WWE.com and Pat McAfee Show contributor Mark Kaboly breaks down SmackDown, Saturday Night’s Main Event and Raw with 10 thoughts.
1. Accidents happen: Even though in CM Punk's match against Cody Rhodes at SummerSlam will see two of the best in the business competing for the Undisputed WWE Championship, something seemed amiss. There is almost too much respect between them, as if there needs to be more tension. Well, Saturday Night’s Main Event provided that with a casual flip of the championship over the shoulder by Punk, which brushed against Rhodes’ face. We’ve all seen by now the backstage drama that ensued (make your own decision about that) and the next day at the Kickoff show. This is what it brought to mind for me: Why is Cody so sore over something so innocuous? Is The American Nightmare that unstable? Also, we’ve got our tension, and that tension came about in a very subtle way. I like it.
2. Vision of Maxxine: Several factions have rebranded themselves over the years, For instance, the many new looks of The Judgment Day since its inception. At a certain point, you either have to adapt or die. The Vision are squarely heading down the adaptation road, and much of that has to do with Maxxine Dupri. The opening segment on Raw on Monday hammered home what we saw last week. It seems apparent that Paul Heyman has relinquished the reins of The Vision to Dupri, which is a good thing. Dupri’s transformation over the past year has been intriguing and is now the motivation behind Austin Theory and The Vision. It is working quite well.
3. Golf clap: Logan Paul has been quite impressive. Despite the fact that he hasn’t competed since he tore his triceps two months ago, it is refreshing is that The Maverick has been right there in every Vision situation ever since. We don’t often see that, but his presence during Raw this week and his being around every week and being that villain that he is has strengthened The Vision’s reach.
4. Solo’s plan: I have to admit that I am not completely clear on what Solo Sikoa is putting out there, and that might be a good sign. Is he a "good guy" by pushing back against The Bloodline, or does that make him "bad" going against his family? Is he "good" by teaming up with LA Knight and Royce Keys? Sikoa jumping brands and confronting Seth Rollins on Raw to offer his help against a potential attack from his own family at SummerSlam smells corrupt. Seth considering it and not instantly turning it down leads me to believe he will eventually take Sikoa’s offer. This seems to be leading down the path to Rollins getting set up.
5 Addition needed: This week, we saw Women's World Champion Liv Morgan slap Danhausen and Maxxine slap Otis without retaliation. Is there a better time for Danhausen to form a regular partnership with a female Superstar? Alpha Academy? What if Nattie became part of Alpha Academy in order to renew her rivalry with Maxxine? Otis instantly finds another crush? As for Danhausen, maybe Candice LeRae?
6. Working Danhausen: How does Danhausen fit into the world of WWE? Well, based off this week, pretty much anyway he's want. Danhausen has a busy weekend, with a segment on SmackDown, a Saturday Night's Main Event victory with help from 7-foot Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns and the Minihausens, and six appearances on Raw. Danhausen’s finding his groove and is very capable of holding his own against anyone from Liv Morgan and IYO SKY to Oba Femi to Joe Hendry. Danhausen is on a heater, that’s for sure.
7. Best of all: If you were trying to pin down the best match of this week's SmackDown, SNME and Raw, it came from an unexpected place. Bayley against the disheveled Lyra Valkyria was hot from start to finish and had a feel of two people who really don’t like each other. That helped with the impromptu Bayley elbow to the nose of Valkyria. Valkyria putting Bayley to sleep to win and then, after the match, hammered home that she’s just a little off. It was a great match that came out of nowhere. This version of Lyra is intriguing.
8. Is Nick nasty? Is General Manager Nick Aldis the "bad guy" in all his current conflict with Gunther? It sure felt like it during SmackDown when he broke up a three-count, hit Gunther with a title and helped the referee back into the ring for the three-count. Aldis has been the aggressor during most of this conflict that will definitely show up on SummerSlam in a cheating type of way.
9. Playing mind games: Paul Heyman delivered an epic vignette directed at Oba Femi, who he referred to as “Oba-rated” leading into the Hell in a Cell Match against Brock Lesnar. Overall, Heyman had some poignant points, He basically said that Oba Femi is a wannabe Lesnar following the same path that Lesnar blazed nearly 25 years ago. With Heyman pointing out that Lesnar never lost inside Hell in a Cell sounded like a signal that Oba will win. Either way, another solid performance by Heyman.
10. In the interim? What do you do when your champ is hurt and the second biggest PLE is upcoming? You create an Interim WWE Women’s Championship Ladder Match for SummerSlam. It is a smart move. Necessity is the mother of invention.
10 takeaways from SmackDown, Saturday Night's Main Event and Raw
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