On Episode 127, we review, in detail, all the big events that took place this past week on Raw and Smackdown Live. We covered some of the high points of both shows on Episode 126. But here on Episode 127, we review and analyze things with much more depth and precision.
Of course, the big story on Monday Night Raw was Finn Balor’s injury. The first ever WWE Universal Champion was forced to surrender his title less than 24 hours after winning it due to a shoulder injury that will keep him out of action from anywhere between 3-6 months. In the wake of this unfortunate development, WWE put the wheels in motion to crown a new Universal Champ. A series of matches would take place involving: Seth Rollins vs Sami Zayn, Neville vs Kevin Owens, Big Cass vs Rusev, and Chris Jericho vs Roman Reigns. The winners of those matches would advance to a Fatal Four Way match, in Houston on Raw, to determine the new Universal Champion. Which Superstars prevailed and moved a big step closer towards becoming the new Universal Champ? We let you know on Episode 127. The New Day continued their war with Gallows & Anderson while we said goodbye to one of the greatest tag teams of all-time as the Dudley Boyz called it a career. With Sasha Banks on the shelf, which former NXT Women’s Champion did Mick Foley sign to Raw to truly make the Raw Women’s Championship chase much more interesting? And would there be any repercussions for Brock Lesnar’s actions At Summer Slam? We let you know on Episode 127.
Over on Smackdown Live, Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon unveiled two new Championships: The Smackdown Live Women’s and Tag Team Championships. Both titles will be decided in a couple of weeks at Backlash with the Women’s Championship being determined in a 6-pack Challenge while the Tag Titles would be determined by way of a tournament. The first round of that tournament got underway as The Usos challenged The Ascenscion and American Alpha took on Breezeango. Which teams advanced in the tournament? We let you know on Episode 127. As for the women, Becky Lynch took on Alexa Bliss and Smackdown Live’s newest signee, Nikki Bella, went one on one with Carmella. One of these matches would see a rare double turn pulled off quite nicely. We let you in on the details here on Episode 127. In the Main Event, AJ Styles, fresh off his massive win over John Cena at Summer Slam, battled Dolph Ziggler to determine just what sort of match Dean Ambrose would have at Backlash in defense of his WWE World Championship. Would it be a one on one match between Ambrose and Styles? Or would Dolph beat AJ and make it a Triple Threat Match for the WWE Title? We let you know, right here, on Episode 127.
But, we would be failing miserably if we did not discuss the biggest story of the week: The promo cut between Daniel Bryan and The Miz on Talking Smack. Was it a work? Was it a shoot? Was it a worked shoot? No one seems to know for sure but we, like everyone else, offer our opinions on the matter. Was The Miz justified with his comments? Was Daniel Bryan in the wrong for calling Miz a coward? And, perhaps most importantly….will we actually see Daniel Bryan come out of retirement and step back in a wrestling ring? We offer our thoughts, opinions and analysis for you on Episode 127.