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Mishal: Top 5 Ways to Fix WWE Monday Night Raw

Mishal takes a long hard look at WWE Monday Night Raw to see the Top 5 things that could fix the show that’s seemingly at a crossroads.

Published

4 years ago

September 25, 2020

Chairshot

Mishal takes a long hard look at WWE Monday Night Raw to see the Top 5 things that could fix the show that’s seemingly at a crossroads.

WWE RAW is at a crossroads right now, both in terms of TV ratings as well as the reception it receives from both fans & critics alike on practically a weekly basis at this point.

In fact, for the longest time, it’s looked like Monday Night RAW has been in desperate need of a revamp from the ground up. RAW has been on the air for over 27 years as of this writing and with no offseason, breaks or some kind of ‘seasonal’ break from programming or storylines, it’s almost inevitable that the show hits its fair share of bumps in the road from time to time. This isn’t necessarily anything new either for the company’s flagship show as in the past RAW has been a victim of circumstance, bad booking & just an overly saturated product with no clear direction in mind, which is what we’re currently seeing play out in front of our eyes.

From its presentation, storylines, characters, match structure or overall flow over the course of almost 3 hours every single week, RAW to put it quite simply, just isn’t giving off the excitement it sells itself as having to the core WWE fanbase or the more casual audience. Alongside the global pandemic, the product just hasn’t found the groove other brands have surrounding them, even at a point in time. Fellow WWE brands such as NXT or SmackDown have found ways to innovate or present their storylines at such an odd time, where other promotions such as AEW or TNA (which people really need to give a second chance) have gone a long way to keeping their product fresh & interesting without fans in attendance up to previous capacity prior to March of this year.

Due to the brand creative direction it brought us here, amidst this being one of the hot topics the online wrestling community has to discuss considering that without RAW, the wrestling landscape as we know it would likely not exist in the way it does. Fans are simply frustrated at all the inconsistency, the lack of investment in the future & the fact that week in & week out, RAW seems like a show with so little consequence many (myself included) barely feel the urge to even catch up with the show’s events on YouTube shortly after.

Today, I wanted to take a look at how Monday Night RAW can fix the fundamental issues it has, from the perspective of a wrestling fan since the age of 5 & a viewer of RAW since roughly 2000.

RAW has become a staple in professional wrestling for many, especially those invested in North American wrestling, so it’s only right that something of this much significance garners the reaction it has been getting from fans & critics alike because anyone who loves this industry wants this show to progress in a way that attracts new fans, not isolate them even further.

5. 50/50 Booking MUST die

I’d make the argument that within modern-day WWE, the very notion of ”50/50 booking” is the single biggest momentum killer the company continues to utilize to this very day, with no clear signs of stopping despite the condition of the younger talent pool at their disposal.

More than anything 50/50 booking doesn’t just create mass inconsistencies on a booking level, allowing no star aside from a select few to look in any way, shape or form dominant but it hampers the very strategy needed to create the next megastar that Vince McMahon himself has been intent on creating for so very long within his own company. Entertainment, in general, is all about consistency, constantly making your top representation look at their very best. Whether that be through victories, big wins over established talent or a firm presence at the top of various respective cards, a bigtime talent that’s on the verge of breaking the proverbial ”glass ceiling” can’t do so if he/she isn’t given the brightest spotlight to shine on.

50/50 booking doesn’t just dismantle momentum, it gives fans one more reason to stop caring about investment, long or short term in any manner. Why would fans invest their time into someone a creative team is putting for when the result is more often than not the same, the time they spend with the character amounts to absolutely nothing of value to the present or future.

4. Put long-term storytelling at the forefront

As I just mentioned, fans love some long-term storytelling in entertainment. The best shows from Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, The Sopranos, The Wire or the copious numbers of comic-book shows that exist all excel at one thing, a big payoff down the line that keeps everyone wanting to come back for more.

With WWE and RAW, in particular, the opposite is the reality. Short-term, non-essential ratings boosts are a constant priority on the program. This could come to a variety of methods, from the recent use of ”In Your Face” to compete with the presence of Monday Night Football, the random use of legends across the show, unannounced brand crossover appearances or random celebrity involvement, all of this is fine under a certain context but when it practically fills in any kind of storytelling to plan for the future, there’s a fundamental problem at hand. Not just a structural problem, but a clear misunderstanding of what made the company so good in the past.

Having a long-term plan & vision for your stars is the key to essentially anything if you want success. Fans & critics alike want their time & effort put to good use, so the payoffs are handled well, new talents rise from the outcome & there are a plethora of new stories to tell off the back of others once they’re said & done. At its peak, WWE had some of the best long-term bookings from any company under the sun, but nowadays with the likes of AEW thriving with this strategy, the cracks are showing on a product that just doesn’t demand your attention span outside of WrestleMania season.

3. Utilize your roster

Without question, the current crop of WWE talent might be the most potential-filled in company history, at least to some degree.

Whether it’s Randy Orton, Drew McIntyre, Asuka, Shayna Baszler, The Hurt Business, Ricochet, Apollo Crews, Andrade, Angel Garza, Keith Lee, The Street Profits, Dolph Ziggler or dozens of others, it’s clear that with a working understanding of professional wrestling, a creative mindset & the will to build towards the future rather than further establish the past as dominant as they once were, you could have something very special on your hands.

WWE’s roster is crammed with talent across all brands that are constantly being undermined or underutilized. Simply naming storylines such as RETRIBUTION, virtually everything surrounding the program’s presentation of its female talent, Andrade & Angel’s constant break-ups that amount to nothing, a virtually non-existent tag team scene begging for energy or the unusually strange booking of a powerhouse like Keith Lee are all just scraping the surface of what is stacked roster of talent that is simply directionless. Of all these major storylines it’s unlikely that any of them will lead to a bigger, more prosperous moment considering the track record the company has developed with its own fans.

By simply putting the talent you have in storylines & alongside characters that bounce off of each other dynamics will give a good chunk of the audience that remains something to take interest in. Rather than watch a product that tries to benefit everyone, but ends up benefiting nobody on a weekly basis.

2. RAW’s commentary needs an overhaul

I’ll make this quick to avoid an overabundance of negativity, especially since this entry seems more personal than a reflection of what many are saying in regards to this topic, but RAW’s commentary team needs a desperate overhaul.

Generally, a commentary team is there to do what’s in the very word, comment. Rather than describe what’s on-screen or relevant to the stories being told, but in the case of RAW, in particular, you can hardly call the commentary even play-by-play at times. Despite Samoa Joe being the saving grace behind the desk the voices that tend to guide us through RAW seem to be keener on exposition rather than substance or calling the action, instead becoming a distraction more than a set of people who try to get us invested on what we’re being presented.

The same criticism can be levelled at the likes of Michael Cole & Corey Graves over on SmackDown, who rarely call the action but rather ramble on and a lot of the time, detract what could be a set of solid performances in the ring. Rather than have the commentary team act more like a discussion forum, having them invest & add to the program, storylines & characters (much like a company like AEW or NJPW does) would even add a unique dynamic for fans rather than be a vapid voice that adds nothing to their viewing experience.

1. Pacing is everything

Pacing is everything when it comes to professional wrestling. It’s the key to crafting a good, and more importantly, an excellent show for the audience to receive.

Achieving good pacing is essential when it comes to how your show is structured, how matches play out, how storylines unfold or how the big moments that every story thread has come across to the audience. Once the pacing of a show or event is compromised, there is rarely a level of talent that could save that sinking ship that you’ve put on course, because a product with no clear plan will never fully formulate in anyone’s mind.

RAW has a pacing problem, a bad one. A problem that isn’t just in need of fixing instantly, it should be a problem we echo from the rafters. Fans deserve better than a constant overabundance of DQ finishes, distractions from the dreaded ”outside interference”, constant interruptions that treat fans like the idiots the company clearly thinks we are & a product that is simply throwing ideas at a wall to see what sticks. Nothing about Monday Nights feels structured anymore, every week is one big catastrophe after another in terms of booking because so little carries over into the next series of events.

Even in terms of pacing, RAW rarely has a constant strand of consistency flowing from it week to week, with a lot of character writing, turns, match results & change in the structure of the show is either abandoned or sidelined because of how randomized a lot of each weeks events feel.

A show as scattered as the one we see on a weekly basis is almost impossible to retain a returning audience from, because what is the audience returning for?

Fans like myself tune into wrestling to get excited, overwhelmed & have their jaw dropped, not angered out of utter confusion for what they’re being pushed by a creative team who seem to spend most their time trying to appeal to what’s ”hip” at the moment, rather than something they can present and build to a satisfying conclusion down the line. I hate saying all these things about Monday Night RAW, I really do, it just hurts seeing a show as historically significant become a shell of its former self.

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

Related Topics:Featured Featured Big Raw Top 5 WWE

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Greg DeMarco’s WWE Stand & Deliver 2024 Results & Review

It’s that time of year again–time for WWE NXT Stand & Deliver! Greg DeMarco is here with your results and his review of NXT’s biggest event!

Published

3 weeks ago

April 7, 2024

Greg DeMarco

WWE NXT Stand & Deliver Roxanne Perez Women's Champion

It’s that time of year again–time for WWE NXT Stand & Deliver! Greg DeMarco is here with your results and his review of NXT’s biggest event!

As everyone gears up for WrestleMania, the NXT Universe (?) gets ready for their WrestleMania, Stand & Deliver! Shawn Michaels has been less HBK and more HBCook lately, delivering some of the best booked shows found anywhere on Tuesday nights.

I fully expect that to carry over–but let’s see it in action!

Countdown Match – Shawn Spears vs. Joe Gacy

As much as I really wanted “The Ten Guy” back, I have enjoyed Shawn Spears run back in NXT. Also interesting to see Wade Barrett on commentary alongside Vic Joseph and Booker T, which makes me expect the ‘Mania call will be handled by Michael Cole, Corey Graves, and Pat McAfee.

Ridge Holland, who had joined the Kickoff panel, had to be held back during Shawn Spears’ entrance, then attacked Joe Gacy with a chair during his own entrance. Storylines in every element of the show–that is how it’s done!

Also interesting to see Gacy bring back little facets of The Schism with the mask and the smiley face on his knee pad. Makes me wonder what the long term plan is for him (either on NXT or the main roster), as he is crazy entertaining (and crazy, and entertaining).

Stream of consciousness:

Thank Randy Orton cares that Spears used the Hangman DDT? Something tells me Randy doesn’t.
Joe Gacy is so damn talented and moves so well for his size and perceived conditioning.
Shawn Spears is a 22-year veteran of the ring, and it shows in all of the little things he does, especially the non-verbals.
Gacy, mind you, is an 18-year veteran himself, let’s not forget that.
Didn’t expect that result, especially after Ridge attacked Gacy on his way to the ring.

Winner via pinfall: Joe Gacy

Highly entertaining match that fits anywhere: Countdown To Stand & Deliver, NXT TV match, NXT TV main event, PLE main card match, and would work on Raw or Smackdown. Very intrigued to see what happens next for both of these guys.

WWE NXT Stand & Deliver 2024

As usual, I am watching this on a delay (west coast time, and I’ve gots a family!). I am fairly capable of staying spoiler free as I start (I did get one result spoiled for me, but it is what it is). But I did see that the event drew 16,545 fans, which is amazing (and a record for NXT). For perspective, last year’s event with the same name drew 7,584. For those of you who, like me, try to apply some math to these things, that’s double +18% (or 215% of last year’s attendance).

Job well done by all involved.

Once again… #WWENXT delivered.

An incredible show, with a record-setting number of @WWEUniverse members in attendance. Congrats to the Superstars, and the crew members behind the scenes, who helped set the tone for the biggest #WrestleMania Weekend EVER. #StandAndDeliver pic.twitter.com/JiAypgi2MW

— Triple H (@TripleH) April 6, 2024

Very much enjoyed the opening video (that I presume we watched as Meta Four made their way to the ring), where there went through all of the major settings and storylines in NXT and here tonight.

I was wrong, Meta Four stayed by the entrance. Great to see that huge crowd on camera. The business is so hot right now.

NXT Tag Team Championship Match – Axion & Nathan Frazer vs. Baron Corbin & Bron Breakker (champions)

Greg’s pre-show prediction: Nathan Frazer & Axiom win the tag team titles.

Extremely excited to see Axiom & Frazer get the nod to be in this match when you had The LWO, The Good Brothers, and Alpha Academy all as possible participants as recently as this past Tuesday. Not so sure they will get the win, but you never know with Baron Corbin having been back down in NXT for a while now, and Breakker already a member of the Smackdown roster.

Hot start to the match (and PLE) with multiple dives from the challengers.
Breakker is so damn good with less than 4 years in the business. He was truly born with it.
Interesting fact from Vic that Breakker has never won at Stand & Deliver. Of course, in 2022 he won two nights later on Raw.
Wade Barrett speaks! I forgot he was on commentary. It’s hard when Vic & Booker do this together every week. And Booker talks a lot–and for a long time.
Axiom & Frazer really do make a fantastic team. If they don’t win tonight, I wonder where they fit in. Because they are so damn good.
Hell of a Frankensteiner, not sure what Corbin was supposed to do with it.
“Justified” This Is Awesome chants, as Tony Khan would say.
BARON CORBIN WITH THE USO SPLASH!!!
Tons of near-falls in this match. HBK letting these boys go!
Spear ends it, I’m surprised Bron didn’t get to score the fall since he’s never done that at Stand & Deliver.

Winners via pinfall, AND STILL your NXT Tag Team Champions: The Wolf Dogs

Outstanding opener, crowd was way into everyone. But, man, Bron Breakker is on a completely different level. That man is going to deliver one hell of a WrestleMania main event some day.

WWE NXT North American Championship: Dijak vs. Josh Briggs vs. Oba Femi (champion)

Greg’s pre-show prediction: Oba Femi retains the NXT North American Championship

Given the copious number of nearfalls in the opener, I expected the six-woman tag here. But, hey, this card is stacked, so obviously we need to place that elsewhere. I love all three guys in this match, and I really think Josh Briggs is likely going to get called up in the next draft. But man, Oba Femi is a damn star! He might in one of those WrestleMania main events with Bron Breakker that I referenced earlier.

This match is sponsored by Knuckles, on Paramount+, by the way. Weird to see a Paramout+ sponsorship on a show streaming on Peacock, but here we are!
That Knuckles banner is literally duct-taped to the floor! That’s always a funny aspect of Stand & Deliver, some of the main production elements are already set-up in the stadium.
The Man of Mayhem definitely brings that when he flip-chokeslams Dijak from the top rope to (through?) Oba Femi, who was seated (literally) on the floor.
Briggs, by the way, is an 8-year veteran of the ring (that surprises me, I thought he had more), and Dijak has 11. Femi, of course, has about 15 matches. Which is absolutely insane.
Looking up those years, I had the result of this match spoiled for me, but I am totally fine with that. That result was expected!
Interesting for Barrett to point out that some refs won’t allow getting your foot on the ropes to break up a pin in a Triple Threat Match. All the years I have been watching this stuff, I haven’t heard that.
~~SUPERKICK~~BIG BOOT PARTY!
Dijak and Briggs doing the majority of the heavy lifting in this one, and putting on a performance reminiscent of Dijak and Keith Lee.
NOW THAT WAS A TOWER OF DOOM SPOT.
I can’t even describe it, you just have to see it. INSANE.
If I ever rewatch this match, I am counting the number of Big Boots.
Feast Your Eyes on a 300 lb man!
Crowd was NOT HAPPY about Briggs pulling the ref out. I thought it was brilliant.
“Justified” This Is Awesome chants, as Tony Khan would say.
That camera shot was AMAZING.

Winner via pinfall on Briggs, AND STILL your NXT North American Champion: Oba Femi

What a match! Seriously, one hell of a classic put on by all three men. All props to Dijak and Josh Briggs, who really need to have great runs on the main roster.Man, this company is LOADED with talent right now. Where do you fit everybody? It feels like they need a third main roster brand.

Meta Four (unsuccessfully) trying to get interviews is very, very entertaining.

Six-Woman Tag Team Match: Kiana James, Izzi Dame, & Jacy Jayne (With Jazmyn Nix) vs. Fallon Henley, Kelani Jordan, & Thea Hail (with Andre Chase, Duke Hudson, & Riley Osborne)

Greg’s pre-show prediction: Babyfaces over!

I loved the addition of this match to the card, getting six very talented competitors on the card. Hell of an opportunity for Izzi Dame and Kelani Jordan, too.

All total, we have 10 NXT Superstars in and around the ring for this match.
Still not sure why Jacy Jayne worked so hard to save Chase U just to ditch them so quickly after. If she was never Thea’s friend, why did she bust her ass to help?
Kelani with a handspring into a ….. Flatliner? That makes zero sense.
Nice “not the first time a James has been jealous of a Jordan” reference by Vic Joseph, who should appreciate that Lebron James brought a championship to Cleveland.
Have to wonder if Jacy, Jazmyn, Kiana, and Izzi will formally be put together into a “Mean Girls” style stable.
Love Wade Barrett with the Toxic Attraction reference.
Gotta figure that Fallon Helney will end up on the main roster sooner rather than later–and I hope she isn’t lost in the shuffle.
Kelani Jordan has a lot of development to come, but damn she can hit that Moonsault to the floor just as good as Charlotte Flair.
Great set-up to get to Thea vs Jacy, and the crowd was hyped for it.
Nice sequence to the finish.

Winners via Hail submission on Dame, Thea Hail, Fallon Henley, & Kelani Jordan

Hell of a match that felt like it got a lot of time, and was easily Stand & Deliver worthy. The women’s division is in really good hands for years to come.

Hey look Giulia is here! (And kinda looks nervous.)

WWE NXT Women’s Championship: Roxanne Perez vs. Lyra Valkyria

Greg’s pre-show prediction: Roxanne Perez captures the NXT Women’s Championship for a second time (with something underhanded involved)

Kinda surprised to see the two women’s matches back-to-back. I actually had the match order a little different, and the final three would have been (in order): NXT Championship, NXT Women’s Championship, Trick/Melo.

Nice point from Vic Joseph, pointing out that the NXT Women’s Championship is the only NXT title to be defended at a WrestleMania.
Another streaming partnership for a match here, with Fallout on Amazon Prime getting the visibility treatment here on Peacock.
Roxanne Perez working over the arm like a champ. That’s been a big part of the story all along.
I must say–as I always do when the set-up is like this–that I really do prefer a WWE arena event without the big huge stage (not talking abut WrestleMania).
With all the high-flying, crazy action of the first three matches, the crowd is definitely a little quiet during this one–all the spent time working over the arm also causes that.
I’m not complaining, this is very much the type of match you’d see on the main roster (even a main roster WrestleMania), and that’s why we are here.
Roxanne Perez, by the way, has 6-years in the business. Nine years for Lyra Valkyria.
The Pop Rox (and subsequent kickout) definitely woke the crowd up.
Tatum Paxley appearance, which had to be expected (Paxley has been amazing in this pairing, by the way).
The crowd is now solidly behind Roxanne Perez. Big pop for her locking in the submission a second time.
Poison Rana into Pop Rox into the Crossface, and that has to be it.
Big pop for the finish, too.

Winner via submission, AND NEW WWE NXT Women’s Champion, Roxanne Perez

Roxanne Perez joins Shayna Baszler and Charlotte Flair as your only two-time NXT Women’s Champions. She needs a good 440 days to pass Baszler’s days as champion–and I would love to see it.

WWE NXT Championship – Tony D’Angelo (with Channing Lorenzo, Adriana Rizzo, and Luca Crusifino) vs. Ilja Dragunov (champion)

Greg’s pre-show prediction: Ilja Dragunov retains

Tony D’Angelo’s highest profile match to date, and I truly think he deserves this spot. But to me, this spot is about building Tony’s future. I see him as a future NXT Champion, but not tonight. The build to this has seen Tony lean more towards the heel side once again, which could set things up for a Tony/Trick feud. But we could get more than one match out of Tony and Ilja, too

During the intros I did our experience check: Tony D debuted in 2019 (5 years ago–time flies!), Ilja Dragunov has been working for 14 years.
Tony wearing the “WrestleMania whites” for his gear today–usually you see more of that! We’ll see what happens at WrestleMania tonight.
Seeing Stacks on the outside is odd to me. Not because he’s out there, or out there with Tony, but it seems like a demotion for him after working so closely with Tony in-ring. I do wonder if a split is coming there.
Ilja chops the ringpost as we hear from Booker T for the first time in this match! I almost wondered if he took a break or went back to congratulate his student, Roxanne Perez.
Ilja tried to get Stacks involved, but The Don called him off. Ilja kissed him on each cheek (a Mafia thing, which Wade Barrett totally missed and called as Ilja kissing Tony on the mouth) and that just fired up Tony D.
Huge Overhead Belly To Belly by Tony off the top rope, which woke the crowd up (much like Roxanne vs Lyra, they started off slow).
Well done H-Bomb through the table, as Stacks looks on and says he’s not doing anything (remember, Tony told him not to).

Winner via pinfall, AND STILL your WWE NXT Champion: Ilja Dragunov

Not gonna lie, that felt short. And while it was the Top Rope H-Bomb that ended it, the match never made me believe Tony might capture the title. (Late research showed me I was wrong–this was 17 minutes and was the longest match of the program!)

Carmelo Hayes vs. Trick Williams

It was no surprise when this match was announced as the Stand & Deliver main event. It simply made sense. What’s crazy is the development of Trick Williams, wrestling on a Stand & Deliver for his first time ever, and doing so in the main event.

Hype video for this match was great, but almost felt unnecessary solely because everyone knows this story.
The only drawback of this feud was how long it took for Melo to be revealed as the one who attacked Trick. Even in the video package that was largely overlooked. I wonder how many casuals actually know that it happened that way?
Carmelo Hayes made his debut almost exactly 10 years ago, in April 2014. Trick, on the other hand debuted in late 2021, less than three years ago. That’s how fast Trick has developed.
With the brawling in the crowd (after the match started), and commentary constantly reminding us that Ava told the referee to provide “leniency,” you have to wonder why this match didn’t have any added stipulation/gimmick to it.
Nice little double dropkick spot done in a way you normally don’t see.
BIG BOOT!
Big dive to the floor from the middle rope from Melo to Trick.
“Justified” This Is Awesome chants, as Tony Khan would say.
Why did we need a ref bump in a match where the ref was already handcuffed? Let’s see …
So we got a chair, and a low blow. Since nothing followed the low blow, the crowd didn’t really buy the nearfall.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaand ref bump #2.
Another, more believable, nearfall.
Trick Knee finishes the match.

Winner: Trick Williams

Look, it was a great match. Was it truly a “moment?” Tommaso Ciampa called it the biggest match in NXT history. And it might be Melo’s send-off. If so, I think it fell short. Think of the things that Ciampa and Johnny Gargano did in their Takeover matches. Hell, there was a women’s 4-way on a Takeover that got crazier than this. Trick is over, but I think this one missed a third gear to make it truly great. And I hate to say it.

Greg DeMarco’s Overall Thoughts on NXT Stand & Deliver 2024

My complaints about the match order (swap the two NXT title matches), and the lack of a third gear for Trick and Melo notwithstanding, this was one hell of a show. NXT is the future, and I need to remind myself about that. It’s a different NXT now then when Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa were trying to kill each other all over the building. It’s about populating the main roster, and so many of the stars we saw today will do just that. Trick and Melo will cross paths again, even if it’s not in NXT.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this show, and the most important point is that the future is bright. Damn bright.

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

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Greg DeMarco’s Top 5: WWE WrestleMania 40 Opponents For Roman Reigns

It’s Royal Rumble season, which means we may soon know Roman Reigns’ WWE WrestleMania 40 opponent. Who are the candidates to challenge the Tribal Chief?

Published

4 months ago

December 30, 2023

Greg DeMarco

The start of 2024 will send us right into the Royal Rumble, which kickstarts the Road To WrestleMania, and the next milestone title defense for Roman Reigns! But who will his opponent be?

Roman Reigns’ historic championship reign is one that history will never forget, even if it can be polarizing for many fans online. Many of those fans believe it is a veritable lock that Cody Rhodes will get a rematch at WrestleMania 40 and unseat the longest reigning champion of the modern era. Doing so would be a major departure for WWE.

Only once in WWE history has the main event of WrestleMania been a rematch of the prior year’s main event: WrestleMania 29 saw John Cena defeat The Rock in a rematch of the prior year’s main event (which The Rock won). While there have been rematches at WrestleMania (including two famous trilogies featuring The Undertaker vs. Triple H and Steve Austin vs. The Rock), Cena-Rock is the only instance of a main event repeating in consecutive years.

Greg DeMarco’s Top 5 Stories To Watch In 2024

Could it happen this year? See what I think–here are your Top 5 WWE WrestleMania 40 Opponents For Roman Reigns!

5. AJ Styles

Recently making his return to WWE Smackdown, AJ Styles has been turning heads with his alignment. He seems to be a heel-leaning tweener, attacking LA Knight and not being buddy-buddy at all with Randy Orton. This is more of a vigilante AJ, one who is hell-bent on revenge on The Bloodline for taking him out. Many would expect his beef to be with Solo Sikoa, the man who put him on the shelf, but that was at the behest of The Tribal Chief.

I believe AJ will get his title shot, but I don’t expect it to be at WrestleMania 40. But if it were AJ Styles, the company would have no issue getting the match over, as AJ is one of the most beloved performers of this generation, and a WrestleMania main event would be quite the feather in the cap of an amazing career.

4. Sami Zayn

Sami Zayn is no stranger to the Premium Live Event main event, competing in multiple such matches in 2023–including the main event of night 1 of WrestleMania 39. He also challenged Roman Reigns for the Undisputed Championship in Montreal at the Elimination Chamber event, a night those in attendance–and Sami himself–won’t soon forget.

Sami Zayn is currently out of action, but a Royal Rumble return–and victory–would be a surprising development but would also make Sami an amazing babyface headed into a WrestleMania 40 showdown with Roman Reigns. It also follows the pattern of underdog babyfaces “on the 10s,” following Bret Hart (WrestleMania 10), Chris Benoit (WrestleMania 20), and Daniel Bryan Danielson (WrestleMania 30) challenging for the world title in the WrestleMania main event.

3. Cody Rhodes

You may be surprised to find Cody “so low” on this list, coming in at #3. As I listed above, it’s a no-brainer to so many people. History says it won’t happen, but it’s easy to ignore history when it doesn’t suit your narrative. WWE, on the other hand, loves history, especially making history.

And the company will never be this close again to having someone surpass Hulk Hogan’s 1474 day reign as WWF Champion. It’s now or never for that historical marker, and it makes perfect sense to do it with Roman. They should have split the titles in 2022 at Clash At The Castle (utilizing Austin Theory’s Money In The Bank briefcase and a wiseman in Paul Heyman smart enough to find a loophole that Theory could only cash in on one championship, thus when Drew McIntyre pinned Theory he only won one title–the WWE Championship). So if you assume Roman is breaking Hogan’s reign, it makes zero sense to have Cody lose AGAIN in the main event of WrestleMania.

For those of you who say “there’s no way Cody doesn’t win it at 40,” remember that you also said the same thing about WrestleMania 39. I do believe Cody Rhodes finishes the story–at WrestleMania 41 (potentially in London) when he is the man to finally take the title off of Roman Reigns.

2. CM Punk

Speaking of another guy looking to finish a story, CM Punk is on a mission to finally secure his WrestleMania main event (although his WrestleMania 28 title defense against Chris Jericho WAS considered a main event by WWE–but you know Punk and many others believing the main event is only the match that goes on last).

If Punk is going to get a show-closing match at WrestleMania 40, it’s likely going to have to be against Roman Reigns. You might think Punk vs. Seth Rollins is going to main event night 1, but there’s a small issue with that. WrestleMania 37 is the last “Granddaddy Of Them All” to have women in a main event match. I just can’t see Triple H being the guy to keep them out of that slot for a third straight year.

The only way CM Punk gets his WrestleMania main event at 40 in Philly is to win the Royal Rumble and challenge Roman Reigns. I don’t think that happens as I fully expect Punk vs. Rollins to happen, just with no championship involved.

Honorable Mentions – a few darkhorse/longshots to challenge Reigns in Philly include…

GUNTHER.
Seth Rollins
A Bloodline 4-way vs. Solo Sikoa vs. Jimmy Uso vs. Jey Uso.
Brock Lesnar.

Just kidding on that last one! 😁

1. Randy Orton

It’s crazy to think that Randy Orton was last in a WrestleMania main event at WM30–a full decade ago. Hell, Triple H has a more recent WrestleMania main event (WM32), along with Daniel Bryan Danielson (WM37). Orton has been white-hot since his return. He was also rumored to be Roman’s SummerSlam 2022 opponent before the injury (that turned into Roman vs. Brock Lesnar in the now-famous Last Man Standing Match that featured Brock nearly destroying the ringside area with a tractor).

It’s also crazy to think that the internet fanbase chooses to ignore Randy’s place in WWE history. A Royal Rumble win would make him only the second three-time Rumble winner, alongside “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Orton is also crazy over with the casual fanbase. And remember, THAT is the target audience, not us.

Daddy’s Back, he’s winning the Royal Rumble, and (unsuccessfully) challenging Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship in the Night 2 main event of WrestleMania 40.