Here at SLTD Wrestling the collective group of us contributors share thoughts and bounce ideas off each other on what the post or write about. But sometimes, we just shoot the shit and comment on whatever show is currently on, or something we saw on social media worth mentioning.
So here is a small sampling of random mattes I noticed this week which I brought up with the group.
A familiar meme about WWE Draft switch for Rollins and Styles
During the two nights on Monday Night RAW and Smackdown we had the 2020 WWE Draft, where any number of wrestlers were “traded off” between the two brands. It was announced that Seth Rollins, who had been a mainstay on Monday nights since 2016, was moving over to Smackdown while AJ Styles, who had established his WWE career mainly on the blue brand when he came to WWE, was drafted to RAW.
During a segment involving Jeff Hardy, Rollins and Styles walked by each other on the entrance ramp and had this exchange, which then led to comparisons to one of the most recognised social media memes out there today.
The comparisons aren’t that far off: both are former WWE champions, have a very similar in ring style and egos to match. I mean, their ring gear that night even looked slightly familiar.
You can’t get away with THIS in WWE!
As things start to reopen somewhat during the pandemic era, independent wrestling shows have started again. Below is from something called “Threat Level Noon” by a promotion called Black Label Pro.
I only recognise current AEW talent Marco Stunt in the ring, not the other competitors. The only other thing I recognize is the playing of the world famous Tequila Song by The Champs.
Suffice it to say, a parody account of the supposed inner thoughts of WWE Chairman Vince McMahon was NOT happy.
Has WWE finally figured out long term storytelling?
I’ve gotten way too pessimistic in my later years watching WWE at this point to think that, but perhaps there are some flowers growing out of that steaming pile of turd.
When it was announced that the New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) were being drafted to RAW Mustafa Ali, who had recently revealed himself as the leader of the fledging faction known as Retribution, tweeted this:
For those of you who are confused by Ali’s interest in Kofi’s arrival to RAW, where Retribution was also drafted, think back to Elimination Chamber 2019. Kingston was inserted into the Chamber match for the WWE title to take the place of Ali, who sustained some injury and wasn’t medically cleared to compete that night.
Had Ali remained in that match, he would have been in the final two remaining competitors against then champion Daniel Bryan…and perhaps even catapulted in that mega push towards Wrestlemania…the one that ended up with Kofi becoming WWE champion.
Retribution is about members who feel wronged by the WWE system. The follow up to that storyline, where Kingston essentially took Ali’s opportunity, is literally the perfect follow up and gives the new faction something to go after as well besides revenge for Ali: the RAW tag team titles, which the New Day now have.
Given the mediocre start Retribution has had these past few months, Ali’s revelation as their “leader” is a much needed boost in the arm and a solid feud based on actual history would help as well to establish them as a force on RAW.
Arguing over what segment should have ended RAW
Finally I’ll end this summary of ramblings with my own interaction with Twitter wrestling fans over the ending of RAW, which saw Lana winning a battle royal to become the number one contender to Asuka’s RAW Women’s Championship. But the show actually ended on a brawl between Randy Orton and WWE Champion Drew McIntrye; these two have a title match coming up at Hell in a Cell.
The point being made was that having two men end the show seems to diminish the women’s wrestling, and in some ways I get their point. But Lana, with all due respect, was always booked at a level that was never really at the status of a main event. Maybe if Paul Heyman was still booking RAW, we might have seen that…but he’s not.
The Drew / Randy brawl also reminded me of something CM Punk said years ago about how the championship and the Champion should be the main feature of your programming, from beginning to the end. RAW started with Drew and ended with Drew.
Has the feud with Orton dragged on too long? Perhaps, but as the rule stated above the champion usually ends the show unless something else was planned. I would have preferred to see Ali’s explanation of the Retribution angle.
But are people really surprised it didn’t end with Lana? She’s been taking massive bumps off a table courtesy of Nia Jax for weeks now, likely due to her real life husband Miro going to AEW. I’m pretty much expecting a major squash by Asuka next week on poor Lana, who really doesn’t deserve this kind of treatment.
An average professional doing the 9-5 grind who really loves wrestling across all platforms. Here's hoping wrestlers finally get some basic workers rights in 2021.
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