The Business of WWE

In my opinion, WWE has two options in terms of how they decide to book the Seth Rollins–The Fiend Bray Wyatt Universal Title match at Hell in a Cell. It depends on who the WWE creative team decides to put over at WrestleMania. Through my lens, the two options are for WWE to either double down on the push of Seth Rollins by having him beat Wyatt at ‘Mania (probably in the main event), or they could elect to put over a new babyface by having a returning Finn Balor take down The Fiend.

In the first scenario, The Fiend would squash Seth, causing Rollins to take a few months off from WWE to rehabilitate himself mentally. Rollins could most likely afford to be squashed without it hurting his credibility too much because he is so beloved and well respected by the WWE universe. It’s always at least a little bit of a risk to have a top superstar be squashed (it was even a risk to have John Cena be squashed by Brock Lesnar). The creative team can never be positive as to how this will be received. He could return in perhaps January, subsequently building to a WrestleMania main event match in which he takes the title from The Fiend. In fairness, this scenario would probably strengthen Wyatt’s new gimmick quite a bit.

The second option (and this is the one I like much better) is for Rollins and Wyatt to have a WrestleMania caliber match with Wyatt at Hell in a Cell, with Wyatt still becoming Universal Champion, and the two men simply go their separate ways afterward. This would open the door for Finn Balor to return to WWE in January, with he and Wyatt building to a match at ’Mania in which Balor ends The Fiend’s reign of terror. Balor is one of the few men who can say he has a history with The Fiend, as Wyatt debuted his new gimmick against Balor at SummerSlam a couple of months ago.

There are a few similarities in these two scenarios. The first is that The Fiend beats Seth Rollins and becomes Universal Champion at Hell in a Cell. The second similarity is that there is a big return in January, perhaps at the Royal Rumble, either Rollins or Balor. Finally, one of them wins the Universal Title from Wyatt at WrestleMania.

To a basic fan, it doesn’t seem like a big deal at all, but after seeing WWE operate with and without Pyro (fireworks), I can tell you it makes a serious difference in the overall production of shows. First of all, when fireworks go off at the beginning of Pay-Per-Views it sets the stage for large-scale events to transpire – it sets the stage. The second thing it does is that it enables superstars to change their entrances from time to time with outside-the-box entries rather than the same things all the time. By using Pyro, WWE will keep fans more engaged and eliminate boredom with current superstars; they will also be able to create distinct entrances for brand-new superstars.

WWE is surely reintroducing pyro now after having stopped using it in 2017 to eliminate unnecessary costs because of AEW. Since WWE’s competition with them on Wednesday nights will begin on October 2, and AEW won’t hesitate to use pyro to enhance the quality of its product, Vince McMahon is most likely reintroducing it to show he doesn’t fall behind the eight ball. This will begin on the September 30 episode of Raw.

Side Note: Paul Heyman also briefly mentioned Evolve’s use of pyro and how WWE didn’t have it at the Evolve event on the WWE Network back in July.

It’s being reported that Shane McMahon will most likely lose to Kevin Owens in their ladder match on SmackDown’s debut episode on FOX on October 4 so WWE can create a plausible scenario where they can write Shane McMahon off TV, at least as an authority figure, for a while. WWE would like to do this to create a more realistic atmosphere on SmackDown that makes viewers feel as though they are watching a weekly sports show.

This may mean acts more on the entertainment side will need to be moved to Raw in the draft. In order to foster this new culture, WWE intends to orchestrate “more conclusive finishes” and “fever interferences from non-wrestlers.”

FOX is doing an excellent job of promoting this new type of presentation, which has been Triple H’s vision for years, by having people like Colin Cowherd advertise the premiere of SmackDown during his daily sports radio show or having Troy Aikman advertise it during Thursday Night Football games.

WWE has the task ahead of them on October 11 and 14 of strategically planning the WWE draft. Vince McMahon amongst others will need to orchestrate which show various superstars are assigned so that it makes sense according to storylines. For example, Sami Zayn and Shinsuke Nakamura will need to be kept together on the same show since Zayn is managing Nakamura (which is working incredibly well by the way). The face-heel dynamic will also need to be balanced out. There cannot be an uneven amount of babyfaces or heels on a show. They need to be evenly distributed, and WWE needs to be aware of where they stand on the card. They cannot all be at the top or bottom of the card.

Finally, the company always does its absolute best to keep couples together. Because of this, the company will do everything in its power to keep all of the couples within the company happy by moving them respectively to the same brand, like Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins or Aliester Black and Zelina Vega. But it’s not quite that simple. Andrade is being managed by Vega in storyline, so he is a package deal to go wherever she goes. This also means Charlotte Flair would need to go with all of them, as she is engaged to Andrade.

The WWE draft will also be exciting not only because of the return of pyro along with lasers and flames to enhance the product, but entirely new sets will be introduced for Raw and SmackDown as well as new logos and new commentary teams for each show. WWE will have a brand-new look and style of presentation. Stay tuned!

It has come to light recently that Baron Corbin was WWE’s second choice to win the King of the Ring tournament. It’s not a big deal that my own personal pick Kevin Owens got booted, but it is telling that WWE’s original choice to win the tournament (and my second) was Drew McIntyre, and he was slated to be thrown into a program with Seth Rollins for the Universal Championship immediately after. This also tells the WWE universe that the creative team still has big plans for him in the future. He just had to have surgery at a rather unfortunate time (but we need him healthy for the road to WrestleMania).

Because of the unfortunate timing of this, don’t be surprised if WWE elects to do the KOTR tournament again next year and have McIntyre get the accolade. This would be reminiscent of when Triple H was positioned to win KOTR in 1996. Vince McMahon decided to give the accolade to Stone Cold Steve Austin instead because of the incident at Madison Square Garden.

The Kliq broke character to say their goodbyes to Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, who were leaving the company for WCW. Triple H would ultimately win it the next year in 1997. The rise of Corbin is a pretty good consolation prize though.

Some scenarios that would be great for WWE to make happen in connection with SmackDown’s move to FOX are:

1. Brock Lesnar wins the WWE Championship from Kofi Kingston
2. A marquee feud develops for Roman Reigns following Hell in a Cell and looks like it will be a tag team match where he teams with Daniel Bryan to take on Luke Harper and Erick Rowan, and
3. I’m proposing that Seth Rollins loses his Universal Championship to The Fiend Bray Wyatt and subsequently gets drafted to SmackDown, immediately turning heel and starting a rivalry with Roman Reigns.

First of all, most WWE fans liked Seth Rollins better as a heel, and that maniacal laugh he can do so authentically is very heel-ish in nature. Quite some time has passed since this conflict between the two former Shield members, and this would be a great way to kick off the FOX era for WWE.

Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns are two of the biggest and most recognizable names WWE has to offer, and with Brock Lesnar being added to the equation as a potential WWE Champion, WWE could be in perfect position to garner a whole new audience on FOX. Seth has also never been featured regularly on SmackDown since the most recent brand split in 2016.

Another thing WWE may want to consider for the debut episode of SmackDown on FOX on October 4 is to orchestrate an attack on The Undertaker by The Fiend, since The Fiend already attacked The Undertaker’s brother Kane.

With the move to FOX drawing closer, it appears to forebode that WWE will make a real effort to establish SmackDown as the A- show over Raw. Don’t be surprised if WWE elects to move some top superstars over to SmackDown so they are in a position to garner a brand new fanbase on FOX. Stars such as Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks, Seth Rollins, The OC and Braun Strowman could all move.

We can’t forget either that Brock Lesnar is already there for what looks like the foreseeable future given that he will most likely win the WWE Championship. Vince McMahon has a real affinity towards former UFC athletes (particularly Lesnar), especially when you look at the career paths of stars like Matt Riddle, Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler.

Some big changes have taken place on SmackDown Live before their official move to Fox in October. The lead writer for SD Live has stepped down from his role and will take on a less demanding role in terms of travel when he returns from his brief hiatus. This change very well may have taken place in wake of the “botched” Roman Reigns storyline, which apparently was supposed to go in a completely different direction and it wouldn’t even make much sense at this point to disclose what was originally intended to happen. This is most likely the reason why this storyline feels a little disorganized. The good news is that despite this, it is still very interesting. (Hopefully, WWE is able to salvage this and still create a compelling ending).

There are also some questions regarding the leadership of Eric Bischoff. There are questions about exactly what he does in preparation for each episode of SD Live considering he is not very involved in the creative process. There are also concerns about his hiring of a former Sons of Anarchy writer (who was found sleeping on the job backstage by Michael “P.S.” Hayes recently). I won’t mention the names of the writers out of respect for their privacy, but this does not bode well for Bischoff at all considering he has only been on the job for about two months.

It has been confirmed that The Fiend will be challenging Seth Rollins for the Universal Championship in a Hell in a Cell match at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view on October 6. This essentially it’s the way the ending to the Rollins/Strowman main event this Sunday at Clash of Champions: Rollins will retain the Universal Title, which means he and Strowman will most likely lose the Raw Tag Team Championships to Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode, who are working surprisingly well as a team. No superstar has the stamina to be a double champion for an extended period.

John Cena was absolutely right when he stated months ago that WWE can no longer have one top superstar who is viewed as being head and shoulders above the rest. This was obviously the direction the company chose to go in with Cena positioned as the franchise player, being put over by every other top superstar imaginable, from Triple H to Shawn Michaels to The Rock. WWE as a company is in a place where there is absolutely zero shortage of in-ring talented fighters, so they may want to consider taking a step back in terms of pushing Seth Rollins as the top male superstar rather focusing on working towards a more collaborative effort with several superstars being positioned at or near the level of being the top guy.

The primary reason why this may be the way to go is that WWE’s audience (which is always growing) is simply too diverse for the company to be able to rely on one top superstar to satisfy each demographic.

This strategy worked very efficiently during the Attitude Era when superstars such as The Rock, The Undertaker, Kurt Angle, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Triple H (forgive me if I’m forgetting anyone) all would take turns being the top guy. I personally feel there is potential to do the same thing in this era, having superstars such as Seth Rollins, Braun Strowman, AJ Styles, Ricochet, and Samoa Joe. The same thing can be done on SmackDown between Kofi Kingston, Daniel Bryan, Roman Reigns, Buddy Murphy and Randy Orton.

Kacy Catanxaro seems to have arrived at a crossroads, questioning how much she loves sports entertainment and if she sees herself doing this as her career long term. My guess would be that this industry may be one that she loves because she is so naturally gifted, but it may not be one that she is truly passionate about. Considering just how demanding a career in an industry like this is, people who are not passionate about it with 100% of their heart can easily be weeded out. Ricochet, her partner, has clarified that she is not necessarily retiring and is not injured but merely taking time to make a very important decision regarding the direction of the rest of her life.

I and the rest of the WWE universe wish Kacy nothing but the best in her decision and that she is able to take her life in the direction her heart points her in. It would be a shame to see her go because she really connected with the fans and she had special in-ring abilities. From an optimistic viewpoint, this would open up another spot for another talented woman in the WWE Performance Center.