RAW Already Went Home (Sunday Night: Main Event)...

How’s It Going, Enthusiasts?

 

Welcome to a new week! Well, AEW made a splash this weekend, now they have to figure out what’s next. WWE had NXT action but they stayed out the way and I would say that was best. You could say AEW established themselves this weekend but they’re still a ways a way from being a true threat to WWE. I’d say, this simply stokes the fires of competition and that isn’t a bad thing in this backdrop. Let’s get into it, shall we?

 

So, The New Level fka The New Day did make their debut and it was pretty much what you’d expect. They got a solid pop but I think the lack of surprise kept the cap on it. Most heard about it so, it was just a matter of confirming the rumor.

 

The action wasn’t much different from what we’d might see in a Battle Royale only the prize was a Trios Title that the New Level + Swerve Strickland won. With that, the Realm of AEW has been put on notice. Tag Teams beware! The New Level are here and you’ll apparently have to go through them for the time being. That should keep people busy.

 

As for The Future, I would think that will start to ramp up in the near future as Jon Moxley was able to best Nigel McGuiness but McGuiness made Moxley work for it. I noticed McGuiness kicked it up a notch with the “twist” of Mox’s neck when Mox took off the tape on McGuiness’ injured ankle. I respect McGuiness meaning business. As you can see, Mox will take it there sometimes but you gotta go for the kill if you’re gonna “go for the kill” with Mox.

 

There was a bit of a skirmish and for a brief moment, McGuiness made it seem that he might hang in there but Mox had the ankle all locked up and McGuiness just couldn’t get his fingers on the rope to break the hold. The Continental Cup remains in Mox’s hands and that is likely to be remedied soon. I’ll get to that a bit later.

 

First, we have to give some lip service to the grand finale with Will Ospreay becoming the realm’s top star on home soil besting the best in Kenny Omega. Have to say, it was a bit telegraphed with Ospreay’s entrance but why not. It’s a once in a lifetime event so, I don’t mind the mild pomp and circumstance.

 

Not sure what to say about Omega’s though. I understand paying the respects to his career in Japan and all but the word is that it was an homage to My Hero Academia and personally I think it’s a little suspect when a grown man emulates an anime with a juvenile cast. I don’t watch kid anime ‘cause of that sort of thing. I don’t have anything against anime but I prefer the stuff that’s geared towards at least a young adult audience. I don’t care for kiddie shit in general so, Omega lost points in my personal system but the match, at least what I could see of it, was stellar.

 

The whole thing apparently took it out of Ospreay ‘cause I caught him getting emotional on the social media feed. He’s forgiven ‘cause of all the implications but I still say there should be no crying in wrestling 😉

 

And so, the Old Guard has been dethroned and the Realm now honors Ospreay. It’s no matter to me but Long Shall He Reign! And with that said…what’s next?

 

This is why I think we’ll start seeing The Future take shape. If done right, it’ll be interesting and it gives them something to do. As you can see, this took some building and now that we have new players in place and the hierarchy has been realigned, how to proceed is the new assignment. How to keep the good vibes going and the interest maintained?

 

I’m not sure who they plan to be the new rival for Ospreay but we’ll have to wait and see if they’re able to make it half as interesting as the passing of the torch we witnessed. I’m thinking letting The Future take shape in the meantime gives them some time to figure out who the next threat should be.

 

I suppose it would be MJF or perhaps Andrade seeing how he more or less put MJF in his place. Strickland and Adam Page are around as well but they may be exploring other avenues in the Trios arena.

 

If Ilja Dragunov’s acquisition is part of the Fallout, that could certainly be someone who could shoot to the front of the line. But my general point is, see how this stuff works? Now the void has to be filled and that is somewhat easier said than done because who’s available may not have the history to build off of so, some has to be made. May take a little while.

 

And with MJF “butt hurt” I’m sure, he’ll probably start sublimating on his own which puts him in a great space to initiate Strike 1 once he gets enough incentive/motivation. At the moment, MJF has no quarrel with the Riders of Death so, we’ll see how creative they get in setting up their paths to cross, if at all. Could MJF start to eye the Continental Cup to get a win under him and build confidence? We’ll see what they decide. There are many ways to get this going. All it has to be is fun/interesting. Guess we’ll have to stay tuned.

 

Over in the WWE Universe, it looks like they implemented a holiday alternative with this week’s RAW and SmackDown having been pre-recorded ahead of the Sunday Night: Main Event set for this upcoming weekend. Only fair given they’ll have to work Sunday and Monday of a 3-Day weekend.

 

It also makes them look “unbothered” by the rise of AEW. It was the more interesting promotion this past week but it looks like they were allowed to be which is fair play. Consider it progress. Bigger fish to fry, so to speak. But they have some things to mind given AEW did tell better stories in their lead up to the PPV.

 

WWE is breaking in some new kids so, the place to tell stories will greatly lie in that. Either way, the Stars are mature gentlemen and ladies so the kids have their work cut out for them.

 

For tonight, we can expect Sol Ruca to try to win back the Intercontinental Championship from Raquel Rodriguez. We’ll see the original Lucha Brothers in action as Penta (Lucha-Mitsu) takes on his brother, Rey Fenix for the Title shot against Roman Reigns. I get the feeling this goes to Lucha-Mitsu but we should have a good display regardless. Roman Reigns should be on hand to witness this so, we’ll see how well he takes notes.

 

I think I have a couple more of these early viewings and then, like I keep saying, it’ll go back to 8pm PDT like the old days. I may bump it up to 7pm ‘cause I got other things to do but we’ll see. You know when to join the fun in the meantime.

 

See You in a Bit,

-Nicole Alexis (^_~)