by Despite the show opening up with Roman Reigns getting ready to address the mystery driver issue, we all knew that would be held until the end of the show. Sure enough it was and it didn’t do to much to advance the storyline other than confuse everyone just a tad bit more.
To me, simply going off the slight angle we were all given last week of the driver, it seems clear as day that it is Luke Harper with his beard died. Fans must remember, the WWE has Hollywood quality make -up artists working for them, a little hair die and a new haircut, and suddenly the long lost Luke Harper becomes the Eric Rowan twin.
The first in ring action took place with a Randy Orton verbal attack on Kofi Kingston which led to a match with Big E later in the evening. The only good thing to come out of this seemingly forced altercation was the evolution of The Revival.
It was The Revival showing up to cost Big E his match against Randy Orton. The Revival needs to stay in the main event tag picture and hover around those titles.
The Revival is one of the most talented in ring and out of the ring teams on both rosters. With that being said, keep finding ways to keep them around.
This is also a good time to point out the disappearance of The Uso’s since their latest run in with the law. The Revival were the only ones to benefit for the Uso’s tendency to drive under the influence as it got them out of that terrible angel.
The WWE may not let The Miz win too many matches these days, but they seemed content keeping him on both Smackdown and RAW as much as possible. He fights on both shows and even though a title doesn’t seem to be in his future, that must look at him as a key figure.
This leads me to examine the brand split. Did they throw away the wildcard rule? Elias, The New Day, The Miz, Lacy Evans and The Revival all wrestle on both shows.
They don’t mention the rule anymore or the split. I’d have to believe this will switch with the move to FOX and they will begin to establish the blue brand to be its own unique format moving forward. Maybe not?
Speaking of Lacy Evans, it was nice to see her return tonight. She hadn’t been on TV in nearly 3 months and it was long overdue. She is immensely talented and can do so many things well. Don’t let the loss to Bayley fool you tonight, WWE creative still has a lot of faith in this young lass.
The best match of the night wasn’t even close to being touched when Ali defeated Buddy Murphy to advance to the second round of the King of the Ring Tournament.
Say what you want about the booking decision to put Ali over, you can’t deny the match was great. Another reason that the tournament should be a one-night PPV. That match was PPV worthy, make it special under the brightest lights.
The only issue I see is the possible burying of a surging Buddy Murphy. You can’t have him defeat Daniel Bryan then have him lose to Ali in 3 weeks’ time.
This match was drastically different then the other King of the Ring match tonight. Chad Gable took on Shelton Benjamin at 9:45 and we all know the show ends at 10pm with still the main event segment to go. That simple math right there tells you that you’re getting a less than 4 minute match.
The choice to put Gable over really doesn’t mean much either way because both of those guys shouldn’t have been in the tournament to begin with. That now being said, it almost seems like a lock that you will see Andrade advance over Gable next week.
That is, it for now, we will see you at ringside!
