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WWE Tables, Ladders, and Chairs (TLC) is just around the corner and we have a few major questions before the pay-per-view. WWE delivered a solid week of wrestling before the show, but some bookings on RAW and SmackDown left fans a bit puzzled. On the other hand, NXT too had a few moments that left the WWE Universe to wonder what the creatives are planning.
We saw WWE pair Jaxson Ryker with Elias during last week’s RAW, while Riddle was allowed to squash MVP on the show. However, there were a few major questions that we will get to later on in this article.
Similarly, NXT saw the return of Karrion Kross, who took on another enhancement talent during the night rather than competing against an established Superstar. Indi Hartwell also managed to take down Shotzi Blackheart with the help of her friends.
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Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode challenged The Street Profits for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship on Friday, but the match ended in a questionable way. However, it was the final segment between Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens that opened up a number of loose ends.
In this article, we will look at the 5 biggest questions after this week’s episodes of RAW, NXT, and SmackDown.
#5 Why did WWE decide to take Lana out of the Women’s Tag Team Championship match at TLC?
After being sent through the announce table eight times in a row by Nia Jax, Lana finally competed against The Irresistible Force on WWE RAW. Lana wasn’t too confident for the match, and RAW Women’s Champion Asuka gave her some valuable tips before it started.
Many fans expected to see Lana win the match against Jax on RAW. With the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship scheduled for TLC, things were ready to steam up just before the event.
Lana went on to pick up the upset victory during the night, but Jax and Shayna Baszler attacked her after the match. The two women targeted her leg and left her injured on RAW just before her big match.
Now that Lana will be unable to compete during Sunday’s show, the question that comes to mind is why did WWE give Lana such a big build-up if they had to eventually pull her from the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship match?
The story before Lana and the Women’s Tag Team Champions had been building for almost three months now, and it would have been great to watch her win the titles for her team on Sunday.
Instead, WWE pulled a swerve right before TLC, and many fans are wondering why Lana was removed at the last minute before the big match.
#4 Why did Keith Lee lose to The Miz and John Morrison on WWE RAW?
Former SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Miz and John Morrison competed in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match against Keith Lee. The Miz and Morrison have been used by WWE to add some humor to RAW and the duo has been doing a good job at it.
News broke out last week that Lee was being sent back to the Performance Centre to iron out some aspects of his game. This was met with some mixed reactions from the WWE Universe.
However, it was expected that Lee would embarrass Miz and Morrison on RAW and continue his good run on the main roster. Instead, WWE decided to allow Miz and Morrison to pile up The Limitless one for a pin and win the match.
It made sense that WWE would want The A-Lister to come out strong just before WWE TLC where he could end up cashing in his Money in the Bank contract. However, many other Superstars could have taken the pin to give Miz the push.
Instead, WWE chose Lee, a man who got into a rivalry with Randy Orton immediately after coming to RAW and even traded blows with WWE Champion Drew McIntyre. This makes one wonder what WWE has in mind for Lee, who has been asked to report to the Performance Centre again.
Was this a punishment for something he’s done? Or is WWE looking to take Lee in some other direction and take him out of the top tier of the Red brand?
#3 What’s next for The Kings of NXT after their losses in WWE?
Pat McAfee believed he had the perfect plan in mind when he hired Ridge Holland to attack Adam Cole at NXT TakeOver 31. However, the WWE Superstar suffered an injury soon after, and McAfee had to alter his plans. The former pro-footballer then took Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch under his wing, followed by Pete Dunne to form The Kings of NXT.
While the team looked strong enough to defeat The Undisputed ERA on paper, it failed to do the job at TakeOver: WarGames. Dunne got a big opportunity on WWE NXT last week, where he competed against Kyle O’Reilly to become the #1 contender to Finn Balor’s NXT Championship.
While The Bruiserweight had defeated O’Reilly in a ladder match in the past, with some help from a masked man, he couldn’t get the job done on his own. Now that the members of The Kings of NXT have suffered two major losses, the big question is, what’s next for the faction?
The Kings of NXT arrived to undo The Undisputed ERA, but have already lost in two back-to-back matches against them. McAfee hasn’t appeared on NXT since WarGames, while Lorcan and Burch and looking for new challenges.
Has WWE decided to drop The Kings of NXT so soon after the four-man faction kicked off, or do they have some other plans for them in WWE?
#2 Why did Karrion Kross get back to where he started after his WWE NXT Championship victory?
Karrion Kross is arguably the biggest Superstar who signed with WWE this year. Kross reported to the NXT brand where he cruised his way to the NXT Championship after defeating Keith Lee. He had to relinquish his title soon after due to an injury he suffered during the match.
Finn Balor managed to win the title in September after overcoming Adam Cole and has only defended the title once since. He too suffered an injury during his match against Kyle O’Reilly, but was allowed to hold the title while taking time off to heal.
Now that Kross is back in action, it would have made sense to have him go after the NXT Championship once again. After all, it has been only four months since The Herald of Doomsday lost the title. However, WWE has decided to make Kross work on the mid-card once again after his return.
Kross ripped apart an enhancement talent on last week’s NXT and then laid down a challenge to Damian Priest for NXT New Year’s Evil. It makes little sense why a heel like Kross would want to return and not go for the NXT Championship again.
WWE has made this an awkward situation for both Balor and Kross. Are they protecting a match between Balor and Kross? Or is WWE looking to keep Balor away from Kross so he can extend his reign?
#1 Did Kevin Owens just shake off a vicious attack on WWE SmackDown?
One of the biggest segments of the week took place on WWE SmackDown where Kevin Owens opened the night to hunt down Universal Champion Roman Reigns. While KO was fired up, Adam Pearce appeared to calm down The Prizefighter as he was looking to protect his main event for WWE TLC.
However, Owens suffered a beatdown from Jey Uso who tried to end Owens’ hopes of fighting on Sunday for good. Later in the night, Reigns gloated at the beatdown of KO, but The Prizefighter appeared again and received an even more vicious beatdown from Reigns and Uso.
This left the fans asking a few good questions. Firstly, where were Pearce and his men when The Tribal Chief was actively dismantling his opponent for Sunday Night? Pearce tried to slow down KO earlier in the night, but did nothing about Reigns and Uso.
Secondly, how did Owens shake off not one but two major beatdowns and still end the night by talking on the mic? If the Superstar can withstand such a terrible beating, then nothing should be able to stop him from winning at TLC.
What made things more puzzling was the fact that Owens appeared on Talking Smack just minutes after the heavy assault.
