Quick Takes on AEW’s Biggest Feud, Booking Roman Reigns, Rhea Ripley Push, More

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MJF and CM Punk have already made magic on the mic so far in their feud.Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Even with the critically-acclaimed Full Gear pay-per-view in the rear view, All Elite Wrestling hasn’t wasted any time setting the stage for an exciting final stretch of 2021 in the form of two huge feuds.

Firstly, MJF vs. CM Punk is a program many hoped would happen eventually but didn’t expect to see any time soon. However, we’re only two weeks in and already they’ve produced one of the best segments on any wrestling program all year with their war of words last Wednesday on Dynamite.

Plus, the Bryan Danielson and Adam Page feud is off to a strong start with Danielson playing the perfect heel. Those two are on a collision course toward a clash for the AEW World Championship, though when that marquee match will take place remains to be seen.

There are several storyline possibilities to look forward to in the WWE world as well coming out of Survivor Series, including the many opponents lined up for Universal champion Roman Reigns. Even well over a year into his title run, WWE is still finding compelling challengers for him heading into WrestleMania 38 next spring.

This installment of Quick Takes will tackle what the next few months should look like for The Tribal Chief, treading lightly with the Punk vs. MJF rivalry, why it’s high time Rhea Ripley broke back out on her own in the Raw women’s division, and more.

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MJF vs. CM Punk is one of the biggest bouts AEW can do at the moment, which is why they must ensure the program doesn’t peak before they finally collide one-on-one.

It was more a matter of when and not if they’d cross paths, but that didn’t at all feel like the direction AEW would go in following the Full Gear pay-per-view. Nonetheless, the two of them kicked off their rivalry with a bang days removed from Full Gear and then took it to a whole new level a week later on Dynamite with their phenomenal verbal sparring.

The insults they hurled back and forth were nothing short of sensational, but with the segment lasting as long as it did, it’s worth wondering if they’ve already gotten their best material out of the way. How much more ground can they truly cover before they get to their eventual match, and when will said match take place?

Being the masters of the microphone that they are, Punk and MJF should have plenty left up their sleeves to fill out the remainder of their rivalry. The question is how much longer AEW is going to wait to book the bout and if there will multiple matches between them.

Revolution would be the most likely destination, but because that isn’t until early March, they may have to square off before then, potentially on AEW’s first episode of Dynamite on TBS in January. It will be a tall task to keep this storyline hot for four straight months, but it should be doable given who is involved.

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Bryan Danielson received a raucous reaction when he made his AEW debut at All Out in Chicago back in early September, and in that same city last week on Dynamite, he was booed out of the building for beating up hometown hero Colt Cabana.

That simply goes to show how exceptional Danielson is at playing whatever role is asked of him. He can be a brilliant babyface fighting from underneath or an arrogant heel that bullies people the same way he’s been bullied throughout his career.

It’s entirely possible Danielson was never supposed to win the AEW World Championship Eliminator Tournament at Full Gear and that it was instead supposed to be Jon Moxley, who was already teasing a heel turn prior to the pay-per-view. However, it’s impossible to tell because Danielson has filled in for the former AEW World champion so well in his absence.

Adam Page was cemented as AEW’s top babyface with his win at Full Gear, so the company was wise to not immediately position him against another beloved babyface in Danielson. Since it would have created a confusing dynamic, Danielson playing the antagonist fixed that issue and made their match infinitely more interesting.

It would be booking malpractice for Page’s run as champ to come to an end at the hands of Danielson any time soon, but the story has been masterfully told thus far and it’s just getting started.

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Rhea Ripley has fallen far on the card from where she was upon arriving on Raw earlier this year, but it isn’t too late for her to reclaim that singles glory now that her run as WWE Women’s Tag Team champion has come to an end.

Although her main roster run has been solid so far, the biggest mistake WWE made with Ripley was never having her avenge her loss to Charlotte Flair from WrestleMania 36. She lost to Flair another two times this past summer and failed to regain the Raw Women’s Championship at SummerSlam.

It wasn’t long after that she and Nikki A.S.H. formed a fun alliance and captured the tag titles together, but the duo barely appeared on WWE TV due to the lack of teams in the divisions. Carmella and Queen Zelina beating them for the belts on the November 22 edition of Raw provides Ripley with a chance to branch back out on her own.

Between Becky Lynch, Doudrop, Carmella and Zelina, Raw may have enough female heels, but Ripley turning on Nikki could make for an interesting story. From a storyline standpoint, she’s acted bothered by Nikki from the moment they started teaming, so Ripley turning on her would certainly make sense and she showed in NXT UK that she can work as a heel.

Regardless of whether she’s a babyface or a heel, Ripley is too big of a star to be spinning her wheels in the tag team scene. Rather, she’d be an excellent opponent for Lynch once The Man finishes her feud with Liv Morgan, and it’s possible that match is saved for WrestleMania 38.

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Despite being a New York native, Damian Priest had a strange Survivor Series weekend in Brooklyn, where he went from being vehemently cheered during his entrance at the pay-per-view to then being booed as he exited the arena. That resulted in him receiving a lukewarm reaction the next night on Raw.

WWE’s bizarre booking of him as of late is to blame for that.

Priest was one of the few NXT call-ups WWE actually managed to nail in 2021. He’s largely gone unbeaten in singles competition, had strong showings at the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania 37, and won the United States Championship from Sheamus at SummerSlam.

He’s been on the ascent as a singles star and has gotten over with the audience as a babyface, but that didn’t stop WWE from trying out a new character with him where he snaps halfway through his matches, regardless of who he’s facing.

That was what happened at Survivor Series when he viciously attacked the ultra-popular pairing of Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs with a guitar, and he was rightfully booed for it. It apparently wasn’t a hard heel turn, though, as he was then booked as a babyface on the subsequent Raw against Sami Zayn.

If WWE continues to blur the lines with what Priest’s character is supposed to be, he’s going to lose a lot of the goodwill and fanfare he’s managed to build up this year. Considering there was nothing wrong with what he was doing previously, there should be zero attempt to change anything about his presentation.

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For the last year-plus, Roman Reigns has been firmly positioned as “the guy” in WWE, specifically on SmackDown. He’s knocked off every opponent that has stepped up to face him, and yet there’s still several Superstars waiting in the wings to challenge him.

That was made clear on Friday’s SmackDown when a handful of notable names expressed interest in going after The Tribal Chief and seeds were planted for multiple matches in the months ahead.

Of course, Sami Zayn won the number one contender’s Battle Royal to earn a future shot at the Universal Championship, but that bout is bound to either be changed or be booked for an upcoming episode of SmackDown, not the Day 1 pay-per-view on January 1.

It was announced immediately following Zayn’s victory that Brock Lesnar’s storyline suspension has been lifted and that he’ll be back on the blue brand this coming week. Reigns vs. Lesnar feels like the direction WWE might be going in for WrestleMania 38, but if Lesnar is returning this soon, it’s possible that rematch goes down at the Royal Rumble instead.

Jeff Hardy appeared to win the Battle Royal before Zayn outsmarted him and tossed him out of the ring, but Reigns vs. Hardy has to happen at some point. That would be an ideal program to build the bridge between Rumble and WrestleMania, most likely at Super ShowDown in February.

Along with Xavier Woods and Shinsuke Nakamura, Drew McIntyre was left out of the Battle Royal, probably because he’ll get his shot against Reigns at ‘Mania. Woods and Nakamura may have matches with Reigns between now and then, but expect to see them either added to the matchup at Day 1 or face off with Reigns soon on SmackDown.

   

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham “GSM” Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.