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Undisputed’s official podcast, High Above Ringside is hosted by Justin Barrasso and Francis Connolly–and offers a deep dive into the world of professional wrestling.
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This week’s edition of High Above Ringside focused on the major stories to emerge from SmackDown.
That includes the CM Punk-Paul Heyman favor reveal, as well as the mess that was the Charlotte Flair-Tiffany Stratton promo. There is also time devoted to the Cena-Rhodes program, the Fenix debut, and a look at the former AEW stars thriving in WWE.
Speaking of AEW… last night’s Dynasty pay-per-view had its shares of highs and lows.
The highlight was the co-main event, which saw Kenny Omega defeat Ricochet and “Speedball” Mike Bailey in a triple threat match.
This was absolutely phenomenal. It stands as the latest exhibit as to why Omega has so few peers in the industry, and it was a highlight moment for Ricochet and Bailey, too. Following the victory, Omega had a staredown with Kazuchika Okada, which is the next step in the build to a bout this summer at All In.
But it feels like a missed opportunity that it will not be for the world title.
The world title was the source of controversy.
Swerve Strickland had reigning champ Jon Moxley beat, but the lights went out and Swerve was then knocked out by the returning Young Bucks. That allowed Moxley to get the winning cover, extending his title reign–and, it appears, add a new layer to the Death Riders storyline with the Bucks now prominently involved.
But the crowd was hungry for a new champion, and it looked like Swerve had this won, so there was considerable disappointment with the finish. All signs now point to Moxley holding on to the belt until All In this summer, which is a risky proposition, while Swerve and Hangman Page will likely team together as unlikely allies against the Bucks.
FTR also turned on Adam Copeland, laying for the groundwork for an Edge/Christian reunion. But the big takeaway from Dynasty will be the main event, which we correctly predicted on the podcast would end with Moxley keeping the belt.
This reminded me of Lex Luger defeating Hulk Hogan for the WCW title in the summer of 1997. People wanted to see a new champion, even if it was brief. That was teased, but it didn’t happen.
Even if the plan is for Will Ospreay to win the title at All In, last night was a missed opportunity to inject a significant dose of excitement into the product–and bring Swerve to an even higher level.
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