What were the biggest questions the superstars of WWE Raw and SmackDown Live left behind this week?
The WWE went on another tour this week as both Raw and SmackDown Live aired from London. There was some good action in the ring but on Monday, a lot of the segments and matches were testing one’s patience. Jinder Mahal and Roman Reigns’s feud that nobody really cares about continued and this week, it cost the Modern Day Maharaja his spot in the Money in the Bank ladder match as we all expected.
It’s a strange feud where somehow the supposed babyface just did something a heel does. Anyhow, hopefully this will lead to a darker side of Roman Reigns and hopefully, commentary team will stop questioning his odds of winning the big one every now and then. Additionally, they better stop projecting him as an underdog as opposed to the bad ass he is supposed to be.
There was a lot of other action to pick from this week as well. Ziggler and McIntyre saw their stock rise probably more than ever before. A new tag team just made some interesting moves and Becky Lynch finally seems to get her act together.
What were the biggest questions from the week though? Here are my top five picks.
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5. Is the B-Team being setup for a Cinderella run?
They say comedy often comes from a dark place. That is pretty much true for both Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel. Both of them have been in the shadows for too long and its disheartening to see a former NXT Champion and a former Intercontinental Champion being treated this way. The Miztourage was probably the best thing they had going for them and now that’s gone too.
But it seems like Axel and Dallas have found their second wind. Quite often in the WWE, the most unlikely duos and characters can organically go over with the fans. Breezango is a prime example for this. The way the Fashion Files resonated with the fans was amusing. Rusev Day is yet another example. Who else would have thought pairing Rusev and Aiden English would work so well.
The B-Team seems like the next thing in line. The fans love them. They are entertaining and they seem to get better at their comedic timing with each passing segment. There is something adorable about them and it would be interesting to see where this new direction takes them. Axel and Dallas defeated Breezango this past week. Will they continue their winning ways to an eventual title contention?
What will their fate be once they cross paths with the Deleters of the Worlds?
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4. What lies ahead for Bayley?
One thing is certain about Bayley’s immediate future. She won’t be competing for the opportunity to hold the Money in the Bank contract. The Huggable One lost to Alexa Bliss alongside Mickie James in a triple threat match to decide who will qualify. Now that she’s out of it, what lies ahead for Bayley?
Her feud with Sasha Banks never really took off. The program with the Riott Squad has been progressing in such a way that Bayley was not even in the match this week. Instead, Sasha Banks fought alongside Natalya and Ember Moon. That has taken two options off of Bayley’s to-do list.
She can’t fight Banks at the moment and she can’t fight the Riott squad because she doesn’t seem to be a part of the feud. Let’s just hope that creative will conveniently ignore the events from this week and have Banks and Bayley join hands once again next week to face the Riott Squad. Even so, at this point in time, Bayley is so far down in a state of limbo that nothing seems to make sense when you think about her future.
Her underdog persona has failed to resonate with the fans in the main roster. Blame creative for that. But even turning her heel at this point would make zero sense and honestly, one has to wonder if Bayley has the intensity to pull it off.
A feud with Sasha Banks was the best option for her. Let’s just wait and see if creative will come back to it over time. As for now, she really is in limbo and can’t seem to get anything done.
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3. What stipulation will Nakamura choose?
As we found out this week, Styles and Nakamura will compete for the WWE title once again at Money in the Bank. This week, the competitors went head to head in a match with high stakes. The winner will get to pick the stipulation for their ultimate title clash. This was the Styles Vs. Nakamura clash that the WWE Universe had been waiting for.
However, when the smoke finally cleared, it was Shinsuke Nakamura who got the winning pin. He will now decide the stipulation for their title match. The obvious question that awaits us then is, what kind of match will it be? It will be safe to assume we won’t see yet another ladder match at the PPV. Could it be a Hell in a Cell match or a Steel Cage match? Seems too normal to provide an epic conclusion to their rivalry.
The way I see it, Nakamura has very high chances of walking out with the title come Money in the Bank. Seeing as how brilliant he has been to this point as a heel, the King of Strong Style will choose some smart stipulation that would give him the upper hand.
If I were a part of the creative team, I’d have a match where Styles is handcuffed. Why? Because Nakamura is a smart heel. He will choose a stipulation that ensures maximum chance of him winning. Moreover, the sight would be brutal and would place a ton of heat on Nakamura.
Unfortunately, that will not happen and we might just see something like a Falls Count Anywhere match or a Last Man Standing match.
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2. Can Big Cass ever recover from this?
What was the purpose of reintroducing Big Cass as a heel on Tuesday nights if he was going to be feuding with a red-hot Daniel Bryan? Moreover, there was already an organically built feud for Bryan against the Miz which has taken a backseat now. There is no version of this where Cass comes out on top victorious.
While Cass has fared better in backstage interviews since his return, the material he had to work with in the ring and his in ring work has both been below par. Big Cass is a typical WWE big man who has a level of charisma that many can only dream of. Yet, here he is delivering horrible promos and getting beat up by a much smaller competitor.
Does Cass’s size and reach advantage give him no benefits? At the very least, if the Miz himself was a part of this program in some manner, it would have all made some sense. I would have loved to see Cass work alongside the Miz for a while the way Ziggler and McIntyre do on Raw.
Instead, here he is getting beaten up and taking submission losses while going up against perhaps the greatest babyface in all of WWE.
Can the big man ever recover from this?
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1. How far can Ziggler and McIntyre go?
Let me tell you a couple of things first. Dolph Ziggler hasn’t looked this good in quite a while and he is one of the best in the WWE. Secondly, McIntyre’s return to the main roster will be touted as the greatest redemption story in recent times. That being said, the duo’s real motive still remains a mystery.
This week, they took on relatively stiff competition in the form of Braun Strowman and Finn Balor. This was their toughest challenge till date and was a huge level up from Titus Worldwide and Heath Slater and Rhyno. If Ziggler was going at this alone, judging by his past booking, I would have predicted he would lose the match, thereby derailing all the momentum he had created for himself until now.
However, like Ziggler said when came to Monday night Raw, this time things are different. McIntyre was there to ensure that did not happen. They defeated two of the top stars on Monday nights and are now brimming with momentum. But how far can they go?
Will the duo continue to work as a tag team or will they eventually go after individual titles? I would love to see Ziggler tear the house down with Rollins competing for the IC title while Drew McIntyre puts and end to Brock Lesnar. Even better if they continue to work together and put the rest of the division on notice.
Next: WWE SmackDown Live: Is It Becky Lynch’s Time?
That wraps us this weeks edition of five burning questions. What other questions linger around in the back of your minds? Do let us know in the comments section.