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It's very easy to be negative about the WWE product and for good reason. Our favorite wrestlers are often either put in confusing or illogical storylines or subject to 50/50 booking until they no longer have any momentum.
However, WWE is a multi-billion dollar company almost entirely dedicated to putting on wrestling shows. They do have the capacity to get things right and often do. These good pieces of booking can often be lost in a wave of negativity.
In this article, I will look at some of the things WWE got right this week. Hopefully, I can bring a bit of positivity back to wrestling fandom and show that even when things seem bleak, there is always some good to be found.
Here are 5 things WWE got right this week (Jun 10th and 11th).
#1 Course Corrected Lars Sullivan
Lars Sullivan crushed the Lucha House Party on Raw, pinning all three members in short order as part of a 3-on-1 Handicap Elimination Match. Sullivan had a chance to showcase a variety of impressive moves, including a devastating slam on Kalisto onto the top of the ring steps.
Whether you're a fan of Lars or not it's hard to deny that this performance made him look every bit the "Freak" WWE claim he is.
It's hard to explain why this wasn't the match we saw at Super ShowDown on Friday. WWE somehow managed to overbook a squash match with the bout ending in a DQ victory for Sullivan.
Lars proceeded to beat up the luchadors on the ramp anyway to stand tall. This makes you wonder why he couldn't have just won the match in the first place if he was going to come out on top in the aftermath.
In any case, credit to WWE who quickly course corrected here and booked Lars in a dominant victory over his three opponents. It's now time to use this momentum to move Sullivan away from squashing the undercard and have him test himself against bigger name opponents.
Perhaps setting his sights on Finn Balor and the Intercontinental Championship could be an interesting next step. Working with a skilled wrestler like Balor in a traditional strength vs. speed match-up would give Sullivan a platform to prove he is deserving of this monster push.
#2 Set up the US Title picture
Let me first say that I am just as bored of impromptu 6-man tags as the next guy and the set up during Miz TV this week on Raw was as contrived and predictable as ever.
However, the end result of this segment is a much refreshed US title scene with an array of interesting challengers for champion Samoa Joe. Strowman attempting to chase after Joe when he bailed on the match indicates that he is most likely to feud with the champion. On the other Lashley spearing him during this chase may indicate their rivalry is continuing, leaving a number of other contenders.
Events on SmackDown suggest Miz is feuding with Shane again but if not he provides a worthy if slightly uninspiring challenger for Joe. That leaves Cesaro and Ricochet, who were their teams' respective MVPs in the 6-man contest. Either man would likely have great matches with Joe and could hopefully restore some prestige to the US title with good competitive wrestling.
Ricochet seems most likely to avoid a heel vs. heel dynamic but there is no reason a three-way program couldn't work allowing Cesaro to get into a singles championship mix, something fans have been begging to see for a long time.
The number of possibilities is why I'm calling this segment a success despite the overbooked 6-man set-up. WWE has set-up an intriguing US championship division that has the ability to provide fresh and exciting match-ups for at least the next couple of pay-per-view cycles.
#3 Kept Roman Reigns off TV
In my memory, this week was the first since the wild card rule was created that Roman Reigns did not appear on both Raw and SmackDown.
His presence this week was limited to replays of a horribly written promo he cut after his loss to 49-year-old untrained wrestler Shane McMahon at Super ShowDown.
That loss was Roman's first (by pinfall or submission) since his triumphant return from leukemia in February, and marks the culmination of a downward spiral of momentum for the "Big Dog".
In hindsight, it's clear Roman returned too early in an attempt to boost slumping ratings. A post WrestleMania return on SmackDown would have refreshed Roman's character. It would also have taken an objectively dull match against Drew Mcintyre off the approximately 75 hour WrestleMania card.
Instead, Roman is now on both shows because of the wild card rule and is bringing his sleep-inducing feud with Shane and Drew (again) with him. The reason fans turned on Roman in the first place was that we felt he was being shoved down our throats and what's a more obvious example of this than creating an entire rule to facilitate him being on two shows a week.
Mercifully Roman was off TV this week and, for his own sake, he needs to be there more often. Hopefully, absence really will make the heart grow fonder and we can start to get behind a man who, given what he went through last year, has earned our support.
#4 Started rebuilding the tag team divisions
Since WrestleMania, the Raw and SmackDown tag team championships have barely been featured on TV. Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryders' only meaningful appearance was a loss to the Viking Raiders. During the match, the champs apparently shared the secret to never being on TV with Erik and Ivar and so they also disappeared, with their victory over the champs never mentioned again.
On SmackDown, Daniel Bryan and Rowan won the vacant titles and vowed to start a tag team revolution in WWE. They started on this valiant quest by losing to the Usos on the Money in the Bank pre-show and joining their Raw counterparts off TV.
However, this week served as a positive first step to rebuild the tag team division on both shows. On Raw, The Revival won the tag titles which instantly gives them more credibility. As much as you might lament the titles being passed around constantly it is clear that WWE was never going to push Hawkins and Ryder as strong champions. At least The Revival has some star power and will always be a big deal to a hardcore section of the fanbase.
On SmackDown there wasn't a reset but a sign that a storyline is gaining momentum. Heavy Machinery beating two jobbers isn't the most inspiring way to build a program but it signifies that WWE has some sort of direction for the titles.
This was a program at risk of being dropped in the midst of the champions losing random pre-show matches and disruptive Saudi Arabia trips. By returning to it, WWE can now start building something on SmackDown out of a division that is admittedly lacking teams.
#5 Bought us time before Lesnar cashes in
Brock Lesnar has loomed ominously over WWE's main event scene for the last five years. His Money in the Bank win was transparently a short-sighted attempt to build excitement for a single Saudi Arabia show, sacrificing the opportunity to create a new star.
I don't think I'm alone in saying I don't want to see Lesnar anywhere near a world championship anytime soon. My irritation at WWE constantly announcing he was going to cash-in and not delivering was far outweighed by my relief that he was not holding a title hostage once again.
Short of WWE having Lesnar lose the contract to someone else, it is inevitable that he will once again be world champion. However, this week, Paul Heyman gave us a glimmer of hope that, in the short term, we are safe from that reality.
By announcing that Lesnar will now cash-in as a surprise Heyman bought us some time, likely at least until Summerslam. Brock Lesnar rarely gets out of bed for anything less prestigious than a 'big 5' show, unless Saudi money is involved.
WIth the next Saudi show not till the end of the year that leaves Summerslam as the next likely cash-in opportunity, with WWE wanting the big moment saved for a big stage.
This means we have about 2 months before we once again hold our breath and hope WWE doesn't pull the trigger on another 18 month Lesnar reign. Now we must savor the time we have left and enjoy seeing the world championships on our TV screens, because they may not be around much longer.
