Superstar Sagas

Could Finn Balor possibly form an alliance with AJ Styles and the OC in a few months when he returns from his sabbatical to “recharge.” AJ has publicly stated that Balor will always have an open invitation to join the OC. It’s quite frankly surprising that WWE has never chosen to orchestrate more run-ins between Balor and Styles considering they have obvious chemistry in the ring (as was shown in their October 2017 match morning AJ filled in at the last minute for Bray Wyatt due to illness).

They also have a storied history in Japan because both men were leaders of the famous Bullet Club. WWE doesn’t usually get too into acknowledging other wrestling companies (even if they are on the other side of the world). Balor joining the OC is a very interesting possibility, as he could make the group even more dominant than they already are.

Rusev has been sorely missed on WWE in the past few months. Obviously, WWE clearly missed the boat in terms of taking advantage of the “Rusev Day!” phenomenon, but he still definitely has serious potential as a main-eventer and WWE may want to seek to cash in on that.

Before covering SummerSlam, I wanted to include a quick paragraph about how utterly astounded I was learning that Finn Balor does “absolutely zero cardio” in his training regimen. One would think that cardio is all he does just looking at him and considering how ripped he is.

Also, one person who was forgotten about and left off the card (which is somewhat disappointing) is Bobby Lashley. I proposed a couple months ago that perhaps Lashley could be the man to challenge Lesnar for the Universal Championship at SummerSlam, but it seems WWE has elected to go in the complete opposite direction. Hopefully Lashley will be pushed at least a little post-SummerSlam. It would be a great reward to him for all of his hard work over the years to receive at least one Universal Championship opportunity before his extremely physical in-ring style begins to diminish. If Vince McMahon doesn’t like the idea of a Lashley-Lesnar match it could always be against someone else (just a suggestion).

The match between Shane McMahon and Kevin Owens is also crucial for the future of WWE. This may be the start of a massive push for Owens culminating in a WWE Championship victory at ‘Mania. In my book, he should be either just as big of a deal, or nearly as big, as Roman Reigns because he resonates with a gigantic portion of WWE’s fan base, which encompasses all demographics. He possesses a natural sense of humor that WWE has struggled to find since John Cena.

It seems that Kevin Owens was well on his way to becoming a massive star in the company in 2016 when he won the Universal Championship in a gigantic surprise on Raw. He then lost the title to Goldberg shortly before WrestleMania 33. Owens went on to have a match at WrestleMania 33 against Chris Jericho for the United States Championship in the wake of the festival of friendship (one of the greatest storylines I have ever seen play out).

Kevin ended up being criticized by Vince McMahon for the way that match went down because Vince was not happy with the way the match was executed for some reason. Since that point in time, Kevin Owens has been involved in storylines that could have had real potential but have never clicked with the WWE universe. While I don’t know whose fault it is, it doesn’t seem to be Kevin’s fault. He’s a one-of-a-kind performer and entertainer and his talents should be used efficiently.

A big part of WWE’s storylines and an awful lot of energy from the creative team should be dedicated to making SD Live the Kevin Owens show.

Mojo Rawley has made news recently by making it public that he and Rob Gronkowski have had serious discussions regarding Gronk’s potential involvement in WWE. Rawley has even issued a quote saying that “he’s ready to do something at some point.” I would imagine nothing will happen for at least another year, considering Gronk needs time to heal from the multitude of injuries he has accumulated throughout his NFL career. There is also a possibility he will fill in as possibly a part-time tight end for the Patriots this season considering how much the team is struggling to find a good tight end.

This would be a massive acquisition for WWE and it also seems like a perfect fit for Gronk. He naturally has a more than adequate level of personality and star power. He is also an ideal size to be considered a major threat and is young enough, at 30 years old, to become a big part of the company for a long time (even if he doesn’t do it on a full-time basis, which is a possibility given how many injuries he’s already had).

A storyline for his introduction into the company practically writes itself, because he can simply be paired with his best friend and win the tag team championships (he will have a better opportunity to elevate the tag team division as Daniel Bryan recently was unable to do).

Roman Reigns’ SummerSlam opponent has been rumored to be Daniel Bryan. This comes as a little bit of a surprise because I, as well as most of the WWE universe, was leaning in the direction of a match with Samoa Joe (which may still happen), but a match with Daniel Bryan may be even better. Reigns has talked about this for at least a couple years now. It’s been since his match against Bryan at Fastlane 2015. And, it’s nice to finally see it come to fruition, especially when considering Bryan and Reigns have not worked together since Bryan’s return to in-ring competition at WrestleMania in 2018.

This should be a fantastic change of pace for Reigns because he has not had a ton of experience working with smaller, more technical performers who can actually wrestle like Bryan. There is also a real story there for the two men to work with, and they can make it very interesting.

The booking of this match comes at a good time for both of these guys because they are looking to change directions in their respective careers. Reigns is in the process of trying to find a new niche for his character after his second successful battle with leukemia gave him a new perspective on life. Bryan, on the other hand, is at sort of a career crossroads and is pivoting in his WWE career after an unsuccessful attempt to elevate the SmackDown tag team division.

One thing to potentially watch out for is Alexa Bliss turning babyface, maybe even as soon as after SummerSlam. The reason this may be a possibility is that during Alexa’s feud with Bayley she defended herself as to why she developed such an attitude about herself. She claimed she was bullied by Bayley as well as nearly everyone else in the NXT locker room. She even went so far as to say specifically that the only person who would stand up for her was Charlotte Flair. A face turn would be refreshing for Alexa because it would give her the opportunity to have rivalries with several women who are heels, like Mandy Rose for example, that she otherwise would not be able to work with. Others like Sportskeeda have talked about this as well. She has been a heel since her debut on the main roster back in 2016 so it may be time for a change. As a side note, WWE may also want to consider doing the same thing with The Revival.

So, Daniel Bryan teased a career-altering announcement on SmackDown recently which turned out to be nothing. However, it has come to light that the announcement he was going to make maybe a move to 205 Live. This is exactly the type of thing 205 Live needs to establish itself as a top destination for superstars: An established and well-credentialed big-name in wrestling who can help elevate individual superstars on the brand as well as the brand itself. While this seems like a demotion for Bryan at first, when one looks at it from this perspective, they realize that he is a man who was truly committed to the betterment of WWE as a whole. He can also use this for himself as an opportunity to increase TV time (and Rowan potentially) and seek to get his “The New Daniel Bryan” character more over than it already is today.

Another noteworthy thing that will be happening in WWE most likely after SummerSlam is that Finn Balor will be taking a couple months away from the company to “recharge.” He will obviously be around until that point and go ahead with his match with Bray Wyatt. It is fully understandable then why he dropped the Intercontinental Championship to Shinsuke Nakamura.

Roman Reigns is quite clearly not as over as he was a few months ago after WrestleMania, but I have a theory on this and fortunately it’s very fixable. It all comes down to his ring attire. That is the first thing people see when he walks out, and it’s somewhat unappealing to see him dressed in that raggedy sweatshirt-looking thing.

Now Roman Reigns is a better-than-average looking man so he can pull off something like that, but it’s less than appealing to the eye. I would never proclaim to be a fashion critic, but this may have something to do with Reigns appeal with the WWE universe taking a small dip in recent months since he began wearing the new attire. No need to worry at all, however, because his attire will change soon as it rotates every few months.

Kevin Owens may have turned babyface yet again. He has undergone a few character changes since WrestleMania, primarily because of Daniel Bryan. When Bryan was sidelined right after ‘Mania with an injury, Kevin Owens abruptly turned heel right before Money in the Bank in order to provide Kofi Kingston with a legitimate opponent, This did not make much sense considering the WWE universe was loving the fact that he was replacing Big E in The New Day as Big O.

Now he may be turning face again as he criticized Dolph Ziggler for complaining about how he should be WWE Champion. I am absolutely not worried, however, because of Owens’ versatility as a performer. He has not played the role of a face in WWE; however, he has been a face numerous times outside of WWE.

Owens is undoubtedly one of the most well-rounded performers in the company. He has the ability to resonate with the WWE universe at a very deep level on the mic, so I’m not worried about him in the slightest.