This is an exciting time in WWE. The foundation is being laid for many storylines that will culminate at WrestleMania 37 in late March 2021 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. However, for many superstars their storyline for Mania has not even begun yet.
Before getting to the PPV I will discuss the quality match between Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles. AJ won the Intercontinental Championship on the go-home episode of SmackDown on FOX. It was a surprise to me that Styles won this match because in theory, the entire storyline was set up perfectly for Daniel Bryan to win his second IC Title and become a real workhorse champion. This would almost revert back to his ROH days as throwback to the disposition that made wrestling fans originally fall in love with him. My theory is that Styles got the victory so WWE could give him the accolade of having held every singles title in WWE. He would then be one step closer to becoming a grand slam champion. AJ will probably hold the Intercontinental Championship for about a month or two before losing it to Bryan, because it makes much more sense within the framework of the storyline for him to be IC champion right now as opposed to a heel Styles.
The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever
It was very surprising that WWE decided to promote the match between Randy Orton and Edge as The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever. It put a lot of pressure on the two men to make it a great one. Orton and Edge were not even scheduled to work Backlash originally. This match was going to take place at SummerSlam. However, with no Lesnar, no Reigns and no Becky Lynch, Vince McMahon was searching for star power to hold the audience’s attention during this period.
As far as living up to the expectations of putting on The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever, Orton and Edge put on an absolutely beautiful match. It was probably the best possible job they could have done given global pandemic circumstances. The match even surpassed my own personal expectations. I knew full well Randy Orton had a performance like this in him. But where I was really blown away was with the performance of Edge. He honestly the performance of a lifetime – and at 46 years old! It might honestly be The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever simply because it took place in this era in which the pace of matches is so quick, and superstars need to constantly think on their toes.
One of the most recent “greatest matches” I have seen in WWE took place at Money in the Bank 2015 between Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose (who is obviously in AEW now) and tearing it up as the World Champion. The point is that matches as great as the one between Orton and Edge don’t happen that often, so they are to be cherished and they should remind wrestling fans exactly why they love pro wrestling.
Drew McIntyre retains his WWE Championship against Bobby Lashley, partially due to interference from Lashley’s wife Lana
I love Lashley and am rooting for him to become WWE Champion one day, but now is not his time. Drew McIntyre has absolutely earned the right to be WWE Champion for an extended period and to carry the company.
As far as the match goes, this is exactly what a championship match should be – two freaks of nature going at it (and neither one of them is named Brock Lesnar). Both wrestlers are ridiculously athletic and intense. Lashley will probably call off his marriage to Lana in the coming weeks in favor of sticking by MVP and just focusing on wrestling, while McIntyre turns his attention to his next challenger.
Braun Strowman retains the Universal Championship against Miz & Morrison
Strowman is becoming a very good placeholder for Roman Reigns. It feels like Braun is in a natural position for his character right now and he is comfortable in the position.
A future contender for the Universal Championship in all likelihood is Jeff Hardy. Despite the fact that he took a loss to Sheamus at Backlash (and WWE took some criticism for creating a storyline based on Jeff’s history with drugs and alcohol), the company is still intent on giving Jeff Hardy a major push to close out his career. This is primarily to show him just how much he is valued and partially to keep him away from AEW (because his brother Matt is there now experiencing success).
Asuka and Nia Jax are both counted out so Asuka is still the Raw Women’s Champion
Interestingly, Asuka has experienced a shift in her character over the last month or so from annoying heel to pure babyface. I have a couple of theories / reasons for this:
- Becky Lynch significantly elevated Asuka’s status by inferring on TV that she was the best woman in WWE – or the world for that matter; and, Becky Lynch is so credible now and beloved by millions. I think I speak for everyone when I say we hope her pregnancy goes very smoothly.
- Asukka is significantly aided in getting over as a base by working with a great heel in Nia Jax. Nia is so intimidating that the only way she could believably be a face is in a rivalry like the one she was in a couple years ago when she became Raw Women’s Champion working with her real best friend in Alexa Bliss.
Edge Injured & Heyman Fired
There are two other shocking pieces of information. To begin, WWE backlash was taped during the week prior to the airing of the event. Edge isn’t sure exactly when during the match, but at some point, he tore his triceps. Unfortunately, this means he will be out of action for at least several months after having just got going after nine long years away from the ring. He has only had two matches since returning – both against Randy Orton.
Paul Heyman has also been let go from his role as executive director of Monday Night Raw. To my knowledge, he has not been fired from the company, but rather he is just not running Monday Night Raw. I don’t know about anyone else, but I am extremely sad to see him leave this role. In my humble opinion, he was doing a significantly better job in this role than anyone has done in a very long time. Heyman has the innate ability to forge positive relationships with superstars dating back to his ECW days, making the creative process fun and collaborative. The WWE universe will most likely see him when Brock Lesnar makes his next appearance – as the mouthpiece for “The Beast.”
It seems that Vince McMahon likes to switch things up as far as who is running things backstage periodically. This might be to create more suspense and anticipation surrounding the WWE product. This is more of a way to get people talking about WWE. It’s not that the previous person who was in charge was necessarily doing a bad job; it’s simply a way to get more people discussing the happenings in WWE and generate more attention from the WWE universe. In the most recent case of Paul Heyman, he was actually doing an incredible job of getting nearly every man or woman on the roster who wasn’t injured a decent amount of TV time each week.
One other interesting piece of information is that Drew McIntyre may look to work with Randy Orton in the coming months. It will be an incredible learning experience for McIntyre to work with one of the greatest.