When A.J. Styles turned on John Cena when The Club first joined WWE, it caught me by surprise. This time, not so much.
A.J. Styles turning on Ricochet was much needed for not just WWE, but for The Club. They have been overtaken by an array of new tag teams.
Overshadowed and overlooked, The Club went back to their old buddy.
And it worked to perfection. This feud will draw heat to Gallows and Anderson and give Styles a push. Not that he needs it, but going against Ricochet gives him an easy storyline to slide into, something he hasn’t had since joining the main roster.
There aren’t often nice things to say about Bobby Lashley, but Monday was an exception. He and Braun Strowman went at each other like cavemen… cavemen surrounded by pyrotechnics… yeah… that sounds about right.
When they went through the wall, I literally jumped. What followed was classic over-the-top WWE and I’m not mad.
It was nice to see Lashley hold his own and even though Braun was the aggressor, Lashley looked like a tough guy, which his ginormous self should be.
Strowman has somewhat cooled off with fans, but he really showed what he is capable of. Superhuman athleticism for a guy his size and brunt force to match.
Lacey Evans defeated Natalya, but had to do it dirty. This didn’t make sense to me since they’re marketing her as a serious threat to Becky Lynch.
I understand she needs heat, but she has heat in my honest opinion. Now, she just needs some legitimacy and this didn’t earn her any.
In keeping with WWE’s confusing women’s storylines, Bayley earned a victory over Nikki Cross.
If WWE wanted to do this correctly, they would have given Cross her second win over Bayley as she really figures out that Alexa Bliss doesn’t deserve the title shot: she does.
Instead, in true WWE fashion, they’ll pick the worst possible time for Nikki to turn on Alexa and then Bayley and Nikki will square off in the all-powerful “third match.”
Aleister Black will finally get his match at Extreme Rules. It seems to me that he could potentially be facing Bray Wyattand his new persona, given the “I care little for your reveal” mention in his promo.
I’m excited either way; Aleister is a true talent in the ring.
Shelton Benjamin stared off into space. That was it. That was all. WWE will hope fans forget when thethey ultimately forget to add that into any type of story.
All in all, Raw and SmackDown to me were way better than their recent weeks, so I’m hoping the brand can build off a strong showing.
Featured Image: 2016 Topps WWE