE universe that have followed the company in the last several years are well aware that Seth is extremely capable in the ring (the year he put together in 2018 as Monday Night Rollins – especially during his time as Intercontinental Champion – was a perfect example, for his Universal Championship defense against AJ Styles in 2019). Monday Night Raw typically places more emphasis on emotionally hooking people with compelling promos through excellent storytelling, which Rollins has improved significantly over the years – and he was not bad to begin with.

This week on the season premiere of SmackDown Rollins explored the potentiality of clashing with Daniel Bryan (who has just returned from paternity leave, which is ironic because Seth will be taking paternity leave in a couple months) in the near future. That will have to wait for several months at least, because Rollins is currently embroiled in a feud with his former disciple Murphy. This will write him off TV once Murphy ultimately gets the better of him.

King Corbin has taken more losses than wins recently, and that’s a good thing (DDP). It is Ironically a testament to how naturally gifted of a heel he is

Ironically, the fact that King Corbin has taken so many losses over the past year is actually a testament to how great of a heel he is. Very few heels have the ability to embody a character that is so naturally unlikable that they don’t even need to win or carry a title to be hated. Corbin has taken losses to the likes of Elias at Mania 36 as well as eating a pin from Matt Riddle at Payback on August 30 – the last WWE Pay-Per-View in which he competed.

Corbin is a valuable commodity to the company. He is not a heel like Triple H was who was obsessed with titles. Corbin has proven his value in WWE in multiple roles – The Lone Wolf, Constable of Monday Night Raw, and now King Corbin.

Roman Reigns is looking to leave WWE in a better state than when he found it by ushering in a new era of characters in professional wrestling where they are no longer reliant on the heel/babyface dynamic, but instead always behave in a manner that is authentic to the individual. Whatever mold that happens to fit into – this would allow performers the freedom to be themselves. This makes for the best overall product – because superstars are loose and not trying to necessarily appease anyone.

It is a primary goal of Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman evolve WWE and the wrestling business as a whole to a point where the need for traditional babyfaces and heels is rendered completely obsolete and antiquated. Instead, WWE characters will be placed in positions according to storylines where they react as any typical human being would and the business becomes more relatable to the average person as a result. Roman begin this process back in 2016, after WrestleMania 32, when he cut a promo stating that, “I’m not a bad guy, I’m not a good guy, I’m the guy.”

The goal of the current Samoan Tribal Chief/Universal Champion incarnation of Roman Reigns is to present a “forward-thinking” character who is not a traditional heel or face but is always extremely authentic to his own emotions. The vision WWE has behind this character is to make the persona extremely relatable at all times rather than trying to force it to fit into a traditional mold. Rather than doing that, why not just create a brand-new model for how to shape a wrestling character.

This week was clearly some of the best work in Roman Reigns’ and Jey Uso’s career because there are real emotions and family ties in the storyline – which cannot be replicated. The Samoan Tribal Chief was being authentic to himself yet again, this week he just so happened to feel like acting more akin to a traditional heel. Last week, however, Reigns the slightly more reserved and was not quite as much of a presence. The wrestling business as a whole will be much better off when every superstar can feel free to become the most authentic version of himself on TV to present to the world, whether people like them or not is up to specific individuals.

A bittersweet end to The New Day era

The New Day got a victory on their final night together before they split for good. Xavier Woods came up with the idea six years ago to create a team that was completely centered around the notion of experiencing success together – and fortunately the WWE universe resonated profoundly with that idea. Just the history of having been involved in this team will serve to make all three men successful singles competitors. Big E will obviously be first because he is already getting a huge push and Kofi and Xavier are Tag Team Champions on Raw.

Jeff Hardy unselfishly gives Lars Sullivan momentum to begin his run on SmackDown

Despite the fact that Lars Sullivan has had issues outside the ring that have caused some people in WWE to question his commitment and level of reliability, the company is still willing to go ahead with his push for now. This week Sullivan got the rub from Jeff Hardy. It makes sense for Hardy to take a loss here because he no longer needs momentum on SmackDown as he will be moving to Raw. Jeff will most likely be heavily featured on the red brand as WWE is intending to keep him happy and away from AEW (where his brother Matt is).

WWE Draft Night 2: Randy Orton staying on Monday Night Raw and Alexa Bliss/The Fiend being Drafted Over

One could see some of the moves in the second night of the WWE draft coming from a mile away to provide continuity within specific storylines for them to make sense. Randy Orton staying on Monday Night Raw was a perfect example of this – since the WWE Champion Drew McIntyre was already drafted to Raw on Friday night, it only made sense for Randy Orton to also be drafted to Monday Night Raw so he can continue the storyline with McIntyre and finish the process of establishing him as a megastar inside Hell in a Cell on October 25. The anticipation for that match took a significant step forward on October 12 as they are getting fans emotionally invested.

It makes sense for The Fiend and Alexa Bliss to move to Raw to give them both a fresh batch of opponents to work with. Bray Wyatt essentially had no more momentum on SmackDown since the storyline surrounding him going after Roman Reigns and the Universal Championship – which was hinted at through Alexa staring down Roman on SmackDown – was dropped at least for now by Mr. McMahon.

We saw the next step in the transformation of Alexa Bliss changing her demeanor. The lights went down at about 10 o’clock on Monday Night Raw and Alexa appeared – hanging upside down as Bray Wyatt typically does – and they both proceeded to connect with Sister Abigail. It’s important to remember exactly when Alexa’s transformation began – July 31. In 2 ½ months The Fiend has transformed Alexa into his minion.

Alexa pitched the idea of doing a storyline with Bray Wyatt to Mr. McMahon a couple years ago, but their characters were in such different places that Vince McMahon deemed it would not make much sense at the time. After ruminating about the idea for a couple years, Mr. McMahon made the decision to finally put the pieces in place in order to make that idea come to fruition. This goes to show that any idea someone thinks about for a sustained amount of time will come to fruition sooner or later – whether that idea is good or bad.

Personally, I don’t blame Alexa for wanting to work with the creative genius that is Bray Wyatt/Windham Rotunda. His level of creativity might make her better as a performer.

Fresh scenery for Kevin Owens on SmackDown; The New Day and Braun Strowman to Raw

The first man who really stuck out to me being shipped to SmackDown was Kevin Owens. Owens is an interesting case because, after months of not doing much of anything except hosting people involved in separate storylines on his talk show, he was suddenly thrown into two different storylines at once – one with The Fiend/Alexa Bliss and one with Aleister Black (as far as I can recall, that has never been done in WWE) – it’s good to see Mr. McMahon trying something new. He is often criticized for not doing this, so it needs to be appreciated). The WWE universe now has the answer to the question of which storyline the company will pursue. KO will most likely have a payoff match with Black given that they were directed to SmackDown and The Fiend is now on the opposite brand.

The New Day (without Big E) will take some getting used to. It is totally understandable – the splitting of The New Day was to further the singles push of E. That said, The New Day had a special connection with the WWE universe – they moved over to Raw immediately after winning the Tag Team Titles, so it only made sense for the Tag Team Champions on the opposite brand to reciprocate.

Braun Strowman has had a compelling couple months. Just two months ago he was Universal Champion reigning supreme over SmackDown before dropping the title at SummerSlam to The Fiend (who held the title for only a week before dropping it to Roman Reigns at Payback on August 30). Strowman’s role in the storyline was complete after that, so he was moved to Monday Night Raw for a fresh start. After being featured several times on Raw Underground, he has now been drafted to Monday Night Raw permanently for now.

Strowman is in the same boat as Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke because they all moved to Raw shortly before the draft. Mandy was moved due to Miz trying to sabotage Otis’ momentum (in storyline). It’s almost guaranteed that he will find himself challenging for the WWE Championship at some point over the next year, along with AJ Styles, Keith Lee, Jeff Hardy, or even The Miz.

However, before we get to any of that, McIntyre has unfinished business with Randy Orton – and as good as McIntyre’s WWE title run as a warrior babyface has been, there’s not much of a chance that The Scottish Psychopath stops The Viper from walking out of Hell in a Cell with his 14th world title. Remember that about two months ago Ric Flair put Randy over by telling him that he wanted Orton to break Flair’s record for most world titles at 16 (not John Cena’s record) because of their history with Evolution from 2003 – 2005.

The case can feasibly be made that The Miz could win the WWE Championship assuming that he somehow wins the court case against Otis and takes the Money in the Bank contract (that is if Mr. McMahon chooses to go this route). If he were to cash-in and win the WWE Title, Miz would become only the second man to successfully cash-in a Money in the Bank contract twice (Edge in 2007).

Riddle and Hardy switch brands; Elias returns from injury

Matt Riddle has not found a niche for himself on SmackDown as he has been somewhat lost in the shuffle since going over on AJ Styles in his debut in June. Jeff Hardy might become one of the faces of Monday Night Raw for the foreseeable future. Jeff can obviously still go in the ring even though he is in his 40s and has put his body through more damage than just about anyone over the past 20+ years.

He participated in what was easily the greatest match of the night with the Monday Night Messiah (his last night on Raw) and Styles. Seth and AJ had an excellent Universal Title match at Money in the Bank in May 2019, but Jeff Hardy has not crossed paths with either of these two men in the 3.5 years since returning to WWE at WrestleMania 33 in 2017.

Jeff’s brother Matt is experiencing success right now in AEW, and as a result the WWE is putting a heavy amount of emphasis on keeping Jeff Hardy happy and away from AEW with his brother. Hardy will be getting his entrance song back “No More Words” that he had back in 2009 during his last singles run in WWE.

Elias returned to WWE after healing from a torn pectoral muscle he sustained in May. The Drifter has shifted his demeanor so his character can undergo the next stage of its evolution. The start of a rivalry with a prominent figure like Jeff Hardy is a step in the right direction.

It was a clever move by Ricochet to pull an Eddie Guerrero by cheating to get a victory over Cedric Alexander and in the process ending his feud with The Hurt Business for now, even though it technically could continue since they are all remaining on Raw.

Natalya is so incredibly consistent with whatever task is asked to do, whether that’s establishing someone else or performing herself.

Categories RAW

Jon Moxley: Image of Strength and Resilience

Jon Moxley recently allowed some quotes of his covering a wide variety of topics to be used for SI.com’s Week in Wrestling, including his current rivalry with Lance Archer, the importance of representing AEW during a pandemic, and the milestone of AEW Dynamite hitting the one-year mark.

Moxley wrestled at an event for the new Bloodsport (that name totally fits into how Mox wants to present his character) debut on October 11 – just days before his defense of the AEW World Championship against Lance Archer. The storyline with Archer dates back to their time with New Japan Pro Wrestling and the encounter between the two men at Wrestle Kingdom 14 – in January 2020 – in a Texas Death Match under last-man-standing rules – which Moxley won. Archer is quick to point out, however, that Moxley has never pinned or submitted him, which only adds to the rivalry.

Moxley can easily create a mystique surrounding his opponents, making them look like absolute stars in the process. He discussed how he “barely got out of there (the Tokyo Dome) with my head on my shoulders.” Now he wants to finish the job, so to speak. “Maybe he is my kryptonite.”

This is a prime example of how Tony Khan is perfectly willing to use his performers’ history with other companies to add more layers to a particular storyline in his own promotion. Moxley talked about how the success of AEW is extremely critical to the wrestling industry as a whole. The primary goal of the company at this stage, even though it’s still in its embryonic stages, is to create brand new stars in the world of professional wrestling. The company needed to lean on the reputation of guys like Chris Jericho and Jon Moxley (guys the wrestling world already knew from WWE) to get the ball rolling, but now that AEW has some momentum, new home-grown stars who have not necessarily made their name first in WWE need to be created to ensure the success of the company.

Jon Moxley takes an extreme amount of pride in being the pandemic-era world champion for AEW and being the guy who is relied upon to carry the company through extremely tough times and “provide stability in an unstable time.” People have been forced to adapt on the fly, and the professional wrestling industry is no exception. Moxley has had two title matches canceled for Covid reasons, and there might be more. He discussed in detail how much everyone in the company was looking forward to the six-man Tag match with Will Hobbs (one of the new stars I was talking about) and Darby Allin which was scratched due to the pandemic. “I think everyone is pretty used to it.” This is just the world we live in right now. Nothing can be planned in advance as much – because it is all subject to change at any given moment. AEW is doing about as good a job as anyone when it comes to this.

One last topic Moxley discussed is how he doesn’t like to compare himself, his mentality, or his accomplishments to that of anyone else. What the 34-year-old loves most about the art of professional wrestling is that, with the free-flowing creative process in AEW, he can develop the vision in his mind for each match, and then has the ability to execute that vision in the ring and make it a reality.

A perfect example of this was the match at All Out with MJF. Moxley claimed how he could see the match in his mind and develop a clear vision for how it will go “months in advance.” The very loose creative process gives the wrestlers freedom to use whoever’s ideas they resonate with most – and that allows them to create a very authentic presence for the crowd each week.

Don’t Expect to see The Viking Raiders for a While

Ivar had neck surgery few weeks back and will be out for close to a year, but now his partner Erik has also undergone surgery; now might be the best time to do it as WWE most likely didn’t have any clear-cut plans for him anyway while his tag team partner was out. WWE has not put the tag team division – men’s or women’s – anywhere near the top of its priority list in the past decade (the last time the tag division received a heavy amount of prominence was about 20 years ago when The Dudley Boyz, The Hardy Boyz, and Edge & Christian).

Erik had a surgical screw removed that was protruding into his tricep and causing severe pain. The injury was bothering him for several months, but he put off the surgery and decided to work through the pain until an opening within a framework of The Viking Raiders’ storyline. Unfortunately, Ivar just happened to injure his neck. However, this might have been a blessing in disguise because it opened the door for Erik to have the screw taken out of his arm, which had been bothering him for months.

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

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

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

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

“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.

WWE SmackDown 10/2/2020

Roman Reigns may be the man in WWE and the cornerstone of the entire company, but that also comes with the responsibility of knowing that it means the company is flourishing and all of the other superstars are doing their part very effectively if Roman does not need to be used as much as the primary focal point of the show. That was the case on this episode of SmackDown as some Roman Reigns was definitely sprinkled in and he did his thing – being crowned The Tribal Chief and all – but other superstars were highlighted for most of the two hours so Reigns ’presence was not too heavily relied upon.

This also makes perfect sense for Kevin Owens and his character direction because he’s a perfect example of the phenomenon I am talking about that occurred in 2002 when WWE was transitioning from The Attitude Era to The Ruthless Aggression Era. People like Triple H and The Undertaker were heavily relied upon to carry the company in its time of struggle. Fortunately, John Cena emerged as the man in WWE for about the next decade plus.

 

Back to this edition of SmackDown – it was a great night of in-ring action, with great matches at the end of the night in the main event and to open the show. Let’s start with the latter, as the night was kicked off with Roman Reigns giving Jey Uso another Universal Championship match at Hell in a Cell. AJ Styles would subsequently enter, claiming that Jey had not earned another title match and so would give it to someone who has – AJ. Jey went on to defeat Styles, cementing his position at the top of the card for right now – he has genuinely earned that spot.

 

A match between Roman Reigns and The Fiend is the endgame for Roman’s Universal Title run – The Big Dog’s fifth world title overall. This will not happen for several months – most likely at WrestleMania 37 (where there can hopefully be fans in attendance), and in the meantime, it looks like The Fiend will be busy embroiled in a feud with Kevin Owens (this means Kevin Owens will need to be drafted to SmackDown next week as part of the WWE draft).

 

He has engaged mostly in other people’s storylines over the past several months since defeating Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 36. This will give Owens something to sink his teeth into – there is also another layer to the story with the possessed Alexa Bliss.

Because Jeff Hardy lost an Intercontinental Championship rematch to Sami Zayn, Hardy has lost nearly all momentum in that particular storyline so it might be time for him to move on to a bigger title such as the Universal Championship. Right now there are two men who are most likely going to challenge Roman Reigns for SmackDown’s top prize (after Jey Uso of course) which are AJ Styles in the Jeff Hardy. No one, however, stands a chance of taking the Universal Title off of The Tribal Chief, except, maybe The Fiend.

Styles is simply one of the best wrestlers of this or any other generation – plus he has a little bit of history with Roman being back to 2016. WWE is very keen on keeping the push of Jeff Hardy going to keep him happy with WWE and so he doesn’t get the inclination to join his brother Matt in AEW. Jeff will also debut his entrance music from 2009 during his most recent singles run with the company “No More Words.”

 

Bruce Prichard did an excellent job of orchestrating SmackDown so the events at the end of the program could be traced back to what occurred at the beginning – which is the ultimate goal of every great movie or TV show. This episode featured an outstanding thread of continuity.

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Disclosure: This site is not affiliated with WWE – just a diehard fan writing commentary on events.
 
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