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WWE RAW opened up with a big announcement for WrestleMania 37. MVP and Bobby Lashley were in the ring when it was revealed that Lashley would defend his WWE Championship against Drew McIntyre.
McIntyre then defeated The Miz on RAW, while Lashley defeated Sheamus later in the show. Many fans questioned this direction; why WWE didn't book a number one contender’s match for the WWE Championship before WrestleMania?
On Wednesday, WWE NXT featured the debut of LA Knight. Knight rolled over August Grey with ease to begin his NXT run with a win. Elsewhere, Dakota Kai defeated Zoey Stark after a great match.
Plus, Io Shirai offered Raquel González an opportunity to face her for the NXT Women’s Championship. Will Gonzálezbe the one to dethrone the champion? And what’s next for Austin Theory after his loss to Dexter Lumis?
Finally, Edge made his return to the WWE SmackDown ring after a ten-year gap since his last match on the blue brand. He immediately made an impact with a victory over Jey Uso. Will he play a significant role as the guest enforcer during Sunday’s Universal Championship match?
As for the women's division, how long will Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair remain on the same page before they finally implode on the road to WrestleMania?
Let’s take a look at the five biggest questions from this week’s WWE RAW, NXT, and SmackDown.
#5 Are Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods just transitional WWE RAW Tag Team Champions?
The New Day has been one of the most impressive tag teams in WWE history. Even though Big E is doung his own thing, Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston are still doing a great job together.
On WWE RAW this week, Kingston and Woods got a RAW Tag Team Championship match against The Hurt Business. Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander had a good run, but they lost the titles on this week’s show.
The New Day has done well whenever WWE has trusted them with the tag team titles. But it looks like the duo will be having a short reign this time around. Immediately after their victory, AJ Styles and Omos came out to challenge the two men for the titles at WrestleMania 37.
Omos is yet to compete in the WWE ring, and he will make his debut at The Show of Shows. On the other hand, Styles has never won a tag team title in WWE.
The creative team could look to fix both issues and allow Omos to win his first match and give Styles his first tag team title reign.
Does this mean that Woods and Kingston are just transitional champions? Did WWE give the titles to the babyfaces just so Styles and Omos can have a go at them?
The answer seems to be a resounding yes, and it looks like this title reign won’t benefit The New Day very much.
#4 Did WWE protect Bad Bunny from taking a pin on the road to WrestleMania?
Bad Bunny has become a prominent part of WWE RAW over the past couple of months. Bunny has been seen by fans both backstage and in the ring on RAW with Damian Priest. Many fans are expecting to watch a match between the teams of Bunny & Priest and The Miz & John Morrison at WrestleMania 37.
Bunny is yet to compete in a match in WWE, but he had one of the most iconic reigns as the WWE 24/7 Champion recently. Bunny won the title from Akira Tozawa on February 15, and he held it up until the most recent episode of RAW.
R-Truth approached Bunny backstage and talked him into giving him the title. Truth claimed that he deserved the title more, so he offered a few interesting things in return.
Bunny gladly accepted the offer and gave up the title after he took it around the entertainment industry for the past month.
While championships usually change hands in WWE after a superstar is either pinned or submitted, Bunny simply handed over his title instead. Did WWE protect Bunny from taking a pin before WrestleMania 37?
It looks like Bunny could be heading to The Show of Shows for a tag team match, and he could pin Miz or Morisson to win the contest. With that in mind, it looks like WWE prevented Bunny from being pinned by Truth this week. That way, he's set up to look as strong as possible ahead of WrestleMania.
#3 Why didn’t Sheamus and Drew McIntyre compete in a #1 contender’s match at WWE Fastlane?
Sheamus and Drew McIntyre have an ongoing rivalry on WWE RAW. The two men competed in a hard-hitting match on RAW last week that knocked both men out. The match ended in a no-contest as both men were unable to compete after a collision.
Why didn’t WWE book a rematch between the two powerhouses on this week’s RAW? Instead, WWE simply announced McIntyre as Bobby Lashley’s challenger for WrestleMania 37.
The creative team could have booked a number one contender’s match between The Celtic Warrior and McIntyre for Fastlane to stack up the show.
Why did WWE pass on a golden opportunity to book a big match at Fastlane? Sheamus lost his match against The All Mighty on RAW this week. As a result, it seemed like the creative team wasn't worried about protecting The Celtic Warrior.
Passing on such a good opportunity was a questionable move. Both men were healthy enough to compete on RAW this week, and their match at Fastlane could have had a major reward on the line.
Why isn’t Sheamus and The Scottish Warrior's match at Fastlane for an opportunity to headline WrestleMania 37? Without this stipulation, the bout feels much less important.
#2 Why does WWE keep booking rivals in tag team championship matches?
WWE has historically established many successful superstars and heated rivalries. As an industry leader, WWE knows how to do many things right. But one thing that never makes sense is the company's pattern of putting rivals together in tag team championship matches.
Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair are set to lock horns at WrestleMania 37 for the SmackDown Women’s Championship. But the two women will team together in a WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship match at Fastlane.
On the other hand, Finn Balor and Karrion Kross were put in a tag team this week on WWE NXT. The two men challenged the NXT Tag Team Champions for their titles.
This direction helped WWE establish more heat between Kross and Balor, and it will make their match at NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver more interesting. Still, why can’t the creative team find a more organic way to build tension between rivals?
Following the same formula, again and again, has made things rather boring and predictable. Will the higher-ups in WWE ever change the way big matches are built up?
#1 Why is Shinsuke Nakamura being used to push other rivalries on WWE SmackDown?
Shinsuke Nakamura had been a heel in WWE for a long time, but he turned faced during a Gauntlet Match on SmackDown earlier this year. Nakamura nearly won the match, but Roman Reigns robbed him of a Universal Championship shot.
Reports later clarified that Cesaro was supposed to be in Nakamura’s place during this match. But ongoing contract negotiations forced WWE to change these plans. WWE broke up the partnership between Nakamura and Cesaro, but the two men still seem to be friends backstage.
Naturally, Nakamura has found himself in the middle of a rivalry between The Swiss Superman and Seth Rollins. The former NXT Champion seems to be the man who will serve as the bridge to take their feud to WrestleMania.
It’s good to watch The Artist get some big singles matches, but it's fair to question why he's being used to push other superstars?
Nakamura is an excellent wrestler who can have a good rivalry for the top title himself. Using him to push Cesaro works well in the storyline, but it dents his own value. Nakamura should have already received a shot or two at the Universal Championship by now.
For this reason, it’s disheartening to watch him being used as a transitional opponent. Will Nakamura get a match of his own at The Show of Shows this year?
