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WWE SmackDown was a pretty tepid affair this week, until the closing moments when we saw Retribution, the faction that we first experienced on RAW show up and take center stage. Violence would break out all over the ringside area with a cliffhanger that is bound to get the WWE Universe tuned in, to catch the action next week, to see what this mysterious new faction- Retribution is all about.
Vince McMahon and Bruce Prichard have a chance to make Retribution the hottest thing on WWE television, but they could also potentially get it all wrong. Here's a checklist of things that should happen with this faction and things that should not, just to ensure that this storyline does not fizzle out like so many other promising ones have, over the years.
#1 WWE should make Retribution look absolutely bulletproof for some time
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The reason why The Shield was so over with fans is that they were treated as a big deal from the word go. Retribution needs to echo this sentiment in a big way as they pick up win after win on WWE television, once they actively start competing in the ring.
Remember how Sting came into WWE and the whole world started talking about what a coup this was, and then he lost? While this is a completely different case, Retribution needs to keep winning their matches on WWE television and appear dominant for weeks on end. A more recent example of poor booking from WWE would be bringing Mustafa Ali to RAW and then having him lose to Bobby Lashley on the following week's show.
Even the process of stepping into the WWE ring for the first time should be a process. They shouldn't be treated as members of the roster after all the chaos they caused, as WWE is bound to do.
#1 Retribution should not be unmasked on next week's WWE RAW or SmackDown episode
What good is a murder mystery if the killer is revealed in the second or the third chapter? WWE should stretch out the Retribution storyline well beyond SummerSlam and at the performers should be unmasked, at the earliest, at SummerSlam. Because once they are unmasked, one has to admit that a lot of their mystique may be lost.
And at the same time, neither should the storyline be stretched out in such a manner that it stops being interesting, as we saw with the Roman Reigns and Rowan storyline as well as the mystery hacker storyline, that seemed to really go nowhere.
WWE already made a blunder by announcing that a new faction would be formed which is okay because there is a lot of intrigue surrounding the identities of the members involved.
WWE needs to learn from the mistakes of the past (The Nexus should have been bigger, and SAnitY most certainly should have) when it comes to the booking of Retribution.
#2 WWE should use Retribution as a vehicle to launch new stars into the spotlight
Despite the fact that NXT is on the USA Network at the moment, it is a well-documented fact that a lot fewer people watch the black and gold brand as opposed to RAW and SmackDown. While the stars at WWE NXT do not necessarily like the terms 'moving up' and 'main roster' all that much, there is still a sense of a promotion that is bound to happen if Retribution moves from NXT to RAW and SmackDown. The members of Retribution should all have individual identities, beyond them being a group that thrives in chaos because all eyes will be on them once they are unmasked.
Many online have made the observation that WWE NXT superstars Chelsea Green and Vanessa Borne could be a member of this faction, and it would make all the sense in the world if they are.
Similarly, others from the NXT roster should get a chance to be thrust into the spotlight with this angle, just like Reigns, Rollins, and Ambrose were, with The Shield.
#2 Retribution should not only be comprised of WWE NXT stars alone
Sure, having Aliyah, or Chelsea Green, or even Vanessa Borne, who is almost a certainty at this stage, would be a massive deal for Retribution as a stable but the group should not only comprise of Superstars from WWE NXT. In fact, if it is possible, Retribution should be led by stars who may have been released/furloughed during the pandemic and the foremost name I can think of, for this role, is Rusev. He goes by the name Miro now and is yet unsigned to any promotion (his wife works in WWE as well).
In fact, if it is possible, Retribution should be led by someone like Kurt Angle, someone who could have done much more for the company, considering that it is well documented that he was dissatisfied with his latest WWE run.
In fact, former stars such as Darren Young could return in a Nexus reunion of sorts, considering the parallels between the former WWE faction and its new incarnation- Retribution.
#3 Retribution needs to be kept a hundred miles away from WWE comedy skits
I think we can safely say that WWE believes that they are much funnier than they actually are, and Retribution needs to stay a hundred miles away from the ninjas on RAW. I mean one has to just take a cursory glance on Twitter and see how many people have been clamoring for a Ninjas vs. Retribution fight at WWE Survivor Series 2020.
Neither should WWE make Retribution as eclectic and as oblique, in a sense, as the Dark Order from AEW, a group that has not gotten over unlike a significant member of their cast. What they can do, and will likely excel at, is storming RAW Underground and taking on the motley crew of performers that exist there.
In fact, I would encourage Retribution to mix it up with The Hurt Business as they are one of the more serious factions in WWE at the moment.
Do we think that WWE SmackDown star Nikki Cross could be a member of Retribution?
