What were the biggest questions the superstars of WWE Raw and SmackDown left in the ring this week?
WWE began building towards the Royal Rumble this week. A historic announcement was made on Monday night wherein Stephanie McMahon broke the news about the very first Women’s Royal Rumble match. The announcement, ground breaking as it is, suffered from an all too sudden booking and lack of genuine logic behind it. Regardless, expect the first ever Women’s Royal Rumble match to be a success though.
Much else awaited the fans in the form of questions though. Dolph Ziggler has once again left us with a lot of intrigue, much like the time he put his career on the line against the Miz. After capturing the Untied States title, Ziggler rubbed it in the face of all his doubters and haters, before leaving the title in the ring and walking away. Is the Showoff actually leaving the WWE? That might perhaps be the biggest question of the week though.
There was much else to nitpick though. If I really could question the WWE creative team, I would have questioned their decision to give Kane a shot at the Universal title. Why not Finn Balor? Speaking of Balor, he found an old ally return (or debut) to help him fend off the Miztourage, as Hideo Itami made his much-anticipated main roster debut. He will be a part of the 205 Live roster but, I would love to see him mix it up with the rest of the main roster every now and then.
Hopefully, this would mean Balor is done with the Miztourage and can move on to something more meaningful and challenging instead. Elsewhere on Monday night, the issues between Samoa Joe and the Shield reached new heights as he has now supposedly injured Dean Ambrose’s arm. Moreover, Ambrose could not have been pleased with getting hurt in the first place, due to his own tag team partners. That question however, leads the list this week.
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5. How will Dean Ambrose react to getting hurt due to Rollins?
This week on Raw, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins would team up with Jason Jordan to take on the Bar and Samoa Joe. This would be the second match of the night for Jordan and Rollins, who had gone on to craft a lengthy match earlier in the night. The match was everything you are used to from these stars at the moment. However, the ending did not make much sense.
Rollins, perhaps after being exhausted from too much work in the ring, decided to go for a suicide dive to the outside. Unfortunately, he ended up taking out his own Shield brethren Dean Ambrose, instead of Samoa Joe or the Bar. This left Ambrose wreathing in pain and as a distracted Rollins watched from the ring, Sheamus took advantage once more and delivered a Brogue kick.
Later, Rollins and Ambrose would once again get attacked by the same opponents backstage. This time though, Samoa Joe would intentionally take out Ambrose’s arm. This might well be a way to write Dean off TV for a couple of weeks or it could be a way to further the tension within the Shield. Roman Reigns was absent and the remaining members of the Shield seems to have enough reasons to bicker at each other for the next week at the least. Will this lead to the group imploding once again, in time for the Royal Rumble, where every man will be in it for himself?
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4. What lies ahead for Hideo Itami?
Hideo Itami was advertised to make his 205 Live this week. However, he decided to hit the ring a day in advance when his friend and former NXT companion Finn Balor was being attacked by the Miztourage. The duo then defeated the jobbers after a hot tag to Itami from Balor. It was nice to see the WWE go back to a familiar story. A couple of years ago, Balor made his debut by helping out Itami against the Ascension.
Hideo Itami would feature in a squash match this week on 205 Live too. It is imperative that he might very well be brought in as a replacement for Neville. As such, his shot at the title and a subsequent title reign are a certainty at this point. However, what exactly lies ahead for him though. Will he be confined to the Cruiserweight division alone? Or will he mix it up with the rest of the roster every now and then?
Seeing as how he was most recently a heel in NXT, I would love to see him turn on Balor soon and a ensue a main roster program between these two. Especially since that will save Balor from ever getting in the ring with the Miztourage. What does the future hold for Hideo though? Is he destined to be just the new King of the Cruiserweight division? Or will he exceed the boundaries of the division like Rey Mysterio once did?
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3. Will the Revival turn face?
On their day, The Revival are perhaps the best tag team in the world of professional wrestling. Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder bring an old school charm to tag team wrestling. Their motto ‘No flips, just fists’ speaks volumes about their in-ring style. They may not thrive as great singles performers but they are perhaps the best out there as a tag team.
This week on Raw, after being sidelined for months due to various injuries, the duo would return to the ring. They took on the team of former SmackDown Live tag champions, Heath Slater and Rhyno. Needless to say, The Revival made quick work of their foes and picked up an impressive win. Their addition breaths some fresh life into the tag division.
For months, the WWE Universe witnessed the Bar and the Shield tear the house down. However, it is high time some other tag team rose to the occasion to challenge the Bar. Last week, I’d mentioned how the Revival should be built up soon to do just this. Seems like the word actually got through! Just kidding though. However, the bigger question is, will they turn face? Seeing as the Bar have been doing an excellent job as heel champions, will their eventual challengers too stay as heels or turn face?
A face turn might be interesting. We have never seen them pull it off in the past. Will Dawson and Wilder be able to make the transition with ease?
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2. What lies ahead for Dolph Ziggler?
Dolph Ziggler’s career can very well be compared to a roller coaster, much closer than any other wrestler’s career perhaps. The Showoff is one of the best in-ring workers in the WWE on any day. Regardless, he has never gotten past the proverbial glass ceiling. On the rare occasions that he did manage to do so, injuries or poor booking took him down the rat hole once again.
Sunday’s Clash of the Champions PPV saw yet another high point in Ziggler’s career when he defeated the champion Baron Corbin and Bobby Roode to win the United States title. This week, Ziggler would make a triumphant return to Tuesday nights, as the champion. After gloating about his victory and rubbing it in the face of the fans, Ziggler would proceed to do something else.
The Showoff would take a moment to stare at the title, contemplate his future plans, and then slowly proceed to place the title in the center of the ring. He would then exit the ring and walk to the backstage area, before proclaiming to the fans that they don’t deserve him. If anything, the WWE does not deserve a performer like Dolph Ziggler.
For many years, he has suffered from inconsistent booking. Many a times, we wondered was this it? Many a times, we have contemplated whether Ziggler was done with his career. It made sense though. For his stint the WWE was filled to the brim with what could have been and what should have been. It takes a lot of courage to lace up those boots and step into the ring to take bumps yet again.
Is Ziggler done with the WWE? We don’t know. The internet is fuming with theories and speculations following his cryptic actions. Let’s just hope that this isn’t the end though. Instead, let this be another clever booking decision by the creative team and let this be a major angle that sees the resurgence of the Showoff.
Until further details are revealed, we just have to keep asking this question. What lies ahead for Dolph Ziggler? Is he done with the company? Is he hinting at retirement? Or is it just a cleverly booked angle?
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1. Did the WWE mess up the Women’s Royal Rumble match already?
Over the course of 2017 the WWE has been hell-bent on making history. Most of this came as a result of the Women’s Revolution which gave us the first ever Women’s iron man match, table match, Money in the Bank match as well as the first ever Hell in a Cell match. Most recently, Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss competed in the first ever Women’s pro-wrestling match in Abu Dhabi. No doubt, these matches were great. Now, the company continues to keep this trend going on into 2018 as well.
On Monday, Stephanie McMahon would make a surprise return to Raw to announce the first ever Women’s Royal Rumble match. The announcement, regardless of being historically significant, came at the wrong time if you ask me. It’s result will forever be etched in the history of Women’s wrestling. As such, the moment that would introduce this match to the WWE universe should have come at a different time.
Over the past few weeks, the WWE women’s division on both brands saw the rise of Absolution and the Riott Squad. We saw the women on both rosters trying to fend off these dangerous factions. With Sasha Banks and Bayley trying to take down Paige and Paige in turn targeting Asuka, and Nia Jax in the midst of it all, Monday nights was getting to be really intriguing. However, all it took for everyone to stop fighting and begin ‘YES’ chants was for Stephanie McMahon to make an appearance and announce this match. Where is the logic in that?
Okay, the WWE is never known for logic. At least, where is the fun in that? Instead, creative should have built to weeks of chaos and backstage fights between the women across multiple factions and groups (not like the first run of women’s revolution please). After being unable to crown a proper number one contender on either brand, the authority figures could have collectively decided to come up with a Women’s Royal Rumble match.
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Instead, after what happened on Monday, it seems like it was a decision made solely by Stephanie McMahon. What about Shane then? Okay, he is pretty busy with Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. But wouldn’t he want a piece of the credit for coming up with this historic match? Here is my biggest question from this week; did the WWE mess up the build towards the first ever Women’s Royal Rumble match already?