WEEKLY GOODS (Sept 9-13)

Hello AW Universe,
This is a weekly thoughts recap on the week that was in (mostly WWE) wrestling. But, with Clash of Champions this Sunday, predications have to be made. So let’s get right into it.
Cruiserweight Championship
Drew Gulak Vs. Humberto Carrillo Vs. Lince Dorado

Once again, this has to be a Sunday Night Heat match. If feels like Drew Gulak has been champion since Edge retired, so why not keep it on him, right?
Winner: Drew Gulak

United States Championship
AJ Styles Vs. Cedric Alexander

This is interesting. Alexander has been getting a huge push on Monday Night Raw, and he’s come through the angle of “fighting through injuries” and “overcoming the odds” so it wouldn’t be completely surprising to see him go over AJ here. On the other hand, AJ and the Good Brothers have been set up be a huge controlling force on Raw, so having him do the J.O.B. for Alexander would have to be done with a bit of a schmozy finish with The Good Brothers and maybe The Viking Raiders getting involved? Actually, having AJ drop the US title in this way to have him still look strong but allowing him to chase the Universal title makes sense. That’s is. That has to be it.

Winner: Cedric Alexander

Intercontinental Championship
Shinsuke Nakamura Vs. The Miz

The Miz is okay. Frankly, he sucks as a face and it bothers me. Meanwhile, Shinsuke Nakamura’s… manager? Sami Zayn got the Undertaker rub on SmackDown and he’s been great running with this weirdo aggressive version of Shinsuke, so it makes no sense for him to drop the title to The Miz who can eat a lose and move on to something else that I don’t care about.

Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura

SmackDown Tag Team Championship
The New Day Vs. The Revival

Is The New Day run coming to an end soon? Is this setting up for The Revival (aka New Legacy) to hold gold with Randy Orton come Tuesday? It sure feels that way. This match has been set up solely through Randy Orton’s feud with Kofi, with these two teams barely interacting so it’s difficult to get a feel for this (or even really care that much). But, it’s felt like Orton’s going to go over Kofi for awhile now, so I’d say this match goes the way of that feud.
Winners: Legacy… uh, I mean, The Revival.

Women’s Tag Team Championship
Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross Vs. Fire & Desire

Wow, does it ever feel like “Fire & Desire” came out of nowhere to challenge for these titles. But, here we are. Now, I’m not opposed to some questionable and edgy material in wrestling to generate heat. But, the whole “Nikki Cross is so ugly” angle on Raw just wasn’t funny and felt unnecessarily mean. Is this to really push Mandy Rose as a rude heel, or to get Nikki Cross over with sympathy babyface heat? I dunno, it was weird. Anyway, the match! Up until that weird segment, I was pretty convinced that they were going to put the titles on Fire & Desire (which one’s which, by the way?) but now it has to be Bliss & Cross, right?
Yes. It does.
Winners: Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross

RAW Tag Team Championship
Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman Vs. Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode

Likely to open the night? That would make sense, right? Dolph & Roode seem to now be honorary members of The Club now, so perhaps there’s a schmoz here too and then Braun gets mad because he feels he was set up? Something of the sort has to happen. It feels strange dropping the belts to a team that have really only pointed at one another and barely spoken but are so synergetic already, but it also seems most unlikely that Seth and Braun leave with these titles.
Winners: Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode

SmackDown Women’s Championship
Bayley Vs. Charlotte Flair

Oh, heel Bayley. It’s getting there. The ring attire and side-pony are still too babyface (although I do like the subtle touch of her and Sasha wearing matching attire), but the attitude and aggression is there. Is Charlotte a heel? She’s sort of operating in a tweener zone and that’s alright. It’ll be interesting to see how this match goes. The tag team match on Raw was incredible, and we know the OG Horsewomen always perform, so the match should be great. Sasha has to get involved here, though because I can’t see Charlotte losing clean.
Winner: Bayley

Roman Reigns Vs. Erick Rowan (No Disqualification)

So this match basically kicked the King of the Ring Final off this card and onto Monday Night Raw, but that’s okay. Rowan was surprisingly good on the mic on SmackDown, and Reigns actually seemed to show some effects from the damage inflicted on him. The spectre of Daniel Bryan is still lingering overt this feud, and the cynical part of me is worried that they’re using this to turn Bryan face, which would be devastating because he’s just a fantastic heel. So the hope is that Bryan is in on all this and he helps Rowan get the win. But, this is Roman Reigns, on a fairly big PPV card. Bryan may still get involved, but Reigns will most likely still pull out the win.
But, let’s dare to dream!
Winner: Erick Rowan

WWE Championship
Kofi Kingston Vs. Randy Orton

As mentioned in the SmackDown title match, this feels like a Legacy/Revival sweep sort of thing here. Kofi went so over Orton on Raw, that it feels like there’s no way he just goes over him clean on the PPV. I have to admit, I’m sort of cheering for Orton here because he’s speaking a lot of truths: they’ve shown that clip of Kofi leg-dropping Orton through that table ten years ago, like, every week since this feud started and it’s the only sliver of glory that Kofi leans on. We get it. You dropped Orton through a table and the crowd went crazy and you thought you were getting a World title push but didn’t. Alright, alright… But, Orton’s also gotta cut the “stupid” thing out. I realize writing this that I am very over this feud. End it already. I don’t care who goes over.
But, I still think all of The New Day takes a hit this Sunday.
Winner: Randy Orton

RAW Women’s Championship
Becky Lynch Vs. Sasha Banks

Ah, when backstage heat meets the ring. It’s a beautiful thing, isn’t it? These two are likely going to put on the match of the night, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see some colour maybe, with one girl bleeding hard-style. Sasha’s had a rocky rollout at as a top heel, but her in-ring storytelling will be better than her mic work, and Becky’s gonna bring it. With Sasha helping Bayley earlier in the night it retain her title against Charlotte, the favour has to be returned here. But… does that mean Charlotte gets involved too…? Are we setting up a Fatal Four-way here? Hell in a Cell is the next PPV… Damn.
Anyway, there’ll be some interference, and Sasha will capitalize.
Boss n’ Hug 4 Eva!
Winner: Sasha Banks

Universal Championship
Seth Rollins Vs. Braun Strowman

Well, after dropping their tag titles earlier both men are gonna be mad at one another and go after each other hard. It should be a good match, and it would be great to see Braun go over, but “The Fiend” has explicitly mentioned both these guys in the last two “Firefly Fun House” segments, so he’s getting involved somehow to lead to Hell in a Cell. That’ll be a hell of a way to end the night… get it?
Winner: No Contest 

Thoughts? How will the WWE landscape look heading into a massive week with NXT going live on Wednesday?
Comments are open!
 
 
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