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WWE Extreme Rules had some interesting matches with some crazy happenings. It saw WWE Universal Champion Braun Strowman drowning in a swamp and WWE legend Rey Mysterio having his eye popped out.
This past week’s RAW and SmackDown built on the results of Extreme Rules, while WWE NXT started to build towards the recently announced WWE TakeOver XXX event.
During WWE RAW, we saw Kairi Sane defeat SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley in a non-title match after which Stephanie McMahon announced a RAW Women’s Championship match between Asuka and Sasha Banks for this week.
The WWE Champion once again agreed to fight Dolph Ziggler for the title, while Randy Orton’s heinous actions led to another WWE Legend getting sent to the hospital.
WWE NXT saw the NXT Champion Keith Lee relinquish his NXT North American Championship for the greater good of the brand. Bronson Reed then became the first man to progress to the NXT North American Championship Ladder Match scheduled for NXT TakeOver XXX.
Karrion Kross made the biggest impact as not only did he defeat Dominik Dijakovic at the end of the night, but he ended up injuring the giant with his heelish attacks.
WWE SmackDown ended the week with a big match between Sheamus and Jeff Hardy to possibly end their rivalry. Matt Riddle set his eyes on King Corbin after his match with Tony Nese, while Nikki Cross defeated her friend Alexa Bliss to earn another shot at Bayley’s SmackDown Women’s Championship.
WWE has been building towards some big storylines and matches recently, and there are at least 5 things they must do this week on WWE RAW, NXT, and SmackDown to make things even more exciting.
#5 The Viper announces the WWE Champion as his next target on RAW
One of the biggest segments scheduled for this week’s WWE RAW will see Randy Orton open the show to announce his next victim. In case you haven’t been in touch with The Viper’s recent antics, he has taken out Christian on WWE RAW following his victory over Edge and targeted The Big Show last week.
After punishing the big man on WWE RAW during an Unsanctioned match, Orton ended the night by RKOing Show and then delivered a Punt Kick to make a huge statement.
This week, The Viper must come out to talk about his achievements and how he is a 13-time World Champion and the absolute best. After talking down legends such as Edge and Big Show, Orton must announce that he will now target the WWE Champion.
Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler are set to compete for the WWE Championship on this week’s WWE RAW, and we will likely see an end to their rivalry by the end of the night.
SummerSlam is on the horizon and the WWE Championship match will be a major part of the match card. Therefore, WWE will need to push Orton into the WWE Championship picture soon as he could target the WWE Champion in the absence of The Rated-R Superstar.
#4 Sasha Banks wins the WWE RAW Women’s Championship
WWE Extreme Rules had an extremely controversial ending to the WWE RAW Women’s Championship match. While Asuka and Sasha Banks were performing their hearts out in the ring, The Empress ended up spraying the green mist in the referee’s face leading to Bayley knocking the Champion out and counting the pin in her friend’s favor.
This week, the two women will try to settle the things inside the ring after Stephanie McMahon announced the match to determine the true champion on last week’s WWE RAW.
Banks will have a slight disadvantage in the match as she and Bayley have relied on each other to help them win matches, and any interferences during this match will cost her the opportunity.
While that will be the case, WWE must allow Banks to win the title on this week’s WWE RAW to make things more interesting in the women’s division and push The Golden Role Models even more.
WWE could make things even more interesting by allowing Bayley to appear and attack Banks instead of Asuka, resulting in the referee awarding the match and the title to The Legit Boss.
This will increase the drama on the Red brand and also give the two heels a lot more heat than they already have to get up towards some big matches for WWE SummerSlam.
#3 Karrion Kross takes down Keith Lee backstage on WWE NXT
Karrion Kross has been haunting the WWE NXT locker room since his arrival. The Superstar took down Tommaso Ciampa at NXT TakeOver: In Your House, and then went after Bronson Reed.
Kross is now after NXT Champion Keith Lee and made a huge first statement by taking out his good friend Dominik Dijakovic during last week’s show. Lee will likely be furious on this week’s show and look to hunt down Kross to teach him a lesson.
However, WWE must allow Kross to get the better of Lee instead and attack The Limitless One backstage before locking him in the Kross Jacket and making him pass out. Fans see The Limitless One as an unstoppable force in WWE, and this segment will allow WWE to ensure that the fans will see Kross as a legit threat to the NXT Champion.
NXT TakeOver XXX is coming up and WWE will likely book a match between the two men at the show where they are going to tear the house down with an epic match.
#2 Timothy Thatcher progresses to the WWE NXT North American Championship match
Last week on WWE NXT, a huge announcement was made from NXT Champion Keith Lee who willingly decided to relinquish the NXT North American Championship for the greater good of WWE NXT. Thus, he ended his short reign as a Double Champion in NXT after making history.
William Regal then announced that a series of Triple Threat Matches will be held leading up to the newly announced WWE NXT TakeOver XXX, and the winner of each match will get a spot in the NXT North American Championship Ladder Match.
The first match saw Bronson Reed compete against former NXT North American Champions Roderick Strong and Johnny Gargano and come out as the victor. The next match scheduled will see Finn Balor, Timothy Thatcher, and Dexter Lumis go against each other for a chance to compete at NXT TakeOver XXX.
While Balor is the biggest name in the match and hasn’t won the NXT North American Championship in his career, WWE must allow Thatcher to pick up the victory in the match.
Thatcher is new, gutsy, and the perfect heel to battle in a Ladder Match for the title. This will allow WWE to push the new talent, and also give Oney Lorcan a chance to cost Thatcher his first single’s title opportunity while continuing their rivalry further.
#1 Gran Metalik proves his worth against AJ Styles on WWE SmackDown
Last week on WWE SmackDown, a match to crown the next challenger for the Intercontinental Championship was set as Gran Metalik, Lince Dorado, Shorty G, and Drew Gulak competed in a Fatal 4-Way match.
While all four men, especially Shorty G, were extremely impressive in a match that consisted of four extremely talented but underutilized men, it was Metalik who picked up the big victory by pinning Short G.
This week, Metalik will get his big chance against The Phenomenal AJ Styles, and he could be in line to shock the WWE Universe. However, WWE must allow Metalik to perform his heart out and come close to victory, even if he ends up losing the match.
WWE must not allow Styles to squash Metalik or go over easily, and instead, Metalik should be given a chance to shine against the absolute best to build his case for future opportunities.
WWE SmackDown seems to have done a great job by pushing an unexpected Superstar into the title picture against Styles, and they must allow him to shine during the big opportunity rather than burning out.
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