Quick Takes: Adam Page the Afterthought, WWE Royal Rumble, Shane McMahon, More

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AEW World champion Adam Page has been far less of a focal point lately than he should be.Credit: All Elite Wrestling

WWE’s Royal Rumble 2022 event this past Saturday night sent shockwaves throughout the WWE Universe and featured some significant storyline developments. Not everything was well received by the live crowd, mind you, but it was entertaining enough to warrant a thumbs-up from most fans.

Among the surprise entrants in the men’s Rumble was none other than Shane McMahon, who Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t WrestlingInc’s Kellie Haulotte) confirmed will be back on WWE TV as a regular through WrestleMania 38.

The McMahon son is not needed on WWE programming in any way right now, especially with WrestleMania 38 fast approaching. That’s a indictment on how thin the roster is on both brands following the many releases, whereas AEW has had the exact opposite issue lately.

AEW’s roster has become so enriched with top-tier talent that Page has been unfortunately been impacted in a negative way. He has ended only a handful of Dynamite shows since becoming AEW World champion and hasn’t at all felt like the face of the promotion.

This week’s installment of Quick Takes will tackle what AEW must avoid with Adam Page, fallout from the Royal Rumble, Shane’s status for WrestleMania, and more.

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AEW has only had four world champions for the men up to this point, and there can be no doubt that Adam Page currently feels far less important than his predecessors.

That’s hardly the fault of Hangman but rather the company for how he’s been portrayed recently. Although he hasn’t been booked to lose or made to look weak in any way, his television time has paled in comparison to the likes of Cody Rhodes, Chris Jericho, Dan Lambert, CM Punk, MJF and others.

That’s in addition to how his program with Bryan Danielson was never the main storyline on the show and their two matches opening the night both times. Page has since transitioned into a feud with Lance Archer that hasn’t been anything out of the ordinary and isn’t nearly as must-see as Punk vs. MJF or the rivalry Danielson and Jon Moxley are about to enter.

The hope is that he’ll be back in the spotlight once he moves onto his next feud ahead of Revolution, presumably with Adam Cole who is currently ranked number one. It may not headline the pay-per-view, but because Cole is so prominently featured from week to week, it could lead to an increase of television time for Page.

The company must ensure that the AEW World champion doesn’t become an afterthought in favor of all of the other notable names on the show. His reign has been solid so far, but much more can be done to make him and the title feel more special.

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The greatness we got from Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins at the Royal Rumble proved that the program has to be more than a one-off and instead continue through at least the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view in February.

It was unquestionably the best bout of the night and the storytelling, especially surrounding the Shield stuff, was masterful. The disqualification finish took many by surprise because a clean ending was expected, but the post-match angle worked so well that it left the audience clamoring for a rematch.

With Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar being the WrestleMania 38 endgame since SummerSlam, Rollins failing to win the title was a foregone conclusion. However, the feud has been so compelling that an argument can be made for it spilling over into WrestleMania.

Rollins has mentioned several times that he pinned Reigns to win his first WWE Championship at WrestleMania 31, completely ignoring the fact that Lesnar was also involved. Reigns vs. Lesnar turned into a Triple Threat that night once Rollins cashed in Money in the Bank and they never had a chance to run that back for more than a few minutes.

Making the ‘Mania main event a three-way with Rollins would not only make it less predictable but also it’d likely be a better match. WWE already did a Triple Threat with Reigns and the Universal Championship last year, so doing something similar with the Royal Rumble winner this year would be the only downside.

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For months, Becky Lynch vs. Bianca Belair for the Raw Women’s Championship clearly appeared to be the direction WWE was headed in for WrestleMania 38. However, those plans were (possibly) thrown into disarray at the Royal Rumble when Ronda Rousey returned to win the women’s Rumble match.

Love her or loathe her, Rousey is the biggest female star WWE now has available to them en route to WrestleMania. If the women’s Rumble winner is going to main-event The Show of Shows, it only made sense for it to be her, but now the question turns to who she chooses.

Becky Lynch would be the obvious choice on paper given their unfinished business from three years ago, but Charlotte Flair would be equally logical given their interaction in the women’s Rumble and their own history. Flair is as decorated as they come, but Lynch has the stronger story going into ‘Mania and therefore should be Rousey’s opponent.

That doesn’t necessarily guarantee a Rousey victory, however. WWE could easily do the match and have Lynch retain to keep her historic streak going only for Bianca Belair to finally conquer Big Time Becks in her home state of Tennessee at SummerSlam.

That would require several things to fall into place (and for Belair to still have so much momentum) by then, but it’s definitely doable. Either way, Rousey vs. Lynch is more of a marquee match than Lynch vs. Belair or Flair vs. Rousey and should be the ultimate endgame.

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Britt Baker’s promo from the Beach Break edition of AEW Dynamite didn’t seem to serve much of a purpose outside of reminding people of her dominance in the division. There was no indication who would be next up for a shot at the AEW Women’s World Championship, but Jamie Hayter would make the most sense at this point.

The last time we saw the two together on TV, Hayter was helping Baker beat Riho to retain the title at the Battle of the Belts special. They had been teasing tension for weeks, and although they appeared to reconcile, it’s possible it wasn’t permanent and that the split is still coming.

As has been said time and time, the person to ultimately take the title from Baker should be Thunder Rosa given their memorable feud from last year and how it played out. Rosa currently has her hands full with Mercedes Martinez, so if Baker vs. Rosa isn’t the Revolution match, Baker vs. Hayter would be the next best option.

Hayter has impressed since arriving in AEW last summer and has benefited from her partnership with Baker and Rebel. She was eliminated from the AEW TBS Championship tournament due to Baker interfering in one of her matches, so it’s time to revisit that and make Hayter a breakout babyface.

Of course, Hayter wouldn’t walk away with the gold, but a strong showing in defeat would go a long way in establishing her as a star on the rise.

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Apparently WWE couldn’t be bothered to bring in any major surprises for this year’s men’s Royal Rumble match except for Shane McMahon, who has been an unnecessary fixture on WWE TV for the past six years. It’s a case of diminishing returns to where Shane being back soon after his pointless program with Braun Strowman means nothing.

Worse yet, all signs seem to point to Shane being back in a regular role through WrestleMania 38. Outside of WrestleMania 36, he has competed at every WrestleMania since 2016 and his matches have become more and more inconsequential.

To his credit, Shane is an entertaining performer and always does a commendable job of attempting to elevate whoever he’s working with. Unfortunately, a victory over Shane at this stage holds no weight and anything involving him should be considered a waste of a spot on the WrestleMania card.

That much was evident when WWE fired Strowman soon after their rivalry was over. The Miz also saw his momentum come to a screeching halt when he lost to Shane on three straight occasions.

If WWE is trying to load up WrestleMania 37 with big names, Shane isn’t the answer. Relying on (what’s left of) the active roster would be ideal, or at the very least utilizing legends that feel like more of an important attraction.

  

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.