SummerSlam weekend has come and gone, leaving us plenty of storylines based on friendship and family and with others sprinkled in between.
We have best friends torn apart, three brothers reunited, husbands and wives set to do battle, a champion’s efforts, a father in question and the boss’ daughter trying to instill doubt about the intentions of one of WWE’s newest title holders. As we move ahead to “Hell in the Cell,” “Evolution” and “Super Show-Down,” here are the five WWE storylines to watch:
Roman’s Reign
WWE got Roman Reigns’ run as Universal champion off to a good start. He finally made good on his promise and beat Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam. The next night on “Monday Night Raw,” not only did Reigns wrestle in the main event, but he called out his challenger. It was distinctly different to Lesnar’s time as champ.
The Shield reunion that followed was arguably the moment of the weekend and leads WWE down a tricky path that will require some delicate storytelling.
Putting the group back together does makes sense. Reigns is cheered more when he teams with Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, and having them by his side evens the playing field against Braun Strowman. The struggle here will be getting the crowd to side with Reigns and The Shield and begin to turn on Strowman, whom they have already been cheering.
Strowman has shown heel tendencies in recent months, including flipping Kevin Owens’ car, and has been cheered for it. Though he did kick Reigns while he was down on Monday, Strowman’s attempts to cash in his Money in the Bank contract have been cheered.
If the crowd isn’t ready to let go of its love for Strowman, WWE runs the risk of putting Reigns in an even more polarizing position, giving a heel rub to Rollins and Ambrose and having a portion of the audience no longer behind Strowman. It could leave fans with a less passionate reaction to all parties.
Out of the friend zone
Speaking of WWE giving the audience exactly what it didn’t want, we have Becky Lynch’s heel turn. You could make a case Lynch’s character needed a reboot, and she is finally getting a deserved push.
No matter the case, Lynch is still a sympathetic figure in this storyline.
Best friend Charlotte Flair, who has been champion plenty of times and ended Asuka’s undefeated streak, wins again. She swooped in late with Natural Selection to steal Lynch’s moment — one the audience was clambering for — at SummerSlam.
The average person can identify with Lynch’s situation as the underdog. People know what’s it’s like in the proverbial shadow of an older sibling, friend, co-worker or teammate. They understand Lynch’s frustration and probably wish they could react (while maybe not physically) as she did.
Having Lynch question the crowd’s loyalty on “SmackDown Live” and having her being held back by the heels was a commendable try, but the crowd still booed Flair when she was on top of her friend during their brawl.
Lynch can either push the envelope more if WWE is committed to a true heel turn, or she can no longer play for the favor of the crowd and be indifferent as she goes about her business. Either way, it would be quite a feat to get the majority of the audience to no longer want to see her finally top Flair.
Daddy issues
Man is Samoa Joe good when his evil side is ratcheted up. Even if you don’t fully understand, or if you’re not into the storyline itself, you cannot help but dislike Joe for bringing A.J. Styles’ family into this feud. His facials, physicality and voice cadences have carried this story of him questioning Styles, the man and the father.
You can understand why Styles lost his cool at SummerSlam. Bringing his real wife and daughter into the story added to this. Slowly raising the tension between husband and wife and some more physical matches should be enough to make this feud memorable.
Rousey 3:16
Ronda Rousey is finally a WWE champion after beating Alexa Bliss for the Raw women’s title at SummerSlam in dominant fashion.
The next night on “Raw,” commissioner Stephanie McMahon continued her role as Vince McMahon to Rousey’s “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. McMahon took credit for the former UFC star’s victory before placing doubt in the rest of the female superstars about whether Rousey (who added she is not Brock Lesnar) is not there to be their friend, but to break their arms. Rousey put McMahon in the armbar similar to how Austin used to close segments with stunners to Stephanie’s dad (like he did after winning the WWF championship for the first time).
We saw both sides of Rousey on Sunday. There was the snarling, heavy eye makeup side we saw take out Bliss and the lovable, vulnerable side she magnificently displayed when she held the belt in her hands and eventually jumped into the stands to kiss husband Travis Browne.
The public has seen this from Rousey dating back to her UFC days. WWE is positioning her to continue to be that. She can buck heel authority figures because they deserve it and smile afterward. That dynamic can also make for a proper heel turn if WWE ever decided to do it.
A wive’s tale
The mixed tag match set for Hell in a Cell with Daniel Bryan and wife Brie Bella versus The Miz and wife Maryse checks a lot of boxes for WWE. It explains why it had Maryse giving Miz the brass knuckles that led to his victory at SummerSlam. It allowed Brie to get an awesome moment to come back to. It also put the stars of WWE’s two biggest reality shows in the ring together.
But … but I can’t help but feel like I’ve seen this before. Oh right! “Total Bellas” stars John Cena and Nikki Bella defeated Miz and Maryse at WrestleMania two years ago.
Miz is hated too much and Bryan and Brie are loved too much for the crowd not to get behind this match, but there has to be a feeling of repetitiveness. Bryan and Miz will finally get their rematch in Australia on Oct. 6 with a WWE championship opportunity on the line. Anything else is just a fun detour along the way.