WWE Weekly BreakDown June 10-16

 Written By: Danny Albers 

Saturday is the last international PLE before we get Money In The Bank this summer. WWE has been red hot and Raw looks to continue to build some of the feuds happening on the show. The main feud on Raw is the man being advertised and that Drew McIntyre. The hometown hero is over right now, and he should get a greeting in Scotland that should rival Randy Orton’s Lyon, France entrance. Let’s breakdown this week's shows before the PLE. 

Monday Night Raw 6/10 

The go home episode of RAW for Clash at the Castle this Saturday kicked off with Drew McIntyre and Damian Priest standing face to face in the ring. Drew is so over right now, and it’s looking like he's going the route of a baby face. Damian came out and struggled with another promo, but made a match with Drew and Finn, if Drew wins the Judgment Day is banned from ringside. It’s creepy how much Damian reminds me of Roman when he first went solo. Backstage, Liv meets with Dom in the Judgment Day club house and gives him a hotel room key. She says “a man like him shouldn’t call a woman Mami, but have a girl who calls him Daddy.” This segment gives me old school WWE vibes. What a great way to kick off the show. 

Io Sky and Lyra Valkyria had a rematch next. This was a really good match, and the finish was brilliant. Io Sky rolled up Lyra and stole a win in a very similar fashion that Lyra beat Io. We might have a solid rivalry on our hands. In addition, Carter and Chance came to the aid when Damage Control attacked Lyra. This was a good match and segment, and a good way to get all 6 women relevant screen time. I think Io and Lyra have potential to be a good midcard feud, especially with Io returning to the unhinged character she had at NXT. 

The next match was between the LWO (Dragon Lee & Rey Mysterio) and Braun Strowman who faced The Judgment Day. Carlito, Dom and JD were facing their actions after pissing the Monster of Men off last week. This match turned into pure chaos almost immediately. There was a lot of bad blood. Mysterio, Lee and Strowman picked up the win after Liv Morgan once again got involved tormenting Dom. She got knocked onto him and was mounting him in quite a sexual position. She seemed to be enjoying herself until Zelina attacked her and began a brawl. This was a fantastic segment as WWE keeps finding ways to spice things up with Liv and Judgment Day. LWO also came out of this segment looking strong.

Sami Zayn continued to try and reason with the Alpha Academy before his match with Otis. But Chad Gable would interject once again. Otis and Sami worked a match in which Otis looked strong. But Sami took advantage of a Chad Gable distraction and hit a Helluva Kick to win the match. After the match, Otis reached his breaking point before holding back and walking away. A complete meltdown and attack on Gable seems like the next step which we can get Saturday from Scotland at the PLE. I am ready for this feud between Zayn and Gable to be over, it is starting to feel redundant and repetitive. 

The next match was surprising as ⅔ of the Women’s Tag Team Match faced off. The Unholy Union of Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn faced Zoey Stark and Shayna Baszler. With Shayna working last night, I thought this would be an easy triple threat match between Zoey, and one member of each of the other teams. Instead, Shayna and Zoey squashed Dawn and Fyre. It was a really bizarre decision as it killed all momentum for the hometown stars before Clash at the Castle. Not sure what they were going for here. 

Bron Breakker continued his destruction, this time in an absolute banger with Ilja Dragunov. The two battled back and forth before Bron hit the devastating spear on the former NXT Champion. Ricochet came out to help Dragunov after the match, which led to Bron destroying him backstage as he was wheeled off in an ambulance with a tearful Samantha Irvin. Rumors of Ricochet notifying the WWE he’s leaving might signal this as Ricochet’s goodbye to WWE television as he’s failed to find a spot for years. Ricochet becoming All Elite might be happening in the near future. I don’t think there is any trade happening with Ricochet and Ricky Starks. Penta will probably stay as long as his brother is in AEW, and Ricky Starks will probably join the other Cody guys on WWE television once the contract is up. Ricochet will fit right in with AEW if that’s where he’s going.  

Awesome Truth defended their tag titles against the AOP next. The champions barely escaped with their belts after the New Day caused a distraction that got R-Truth and Miz the win. It’s been fun while it lasted, but those belts have to come off Awesome Truth. There are too many good tag teams in need of those belts. The final match of the evening was Drew and Finn Balor to make sure no Judgment Day involvement happens at Clash at the Castle. Drew obviously picked up the win. It’s interesting because they seem to be turning Drew babyface little by little since he got over. And CM Punk's interviews definitely feel like we’re getting heel CM Punk when he returns. But this was a good match and entertaining. Damian and Drew should be really fun at Saturday’s PLE. 

NXT 6/11 

Kelani Jordan opened the show wearing her new Women’s North American Championship. The belt looks great on her. I think her promo here is exactly why she won a belt. She managed really well and talked clearly and smoothly. You see how much better she was when Jaida Parker came out. Not that Parker was bad, but clearly not as comfortable as Jordan. 

Michin didn’t let Jaida Parker run her mouth. She came out and attacked Parker, and their match kicked off right after. Although Parker lost, they made her look strong. She was about to attack Michin with a chair when Gallows and Anderson came out to take the chair and cause Parker to get rolled up. It was an excellent segment and WWE capitalized well on the momentum from Sunday Night. My last thought, this match is why Natalya and Michin’s involvement on the brand has been so good. Parker and Jordan have come a long way in a short period of time by working with these veterans who can pass on the knowledge. 

Wes Lee looked to exact some revenge on the Gallus Boys after they attacked him backstage. Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne stepped up to help Wes. There was a little bit of a disappointment here as people thought that the Rascals were going to be his partners. However, Dunne and Bate have a history with Gallus, and the action was fun. All competitors are some of the best workers on the WWE roster. The following match, Wendy Choo appeared in a dark persona. She faced Brinley Reece, and they tossed Reece and buried her. With Choo not being around for a while, I didn’t like how they reintroduced her by burying a young person who’s been working her way on television. I felt like vignettes explaining why Windy Choo is having this creepy carrier now would have been more effective.

Cody Rhodes was the next segment, and he came out and was joined by NXT champion Trick Williams. Williams asked him about how he manages to succeed with a target on his back. This was good because it seemed like Cody was emotional with this being the 9 year anniversary of Dusty’s passing. Trick softened the moment by asking Cody if he will be coming to the cookout. Cody announced that Trick’s next challenger will be decided in a battle royal. He ended by saying that this will include names from “other locker rooms.” Will we see TNA competitors arrive at Full Sail? Will Ricky Starks or other AEW stars join after the rumored trade for Ricochet? I loved this segment as it makes next week's show important and heats things up going for NXT. 

Dante Chen and Lexus King battled in a Singapore cane match. This was the first time we’ve seen this type of match in a while on WWE. This was the best feature of King on NXT. Him and Chen really beat the hell out of each other and this feud really felt personal from the start. This also was the best match the two of them had together, and it made you forget some of the mistakes of the past couple bouts. Eddy Thorpe worked with Tavion Heights next. WWE is doing well in not letting you forget about Eddy Thorpe. He’s very gifted, and there is some room opening up for him to start getting onto television and getting over. People know how talented he is because he always gets a great reaction. Great dominant win for Thorpe. 

Shawn Spears and Je’Von Evans were the last match of the night. This is where things got very interesting. Spears and Evans had great chemistry and Spears made sure to make Evans look great despite winning. The springboard onto the table was another level of athleticism we haven’t seen. Evans is right there with Ricochet in terms of being the most athletic guy on the roster, and he has a ton of potential. But it’s important WWE used Spears who came over from AEW. He’s an established name that they can do some fun things with. After the match, Spears, Page, King, and Cody all stood together with Cody ending the segment saying “looks like you guys are in a good place.” This was a rare shot on television at AEW. And with Cody standing with his “Cody guys,” it makes you wonder if Ricky Starks will be the next Cody guy to jump ship. 

Roxanne ended the night with a state of the division address. And this segment turned into a mess. This should have been just Roxanne and Lola Vice. They could have worked a program after Vice won an awesome match at the pay per view. Instead, Jayne and Nix surprisingly came out. Nothing again either Nix or Jacy, but both girls haven’t come close to accomplishing anything that calls for them to be in the discussion for the NXT women’s title. It got even more crazy with Meta Four coming out. Lash Legend has potential, but her mic skills aren’t there yet to be out there with the belt. And she just blocked the shine on Vice. Booking and creative did none of these women any favors. 

SmackDown 6/14

Bayley and Naomi kicked off the night to square off with Piper Niven and Chelsea Green. With Piper and Bayley set to face each other tomorrow at the PLE. So we got Chelsea VS Naomi. This was a good match. I think Chelsea doesn’t get enough credit for what she could do inside the ring. Chelsea was telling people she was going to become champion tomorrow when Piper Niven wins, alluding to a “Freebird” rule applying to the Women’s Championship. Naomi picked up the victory. Here and Bayley would later get attacked backstage by Piper and Chelsea. 

The Grayson Waller Effect was next. They hosted DIY on their show. DIY came out and showed footage of Grayson pulling Austin Theory in front of nose dive to the outside from a week ago. Johnny Gargano got personal with Austin Theory and told him that Grayson is using him. But then Grayson hit Johnny with a cheap shot, and in the scrum Austin Theory would once again get taken out by DIY. Legado Del Fantasma was next up, as Santos Escobar took on Apollo Crews. This was a quick match, and didn’t get a lot of time to build anything. WWE used this as a platform to reintroduce Baron Corbin to the main roster. Santos would pick up the win against Crews, but it was nice to see some old familiar faces get TV time. 

Cody Rhodes and AJ Styles had their promo segment, and once again they were drowned out by a wild international crowd. AJ Styles cut the “Cody Quit” promo, and it got people to react. It’s just kind of annoying to me that everytime someone is feuding with Cody they drop the “you quit the company you started” line. It’s already been overused. After that segment, Nia Jax squashed Michin. The booking was a little strange. AJ Styles is in an “I Quit” match for the title, and they squashed part of his crew. I think they should have just held out for Chicago to do this match. After the match, LA Knight surprised Logan Paul at Paul’s own home. He told Paul that he will see him in Chicago. It was a funny video package, and I think they're doing a good job and building issues between Knight and Paul. They would cut back to the arena where Carmelo Hayes cut a promo from the press box that was clearly written for him. It sounded like he was reciting a passage he memorized. And it’s starting to feel like he’s just hanging around in a feud that doesn’t need him. I also think that there are too many heels on SmackDown right now, and this is bad timing for Hayes to get called up because he's getting buried right now. 

 The final match of the night and the main event was Kevin Owens VS Solo Sikoa. The Bloodline was banned at ringside. Solo threatened that he’d attack Paul Heyman if he lost. Solo came close a couple times in this match. Owens hit a crazy frog splash. But Solo would come out on top, and The Bloodline would come out to put Kevin Owens through a table. Just as everything looked to be over, Randy Orton came out to save his friend. Orton looked explosive taking out The Bloodline and sending them into retreat.