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WWE is working hard to build towards two big events with WWE Backlash and NXT TakeOver: In Your House on the horizon. Keeping that in mind, there are several things WWE is trying to do to make its shows more interesting as they are being held behind closed doors.
The front rows of the shows are filled up by NXT Superstars and Performance Center recruits while a few surprise results have surely shaken up the landscape.
Angel Garza picked up a big victory over Kevin Owens on WWE RAW last week while Apollo Crews went on to win his first Championship belt in the company. RAW Women’s Champion Asuka also found out who she’d face at WWE Backlash during the show.
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NXT had some top matches as Drake Maverick surprised the entire WWE Universe with another big win during the Interim NXT Cruiserweight Championship tournament. Charlotte Flair found a new partner to take on Rhea Ripley and Io Shirai, while Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher ended the night with a big Fight Pit match to steal the show.
SmackDown provided the final blows of the week as one of NXT’s biggest Superstars made the move to the Blue brand. WWE also allowed the Intercontinental Championship tournament to suffer a few blows before rounding up the story well and giving the fans two worthy finalists for the Championship.
In this article, we will look at the 5 things that must happen on the three brands of WWE this week to build towards WWE Backlash and NXT TakeOver: In Your House.
#5 Apollo Crews defends his US title against Angel Garza on RAW
At the beginning of 2020, fans of WWE were cheering for Drew McIntyre to become the WWE Champion this year and fulfill the prophecy. What fans didn’t know was that they’d be treated to another story of hard work and struggle that’d lead a deserving Superstar to his first title in WWE on RAW.
That Superstar is none other than Apollo Crews, who defeated Andrade last week on RAW to win the WWE United States Championship. Apollo has had the backing of the fans for some time now, but his talent and work and usually been eclipsed by bigger stars.
While he’d been used as an enhancement talent for some time, it is good to see that Paul Heyman and the creatives are working hard to push some underutilized Superstars and newcomers.
Can Angel Garza become the next big WWE Superstar?
This week on RAW, Apollo will defend his title against an opponent of his choosing. While we might see Apollo come out and cut a promo to talk about hard work and believing in giving opportunities to those who haven’t gotten them yet, WWE must allow Zelina Vega and Angel Garza to interrupt him.
This must lead to a United States Championship match between Apollo and Garza since Garza has some momentum as he shockingly defeated Kevin Owens last week.
This could lead to a great match between the two athletic men and give Apollo a good first title defense on RAW.
#4 Nia Jax ruins the Champion vs. Champion match on RAW
One of the biggest matches set for this week’s WWE RAW will see the Women’s Champions of two brands collide in the center of the ring. RAW Women’s Champion Asuka will get another chance to redeem herself against the Queen of WWE as she will take on NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair.
Asuka won the Money in the Bank briefcase a few weeks ago which led to her becoming the RAW Women’s Champion after former Champion Becky Lynch relinquished her title.
Flair won the NXT Women’s Championship by defeating Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania 36 and has since defended her title while going after the RAW and SmackDown Women’s Champions to prove a point.
Nia Jax could build up towards WWE Backlash a little early
While Asuka will be looking to avenge her loss at WrestleMania 34 once again, WWE must allow the match to end in a No Contest thanks to interference from Nia Jax.
Jax is set for a RAW Women’s Championship shot at Backlash, and we need to see her make a few more strong statements before the pay-per-view as she recently returned to competition.
This will allow WWE to protect both the Champions and build on the future match between Asuka and Jax at WWE Backlash.
#3 Johnny Gargano loses against a new NXT Superstar
Last week on WWE NXT, Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae arrived in the ring to make an interesting announcement. Gargano announced that he will be starting the Gargano Invitational which will allow new talent a chance to compete against him and get better.
Gargano then took on a new face in NXT and defeated him quite comfortably, giving him no chance to work with the veteran for long.
After the match, Kieth Lee and Mia Yim taunted the two heels and called them self-absorbed. This helped further the rivalry between the two couples in WWE.
Johnny Gargano could be humiliated by WWE this week on NXT
This week, Gargano should once again come to the ring and allow a newcomer a chance to compete against him. However, when Gargano is closing in on the win, Keith Lee’s music should hit and the distraction should allow the new NXT talent to rollup the former NXT Champion to pick up a huge upset victory.
This will help make the rivalry between Gargano and Lee even more intense and give them a reason to give fans an excellent match for the NXT North American Championship at TakeOver: In Your House.
#2 The Undisputed Era send a message to Imperium for NXT TakeOver: In Your House
While The Broserweights were proving to be extremely good NXT Tag Team Champions, travel restrictions hit WWE and forced Pete Dunne to remain at home while Matt Riddle formed a partnership with Timothy Thatcher to defend the titles.
Thatcher’s betrayal led to Riddle losing the titles to Imperium, and now the NXT UK heel team is at the top of the NXT tag team division.
Last week on NXT, NXT Champion Adam Cole spoke to William Regal and reminded the General Manager that the only reason Roderick Strong and Bobby Fish failed to win the titles during their match against Matt Riddle was due to the surprise arrival of Thatcher.
WWE could look to make Imperium dominant Champions
This week, WWE must further work on getting The Undisputed Era back in the chase for the NXT Tag Team Championships while they work on other teams like The Indus Sher and Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan.
The temporary feud will allow NXT to keep Strong and Fish in the ring while giving the budding teams some more time to develop before they get in the NXT Tag Team Championships scene.
#1 Matt Riddle gets his first match for WWE Backlash
Last week on SmackDown, fans of WWE were treated to a huge announcement as the man who lost the Fight Pit match against Timothy Thatcher on NXT was moved to SmackDown.
Fans had been waiting to see Matt Riddle get a big push and make it big on RAW or SmackDown, and looking at SmackDown’s current roster, the Blue brand seems like the best place for The Super King of Bros.
While there are many dream matches that we can get from Riddle sooner than later, especially looking at the limited resources WWE has to work with, the company must allow him to have his first match as a SmackDown Superstar on a big stage.
WWE needs to build Riddle as the next face of SmackDown
Rather than getting him tangled into a series of squash matches against enhancement talent, WWE must allow Riddle to lay down a challenge to a major player on SmackDown next week for a match at WWE Backlash.
SmackDown currently has Superstars like Cesaro, King Corbin, and Dolph Ziggler, all of whom can give The Original Bro a good competition and give him a push on the Blue brand.
