This has been a good week for WWE. Sure, the conclusion of SummerSlam was a bit on the lacking in excitement, but certainly was made up for the following night on Monday Night RAW and then again on SmackDown!
SummerSlam was WrestleMania in all but name. Big celebrities, a four-hour show, and some pretty awesome matches throughout the night. Was every match a hit? No, there were a few misses, such as Randy Orton vs. Sheamus, and the Intercontinental Championship Triple Threat. Although Sheamus defeating Orton clean was a surprise. The involvement of Jon Stewart might have been the best celebrity interference, part of the storyline to prevent Cena from clinching with Ric Flair. On RAW, Ric Flair even came out to endorse Cena, and to explain to fans the record was bound to be broken someday.
It made me shudder a bit, for Flair to openly and willingly acknowledge it. It is as though WWE is slowly getting rid of the old era highlights. The Streak, gone. Flair’s record, inevitably broken. Eras do come to an end… or do they have to?
On Monday night, Bo Dallas earned a one-way trip to Suplex city? Was he written off TV like King Barrett? Initial panic hit the internet when Barrett changed his Twitter handle to his real name, but he is only gone to film a movie for WWE Studios. So, perhaps the Wade Barrett gimmick might be gone for good, and Stu Bennett will perhaps return with a new identity or go under his real name.
One has to wonder where Damien Sandow and Curtis Axel go. Since the Hogan fiasco, they have not been seen on television, and I had thought Sandow was done with the corny gimmicks, even though those gimmicks got him over in the first place. Hopefully Sandow will return soon, because he can entertain a crowd.
Speaking of returns, The Dudley Boys are BAAAAACK! Just when you think things couldn’t get weirder, they do. A few years ago the internet whathaveyous said the Dudleys burned the bridge, never come back, yada yada… Here they are! In fact, remember the 2015 Royal Rumble where Bubba Dudley filled one of those unannounced spots? The Dudleys are back, but I will not say they are here to rejuvenate the tag team division. I had little issues with the teams currently chasing the titles, however the addition of the Dudleys will make things very interesting. I do see them winning the championships at some point, but not for very long. Remember last year with the sudden reappearance of the New Age Outlaws? Same deal, stick around for a year or so, win the titles, but then drop them, and either fade out or hang around for a while longer. I could be wrong. I would love to see the Dudleys feud with New Day or the Prime Time Players. I love how the Ascension continues to descend further and further down. I almost forgot they were still active until their burial on SmackDown.
Brock Lesnar. Boy, do we suddenly love him again. Once “Suplex City” became a thing, Brock became tolerable on television. Please, when he first came back, there were groans about him being stale, uninteresting, and still botch-prone. However, since he destroyed John Cena, we love. Since he throws everyone around with suplexes, we love him. He has Rabbi Paul Heyman, we really love him. Brock is a wonder, that is for sure. As long as the microphone stays far far away, we will continue to enjoy his menacing presence on television.
We also enjoyed seeing Stephen Amell on SummerSlam, very classy to allow Neville to earn the pinfall victory. Amell took a few hard bumps, and he appeared to genuinely respect the ring and the show.
I wonder where the Wyatt Family goes from here? We have a third members, and will Erick Rowan rejoin the ranks once healed from injury. The smart thing would be to let him rejoin and increase the ranks. There is something to be said for strength in numbers.
I’m still laughing over how badly Sin Cara botches something in a match. Does not matter who is “Sin Cara” but I get the vibe the character is flat-out cursed. Speaking of cursed, I really hope we are not seeing a curse on the rejuvenated Divas Division. The MizTV segment, while awkward, was meant to tease which of the newcomers from NXT would get a title shot at Nikki Bella. Yes, the segment is considered to have been a botch, but hopefully we will see more wrestling and less of bad storytelling. The more interesting note, are the women involved, all better in the ring than on the mic. Whereas Nikki Bella has improved, however it was her mic skills originally which put her and Brie on the map. Granted, that does not say much considering both mic skills were sub-par at best, but the bar has been set so low for women it would not take much to be considered a female Jimmy Hart. Apologies to the Mouth of the South.
Lastly, let’s talk Sting. Sting Sting Sting Sting Sting Sting Sting Sting Sting Sting. If he wins the WWE Championship, I might crap myself. This would be a championship I never thought Sting would hold. Ever. I wonder if WWE might do it, just so he can have one reign in the company. Just one. Like Mark Henry.
