Opinion
DeMarco: Midcard Shines In The Ring On WWE Raw
Monday’s edition of WWE Raw featured amazing talent, and many of them shared one specific trait: they aren’t wrestling at SummerSlam. Is that a problem?
Monday’s edition of WWE Raw featured amazing talent, and many of them shared one specific trait: they aren’t wrestling at SummerSlam. Is that a problem?
SummerSlam is this Sunday, and the card is nearly set. Monday was the go-home edition of WWE Raw, and the show did a great job of building towards Sunday’s event. It did so without featuring many of the key SummerSlam players actually wrestling, instead focusing the in-ring action on talent not appearing on Sunday.
Take a look at the quick results for Raw:
- Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair beat Natalya & Trish Stratus by disqualification
- Andrade Almas w/Zelina Vega pinned Rey Mysterio
- Mike Kanellis pinned Maria Kanellis to win the WWE 24/7 Championship
- R-Truth w/Carmella pinned Mike Kanellis to win the WWE 24/7 Championship
- The Viking Raiders beat Jay Alexander & Eric Abraham
- Cedric Alexander fought Drew McIntyre when special guest referee Kurt Angle was attacked by Bray Wyatt’s Fiend
- The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods) beat VS The OC (Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson) w/AJ Styles by disqualification
- The OC (AJ Styles and Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson) beat Ricochet & The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods)
- Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross captured the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship in Fatal 4 Way Elimination Match against The IIconcis (Peyton Royce & Billie Kay), The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane) and Fire & Desire (Mandy Rose & Sonya DeVille) VS Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross
All total, 32 wrestlers performed in the ring on Raw. Of them, seven will perform at WWE SummerSlam on Sunday: Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Natalya, Trish Stratus, Bray Wyatt, AJ Styles, and Ricochet. Mathematically, that’s 22% of the in-ring performers on Raw going on to perform at SummerSlam. Interesting number as it can mean several things.
Talent Needs To Avoid Injury
Seth Rollins took a beating from Brock Lesnar, but the style of the beatdown puts both men in a position to remain healthy for Sunday. Samoa Joe campaigned for Roman Reigns–neither wrestling a match–and both men are likely headed for a SummerSlam showdown. While Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Trish Stratus, and Natalya wrestled, the match was relatively short and was more about the stories than about any major spots. AJ Styles and Ricochet were role players in a six-man tag, neither factoring into the finish. Bray Wyatt was limited to an attack, setting up his match with Finn Balor on Sunday.
You also had the show ending contract signing, which was used to set up Dolph Ziggler vs. Goldberg, also featuring The Miz and Shawn Michaels (not wrestling at SummerSlam).
But here’s the thing: the midcard matches were GOOD.
Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade was a fantastic match that really put Andrade (and Zelina Vega) over in a big way. The 24/7 Championship was a chance for Mike Kanellis, Maria Kanellis, R-Truth, and Carmella to shine. Cedric Alexander and Drew McIntyre furthered their story in a short-but-physical manner. The OC members Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson carried the bulk of their six-man tag team match with AJ Styles vs. Ricochet and Big E & Xavier Woods, who carried most of their match. And it was all very entertaining. Finally, eight women got to put on a long, competitive match that never would have gotten the appropriate showcase at SummerSlam, and did so for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships that many think have been underused.
What does this say about SummerSlam?
That’s the thing. These matches could have been part of the SummerSlam Kickoff, and it’s still possible that something is added there. But the SummerSlam card IS good. Raw was good. I won’t be shocked if Smackdown is good. WWE is really loaded from an in-ring perspective, and after struggling to put it all together we seem to have a more consistent, balanced show on Monday nights. I don’t know what more we can ask for.
As for me, Raw did a great job building to SummerSlam, and showcased some of the great talent in WWE right now. It didn’t ruin anything for SummerSlam, instead made me excited for the event itself, and for what can happen after.
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Opinion
Chris King: Is Brock Lesnar Truly Retired?
Brock Lesnar retired at WWE WrestleMania 42, right? Are we totally sure? Chris King asks…
Brock Lesnar retired at WWE WrestleMania 42, right? Are we totally sure? Chris King asks…
At WrestleMania 42, ‘The Beast Incarnate’ Brock Lesnar took off his boots and gloves following his loss to Oba Femi. Lesnar has done it all inside of his twenty-four-year career in professional wrestling. He’s a ten-time WWE Champion and former UFC Heavyweight Champion, and he’s one who ended The Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania.
While Lesnar was in the ring, he was visibly overwhelmed with emotion and crying while he thanked the fans in his own way. The Beast even threw up an x to signal to Paul Heyman, his longtime friend and advocate, that this was not scripted and was real. There had been rumors that Lesnar and Oba were supposed to have a series of matches before everything went down at Mania.
‘The Career Killer’ Gunther was doing Heyman’s bidding as he faced Seth Rollins for a favor. For a while now since Gunther retired Goldberg, John Cena, and AJ Styles, the rumor has been Gunther was set to retire Lesnar in his hometown at this year’s SummerSlam event. There’s been no confirmation if Lesnar is truly retired, but on this week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown, we saw Heyman talking with General Manager Nick Aldis. Later that night following Rhodes’ match against the debuting Ricky Saints, Gunther choked out the WWE Champion. Could this be the favor from Heyman?
I know in the world of professional wrestling we live by the mantra of “never say never,” but what if Lesnar is actually retired and this was WWE’s way of shutting down those rumors about Gunther and Lesnar? What if Gunther’s next program is chasing after the WWE title, and where is Randy Orton at in all of these plans? There are so many questions that need to be answered, hopefully soon!
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Opinion
Chris King: Defend The Intercontinental Championship At Backlash!
With WWE Backlash upon us, Chris King wants to see Penta defend the Intercontinental Championship in Tampa!
With WWE Backlash upon us, Chris King wants to see Penta defend the Intercontinental Championship in Tampa!
This year’s annual Backlash showcase is only a few days away, and while there are many big matches announced, one that definitely should be isn’t on the card. In my opinion, outside of Roman Reigns/Jacob Fatu and Seth Rollins/Bron Breakker, the Intercontinental Championship scene has been stellar over the last month.
Penta has been an excellent champion, especially after his triumphant title defense in a ladder match against JeVon Evans, Rusev, Dragon Lee, and the Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio at WrestleMania 42. Their ladder match at Mania was one of the best that WWE has produced in a while.
The momentum never stopped, as on the post-Mania episode of Monday Night Raw, ‘All Ego’ Ethan Page made his debut and was quickly inserted into the Intercontinental title scene. Page had a fantastic showing against his longtime NXT rival Evans and picked up a big win in his debut match thanks to an assist from Rusev.
All Ego immediately joined forces with ‘The Bulgarian Brute’ Rusev, who was also vying for the Intercontinental Title in his own right. On this week’s episode of Raw, Page and Rusev defeated Evans and Penta. All Ego pinned the champion, making a huge statement and putting him one step closer to getting a title shot. For the past few weeks I’ve been anxiously waiting to see if WWE was going to add this incredible fatal four-way match for the Intercontinental Championship, but it hasn’t happened yet.
As much as the WWE Universe enjoys witnessing great matches on free television, I truly believe all four superstars deserve the chance to showcase their talents on the PLE. While Penta has done a terrific job as the intercontinental champion, it’s time for a fresh face to hold the prestigious title. Page would make a great braggadocious heel that would help elevate the Intercontinental Championship to new heights!
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MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)
TUESDAY - 4 Corners Podcast (sports)
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SATURDAY - The Mindless Wrestling Podcast
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Attitude Of Aggression Podcast: The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history) Unidentified History (Ufology) & Game Gone Wrong (Game of Thrones Universe)
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