THIS WEEK IN WRESTLING

September 26, 2018

The WWE continues to build towards the Super Showdown event in Melbourne on October 6^th.  The match between Kevin Owens and John Cena has been transformed into a tag team match between Kevin Owens and Elias against John Cena and Bobby Lashley.  I like the addition of Lio Rush as a mouthpiece for Bobby Lashley.  Rush has plenty of charisma, and can allow Lashley to do what he does best; be a powerhouse.  Kevin Owens in always gold in every segment he is in.

There was a tease throughout the night of whether Dean Ambrose would turn on The Shield, or whether Drew McIntyre would walk away from his alliance with Dolph Ziggler.  Neither of these occurred, and with the big six man match at Super Showdown between The Shield and Ziggler, McIntyre, and Braun Strowman; this week was not the time.  But the seeds have been sown.  I said last week the reformation of The Shield isn’t doing much for its members.  Roman still gets booed by adult males, Seth is still one of the best on the roster without being able to rise any higher, and Ambrose is just kinda there.

Smackdown provided much better story lines this week.  We now have the intrigue between Rusev, Lana and Aiden English, with a mystery of what happened in Milwaukee.  Aiden English says he will show video evidence next week.  A “Milwaukee” chant from the Denver crowd showed the fans are still invested in Rusev.

Becky Lynch continues to show her nasty side by interrupting a photo shoot for Charlotte, before beating Lana in a quick match.  We also saw Naomi and Asuka in a tag team.  I hope after the Charlotte feud is finished that both Naomi and Asuka get a chance to compete for the title.

Randy Orton continues to be in full heel renegade mode – his best mode of course.  He interrupted a match between Shinsuke Nakamura and Tye Dillinger, and went to town on Dillinger; later stating he doesn’t like the “Perfect 10” nonsense.  That Randy beat up Jeff Hardy while he was in a feud with Nakamura makes me wonder if the US Champion has not secretly hired Orton as an insurance policy.

The contract signing between AJ Styles and Samoa Joe didn’t eventuate, as Joe was seen on video outside of the Styles family home.  It was obviously a taped segment, and AJ got in the way a little in his delivery.  They have another show before Super Showdown, and I expect some sort of physical confrontation before they get on the plane for Australia.

A few minor points.  Great to see R Truth get some serious television time, even if it just to further the rivalry between The Miz and Daniel Bryan.  I’m surprised they haven’t brought up The Miz and R Truth once being tag team partners.  Where are the Usos?  I haven’t heard about any injuries, but with Harper and Rowan out, it leaves us with New Day and Sheamus and Cesaro which we’ve seen many times before.  Speaking of tag teams, since they lost the titles, Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel have hardly been sighted.  I hope creative has something else for them.  The Revival really stepped up this week though in their own tag team titles match.

You can read about the history between AJ Styles and Samoa Joe, as well as The Shield, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre and more here.