2 weeks Ago By Graham GSM Matthews
Even with WWE Crown Jewel fast approaching, the card for Survivor Series on Nov. 30 is also gradually becoming clear with each passing week, specifically the WarGames main event that is expected to pit the current Bloodline against the O.G.
Bloodline. The conclusion of Friday's SmackDown saw Motor City Machine Guns upset Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa for the WWE Tag Team Championship with an assist from The Usos. That all but confirmed the brothers will be reuniting with Roman Reigns to battle The Bloodline inside the two cages.
That then begs the question of who they'll enlist to be their fourth man and who makes the most sense for the spot. All Elite Wrestling's own faction wars between Jon Moxley's crew and the rest of the roster have been the focal point of the promotion's programming as of late, but the reunited Hurt Business has been the biggest highlight. They're bound to continue carrying AEW TV if Bobby Lashley's arrival is imminent.
This installment of Quick Takes will delve into what AEW has delivered with MVP and Shelton Benjamin so far, which storyline isn't the answer to the company's recent creative woes, which outcome is a must for Crown Jewel, and more. Despite being rather rushed, the reunion of Roman Reigns and The Usos has made for must-see television on SmackDown over the last month heading into the always-anticipated WarGames main event at Survivor Series. The Bloodline consisting of Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa leaves one spot open for the Reigns-led squad.
Cody Rhodes would be a logical candidate given his successful pairing with The Original Tribal Chief at Bad Blood, but he should be busy defending the Undisputed WWE Championship on that show instead. Sami Zayn's own storied history with Reigns and The Usos makes him a much stronger choice for the fourth man. The four-time intercontinental titleholder recently fell short of dethroning Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship and hasn't been seen since, so incorporating him into the O.
G. Bloodline reunion would be an excellent use of him through Survivor Series. Zayn forgiving Reigns on the sooner side and agreeing to team with him would come at the expense of the story they've told up to this point, but no other alternative is as appealing.
Bronson Reed has been on the rise since viciously attacking Seth Rollins on the post-SummerSlam edition of Raw and putting him on the shelf for nearly two months. His subsequent feud with Braun Strowman allowed him to shine, and now his rivalry with The Visionary has resulted in him getting his most aggressive push yet in WWE. Simply sharing the ring with a multi-time WWE world champion isn't enough for Reed.
When they do battle at Crown Jewel, it's imperative that he goes over decisively. Booking Reed to lose so early in their storyline would immediately ruin any momentum he's managed to generate and establish him as being beneath Rollins, when The Visionary can easily afford the loss and bounce back with an eventual win. Rollins' road to WrestleMania 41 is seemingly set in stone with a program with CM Punk on the horizon, but the Australian's direction beyond this feud is a lot less certain.
Defeating a star the caliber of Rollins would ensure Reed stays toward the top of the card for the foreseeable future. Although AEW consistently knocks its pay-per-views out of the park, the weekly television shows remain a mess, with several storylines having yet to click the way they should. Of those the company is doing exceptionally well by at the moment, the Hurt Business reunion is chief among them.
MVP was criminally wasted as an on-air talent toward the end of his stint with WWE and had a lot more to offer in virtually any capacity. The same can be said about the amazingly agile Shelton Benjamin, who put pen to paper with AEW immediately after MVP did. Their interaction with Swerve Strickland at WrestleDream, combined with Benjamin's incredibly impressive in-ring showings on Dynamite in recent weeks, has made for one of AEW's most interesting storylines in some time.
Not only is Strickland vs. Benjamin on Wednesday's edition of Dynamite guaranteed to deliver, it could also mark the imminent debut of Bobby Lashley and the kickoff to his rivalry with Strickland. This is in addition to MVP attempting to scout and recruit as many up-and-coming stars as possible, and the potential for fresher faces to benefit there is limitless.
Monday's Raw will feature a Triple Threat tag team match to determine the next No. 1 contenders to the WWE World Tag Team Championship with The New Day, War Raiders and LWO's Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee set to take part. New Day should be considered the odds-on favorites with their 10-year anniversary as a team coming up in November, but War Raiders would be much better picks.
The former Viking Raiders returned to Raw two weeks ago and reverted to their previous personas from NXT. That provided them with their first major momentum boost in years and put them perfectly on the path toward regaining the gold. Raw's tag team division has been overlooked for long enough and needs a significant shake-up.
The Judgment Day haven't been defending champs and need to be beaten by a legitimate team that make the titles feel important again. The key will be the Raiders getting consistent television time during the two-hour era of Raw, especially if they do go on to capture the World Tag Team Championship. They've been underutilized or poorly portrayed for almost their entire main roster run, but it isn't too late for WWE to turn it around.
AEW's track record of experimenting with new storylines and stars to see what works and what gets over is commendable and has turned out to be successful more often than not throughout the promotion's existence. Unfortunately, its overreliance on everything involving Chris Jericho over the last year has not been one of those instances. His days leading The Inner Circle early on were entertaining and saw him doing some of the greatest work of his career.
Jericho Appreciation Society wasn't remotely as entertaining, but it didn't actively take away from the quality of the show the same way The Learning Tree has. The ROH World Championship being defended on Dynamite alone accomplishes little, but Jericho getting the belt back after holding it just two years ago is where the true issue lies, regardless of what the ultimate endgame is. AEW would have been better off splitting Big Bill from Jericho in the fallout from All In as no one has or is being elevated by his one-dimensional shtick and subpar storylines.
At a time when the company is struggling to find television time for a good chunk of its roster, going back to the well of Jericho so frequently isn't the answer. Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant , and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.
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