Jumping in to the most recent editions of SmackDown and RAW...
It's interesting to see you use adopt an AEW Collision-like cold open theme to kick off the show with these brief inserts. Jeff Hardy in 2020 was portrayed exactly how he should have been, but I am interested in what his comments towards Rey Mysterio was intended to convey. I can only imagine a face-vs-face meeting ahead.
Strong choice to open the actual show with the WWE Tag Team Championship match. Shinsuke Nakamura and Dominik Dijakovic is an interesting pairing, whereas Matt Riddle and Drew Gulak forming Alpha Academy makes for a fun contrast in styles. I really liked how you handled the finish with the close call.
Edge's promo for Seth Rollins came across really well. I really believe their rivalry had a lot more legs than the WWE booking truly gave it, given their history on-screen with one another. I suppose pairing Seth with Karrion Kross and Scarlett looks good for the Church, but I'm still unsure what to think of these characters aligning. It just comes across as a little too different, like I'm not sure how they would coexist long-term. Perhaps that's the idea. Scarlett talking in tongues was a really nice touch, though.
I have to wonder if Braun Strowman is about to join the Church, or at least be embedded in a feud with Karrion Kross. That, oddly, is a feud I could see working.
Sasha Banks over Marina Shafir was for the best, as Sasha is on a whole other wavelength to Shafir in 2020.
Bianca Belair and Mandy Rose would have decent chemistry if they had a match, I'd bet. I like the sound of their No-Disqualification match next week, even if it does sound like a red herring for a plot device. Something tells me it won't be their resolution.
Damn, you really brought back Primo and Epico to re-establish they were jobbers to the stars, huh! Apollo Crews needs all the help he can get. Let's hope you find him something he can truly stick his teeth into.
I figure we are establishing Finn Bálor's reign as the leader of the new-and-improved Club. His promo came off a little meta to me, but it worked in the grand scheme of things. Buddy Murphy is the modern example of a faction guy, that's for certain. I'm not too sure about AJ Styles and Finn being in cohoots, but clearly we're witnessing a facelift of the O.C. under AJ and Finn's leadership, between Murphy and Big Cass. Alpha Academy strike me as ideal opposition, but it will only really work if they are used to get this new version of the Club over.
Much like Apollo Crews, hopefully you can pull off a miracle and get Xia Li something with legs.
Kevin Owens and Jey Uso worked to get to the desired conclusion of the disqualification. It built into the next match pretty ideally, and I do enjoy your booking of Shawn Michaels as the by-the-books authority figure. I'm surprised Roman Reigns and Hanson never had a match, but then again their characters never had much reason to intertwine when on the same brand. Obvious result, but again serving as a backdrop to Reigns and KO's impending match.
Age is definitely on the side of the Medusa Complex, and I certainly like the idea of Millie McKenzie and Charli Evans as a combination in the sorely-starved women's tag team division.
Corey Graves' sit-down interview set up Bayley and Ember Moon's impending rematch for the WWE Women's Champion.
Something of a weak main event with Rey Mysterio and Jeff Hardy having their face vs face match. It set up the WWE Universal Championship match, which again sets up a face vs face match. I was surprised to see you put Rey over, but even moreso to see no storyline come out of it. Just a five-man celebration of faces. I suppose it doesn't matter when factoring in the cliffhanger ending, with the evil supervillain meeting between members of the Church.
Onto RAW, I think it's funny seeing Omos tie himself to another smaller client in Dolph Ziggler. It definitely works best for Omos of 2020 standards, considering how little he's progressed in the past few years. Mustafa Ali is all over the product this week, isn't he? Very interesting to use Big Show to school Omos at this juncture, which I feel could have been avoided for a decent chunk of time, building to a colossal match. Maybe that's the idea based off the post-angler interview setting the stage for London Calling.
Your emphasis on the cruiserweight division is really admirable, and I like to see Tyler Breeze still getting fair shake. Lio Rush winning may have been the best choice, as he is the most impressive of the three. Had he not departed I think he would have been NXT Cruiserweight Champion by the end of 2020. I wouldn't mind seeing Oney Lorcan go on to do some things.
As much as I've never really vibed with Flash Morgan Webster as a personality, there is something about Subculture as a group that could really resonate with that demographic of fans.
I'm not sure how I feel about the MMA Horsewomen as the official name of the group, but it's good to see Shayna Baszler front the group. I'm thankful that Piper Niven dispatched Jessamyn Duke in no time. I suspect the Horsewomen have beef with Charlotte Flair based on their name. This was funny to read considering what's going on in my own Pandemic Project between Flair and Shayna Baszler.
I'm still very fond of the push you have given to Swerve Strickland. Pretty action-packed line-up with the promo between the Hurt Business and the four enemies. Wade Barrett is a left-field choice for an authority figure, but I can roll with it. Tyler Bate and Cedric Alexander would have a fun match, and that finish sounded pretty remarkable.
It was strange to see Dolph Ziggler and Omos a second time in one night, but it served the purpose of putting Omos over Kalisto. I just found it hilarious to see Big Show and Mustafa Ali get one over on them a SECOND time in one night.
Noam Dar and Kenny Williams make for a choice pairing, given their Scottish heritage. I won't lie, their match with Fandango and Titus O'Neil had very change-the-channel energy. It worked for what was needed in getting them over and thickening the tag team division even further, but I feel like we needed more here, and with perhaps more star power.
Ilja Dragunov's win over Xavier Woods was fine, but served as a backdrop to tensions between the New Day members and the Ungovernables, who are an interesting line-up of guys I would not have really considered joining forces - especially not Eva Marie.
The Street Profits going over the Singh Brothers was academic, but again pointed out the flaws of a three-hour show every week. There wasn't too much to digest here, beyond the Profits wanting a WWE Tag Team Championship shot. There are times like these one has to question whether roster cuts may be needed with the amount of bulk we have under one company.
Cesaro and Sheamus would have been a clobber-happy main event, with the fascinating twist factored in of the falls count anywhere match stipulation. It geared Cesaro up for his impending WWE Championship match with Drew McIntyre, which in London is a great idea to headline - between a Scotsman and a Swiss native.