Ladies Night On Raw: Steph and Brie Feud In Main Event Spot

I walked away from last night’s Raw with one thought in my mind that basically the Co-Main Event for Summerslam is Brie Bella vs. Stephanie McMahon. It is quite the revelation to come too, but honestly can you argue it is not the case. The build up to making the match that I honestly have wanted to see for some time. Part of the reason for that I think is the fact Stephanie has not wrestled a match in over a decade. Her last match to the best of my recollection was against her father a week before her real life wedding to Paul Lévesque AkA Triple H.

Will get to what to expect from Stephanie in the ring, which might be better than you think in a minute, but let’s talk about the build to this match. It has been a slow and steady build that began even prior to Daniel Bryan’s injury and they still carried on with it.

They worked around the Bryan injury and still ran with this angle as Brie in the end got fired for basically no reason with Bryan unable to return and was stripped of the title anyway despite Brie quitting to save Bryan from having to choose between his wife and the title.

I think the best selling point to this angle on a personal level to me is my mom who is not a wrestling fan in the slightest and her only really exposure to it is me. She has been interested in watching this angle just based on Stephanie alone. Even the most casual wrestling fan to someone who is aware of wrestling knows who she is and she is very good at what she does.

For those who just dismiss Stephanie as a character are just simply hating on her based on her real life position in the company but she is for my money the best female performer on microphone in this company and has been for quite sometime. A.J Lee is the only female in this company that can even comes close to her in terms of skill on the microphone.

Brie Bella is not a terrible wrestler her acting skills are not exactly the greatest and that is being kind. She is only mildly better than her sister Nikki who is terrible at acting in any sense. In this angle they have kept her talking to a minimum. She has been able to drop some naughty language in the PG WWE landscape.

The match itself is never going to live up to this tremendous build-up it has been given. It will not be as bad as you think though I believe. Brie is as I mentioned getting better in the ring and really showed growth in the time she was broken apart from her sister who was out with an injury. Daniel Bryan giving her some pointers has not hurt at all. Stephanie has recently been training in Jiu JitSu, her girls have been getting trained in it by Rener Gracie, who is married to former WWE Diva Eve. Stephanie has been learning as well. So this alone might make Steph a more component in-ring competitor. This is all assuming this is more than a slap fest cat fight which it has been in the build up to that point.

This has been one of several female angles that WWE has been running with in the last month or two. Even the Diva’s title program with A.J Lee and Paige has taken a backseat to this angle. This is not surprising considering even big angles have been positioned behind this feud between the two.

Another part of this is so many times Steph has been positioned against male performers where they are basically rendered helpless in the WWE where a man hitting a woman is not happening in this PG era. So Brie is able to in a sense be the one to get revenge on Stephanie through Brie.

What is the outcome of this angle? Some have suggested perhaps will spill off into a Bella vs. Bella feud with Nikki turning heel on her sister. The logic of this thought is a little flawed but maybe the plan was always to sucker Brie into this match. Will see how it plays out, but it made a majority of the wrestling audience interested in a women’s angle with great passion since Trish and Lita.

You may not be happy with who is representing the ladies at the top of the heap here but it is a huge step for women in the landscape of things. I am pretty sure a female angle has not closed Raw since the much talked about match with Trish and Lita that Main-Evented Raw.

The success of all these female angles recently can be debated but this angle with Steph and Brie has been as good as it gets.

 

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Ten Count: 10 Matches We Would Like To See In WWE

 We are a day late, but hopefully not a dollar short with the 10 count this week. In this week's edition we will day dream a little with 10 feuds that we have not seen in WWE that we think would be pretty damn cool. Not to say all of them are possible, but we are throwing them out there none the less. Still will try and keep it realistic.

#10: Lita vs. A.J Lee: You could make a great number of feuds that involve women that have dated CM Punk let’s face it. None more appealing than this one as A.J Lee grew up idolizing Lita the recent WWE Hall of Fame inductee. It would make for an excellent match even if you leave the Punk element out of the equation.

#9: Bray Wyatt vs. Bo Dallas: At some point we all expect Bray Wyatt to become a baby face and when he does a feud with his actual brother in real life Bo Dallas you would think has to happen. I can see the promo Bray would cut in my head right now. Bo was always a dreamer and he is lying to himself. I Bolieve this feud eventually happens and it will be great.

#8 Dean Ambrose vs. John Cena: We have seen some interaction with these two with Ambose as part of The Shield. If the two ever got together in a one on one feud it could be excellent. John Cena when pushed by someone who can go in the ring always does his best work. On the mic Ambrose can hold his own with anyone and would no doubt drop some verbal jabs on Cena that all his haters would enjoy.

#7 Seth Rollins vs. Cesaro: Forgive me for not knowing if this ever happened in ROH but the two alums from that company can go in the ring for days. In ring this match would carry the goods and both have the potential to get it done on the microphone as well. It would be fun to see these guys work a program.

#6 Tyler Breeze vs. Adam Rose: These two characters seem to fit together well and I wouldn’t doubt we see this match-up in NXT if Rose is around long enough for it to happen. Prince Pretty vs. the Party starter Adam Rose seems like something that could be fun. Breeze not being considered cool enough to party with Adam Rose and your off and running. In the ring we have not seen the best of either, but if you believe what people say both have potentially to be very good. 

 

#5 Adam Cole vs. Sami Zayn: These next two feuds involve people currently not signed to WWE but what the heck were going make it happen here. Adam Cole is the current ROH Champion and I have no doubt will find his way to the WWE. The in ring style of both would make for some incredible matches. Cole is getting very good with a microphone in his hand, while Zayn continues to improve in that area. Why does this happen? Simple if Cole came in he would claim to be the rising star that everyone thinks Zayn already is. I think that qualifies as one of J.R’s personally issues and goes back to something we said in this blog about wanting to be the best.

#4 Kevin Steen vs. Luke Harper: I am sure this likely took place on the Indies somewhere. You want a crazy flat out brawl this is a match that will deliver the goods. Steen can talk on the microphone with anyone in this business and he can go with someone with Harper’s rough and tumble style. Heck if you add in Eric Rowan and Steen’s former tag partner Sami Zayn and this is a heck of a tag-team match. Steen is not signed in WWE of course but rumours are out there he had a great try out. This would be a great feud for him to showcase his in ring style.

#3 Roman Reigns vs. The Rock: Yes Roman Reigns is likely heading to face HHH at some point and could some day be the man in this company. How cool would it be to see him get in the ring with the most famous of all his relations in a match? We already saw the two interact with Reigns as part of the Shield. Give him a year or maybe two and this makes a hell of a Mania match or any other big show the WWE would put it on. There are a lot of questions on if The Rock would ever wrestle again but for a member of his extended family you have a better shot at convincing him to come back and do it.

 #2 Daniel Bryan vs. Brock Lesnar: A modern day David and Goliath match-up this would be. WWE loves to book Bryan as the under dog and is there a match on earth where he would be a bigger one than in this one? My answer is a flat out no to that, so that is why this match makes so much sense. There were rumours that the Undertaker actually wanted to work with Bryan at this past Mania. Why not use those as Bryan’s motivation to get what Brock took away from him. The chance to beat the streak and go down in history. While it is no secret that Lesnar has already stated several times about being the uncrowned number on contender and wants the belt.  You don’t even need the Undetaker stuff other than Brock having beaten The Streak. Still you internet fans are aware of the rumours and it only adds another layer of awesome to this match-up.
 
#1 CM Punk vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin: WWE teased us with this and it is the one match in wrestling that I truly want to see above all others. More than a few problems in making it happen of course but these two seem destined to fight and made for each other. If Punk had been around in the attitude era I have no doubt in saying a feud with he and Austin would be considered one of the best of that era. Which given that era is saying a lot. Would it be as good now as it would have been than? On the microphone it will be as both guys still know how to cut a promo. In ring it might not be as good but Punk proved he can work well with an older rusty talent in his match with the Undertaker. I believe it is the only match Austin would come back for. I also believe this is a match that gives CM Punk his final goal to achieve in wrestling to Main Event a Wrestlemania. The WWE needs a hell of an attraction if they plan to go to Cowboy’s stadium and look to have a crowd of over 100,000 people in attendance. This IS THAT ATTRACTION and it will bring all those people that use to be wrestling fans back into the fold. Will it ever happen….hope is fading fast on this one!

Obviously there are a million of these you can come up with so you’re invited to suggest your own. Love to hear your suggestions. In this we tried to keep it as realistic as possible with no real dream matches other than perhaps Punk vs. Austin and Rock vs Reigns. Also we tried to only use each talent once as you could see several good options for many of the top talent to work in programs with.

Hope we came up with some solid matches that you agree would be fun to see. There is not one on this list that I wouldn’t love to see happen at some point.

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