Shades of old Survivor Series brand war came through as “WWE Raw’s” Seth Rollins, Paul Heyman, Bron Breakker, and Bronson Reed opened up Friday’s episode of “WWE SmackDown” with a promise to reign terror on the blue brand. Shades of AEW’s Death Riders and similar “savior” groups appeared in Rollins as he touted himself as the WWE’s final redeeming grace: a stalwart protector of “true” wrestling in an era of part-timers such as Roman Reigns and ungrateful buzz names like CM Punk. Their first segment was clear in its malice: they were here to dominate, here to write the “SmackDown” locker room anew. They made good on their promise with an attack on LA Knight during his match against Aleister Black, and continued to plague the blue brand’s locker room as they struck again, this time in the aftermath of Andrade and Penta’s match against American Made. Their second segment was clear in its malice: they were here to —
Wait, their second segment?
Sure, this might be a hyper-specific thing to nitpick on, but if you’re making me wonder if I have deja vu within the same three-hour show, you have me messed up. For what its worth, Rollins’ new “salvation” stable has been interesting. It has allowed for Breakker and Reed to have a revived sense of purpose, and it is really fun to see how Heyman can both uplift and drive alongside a veritable mouthpiece like Rollins. However, they are only as good as their innovation. This stable, as an experimental push with new faces and combinations of company figureheads, is only as good as the new things they bring to the table. Generally speaking, if their antics do not challenge or elevate the time-old practices of professional wrestling, they risk falling completely flat — especially in wrestling’s fast-paced, ever-evolving industry.
So, when they decided to both open and near-cap the show with the same in-ring segment, I was confused and irritated. They couldn’t have thought of any other segment to fill the time? Maybe have Rollins waltz in on commentary, or have Breakker and Reed jump someone in the back. Have Heyman plant seeds of distrust going into Money in the Bank. Have them do literally anything than have *another* in-ring segment, where nothing has changed except for Rollins’ jacket. Like, I don’t know why they’re going to waste this stable’s time if they are just going to have them do the same thing.
Can’t think of a new way for Rollins’ stable to get involved in “SmackDown?” Sorry, then give that segment to someone else. The women’s Money in the Banks participants hardly got any coverage — you could have easily made a new segment out of them. I get that WWE wants that tense Rollins/Cody Rhodes face-off, but considering the amount of exchange between them (nothing), they could have easily done that in a ramp or backstage segment.
No need to have Heyman yap away to fill in a time or word count. That’s my job.
Written by Angeline Phu
