WWE paints San Diego red when Raw comes to town on June 25.
The Headliner(s)
WWE’s next pay-per-view (PPV) on July 15 will feature a rematch for the Women’s Title, but it won’t be between the two people who had a surprisingly good match at Money in the Bank. It will be between the pair who had a surprising match, though. It will also be a rematch from WrestleMania 34, and after a cash-in, we’re right back to the same champ/challenger designations with Alexa Bliss defending against Nia Jax.
Question is... do folks care about that rivalry?
It wasn’t clear a lot of people did coming out of New Orleans. Jax’s triumphant babyface promo wasn’t well-received, and her run as champ wasn’t exactly setting the world on fire. Business gradually picked up after she challenged Ronda Rousey at the NBC Upfronts, and their match in Chicago received a lot of praise.
Similarly, the opening segment of last Monday’s show generated a ton of buzz, as Rousey went through General Manager Kurt Angle and whoever else tried to stop her from putting Little Miss Bliss through a table. Not present for any of it? Nia.
Now, thanks to a 30 day suspension handed down by Angle as a result of that scene, we’re being told we won’t see either Jax or Alexa on screen with Ronda until after Extreme Rules. We think... Rowdy is still advertised for Valley View Casino Center tonight and she’s wrestling in Madison Square Garden in two weeks, but all signs from WWE indicate she won’t be on television until after July 18.
But kayfabe rules are made to be broken, especially by someone they’re working to get over as Stone Cold-meets-Brock Lesnar. We should be reminded of that early and often in the short time between now and the PPV in Pittsburgh next month. The threat of a Rousey run-in will not only keep heat on a feud fans have already seen and didn’t love that much the first time around. It will also keep anticipation high for SummerSlam, where Rowdy will face either or both these women for the title in Brooklyn.
The title scene
A multi-person match on July 15 will determine who will next challenger for Lesnar’s Universal Championship. Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley are already in that fight. WWE.com’s official preview for this week is teasing more names will be announced, but who? Elias has already called sung out The Beast. And I’d expect a bunch of names to come from the Braun Strowman/Finn Bálor/Kevin Owens/Constable Corbin program that kicked off last Monday. Not that Mr. Monster in the Bank Strowman needs another way to earn to a title shot...
Tonight’s main event - or at least the only match announced in advance - is Seth Rollins calling his contractual rematch shot at Intercontinental Champ Dolph Ziggler. The Kingslayer was shockingly defeated by The Show-Off last week, and unless he has an answer for Drew McIntyre, he’ll probably be defeated again... just not that shockingly, this time. Hey, Dean Ambrose? How’s that rehab coming? Where’s Jason Jordan at? Anybody want to help an Architect out?
Speaking of partners, Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas proved they can impersonate Tag Team Titleholders The Deleters of Worlds. Now, can they beat Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt? And when might we get to find out? The B-Team have officially been #1 contenders for a while now...
Other stuff to keep an eye on:
- My defeatist attitude about the Sasha Banks and Bayley program got some Cagesiders as riled up as The Boss after a tag loss to Riott Squad. We’ll start to see how big a deal Banks and her frenemy The Hugster can make their rivalry when we see how they follow up their latest backstage brawl.
- Bobby Roode, Jinder Mahal and Mojo Rawley all picked up televised singles wins on the Money in the Bank fallout show. Yeah, we don’t know what that means either.
Three weeks until Extreme Rules!
What will you be looking for on Raw tonight?