If you had approached me a few months back and asked me to single out some wrestlers in the WWE/AEW lot who were on the precipice of greatness, I would have said Swerve Strickland, Liv Morgan, and Willow Nightingale. Sure, I would have wondered why you were approaching me while I was in the dentist’s chair, mouth full of cotton sticks (rolls? slims?), but I still would have given you those names.
Now, however, I’d have to pick some different names since Liv and Swerve both became world champs and Willow arguably had the main event at Double or Nothing against Mercedes Moné. Okay, fine. I’d pick Willow again. She had the TBS title and then lost it quickly, so I’ll still count her as being “on the cusp” of super-stardom. Swerve, though, is about to have the match of his career against Will Ospreay at Forbidden Door (which will never not sound filthy) while champ Liv is running with the hottest grumpy-sunshine/enemies-to-lovers romance of the summer.
We can safely assume Liv’s Revenge Tour reign will last until SummerSlam, where she’ll face a returning, more-over-than-evah Rhea Ripley, and likely lose the title. But until then, for the next two months, she’s nicely embedded in the most fun “It” (Ick?) couple storyline since Kutcher and Kunis. And it’s a slow-burn type of torrid tale, too. Which is what WWE’s excelled at since Triple Paul took the creative reins. It’s something we got in NXT last decade and something we’re now enjoying the eff out of on the main roster. Stories that take their time and introduce new, small elements each week.
The biggest example to highlight here, of course, is the Bloodline saga. Which, granted, is somewhat stagnant right now with Roman out on break and Solo in charge (Heyman is reallllly carrying this one, bless his butt). That’s not to say this is the first time we’ve been given gratifying angles that take their time to marinate and percolate, but it truly seems to be a Triple H specialty. Even the fact that Cody is facing AJ Styles at a PPV again, at Clash at the Castle, is utilizing their Backlash match so that nothing feels wasted. It’s eating and honoring every part of the animal.
Plus, what previously-banned move will this Cody PPV match feature? First the Burning Hammer, then the Vertebreaker… what’s the next “if you’re two centimeters off someone dies!” maneuver to get dusted off and put into action? My vote is for the Neckafuser or the Bungling Disc.
There was a time when AJ would have just lost to Cody and then vanished back into the mid-card, or vaporized off TV entirely. There would have been a time when Chad Gable’s team would have turned against him already. When Alpha Academy would have already disintegrated back at King and Queen of the Ring. And there would have been a time when Dom and Liv had already become a couple instead of the budding, warped relationship getting drawn out week after week into a gradual aligning of heinous heels.
A huge part, and arguably the best part, of these longer, more thoughtful stories is that we know where the story’s headed. We know how this all ends. And we usually know when it will end too. Too many of y’all are obsessed with things being unpredictable. That somehow predictability is boring and/or bad. Sure, there’s always room for twists and swerves and surprise heel turns and whatnot, but the genuine bread and butter in wrestling is longform storytelling. Seeing things coming is not a detriment. Storytelling is our oldest artform as humans. Right after complaining about the cold and those weird grunting noises Grok makes when he’s sleeping.
We knew Sami Zayn was going to turn on Roman back at the Royal Rumble in 2023. But it was told so well that it only enhanced our anticipation of the inevitable. It’s like the opposite of when, somehow, Palpatine returned.
There’s definitely a multiversal world where Liv won the title in Jeddah because Dom came out and purposefully helped her. Boom, surprise couple! That rat fink! What a sudden and shocking turn of events! How could he betray Mami like that? But that’s not what we got.
Instead, we got weeks and weeks of Liv and Dom running into each other backstage (sometimes in the background, just seeing them walking together). Then he accidentally helps Liv win the title. And a few days later, he goofs and “helps” her win again. SHE kisses HIM. He’s reluctant. Or so we’re to believe. Then Liv protects him from Strowman on Raw this week. I love that Dom has become the “wait, HIM?” for a new woman.
All of this is WWE operating at top levels of restraint. No one’s prematurely pulling the trigger on things anymore. The Judgement Day STILL EXISTS, Y’ALL. After years. Years of infighting and bickering and mistrust and narrowing eyes at potential new members and one dude becoming more successful than the original “leader.” Okay, the “original” replacement leader. This team would have been dead and gone back in 2022 when Vince almost immediately lost interest. Nevertheless, they persisted.
So yes, we know where Liv and Dom are headed. But now it will feel earned. They’ll be a full-fledged couple by the time Rhea rolls back into town. But taking the time to get there, by having Dom play it off as nothing, by having him slowly be seduced by Liv, by giving her agency, fueled by her need for revenge, and by keeping him as an inept, smarmy schmoe who people still want to boo out of the building, we’re getting more mileage out of the bit. And not in a padding out way. It’s immensely gratifying. And it will make the final outcome feel even better.
Same thing with Otis eventually turning on Gable. That big slam’s coming! Will it be at Clash at the Castle OR will they keep it going even longer? That may all depend on whether Chad Gable re-signs soon. He’ll probably stay BUT now the situation has me looking at the IC title match at Clash like [eyes looking emoji, which indicates looking with eyes].
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