What we learned from the WWE this week: 8th May, 2017
This week, the WWE was tasked with ending their European Tour on a strong note while keeping things relevant and on point. Over a week removed from Payback, and still a week to go before Smackdown and NXT take centre stage with their PPVs, these seven days were about moving feuds along, and putting the first few pieces together for the summer.
Here is what we learned from watching the WWE this week:
#1 There might be a power struggle on the horizon
It has been a pure joy to see Kurt Angle running Monday Night RAW over the past few weeks. He still has the ability to bring both humour and passion to the WWE product in equal measure, and as much as we might respect Mick Foley, Kurt still feels fresh and relevant, even after taking such a long leave of absence.
One of the best things about the Angle era is that since Wrestlemania we haven’t seen Stephanie McMahon on TV. It’s hard to quantify why RAW is more enjoyable without her, but anyone who knows anything about professional wrestling will realise Stephanie’s work needs to remain behind the scenes, as her on-screen persona helps nobody and simply encourages people to fast forward her segments.
This week on RAW, alarm bells began to ring after learning that Stephanie, being upset with Angle’s decision to make Ambrose this week’s GM, made sure the heels were also represented by installing The Miz as the co-GM. There was nothing wrong with this per se, the dynamic of The Miz and Ambrose was fantastic and proved that their feud is fast becoming must-see TV.
The problem was that it felt like the first manoeuvrings towards a power struggle between Stephanie and Kurt. It’s inevitable that Stephanie will return at some point, considering she can’t help but get involved in the running of the show, and with Angle very much a babyface, it’s entirely possible that we will see a repeat of the McMahon vs. Mick Foley storyline that led up to Wrestlemania. Anyone with a good short-term memory should be very concerned about this.