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The week after NXT TakeOver: WarGames and Survivor Series was nothing short of a rollercoaster ride for the WWE Universe as the company showcased some quality matches and segments.
RAW delivered a strong episode in which we saw Rey Mysterio shock the entire WWE Universe by defeating AJ Styles for the United States Championship. The Red brand also saw the return of the Authors of Pain who wreaked havoc.
NXT opened up with a celebration and gave us a great NXT Tag Team Championship match. The best of the night saw Finn Balor not only surprise Tommaso Ciampa, but also stun the NXT Champion Adam Cole.
SmackDown didn't lag behind either, and we saw the return of many major Superstars to the brand after time off due to injury. Apart from that, the biggest punch on SmackDown came in the form of The Fiend and his latest challenge to Daniel Bryan, followed by an attack on the latter.
In this article, we'll look at the 5 things that must happen on RAW, NXT, and SmackDown this week.
#5 Randy Orton turns face against AJ Styles
Randy Orton has been teasing a face turn for several months now, and it’s interesting to see how creative are slowly turning him rather than moving the villainous character into a babyface straight away.
Orton has had his differences with Ricochet, who plays a pure babyface character, but has still managed to keep his head calm enough to partner with him and help him out whenever needed.
Last week, he helped Rey Mysterio pick up the United States Championship from AJ Styles in the most shocking manner. This week, we should see Styles come out to talk bad about both Mysterio and Orton, challenging The Viper to a match which would be a treat for the fans.
Mid-match we should see the other two members of The O.C. get involved and attack Orton to cause a disqualification before Ricochet and Humberto Carrillo come to his aide and even out the odds.
This would give the fans a huge six-man tag team match where Orton can score the pin and shake hands with his babyface partners to turn face completely and position himself for fresher opponents.
#4 Kevin Owens joins the Street Profits to challenge Authors of Pain
Kevin Owens is a simple guy who never backs down from a fight, especially as a babyface. Last week, he stood up to Seth Rollins who was talking down the entire WWE RAW roster after a humiliating showing at Survivor Series. Owens was the only man who stood up to Rollins and delivered a Stunner to set up a match later in the night.
As The Prize Fighter and The Architect came close to the conclusion of their match, the returning Authors of Pain (AOP) hit the ring and attacked Owens, however, they did not lay a finger on Rollins during the beatdown.
This week, we should watch KO seek revenge, and pair up with a team like the Street Profits to lay down a challenge for the two big men. Owens could either interrupt a match involving AOP and try to beat them down, only losing due to the numbers game, or call them out for a match in a backstage segment.
This could allow KO to find some reliable partners for the coming months, as we could watch Rollins align himself with AOP sooner than later, and a battle between the six men would be epic to watch!
#3 Finn Balor takes on Roderick Strong
Finn Balor is not the same old sweet guy the WWE Universe used to love, as he’s transformed into a dark character who has turned the entire NXT brand on its head.
Last week, Balor interrupted Tommaso Ciampa’s claim to the NXT Championship by stating that he wasn’t the only one who deserved the title. A match between the two men later in the night saw Ciampa get pinned by Balor after NXT Champion Adam Cole appeared to help Balor win.
Balor didn't show loyalty to Cole, as he planted the champion with a Pele Kick after winning the match against Ciampa. This week, Balor should clearly show that he has no interest in joining Cole and his faction Undisputed Era by picking a fight with North American Champion Roderick Strong.
Strong is arguably the best wrestler in NXT right now, and they can give fans a match to remember on NXT.
Since Strong plays a heel character, Balor could use that to his advantage and beat down Strong so much that the North American Champion seems like a babyface in the match, and Balor looks even more villainous.
Not only will this help build Balor’s character to a great extent, but it would also give him a legitimate claim to the number 1 contender spot to Cole’s championship, and NXT could book a triple threat match between Cole, Ciampa, and Balor.
#2 Braun Strowman enters the Intercontinental Championship scene
Braun Strowman’s shoddy booking hasn’t been taken too well by the WWE Universe for some very good reasons. At this point in his career, anyone would have expected Strowman to have at least one top WWE championship reign under his belt.
However, The Monster Among Men hasn’t been too lucky with the top prizes of the company, and his reputation has severely suffered due to it. Strowman will take on ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt for his umpteenth chance to grasp the top title on SmackDown, but we all know how that will turn out.
On Friday night, we should watch Strowman get into a scuffle with Sami Zayn, leading to The Critic of Critics mistakenly laying down a challenge for the Monster Among Men to face his client. This would be a great way for the heel to get a big match against the babyface and begin a storyline that could help all three men.
This should begin an entertaining match between the Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura and Strowman, leading to a disqualification caused by Zayn and Cesaro to protect The Artist, leading to an entertaining series of Intercontinental Championship matches before Strowman finally wins his first singles title.
#1 The Miz tries to save Daniel Bryan
Daniel Bryan seems to be stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea at the moment. His stock has risen further since his current storyline with The Miz and the Universal Champion ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt.
Wyatt has haunted Bryan for some time now and defeated him at Survivor Series, which prompted the Yes Man to acknowledge that The Fiend changed him a little during their match.
We’ve also seen Miz give some advice to Bryan, telling him that The Fiend cannot be stopped and if Bryan does not move out of a rivalry with him, then his mask will also be removed.
From this week onwards, the company should start building on a storyline where Miz tries to become Bryan’s savior by desperately trying to talk him out of facing The Fiend again.
This could result in an entertaining storyline where Miz comes out as the supreme babyface who tries to help his archrival, and once Bryan loses again to Wyatt, The Fiend can use Bryan to manipulate Miz into a feud.
This would allow the company to build a major storyline involving three of its best SmackDown Superstars.
