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.