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This week in WWE television saw the emergence of new Champions at Extreme Rules, with the age of The Beast Incarnate Brock Lesnar returning, Shinsuke Nakamura capturing Intercontinental gold, and The New Day winning their sixth WWE Tag Team Titles.
The subsequent episodes of WWE Raw and Smackdown Live also saw the much-anticipated return of The Fiend, Bray Wyatt, and new rivalries have been birthed on the road to one of WWE's biggest PPV events of the year, SummerSlam.
In the following piece, let's take a look at five important takeaways from WWE television this week.
#5 Paul Heyman is off to a good start
If the cat isn't already out of the bag, Paul Heyman certainly let the feline loose this past Monday night on Raw when he dropped the not-so-subtle hint that he is now in charge on Monday nights.
Heyman has officially begun his new role as the Executive Director of Monday Night Raw, and he is off to a solid start.
Heyman made his presence felt immediately when his first episode of Raw saw Braun Strowman send Bobby Lashley crashing through the Raw entrance set, a feat which set off a flurry of explosions and chaos.
Heyman followed up with an episode of Raw last week that many criticized as lackluster considering it was the go-home episode for the Extreme Rules PPV, however, Heyman appeared to bounce back this week with a universally praised episode of Raw following the PPV.
With Heyman pushing news faces on the red brand and slowly introducing WWE fans to an edgier, less predictable product, Paul Heyman has made an impressive impression in the first few weeks as Raw's new Executive Director. With Brock Lesnar recapturing the Universal Title at Extreme Rules, it will be interesting to see how Heyman books The Beast's title reign.
#4 Eric Bischoff has yet to make his mark on Smackdown Live
Initial reports targeted this week's episode of WWE Smackdown Live as Eric Bischoff's start date in his new role as Smackdown's Executive Director, however, that was not the case.
Reports noted Bischoff was not present at the show this week and did not have any input on an episode of Smackdown Live which featured a Town Hall meeting orchestrated by Shane McMahon, and a main event pitting Kevin Owens against Dolph Ziggler in an Extreme Rules rematch.
Despite Bischoff not running Smackdown this week, the show felt fresh and headed in an interesting direction as SummerSlam approaches.
With Bischoff set to begin with Smackdown Live in the coming weeks, it will be interesting to see if things change as we draw closer to SummerSlam, and what kind of impact Bischoff will have, if any, on the big PPV event this year.
#3 Fresh faces are beginning to emerge
An interesting statistic popped up following WWE TV this week, and it notes the state of the product is very similar to the state it was in exactly two years ago. Brock Lesnar is the WWE Universal Champion, The New Day are Smackdown Live Tag Team Champions, AJ Styles is the United States Champion, Kevin Owens is feuding with Shane McMahon and Dolph Ziggler, and more.
But despite the above, the product still feels fresh, and it's because the company is finally moving in the right direction by featuring new faces on both WWE Raw and Smackdown Live.
It's great to see talents such as Cedric Alexander and Buddy Murphy getting much needed television time, along with veteran talents such as Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura getting much needed facelifts on WWE TV and reminding fans that they are important talents on a weekly basis.
#2 The women's division needs an overhaul
The women of WWE continue to be a focal point of television on a weekly basis, with Becky Lynch, aka The Man, one of the company's hottest stars and Champions at the moment.
This week also saw the crowning of two new number one contenders who will challenge for the Raw and Smackdown Live women's titles at SummerSlam, however, the women's division still feels off, and needs to get back on the right track.
This week's episode of Raw featured a near 30-minute long Fatal Four Way number one contender's match, which was met with hostility from the live crowd in Long Island. Perceived disrespect from the fans aside, the bout was indeed slow, sluggish, and felt like it overstayed its welcome by about 15 minutes.
The above suggests that WWE officials need to refocus on the women's division in WWE, and help return it to must-see content when the division was at its hottest almost one year ago.
One suggestion would be to move the entire women's division over to one brand, which might help keep the division as a whole more intriguing and fresh.
#1 The SummerSlam card is beginning to take shape
Following the WWE Extreme Rules PPV and subsequent episodes of Monday Night Raw and Smackdown Live, the SummerSlam card is beginning to take shape quite nicely, with the following bouts official for next month's PPV.
WWE Universal Championship Match:
-Brock Lesnar (c) vs Seth Rollins
WWE Raw Women's Championship Match:
-Becky Lynch (c) vs Natalya
WWE Smackdown Live Women's Championship Match:
-Bayley (c) vs Ember Moon
The following matches have been rumored for the PPV next month, but not yet officially confirmed by WWE:
Singles Match:
-Bray Wyatt vs Finn Balor
The above match might be used to write Balor off television for awhile, as he has requested some time off from WWE.
Other rumored and possible bouts for SummerSlam include Kevin Owens vs Shane McMahon, Drew McIntyre vs The Undertaker, and Shinsuke Nakamura vs Ali for the WWE IC Title.
Which matches would you like to see added to the WWE SummerSlam card? Let us know in the comment section!
