SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
MAIN EVENT FEUDS
Men Royal Rumble Main Event Scene – C.M. Punk, Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre – Raw
•Credit where due, the Royal Rumble hasn’t been this interesting in a while and, although I think about why is that the case, the only primary reason I can think off is because of the plethora of potential winners which could emanate from the Rumble and still have people hooked. It’s interesting how the Rumble build-up is seemingly missing at Smackdown and solely focused on Raw. It would be such a shocker if we get someone from Smackdown who wins it.
•As of now, this whole angle revolves around C.M. Punk, Drew McIntyre, Cody Rhodes, and Gunther, but primarily the first three with Gunther only being a support and isolated in some sense. As mentioned above, all three – Punk, McIntyre, and Rhodes – have relatable context and a strong foundation to solidify their possible Rumble victories with Punk having never main-evented WrestleMania, McIntyre winning the main event of a WrestleMania with no live attendance, and Cody Rhodes wanting to be the first one in his family to win WWE’s main world title.
•Last week we had McIntyre and Punk exchange their vows to win the Rumble, which was an interesting dynamic, something I never really thought about when Punk returned. But we know the two were there together during Punk’s initial run in the WWE, with Punk flirting with success, while McIntyre dealt with obscurity. The history was mentioned, and I liked how McIntyre mentioned that, although Punk was a leader, but he never seemed to lead by example. Punk, though, didn’t respond in typical Punk style, which has been the template since Punk’s return.
We have yet to see Punk pulling out his guns and “pipe bombs.” Maybe that’s by design. It seems like Punk is holding back or being asked to hold back and unleash maybe after the Rumble. What this exchange did was lay a foundation for a potential program between Drew and Punk and also work as a back up in case Rollins is missing Wrestlemania. So a good exchange to add motivations and context to the individuals in the match.
•This week, WWE gave us another combination of exchange that is between Drew and Cody. I’m glad that WWE is diving into the history of the wrestlers and also potentially digging out the similarities the two carry. Both wrestlers had to leave the WWE to eventually comeback and become “Superstars” again. I especially liked the line where Drew told Cody that Cody will finish his story, but not before Drew finishes his. Drew has been on a roll and is putting on some stellar mic work. It’s his best character – playing a tweener and not specifically a heel or a babyface. Once Drew completely transitions, it’ll be a sight to behold, something akin to Batista in 2009.
•Gunther returned to the WWE to establish his motivations, while smartly staying away from Drew, Cody, and Punk. I think it’s the right move because, if Gunther is indeed wrestling Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania, it is smart to keep him solo for now and not expose him to other acts. WWE should continue to focus on Gunther in isolation and build up him further before he is finally confronted by Brock. But talking about the promo, I feel it was smart for Gunther to remind the audience that he was the Iron Man in last year’s Royal Rumble while simultaneously talking about his historical title reign, thereby highlighting the overall dominance he has had over the past two years in the company.
Grade: A, because it is convoluted and yet not complexed, which makes it unpredictable and a must watch.
Heat Level: 9.0/10
Predictions: Like I mentioned, this is unpredictable and perhaps depends on other factors too such as Rock-Reigns and Seth Rollins injury. Let’s break this down:
•In a scenario where Rock vs. Reigns is indeed taking place, I expect the Rumble winner to be Punk to eventually fight Rollins, while Cody is eliminated in a surprising fashion like Shawn Michaels in Royal Rumble 2010 and Daniel Bryan in 2015 or screwed by McIntyre to establish their program for WrestleMania, but we can also expect a swerve where Rock comes out as the surprise entrant and wins it, which I feel could be a travesty and a wrong move.
•In a case where Rollins is injured, expect Punk to eliminate McIntyre, who comes back into the Match to eliminate Punk and complete his transformation. This eventually then leads to Punk vs. McIntyre for the title at Mania, where either one wins the title at the Chamber. I also expect Brock Lesnar to come out as a surprise entrant and begin his program with Gunther.
•Again, its so unpredictable; a good situation to maximize fan interest.
The Bloodline vs. Randy Orton vs. L.A. Knight vs A.J. Styles – Smackdown
•With all the main events being in one Fatal Four-way, there has been lack of focus on the men’s Royal Rumble match from Smackdown side.
•While the initial plan was for Roman and Orton to collide in a one-on-one match, I think a Fatal Four-Way is even more enticing. Also it allows WWE to protect Orton from the taking pin.
•So this week we had a contract signing, where Heyman again tried to negotiate Roman’s exclusion from the match, but Nick Aldis threatened to strip Roman from the championship. I feel Nick Aldis as the G.M. is very interesting because he seems to be the one who can lace up his boots if needed and therefore feels believable with his threats. I do feel Nick Aldis vs. Roman Reigns will happen eventually, but just not now. It’s long term and will be building up over the next few months.
•A.J. Styles and L.A. Knight also talked about how Styles got injured and which is why Knight got the shot and lost. But, it still feels Knight and Styles are sort of secondary in this feud. The two start to exchange blows while Orton delivers his threat of RKO to Heyman.
•Styles and Knight fight towards the later half of the night, which ended with a no-contest as Bloodline interfered, and that’s okay because giving either a victory over the other really diminishes the character and momentum before the big match up.
•Ever since the whole Jey Uso angle is over, The Bloodline storyline has lost all its steam because there is nothing extraordinary going on. Even the whole Jimmy Uso thing feels illogical and bland. Jimmy Uso has lost so much steam that even Jimmy vs. Jey at WrestleMania doesn’t feel as big as it did immediately after SummerSlam.
•With Solo losing against Orton, expect Solo to explain his actions to Reigns eventually which should further the civil war. I know Roman will not lose the title as long as the Bloodline is around to protect him, hence for Roman to lose, the Bloodline needs to break off. But to be very fair, at this point, the whole Bloodline angle is sort of just extending with nothing major on the horizon except The Rock.
•The RKO at the conclusion was good to add more heat, but still it does not feel like Roman will be losing his title.
Grade: B+, because it’s a good main event program involving almost all of the main eventers of SmackDown at the same time. The work of Nick Aldis and Heyman is especially pretty good here in supporting the program
Heat Level: 7.5/10
Predictions:
•Roman Reigns will retain the title and fight The Rock at WrestleMania. Having Reigns lose his title after a historic title reign in a Fatal Four-Way would be like The Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak ending in a Fatal Four-Way, where he is not even pinned or submitted.
•If Kazuchika Okada is debuting in the WWE, he will start with Styles as his first program for the eventual match up at WrestleMania
•Knight fights Logan Paul at WrestleMania.
•I’m not sure what should be happening with Solo. Maybe an Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal?
UPPER MID-CARD FEUDS
Rhea Ripley and Becky Lynch – Raw
•So this past week we had an encounter between Rhea Ripley and Becky Lynch, which seems like the destination for WrestleMania’s Women’s World Championship.
•I feel for the past year, Rhea Ripley just like McIntyre has been on a roll, except she never had any challenger who seemed to have any chance of even beating her. As good as Rhea has been, it’s a travesty that her title run has been largely nonexistent and unimportant, which brings me to Rhea and Becky.
•The promo started off with Rhea acknowledging Nia Jax and her “supposed” dominance to perhaps give her a pit stop rivalry before WrestleMania. It feels almost destined to have Rhea and Becky lock horns at WrestleMania because to be very fair no other match makes sense on the grandest stage of ’em all.
•Their promo battle this week was pretty good to sow the seeds for the eventual match up and the existing motivations. I like how they highlighted their history about WrestleMania losses and victories. But this Rhea is like an evolved Pokemon, another character altogether. Her confidence is off the charts.
•The line where Rhea says that she wants Becky to win the Rumble more than Becky herself was pretty apt in my opinion, more so on the lines of reverse psychology, thus putting even more pressure on Becky as a character going into the Rumble.
Grade: A-, because the first promo work between the two was pretty good to initiate the rivalry.
Heat Level: 7.5/10
Prediction: I do not expect Becky Lynch to win the Rumble because she does not need it. My money’s still on Bayley. I expect Becky to win her opportunity at Elimination Chamber, where simultaneously Rhea retains her title against Nia Jax.
Shinsuke Nakamura stalking Cody Rhodes – Raw
•I genuinely feel Nakamura vs. Rhodes is now overstaying its welcome. After Cody has already beaten Nakamura in a conclusive fashion, it does not make any sense for Nakamura to again cut a promo on Cody Rhodes and continue this rivalry unless it about giving them a moment to share in the Rumble match.
•Although Nakamura has never looked any better because this presentation feels truest to his core, speaking Japanese is almost giving out this Assassin aura, but nothing will help him if he does not win his matches or rivalries.
•I’m not sure where are they heading with this. Probably, WWE is still continuing with this to give another Nakamura vs. Cody before Cody reaches to WrestleMania.
•But the fact that Nakamura mentioned the Rumble, expect him to lock horns with Cody in it. Maybe he is the one to eliminate Cody to add more heat to the rivalry?
Grade: C+, it should have ended by now.
Heat Level: 6.0/10
Prediction: Nakamura and Cody will lock horns in the match and Cody will eliminate him. They fight again on Raw or Elimination Chamber to hopefully finally conclude this rivalry. If Okada is indeed coming to the WWE, I can imagine him fighting Nakamura because of their Japanese Strong Style comfort zone to introduce Okada to the WWE audience or, if not Nakamura, then maybe Styles.
Logan Paul vs. Kevin Owens for the WWE United States Championship – Smackdown
•Logan vs. Owens is a good upper-mid-card feud for the U.S. Title. Logan being a flashy celebrity while Owens being a fighter who just refuses to stay down is a good mix of characters.
•While the whole “legal threats” angle over KO’s cast felt very immature to me, it still makes sense from the perspective of Logan Paul’s character.
•What I truly admire is that Owens admitted how good Logan Paul is in the ring and how quickly he has adapted to pro wrestling, but at the same time acknowledged that he is not one of them, stressing that Logan is not from the wrestling fraternity.
•So the two exchanged their words which eventually ended with Logan outsmarting Owens into taking off his cast before assaulting his arm, which would definitely play a factor in their Royal Rumble match, where the storyline would be about Owen’s damaged arm, which shall be targeted by Logan.
•It’s a decent feud which should culminate in a good match, I believe.
•My only problem has been that Kevin Owens is becoming like Chris Jericho, where he doesn’t win much, but remains relevant because of his good mic work and a grounded character.
Grade: B+, because it’s a good US Title Feud and Logan Paul is doing an excellent work as a coward champion, essentially playing his own persona.
Heat Level: 7.0/10
Prediction: I expect Logan Paul to win this through some shenanigans and eventually move on to face LA Knight at Mania for the title, where he would finally lose it.
MID-CARD FEUDS
The Judgment Day, R-Truth, The Miz – Raw
•Anyone who has followed WWE for the past two years cannot deny that Judgement Day and R-Truth angle has a lot of similarities to The Bloodline and Sami Zayn saga except the Bloodline angle turned serious eventually with the union of Sami and Owens and culminated with them capturing the WWE Tag Team Titles.
•I feel Judgement Day and R-Truth is there as a TV Feud to keep Damien Priest busy and relevant while he is still Señor MITB.
•Their backstage promo was again very funny and just shows what good chemistry they share. However, I’m not sure if anyone has ever noticed this, but sometimes it feels like Damien Priest is just saying his lines (it’s like it shows that he’s acting). I feel he needs more polishing in the way he speaks to appear genuine.
•But R-Truth, the veteran that he is, never fails to crack your funny bone.
•The tag match that followed was very generic. It still does not do much for me except for the fact that it is nostalgic to see Awesome Truth together, except their last run in 2011 was intense.
•It also gives The Miz something to work with. There is money to be made with the babyface Miz, which I feel was never truly explored.
•But Awesome Truth vs. Judgment Day, if it extends further, could generate more interest, which I feel will happen once Judgment Day truly turn against R-Truth similar to Bloodline vs. Owens & Sami.
Grade: B+, as it is genuinely funny with R-truth doing some his finest comedy work. But this entire act feels like a reincarnation of Bloodline vs Owens & Sami.
Heat Level: 6.5/10
Prediction: Expect R-Truth to accidentally eliminate one of the Judgement Day members at the Rumble followed by Judgement Day to finally take out R-Truth mercilessly to eventually culminate in maybe a more serious and intense match up between Judgement Day and The Awesome Truth at the Chamber. I do not see Priest cashing in anytime soon at least until after WrestleMania. This act should keep him busy. Balor vs. Priest feels like the goal at WrestleMania or maybe a tag match between the four members of the faction, which Damien wins to conclude the Judgment Day arc.
Ludwig Kaiser & Gunther vs. Xavier Woods & Jey Uso – Raw
Last week’s assault by Kaiser on Kofi was brutal and really added a lot of heat on Kaiser. I think the entire post-match beatdown was well done. Such attacks always help elevate a rivalry. Hence, logically, it only made sense for Xavier Woods to come out for revenge.
The match was decent, but what followed was interesting. The disqualification ending made sense to further extend the rivalry. But Xavier Woods acting like a maniac was interesting. It gives him a slight character tweak, which I feel was necessary, especially after running with the whole New Day character for a significant time. I’m sure this wouldn’t extend to something major eventually, but it’s still nice to see Xavier adjusting his character. The post-match assault teases the eventually involvement of Jey Uso in the mix.
Grade: C+, as it’s nothing ground breaking, but interested to see where this goes.
Heat Level: 6.5/10
Prediction: Ludwig and Xavier would collide a few more times again. Expect Gunther to also enter the foray when Jey Uso tangibly enters the rivalry. Could lead to an Intercontinental Title Match as well between Gunther and Jey Uso. I feel Jey Uso will dethrone Gunther for the IC Title before Gunther moves onto Brock.
The Final Testament vs Lashley & Street Profits – Smackdown
AOP re-debuted and aligned forces with Karrion Kross to take out Lashley & The Street Profits to begin the first Faction vs. Faction warfare in a long time in the WWE. Although the first promo of the the Final Testament felt very cheesy (having Alan Wake II vibes – if anyone hasn’t played that game, I strongly suggest they do), but it still does the work to give some character introduction and context especially with regards to AOP. I’m not really confident, though, about Karrion Kross because he has lost so much momentum in the recent past that WWE will have to work a lot to rebuild him. Hopefully, The Final Testament does not operate like a cowardly faction being the heels and instead opt for the destruction route. This week not much happened except Lashley & Street Profits just giving a warning to the new faction.
Grade: C, because Karrion Kross really lacks momentum and although it’s a good idea to have the two factions clash, but WWE has really booked themselves in the corner as both the factions are relatively new and cannot really afford a loss at this stage
Heat Level: 6/10
Prediction: The Final Testament will win their first encounter. This should extend to a gimmick faction warfare of sorts at the Elimination Chamber. Maybe a first time Trio Tag Team Elimination Chamber?
Pete Dunne & Tyler Bate – Smackdown
Butch has changed back to being known as Pete Dunne, which is an excellent move by Triple H. Pete Dunne being the brutal brawler is a great character and the duo with Tyler Bate, former NXT UK Rival is an alliance/tag team which can work very well especially if it culminates in a dream match of sorts with DIY. But their match this week with Pretty Deadly was just about introducing Pete Dunne back into the foray. Although I feel Butch as a character was good, it didn’t feel scalable. Now, as Pete Dunne, he can finally begin his true run in the WWE. Good stuff.
Grade: B, because Pete Dunne is now back and he looks so much better than Butch.
Heat Level: 6.0/10
Prediction: Pete Dunne & Tyler Bate should have a decent tag team run which should result in both winning the WWE Tag Titles
OBSCURE FEUDS
Bayley and Damage CTRL – Smackdown
Damage CTRL is expanding and Bayley is diluting as a consequence. This is pretty much the story here. We all know where it’s heading. Not much development here this week.
Grade: C-
Heat Level: 4.0/10
wrestlersBayley should win the Rumble to finally break out of the faction, rejuvenate herself and fight Iyo Sky at Mania for the title.
LWO vs. Santos Escobar & Angel & Humberto – Smackdown
To be very honest, I have not invested much in this feud because it just feels very ordinary. It feels like a Gate Keeper feud where Carlito with LWO helps to elevate Santos Escobar, Angel, and Humberto until when Rey Mysterio is back. Their six-man tag this week was decent, but there’s nothing extra ordinary about this.
Grade: C-, because it’s just there; very generic feud
Heat Level: 4.0/10
Prediction: Do not expect too much to happen in this until Rey Mysterio returns.
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