The following editorial was written by Geoffrey Rowland and does not reflect the opinions of WrestleZone as a whole. We encourage you all to discuss Geoff’s thoughts in the comments section at the bottom of this post or by tweeting him @Geoff_Rowland
An unexpected cancer battle, a massive amount of injuries and top stars wanting fewer dates have led to a real large number of shakeups across the WWE landscape in the last couple of months and a for a few superstars this is really their chance to put up or shut up.
The first person on the “put up” list was not on TV this week as Becky Lynch took some time away to heal up her face after the stiff punch from Nia Jax a couple of weeks ago. That left room for others to shine, and the Smackdown was not short on people ready to make the move.
Daniel Bryan moved from ultra-face to ultra-heel in just one week and did it seamlessly. There is no doubt this is a reflection on just how big of a top star AJ Styles has become as he has successfully tuned Shinsuke Nakamura and the Yes Man heel simply by getting hit with low blows.
Bryan was in perfect form in an excellently written promo on Tuesday night as he successfully blamed the fans for all of his problems and blamed his lack of focus on himself. His heel persona has always been strong (just look at his great work in Ring of Honor) and he could easily carry the strap all the way to WrestleMania and to square off with … The Miz!
The Miz is clearly moving, slowly, toward the light and the matchup everyone was hoping for in New York could still be on to end the greatest feud in the WWE over the last year. Miz is probably more fun as a bad guy, but he is just too good and the crowd is ready to embrace him.
The rest of the Blue Brand is just filled with people stepping up to the plate. Randy Orton de-masking Rey Mysterio was shocking and fantastic. A memorable spot to ignite a feud between two excellent workers that both love to work at a high pace.
Charlotte Flair really took the match with Ronda Rousey and let it boost her and whatever happens when Lynch gets back, the women’s division is set as Asuka, the IIconics and Carmella are solid performers keeping the division relevant beyond the top two stars.
The tag division is loaded and could use some intrigue beyond The Bar vs. The New Day. The Usos and Sanity are just sitting there lurking and could really rise in the right situations.
Samoa Joe, Jeff Hardy, Andrade “Cien” Almas and Rusev are just a handful of people getting lost in the large amount of talent on the brand, but all of them continue to be solid workers when they get their chance and should rise when the opportunities present themselves.
