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The year 2019 is a great time to be a pro wrestling fan. I repeat again, a "pro wrestling" fan, not just a "WWE" fan. With the emergence of a top rival in the form of All Elite Wrestling, the month of May hasn't been so pleasing for the biggest sports entertainment company in the world.
There was a lot of stuff that happened in WWE this past month, some of them good, some bad, and some awful. Among the many title changes, the introduction of a new championship, and an unexpectedly good Money in the Bank PPV (except the ending), the biggest talking point was the brewing war between WWE and AEW as both the companies took some huge shots at each other.
In this article, I'll attempt to lay down the hits and misses of WWE in the month of May according to me. Please remember, these are just my opinions and could be completely different from yours as we all have different perspectives.
I would like to invite all the readers to voice their thoughts and opinions in the comments section below about last month's WWE programming.
Note: The analysis is only on RAW, SmackDown and PPVs and does not include NXT
#1 Hit: Bray Wyatt's Firefly Funhouse
Let's start with the most obvious one. Bray Wyatt and his Firefly Funhouse segments have arguably been the best part of RAW in the last month. Contrary to the other poorly written segments, the storytelling and thought process put behind these segments is exceptional.
With Bray Wyatt himself highly involved in the creative process, the character and his own universe have been built-up nicely and fans are excited to see him make his in-ring debut.
Bray revealed his big secret to the WWE Universe in the form of his masked monster version, The Fiend, and his character appears to be that of a "sociopath" and a dual-faced one who has definitely not left behind his dark past.
With characters like Abby the Witch, Mercy the Buzzard, and Ramblin' Rabbit, WWE has a lot of options and things that they can do with this gimmick. I believe that this could be the best gimmick in WWE in years, and can lead to some amazing stories and rivalries.
Who do you think will be Bray's first victim? Moreover, do you really believe he can control this monster as he claims? I doubt that.
#1 Miss: The Wild Card rule
One of the biggest issues faced by WWE in May was the continuously falling ratings of its weekly shows, RAW and SmackDown. In an attempt to counter this, the Boss came up with the weird "Wild Card Rule". According to it, 4 superstars from RAW and SmackDown will be allowed to appear on the other brand each week.
While it is clear that the rule was introduced to let top stars such as Roman Reigns, Kofi Kingston, Becky Lynch, etc appear on both shows and improve the ratings, this rule is slowly and steadily killing the purpose of a brand split. If you are a new viewer, you might not even realize that the two brands have separate rosters.
With many top Superstars appearing on both RAW and SmackDown each week, it takes away the opportunity to showcase a talent that is in need of some TV time to stay relevant. We hardly saw stars like Shinsuke Nakamura, Rusev, etc on TV in the month of May due to the same.
If this continues, this year's Survivor Series battle between RAW and SmackDown would be the least interesting of all.
#2 Hit: Bayley becomes SmackDown Women's Champion
While her tag-team partner Sasha Banks decided to take a controversial route to show her displeasure with the company, Bayley decided to stay. It's safe to say that she has definitely been rewarded for it, as May 2019 turned out to be a highly successful month in the career of The Hugger.
She was one of the biggest winners on the night of Money in the Bank as she not only won the women's MITB ladder match but went on to cash the briefcase the same night to win her first SmackDown Women's Championship.
After being on the sidelines for so long, it was great to witness Bayley get her moment as she celebrated her victory surrounded by fans in the arena. With this win, Bayley also became the first women grand-slam champion in WWE, winning all the major titles of the company in the women's division.
She seems to be heading towards a feud with the Queen, Charlotte for the SmackDown Women's title and I do hope she goes on to have a lengthy and impressive reign as the champion.
#2 Miss: Booking of RAW and Women's Tag Team Champions
While AEW is known for its exceptional tag team wrestling showcase, same can't be said about WWE. And no, the reason is not because of the talent involved, as WWE has lots of tag teams on its roster that are as good as, if not better, than the ones in AEW.
The booking of the entire tag team division has been awful in the last month. The current RAW Tag Team Champions, Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder haven't been seen on RAW for the last several weeks which is an indication of how much the division means to the company. With teams like The Usos, Viking Raiders, The Revival, etc, WWE does have a great roster at its disposal and should book them in a better way.
Similarly, the Women's Tag Team Champions, The IIconics, are booked as jobbers who lost most of their matches last month. WWE needs to make wins and losses matter, especially when it comes to newly introduced titles like this one.
#3 Hit: Cesaro's singles push and amazing matches
Being a huge fan of Cesaro, I was extremely happy to see him move to RAW during the Superstar Shake-up as a singles competitor. While his stint with Sheamus as a tag-team was enjoyable, it had run its course.
With Cesaro as a singles competitor, we got to witness some amazing matches from him on RAW in the month of May, that reminded us all of just how good this guy is. His recent string of matches with Ricochet were some of the best in-ring action we've seen on the main roster this year.
While these matches did not build up to any storyline, Cesaro sure looks to be in for a push on the red brand. The United States title scene has become interesting with Rey Mysterio relinquishing it and WWE is yet to announce what's next with the title.
Cesaro, in my opinion, would make for a great US Champion who could even bring back the United States Championship Open Challenge to give us some amazing matches on RAW each week.
#3 Miss: Brock Lesnar becoming Mr. Money in the Bank
After his massive loss at WrestleMania to Seth Rollins, the WWE Universe thought that they have seen the last of the Beast Brock Lesnar in WWE, at least for the near future. But how badly were we all deceived by the man named Vince McMahon!
The Money in the Bank ladder match this year was one of my favorites as the in-ring action was fantastic. There were some insane spots in the match that made me jump out of my seat while watching it. But the ending, well that was disappointing.
Brock Lesnar winning the MITB was a surprise no one saw coming, and that is because it does not make any sense. Why on earth would you decide to make him Mr. Money in the Bank when you have options like Drew McIntyre, Andrade, Mustafa Ali, etc.
If Brock Lesnar cashes in successfully, fans would riot as no one wants to see another underwhelming title reign of Lesnar. Also, him pinning either of the two champions would be a bad decision as both are big fan-favorites.
If Brock cashes in unsuccessfully, it would be the third year in a row that the MITB winner does not go on to become the champion, which would undermine the whole point of it.
Good luck to WWE with booking Brock's reign as Mr. Money in the Bank!
#4 Hit/Miss: 24/7 Championship
The month of May saw WWE introduce another new championship to its already huge list of championships on the main roster - the 24/7 title. Being introduced by the hardcore legend himself, Mick Foley, the title is a toned-down PG version of the Hardcore Championship that once used to exist in the company.
In the first few weeks of its existence, R-Truth was hands down the biggest star as his antics and segments with Carmella hiding and running from the whole locker room were hilarious. The championship does provide a sense of unpredictability on the show and gives some forgotten Superstars a chance to taste gold.
With that being said, WWE has not done a great job in booking the title. While we all know this title is for the lower mid-card wrestlers and would mostly be used to in comedy segments, stars like Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre treating it as inferior harms the value of the newly introduced title.
One of the biggest things that could make the new version of the hardcore title interesting is the world of internet. WWE has a lot of crazy options to do with the 24/7 defense stipulation of the title and I do hope the company does that to ensure the title serves its purpose of entertaining the fans.
