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Disclaimer: The views of the author do not necessarily represent that of Sportskeeda
Over the past week, we got to see a lot of action at NXT TakeOver: Toronto, WWE SummerSlam, and the following Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live. This week was quite spectacular.
Some experts are pointing out that the NXT TakeOver: Toronto was better than SummerSlam, which is true given the quality of the matches. Some fans are calling SummerSlam a pathetic show too, while, by and large, it was a pretty good pay-per-view.
We saw Seth Rollins beat Brock Lesnar clean despite being injured at the event. The Fiend defeated Finn Balor, making his in-ring debut on the show. Both of these things were highly appreciated. Thus, it is beyond comprehension to call SummerSlam a pathetic PPV.
The Raw after SummerSlam was also a spectacular show. We witnessed the thrilling return of Sasha Banks. The OC vs. Rollins angle was also teased. McIntyre and Alexander delivered a brilliant match. The return of the King of the Ring tournament was announced too.
The storyline involving Roman Reigns, Buddy Murphy and the duo of Daniel Bryan and Rowan was carried forward on SmackDown Live. Buddy Murphy gave a tough fight to Roman Reigns in his first match on Smackdown Live. The battle between Kevin Owens and Shane McMahon continued unabated. All in all, SmackDown Live fared well.
But there have been some mistakes made by the Creative which need to be rectified. Let's have a look at these:
#3 Big names absent from SummerSlam
Few of the WWE's biggest superstars, namely Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre and Samoa Joe. These Superstars have recorded their presence on WWE TV, but were not seen at SummerSlam.
Several matches, like Roman Reigns vs. Rowan, Reigns and Samoa Joe vs. Bryan and Rowan were expected to be included in the SummerSlam card at the last minute, but none of them materialized.
These absences may sound logical if these Superstars were on a break or given limited appearances on TV. But having no storyline, despite making more than 6 appearances a month, shows the failure of the creatives. WWE took a lot of flak on social media for this.
Therefore, WWE needs to have a serious look at this aspect.
#2 No matches for IC championship
The absence of big names like Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre at SummerSlam created a lot of buzz everywhere. A lot of people reacted negatively to it. But amidst all this, one thing that went unnoticed was the fact that the Intercontinental Championship was also absent at the SummerSlam.
There was no match held for the Intercontinental Championship on the PPV. This championship, which had gotten an altogether different status during The Miz's reign, also hasn't been getting enough TV time for the last many weeks.
While Nakamura has almost disappeared since winning the championship, Finn Balor was doing more or less the same thing before finally losing it.
SmackDown has got a huge pool of talent, and the Intercontinental championship has to play a big role to put them over.
Thus, WWE management should frame storylines keeping the championship at the center.
Also read: 3 things WWE must avoid doing with The Fiend
#1 Braun Strowman stealing the spotlight
There is no doubt that Braun Strowman has done commendable work in the past few years. It would also not be an exaggeration to say that he hasn't received a proper reward for work. He deserves a big push and a long-term title run, but that should not come at the cost of moments of others.
Last Monday night on Raw, after the episode with the OC, Strowman subtly stole the spotlight from Seth Rollins, who deserved to be the center of attraction that night on Raw after recording a historic victory over 'The Beast' at SummerSlam.
Considering Rollins beat Brock Lesnar fair and square in a very exciting match at the PPV, and was trending everywhere, this could be seen as a bad decision taken by the Creative.
So, WWE should avoid such decisions in the future, especially when all of this involves Raw's biggest face superstar.
