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WWE Extreme Rules is just a week away and WWE is trying to have a huge build towards the event to ensure that it can deliver and retain its fans. WWE NXT, on the other hand, had a couple of great nights for the Great American Bash and will be looking to get back on track after a few massive matches shook up the entire brand to its core.
Last week’s RAW saw the return of Heath Slater, possibly for one night only, as he faced his former friend and current WWE Champion, Drew McIntyre. Rey Mysterio chose the stipulation for his match against Seth Rollins at Extreme Rules while MVP unveiled the new United States Championship.
However, the night belonged to SmackDown’s Bayley and Sasha Banks who once again stole another show with a couple of great matches against top Superstars.
NXT hosted one of the biggest matches of the brand as we saw Keith Lee become the first-ever NXT Double Champion after defeating Adam Cole for the NXT Championship. Mercedes Martinez made a remarkable return to the ring while Candice LeRae and Johnny Gargano had a successful night where they scored victories over Mia Yim and Isaiah “Swerve” Scott.
SmackDown lagged behind this week but still had a few high points that included another heelish victory for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Bayley and Sasha Banks and a dominating performance by Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura.
A recap of Braun Strowman and Bray Wyatt’s WWE Money in the Bank 2020 match and Jeff Hardy’s segment on The Miz TV watered down the program a bit.
In this article, we will look at the 5 things that must happen on WWE RAW, NXT, and SmackDown this week to continue the final build towards Extreme Rules.
#5 Sasha Banks & Bayley retain the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships
Kairi Sane made a surprise return to WWE RAW last week just days after rumors circulated that the Japanese Superstar was heading back to her homeland. Sane competed against Sasha Banks in a great match that saw both the WWE Superstars perform really well, but the match ended in a disqualification.
Later in the night, RAW Women’s Champion Asuka took on SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley in a Champion vs. Champion match and defeated The Role Model convincingly.
This week, The Kabuki Warriors will take on Banks and Bayley for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships. After watching last week’s matches, we can safely say that this will be a show stealer and give fans some great entertainment.
The WWE Women's Tag Team Championships must not change hands before Extreme Rules
WWE must allow the heels to defeat Asuka and Sane after a great battle by pulling off some heelish tactics. This will allow the Japanese Superstars to retain their value ahead of Extreme Rules where Asuka will defend her RAW Women’s Championship against The Legit Boss.
Banks and Bayley need to retain the titles to increase their value just like they’ve been doing for the past couple of months and give fans some great entertainment across all three brands of WWE. With The Pirate Princess’s future in the company uncertain, it won’t be a wise decision to hand the titles to The Kabuki Warriors.
#4 Dolph Ziggler picks a stipulation to make Drew McIntyre’s life more difficult
Last week on WWE RAW, Drew McIntyre was out in the middle before Dolph Ziggler interrupted him and brought out his former 3MB teammate Heath Slater to the middle. Slater had been released by the company a few months ago, but he wanted a match against the man who he thought was his friend but never cared for him once he was released by the company.
McIntyre defeated Slater convincingly on RAW, but Ziggler tried to take advantage of the situation after the match. However, The Scottish Psychopath chased The Showoff away before embracing Slater to end the segment with a feel-good moment.
During WWE’s The Bump, Ziggler said he had a few ideas for his match against McIntyre before commenting that "the psychological aspect of this match is huge."
The Showoff of WWE has something sinister in mind
With that in mind, WWE must allow Ziggler to announce a huge stipulation in which a new contract for McIntyre’s former teammate Slater is put on the line. WWE could book a match in which if Ziggler wins the title, Slater gets his job back while if he loses, Slater is out for good.
This will allow them to book a huge psychological angle with the babyface facing a dilemma and we could see Slater appear during the match to give McIntyre the nod to go for the victory and end his WWE career on a high.
#3 The countdown for Keith Lee begins on WWE NXT
The second night of the WWE NXT Great American Bash shook up the brand to its core as NXT North American Champion Keith Lee defeated NXT Champion Adam Cole in a Winner Takes All match to become the first-ever Double Champion in NXT.
Lee has been getting a lot of praise for his work in the ring, and it seems like the company decided to reward him for his hard work.
However, at the end of the match, we saw Karrion Kross and Scarlett watching The Limitless One celebrate in the ring and laughing at his success, possibly signifying Kross’s new target. Scarlett had presented Cole with an hourglass a little over a month back at a time when he was still the NXT Champion. However, it seemed like NXT changed some plans and decided to make Lee the new NXT Champion, which could result in Kross changing his target too.
On this week’s NXT, we must see Lee come out to celebrate his victory and cut a heartfelt promo for the entire WWE Universe. He must then be interrupted, with the lights going out and Scarlett appearing to present Lee with an hourglass of his own to show that he’s in Kross’s crosshair.
This will allow WWE NXT to build a massive feud for the new Superstar against the man who has had his stocks quadruple over the past six months. A rivalry between Lee and Kross will have limitless possibilities.
#2 Io Shirai retains her WWE NXT Women’s Championship
Io Shirai picked up the biggest victory of her career at WWE NXT TakeOver: In Your House when she defeated Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair in a Triple Threat Match to become the NXT Women’s Champion for the first time.
Since then, we’ve seen Shirai carry the title well and compete in a great match against SmackDown’s Sasha Banks to prove that she’s worth it.
Tegan Nox, on the other hand, has seen herself get noticed for her work on WWE NXT, and she overcame three other women in a Fatal 4-Way Elimination Match to become the No. 1 Contender for Shirai’s title.
While Nox has put in all the hard work to deserve a title run of her own, there are still a few areas that she needs to polish and stay on top of the women’s division for some time longer to become the NXT Women’s Champion.
Keeping that in mind, and the fact that The Jodi Judas’ reign as the Champion is just getting started, WWE must allow Shirai to retain her title against Nox after a great battle.
This will allow Nox’s value to increase in the Black & Gold brand if she can put on a good performance against one of the best female wrestlers and keep her in the loop for another title opportunity while allowing Shirai to overcome the initial challenges to extend her NXT Women’s Championship run.
#1 Baron Corbin ruins Matt Riddle’s Intercontinental Championship chance on WWE SmackDown
Matt Riddle had a huge debut on WWE SmackDown where he defeated the man who built SmackDown, AJ Styles. The Intercontinental Champion was stunned by the defeat but managed to get back in his zone and defeat Drew Gulak a couple of weeks ago to retain his Intercontinental Championship.
Riddle has since been a hot topic on SmackDown and has had some verbal exchanges with King Corbin.
This week on WWE SmackDown, The Original Bro will get a huge chance against AJ Styles for the Intercontinental Championship. This match was announced last week and Styles did not seem too happy about it.
WWE must allow Riddle to pull off another great performance and come close to victory before Corbin interrupts and ruins the party, leading to either a disqualification or a loss for The Original Bro.
This will allow Riddle to start a rivalry against Corbin that could help him get more support on SmackDown before he eventually goes on to win his first singles title in WWE on the Blue brand.
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