As well as my weekly article I want to start doing a monthly report on the current state of WWE, focusing on a different aspect each month and where I think the product could improve.
So this month I’m going to give my view on the current storylines heading into Battleground and Summerslam and what I feel WWE have done wrong and what they could do better. So as of right now Seth Rollins is our WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Sheamus is currently Mr. Money in the Bank and the Beast Brock Lesnar is back on our TV screens alongside the excellent Paul Heyman.
The undercard is also packed full of potentially riveting storylines with the feud of Kevin Owens and John Cena reaching it’s finale and the fuse being lit at MITB for the inevitable showdown between Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt.
First I will start off with the highly anticipated WWE title match scheduled to go down at Battleground on July 19th between current champion Seth Rollins and the challenger Brock Lesnar. This match has been more or less set in concrete since Wrestlemania 31 when the self proclaimed “Future of WWE” Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase on an unsuspecting Lesnar. I’ve already focused on Seth in a previous article so I won’t dwell on his career so much here, however I will set my focus on the former UFC and WWE champion, the beast incarnate, Brock Lesnar.
We haven’t seen or heard from Lesnar/Heyman from a storyline standpoint since the Raw after WM, where Brock went AWOL after attacking the world champion, J&J security, camera crew and the irritable Michael Cole. After those now infamous actions Stephanie McMahon made the choice to suspend the beast, Lesnar finally resurfaced on last week’s Raw as Seth Rollins’ newest challenger, a decision actually agreed by the Authority.
Apart from Dean Ambrose who has been booked a tad erratically since MITB Brock is Seth’s only credible challenger right now, and I think the main event at Battleground offers several possible storylines pending the outcome of that match heading into Summerslam. Personally I think Seth is walking out of his bout with Lesnar still WWE champion, either through some dastardly tactics by the Authority or from Sheamus making an impact but not cashing in his briefcase.
My only query from that outcome is who do Lesnar and Rollins face at the summers biggest PPV? Surely the logical choice, be it Rollins or Lesnar winning would be to have a rematch at Summerslam, however if Brock wins at Battleground and rips Seth apart is a rematch plausible? Once more unless WWE have a massive plan for the outcome of this match they have I feel painted themselves into another corner.
The other rumour which is circulating of late has been the possible inevitable feud between Seth Rollins and his mentor Triple H, I for one have high hopes of this happening in the future but I think the August PPV may be too soon to allow enough time to build what should be a pivotal moment in Seth’s career.
Just coming to the boil under the main event scene is the excellent feud between Kevin Owens and John Cena. These two men have been one of the man reasons why Raw has been so entertaining as of late and their PPV matches have both been Match of the Year contenders. Their encounter at Battleground this time for the US title will no doubt be as good as those before it, but will surely mark the end of their epic series.
The feud has been a breath of fresh air for the WWE universe but mostly for John Cena I think, the promos and encounters have arguably been some of the best of his career, they really bring out the best in each other. Kevin Owens is scheduled to defend his NXT title against Finn Balor in Japan on July 4th , I feel that he will drop the title to Balor, win at Battleground then make a permanent move to the main roster, to win the US title would be a great move career wise for Owens as he can continue the good work Cena has done with it and then drop it hopefully to Sami Zayn when he finally returns and eventually makes his move to the main shows. Cena meanwhile should maybe have a couple more feuds then start his run to once again capture the World title?
A feud which historically had it’s seeds set at Elimination Chamber 2014 is the one between Roman Reigns and Bray Waytt, a feud reignited at the Money in the Bank PPV when Bray decided that he didn’t want Roman to win the briefcase and subsequently walked out and laid waste to Reigns. The night after MITB Bray explained his actions and then thought it best to unsettle Roman by making the focal point of his psychological attack Reigns’ young daughter.
Booked correctly and with a big payoff at Battleground which Bray has to win, this should be a very rewarding feud which ultimately Roman has to come out of looking victorious. The weeks since MITB, we have seen more of Bray’s excellent promo style of which only he can deliver and unsettling story start to take shape, this should also be a good test for Roman as he can no doubt deliver in the ring but let’s see how he fairs against Bray when he has to lyrically duel with him……if WWE allows him too.
Since Wrestlemania Bray has been ducking in and out of WWE at his pleasure, he feuded briefly with Ryback and won on PPV and now he finds himself targeting Reigns. Wins and losses don’t really affect Bray but I think no matter the character success in the ring goes a long way and therefore soon Bray needs success.
There was a rumour circulating on Twitter this weeks that Dolph Ziggler’s contract is up in September and he won’t be resigning with WWE, for many fans this is quite a shock but for me….I think a change will do Ziggler good. Dolph suffers greatly as a face, he just isn’t likeable enough to be one and his character won’t allow him to be one, arguably his career has been up and down since he beat Alberto Del Rio in 2012 for the World Title, he lost it soon after and never fully recovered from it.
So my opinion is that Ziggler either turn heel very soon or go to Japan or Lucha Underground and try his luck there because in WWE it just isn’t happening. Lower down the midcard you have the IC champion Ryback, tasked with upping the credibility of the title being lumbered with the Big Show. I’m guessing this is not the feud Ryback envisaged himself taking part in but so far he’s done well with it so far and Big Guy I feel deserves plaudit for becoming a better in ring competitor and all round performer.
The tag team division earlier this year became a focal point, the series of matches between Cesaro/Kidd and The New Day were outstanding, unfortunately Tyson Kidd accidently suffered a neck injury at a Raw dark match and is scheduled to be out for up to a year. On top of the that the newly reunited Erick Rowan and Luke Harper have been waylaid by Erick Rowan tearing his bicep and being forced to the sideline for 6 months, On top of that the absence of the Usos has been felt badly in WWE’s tag division.
The New Day I thought were on a roll as tag champs but as soon as winning them they dropped the belts to the Prime Time Players, a shock victory I thought at MITB but O’Neil and Young deserve a shot. The tag division in WWE has been disappointing for years but it’s about time they did something about it. Right of the top of my head the Ascension are a team who with a new look could become big players as well the Lucha Dragons, however that is only possible if WWE persist with their plans instead of giving up midway. It’s now time for WWE to look deeply into their doubles division and make changes.
The Divas meanwhile don’t do anything for me, WWE are persisting with allowing the very annoying and underserving Nikki Bella to eclipse AJ’s title reign and in the process bury talent such as Naomi, Paige and others. The Bella’s/WWE forced title reign has been detrimental to the Divas division. The only lifeline WWE have is the NXT WOMEN’S division which features actual talented female wrestlers such as Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair and many more who make the Bella’s look like the amateurs they are. Enough said on this subject.
As much as Raw and Smackdown can still be very entertaining NXT for me is the brand making me believe WWE still has a grip on what the fans yearn for……actual logically booked storylines with a beginning, middle and end, the key parts of every good story. WWE is now on the horizon of a very important time as usually Summerslam shapes the events of the winter that shape Wrestlemania season.
Will they allow Brock to hold the title while making limited appearances again? Can they give Kevin Owens the push he so massively deserves and make that transition to the main roster? Will Seth become the mega face everyone knows he should be and will Roman Reigns ever win the big one?? Battleground will be pivotal in shaping how the rest of 2015 plays out for Brock/Seth, Cena/Owens and Bray/Roman you can even throw Dean Ambrose in there as long as WWE treat him right, the future is bright for WWE at the moment and there is so much they can build on and evolve in the coming months. My only hope is that WWE use what will allow them to thrive in the future and not in the present.
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