TOP 3 DEVELOPMENTS – RAW: Jordan-Seth dynamic develops, The Rules for the Women’s Rumble, Reigns’s push continues

The Rules for the Women’s Royal Rumble are Announced…

Recap: At the top of the show, Kurt Angle announced that the rules for the women will be the same as the men for Royal Rumble. There will be 30 competitors, and elimination is only by going over the top rope.

Evaluation: It looks like concerns about whether the smaller women would be able to take over the top rope bumps have been quelled, at least on WWE’s part.

We also have our answer as to the number of competitors. With the number of women on Raw and SmackDown, a 30 woman match means there will be many “surprise” entrants from NXT and/or new signings and legends. With so many slots for surprise entrants, Rhonda Rousey and her horsewomen could all appear, with many slots still to spare.

Forecast: There’s no reason to believe that this match won’t be at least as fun as the men’s match. The bigger issue is whether two matches of this type will be too much for the fans. The Royal Rumble is fun once a year, but would easily become tiresome if it were a regular occurrence. There are only so many types of spots that happen in a battle royal. The question is whether fans will tire of the gimmick for the night before two of these matches are complete.

The Dynamic between Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan Unfolds…

Recap: During Kurt Angle’s Royal Rumble announcements, Sheamus and Cesaro interrupted to accuse Kurt of favoritism in awarding Jason Jordan a tag title shot last week. Jordan taunted Cesaro with the belt, stating that if he didn’t deserve a title shot, he wouldn’t have won. Arguing ensued, which Kurt proposed to end with a match between Jordan and Cesaro. Seth Rollins then came down the ramp. Seth indicated that Jordan was naïve in setting himself up for a match where he was outnumbered (implying that Sheamus would interfere). He stated that he’d be in Jordan’s corner, but only to protect his half of the tag titles. He even indicated that he expected Jordan to lose.

After a Jordan victory in the match, Seth’s respect for the victory seemed extremely begrudging. He seemed displeased at Jordan’s attempts to draw him into the celebration, even annoyed by Jordan’s raising of his hand.

Later, backstage, Seth and Roman discussed their solidarity with their fallen brother, Dean Ambrose. Jordan interrupted to offer Roman protection from Bar interference during his Intercontinental Title match with Samoa Joe. Jordan used Roman’s “believe that” tagline, to eye rolls and unhappy looks from Seth and Roman.

Evaluation: They seem to have found a workable groove here to keep Seth a face while keeping Jordan a heel. Jordan seems to be overstepping his bounds in assuming too much familiarity with the Shield. This is very relatable to the audience, as most people have a real life experience with an outsider taking too many liberties with an existing group of friends.

Forecast: I like how this angle is working. I would expect that when Seth and Jordan finally lose the titles, it will be due to a selfish move by Jordan, further cementing Seth’s face status and Jordan’s heel status.

Roman Reigns’s Push Continues Post-Dean…

Recap: A video package recap of last week emphasized the brutality Reigns showed to Samoa Joe when being disqualified during their match. Later backstage, Reigns emphasized solidarity with Dean Ambrose when talking with Seth Rollins. In the match itself, Reigns retained his Intercontinental Title against Samoa Joe.

Evaluation: Even with Dean Ambrose hurt, the writers are trying to play up the rub from the Shield as much as possible.

It now appears that WWE is going to portray Reigns as more of a rule-breaking brutal “badass” type. This is likely to counteract the corporate golden boy image that the fans seem to reject.

Forecast: WWE will likely continue to play the Shield nostalgia as much as it can. At some point, when Ambrose is able, it wouldn’t surprise me if he starts showing up in a non-wrestling role.

In WWE morality, doing whatever it takes to win is a face mentality. As much as I prefer the traditional morality of wrestling where Reigns’ actions against Joe last week would be reserved for a heel, at this point the fans are sufficiently conditioned in WWE’s way of thinking that it won’t do any damage, and it may in fact help with the “golden boy” perception issue.

Random Thoughts…

-While refusing to acknowledge Bullet Club by name, WWE seems keen to play on its popularity. Finn Balor, Gallows, and Anderson teamed tonight, and were referred to as “one of the most devastating groups in sports entertainment”. It was referred to as a “reunion”, and after the match Michael Cole even exclaimed “how sweet it is!”….

-Enzo was not on tonight’s show. Nia Jax was seen bringing him soup, as it was said he had the flu. It seems like this romance storyline will go on for a while….

-Two weeks ago, I mentioned a desire to see the Cruiserweights better integrated into Raw rather than feeling like an island in the middle of the show. Tonight Cedric Alexander teamed with heavyweight Goldust, however the match still used the very distinct “Cruiserweight” graphics and chyron….

-I share the frustration Paul Heyman expressed tonight with the number of multi-participant matches at PPVs…

NOW CHECK OUT THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: TOP 3 DEVELOPMENTS – SMACKDOWN: Shane-Bryan fallout begins, more Platitudes about the Women’s Royal Rumble, intrigue with Dolph Ziggler, Random Thoughts