WWE New Era Ratings War Spoilers: Heading Into July 24 Raw & July 25 Smackdown Live, Who Won The Week Beginning The 17th Of July 2017 – Raw Or Smackdown Live? Kurt Angle’s “Son” & Battleground!

Ratings, Results, Reviews, Top Story

The reveal of Kurt Angles “son” on Raw drew in 3,237 million viewers, while Smackdown with far less anticipation managed to draw in 2,548 million viewers, which isn’t too bad in comparison.

So I said that the whole Kurt Angle storyline was good because it at least gave fans something to guess about, it gave some suspense and left you as a viewer interested to find out what was going on. Angle revealing Jason Jordan as his son is for sure something that is different, and that is one of the things we ask for as fans, give us something different, something new. According to some of the wrestling news sites this is a storylines that will go on for a while, and you can see why, although I feel that in the end something will need to happen to almost reset the whole thing. After a while it would be weird to separate Jordan and Angle in storyline but still have to keep reminding fans of the fact they are related. I could see an eventual villainous turn for Jordan where he actually admits that being Angle’s son was all one big lie and he really isn’t Angle’s son at all. Should they not do this I feel that Jordan and Angle’s interactions could be really limited as you’d imagine that the entire time Angle believes Jordan to be his son, he will be looking to help him out and offer him advantages. With the way the tag team division is looking on Raw right now, with the only real good guy tag team being the Hardy’s and the fact they have lost multiple times to Sheamus and Cesaro and are instead feuding with the Revival, I had hoped Chad Gable would come across with Jordan, and Angle would give them a title match with Sheamus and Cesaro. This would have not only allowed a breath of fresh air into the division, but there could have been some really great matches coming out of that. However, having said that, I am excited to see how Gable and Jordan get on with their singles careers, Jordan will no doubt have to being on the receiving end of a big push but I do get that bad feeling that Gable will simply not be given the same opportunities.

Something about the way Mike Kannellis has come into the Smackdown brand makes me fear he won’t be utilised too well. Already it appears that Maria is the main focus of their act and while she is a big asset, Mike is also an asset if utilised correctly. Interestingly, he is being used in a feud with Sami Zayn at the moment, a guy who I think is also not being utilised to the full potential he has. Zayn is a guy who you can put out there and will have one of, if not the best matches that night. Additionally, when you look at Zayn’s character work in NXT, you can see he is so much more than the goofy guy he has had to portray on Smackdown as of late. Honestly, when I look at how many top talents are on Smackdown right now, which will see at least one or two underutilised, and I look at how shallow the tag team division is, I am pulling for a Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn tag team. If you need a way to show both guys best character performances, plus sticking two obvious stars into the tag team division, this is a way to do it. There is a lot of star power elsewhere in the Smackdown singles ranks and while both Owens and Zayn could fit right in, if you wanted to spread your talent out a bit more to improve other divisions while also avoiding putting some singles talents in pointless matches and feuds, this is always a good way to do it – especially with the history between the two, it has always felt inevitable.

A reunited Shield is an interesting prospect, but it really does feel like it isn’t the right time. Hopefully there will be plenty of time left in all three members WWE careers to do this further down the line, but right now I feel there is some different directions all three could be taken in. Reigns really should be playing a villain after what he did to Strowman, and quite honestly I think the guy will never get the levels of support and excitement from fans that a Shield reunion should get unless he goes that route for a while. Meanwhile the interactions between Ambrose and Rollins are far more interesting due to the fact the bad blood after the Shield break up was between them with Reigns moving on elsewhere. Their segment on Monday with Rollins asking Ambrose to hit him with the chair just like Rollins had done to him was very well done. Personally I’d like to see Ambrose and Rollins work together for the time being against the Miz and his entourage. Following that, I’d love to see the rolls reversed, with Ambrose turning on Rollins. This would do quite a few things that have been needed. It would add even more history, twists and turns in the Shield storyline but also give Rollins some sympathy he has been needed and freshen up Dean Ambrose. This would give the two a chance to have one or two matches together, because honestly their brawls really never did get old, while it will also put off that Shield reunion a little while longer, hopefully making it even bigger when the times comes.

While I’d like to see Randy Orton take the WWE title from Jinder Mahal on Sunday, I just feel like that isn’t the way I feel things are bound to work out. Of course with Mahal playing up his dislike for America and his Indian nationality, while John Cena is in a flag match defending America’s honour in another match on the card, it would appear that is not just a coincidence. A Mahal win, leading to a title defence against Cena at Summerslam would not be one bit surprising. At that point you’d assume Cena would have to win. Mahal has certainly improved since he won the title, and I wouldn’t deny that. However, it still just doesn’t feel quite right at the moment. Mahal will easily be a step above where he was before winning the title once he loses it, but once again there is just so much talent on the Smackdown roster right now that I feel would be easily more suited to the main event scene on Smackdown.  Guys like Nakamura, AJ Styles, Baron Corbin and Kevin Owens are all there to be used and they’ve additionally got guys like Sami Zayn, Mike Kannellis, Luke Harper, Eric Rowan, Chad Gable and plenty others who could fit into the main event scene or be effectively used in the midcard.

 

I am 18 years old, and a journalism student at university. I write about professional wrestling and soccer. Twitter - LewisMichie0