We’re into the heart of it now.
Gone is the allure of something new and the time to start quality shows is upon us. Both Raw and SmackDown Live embraced the concept of the new era by creating championship matches that fans have been clamoring for for quite some time!
Now it’s time to build those feuds.
Raw was up first with the much anticipated showdown between Seth Rollins and Finn Balor. While the promo was pretty solid, I thought the two left a little on the table. Maybe that’s a good thing – don’t give everything away up front and slow build to the match. Not sure if that is the best strategy those since the match is there are only two more Raw’s before SummerSlam.
SmackDown, on the other hand, knocked it out of the park. The Blue Show had the bigger task at hand. Dolph Ziggler has been stuck in mid-card purgatory for years now. SmackDown Live had a tall task in bringing him back to the main event level so quickly for such a big show.
Mission accomplished…well…so far.
To say the least, they are off to a great start. Right off the bat we got the passionate Ziggler promo that we have been waiting for. Ambrose and Ziggler went back and forth in a perfect way to hype up their title match. To those members of the WWE Universe that may not be as “in-tune” with the internet wrestling community, this promo alone would have helped quench any doubts for these two to put on a solid championship match at such a high-profile show.
The other main question that needed to be answered – what would be next for top stars on each show? For Raw, that question goes to Roman Reigns. For the first time since last October, Reigns is not involved in the WWE Championship picture after losing to Balor last week. We found out what was next for “The Guy” as he interrupted an anti-American rant from United States Champion Rusev. The crowd gave Reigns the usual round of boos, probably because everyone feels they have to at this point, but this will be a solid match and a great way to help add even more credibility to the US Title.
For SmackDown – what to do with Bray Wyatt? Wyatt served as the jobber to help boost Ziggler’s credibility this week, though the post match actions with him and fellow family member Erik Rowan make it seem like Wyatt could have a hand in this title picture after all. It will probably just end up being a tag match with the two against Ziggler and Ambrose next week, but time will tell.
So, taking all things into account, the winner of week 2 is … … …
CURRENT SCORE – RAW – 1 SMACKDOWN LIVE – 1
SmackDown pulls off the upset! Even though Daniel Bryan doesn’t really know who is on is roster by saying that the triple threat match would be Baron Corbin vs Kalisto vs Apollo … Creed … hhmmm … (yeah, I don’t have the heart to suggest Bryan watch Rocky IV for one of many reasons why this was off) and two woman’s matches lasting a combined total of ZERO minutes and ZERO seconds, SmackDown comes out on top. Even with Enzo Amore being the entertaining little muppet that he is (meant in a VERY good way!) the faceoff between Randy Orton and Brock Lesnar puts SmackDown over the top. Not only have they done a great job building this match, but they have also managed to add in the aspect of possible brand warfare with stars on each show appearing on the other show. Hopefully that will be just the start.
WE’RE ALL TIED UP! WHO WILL TAKE THE LEAD NEXT WEEK? DO YOU THINK WE ARE ON THE BRINK OF A FULL RAW VS SMACKDOWN BATTLE? FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @FROM_THETOPROPE AND LET US KNOW!
