What were the biggest questions the superstars of WWE Raw and SmackDown left in the ring this week?
WWE held the Royal Rumble this Sunday and we are officially on the road to WrestleMania. After many years, the magic of the Rumble has once again returned to the WWE as Shinsuke Nakamura came away as the winner; a name behind which the fans can voice their support and admiration. In addition, the historic first ever Women’s Royal Rumble match too held its own. Although some could argue that the presence of Rhonda Rousey overshadowed Asuka’s and the 29 other performers’ efforts, it was still a night that takes the Women’s revolution to new heights.
On Monday night though, creative began moving pieces towards the upcoming Elimination Chamber PPV. A series of qualifying matches took place over the course of the night. As we found out later, Elias, Braun Strowman and John Cena have all made it to the list. The superstars who didn’t make the cut are Woken Matt Hardy, Kane and most notably, Finn Balor.
On Tuesday though, we witnessed a number one contender’s match for the United States title. Surprisingly, Rusev came away as the winner and will now go on to challenge Bobby Roode. Elsewhere, creative is still trying to figure out the path towards Styles Vs Nakamura. Meanwhile, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn witnessed cracks in their alliance for the first time in the WWE. Will the two best friends continue to hold hands and make thing work? We will have to wait and see.
Without further delay, let’s move on to the first question for this week.
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5. Who will step up to challenge the Bar?
The Bar regained their tag titles from Jason Jordan and Seth Rollins at Royal Rumble. This week, they took on the Titus Worldwide in a title match. After taking some shots, Cesaro and Rollins were eventually able to ground their foes with ease. The ending of the match was clean as a whistle. The Bar was simply better than their opponents and had better chemistry. It was a blind tag behind the eyes of their opponents that aided them to come on top.
The big question now is who will be the next. We have seen a series of matches involving Rollins, Ambrose/Jordan and the Bar at the top of the division for the past six months. It’s high time somebody else took the spot. One of those teams could be the rejuvenated Club. The duo of Gallows and Anderson haven’t had much success on the main roster. However, after being paired with Finn Balor, things seem to be going in the right direction for them. A tag title reign could be the next best thing that could happen for the trio. Apart from Balor winning the Universal title that is.
Another option would be a debuting tag team from NXT. Yeah, you know who am talking about. The Authors of Pain has just about wrapped up their feud with the Undisputed Era. Now seems like a legit time for them to debut on the main roster and immediately be a threat to the entire division. Seeing as there are no other worthy tag teams on the roster now, and how under-built the Revival are at this point in time, AOP seems like a good choice to challenge the Bar.
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4. What will Finn Balor’s road to WrestleMania look like?
Finn Balor took on the Franchise Player John Cena in the main event of Raw. After putting up a game performance for the second night in a row, Balor would come up short of qualifying for the Elimination Chamber. The night before, he would enter the Royal Rumble at number 2 position and would end up being one among the final four.
Balor once again proved why he is one of the best wrestlers on the red brand. Seeing as how Cena has been moving towards a part-time schedule, many expected Balor to go over. However, he would lose rather cleanly. The one takeaway from this match was how the Club did not interfere at all, implying they are indeed babyfaces at this point in time.
Some would argue Balor is being buried. But that is hardly the right term to describe his status in the company. With the meteoric rise of Braun Strowman, and the company’s adamant decision to have Reigns Vs Lesnar for the Universal title, there simply isn’t room for Balor at the top of the card. But times will change and soon he will be holding the strap. For now however, it seems fairly predictable that he could move on to the IC title scene in time for WrestleMania.
It’s either that or being thrown into the Ander the Giant memorial battle royale for Balor at the moment. The road to WrestleMania may not be what the Balor Club would have wanted for Finn. However, he will ascend to the top, sooner than later. As for Cena, creative might still throw a curve ball at us with him dropping his spot to another contender. This loss could even kick off a heel turn for Balor as the losses pile up on him.
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3. Can Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn maintain their alliance?
This week was the first time we saw a glimpse of potential cracks among the best friends, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. The duo would take on AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura in the main event on Tuesday night. Confusion led to the heels arguing with each other in the middle of the match and Zayn would even walk out, forcing Owens to fend for himself.
Though he would come back later on, an errand attack from Owens, intended for Styles would take him out and cost the heels their match. This and the announcement by Daniel Bryan that the two will face off against each other to determine who will challenge Styles for the title at Fastlane. This seems like an intriguing scenario.
Seeing as how selfish Kevin Owens can be, one can easily vouch for him absolutely dismantling Sami Zayn. On the flip side, this would be a good opportunity to portray Zayn as a brilliant and crafty heel who plays Owens right into a trap. But then again, it hasn’t been so long since we saw the Festival of Friendship angle. Attempting to follow the same path at this point in time would be a mistake.
Hopefully, creative does not pull the plug on this entertaining duo at the moment but rather let them continue as a unit. It would be interesting if one of them lays down for the other in their match. Moving them to the tag division for the time being would be a fun idea too. Especially seeing how the Usos have taken out everybody that stepped up against them.
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2. Will Rusev return to heel ways?
This week, Rusev came away as the winner in a fatal four-way match to determine the number one contender for the United States title. Bobby Roode waited at the commentary table to witness who would challenge him next. The Lion of Bulgaria is always an intriguing choice to be the US champion. His former foreign heel shtick aside, he always seemed like a better alternative than Bobby Roode alongside two other contenders from the tournament.
The crowd is red-hot for the Lion of Bulgaria. However, they are also all in for Bobby Roode. Roode has continued to remain as a babyface ever since making his main roster debut. Rusev on the other hand, has been organically rising with the support of the fans. He has not yet been allowed to have a full on babyface mode by the creative team yet.
But given the opportunity, he could very well be one. Seeing him contend for the US title at the moment worries me to be honest. Will creative mindlessly force him to be the foreign heel once again? Or will they workout a double turn throughout the course of the match? It could also be possible that Ziggler makes his return and interferes in the match to cost Roode/Rusev a win.
The Lion of Bulgaria deserves better booking. He has made the tag team shtick work for the most part. However, he has so much more potential as a singles performer. It’s high time creative allowed him to spread his wings and climb up the ladders and become the WWE champion.
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1. Will creative get the Women’s Elimination Chamber match right?
The year 2017 was filled with ‘firsts’ in many aspects for the Women’s division as a whole. The past two years showed us what women can truly do in the WWE, given the opportunity. We witnessed the first ever Women’s Hell in a Cell match, table match and most recently, the Royal Rumble match. However, just twenty-four hours later, WWE announced the first ever Women’s Elimination Chamber match.
Alexa Bliss will defend her title against five other women in one of the most demented structures ever in the WWE. As such, one must ask the question, was this really needed at the moment? It’s certainly not the case of one doubting whether the women’s will deliver in a match like this. It’s beyond that. The question is a matter of concern for the performers. We have seen Sasha Banks and Charlotte throw caution to the wind multiple times during their feud on the main roster. Even last week, Sasha’s suicide dive spot looked literally the same, as her foot struck the ring ropes on her way out and she landed quite awkwardly.
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There have been many other instances of this happening. There is considerable pressure on the women to deliver when a historic match like this is announced. The Royal Rumble match is one thing. The Elimination Chamber is another. Originally, the Chamber was pure savagery. Blood and broken glass was always part and parcel of the match.
In today’s PG era, the same level of violence and hardcore nature might not be there. But it is still a dangerous outing. Last year’s Elimination Chamber match for the WWE title had its fair share of big spots and ouch moments. There is no doubt there will be similar spots this year as well, especially with the likes of Braun Strowman in there.
There is a very real possibility of the Women’s chamber match being underwhelming. Like I said, Sasha Banks and company will put it all on the line when it comes to putting on a great performance. But at the same time, creative has to bother about the long-term health of the competitors. There is fine line between those two extremes. Whether the six women who walk into the chamber be able to make it work needs to be seen. Chair shots and chamber pod spots are a usual sight in this match. So is the spot where you’re attacked with the walls of the structure. There could even be a table spot.
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Whether the women are able to pull these off and craft a savage match, especially if they are asked to follow-up on the men’s elimination chamber match is a big question. Especially when one remembers how awkward the first ever Women’s table match or the extreme rules match between Bliss and Bayley was.