We are two weeks since the biggest show on WWE’s calendar, Wrestlemania 39 in Hollywood. Not much more needs to be said than what has already been said about the show itself. From an in-ring quality perspective, it was one of the strongest Wrestlemania’s of the last decade. With matches like Rey vs. Dominik, Flair vs. Ripley, McIntyre vs. Sheamus vs. GUNTHER, Paul vs. Rollins, and Reigns vs. Rhodes, among others, the show provided banger after banger after banger (pun intended). Aside from the controversial ending to Reigns/Rhodes, the shows provided fans worldwide with widespread joy and admiration for the event. That would be marred with the horrendous episode of Rae that followed on Monday, with the news of WWE’s sale, Vince McMahon’s re-writes, and his potential new involvement in the company, but WWE seems to have righted the ship with NXT and Smackdown being much better in the following days, as well as the most recent edition of Raw as well. So that begs the question… what comes next?
Roman Reigns retaining his title was not something anyone saw coming as the show began, and so it threw a lot of potential future storylines for a loop. Couple that with the fact that Roman isn’t going to be around all the time over these next few months, and it’s a wonder why Roman won other than for some stat padding so he can reach 1,000 days and maybe even pass Pedro Morales’ mark as well. Cody Rhodes, the obvious choice to have won in Hollywood, has now moved on to a new foe: Brock Lesnar. So, the first thing to try and clarify now that we’re into WWE’s new year: how do we get Cody back to the titles? Brock Lesnar is the easy place to start. After fooling Cody into thinking he’d be his partner on the Raw after Wrestlemania, Brock brutally attacked Cody before the match could even begin and has now set these two up for a battle at Puerto Rico’s upcoming Backlash event in a few weeks’ time. Cody slaying the Beast would add some fuel back to Cody’s fire after the Wrestlemania loss and could lead to him returning to the World Title scene soon thereafter. Whether this feud with Brock lasts for one PLE or several, it will be another defining win for Cody on his path to the world title he deserves.
The other half of that puzzle is Roman Reigns. Now that Roman defeated Rhodes at Wrestlemania, all eyes should turn to what might be next for the Tribal Chief. As mentioned, we likely won’t see him at Backlash, so figure Cody vs. Brock will main event that night in San Juan. After that, WWE heads to Saudi Arabia again for Night of Champions, the same weekend that Roman will eclipse 1,000 days as champion. All eyes would likely be on Roman and him potentially defending the title there with the 1,000-day record hanging in the balance as well. Cody Rhodes likely wouldn’t be the challenger for Reigns, but guys like Matt Riddle, Karrion Kross, Sheamus, and Drew McIntyre could all figure nicely into the list of potential challengers for Reigns there. Assuming Reigns outlasts his potential challenger on that night, and now over 1,000 days, he would then be eyeing the record of Pedro Morales just under a month away from that point, a record he would break ahead of Money in the Bank in London. Could his reign end in London? I think it is more plausible than at Night of Champions, but more so, I think the reign will pull into the station at Ford Field in Detroit for Summerslam, where on that night, Cody Rhodes would finally unseat Roman Reigns as the Undisputed Champion, clocking Roman in at the 5th longest World Championship reign of all time, only trailing Bruno Sammartino’s 2 reigns, Bob Backlund, and Hulk Hogan.
Besides the World Title scene, WWE of course needs to focus on all other aspects of the show as well. Developing the divisions of the other titles is key, and the WWE Draft that is incoming, coupled with some NXT call-ups, will do wonders for those scenes. Already since Wrestlemania, we have new Women’s Tag Team Champions, a new contender to the Raw Women’s Championship, and a TV Tag Title defense for Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. These are all great starts that need to be kept up. Sheamus also figures to remain a thorn in GUNTHER’s side, so his chase to finally become the Intercontinental Champion shall rage on, something fans will absolutely sink their teeth into for more months to come. The upcoming WWE premium live events will play a major role in developing some new main event-level talent for WWE (hopefully) and would allow the winners of those tournaments the chance to reach new heights. A win in those tournaments for people like Karrion Kross, Dominik Mysterio, LA Knight, Roxanne Perez, Dakota Kai, and/or Tegan Nox could skyrocket their superstardom to new levels. Similarly, Money in the Bank the following month should stand to do the same, hopefully with the newfound importance of when, and how, the briefcases are eventually cashed in.
There are so many potential routes for WWE to go over the next few months between now and Summerslam in Detroit. 3 PLEs in 3 different countries all outside of the US will make things much more interesting for WWE than this time of the year has been in years. Backlash, King and Queen of the Ring, and Money in the Bank will all be major events for WWE, as they can either be stepping stones, or massive failures. Hopefully, WWE can knock things out of the park with them, and by the time Summerslam is here, we can rejoice in the potential for one of WWE’s best years yet!
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
