Evolution Steals The Show As SmackDown Live & RAW Hit The Fast Lane Towards SummerSlam

AJ Styles finally got his SummerSlam opponent and I cannot see Samoa Joe as anything other than another win for The Phenomenal One. There seems to be plenty of love out there for the Samoan Submission Machine and he is special in the ring, but his entire “I am mean and want to hurt everyone watch me drip sweat in their face” routine has been done by hundreds of wrestlers… hundreds of times.

If they truly want Joe to be heel, he needs something more sinister and more conniving. Someone rolling and just kicking butt regularly either becomes a completely over face, or becomes a false threat to fill space for top faces (i.e. Joe vs. Lesnar and Joe vs. Reigns).

SmackDown is also moving in the right direction with the Becky Lynch angle for the SmackDown Women’s Championship. Lynch should put an end to Carmella’s reign and allow for the Irish Lass Kicker to set up a great match vs. Charlotte Flair at Evolution in October.

As good and fresh as SmackDown Live was, RAW was very much the opposite.

Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler, Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar are all repeats of recent history and lack that big fight feel. It is fair to wonder if this is when Reigns will finally slay the Beast and WWE has done a good job of making that seem like a foregone conclusion only to not have it happen for the last five months.

Every episode with Ronda Rousey has fallen flat to me. That is partly because of the three hours and partly due to the repetition of match-ups.

It appears that Finn Balor is moving toward another match with Baron Corbin that will not elevate or hurt either guy. Ziggler vs. Rollins could end up having Drew McIntyre thrown in to really spice things up and will be excellent.

It is going to be tough to have Rousey fail to take the championship off Bliss and explain it away. Seems safe to assume that Nia Jax is going to get involved, but turning her heel after all the work they did in her build for WrestleMania seems to be a tough mood.

Hopefully there is a fresh angle or two coming out of this week after Rousey’s return and the buildup to the Biggest Party of the Summer can really pick up.

RAW Top 10:

1. Dolph Ziggler
2. Seth Rollins
3. Roman Reigns
4. Braun Strowman
5. Bobby Lashley
6. Kevin Owens
7. Alexa Bliss
8. Finn Balor
9. The B-Team
10. Drew McIntrye

SmackDown Live Top 10:

1. AJ Styles
2. The Miz
3. Daniel Bryan
4. Randy Orton
5. Becky Lynch
6. Sinsuke Nakamure
7. The New Day
8. Samoa Joe
9. Andrade “Cien” Almas
10. Carmella

Overall Top 5

1. AJ Styles
2. The Miz
3. Daniel Bryan
4. Dolph Ziggler
5. Randy Orton

Related: “RAW & SmackDown Live Offer Little Clarity As SummerSlam Approaches” by Geoff Rowland