As a gamer who’s seen his fair share of wrestling games and lived through the real-life drama that unfolds in the WWE, I can confidently say that the upcoming WWE Bad Blood is shaping up to be a spectacle worthy of our collective attention.
Under the leadership of Triple H, WWE’s creative team has been blessed with an abundance of talent to work with. Since taking full creative control in January, Paul “Triple H” Levesque has been gradually reshaping WWE’s premium live events. While the major shows still feature a large portion of the roster, smaller events typically only have five matches. This change has opened up opportunities for many stars to shine in main event spots. In just the past five months, Damian Priest, Solo Sikoa, Logan Paul, AJ Styles, and current WWE World Heavyweight Champion Gunther have all been headliners at these premium live events.
As a passionate fan, I can’t help but notice an interesting pattern across all those iconic wrestlers – their rivalries were intense enough to make you think the show should have ended there. Yet, there was one constant absence that united them all: the Big Dog, none other than Roman Reigns, wasn’t part of the picture.
Following his historic 1,316-day reign as the Uncontested WWE Universal Champion coming to an end at WWE WrestleMania 40, the Tribal Leader took a four-month break. He eventually resurfaced at WWE SummerSlam in August, stepping up to address “Tribal matters,” attacking the self-styled Tribal Chief, Solo Sikoa. The conflict between Reigns and The New Bloodline has persisted on WWE SmackDown in the weeks since, reaching a climax this past Friday when a bout was agreed upon for a match at WWE Bad Blood: Sikoa and Jacob Fatu versus Reigns and the current WWE Champion, Cody Rhodes.
WWE Bad Blood’s Embarrassment of Riches
At WWE Bad Blood, Reigns returns to the ring after a six-month hiatus for a match that continues the ongoing saga of The Bloodline Civil War, a storyline that was prominent at WWE Money in the Bank 2023 and WWE SummerSlam 2023. Interestingly, this will mark the first time Reigns and Rhodes team up, reminiscent of WWE Survivor Series 2011 when iconic rivals The Rock and John Cena united.
Nevertheless, the main event for this match isn’t intended to be WWE Bad Blood. The primary position is reserved for CM Punk and Drew McIntyre instead.
The rivalry between Punk and McIntyre stands out as one of the most distinctive feuds in recent times. In January, McIntyre inflicted a genuine injury on Punk by executing a FutureShock DDT that ruptured Punk’s triceps. As Punk worked towards recovery, he periodically made appearances on WWE programming, disrupting McIntyre’s title matches at WrestleMania 40, Clash at the Castle, and Money in the Bank events.
McIntyre and Punk engaged in a six-month back-and-forth battle before they squared off at WWE SummerSlam, the longest-running feud since Rock vs. Cena in the early 2010s. These two fierce adversaries have gone head-to-head on two occasions so far, each claiming a single victory. Neither of their matches served as the main event for the pay-per-view events they were held on, which was only natural given that WWE SummerSlam featured the WWE Championship match between Cody Rhodes and Solo Sikoa, while WWE Bash in Berlin ended with Gunther defending his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Randy Orton. In the Triple H-led era, championship matches take priority.
The Roman Reigns (Now-Defunct) Rationale
For the last four years, Roman Reigns has consistently justified his position. Spanning 1,316 days, he held the world championship title unchallenged until a second one was introduced in the final year of his reign. Exceptions were made only at the WWE Royal Rumble event, where the main attraction is the battle royal match. Even when teaming up for tag matches or headlining over Seth Rollins’s WWE World Heavyweight Championship defenses, the focus always returned to his unprecedented title-holding tenure as a justification for his prominent placement on the card.
As WWE prepares for WWE Bad Blood, an important question arises: Which competitor stands to gain more and which stands to lose more in securing the main event slot between Reigns and Rhodes, two undeniable generational talents whose rivalry mirrors The Rock vs. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. With their recent headlining performances at multiple editions of WWE WrestleMania against each other, how much luster do they add to a B-tier premium live event by closing it? Conversely, how much impact does being the penultimate match have on their respective star power?
Punk vs. McIntyre’s Headline-Demanding Blood Feud
Let’s examine the match between Punk and McIntyre. These two competitors are about to shatter the final barrier, reaching the same star status as Reigns or Rhodes. A significant step towards that level could be leading a high-priced live event, not just appearing in one. But we’re talking about more than just headlining – they should be the main event instead of Reigns and Rhodes. This would demonstrate to the fans that their rivalry is so monumental it even outranks the company’s top money-makers in terms of importance.
It’s important for WWE to cultivate numerous main event stars instead of replicating the John Cena situation from the late 2000s and early 2010s. CM Punk, who lived this reality himself, was overshadowed when he won the WWE Championship but was placed in a secondary match at WWE Survivor Series 2012 against The Miz and R-Truth, while Cena and Rock’s high-profile non-title rivalry took center stage. During Summer 2012, even Cena’s feuds with Big Show and then-WWE general manager John Laurinaitis received more attention than Punk’s popular matches against Daniel Bryan. One wonders how much less relevant Cena might have become if he had appeared lower on the card. Conversely, how much larger could Punk and the WWE Championship have grown if they had headlined some of those pay-per-views?
Match order communicates investment to fans. Main events matter. And the only way WWE can continue to create main-eventers is by putting them in that very spot.
WWE Bad Blood goes down on Saturday, October 5th.
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2024-09-16 21:10