The following editorial was written by Geoffrey Rowland and does not reflect the opinions of WrestleZone as a whole. We encourage you all to discuss Geoff’s thoughts in the comments section at the bottom of this post or by tweeting him @Geoff_Rowland
RAW and Smackdown Live! both had a chance to build off of a very successful Evolution event this week, but, heading into a controversial trip to Saudi Arabia for WWE Crown Jewel and building a feud off of Roman Reigns’ very real Leukemia battle has once again left the WWE feeling a little in disarray.
The entire company seems to be in hiding as they appear to just want to get their money and get out of Riyadh before really moving on. They should have moved WWE Crown Jewel elsewhere. They should have shown a backbone. They should have told their investors it is the right thing to do. But, they caved and nobody was really surprised.
Saudi Arabia is too rich for many American businesses to turn away from them. WWE is not alone in this. But, they could have been a very loud voice in saying they are not going to work anymore with a murderous and oppressive regime.
The entire debacle has distracted greatly from anything else the company is trying to do.
Let’s be honest, Shawn Michaels, one of the best to ever lace them up, is coming out of a nearly decade-long retirement to compete in a legendary match and NOBODY cares.
HBK, in the ring again, and nobody is talking about it.
It has been a major miscalculation by WWE, as was the way they handled Daniel Bryan’s return, and it just seems to show that no matter how many strides they make, they still take far too much about the smarter fan base for granted.
RAW has a hot feud in Ambrose and Rollins, and it would have been hot whenever it happened. Using Reigns the way they did to get Ambrose over more as a heel cheapens Reigns’ very real battle for life and was unnecessary to get someone as talented as The Lunatic Fringe over.
Reigns going off the show has shuffled everything and none of it feels right, leaving the show frantically paced and oddly situated. All of a sudden, Braun Strowman has been moved to the top of the face heap again, after they forcefully moved him to the top heel role for a few months. It cripples the believability of Strowman and has weakened the strong face reaction he got before the forced turn.
For a show that spent two months focused completely around six performers on the male side and Ronda Rousey, it seems completely lost with Reigns departure and Rousey handling another challenge and moving on.
All the chaos at the top of the card has provided an opening for others though and a couple performers have really stepped up.
Elias flipping on Corbin and moving to the face role could be a great move for him and he would be great for a feud with either Drew McIntyre of Dolph Ziggler. He is insanely over and is great on the stick while also performing well in the ring.
The surprise though is the rise of Lio Rush and the amazing amount of relevance he is bringing to Bobby Lashley. Lashley was great in his run with TNA/Impact as long as he had strong mouthpieces and Rush is a stronger talker than anyone The Dominator had in his run outside the WWE.
His quick run against Reigns, including a shocking PPV win over The Big Dog, gives him legitimacy and he could really be a solid feud for any face, which includes his current run against the still underutilized Finn Balor.
Expect Balor to get more in the mix near the top of the card following the end of the Mix Matched Challenge and his moving on from his pairing with Bayley.
The women’s division continues to be dominated by Rousey, but Nikki Bella’s performance at Evolution deserves some recognition as it might have been the best match she has ever put on. There is plenty of talent for Rousey to feed on, but there needs to be a careful move to make sure she doesn’t make them all look weak. Bella did a good job of coming out of this with the loss, but still looking strong.
Hulk Hogan Reportedly Arrives In Saudi Arabia For WWE Crown Jewel
