This is easily the biggest opportunity of Chad Gable’s WWE career: advancing to the finals of the KOTR Tournament next week on Monday Night Raw to take on Baron Corbin (even though he will probably lose). It also has to feel like a demotion for Elias to be replaced by Shane McMahon in the semifinal match of the tournament. This may be a sign of the light in which WWE views Elias.
Kevin Owens was also obviously fired. This is my pick to become WWE Champion at WrestleMania, so I have a proposal for a way WWE could extend this storyline until then. Shane McMahon could use his tyrannical authority to become WWE Champion at say Royal Rumble, and Kevin Owens could dethrone him at WrestleMania. This could be a perfect way for Shane McMahon to potentially end his in-ring career.
The segment with The Undertaker was rather underwhelming, especially when considering the only reason he made an appearance was that WWE was back at MSG. The WWE universe got very excited because it was the go-home episode of SD Live before Clash of Champions, so fans were anticipating that he might have a match at the pay-per-view. It was smart, however, to give Sami Zayn a spotlight with The Undertaker considering how much of a contrasting element there is between their personas.
The match with Roman Reigns will put Rowan on the map in terms of being a monster heel. This match should ideally serve to progress the storyline as to who Reigns’ actual attacker is (someone had to have told Rowan to attack Reigns) rather than ending the storyline right now because it would feel incomplete. WWE has built up the storyline so that it seems there will be a huge final reveal on the first episode of SD Live on the FOX Network on October 4. Maybe the final reveal could be that Daniel Bryan turns out to have been behind the whole thing, or someone like Brock Lesnar. It turns out WWE creative has botched the entire storyline and taken it completely off track, so who knows where it will go.
Randy Orton feels real and like he means every word of every promo, even when he calls Kofi Kingston “stupid” about 15 times. It’s also impressive that Bayley is working two matches this week and is also defending the SmackDown Women’s Championship at Clash of Champions against Charlotte Flair (which Charlotte will win by the way to become a 10 – time Women’s Champion in WWE). Because it’s taking place from her hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina). Also, you gotta love Heavy Machinery and how much sheer charisma they have in the ring, particularly Otis.