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With our first-ever two-night SummerSlam fast approaching, the landscape in WWE is set to change. Stars will rise and fall.
Who’s burning brightly, and who’s sputtering out?
Rising Star of the Week: Cody Rhodes
As the most successful WWE babyface in recent years, “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes is truly a rare commodity. Millions followed his lengthy title chase and witnessed him finish the story when he captured the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania XL.
In his subsequent year as champion, he played his role to near perfection. Fans can’t help but be swept up in his love of wrestling and his place in it. His joy of performance is infectious, and Cody knows how to tell a compelling story in the ring which elevates his matches far beyond what his limitations athletically compared to some of his contemporaries warrants.
Cody’s WrestleMania 41 program with John Cena was a step back. The main event match was impaired by poor booking and Cena’s deteriorated ring skills, poor chemistry between the two, and a mutinous crowd which inexplicably supported the challenger. Cody’s title loss was an embarrassment on multiple levels.
In the months that followed, Cena’s reign as champion featured overbooked, plodding defenses against Randy Orton and C.M. Punk. His heel character has clashed with the desire of fans to cheer him on his farewell tour. This persona has been only mildly entertaining and done irreversible damage to Punk in the process. Cena’s reign is past its freshness date.
Now, Cody finally has his rematch. He is primed to overcome Cena and restore his honor as well as his status as a champion. It’s hard to see any other outcome working. A heel turn for Cody would certainly be ill-advised, as he’s far too valuable as a lead babyface. After months on the outskirts, Cody is finally on the “Rhodes” to victory.
Runner-up: Jasper Troy
Jasper Troy debuted just one year ago on NXT Level Up and went on to win the inaugural season of LFG in May. Since that time, he has wrestled on NXT, immediately challenging NXT Champion Oba Femi before going on to face Yoshiki Inamura and Je’Von Evans in subsequent weeks.
Despite losing these high-profile matches, Troy makes quite an impression. His towering 6-foot-5-inches built on a muscular frame is reminiscent of Kane. Troy plays an excellent big man role, making liberal use of power moves such as the sidewalk slam and rarely leaving his feet.
Although his inexperience is obvious, Troy has good instincts in the ring. He emotes well, his offense looks good, and his selling believable. Troy repeatedly pulled off exciting matches with more experienced opponents.
This week’s NXT saw Troy defeat rising star Ricky Saints by countout, his most significant victory to date and a sign that creative has plans for him. Although very early in his career, Troy has the potential to ultimately become an excellent big man powerhouse on the main roster.
Second Runner-up: Joaquin Wilde
For years, Joaquin Wilde has been a background player in WWE. Wrestling on NXT and 205 Live starting in 2019, he aligned with Santos Escobar in Legado del Fantasma, typically wrestling in mid-card tag team matches. His Smackdown debut in 2022 would see him play a similar role with Legado for a year, and then with the LWO for the past two.
Despite numerous opportunities over six years, Wilde has failed to win a title in WWE. He has yet to be featured prominently in any storyline, typically appearing as a follower to Rey Mysterio or Escobar.
Monday’s Raw saw Wilde tag with perennial partner Cruz Del Toro to defeat the New Day and American Made in a no. 1 contender’s match. Wilde stole the show.
The match became a showcase for his dazzling athleticism, including an amazing corkscrew plancha off the top rope onto American Made and a remarkable double pin attempt on both members of the New Day. Ultimately, Wilde would single-handedly thwart the New Day’s attempt to finish him with Daybreak and roll up Kofi Kingston for the win.
I’ve watched Wilde compete for years but rarely seen him featured in such a way.
Now positioned as no. 1 contenders, Wilde & Del Toro are set to be featured in a high-profile championship match, perhaps at SummerSlam. Although unlikely to win, this is a golden opportunity for Wilde. A similar remarkable performance on such a stage will advance his value to WWE and forecast more prominent roles going forward.
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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Fading Star of the Week: SummerSlam
It’s hard to believe the WWE’s second biggest PLE of the year is coming up in just over a week.
With so little time remaining before the event, major storylines remain either unresolved or undercooked. After the rush of Evolution and Saturday Night’s Main Event, there’s been insufficient time to build up programs for such a major show. This year’s event has a lot to prove, as the first time the show has ever been split into two nights.
With too little build and too little time to anticipate the event, there’s little buzz surrounding confirmed matches. C.M. Punk vs. Gunther is a dream match which has surprisingly little steam behind it. Tiffany Stratton vs. Jade Cargill looks to be a weak match of two weak, miscast babyfaces weakened further by an ambivalent crowd.
The Women’s World Championship match features three hot acts and promises great action, but we are suffering from Triple Threat fatigue, as the match type typically proves nothing and too often ends in a cheap heel victory.
The drop in excitement compared SummerSlams of years past is noticeable, mostly due to poor pacing and lack of urgency in storytelling.
WWE has time to salvage the card, and a big announcement or return could shift the tone. But for now, SummerSlam feels like it’s coasting on name value alone – and fans are starting to notice.
Rather than seeming like WWE’s “Biggest Party of the Summer,” this year’s SummerSlam build feels more like a backyard barbecue whose host forgot to buy burgers.
First Runner-Up: C.M. Punk
The white hot buzz that once surrounded C.M. Punk’s return to WWE is cooling fast.
After a heavily hyped and long-awaited comeback, Punk’s 2024 run succeeded despite injury and stop-start storytelling. His feud with Drew McIntyre offered compelling TV and established Punk as one of the top two men’s babyface acts in WWE. Despite a loss at WrestleMania, fan support seemed to peak as he finally edged closer to a World Championship opportunity.
The past several weeks have been nothing short of a disaster for Punk. Character assassination at the hands of Cena’s “Yin Yang” promo was followed by Punk embarrassing himself with a dad-humor impersonation of Cena, a hypocritical performance in Saudi Arabia, and a decisive loss to Cena at Night of Champions.
Punk is in desperate need to right the ship and get his character back on track, and a World Title opportunity against Gunther at a “big-four” PLE seems like a perfect opportunity.
And yet, booking and his performance in the past two weeks have failed to take advantage.
Punk only qualified for a World Title match by drawing the lucky card and coming in last in a gauntlet match to defeat an exhausted Bron Breakker. This makes him appear undeserving of the opportunity, especially since he lost a shot at the WWE Championship only a few weeks ago.
This week he had a verbal showdown with Gunther, and came off unsure, unmotivated, and uninspired. Punk lacked his trademark attitude and made virtually no criticisms of Gunther at all. Punk went out of his way to say that he may not win. When Gunther disrupted Punk’s claim to be the “Best in the World,” Punk’s comeback was… silence. His lack of confidence and motivation is infectious. Punk fans who have been waiting for his best shot at a world championship are left with little confidence or excitement that his time has come.
There’s no denying C.M. Punk still has enormous value, but just as his WWE return should be reaching a climax, his stock is falling fast.
Second Runner-up: Bron Breakker
In the past year, Bron Breakker has been positioned as WWE’s next big thing. On Monday’s Raw, Heyman explicitly referred to Breakker as just that, in what seems like his first use of the term since introducing Brock Lesnar 20 years ago.
Breakker has been protected by booking in WWE over the past year more so than nearly any other wrestler. His rare singles pinfall losses to Sami Zayn and Jey Uso were quickly avenged in rematches. His loss of the Intercontinental Championship was in a Fatal Four-way in which Dominik Mysterio pinned Finn Balor.
On last Monday’s Raw, Breakker ran through a gauntlet, defeating strong babyfaces Penta, L.A. Knight, and Jey Uso in succession. For a heel to defeat three strong babyfaces in a row represents a rare statement from WWE creative, framing Breakker as an unstoppable main-event level powerhouse.
This week on Raw, Breakker confronted a returning Roman Reigns, seemingly putting the two on equal ground. After Reigns and Heyman traded words, Breakker grabbed the mic for his most important promo to date… and he faltered.
Nothing was wrong with Breakker’s promo as scripted. Describing Reigns a has-been and himself as the new “Big Dog” running the show is a great idea. The problem is his presence and delivery. Breakker’s words lacked conviction and gravitas, and he seemed to pale in comparison to Reigns.
His ring work is main event level, but Breakker needs to come off like a star during his promos if he is to be “The Next Big Thing,” or simply have Heyman do the talking for him.
Until then, Breakker risks becoming more like Curtis Axel than Brock Lesnar.
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