WWE鈥檚 illogical booking, Heyman out, Backlash, more
One of the questions most frequently emailed to me concerns WWE and how it doesn鈥檛 build up stars.
For years now, Vince McMahon has used the philosophy that WWE is bigger than any one star and it has used a 50/50 split in terms of wins and losses for most wrestlers.
This philosophy has failed for years, and it seems everyone in WWE realizes this except McMahon himself.
The latest example pertains to the women鈥檚 division.
At NXT鈥檚 TakeOver: In Your House PPV last Sunday, Charlotte Flair lost her NXT women鈥檚 title in a triple threat match to Io Shirai, when Shirai pinned Rhea Ripley, the third woman in the match.
Then the next night on Raw, Flair and Asuka defeated the IIconics via submission in the opening match and then in the main event, Flair pinned Asuka in a non-title match.
This comes six days before Asuka is to defend her Raw title against Nia Jax tonight at Backlash while Flair does not have a match.
In a nutshell, Flair, loses her title without 鈥渓osing,鈥� she taps out the IIconics and then pins the current Raw champion.
Talk about protecting Flair.
Let鈥檚 take a deeper look.
Flair is in a class by herself as the best female wrestler today, and maybe of all time.
She doesn鈥檛 need titles or doesn鈥檛 have to win all of the time for fans to appreciate what she does in the ring.
Without a doubt, she is the star of the women鈥檚 division.
So why not have Shirai pin her for the NXT title last Sunday? It would have helped the win seem that much bigger.
In a post-show conference call, Triple H said the reason why will be provided in the long-term booking of the title.
Let鈥檚 say he is right. This still doesn鈥檛 excuse Flair and Asuka defeating the IIconics by submission Monday.
Had the IIconics pinned either Asuka or Flair, it would have elevated them, but WWE passed on the idea.
And the philosophy of having Flair pin Asuka at the end of the show, well, there isn鈥檛 a logical philosophy with that one.
Flair does not need to be protected in terms of wins and losses.
Maybe if other wrestlers would defeat her, it would elevate them and ultimately make the women鈥檚 division deeper and stronger.
Heyman out as Raw Executive Director
WWE released a statement Thursday that Paul Heyman was no longer the Executive Director of Raw.
鈥淚n an effort to streamline our creative writing process for television, we have consolidated both teams from Raw and Smackdown into one group, led by Bruce Pritchard,鈥� it said. 鈥淧aul Heyman will concentrate on his role as an in-ring performer.鈥�
Heyman was never given the chance to do his thing, and we will look at this more next week.
Backlash on Network tonight
WWE present Backlash tonight on the WWE Network.
Drew McIntyre defends the WWE championship against Bobby Lashley, and there are more than rumblings that Lashley may win the title.
Other matches include Braun Strowman defends the Universal title against The Miz and John Morrison in a handicapped match, Apollo Crews defends the U.S. title against Andrade, Sasha and Bayley defend their tag titles against The IIconics and the team of Nikki Cross & Alexa Bliss, Jeff Hardy faces Sheamus, Randy Orton takes on Edge in what WWE is billing as the 鈥渂est wrestling match ever鈥� and the previously mentioned match with Asuka defense against Nia Jax.
All of the matches except the Orton and Edge bout will be live.
Their match, which was taped last weekend, will not be the 鈥渂est wrestling match ever鈥� and it can鈥檛 be.
We will also look at this in next week鈥檚 column.
Shocking Smackdown angle
Friday night, WWE pushed the storyline further between Hardy and Sheamus and we will also look at this more next week.
During the show, Sheamus stated that he wanted Hardy to take a drug test before they would wrestle.
Chapter 4 on Taker available
WWE鈥檚 documentary series titled Undertaker: The Last Ride, is now on the WWE Network.
The last episode will be released next Sunday.
Elias hurt
Elias has been diagnosed with a torn pectoral muscle.
If he has surgery, he will be out of action for several months.
On This Day鈥�
In 1993, Rick and Scott Steiner defeated Money Inc. to win their first WWE tag team titles.
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