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Well, what a week this has been for the WWE full of ups and downs. From the announcement of Netflix to the Vince McMahon scandal and the week is not over as yet. Let’s dive into the second edition of WWE Feud Tracker followed by my Royal Rumble predictions.
Main Event Feuds
Men Royal Rumble Main Event Scene – C.M. Punk, Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre, Gunther, and Seth Rollins – Raw
· After last week’s amazing promo between Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes, we returned this week with another combination of those superstars. This week we had CM Punk and Cody Rhodes have a war of words which was just cinematic. It is indeed surreal to witness two superstars who exited the WWE and came back on their own terms and are currently two of the hottest stars in the company.
· The promo battle between Punk and Cody was intense with both playing friends and professionals transitioning into taking shots at each other, touching upon their real life personas as well as their history too with Punk referencing the OVW, while Cody touching upon Punk’s exit. I liked how they referenced themselves just being the mirror image of what they themselves claim to be, with Punk calling himself the American Dream and Cody calling himself C.M. Punk. That was an intelligent piece of writing. The segment concluded with both being nose-to-nose almost a step away from getting physical. We have definitely got ourselves a poster for the eventual Punk vs. Cody. To be fair, if somehow we get Punk vs Cody at WrestleMania after this, I will not complain.
· Seth Rollins started the night on Raw to put a rest to the rumors about his injury and status of WrestleMania. Rollins started off indicating that he might miss the marquee event until Gunther came out to have the first exchange between the two and to tease the potential match up. I think this was WWE testing Gunther in could be termed as a first main event promo battle and I feel Gunther did well. He felt like a main event and carried himself with confidence especially when he said to Rollins about him realizing who is really coming after him. With the whole Brock Lesnar allegation now surfacing, it leaves WWE in an uncomfortable position with Gunther now, seemingly leaving no potential challenger of his stature for him at WrestleMania. This could be a decent back up. But I must say, that although Gunther vs. Rollins does sound good and fresh, it definitely does not sound as good as Rollins vs. Punk.
· Drew McIntyre on the other hand was not involved significantly in promoting the Royal Rumble this week other than being involved with Damien Priest in the main event, which I think is fair considering Drew was involved in two back to back promo battles and another one would be overdoing it.
Grade: A … It is still strong and unpredictable. This will be one of the most interesting Rumbles in years
Heat Level: 10/10
Prediction: The Rumble scenario has gotten more tricky with Lesnar’s potential involvement in the whole Vince McMahon’s allegation scenario because now seemingly Gunther does not have a major opponent at WrestleMania, should WWE decide not to go with Lesnar.
But as of now, it seems like C.M. Punk is winning the Rumble and will be facing Seth Rollins.
Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns seems like the other match up. I do not think we will get Roman Reigns vs The Rock this year, maybe next year when Raw debuts on Netflix. In a scenario where WWE indeed goes with Reigns vs. Rock, then Cody should be battling Drew at WrestleMania.
In a scenario where Gunther pulls the swerve and wins the Rumble, we get Cody vs Punk at WrestleMania and Gunther vs Rollins at Mania (this seems also likely because of the Lesnar situation)
The Bloodline vs Randy Orton vs L.A. Knight vs A.J. Styles – Smackdown
· Smackdown started with a promo battle between A.J., Orton and L.A. Knight. It felt like a rehash of the similar promos we have seen building up to the match, just all the competitors making a case as to why they feel they can beat Roman Reigns to finally end his run. I think Randy Orton did well to remind the audience why Roman is a big deal because of his reign extending to almost 1,300 days and why it would be big for Roman to finally be dethroned. AJ Styles was okay except that he ended the segment by hitting a Pele Kick on Randy Orton. LA Knight was his usual self. So a decent promo to kickstart the night, but nothing new in terms of progressing this rivalry. Although all four main events are involved in this program, for some reason it just does not feel as big and maybe it has to do with almost 0 percent chance of Roman being dethroned.
· Jimmy Uso tried to recruit A.J. Styles into taking out L.A. Knight before the Fatal Four-way until the rest of The OC interrupted. I had almost forgotten that The OC still existed.
· Paul Heyman talks to Solo and Jimmy in a backstage segment with Heyman reminding Solo to at least get the job done this week compared to last week’s failure. He motivated Jimmy Uso to win the Royal Rumble, challenge and beat Seth Rollins to finally become the tribal heir, which is pretty much the only mention of Men’s Royal Rumble on Smackdown in a significant fashion.
· The main event was decent with the final build showing Orton strong going in by having him take out Styles, Jimmy and Solo only for L.A. Knight to ultimately take out Orton. My head scratch moment was the absence of Roman Reigns in the go-home segment. I think it affects the build.
Grade: B I feel without Roman Reigns the go home segment just did not have the same spark as last week’s ending. Everyone technically got their moment this week which is Fatal Four-Way Booking 101.
Heat Level: 7/10
Prediction: Roman Reigns is not losing this one. He should not lose his title in a Fatal 4 Way. If this match is not the main event, expect the losers to enter the Rumble because Smackdown clearly lacks star presence in the Rumble Match.
Upper Mid-Card Feuds
Women’s Royal Rumble – Becky Lynch, Nia Jax, Bayley and Rhea Ripley – Raw and Smackdown
· Last week we had an amazing promo battle between Becky Lynch and Rhea Ripley to plant the seeds of their eventual and potential WrestleMania match, however this week it was nothing spectacular.
· Rhea Ripley was missing this week and the segment only revolved around the three marquee performers from the Women’s Royal Rumble Match i.e Becky, Bayley and Nia.
· It felt like a generic promo work, something we have seen before with Becky taking shots at Nia followed by Bayley coming over from Smackdown and taking shots herself.
· The promo eventually got physical with Nia Jax coming out on top while also throwing Becky over the top rop (teasing the eventual reality of the Rumble match, perhaps?)
· WWE has promoted Big Wrestlers countless times in their Rumble build up, but never has a big man/woman ever won it. They are not fooling me this year.
· It was okay and did not do much to generate further interest in the match
· On Smackdown, we got a video package of Bayley to remind the audience that she used to be a main event and one of the pillars of the Women Revolution. The video package I think was well done showcasing her injury, returning with Damage CTRL and her claim to win the Rumble and choose Rhea as her opponent (which I feel will not happen because she will fight Iyo Sky)
Grade: B … Because it was not a great follow up to last week’s promo. It felt like a standard Rumble promotion material.
Heat Level: 6.75/10
Prediction: Since Nia Jax threw Becky Lynch over the top rope on Raw, it will now be Becky Lynch who eliminates Nia from the Rumble. My pick is still Bayley for the match, so that she can go on to fight Iyo Sky at Mania for the title. Rhea fights Nia at the Chamber to retain her title and we finally move on to Becky vs Rhea at the Mania.
Shinsuke Nakamura stalking Cody Rhodes – Raw
Nothing happened this week. If I am correct, we did not see Shinsuke Nakamura this week at all. After last week’s promo by Nakamura on Cody, maybe they could have done something to follow it up, perhaps a blindsided attack on Cody after his promo with Punk.
Grade: N/A
Heat Level: 5/10
Prediction: Prediction remains the same. Cody will eliminate Nakamura from the Rumble and they will have a stipulated rubber match on TV
Logan Paul vs Kevin Owens for the WWE United States Championship – Smackdown
· Post last week’s segment, they did not do anything on television this week except for a video package showcasing their brawl at the Performance Center
· Nothing out of the ordinary
Grade: C … Because there was nothing significant this week and to be fair, I cannot think off anything they could have done to further extend this
Heat Level: 6.5/10
Prediction: Logan Paul will win the match and also enter the Rumble match to start his rivalry with LA Knight
Mid-card Feuds
The Judgment Day vs. DIY and The Awesome Truth – Raw
· This week The Miz had a match with Tom and Nick Mysterio (pun intended) with Balor and J.D. at ringside. It was a decent match. In the follow up, the Bloodline started to assault The Miz until DIY came to his assistance. Nothing groundbreaking, just a simple”‘save from assault” angle to extend the rivalry.
· It was also announced that next week DIY would fight Balor & Damien for the Tag Titles.
· On the other hand, Damien Priest fought with Drew McIntyre in the main event with R-Truth at ring-side. Although I am digging these R-Truth comedy angles, but I am not sure what to feel with Damien being the one to bear the expense on the other end. As Mr. Money in the Bank, I feel WWE needs to showcase him to be smarter and fiercer because as of now Damien still does not feel ready to carry the Main Event scene as the champion. Hopefully, based on the climax of the match, Damien would get more serious and turn on R-Truth to bring heat to his character.
Grade: B While Damien and R-Truth angle seems to be going in the right direction now, DIY & The Miz vs rest of the Judgment Day didn’t feel as progressive as this week.
Heat Level: 6.5/10
Prediction: R-Truth is fun to watch with his goofy angles, but it’s time to make things serious because Damien really needs to get heat before he can eventually cash in. DIY will lose next week through some shenanigans. We might get an 8-Men Tag between Judgement Day and DIY & The Awesome Truth. Damien vs Balor seems to me as the Mania match for now, but not before Damien and R-Truth fight to conclude their angle
Imperium vs. New Day – Raw
Last week we had Xavier Woods lose himself while avenging what Kaiser did to Kofi and this week we had Imperium vs New Day which ended in a double countout because the fight became too physical. I must admit this is being booked very nicely. The fight getting to the crowd and getting too physical and violent (by WWE standards) is amazing to witness. What is even better, that a Tag Team feud which does not even involve the Tag Champions is getting so much focus. It only helps to strengthen the Tag division. Expect the two teams to eventually collide in a Tornado Tag Team Street Fight of sorts. I still suspect Gunther and Jey Uso are eventually going to get involved in this, maybe as early as next week since Gunther would be defending his title against Kofi.
Grade: B+ … Because they just upped the ante here. Brilliant booking to showcase a mid card feud.
Heat Level: 7/10
Prediction: The two teams will collide in a stipulation match up of sorts (maybe an impromptu match at the Royal Rumble since officially as of now there are only 4 matches on the card) with Gunther and Jey Uso to eventually involve themselves in the feud. Although, I believe Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso will have a moment in the Rumble to set up their WrestleMania match, but Jey Uso vs Gunther for the IC Title sounds better in a case where Lesnar cannot perform at WrestleMania.
The Final Testament vs. Lashley & Street Profits – Smackdown
My apologies but this was a poor follow up. It felt like two gangs from high school were exchanging words. The tease of The Final Testament gave them a supernatural gothic gimmick vibe, but they just came out and portrayed themselves as generic regular heels (I miss The Wyatt Family). To be fair, I have already lost interest in this. Lashley’s mic work is not good either to elevate this.
Grade: C … Because the follow up was unsatisfactory
Heat Level: 6/10
Prediction: The eventual match up should happen at WrestleMania as a filler.
Pete Dunne & Tyler Bate – Smackdown
No follow up on it this week.
Grade: N/A
Heat Level: 5.5/10
Prediction: They should showcase the two and primarily Pete Dunne in the Rumble with the program to resume post that
LWO vs Santos Escobar, Angel and Humberto – Smackdown
Santos and Carlito had a match up this week which Santos won. It was a decent match but the conclusion was just average at best, with Elektra Lopez returning to align with Santos and costing Carlito the match. To be honest, I am not interested in this rivalry. Although, both Santos and Carlito are good performers, with Santos potentially having a bright future ahead, I do not see anything major happening in this feud until Rey comes back to add some life into it.
Grade: C- … It’s pretty ordinary
Heat Level: 4/10
Prediction: Remains the same i.e Do not expect too much to happen in this until Rey Mysterio returns
Final Royal Rumble Predictions:
· Women’s Royal Rumble Match
o Final Four: Bayley, Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks
o Yes, my prediction is that Sasha Banks is coming back to the WWE
o Bayley should eliminate Becky Lynch to win the Rumble
o Iron-Woman: Sasha Banks
o Damage CTRL comes out to congratulate her with tease of dissension
· U.S. Title Match: Logan Paul © vs. Kevin Owens
o Logan Paul should target Kevin Owens “injured” arm throughout the match
o Logan Paul should win via some shenanigans to leave room for a rematch between before WrestleMania
· Undisputed WWE Universal Championship Match: Roman Reigns vs L.A. Knight vs Randy Orton vs A.J. Styles
o The position of this match on the card has consequences.
o I do not think Roman Reigns is losing the match here and he should win in a decisive fashion.
o LA Knight will take the fall here to leave room for a singles match between Roman Reigns and Randy Orton, while AJ Styles extends the feud with LA Knight based on the idea that Styles lost because LA Knight was pinned
o The Rock might come out if Roman Reigns vs The Rock is taking place at WrestleMania
· Men’s Royal Rumble Match
o If this match is going on last, expect Orton, Styles and LA Knight to enter the match because as mentioned above Smackdown indeed lacks starpower
o Cody should eliminate Drew only for Drew to re-enter and eliminate Cody
o Final 4: CM Punk, Gunther, Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton
o Ironman: Cody Rhodes
o CM Punk should win his first ever Royal Rumble Match
· Other
o With the whole Vince McMahon scandal, I think WWE would be doing something newsworthy to divert attention. Two things come to my mind: An appearance of The Rock to perhaps cost Roman Reigns the match or just a staredown post-match and the return of Sasha Banks.
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