After a lacklustre seven days leading up to Payback, the WWE were back on form this week; they moved new storylines and feuds forward and gave an all-time great the send off he deserved. So, without any further ado, here is what we learned from the WWE this week:
#1 Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax need to be a tag team
The big guy/little guy dynamic within a tag team has worked for the WWE for many a year now. The likes of Shawn Michaels & Diesel and more recent examples like Jerishow, Showmiz and Enzo & Cass are all prime examples of this dynamic. We have also seen recent examples of it in the women’s division too, such as when Tamina became AJ Lee’s bodyguard/ partner. This week, we saw the potential for another women’s tag team to emerge between Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax.
In Alexa’s grand championship coronation to kick off Raw, she went round her fellow female competitors and laid into them, giving particular attention to Mickie James, Sasha Banks and former champ, Bayley. Things got pretty comical when she realised Nia was looking down at her (literally) with that cold stare she has. Alexa played the cowardly heel persona brilliantly, deciding to suck up to Jax rather than offend her.
The dynamics of the two together, although only for a few seconds, appeared to work very well. Anyone who follows either of the women on social media will know they have developed quite the off-screen friendship, which always helps to make a tag-team that much more believable in the ring.
This would also be a good spot for Nia because she still needs time to perfect her skills and endear herself to the audience. A few months of teaming with Alexa might even lead to a face turn for Jax, which is probably what she needs in the long term anyway.
#2 Neville has exceeded expectations as a heel
Ever since the announcement of the return of the Cruiserweight division, the fans were hoping it would turn out to be a significant resurgence for Neville’s career. After being a great NXT Champion for so long, it was a tad disappointing to see where he ended up on the main roster. The only highlights of his initial run involved an exciting match with Seth Rollins on Raw and an angle involving him, Cody Rhodes and Stephen Amell.
Due to injury, Neville wasn’t able to help get the division off the ground initially, but upon his return, he was thrown right into the mix and soon became the ‘King of the Cruiserweights’. The only problem was that the former high-flying babyface was brought in as a heel. Even in the Cruiserweight Division, it's hard to master the heel gimmick when your moves are so crowd-pleasing, and this was a worry for some.
Thankfully, however, Neville seems to have accepted his fate like a pro and has now really tapped into something as the arrogant heel character he portrays. He is believable as a heel because he’s still by far the most well-known performer in the division, apart from maybe Austin Aries. He thus has the advantage of looking down at his opponents like pretenders to his crown. I think a lot of respect needs to be headed the guy’s way as this was not what a lot of people expected of him.
#3 The SmackDown women’s division is every bit as good as the men’s
As predicted, the arrival of Charlotte Flair in the SmackDown women’s division has been a real positive for the Tuesday night show. So far she has had two excellent matches with Naomi, becoming the number one contender in the process and has almost single-handedly revamped the entire roster.
For example, a heel faction has been formed, whose business it is to stop Charlotte’s rise. This has given central roles to women like Tamina and Natalya, who otherwise might have gotten lost in the shuffle, and has even placed James Elsworth in a position that people can live with. This, in turn, put the spotlight back on Becky Lynch, who was forced to decide this week whether she wanted to join the faction or be their enemy.
The little swerve she gave at the end reminded us of how good she is both in the ring and in terms of getting her character across. I quite enjoyed the sight of Charlotte and Becky fighting side by side again, and thankfully the segment itself ended with the heels looking strong. The future certainly looks bright for the SmackDown women.
#4 Chris Jericho has improved SmackDown LIVE with just one appearance
If there’s one thing on the minds of WWE fans this week, it's the departure of Y2J. Jericho has been an instrumental part in keeping WWE fun, engaging and relevant, in what is still very much a transitional phase for the company. His feud with fellow Canadian Kevin Owens has no doubt been the storyline of the year for 2016 and the first half of 2017.
So it was with sadness and regret this week that we were forced to say goodbye to Chris while he takes a, hopefully short, leave of absence.
What was evident this week, as if we didn’t already know, is that everything Jericho touches turns to gold instantly. In just one episode, Jericho put a spark right through the heart of SmackDown LIVE and left it a better place than when he found it.
Kevin Owens is easily the number one heel of the show after effectively semi-retiring the legend, and giving him a brutal post-match beat down for his troubles. This has, in turn, made AJ Styles the number one babyface. If it wasn’t for Jericho, and we just had a KO and Styles rivalry over the US Title, things would have felt pretty vanilla. Fans would probably have cheered for both, and the lines between heel and face would have been too blurred.
Now we have a reason to back AJ in his attempts to win the US Title from Owens. We would like some kayfabe revenge for what happened this week, and this will make WWE Backlash all the more compelling. It’s crazy to think, but Chris Jericho is someone who can do more for the wrestling world in two hours than most people can in an entire career.
Also read: 10 Milestones of Jeri-KO: A Eulogy to WWE’s greatest friendship
#5 Having no World Champions on TV is quite refreshing
A surprising feature for WWE this week was that on neither of its main roster shows did we see a world champion. Brock was obviously absent from Raw, as he has been for a number of weeks, and despite the belt appearing on SmackDown, we had no Randy Orton either. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
In a rather awkward promo, Seth Rollins elicited quite a reaction from the WWE Universe when he made his intentions known regarding the Universal Title. He has officially declared himself in the picture to face the Beast but is by no means alone. Finn Balor, while interrupting Seth, also reminded us all that he never lost the Championship in the first place.
What made this all the more interesting was that neither the belt nor the champion was anywhere to be seen. This made the prospect of facing Lesnar that much more prestigious. It should feel like a big deal to challenge Lesnar for the belt, and there has never really been any reason to feature the champion every single week. Back in the days of the territories, it was a privilege to see the champion wrestle, but these days it feels a bit like overkill.
On SmackDown, Jinder was continuing his, still pretty unbelievable, run by posing with the WWE Championship, but it was Shane McMahon, not Randy that put a stop to it.
Not having so much focus on the WWE Belt has also led to the reemergence of the US Championship. If anything, it's the latter that now feels like the number one prize in the show. Guys like Styles, Zayn, Corbin and KO, were probably expected to be involved in the WWE Championship picture; however, they are all doing a fantastic job of making the mid-card title feel every bit as historic and significant.
#6 NXT are embracing the bigger superstar
One of NXT’s many influences on the WWE main roster has been the increased role of the smaller, more athletic competitor in an industry that still prefers to feature larger than life personas. Guys like Seth Rollins, Sami Zayn, Finn Balor and Neville would never have gotten anywhere close to the WWE main event scene back in the 80’s and would have struggled in the 90’s and even the 00’s. Because there is such a deep crossover between NXT, WWE’s developmental territory, and the independent scene, fans have been mostly getting behind the kinds of stars you tend to see in ROH or NJPW.
That being said, the NXT men’s division this week showed us that big men still matter in the WWE, and we will probably be seeing some similar characters on the main roster over the next few years. The show started off with Killian Dane, a rotund, powerful individual who was introduced to the main roster audience at WrestleMania 33, as part of the Andre the Giant Battle Royal.
We then witnessed a systematic beatdown at the hands of Heavy Machinery, a pair of bruising heavyweights that are all about the ‘steaks and weights’ lifestyle. They made their intentions knows for the NXT Tag-Team titles, currently held by another set of large men in The Authors of Pain. Even though WWE are now much more accepting of smaller wrestlers, don’t be surprised to see quite a few pounds of bRawn in the future.
Also read: NXT-5 Points to Note ( 3rd May 2017)
#7 And the Superstar of the Week is...
Chris Jericho
It was hard not to give the Wrestler of the Week accolade to Jericho this week. Even when you discount his tremendous work thus far in making Raw a must-see show, he probably deserves special mention for his performance this week alone.
As alluded to above, in just one appearance he has managed to make SmackDown a better show than it was. He will be sorely missed over the next few months while he tours with Fozzy. Let’s hope we see him back around WrestleMania 34 time or preferably earlier.
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