Last Week in Pro Wrestling Today: CM Punk's shocking announcement, Usos keep winning and Hell in a Cell predictions
Before we get into it, I may not be his biggest fan, I hope CM Punk comes through on his promise to comeback better and stronger. It’s very unfortunate for us as fans to see someone his caliber to get injured before he can make his first title defense. Good luck and get well.
***This was written before Hell in a Cell tonight***
What an insane week it has been for professional wrestling. AEW came up HUGE with Double or Nothin’ and WWE had their gone home shows getting ready for tonight’s Hell in a Cell. So much was around AEW let’s stay there for a second.
AEW’s Double or Nothin’ lives up to the hype…
AEW coming off their Wrestlemania level event, Double or Nothin’ set the stage for a helluva Dynamite. Now, with all that happened last Sunday, two stories were what stuck with fans. MJF and Wardlow opening the show. MJF was rumored to not show up because he ghosted a fan event. He opened the show and showed up in typical troll fashion. But, then here came Wardlow. My buddy who was at the show, television couldn’t capture the energy that was in the building for this one. Wardlow squashed MJF, kind of expected, but the energy after the three count was ridiculous. One of the few times you could say there was no match you could take a break. It was banger after banger, especially the Arena Anarchy match, which is now going to be a Blood & Guts match at the next PPV.
The other story coming out of Double or Nothin’ CM Punk and Hangman Adam Page. A match of the year candidate. Both wrestlers gave everything they had to this match. You felt emotions. You felt every exchange. And it got to a point where I honestly didn’t care who won, but what a great match they were putting on. Eventually CM Punk got over and the arena was deafening as you couldn’t hear his music hit on the tv. It was incredible. An AEW moment that should last forever with Tony Khan and his fanbase.
Those two stories bled into Dynamite. CM Punk and FTR opened the show and put on another fantastic match. Then it happened. Punk starts limping. Not sure if he’s selling the move or if it’s real. We let it go. They win the match and the hype for MJF starts. We’ll comeback to Punk in a second. MJF drops his ‘pipe bomb’ on AEW and Tony Khan. Now either this is the most elaborate work of all time, or he hit one of the hardest shoot’s in wrestling history. Fans felt what he was saying. Every word was chosen specifically to get a reaction from his boss, until he had the mic cut off. Whether you like him or not MJF is the next big thing for wrestling. He’s got it all. AEW pulled his merch from the store, so it looks like his shoot was successful, but now we wait.
Back to CM Punk. He’s limping. He gives us the social media saying he has an announcement, not sure where it’s coming from but huge announcement. He’s injured. In such a way he was going to vacate the title and be out of action for some time to get better. Tony Khan has a better idea. Battle Royale on Wednesday to see who goes at number 1 contender Jon Moxley for an interim world champion. Then, when Punk comes back healthy we have a unification match. Whoever wins will be in good hands in regards to challengers until Punk returns. I know we can’t wait to see him back since we won’t get to see the potential legendary run he could’ve gone on.
WWE’s just hitting different right now…
WWE was hitting on all cylinders as well getting ready for tonight. Raw was really entertaining. The Riddle/Shinsuke vs. The Usos was amazing. Riddle is probably on his way to superstar status when his tag days are done. He’s been phenomenal. Pair that with an already established Shinsuke and the best tag team in the company, everyone is elevated. This match set up for a rematch on Smackdown. Which we will get to later.
Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins are the attraction. They’re the guys right now, while our tribal chief is taking some deserved time off. The promos cut by both these men was top tier. Seth broke the code mentioning what Cody has been up to these last six years away. Cody swung back by literally swinging back. Their match tonight has the potential to be in that match of the year conversation as well. Only one way to find out. Watch tonight.
The Raw women’s championship is heating up as well. Asuka/Becky/Bianca will be top tier too. All three of these women are capable of putting on a show stealing match, just watch Wrestlemania. Becky finding her way into this match makes it must see. Now, we get three of the top women wrestlers in the world on the same stage. Can’t wait!
SmackDown sets the stage for Hell in a Cell…
SmackDown was good, but not as much happened pushing towards Sunday as it is mostly a Raw driven pay per view. But, what did happen was HUGE. We got the title match set up for Ronda Rousey. Natalya came out the victor for her six pack challenge. These two are friends and train together quite a bit. Now, we get to see them square up may be at Money in the Bank. I am curious if Ronda will be able to keep up with how experienced Nattie is in these big moments. But, Ronda has a challenger, and it’s a good one.
Lastly, The Usos put their unified titles on the line against Shin/Riddle. In another barn burner, this match probably would’ve been better served for this evening in the main event. But, that’s okay. We got it Friday night. Both teams put on one helluva show. It was freaking awesome. The storytelling in this one was top notch. Just as Riddle was about to hit another Super-RKO off the top rope, Roman Reigns music hits. Distracted for a split second, Jimmy tags in as Jey takes the RKO off the top. Jimmy hits the big splash and gets the win for the Usos. Roman was not scheduled to be there, so why would his music hit? Especially at that time in the match. Cut to Sami Zayn cheering in the truck, “IT WORKED!” He comes out to celebrate with the Usos and Riddle loses his sh*t! Chases them down and wants all the smoke. End the show.
What a great week. And tonight should be great as well. Make sure to tune into Peacock for Hell in a Cell. Here’s my predictions for the evening:
HIAC match: Cody v. Seth: Cody
Raw Women’s Championship Tripe Threat: (C)Bianca v. Becky Lynch v. Asuka: And New: Asuka (upset)
United States Championship: (C) Theory v. Mustafa Ali: And Still: Theory
Handicap match: Omos/MVP v. Bobby Lashley: Lashley
Judgement Day v. Bulliv Club: Judgement Day (someone turns, idk who, but someone)
Kevin Owens v. Eli…Ezekiel: Ezekiel
No Holds Barred Match: Happy Corbin v. Madcap Moss: Madcap Moss
As I said, A LOT happened last week. If I missed anything you wanted to talk about, like my dude Miro making his return or when are we going to see Sasha/Naomi again. Hit me up on the socials: Twitter: @zero2hero or IG: Rproctor23. Have a great night. Enjoy the show!
