The 2019 WWE Draft is in the books and WOW, Monday Night Raw, while will definitely be viewed as the B Show going forward, looks freaking stacked! Smackdown looks good too but with a part time World Champion facing a new hire at WWE's 4th blood money Saudi Arabia event, I don't have my hopes up too high, until we get a new WWE Champion who can defend at monthly PPVs. Sorry, this post is not bash Smackdown.
Anyway, Raw already built a talented locker room on Night One. AJ Styles, Drew McIntyre, Randy Orton, Ricochet, Kevin Owens, and Bobby Lashley were just a few of the singles stars that came to Raw. Night 2 only solidified their place as the 'wrestler's' going forward. WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins, Andrade, Rusev, Aleister Black, Cedric Alexander, Humberto Carrillo, Buddy Murphy, Samoa Joe, Akira Tozawa and Rey Mysterio make up Raw's men singles division. Are you kidding me? So many amazing talents all on one show. It was probably for the best that Rollins kept the Universal Title as he has SO many challengers. The women's division also got a boost as overall #1 pick Becky Lynch is now joined by bitter arch rival Charlotte, Liv Morgan and The Kabuki Warriors. Joined by Natalya, Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross drafted from Night One and you have a pretty solid women's division. The tag division didn't get a lot of help on Night Two, so I expect a few makeshift teams to form in the coming weeks as they only have the NEW Raw Tag Team Champions The Viking Raiders, The OC and The Street Profits. It needs to be said; Raw won the draft. The build to the future is clear and I expect big things from guys like McIntyre, Andrade, Ricochet and Buddy Murphy.
Smackdown countered Raw's first pick of Universal Champion with the expected pick of WWE Champion Brock Lesnar, which was pretty obvious. New Day, Daniel Bryan, Nakamura, Ali, Miz, Ziggler and Roode, Gable, Elias and King Corbin were a few of the male picks on Night Two. It's basically more of the same for Smackdown as many of these guys were already on Smackdown. Roode, Corbin, and Miz are the only real new additions. Adding in Reigns, Wyatt, and Strowman and Smackdown men's singles division is a little lacking. There's not a lot of up and comers on the brand and it looks like we're headed for the same old Lesnar VS Reigns and Strowman matches for the foreseeable future. Not a lot of female picks for Smackdown but they're keeping two stars already on the brand; Smackdown Women's Champion Bayley and Carmella. They join Sasha Banks and Lacey Evans who were both drafted on Night One. Four women in a division? That's not going to work. They're going to have to work on getting some of those free agents, like Fire and Desire, The IIconics, Dana Brooke and Sarah Logan. I'm guessing Carmella is Bayley's first feud followed by Lacey Evans, who looks to be turning face. Tag division received The New Day and Ziggler/Roode. They join the Smackdown Tag Champs The Revival and Heavy Machinery. Like Raw, I feel like more makeshift teams are going to form. Smackdown seems lacking in all departments, which is weird, seeing how they are now on the bigger network. It's going to be interesting to see how the show is booked going forward.
There's still a few free agents out there, such as Cesaro, AOP, Hawkins/Ryder, the women mentioned above, and Luke Harper. There's other stars who weren't even in the pools such as Naomi, The Usos, Lars Sullivan, Ember Moon, Nia Jax and Ruby Riott. There's also that blockbuster trade that's being rumored. The only thing that makes sense would be a trade between major stars right? Like, stars featured in the first rounds. I'm going to make a bold prediction here; what if it's Rollins for Wyatt? Seth Rollins VS The Fiend Bray Wyatt is set for Crown Jewel in a Falls Count Anywhere match for the Universal Championship. Why even book this match? They could have easily dropped the feud and moved on as they are both on different brands now. My thought is do a trade and title change in one swoop. Otherwise, what is the point of the match? They don't want another disaster do they?
Raw is the clear winner here. They have the stars and I hope WWE books them well. Smackdown needs helps and I hope they build around guys like Reigns, Bryan, Kingston and the soon to be traded Seth Rollins.
Draft is now over! Looking forward to what WWE has in store for these guys in the next few months.
Monday, October 14, 2019
Saturday, October 12, 2019
WWE Draft 2019 - Night One Reaction
The WWE Draft has begun and 20+ superstars have found a home. What I like about this year's draft, each nights features separate pools of superstars so they basically make you watch both nights. More of my favorites are apart of Night 2's pool but we got some good ones tonight. Let's discuss.
Raw got the first pick tonight, thanks to The Fiend, so the draft picks were similar to the 2016 draft, 5 picks per round, 3 for Raw, 2 for Smackdown. Becky and Roman, the cover stars of WWE 2K20, went #1 and #2. Becky being #1 wasn't a shocker but it was shocking she's going to Raw. After last week's segment with The Rock, it was almost like Rock was passing the torch of the show to Becky. Guess it wasn't meant to be. Reigns going to Smackdown was obvious. He's the face of the company and the face needs to be on the biggest show. Reigns will 100% become WWE Champion in the next year. #3 was The OC, giving Raw 3 stars for the price of one. Styles went 4th overall in the 2016 draft to Smackdown so he keeps pace. Styles brings the US Title with him so I'm guessing Nakamura will be staying on Smackdown come Monday. #4 got me a bit upset as The Fiend Bray Wyatt will be going to Smackdown. The brand with the part time World Champion. This seems like WWE's way of trying to again avoid the disaster of the Hell in a Cell main event. IT HAPPENED WWE. You can't run from it. Anyway, The Fiend on Smackdown is a weird one. Currently, he only has Reigns or Strowman to feud with and after the horrible way they handled him at HIAC, I'm nervous for the future of Mr. Wyatt. #5 was Drew McIntyre. DREW MCINTYRE. A guy who hasn't been on TV for over a month. This must mean that a big push is coming. A push I, as a huge McIntyre fan, am looking forward to. If The Fiend can't become Universal Champion, then surely McIntyre has to be the one to end Rollins' reign.
Raw seems to be focused on big single stars. The men's division is freaking stacked. McIntyre, Styles, Ricochet, Randy Orton, Kevin Owens and Bobby Lashley are all Raw stars. If Rollins stays on Raw with the Universal Championship, he'll have a lot of challengers. The US Title picture should be interesting as well. Raw's women division looks to be the same, with Becky, Natalya, Alexa and Nikki Cross. But that men's division?? STACKED. Smackdown got Lacey Evans and Sasha Banks, making The Blueprint on the blue brand. Coincidence? Smackdown stacked their tag division, getting their tag champs The Revival, Lucha House Party and Heavy Machinery. Hopefully LHP will get more serious and make a run for the Smackdown Tag Titles. Stars like Cesaro, Chad Gable, Drew Gulak and Humberto Carrlillo went undrafted. Hope they all head to Raw; the new wrestler's favorite show.
One of the best things that happened on Smackdown was outside of the draft, which saw Bayley finally start to solidify her heel turn, with a new haircut, destroying the Bayley buddies and berating the crowd. Bayley shockingly regained her Women's Championship in the process and looks to be a major player on the Smackdown women's scene, if she gets drafted to the show on Monday.
Great first night. McIntyre will be a major face for Raw and WWE in the coming months. Wyatt will probably die on Fox. Raw will be the less promoted show but the better show in the coming months. We still have to see where both World Champions end up, Bayley, The New Day, Ali, Andrade and many others on Monday. Can't wait!
Raw got the first pick tonight, thanks to The Fiend, so the draft picks were similar to the 2016 draft, 5 picks per round, 3 for Raw, 2 for Smackdown. Becky and Roman, the cover stars of WWE 2K20, went #1 and #2. Becky being #1 wasn't a shocker but it was shocking she's going to Raw. After last week's segment with The Rock, it was almost like Rock was passing the torch of the show to Becky. Guess it wasn't meant to be. Reigns going to Smackdown was obvious. He's the face of the company and the face needs to be on the biggest show. Reigns will 100% become WWE Champion in the next year. #3 was The OC, giving Raw 3 stars for the price of one. Styles went 4th overall in the 2016 draft to Smackdown so he keeps pace. Styles brings the US Title with him so I'm guessing Nakamura will be staying on Smackdown come Monday. #4 got me a bit upset as The Fiend Bray Wyatt will be going to Smackdown. The brand with the part time World Champion. This seems like WWE's way of trying to again avoid the disaster of the Hell in a Cell main event. IT HAPPENED WWE. You can't run from it. Anyway, The Fiend on Smackdown is a weird one. Currently, he only has Reigns or Strowman to feud with and after the horrible way they handled him at HIAC, I'm nervous for the future of Mr. Wyatt. #5 was Drew McIntyre. DREW MCINTYRE. A guy who hasn't been on TV for over a month. This must mean that a big push is coming. A push I, as a huge McIntyre fan, am looking forward to. If The Fiend can't become Universal Champion, then surely McIntyre has to be the one to end Rollins' reign.
Raw seems to be focused on big single stars. The men's division is freaking stacked. McIntyre, Styles, Ricochet, Randy Orton, Kevin Owens and Bobby Lashley are all Raw stars. If Rollins stays on Raw with the Universal Championship, he'll have a lot of challengers. The US Title picture should be interesting as well. Raw's women division looks to be the same, with Becky, Natalya, Alexa and Nikki Cross. But that men's division?? STACKED. Smackdown got Lacey Evans and Sasha Banks, making The Blueprint on the blue brand. Coincidence? Smackdown stacked their tag division, getting their tag champs The Revival, Lucha House Party and Heavy Machinery. Hopefully LHP will get more serious and make a run for the Smackdown Tag Titles. Stars like Cesaro, Chad Gable, Drew Gulak and Humberto Carrlillo went undrafted. Hope they all head to Raw; the new wrestler's favorite show.
One of the best things that happened on Smackdown was outside of the draft, which saw Bayley finally start to solidify her heel turn, with a new haircut, destroying the Bayley buddies and berating the crowd. Bayley shockingly regained her Women's Championship in the process and looks to be a major player on the Smackdown women's scene, if she gets drafted to the show on Monday.
Great first night. McIntyre will be a major face for Raw and WWE in the coming months. Wyatt will probably die on Fox. Raw will be the less promoted show but the better show in the coming months. We still have to see where both World Champions end up, Bayley, The New Day, Ali, Andrade and many others on Monday. Can't wait!
Saturday, October 5, 2019
Hell in a Cell 2019 Predictions
You may have forgot with the massive amount of wrestling premieres this week but WWE Hell in a Cell is on Sunday! A whooping FOUR matches have been announced for the show, with at least 5 others to be announced after I post this! Seriously, they're probably just announce a bunch of matches on their social media accounts. That's a little sad though. I feel for those who bought tickets as they only advertised three matches for the show as the fourth was added LATE Friday night. Anyway, it will make for a short post, figured I should do one seeing as how I completely missed Clash of Champions. Let's get to it!
Charlotte will get another shot at becoming a 10 time women's champion as she again challenges Bayley for the Smackdown Women's Championship. I'm a big Bayley fan but I think her time is up. The tag match from this past Smackdown was Charlotte's moment to show the world what she can do and she made Bayley tap, AGAIN. She's the perfect embodiment of a champion they want for their brand. I'm not sure who she would feud with but Charlotte being champion fits Fox and hey, maybe it will bring out the fully heel Bayley as well. Lord knows she needs a total heel makeover. I'm going with Charlotte to defeat Bayley and become Smackdown Women's Champion for a 5th time.
Common enemies will force together Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan as they face Erick Rowan and the returning Luke Harper in a big tag team clash. This could be a lot of fun, given enough time. And why wouldn't it, it's only one of FOUR matches. Anyway, the obvious ending here would be for Bryan to turn on Reigns and reveal he's the true culprit behind the attacks on Reigns. This would lead to the blowoff match at Crown Jewel 2, that is, if Bryan wants to compete in Saudi Arabia. Although WWE could definitely use a face Daniel Bryan in this current environment, I think Bryan leading Harper and Rowan in some new twisted stable could do some good for whichever brand they end up on. Is that ending too obvious? Maybe, but WWE has proven the obvious thing is usually what they tend to go with. That being said, I'm going with Harper and Rowan to win here with Bryan turning back heel.
The Raw Women's Championship will be defended inside Hell in a Cell for only the 2nd time ever, first in 3 years and it's a feud worthy of the finality of the Hell in a Cell structure. Sasha Banks will get her rematch against Becky Lynch with the title on the line inside the dangerous structure. Becky Lynch is now the only remaining underdog from WrestleMania 35 who hasn't lost their title. Rollins may have regained the title at SummerSlam but Lynch's reign has been continuous since Mania. Sasha has been her biggest challenger to her reign yet and the only one who gives her reign a sense of danger. It's pretty obvious the way this one is going to go down. Becky had an amazing moment on Smackdown, getting the rub from Smackdown's 'creator' The Rock. To be featured in such a prominent role on the first edition of Smackdown on Fox, it's pretty clear that she's going to be one of the faces going forward. They may even do Charlotte/Becky again. For that to fully happen, she has to drop the title here. Sasha has been fantastic since coming back as a heel and it's time to pull the trigger on the comeback. Sasha Banks will defeat Becky Lynch for the Raw Women's Championship. Sasha would become the 1st woman to hold the Raw Women's Title on 5 different occasions. Funny that Charlotte is trying to do the same with the opposite brand's title...
Seth Rollins can't catch a break. He's slain a Beast in Brock Lesnar, a Monster in Braun Strowman and now he's up against The Fiend Bray Wyatt. Rollins will defend the Universal Championship against Wyatt INSIDE the Hell in a Cell. Do I really need to talk about this? We all know Wyatt is getting that title. He is the hottest act going in WWE right now and it's time to pull the trigger while it is hot. I really don't know how it will work with Fun House Bray Wyatt and The Fiend Bray Wyatt but it's time for Wyatt to reign again. The Fiend will defeat Seth Rollins and become the NEW Universal Champion. Wyatt will make history as the first man to have won the WWE and Universal Titles AND both Raw and Smackdown Tag Titles. Surprising that this feat hasn't been accomplished yet.
That's Hell in a Cell. Crown Jewel is at the end of the month on Halloween! See you then
Charlotte will get another shot at becoming a 10 time women's champion as she again challenges Bayley for the Smackdown Women's Championship. I'm a big Bayley fan but I think her time is up. The tag match from this past Smackdown was Charlotte's moment to show the world what she can do and she made Bayley tap, AGAIN. She's the perfect embodiment of a champion they want for their brand. I'm not sure who she would feud with but Charlotte being champion fits Fox and hey, maybe it will bring out the fully heel Bayley as well. Lord knows she needs a total heel makeover. I'm going with Charlotte to defeat Bayley and become Smackdown Women's Champion for a 5th time.
Common enemies will force together Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan as they face Erick Rowan and the returning Luke Harper in a big tag team clash. This could be a lot of fun, given enough time. And why wouldn't it, it's only one of FOUR matches. Anyway, the obvious ending here would be for Bryan to turn on Reigns and reveal he's the true culprit behind the attacks on Reigns. This would lead to the blowoff match at Crown Jewel 2, that is, if Bryan wants to compete in Saudi Arabia. Although WWE could definitely use a face Daniel Bryan in this current environment, I think Bryan leading Harper and Rowan in some new twisted stable could do some good for whichever brand they end up on. Is that ending too obvious? Maybe, but WWE has proven the obvious thing is usually what they tend to go with. That being said, I'm going with Harper and Rowan to win here with Bryan turning back heel.
The Raw Women's Championship will be defended inside Hell in a Cell for only the 2nd time ever, first in 3 years and it's a feud worthy of the finality of the Hell in a Cell structure. Sasha Banks will get her rematch against Becky Lynch with the title on the line inside the dangerous structure. Becky Lynch is now the only remaining underdog from WrestleMania 35 who hasn't lost their title. Rollins may have regained the title at SummerSlam but Lynch's reign has been continuous since Mania. Sasha has been her biggest challenger to her reign yet and the only one who gives her reign a sense of danger. It's pretty obvious the way this one is going to go down. Becky had an amazing moment on Smackdown, getting the rub from Smackdown's 'creator' The Rock. To be featured in such a prominent role on the first edition of Smackdown on Fox, it's pretty clear that she's going to be one of the faces going forward. They may even do Charlotte/Becky again. For that to fully happen, she has to drop the title here. Sasha has been fantastic since coming back as a heel and it's time to pull the trigger on the comeback. Sasha Banks will defeat Becky Lynch for the Raw Women's Championship. Sasha would become the 1st woman to hold the Raw Women's Title on 5 different occasions. Funny that Charlotte is trying to do the same with the opposite brand's title...
Seth Rollins can't catch a break. He's slain a Beast in Brock Lesnar, a Monster in Braun Strowman and now he's up against The Fiend Bray Wyatt. Rollins will defend the Universal Championship against Wyatt INSIDE the Hell in a Cell. Do I really need to talk about this? We all know Wyatt is getting that title. He is the hottest act going in WWE right now and it's time to pull the trigger while it is hot. I really don't know how it will work with Fun House Bray Wyatt and The Fiend Bray Wyatt but it's time for Wyatt to reign again. The Fiend will defeat Seth Rollins and become the NEW Universal Champion. Wyatt will make history as the first man to have won the WWE and Universal Titles AND both Raw and Smackdown Tag Titles. Surprising that this feat hasn't been accomplished yet.
That's Hell in a Cell. Crown Jewel is at the end of the month on Halloween! See you then
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