WWE News: Reviews, Analysis and Rumors for Week of July 1
For the past several months, Zack Ryder has continually been buried by the WWE creative team, as Kane and Eve have embarrassed him time after time. All of that may have suddenly been rendered moot on Tuesday, however, as Ryder won the SmackDown Great American Bash battle royal.
Ryder outlasted many of the WWE's top superstars to win the match, and he earned the right to be SmackDown's general manager last week. As surprising as that was, it certainly wasn't the only big story in the WWE this past week.
The picture got a bit clearer for next weekend's Money in the Bank pay-per-view, and the Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar storyline advanced as well. Perhaps the Lesnar situation wasn't resolved on Monday as many had hoped, but now fans have something to look forward to with regard to that feud.
Rumors continue to run rampant (as they always do) and there is talk that a popular superstar could soon be on his way out of the WWE. It obviously remains to be seen whether anything comes of the speculation, but it definitely bears watching.
Here are all the latest rumors and happenings in the WWE for the week beginning on July 1.
Zack Ryder Shockingly Wins SmackDown Great American Bash Battle Royal
1 of 5Zack Ryder is a strange case of a wrestler who was more over than almost every superstar in the company several months ago but has since fallen off the map. Ryder slowly built himself up with his YouTube show, Z! True Long Island Story, and was eventually rewarded, as he won the United States Championship. Ryder's reign was short, however, as he got caught up in the storyline involving John Cena, Kane and Eve.
Ryder dropped the title to Jack Swagger and has been stuck in a rut ever since. Everything changed for Ryder on Tuesday, though, not only because he won the battle royal on SmackDown and will be the show's general manager next week, but because he vanquished Kane to do it. It will be interesting to see what is in store for the Long Island Iced Z moving forward.
My Take
As someone who has supported Ryder since prior to his YouTube show, it was great to see something positive finally happen for him. The WWE totally botched his momentum by having Kane squash him continuously, so hopefully the battle royal win is a sign of things to come. He was unjustly knocked from his perch and has been relegated to Superstars as of late, but it's possible that one night could put him right back where he belongs.
Ryder got revenge on Kane as well as Eve since he inadvertently poured punch on her backstage. As good as things look now, I'm going to be cautiously optimistic moving forward. The creative team seems to be very fickle, so this could very well be a temporary push before everything comes crashing down once again.
Ryder is the perfect guy to hold the United States or Intercontinental Championship since the fans love him, so perhaps next week's "ZackDown" will be the start of something special for the Woo Woo Woo Kid.
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Brock Lesnar to Answer Triple H's Challenge on RAW's 1,000th Episode
2 of 5Brock Lesnar was scheduled to announce his intentions with regard to Triple H's SummerSlam challenge on Monday night, and while nobody expected to see Lesnar there live, many thought that he would at least appear via satellite. That wasn't the case, however, as Lesnar's business associate, Paul Heyman, was the one who addressed the issue from WWE headquarters in Stamford, Conn.
What Heyman said wasn't totally unexpected, though, as he announced that Lesnar would be on RAW's 1,000th episode in a few weeks to make his decision. A D-Generation X reunion with Triple H and Shawn Michaels has been advertised for quite some time, so there is no doubt that they and Lesnar will have a run-in of some kind.
My Take
Since the WWE didn't heavily promote Lesnar's return this week, I didn't think there was any chance that he would be at the event, but not even having Lesnar appear via satellite was a shoddy move by the company.
If Lesnar wasn't going to be appearing at all, then Heyman should have been advertised and not Lesnar. At the very least, Lesnar could have been shown on camera with Heyman talking. At least that would have satisfied what the WWE had promised.
Whatever the case, this storyline continues to be painfully obvious. It should be a good once things get rolling, but it has been building toward Lesnar having a confrontation with Triple H and Michaels on the 1,000th episode of RAW for quite some time.
My hope is that we get a classic DX parody with one guy dressed up like Lesnar and the other dressed like Heyman. Perhaps that could prompt Lesnar to come out, destroy both Triple H and Michaels and officially accept the COO's challenge.
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AJ Closes and Steals Show on RAW as Part of CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan Feud
3 of 5AJ has been a pretty big part of WWE programming for the past couple months, but her importance reached an entirely new level on Monday. AJ continually interferes in matches involving CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, and she did so again this week. Punk and John Cena were facing Bryan and Chris Jericho in a tag-team match, but after Cena and Jericho battled toward the back, AJ skipped to the ring and sought the attention of Punk and Bryan.
When they continued wrestling, AJ set up a table, went to the top rope and pretended as if she was about to jump through it. Punk stopped her, resulting in AJ planting a kiss on Punk's lips before pushing him onto Bryan and through the table. Things got even stranger on SmackDown when AJ engaged in make-out sessions with both Punk and Bryan in a matter of seconds.
My Take
According to Jim Ross in his blog this week, AJ stole the show on RAW. A lot of the pure wrestling fans haven't loved AJ's involvement thus far, but it's tough to argue with JR. AJ was in numerous segments and she continues to play the psychotic role perfectly.
As Ross said, it is hard to remember the last time a woman closed the show aside from the main-event match between Trish Stratus and Lita, so what AJ did on Monday was special.
It could be argued that AJ is taking away from what should be a feud based on wrestling between Punk and Bryan, but we have already seen several excellent matches out of them. AJ's involvement adds depth to the story and installing her as special guest referee in the WWE Championship match at Money in the Bank makes you wonder what could possibly happen.
When you consider how the Divas division is currently in shambles, you can't help but be impressed with how AJ has gotten herself over.
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Dolph Ziggler, Cody Rhodes Qualify for SmackDown Money in the Bank Ladder Match
4 of 5On last week's edition of SmackDown, Damien Sandow, Tyson Kidd, Christian, Santino Marella and Tensai qualified for the World Heavyweight Championship contract Money in the Bank ladder match. More qualifying matches were promised, and they were delivered on Tuesday as Cody Rhodes beat Christian to get a place in the bout after receiving a second opportunity, and Dolph Ziggler defeated Alex Riley to garner an opportunity as well.
The field now stands at seven for the match, so conventional wisdom would say that either one or three more participants will be added next week. Regardless of who gets added to the match, Ziggler has to be considered the overwhelming favorite at this point. He has been on the verge of a major push for quite some time and has all the tools to be a world champion.
My Take
While many were disillusioned with the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match field before Tuesday, I quite liked it. Several interesting competitors qualified, and it should make for an entertaining match. At the same time, though, it was pretty clear that none of the original participants had a true chance of winning. Now that Ziggler and Rhodes are in, however, there is a bit of star power and two obvious contenders.
No matter who is added next week, this match has the potential to be the most exciting MITB bout ever.
The only issue now is that it seems pretty clear that Ziggler is going to win. I would love that and want to see him win, but there isn't a lot of mystery.
That is why I am hoping Wade Barrett returns from injury next week and qualifies.
Barrett was being pushed in a big way before dislocating his elbow and missing several months, so he would be a true threat as well. With Ziggler, Rhodes and Barrett all having a legitimate chance, there would be some mystery and intrigue to the match for sure.
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Sin Cara on the Outs in WWE?
5 of 5There are constantly rumors floating around with regard to a certain superstar being in hot water and on the verge of being released, but those stories rarely come to fruition.
One that is making the rounds currently, however, involves Sin Cara. According to PWMania.com, many within CMLL and AAA in Mexico believe that Sin Cara will soon be released by the WWE and will return to Mexico in the near future.
If this does happen, it wouldn't come as a major surprise. Sin Cara has struggled to adjust to life in the WWE and it doesn't seem like there are any big plans for him currently. His original push was curtailed by a wellness policy violation and then a knee injury that kept him out of action for several months. Since Sin Cara has returned, he has looked more comfortable in the ring, but he isn't involved in any sort of angle whatsoever.
My Take
There is no doubt that Sin Cara has been a disappointment since debuting in WWE, but I don't believe this report for a second. It was clearly born from the incident on RAW when Alberto Del Rio attacked Sin Cara before their match. It was speculated by many that it was done as punishment to Sin Cara because he failed another drug test and was about to be released, but nothing of the sort has been confirmed. It also wouldn't have made much sense to write Sin Cara off in that manner.
The fact that Sin Cara was attacked before the match meant that the creative team was protecting him. They wanted to put Del Rio over without weakening Sin Cara and having Del Rio attack him beforehand did the trick.
If Sin Cara was actually on the verge of being released, Del Rio would have beaten him in a squash match and then attacked him in order to look even stronger.
Sin Cara is still getting acclimated to the United States and needs to find his niche, but he is popular and gets a good reaction, so I believe he is here to stay.
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