The first 2 weeks after that announcement were not so great, but the WWE Creative made sure that they bring their ‘A’ game in the year 2019. In the first month of the year, the Creative team gave a lot of surprises to the fans as Vince McMahon kept his word.
From bringing back the Attitude Era segments to inter-gender wrestling, Vince McMahon did a lot of new things in January 2019 and here’s a brief summary of all of them.
#7 Women’s Tag Team Championships
Vince McMahon had announced their arrival on the Christmas special episode of RAW. However, it was on 14th January 2019 that Alexa Bliss revealed the new Women’s Tag Team Championship belts on a Moment of Bliss.
She even informed the fans that 6 tag teams (3 from RAW and SD Live each) will compete inside the Elimination Chamber where the first pair of champions will be crowned.
Also Read - 6 predictions for participants in the women’s tag team Elimination Chamber match
The qualification matches have started on both the weekly shows, as 3 teams (Nia Jax and Tamina, Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville, the Riott Squad) have already qualified for the match.
Also, WWE have announced another qualification match for the Elimination Chamber match between the Boss and Hug Connection and the team of Alicia Fox and Nikki Cross. The IIconics are also rumored to be a part of this match and it will be interesting to see who will be the 6th team in this match.
#6 New superstars in the main event picture
In the past few weeks, underused superstars like Mustafa Ali, Finn Balor, Sasha Banks, The Miz, Bobby Lashley rose on RAW and SD Live. While, Mustafa Ali transformed himself from the heart and soul of 205 Live to the heart and soul of SD Live, Finn Balor got his Universal Championship match against Brock Lesnar.
Sasha Banks finally earned a RAW Women’s Championship shot after months and months of poor booking while The Miz and Bobby Lashley are now champions on their respective shows. All these superstars had an underwhelming 2018 and so introducing them in the main event picture has not only added some variety at the top but also has given the talented superstars meaningful storylines on TV. Speaking about the talented superstars, let’s talk about the best superstar in the world….
#5 A McMahon is a champion in WWE!
When was the last time we saw a McMahon winning a title in the WWE? Surely, it has been a long time but WWE completely shocked the wrestling community by crowning Shane McMahon and the Miz as the new champions of the SD Live tag team division.
The so-called best tag team in the world defeated the Bar at the Royal Rumble PPV, to win their first SD Live tag team championships.
Also Read - 4 Names WWE Could Give To The Team Of Shane McMahon And The Miz
While, one more fact to be noted here is that the WWE Creative booked this storyline in such a manner that the fans are cheering for this team, instead of booing a McMahon as a champion.
Remember the reaction that the WWE Universe had when Shane won the WWE World Cup at Crown Jewel. This change shows how improved WWE’s booking has been of late. And speaking of McMahons…
#4 No Stephanie McMahon on RAW!
In the past, the commissioner of Monday Night RAW, Stephanie McMahon, used to be constant fixture of the top storylines of the show. Whether it was aligning with the Authority’s guy Seth Rollins during his reign as WWE World Heavyweight Champion, putting over Roman Reigns as the people’s champion, or standing by her husband in his rivalries, Stephanie McMahon always used to have the spotlight on her.
However, this past January she was barely featured on any of the episodes of RAW. She was not a part of the segment where Alexa Bliss unveiled the new Women’s Tag Team Championships.
This shows that WWE is finally listening to the fans’ demand. But, personally, I feel Stephanie McMahon should be used in segments involving the women’s division as she has brilliant mic skills.
#3 NXT stars being preferred over legends in the company
The 2018 Women’s Royal Rumble match had a lot of legends as the WWE Creative believed that using them on the Royal Rumble PPV will bring viewers back to the weekly shows ahead of WrestleMania 35. The same booking formula was used for the men’s Royal Rumble match as well. However, WWE did away with that old booking techniques and utilized a host of NXT superstars in the 2 Royal Rumble matches of the year.
Also Read - 3 reasons why WWE used so many NXT stars in Royal Rumble 2019
While the men’s Royal Rumble match featured 3 superstars (Johnny Gargano, Aleister Black and Pete Dunne) from NXT and NXT UK, the women’s Royal Rumble had a total of 6 participants (Xia Li, Kairi Sane, Candice LeRae, Kacy Catanzaro, Io Shirai and Rhea Ripley) from the developmental brands.
#2 Attitude Era Segments on WWE TV
WWE brought back the ’edgier’ segments on WWE TV this past January. They first had Alexa Bliss being rudely interrupted backstage on a RAW episode, and then had Mandy Rose be a part of an edgy angle involving Naomi and her husband Jimmy Uso on SD Live.
While, the company’s creative team did not cross their PG limits on any of their occasions, they hinted to the fans that segments like these will return to WWE TV once again. As per rumors, the WWE Creative was testing waters and were trying to see how the fans react to these segments.
Though there was no negative reception, there have no edgy segments in the past 2 weeks which might hint that WWE may not have such segments going forward on the road to WrestleMania 35.
#1 Inter-gender Wrestling
Nia Jax surprised the fans by entering the men’s Royal Rumble match at #30 after attacking R-Truth. While, the WWE Universe did expect R-Truth to be out of the #30 position, nobody would have even dreamt of the things that took place inside the ring next.
Nia entered the ring and started beating the male superstars in the match. She even eliminated Mustafa Ali from the match and boasted about her power.
However, the male superstars, who had been patient until then, ran out of patience as Dolph Ziggler superkicked Nia Jax in the face. The WWE Universe was awe-struck after this as male superstars have never beaten the female superstars in the PG era.
But Rey Mysterio and Randy Orton hit their devastating finishers on Jax before eliminating her as WWE brought back the concept of inter-gender wrestling to the company.
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