The WWE managed to highlight each storyline this past week on Monday Night Raw and SmackDown without overfocusing on the particular programs that are reserved for the forthcoming Bash in Berlin. A great job has been done this year under Trip’s leadership of balancing great for TV matches, segments to build toward said PLE, and also continuing to build up talent that presumably has a long runway in front of them.
Championship Tensions
Gunther vs. Randy Orton
Triple H has been great at keeping both the World Heavyweight Championship at the forefront of Monday Night Raw and the Undisputed WWE Championship in the main event for SmackDown. World Champion Gunther and Randy Orton opened the show on Raw this past week to build toward their title match at Bash in Berlin. Some interaction was needed between the two because Gunther and Orton do not have the best in-ring chemistry…on the mic, that is.
In-ring at the upcoming PLE, it should be raucous because we know that they do have great chemistry when it comes to destroying each other as we saw at King of the Ring, and also because we know the German crowd will be lit. Triple H bookended Raw with these two to maximize the exposure and importance of this match.
Cody Rhodes vs. Kevin Owens
Perhaps the Undisputed WWE Championship hasn’t felt that as much attention has been placed on developing the current program for Cody’s title. It sometimes proves more difficult to build rivalry-like tension when the two are on the same side and have been semi-frequent partners for months. Triple H bookending SmackDown this week with the competitors, although bringing A-Town Down into the story, helped to change this.
It was looking like there wasn’t any palpable stress being built between Owens and Rhodes leading up to this week’s SmackDown, but it changed in a great way this past episode. Rhodes and Owens being booked into the main event of the night even though other title matches would normally fill that slot shows WWE’s commitment to keeping the Undisputed WWE Championship as among the most important programs heading into Bash in Berlin.
Building and Highlighting Rising Stars
“Big” Bronson Reed, Ludwig Kaiser, Santos Escobar, Bron Breakker, Tiffany Stratton, Andrade, Carmelo Hayes, The Unholy Union, and Blair Davenport were all highlighted this week in either great matches or backstage vignettes to keep their ascensions fresh and to keep the audience informed about their current direction. Even though not all of the superstars listed above had a match this week, the backstage segments have been effective. The vignettes have been working well to keep the superstars fresh, even when they are short. (Breakker, Hayes/Andrade, Stratton)
Triple H has also been juggling building toward Bash in Berlin, keeping young talent who will be future stars fresh in people’s minds, and showing compelling in-ring competition that has been highly entertaining. The superstars who had matches this week maximized their opportunity for screen time to perform exceptionally, and they all stepped up. (Reed, Kaiser, Escobar, Unholy Union/Davenport)
Championship Matches on SmackDown
Trips thankfully hasn’t forgotten that WWE fans tune in to each show for the great action and not just the development of the new main roster stars or the PLE programs that are current. The booking has allowed for championship matches to be shown on broadcast TV, this week on SmackDown, rather than waiting for a PLE only to see titles put on the line. This helps WWE not to crowd the premium live events with too many matches and provides great content on the weekly shows.
Triple H, Master Booker this Week
Trips thankfully have not forgotten that WWE fans tune in to each show for the great action and not just the development of the new main roster stars or just the PLE programs that are current. This week was no exception. The booking was optimized for a balance of feuds getting the focus and screen time for upcoming PLEs, new stars being highlighted, and titles remaining important for TV episodes.
Triple H and the booking team have been great at this all year, but this past week proves that he is beyond a master juggler at this point. He has not dropped any of the pieces yet. Great job, but we shouldn’t be surprised. After all, he is the Cerebral Assassin.
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