Sheamus & Cesaro defend the Raw Tag Team Titles against Gallows & Anderson. And the WWE is highlighting that there will be two refs for this match. There are just times when the WWE tries to get too fancy. It is nice that they are trying to develop a storyline for a title feud that goes beyond just the titles, but this is a pretty dumb story. It is based on a story of clumsy officiating. You had an awkward ending to a match a few weeks ago between these two teams, and that has led to this rematch with two refs. The awkward ending you had to Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker at Summerslam a few years ago was one thing. But the WWE needs to realize that they didn't strike gold with angles like this.
If you can ignore the ref drama, there are two teams fighting for the tag titles. Sheamus and Cesaro just really got the reign started. Anderson & Gallows still don't feel like they deserve a title run. I will say the titles stay with Cesaro and Sheamus.
Not everyone that gets a title reign is being groomed to be a star. Some people are given title reigns so they can drop the belt to the person the WWE intends to be a star. Some people are given title reigns just for the sake of filler, such as when a star is injured and the WWE is just killing time until they return. When I look at the cruiserweight division, I don't think the WWE is trying to make stars at all. None of the three men that have held the title so far look like stars. It looks like the WWE is just going through the motions with everyone. I won't say too much about that here. Maybe another day.
The Cruiserweight Championship will be on the line between Rich Swann and Neville. Neville turned heel and is getting the best push he has gotten on the main roster. He was on the main roster before the cruiserweight division returned. He has had his ups and downs, including an injury and coming back to not much of a response from the fans. But he is at least refreshed by this heel turn. Given what I just said about the WWE not developing stars in this division, I don't think they will have a problem taking the title off Rich Swann and putting it on Neville. But will it happen here? I will say the title change happens.
Onto the World Championship matches. For Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens, the match will be No DQ. Oh, and Chris Jericho will be locked in a shark cage above the ring. Here is the WWE just going too goofy again. I'm surprised they are not forcing Chris Jericho to also dress up as La Luchadora. Why not? He wore a mask a couple months ago to screw Seth Rollins. I am sure they can work the angle in there somehow. The WWE definitely should do more to make the atmosphere more fun, but there are just some ideas that are really stupid. They can ruin a storyline or hurt the performers themselves. There was a serious, strong storyline with Seth Rollins for a while, and that was good. But then the WWE couldn't sustain it and Seth started acting goofy at points, losing his edge. That storyline between Seth Rollins and Triple H, which I will talk about another day, has definitely lost value. As for individuals not working out when they get a goofy angle, remember Gallows & Anderson trying to be comedians? That flopped.
Chris Jericho being locked in a cage is bad enough. And then suspending it above the ring? I know this kind of thing is not unheard of, but it still seems dumb. Why not just say Jericho will get fired if he gets involved in any way? He has a title now. Why not say he will be stripped of the title? Why not say Kevin Owens will be stripped of HIS title if Chris Jericho even thinks about getting involved? Face it, Jericho is still likely to find a way to get involved anyway. They just wanted to come up with a goofy angle for this feud. In some cases, it could be a distraction.
If people watching this Sunday can direct their attention a few feet below Chris Jericho, they might see a match going on for Raw's top title. I cannot picture Kevin Owens heading into Wrestlemania as Universal Champion. I can picture him facing Chris Jericho for the United States Championship, which will be a feud featuring their friendship finally coming to an end. For that to happen, Owens must lose the Universal Championship. Losing it to Reigns at the Royal Rumble just makes sense. They can have their rematch next month, where Jericho will inadvertently screw Owens and set their feud up. Roman Reigns then moves on to a bigger opponent for Wrestlemania.
John Cena faces AJ Styles for the WWE Championship. Cena needs one more World title win to tie Ric Flair's record. He has had multiple opportunities to do it over the last few years. It is going to happen sooner or later.
Before considering the match, look at the feud between AJ Styles and John Cena. It has been the same complaining and self-righteousness you have seen a lot over the years with John Cena. It caused some buzz when CM Punk did it. It didn't draw, but it created buzz with smarks. And smarks are once again eating this stuff up. They have done it multiple times now. It isn't fresh anymore. It isn't entertaining. It isn't helping the WWE's numbers. If anything, I am getting to the point where I am ready to say that all this is laziness on the part of the WWE. They cannot come up with entertaining storylines, so they just look at smarks and base their promos and storylines off of what they want to hear. And they keep rehashing the same thing. There might be a different variation here and there, but it is all pretty much the same thing. There is a reason the Nexus angle led to a better ratings bump than the summer angle of CM Punk dropping pipebombs and walking out on the company. The Nexus angle did not even lead to any of the members becoming as big a star as CM Punk ended up, ignoring Daniel Bryan, who was kicked out of the group early. The Nexus angle was pure kayfabe, rookies going crazy and trying to take over. CM Punk's angle was based on reality, his issues with not being pushed better. AJ Styles is definitely following in the path of CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, another guy that got a big push involving real issues of the company not wanting to push him better. But the whole storyline just doesn't work as well here. AJ Styles has not been held back like other guys have been for years in the WWE. John Cena has not been pushed as annoyingly as he has in the past. A lot of these promos with Styles and Cena is just beating a dead horse. They are not really saying anything new to spark interest.
As for the match, the outcome might not matter. Smackdown has already announced an Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship. I don't think John Cena will have to wait much longer for his next title run. But I think AJ Styles will retain at the Royal Rumble. Cena can then win it inside the Elimination Chamber.
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