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Bookmark Mr. Tito's Column Archive to read the current and past columns. Welcome back to the columnist who knocks, it's Mr. Tito from LordsofPain.net / WrestlingHeadlines.com. We are one week away from WWE SummerSlam 2017 and a bunch of haters who quickly read the RAW ratings were like "see, see, see!" at the 1st hour's 3,419,000... But they ignore the 3rd hour's 2,988,000... So y'all are OK with a single show losing over 400,000 viewers in just 2 hours before the 2nd biggest show of the year? And this week's RAW was lesser than last week's? We'll see how RAW does after SummerSlam 2017 when the WWE enters the DEAD ZONE last 4 months of the year. "Permanently under 3 million" is coming, baby. Just a little patience... Yeah... ANYWAY, I want to talk about Monday Night RAW, the show in particular... The WWE did two specific things that I've been preaching about for a while now. Go read my Column Archives, as I've been pushing hard for the following 2 things during the past year: (1) - #ReuniteTheShield - Reuniting the Shield as a babyface trio. (2) - Braun Strowman = "THE GUY" - In fact, I wrote an entire column that mapped out the WWE through Wrestlemania 34. I argued that it should be Braun Strowman who is the man who drives the stake through Brock Lesnar's heart at Wrestlemania 34, not Roman Reigns. So what happened on RAW? First and foremost, I'm really enjoying Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose back together. You can see the obvious chemistry of their characters together. In my opinion, the WWE missed a gigantic opportunity to push a babyface Shield during 2014. The WWE needed babyfaces badly, as they were thick on heels at the time... What did they do instead? Broke them up to have Seth Rollins as a LAME cornerstone of the Authority group, began a MEGA PUSH for Roman Reigns to the WWE Title prematurely, and began Dean Ambrose's Pay Per View losing streak as a singles wrestler. If you want MY OPINION, Roman Reigns should incorporate himself into the Dean Ambrose/Seth Rollins storyline. As seen by early reactions, people are excited for Dean and Seth together. Well, Roman Reigns is still receiving boos... #ReuniteTheShield! Honestly, I would have NO PROBLEMS with Roman Reigns winning the WWE Universal Title if he's inserted into a storyline with Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose for "friendly" competition over the WWE Universal Title. Why not? Rollins vs. Reigns and/or Ambrose vs. Reigns would be reasonable Pay Per View match-ups. Then, heels like Samoa Joe, Bray Wyatt, and Samoa Joe can insert themselves as needed and put the Shield fully together. It's the perfect storyline to keep the WWE together for the DEAD ZONE last 4 months of the year until we get to Royal Rumble 2018 season. And then at Royal Rumble 2018, it is Braun Strowman winning the Rumble Match and then it is Braun, not Roman Reigns, who drives the stake into the heart of Brock Lesnar in Brock's potentially last WWE match (at least on his current 3 year deal that expires). Strowman should be WWE Universal Champion and dominate for the rest of 2018 to see if he's the unique "larger than life" character that the WWE and Vince McMahon have been looking to groom for quite some time. It's all right there in front of you, WWE... What will you do? Will you keep shoving Roman Reigns down our throats? Or will you put over someone different and reunite the legitimate drawing stable known as the Shield? =========================================== WWE SummerSlam 2018 Predictions So many matches... Cruiserweight Title: Akira Tozawa (c) vs. Neville I'm LAUGHING because as I'm writing my predictions, Akira Tozawa defeats Neville for the Cruiserweight Title on RAW. I don't watch 205 Live and the Cruiserweight Title often misses the Hulu cut (except this week). I'm just going to assume that this title reign is temporary? WHO SHOULD WIN / WHO WILL WIN: Neville ------------------ RAW Tag Titles: Cesaro & Sheamus (c) vs. THE SHIELD (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins) Only way that the SHIELD doesn't win this match is if Dean and Seth break-up during this match. They are winning, folks, and WWE will probably play up their newfound friendship until we get closer to Wrestlemania. Then, Ambrose turns... WHO SHOULD WIN / WHO WILL WIN: THE SHIELD ------------------ Smackdown Tag Titles: New Day (c) vs. Usos Let this be the hot opener again... Why not? Damn fine match at the last Pay Per View. WWE needs the New Day to re-establish their mojo from RAW during 2015-2016. I expect a New Day win but it wouldn't surprise me if the Usos won to set up rematches. WHO SHOULD WIN / WHO WILL WIN: New Day ------------------ Smackdown Women's Title: Naomi (c) vs. Natalya You cannot have a more lame match-up than this. You have a women's roster that consists of Charlotte and Becky Lynch but this is your match. Two women who have been with the WWE before the Divas Revolution and what do both have to show for it? So whatever. WHO SHOULD WIN / WHO WILL WIN: Natalya, just to get the title on a heel before hopefully wrestling Charlotte/Becky. ------------------ RAW Women's Title: Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Sasha Banks Rushed match, as it's covering for Bayley. This division will eventually be Nia Jax's but I believe WWE will wait for a more organized time to pull that trigger. I wouldn't doubt that Sasha wins the title here to set-up rematches for future Pay Per Views. WHO SHOULD WIN: Alexa Bliss because this match has been poorly hyped. WHO WILL WIN: Sasha Banks to set up rematches. ------------------ Bray Wyatt vs. Finn Balor Balor's in-ring work is growing on me... That said, he's wrestling a much larger man. But, Bray Wyatt had his shot at the top and it was "meh" this past year. I don't know where the WWE is going with either wrestler long-term, however. Either way, both wrestlers need to step up at SummerSlam to stand out. Just seems like both guys aren't on Vince's radar now. WHO SHOULD WIN: Bray Wyatt. He's a real heavyweight. Balor is 190 pounds, 15 less than the maximum weight of 205 Live. WHO WILL WIN: Finn Balor because Bray had his chance and it fell apart (not his fault on some of the stupid booking). Plus, as I write this, I see that Bray beat Finn Balor on RAW this week. We'll likely have the "Demon" out there and he means business when painted up! ------------------ Big Cass vs. Big Show Big Show is enhancement talent at this point although the WWE is goofy about putting their younger wrestlers over too early. Wouldn't shock me that Big Show wins and sets up a rematch. Why not? WHO SHOULD WIN / WHO WILL WIN: Big Show to extend their feud. Big Cass still needs some development as a singles wrestler. ------------------ United States Title: AJ Styles (c) vs. Kevin Owens - Shane McMahon as Special Guest Referee As far as we know, Shane McMahon is a babyface referee. It makes me wonder if the WWE is willing to spice things up and push a heel GM on Smackdown? Not sure if Shane wants to go there or not. Why else would Shane be "referee" here? My guess is that he remains babyface and screws Owens out of the belt. That way we can hear Owens complain getting screwed for weeks or months (not sure if I'm excited for that). WHO SHOULD WIN: Kevin Owens, only to free up AJ Styles for WWE Title feud WHO WILL WIN: AJ Styles, as Shane will accidentally screw Owens on a bad decision or pin. ------------------ Randy Orton vs. Rusev Who holds a recent non-title win over Jinder Mahal? Yeah, that tells you who is winning this match. WHO SHOULD WIN: Rusev. There's talent there... He just cannot get a big win and then sustain that momentum. WHO WILL WIN: Randy Orton. WWE foolishly keeps this guy strong despite not having much after the 13 World Title reigns to show for it. ------------------ John Cena vs. Baron Corbin Didn't expect that Corbin would cash in the Money in the Bank briefcase on a random edition of Smackdown and FAIL... Ouch. That tells me something drastic about Corbin and it's that WWE may have given up on his WWE Title push. Why would they give it away before SummerSlam? Message! With Smackdown in the dumps, I can see the WWE giving John Cena one last run before he's off to more Hollywood opportunities. That, or we'll go back to Randy Orton... WHO SHOULD WIN / WHO WILL WIN: John Cena ------------------ WWE Title: Jinder Mahal (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura Vince McMahon being pissed at Nakamura almost injuring John Cena is all I need to know... Plus, do you honestly believe that Vince McMahon would let a New Japan product win HIS cherished WWE Title on his first try? Yeah right... I wouldn't doubt that this match is 100% cleanly won by Jinder to make a point. You don't potentially hurt John Cena nor do you win the WWE Title on the first try. I'm sure that Vince is well aware of New Japan's recent efforts to grow their footprint in the United States and making an example out of Nakamura with a terrible WWE Champion is an easy way to stomp out that fire. WHO SHOULD WIN / WHO WILL WIN: Jinder Mahal. I actually agree that Nakamura winning here would be bad for his career. Just not ready. Neither was Jinder Mahal but he's currently the WWE champion. Hard to change that, but let's stop giving the World Titles to people who aren't quite ready. Nakamura hasn't done much since his WWE main roster debut and in my opinion, he peaked with me at Takeover Dallas against Sami Zayn. He needs more build up before winning the WWE Title. ------------------ WWE Universal Title - Fatal 4 Way: Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Braun Strowman vs. Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe This match all depends where Brock Lesnar will be in the next 4 months. Of course, he could be at home as WWE's contracted appearances will run out soon... But will Brock Lesnar be fighting in UFC? That's the trick. Everything that I've read which spans from looking at the UFC event schedule, Jon Jones's availability, and Lesnar's commitments with the WWE... Summer of 2018? The WWE does NOT want Lesnar as WWE Universal Champion if he's fighting for UFC. Thus, if there is no danger in Lesnar being WWE Champion while he attempts another UFC fight. Therefore, there is a chance that he could retain the title... However, RAW Pay Per Views have been absent a World Champion for most events since Wrestlemania 33. Wouldn't surprise me that the WWE Universal Title goes to Samoa Joe and we see Joe & Roman right for the next few months before Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns/Samoa Joe headlines Royal Rumble while Braun Strowman wins the Rumble match. WHO SHOULD WIN: Roman Reigns, just to get it out of WWE's system. Let him be champion for the next 4 months and prove why he shouldn't win it at Wrestlemania 34. WHO WILL WIN: Brock Lesnar retains. Folks, the WWE has realized that Wrestlemania matters most and building that show is what makes them real money. Lesnar's job is to lose to Reigns or Strowman at Wrestlemania 34 and keeping him strong until then is WWE's game. SO JUST CHILL... 'TIL THE NEXT EPISODE! Comments and feedback are welcome. Follow and Tweet me @titowrestling or login in below to post comments. © Mr. Tito and LordsofPain.net/WrestlingHeadlines.com - 1998-2017
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