a Sunday Wrestling post

This Sunday night it’s WWE Stomping Grounds! An event in the long tradition of, well, this is the first one. But it can join such illustrious pay per view names like Great Balls of Fire or This Tuesday in Texas.

After the Saudi show Super Showdown was compared to WrestleMania and the results of the show saw zero title changes, zero mentions on TV after, and a 50 man battle royal won by a wrestler who has never been on either Raw or Smackdown (has he even been on NXT?) it’s time for a show that matters. At least we all hope so.

Tony Nese (Cruiserweight champion) vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Drew Gulak.

It’s not the Cruiserweights fault. When the big two WWE shows are struggling to have good stories the shows that receive less attention are going to have trouble. Only because I don’t see much of consequence happening on the show, I’m calling for a title change here.

Winner and new champion: Drew Gulak.

Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre.

Maybe I’m jaded. This story is clearly leading to Roman vs Shane McMahon at SummerSlam and thus the beats in between are predictable. Drew will win this match through underhanded means. Roman wants a rematch at the July show. The stipulation is put in that if Roman can defeat the extra challenges he will face Shane in August.

Winner: Drew McIntyre.

The New Day (Big E and Xavier Woods) vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn

Speaking of long term booking, I am sure that Big E will be turning heel this year and become Kofi Kingston’s greatest challenge. I could even see him winning the belt. The seeds could start here. Miscommunication between the New Day. Frustration from Big E. This could heat up Smackdown all summer and maybe even continue into their debut on Fox in October.

Winners: Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.

Daniel Bryan and Rowan (Smackdown tag team champions) vs. Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker).

I am convinced Daniel Bryan’s entire focus at this stage in his career is to elevate other talent. Kofi, Rowan, Ali, and now Heavy Machinery. Work with Bryan, rise to the occasion, and hopefully you can stay there after the story is over. Heavy Machinery have actually looked great the last few weeks and are getting over with the crowd. I think they will defeat this team, but not tonight. It will be close and earn a rematch all to get a bigger cheer from the crowd when they do finally win.

Winners and still champions: Daniel Bryan and Rowan.

Samoa Joe (US champion) vs. Ricochet.

Ricochet has been compared to Rey Mysterio numerous times so it’s only fair that he takes Rey’s place in this feud. Joe doesn’t need a title, but he also is a great heel to be a perennial threat to a title. I think a Ricochet “upset” followed by Joe blindsiding him in a rematch to regain the title would be a great story for the two wrestlers.

Winner and NEW US champion Ricochet.

Bayley (Smackdown Womens champion) vs. Alexa Bliss.

Alexa could win any women’s title at any time. If she’s healthy. Just back from the injured list Alexa is a different story. If anything she should keep her partnership with Nikki Cross and pursue the women’s tag team titles. Bayley also is finally getting her moment to shine and showing some character evolution. It’s too soon to take the title off of her.

Winner and still champion Bayley.

Becky Lynch (Raw Women’s champion) vs. Lacey Evans.

Speaking of too soon. Lacey has shown a lot of growth since joining the main roster. It’s clear she has some fans on the writing team. But all of the pieces aren’t yet there. She’ll have one of the belts within a year for sure. Just not tonight.

Winner and still champion Becky Lynch.

Kofi Kingston (Smackdown World Champion) vs. Dolph Ziggler. Steel Cage match.

What I want vs what I expect. What I would love to see is Big E get into the cage to save his long time friend. By that I mean Dolph. It’s been forgotten over time but Big E debuted in WWE as Dolph’s muscle. He was in that role for a long time and used his size great as a heel. The New Day is so popular it’s difficult to think of Big E that way but he could absolutely be a monster hated heel in WWE the likes of which haven’t been seen in years.

What will most likely happen though is Kofi will outsmart Dolph at the very end and escape the cage a moment sooner than Ziggler.

Winner and still champion Kofi Kingston.

Seth Rollins (Raw world champion) vs. Baron Corbin. With a special referee to be announced.

Now this is the big question mark. Not only a special referee, but there’s also Brock Lesnar around every corner with the Money in the Bank. Brock as referee would be insane, but I think that’s something that would be announced in advance. Elias is my top guess here. I think just to get the hate, the story, the hot angle of the summer Baron is going to get the win through every cheat in the book.

Winner and NEW champion Baron Corbin.