This week is another big one for WWE. Not only do Monday Night Raw, SmackDown Live, and NXT all provide big episodes (sorry 205 Live fans), but WWE is uploaded four more episodes of the Mae Young Classic. Here is a look at everything WWE has to offer this week.
Mae Young Classic: Four New Episodes (9.4.17)
Last Monday (August 28), WWE released the first four episodes of the inaugural Mae Young Classic to the WWE Network. These four episodes covered the entirety of the first round, showcasing all 32 women in 16 matches that ranged from pretty good to amazing (Definitely watch these if you haven’t already, it can’t be recommended enough). The next batch of episodes go all the way through the quarterfinals, and here are the matches you can expect in Round Two:
- Abbey Laith vs. Rachel Evers
- Princesa Sugehit vs. Mercedes Martinez
- Nicole Savoy vs. Candice LeRae
- Mia Yim vs. Shayna Baszler
- Kairi Sane vs. Bianca Belair
- Dakota Kai vs. Rhea Ripley
- Serena Deeb vs. Piper Niven
- Lacey Evans vs. Toni Storm
It is hard to believe that the field is already cut in half, but every match in the second round has potential to be amazing. The three most exciting matchups are Princesa Sugehit vs. Mercedes Martinez, Mia Yim vs. Shayna Baszler, and Dakota Kai vs. Rhea Ripley, while the others can easily blow away expectations.
Monday Night Raw (9.4.17)
While building towards No Mercy, Monday Night Raw gets ready for its second consecutive episode with a championship match. Last week, Alexa Bliss proved herself right by defeating Sasha Banks to become a two-time Raw Women’s Champion. On the same episode, Jeff Hardy won a #1 Contender’s Battle Royal to challenge The Miz this week to a match for the Intercontinental Championship, a title which Hardy has already held four times.
Another huge (in more ways than one) match for this week is another clash between Braun Strowman and Big Show. Last week, Big Show lost in the Battle Royal while Strowman remained noticeably absent. The #1 Contender for the WWE Universal Championship will take on the World’s Largest Athlete in a Steel Cage Match.
Two major angles started last week and there should be some follow-up this week. First, Roman Reigns and John Cena had quite the war of words before signing a contract for their match at No Mercy. Then, they reluctantly teamed up to defeat Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson in a show of one-upsmanship. Second, Nia Jax has made it clear that she is coming for the Raw Women’s Championship. After Bliss retained her title last week, Jax turned on her friend and made a statement to close out last week’s episode.
SmackDown Live (9.5.17)
The promotion for this week’s episode of SmackDown Live surrounds another dream match involving Shinsuke Nakamura. Last time the King of Strong Style was in a dream match, he battled John Cena to determine the #1 Contender for Jinder Mahal’s WWE Championship. This time, Nakamura is in another WWE Championship #1 Contender’s Match but he faces the Viper, Randy Orton. Orton got the fans exciting at the end of last week’s main event by hitting an RKO “outta nowhere” right after the two won a tag team match together against Mahal and Rusev.
In a bout that could change the landscape of the SmackDown Women’s Division, SmackDown Women’s Champion Natalya takes on Ms. Money in the Bank, Carmella, in a non-title match. If the Princess of Staten Island can manage to pick up a victory, she could cash in the Money in the Bank briefcase and become the new champion one week before Naomi is supposed to cash in her title rematch.
205 Live (9.5.17)
Recently, 205 Live has become more intriguing with the addition of Smacktalker Skywalker himself, Enzo Amore. 205 Live advertises itself as the show that features some of the best in-ring competition in the world, and while Amore doesn’t prevent the rest of the roster from showcasing their skills, he doesn’t match up to the likes of Cedric Alexander, Neville, Gran Metalik, and more. However, Amore does provide interest for the casual audience as well as excitement for fans in attendance who just finished attending SmackDown Live.
Amore seems to be on a quest for the Cruiserweight Championship, so there could be some more build to that this week after his two wins last week in singles and six-man tag team action. Also, it seems like TJP has been faking his knee injury for the past few weeks, adding another layer to his friendly competition with former fellow Cruiserweight Champion, Rich Swann.
WWE NXT (9.6.17)
Last week, NXT surrounded the current NXT Champion, Drew McIntyre. While Bobby Roode declared that he is going to cash in his obligated rematch soon, Roderick Strong has announced that he is coming for the title as well. On top of that, it seems like McIntyre can’t go anywhere without getting attacked by Bobby Fish, Kyle O’Reilly, and Adam Cole. Perhaps a Fatal Four-Way is in the future, but no matter what happens, McIntyre needs to have his head on a swivel.
Also, Asuka will “update” the NXT Universe on her injury and the state of the NXT Women’s Championship, which WWE already announced will be vacated due to Asuka’s collarbone injury. This is also followed by a farewell, meaning that the Empress of Tomorrow is taking her undefeated streak to the main roster.
Lastly, there will be a No Disqualification Match between Kassius Ohno and Hideo Itami. Ohno and Itami used to be friends until Itami felt disrespected and took out his aggression on anyone and everyone in his way, including Ohno. This seems like it could be the culminating match in their story.
