SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
As the “Macho Man” Randy Savage famously told Mean Gene, the cream rises to the top. Talented performances simply stand out. Sadly, failures are also easy to recognize. This week’s WWE programming was rife with examples of both.
As ever, we begin with the good.
Rising Star of the Week: A.J. Lee
A.J. Lee has far exceeded the high expectations for her return. Her beat-down of Becky Lynch on Smackdown in front of a rabid hometown crowd was short, sweet, and satisfying. Her first promo on Raw in over a decade was even better.
Lee came off as both confident and genuine, seeming to be talking off the cuff more than reciting a script. Lee was candid in sharing her mental health struggles without becoming self-indulgent. Her enthusiasm for professional counseling was surprisingly infectious, inspiring an unprecedented “therapy” chant. Lee was nimble enough to respond to crowd reactions in an entertaining way, and her chemistry with Lynch and Rollins was palpable.
After goading Rollins into agreeing to a mixed-gender tag team match at Wrestlepalooza, Lee was good enough to return Lynch’s title as promised, bringing the segment to a satisfying conclusion. Most fans knew how the segment would end, but few could have anticipated how fun the journey would be.
Lee’s return has already benefited C.M. Punk, adding a much-needed dimension to his character. Lynch appeared particularly inspired, responding with her best heel work to date on Raw, promising she will be a fantastic foil to Lee going forward.
It remains to be seen how Lee will perform in the ring. She was one of the best wrestlers of the Divas era, but the bar has risen exponentially since that time and the effects of a decade’s worth of ring rust are unpredictable. I expect her to wrestle a better match than Nikki Bella or Trish Stratus was able to muster, but below the standard of a Roxanne Perez or Lyra Valkyria.
Lee and her husband seem likely to win her high-profile re-debut match. Reports indicate that she has signed a multi-year deal indicative of a true full-time return to wrestling. Whatever its length, Lee’s second WWE run is starting off with more momentum than anyone could have guessed.
Crazy may be her super-power, but charisma is a close second.
Runner-up: Josh Briggs
Success has been a long time coming for Briggs. After four years toiling as a lower mid-carder on NXT, Briggs has seemingly found his lane. While he is competent both in the ring and on promos, Briggs has never stood out in either capacity.
Briggs has had an excellent 2025, mostly involving his formation of a tag team with Pro Wrestling Noah’s Yoshiki Inamura. Briggs began pressuring Inamura to break rules to win the NXT Championship. Inamura refused, insisting he “fight with honor.” The two eventually came to blows, and their feud culminated with a memorable Philadelphia Street fight, which Briggs won.
Ever since the breakup Briggs has garnered more and more heat from NXT crowds. Last week he trolled fans by playing the Undertaker’s gong, building excitement for a special appearance. When Briggs emerged instead of the Deadman, the fans erupted in boos, in what amounted to the biggest pop of his career.
This week’s NXT with Briggs wrestling an exciting match with his rival, the phenomenal fan favorite Je’Von Evans. Briggs won by using an illegal object unseen by the referee, further fanning the flames of fan ire.
With the wave of momentum created by two high-profile wins and remarkable fan response, Briggs is riding on a career-high and primed for an upcoming title opportunity.
Can he capitalize on the spotlight? So far, so good!
More on Josh Briggs’s rise here: PARKS’S TAKE: Has NXT stumbled upon a potential new top heel? There’s some real heel heat here even from Performance Center regulars
Second Runner up: L.A. Knight
A wise teacher once told me that there are two kinds of great performers: those who never make mistakes and those who recover quickly from them. Knight is decidedly the latter.
Both in and out of the ring, Knight consistently messes up. He seems to flub one line in every interview, and fans have come to expect him to botch at least one moves during every match. Mr. Perfect he is not.
Knight’s matches and promos work regardless. He recovers from mistakes quickly and moves on, making it easy for us to do the same.
His promo work is fast-paced, compelling, and believable. Knight could easily lean upon his ultra-popular catchphrases. Instead, he always has a number of novel points to make, and he makes them quickly and believably. The price of speaking off the cuff rather than from a script is an occasional misspoken word. When he invariably loses his place or misidentifies his opponent, Knight quickly rephrases or pivots. Knight doesn’t pause to dwell on his mistakes or get rattled by them, and neither do we.
Similarly, Knight’s matches are hard-hitting and fast-paced. While no technical wizard, his offensive moves are credible, and he hits them reliably. Knight sells his opponent’s offense believably and knows how to tell a compelling story during matches. He consistently challenges himself with complicated maneuvers, and somewhat less consistently fails to pull them off.
When he slips off the top rope and inadvertently crotches himself, tries to leap up to the turnbuckle and stumbles, or catches himself on the ropes he was attempting to leap through Knight recovers quickly. He often pulls off whatever he was attempting on the second try, or quickly follows up with a different move. The result is that our suspension of disbelief is rarely broken, so his matches are enjoyable despite their imperfections.
Since being unexpectedly moved onto Raw last month, Knight has risen to the occasion and exceeded expectations.
Has L.A. Knight earned his place in the main event scene?
Yeah!
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
Check out the latest episode of “The Nicky’s Club” with Nick Barbati, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “pwtorch” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)
Fading Star of the Week: El Grand Americano
Americano started out with a fun premise. Chad Gable suffers a streak of losing to luchadores such as Penta. After a pilgrimage of sorts to Mexico, Gable determines that the only way to defeat luchadors is to become one. He begins wearing a mask and wrestles under the name El Grande Americano, which sounds more like a Starbucks order than a wrestler.
Although Americano’s identity is obvious to viewers, Gable goes to great lengths to deny it, and heel announcers play along. The dual identity storyline created some fun situations, and natural feuds with legitimate luchadors Rey Mysterio and Penta. Americano enjoyed a significant push, with an undefeated streak on Raw and win over the debuting Rey Fenix at WrestleMania.
The gimmick was going well until late June when Chad Gable began a leave of absence from wrestling to have a shoulder surgery. Oddly, Americano continued to wrestle, although it was clearly another wrestler under his mask. Savy fans recognized the new Americano as none other than Ludwig Kaiser.
The idea of a second, false Americano was mildly intriguing. The situation became even stranger when other wrestlers dressed up as Americano began to appear at ringside and interfere on Americano’s behalf.
Weeks later, we have no explanation for the false Americanos. What once was a story of Gable’s alter ego has morphed into a muddled mess.
The narrative has stalled, and at this point it seems increasingly unlikely that there will a satisfying payoff anytime soon. That’s why it was a relief to see Americano’s undefeated streak on Raw finally come to an end on Monday, when he suffered a clean defeat at the hands of A.J. Styles.
Hopefully, this is a sign that WWE creative is cutting bait and moving away from the Americano storyline until Gable’s return. In the meantime, the false Americano are better utilized putting over acts with greater potential (e.g., Penta, Dragon Lee).
Get well soon, Chad Gable! The Americano imposters taught fans just how irreplaceable you are!
First Runner-Up: Giulia
With a remarkable look and fantastic ring-skills, the Beautiful Madness seemed like a can’t-miss prospect when elevated to the main roster in May. Shortly after moving to Smackdown, she captured the Women’s U.S. Title from Zelena Vega.
Giulia’s weakness comes in her mic work. With a limited grasp of English, Giulia struggles to deliver effective promos in a similar manner to other Japanese wrestlers. WWE creative’s fix has been to pair her with a mouthpiece, specifically the businesswoman Kiana James who has taken on the role of Giulia’s “official representation.”
While this pairing makes sense in theory, it has been ineffective in practice. Although a competent speaker, James has yet to prove herself in a managerial role. The two have initially failed to display chemistry, and backstage interactions with lower mid-carder talent such as Michin have failed to generate much interest.
Fans appreciate Giulia’s wrestling, are mildly annoyed by her character, and have little investment in her opponents. This ambivalence has led to a lack of investment, and crowd reactions to Giulia have been remarkably flat.
It’s possible that given a few more weeks the pairing of Guilia and James could blossom, especially if pitted against an act that fans care about (e.g., Bianca Belair or Alexa Bliss) .
For now, Giulia continues Vega’s tradition of a U.S. Champion that inspires the fast forward button or a trip to the bathroom.
Did you know you can read an ad-free, lighting-fast version of this website with a PWTorch VIP Membership? Also, unlock 35+ years of archives including nearly 2,000 PWTorch Weekly Newsletters dating back to the late 1980s, hundreds of retro radio shows from the 1990s, and two decades of podcasts including Post-PPV Roundtable Podcasts dating back to the mid-2000s: CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS ON VIP MEMBERSHIP
Second Runner-Up: Bayley
Although it comes as a surprise to many who don’t follow professional wrestling, we fans don’t believe what we’re watching is a sport, any more than viewers of Squid Games or Ted Lasso. However, enjoyment of professional wrestling does require a certain suspension of disbelief. Breaking it comes at significant cost. It takes us our of the moment and reminds us that what we’re seeing isn’t real. It can take actual effort to shake off this notion and reinvest in the story.
That’s precisely what happened to me during Bayley’s recent vignettes. Her performance of a split personality is reasonably compelling, but the style of her vignettes are seriously counter-productive. Allowing the viewer to hear Bayley’s inner monologue is a stark reminder that we’re not witnessing a recording of an actual backstage interview, its only fiction.
Whatever benefits to telling Bayley’s story are provided by this type of promo simply aren’t worth it. Bayley needs to find a better way to show us her inner turmoil, one that doesn’t undermine our enjoyment of the product.
CHECK THIS OUT AT PROWRESTLING.NET: Powell’s NXT Hit List: Main roster surprise appearances heading into NXT Homecoming, Je’Von Evans flipped the switch while facing Josh Briggs, why USA vs. Canada rivalries typically feel flat
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.