7:03 am | June 21, 2019 | Go to Source | Author:
It’s easy to point to a lot of strange things the WWE does on a week-to-week basis that do little to instill confidence in the long-term creative plan. They change or shorten characters’ names on a whim while instituting a “1984”-esque doctrine to the commentary team to pretend as if nothing has changed or gone awry. Then, rather than tap into a plethora of pay-per-view brand names that have a rich history and fan investment, WWE ends up with shows with names like “Great Balls of Fire,” “Capitol Punishment” and Sunday’s “Stomping Grounds.”
Those seemingly insignificant missteps could be forgiven easily if that was the worst of it, but the combination of Raw and SmackDown, for the most part, has been a five-hour weekly slog over the last two months that has completely overshadowed the positive feelings fans had coming out of WrestleMania 35.
However, there may be a light approaching at the end of the tunnel. SummerSlam offers a target to plan toward, and the latest Raw and SmackDown offered many positive moments to build upon. We’ve yet to see Bray Wyatt or Aleister Black return to the ring, but both have been building up mystique and intrigue (albeit in drastically different ways). Ricochet has established himself as a bona fide star on the rise, WWE has tapped into some serious energy between Bayley and Alexa Bliss, and unlikely sources of hope like the 24/7 championship and the pairing of Bliss and Nikki Cross have made the last couple of weeks a much easier show to watch.
There are some serious creative questions that have to be answered — most specifically with how to handle the brand split, or by letting it simply dissolve with time. But for now, Stomping Grounds can be a helpful step in the right direction by settling rivalries that aren’t quite living up to the hype, breathing life into new possibilities and setting a course that could help steer the WWE back towards steadier seas as the summer rolls on. Many of these matches are rematches from Super Show Down, but those rivalries should still produce quality in the ring, and that’s the best fans can hope for.
Let’s break down the card.
Universal championship: Seth Rollins (c) vs. Baron Corbin (Corbin’s hand-picked special referee TBD)
Say what you want about WWE’s decision to line Baron Corbin up for title shots at back-to-back big shows, but there’s no ignoring that Corbin is an absolute magnet for hatred from almost every crowd — even if some want to classify it as “go-away” heat. Corbin held his own at Super Show-Down, and the hunt for a guest referee over the last couple of weeks has been a solid hook for both Corbin and Rollins to play off of.
Rollins has been able to lean into his more aggressive side with his attacks on anyone who appeared to be in line to assume the referee’s role, and while Corbin absorbed some of that punishment as well, Corbin got the last laugh as Raw went off the air.
Few expect Corbin to walk out of Stomping Grounds as Universal champion, but the looming presence of Brock Lesnar and the Money in the Bank briefcase has infused an urgency and an energy into every Rollins title defense. It seems unlikely that Lesnar would show up to a less significant show like Stomping Grounds, and yet, who’s to say how the ideal scenario could play out. It would be nice to shake Rollins free of Corbin once and for all after Sunday night, but a lot of that will likely depend on who ends up as the referee and how that affects the match itself.
Prediction: Bobby Lashley is the guest referee, but he’s taken out at a key moment and Rollins ultimately gets the pin when a second ref comes into play. Brock Lesnar stays away, for now.
Steel cage match for the WWE championship: Kofi Kingston (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler
Ending the rivalry between Kofi Kingston and Dolph Ziggler in a decisive way makes a lot of sense, and Ziggler’s promos in recent weeks have been a powerful reminder of just how much he’s capable of on the microphone when he gets a story and an opportunity he can sink his teeth into. The Super ShowDown match between Kingston and Ziggler was one of the highlights of the show, and the acrobatics that both men are capable of inside of a steel cage should only add to the stakes.
Giving Big E and Xavier Woods something else to do earlier in the night presents an opportunity for Kingston to cement his status as a worthy champion by standing on his own. Ziggler doesn’t have any lackeys to speak of at the moment, which likely means we won’t have to dig into the lengthy history of how steel cages don’t keep anyone in or out for very long. It feels like this would be a strange moment to end Kingston’s feel-good run, as he and the New Day have served as major anchors for SmackDown even in the rockiest of moments post-WrestleMania. But there will be at least one moment in this match in which Dolph and Kofi have you questioning that certainty.
Prediction: Kofi Kingston wins, both men fly from very high places.
SmackDown women’s championship: Bayley (c) vs. Alexa Bliss
Without getting too deeply into the mechanics of how Bliss, technically a Raw superstar, has lined up to challenge Bayley, the SmackDown women’s champion, this rivalry caught on fire in a hurry as one of the most intriguing attractions at Stomping Grounds. Bayley and Bliss crossed paths on occasion in NXT, and Bliss defeated Bayley in a short rivalry in mid-2017, but for the most part the stories surrounding their matches have been pretty straightforward and familiar.
By attempting to tap into something beneath the surface — in this case, Bliss’ assertions that Bayley isn’t quite the smiling, happy character she portrays in real life — this rivalry has tapped into an interesting energy between these two women. The absence of Sasha Banks isn’t something that’s been actively mentioned, but her presence (or lack thereof) hangs over this match in a big way. Social media and a history of subtweets between Banks, Bliss and Bayley have fans wondering how deep the actual animosity between these women goes, and that kind of blurring of lines between real and imaginary is usually a recipe for success.
Bayley has rarely gotten the better of Bliss since their NXT days, and Nikki Cross’ involvement, which has been a big positive for both her and this story in general, seems to tilt the scales in Bliss’ favor. But in terms of extending this rivalry and giving more depth to Bayley’s character, a win by less-than-above-board circumstances could throw gasoline on this fire and offer some strong possibilities for this story moving forward.
Prediction: Bayley wins, but in a way that might lend some weight to Alexa Bliss’ accusations.
Raw women’s championship: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Lacey Evans
If the conflict between Becky Lynch and Lacey Evans was all about social media snipes and sneak attacks, it would be pure gold. But that’s simply not how things work in the WWE. Lynch still has a strong connection with the WWE audience, but there’s little use in denying that her momentum has slowed significantly since her ultimate triumph in the main event of WrestleMania 35. First, it was keeping the albatross of the never-ending squabble with Charlotte Flair around her neck, but now it’s become a matter of most fans wanting to see her troubles with Evans end.
Lynch and Evans have invested themselves fully in this rivalry, but there simply hasn’t been enough buy-in from the audience in terms of Evans as a believable opponent and champion. That’s not to say that Evans lacks charisma in any way shape or form; it could be as simple as the audience not getting enough time or interaction to invest in Evans’ character in the 30 seconds she spent walking to and from the ring without saying anything for months on end. Give her some time to work her way up through the roster once her time opposite Lynch is over, and in time you’ll almost certainly have a character that fans hate as much, if not more, than Baron Corbin.
For now, Lynch needs to be able to go to war with a more experienced in-ring performer to find a story that fans can get into — because this isn’t it.
Prediction: Lynch wins in decisive fashion.
United States championship: Samoa Joe (c) vs. Ricochet
With the stop-and-start mess of Samoa Joe’s battle with Rey Mysterio behind us (for now), this is the perfect opportunity for someone like Ricochet to step forward and prove himself a worthy title contender. The contrasting styles of Ricochet and Samoa Joe should make for a fascinating match, and both long-time independent veterans have a long track record of thriving in these types of matchups. Shockingly, their paths never crossed before WWE, and before this month on a WWE Live event, they’d never faced off one-on-one.
Prediction: Samoa Joe retains, barely. Ricochet continues to prove himself as a generational star on the rise.
SmackDown tag team championship: Daniel Bryan & Rowan (c) vs. Heavy Machinery
WWE has only just scratched the surface of what it has in the giant ball of charisma that is Otis (don’t call him Dozovic). He and Tucker showed flashes in NXT, but their gimmick always seemed destined for bigger things on the main roster.
Their return to TV came in the same few week stretch in which The Revival returned to the spotlight (and became Raw tag team champions), AoP returned to TV, the Viking Raiders came back and the B-Team found a role, among others. I can only be fooled so many times, but perhaps tag team wrestling will stick around for a while now.
Prediction: Bryan & Rowan retain, but Heavy Machinery steps up in their biggest moment to date.
Triple threat match for the cruiserweight championship: Tony Nese (c) vs. Drew Gulak vs. Akira Tozawa
It’s hard to look at 205 Live and the matches they’ve put on in 2019 without wondering why more of the talent on that show hasn’t moved on to bigger and better things. According to various social media accounts from the talent themselves, there’s very little oversight and a wide open platform to experiment in their less-than-ideal time slot on the WWE Network. After five hours of Raw and SmackDown, it’s a lot to ask a WWE audience to squeeze in a sixth hour in two days on Tuesday nights to watch 205 Live.
Whether you watch live after SmackDown or on demand later in the week, you won’t be disappointed very often — the stars of the cruiserweight division put on some of the best matches every the week. Don’t let this one be your popcorn match. This triple threat is sure to deliver.
Prediction: Drew Gulak gets his long-overdue chance to reign as cruiserweight champion.
Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre
Drew McIntyre and Roman Reigns had the promise of something special heading into WrestleMania 35, but they had the unenviable task of following Kofi Kingston and Daniel Bryan’s WWE championship masterpiece (with a one-minute U.S. title match wedged in the middle). With a few months’ distance, some vulnerability for Reigns’ character and the most in-depth, cohesive story in WWE today centering around Reigns’ war with Shane McMahon, Drew McIntyre and The Revival, this, too, has a chance to be something special.
From a broad view, it feels like McIntyre is a stepping stone to Reign’s revenge tour against Shane McMahon. But the real potential of a straightforward McIntyre win — however unlikely — is nearly immeasurable in terms of what it could do for him in the long term.
Prediction: Roman Reigns wins.
Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens vs. Big E & Xavier Woods
We’ve seen a lot of variations on this match in recent weeks, but on the surface it would be hard for this match to be bad. After years of conflict and some uneasiness, fusing Zayn and Owens together as a rock-solid partnership would do wonders for tag-team wrestling in the WWE. A win here would lend some credence to the possibility.
Prediction: Zayn and Owens win, casting doubt on the New Day’s hopes for the evening, albeit temporarily.
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