RAW

Kofi Kingston defeats WWE champion Bobby Lashley signaling a title match in the near future

May 17 was a massive night for Kofi Kingston because it was his first one-on-one match with the WWE champion in 19 months – the last time he had a WWE title opportunity was SmackDown’s first episode on FOX. He lost the WWE title in roughly 8 seconds to Brock Lesnar. Kofi defeating Bobby Lashley on May 17 will likely earn him a championship match within the next month; WWE probably won’t do this (because Kofi is not necessarily viewed in the same echelon as Bobby or Brock but the door is now open for Mr. McMahon to potentially orchestrate a triple threat WWE title match between Kofi-Lashley-Lesnar.

This potential match could happen at SummerSlam 2021 which is expected to be held in front of fans. Kofi won the WWE championship at WrestleMania 35 from Daniel Bryan and held the title for six months.

The primary reason Bobby Lashley’s WWE character works so effectively, and WWE fans buy into it so much as being legitimate is because Bobby himself believes in what the character stands for and places his implicit faith in the legitimacy of the character. If a WWE superstar puts his/her faith in a character and believes it when they are trying to sell it to an audience, that is where the magic is; that’s when a crowd will believe it. When you do.

Bobby is now legitimizing the WWE championship – similar to what Brock Lesnar set out to accomplish back in 2012 when he made his WWE return the night after WrestleMania 28. The CHO of The Hurt Business most likely would not have been believable as WWE champion back in 2007 during his first stint with WWE (for example, when Bobby got an opportunity at the WWE championship against John Cena in July 2007) because his character was simply not over enough.

WWE probably could have made it work with Lashley as champion back two or three years ago. Not many people would not buy a 6-foot 3 260-pound animal who is also a former Army Ranger and decorated MMA fighter as WWE champion, but with all that being said it most likely would not have worked as well as it does now because Bobby’s character is significantly more over with the WWE universe (major credit to MVP).

WWE fans believe in Bobby Lashley’s current persona because it is infused with a major element of reality. Bobby and MVP began talking at the 2020 Royal Rumble on creating a group/stable in WWE, and the common element is that they are both real-life friends and get along very well; the WWE universe can easily feed into that because at the deepest level, all human beings are somewhat connected. The original reason MVP even showed up at the 2020 Royal Rumble (and participated in the match) was because he wanted his son to experience the joy of seeing his father wrestle.

A bit unfortunate that Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander were extricated from The Hurt Business because Lashley and MVP really got along well with them. Lashley issued a public statement saying, “I am not sure if I am supposed to be saying this, but it hurt my heart that WWE management made the decision to oust Shelton and Cedric from The Hurt Business.”

The bottom line is that Lashley just flat out is working as WWE champion since February and it’s a great thing to see. He has come into his own as a performer; it just took 16 years to get there. He is 44 years old but is sprinting toward the finish line of his in-ring career.

There is a specific long-term plan in place for Rhea Ripley; Charlotte Flair now to ultimately mold Rhea into a bigger superstar

Many questioned Mr. McMahon’s booking decision in 2020 at WrestleMania 36 to have Charlotte Flair defeat Rhea Ripley for the NXT women’s championship, but the underlying intention was to ultimately make Ripley into an even bigger star by taking losses over and over again to Charlotte before ultimately defeating The Queen (possibly at SummerSlam 2021, maybe even as the main event).

WWE elected to follow a similar path with Roman Reigns by having him take multiple losses to Brock Lesnar for 3+ years before finally defeating The Beast for the Universal title at SummerSlam 2018 (unfortunately The Big Dog would have to relinquish the title just two months later due to his leukemia returning). Anyway, in this scenario Rhea is playing the role of Roman (the young star) while Charlotte is like Brock (the incredibly over yet established star who can serve as the villain – this is every bit if not more as necessary than the other). This is the essence of 50/50 booking not to say it’s right or wrong, but this is how it works. Build the one star to ultimately make a bigger start out of the other.

Reigns wasn’t able to fully complete the evolution of his character until SummerSlam last year upon his return from a hiatus of several months to care for his newborn twins during the initial months of the pandemic. But prior to that, he was grinding for several years as a singles superstar – and it will be no different with regard to Ripley’s career. She will need to go through her own evolution both as a performer as well as a human being. Roman Reigns had to embrace the most authentic version of himself to get over with the WWE universe to the greatest degree, and it will be no different with Rhea – who is still in the embryonic stages of her main roster career in her mid-20s.

The Archer of Infamy Priest is on the fast track to becoming a champion in WWE

Damian Priest is reportedly assimilating extremely well to life on the main roster. This guy appears to have a very level head and a sense of groundedness about his demeanor – never gets too high or too low. He was promoted from NXT in January 2021 after just over two years in developmental (that may not even be the right phrasing anymore). The affiliation with Bad Bunny and subsequent disagreement with The Miz that led to a match at WrestleMania Backlash (even if the match was orchestrated truly to promote Batista’s upcoming movie on Netflix – the match the following night between Priest and Johnny Drip Drip was executed better because Morrison is a better athlete than Miz.

Priest started to get the hang of the WWE style in a June 2020 NXT Takeover match with The Prince Finn Balor. Priest as a human being has a laid-back energy about him and is focused on being present and always taking in the moment.

A match with the United States champion is a great way to get Ricochet back on track – with his ridiculous amount of athleticism; by now the WWE universe has had time to develop and care about the actual human being which is crucial

Sheamus is honestly looking better than he ever has in his career which has lasted since 2009 on the WWE main roster. The Celtic Warrior made a WWE return from spinal stenosis at the very beginning of 2020. He had a somewhat difficult time getting off the ground regarding his momentum as a character but got back in the groove by Mania 37 in 2021. He won the United States title which was originally supposed to be held by Keith Lee before he took an unexpected hiatus from the company in February.

May 17 was a major step in the right direction for the career of Ricochet. He was essentially forgotten about since getting an opportunity at the WWE title in February 2020 in Saudi Arabia (before the pandemic). Since then, The One and Only has been flying under the radar – in a tag team with Cedric Alexander which ended with Alexander joining The Hurt Business. Fortunately, however, this may be the start of something new and promising for Ricochet.

Elias could become a champion in the near future because he has a sufficient amount of momentum – in which the WWE universe is familiar

Elias has been with WWE for several years now, and since he is 33 years old and has been on the main roster for four years, it may be time for Mr. McMahon to make him a priority. The WWE universe has become familiar enough with the guitarist to care for him one way or the other (whether they like him or not). This may be his year to be a champion, maybe not WWE champion but, United States or tag team to get a title under his belt. A match with one of the best ever in AJ Styles (who compares almost exactly to Shawn Michaels) is a great way to begin the process – Elias may be a champion by the end of the year.

The Drifter also has a Jesus-look to him and would fit well with Seth Rollins if WWE resurrected the Messiah character – just a thought. The Drifter also has the opposite mentality compared to what Jesus preached so that could be some subtle comedy to capitalize on.

To round it out, AJ and Omos are serving as the new version of Two Dudes with Attitudes.

Drew McIntyre was challenged by Goldberg this week on RAW, which wasn’t a swerve by the company. The decision was made just two days before RAW on the previous Saturday because ‘they had nobody ready for anything’ according to Dave Meltzer on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio. This was also a case of Mr. McMahon overriding WWE creative, because the creative team isn’t particularly high on Goldberg main eventing the Royal Rumble event with Drew McIntyre.

After all, WWE is Vince McMahon’s company, so he has the freedom to override the creative team whenever he pleases; maybe become a bit of a Jerry Jones-type owner. There are plenty of similarities between he and Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys. Both men insist on being heavily involved in the inner workings of their respective businesses and are not necessarily content to just merely be the owner.

Roman Reigns was the most logical opponent for Goldberg next, whose contract runs through 2023 on at least two matches per year. Goldberg was originally supposed to have a match with Reigns at WrestleMania 36 but that was nixed when Roman made the decision to step away from WWE during the initial months of the pandemic to care solely for his newborn twins (completely understandable). The Head of The Table, as far as I’m concerned, should be applauded for putting his family first and having his priorities in line).

In the meantime, Braun Strowman served as the substitute for Reigns as Goldberg’s opponent for WrestleMania 36. As it turned out, some good did come of WWE’s top dog not competing at Mania – which is ironic because on the surface, that appears to be a bad thing. WWE ironically created a brand new main-event superstar, and Strowman came into his own during his four months as Universal champion.

Braun was told by Vince McMahon at the beginning of 2019 that he was not yet ready to become Universal champion. He was not 100% sure of himself – he was still thinking a little too much about the moves he made. The methodology of the business had not become implicit to The Monster.

It’s now set in stone that Goldberg will challenge McIntyre at Royal Rumble. If McIntyre were to retain the WWE championship, he would almost definitely go on to defend it at Mania, and in the process he would become nearly as big a star as Roman Reigns. On the other side of the coin, if Goldberg wins the WWE championship from Drew McIntyre at Royal Rumble (which I believe is most likely); he most likely does not have the stamina anymore, at age 54, to be a viable champion past WrestleMania 37.

Bill Goldberg is probably fully aware of this; we can look at his recent track record as champion. In March 2017, he won the Universal title from Kevin Owens (ending his reign of over six months) and dropped it at WrestleMania 33 to Brock Lesnar. Goldberg followed the same pattern in 2020 when he won the same title from The Fiend (that’s another story in itself as the booking in that match was questionable) in February 2020 and held the title until WrestleMania 36 before putting over Braun Strowman.

If Goldberg wins the WWE championship from McIntyre at Royal Rumble, history would dictate that he would drop the title at WrestleMania 37. He has followed that path the last two times as champion. This brings up the question of who Bill Goldberg would face at the biggest show of the year. That’s where someone like Randy Orton would fit perfectly for two reasons. It makes sense within the context of the story because Orton could wrap up his current storyline with The Fiend/Bray Wyatt right before Mania and immediately segue into a rivalry with Goldberg.

Second, and more importantly, Bill Goldberg has spoken about how much of an honor he would view it if he had the opportunity to work with Randy Orton at this stage in his career – because Orton is clearly working at another level right now. Orton is coming off the best year of his career in 2020, so it makes sense that Goldberg is interested in engaging in a rivalry with The Viper, and hopefully some of that positive momentum Orton has going for him can rub off on Goldberg. Goldberg worked indirectly with Randy Orton in 2003 when he was primarily feuding with Triple H. Bill Goldberg would view it as an honor to have the privilege of putting over Randy Orton as a 15-time world champion.

It is also worth noting who Goldman mentioned when asked who he would like to work with in the future. His top list was: Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre and Randy Orton. The McIntyre program has already begun with others on the radar in the future. Some people in the business, like John Cena, do not even like to acknowledge all the hypothetical possibilities that may exist. Some people often take the perspective of “control the controllable” and to let the rest work itself out. John takes the grounded perspective of just taking what is in front of him and making it the best possible outcome.

Randy Orton and Alexa Bliss played with the emotions of the WWE universe, at least for a night with some great promo work before Monday Night RAW went off-air

I have a theory about the segment that took place this week as RAW went off the air in which Randy Orton set Alexa Bliss on fire (or at least that’s what WWE was intending to portray – this did not happen of course). My theory is that this segment is receiving a significant amount of criticism because much of the WWE universe was emotionally touched by the segment in some weird way, and not many people know exactly how to react to these emotions, so some people are lashing out at the company.

Many people are saying that this cliffhanger was purely an attempt to desperately garner more viewers, and that may be true to some extent, but many people who critique this failed to recognize how effective it was at the same time. It made everyone – including me – envision a reality without Alexa Bliss at least for a night (even though everyone over the age of 10 knows full well that the world of WWE is fictional), and no one likes it – not even me. The intention of this segment was to get people to tune into the program next week, and it worked very well.

Keith Lee defeats Sheamus in a number one contender’s match to challenge Drew McIntyre for the WWE championship next week as we kick off 2021

Keith Lee has taken a massive step in his evolution to ultimately become one of the top few superstars in WWE. Will he ever be the face of the company – probably not – but he will be an integral part of the next generation of the company. One technique he uses to calm his mind is meditation – another top-level athlete who uses this technique is Aaron Rodgers who is the favorite right now in the NFL to win the MVP award. In addition, I meditate quite often myself, so I know from first-hand experience that this is an extremely effective tool. There is no right or wrong way to do it, all you need to do is make the decision to do it.

As Mark Henry and so many others have said before, this man could be the standard of what big men are capable of in the future. In terms of the booking decision this week for WWE to have Lee go over Sheamus to earn a WWE title opportunity next week, it would have made more sense for Sheamus to get the opportunity. The only event that transpired recently that made this make any sense was the fact that The Celtic Warrior was booked rather poorly on the December 14 edition of Monday Night RAW when he took a beating with a chair while he was hung up in the ropes. On top of that, he didn’t even come to his friend Drew McIntyre’s aid later in the night. Looking at this in hindsight, this may have been enough to stop Sheamus’ momentum at least for the time being.

As another small sidenote, the December 14 edition of RAW was also when WWE received a record low viewership number of 1.527 million. It was a great decision for Keith Lee to get the victory if one takes the perspective that WWE was making a concerted effort to create a massive star in The Limitless One roughly 4 months after his debut on the main roster. In that time, he has earned victories over Randy Orton (in late August at Payback) and now Sheamus, to established superstars, and now has earned his first WWE championship match to begin 2021. Some positivity can be found in any situation – all one needs to do is find the right perspective to choose (and it may vary from person to person).

Even though Keith Lee began 2020 by winning the NXT North American championship, he will not win a title to begin 2021 because WWE is firmly behind Drew McIntyre as the top guy on RAW to carry the company through the rest of this pandemic and beyond. After all, Mr. McMahon has been extremely high on McIntyre for over a decade.

WWE seems intent on booking McIntyre vs. Lee vs. Sheamus at Royal Rumble for the WWE championship to wrap up the friendship storyline (both challengers are friends with the champion but do not necessarily get along).

Asuka has been extremely reliable and has carried the WWE women’s division since May when Becky Lynch announced her pregnancy, even though she has been overshadowed by other women nearly the entire time

Asuka has been the RAW Women’s Champion throughout Becky Lynch’s entire pregnancy – since the Money in the Bank Pay-Per-View in May – but she has been overshadowed in nearly every storyline since becoming champion. Since winning the title back from Sasha Banks at SummerSlam, she has not been the primary focus of any of her feuds but rather they have all been focused on the challenger. The rivalry with Sasha Banks and Bayley was all about them, then she put over the now-released Zelina Vega, followed by the storyline that was all about getting Lana over before WWE found out about the return of Charlotte Flair (after successful plastic surgery).

At this point, WWE is building toward Flair becoming RAW Women’s Champion (possibly at WrestleMania). This would be a great idea if the company decides to do it, but the creative team is surely well aware that Charlotte defeated Asuka for a women’s championship at the same event just three years ago. Maybe put the title on a different superstar before if that is indeed the plan. Asuka’s contribution has been incredibly underrated across the second half of 2020 as she has kept the RAW women’s division afloat and helped to create new stars.

Ricochet loses again to RETRIBUTION, and seeing that he might ultimately join the group and give them some much needed momentum; AJ Styles defeats Elias – Ricochet is most likely the next generation’s version of AJ physically, the one wrestler who is head and shoulders above everyone else

Similar to Keith Lee being the future of what big men can do in wrestling, Ricochet is the future standard of what a normal-sized man can do in wrestling. Shawn Michaels was the “standard” who was ahead of his time. AJ Styles is filling that role right now for the current generation of wrestlers and has been for many years. Ricochet is next in line to become the leader of the next-generation for in-ring work. There is just something different about this guy and the way he moves and can contort his body because most humans can’t do that.

Mustafa Ali defeated Ricochet this week and it appears as though he is going to eventually convince The One and Only to join RETRIBUTION. Maybe the addition of Ricochet will give the group the juice it has been missing so that they can fully get over with the WWE universe. Ali’s promos have only been able to compensate so much for the inconsistent 50/50 booking. The group is having a hard time gaining and sustaining any momentum since they take losses so often and are straining to gather four or five victories in a row. The WWE universe doesn’t know how seriously to take the group.

Elias is on the rise, and the addition of Jaxson Ryker adds a major amount of credibility to his overall presentation. The fact that The Drifter was booked in a match with a superstar as high up the ranks as AJ Styles is evidence. Elias is not yet at the level of The Phenomenal One, but it would be a very realistic goal for him to reach the status of a United States/Intercontinental champion by the end of 2021.

Randy Orton setting more stuff on fire – third time in his career

Randy Orton has an affinity for setting objects on fire throughout his WWE career. He tossed Bray Wyatt – with his sweater – into a trunk and set it on fire – only for The Fiend to jump out and attack Randy. This proved to be a creative way of maintaining The Fiend’s supernatural aura even with WWE presenting Him as the babyface in this rivalry. I wasn’t super confident it would work because The Fiend was established so well as a heel, so this is great news. The first thing that came to mind when Orton did this was his story with Wyatt surrounding the WWE championship from 2017 when he burned down Sister Abigail’s cabin.

The second event involving Randy Orton setting something on fire that came to mind was when he was involved in a casket match with The Undertaker back in 2005 and he set the casket on fire. Unfortunately (inexperienced as he was at only 25), Orton nearly set himself on fire as well because when he was pouring gasoline on the casket it was also soaking his body. He stepped away at probably the last possible second – just in case there were people with fire extinguishers surrounding the stage. Fortunately, Orton was much safer about it this time, so he learned his lesson.

AJ Styles defeats Sheamus early in the night and beats up Drew McIntyre later in the night with help from his buddies. The action in WWE (particularly on Monday Night RAW because it’s three hours instead of two) typically slows down as each calendar year winds down. It will pick back up when the new year starts.

Sheamus was not booked to look particularly strong this week which is the primary job of the WWE booking team. He took a beating from AJ Styles with a chair after losing the match. The Celtic Warrior did not even come out later in the night to get revenge on The Phenomenal One. This could have furthered the friendship angle between Drew McIntyre and Sheamus. The uneven booking of The Celtic Warrior this week makes one question how serious WWE is about making a match between he and McIntyre happen in the future for the WWE championship. It’s the job of every booking team in wrestling to make the time wrestlers have / don’t have to make them look like absolute superstars (even if they are not the primary focus that particular week) so they keep momentum.

In a parallel reality, probably not too far away from here (from a quantum physics perspective), where Sheamus is the current WWE champion as opposed to Drew McIntyre and he is booked by WWE to have a match at TLC with AJ Styles, this would be a real barnburner to look forward to. Instead, in this present reality, the WWE universe is getting the opportunity to enjoy this match (for the first time) for free. There is even a possibility that a match between Styles and Sheamus could have gone down at WrestleMania 28 back in 2012 – the year The Celtic Warrior won the Royal Rumble – for the World Heavyweight championship (instead Daniel Bryan was the opponent and Sheamus knocked him out with a Brogue Kick in 18 seconds). Unfortunately, AJ was not with the company in 2012.

Styles got a victory over McIntyre’s close friend which makes sense due to the booking of AJ as the number one contender for the WWE title. The match was also extremely well-paced and none of the action felt rushed. WWE gave the two men an adequate about of time to go out there and put on a solid match, and the superstars did not feel rushed at all as dictated by their body language.

Miz read a decent bedtime story chronicling the recent history between Styles and McIntyre, although it may not have been nearly as captivating as the bedtime story Samoa Joe did a couple of years ago when feuding with Styles – Joe just has a voice that could quite possibly put someone to sleep if they are tired. John Morrison’s impression of Drew McIntyre was genuinely funny. Some of the things Morrison does are over-the-top, but this was genuinely pretty good (William Wallace-esque).

It made storyline sense for AJ to get the upper hand on McIntyre (albeit with the help of Mr. Money in the Bank The Miz, Morrison, and his bodyguard Omos) on the go-home edition of RAW before TLC because AJ most likely has no business winning the WWE title from Drew McIntyre at the Pay-Per-View. Mr. McMahon has been high on McIntyre for over a decade, and McIntyre resonates at a deep level with much of the WWE universe – or maybe that’s just me. One intriguing possibility that is considered to be a top match at WrestleMania 37 is doing a rematch between Brock Lesnar and McIntyre for the WWE championship – but this time adding Keith Lee to the mix. This would make perfect sense as The Limitless One squared off with The Beast in the 2020 Men’s Royal Rumble match (Lee was No. 13).

The New Day are incredibly consistent, and the demand for that quality in the wrestling business will never go away – a tag team that is established and can always be relied upon to carry the division and elevate other teams

Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods are two of the absolute best workers in WWE. No one can say they are underrated because they are Tag Team Champions, but at times WWE does not put quite as much emphasis on the tag team division. Kofi and Woods go out every night, however, with a smile on their faces and do their thing on a consistent basis and that can never be undervalued. They will be defending – and quite possibly losing – their RAW Tag Team Titles against The Hurt Business at TLC. Whenever WWE has a tag team they want to establish, the first step is beating The New Day. When there is no one else who is really standing out, the titles are usually on The New Day.

It’s an incredibly positive thing that Jaxson Ryker was featured on Monday Night RAW now that the Forgotten Sons gimmick is completely done away with. WWE has taken the first step in the right direction if the company chooses to give Ryker a push and build around him.

For now, Elias is on a path to elevate him and in the process he can become familiar with the WWE universe – hopefully it will turn into something more in the future. WWE primarily looks for commitment, dedication, and passion as Triple H has said so many times in the past.

Congratulations to Becky Lynch on giving birth to Roux – she and Seth Rollins are parents! This means neither of them will be able to be quite as committed to WWE as they have been over the last several years – I’m guessing

Don’t be surprised at all to see The Fiend take his storyline back up with Roman Reigns at some point in time, even if that point is not for another year. This is the feud in WWE right now – and for the next several years – that most likely has the potential to make the most money for the company, so it is definitely on the back burner. Mr. McMahon is simply waiting for the time to be right and for everything to line up perfectly. One could make the argument, however, that the time is right now. Randy Orton got the upper hand in his story with The Fiend last week, so it only made sense for Him to get the upper hand this week.

The best part of the event involving Bray Wyatt this week is what did not happen rather than what did happen. Alexa Bliss was kept off the show this week so The Fiend had the ability to stay true to his character and do what he does best – be menacing by delivering Mandible Claws (this time to Randy Orton).

A potentially interesting idea is for WWE to orchestrate an entire episode of Monday Night RAW in which Randy Orton abducts Alexa Bliss early in the go-home edition before the TLC Pay-Per-View and some sort of event involving the abduction can occur as RAW goes off the air to set up the build for TLC. This would take up an entire edition of the program (Vince Russo suggested the idea last week. He is no longer a WWE writer and hasn’t been for quite some time, but this idea might have validity).

WWE might finally be on the verge of having established two top guys who are almost completely accepted by the WWE universe and have the ability to carry the company through difficult times (right now might qualify as a difficult time with the pandemic) in the form of WWE champion Drew McIntyre and a heel Universal champion Roman Reigns (who is primarily focused on ensuring the future of the business). The fist bump at Survivor Series 2019 between Keith Lee and The Big Dog was a precursor to what was to come in 2020 with Roman Reigns’ character after looking at the event in hindsight.

The writing is on the wall for Drew McIntyre and Sheamus to collide in the future (most likely before Mania) – whether this is an extended storyline lasting several months or just a one off, it will be an absolutely fantastic match. Sheamus hit McIntyre with a Brogue kick this week but the two friends quickly made up by putting WWE official Pat Buck through a table – this storyline will intensify next week.

Drew McIntyre appears to be on a collision course with Sheamus, while AJ Styles (Jackass and The Beanstalk as The Scottish Warrior coined them – AJ and his bodyguard Omos) is serving as a filler between Drew’s match with Roman Reigns and The Celtic Warrior (which might take place at the Royal Rumble. If this is indeed the case, then the feud might commence as soon as right after TLC. There is a Feasible Way, Keith Lee could also be added to this story down the road as The Limitless One has also been established as a friend of Drew McIntyre. Even Jinder Mahal could ultimately be included as the fourth man in a battle of friends (assuming he returns from injury within the next few months).

Big future for Elias potentially under a new Gimmick

Jeff Hardy took a loss to Bobby Lashley this week (not exactly sure right now what WWE is planning to do with Riddle – book him to begin a verbal go-around with Lashley or tag with Hardy). Jeff Hardy got a victory against Elias last week in a Symphony of Destruction match. This makes sense for WWE to book Hardy strong, because at least as far as I know the company is still planning on changing Hardy’s entrance music back to “No More Words” which he had back in 2009.

However, on the surface it seemed a really perplexing finish as it hurt Elias (who is about a decade younger than Jeff Hardy and needed the momentum more), but this might be the start of a gimmick change for him. Elias claimed on social media that when he got electrocuted by the amplifier last week, his ability to play the guitar was saved but he had an epiphany as to what his purpose in life was. He also referred to himself as extraordinary Elias.

New Day – Hurt Business RAW Tag Team titles will likely be booked for TLC next week; it’s quite possible we could see new champions crowned and The Hurt Business could add more titles to their collection in addition to the United States championship; MVP has experienced a pretty good amount of success since returning to WWE at the Royal Rumble

Kofi Kingston had two matches – one against Shelton Benjamin and a second match against Cedric Alexander, and it made sense because Kofi has incredible stamina. Xavier Woods got the win on November 30 over Cedric Alexander. Kingston beat the 45-year-old Benjamin this week and also lost to Alexander. That means The Hurt Business has won two out of three singles matches against The New Day, all the more reason to think they might become RAW Tag Team Champions come TLC (the match hasn’t been made official yet but it’s only a matter of time before that changes).

This was very strategic booking by WWE to give Cedric Alexander both victories over each member of The New Day over the past two weeks considering he is so much younger than Shelton Benjamin and is clearly one of the primary pillars of the future.

Braun Strowman injured his knee at WWE Survivor Series 2020. The injury comes at a rather unfortunate time as he was scheduled to challenge WWE champion Drew McIntyre for the title at WWE TLC. Fortunately, the company was able to successfully pivot and slot AJ Styles into that position. This shows evidence of the depth of the WWE roster – Drew McIntyre and AJ have unbelievably never had a match, and it’s rather unbelievable this rivalry has not been explored in the past. Thankfully it is now that McIntyre is WWE champion because this match is almost guaranteed to be a classic

Another theory is that Samoa Joe might make his return to the ring in 2021 – possibly even at Royal Rumble after being an excellent member of the commentary team on Monday Night RAW for the past nine months to date. He might return on SmackDown to challenge Roman Reigns for the Universal championship, because Joe has stated in the past that he has no familial connection to the Anoa’i family despite being Samoan.

Joe could tell Roman that he does not view him as the Head of The Table – very simple beginning, but even John Cena made his entire career off of extremely simple stories like that. Samoa Joe is 41 years old and, based on his work in the ring in the last couple years, he has at least four or five more excellent years ahead of him in which he will be capable of giving more than adequate performances (this is speaking objectively, maybe he has an injury no one knows about yet).

Assuming WWE books Reigns to hold onto the Universal championship through ‘Mania 37 and hold the title for a full calendar year, maybe WWE could book Joe to make his return to in-ring action the night after ‘Mania and begin a long-term feud with the Head of The Table through the summer of 2021 – culminating at SummerSlam. Another option is to book these two men to face each other at WrestleMania 37 – possibly in the main event. Big E would be another possibility as Roman Reigns’ opponent for WrestleMania 37 – two years after his New Day brother Kofi Kingston took the WWE championship from Daniel Bryan at the Showcase of The Immortals in 2019 at MetLife Stadium.

The booking of The Fiend takes an interesting turn; he is now being booked as a babyface – most likely so that Randy Orton can remain in the role of a heel in which he is most comfortable

Mr. McMahon has decided to do a complete 180 regarding the booking of Alexa Bliss and The Fiend Bray Wyatt by changing their roles to make them the babyfaces in this feud while positioning Randy Orton as the ‘master heel’ with a long-term plan for how he will go about systematically attacking The Fiend mentally. I don’t love it, but I am not necessarily opposed to watching how this will play out. It’s difficult to completely reverse the narrative of The Fiend when WWE has built the narrative so well of Him being a monster who has such a supernatural aura. Now the more human side of the character is beginning to be explored – people cannot be judgmental because the entire story is far from over.

This rivalry is being revisited after 3 ½ years when Randy Orton burned down Sister Abigail’s cabin. He would ultimately go on to take the WWE championship from Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania 33 after winning the 2017 Royal Rumble match. Orton was a follower of Bray Wyatt and a member of The Wyatt Family – and they were even tag team champions for a few months – before The Viper revealed that befriending Bray was the essential piece in his master plan all along to become WWE champion. The primary intention of the story is to further the character of Randy Orton and portray him as an even more sinister threat in WWE.

AJ Styles is the new No. 1 contender for the WWE championship, and after getting the victory in the triple threat match he subsequently made an effort to grab the WWE title off Drew McIntyre to more easily become WWE champion for the first time in two years

Regarding the No. 1 contender’s triple threat match for the WWE championship, Keith Lee is primed and ready to be a perennial superstar in the near future – maybe just after WrestleMania 37. His entrance, however, may have been better in NXT – the song he rapped himself. There was so much originality in that entrance, and singing his own lyrics was good enough for John Cena so why not do the same for Keith Lee. He also has a victory over Randy Orton in his back pocket from August 30 at the Payback Pay-Per-View.

Riddle may require a slight gimmick change if WWE wants to position him as a legitimate threat to the WWE championship. It is a very positive thing to see Riddle make his entrance last, so that gives away the fact that the company is intending to push him in the future. There is not much at all Riddle is not capable of in the ring as he has the physical ability to put together a great match with either a big guy or a small guy. He also picked up a win over AJ Styles in his debut match on SmackDown in June 2020 immediately following the Backlash Pay-Per-View.

The WWE championship match at TLC between AJ Styles and Drew McIntyre could be an instant classic – McIntyre has talked in the past about how Styles was one of the men he was looking forward to competing against for the WWE championship in the future. Some sort of event involving AJ’s bodyguard might transpire to further his WWE character at TLC – at least he talked this week on Monday Night Raw. After winning the triple threat match earlier in the night, AJ made an effort to help The Miz cash-in his Money in the Bank contract albeit unsuccessfully.

Meanwhile Sheamus is looming in the background for now as a future challenger to Drew McIntyre’s WWE title (which he will be for certain in the coming months, maybe even as soon as the Royal Rumble. For right now, WWE is seeking to lay the groundwork in order to build the story between the two men. Speaking of WWE creating stories out of Drew McIntyre’s friendships, a story could very well be built in 2021 between McIntyre and Jinder Mahal (who will be returning from knee surgery).

New Day dropping the RAW Tag Titles to The Hurt Business at TLC?

Since the story between The New Day and The Hurt Business continued this week and has been going on for several weeks in a row – Cedric Alexander and Xavier Woods met this week in a singles match which Cedric won – it seems at this point as if the writing is on the wall for a RAW Tag Team championship match to be booked for TLC between these two teams. It appears as though The Hurt Business is on pace to capture the titles. These will be the first titles either Cedric Alexander or Shelton Benjamin have held in quite some time.

The WWE Women’s Division is arguably Healthier than Ever, or not, Depending on your Perspective

The company is beginning to suffer from the same phenomenon they were suffering from earlier this year, and that problem is that all the opportunities in the women’s division are being given to just four or five women. There are many more competent women in WWE, but the opportunities are not being spread out, and the women’s division as a whole is suffering because of it. The five women WWE is building the entire women’s division around currently are Asuka, Lana, Nia Jax Shayna Baszler on RAW and Sasha Banks on SmackDown (and the women’s division in NXT is absolutely loaded). But at the end of the day WWE is Vince McMahon’s company and he has the right to do whatever he wants. There are so many women who could possibly be pushed – there is not a bad option. (I prefer to take the stance that WWE is doing better than ever in terms of the state of the women’s division).

The Fiend has unfinished business with Randy Orton after Orton took the WWE title from him over three years ago; Alexa Bliss establishes herself as a dominant presence in the Women’s Division after fooling Nikki Cross and convincing her to let her guard down

Randy Orton will finally begin his rivalry with The Fiend which has been hinted at for a month, starting immediately after Randy captured the WWE championship from Drew McIntyre for the 14^th time. Ironically, Randy Orton won his 13^th WWE championship from Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania 33. It was an extremely intelligent decision by Vince McMahon to orchestrate for Orton to drop the WWE championship before this rivalry officially got going. The Fiend Bray Wyatt tends to not have a positive impact on the character development of the superstars he is working with when a title is involved – just ask Seth Rollins. The only man who has feuded with The Fiend over a major WWE championship – the Universal championship – and legitimately benefited in terms of character development is Daniel Bryan. The Fiend is in The Undertaker territory in the sense that there is a certain supernatural aura to his character, therefore he doesn’t necessarily need a title around his waist to be relevant.

This has been a fantastic story in the way it has progressed and ultimately come to fruition for two reasons.

• The Fiend attacked Randy Orton a few weeks ago on RAW when he was still WWE champion, signaling that Mr. McMahon was thinking about potentially starting a feud between them over the WWE championship, but he wisely went against it.
• In the Firefly FunHouse, Bray Wyatt has been subtly foreshadowing the beginnings of a rivalry with The Viper over the past six or eight weeks by showing with regularity vignettes of Sister Abigail’s cabin burning down about three years ago who – who started that fire? Randy Orton when they were in the midst of a rivalry over the WWE championship after being aligned as a tag team for a combat short time.

He never forgets. The Friendship Frog segment this week on Firefly FunHouse was setting up this rivalry to have a platform to springboard off. Friendship Frog also happened to have the same birth year as Randy Orton.

The Fiend’s presence has also leaked into the Women’s Division with Alexa Bliss. WWE will need to be careful and treat her in this incarnation exactly as Bray is treated. This means that she does not need a title around her waist to be relevant either – there is now a supernatural presence to her character exactly like there is with Him.

I thought The Undertaker was wrapping up his career when I first got into the wrestling business given his age. I thought it might be a very poetic ending to his career to call it quits at WrestleMania 28 in 2012 (which I attended in Miami, Florida). I am extremely grateful now to have gotten to see this man work for a decade. The way he decided to end his career was the most ideal way possible – combining every incarnation of his character throughout 30 years. There very well may never be anyone who creates that type of aura and supernatural mystique again, so it was a pleasure to see the original version.

Lana is receiving opportunities in WWE after about seven years of paying her dues; opportunities do not come by magic, but are rather the result of doing the right thing consistently over a long period of time

Say what you want about Lana, but her booking over the last couple of months has been unbelievable. Personally, I have never been much of a fan of her, but she has gained a lot of momentum in my consciousness. Once Mr. McMahon made up his mind quickly and decisively to the point as far as getting her over as a major babyface, it was an extremely effective idea to orchestrate for Nia Jax to put her through a table 9 weeks in a row. This portrayed Lana in a sympathetic light. She went on to get a couple different championship opportunities over the next several weeks and became the sole survivor for the RAW women’s team at Survivor Series.

Mr. McMahon preparing for the future with Riddle and Keith Lee as well as simultaneously living in the present with AJ Styles

AJ Styles will most likely get the victory in the triple threat match next week and get the opportunity to face off with Drew McIntyre for the WWE championship for a couple of reasons – the first being that he has by far the most experience. Riddle and Keith Lee both have extremely bright futures, but for now they are both still too new to the main roster – neither of them has even one year of experience. AJ has been on the WWE main roster for several years and spent his prime years in Japan, among other places. He is also in his 40s, so he may not have many years left to take advantage of the opportunity to work with Drew McIntyre (who has publicly stated that he would like to one day work with The Phenomenal One).

It’s great that two people from the new wave in WWE are getting such a bright spotlight so early in their careers in the form of Keith Lee and Riddle. These two guys have just been introduced in the company in the last couple of years. Lee was put over by the 44-year-old Bobby Lashley, and Riddle by the 42-year-old Sheamus.

The Celtic Warrior may look even better than he did over a decade ago when he first debuted on the WWE main roster. This kind of performance is somewhat expected from Riddle given that he is 8 years younger and is just entering the prime of his career. On the opposite end of the spectrum, I figured Sheamus’s career was over after WrestleMania 35 when he was forced to take a break from WWE to take care of the spinal stenosis issue he had for years.

He has come back better than ever and is likely to be a crucial figure in the company for the next decade. He has delivered incredible matches over the past couple of months with superstars like Big E, Riddle and Kofi Kingston. The only accomplishment the former 4-time world champion, Royal Rumble winner and Mr. Money in the Bank has left to check off the list is becoming an Intercontinental champion. Sheamus is still capable of delivering extremely high-quality matches and is one of the most physical superstars in the company – when you were in a match with him, you know you are really going to feel it the next day.

New Day Deliver a Fantastic Match in their Second Title Defense in Two Weeks

Speaking of Kofi Kingston, he overpowered an injury as The New Day defeated The Hurt Business in what was probably an even better match than the night before at Survivor Series. This was a case of Kofi’s body telling him no but his spirit saying yes. Kofi Kingston gave the standout performance this week for The New Day, but it’s still impressive that Xavier Woods is back at 100% at all after coming back not very long ago from a ruptured Achilles tendon and being away from the ring for almost a year.

Adam Pearce is significantly growing into his role as an authority figure on WWE programming – not even necessarily because he has done anything differently, but the WWE universe has just had more time to grow accustomed to his mannerisms and demeanor on screen. The segment involving Braun Strowman in which Pearce was trusted to give his opinion on the matter was a significant transition in the right direction. Adam Pearce is beginning to earn the trust of people within the inner workings of the business after a few months of consistently being featured on television because the WWE universe has become familiar with his presence.

Drew McIntyre is having the greatest calendar year of his career, and it’s only getting better as he has now won the second WWE championship of his career against Randy Orton. Not many WWE superstars have the ability to say they have won multiple WWE titles in their career – let alone by beating Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania in the main event for the first title and winning the second by finishing a long-term program with Randy Orton. For McIntyre, his second WWE title victory felt as though it meant more in terms of furthering his status in the company and truly cementing his status as a top-tier main eventer. Immediately after the WWE championship match, The Viper tapped The Scottish Psychopath on the back of his leg as a way of giving respect and saying “good match kid. You earned it.”

McIntyre’s career year began with a Royal Rumble victory in January, followed by a victory against Lesnar for the WWE title at WrestleMania. Drew spent the middle portion of 2020 defending his title against various other superstars – such as Seth Rollins, King Corbin, Bobby Lashley, and Dolph Ziggler (who McIntyre tagged with in 2018) – slowly building credibility before getting to the ultimate payoff rivalry later in the year of being caught over by someone who is quite possibly the greatest to ever lace up a pair of boots in Randy Orton.

These two men met for the first time in this current feud in August 2020 at SummerSlam in which McIntyre got the victory. This match was followed in September with an Ambulance match which was won again by McIntyre (not by pinfall however so the rivalry could be extended). The starting match was a Hell In A Cell match in which McIntyre gave arguably his best in-ring performance ever (taking a hellacious fall from halfway up the cell). It was capped off this Monday with Randy Orton putting the finishing touches on the process of putting over Drew McIntyre as a perennial WWE champion and one of the top superstars in the entire WWE. Drew will now go on to face The Tribal Chief Roman Reigns at Survivor Series this Sunday.

Drew McIntyre has earned a significant amount of respect from me as well as the entire WWE universe – he has done everything with grace and appreciation for what he has been given. WWE has also practiced a slow-burn over the last 13 years with McIntyre. No one thought it would take quite that long for McIntyre to come into his own – Mr. McMahon had to know it would be a long process since McIntyre was so young and had much maturing to do when he was first discovered at 22 years old. But Drew McIntyre now has a sufficient amount of perspective on life at 35 now. The maturation process in life simply takes nothing but time which requires patience, but it always happens eventually. This is a similar view the company may want to take with Big E (who is a former NXT champion Mr. McMahon almost made the face of the company once upon a time).

The next opponent on the list for Drew McIntyre may be Sheamus, especially considering the symbolism which came to fruition during McIntyre’s entrance this Monday when McIntyre planted the sword Sheamus gave to him earlier in the night into the floor. Another reason this is a likely first feud for Drew McIntyre’s second reign as WWE champion is because he already has a well-established friendship with The Celtic Warrior. Two wrestlers who are friends almost always end up embarking in a rivalry at some point in time – this is just good business. Both men have so much chemistry together based on their friendship and they were also the top rivalry in all of Europe before they both signed with WWE.

Drew McIntyre may in fact be one of the top four or five superstars who can legitimately carry the WWE into the future over the course of the next 10/15 years. Obviously this cannot be said about just anyone, but McIntyre has been through more than his fair share of struggle and rejection (he has been told no multiple times by other companies, and as much as people don’t want to hear that it will strengthen their level of resolve).

Someone’s journey toward success in this or any other industry could take a much shorter amount of time or a much longer amount of time. No set amount of time can be placed on this sort of journey, but people will always find a significant amount of meaning in the journey and the way in which the process of their entire life unfolds before their eyes. For McIntyre the magic number was 19 years. No one can waste time overthinking the process of life, because then it is not enjoyed (which is the intention of life; if you’re not enjoying life then you are not doing it right. That’s the only thing I know for sure).

Now a face vs. heel match can take place at Survivor Series between Drew McIntyre and Roman Reigns.

The Fiend may Benefit most if he is kept out of the World Title Picture

The main event picture on Raw was dwindled for about two months – it seemed as though Drew McIntyre and Randy Orton were the only viable main eventers for a while. Fortunately, business has picked up significantly in the past couple weeks since Hell In A Cell. Drew McIntyre has emerged as a top contender for the WWE Championship. Originally the situation looked as though The Fiend would emerge as the top contender to Randy Orton, but The Fiend has a supernatural presence and he may be better served to engage in non-title feuds, because he has enough of an aura about him – somewhat similar to The Undertaker (their encounter at WrestleMania 31 immediately comes to mind) – to the point where the WWE universe will care about him and his rivalry whether there is a title involved or not.

The Fiend also has the tendency to damage his own credibility as well as the credibility of his opponent when he engages in a title feud (Seth Rollins is a prime example of this; essentially the only time The Fiend benefited himself and his opponent during a title rivalry was when he and Daniel Bryan wrapped up their story in January 2020).

Drew McIntyre was trusted recently with the WWE Championship and did an excellent job, so there is no reason he could not be trusted again for a Second Run

Drew McIntyre might be a better candidate to become Randy Orton’s first challenger for the WWE Championship; it would benefit McIntyre to a greater degree in both the short-term and long-term future. McIntyre might even challenge Orton for the title before Survivor Series, win the WWE Championship and go on to face Roman Reigns in a champion versus champion clash at the Pay-Per-View.

Roman has more recent history with McIntyre than Randy as Drew faced The Big Dog at Mania 35, while it has been over six years since Reigns last stepped in the ring with The Viper in a singles match. This could be WWE’s way of building a long-term story between Roman Reigns and Randy Orton and giving each of their characters a sufficient amount of time to breathe (as well as the collective mind of the WWE universe) so that when they do ultimately meet, the impact of the story will be that much greater.

After Survivor Series WWE might go into a program with McIntyre and Sheamus which will wrap up before Royal Rumble at the end of January 2021. Sheamus is an extremely hard-hitting superstar with a resume plenty big enough to warrant a WWE Title match – when a superstar has a match with Sheamus, he knows he was in a match with Sheamus – a testament to how hard this man works and how seriously he takes his matches.

Orton could win World Championship Number 15 and Hold it through Mania

After finishing the rivalry with Sheamus, The Scottish Psychopath will be able to turn his attention to perhaps Randy Orton, who may challenge for the WWE championship once again come Royal Rumble. Orton could win the WWE title in January (giving him world title number 15 in his career, keeping Randy on pace to break Ric Flair’s record of 17 world titles) and hold it until WrestleMania 37 for the big payoff match with Edge. WWE typically likes to cap off these high-profile feuds by involving a title, and this WWE championship match will also likely have a stipulation (right now the company is choosing an I Quit match).

The Viper and The Rated-R Superstar met the previous two times in their current rivalry at WrestleMania 36 in a Last-Man-Standing match, and again in June 2020 at Backlash in The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever. The reason the conclusion of this rivalry was delayed is because of Edge for his triceps in June – otherwise this rivalry probably would have concluded at SummerSlam. Everything happens for a reason. We may not always understand it, but I believe there is a divine presence always looking out for us – you can call it God or whatever you want – but I believe this is what happened with Randy Orton and Edge.

Going back to Drew McIntyre’s match from this week’s edition of RAW, The Scottish Psychopath delivered his most versatile performance ever. He has always had flat out ridiculous strength and a decent amount of athleticism, but this week he was flying around the ring and over the top rope like a cruiserweight. John Morrison also took a German suplex off the top rope and completely flipped (exactly like Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 19 (Brock Lesnar almost broke his neck in their WWE title match trying to execute a shooting star press, which was an unnecessary risk).

Miz cashing-in on The Viper, and he could assert that he is now The Ultimate Opportunist (Edge’s gimmick).

This could then lead to a WWE championship match where Edge becomes WWE champion again.

Randy Orton could retain the WWE championship at WrestleMania and The Miz could cash-in the Money in the Bank contract a few weeks later on Orton (it would provide continuity that it just so happens Miz last won the WWE championship from Randy Orton also. Miz won the Money in the Bank contract from Otis at Hell In A Cell about two weeks ago. This well marked the second time someone who did not win the MITB ladder match will cash-in (the last being Edge in 2007 – also a former winner).

Mr. Kennedy won the ladder match in 2007, but unfortunately the situation with WWE did not work out for him. Vince McMahon was not crazy about him and neither was John Cena. There aren’t great odds someone will succeed in a company if the boss and the face of the company don’t necessarily gel with that person. However, the situation is quite the opposite for Otis, as Mr. McMahon is very much a supporter of the big man who is also a great comedic character for right now.

Different plans are possible for Drew McIntyre, but he will become champion again (almost a guarantee).

When you combine his rugged look and gracious demeanor, along with his physical ability, the potential for many world titles is right there. It has taken longer than expected to come to fruition, but McIntyre has learned an awful lot on this journey and evolved significantly as a human being.

Of course, this option could be totally scrapped. In that case, another option would be to make Drew McIntyre WWE champion for the second time at the first WWE live event in front of the WWE universe again after the current pandemic (who knows when that will be – let’s hope it comes in time for WrestleMania 37). McIntyre has been trusted to carry the company through this tough time, and veterans of this business say all the time that the true measure of a top draw is whether or not the company trusts you to carry the business through difficult times.

A perfect example of this phenomenon occurred in 2002 when WWE was transitioning from The Attitude Era and being so edgy/heavily reliant on the Stone Cold Steve Austin-type attitude, and toward a larger and more global audience comprised of all demographics rather than primarily the 18-49 demographic (The Demo-God Chris Jericho). Just look at who carried the major titles in WWE during that time – The Undertaker and Triple H – two of the most respected men in the wrestling business. Mr. McMahon trusts them more than anyone and they are basically family members.

McIntyre has passed this test with flying colors and has proven to be a marketable babyface. There is a strong possibility that he could finally receive a proper coronation as the face of WWE (other than of course Roman Reigns). Through making McIntyre champion immediately once fans are allowed to attend WWE live events again, Mr. McMahon would be giving himself the opportunity to find out immediately if McIntyre can consistently draw attention to the WWE product as a whole and put backsides in seats.

Orton doing a thorough job of putting over Drew McIntyre as a perennial main eventer for the next number of years and leaving no stone unturned

The Viper’s in-ring work has been impeccable as always in 2020, but where he has flourished the most by far is on the microphone – he has undoubtedly done the best work of his career in that department, and this Monday was no exception. He will look to win his 14^th career WWE Title this Sunday in his 8^th career match inside Hell In A Cell. Another interesting fact is that Orton will look to win the WWE Championship for the 3^rd time inside the structure.

On the other hand, Drew McIntyre will compete in his first HIAC match. This is exactly why McIntyre wanted to work with Orton – Drew knew it would benefit him exponentially to be able to work with one of the top two or three superstars in the entire company and serve to establish him as a legitimate main event – caliber superstar. Whether he gets the victory or not inside the Cell, it will do wonders for his status in WWE to even be in there with a superstar of Randy Orton’s caliber.

The fact that McIntyre has defeated Randy Orton twice already for the WWE championship (including at the second biggest Pay-Per-View of the year – SummerSlam) has elevated him exponentially and proven that his victory at WrestleMania against Brock Lesnar was no fluke. An adequate amount of time has been invested into making McIntyre successful. Randy Orton is one of the best storytellers in all of pro wrestling, and the main thing that makes him so great in this department is the extremely methodical approach he takes (a lost art in today’s extremely fast-paced world).

There was some confusion about the way Monday Night Raw ended this week, but it was the ending Mr. McMahon approved and envisioned – it served as a great cliffhanger for Sunday’s Hell In a Cell Pay-Per-View.

Strowman provides the impetus for Keith Lee to add another dimension to his character; Mustafa Ali may have found his niche

Braun Strowman got a victory over Keith Lee by using the same tactic Roman Reigns used to get the victory over him on October 16 on SmackDown – the subtle low blow the referee was unable to see. Keith Lee retaliated with one of his own after the match, and it showed a sense of aggression the WWE universe hasn’t seen before. This adds an entirely new dimension to Keith Lee’s character and serves to diversify his personality by showing that he has more than one gear or dimension to his personality that he did not show in NXT.

Strowman, in the meantime, is simply incubating after dropping the Universal Championship and in the process giving younger superstars who have less exposure under their belt (like Keith Lee, who is only a year younger than The Monster Among Men) more of a platform on Monday Night Raw

RETRIBUTION lost a little momentum at the beginning of Raw by taking a loss to The Hurt Business, but fortunately they got it back later in the program. Ali revealed himself as the SmackDown hacker from several months ago – hopefully he can now settle into a niche in WWE after a few years of searching for what exactly he wants to be. Most of the WWE universe could sense from the beginning of Mustafa Ali’s career that he had an unspoken quality about him that could profoundly resonate with the WWE universe someday. In his own words, “WWE could not figure out how to make a dime with Mustafa Ali.” However, he can only do so much on the microphone to overcome the inconsistent booking RETRIBUTION has received – the faction will have a hard time ever being taken seriously if they keep taking losses.

Kofi Kingston and Sheamus produce an unbelievable match; Miz foreshadows plans to take the Money in the Bank contract and in the process displays why he is so valuable to the company with his level of charisma

Kofi Kingston and Sheamus met in a match on Raw for the first time in nine years and had the best match of the night, getting adequate time to deliver and tell a good story. Kofi got the victory, which means that:

1. The New Day will remain tag team champions for quite some time and
2. For right now, Sheamus will just hang out and buy time as a mid-carder

It’s nice to simply see Sheamus still in the ring and able to give solid performances (he looked like he was on his last leg at ‘Mania 35 1.5 years ago.

The Miz took an embarrassing loss to Otis (El Gordo), but Miz is still one of the best promos in the company consistently (comedy or not). The writing is on the wall for The A-lister to steal the Money in the Bank contract – and for the WWE universe to simultaneously develop more sympathy for Otis. Otis is becoming a valuable commodity in the comedic department and he is beginning to rival R – Truth as the best comedy act in the company.

Styles getting a bodyguard; Jeff Hardy and Elias could put together an underrated gem of a match at HIAC

According to Fightful Select, AJ Styles now has a new wrinkle added to his character – the ability to hide behind a bodyguard. Mr. McMahon has now found a spot for Jordan Omogbehin. After bouncing around as a ninja a few months ago for Akira Tozawa and the bouncer for Raw Underground (which may or may not still be in existence). Jordan was part of the recruit class at the WWE performance center in 2018 along with Matt Riddle (who wrestled Styles this Monday), Damian Priest, and Mia Yim. This 7ft tall former basketball player will provide security for AJ Styles during his matches and be a person The Phenomenal One can blame when the heel loses.

WWE is resurrecting the HBK-Diesel alliance from about 25 years ago. Shawn Michaels and Diesel (Kevin Nash) met at WrestleMania XI in 1995. Styles is so similar to Michaels – in terms of in-ring ability as well as look, and Omogbehin can serve as a similar presence to what Diesel did for Michaels back in the day. The Undertaker, who participated in what could very well have been his final match with Styles at WrestleMania 36 in a Boneyard match, acknowledged that part of the reason he chose to work with The Phenomenal One was that he reminded Taker of Shawn Michaels (most WWE fans remember very fondly the first Hell In A Cell match between HBK and The Undertaker at Badd Blood 1997).

October 19 was by far the best musical performance Elias has ever given – the band significantly elevated his presence. It didn’t quite have the aura or mixture of cadences that Led Zeppelin has in “Stairway to Heaven,” but it was close. Most of the WWE universe would know it maintains continuity that Jeff Hardy was involved in the performance, because Elias attacked Jeff on October 12 with a guitar. This has the potential to be one of the better matches at Hell In A Cell on Sunday – Elias likely will not pick up the victory like he did at WrestleMania against King Corbin, because WWE is prioritizing the push of Jeff Hardy right now to keep him happy and away from AEW with his brother.

New stars emerging in the exponentially deep Women’s Division in WWE

According to reports, Lana quietly turned babyface on October 12 after being in the opposite role for nearly her entire tenure on the main roster in WWE. She recently formed a temporary alliance with Natalya as well as being put through the announce table 5 weeks in a row by Nia Jax. It’s great to see her get even a little bit of an opportunity coinciding with the release and AEW debut of her husband Miro.

Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler are certainly not a typical tag team, but they are effective nonetheless as dominant heels. The Riott Squad are currently being positioned to become the faces who ultimately dethrone them.