The in-ring promo segment between Cody Rhodes and Paul Heyman on Monday’s WWE RAW, in which the late WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes was discussed, was the hot topic this week.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Heyman was not originally scheduled to appear on RAW, but he was already in Orlando because Brock Lesnar had been booked for the show. When it comes to Lesnar, Ronda Rousey, and Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, Heyman is a key part of all creative.
WWE rescheduled Heyman’s appearance on RAW last week. What was planned late last week was entirely different from what ended up airing on RAW.
It was mentioned that the final product was largely put together by Heyman and Rhodes, in the direction that they both desired.
The creative must turn Rhodes vs. Reigns at WrestleMania 39 into the year’s ultimate top match. WWE officials are reportedly aware of the popularity of the Sami Zayn vs. Reigns storyline, and it was critical that Rhodes vs. Reigns not feel secondary as a main event angle. WWE knew they needed something special on RAW, so they went in that direction.
One significant aspect of the RAW segment was Rhodes acknowledging that Reigns holds two titles rather than one unified title. We previously mentioned that there was talk of splitting the WWE Title and the WWE Universal Title, but both titles will be on the line at WrestleMania 39. They still want a RAW champion and a SmackDown champion at some point, but there’s no word on when. The Undisputed WWE Tag Team Titles are the same.
The RAW segment had a few more important aspects. WWE wanted to end the match in a big way because, for many fans, the match they wanted at WrestleMania and saw as the biggest bout was the WWE Elimination Chamber main event, with Reigns defending against Zayn.
The other crucial aspect of the segment was how they had to deal with the Zayn situation and ensure that, even though it is much less likely to occur with the current fan base, if it had been the fan base of 5-8 years ago, they might have rebelled against Rhodes as the hand-picked top contender to challenge for the title, as they had done in the past with stars like John Cena, Batista, and Reigns. It was also important for Rhodes to endorse Zayn, saying he hopes to wrestle him.
For those who missed it, here’s a clip from RAW featuring Rhodes and Heyman:
