The build to the Money in the Bank event continued this week as all of the participants for the signature ladder matches were announced. The superstar shakeup kept going for a 3rd week as well and I have some strong thoughts on that topic.
Superstar Shakeup
Just when we thought it was all finally over, Gallows and Anderson made the move from SD to Raw this week. This brings up a very interesting aspect of the shakeup that has been weighing on my own mind the last couple of weeks. Prior to the shakeup, all of the truly great tag teams on the roster were located on SDL with very little tag team depth on Raw. They had more than enough talent available though, especially when NXT call ups are factored in. They could easily have balanced things out and had extremely good tag team rosters on both brands. Instead, they now have an over-abundance of teams on Raw, some very good teams split up, and almost no one left on SDL.
Speaking of SDL tag teams, last week’s report of a Jeff Hardy injury wound up being severe enough to require he and brother Matt to abdicate the SD Tag Titles. That’s one less strong team for the blue brand. The B Team moved over from Raw though, so that’s a fair trade right? Smackdown’s tag roster currently only has 5 teams: New Day (down a member due to Big E’s injury and busy with Kofi’s title run), Rusev & Nakamura (how long can these singles stars remain a team?), Heavy Machinery, the Colons (they still work here?), and B Team. Who knew I could miss the days of New Day, the Bar, and the Usos endlessly fighting one another?
One last thing to think about: Between the Hardys vacating their titles on Smackdown and the news coming out of the NXT taping this week (see report below), half of WWE’s Tag Titles are currently vacant.
Injury Report
NXT UK superstar Eddie Dennis is out of action with a torn pectoral. It was surgically repaired this week, and now he’ll have to go through at least 6 months of rehab.
Jeff Hardy had surgery on his knee this week. Now begins a long 6-9 months of rehab and recovery before he can potentially return to the ring.
NXT
NXT held a new set of tapings on May 1 that should take us all the way to the newly announced TakeOver on June 1. There were a couple of items that some may consider spoilers but are worth noting ahead of time (so don’t read the rest of this section if you wish to avoid them)….
Ready?
Ok, NXT Tag Champions the War Raiders (or is it the Viking Raider Experience now?) won’t be losing their titles to anyone now that they’ve been called up to Raw. Instead they’ll follow in the footsteps of Paige and Asuka by vacating those titles. New champions will be crowned June 1, but I’ll hold back on spoiling the contenders for now.
The other noteworthy and slightly less spoilery bit of news is that Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix is joining the NXT commentary team. She’ll be calling all of the black and gold action alongside Mauro Ranallo and Nigel McGuiness. No word yet on the fate of the man who previously occupied her chair, Percy Watson. Most likely he will continue working other shows such as 205 Live and the recent Worlds Collide specials.
Worlds Collide
This week WWE Network posted what I believe is the final episode in the series of Worlds Collide specials taped Mania weekend. There were only 2 matches this time and both were battle royals.
The women’s match featured the following 18 superstars from NXT and NXT UK: Bianca Belair, Taynara Conti, Kacy Catanzaro, Deonna Purazzo, Io Shirai, Jessamyn Duke, Marina Shaffir, Jessie, Lacey Lane, Xia Li, Kavita Devi, Mia Yim, Vanessa Borne, Aliyah, Kay Lee Ray, Piper Niven, Reina Gonzolez, and UK Womens Champion Toni Storm. The match came down to a final battle between Shirai and Belair with Belair picking up the victory.
The men’s match featured the following 20 superstars from NXT, NXT UK, and 205 Live: Ariya Daivari, The Brian Kendrick, Dave Mastiff, Drew Gulak, Fabian Aichner, Eric Bugenhagen, Humberto Carillo, Mark Coffey, Joe Coffey, Dominik Dijakovic, Ligero, Matt Riddle, Rinku Singh, Saurav Gurjar, Roderick Strong, Wesley Blake, Steve Cutler, Akira Tozawa, Travis Banks, and Tyler Bate. The final two were Tyler Bate and Roderick Strong with Strong victorious at the end.
Contracts
The Revival reportedly turned down big money offers to sign new WWE deals. They are still locked in for a while yet, and the company has even added extra time to their existing deals for the time the former “top guys” spent injured. Once one of the most promising teams to rise from NXT, unfortunately timed injuries killed Dawson and Wilder’s momentum. Every time they seem to be recovering the creative team seems to change course and drop the ball on them yet again. The team would be a huge asset to any roster, but for now they appear to be stuck under the petty thumbs of a company that does not recognize their value.
Brock Lesnar has signed another new deal with WWE. It likely pays him a ton of money for a small amount of time on screen. His first appearance under the new deal should be the Saudi show in June.
Rush
Lio Rush’s time on the main roster seems to be done for now. There are tons of reports that he has heat backstage and is viewed as being obnoxious. Some have even compared him to Enzo Amore. Rush has even contacted reporters to offer his own side of the story. Lio claims that someone with whom he’s had bad blood prior to either of them being with WWE is spreading rumors to discredit him. There are trusted veterans saying that he’s refusing their advice though. Unlike Enzo, Lio is actually quite talented. It would be a shame to see an attitude problem get in the way of a potentially successful career. Whichever side of that you wish to believe, all of the reports seem to indicate a return to NXT for the “man of the hour.” While I know many fans who found Rush (or at least the character he’s playing) to be quite annoying, there’s no denying that his mic work was very beneficial to Lashley, a man who should be kept far, far away from microphones.
PPV Plans
Money in the Bank May 19
-Universal Title: Seth Rollins© vs AJ Styles-
-Raw Women’s title: Becky Lynch© vs Lacey Evans-
-Smackdown Women’s Title: Becky Lynch© vs Charlotte Flair-
-WWE Title: Kofi Kingston© vs Kevin Owens-
-Roman Reigns vs Elias
-Mens MitB Match: The men representing Raw are Braun Strowman, Ricochet, Drew McIntyre, and Baron Corbin. That’s a lot of mass for a ladder match. Thankfully Smackdown is bringing some of the lighter guys to keep the action exciting. The 4 men representing the blue brand are IC champ Finn Balor, Ali, Andrade, and Randy Orton.
-Womens MitB Match: The women representing Raw are Natalya, Dana Brooke, Naomi, and Alexa Bliss. The Smackdown women are Bayley, Ember Moon, Carmella, and Mandy Rose.
-Steel Cage Match: Miz vs Shane McMahon
June- We finally know 2 events that will be held in June. WWE Stomping Grounds will emanate from Tacoma, Washington on June 23. Backlash was originally supposed to take place a week earlier but was cancelled due to the pending Saudi event. That international show is now being officially promoted for Friday June 7. Big name stars such as Lesnar, Goldberg and Undertaker are once again being brought in for the show.
There was originally going to be an NXT Takeover on June 8, but the addition of the Saudi show seemed to scrap that plan. As of the May 1 Full Sail tapings though, that event is now happening a week earlier on June 1. NXT already had a house show scheduled for that night, and there’s no way that’s getting turned into a full PPV level event. Triple H is supposed to announce the new location for TakeOver via social media next Monday. Unless they make some pretty drastic changes to the current travel schedule the new location will most likely be in Florida. My guess, given the logistics of pulling it together so quickly, is that they’ll use their TV home at Full Sail.
Extreme Rules July 14
Summerslam August 11
