For Raw, the segment and match we got from Kevin Owens this week gave an idea of what they have going forward with him. After obliterating Tyler Breeze, he finally explained why he decided to come back after quitting. Basically, current General Manager Baron Corbin explained how much they needed somebody like him on their show and emphasized that they will let him do whatever he wants. This is a Kevin Owens we should all look forward to seeing.
For Smackdown, the number one contenders match for the tag team championship was really good. It was the Bar vs. Rusev Day to determine who would face the New Day at the PPV. Rusev Day ended up winning in a great back and forth match. We already have seen the Bar vs. the New Day multiple times, so it is nice to see something new for the tag division. Along with that, this is the first time Rusev Day has had a two vs. two championship match.
The Bad
For Raw, the whole The Shield vs. Braun Strowman, Drew McIntyre, and Dolph Ziggler just isn’t clicking like it should. It was basically the same thing last week where they just brawl, then the Shield gets threaten to get thrown out of the building (this doesn’t work), and then they brawl all over again. This can work one week, but to do it all over again takes away the creativity to push the rivalries to make them more intriguing.
For Smackdown, the only problem Smackdown had going to this upcoming PPV is there is no challenger for Shinsuke Nakamura’s United States Championship. Since he has won it, he has only faced off against Jeff Hardy. Along with that, other than this week, we haven’t seen him on the show much. Hopefully, WWE can find something after Hell in a Cell because this championship should get more time than it does.
The Final Verdict
Overall, WWE did do a lot this week to build up Hell in a Cell. Both shows focused a lot on it, but Smackdown did a much better job of building up their matches than Raw did. With that said, Smackdown had the better show this week. Things are more exciting for Smackdown than Raw. Every rivalry has been well told and has gotten the proper time to build. In conclusion, the Hell in a Cell PPV should be fun to watch if it is a Smackdown match because the Raw matches do look good, but the buildup behind them doesn’t have the momentum they should.
AEW superstar Adam Cole has opened up about what he calls a “scary” recovery from a second concussion that he suffered at AEW and NJPW’s ‘Forbidden Door’ event back in June 2022, with Cole set to make his return to the ring soon.
Cole specifically talked about memory loss as the most troubling aspect of his recovery:
”The memory stuff is the really, really scary part to me” Cole said, during an appearance on Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t CagesideSeats). “When you’re in the middle of a ring and there’s thousands of people around you and I have no idea what I’m supposed to be doing. That was really scary. So, I knew pretty early on after my memory started going that something was wrong.”
Cole’s road to recovery as an especially long one.
“The crazy thing was that after even a month, it was like that’s when real serious side effects started happening” he said. “Everything I said in my return in-ring promo that I did all of that was true, and more. There was a lot of stuff that was happening very late into the healing process, or, what I thought was late, like a month-and-a-half, two months.”
Cole is gearing up for his return to AEW, with all signs pointing to him stepping back into the ring at Revolution next month.
NXT Vengeance Day was a rousing success for WWE on Saturday which saw a number of headlines come out of the event that was well-received by fans, including an injury suffered by Donovan Dijak during his match with Wes Lee for the North American Championship.
Dijak suffered an apparent broken finger during the match, which was seen on camera and shared on social media.
Following the event NXT general manager Shawn Michaels provided an update on Dijak, stating he did not suffer a broken finger – “Yeah, everybody is good” Michaels said. “I announced it at gorilla, it’s got to be a miracle, It’s not broken.
“We got him x-ray, they said it’s not broken and so yeah, I guess what you do is you kind of numb it and put it back in place and that’s what’s happening now. But it is, again, a modern miracle because we all saw it, it was pretty gnarly looking. But, apparently, he’s going to be okay, which is obviously fantastic news for us and him.”
AEW owner and booker Tony Khan is certainly open to the idea of AEW and WWE working together for a potential crossover supershow, despite Khan’s consistent blasting of WWE over the last few years.
“It’s something I would certainly be open to and I think it’s an interesting thing for the future” Khan said during an appearance on WTF with Marc Maron. “It’s not something that’s ever really been done. They’ve kind of existed in their own space. We are working with a lot of wrestling promotions.”
Khan’s AEW has already worked with a number of promotions such as Impact Wrestling and NJPW, and WWE has even warmed to the idea of working with other promotions, as they have with Impact Wrestling, NJPW, and NOAH recently.
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