Welcome back to another Monday Morning Q&A where I toss out some questions to get a feel of how you guys and gals are feeling about certain topics.
So here are 5 questions I’d like to toss out for this week. I’ll give my answers, too, but the key here is that I want to know what YOU think! So make sure you chime in!
1) What are your predictions for AEW Grand Slam?
- MJF retains over Samoa Joe
- Saraya retains over Toni Storm
- I’m 50/50 split dead even on Chris Jericho vs Sammy Guevara
- Eddie Kingston beats Claudio Castagnoli to win the ROH World Championship
- Jon Moxley retains over Rey Fenix
- Christian Cage and Luchasaurus beat Darby Allin and Sting if Edge is going to appear or if someone else interferes.
- I’d love to see Mogul Embassy drop those titles, but I think they beat The Elite after Swerve Strickland screws Adam Page
- The Acclaimed retains over Dark Order
2) Are there any standout adjustments you would make to the PWI 500 list for this year from what they chose?
I always subscribe to the idea that it’s easier to keep track of someone’s 12-month journey if you go January to December, rather than July to July. So keep that in mind. But with that time frame being the judge, I think I’d move Roman Reigns up to #1, Jon Moxley might be #2, I’d bump MJF up to the #3 spot, Gunther stays at #4, #5 would be where I’d put Seth Rollins, then #6-10 I’m not sure, but definitely Cody Rhodes would be on there, as would Orange Cassidy. Vikingo, sure. Maybe SANADA deserves to crack the top 10, but I don’t watch New Japan, so maybe not.
It’s pretty crazy some people just aren’t on this list at all. If you’ve got room for 500 names, I think pretty much 80% of the WWE and AEW rosters should be on there.
Personally, I’m not a big fan of the intergender wrestling side of this being part of the same list, but I can see why people make that argument.
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn deserve to be above Bobby Lashley in my mind, but I’m fine with them being in that late teens range.
3) What are your thoughts on Nia Jax returning to the Raw roster?
Well, I can’t say she’d be the first person I’d want to bring back if I were in charge. Nia Jax does offer some value in that she’s an established name and a big physical threat that would look impressive for a Rhea Ripley to beat, for instance. But she was never fantastic on the mic and she’s got a track record of being unsafe in the ring. Do I really want to see anyone in a feud with her if there’s a chance they could be injured? I’m not sure I’m willing to risk it and that the benefit would be worth the effort in the first place.
If WWE is looking to cut costs and ends up releasing other talent on the Raw, SmackDown or NXT rosters, but they keep Nia Jax, then I’m going to be even more upset about her signing. But for now, I’m willing to give her a little bit of the benefit of the doubt that her run might be better…even if her return already kind of put a damper on that with how she landed on Rhea and smacked her around.
4) If Jade Cargill does indeed join the WWE roster, what would you like to see happen with her debut and how she’d be utilized going forward? Should she be on Raw, SmackDown or NXT? Who should she feud with?
My devil’s advocate side says “If she goes to NXT, she can get some more seasoning with the WWE style, be a bigger fish in a smaller pond, stand out among that roster and be that brand’s focal point champion for a good chunk of time. She might even draw some ratings.”
However, I do think she’s probably at a level where WWE can put her on Raw or SmackDown and not have to worry too much about it. She can learn on the road as part of the main roster while training at the Performance Center for some extra time. It’s not like her matches aren’t going to be kept short anyway regardless, so maybe putting her on the big shows can be the best benefit.
I do prefer the slow burn if they think she’s got 10+ years potential, and wouldn’t mind at all if she were in NXT. But if she’s more of a short burst type of addition to the roster, just go straight to SmackDown. Feud her with Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair, Asuka, Bayley, etc. They just put Nia Jax on Raw, so having Jade there would get in the way of that.
5) Who would you pick (and/or, who would you predict) to eventually end Becky Lynch’s NXT Women’s Championship reign?
Assuming Jade Cargill isn’t available to pick for this for the obvious reason of not being confirmed for the roster at all, let alone on the NXT brand, I’m going to limit myself to just names we know for sure are here on Raw, SmackDown and NXT.
With that in mind, Becky Lynch shouldn’t lose it to another main roster star. I don’t want to see, for example, WWE cycles out Becky and puts Piper Niven there to be the next “main roster talent who can pop a rating and be a bigger deal” like Natalya, Baron Corbin, Dana Brooke, etc.
I’m not 100% opposed to Tiffany Stratton winning the title back, but she wouldn’t be my pick, either. What’s she going to accomplish with a redo title reign that we haven’t seen already? Move her up to the main roster in a few months with a Royal Rumble appearance.
My pick actually goes to Blair Davenport. I think she needs to accomplish something to prove her value. She never won the NXT UK Women’s Championship or anything else. Let’s have Becky feuding with her at some point in the next few months, and maybe Becky starts being positioned as Rhea Ripley’s challenger for WrestleMania 40 by having Rhea interfere, cost Becky the title on behalf of a Rhea/Blair partnership (temporary) and there you go.
Let us know your thoughts about these questions by answering them in the comments!
