With Night of Champions just a couple weeks away, each and
every piece of WWE programming between now and then will be of the
utmost importance. That is especially true of Monday's edition of RAW as
there is plenty of storyline development left to be done between now
and Sept. 16.
The main thing that fans have been talking about all
week is CM Punk's dismantling of Jerry "The King" Lawler last week
following their steel cage match. Punk took one giant leap toward
cementing his heel status, and although he may try to explain his
actions on Monday, I'm sure John Cena will have a rebuttal.
Also, Daniel Bryan and
Kane
attended their first anger management session last week and more
hijinks are certain to ensue on Monday. Bryan and Kane were told to have
their anger collages ready and I'm sure most fans can't wait to see
that.
Those are the main angles to keep an eye on this week, but
there is also a feud brewing between RAW general manager A.J. Lee, and
many more matches need to be determined for Night of Champions from
Boston in two weeks.
Here are the top five things you should be watching for as you enjoy the Sept. 3 episode of Monday Night RAW on Labor Day.
How Will John Cena Respond to CM Punk's Actions from Last Week?
Two weeks ago, WWE Champion CM Punk kicked Jerry "The King"
Lawler in the head when he refused to call the champ the best wrestler
in the world. That came on the heels of an apology from King for
claiming that Punk had turned his back on the WWE Universe. Similarly,
Lawler wanted an apology from Punk last week.
Instead, Punk
challenged Lawler to a match, and the WWE Hall of Famer uneasily
accepted. Punk defeated Lawler with the Anaconda Vice and proceeded to
lock himself in the steel cage with Lawler after the match. Punk beat
down Lawler as he still refused to call Punk the best in the world. John
Cena got the cage raised, but Punk escaped and stood tall as the show
closed.
It was announced last week that Cena and Punk would indeed
do battle over the WWE Championship at Night of Champions in Cena's
hometown, so the leader of the Cenation will most definitely have
something to say about Punk's attack this week.
Punk has
maintained that he hasn't turned his back on the WWE Universe and that
everything he has done over the past several weeks has been done in
order to get the respect he deserves. Cena continues to try and expose
Punk for what he really is, so it will be interesting to see how their
exchange goes on Monday.
What Is Next for Daniel Bryan and Kane at Anger Management?
Last week, Daniel Bryan and Kane were both forced to attend
anger management classes by RAW general manager and former girlfriend
A.J. Lee. It started with Bryan venting his frustrations, but things got
even more entertaining when Kane entered and told his disturbing life
story. It seems like last week's class only scratched the surface,
however.
Bryan and Kane were told to prepare anger collages for
this week, which I can only assume are posters cluttered with pictures
of things that make Bryan and Kane angry. I can't even begin to imagine
how hilarious those collages are going to be and I'm expecting this
week's class to top last week's even though lofty standards have been
set.
I have been saying since their match at SummerSlam that Bryan
and Kane would form a tag team and I still believe that is on the verge
of happening. Both Bryan and Kane have had anger relapses over the past
week, so I anticipate them having to stay after class in order to get a
little extra help.
Perhaps that can lead to them finding some
common ground and realizing that they aren't so different after all.
Then they can both beat up Harold and form the most dominant tag team in
the WWE. This anger management angle has to be leading somewhere, and I
believe that is the endgame.
Will the A.J. Lee vs. Vickie Guerrero Feud Be Furthered?
Dolph Ziggler's manager, Vickie Guerrero, has had some very
disparaging things to say about RAW GM A.J. Lee over the past couple
weeks, and things came to a head last week. Following a divas match won
by Layla, Guerrero decided to enter the ring and air her grievances
about the general manager, but A.J. didn't simply sit idly by.
She
skipped to the ring in her usual jovial manner and took the microphone
from Vickie, but instead of retorting with words, she delivered a stiff
slap to Vickie's face and proceeded to attack her. Vickie escaped as
A.J. flashed one of her signature unstable smiles. It looks like a
possible match between the two could be in the works in the very near
future.
Vickie's issue with A.J. is that she forced Ziggler to put
his Money in the Bank contract on the line against Chris Jericho a
couple weeks ago. Ziggler won, but Vickie thought it was unfair of A.J.
to use her power so recklessly.
I feel like A.J. and Vickie may
have a match at Night of Champions with the stipulation being that if
Vickie wins, then she replaces A.J. as the RAW general manager. If A.J.
wins, however, then Vickie must cease managing Ziggler. That would
create a storyline reason for Dolph to go off on his own. Perhaps there
will be some movement on that front this week.
Who Will Be The Miz's Next Challenger?
Since returning from filming The Marine 3, The Miz has
been extremely entertaining and has done some excellent work in the
ring. That was evident at SummerSlam as Miz retained his
Intercontinental Championship against Rey Mysterio in a match that many,
myself included, considered to be the best worked bout of the night.
Despite Miz's fine work as of late, he really doesn't have much going on
right now.
Miz lost to John Cena on RAW last week, and although
he looked solid in a losing effort, the Intercontinental Champion should
constantly be losing matches. The main issue is that he isn't involved
in any type of feud whatsoever and there are only two weeks remaining
until Night of Champions where he will have to defend his title yet
again.
I wouldn't mind seeing him and Mysterio have another match
as they have really good chemistry together in the ring, but Mysterio
just returned from a concussion and seems to be getting involved with
Sin Cara in a team capacity. Aside from Mysterio, though, I don't know
who Miz could possibly face.
Christian remains a possibility as he
is on the scrap heap at the moment, but Miz has already beaten him on a
couple of occasions. I'm not sure what the plan is for the IC title,
but hopefully the writers figure something out this week.
Will the Tag Team Championship Situation Be Resolved?
Many rumors insist that Triple H is interesting in revitalizing
the tag-team division, so I have been keeping a close eye on the Tag
Team Championship scene over the past couple weeks. Kofi Kingston and
R-Truth have held the straps for the past few months, but they seem like
little more than placeholder champions. That is why Night of Champions
can be a major turning point with regards to the division.
Fringe
teams like the Prime Time Players, Primo and Epico, Tyson Kidd and
Justin Gabriel and The Usos have been vying for a title shot, but I'm
hoping that some more substantial teams come to light on RAW. I'm
totally on board for a partnership between Daniel Bryan and Kane, and I
could also see Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara teaming up.
I'm not sure
if they'll make their presence felt on Monday, but it's a possibility.
I'm guessing that there will be a multi-team match at Night of Champions
such as a tag-team turmoil. That will allow the lower-level teams to
compete, but Kane and Bryan or Mysterio and Sin Cara can enter as well.
I
have always been an absolutely huge fan of tag-team wrestling, so I
sincerely hope that it continues to be a priority moving froward.
Photo courtesy of WWE.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment