Smark Out Moment

Welcome to another edition of Triple Threat from Smark Out Moment, where three of us get together to discuss three questions based on one big topic going down in the week of professional wrestling.

This week, Robert DeFelice, Ben Guest, and Cayden Parkhurst will be giving their thoughts on what transpired at WWE SummerSlam 2018!

It was a story-driven SummerSlam, but what happens now? The Shield is back, Ronda's on top, and Becky's all fired up. Let’s discuss…


GUEST: I had a feeling they would default back to Charlotte when they weren’t sure what to do with the title, especially with Evolution coming up. Charlotte is a great champion and a great face for the company, but that doesn’t mean Becky can’t also be a great champion.

Becky as a heel should be interesting and she definitely needed a change. I don’t trust WWE to handle it well and I feel like it going to be a long time before she gets the title. But I hope I’m proved wrong.

PARKHURST: This “heel” turn has felt more like an enhanced face turn because the crowd refuses to be against Becky Lynch right now. We saw it with the massive pop at SummerSlam when she snapped on Charlotte, and we saw with her promo on Tuesday at SmackDown. She tried and tried to tell the crowd she didn’t like them anymore and they’ve never done anything for her but she still had them in the palm of her hand.

If it was against anyone but Charlotte, we’d have different reactions. But people feel like Charlotte is the main reason Becky hasn’t had the success we’ve all wanted her to have since her original SD Live Women’s Championship run. So seeing her snap on what fans believe has been her glass ceiling was a great moment. She may act like a heel, wrestle like a heel, and talk like a heel but to the fans, she won’t be one against Charlotte Flair.

DEFELICE: The feud is a good idea. Becky and Charlotte should be on opposite sides right now. It's been a long time since they've had a personal issue and now is a good time considering Evolution is on the horizon. However, I can't help but feel like this is just not a good move to have them on the sides of good and evil that they are respectively. Becky is beloved and she should not be positioned to be booed by the fans because they just won't play along. I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt as I feel like this feud and read some great matches and some great moments for the women's evolution but I just don't think that they've gone about this the right way.


DeFELICE: Ronda won the championship in perfect fashion as I feel like that was the best way to present to match with her and Alexa Bliss. I did not like the follow-up angle on Raw as it basically just said all the babyfaces are together and all heels are together under Stephanie, it was basic Diva storyline 101. Ronda Rousey is rumored to have a match with Nikki Bella at Evolution and I really do like that pairing but I do feel like if they decide to go with a basic storyline of respect among women then it will kind of fall flat. They can really create a personal issue based on the opposite ends of the spectrum that both of these women lay on I really hope they go the proper route.

GUEST: It was always going to happen, and I think Ronda has proven to be a lot better than anyone ever expected 8 months into her run as a WWE Superstar. As for a rivalry with Stephanie McMahon, I wanted and still do want heel Ronda, and I don’t want to see her in a match with Stephanie, but if they’re going to do it, let's just get it out of the way as soon as possible. If we’re getting nice, babyface, defending champion Ronda, let her put on some open challenges. But can we please have heel Ronda telling us how none of these girls know how to have a real fight and that this business is nothing like her old job in UFC. Like, after WrestleMania maybe? Please?

PARKHURST: I agree with Ben. This was bound to happen, and honestly, why wouldn’t it? Stephanie is the top heel in WWE for women, and you could argue she is the best heel overall. Ronda is the biggest name in women’s wrestling and therefore the biggest face in women’s wrestling. Your top heel, your top face, and a history together will make for good money. People love to love Ronda Rousey, and people love to hate Stephanie McMahon. It is the perfect match, and the fact of the matter is they need to build someone up as actually capable of taking Ronda down. So why not waste time with Stephanie?


PARKHURST: I loved this. Not necessarily Roman winning, but The Shield getting back together and almost acting heelish taking out Strowman at the end of Raw is a money move. All three men could be fantastic heels, and we’ve seen that before with the original Shield way back in the day. The Raw main event scene going forward could be absolutely amazing. The Shield running wild on everybody, and taking out Braun Strowman who is chasing Reigns with the briefcase. The best part is, is that at the end of it all is that Strowman will get his moment that we’ve all been waiting for. I will love The Shield reunion no matter what, but I’ll love it even more if they’re heels.

GUEST: Okay, credit where it’s due, they finally pulled the trigger and are just going with it. Using The Shield to help get him over is fine, and I also like that he gave Balor his rematch straight away. It’s a good start and I’m okay with The Shield reforming for a little while. Maybe we even start building towards that WrestleMania Shield triple threat we were all asking for a couple of years ago?

DeFELICE: Based on everything that happened between SummerSlam and the following Raw, I love everything about the main event scene on Monday nights. The Shield can play a perfect Middle Ground of three badasses who just refused to let anyone cross them ever again. Position Strowman as the ultra babyface and everyone else as the super heels and you have a great main event scene. I really hope they don't screw it up because, for the first time in a long time, Roman Reigns is interesting again.